montanaliving

I really have not been neglecting this blog, its just that my laptop is no longer connecting to the wireless signal.  It is not like it just happened, but I didn’t do anything to cause it to act up in this way.  I use an older laptop that does not have a wireless card installed inside, so I use a Belkin USB wireless card.  I have not have had any trouble with it, but since it gets moved and bumped quite a bit the piece was a little bent at the USB connection.  I decided to purchase a new card before the current one decided to break.  I bought another Belkin card, and since it has been a few years, it was an updated model.  I attached the card, the computer told me I needed new drivers, so with the tiny little bit of computer knowledge I posses, I removed the card… went into add/remove programs and deleted the old Belkin program, then inserted the new CD, followed the directions to install… attached the wireless card…then….Pretty Much Nothing!! ARRGH!  The card and computer were “seeing” the wireless network with full bars of signal.  Click on connect… nothing… NADA!  Won’t connect.

Since the wireless network I use is in Great Falls, and home is in Helena…and of course I left all of the old Belkin equipment at home… I have been unable to see if it will work if I re-install the old program and use the old card.  I plan on doing that tonight, or just bring all the crap here to work and re-install tomorrow.  If I am back to regular postings, you will know it worked.  If you don’t see me for awhile, then it is obvious it didn’t!– Wish me luck!

Sometimes I wonder if all the technology we have these days is really worth the headaches it all gives us! 

I added my other blog to a blog-roll site, so I thought I would add this one, too.  I had quite a number of new visitors to my blogspot page, so may as well try to up my visitor stats here, too.

The site is http://condron.us/
It is pretty cool to check out.  Condron.net shows a random blog from their collection for a few minutes.  You can change the speed, or stop the random generator when you see something you like.  it is a good way to kill some free time.  There are writers out there covering all subjects!  I was flashed blogs about “the perfect ladies dress shoe”,  a diamond ring up for auction, someone going through a divorce, someone else found a new love, a trip to Disneyland, a homemaker, and various others.  You should go and check it out. 

It seems that I typed up a post for yesterday, but when I tried to post it, this site took me to the sign-in page, losing everything I had just typed up. Grrrr!  Sometimes I really hate electronics and all the internet stuff!

I  haven’t been “on the ball” so to speak on this blog.  I actually keep one up on another site, and I write on that on much more often.   I have a handful of followers who start e-mailing me if I start to lag… nothing like a kick in the ass to get me going again!

Now on to the regularly scheduled post for today:

I, like SO many other people the world over, started a diet and a promise to myself to eat better, exercise more, and in general get myself healthier.  It is now January 15th, and I have to say I am not doing too bad!  I have had a few slip-ups, but years of bad habits are hard to break.  The biggest change I made is eating breakfast.  Sometimes it is only a meal replacement bar (Special K) or drink, other mornings I have a bowl of Special K cereal.  I don’t know if I feel better, or if my metabolism is “jump started” by eating a breakfast or not.  I do know that I used to start my day with a Mountain Dew for the caffeine kick, and now I don’t seem to need it.  In fact, I have cut all daily caffeine drinks out of my diet.  I have had a few sodas in the past 15 days, but not the two or three a day like I was doing.  Last Saturday I made a pot of Hazelnut coffee and drank 3 cups during the morning.  I didn’t get jittery, but I could feel the kick for most of the day…in fact, I had a bit of trouble falling asleep that night.  It is amazing how long the stuff stays in your system.  I have been a soda drinker for many years, and I was raised drinking home brewed iced tea, so my body became SO used to the effects of caffeine that I could drink tea, coffee, or soda right before bed and it wouldn’t affect me.  Now that I have cut WAY back (almost totally), my body has become sensitive to the drug.

Back to the diet… If I become hungry before lunch, I drink a South Beach “meal on the go”.  It is a packet of dry drink mix, but it has protein and fiber.  All with only 40 calories.  Not bad for a snack!  Lunch has been those little pre-packaged tuna lunch packs.  Sure, they cost a bit more than a can of tuna and a box of crackers, but the portion size packaging is a life saver.  Some afternoons I tend to need a snack, with a craving for something sweet.  I bought 100 calorie packs of Twinkies, and popcorn (kettle corn flavor).  I drink water, or flavored vitamin water throughout the day, too.  All sounds well and good, huh?  Then there is DINNER!  UGH!  This is where I tend to fall off the boat.  Many days I do OK, but lately I have been tempted.  Monday night I  had to do some errands in town, it was after 8pm and I was starving.  I opted for a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy’s.  I didn’t get fries or a soda, just the burger and a water.  Ohhhh, it was SOooo good!  Yeah, it was a slip, but hey, I didn’t go all out and get a huge double burger (1/2 lb of beef)!  I was amazed that the little burger actually filled me up and I didn’t need any other food later.  Notice I said “need”.  A friend of ours had made Neslte bar cookies on Sunday and sent some to my house.  I walked by those cookies all evening, finally giving in.  So much for will power! LOL

Last night (Tuesday) is my only TV night.  Joe and I plan for an evening “in” sitting in front of the telly watching NCIS, The Mentalist, Without A Trace, the local news, then if we are awake enough, Letterman and Craig Fergusen.  This has traditionally been Pizza and hot wings night.  Since many nutritionists say everyone needs a “free” day (just don’t go overboard), so we have decided to eat healthy all day, then order a pizza…trying to stay away from the really greasy toppings.  We have been doing pretty good at this, and lately we don’t even finish the pizza.

