hittingthesweetspot

Posts Tagged ‘Kentucky’

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Why grits are part of my active lifestyle

In Uncategorized on May 31, 2013 at 1:06 am
Grits.

Grits. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I finally got on the scale in my Psych class today–the second to last day of actual class before finals next week. Amazingly enough, as much as I thought I was in good shape while I lived in Colorado, it took coming to the south and Kentucky, specifically, to find the truly healthy life.

The scale in Psych class was psyching me out for most of this past quarter. I would typically arrive to class each day in plenty of time to step on the scale. But, it was always facing away from me and anyone else who would want to step on it. Each day before today it was easy to just say, “Yeah, I should turn the scale around and see what I weigh.” But I never did.

That is, well, until today. The scale was mysteriously facing me as I walked in for what would turn out to be a review for my final next week. There were no more excuses to not get on it, so I did.

Man, I’m lean(er). Leaning on the scale and lean(er). I like the sound of that.

I smiled as I walked towards my chair in front of my desk to sit and take in the good doctor’s lecture.

COOKING WITH SOYA FLOUR AND GRITS - NARA - 515459

COOKING WITH SOYA FLOUR AND GRITS – NARA – 515459 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had a nice plate of grits and beef burgundy for dinner after my shift at the senior living dining room was over. I work after school as a server part-time, gaining medical and worldly experience that only comes from soaking up the wisdom seniors can deliver while waiting on them. It is hard, physical work and everyone on the team–in and out of the kitchen are great people.

One of the perks of working in food service is you occasionally get to eat some of the food you are serving up. Since I usually work dinner hours unless it is the weekend (where I’ll take a breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner shift), if there is food to be had at supper time, I will usually wait to take it home and enjoy it.

Grits to you!

Now if I can dial this whole back to school thing to a point in time a few months ago, I can remember a temporary classmate (he was not in school for very long) telling us what healthy food he enjoys. We had broken into small groups and were discussing what healthy food we all consume–why, I cannot remember now.

Anyway, he thought about it for awhile and finally came out with, “grits and butter!”

Well, I chuckled to myself quietly as the others smiled wryly. I was thinking at the time, “Grits are healthy?” Well, I thought, it is the south, but maybe it could be like those commercials for Viagra. Imagine substituting the word grits for Viagra in a marketing campaign to promote the healthy food that grits are:

Grits Bar NOLA corner door

Grits Bar NOLA corner door (Photo credit: Infrogmation)

“Grits can be part of a healthy lifestyle when taken in moderation and under a physician’s care. Be sure to check with your doctor first to see if you are healthy enough to engage in grits consumption. If grits make your tummy feel good longer than four hours consult a physician. Grits have been known to cause blurred vision when taken with blood pressure medication. Ask your doctor if a healthy grits regimen can be part of your active lifestyle.”

Doesn’t sound serious as a heart attack when you think about it in terms like those.

But seriously, the grits made me feel good, real good. I remember hearing it was like farina. No, not Farina from the Little Rascals/Our Gang Comedies of the 30s. But the farina that we had as kids in the northeast. I never much liked farina. I gradually learned to like oatmeal when I was in the Navy, but it never thrilled me.

Grits are thrilling me.

They are part of my healthy, active lifestyle, too.

Maybe Jenny Craig could offer up a grits-based diet for those looking to not spend so much.

I didn’t add any butter to the grits I had tonight and I don’t know how much butter (if any) was used in their making. I only know no animals were harmed in the making of the grits nor the taming of the shrew.

But I will be sure to continue to not ever consume grits for longer than four hours. I do not want to call a physician nor do I want to subject myself to grits abuse.

It just occurred to me as the gnats are buzzing around my head that I am riffing on grits.

I think we’re done here.

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Being mindful of what you represent

In Uncategorized on March 8, 2013 at 1:41 pm
English: The logo of The University of Louisville.

English: The logo of The University of Louisville. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before I was allowed to go on liberty while abroad in the Navy, I was always fully aware that I was not only representing the U.S. Navy, but the United States as well.

I understood this was a responsibility, and my behavior—good or bad, was not only a reflection on myself, but also on that of my country and branch of military service.

