July 11th

What a week. My $200 investment in Smith & Wesson is now worth $1700+ That's tax, title, & license on a new car!

Why? Well, two black guys got shot dead by two white cops in two cities over two days while being filmed by other black people which apparently caused another black guy to shot 12 cops in yet a different city (he managed to kill 5 of them before the cops blew him up with a robot). If I could make this stuff up I'd be writing for a living.

The point is racism + firearms + police + dead people + viral videos = majority panic

Have you ever seen one of those nature shows where the wildebeest are all trying to get across the river and the crocodiles are waiting? The wildebeest can't help themselves. They simply MUST cross that river and the crocodiles are going to eat some of them.

Be the crocodile! Trust that people will over react and charge into the river because they think they must!

I watched my S&W stock go up and down over the last 8 years. There were 3 times this year that I could have dumped my life savings into that one stock and made enough to buy a brand new car with the profits. Why didn't I? That's a different discussion.

Speaking of different discussions, if i told you I work with cop, have friends who are cops and have family who are cops would you assume that I am very pro-law-enforcement? Well, I am actually quite jaded with law enforcement. Obviously, if things go bad I'll call the cops but mostly because that's what you are supposed to do and you can be imprisoned if you don't. It's why we don't need deep families or friendships, we have mandatory institutional order. We've abandoned the intense tribal bond for the broader faith in rule-of-law. Except faith is the part that doesn't count. The law isn't about virtue or right & wrong it's about procedure, precedent and proof. You could make the argument that law enforcement is the absolute dissolution of the individual's rights. (This is where I get very Libertarian) I was able to get my cop-boss to admit that under the current rules, any police officer can stop anyone at any time for no reason and there is absolutely nothing legal the person can do about it. As soon as the cop addresses you, you are a stray dog subject to his decision of what happens next. Yes, you will get your day in court. Yes, the judge can set you free. Yes, you can sue the cop, his boss, his mom and everyone who watched you be stopped. That does not change the fact that there is nothing you can do, legally, for which that he cannot shoot you. That's a medieval system we accept because of all the bad people we fear. We want the cops to have this power so they can snatch the bad guy off the streets. (Who puts him back on the streets is another topic.)

This understanding of the contrast between authority and rights bring up the problem of racism. Luckily for me, I am white. (Can I say that?) I spent several years as a young man being constantly harassed by police. Local cops, county cops, state cops, etc. I was pulled over dozens of times per year. I was often told I "fit the description" if I pressed the question of why I was stopped. I was searched, questioned and eventually released every time. Often it was minor inconvenience sometimes it was very frightening.  My crime was traveling the 70 miles round trip per day to college while having long hair and driving an old car. I was poor and worked my way as far through college as I could, being constantly pulled over and "run through the system" didn't make things easier. I didn't do drugs (even pot). I didn't speed (mostly because I was getting pulled over all the time). I didn't steal. I had no warrants. I was never ticketed or arrested, just harassed. Looking back, thank God I was white. I could have been shot. Eventually, I "got my shit together". I cut my hair, put on plain t-shirts, bought a newer pick-up truck, and quite using big words when speaking in public. I got a job that involved welding and grinding. Suddenly I became invisible to law enforcement. I remain so to this day. When the deputy sheriff passes me on the road, I'm just another white guy in a pick up truck. Having said all this I understand that none of what happened to me counts because I'm white and I made my self look like I fit in. It was really hard to learn to make small talk about the weather and sports. It makes me sick to have to pretend to accept their wink-and-a-nod "we all believe in Jesus" comments but they very well might kill me if I don't. Thank God I'm white.

Wow. That was melodramatic. As I stated I can't understand what it means to be black because I was able to get the target off my back. Maybe if it had lasted my whole life I'd be able to speak with authority.

I also can't understand what it means to be a cop but that's another topic, too.

catching up, first week of July

I've been writing a lot lately but not posting it.

Occasionally I think that someone is reading my blog and wondering "why doesn't he say something?"

So, I tell you what, imaginary readers, I'm going to set a daily writing goal for this blog. I'll work out the details as I go.

Let's see what to put in this one.

