Day 286 7/8 – (AD 716 7/8) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – No Chance Pedaling Today

Good Day,

No chance. I not pedaling today. Still recovering.

This is my 760th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 58,143 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 286 ¾ – (AD 716 ¾) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – Still No Pedaling Today

Good Day,

Short and sweet. No pedaling today on my Schwinn 170. Still recovering.

If you are new to my Jim’s Trek here’s the link to Day 1.

This is my 759th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 58,092 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 286 ½ – (AD 716 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – 10 Symptoms = 97 Conditions

Good Day,

As I mentioned yesterday I think allergy season has begun in Tampa. But then again I could be wrong, but today’s Pollen Levels’ forecast is set at “Low”. Okay.

Yesterday I cycled 21.5 miles on my Schwinn 170. Did some laundry and then worked in the garden and the front yard. I made supper which included a plate of Montreal Dry Garlic Spareribs, Steamed Broccoli and Cauliflower, and Spicy Stir-Fried Zucchini, Summer Squash, and Onions.

Then it started. I began sneezing…and sneezing, and sneezing. The Thames or the Mississippi Rivers appeared to have made a detour through my nose. I carried around two boxes of Aloe and E-induced Kleenex. And before I finally went to bed I finished off one complete box. Achoo! Gesundheit.

I took a couple of nasal-dripping tablets. I tried to settle in for the night… Achoo, achoo, achoo, honk, honk. All I did was toss and turn for all the seven hours that I tried to sleep. I finished off the 2nd box of Kleenex. Achoo. Drip, drip, drip. Honk, honk, honk. Yes I sound like a flock of geese. I took another pair of tablets.  And did you know that it is extremely hard to hold a mouse steady when you sneeze?

This morning after I woke up, which of course I am not sure if I got any type of sleep, my blood sugar spiked up to 132 mg/dL. My temperature is just above the normal 98.6° F. I feel like shit. And I wondered if I should pedal on my Schwinn 170.

And I listed my 10 foremost symptoms – general difficulty swallowing, hoarse voice, post nasal drip, sore throat, body aches and pains, decreased appetite, night sweats, runny nose, sneezing, and sneezing, and sneezing, and nasal congestion.

I thought about calling my primary doctor, but hell this is the Holiday Season and I am sure that I’ll be told to “come on into the office” and “here are two tablets if it gets worse go to the Emergency Room…and if not, call us back in the new year.”

So I took my symptoms and decided to diagnose myself at WebMD. The site has a somewhat neat function called WebMDsymptonchecker. Hell I believe in doing things electronically but this is where I am flabbergasted. I entered my 10 perceived symptoms. Dr. AI, at WebMD crunched my data and came back with a, not one, not two, not even 3…but 97 possible conditions. Am I that sick? Damn this is a hypochondriac’s dream site. I could have 97 potential disorders and illnesses. That is 9-tee-seven!

And they include –

common cold, hay fever, indoor allergens, influenza (flu), acute sinusitis, viral syndrome, dust exposure, viral pharyngitis, allergic reaction, laryngitis, tonsillitis, heartburn/GIRD, nasal congestion, mononucleosis, mumps, nonallergic rhinitis, peritonsillar abscess, thyroid cancer, goiter, constipation, depression, epiglottitis, esophageal cancer, exercise of physical activity, foreign object in the nose, gastroenteritis, hypothyroidism, nasal polyps, panic attack, scarlet fever, Syogren’s syndrome, smoke exposure, strained voice (vocal chords), thermal burn of mouth or tongue, tuberculosis, chronic sinusitis, whooping cough, stroke, bleeding esophageal varices, Alzheimer’s disease, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, cat-scratch disease, cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, Coxsackie virus infection, dermatomyositis, diabetic ketoacidosis, drug allergy, eating disorder, emphysema, giardiasis, grief reaction, helicobacter pylon infection, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hyperthyroidism, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal ileus, lung cancer (non small cell), lung cancer (small cell), Lupus, Lyme disease, myasthenia gravis, narcotic abuse, porphyria, sarcoidosis, schizophrenia, scieroderma, swallowed object, syphilis (male), thalassemia, thyroid nodules, toxic shock syndrome, transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke), vocal cord polyp, throat cancer, West Nile virus, tetanus, acute kidney failure, Barrett esophagus, bird (avian) flu, esophagitis, hernia, tick bite, Chagas disease, small intestine cancer, typhoid fever, mesenteric lymphadenitis, CREST syndrome, endocarditis, renal cell (kidney) cancer, Ricin poisoning, shingles (herpes zoster), strep throat, glycogen storage disease, Pompe disease (late-onset)

