Prince Albert

No one around these parts sells Prince Albert Pipe Tobacco anymore.  Haven't seen it for two years or so,  but I saw one small package of ot today and bought it.

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No Motivation

In my continual griping apparently this week, I can attest that I have no motivation to do a damn thing.  I did force myself to do some things thiough:

1.  I jogged again two of the five miles even though it was not what I wanted to do today.

2.  I have and graded my exam.

3.  I got all my grade books up to snuff.

4.  I visited the cemetery as I do weekly.  

5.  I talked with a load of students, did a shipload of paperwork, and talked with a colleague about an idiotic issue he was causing and got him to change it even though he was not happy to do so.

I still feel crappy an under the weather, but have to say it feels as if it is improving... I just wish I would get back to normal more quickly.  

I am just ornery and tired and do not want to do a damn thing anymore.

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A Hurting Friend

A friend of mine that I have known for 30+ years is in the hospital with congestive heart failure.  It makes me feel sad for him and his family.  I hope he recovers and is stronger again. 

I am feeling a bit under the weather at the moment.  I am achy all over and have a sore throat and feel like I have swollen glands.  Of the two primary probable ailments...  an upper respiratory infection or an allergic response to the pollen levels rising exponentially in my region, I am hoping it is an allergic reaction.  That would be the shorter lasting of the two.  I usually have little to no problems with allergies, except during the first onset of the season... And, then the allergic feelings are sporadic.  

I still forced myself to jog two of the five miles. Today and got my heart rate going to 150, so that is good.  I am aiming to try to jog some every day now instead o just walking.  If I can get a high enough consistency number with jogging, I will be able to force myself into I even when I lack some gumption.  I figure if I can get to the magic number of 25 days in a row of jogging at leas two miles of my five miles total, I may have enough consistency to keep it going come hell or high water.  I remember feeling the sense of commitment with walking setting into me at about day 25, and hell,  I am getting closer and closer to 3000 now.

As I sit and finish this typing while having a pipe, my heart rate is 62.  Not bad at all, especially while having a damn pipe. 

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Blah

Today felt rather blah.  I am feeling very hungry, but nothing sounds good except perhaps something that I know I will not be happy with after I eat it.  The one thing that sound reasonably interesting would be to have a large every topping under the sun pizza... And probably eat the whole damn thing.  But 1) I do not want to order, run out to get and pay for the type of pizza I want, and 2) I know if I did go get that pizza, it would end up with me fretting indigestion, and I would curse myself for being stupid enough to eat it when I knew it would give me indigestion.

So, I sit here trying to figure out what to eat.  My wife is going to eat some left over Chinese food she had from work yesterday.  Chinese food is definetly not what I want to eat either.  

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Tipsy

A As is my usual, I am tipsy this evening after a few libations with my elderly father-in-law.  Unfortunately, today, I am not feeling as pleasant as normal because when we were both starting to drink the shot glass of the whiskey with our boilermaker, I inadvertently sneezed, and it came out my nose.  It was pretty damn funny at the moment, but it feels awfully damn sh*tty now a few hours after it happened.  

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Jelly Beans

When I was 100 pounds heavier, I used to shun jelly beans as bland, boring pieces of candy that I would ignore in favor just about any food.  The same could be said of Necco Wafers... Bland!

But since I lost 100 Pounds several years ago, when I get a sweet tooth, I now find that jelly beans and Necco wafers are my "go to" candies of choice above damn near anything else.  It is interesting how perspectives can change.

Maybe I can look for a substitute for pipe tobacco... something that can become my new go to item instead of tobacco when I have the sort of craving I associate with pipe tobacco?

PipeTobacco

Writing More

Trying to write at least something every day now.  I hope to be joining BBC on the path to bein tobacco free very soon.

Did not eat anything today as it was too damn busy at work.  My wife is getting home late so I am going to be eating a sub for dinner.  I just put it in the fridge until I can get to it after finishing up some grading and other b*llsh*t paperwork I have to get done.  

I ran three of the five miles today again!  Hell... I should always say "jog" not "run" because I am pretty damn slow.  But still, it is good for me.

Unfocused

I feel guilty when I don't want to focus when I have some open time, but that is exactly how I am at the moment.  I should probably be doing all kinds of things either for work or for home but I am not doing a damn thing.  

Not really sure how to get myself motivated.  I did jog three of my five miles today.  I actually made the dog tired enough after three miles that she did not pull on her harness during the remaining two miles when we walked.  That was good.   Also at the end of the three miles, my heart rate was steady at 150 BPM which should be good for my cardiovascular function.  When I check my heart rate in the morning when I get up, it has been consistently hovering between 56 and 60 BPM which is also nice.  

Now if I can figure out a way to either give up the pipe or only smoke once a week or so when drinking, I would feel pretty damn successful about doing good things for my body.  Still trying to figure a way to get myself to really do that, and to be willing and eager to stick with that though is the piece of the puzzle I still cannot figure out.  It aggravates me, but I will keep trying to figure out a way to be successful at it.

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Beer

Beer is really a wonderful beverage.  I cannot stress that enough.  

Yes.  It is true.  

What Will Be?

Random thoughts this morning....

Yesterday I went in the afternoon to have a few libations with my father-in-law after having a busy day with getting two of my Honors Studebts ready to give their presentations for their research and handling all sorts of Departmental bullsh*t.  It was nice like always.  Then my wife and I went to a funeral for a neighborhood friend I grew up with.  That was, of course very sad.

Everyone from my old neighborhood was there.  They all seemed so very frail.  It was wonderful too see so many faces from my childhood, but meloncholy as well.  

On the presidential front, I had mentioned to my fathe-in-law several weeks ago the idea o what if both Trump and Sanders decide to run as no -traditional party candidates?  The thought of four candidates in November seemed a silly joke at the time, but now I am nervous it could really happen.  It will be chaos of it does.

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2762

In trying to take my advice from yesterday, I decided to take some time and figure out what day I am at now without missing a single damn day in walking roughly 5 miles each day.  It counts out to today being day 2762.  I am glad I am still doing this every single day.

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Handling Things, Grading, Pipes, Food, Sleep

It is that time of the semester when I seem to always lose time for the sort of routine I enjoy.  In this sort of routine, I have time to relax, and I have time to focus and not just troubleshoot things and keep fires under control. 

It is just being too damn busy for my own good.  I am trying to force a balance into this nonsense, and so I am starting to let some of the numerous deadlines that loom slip a little.  I will probably have some sort of hell to pay eventually, but I need to have my own life and not just be a robot.

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Beans and Rice

Just putting together dinner for later this evening.  I am making a concoction that is my take on rice and beans.  I am making my beans with kidney and Lima beans and a sauce that has tomatoes, cheese and various Mexican spices.  But  I like to add a bit of curry to the mix.  With it we are having a quick version of what I call dirty rice which is rice with prepackaged taco seasoning in it.  Also on the menu is a falafel and curry flavored cornbread.  It may sound like a mosh-mash and perhaps it is, but the whole family likes it.

I guess in modern culinary circles it would be called a Mexican-Indian Fusion meal.  I just call it good food.

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