Jim's Trek V, my exercise journey now on my Schwinn 170 from Tampa to parts unknown...

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Day 91 – (AD 521) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.0 Miles – Somewhere Near a Large Brown Spot on the Map in Western Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled another 22.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. And I completed 150 sit-ups.


Without batting an eye, I know that this virtual Trek is getting somewhat boring. And as there are no towns on this part of the Eyre Highway I can only identify my location by the shades of masses as they appear in the satellite images from Google Maps. I now have about 758 miles left to pedal to get to my next destination and goal point.

Oh by the way my blood sugar jumped 9 points this morning to 97. I had a hankering for burnt pretzels late last night. They’re Unique “Splits” Extra Dark. Not sure if I like them, but I definitely couldn’t stop eating them. And the write up on the Unique site does state that “we are able to nicely burn the outside…” Can’t disagree. They tell it like it is, but not sure what it really means to “nicely burn” something.

Our Blumish Two began its journey today. It is headed first to the Vermont Quilt Festival and then on to the Evolutions 2014 exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum in Colorado. It will return home in November.

Focus is now on our preparation to ship our Light Bringer, Sea and Sky, and Diamonds quilts and wall hanging to the west. Stay tuned for updates and write-ups at our Quilts SB site.

Oh yeah, work also continues on both our Tampa Kaleidoscope quilt and our crocheted Afghan #5.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy and keep on pedaling.

Enjoy,

Jim

Friday, May 30, 2014

Day 90 – (AD 520) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – Still in the Middle of Nowhere in Western Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Grandpa babysat this morning. And Grandpa counted every ant-meeting-ant on our morning stroll and walk. Cycling and exercise paused until afternoon.

This afternoon I completed 21.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. The humidity is here. This is Tampa. This is Florida. Just picture the Wicked Witch of the West melting.

This is pre-summer…and two more days until the opening of the hurricane season. Last year was a calm year; predictions and forecasts are less than… Well it is supposed to be a moderate-to-strong El Niño event this summer. El Niño is credited with suppressing hurricanes. We’ll see. We will be able to tally on November 30th.

Oh and to date on my 520th day of cycling I have now complete 10,533.1 miles; 16,951.4 kilometers.


Today I am in Western Australia on my virtual Trek and located somewhere in, what appears to be, the middle of nowhere. I am headed west on the Eyre Highway.

Well my blood sugar count this morning recorded in at 88, and I wondered about the question whether one can reverse Type 2 Diabetes? Well here’s food for thought from WebMD.

While certain lifestyle changes are key to managing diabetes, whether you can actually turn back time so it’s like you never had diabetes at all is a different matter. That depends on how long you’ve had the condition, how severe it is, and your genes… For some people, reaching a healthier weight will mean taking fewer medications, or in rarer cases, no longer needing those medications at all.

I guess with my Schwinn stationary bikes I may be classified as a “rarer case”. WebMD continues that “Losing 5% to 10% of your body weight and building up to 150 minutes of exercise a week may help you to slow to stop the progress of type 2 diabetes.” Well I wonder to what my approximate 480 minutes of exercise a week translates.

The quilting pattern for our new MAAA quilt has been designed. We think that is might look pretty good.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Day 89 – (AD 519) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – Mundrabilla, Western Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

As of this morning Jim’s Trek has had 40,014 Pageviews. That calculates out to about 74 Pageviews per each post since I began my crazy exercise journey and virtual Trek. Today’s post is my 544th.


This morning I cycled another 21.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. I have now gone over the 10,500 mile mark recording 10,511.6 miles since I began this Trek of mine.


Today I am located on the Eyre Highway in Western Australia, on the virtual Trek. I just went through the small roadhouse community of Mundrabilla.

You know when you have too, too much money ,or on the other hand, entrepreneurship is thriving well in America. In Washington, DC, Linestanding.com is a firm that sells the services of “persons to stand in line.…” in one’s stead. Yes you can pay someone to stand in line in your stead. “Our premier concierge service where standers wait at a designation of your choosing until they are able to rendezvous with you, the attendee.”  The land of the brave, the home of the free, and the city of long lines.