I then poured myself a cup of hot tea with honey and lemon, sat down at the computer, wrote my morning pages, sneezed a couple more times, blew my nose and wrote my update to Jim’s Trek.

Oh yeah, have I reached the pinnacle age where I am now content and allowed to continue on and on about my self-diagnosed and medical ailments. I was so looking forward to that new stage on my journey through live.

Then I read the fine print disclaimer at the bottom of the WebMD page.

And so I am taking today off pedaling to just rest back a bit.

This is my 758th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 58,051 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 286 – (AD 716) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – Continuing On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

My drippy allergy season has begun in Tampa.

Another 21.5 miles this morning on my Schwinn 170. My total stands at 14,785.9 miles; 23,795.7 kilometers. And I have completed 59.38% of my overall pedaling goal.

I like WolframAlpha. This morning after I finished cycling I entered the following “21.5 miles and 70.2833 minutes Speed = ?” and it gave me the answer of 18.35 mph.

I am, and will be still for some while, I think, on National Highway 87 in Northern Territory.

Tomorrow I will probably cycle through, virtually of course, the very small town of Pamayu. Its coordinates on the map are Latitude – -18° 1’ 50.145” and Longitude – 133° 42’ 40.6902”. According to any detail I can find the population size is listed as “Very Small”. I did find one site that does say that the population is 156 and the average age is 30 years. It is VERY Small... and in the middle of nowhere.

Question - I wondered what the Amazon delivery schedule is to a place like Pamayu?

Supper last night – Shrimp and White Cheddar Grits. Result this morning – a drop of 16 points in my blood sugar count. Check out Jim’s Gotta Eat – JGE 23.

Just reading – From Reuters Africa – “North Korea blames U.S. for Internet outages, calls Obama ‘monkey’” (December 28, 2014).

And it is reported that there are how many Internet connections in North Korea? Per Wikipedia “As of late 2014 there are 1,024 IP addresses in the country (North Korea)… Many citizens of North Korea may be oblivious to the existence of the Internet.”

Last night I watched a predecessor film to the popular 1982 Julie Andrews Victor Victoria. I accidentally stumbled upon the 1935 First a Girl. I then discovered that it was a remake and adapted from the 1933 film Viktor und Viktoria. There is also a French-language version – Georges et Georgette… And there is another German remake in 1957.

Jessie Matthews, First A Girl 1933

Julie Andrews, Victor Victoria 1982

This is my 757th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 58,000 Pageviews. Jim’s Trek is averaging 76.7 Pageviews per day.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 285 – (AD 715) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.8 Miles – Thinking On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

My thoughts and prayers go to Cathy and her family. I will miss Ian. Memories of Beaconsfield, trombones, and Ranch, the two of you…and Sir Ian will always have a part in me.

Today I pedaled 21.8 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total mileage is now 14,764.4; 23,761.1 kilometers.

I am still located on Stuart Highway headed south in Northern Territory.

From Slate I just read an article by Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack “The World Is Not Falling Apart” (December 2014)

“Newsreaders will always perceive that they live in dangerous times… And as the political scientist John Mueller points out, in most years bee stings, deer collisions, ignition of nightwear, and other mundane accidents kill more Americans than terrorist attacks.”


Are you ready for the BIGGEST New Year's Masquerade Ball?

