Ok, I admit it; that’s a shameless attempt to draw more visitors to my site. But seriously, I just don’t get the 4:20 thing. Not the pot-smoking; I understand that, although I’ve never had any desire to do it myself. It always seemed to make my friends mellow out, and I figured if there was one thing I already had plenty of, it was mellow. On the other hand, I think it’s fairly stupid for it to be illegal. There are far worse things you can put in your body, some of them legal at any age. Since I really don’t care about it one way or another, I think I can be objective about it.

What I don’t get is the desire to write 4:20 on every public surface from walls to speed limit signs. I used to drink a lot, and I’ve known plenty of people who get drunk, and none of us ever had any desire to get a can of spray paint and write Beer:30 or 90 Proof or Vodka Rocks! on a wall in an alley somewhere. We drank because it helped us have fun — or in some cases, to drown sorrows — but not because we were trying to make a point about anything to the rest of the world.

I see it drawn a lot of different places when I’m out walking Pepper, and it makes me wonder if there’s a parallel: is it simply a primitive need to mark territory, the way she thinks she has to pee on something every twenty yards or so, whether she’s got any in the tank or not?

It’d be tempting to say it’s because pot is illegal; but for most of the people doing the scrawling, I’ll bet alcohol is illegal too at their age, but you don’t see them proclaiming to the world that they drink. Why is pot-smoking in particular the one thing they’re so proud of that they need to advertise? Why is there no graffiti about meth use, pirating music, or breaking curfew?

I just don’t get it.

So rumor, which doth run before us like a mangy dog, says they’re finally getting started on a Magnum p.i. movie. I’m a little worried. The director of Dodgeball? Scary. That wasn’t a horrible movie, but it was your typical lightweight feel-good comedy; nothing like the depth Magnum developed over the years. I can see McConaughey pulling off the goofy side of Magnum, but I don’t know about the serious side.

From the sound of it, they may be abandoning much of the original story from the last few years of the series anyway. Making Magnum and his friends veterans of Iraq instead of Vietnam is a pretty huge change. Will he still have lost his wife overseas (he thought) and have a daughter he didn’t know about, or will they rewind to the beginning of the series and make it a light-hearted detective romp with bikinis and Ferraris? (Although the series was never really as light as people remember; the pilot started with Magnum’s friend being killed and accused of drug-smuggling.) That could make a good movie, but it wouldn’t be the continuation of the series I’d like to see.

I’d still like to see the original crew (the ones that are still alive) brought back for a mini-series or something. Just acknowledge their ages and go from there. It’s not like a whodunit show has to star buff young folks; Murder She Wrote, Father Dowling’s Mysteries, and Matlock somehow all did well without putting their stars in swimsuits. Selleck has made those Jesse Stone cop shows recently (based on the Robert Parker books, which are pretty good, by the way), so we know he can still play the investigator and tough guy parts.

Oh well, the movie may not be what I was hoping for, but I’ll probably see it anyway — if they follow through and make it. In the meantime, I think I’ll see if YouTube has any episodes up that I could watch while I’m working….

I know I’ve posted a lot about low-carbing and diet lately, and I don’t want my blog to be all about that, but I ran across another very good article today. This one is all about the cholesterol myth: where it came from, why it has such a stranglehold on us, and why it’s wrong. Money quote:

The MR-FIT trial in the USA was the most determined effort to prove the case. This was a massive study in which over 350,000 men at high risk of heart disease were recruited. In one set of participants, cholesterol consumption was cut by 42 percent, saturated fat consumption by 28 percent and total calories by 21 percent. This should have made a noticeable dent in heart disease rates.

But nothing happened. The originators of the MR-FIT trials refer to the results as ‘disappointing’, and say in their conclusions: ‘The overall results do not show a beneficial effect on Coronary Heart Disease or total mortality from this multifactor intervention.’ [my emphasis]

That’s an enormous study, and there are plenty of others like it, but they go against conventional wisdom and billions of dollars invested in food and health marketing, so they’re ignored. Here’s the link!

It figures. I finally find my camera yesterday, so my DVD player dies on me today. I guess that way the universe is still in balance. It’s not a huge loss, since I paid $30 or so for the thing and used it for a year. Still annoying, though. Maybe it’s time to get a burner for the computer, so I can watch things there and rip them and so on.