Just wondering... Has anyone created a start up to wait and hold on telephone calls when listening to autobots recite menu choices? Presione el número 2 para español.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Day 88 – (AD 518) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.3 Miles – Western Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,


Today’s cycling, 21.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. I’m still pedaling..


This morning on my virtual Trek I have crossed over into Western Australia. The scenery on the Eyre Highway has not changed too much. I did pass through the locality of Eucla, population of about 90. (I think that this is the smallest town yet on Jim’s Trek.) I am now 829 miles from my next destination and goal point.


I have a question… as usual. When is excess somewhat a bit in-excess? I discovered a pen, a roller pen, a Montegrappa Chaos Limited 18K Gold Rollerball Pen. It was designed by Sylvester Stallone. If you can find one it retails for $69,350. Why? Just, why?

Just give me my keyboard.

Getting ready to package up our Blumish Two quilt. It will be on the road until next November; first the Vermont Quilt Festival and then The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. All fabric has been cut for our new quilt MAAA.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Day 87 – (AD 517) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.3 Miles – The Border Village, Western Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

The Tampa monsoon season appears to have started. I have to take care of walking when the wraths of the gods are producing thunder and lightning… There are four members of The Pack shuffling to be close and clinging to my feet. Here’s three of The Pack waiting for the cycling to finish.

Another 21.3 miles this morning on my Schwinn 170, and I have now pedaled 10,468.1 miles, 16,847.9 kilometers.



This morning I reached the border of South and Western Australia. I am still headed in a westerly direction and I am still on Eyre/National Highway A1. The goal of my trek this morning was to touch Border Village. And I am at the Quarantine Checkpoint. For people who enter Western Australia driving there are two major border quarantine checkpoints. That's right; there are only two main roads into WA...and I am at one of them.

My blood sugar came in this morning at 91. Last night’s supper, Wisconsin Bratwurst and Bahamian Rice and Peas. Different mix but good. Tonight I’m gonna try something completely different, Khao Mau Gai. Should prove interesting. Did I ever say that I like to cook? And eat?

Saint of the day, St. Augustine of Canterbury, not to be confused with St. Augustine of Hippo, advises us to “Stay in the struggle and be satisfied with gradual advances”. My question “Why is it a struggle?” St. Augustine of Canterbury, the patron saint of theologians and sore eyes has a close-to similar responsibility as St. Augustine of Hippo, the patron saint of brewers and theologians. Drinking theologians with poor vision? And definitely do not get me on a tangent of the advertisements for the $1,125.00, at Catholic Shopping.com, gold medals that “Help you grow closer to the Lord.” Oh and by the way the same is only $922.49 on eBay.

Doesn’t Scientology require payments for moving up the ethereal ladder? And the difference is?

Oh and I am sure that maybe Ponce de Leon may have been onto something about some spring of water in the vicinity St. Augustine, Florida.

All labels have been attached to our H-Series quilts and wall hangings. Fabric has been chosen for a new quilt that we are scheduling to our work.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Monday, May 26, 2014

Day 86 – (AD 516) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – Still Here, Still Pedaling on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Thoughts on this Memorial Day.

This morning I pedaled another 21.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total to date is now 10,447.5 miles, 16,813.7 kilometers.


My Fat Percentage registered today at 19.7%. As far as I am concerned I am still a wee bit high. But, according to my graph the moving average, the red line, does indicate that I am on a downward slope. That’s the good news. The healthy range, according to WeightLossForAll.com, for a male 61-70 is 13-25%.  I am trying to get to about 17%.


My virtual Trek continues. I am still located in South Australia and on the Eyre Highway. It appears that my images may be the same one over and over again these past couple of days. It is not. Each time I present a new image the more and more I am enthralled at the size and beauty of Australia. Thank you Google Maps. To date I have pedaled 1,830.4 miles in my virtual Australia.