Oftentimes it came down to good decision-making while ashore. Many of us had curfews for when we needed to return to our ships or bases. Most of us on deployment in the Navy were imbibing in adult beverages for the first time in many weeks or months, and our tolerance for these libations was diminished; this alone had the potential to greatly impair our judgment while out having fun.

Being committed to always putting our best foot forward, whether it’s going out on a job interview, doing your actual job or just being out and about downtown somewhere, can have lasting, positive influences on you as an individual, and all those you come in contact with while doing so.

While out dining downtown Louisville recently and enjoying our dinner and spirits, my sweetie and I noticed a bit of a buzz concerning a young man and his dinner party, sitting at the table next to ours.

There was not anything loud or rambunctious going on; just a steady stream of folks that began approaching the young man at the table. Rhonda recognized him as someone on the University of Louisville men’s basketball team.

“Ah! That would explain it,” I thought.

We realized it was Junior Forward Luke Hancock, or, Rhonda did.

I’m still getting acclimated to just how hugely important Louisville basketball, and basketball in general (UK anyone?) is to Kentucky.

I’ve long since stopped trying to follow the Denver Broncos, Nuggets, Rockies and Avalanche professional sports teams I left behind in Denver.

Even though it’s a smaller world via all the technology available, it still takes a concerted effort to follow sports teams once you leave a town. It happened when I left New York. I soon adopted Denver teams as it took too much effort to keep up with my Yankees, Knicks and Giants.

Denver

Denver (Photo credit: halseike)

One thing that someone who enjoys anonymity like myself notices, is how someone who is not able to just blend in to the scenery while out dining, behaves while in the public eye.

People were coming up to the young Mr. Hancock and asking him for his autograph. Again, I initially found it odd as he’s on a college team and not a pro one. But, I’m finally starting to get it now that I’ve been here going on five months and we are entering March Madness time (I suspect I will follow the tournament more than I ever have before this year, too). I’ve even had the distinct privilege of being able to enjoy a few basketball games at the Yum! Center, too—both women and men’s basketball team games.

Hancock fielded each request for both autographs and photographs with grace, flair and alacrity. He is obviously aware that he is representing more than himself while he’s in public, but I suspect the young man gets the big picture and has the good sense to behave well because it is seen as just the right thing to do.

Before we left, we walked up to Luke (it’s the end of this post and he’s on a first name basis, now, yes ;-) ), congratulated him on a good game and wished him good luck the rest of the way.

If you haven’t realized by now, I was largely impressed at how he carried himself while out having a meal with what was probably his family and/or friends—and never getting rude or disrespectful at the fairly constant stream of people in the restaurant who wanted some of his time.

Go Cards.

 

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Aging ranks swell with lickers and runners

In Uncategorized on January 29, 2013 at 11:41 pm
Ageing

Ageing (Photo credit: pierre pouliquin)

I needed to bring a treat with me outdoors tonight to get Chelsea to do her final business of the day in the backyard, before retiring for the evening. It was a very warm day here today and so it was still very pleasant while we had our last outdoors time together this evening.

We had enjoyed a walk earlier in the day, which was equally as pleasant. What’s not to love about 60 degree days in January?

They used to say the best kept secret in Colorado was January. But January in Kentucky is pretty nice, too.

With old dogs, like some people, it’s pretty simple: give them a reason to do even the most basic of bodily functions, such as a treat, and they are all about the urination now so dad won’t have to let you out at 1 a.m., because he let you sleep straight through.

With all the Lance Armstrong hoopla recently and while I live and play with an elderly poochie, I wonder if given the choice to improve how you feel, instead of how well you perform in competitive, professional sports, would you take a little something extra in order to do so?

Being in a running club also makes me think about performance enhancing drugs. My mind, much like Chelsea’s, continually makes deals with the body that the body really wants no part of.

“You can DO this seven mile run, brother! Yes you can!”

Well, yes, I can. But for the next few days afterwards my creaky hip serves up reminders that I’m among the oldest runners in the group.

That is the thing with aging. For me, the most annoying part of it is my vision, or should I say, the deteriorating lack of it. In Chelsea’s case, it is her hearing (although sometimes it appears selective, but seriously, it is going out on her).