It's almost a year since I quit sugar, syrup and simple carbs. I filled a large trash can with stuff from my pantry yesterday. That made me uneasy at first but once it was loaded in my truck, I began to feel much better.

I took over a week off from my bicycle. I was pushing hard, feeling more than sore, and the weather was getting really hot. This week I got back on it and I feel great (once I pushed through the initial soreness) I rode 40+ miles non-stop on Saturday. Today I rode to work and back. The heat index was 103F for the ride home and I feel un-freaking-believably great tonight. Make of that what you will but the words "micro-stresses" come to mind.

I went to the nature preserve on Sunday and caught some cool water snakes (Genus Nerodia).

I watched some cool movies and TV shows including letterkenny which I must watch again as it's loaded with crazy characters and dialogue. I also started the live-action , Japanese language version of Attack on Titan. I'm not a big anime fan but I do watch all that I come across and some of it is really good. (Like One punch man)

There's lots more going on in my life. Some makes me feel good, some makes me feel bad but what I need to say here is I have to make time to write each day and post as much as I am comfortable with.

I'll end with this: tonight on twitter I saw the following two posts in order:

I'm not sure about the political opinions and personal details of each of these people's posts. Phil Plat seems to be pretty pro-Hillary but the original quote is donal trump linking to a disney ad. I feel like Debby might be very anti-Hillary but that doesn't mean she's for trump, she might mean "how can both these people be so moronic?" I'm not sure. But, as a test, I gave each post the same response: "I just ran a google image search for "sheriff's badge". Very anti-semitic. I better vote for the bad guy."

Their replies may help me understand the similarities of their political mechanisms. I'll keep you posted if things unfold.

I am settled into ketosis, it's Steak Week and Mine Resistant vehicles keep us free

So, I took a trip a few weeks back and ate some dirty, filthy, evil carbs. I came home, got back on my very paleo/keto/whatever diet and instantly felt better. However, I have abandoned my spreadsheet and I am messing around with my diet to see what new things I like. I figured out how to make a bad ass keto-friendly frappuccino. I have been enjoying more nuts and berries (like a f*&king bear) and I am on a meat kick. Which bring me to "steak week 2016"

I think we can all agree that someone at the Discovery Channel Network needs a stern talking to about how crappy "shark week" has become. They've got one of the coolest, most awesome predators on the planet and the scientists who chase them but that's not a "winning combination". No, they would rather give us "reality TV" with sharks. Fake-ass overly dramatic crap designed to draw in the brain dead {insert name of random popular reality TV show here} fans.

Calm yourself, Norris. We talked about how no one wants to hear you make the long, rambling, unrelated introductions to short, hollow statements that are basically you justifying your behavior.

I'm sorry, you're right, Norris. I'll get to the point.

I have upped my protein this week by eating more meat. It started like normal with a steak on Saturday but then I found some great thick cut bone-in pork chops for Sunday. they were so good I went back to the store, got more and had them for Monday. While at the store I found a large pack of bone-in ribeyes on sale and decided to try a steak every day this week. I am calling it STEAK WEEK! (In honor of another weak long celebration of a great meat eater). The real experiment here is to see how I do on meat each night. I have had digestive issues in the past from red meat night after night. But I am 3 steaks in with no problems.

I am also down to 190 pounds and riding my bicycle more each week. More push ups, more sit ups, and less sleeping. I feel different. I had to make an adjustment to my bicycle seat and boy did it make a difference. I was able to ride 30 miles non-stop without any leg discomfort or numbness. That's good because I am riding my bicycle to work a couple days each week now. That's 25 miles per day.  I want to work up to 100 miles per week this summer but we'll see what happens.

So, more steak, more exercise. What else is there more of you ask?

How about crazy projects?

This is an MRAP That stands for "Mine Resistant Ambush Protected". It's a 18ton monster designed to keep you alive on the inside when everything goes to Hell on the outside. It was something we desperately needed when we invaded Afghanistan and then we may have spent $50 billion on them. I don't want to get into the military spending argument so let's move on.

The reason I have an MRAP squeezed under the eave of my fab shop is that I designed a winch controlled battering ram to go on the front of it and my buddy Dave is actually fabricating and installing it.

