I was reading through this here blog the other day, and it appears that I haven’t updated in almost 2 years.  Wow.  You’d think I was dead if you didn’t really know me, but followed along to my super witty posts about my computer, and running. (That’s apparently all I’ve written about in years. Pathetic.)

So much has changed over the last few years, but there’s no real reason to bore you with the details, is there?  If you’re in my life and care about those sorts of things, you probably already know about all of them anyway.

Let’s just say that life is never what you expect, and people let you down, no matter who they are.

I don’t have much new to say, without sounding like a whiney asshat, so I’ll keep this brief.  I’m still alive.  I still play drums. I still build and maintain websites.  I haven’t written much in the last year, but I have a few draft posts here of songs I’ve written that I’m just waiting for the opportune moment to publish.

Hope you’re well.  Yes, you, internet stranger.  I’ve missed you.

It’s Friday afternoon and I just finished today’s run.  Though my body didn’t want to do it, I went three whole miles today.  I had wanted to do the 3.5 I ran yesterday, but I eased up and didn’t push myself too hard.

All in all, I ran a total of over half a marathon this week, just shy of 14 miles total.

I feel great.  My legs, hips and butt are pretty sore later at night, but I think my body will get used to doing the physical activity.  I’m not at all winded when I’m running, so I think my lungs have adjusted to the physical activity of doing the actual running, which is something I’ve never been able to do.

Having done over 3 miles every day this week, I think it’s safe to say that when I tried running earlier in my life, I tried to run too fast.  I always wanted to be the first one done, and it resulted in me getting winded and walking.  I learned to pace myself, and as long as I keep my mind focused on something else, I can keep going for the most part.

Though now that it’s getting warmer out, I have to figure out a solution to get some cool air blowing in my face.  Today and yesterday I grabbed a towel and hung it over the side of the treadmill to mop the sweat off occasionally so it doesn’t get in my eyes, which come to find out stings like a sumbitch.

Next week’s goal is to run all 5 days, 3 miles per day.  (I didn’t run Monday this week because I had to pick Christine up from the bus after her weekend away, and it threw off my timing.)  Total of 15 miles next week, and possibly for the rest of the month of May, too.

If I can do 3 miles every day, five days a week for four weeks, I think I’ll be ready to step up the pace of the miles.  Right now I’m doing the first mile at a 12 minute pace and the last two at a 15 minute pace.  (This was just today and yesterday, the first two days I did all 3 at 15.)

I started looking for 5ks to run later this year, and it appears there’s no shortage of those, so I shouldn’t have any issue in trying to find one to do sometime in September once it’s cooled down from the summer months.

I haven’t weighed myself yet, but I certainly feel skinner, which is good.  I always give up when I get on these health kicks because I don’t see immediate results, and I give up thinking it’s not doing anything.  Here’s hoping I can keep this going.

Hey look, another update!

For those that read my update the other day, you know that I’ve been trying to run lately. Mainly to get my heart in better shape, so I can live to at least 35.

I ran some more today, a bit ago.  I ran for a mile straight.  And then I thought “I can do another quarter mile”.

And then I got to 1.25 and thoughts “I can make it to 1.5”. And I did.

And then I thought “2 is only 7.5 more minutes at this pace”.  So I did 2 miles.

Then I shut off Netflix and began bumbling with the streaming music that goes from my Mac to the Blu-ray player hooked up to the TV in front of the treadmill.  (There was a song I wanted to hear.)

Then before I knew it, I was at 2.3 miles.

So I kept going. All the way to 3 miles.

I know what you’re thinking, three miles is that far to run.  But keep in mind that up until 9 days ago I had never in my entire 31.5 years of life ran a mile without stopping.  And today I did three.

Sure, they’re not the fastest miles, and it’s indoors on a treadmill (which is easier than running outside), but I did it.  I pushed myself, and I ran as far as I wanted to go.

I probably could have ran another mile, but I got bored after I shut Netflix off.

The moral of the story is that you can do anything if you have a TV in front of you to distract you how long you’ve been doing it.  Wait. Is that a moral?

It always seems that nearly a year goes by before I realize I haven’t written anything on this blog.  Do I have nothing interesting to say?  Maybe.  Do I just have no motivation to write anything? That’s also possible.

But here I am, writing something.  Does it mean anything? No.  It’s just mid-morning on a Friday, and I’m trying out an offline WordPress writing app (MarsEdit), which is pretty fantastic.

Hrm, what’s been new with me? Not much, really.  MJJ Designs has been doing great.  Staying busy there, which is nice.   The house is coming along. Still a long way to do with decorating – hanging up pictures, shelving, etc.  But we’ll get there.

I’ve also started hitting the treadmill again.  Trying to do at least two miles a day Monday – Friday.  My legs burn like hell because I’m so out of shape, but I’ll get there.  My goal is to run a 5k before the end of the year.  I doubt I’ll actually be able to do it, but I want to try.  Up until last week I’d never been able to run a mile without stopping before.  So it was a nice accomplishment when I actually managed to run the entire time.  It was only a 15 minute mile, not the fastest ever, but it was something I was proud of.  I’m down to about 13 minutes on my mile now, and plan on trying to get up the 3 mile distance at that pace.  Then if I feel adventurous I can try speeding it up a bit.  My goal isn’t to break any land speed records for the 5k, just to finish it.

Plus running is getting me away from the computer for an hour a day before lunch. And probably doing a lot for my health, too.  I’ve gotten overweight over the last few years, and want to get back down to my fighting weight, as they say.  Not that I’ve ever fought anyone, but that’s the saying.

That’s pretty much it for me.  At least for now.  Oh, and if you have anything to do with it – please let the Bruins win the Stanley Cup this year. I’d appreciate it.