Are the aches and pains, the deterioration and erosion of the body’s fluidity of motion, the longer recovery times necessary after periods of excess indulgence or exertion, the wandering around aimlessly trying to remember what body part needs licking the next time I lay down (oh sorry, Chels), all an absolute part of the aging process?

Chelsea, like a lot of dogs is an obsessive licker. She’ll lick until she’s snorting exhalations like an older man running further than he should.

Since my sweetie has been gone on business, Chels and I have been doing some renewed bonding. Her back legs have weakened over time and they occasionally go out on her. Depending on how tired she is, she will wait until either Rhonda or I give her a boost back up and she’s trotting off merrily on her way.

Chelsea fans at a match against Tottenham Hots...

Chelsea fans at a match against Tottenham Hotspur, on 11 March 2006 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Depending on how tired I am, I pace myself and map out the amount of work that needs doing in any given chunk of time. Sometimes, unhealthily enough, I will engage in what an old friend once referred to as “fatigue eating.” Fatigue eating is my version of licking.

In fact, Chelsea will engage in some of her most fast and furious licking just prior to settling in to a full-bore snore.

I’ve done all of my homework and have to throw the upstairs bedding (Chels and I are hanging in the downstairs bedroom—she has her bed in here and will wake me up in the a.m. for wee wee and feeding like a good doggie alarm clock) in the dryer before crashing.

But not before doing my business one last time, sans treat of course.

Goodnight all you fellow gracefully aging people.

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Familiar, simple solutions feel most like going home

In Uncategorized on October 6, 2012 at 10:00 pm

My secure rig is an old PowerPC Mac Sawtooth G4 with a 1 GHz Sonnet processor upgrade running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8—slow by modern standards, but steady and altogether safer than many boxes out there these days.

It is perhaps the old security by obsolescence theme.

People work all their lives trying to earn enough bank in the name of security.

Then there are folks like me, who say security is relative.

We have social media.

And we have social security.

Some are frightened by the prospect of social security going away.

As a boomer it’s part of my expected funds available at retirement.

I’ve joked in the past about always needing to work and the new retirement being working until you drop.

Heck, I can be lazy and not feel like doing anything some days.

I have a KVM switch that permits convenience and allows me to get my “bold” on.

The KVM switch is a piece of hardware that affords me the ability to share a monitor, keyboard, mouse and sound system between two computers—in my case, the old Mac G4 and an eMachines T6528 PC running Windows 7.

Yes, that’s an old rig to be running Windows 7 on.

But with its 3 GB of ram and AMD processor, it actually gets the job done quite capably—I can watch the latest, greatest, anything flash-wise on the net—with no problem while still doing something else on it.

I have iTunes running on both machines.

If I’m conducting online banking, I’m on the Mac—I will eventually leave the Mac’s security for the latest version of Quicken running on a PC—most likely at some point.  After all, Quicken 2007—sadly the Mac’s latest version of Quicken, won’t be supported forever.

When writing the blog, I can go either Mac or PC, but I like the comfort and feeling the Mac provides by allowing me access to its built-in dictionary software while working in Mac Microsoft Office Word 2008.

The KVM switch definitely gives me the best of both worlds and I’ve been enjoying this setup for quite some time.

The G4 has four hard drives comprising three operating systems (including OS 9.2.2 which I rarely use anymore and one hard drive is partitioned between that classic Mac OS and OS X Tiger 10.4.11), a Time Machine 300 GB backup drive, 2 GB of ram and the aforementioned 1 GHz processor upgrade.

When I’m mobile, I have an Asus laptop running Windows 7 64 Bit.

The point in all this is that we have a stock offering of do’s and don’ts in our lives.

We go with what is familiar and comfortable.

When it comes to moving, I like paring down before doing so.

It’s becoming crunch time for me here in Colorado, as my trek to Kentucky will be undertaken in less than ten days now.

I’ve gotten rid of quite a few things in recent days bulk-wise and will continue to shed more in the next couple of days.

I’m trying a moving container solution for the few things I will be moving there—they drop off the storage unit, I pack it with my few belongings, secure it and they haul it away.

This way I’ll be driving my car across the country—much more fun than driving a moving truck and towing it; just wasn’t into it for many reasons.

We do what works best for us.