This morning I re-created my To-Do list for the umpteenth time in I really do not know how many years. The one thing about my To-Do list is that I have not allowed the list to take control of me. I always need to organize and re-organize myself. Every time I add or cross off an item on my list I have to keep reminding myself that these are the things that I want to do… The items on my list are not what I have to do, just what I want to do. For me, JKLS, I find that this is a better approach at looking at and accepting myself. I do the things that I want to do. Yes one may argue that there are things that I “have to do” but in my way I try to not let the “have-to-do’s” control my life. I am the one in control. Period. (How’s that for being somewhat philosophical while at the same time being practical with a smattering of OCD thrown in?)

Just wondering who our illustrious and well-versed politicians will blame for the extreme water conditions…especially of the “Seven States Running Out of Water”. (24/7 WallSt, May 23, 2014.)

Oh and I found this infographic map outline of our neighbor to the north. Not sure who came up with it but I am definitely, and my apologies to all Canadian friends and family, pleased that Ms. Palin is as physically as far removed as possible from Florida.

Jim’s Trek has now reached 39,803 Pageviews.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Day 85 – (AD 515) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.3 Miles – Close to the Great Australian Bight on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,


This morning I cycled 21.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. Jim’s Trek III has now clocked 1,808.9 miles, 2,911.1 kilometers. (Oh and by the way, our Schwinn 170 now racks up about 36 miles almost every day. It certainly is getting its daily work-out.)

From my location today on the Eyre Highway I can see the Great Australian Bight in the short distance. I am now 894 miles from my next destination and goal point.

The image represents the limits of the Great Australian Bight (in red as defined by the International Hydrographic Organization, in green by the Australian Hydrographic Service).

Okay LH, does this mean that the Bermuda Triangle does in fact displace? Wandering, albeit floating, for almost 18 months what was it doing and where was NOAA 41010?

Working on some new quilt and wall hanging designs today. Wait til you see the new thoughts.

Oh yeah, crab-leg and potato boil and garbanzo bean salad. My early blood sugar count chimed in at 88.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Day 84 – (AD 514) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.2 Miles – 10,404.7 Miles on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Back on my Schwinn 170 this morning. I cycled 21.2 miles and I have now logged 10,404.7 miles, 16,744.8 kilometers. And the humidity is just touching the Tampa air. The house is open but as I cycled today I was more soaked from sweat than I have been in the past year.


Travelling west I am about 64.5 miles from the Border Village. I am still located on the Eyre Highway in South Australia and in about three days I will finally reach the state of Western Australia. The scenery does not change much. I am in the area called the Nullarbor National Park. The name is derived from the Latin words nulla arbor, translated no tree. Most definitely.



According to the American Catholic.org calendar I can now get Saint of the Day announced on my iPhone. And I thought that I would give it a try. But guess what? Saturday, May 24th is blank. And in order to get the app it’s gonna cost me $2.99. So on a blank day, which saint can I talk to?

But hang on, the calendar on the site is blank but following another link on the website the saint of the day is St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi the “ecstatic saint”, “She read the thoughts of others and predicted future events…” All-things-being-equal wasn’t there a gypsy fortune teller in the movie Ghost?

I’ m trying to figure out these percentages: 78% European; 14% Jewish Diaspora; 4% Middle Eastern; and 4% African. And I learned a new word, diaspora: Jews living outside of Israel. A diaspora comprises migrants and their descendants who maintain a relationship to their country of origin.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Friday, May 23, 2014

Day 83 ½ – (AD 513 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – No Miles Today – Resting on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I decided to take a rest and not pedal on my Schwinn 170 Fitness Bicycle. I figured I could rest another day. It has been 537 days since I began my exercise and cycling Trek.  And today is the 24th day that I have taken off… I don’t think my third grade teacher is going to rap my knuckles for taking another day.

But my results from my diabetes doctor were fantastic this morning. My A1c results came in, once again at 5.6%. That means that I have been able to maintain a constant 5.6% for the past 12 months. I have beaten the Reference Range and I am now recorded at less than 5.7%. The detailed notes translate reflect “< 5.7% - Consistent with the absence of diabetes.” And I still have not taken any diabetes medications since last July 18, 2013. 309 days and NO diabetes medication.

Reduction and maintenance due to cycling and diet. Period! Maybe some crazy grey matter. And working with my doctors.