By the way, the diet is still going fine. I had a sausage, spinach, mushroom frittata yesterday that was very good. Frittatas are great. Melt some butter in a hot skillet, pour in beaten eggs, then when they’re cooked about halfway through, spread your meat and veggies on top, then sprinkle with some cheese. Put it in the oven on high heat until the cheese bubbles, and you’re all set. Takes a little longer than an omelet, but you don’t have to stand over it the whole time.

I discovered one thing today, though: venison burger isn’t very good with eggs. It’s too dry a flavor somehow; like beef, only worse. I’ll stick with pork sausage or bacon for breakfast from now on, and save the deer meat for chili and casseroles and such.

I’m trying out Google Adsense, the system that’s responsible for the small google ads that you see all over the place, related to the content of the page. They might not show up for a couple days, depending on how long it takes them to start the account, and I don’t know if I’ll keep them, but I thought I’d try it as a way to generate a tiny bit of revenue.

Please don’t click on the ads just to try to help me out, by the way. If Google sees that a lot of people are clicking on the ads and then not going any further, they could consider that a sign that I’m cheating with an automated program. But by all means, if one looks interesting, check it out.

Now for the important stuff: I’m looking for work. As I think I saw in a Dilbert strip one time, when you’re self-employed, you’re always one job away from unemployment. (Or as I like to say, being self-employed is a lot like being unemployed, except the government never sends you a check.) I thought I’d list some of the things I do or have done here, before I develop them further for my web site. The problem nowadays with being a jack of all trades (and master of none, or at least degreed in none) is that it’s hard to make up a resume that makes you sound particularly skilled at one thing. So I’m just going to put it all out there, and see what comes of it. If anyone in the Barry area has work for someone who’s a hard worker and can learn to do anything, please let me know.

Computer/Internet Consulting — This can be anything from cleaning spyware and viruses off your computer to building a web site. I’ve been working with the Internet since it first started coming to homes in the area around 1994, so if you need something done on the net, I can do it. My favorite operating system is FreeBSD, but I’ve worked with most Unix-type systems, and can handle any of them. Just contact me for a quote.

eBay Sales — Related to the last one, I’ve sold quite a few things on eBay, so if you have one item you’d like to sell, or a thousand, get in touch with me. I can simply help you get started and teach you to do the work yourself, or do all the work for you, so all you have to do is point me to the items. (Also, I finally found my digital camera, so I can take pictures again!)

Programming — I’ve been programming in Perl for over ten years, and have also dabbled with Java, C, and a few other languages. A lot of that has been CGI or other Internet-based programs, but I do stand-alone programs too.

Remodeling — I’ve helped build two houses from the ground up, and can do any part of it, from pouring concrete to finishing the trim. Since I’m not a full-time pro, I don’t have all the tools for a typical remodeling job, but if you need something small done, or need an extra hand on a project, I’m your guy.

Editing — As I hope shows in my blog and other sites, I write pretty good English. My spelling is excellent, if I do say so myself, and I’ve just always had a knack for grammar. My writing may not be exciting, but it’s almost always correct. If you have a term paper, a manuscript you’re working on, or anything else that you think could stand to be proofread or edited, I can do that for a reasonable fee.

Well, I think that’s enough for now; if I think of anything else, I’ll put it in another post later.
Oh yeah, I’m also selling my 1978 Ford 150. It runs fine, but has a bad leak in the water pump. I’m asking $300 or best offer. It’s buried in snow behind the Cree-Mee, if you’re in the area and want to take a look.

The studies in support of cutting carbs seem to be coming faster these days. Here’s a good one, if you’re worried about cholesterol — especially if your doctor is telling you the only way to lower it is with low-fat foods, loads of exercise, and the latest drugs. The payoff paragraph:

“Differences in HDL and triacylglycerols observed in different ethnic groups may be due in part to carbohydrate intake,” the researchers write. “Reducing the frequency of intake of sugar-containing soft drinks, juices and snacks may be beneficial.”

Gee, sweets are bad for you. How did we forget that?