"Republicans Raise $500k For Scott Inauguration" - CBS, Miami – (Dec. 26, 2014)



And sometimes it is hard to understand what is just what. Having been an English teacher I got caught up in the article “Teaching Essay Writing in Pyongyang” by Suki Kim in Slate (Dec. 2, 2014) -

"It was not until later that day that I looked on the Internet (to which only the teachers were allowed access; the students were not aware of its existence) and learned that North Korea had already been knocked out, and the results had been announced some time ago."

I know that I try not to be taken in by any extreme, from either side of the aisle, writer and/or “pseudo-entertainer” commentator. I posed a question to Google Search – “How to know if a media commentator is biased?” I got 9,290,000 results in just 0.53 seconds. I asked iSEEK and I got 25 results…and WolframAlpha didn’t understand my query.

This is my 756th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,967 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 284 – (AD 714) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.3 Miles – Boxing Day On My Schwinn 170

Good Boxing Day,

Hope Christmas Day was a pleasant one. Mine was very, very nice with the family.

Today I cycled another 22.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total keeps on mounting – Grand total this morning 14,472.6 miles; 23,726 kilometers. I should be hitting the 15,000-mile mark shortly.

And as I forewarned my blood sugar count would rise somewhat during the month of December. This morning it was up 4 points. I recorded 115. I’m a bit about the normal sugar level which “is currently considered to be less than 100 mg/dL when fasting and less than 140 mg/dL two hours after eating.” And “A person is said to have diabetes if his or her fasting blood sugar level is higher than 126 mg/dL after not eating – fasting – for eight hours.” (WebMD)

I am now 562 days WITHOUT my diabetes medications.

Well it looks like there is something on either the lens of the camera or on the windshield of the Google Maps vehicle. Yes, I am still headed south in the Northern Territory on my virtual Trek through Australia. I have now completed 58.37% of that journey and I am located on the National Highway 87. Only 463 miles to go to my next destination and goal point.

Well I know that age must be slowly creeping up on me. Even my electronic devices are trying to tell me something. Each morning after I pedal on my Schwinn 170 for 70+ minutes I record my weight and other vitals. This morning I dictated "169.6" as my weight into my iPhone. The computer brain seemed fit to write out “”Sensodyne”. Nope there is nothing wrong with my teeth… I hope.

Last night with some of our left-overs I made an Okonomiyaki - お好み焼き for supper.  A sort of Japanese pancake, in my version, that I learned to make a couple of years ago. Still as always, a great supper and “go-to” dish.

Okonomiyaki in the frying pan

Okonomiyaki on the platter

Okonomiyaki on plate.

I needed to wind down after the day and supper. I watched two distinctly different polar opposite movies last night. That’s sort of how my mind works, most days. The two movies were the 2013 Dallas Buyers Club and the 2014 Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. If there is any uniform lesson to be taught by each of these dissimilar movies – "Can we ultimately learn from our mistakes?"  (Just me thinking…)

This is my 755th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,888 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 283 – (AD 713) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.1 Miles – Christmas Day On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

This early Christmas morning I pedaled 22.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. My total thus far – 14,720.3 miles; 23,690.1 kilometers.

And it is nice and quiet at my location on National Highway 87 in Northern Territory in Australia.

This is my 754th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,823 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 282 – (AD 712) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.1 Miles – Christmas Eve On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

It’s Christmas Eve 2014. Guess this is my 63rd one. And some of the houses here in Tampa certainly have managed without the snow.

This morning I cycled 22.1 miles on my Schwinn 170. Today is my 712th pedaling and I have clocked a total of 14,698.2 miles; 23,654.5 kilometers.

The only thing I wish was that the roads near my home in Tampa were as clear and empty as the road, National Highway 87, where I am now located on my virtual Trek. I am still headed south and I am about 508 miles from my next destination and goal point.

Please be safe on whatever road you are traveling this year.

This is my 753rd Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,776 Pageviews. I have now succeeded in surpassing last year’s December Pageviews by 17 at 1,417… and there is still 7 more days to go.

Merry Christmas.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 281 – (AD 711) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.3 Miles – Using My Internet Connection On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

Yes this morning I pedaled another 21.3 miles on my Schwinn 170. I have now cycled a total of 14,676.1 miles; 23,619.0 kilometers.