I just finished taking the almost final pictures of our completed H-Series quilts and wall hangings. The Sleeves attached and labels in progress. (We ran out of black embroidery thread.) And H-1, H-2, and H-3 have all received their titles: "Light Bringer", "Sea and Sky", and "Diamonds". Now the write-ups and corresponding paperwork.

Last night’s Double Spinach and Cheese-filled Tortellini certainly was good. I pigged out and double helping. And my morning blood sugar count came in this morning at 92. There has to be some truth to the thought that the extra calories and sugar is in the sauce. The sauce was a simple one; butter, grated cheeses – Parmesan and Pecorino Romano, pasta water, salt, and pepper. Prep time was less than 20 minutes.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Day 83 – (AD 513) – Jim's Trek Part III – 20.8 Miles – More Scrub Desert in South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I cycled another 20.8 miles on my Schwinn 170. Exercise done. More errands to complete.


I am still located on what appears to be a scrub-type desert while I travel on my virtual Trek on the Eyre Highway. I have another 936 more miles to go to get to my next destination and goal point. I am amazed at the amount of “empty” space that exists on the southern Australian coast.

And the vaudevillian show of Florida politics is in full swing… and getting better. Accordingly, the Florida Council of 100 uninvited former Governor Charlie Crist from joining and speaking after our present Governor Rick Scott at an event this past week. And further Charlie Crist is a lifetime member of the council. (Per the Miami HeraldCharlie Crist basks in Florida Council of 100s ‘galatically stupid’ snub”.) Definitely free publicity for Charlie Crist.

Just read an article from BloombergBusinessweek, May 22, 2014Your Brain is Smaller Than a Caveman’s Here’s Why”, and according to Bruce Hood’s new book, The Domesticated BrainOur brains are smaller because we’ve become more social.” So does this mean that with the constant and rising use of cellular and social media we, that is, us, are losing out on something? I wonder where Florida’s politicians fit into the “brain-size” scale?

Blood sugar count this morning recorded in at 98. Gonna try a spinach on spinach pasta dish for supper. Oh and by the way our local Publix did not carry any spinach linguine.  I'm going to substitute spinach tortellini.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Day 82 – (AD 512) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – Again, Still Desert in South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today’s mileage on my Schwinn 170, 21.5. Total to date since December 2, 2012 and in 512 days 10,362.7 miles, 16,677.2 kilometers.

Today I do not have a horse. I just have a Schwinn 170, without a name. I do not believe in giving inanimate objects names.


I see desert, once again. I’m still, and I believe will be for some while, on the Eyre Highway. I have about 106 miles to go until I reach the state border.

And if today’s update on my blog doesn't make any sense I can blame it on my Intellectual biorhythm cycle. Accordingly a rhythm at -100% (a low) should make life more difficult in that area. The opposite +100% (a high) would give me an edge in the other areas.



I had decided that I would try.  I promised myself that I would cut my fingers off should I start writing, albeit typing, about Florida politics. But I did not say, or even portend that I would not comment on what may or may not be heard or written about Florida politicians. I have a Google news summary entitled “Florida Politics” and I noticed that of the 20 headlines offered seven are from Sunshine State News…and all are titled “Brightest minds in Florida politics:…” My question – why are none of these “brightest minds” elected politicians?

Sorry, I just answered my own question.

There are idiots elected to Florida politics but the largest piece of cake that certainly didn’t rise goes to Republican FL State Representative Charles Van Zant. With obvious blinders on, Zant “claims that the company charged with creating new state standardized tests in Florida… will promote double-mindedness in state education and attract every one of your children to a homosexual as they possibly can.” (News4Jax.com, May 20, 2014. )  Under what rock in Clay County did the voters find this one? His claim to fame…He received a doctorate of theology from the Western Cuba Baptist Theological Seminary in Havana.

Total number of Pageviews to Jim’s Trek now equal 39,387. 39,388…39,389.


Thoroughly enjoyed the mini-series Standing on the Edge. Six episodes equaled six days of cycling. London, 1930s, jazz music, Masons, intrigue, and murder.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Day 81 – (AD 511) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.1 Miles – Desert in South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today’s errand took me longer than I expected, but I saved myself four days completing it this afternoon. And I'm too exhausted to think.

