Maintainers Chat: Week Of March 29 - April 4

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  • Allison - nope, not just you in favor of it. I have 620 employees, only 62 of which can currently afford our medical insurance, only 2 of which have their spouse or families covered (2 line employees I mean, executive staff all has family coverage). Most of those 62 are upper level managers, actually. I've had people look me in the face and say "the health care system works for me, why does it need to change?" We are considered a 'large business' but still don't get great rates. Being able to pool in with other restaurants will be fantastic...

    Dagmar - I've heard good and bad about the Canadian system, but overall at least there is coverage.

    And while we are asking for cures, I would like my allergies eradicated, too.

    I just went for a run at the park and totally died after 3.25 miles. I think eating a salad for lunch on a run day is a bad idea... I need the carbs from the chicken sandwich instead, I think. Wow. I haven't crashed like that during a run in months.

    ETA - it was totally the food. I'd had 812 cals so far today, which is more than I often eat before a run, but only 100g of carbs all day. Typically on mornings I run first thing i have a pb&j in the 1-2 hour pre-run window. Carbs and protein. Today i had a salad at 1:00, greek yogurt at 4:00, then ran at 6:00. Bad idea. Need to pack a sandwich for run days I guess...
  • Shannnon - i went for a run today too - 71 minutes total....distance?? No idea.
    But i was thinking near the end - need to work on mental fortitude - as this will only be the 1/2 way pt. on race day.

    i caved and had one Easter chocolate today - but did resist the carrot cake and hot cross buns @ work.

    S
  • TGIF! The weather has completely skipped spring and gone straight from winter to summer. We slept with the windows open last night because the house was so warm! Today is supposed to be 83. But I'll take it -- in the depths of February, when I couldn't get warm no matter how many sweaters I put on, I promised DH that I wouldn't complain about warm/hot weather ever again.

    The cats are loving it -- they just roll around in the sun and sleep all day.

    I've been doing some painting in the house this week and discovered that white paint under fingernails looks a lot like a French manicure.

    What does everyone have planned for the weekend? Our gym is closed on Sunday, though it's been open in the past on Easter, so if it's a nice day I may grab my iPod and just walk. Our Easter dinner is going to be non-traditional because none of us like ham much, so I'm making an angel hair recipe with grilled asparagus and lemon bars for the guys. Other than that, I guess I should get out my summer clothes!
  • I'm coughing and hacking today so I think the bike riding will have to wait until Sunday. The whole weekend looks beautiful so I'm determined to drag DH out for at least a walk today and a ride Sunday.

    I am also starting on my taxes . Probably won't get the whole thing done this weekend but at least I'll have a start on things (our filing deadline is April 30).

    And I'm going to watch Schutzhund training today with my friend Anne and her Rottweiler puppy. Should be interesting. Hope I don't distract the pup too much with the coughing .

    Our food will be vegetarian Sat. night and ham on Sunday with a bunch of veggie sides. I get a ham that's precooked and spiral sliced so all I have to do is remove the packaging - I am a lazy cook .

    DH has asked for one small chocolate bunny and wants me to have one too. I think I will probably cave and do that. Better a small indulgence that deprivation leading to a binge.

    Have a wonderful weekend all!

    Dagmar
  • Morning all,

    TGIF here, too! We have been having some beautiful weather this week and luckily I've had some field work scheduled so I can get out and enjoy it. It's sunny, warm, but not too warm yet. It's not quite beach weather, though. Saturday I've got to meet trainer Tim for benchpress training, and my friend's son's 2nd birthday is in the afternoon. It's Easter-themed so that will be my egg dying for the year!

    My mom used to make something on an Easter dinner, but my family wasn't very religious so we never went to church (mom is a "fallen" Catholic, dad was raised Lutheran...I think... but never practiced). I never do anything for Easter dinner, b/c though I like ham it has so much sodium, and potato salad and biscuits are not usually on my "eat lots of" list! Actually BF asked me last night "so what are we doing for Easter?" My response: "When in the 5 years we've been together have we done anything for Easter?" It will probably be a normal dinner.

    Michele, glad you got into your class. I remember crazy registration computer system meltdowns, too.

    Jessica, sorry to hear about all your allergy problems and your basement! Holidays in my family had strong food associations, too, still usually do when we all get together. You've all heard my rantings about "the fat table" at Christmas etc.

    Oh, oops, 9:06 gotta run... back later. Have a great day, and a great weekend, everyone!
  • Not entirely sure what we're doing for Easter. Older dd went to visit a friend in Boise. Younger dd leaves Saturday night for a choir trip in D.C. I asked dh if we were going to church Sunday (he is Catholic, I am Jewish) and he said probably. I'm not sure if the gym is open but it usually is for reduced hours so hopefully I won't miss! We already discussed that we didn't want a big meal as we leave for our cruise on Monday and will probably just cook something healthy. I realized this morning that I could actually sleep in on Sunday so I'm excited about that! One of our dogs always starts crying by 5:30 to go out/eat so we can never sleep in, but I have to drop them at the kennel on Saturday since they aren't open Sunday.

