Day 166 – Jim’s Trek – Alleluia! 3,000 Miles – Yeah!

Good Day,

Day 166 on my Schwinn 150 and I top 3,000 miles. I never thought I would do this. My total miles to-date: 3,019.0. I am located on the Trans-Canada Highway at Esk, Saskatchewan.

From my search and observations, Esk, on the Google mapping application, is a Hamlet. Not much there, and I can’t even find a population count listed. It appears that any Esk numbers may be included in the Jansen, about 6 miles away, numbers. Flat land and farms distantly placed apart. And of course this is where I stopped for the day… The sign does warn me that there are “No Services”.

I now have about 40 miles to go to get to my next Interlake address goal, and 1,148 miles to my ultimate goal in Seattle.

Okay, I do get stymied from time to time. Today is May Ray Day. Weather permitting, accordingly this is the day of May, with any excuse, to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. And yes the sun is shining here in Tampa, and yes I have been in the pool. No discernible information as to who, what, where, when began May Ray Day. I definitely can understand the why. Today is also National Devil’s Food Cake… Not a good celebration when one is trying to reduce one’s diabetes medication. Bah, humbug!

Doctors have agreed on the reduction of my diabetes medication. I am now taking only 25% of what I was taking when I started my Trek. I will be monitoring my blood sugar counts for the next month to see if there is a positive trend resulting from my exercise and diet. Counts were up a wee bit this morning, but I sort of expected that with the first day of the change. I definitely will now be aware of fried foods.

This morning’s viewing pleasure, first part, is the 2009 film Valhalla Rising. The star is Mads Mikkelsen who is currently involved in the television production of Hannibal. Valhalla Rising takes place about 1000 AD about a one-eyed Norse warrior and his travels.  The goal is a crusade but they seem to get lost.  A very strong visual presentation with minimal dialogue.

Immediate work continues on our Astro-Physics, Tampa Kaleidoscope, The Amulet, and Double Entendre. Stay tuned to updates at Quilts SB.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 165 – Jim’s Trek – 20.5 Miles – I Continue in Saskatchewan

Good Day,

Today my cycling completed 20.5 miles. I am located on the Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan just south of Big Quill Lake… (which of course, I initially read the map as Quilt Lake.) Quill Lake, a village on the northwest of Big Quill Lake and Little Quill Lake is known as the “Goose Capital of Saskatchewan”.

Tomorrow I will hit another milestone in my Schwinn 150 Trek. Stay tuned.

Supper last night included homemade Kale Walnut Pesto. Sausage Tortellini with Kale Walnut Pesto. Buitoni sausage tortellini… Pesto – kale from Urban Oasis, walnuts, garlic, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, salt pepper. I think I like this new diet. I’m eating in moderation, period!

Episode 6 of Da Vinci’s Demons becomes darker as we are introduced to Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad III Dracula. Leonardo is still on his quest to understand the Sons of Mithras and his search for the Book of Leaves. The Medicis are in pursuit of alliances with neighboring kingdoms in their all and out acrimony with Rome and the Papacy.

This afternoon I checked out CK’s swimming lessons. I am the very proud Grandpa, of course, and I am there with my usual camera… It was when I was snapping pictures that something sort-of strange caught my eyes and lens. On a shelving unit the Elmo props and a life-like looking baby doll was stuck away in a heap. I really had to look twice. I must have been out of it for years… Are dolls now made that life-like or are my eyes ready for a new checkup?

Internet speed upgraded to 90 Mbps. Needless to say The Pack all wanted in to find out what was going on.  In the back - Taylor; right to left - Radar, Max, Bella, and Tinker.  We want in!!!

My Trek continues.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 164 – Jim’s Trek – 20.3 Miles – Kabochas Are Growing

Good Day,

This morning I cycled 20.3 miles on my Schwinn 150. I started late this morning, but I still managed to burn 619 calories and I exercised for one hour and five minutes. I have now changed my direction to a direct westerly heading and I am located on the Yellowhead Highway. I am now averaging, since the beginning of my Trek until Day 164, 18.4 miles per day.