This morning I cycled 21.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. To date I have pedaled 1,724.1 miles; 2,774.7 kilometers in this third part of my Jim’s Trek. This translates to 16.7% of the total miles that I have cycled on my Schwinn Fitness bicycles.


And the virtual Trek is, well, flat…sort of looks like a desert. I’m still on the Eyre Highway in South Australia and I am headed in westerly direction. Beautiful landscape, but t’ain’t much to see.

The early morning routine of morning pages continues. I have now written 240,691 words, not including my blog updates in 315 days.

H-3's binding has been completed. Our H-Series has taught us a number of new lessons. Now the sleeves and the labels are next for H-1, H-2, and H-3. The 64th and last block of the Lace color has been completed for our new crocheted Afghan #5. Two more colors, Ocean and Off-White to finish.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Monday, May 19, 2014

Day 80 – (AD 510) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.3 Miles – My Imagination in South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

And once again, this morning I pedaled 21.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. I have now crossed the 10,320.1 mile mark.


I now have 999 more miles to cycle to my next destination and goal point. I am currently located on my virtual Trek on Eyre Highway. As far as I can find it appears that the Google route tracking mobile-cam has remained on the “major” roadways…in this part of Australia.

News Break: Spies; a new Prime Minister; disbanded Coast Guard; and earwax.


And then it appears that some people will do anything to literally jump-start the grey matter between their tympanic membranes. Isn’t it well enough to try and hack a personal computer…but “brain hacking”? Just note that this was funded by the Department of Defense. “Hacking The Brain With Electricity: Don’t Try This At Home”, NPR, May 19, 2014.

And this is synchronicity and something to think about – Wau Holland and I shared the same birthday. Wau Holland cofounded the Chaos Computer Club in 1981. He was known for fighting against “all forms of censorship and for an open information infrastructure. He compared the censorship demands by some governments to those of the Christian church in the Middle Ages…

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Sunday, May 18, 2014

Day 79 – (AD 509) – Jim's Trek Part III – 20.8 Miles – Yalata, South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I cycled another 20.8 miles and yes on my Schwinn 170. My total miles are now 10,298.8; 16,574.3 kilometers. To date I have completed 1,681.7 miles on my Jim’s Trek III.


I am now a wee bit west of the community of Yalata in South Australia.

Blind justice. I’m not opposed to the increasing the minimum wage but here is food for thought. Switzerland seemly and wisely rejected increasing minimum wage to about $25.00 per hour. (USA Today, May 18, 2014.)  Currently fast food meal costs in the area are about $15.00 and two pounds of chicken sells for about $28.00. If the vote had increased the minimum wage, all-things-being-equal, prices would have correspondingly sky-rocketed. Let’s hope that the idiots in our Congress realize the possibilities of a reasonable balance sheet. (And I forgot, there is nothing reasonable about our elected political dullards.)

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Day 78 – (AD 508) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.0 Miles – I’m Still Trekking in South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This morning I pedaled 21.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. The exercise routine continues.


My virtual trek continues.  I am still located on Eyre/National Highway.  I am about 190 miles from the border between South and Western Australia.

I have been able to slowly… very slowly reduce my Fat Percentage. My recording this morning is at 19.4%. All-things-being-equal the plot of the moving average, if I keep up with my current regime, shows a positive downward slope.


Have to find a way to reduce my triglyceride count. All-things-being-equal I have been doing almost everything possible to that I have learned to reduce my count. Okay, okay. I will now go out of my way to have a seafood meal twice a week. And for the next six months I will nix any craving for a bowl of ice-cream. It is not that I do not like seafood…but it is the evening bowl of ice-cream.

Supper last night Thai red curry stew with chicken, kale, & sweet potatoes. Chicken breast, onion, red Thai chili paste, coconut oil, coconut milk, chicken broth, kale, fish sauce, Scotch bonnet, salt… served on Jasmine rice. This morning’s early blood sugar count is at 95.