We are actually building two of these for two different MRAPs owned by two different local & state law enforcement agencies and that's what I want to talk about because, to be honest, I don't know how I feel about law enforcement having vehicles like this in my area. Before I get in to that let's handle a few details. This was purchased under the US DoD 1033 Program which allows law enforcement agencies to purchase "excess military equipment for civilian law enforcement use." The law enforcement agencies seem to pay very little if anything for the vehicles, which is good since we already paid for them. (actual sticker from the driver's door panel)

This vehicle isn't going to waste or being dumped into the sea like after Vietnam (however, read the section of the wiki page about the ones left in Afghanistan).  They also won't be depending on a moth balled fleet of old unused vehicles the next time our troops need them but instead they are hard at work on the new joint light tactical vehicle

So I guess it's good that something built to be used is being used. So why am I bothered that a local law enforcement agency has such a vehicle? Why am I bothered that thousands of law enforcement agencies have them? That might be a better conversation for it's own post but if you have that gut feeling that there's something wrong with this I want you to know that I have looked into the faces of life long law enforcement personnel as this project has progressed and and they LOVE this thing. I'm not sure I understand everything I know about this yet.

Quick ketosis catchup April 10- May 15

I’ve been lax in reporting on my ketosis but there really hasn’t been anything to report until now.

I’ve reached a comfortable point where I understand and enjoy my new diet. I am slowly branching out to new things like Frappuccino. I have never been a coffee drinker but I recently had one with dark chocolate at a small coffee shop and enjoyed it. I went looking for something off the shelf that isn’t loaded with sugar and I had no luck. So yesterday I brewed my own coffee and blending it into ice, cream, dark chocolate and a few packages of stevia. It was delicious and I soon had a coffee buzz. This will be a nice treat comes hot, hot summer time.

I just got back from a trip to Boise Idaho where I helped my daughter move out of her dorm and into a rental place. She is going through a lot of growth right now including school, jobs, friends and family changes. She’s doing well and I’m proud of her. However, traveling while on a ketogenic diet sucks huge, hairy, unmentionable donkey parts. I do have the following tips:

#1 If possible, don’t eat while traveling. I ate a normal dinner Wednesday, drove to DFW, stayed at a hotel, got up early for my flight Thursday, made my connection, arrived in Boise, met my daughter and by the time we sat down to dinner I’d had a nice 24 hour fast with just a couple bottles of water. I felt great and didn’t screw up my diet that day.

#2 Pack simple protein & fat snacks. I got some small packages of jerky and nuts for the return trip (they love to add sugar to nuts read the labels!) I did this primarily because I had been eating carbs all week and figured it would be easier if I could snack on the return trip. I didn’t need to snack on the return trip because I had discipline, but I also had a nice alternative.

I did indulge in some ridiculous carbs. I ate a huge calzone, I at some pasta, I ate bread, and I drank about 18 beers over the course of 6 days (Boise is loaded with wonderful breweries) but I also figured out some cool things about eating a keto-friendly restaurant diet.

The big enchilada (or rather burrito):

Lots of pseudo-Mexican food places make huge burritos packed with avocado, beef, chicken, onion, cilantro, etc and wrapped in just one thin, flour tortilla. Don’t eat the chips and enjoy the best carbohydrate based protein delivery system you are going to find in a chain restaurant. Also, I think it’s a good idea to break down every now and then and eat some black beans (avoid the light colored sweeter beans). This is what Tim Ferriss refers to as “slow carbs”

Mongolian BBQ :

You pick what goes into the bowl and thus, what they cook. Not a lot of fat but a good place for meat and veggies or several types. Lamb and pork are staples of most Mongolian BBQ places as well as bean sprouts and peppers. In fact the hardest place to avoid the simple carbs here is in the sauces. Just accept that you will get a little sugar, flour or rice and dump a tasty sauce on your bowl of goodies. It’s also inexpensive.  

