SD - Day # 18 - Kiosk, NFL, biking, and bumpers

After a brief blip on the weight loss front resulting from a one meal deviation from the diet Saturday night I am back down to 199.6 as of this morning's weigh in....now to stay south of 200 for good!

Our volunteer routine is pretty much set for the next month......we work Saturday mornings from 10 am to 2 pm, Sunday mornings from 6:30 am to 10:30 am, and Tuesday mornings from 6:30 am to 12:30 pm, and on Monday clean any of our two cabins that may have been used.  Sunday was pretty routine for a Sunday after fish have been released into our two fishing lakes.....we had a steady stream of fishermen during our shift, and by 9 am  when Carolyn came on duty we had sold over $300 worth of fishing permits.  The fishing permits we sell here in the park are only good for fishing in this park....they do not take the place of a California Fish & Game license which is also required, so we need to remind everyone as they come in to be sure and have their fishing license with them as Fish & Game does come into the park periodically to check.....the fines can be significant, including a lifetime ban on fishing anywhere in California if one is caught sans license.

I haven't mentioned it, but the weather these past 3 days has been spectacular......high 60's, no wind, and clear......exactly the reason one wants to be in SoCal this time of year.

TLE left the Kiosk shortly after Carolyn came on duty.....no need for 3 of us mid morning....and I stayed on until 10 am when Carolyn told me I could go home early....yay!  Of course, Sunday is NFL day and the first game up for me was the Broncos vs. Texans....Peyton Manning only needed 3 touchdown passes to exceed Tom Brady's single season record of 50......Peyton threw his 51st TD pass late in the  4th quater.  Ironically Tom Brady previously bested Peyton Manning's record of 49 just a few years ago, and now Peyton has reclaimed it.  He has one more regular season game so any more touchdowns he throws next weekend will just extend the the single season record.  The rest of the televised games were not noteworthy for me, so I spent time in the trailer working over the new MTB acquisition....I have a couple of people interested in it, so I won't take it apart for a few more days until I know if they want it.  This bike promises to bring a good return if I part it out....if I can sell it as a whole bike I'll make about a $100 and move on to the next one.

Around 2:30 I put on my cycling clothes and headed off on my ride to the top of Mt. Rubidoux once again.  There was no wind, and I was feeling pretty strong as I climbed steadily up the mountain path.  I was finding my average speed was closer to 9 mph, and sometimes as high as 10 mph so I was thinking I might set a new personal best time on this climb.......and a new personal best it was......23 minutes and 45 seconds for the 4.5 mile climb.....I beat the old time by 90 seconds!  Wow!  There were two more notable accomplishments on this day.....1) I didn't stop at the top to catch my wind....I just continued riding past the summit and back down the hill, and 2) I was able to stand in the pedals all the way down the hill without sitting on the saddle once.  When I was doing this ride back in 2011 I could do both of those things every time, so more evidence my conditioning is returning.

On Saturday one of the members of the Newell Gurus forum posted a link to an eBay auction for Classic Newell bumpers (front and back) for $125 +$125 shipping.  The market for these old bumpers, as you might imagine, is pretty narrow.  Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long time know that back in July of 2012 I damaged the right rear portion of my rear bumper when I jack knifed my trailer backing up.  Newell still stocks these bumpers, but the cost is quite high....about $700 for one bumper....so I had essentially resigned myself to living with the bumper I had, and just having it straightened out.  When we were visiting our friends, the Flickemas, in South Dakota this past June to help them with some work on their 1984 Newell I noticed their front bumper had damage from the previous owners.  Todd happens to live about 60 miles from the gentleman who is selling the bumpers, so I contacted him and asked if he wanted the front bumper, and of course he said yes, and that he would go pick them up if we won the auction.....well....we won the auction!  So we are splitting the $125 down the middle, and Todd will go pick them up in the next 2 weeks.  We will then swing north sometime in April and stop by to visit them once again, and pick up the rear bumper.....how amazing is that?   The bumpers appear to be "new old stock".

Look at that pristine rear bumper.....the front bumper is in three pieces just like ours.

