Daily Archives: 2008-04-01

Fitness, Personal

Workout Log – 4/1/2008

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Today, it was a bit of a quick session due to the fact I was running just a tad late and had to do laundry… I managed to do a good round of sets before having to call it quits. It was a short but intense set, though it wouldn’t be until now that I can feel the pectorals, deltoids, and quadriceps hurting from the torn adipose tissue. I am sure the “punishment” will rear it’s ugly head tomorrow. It’s about 11:30pm so I may just work in a gut-buster mini-set before tomorrows festivities. Due to tomorrow’s 12 hours of work and IV training, I won’t have time to hit the gym. I plan to awake tomorrow morning with an intense round of gut-busters and then end the day with another round of gut-busters.

Squats – 40 lbs 3 sets 12 reps.
Lunges – 30 lbs 3 sets 12 reps
Seated Shoulder Press – 30 lbs 2 sets 10 reps.
Dumbbell Bench Press – 25 lbs 3 sets 12 reps
Dumbbell Fly – 25 lbs 3 sets 10 reps

Reviews, Technology

[Review] Two Years of Faithful Service – 1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata (NB8C)

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November 5th… I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was doing the morning shift and I’d receive a call at home from a dealer saying “We’ve drop shipped your car to our lot! Come on over to take a look at it before we close… It is first come first serve even if you did pay the deposit to get it brought over.” I would get to the dealer at about 6:00pm and take a peek. The gauges reminded me of the days I toyed with FD3S RX-7’s but most of the car stood out like a British roadster. The sales rep would end up teaching me refined manual on the fly… so that yielding to be an interesting experience. After signing off the papers and having my car polished up, I’d roll home to Dallas in my first set of wheels that I paid with my own hands for. It was a tiring day, but it would be the beginning of even more exhaustive training for me to remember my “fancy footwork”.

It wouldn’t be until I hit the 6th month of ownership that I would come to realize the true merits of my MX-5. Sure, it’s not the prettiest one. It has bare nothing as far as features go. No premium leather seats, no power windows, no power locks, no tricked out sound system, no sport suspension pack, no aerodynamics pack, no ABS, no power steering. However… it’s been one of my more forgiving experiences with a driving machine. Before the MX-5, I was plunking around town in a Honda Integra sedan which had more heft to toss around and simply not enough power to back it. The MX-5 however feels like a zippy go-kart that could push endlessly. However… the car is not without it’s caveats. The stock steel 14″ tires are far from adequate compared to the later models getting a wider 15″ wheels or even the 17″ wheels on the later Mazdaspeed turbo versions. The gears are short so those addicted to high speeds may feel a bit “cheated” on this vector.

From the 2 years I have become attuned to the MX-5, I have been rather impressed it’s been a forgiving teacher to me. The maintenance is a bit easier than the rat’s nest that I had to deal with in the Integra. The best part being the ability to break the top down when the day is looking great! The community of folks who drive MX-5’s is staggering! So help, tips and advice are almost always readily available no matter where you live.

For a worthy car to really learn the roots of essential and proper rear-wheel shenanigans, the MX-5 is one hell of a car to do it all in. The cost of one from the 1999 – 2005 era is much lower than the newer ones, so they are plenty cheap. Truly one of the best cars to learn about spirited driving and the essential techniques to hone it properly.

Fitness, Personal, Rant

A Year of Change, Progress from Darkness

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It’s amazing to look back and just think “Damn… it’s been that long?” I can still remember hopping out of high school and getting rejection letter after rejection letter from some big time schools saying that I wasn’t “qualified” so my only recourse was community college. From there… I remember the fighting with family that made me strike out and just try to fight the world with my bare hands. For a while, my battle went well… until everything fell apart on the inside.

I would finally hit the rock bottom. It was like being hit by a mass public transit bus at high velocity and then forcefully being dragged to the hospital and stuck with IV’s. It sucked just looking at my battered state and thinking “Damn…” Sure, I am not as “accomplished” as my younger and older family members. Sure, I am dressed in rags rather than lavish linens. All I have to my own name is courage, integrity, and the drive not to be beaten dead. There was one thing I knew that was clear… I had to improve everything about myself. I looked like I was stoned in the gutter, blazed eyes, bleeding profusely, and possibly… rabid. (I kid on saying the latter two. – Zero)

Obviously, the first task that had to be done was washing the debt off of me. I lucked out there with a “deal with the devil” but I am grateful for it. My job at the office has been kind enough to load me the hours I require to adequately stack my paycheck to repay my demonic deal. The biggest change was picking up the slack and getting my sorry tail to the gym. Though I did have a snag that left me working out at home until I had my car parts in hand… It was a small hurdle that would lead me to where I am now.

With retrospect to my “morphology” (as my on-call boss, today called it), the definition is getting there much faster. To think I started supplements back on March 18th and it’s about 2 weeks of whey protein, hard workouts that throughly put me through the wringer… It’s a huge step compared to where I started back in December. I can wait to see the results of my toiling come December 10, 2008. Diet changes have seriously helped, as high proteins and carbs seem to help me patch up a little faster than say junking out. I simply want a return to the body I used to have… Before the stress, poor eating, reckless drinking, and poor sleeping destroyed my body. But on top of that… I want to have more bulk and strength behind it. My change to Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Natural Whey Protein mixed with organic milk seems to work quicker than when I was just using soy milk, but it could be all in my head.

Academically… I will be seeing my shot for personal progress soon. This week I begin my IV and aseptic training course to get my national recognition for that. Then I have Texas A&M Commerce in the Fall to look forward to and hopefully progress further in my life. For me, it’s the big break I have been looking for… for a very long time. I know what is next… just making the steps towards the prize is the main thing I have to hope for and I pray that nothing else falls right in front of me. I have faith that there isn’t any more sorrow for me to behold, the journey to perfection awaits me!

Ironically an oracle has said my star signs are in good alignment this year and that if I pick up the slack, this is the year that all things will change for the better. I will give it my all and I don’t intend to back down.