My blood sugar dropped 11 points this morning to 98 and I have now gone a total of 523 days without having to take any diabetes medications.

And I am on National Highway 87 and still headed in a southerly direction.

This morning I got a wee bit side-tracked.

Fox News reports – “North Korean websites back online after widespread Internet outage” – Dec. 23, 2014

“Prominent North Korean websites were back online Tuesday after an hours-long shutdown that led to speculation by some researchers and web watchers that the country's Internet connections could be under cyberattack.”

Question – Since the number of Internet users in North Korea is, sort-of, reported as 605, (which of course may be a bogus number), why would a complete, but temporary outage of their system make any difference?

From Wait But Why and Tim Urban -

"15) No North Korean people have access to the internet because the government is concerned that people would see things that would make them feel unfairly critical toward the West, and the government would like to protect the West’s reputation by preventing the people from going on the internet."

And CNN’s Greg Botelho – “With Internet still spotty, how might North Korea respond?”

“North Koreans' ability to surf the Internet -- for the few in the reclusive Asian nation who could ever really go online anyway -- is rockier than ever.”

And from Martyn Williams at ComputerWorld – Mar 15, 2013 – “North Korea’s Internet Returns After 36-Hour Outage " –

“North Korea doesn't have much in the way of Internet connectivity and there is little redundancy in its connection. Its main connection runs via China Unicom in neighboring China, and there is also a back-up satellite Internet connection via Intelsat. The country has just 1,024 IP (Internet protocol) addresses, making its national network more like that of a medium-sized company than an entire country.”

I think I am confused…as I type to my Internet freely accessible blog, Jim’s Trek…  It must be that I am cycling virtually on this side of our Earth.

This is my 752nd Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,691 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 280 ½ – (AD 710 ½) – Jim's Trek Part III – 0.0 Miles – My Leg Muscles Seem To Be Speaking To Me

Good Day,

Today my legs and my four posterior thigh muscles sort-of recommended that I just take the day off from pedaling on my Schwinn 170. It seems to me like I am beginning a routine of a rest and recovery day every 14-day cycle (no pun intended). I cycled a total of 304.0 miles on the past 14 days…and today zero.

Okay.

Wrapping Christmas presents.

First draft of our new Chopsticks quilt design completed. I am going to try a couple more iterations.

This is my 751st Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,587 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 280 – (AD 710) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.9 Miles – Still Pedaling On My Schwinn Fitness Cycles

Good Day,

And this morning I cycled 21.9 miles on my Schwinn 170. My totals are now – 14,654.8 miles; 23,584.7 kilometers.

This is my 280th Day cycling in Australia. At some point this morning I switched onto National Highway 87. As you all know I have been on the Highway 1 for some time now. And the scenery still looks the same. I am still in Northern Territory and I am headed south. There’s now 552 more miles to pedal to get to my next destination and goal point.

New York – Food delivery service expense – Rack up $11,000 a year. (New York Post, Tim Donnelly).

And do not say, CCL, well that’s because that is New York City. I just calculated a similar service in Tampa that would deliver from the Cheesecake Factory to my home. The total delivery cost nears about $21.00 once you start adding in the associated service charges. That's about $1,100 a year at just one delivered meal a month and that doesn't include the cost of the received lukewarm, possibly late food.

Hell for the same convenience and a good tip to the serving staff I’ll drive the 20 minutes to Cheesecake Factory. Oh and I just picked Cheesecake Factory as it there was an equivalent write-up on Yelp.

And I just got educated about chickens… “Every chicken you see on Earth is the descendant of the red jungle fowl…” (National Geographic, Simon Worrall)

This is my 750th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,507 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 279 – (AD 709) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.5 Miles – 6,015.8 Miles in Australia On My Schwinn Fitness Cycles

Good Day,


Thank you.

I received a 6-inch Eggnog birthday cake this morning. 4 inches never made it to my plate.

The house is open and some new orchids are just about ready to bloom.