After returning from my record setting bike ride I took a shower and settled in to watch what was left of NFL Sunday while eating my Subway Hot Pastrami sub.....a reward for my great bike ride....a few more calories, but as I reported above I still got back below 200 pounds.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 17 - Kiosk, another bike, and dinner

My friend, Tom McCloud who retired just a few months ago, calls today "first Saturday", and Monday "second Saturday" and Tuesday "third Saturday".....you get where I'm going, I'm sure.....of course Sunday is still Sunday.....a lot like Saturday, but still Sunday.  Before he retired I had been telling him that every day feels like Saturday once you are retired.....you know that feeling when you wake up on a given Saturday thinking at first you have to get up and go to work, and then seconds later realize no you don't have to go to work.....it's Saturday!  I have the feeling every day since I retired, and, apparently, Tom does too.  It seems like the more retired I get the busier I get....it just seems like there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I "want" to do.....get that phrase...."WANT to do"......not "HAVE to do".

Before I go on here is my daily weight report: 203.0.....:(.......the penalty for too many taco chips last night.  No beer was consumed, and no diet drinks.....just water, and a single glass of red wine.

We started out the day with Kiosk duty at 10 am....this was a 4 hour shift, so TLE and I basically split it....I worked 10 to 1, and TLE 11 to 2....worked pretty well.  Saturday was the day after the most recent trout stocking of the two fishing lakes by the state and county, plus the weather was spectacular, so we had a LOT of fishermen coming into the park most the of day.  I like it when it is busy, because the time flies by.  Around noon time I make a quick trip up to Subway for my footlong sub, and arrived back at the Kiosk to eat my lunch by 12:30.  Ranger Robyn had organized a potluck Xmas lunch for staff, so all of our fellow volunteers showed up between noon and 1 for the free food.  TLE related that my daughter Sharon had called about having dinner with us Saturday night so I called her back and we made arrangements to meet at Zendejas Fresh Mexican Grill in Ontario at 5.  This has been one of our favorite local Mexican places for a couple of decades.

I had made arrangements earlier to meet a young man over in Ontario near our old sticks and bricks home to look at his full suspension Azonic MTB.  He has exactly the kind of bike for which I am looking.  I headed over to Creekside around 1:30 to meet Efrin at 2 pm.  He was a few minutes late, but the bike was worth the wait.  We dickered a little, and got the price down to $240, and then traded greenbacks for aluminum.  I had to take the wheels off to get it in the VW, but the frame fit easily....the wheels went on the passenger seat.

As soon as I got home I set about cleaning it up good enough for a few pictures, then posted my find on Facebook. Someone out there may be interested in the whole bike, and in fact I had a couple of inquires by early evening.  It it doesn't sell as whole in a few days, I'll begin the disassembly process and list the individual parts on eBay once again.  This bike should do very, very well on eBay.

We met Sharon, and her boy friend, Rod at Zendejas and had a delightful time talking, eating, and more talking for over 2 hours.  I think that's the first time we have had dinner with just Sharon and Rod.  We like Rod a lot, and think he is a good man....of course we are hoping their relationship will go to the next level....a proposal of marriage....that would make us very happy.

We had an early, iniquitous Sunday morning coming up at the Kiosk, so we headed to bed before 10.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 16 - Storage wars

I know I'm supposed to be writing about what happened Friday, but today's news takes a little precedence over Friday....at least for the first paragraph.....at my weigh in this morning I officially broke the 200 pound barrier for the first time in close to 3 years......I came in at 199.4!  I am still amazed at how such a simple diet can bring such dramatic results, but who am I to question, or complain......keep those Subway Clubs coming!

Friday morning I spent time wiping the rain off the Beetle, and continued to clean the interior until around 10:15 when we had to get ready to drive into my son's office to go through the rest of what we have stored there, sorting out the things we no longer need, and setting aside Xmas decorations the three girls may want to keep.  TLE found my year books from junior and senior high school, and our college year books.  I need to scan pictures from the high school ones so I will have them handy when I need them......no room in the coach for a bunch of year books.