My virtual reality Trek can be a wee bit confusing. Yesterday, Day 163, my Google map location image presented snow on the roadsides of the Highway. Today the sun is shining, the grass is green. This of course adds some questions, not necessarily negative, as to the methodology and timing of the sequential route photos that Google puts together in creating a visual representation of their mapping schemata.

And my blood sugar counts just keep getting better. Already I have reduced my diabetes medications in half. Today I now will reduce my daily dosage to 25% of what they were when I began my Trek. My goal, maintain my positive blood sugar results and eliminate all diabetes medications.  Does this mean that I am no longer a diabetic?  No... but definitely minimal chemicals.

Well I’m up-to-date with the current episodes of Da Vinci’s Demons. A few more pieces to the puzzle and mystery of the Book of Leaves are added. A person, a potion, a periscope, a paste, and a pig…? And as happenstance stands I am currently reading Peter Silverman’s 2012 book, Leonardo’s Lost Princess. It is “One man’s quest to authenticate an unknown portrait by Leonardo Da Vinci.”

Audrey 3 ½ has been growing and growing, flowering and flowering. I have now discovered her beginnings of the production of Kabocha Squash. Gorgeous yellow blossoms, a multitude of flower buds, and baby Kabochas...

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 163 – Jim’s Trek – 20.0 Miles – Hi, Ho, It’s Off To the Hinterland I Go

Good Day,

This morning I cycled 20.0 miles on my Schwinn 150. I am still on the Trans-Canada Highway… and the landscape is flat, flat as my Google eye can see. I just passed through the Town of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan; population about 1,123. I have now about 98 miles to go to get to my next Interlake address goal.

My total miles to date is 2,957.9 and I have now lost 9.1 pounds.

And last night I received my next spam email, from a Mr. James Adam of somewhere in Italy, that I must immediately contact a Mr. Ahmed Yaki of DHL with my vital information. The blatant mistake in the email is that it states that “the amount in your Card is US$1.5 Million”… And the email reads that the “Card” is alleged to be an ATM card with funds. Does not the perpetrator know that plastic cards are not containers or repositories of actual funds and monies? They, the cards, are simply an “electronic key” to allow, supposedly, protected and secured access to the availability of funds.


Supper was Pork-Peanut Chow Mein.  Pork, mushrooms, snow-peas and green onions from Urban Oasis, wheat soba noodles, ginger, garlic, red-pepper, sugar, soya and oyster sauce, and sesame oil.  I am enjoying eating, and due to my daily cycle Trek I am eating much more and really, really enjoying myself.

And the smallest member of The Pack, Tinker, apart from being the most vocal, is an extremely demanding quadruped.  She has the household trained.  During the day she, all 10 pounds of her, when she wishes to lay in the sun... and if her bed is not privy to sunlight, she will yap a couple of times, maybe.  Typically she will find a sunny spot on the deck, to her liking, and then go and stand in her chosen spot.  She will then patiently stand there waiting, staring at the vicinity of the house where there may be some human activity.  We are expected to drop whatever we are doing, move a bed to her newly chosen appropriate location... and then she will settle down on her bed just contemplating the warmth of the sunshine.  This diminutive canine is no fool.  She knows who rules the roost, so-to-speak, and the fact that she has her humans trained.  The question is "Who rescued who?"

Quilt and crochet update and progress continues. Hexagons for Tampa Kaleidoscope are all spread out in the design room. The Amulet is loaded to the longarm. The component parts of Astro-Physics are now being pieced together. The first composition of a crocheted afghan, dark rose and buff, is now 48" in width and 14" long. Check with Quilts SB for complete updates.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 162 – Jim’s Trek – 20.7 Miles – 8th Degree of Resistance

Good Day,

Today I have increased a number of my targets. First of all I increased the resistance on my Schwinn 150 to 8. I decided to at least complete a combined time, mileage, and calories burned to approximate 1 hour and 6 minutes, 20.0 miles, and 600 calories. This morning I clocked 1 hour and 6 minutes, 20.7 miles, and burned 633 calories. My total mileage now equals 2,937.9 miles.