All in all, I think we are doing fairly OK with the diet thing.  I have lost three pounds, so far, but I don’t measure success until I hit the five pound mark.  If I can counteract my weightloss with a few glasses of water I can’t allow myself the satisfaction of thinking I have lost a few pounds.  Maybe in another 15 days I will have lost enough to actually have made a difference. 

Did you ever have one of those nights when you just can’t sleep?  I had one of those last night.  I tossed and turned, then read a it, tossed and turned some more, read a bit more, tossed and turned… I saw 5am arrive and I should have just got out of bed, showered, and started my day.  Instead, I managed to fall asleep only to have my alarm wake me up at 7am.  Needless to say, I didn’t want to wake up!  I finally got myself out of bed about 8.  Good thing I didn’t have to be to work until 10 (but I did show up 10 minutes late).  Remember, I did have to drive 83 miles from home to work though.

The drive this morning was beautiful.  We have had two days of very nice (40’s) weather and it is melting away all the snow we received last week.  The roads were clear, the sun was shining, and I was even buzzed by a bald eagle.  It is now almost 5:30 pm, dark, and the evening has chilled quite a bit.  The weather service is saying we should expect lower temperatures tonight and tomorrow, with a pretty good chance of snow.  Hey!  It’s winter!  What else should we expect?

I have a half hour left of work, then I am heading to my hidey-hole here in Great Falls and fall into a warm, comfy bed.  Oh yeah, I guess I should eat something… maybe a bowl of chili or cereal?  Maybe just a cereal bar, quick and easy… then off to catch those 40 winks I missed out on last night.

There isn’t much to talk about today.  Work has been pretty busy, but we have had mostly decent folks in so I can’t complain there.  The weather leaves no complaints…. highs in the upper 40’s, lows will be in the high 30’s, so no freezing roads.  No phone calls from… hmm… from anyone, so there is no anger to vent, nor love to share.  Today has been one of those mediocar days that blend into oblivion.

I guess the only reason I am posting here is to prove today even existed!  We all have days like this, where nothing at all of any consequence happened.  I do still have to drive to Helena tonight, but I hope my evening continues to be uneventful in that regard!  The deer can stay in the fields and forests, the bad drivers can be either ahead of me or pulled over by a cop behind me, and the highways are hopefully dry (ok, wet is alright, too.  Just no ice or slush!).

The diet is going good, too.  Had a Clementine and vitamin water for breakfast, tuna salad on crackers for lunch, and a 100 calorie pack of Twinkies for a snack.  I’m dying for a Blizzard from Dairy Queen… good thing they are closed in Helena until mid Feb. 

It’s a strange, strange world out there! I was surfing the news and realized that there are some very odd people. Case in point– In one story, an Australian woman doused her sleeping husbands genitals in a flammable alcohol substance because he had been caught looking at another woman. She then set him on fire, claiming his penis belonged “Only to her”. Unfortunately, the man has died from his injuries. BUT STILL!! What was this woman thinking?? If she burned his family pride, what use would it be to her later (had he lived)? With third degree burns in that area, would he even be able to have functioned in a normal husband-ry way? Would he ever had wanted it to work in that way with her?? I know I wouldn’t want to have relations with someone who burned my private area….
And another one, in Ohio… a six year old shot his teenaged babysitter because the babysitter stepped on the child’s foot. What parent in their right mind would leave a loaded shotgun within reach of a six year old?? And the fact that the child knew enough of the workings of that gun to be able to shoot someone with it! I think the parents should be brought up on child endangerment charges. What if the kid had had a disagreement with his best friend? Another child who may not have known the danger of the loaded gun. At least the teen was aware of the danger and escaped with minor injuries. That is one story that could have ended up much, much worse.
Ok, my rant will be complete with this one… Another six year old missed his school bus, took the family car keys and tried to drive himself to school. The account said his mother was asleep at the time and didn’t know he had taken the car. How does a six year old get up for school, eat breakfast, get dressed, and make it to the bus when mama is sleeping through it all? What the Hell?? There are some people who really shouldn’t be allowed to have children. That is all I have to say about that.

The new year…. 2009……. whoopie!  Yep, there, I said it.  What is the big deal?  The weather is still the same as it was last week.  My arthritic bones still hurt as much as they did last year.  My job is still here (thankfully), but it is still the same.

I am not expecting anything great to happen in the coming year, just like nothing extra-ordinary happened last year.  Just the normal ups and downs of everyday life.  I read on another’s blog where he boiled the expectation of the new year down to people wanting a time to “turn a new leaf”, or a day set aside to “make a change”.   Do we really need a January First to do something to change our lives?  Why can’t it be March Eighth or August Tenth? Can’t we just decide we want to do something different, or better, or whatever no matter what the day?  Of course we can.  Do we?  Not usually.  The magic of the changing year, the flipping of the calendar page, that is a catalyst for many a human.  I am not going to try to explain something I do not understand.  ALSO, I do not expect anyone to try to explain the phenomenon to me. 

With all that said… I did choose to try and live a healthier lifestyle during the coming year.  Why did I choose January to change?  Because of human nature, peer pressure from all the millions of others who chose as I did, and all the great sales on all the healthy stuff!