We spent a couple of hours sorting through our stuff, much of it I had forgotten about, so we began to create 3 piles.....stuff to toss, stuff to donate, and a very small pile of things to bring home....the donate pile ended up quite large....the biggest, by far, of the three piles.  I have a lot of backpacking stuff that is sitting unused, but I don't want to get rid of it, so I gifted it to Chris, my son, in the hopes he and his son will get more use out of it that I am.

A little after 1 pm we headed over to Fontana to look a potential bike I wanted to purchase to part out on eBay, but like many things on Craigslist the pictures looked way better than the reality.  The shock was low end and NON-functional....as in NON-repairable, so I politely passed and we headed to the Subway on Rubidoux Blvd. to get my last two meals of the day.  After lunch I spent the rest of the day finishing the cleaning of the Beetle. Earlier in the morning I had discovered that two lug bolts were missing on the wheels.....one on the left rear, and one on the front.  We had stopped at the VW dealership just off I-15 on our way into my son's office and picked up the two bolts for about $8 each.....a very fair price.  I installed and torqued them, then continued working on the inside until the daylight gave out.

Before going in I put up some more Xmas lights we had found in a box at the office to add a little more Christmas cheer to our site, but the cold, damp night air chased me inside within a few minutes.....I'll have to finish that Saturday.  Speaking of Saturday there is another bike over in my old neighborhood I want to look at.....the pictures and description look good, but we shall see how reality compares!

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 15 - eBay, rain, detailing....yada, yada, yada

I was awake at 4:45 am....why, why, why?  I don't know, but around 5:30 I surrendered and just got up.  I had a big day ahead of me anyway, and that is probably why I woke up early.  I had to get my last, and two biggest items I sold on eBay packed and shipped.....the bike frame, and front suspension fork....both require big boxes, and careful packing to prevent damage in transit.  But, first I wanted to start cleaning up the interior of our new to us Beetle.  Since I was up so early I got an early start on that project, and was just finishing some of the cleaning when the rain began.  Since I no longer have the EZ-UP canopy I have no protection from the elements anymore when I'm outside working on the cars, so I headed inside, and out of the rain.  It was okay, because I needed to drive into my son's office to get the aforementioned packing done.

The weather guessers forecast a 70% chance of rain by 11 am, and they guessed right....at almost exactly 11 am it began to rain.....but not for very long.  I was on my way into the office by 11:30, and by 1 pm had the bike frame and suspension fork packed and addressed.

As I was finishing up I was remembering I had not bought my footlong sub yet, and I was getting hungry.......really hungry, but I still had to stop by FedEx to get these packages into the shipping system.  Of course, after spending 10 minutes filling out the bills of lading, and then waiting in line I found out I had used the wrong forms......sigh......back to the counter to fill out the correct forms, then back in line.....all the while I feel my energy level dropping....it is now close to 2 pm.  Finally the packages are released into the system and I am on my way  home.....I decide to pass up the nearest Subway and head for the one closer to home, but wouldn't you know it....there was an accident on the freeway....imagine that...an accident in the rain......hardly every happens...:D  So, I get off the freeway and drive the last few miles on surface streets....I finally get my footlong, and arrive home around 2:30 totally famished.  By now it is raining hard again, and it continues on into the evening.

Around 3:30 I lay down for a much needed nap, and wake up at 5:30 feeling more rested.  One thing I have noticed though.....during this diet I have taken fewer naps, and frankly, have not felt the need to nap as often.....I seem to have more energy.....certainly a nice bi-product.

