My brother was an All American swimmer in college, and swam in high school before that. Very low body fat, huge shoulders (breaststroke and butterfly were two of his specialties), looked like an inverted triangle from the back. He's still quite muscular and fit at 60 and does not have a belly to speak of. So, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

I've lost almost 10 lbs since I stopped running, and have to be careful not to get below 130 as I get pretty haggard looking. But I'm riding my indoor bike hard every day (21 miles yesterday), working hard outside in the yard pretty much daily (garden, mowing our hilly yard, pulling out weeds and rose bushes, etc, etc), and mainly eat something every 4 hours so I can take my ibuprofen. The funny thing is doing planks: my saggy belly skin hangs down and if I happen to look (for whatever reason), I laugh so much I fall down! Oh well. Life is hard, and if I can do things as half-assed as Dave on a daily basis, I figure I'm doing pretty good.

Leslie, that fern-y trail is beautiful! You complain about aspects of Humboldt County, but you really have some gorgeous places to run. You too, Wildchild. Just a totally different side of the beauty coin. (Tammy, too!)

Tammy, we had our carpets cleaned by a new group a couple times, and the second time there were dark patches showing up as it dried (it looked great still damp). Our carpet is best described as a light "vanilla" color, and it's the original from house building in 1979. Considering what it's been through, it's in really good shape. Anyway, I could get the dark spots up using my Bissell and plain water. I called the owner of the company to complain, and he came out the next week and fixed it. Said the first guy didn't use enough enzyme or something. He said they don't use soap or shampoo, but an base/enzymatic type cleaner combo. Anyway, it took care of it. We said we wouldn't clean it again but opt for replacement, but I'm too lazy to even think about that.

tomwhite, glad to hear you're ok. That's a scary thing to fall like that.

My mom accompanied my dad to Japan in the 70's for one of his work trips. Hokkaido, I think. She said she felt very self-conscious of not only her size but overall height (she was 5'10" at the time). One of the wives of a fellow researcher referred to her as "Gaijin Cow" but said it with a smile.

Today is cloudy with highs in low 70's. Forecast called for showers at 10, but instead the sun came out. Now saying showers at 11 but it's still sunny. Oh well. Maybe we'll get rain sometime, but 80's in the forecast for later this week/weekend.

Some years back I applied for a paralegal job with the City of West Carrollton. Eventually I got a letter saying they had chosen someone else.  Out of curiosity, I contacted the person I had been interviewed by, and asked, out of curiosity, what had made them not choose me.  She said that they had already chosen the person for the job before they even posted it, and in fact she had been working in it for MONTHS, but their charter required them to advertise, test and interview people for the job, regardless. 

I just had to jump out of lurk mode in response to this.

Some years back, the Louisiana Parish (County) that I'd just moved to advertised the post of Parish Administrator. The incumbent was retiring and they couldn't just give it to his deputy that had been in training for the role for the last 18 years. They had drafted the job requirements in a way that the Deputy met them fully, but just widely enough not to totally exclude anyone else from applying. I pretty much met all the stated requirements so I went ahead and applied.

A few days later, I was watching the local 6.00pm newscast, which headlined on there having been 3 applications for the Parish Administrator post, giving our names, extracts from our Resumes and announcing that we had all been invited for interviews, which was definitely news to me! The following day the Parish telephoned to set up the interview and that day's 6pm headline was that one of the applicants had dropped out, leaving just the deputy administrator and myself. I really enjoyed the interview (by all 15 elected members) - at least that was done out of the spotlight - but wasn't surprised when they announced that the Deputy had been chosen as the new administrator.

BTY, loss of fat and thus loss of buoyancy is how I have been explaining my troubles with swimming the last years compared to how easy it came when I was younger (and heavier). Isn't it the same principle as a wetsuit, which all my tri-athlete friends always told me was a big benefit for buoyancy? By the way, I might give swimming another try. My DW and I just went and checked out the Life Time Fitness facility that's about a mile away (anyone else near one of these?). Their rate is $180/mo but miraculously they're in our Medicare Supplement Insurance's "Renew Fit" plan at no cost to us, and use of the indoor pool comes with it. The place is HUGE and like a country club compared to our other places. There's even a nice cafe inside. Also crowded with much younger people. I'm not sure how often I'll use it but there's no cost for giving the pool a try. OTOH, after looking at myself in the mirror yesterday I'm not real confident in my look in my jammers...

Erika, what style of indoor bike do you have? That's a lot of miles on one of those. Even riding my own road bike on the indoor trainer and in biking shorts, it's my butt that tends to give out first. I can ride 30+ miles outside, but 20 can feel long when I'm in the basement. 

Holly and Quickadder: I was on the interviewing side of a couple of those situations and felt bad about wasting the interviewee's time. Then my DW a number of years ago interviewed for a position at our city hall and another at Oakland U and came away with the feeling that they were just meeting minimum interview requirements.

Doug, I have this one and really like it. I don't use any apps or anything with it though. The NYT Wirecutter review team rated it the best bike for a small home gym. I prop my Kindle on the tablet holder and get an incredible amount of reading done. Usually do a 5 minute easier/5 minute harder routine for at least 45 minutes, usually closer to an hour. The 21.6 miler yesterday took about 65 minutes, but I admit to taking some breaks so I'm not just plowing through the ride. It also allows up to a 2 minute break before resetting, so I can even fit in a quick potty break if needed. 