I am still located on the Trans-Canada/Yellowhead Highway in Saskatchewan and I am somewhere on the flat horizon southeast of the Village of Sheho, Saskatchewan. And this is the smallest population yet. In 2006 there were 121 persons living here.'

And the junk and spam emails guaranteeing me wealth beyond my dreams that really does belong to me, shy of the Publishers’ Clearing House, have increased substantially through the night and early morning. I received one from Singapore, one from Japan, a new one from Nigeria, another one from Zambia, and one from the good old USofA. I do know that I have relatives and distant cousins scattered over this globe, but according to these “please-act-as-fast-as-possible-and-send-us-your-vital-information” I should be a lucky recipient of somewhere in the vicinity of enough money to satisfy the Euro debt of the country of Greece.

My apologies to Mr. David Bryan, Mrs. Debra Whitman, Mr. David Ogundipe Gbolahan, and Dr. Elias Dulce but I truly feel sorry that some unscrupulous idiots out in Internetland are using your names to incite some type of air of authority and credibility to their bogus and supercilious schemes. My thoughts are that if the numbers of spam emails are increasing substantially, does this mean that there is an exponential increase in the number of victims who are responding.

This morning’s episode of Da Vinci’s Demons just heightens my awareness that power-mongering and thievery in organized religion and politics has not changed since the days of Leonardo da Vinci to today. That's in over 500 hundred years... Do we ever learn?

Back to the quilting, the search and research, the crocheting, and something tonight for supper with pork and mushrooms.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 161 – Jim’s Trek – 21.9 Miles – Another Goal Reached – 2,900 Miles

Good Day,

This morning, on my Schwinn 150 Trek, I cycled 21.9 miles. It looks like I am going to be on the road in the nowheres of Saskatchewan for quite some time. All-things-being-equal I am about 140 miles from my next Interlake address goal destination. There are two other Interlake locations in the distant vicinity of my Trek through Saskatchewan and I have only chosen the one that is more or less in a westerly direction on my route to my final destination in Seattle.

I have now topped 2,900 miles on my Schwinn 150. Today’s total – 2,917.2 miles.

And today is the most important day of the year. It is the Day of the Chicken Dance. Just keep in line for the Macarena, the Electric Slide, the Hokey Pokey, the Hustle, the Tush Push, the Gangnam Style, and of course, the Hora. Just think of all the light tripping at the next weddings on tap.

Da Vinci’s Demons, the search for the Book of Leaves. Two keys to unlock the mystery, one from the body of the hanged Jew removed by Leonardo, the second with the Lord Girolamo Riario, Count and Captain-general of the Holy Roman Church, (the bad guy). And of course I would like to find out if there is any history and/or reality to the possible Book of Leaves. Definitely check this STARZ's production out.

Not much more to scribble with the keyboard.

Working on the top design of Tampa Kaleidoscope, the quilting designs of Equality, and The Amulet.

Enjoy,

Jim

Day 160 – Jim’s Trek – 21.1 Miles – Schwinn 150, Thank You Mr. Herman

Good Day,

And today I completed another 21.1 miles on my Schwinn 150 Trek. I burned 600 calories and I am feeling great that I have now kept to my guns and have completed 160 days of continual aerobic exercise.

Today I am located on the Trans-Canada Highway just southeast of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. My Trek, physical and virtual, has definitely kept achieving that which I never thought I would or could. I now have just 1,269 more miles to reach my ultimate goal. Notwithstanding any side Interlake goals, I will have completed, when finished 4,164.3 miles. Whew…

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of virtual reality is “An artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment.” And so is my Schwinn 150 Trek, Jim’s Trek a virtual reality?

