45 Life Lessons

Just a little something I found while reading my e-mail this week. We've all prolly seen examples of this floating about, but this sums it up nicely:

This is something we should all read at least once a week.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

2009 NFL Cheatsheets

I've created the 2009 Cheatsheets for fantasy football which are posted at GoogleDocs. I will be updating the sheets as more data comes out of training camps and the preseason games. Download and draft well, my droogs.

BTW, the sheets are also available on Scribd if you don't like Google for some reason. Personally, I use Google for many things and see no reason to avoid it, but that's just me.

You can also read a bit about the cheatsheets on the website that I occasionally write for, FantasyGameday.

Midnight poem

Stillness

Tonight
I reflect on
Life’s currency-

a plate with orange rinds
&
a knife-
my focus now

I ask myself:
“How do you adapt?”

Ebb & flow,
ride with the tides
of daily existence.

Take comfort
where it exists
&
Provide support
as best you can.

The house resonates-
-strongly scented-
of many types of flowers
The blooms are
Beautiful…

I cannot fathom
what she feels
I try, but
my heart/mind
cannot conceive of
how the uncertainty
upsets her fragile balance.

I have no
answers-
My comforting ways
are suspect.

How I do not want to believe:
“We are all alone.”
at this particular point.

The future of waste disposal

As I watched this video (courtesy of Fried Rice Thoughts), I found myself thinking of the waste of food being committed. And also how I'd ever produce anything like 20 golfballs or 18 hotdogs that I'd need to flush.
Take a look for yourself:

null - Watch more free videos
IanCasselberry of the aforementioned Fried Rice Thoughts blog suggests that maybe this is the future of incriminating evidence disposal? Chew on that, CSI!

Running update

I finally broke a 9 minute mile. Yea me! It happened because there was a slightly faster runner on the indoor track. I passed her at the start of my run, but then she overtook me after 5 or 6 laps. I don't know why, but following a faster runner always makes me push myself, and even though she finished her run before I completed my mile and a third, I still was pleasantly surprised to see I had run the first mile in 8:54. The goal now is to improve my endurance and get up to a 5K distance by the end of April so I can start running in some races when the weather improves.
Brian is improving his endurance as well. He ran intervals on Tuesday night and I'm proud to report that he is still doing a complete weight training circuit 3-4 times a week. My weight lifting is still improving, although I still can't bench press my weight like I was able to do in my 30s. Then again, I weighed about 30 pounds less when I was in my 30s, so maybe if I can keep exercising on a regular basis, I will be able to lift the equivalent of my body mass.
With Daylight Savings Time arriving this Sunday, it should be possible to run outdoors in the evenings. Especially if the temperature warms up like the weatherman is predicting. As much as I enjoy the sheltered comfort of the Y's indoor track, it gets boring running in circles, especially since each lap is only 1/17 of a mile. I don't know how I was ever able to run 6 miles or more on that tract without going bonkers (Oh, yeah, the aerobics classes used to be held in the gym, providing a welcome visual diversion; much better than the current youth basketball classes).

Fantasy Baseball Tools

I've been experimenting with Access databases and Excel spreadsheets as tools for drafting in fantasy baseball leagues. I've created a Two-Tiered Cheatsheet, as well as a compilation of the 2009 projections from PECOTA, CHONE, Oliver and Marcel (I realize only fantasy geeks will understand the references-just be advised that these are the four main stat projection services available). I weeded out what I don't normally look at in evaluating players and kept the rest for both pitchers and hitters.

I must express my deep affection and heart-felt thanks to my wife, Lee Ann, for her assistance in setting up the database for the Projections Compilation. I may have been able to fumble the database together after a few frustrating days of work, but she made it happen in a matter of hours.

I've saved all the spreadsheets to Google Docs (what a great service!) so anyone that is interested can download them for personal use. I also put a link to the spreadsheets in my articles on Fantasy Gameday for easy access.

Over the weekend, I also put together a spreadsheet for one of my readers who plays on CBS (formerly known as CBS Sportsline). I transferred all the projections from CBS's player pages to a spreadsheet, then wrote a formula to value those players based on the league settings for the reader's league. I think I could do this for any league at this point, but I doubt I'd use the CBS projections now that I have my own Projection spreadsheet. If anyone is interested, drop me a line and I'll see what I can put together.

Projections spreadsheet
Projections webpage
Two Tiered Cheatsheet spreadsheet
Two Tiered Cheatsheet webpage

Watchmen Widget

Fantasy Baseball Information Sources

Fantasy Baseball Information Sources

1.    Fantasy Pros 911

2.    KFFL
        (good for football, too)

   3.  Mock Draft Central

   4.  CouchManagers

   5.  RotoTimes


   6.  RotoWorld


   7.  Sports Grumblings


   8.  Sport Fanatics


   9.  Crooked Pitch


10.    ESPN

      (Eric Karabell’s blog especially)


11.    CBS Sports

      (good basic cheatsheets)

In honor of Valentine's Day (tomorrow)

Poke My Birthday Enter your birthday and let's surprise you! Month January February March April May June July August September October November December

Your First Name:

Shaping Up

So, my youngest son had been bugging me to use our Y membership for a few months. I decided that his idea was worthwhile and we've been going to exercise 3 nights a week and on weekend afternoons. I was surprised that I could still run a mile without pause, altho' my first efforts were not real running, more like jogging. I used to get upset when I was running 10Ks at a sub 7 minute a mile clip and people would remark, "Oh, so you're a jogger, huh?"
"No," I'd patiently respond, "I run. Anything under 8 minutes a mile is running."
Yeah, pretty humbling to trudge along so slow now. I am happy to announce, however, that I can now approach a 9 minute mile pace, and last night was able to run an extra 3 laps at a 31 second pace (the indoor track at the Y takes 17 laps to make a mile).
I haven't overdone the weight lifting this time, either, and haven't felt that horrible pain in all my muscles 24 hours after a lifting session.
Brian is extremely interested in continuing our sessions, although he balks at the concept of disrobing in the open of the men's locker room, and doesn't appreciate the sauna the way I do after an exercise session. We both like to unwind in the whirlpool after finishing our workouts.
Brian and I even played a bit of racquetball last Sunday, but I realized early on that I had forgotten some of the rules (I've since refreshed my memory). I suspect it will take him a bit of practice to be competitive with even me, but so long as he is willing, I'll reserve a court every weekend and we'll bang the ball around for a half hour or so.
My goal is to run a local 5K race this spring (I'm thinking May would be a good time, but April is a possibility) and not totally embarrass myself by finishing last. I have 2 months to build up my endurance and lungs after about 8 years of basically sedentary living.

What Makes a Great Steakhouse

Here's a great post from Adam D. Robert's The Amateur Gourmet website. Since I am going to Michael Symon's new restaurant in the refurbished Book-Cadillac Hotel, Roast, in mid-March, it fits in nicely with my new-found desire to start updating this beast more often than once or twice a year.

VGT's The Omnivore's 100

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I count only 27 items I haven't tried, and several of those will never pass my lips. Others I will certainly make an effort to taste before I take the dirt nap.
You can find the website Very Good Taste if you click the link.

Codes to have this game on your page HERE!

My chances of surviving a Zombie Apocalypse

49%

Looking for x-ray technician schools?

Paris photo

For those who appreciate The City of Light:

My Personal DNA Report

My Personal Dna Report

bLaugh.com for Sunday, January 28, 2007

I joined another new RPG game. If you would like to take a look, here is a link:
Battle Dawn



For every visitor, I get additional resources for my colony, so click away. Thanks.