Oh, and the former HR staffer in me (in benefits, but still) is disappointed to hear of all these hirings as foregone conclusions. Direct appointments happen all the time so not sure why anyone would go through the process (especially with testing and two rounds of interviews!) just to check off a box on a list. Although DIL is now having to go through a hiring process for the job she created and developed over the past few years. It's now approved to be a new position in its own right (not just an additional thing she does), and she has to apply for it like everyone else. There's no guarantee she'll get it, but I'd really question the judgment of the hiring committee if she doesn't.

We had a Estate Dept meeting this afternoon, which consisted of just me and the attorney who is a partner in the firm.  My "boss" is on vacation and our dept secretary went home sick.

Anyway, the attorney and I had a good talk as I opened up about my ongoing frustration with our secretary and her lack of attention to detail.  Like I told him, the hard part for me is I really like Jenny.  We get along great, she has a great attitude, works well with the clients . . . it's just that her attention to detail stinks, which puts more work on me.  He and I talked for about an hour - too much to get into here - and the end game is I'm not sure what's going to happen. We're onboarding a new program for the entire office in the next few weeks which may completely change her position anyway, so we'll see.

Stuff like this sucks, doesn't it? 

BTY, loss of fat and thus loss of buoyancy is how I have been explaining my troubles with swimming the last years compared to how easy it came when I was younger (and heavier). Isn't it the same principle as a wetsuit, which all my tri-athlete friends always told me was a big benefit for buoyancy? By the way, I might give swimming another try. My DW and I just went and checked out the Life Time Fitness facility that's about a mile away (anyone else near one of these?). Their rate is $180/mo but miraculously they're in our Medicare Supplement Insurance's "Renew Fit" plan at no cost to us, and use of the indoor pool comes with it. The place is HUGE and like a country club compared to our other places. There's even a nice cafe inside. Also crowded with much younger people. I'm not sure how often I'll use it but there's no cost for giving the pool a try. OTOH, after looking at myself in the mirror yesterday I'm not real confident in my look in my jammers...

 

I'm rooting for you!   I hope it works out for you.  My best advice is don't look at yourself while wearing your jammers.   So, from what I've read, a wetsuit will not just improve your buoyancy to some degree, but also reduce drag, which seems to be one of the major things we should always be trying to improve upon - less drag, more propulsion, less wasted movement.  The buoyancy thing sounds like it's not all it's cracked up to be, when studied impartially.  The studies that show they increase speed and buoyancy may be funded by the manufacturers and retailers of the said suits.

I went to the Y tonight to get in a double (push workout on the machines, and a 2-mile swim).  The push workout went extremely well, and I'm wondering if that is because of the chiropractic visit this morning.  It was just a maintenance visit but he worked on my shoulders a lot, and my neck, and the weights that were increased this evening felt lighter than the weights I used last time.  I had no problem at all getting 2 sets of 10 reps of everything.    The bad news was that the pool was closed due to the passing thunderstorm when I got there, and it stayed closed since they have to delay re-opening the pool for 30 minutes every time one of the lifeguards hears thunder.  I'm not sure how impartial the lifeguards can be with that, since closing the pool for an additional 30 minutes means an additional 30 minute paid break.  Seems like there should be a more scientific technology-based way of tracking lightning in the area.  But a least my bag is packed for tomorrow morning and I can do the "hard" swim in the early AM.  Tomorrow is work from home and I start in at 8:00.  The two-mile workout includes 3 sets of 5 x 150-yard repeats of backstroke / breaststroke / freestyle on 3:30.   Swim 2:20, rest 1:10, with a longer rest between sets.  I've started this workout a few times over the past couple of months and either run out of gas or time or both.

Thanks Holly - I love the variety of lots of different workouts and the Peloton app helps keep me focused

30 minute full body strength and a 10 minute upper body barre class

walked the 1.6 miles to the beach, napped on the beach and walked back to the campground after a few hours

Bingo tonight at the Elks was fun!! Two of my friends won over $100 - I unfortunately did not

Jay - Thank you for starting.  Them deers......grrr...

 

I know when my DD was in Junior High and started to get a little thick, I thought long and hard about how to approach it with her, if at all.  Mostly I just stopped buying so much junk food and started focusing on healthy eating - for me - and occasionally shared with my DD how I was trying to move to healthier eating FOR MYSELF, without actually aiming anything her way if at all possible.

 

Brilliant.  Kids know if they are too heavy - even when they are not.  Set an example.

I gained 15 lbs. quickly when my hip got all wonky.  I'm still 10 lbs. heavier since Jan 1st.

KSA - Sorry you got hacked.  These people are good.  I hope the rooking does not bother Robert Earl so much.

Leslie - what a lovely view.

My boss said that he has to interview people and those people will have a fair chance at the position.

Roch - Our area is having a 17-mile ride along the Tart Trails with two food stops.  I'd be interested in that next year.

DW had the day off.  She agreed to watch 1 of the grandkids.  S, I picked up enough lunchables for 6. She wound up with 5

I hauled a small picnic table to a little pine grove. set up a lunch and a trail cam.

The reward was great.  But the way was fraught with peril.

Then the kids went through the exit instead of the start.

The wild creatures were eventually captured.