I am cycling on a physical Schwinn 150 stationary bicycle. I am clocking an average of 18.3 miles daily. To date I have completed a total of 2,895.3 miles, a feat all duly recorded. Have I decreased my waist measurement to 35” form 44”? Yes, and have I reduced my intake of my diabetes medication? Yes, and yes. I am sleeping much more soundly and restful. And am I burning an average of 600 calories a day, even though I am eating a slight bit more? Has my weight dropped by 7.6 lbs? Yes, and yes again, all this has happened… and these are the realities, the real part of my personal Trek.

And the definition of virtual – “Of, relating to, or using virtual memory”… and, “Being such in essence or effect though not formally recognized or admitted”. Yes Jim’s Trek is also a virtual reality. An actual physical, on the road trek from Tampa to Seattle that is a construction, something made up, something contrived… but this figment adds a source and sense to a realistic goal and goals. The above mentioned numbers, facts, and figures are and have been achieved, in a real world to allow for the achievement of my goals and successes.

But today I definitely will turn in my most amateur meteorologist credentials. Nothing came true based on all the possible data that I investigated. Tampa Bay was pretty much free and clear of possible inclement weather on Mothers’ Day. Lesson learned – If I want to know my local weather, look out the window. Today it is beautiful. And we are on the cusp, of our wet season, as twinges of humid air ride on the subtle breezes.

And then there are battles between sides that have drawn the proverbial “line in the sand”. Each opposing faction is convinced that s/he represents the “truth” of his/her belief of what they consider the purity of her/his essence. Be damned, just grow a fence and remember the adage “those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” Thank you Mr. Pee Wee Herman, and thank you for your red Schwinn Phantom.

Viewing pleasure for my Trek journey this morning was the first episode of the new STARZ’s series, Da Vinci’s Demons. It is a visual smorgasbord of period sets and costumes and, if credible, a glimpse into the genius of Leonardo da Vinci.
Just up my visual and mental alley.

Today I have to now compose the hexagon design of our Tampa Kaleidoscope. Andy is working on quilting our new quilt The Amulet. Also I have begun working on a brand new crocheted Afghan. It is a merger of two different color yarns, a deep rose and a light buff/beige. It will look extremely interesting.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 159 – Jim’s Trek – 21.1 Miles – Trans-Canada Highway in Saskatchewan

Good Day and Happy Mother’s Day,

Well, I do not see any mountains or hills at my current location of my Schwinn 150 Trek. I am now clocking mile 2,874.2. My 21.1 miles this morning were along the Trans-Canada Highway, also known as the Yellowhead.

This morning I cycled through the Town of Bredenbury, population 329. I am headed in a north westerly direction to my next Interlake address goal on my way to my final destination in Seattle.

From what I can find the only restaurant in Bredenbury, and I stand corrected, is Ming Wong’s Restaurant. Why is it that there appears to always be some sort of Asian restaurant in most towns, of any size, in North America? Just asking, as I do love Asian recipes.

According to Weather Underground and their Satellite radar there is a fair to large disturbance in the Gulf headed toward Tampa Bay and Florida. Wonder if my Interlake will flood this afternoon? Only 19 days to the beginning of the Hurricane Season.

If this map's statistics, provided by WTHR-TV Indianapolis, are correct, it is a wonder that the Neros of today are "fiddling while Rome burns"... Statistically this could be an interesting chart representing public employee compensation. And yes, both sides of the aisle can read whatever s/he wants to into this representation, it just is an interesting presentation.

The last half of Anonymous… It is that type of movie that one, if interested, should now look up the histories of the Queen Elizabeth I; the Earls of Essex, of Oxford; the Cecil, and Ben Johnson. Is the tale true? It certainly made a reasonable movie.

I am wondering about petty persons who always feel that s/he is born with his/her self-proclaimed birthright that s/he is the only one that should be in control. I wonder if there is some underlying source of his/her self-directed madness. Just asking.

Back to my writing, recipes, quilting, crocheting, cycling, reading, and playing the piano.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 158 – Jim’s Trek – 21.2 Miles – I Am Now In Saskatchewan!