Wow, it’s July.  I should rename this blog the 6 month blog, and only update once every six months.  But that’d be lame. I just don’t have much to say. Not that you care, anyway, but whatever.

Let’s see, what’s happened?  Well, we bought a house for one. A nice yellow one, with lots of room.  So much room, in fact, that not only do I get my own office, but I get a music room for my drums and guitars, as well.  That’s pretty exciting.  Once we’re completely done unpacking everything I’ll put up some pictures of the inside.  Soon, I keep telling myself that it’ll all be done soon.

It’s been almost 7 months since Lasik, and my eyes are still near perfect.  The dryness isn’t as bad as it has been for the first few months. I can go days without any eye drops now, but still eventually need to drop some in.

I’m so uninteresting, I can’t even think of anything else to write.  Sorry for the disappointing post. At least it’s something, right?

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?  What’s new?  Lots, I guess.

My eyes have settled in quite nicely. I can see things like I never thought I’d be able to see things.  Night time vision is still a bit blurry when it’s really dark, but that’s getting better as time progresses.  They say that I’ll be completely clear and healed in another 8-10 weeks.  I look forward to that.

The holiday season was good. Lots of time with family. Lots of good times in general.

I’ve been working on a redesign for MJJ Designs’ website. Should be done in a couple of weeks.

Finished up some sites for clients recently, they’re in the portfolio on MJJ Designs, if you’re interested.

My contract with BU was up, then wasn’t, then was, then wasn’t. I still don’t know if they’re going to continue the contract or not. We’ll find out in a few weeks.

Christine and I have been working hard on the Kindle site (here), and made quite a bit of money over Christmastime.  That was nice.  We’re looking for a house, and hopefully can get one when our lease is up in June.  So we’ll see what happens there.

Other than that, it’s just life as usual. Nothing else noteworthy to report.  But yes, I’m still alive, and for those of you who stumble upon my site here, thanks for coming back.

For those of you who didn’t know, I had LASIK eye surgery two days ago, Thursday December 17th, 2009.

There’s been a lot of questions since then, so I’ll do my best to answer them.  Also, in the future if people stumble onto this page, maybe it’ll answer some of your questions:

• No, it’s not painful to be zapped in the eye with a laser.  It is a bit painful when they put the clamp on your eye, and apply pressure while cutting open your cornea.  It feels more or less like someone’s punched you in the eyeball.  It goes away after an hour or so.
• No, you can’t immediately see after the surgery’s over.  When you sit up from the chair, it looks like you’re under water.  That goes away (mostly) after your mandatory 5 hour nap after surgery.
• Yes, my vision is perfect now.  At least that’s what they’ve told me. According to my morning after test, my vision is now 20/20.  It’s still a bit foggy around bright white things, and Tv/computer, but it’s getting better each day.
• Yes, I could technically have gone back to work the day after surgery. But why risk it. I took a long weekend, and should be more than fine on Monday to go back full time.
• There are a metric ton of eye drops you have to put in pre and post surgery.  Every hour I have to put in artificial tears, every two hours some anti-inflammatory medication, and 4 times a day some antibiotics.  If you don’t like eye drops, you might not want to get this surgery.  I didn’t know about all the drops until the morning of. (Yes, after I’d already paid.)
• It’s still an expensive procedure.  After a discount I got, it cost me just shy of $3500.  However, there are cheaper procedures you can get done. I got the “CustomVue” surgery from The Lasik Institute in Burlington, MA.  Dr. Sheth did the surgery and was fantastic.  The cheaper surgery that the Lasik Institute folks have available is as cheap as $650 per eye. (As of the time I’m writing this.)  The “CustomVue” I got also comes with a lifetime guarantee. If my sight goes bunk at any point, I can have the surgery done again for free.
• Yes, you go blind temporarily when they’re doing the surgery.  My eye sight went completely black for about 10 seconds.
• Yes, you can actually see when they flip the sliced part of your cornea away from your eye.  It goes from clear to blurry pretty quickly.
• Yes, the laser makes a scary sound. (Similar to the first time you hear a tattoo gun. It’s that scary.)
• Yes, the eye drops they make you put in give you a metallic taste in your mouth.  You get used to it.
• Yes, I’m glad I did it.  Once my vision crisps up, I’ll be 100% glad I’ve done it.
• The laser itself is very quick.  My left eye (which was worse than my right) took two blasts. 8 seconds, and 6 seconds.  The right eye (which was the stronger of the two) took one blast, 8 seconds.  All in all, I was in the chair about 8 minutes or so.  (A few minutes for prep, then the slicing, then the laser, then done.)
• My eyes are incredibly bloodshot right now.  The pressure they apply with the clamp, to make it so you can’t move your eye, can cause bruising. It’s normal.  It doesn’t hurt anymore, though.
• If you’re thinking of having LASIK done, and have the financial means to do so.  Just do it.  While the surgery is something I don’t want to do again in my life, it was definitely worth doing it once.

I’m still recovering, but getting to the point where I can function.  I can look at the computer screen for more than ten minutes now, without having eye pain.  I drove on the highway today for the first time since the surgery, and it was a trip.  Being able to read things far away is pretty awesome.

I’ve been playing “Can you read that?” with Christine since my eyes started healing.  I’m determined to find something that’s far enough away that she can’t read it, and I can.  So far, I’ve failed.  She has some damn good eye sight.

Other than that, life’s just chuggin’ away.  Keeping busy.  Did all my holiday shopping today, wrapped all the presents and placed them under our mock-tree. (We didn’t buy one, we just designated a spot on our floor that we were going to stack the presents.)

That’s all I’ve got for now.  Uninteresting, I know.  C’est la vie!