I Seafood and I eat it:

Seafood places are good as long as you avoid the breaded deep fried crap. Look for fatty salmon with veggies or eat your weight in shrimp like a bearded seal. Once again, avoid the tempting bread (unless you go to San Francisco and then you are a moron if you don’t eat some real sour dough bread with your seafood)

Steak out:

I consider steak to be the original comfort food. Screw ice cream. I feel good and sleep like a baby with a pound or so of red meat slowly digesting inside me. I bet it’s an evolutionary thing. Get grilled veggies instead of a potato and enjoy the same feeling your ancestors had when they knew they’d eaten enough to (probably) survive for another week.

Finally:

There is nothing keto friendly to eat at an Italian food place. Maybe the salad but what kind of heathen goes to an Italian food place and only eats salad? You go out for Italian food because someone you love asks you to go. Just have some freaking linguini and enjoy a cheat day. Same goes for a pizza place. Quit being a pussy and eat the stupid crust.

I have developed a theory about eating at a burger joint like Five Guys. It seems like you could get the big double meat burger, no fries and just eat the delicious fatty patty and cheese but I’ve got to say after eating coconut and olive oil for so long that greasy burger just seems unhealthy. Also, a lot of burger places add grain based filler to their patties so you can try to avoid the carbs and still get them.

OK, this doesn’t make up for missing 4 weeks but I’m getting back on track.

what's wrong with your wikipedia links?

I recently did a post with a ton of links in it, many of them to Wikipedia (I know many of you have opinions about that) and it didn't occur to me until around link 6 or 7 that I don't link directly to Wikipedia because I use something called wikiwand.

I have been cruising the internet since the mid-90's. I cut my teeth clicking random forum-based links and when things like Google finally solidified I was one of those first people to chase every information rabbit hole he could find. I was pouring through the CIA world fact book when the wikipedia guys were still hosting porn in Chicago (you might want to check me on that)

The point is, wikipedia is a fantastic, quick resource for general knowledge but the page format leaves much to be desired (or it did a couple years ago when I switched to wikiwand). 

I have no sponsors and I get to kick backs, but do yourself a favor and reconsider how you experience wikipedia.

Now, can someone explain to me why I need a podcast playing app? I don't stream anything, I play everything from already downloaded mp3's and I don't listen while my hands are free to click links. So why do people keep bitching at me for using google play?

This week in ketosis: April 10-16 (that took all week)

I have been trying all week to write this but my job has kept me busy, I’m trying to take advantage of the great spring weather, I’ve added to my weekly exercise, and I was embroiled in an awesome (but very long) podcast episode. So I’ve had a lot to think about besides what I’m eating. However, here’s what needs to be said:

This past week marked the completion of 3 months of my ketogenic experiment. I cheated a little bit with a baked potato and kidney beans. I also loaded up on lamb sausage, chicken drumsticks and a steak. I promptly felt like crap and fasted for 24 hours to get back to a level place.

Looking back here are some lessons learned from the last 80+ days of a low carb/moderate protein/high saturated fat diet.

#1 When to eat: I tracked meal times on my diet spreadsheet but that wasn’t impressive because I pretty much stick to a schedule naturally. What was interesting was to see that I go through a 5-7 day cycle. For a few days I’m simply not very hungry. 1,500-2,000 calories per day is plenty for this part of the cycle. Then for a day or two I want more (usually 2,500-3,000 calories) so I eat more. I tried to plan for this but it didn’t work well. I couldn’t just have Steak Saturday, some Saturdays I craved a big salad; some Tuesdays I wanted double helpings. I tried one meal per day which was great, except then I went home at night and tried to eat a big meal and my digestive tract didn’t think that was a good plan. Several small snacks throughout the day, works much better for me. So, I eat when I need to eat. If I want breakfast, I eat breakfast. If I don’t want lunch I drink some water or green tea. I will keep paying attention to my eating cycle and see what happens.  The one thing that is constant is dinner. I enjoy eating in the evening, because I like to cook and I like to drink. Eating makes both of these better. I am sitting behind a desk most of the day so there’s really no need to eat serious meals until the evening when I finally get some exercise. I am listening to my body and, so far, it knows what it’s talking about. Quick side note: If I was more serious about the weight loss, that low calorie/high calorie cycle could be useful.