Good Day,

Today begins. The Pack’s antics just up until each one chows down on his or her bowl of kibble could send one scrounging for some ear-plugs… similar to the ones that ticket-holders have at a concert. (Something I never understood.) Once they have all eaten and each bowl has been licked clean at least five times, the house is quiet then each Pack quadruped finds his or her space to take a nap… One, two, three, four, and five. All are in their chosen and designated spots. Quiet.

And I really and truly did not want to get on my Schwinn 150 this morning. Yup, I checked them. My Biorhythms are all in the negative zone below the 0%. Both my Physical and Emotional cycles are scraping the bottom of the barrel while my Intellectual cycle is headed close behind. My Primary Average is in at -43%. Message for today: Take it easy.

Anyway, after my 21.2 miles this morning, I am still on the Yellowhead Highway and I am located just on the outskirts of the town of Langenburg, Saskatchewan. That is correct; I have now crossed over from Manitoba to Saskatchewan. My heading is in a northwesterly direction and I am, in the vicinity of about 203 miles from my next Interlake address location goal.

The population of the town of Langenburg is about 1,100. Originally it was the community called “Colony Hohenlohe” after Prince Holhenlohe von Langenburg who visited western Canada in 1883.

I appear to have slowed down in my genealogy search and research projects… and I think I found the reason why. I truly have “No Words”.  Check out my work at A Genealogy Hunt.

And this morning I received one of those “this is your lucky day” type emails. This one is from Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iwuala, accordingly the current Minister of Finance of Nigeria. It appears that one of my penned claims has been sitting on her desk for about two weeks regarding the authority that I had passed on to a Mr. Croft of Australia to claim my money on my behalf. Are these people that stupid, or should I say are there that many persons out there in Internetland who are that naïve that they believe that there is a pot of gold at the end of some rainbow, in Nigeria? And just think, Mrs. Iwuala provides me with the instructions, in her email missive, that she will direct me “on how you are going to receive your fund via Automated Teller Machine System (ATM CARD).”


Now here’s the rub Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is truly the Minister of Finance of the country of Nigeria. From what I have read, she is an extremely well-educated and well versed person in the area of finance and economics. Why would a graduate of Harvard and a PhD of MIT, in the upper reaches of a government’s political system, be concerned at the wherewithal of my pitiful finances? On the other hand, I wonder if she has any slight inclination that her name and former position is being used for some Internet criminal’s gain?

The film this morning is Anonymous. This movie is a historical drama plied with your typical positioning in the world of politics, literature, and sex. The theory put forth is that William Shakespeare takes credit from Ben Johnson who in turn takes credit from and is acting as a ghost for the supposed correct author, Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford. This is known as the Prince Tudor, as Tudor Rose, theory.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 157 – Jim’s Trek – 21.7 Miles – Bull on The Road

Good Day,

This morning my 21.7 miles on my Schwinn 150 has me headed north in the direction of the town of Russell, Manitoba. My total miles to date – 2,831.9. There is not much to see from the road but flat land, but an advertised road-side attraction is published for the thriving tourist scene – The Bull.

Today is my 157th day on my Schwinn 150 stationary cycle. And the virtual trip definitely assists me to set and reach my physical goals.

Now here is something I really do not understand. Today is Windmill Day and all are encouraged to visit your local windmill and get involved. Say what? I've lived here in the Tampa area for over three decades, and the only windmills that I may have seen are at the local miniature golf courses. Now I can say that my four-times Great-Grandfather John Robertson was a miller and possibly used a windmill to mill his wheat… but that was in the late 1700s. Happy Windmill Day!

Finished watching the second installment of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Nice story… not much to think about. I’m not sure if was a typical love story between two people or a not so typical love story about fish. My next film is Anonymous, 2011. This one seems to take up with an aged Queen Elizabeth I from about where The Tudors left off, politically. Same issue political censorship and pseudo-intrigue. Who actually did write William Shakespeare’s plays?

Check out David Pogue’s 10 Top Time-Saving Tech Tips on TED. Here’s the link to TED.

