JDPFu.com 2013

As many of you know, I’m losing a little weight while retired. The plan started in mid-November 2007.
Goals

1. Lose weight – about 100 lbs.
2. Increase cardio health, strength, & stamina
3. Consider getting ripped for the last 20 lbs.
4. Don’t gain any weight over Thanksgiving or Xmas holidays
5. Get my resting heart rate below 50 again, like it was in my 20s.

Strategy:

• Diet, exercise, weigh in daily, tracking, & graphing (XLS)
• Eat about 1700 calories a day – yes, that means I need to approximate calorie for foods I like
• Ski machine, free weights, outdoor activities
• No caffeine, no soda, avoid processed foods. Portion control.
• Eat breakfast (400+ cal) and lunch (~700 cal) for most of my daily calories – healthy snacks (~100 cal ea) too
• Fill in remaining daily calories for dinner – usually ~200 cal, so veggies and fruit or oatmeal work
• Nuts – there’s something about them and milk that helps me lose weight and feel full.

Log
What has happened so far? Basically, I’ve lost 3 lbs/week since starting. If this continues, by June 2008, I should be nearing my goal.

The No S Diet

- all data in this section is total loss, not weekly.

I had planned to watch this launch, but all the viewing Cape Canaveral tickets were sold out. After working as a contractor for 8 years in Houston – Shuttle On-board Flight Software and on Mission Control EDP software, I never got to watch a launch in Florida. I did watch a few from the JSC Mission Control Center and, early on, was forced to sit in the server data center next to the EDP project servers in case there was any problem that required physical correction. Not much fun since there was no headset link or TV or radio in the server rooms.

Anyways, the launch was on a Saturday after a holiday long weekend, so I didn’t want to brave the tourist and traffic to go.
Here’s the launch … youtube embedded video.

Enjoy.

Oh, and watch the landing – I re-wrote the nosewheel steering software and the aileron/elevon control software that makes all the landings since 1992 or so, perfect.

The Landing … on 6/14/2008. Notice how smooooooth it is. Thank you, thank you very much.

As this new blog was being setup, the need for a reverse proxy to support failover, SSL, compression, re-write, clustering, fast static serving and finally, load balancing. Pound and Nginx appear to be the easiest of these that aren’t apache. Apache is now the kitchen sink.

Pound is used by Slashdot and others, so it scales. Pound is perl and I’ve been using it for years on this site.

Nginx is used by youtube and others, so it scales. It is Russian and I’ve never used it before. The configuration seems simple – it supports virtual hosts, which is nice.

These are the main links I send friends:

• slickdeals
• bensbargains
• woot
• Slashdot
• Freshmeat
• Lifehacker
• Linux.com
• VoipGo
• Hotwire
• WUnderground-Marietta
• BigAl EV
• SecurityNow from GRC.com
• SwansonRules
• ManifestInvesting | NAIC-based Investing Site | M* Dashboard:TinCup | M* Dashboard: Solomon’s Select | M* Dashboard: NAIC Growth | NAIC Discussions on CompuServ
• StockCentral
• Earnings – quarterly company conference calls.
• PortableApps
• PortableFreeware
• PDALinks
• PDA-JDPFU
• DR-JDPFU – Disaster Recovery Lists for Home Evacuation
• ZK – ZK – Simple AJAX/Scripting WOW!
• Give
• CharityNavigator
• RetailMeNot
• BugMeNot

Welcome to my new Blog. The solowiki-based old one was getting toooo large and becoming too slow. This Typo-based blogger seems better. A few hours of database conversion and it seems to be up.

http://www.google.com/sky/\nAstronomy without leaving your house.

Pine Mtn Recreation Area
This is my 2nd trip to this trail – nothing important is new. See the other report for directions, parking, etc…

However, this time I did both the east and west trail loops. I’m in much better shape now. ;)

The trail map is accurate, for the most part, except where it is completely inaccurate. A few of the mileage markers on map simply don’t exist. Also, the number of switchbacks shown on the smaller trail is wholey inaccurate – there are approx. double the number shown. Why do I care? BECAUSE I WAS CLIMBING THE DAMN HILL THERE.

As always, it is good to be hiking on a Tuesday afternoon when everyone else is at work.

Pine Log Creek Trail
Overview
Trail is 4.5 mile compacted soil path crossing seven rustic footbridges over Pine Log Creek.

This trail system includes two loops – east and west. I hiked most of the western loop first, taking the most western trail at the split. Then took the link over a creek to the eastern loop. I took the southern trail at the loop split. There’s a small beaver dam.

Mileage Summary

Directions I-75 Exit 293, US 411 north approximately 7.7 miles. Turn right onto GA 140 east toward Waleska. Continue approximately 3.3 miles to Pine Log Creek Trail System parking area on left. I had to turn around and go back after passing the entrance.

Ok, here’s the instructions for getting connected to the VPN. Save this email.

Software Needed

1. Hamachi – VPN software
2. DC++ – File transfer/browser software (or any Direct:Connect C/S solution)
   Use google to find these and load them. Ok, now that you have them loaded, you need to configure them.

Network Specific Items – not provided here __ (separate email or out of band provided) __

1. Hamachi network name – NETNAME
2. Hamachi network name password – NETPASS
3. DC Server IP – SRVIP

The network you need to join for Hamachi – __ the private, encrypted network __ – has a name provided outside these instructions. Without the name and the network password, you and all transfers can’t be intercepted by anyone – except the NSA or other large government organizations. This is known as a Dark Network and ours is by personal invitation only. Please, please do not share the network with just anyone. Before sharing, discuss the new person with another member.

Hamachi – Once configured, you should see a list of computers on the 5.×.×.x network. I see 4 active and 2 inactive as I’m writing this.

DC++ – Use the Quick Connect and the Hub IP address to connect into the network. The first thing DC++ does is to download a current list of available files. Be aware that file transfers are peer to peer and will take some time. Don’t expect to get anything without at least a few hours of download time. Also, some network members may choose to limit bandwidth or enable the network only overnight for their local time zones. Have fun grabbing some files.

Red Top Mountain
Overview

1. Homestead Trail Mileage: 4.4 miles total (which doesn’t match the 5.4 mils from the last time I did this exact trail)
2. Total Time: 1:30 with stops for photos. I’m getting into significantly better shape.
3. This was my first hike since returning from both Costa Rica and Argentina, I expected knee problems and didn’t have any – not even a pop. Two months ago, I was 13 lbs heavier. That doesn’t sound like much and I certainly haven’t been losing weight like I did the non-travel months. Since returning from Buenos Aires, I’ve struggled to follow my calorie restrictions, exercise and stop eating after 7pm. The BsAs lifestyle didn’t allow for any of that.
4. Back to Red Top Mtn – spring has fully sprung. The trail was full of green and about 10 butterflies. The butterflies were nothing like Iguazu Falls or Costa Rice in either density or coloration, but they were still nice to see in the mid-afternoon.
5. No insect bites at all – no DEET on either.
6. My boots, purchased at Blackcomb Mountain in British Columbia, are starting to show some wear. With my weight loss, the boots fit much better and I’ve changed from liner hiking socks to medium-cush hiking socks. Another 20 lbs down and I’ll need the heavy-cush socks.

Noticeable Sights
The main thing to see is that Lake Allatoona isn’t low anymore. According to the Corps of Engineers site, 840’ is the normal lake level in summer and considered full at that level. Wikipedia Article Paths that run near the lake have … perhaps 10’ of clearance which is probably the ideal lake level.