Just realized I have not updated you on my weigh in this morning (Friday)......I am now down to 200.2....so close to breaking the 200 barrier.....a barrier I have not seen the south side of in a couple of years......yay for me!  I have gotten a few comments on Facebook about this short term diet so I thought I would take a few lines to compare the Subway Club with the Veggie Sub (all vegetables):

Subway Club - 620 calories of which 80 are fat....has 9 grams of fat
Veggie Sub ---460 calories of which  40 are fat.....has 5 grams of fat

These are not significant differences.....I only add 4 more grams of fat, but get 160 additional calories, which I need to avoid being famished 24/7.  The meat makes up around 10% of the total sandwich contents.....the rest is fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, olives, bell peppers, pickles, banana peppers and jalapeno peppers wrapped up in a freshly baked honey oat roll.  Sure, it is fast food, but that does not mean it is unhealthy.  Everyone has an idea of what constitutes healthy food......some eat only vegetables, but add in dairy, while others limit themselves to a strictly plant based diet.  I respect each of those choices, and have immense respect for those who can spend their lives without eating meat, but that is not me.  Human beings were designed to eat plants, dairy and meat....we are carnivores.  The most important thing you must do no matter which diet lifestyle you choose is to eat what you eat in moderation and balance. In addition to diet, regular exercise plays a significant part in ones health.  There are obviously many other factors that determine your health status such as genetics, mental outlook, rest, recreation, a little vino, or beer (in moderation, of course), friendship, marital status, etc.  

If one only focuses on diet thinking that will mean a long life they will be disappointed......there are no guarantees in life.....no one knows when their number will be up.....mine could be up today, or in 20 years....who knows?  In the interim I am going to do my best to eat a little less, and move a little more and enjoy all of the food groups God has blessed us with.....in moderation, of course.  My current diet is a short term option I have chosen....it works for me......it may not work for you........I will not be eating Subway sandwiches every day for the rest of my life....it is a short term means to an end. My inherited genetics have been a blessing to me....at age 64 I have NO health issues.....no high blood pressure, a strong heart, no joint issues,  no maintenance medication of any kind.   The body you were born with determines, in the long run, what you can eat....plain and simple.  Do what works for you, but please to not expect those of us who can eat meat without apparent consequence to stop.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 14 - Cars, eBay, bike rides, and more cars....

Wow, what a long day Wednesday was......what a day!  It felt like at least two days rolled into one.  But first, of course, some of you want to know the answer to the daily question.......how much does Clarke weigh today?  Okay, I get it,....some of you may not care a lick about how much I weigh, but I know some of you do care, because deep down inside you want to lose some weight, but you know it's going to be painful, take a long, long time, and you'll have to eat stuff you would never choose to eat, and probably don't like, but now you're hearing about diet food that is actually kind of pleasant to eat, and you can lose weight fast while eating healthy. Can I have a drum roll, please?  I weighed in this  morning (Thursday) at: 201.0!  I am now down 10.5 pounds in the last 18 days......the last 14 days on the Jared Fogle Subway Diet.

Wednesday was the day we hoped to close the deal on the 2003 VW Convertible Beetle.  We arranged to meet up with the seller at 10 am, so we headed over to our bank to pick up a cashier's check around 9 am, and were at the meeting place by 9:55......the seller a few minutes later.  We dickered with him and got the price down  couple hundred dollars, but still wanted to take it out on a 30 minute drive to be sure.....there were some lingering doubts in our collective mind......TLE more than moi.  After running east on US 60 for about 5 miles, we got off at Country Village Road and stopped in a parking lot convinced this was the one.......convinced, that is, until we attempted to "drop the top"......we found there was something wrong with the top lowering mechanism as it wouldn't go down all the way, and then discovered the interior lining in the rear area was completely unattached as all the securing points were broken....here we were more worried about  the drive train mechanicals, and it turns out to be the top that was the deal killer......ugggh.....not knowing how much it would cost to fix, and the fact the owner had not disclosed the problem (you know, "what else hasn't he told us?") we kindly declined to finish the transaction, and went back to our bank to cancel the cashier's check.....once again.....BUT, instead of putting the money back in our account we just took the refund in cash, so the next time we could just hand over the cash to the next seller if we decided to pull the trigger......will we ever pull the trigger?

We did, however, still have one ace up our sleeve....we had test driven a 2001 VW Beetle hardtop on Sunday that we kind of liked....or should I say TLE really liked....it had a sunroof, a turbo, heated seats, a 5 speed manual transmission, and the high end leather seats that were amazingly comfortable!  I texted Keith, the owner, to find out if it was still for sale, and it was........so we made arrangements to meet him after 6 pm in Upland at his home to look at the car one more time.  It has some interior cosmetic issues that can be easily remedied, and it was the one TLE really liked.  I should really pay closer attention to her intuition....I'm getting better at it, but after 42 years I seem to have a ways to go yet.

