Category: Life

Home Sweet Homestead

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date May 9, 2019

I’m back from vacation ! My 6-day / 590-mile / 14-county Florida road-trip has come to a close. My trek started in deep South Miami-Dade County (where my home is), and it continued northward through Broward, Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, Highlands, and Polk Counties, westward into Hillsborough County (Tampa), southward through Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties, and then back into Miami-Dade County. I also came within a few feet of touching (mainland) Monroe County for a second.

It was a fun trip. I saw a couple of current movies, I did a little bit of shopping (didn’t buy anything), I ate a lot of good food, I walked over 60,000 steps (to burn-off that good food), I did a lot of sightseeing, I visited some historical museums and animal-based tourist attractions, I went to two Christian music concerts, and I spent a lot of time at the beach.

I saw and I did things that I had never seen or done before in my life. This was a classic vacation. I get to spend the near future reminiscing about the times I enjoyed via the 140+ photos and 1 video I captured during all of the fun.

The 1 video I captured is a spectacular 3½-minute video of this past Tuesday night’s sunset on Venice Beach Florida. The video captures the 3 minutes leading up to the sun dropping below the horizon at sea as well as the 30 seconds right after that moment. I intended to post that video in its entirety here on my blog, but I realized that I can’t upload videos on here with my current WordPress plan. The video is also about 1:10 too long for Twitter, so I’ll have to figure out how to trim it down to 2:20 for Twitter.

In the meantime here’s Monday night’s sunset at 8:05 PM EDT on Venice Beach.

Sunset

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets – the name of the LORD is to be praised. (Psalm 113:3 NIV)

Food Health Life

Annual Wellness Check

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 25, 2019

WELCOME to an all-new weekend here on my blog. I post new blog entries on Thursday mornings, Friday nights, Sunday afternoons, and Monday nights (U.S. East Coast time). My Thursday morning blog is a free-for-all. I usually have no idea what I’ll be blogging about until I let my fingers hit the keyboard of my traditional desktop computer system. Let’s see how this goes.

Last week I had labwork done at my doctor’s office as part of an annual wellness check. I guess that’s the fancy new millennial term for “annual physical”. The labwork included blood and urine (not holding anything back here), and it checked for lots of various conditions. Today I got the results. Here’s a synopsis:

Cologuard should be arriving soon at my front doorstep in a nice white box. You may have seen their commercials on TV. Basically it’s my very first colon check – done at home. (I’m 52, and I’m somewhat overdue.) I won’t explain Cologuard here in this blog post, for some of you may be eating right now. The TV commercial does a pretty good job at that. There’s also an excellent YouTube video of the process – and it’s rather graphic.

My LDL (bad) cholesterol was a bit high – 110. That’s the highest it’s been since 2012. My triglycerides were also high – 128. That’s the highest ever recorded. My total cholesterol was 188 – the highest since 2012. My doctor told me to double my current intake of Atorvastatin (10 mg.) from every other day to every day. Fantastic. No more guessing as to whether or not any given day is an “Atorvastatin Day”. I’ll also be doubling my intake of Vitamin D (1,000 IU) from every other day to every day.

My glucose (blood sugar level) came in high at exactly 100. It should be between 65 and 99. A 100 indicates “prediabetes” which I’ve had for at least the past decade. My hemoglobin A1C has ranged from 5.5 to 6.1 for the past decade (at least). This time it was right in the middle of that range at 5.8. I need to lose weight. My weight in the mid-180s is about 20 pounds too much for my height. I should weigh about 165. I really need to eat less, eat smaller meals, and eat more nutritious foods in my smaller meals. I personally think that 165 pounds is too light. I’d be ecstatic to drop to 175 pounds instead. My diet really needs to change.

Oh yeah ! – There’s one final anomaly. My liver enzymes are elevated. My “ALT” (Alanine Aminotransferase) is above the recommended level for the 3RD time in less than a year. My doctor told me to go to the local diagnostics center to get an ultrasound done of my liver. (I don’t think I’ve ever had an ultrasound done of anything.)

So there you go. That’s what I’m dealing with here towards the end of April of 2019 – just a little over a month shy of my 52ND birthday. I need to eat better (more fruits and vegetables) – and exercise more. Oh yeah ! – Black coffee is apparently good for me in many different ways, so I should continue on with that.