#2 What to eat: Looking back, I did this keto thing the right way. First I cut out all the simple sugars. Then, a couple weeks later, I cut out almost all the simple carbs. A few weeks later I was on a high protein/limited complex carb diet that kept me happy while counting my total calories. At that point it didn’t take much to go full keto with no suffering, aches, pains or carb cravings. I was never hungry (my first world accomplishment medal will arrive in the mail any day now). When I started the keto diet I set up a spread sheet to track actual nutrients. This was super helpful but I made a few mistakes. For example, I did not separate dietary fiber out of my total carb count. This makes my carb count pretty inaccurate but when I look through my daily logs my daily carbs come almost exclusively from green vegetables with a minority from nuts and berries. A handful of tortilla chips at a restaurant triples my daily carb intake. I did a quick check on the greens I typically eat and they are 1/3 - 1/2 dietary fiber. If I pull that out of my daily carb count I actually did much better than my charts suggest. I guess it’s the equivalent of having a fast alarm clock, you always think you’re late but you’re actually right on time. (BTW I do not like having a fast alarm clock but mine keeps terrible time and I have to reset it every few months) I did have a hard time getting my fat intake up but now the chart’s trend line is nice and flat. I finally got there when I learned that you need several sources of daily fat! MCT oil, coconut oil, olive oil, fatty meats, avacados, and cheese are all great sources. (Some people argue about dairy I do not.) Dump the good oils on your veggies and meats. I enjoy sour food, bitter food, fatty food, salty food and rarely crave the sweet stuff. When I do get sweet stuff it’s not very palatable. I bought some flavored water the other day that claimed to have zero-everything in it but failed to mention it was loaded with sucralose. I dumped it out after one swig.  

#3 How much to eat: My calories trended upwards over the course of the 3 months but my exercise level has gone up steadily. I didn’t show much discipline during this experiment with regards to the ratios of macro-nutrients. I was trying for a ratio of carbs/protein/fat of 10/20/70 but over all my average was 14/30/56. The primary reasons for this ratio were over doing protein and not getting enough fat. It took me a long time to work my way up to the fat levels I needed for 70% and I still shy away from eating that much. I will say that I had no trouble hitting the 14/30/56 ratio as long as I avoided obvious simple carbs and made sure to vary my fat intake. Final note with regards to how much to eat: my average portion size per meal is at least half of what it was before I quit carbs. This is weird because one of my justifications was “don’t eat the rice, eat more chicken”.  The reality is much different. I have tried recently to do a couple big meals and I wasn’t interested. If I did cram my gullet full I felt uncomfortable for 10-12 hours.

#4 Getting exercise:  I am doing pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and some dumbbell work nightly. I’m not working out real hard or for very long but I am working out regularly and slowly increasing my reps. That’s the trouble with working out. When you are out of shape, 20 minutes is a great work out. As your physical condition improves you need more time, more equipment or more complex exercises to get you there. I have noticed an increase in muscle mass which has slowed my weight loss on the scale but I still think I’ll hit 180lbs or less. This means I am down to my last 10 pounds. So, calisthenics and increased bicycling are making a difference. In the last week I added running to the mix. Notably, I was starving this weekend.

Now for this week’s life lesson:

I had a frustrating interaction with some old neighbors I ran into at the store. They are a very nice married couple, always polite and kind, but they are very poorly educated and from some very, closed minded, rural families. They immediately commented on my weight loss. I immediately told them I quit sugars and simple carbs. The man commented on wanting to do something similar to lose weight. I reiterated “quit the refined sugars and simple carbs” and things went down-hill from there.  He tried to prune it down to “I just need to quit drinking beer”. Then he gave me the “yeah right, like that’s going to happen” nod. They made some comments about eating more fruits and vegetables. I encouraged that but pointed out that until you read the labels on the other foods you buy and document what you actually consume you probably aren’t going to be honest about what you are really eating and you will end up with a diet that you hate. Sure you had some spinach today but what else did you eat? The beer is bad for you but you probably won’t believe how bad some of the other stuff you consume on a daily basis is for you. You KNOW a slice of birthday cake is bad for you but it’s just once slice and you only have one birthday per year. If you add up all the little sugar and carbs packed into everything you eat every day, you’ll find out you’re having several dozen birthdays per year. I didn’t say that birthday cake thing to him but, damn, I should have. I should NOT have suggested that they study their daily lives, dissect them and make informed changes because this made no sense to them what so ever and the blank look on their faces was rather upsetting to me. I knew I was getting preachy and I realized that it was overly important to me that they understand what I was saying about their whole diet. The fact that I felt this told me that I should shut up about diet and change the subject.

