Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: General Cogitation Page 15 of 40

Are You Declaring 2016 Intentions Or Resolutions?

By

On January 5, 2016

In General Cogitation

Happy New Year!!!

fireworks_HIDid you make the proverbial resolution again this year? I did not. I haven’t declared any New Years resolutions for quite a while. Typically they have simply been broken promises to myself. I emit enough hot air, why exacerbate it more with hollow declarations.

“Because New Year’s resolutions, as most people think of them, are hollow” – Nerd Fitness

A new concept seemed to emerge this year, however, where some folks are declaring “intentions” instead of the boring resolutions. I guess if you say “I intend to lose weight” it gives you an escape clause when you fail to do so, whereas “I will exercise more” and not committing to it might feel like an even greater failure.

bg_fireworkI prefer to set goals for myself. Last year I wanted to complete a walk challenge and I’m going to do that again this year. At first the concept of setting “intentions instead of resolutions” seemed intriguing, but the more I thought of it setting an intention is actually more flimsy than a resolution. After all, if you are setting a resolution then you should be resolute about fulfilling it.

Regardless of your resolve or intentions, I hope everyone has a great 2016. I suspect that I will be making a change this year; I can’t say for sure what nor when it will happen. Recent evaluations have left me thinking about potentially making a change, but don’t worry, it won’t negatively affect any of my family or friends.

/cheers

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

By

On December 17, 2015

In General Cogitation

A Very Merry Christmas You Will HaveAs we sit on the brink of one of the most epic movie releases of the new millennium (falcon) and Christmas just around the corner I don’t know how busy things will become for me as I prepare my family for my favorite holiday. I wanted to make sure that I get a post out wishing all my family, friends and readers (the few of you there are, if any) a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!If you’re Jewish then I wish you a VERY HAPPY HANUKKAH!!!

I hope Santa Yoda brings you and your families all that you desire! If you only see Star Wars once or a dozen times, please be considerate of other folks who may not have the same opportunities you have and spoil it for them. I have already heard stories of cretinous trolls posting spoilers on social media because they know some people have to check their Facebook page every 12 seconds. I’m not one of those people as I could go all day without checking any social media webpage, but I will likely be too busy over the next 10 days to pay much attention to Facebook and/or Twitter. Besides it’s not really spoilers that I’m worried about as I am about finding out how many people will have seen the movie before I do (I’m not going to have a 3-hour window available between now and the weekend following Christmas). Be that as it may just show some respect for your fellow Star Wars fan! #DontBeAHomer

So with all that said, we will see you all on the other side of Christmas!

/cheers

I Have Saved Middle Earth!

By

On December 2, 2015

In General Cogitation

Destroyed the ring and saved Middle EarthWhat began in January of this year, has finally come to an end. It took me 11 months and 2 days to finally walk the distance Frodo walked from Bag End to destroy “The One Ring” in Mordor. 1,779 miles, which is approximately 3,543,997 steps! My Walk to Mordor challenge is finally over (and I did it better than Frodo because I still have all ten of my fingers)! I think next year I will try for the extra 1,625 miles, which is essentially from Minas Tirith back to Bag End, so I guess I will have to update my little calculator on my website to include those milestones. Since I got a bit of a late start this year and I didn’t start exercising consistently in the mornings until July, I think I have a pretty good shot at completing the extra distance.

So 1,779 miles is the hypothetical distance between Bag End and the point inside Mount Doom when Frodo destroyed the ring. I’m sure most of you, like me, probably can’t fully appreciate that distance in terms of two fictional locations, so I did some research to find some actual locations. I used the map coordinates of Cincinnati as my starting point and I picked the more interesting locations and points of interest that would be within that distance. So, after having walked 1,779 miles, I could have essentially walked from Cincinnati to …

[table]
Location,Distance,Direction
El Salvador – San Salvador,1772 miles,South
Canada – Nunavut – Coral Harbour,1731 miles,North
Canada – Alberta,1689 miles,Northwest
Dominican Republic – Santo Domingo,1669 miles,Southeast
Phoenix – Arizona,1581 miles,West
[/table]

There are several more locations that are within that distance, but I just picked a few to give the distance some perspective. I found the following website to find these distances. http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distances.html?n=414. I don’t have any reason to question if the calculations on this site are legitimate so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Anyway, since I am going to do this again next year, who will be brave enough to do it with me?? I can add you to my calculator to help you keep track of your progress if you like. Frodo didn’t do it alone, so why should I!