    I finished my big paper/project for my class last night. Not my best work but I needed to get it done before my trip and it was stressing me out! It was worth less points than an exam so it was annoying me that I was putting so much work into something with relatively few points.

    TGIF!!
    Wish we had the warm weather here but I'm hoping we'll have it in Mexico!
  • The weather here is crazy! It had been in the mid 80's for several days and then wham! it got cold. I had to get my space heater out for my office! I have a strange sore throat, too. I felt it coming on yesterday afternoon while I sat in my cold house (too warm to turn on the heat, but too cool for comfort).

    I got up and had a nice workout this morning. It'll probably be one of the last comfortable workouts for a while because I imagine the weather will be heating up a lot soon. The bedroom we have our equipment in is not in direct line for our swamp coolers and we don't normally turn on our whole-house AC until the temperatures exceed 110, so that bedroom won't be really cool for exercising. We keep the sliding door cracked at night and it's cooler at 5 AM than any other time of the day, but I'm sure it'll be uncomfortably warm really soon. Oh, well.

    Business is really picking up (yay!!!). We've landed a few new contracts and were able to rehire 2 of our old employees (they'd been without work since we laid them off 11 months ago). We brought 2 more back for a week's worth of help and had our part time guy come back for 2 days (he's in the Navy so he can only work every once in a while, but it had been over 16 months since we'd had him do any work for us). I'm still pulling my hair out over this darn job in Yakima but we'll probably only have to get crews up there two more times and we'll be done (I hope). I STILL don't have all the paperwork completed for all the correct licensure--and I had to pay one fee twice because of all the delays. If my DH EVER wants to do another out of state job I think I'll either quit or have to be committed! Such a headache.

    Our weekend plans including chopping off the tops of our Madagascar palm trees (they're 8-12' tall and we're chopping them down to 3-4'), going to an art show, seeing the movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and going golfing Sunday morning.
  • At home today working on a closet organizer. I really like being strong. It is nice not having to wait for help with most things at Lowe's....
  • The west coast seems to be getting all the crummy weather. I guess that's fair after all the storms on the east coast. But, dang, I'm cold, especially since I can't turn the heat on because the workers are coming in and out with stuff for the bathroom and the ceiling is kind of open, too.

    Shannon, yay for being strong!

    Allison, that's great that you're able to rehire some people. My DH's work group is hiring a bunch of new people, mostly college hires. Write yourself about note about never doing another out-of-state job and post it where you can see it every day.

    Michele, hope your older daughter packed for cold, wet (possibly snowy) weather. Not supposed to be a good weekend in Boise.

    Megan, that's pretty amusing that your BF asked about Easter. Love your answer.

    Dagmar, hope you feel better and may your tax prep go smoothly. Schutzhund training would be fun to see, although maybe somewhat scary?

    Meg, the poor woman's French manicure. I saw women with French pedicures when I was in Hawaii. I wondered how much it cost to get that done to toenails.

    Health care--quite the topic here in Idaho where the attorney general plans to sue the Feds. *Sigh*

    My contractor called to tell me that his bank is being weird about the large check I wrote him. He needs some kind of documentation that they'll honor it (although it's already been paid) because his bank (Wells Fargo) is calling Capital One a "credit card bank." What the heck? It's a money market account at a reputable bank. In fact, I'm pretty sure Capital One didn't need to take bailout money like Wells Fargo did. Anyone in the banking business? I'm really curious what that's all about. The interesting thing is that Wells Fargo had no problem with the other check I wrote him.

    Hope everyone has a nice weekend. Me, I'm going to hunker down and try to stay warm.
  • I dragged DH out for a walk yesterday. One hour at a moderate pace with a lunch stop. He was exhausted afterwards and slept for 3 hours.

    In the evening he announced that he might "go on a health kick for awhile".

    I'm taking him out for another walk tonite and a short bike ride tomorrow. Hope that'll totally convince him - if it doesn't kill him

    Dagmar
  • Wow, I miss a day or 2 and tons to catch up on!

    I grew up in an Episcopal church, sang in the choir, went to Sunday School, youth group, etc. THen took about a 30 year hiatus from organized religion! Now am a member of a small Lutheran congregation (surprisingly similar to Episcopal). DH belongs to an even smaller American Baptist church here in town. He would be a Unitarian if it were available here.

    I'm another in favor of the health care reform, but it's not safe to say that in our strongly Republican state. So many people focus only on the negative and seem to think that everything will be in place next week! A lot of the provisions don't even take effect for 3-4 years. As someone who is now on Medicare (with my state retirement as a secondary) I'm just going to wait and see, not that I have a choice. My understanding is that in some instances doctors will be reimbursed more for Medicare. It's difficult to find doctors who will take it. Specialists are easier, but family doctors - it's hard. I had to find a new GYN as my previous one does not participate in Medicare at all. Luckily my family doc will keep patients on - don't know if he takes new ones or not. Eye doc and dentist are not a problem as I have ins for those with my retirement package.