The discussion moved to family for a minute and then back to diet when his wife commented that he was actually diabetic and taking cinnamon pills. (I looked that up later, turns out it’s a real thing).

I was stunned again and could not control myself when I commented that, particularly with diabetes in the picture, knowing the sugar content of what you are eating is freaking critical! They dismissed this and made it clear that they weren’t worried about the diabetes because the cinnamon is cheap and it’s working. There may or may not have been an invocation of God’s will as a treatment plan for any future diabetic related problems, but you’d really have to know these people to understand why that happened. I’ll be sure, at his funeral, to tell his kids that this was all part of God’s Plan-B. I didn’t go into it but my bet is they think the cinnamon pills are working because they aren’t checking his blood glucose levels often enough or at the right times. Like most people, they go to the Dr. for a scheduled appointment, it gets checked and whatever it says right then is what they accept as always true. It’s like when you vote for a political party and now know what choices the elected official will make no matter what. Right?

Rather than steer the conversation to the weather or sports, like a moron, I commented that I had documented my own glucose level fluctuation and after fasting I am often in the mid 60’s. They freaked out. “That’s way too low!” they exclaimed! They were genuinely concerned that I was sick. I had to explain to them that if you AREN’T CONSUMING CARBS you shouldn’t have a high glucose level. This led to me having to explain to them what the hell diabetes is. For the record, these people do not have, use, or understand the internet so unless their doctor tried to explain it to them, their sum knowledge about diabetes comes from stories family members or co-workers have told them about other people with diabetes. I did not get into what ketones are because this conversation was tough enough already.

After a few seconds they started the whole conversation over again from the angle of dieting to lose weight. Over and over, these two people brought up losing weight. Over and over they acted like changing their diet would be too complicated. I reinforced “Just start by removing as much sugar as you can, read the labels on the food you want to buy, you’ll be surprised where you find it. Then cut out the simple carbs and starches: rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc” Start simple!

Eventually I broke the conversational loop off and bid them a good day. As I walked away I, foolishly, looked back to see them happily chit-chatting, arms around each other, content, in love, obese and blissfully ignorant. I know I shouldn’t but I felt really bad after that although, probably not for the reason you think. At this point you might think I’m proselytizing my new diet to everyone and I guess I am. In that I constantly feel the compulsion to share whatever I am studying and learning with whoever will listen. I was super proud when I finally understood quantum particle spin and polarity and still can’t find a casual conversation to sneak that one into. Hell, I talked to myself for an hour today about what I know about the history of the Barbary pirates because I couldn’t remember the name of the first great Ottoman Sultan who basically set them loose on the unsuspecting world about to be enslaved. I knew it sounded like a bad guy from Lord of the Rings and when I got home and looked it up it was Suleiman the Magnificent.

Maybe you think I wanted to change their minds and win their hearts and have everyone agree with me. I’m sure my ego would love that but what I really wanted was for someone to appreciate my data and be compelled to go get their own. They walked away with the conversation having been enough thought on the subject. They could have watched a sporting event or scratched off a lotto ticket for all they had invested. I have actually spent my time and effort and the results are real. I am standing here living breathing proof that can be measured and weighed and repeated. To them I am a reality TV distraction to be commented on while they continue on with the lives they claim to want to change.

That’s what burned my biscuits. I’ve got a life I want to change and I ignore it constantly. I seek distractions all the time and then go right back to what I was doing. I got slapped n the face by my own hypocrisy thanks to two inbred rednecks who, at least, have each other. I’ve got to work on that part of me.

Post Script:

I've realized lately that I often ruin perfectly good posts with unnecessary comments pulled from my neuroses and way too many self deprecating comments. IN acknowledgment of this revelation I say the following: Tough shit. Write your own damn blog you opinionated hack.