/cheers

Turkey Holiday 2015

By

On November 30, 2015

In General Cogitation

florida-houseIt’s been a while since I have posted something. It wasn’t from a lack of subject matter (which has often given me writer’s block in the past). No, this time it was warm climates and crashing waves. I spent another Thanksgiving along the shores of southern Florida. I’m not a beach person. As far as I’m concerned silicon belongs in circuit boards, not stuck between my toes and in the crevasses of my feet (I’ll let that visual sink in).

I was in Fort Lauderdale last week, staying in the house pictured above. While the beach was, literally, across the street, I only visited it once. Actually, probably one of the best highlights from the trip was spending 3 hours in Sun Life Stadium. Granted the Dolphins lost that game, but watching a game in the home stadium has long been a bucket list item for me. I mean, how often can you cross off a bucket list item?

Everyday it was in the mid-70’s and a hot tub was just beyond the door, which I did use quite often last week. In fact my post-Thankgiving meal activity was sitting in the hot tub (before watching the Bears and Packers game). A steaming, bubbling hot tub is very cathartic both mentally and physically.

Despite the warm climate, after a week I did long for home. I don’t mind vacationing in Florida, but I don’t think its a place where I could live. I don’t mind the seasonal weather changes that marks the passage of time. After a week, sleeping in your own bed sounds just as refreshing as a Florida vacation sounded prior to leaving for vacation. So I’m back in chilly Ohio, ready to get back to work.

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving too, no matter where you celebrated it.

/cheers

Meeting Your Fitness Goals

By

On November 17, 2015

In General Cogitation

Meet Your Fitness Goals (or you're a girlie man)Rarely have I ever set a fitness goal at the beginning of the year and actually met that goal, but it looks like that is about to change. I’ve talked a lot over the past 10 months about the Walk to Mordor fitness challenge and, as of the writing of this post, I am less than 100 miles away from completing it (currently at 1,696 miles); 1,779 miles walked within a calendar year and I have until December 31st to get there. I am going to do the challenge again next year and hopefully improve how far I go to eventually attempt the other half of the challenge (… And Back Again, which adds another 1,625 miles which is the approximate distance from Minas Tirith to Bag End). I think next year someone should join me! Frodo didn’t do it alone!!!

I also set another goal late this past summer. I started at a client in mid-to-late July, and I had just started a morning exercise routine. I decided that I was going to work out every week day morning (starting around 5am) until I take vacation the week of Thanksgiving. I am 3 days away from achieving that goal. Granted I may have missed one or two days since July because of illness or complete and utter exhaustion, but I’m proud to say that I did it! During the week of Thanksgiving I am going to take some much-needed time to rest and tell myself that I have earned a week of sleeping in the mornings instead of getting up to work out. Of course my body is trained to do that so unlearning it for only a week will be the biggest challenge (especially come Monday the 30th).

I still have quite a bit of work in front of me to slim down, perhaps that will be a goal for next year (beyond going “back to Mordor”).

/cheers

minion_keboard_smI could get so much more accomplished if I only had minions!

“The Whole Shootin Match”

By

On October 16, 2015

In General Cogitation

Remember this classic moment (from the movie Rookie of the Year)?

Coincidentally that scene was a game between the Cubs and Mets for the NLCS and that was that late John Candy, a loyal Cubs fan, playing the role of the Cubs commentator. I’ve been sitting here trying to work and trying not to think about the Cubs just four wins away from a World Series (which has never happened in my lifetime). I haven’t been very successful. I blame Twitter.

lgo_mlb_chicago_cubsThe Mets are 0-7 against the Cubs during the regular season, but this is the post-season and your regular season record doesn’t matter anymore (remember the Cardinals had won over 100 games and had the best record in all of baseball). It’s going to be a tough contest for both teams (and probably quite lively as the mudslinging has already begun between the fans). The Cubs have earned their spot here from incredible plays and young, focused players. Some of the plays I’ve seen during the NLDS are World Series plays. The Cubs look like a championship team. They have a real shot this year but I’m trying to remain humble.

If they don’t go all the way, even if they are eliminated in the NLCS, I will still be very proud of how well the team played this year. There will be no lamenting or sorrow. They, not only, eliminated the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time, Joe Madden even made good on his promise. The Cubs were, originally, expected to make the playoffs next year but Madden, at a press conference, promised that the team would make the playoffs this year. They have shown all of baseball that the Cubs are real contenders. They are a team that will not let any other team write them off as an “easy win”.

Goat or no goat, Back to the Future prognostications or not, win or lose, this was our year. We have been saying it for as long as I’ve been alive, “this will be the year”, and whether we are world champions or not, I think 2015 was definitely our year.

Go Cubs! #FlyTheW

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