Today I have pedaled a total of 6,015.8 miles; 9,681.5 kilometers in my Jim’s Trek III. Overall, since I began I have used my Schwinn Fitness cycles I have cycled a grand total of 14,632.9 miles; 23,549.4 kilometers. This morning it was another 21.5 miles.

57.32% of my virtual Trek in Australia is now finished. I am located on Stuart Highway heading south to my next destination and goal point. Oh yeah, that’s another 574 miles. Landscape still consistent, not necessarily awe-inspiring, but definitely flat.

My early morning blood sugar count dropped by 24 points this morning…and I got a good night’s sleep. Last night’s supper was a simple small shell pasta dish. (How’s that for alliteration?)

Why does this whole incident appear to be such a "Comedy of Errors". I can only imagine Sir William turning in his grave...

First you have Dennis Rodman and then you have an “unidentified spokesman”…

It quoted the unidentified spokesman as saying that any joint inquiry would prove that the North was not behind the cyberattack. “The U.S. should bear in mind that it will face serious consequences in case it rejects our proposal for joint investigation and presses for what it called countermeasures,” the spokesman said in the statement, the A.P. reported. (The New York Times, Martin Fackler)

Something to think about - The Internet is changing how much you pay: We expect to get a better price when we buy in bulk. but in the data-driven economy, the more you buy, the more you may end up getting charged. Loyalty means nothing nowadays, too. (USA Today - OZY, 5 surprising trends that could change the future.

This is my 749th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,427 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim

Day 278 – (AD 708) – Jim's Trek Part III – 22.6 Miles – Late To Write On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

I am late, I’m late… I’m very, very late. Thank you M&D for lunch… and I just remembered that I needed to update my Jim’s Trek journal.

I did cycle this morning 22.6 miles on my Schwinn 170. I can count the odometer at passing 14,600 – 14,611.4 miles; 23,514.8 kilometers.

I think the virtual scenery is getting somewhat boring and I almost definitely forgot that I am still travelling south on National Highway 1.

I cannot stop munching on the Holiday goodies and treats. Period. And yes my blood sugar count this morning spiked up 32 points. And of course I panicked. I do NOT want to start up again on my diabetes medications.

I calmed down when I read from Hope S. Warshaw’s article “Why Are Fasting Blood Glucose Numbers High?” Diabetic Living -

“If you have high fasting blood glucose numbers, it may be because of how your body is using the hormones involved with glucose and diabetes -- not the nighttime snack before bed.” 

And this means that I just need to keep on doing what I am doing – monitoring my blood sugar, eating well (my normal routine), and exercising.

Question - Did Kim John-un win an alternative and strategic chess game against Sony Network Entertainment International?

This is my 748th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,396 Pageviews.  Oh and I just noticed that December seems to be the month the Jim's Trek receives the lowest number of Pageviews.  'Tis the season to be jolly.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your holidays.

Jim

Day 277 – (AD 707) – Jim's Trek Part III – 21.2 Miles – On My Schwinn 170

Good Day,

And the First Day of Christmas is a small week away.

This morning I pedaled another 21.2 miles on my Schwinn 170. There is now just 41.41% remaining of my overall cycling goal. I have pedaled 14,588.8 miles; 23,478.5 kilometers since the 2nd of December 2012.

Nothing interesting but quiet at my current location on National Highway 1 in the Northern Territory in Australia. I do have another 618 miles remaining to reach my next destination and goal point.

Oh to be just a tad bit younger today. I just read an article by George Dvorsky on io9.com – How NASA Could Build A Cloud City Over Venus.

“Owing to the extreme conditions on the Venusian surface, it's going to be quite some time before a human ever steps foot on that planet. That's why NASA is developing a plan to deploy human-occupied airships in Venus's upper atmosphere. And yes, permanent occupation is the ultimate goal.”

Obviously a future possibility. Obviously a good thought. I can only fantasize.

This is my 747th Jim’s Trek post. And according to Blogger Jim’s Trek has recorded, as of this morning, 57,346 Pageviews.

I welcome comments or thoughts or ideas. Please feel free to contact, email me at Jim’s Trek.

Be healthy and enjoy your day.

Jim