I flirted with the idea of shipping the Mac–$50-$85 by some estimates and more than the machine is actually worth. I will either pack it in the storage container or take it with me in the car—same thing for the PC. All my other computer equipment and peripherals will be packed as best I can in the container, and I will hope for the best.

At the end of the day, I’ve been very happy with the progress I’ve been making move-wise. A lot remains to be done. It is exciting, tiring, stimulating and fatiguing simultaneously.

That’s never bothered me too much, though, especially since I’ve been waiting to make this move all my life.

My machines and guitars will survive the trip, no doubt.

My clothing will make it there, too.

I pared down and am continuing to eliminate, all unnecessary items for the move across the country.

The old adage home is on my back feels apropos. When I came out here all those years ago there were no computers with me—only a guitar and some clothes tightly packed in a 1983 Toyota Corolla.

Déjà vu in geographical reverse, with a few concessions to life lived in the form of modest possessions acquired along the way stored in similarly modest fashion, has this journey feeling very much like going home.

 

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Perspective, optimism serve all ages well

In Uncategorized on September 7, 2012 at 3:35 pm

I have been in Louisville, KY this past week, experiencing its humidity (yes, I enjoy an occasional bout of high temperatures and humidity so I at least can appreciate Colorado’s wonderful weather that much more) and the warm, friendly hospitality of its locals.

People of all ages give me a friendly wave of the hand as they yield while driving or a smile when I pass them walking on the sidewalk. It can go without mentioning, but I will still say there is a lot of courtesy, manners, attentiveness and hospitality to be found here.

I was at the Buckhead Mountain Grill in Jeffersonville, IN, last night. Great place to eat and have an adult beverage or two. There was also an acoustic music duo playing out on the deck overlooking the Ohio River where we were sitting, too, making the night all the more enjoyable.

People still like eating out and although they may be doing less of it generally-speaking these days, they still appreciate being able to enjoy a good meal at a fair price. If you happen to meet new people like I did, you can appreciate what’s going on locally all that much better.

I especially enjoy speaking with young people and hearing their points of view, what’s going on in their lives and their hopes for the future.

Conversation can be more casual in a social setting like a restaurant saloon. But interestingly enough, struggles and pressures being faced by young people come out during the course of talking with them.

I feel for them in terms of what they have inherited economically-speaking.

They grew up in a world transitioning to the global economy and the move to service sector jobs in this country.

The older generation never considered what that world would look like for them.

The eight, nine, ten and eleven dollar an hour jobs they must compete for are mostly dead-end.

They hear the rhetoric of politicians and understand they are left to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Inflation marches on. Gas prices creep upwards. Cost of living increases, if you are able to get them, barely keep pace with food, rent and utility costs.

Twenty years ago, it was a no brainer to go to college and get your degree after high school.

You were pretty much assured of a job; not so much anymore.

Despite knowing the deck is very much stacked against them, young people remain largely positive and optimistic.

I wouldn’t blame them if they were angry and wanted to rebel against all that globalization has wrought.

The musicianship of the duo playing at Buckhead was excellent.

The crowd was chirpy and upbeat.

I’d hesitate to say they were “happy,” but after having 24 hours to reflect, that’s what I keep coming back to.

I struck up a conversation with a young man who had recently lost his job at a restaurant. He told me that it was tough, but he is happy, and I believed him.

He was looking forward to new opportunities. He didn’t know exactly what shape or form they might take, but it was obvious by his smile and enthusiasm, he fully believed in himself, and whatever lay ahead for him, he would make the best of it.

He made me think of myself when I was his age.

Although I did not have it figured out at that age, I was confident things would get better.

I still do not have it figured out. Some days I feel I’m struggling like a lot of people young and old in the world, but I offered to the young man that it is good to keep perspective in life. As bad as it gets sometimes, there is always someone, somewhere, someplace, whose lot in life is worse than yours right now.

Despite none of our politicians having the solution for the country’s malaise, I believe the way forward will once again ultimately be shown by our young people.

If by their sheer optimism and determination for the world to be a better place, youth is not wasted on the young.

That perspective is needed by all ages.

It is only when we toss aside our jaded, stale, unambitious ways, embracing risk and rejection we experience at attempts for a better life, that we stand a chance at seeing how anything can be better than the here and now.

 

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