Category Archives: Health

Halfway Through The Year

10 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by in Changes & Progress, Cheapskate, Health, Home

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Time to catch up and review.  We finished the guest bathroom, it looks great.  We’ve got the house scheduled for painting.  I’ve lost 15 pounds.  The heir finished up his school year and is now a senior.  All the credit cards and credit lines are paid off and current.  Things that weren’t on the list are changing cellular companies which saved $15 per month plus netted us 2 smartphones instead of one and unlimited data (that’s going to be my next post ’cause I’m danged impressed with T-Mobile right now).  Next up is taking a good look at my insurance policies – which I’m woefully behind on.

I’m not where I wanted to be with certifications, but that’s the focus of the next month and a half.  I’ve also been a slack blogger, but that’s sadly nothing new – I did add it to my regular to-do list so hoping that will improve things a bit.  I did complete a long term goal and haunt Craigslist until I found the perfect porch furniture – it’s gotten a huge workout.  By the end of summer I’m aiming to have the porch repainted, my hanging baskets up, cushions for a freshly painted porch swing and a ceiling fan over the table.

So much for a laid back summer, but I’m pretty happy with how the year has gone so far.  Happy June, everyone!

Sitting Kills

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

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Seriously scary research on sitting for those of us with office jobs.  Before I moved to my current (nice, stable, full time with benefits and no travel) job, I was a road warrior who spent the vast majority of my time standing, walking, moving in general.  Not so for the last five years.  Recent studies are showing that even if you exercise regularly, if you sit more than 6 hours a day, you dramatically increase your chances of dying of a heart related illness over 10-15 years.  So, I decided to go for a standing desk.  Unfortunately, the cost of those is danged prohibitive and my team just moved to a new building with all new furniture so the chances of getting one that way was slim to none.

Enter the internet, Home Depot and IKEA.  Using the information in this article on building a $22 standing desk with off the shelf frankenparts from IKEA, I now have a serviceable standing desk (though I made some modifications – pictures and details in the next article) and the experiment begins tomorrow.  First though, read this article in the New York Times, take a look at the infographic below and start standing and moving around as much as possible – even if you regularly exercise.

Sitting is Killing You
Via: Medical Billing And Coding

January In Detail

02 Wednesday Jan 2013

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The checklist – to be edited/updated as we go along.

Finances – Tax Preparation

  • File all 2012 receipts, bills, etc. for tax filing.
  • Shred all unnecessary old records by schedule.
  • Set up 2013 file folders.
  • Save online statements as needed to archives.  (No paper)

Health – Exercise Journal

  • Join 2013 Challenge on Endomondo – done
  • Schedule 5K.
  • Enter mileage schedule for January to calendar – done
  • Pick a Kinect fitness program for “don’t feel like going out” days.

Home – Guest Bathroom

  • Buy & install replacement toilet seat, mirror, trash can & doorknob (budget $100, use rewards points where possible)
  • Deep clean
  • Touch up paint – matched and bought paint
  • Before & after pictures – dangit, took the door down before I got pics.
  • Sand and stain door, rehang to adjust to house settling – sanded

Career – ITIL Service Operation Exam

  • Schedule exam time
  • Study

Another Year, Another Set of Resolutions!

01 Tuesday Jan 2013

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Last year actually went pretty well resolution wise, though there were things that didn’t get done or only got partially done.  This year the first resolution is to do a weekly blog article to keep up with progress (and because I’m a blog slacker who really needs to do a better job so my entire life isn’t Facebook postings).  Going to stick with the format from last year as it worked quite well – four categories of improvement, one new resolution per month.  Categories are – finances, health, home and (new for this year, replacing paperless) career.

For January:

  • Finances – have everything ready to file taxes as soon as the W-2 is available, shred old records, close out 2012, set up folders for 2013.
  • Health – this year we are going to do food and exercise logging using LiveScape & Endomondo with the goal of consistency.  January’s goal is exercise journal.  February is food journal.  The overall goals are to improve my 5K times and do a 10K this year.
  • Home – going to pick a room per month (2 months for the major projects) and do “the stuff that needs doing” in it.  January is the guest bathroom which needs the doorknob fixed (doesn’t close well) and toilet seat (scratched by dog) replaced, a mirror, new trash can and a top to bottom cleaning.  No paint necessary, though!  (Revision – door frame needs paint.  D’oh!)
  • Career – ITIL Service Operation certification complete.  This should have been done in December, but what the heck.

And we’re off!!!

Still Catching Up – Yikes!

28 Monday May 2012

Posted by in Books, Changes & Progress, Health, Minimalist, Paperless, Travel

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Amazing how fast the year has gone by – school getting ready to be out, summer vacations starting.  While I’m not taking the summer off, I’ve decided to focus on completing and extending goals – upping my game to a 10K, repurposing the office to the heir’s new room, home improvements too long neglected, finishing up all my certifications and updates.  So, the punchlist is:

  • Bill simplification – June is the month for the last utilities budget billing which should finish this off.
  • Bank changes – Need to close the last account and move my safe deposit box and all will be clean, neat and consolidated.
  • Will & Retirement – just need to get this one done
  • Certifications – upgrade the existing ones, move forward on my ITIL expert
  • Books, books and more books – Goodreads challenge
  • Health and fitness – 10K by the end of the summer, allergy testing
  • Bucket list – update and cross off one per month, cause I’m not getting any younger

And finally – upload all the pictures from the earlier finished goals!