As soon as we got home I headed out on an 11 mile bike ride including another summit of Mt. Rubidoux......came close to matching my personal best, but topped out at 25 minutes 32 seconds....about 17 seconds off my best....then rode around Fairmont Lake on the way home....took me about 53 minutes total to cover the 11 miles.

Fairmont Lake

In the mean time, I had a number of bike parts to box up and get in the mail to my eBay buyers, so I spent a couple of hours doing that and then taking them into the Post Office to mail.  Then we headed back up to my son's office where I left some of my packing materials 2 years ago, to finish packing the rest of the parts, then delivered them to the local Post Office (just across the street).  Have any of you ever used those automated postal machines that many USPS locations now have?  I love them, and the line is always shorter.....they have 4 of them now at the 91730 Post Office.

These machines are so easy to use!

From there we headed to Keith's Upland home arriving just before 6 pm.....Keith was not home yet.....he has a long commute over to West L.A.  and back everyday, and he does it on his motorcycle, so his arrival time home varies from day to day....... anyway, we headed down to the local Walmart to look at a new digital scale that provides weights in 2/10's of a pound increments....our current one gives weight in 5/10's of a pound increments....when you're trying to lose weight every 1/10th is important, right?  We ended up with a new scale that will remember your past weights....cool.

While we were there Keith sent me a text advising he had arrived home just a few minutes after we left, so we headed the few blocks back to his home to try and close the transaction.......after a few questions, and a little dickering we finally exchanged money for a pink slip and were on our way home........so it's official.....the search is over.....we are the proud owners of a 2001 VW Beetle 1.8 turbo......she runs fast, and flawlessly.  

So we went from the "agony of defeat" to the "thrill of victory" in just one long, long day.....our new girl has heated, high end leather seats, a sun roof, a turbo, and cool wheels, and is about 2 feet shorter than the 'Bird, so we'll have a little more room in the trailer for more stuff.......if we choose.

We arrived back home around 7:30 with big smiles on our faces feeling like a small burden has been removed from our shoulders.....now to get the 'Bird read for sale.

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 13

We are beginning to notice a trend, and at this point it is strictly a theory, that when we have a glass,or two of red wine with dinner is when we see the weight loss the next morning.  Monday night I had 2 diet Dr. Peppers with dinner (ZERO calories).....no wine, or alcohol.... and gained 1.5 pounds over night.....otherwise all was the same.  Last night we had Zinfandel (dry, red) wine with dinner and TLE recorded a 1.5 pound weight loss, and I a 1 pound loss back to 203.5.  I will be interesting to see how this theory proves out over the next few weeks.  It may be the red wine helps us digest what we east more efficiently, and helps keep our metabolism up.....I am not a doctor, or scientist, so these are just anecdotal, uneducated guesses.

Tuesday was an early day for us.......every Tuesday for the next month we will be working 6:30 am to 12;30 pm......this is fine, because once we get the Kiosk opened and it is not a Tuesday immediately following a fish stocking Friday then one of us can leave to go clean cabins, or whatever, and then come back and spell the other so neither of us is there for the entire 6 hours.  What's nice about that is we are working one hour less in each of our weekend shifts.  On our walk over to the Kiosk we were greeted with this spectacular sunrise....

My shot

TLE's pano shot

On this Tuesday (2nd Tuesday after the last fish stocking) traffic was almost non existent, so TLE left around 7:40 to go do her part in Cabin #1, and then I left at 9:30 to go do my part (floors, mirrors, trash cans, etc.).  Once I was done with that I headed over to the Post Office to pick up some Priority Mail Flat rate boxes for the bike parts I auctioned off on eBay over the past 10 days.  It looks like when all is said and done I will make about a $125 profit on the bike.....not as good as I would have hoped, but this is the first bike I've done in 2 years, and I think I paid about $50 too much for it.....nevertheless, I turned $275 into $400 in about 10 days.....not a bad rate of return for doing something that gives you pleasure.