Work progresses with our Tampa Kaleidoscope quilt. Today Andy is working the half-hexagons, and then I will take the the 456 half-hexagons and manipulate the design of our Tampa Kaleidoscope. This feels like a tennis match, and neither of us play tennis. And I have now found some yarn made of sugar cane. Stay tuned and follow our updates on Quilts SB.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 156 – Jim’s Trek – 21.0 Miles – Over 2,800 Miles on My Schwinn 150

Good Day,

And this morning after my 21.0 miles I am still headed west on the Yellowhead Highway in Manitoba. But the outside temperature has warmed to a great 37° F or 2°C. Somewhat a bit different of the 76° F, 24° C at home here in Tampa. But I continue my Trek on my Schwinn 150, and this morning I now topped 2,810.2 miles.

And I have now dropped 8.8 lbs, about 4 kgs, since I began my Schwinn 150 Trek on December 2, 2012. Believe it or not I am definitely eating more. I must be, I suppose, to make up for the average 600 calories that I am burning each day. I am averaging, since I started, approximately 18.2 miles, 29.3 kms, each day. I am cycling just under 1 hour and 10 minutes, which varies, each day. Also key has been that I have only taken one day off, and that was after I had completed 130 days. My belly measurement has changed from 44” to 35” (112 to 89 cms). I am really pleased with myself that I have been able to reduce by 9” (23 cms).

The following Google map is a direct route mapping of my Schwinn 150 Trek from Tampa to Seattle. The “B” marker pinpoints where I had reached, virtually, and where I started from today on my continuing journey to my final Interlake address goal in Seattle. (I have not included all my 20 reached Interlake goals.)

A real positive side-effect of the self-indulgent Trek, on my Schwinn 150, is that my sleep at night is much more sound and definitely refreshing. I never considered myself an insomniac. I just never need many hours of sleep… but now I feel extremely rested and invigorated after my daily one hour plus ride through a virtual North America and through the various films and serials. (Definite secret – I make sure that there are NO distracting commercials included on whatever I am watching while on my Schwinn 150.)

And today’s movie on my Trek is the 2011 film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen starring Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, and Amr Waked. Also included in the cast is Conleth Hill who plays Lord Varys in Game of Thrones. A fair light-hearted British comedy of the powers-that-be believing that the development of a salmon fishing enterprise in Yemen in the desert would be good for British/Middle Eastern relationships.

And believe it or not I am now remembering my crochet skills from 40 years ago.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim

Day 155 – Jim’s Trek – 20.6 Miles – I’m Still on the Trail to Seattle

Good Day,

And this morning on my Schwinn 150 Trek I completed 20.6 miles and I am located on the northern outskirts of the town of Shoal Lake, Manitoba. I am once again on the Yellowhead or Trans-Canada Highway. And this can become a wee bit confusing as there are actually three Shoal Lakes in Manitoba. The population of this Shoal Lake is about 560 persons.

Check out, in the image, what is actually on the ground in the "hinterland" of Manitoba.

Summarizing my stats -

Total Direct Miles to Seattle	To Date	TD Miles Remaining	% TD Miles Completed	Interlake Miles to Seattle	Weight (lbs)
3,301.0	2,789.2	1,556.0	84.5%	4,032.6	162.0

Finished the second half of the movie Lucy: The Lucille Ball Story. Fair biographical film about Lucille Ball up until her divorce with Desi Arnaz. Danny Pino, currently of the TV series, Law and Order SVU, does a fair representation of Desi, aka Ricky Ricardo.

Delaware is now the 11th State of the Union to legalize marriage equality… Next?

Is it my imagination or my limited knowledge of the history of the United States, that if a map is drawn of the current States that support, and those that may soon support, and of those that reject marriage equality does not the map appear to be somewhat similar to the 1860 electoral map of the American union?

Work continues on our Tampa Kaleidoscope. The equilateral triangles for the hexagons of the Tampa fabric, medium blue colorway, have been completed. Stay tuned to Quilts SB for updates and our new projects.

Be healthy and enjoy,

Jim