I just wonder if this is the same in Québec. Pourquoi est-ce que les Hispaniques croient qu'ils doivent parler jamais si fort sur les téléphones cellulaires dans les salles d'attente des médecins?

The majority of the quilting of H-3 has been completed. The appliqued Kaleidoscopes are next, and then the binding. AB is doing one hell of a beautiful job...if I may say so. I truly enjoy our partnership.

Look what I have found, a new miniseries, the 2013 Dancing on the Edge. A BBC television drama about a black jazz band in London in the early 1930s. I am absorbed, the acting, the music, the story line. Another companion for my Trek viewing. And it meets my rule-of-thumb, no interrupting commercial breaks.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Friday, May 16, 2014

Day 77 – (AD 507) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.8 Miles – Reduced Medication at Coorabie, South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I cycled another 21.8 miles on my Schwinn 170 for 1 hour and 10 minutes…and I completed 150 sit-ups.

New success points. Another one of my high blood pressure medications has been reduced again. The dosage, by Doctor’s suggestion, has been reduced from 100 mg, to 50 mg, to now 25 mg. I just checked what this chemical formula is supposed to do; “Treats kidney disease in patients with type 2 diabetes and a history of high blood pressure.

So the exercise on my Schwinn 170, and sit-ups, and my diet, has reduced my waist. It has “eliminated” my need for diabetes medication, reduced the strength of my high blood pressure and readjusted my associated counts in positive directions. And today I see my Cardiologist. I wonder if there is some truth to the fable of Ponce de Leon’s elixir?


I continue my virtual Trek and I am still located somewhere on the road on the Eyre Highway in South Australia. I am just northeast of Coorabie as I head west.

Julia Cameron, in her Finding Water, writes that “to function freely as an artist, I must take the focus off of winning, off of being the brightest and the best. I must give up such ego-driven notions as being “fascinating” and “brilliant”. (These judgments are for critics to make in due time, not in my own beleaguered mind.) I need a safe, critic-free arena in which to do my work. Then, with the ground rules in place, I must gently go forward. Simpleminded as it sounds, I must simply write – a word at a time, a sentence at a time, a paragraph and a page at a time. My quota must be daily and doable. Just a little, done daily, adds up to quite a lot. What we produce can always be improved, but produce we must. “Easy does it” and the corny slogan about taking care of the quantity and not the quality allow us to produce.

One knows that Florida political races are picking up and some elections are just around the corner. What else could it be when C-Span2 reports and promotes what a current sitting FL-congressman eats to while-away his apparent boredom at Capitol Hill?

Also, as reported by the SunSentinel, for only $90; $25 for students, one can attend a conference crash course on Florida politics. My question... how does 30-minutes of noteworthy Florida politics equate to 8 hours of continuing legal education for Florida Bar attorneys?

Jim’s Trek racks up 39,015 Pageviews.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Day 76 – (AD 506) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.2 Miles – Bookabie, South Australia on My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Today I cycled another 21.2 miles on my Schwinn 170.  My total mileage to date 10,235.2; 16,472.0 kilometers.


I am supposedly located just east of Bookabie.  I am not sure as to whether this is a "Brigadoon". There does not appear to be an image of Bookabie on Google but there may be in some virtual place.  I did find this on Trove - South Australia Register, Tuesday 11 May 1897.


And right now it is about 62.1 degrees Farenheit in Bookabie as compared to 82 in Tampa.

And the question I continue with is why is the United States, Liberia, and Burma aka Myanmar the only three countries still using a complete of form of a non-metric system of measurement? The lead up of course is that I noted yesterday that I had completed 21.0 miles on my Schwinn 170. When I plotted the distance on my virtual Trek I plotted 21.0 kilometers. I’m actually further along than I thought.

And this morning I completed the 100th and final episode of Fringe. That's almost 72 hours of a video riding companion. Now I have to find a new one. As I have written before watching a series without commercials certainly helps me to pedal and keep my commitment to myself.

If you are reading this blog and just so happen to be somewhere along my route in Australia please feel free to drop me a line at jsmith58@gmail.com. Certainly would welcome it.

Trying to be healthy,

And enjoy,

Jim