Biking Update - November 1, 2008

Okay, I am taking a chance and still calling this weekly feature a "Biking Update" because I am hoping to finally get back to biking today. This was another week of good weight loss, but lots of difficulty for our dog, Biscuit. The good news is that I reached my goal weight of 230 this week, and ended it out just a bit below. It is not clearly evident at the graph to the left here, but if you look closely you will see the line briefly dips below 230 at the very end. :-) It was a great encouragement to finally reach my original goal. I have lost over 55 lbs now from when I started on June 1 with a combination of smaller portions, elimination of refined sugar, and regular exercise in the form of biking (either on the roads or more often on a stationary bike in the attic).

The next question, of course, is what is the plan from here? I did some reading online and spoke to one of my weight-loss gurus and it all agrees that now is not the time to slack off. I plan to keep up the diet and exercise schedule and see how low I can go. Not sure if I will try to set a new goal in the short term, or just see where I end up. But for the next week or two, at least, my focus will be on keeping the trend going in the right direction. The photo to the right is of a Wal-Mart blood pressure cuff at their pharmacy. These are not known for their accuracy, but I thought it was worth noting it was the lowest reading I have had there in years. And this was while I was picking up medication for the dog, after an extremely stressful vet visit, so I was not nearly at my most relaxed! This is a good sign.

Next, I need to see the doctor about maybe taking up karate again. But that will probably have to wait until we see how Biscuit is doing.

All Too True

From Nate Beeler and townhall.com

Voting help

Speaking of wikis, have you seen Ballotpedia?  The site lists out all of the ballot initiatives for each state with a good write up for the pros and cons of each one.  Also, it shows why the people that support it do and why those that don't... don't.  For instance check out the write up for Washington's I-1000 the Death with Dignity/Assisted Suicide initiative.  It's balanced and a help for those trying to understand what is going to be on the ballot beyond Obama v. McCain.

Wiki.gov

I just found this interesting article about how Obama would integrate technology into his administration.  There are a bunch of interesting nuggets, but the thing that I found most interesting was this statement:

an Obama administration would [make good use of the Internet], even turning to wikis to discuss topics like privacy.

I understand the principle of a wiki, but could somebody explain to me how a wiki is supposed to bring more clarity into government?

Biscuit Update - Home and Sleeping

Well, it has been an eventful and uneventful day, depending on your point of view. The good news - Biscuit is home safe and snoozing next to me (as pictured below). The bad news - they could not do the endoscope because she was too swollen to put in an IV for the anesthesia. This means we still do not know what is wrong with her, but have to treat her on the doctor's best guess. This is probably okay as the doctor has been practicing medicine for 40 years and is renowned for his instincts and intuition. But it may mean that we are treating the wrong thing.

We start on some new meds today and see him again in two Mondays. Please be praying the new meds are efficacious and that she begins to feel better soon. As of now, she is just muddling through life.

Phillies win the World Series!

And a new generation of Phillies fans is born. Memories from 1980 harmonizing with these images in my mind. I was in kindergarten then.

Prayer Request: Our Dog Biscuit

Those of you who follow me on Twitter or who have spoken to me in-person the last few weeks are aware that our family has been going thru a minor crisis. Our dog Biscuit has been diagnosed with "significant" heart disease and some kind of gastrointestinal disorder. The heart disease is being treated with medication, but in order to treat her intestinal problem any further, she needs an endoscope. The endoscope, however, is dangerous because anesthesia is required, and anesthesia is always dangerous (potentially fatal) for a dog with heart problems. However, it has become clear she is NOT improving without this, so we have opted to have the vet do the endoscope today.

Please be praying for all of us and for little Biscuit today. Please pray that God guides the doctor's hands (both the vet and the anesthesiologist) so that they do their best to get the info they need without risking her life. Please pray that they can see what is wrong and know if there is a treatment. Please pray that we recieve comfort during this stressful day, and that once the doctor knows what is wrong that we have the required wisdom to know what to do next.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.