    We will going to our respective churches for Easter breakfast and services, and them I'm going to a local theatre production with 3 GFs in the afternoon. We have season tickets, and when we chose our dates we didn't realize that this one fell on Easter. Oh well. We're seeing "The Drunkard - A 19th century melodrama… by Barry Manilow?! Based on “the world-famous melodrama by W.H.S. Smith,” Bro Herrod and the king of 1970s pop take us back to a simpler, infinitely less subtle day in this deliciously coy and exaggerated play about the good, the bad, and the besotted. When Sweet Mary Wilson weds the virtuous Edward, the villainous lawyer Cribbs, determined to foreclose on the quaint little cottage Mary shares with her poor widowed mother, sees to it that the devil’s beverage-alcohol-is served. Alas and alack! Edward is lured to the city and ensnared in a web of sin and drunkenness! Can Mary and her innocent young child save her inebriated husband from the evils of the bottle? And what of the diabolical Cribbs?
  • Pat, sounds like fun! The outing with your friends I mean, not the Medicare part.

    I'm also a supporter of healthcare reform, and also in a very Republican state (which I think is also suing the federal government, sigh). I get so angry when people believe lies like "it's going to kill your grandma." I'm lucky that I have good insurance right now, but I have to call them all the time because they always deny my claims incorrectly, and I know if I ever lose my insurance I would be uninsurable due to pre-existing conditions.

    Dagmar, great job with your DH!

    Speaking of DH's, DH and I ran our first 5k of the season this morning. I set a new PR of 35:57, beating my previous one from years ago of 36:30. Woohoo! DH, meanwhile, finished in 24:34 and complained he was slow.

    Sheila, that is crazy about the check.

    Hi to everyone else!
  • Enjoy the play, Pat! W H Smith is a very well established newsagent here! Coincidence? Um, Barry Manilow?

    Off to the South tomorrow. My plan is to maintain or lose whilst away. Gaining is not in the plan so that's that.

    It's just the DB & me in the car. Adventures usually befall us (breakkdowns, awful maladies of one kind or another) so I'll let you know how it goes. Very character-building. Though I don't think I need too much more. I'd rather like a quiet & straightforward month or two.
  • Another from a Republican state here, and to up the ante further, I'm the HR Director & insurance plan administrator at a pretty Republican company... Needless to say, I was the only person in the office excited on election day and the day the health care bill passed...

    DH & I went for a run at the park today. Took separate cars as he did three miles, I did 9. Now, he did his three miles in exactly the amount of time it took me to do my first three... On his sixth time running. He is doing really well, and yes it makes me a little jealous at how effortless it seems for him. I'm very glad he got out there, though. He has made a lot of changes in the last six weeks - I'm proud of him.

    Pat - the play sounds interesting! Enjoy!

    Allison - being able to bring back laid off workers is good.

    Susan - the longer running time is an interesting challenge. I found that I was much more focused at the actual race than I was at any of the practices - didn't notice the time passing there at all, but I count every minute at the park....

    Meg - yay for summer!

    Dagmar - enjoy the chocolate bunny.

    Megan - it is cool that you get to be outside as part of work. I just have to stare at the sun through the windows.

    Michele - enjoy sleeping in tomorrow!

    Sheila - I've seen that happen with large checks before, but never heard the phrase 'credit card bank'. Wachovia used to have a policy that they would hold checks over a certain amount for 21 days, and then for the large ones would only post half of the amount then and half 14 days later. I remember raising cain about that once as the check had already cleared the issuers bank and Wachovia still wouldn't credit the funds. Maybe the same kind of policy?

    Jessica - great jobs on the 5k run!

    Birch - enjoy the trip tomorrow, hope you don't have a car disaster this time out!

    Have a good rest of the weekend everyone!
  • Coaching
    Happy Easter everyone!

    DH and I start our new program today. It's new for me in the sense that we've never co-operated on a dieting and exercise program before.

    I'm really excited about this. It'll be so much easier to stick to my plan if I have DH's support and he has mine. I'm hoping I can finally get to goal and that he can lose enough weight to alleviate some of the health problems he already has developed from being overweight.

    We are going for a small bike ride today. DH has a sore foot so I'm taking it easy on him. I am trying to get him to find a GP but his loathing of doctors has surfaced again.

    He's convinced men don't get treatment from doctors until they have a serious injury. That has been his experience in the past and he won't even try my doctor.

    I don't want him to further injure his foot but I don't want him to back off from all exercise either. I'm convinced that he has to both diet and get moving a bit to be successful at this.

    Anyone know of a good coaching book? I have never been good at motivating people - too bad DH isn't a dog

    Dagmar