Weight loss update

It's been a long time since I posted an update. I keep meaning to, but then another day an another day goes by and now faced with so much lapsed time I'm asking myself if I really want to do the wok necessary to get caught up - and I've decided I don't - that it's not th best use of my time.

There's no evidence that it helped me stay accountable to post and no evidence that being so open about my own weight loss has helped anyone else, so I think it was jus clutter in the archives of this blog.

That said, things are coming along well - I'm down to 150.4 as of this morning - 5.4 pounds from goal and highly motivated to get there. I've gotten out of the habit of snacking late at night while exercising and I'm drinking a lot more water now (I'm addicted to the carbonated flavored waters). I am also mentally preparing for the need to replace most of my wardrobe - I've reached the point where stuff is just to big to the point of looking bad or becoming difficult to wear - like pants - so much bunched material at waistline that it's annoying/uncomfortable.

So I am going to donate a lot to charity with the goal of keeping a much smaller set of coordinating clothes. That should lend to simplicity and allow me to be more consistent in my presentation and mean less laundry - not Steve Jobsian with a single outfit uniform, but a narrow enough set that it becomes my "style".

I am apprehensive because that will involve some cost and some research (because this is not my strong suit heh) and probably also maintaining a wish list so people who like buying me clothes don't risk buying me something that I'll immediately return or donate.

But yeah, I like the idea of a consistency or predictability, my own personal style guide for fashion, if you will.

I am also anxious about the idea that this could make shopping more unbearable because I'm money-conscious. I guess I need to finish my personal vision/mission process so i can use it to help inform.

Resolved: I Will Learn to Tie a Tie

This is sad, but I don't know how to tie a tie. I've tied a few, but most of the ties I own have been tied by other people. When I take them off, I just hang them up, still tied. It's convenient, but it's a pain when I receive a new tie and then I have to wait to wear it until I can temporarily re-learn.

So I will learn it well this time so that it sticks.

Resolved: I will Dress for Success.

Last year, I complained about our new dress code.   More accurately, the dress code hasn't changed, our department's director has just encouraged us to disobey the dress code.   I was unhappy about that... I like dressing nice, I think I look good, I like the way I'm treated when I make the effort and I subscribe to the idea that if you hold someone to a higher standard in one area, like "dress professionally" it leads to them thinking about those words and applying them to other parts of their work.

So, this year, more ties.  More professional.  More class.  You can wear your jeans and your tennis shoes. It'll just make me stand out more.

Odds and Ends 78

Ten articles from the internet that I found interesting today...

1. LAST PERSON BLOGGING -- Clearly, I Need to Make More Time for Baking

2. GAWKER -- The Internet Has Killed Cooks Source - crime doesn't pay. I'm not sympathetic.

3. INHABIT -- New Window Changes Tint Automatically When it Gets Hot

4. FAIL BLOG -- Oddly Specific: Weapons - ha

5. ENGADGET -- AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon announce Isis national mobile commerce network

6. CROSSCUT -- Paris fashion tops Seattle's, but the reason might surprise you

7.CNET NEWS -- Powering San Francisco's cable cars - cool photo album

8. BASIC INSTRUCTIONS -- How to Solve an Intractable Social Issue

9. MSNBC -- Pastor to church leaders: Thou shalt not Facebook

10. MASHABLE -- Google Unveils Hotpot, a Recommendation Engine for Places

Odds and Ends 59

-1-

INHABIT -- Skylifter Balloon Can Lift Entire Buildings and Put ‘Em Down Gently - too bad we're going to be completely out of helium soon

-2-

CROSSCUT -- Giving time instead of doing time, offenders save the city $65,000 - misleading headline. One project saved was $65k. Overall, program seems to have saved $2mil.

-3-

FACEBOOK -- More Ways to Stay Secure

-4-

ANTHROPOLOGIE -- Street Scene - Not a site I regularly visit, but one of the blogs I read mentioned the interesting way they're showcasing some clothes and I agree. Kinda neat.

-5-

SMITH FAMILY JOURNEY -- A Smack in the Face (In a Good Way)

-6-

GOOGLE -- The Wind Cries Transmission - explanation of the offshore mid-Atlantic wind farm that Google's investing in

-7-

ENGADGET -- Television networks block Google TV from accessing web-based content - old media still doesn't get it.

-8-10- Videos after the break... a parkour dog, a boxing cat and volunteer MP3 drones...

A Thing a Day 2

Day 2 - Six t-shirts

I have a pretty easy wardrobe.  One of the foundational pieces is a simple t-shirt, almost always accompanied by an overshirt.  There are three types of t-shirts: black, non-black, and non-blank.

I have never owned too many "non-blank" t-shirts -- company logos, sports teams, humorous or whatever. It's very, very, very rare that I would wear one of these to work.  They are mostly for hanging out around the house or sleeping.

Non-black (other colors and the occasional white) used to be the group I had the most of.  I would mix and match them with complementary overshirts or sweaters.  (Patterned, hawaiian or plain.)

