It’s been a number of years since I wrote anything about going to the gym, or being healthy. But that time has come again. I realized a few weeks ago in going to Drum Time that I was getting winded running up the three flights of stairs to get to my space, and then getting tired too quickly. Specifically the muscles in my arms and wrists.

So I set off on going to the gym at my complex. In addition to my new Drum Time schedule of three times a week, I’m going to try to go to the gym three or four times, too. Nothing major, I don’t want to kill myself, just enough to be healthy. So,e treadmill or bike time, and some light free weights to get some muscle back in my arms and wrists, which should help with the drumming stamina.

I feel pretty good after today’s 45 minute workout, which included a mile and a half on the treadmill at a 5.5 incline, and a few sets of free weights with the dumb bells. My arms are going to be sore tomorrow in addition to my calves. I think the incline may have been a bit much for my second day of exercising, but we’ll see tomorrow.

I decided to take Friday off entirely, to give myself a long weekend. Which worked out well with all the errands I had to do. My dad moved a week ago and I’ve been helping clean up the empty house in preparation for being sold, and that’s included a number of trips over there to meet people to buy some of the unwanted antique furniture. It’s hectic, but I don’t mind helping out.

It’s back to work tomorrow, which is good. I’ve got tons of irons in the fire. So to speak, and need to get to work on a bunch of those irons before they get backed up. (Is that even a thing, do the irons get backed up?)

I suppose being busy isn’t the worst thing ever. Setting myself daily goals (thanks to Wunderlist, the best task manager for every operating system on earth) has helped immensely. Having a daily routine has helped quite a bit, too. Not that I was a giant mess a few weeks ago, but having some sort of regiment has made me feel better, in some strange way.

The week ahead will be another busy one. Starting a new (and huge) project, finishing up one more, and continuing one more ongoing project. Based on past weeks, that should help the week go by quickly, which is always nice. It always seems that time is relative based on how busy you are. Time doesn’t actually go by faster when you’re busy, it just feels like it does. Time goes by at the same rate it always does.

That’s all I’ve got today. You’re welcome.

It seems like every year, along with the rest of you, I tend to make resolutions for the new year.  And, like you, I hardly ever do any of them.

This year I decided to try something new.  I made silent resolutions.  I didn’t tell anyone what I was resolving to do or change about myself.  I’m not sure I did this, probably to avoid having to be reminded when I inevitably fail at whatever said resolutions are.

That said, I will let you know that so far in 2013, I’ve been doing pretty good at my resolutions.  Of course they’re secret, so I could be lying to you right now. (Don’t worry, I’m not.)  While not perfect at the things I promised myself I’d change, I’m doing the best I can, given the hand that I’m dealt with.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a month already in 2013.  It really is true what they say when you’re younger — time flies faster the older you get.  It seems like 2012 flashed by in the blink of an eye.  Not that it’s a bad thing. 2012 was a pretty terrible year, on the whole.  Sure, there were some good things that happened, but for the most part, it wasn’t the best.

I’m going to continue trying to keep my secret resolutions, and try to get out of this rut that I’m in.  There’s only one direction to go, and that’s up. (That sounds really tacky to write, but it’s true.)

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 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!