This week of April marks 11 years since I quit smoking cigarettes. (I started at a very early age.) I quit drinking alcohol almost exactly 11½ years ago. Both habits came to an end forever during my 2ND year of salvation. Jesus saves.

What’s for Lunch tomorrow ?

Life

Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 4, 2019

2 weeks ago I presented my Mini-Thoughts in 15 words or less. It worked out pretty good, so let’s do it again:

We had a late-season cold front move through South Florida yesterday.
We eked-out an afternoon high of 82°F.
It was very windy yesterday with gusts over 25 MPH inland.
We’re getting closer to our 5-month rainy season.
It starts on May 15TH and continues until October 15TH.
During those 5 months we get about 70% of our annual rainfall.
That’s usually about 4 to 5 feet (48 to 60 inches) of rain in 5 months.
It’s also mosquito season.
Depending on how I feel this Saturday morning when I awake I may walk.
This has been another inactive year for my dry season walks at the park.
I thought last season was pretty bad when I only walked 15.12 miles.
This season I’ve only walked 10.13 miles.
If I walk this Saturday morning I’ll try for 3 miles.
I typically walk a mile in 17½ minutes.
So I need to walk for at least 52½ minutes.
Queue my Fitbit !
This is Wrestlemania Weekend !
That’s right – I’m a big fan of the WWE.
I’ve been a fan since June of 2001.
Don’t judge.
This week is my 8TH Anniversary on Flickr.
It’s been an active past 4 months on Flickr.
I’ve uploaded and captioned over 180 new photos.
I hope to continue this activity this month.
My last 5 photos uploaded are always visible here on this web site.
They appear right below my last 5 tweets.
I drove 491 miles in March.
That was more than last August, September, October, and November.
Not sure I’ll beat that 491 miles in April.
I know I will in May.
I’m going on a 6-day road-trip that will total over 600 miles.
When this post goes LIVE I hope to be asleep.
That’s because this post goes LIVE at 3 AM U.S. East Coast time.
I should not be awake at 3 AM.
Thank You for reading these Mini-Thoughts.
I’ll probably do it again in a few weeks.
It’s a great post to write spontaneously when I have no other ideas.

Life

Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date March 21, 2019

Once upon a time during the early years of this blog one of my weekly features was the “Thursday Night Mini-Thoughts”. It’s where I got spontaneous, and I typed thoughts directly from my mind onto my keyboard in 15 words or less. I did 69 editions of these Mini-Thoughts from early-2009 to mid-2010, and it was a lot of fun while it lasted. I don’t plan to bring it back as a regular weekly feature, but here goes the 70TH edition:

It’s Spring y’all !
It began last night at 5:58 PM EDT.
The Sun is on our side of the Equator now !
It’s actually “chilly” here in South Florida.
We could feel wind chills in the upper-40s on Friday and Saturday mornings !
We may not even hit 80°F on Friday and Saturday !
I feel like going out and doing something fun out in the sun this Saturday.
I may visit the Fruit & Spice Park a few miles away.
It’s been almost 4 years since my last visit.
It’s a fun place to walk around and enjoy nature.
I’ll also take a narrated tram tour through the fruits and spices. #FreeSamples
If I get the call to preach this Sunday then those plans are out the window.
My brackets are busted.
Actually I have no idea how to fill out brackets for March Madness.
I also don’t watch or know much about College Basketball.
I’m a lifelong fan of the NFL.
It’s still a little over 4 months until NFL Preseason begins.
“Dr. Pimple Popper” is one of the top shows on TLC.
It’s on the same night / same time as “Toe Bro” – a doctor that works on toes.
There’s a lot of weird reality shows on cable TV nowadays.
I avoid most of them.
I do have a new Sunday night addiction though.
I watch the entire HGTV line-up of couples seeking and buying beach homes.
I’m looking to buy my retirement home in a few years.
It’ll be in Central Florida, but it won’t be at or near the beach.
It may be along the shores of a large lake though.
I need to find and see a dermatologist.
I’ve had red splotches on my face for the better part of the past year now.
It’s not really itchy, but it’s a bit unsightly.
Maybe I’m allergic to the bar soap that I use.
I may stop washing my face in the shower to see if it improves.
Well there you go – my “Mini-Thoughts” for this weekend.
I enjoyed doing this.
Maybe I’ll do it again next month.
This blog post goes online at 3 AM EDT (U.S. East Coast) on Thursday.
Thanks for making it through all 36 of these “Mini-Thoughts” !