Over time, I have moved to mostly black t-shirts.  They go with anything and they take less work to decide if they match or not.

Caz

We had a re-org last fall and to many people's excitement, we were encouraged to start dressing more casually on days other than the company-sanctioned Friday.

Our group is a highly technical subset of the organization.  So much so that while the organization as a whole is as much as 80% female, our group is probably at least 80% male.

From the outset, I was a little bummed by the decision and haven't been able to fully embrace the dress code.   But it's bugged me because I want to be a team player, so I've been thinking about why I was finding it so difficult.

In the very beginning, it was practicality - I only owned two pairs of jeans and one of them had paint on them.  Lori's since gotten me two new pairs of jeans and I got a pair of cargo pants for when I was working back of house on a stage show at church and needed lots of pockets.

Second, my idea of casual probably wouldn't go over too well.  My family will tell you that there are some things that just are.  One, when I get home from work, I immediately change into shorts.  I don't think they want me wearing shorts here.  I'm not sure their idea of casual is casual enough.  The flip side, a short funny story... a few Sundays ago I was getting dressed and I hadn't yet rolled up the sleeves on my dress shirt.  Rachel did a double-take and then looked at me really puzzled and asked why I had my sleeves rolled down, it was something she really wasn't used to seeing.

Next, it was one of respect.  I read recently that in uncertainty, people cling to rules.  I've always been a very black and white person.  To my detriment in some cases.  But, as an organization, we've been instructed to dress in a certain manner.  So do I accept the suggestion from my group or the rules of the organization?  Apparently in this particular case, both are OK, even though they are in conflict and it's not a case where I can embrace the and.  Am I trading short-term collateral for perceived long-term that may not be noticed?  Not sure, but I think it is being noticed and I think my coworkers, even if the disapprove of my dress code, realize that I'm a useful person to have around so they'll tolerate my slacks and my dress shirts with collars, my semi-nice black shoes and my ties.

And then there's comfort.  I find a good pair of dress pants made of a high quality, breathable fabric far more comfortable than a pair of jeans.

And maybe even courtesy and ego.  I believe that I can do great work and look good doing it.  And I feel I look pretty good in nice clothes.  If I learned nothing from all those episodes of What Not To Wear that I watched with Lori back before we had kids and could just sit around watching TV all Saturday afternoon - a properly fit article of nice clothing can make anyone look better.  Even a guy like me who's about eight cans short of a six-pack.  And I get far more "good mornings" from the staff (male and female, outside our group) when I wear a tie.   The women here seem to dress to a nicer level than the guys across the board.  So it's almost as if they appreciate when they see someone wearing a tie.

And then lastly, the whole idea of dressing for success or faking it until you make it.  If everyone else dresses casually and I dress nice, there's a multiplier effect there and they're just making me look even better.  And I believe that this is paying me dividends already.  I believe that I command respect and people seek out my opinion and advice and that in some small part, it's the confidence I get from being able to dress nicely.

When I look good, I feel good.  And when I feel good, I feel confident.  And when I feel confident, I rock.  So, let's rock.

Who Ate My Pocket?

Who Ate My Pocket?

I've been noticing a disturbing trend lately and discussions with my colleague confirms it: dress shirts are more and more commonly not containing pockets.

I don't know if it's a style thing, a perception that no one needs them anymore, or if it's the Wal*Mart effect - as prices race towards zero, the extra scrap of fabric and time spent sewing it on is money. At $38 for your average shirt with 600,000 little pins holding it oh so perfect, not to mention about 3 pounds of cardboard, plastic and tissue paper, I'd like to think that they can afford to sew on a pocket.

But me, I need my pocket. Occasionally, I will keep a kleenex in it. But more commonly, that's where I keep my Bluetooth headset. (I don't like wearing it around constantly. I feel like, well, you know how people who wear them constantly are ridiculed.)

And when I'm cleaning up around the house, I might put a found tiny child's toy there temporarily to make sure Ben doesn't find it and put it in his mouth.

Occasionally my phone or a credit or security card if I'm using it a lot in a short amount of time.

But mostly the Bluetooth. (A new coworker once saw the blue blink a few times while talking to me and thought I had a heart monitor. I told him that you never wanted to see it go red.)

So, yeah, shirt makers of the world - bring back the pocket!

pureevilbluepants

Argh. Was absolutely sure I had a pair of black pants in my hand. Get out of my car at work and I'm wearing dark blue pants. And a black sweater. Ruins the entire look. Does look far better with black dress shoes than the sneakers I was wearing at the time. And granted, I could pick out my clothes the night before when I have light to work with. But I think the easiest solution is to charitize all of my blue pants and buy a few more pairs of black pants. From now on, only black and shades of khak. No more impostor blue pants. Yeah, sure, this is a dumb worthless post better for my MySpace blog, but it's too early in the morning to be on myspace with all its tacky advertising and time-out errors.