Once I had all the boxes matched up with an item I headed over to a new Subway up by the freeway that is actually a little closer than the one on University in downtown Riverside, and is in a lot less congested area....easier to find parking when I am driving my car.....the one downtown works well when I'm stopping off on my bike ride to get my foot long sub.  While I was eating my first 6 incher of the day I called the owner of the 2003 VW Beetle we were waiting to hear from to see how the replacement of the thermostat had gone, and were pleased to find out that had solved the check engine light problem.  He decided to drive the VW down to Orange county on business and back (about 100 miles round trip) to just be sure the light would not come on again, and would call us later to let us know how that went.

TLE had a hair appointment in Claremont.....about 25 miles away......why so far away you wonder to yourself?  Well, that is where Amanda, a long time family friend, works.  Amanda does a wonderful job on TLE's hair, and I wish we could just fly her in to wherever we happen to be every month or so. Surprisingly, for TLE, getting a good haircust on the road is a challenge.

From there we headed over to my son's office to pick up mail, and for me to borrow his pickup truck to go over to USA Cyclery, a few blocks away, to get a bike frame box (free) from them so I can ship the Specialized MTB frame I sold.  This works out well for them because don't have to break the box down after unpacking a new bike, and it works out well for me because I don't have to buy a box.  

Once again we got home just at sunset.....neither of us had taken any time during the day to get in some exercise so we headed off on a 2 mile walk........during that walk I got a call back from the VW owner saying he had just returned from Orange County and the light had stayed off, so we made arrangements to meet him at 10 am on Wednesday to test drive the car again, and to negotiate the final price on the car.....starting to get just a little excited!

Tuesday night is what we call the "big three" night on TV....NCIS, NCIS L.A. and Person of Interest.....all were new episodes, and the Person of Interest was the last new show this calendar year, and, of course, it was a a cliff hangar.  We will have to wait until after the first of the year to see the resolution of this episode.

It was a good day....Wednesday I'll get all my bike parts boxed and mailed to their individual buyers, and maybe we'll be the owners of a new car!

Thanks for stopping by!

SD - Day # 12

Shortly after I finished yesterday's blog entry I went off on a 9 bike ride around Fairmont Lake.....no climbing this day.  When I returned  weighed in again, and had lost another 1/2 pound bringing me down to 203!  Today's weigh in (Tuesday) I came in at 204.50.....must be retaining water gain!

We had an appointment to meet the owner of the 2003 VW Beetle convertible at a local mechanic to have the code read......the check engine light was on while we test drove the car, so the owner offered to have it checked at his cost.  The first, and primary code was for a coolant system deficiency and a second one for catalytic deficiency.  Typically, according to the mechanic, this means the thermostat is not operating correctly, which sets off a coolant deficiency, and then sometimes sets off a false code for the catalytic deficiency.  At any rate they are going to replace the thermostat and see if that fixes the problem, so one more day until we know if this is the one.  

We stopped off at the local TruValue Hardware store to pickup some woven nylon string to repair one of our Levelor mini-blinds, and a short extension cord to plug in our 32" Xmas tree lights and headed home where I went to work immediately fixing the mini blind.  Surprisingly it did not take more than 30 minutes and the mini blind was working again.

That was pretty much our day......oh we did head out one more time around 2 to look at a 2002 VW Beetle, but that one ended up being a "dog"......I should have known when the owner asked to meet us in the parking lot of the local Burger King.....lol.  It had custom alloy wheels that had been painted to match the car color, but recently the right rear tire had gone flat on the freeway, and the owner drove the car to the next exit...about a mile, and basically toasted the rim......it is no longer usable.  He seemed puzzled that I didn't want to buy a car with spare tire on it, and only three matching rims....go figure.....I guess I'm just too picky.

We hooked up the short extension cord to the Xmas tree after hanging the decorations on it and it turned out just fine.

Thanks for stopping by!