Read the whole thing here; it’s fairly short. (By the way, for reference on cholesterol: HDL is the good kind, LDL is the bad kind, and triglycerides are the extra-bad kind. Also, the ratio of HDL to LDL is more important than the total, so if your total cholesterol goes up because your HDL increased more than your LDL decreased, that’s a good thing.)

Since I wrote that long post about diet the other day, I thought I’d follow it up with this great quote I found. It’s from Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford. It sounds like an interesting book, really; have to add it to the other 100 or so on my to-read list.

The Chinese noted with surprise and disgust the ability of the Mongol warriors to survive on little food and water for long periods; according to one, the entire army could camp without a single puff of smoke since they needed no fires to cook. Compared to the Jurched soldiers, the Mongols were much healthier and stronger. The Mongols consumed a steady diet of meat, milk, yogurt, and other dairy products, and they fought men who lived on gruel made from various grains. The grain diet of the peasant warriors stunted their bones, rotted their teeth, and left them weak and prone to disease. In contrast, the poorest Mongol soldier ate mostly protein, thereby giving him strong teeth and bones. Unlike the Jurched soldiers, who were dependent on a heavy carbohydrate diet, the Mongols could more easily go a day or two without food.

I think if I had a pair of ice skates, I could skate in the park next to my house today. No, there’s no pond there; there’s just enough ice frozen on top of the grass that it holds my weight without even cracking. It’d be a little rough, and the slope might be an issue on skates….

Even Pepper doesn’t like it. She loves the cold and the snow, but not so much the sliding around and being unable to keep her footing. She has a hard time even standing on three feet to pee on all the things that need peeing on, and that clearly bothers her.

The diet is still going fine. Sorry to anyone who’s actually reading this regularly; I know I’ve been falling down on regular updates. I just haven’t been cooking anything spectacular enough to bother talking about. I did cook a huge meatloaf the other night, with venison burger, turkey burger, and pork sausage, plus diced onion, celery, and yellow bell pepper, but other than that, it’s been eggs, roasts, salads, stuff like that.

I weighed myself this morning, and was 238. My scale isn’t that accurate — stepping off and right back on can make a 3-4 pound difference — so I don’t bother with it very often, but I was curious. Inches around the waist are a better indicator of fat loss, and I’m starting to notice a difference there. Mostly I feel a heck of a lot better, and that’s the main thing.

I did have kind of a nagging low-level headache that wouldn’t quite go away, and then I remembered that I’d run out of potassium salt (Morton Lite Salt) and was using the regular kind. Potassium is the one thing that low-carbers sometimes don’t get enough of, if they don’t make sure to get plenty of vegetables, so I use the Lite Salt to supplement it. When you’re low on potassium, it can lead to muscle cramps and pain, and I think that’s where the stiffness in my neck was coming from. I got a new can of KaCl a couple days ago, and poof! No more headaches.

More to come later today…..I think!

No long blog tonight, because I’m not feeling that great, and I should have been in bed an hour ago. If we get coated with ice this weekend, I’ll probably have plenty of free time on my hands to post something new then.

I got pretty lazy with meals today; had sausage and eggs for breakfast, and then picked at that pork roast for the rest of the day. Tomorrow’s menu is a lot more interesting.

Things went well with the meal plans today. I had ordinary eggs and sausage for breakfast, then chili for lunch, and pork chops and a salad for supper. I have to make up tomorrow’s menus in a bit, but I think I’ll be putting some pork steaks in the crock pot all day for supper, and I’ve got the other half of that head of cauliflower to use.

Wow, it was cold today. Cold for walking the dog, anyway. We went west, about seven blocks to the edge of town, so she could run in the fields for a while, and I nearly froze before we got back. I really have to bundle up better for those walks these days. Pepper loves the cold, of course. She’d stay out in it all day, as long as she could spend it exploring and looking for things that need chasing or peeing on.

I did some more work on the web site today. Changed the theme of the main site (not the blog), because there were a couple annoying things about it, like the way it insisted on justifying the text on both sides. Opinions about the themes I try are welcome, of course. I got some of the code patches I’ve done lately up there, and soon I’ll be adding some full programs I’ve written.

Somewhere around here I’ve got a list of topics to blog about, rather than my daily minutiae. I’ll have to dig that out tomorrow and pick one. Stay tuned!