The Usual Q/A

"Don't you feel great after exercising?"

No, usually I feel nasty and gross and like I'm about to keel over and die. I hate being sweaty. I hate feeling my lungs collapsing. Waking up sore? Yeah, not a fan. Quit romanticizing pain. We're not all masochists. Heck, I hate leaving my hands unwashed when I've been working outside for more than 5 minutes. I'm not a germaphobe though.

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"Eating healthy is always better for the body and mind."

It's not too great on my wallet sadly... I've measured it out and on my usual diet, which is not unhealthy mind you, (I struggle with portion control mostly) I only pay $20 or so a week on the high end. When I tried healthier options it almost hit $40 a week average.

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"Exercise can be fun and energizing."

Some people like collecting stamps. Hate to break this to you, but people enjoy many forms of entertainment and exercise is not one of mine. However, I do enjoy hiking occasionally on a nice cool day.

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"What if you exercised with friends?"

Sorry, but I built friendships with people who share similar tastes in entertainment. We occasionally do activities that involve quite a bit of physical activity. We had hikes regularly for several months. But then life was like, "Sorry, you need money. Capitalism." And we drifted apart. I actually keep in contact with my closest friends almost daily continuing our interests. That usually means playing video games and chatting for hours about our days. I'm social. That's not an issue.

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"You have to start small and make little changes."

I have. For years. My biggest step was getting myself out of a job that offered 50% off of fast food. That offer was way too tempting. Second was cutting sugar intake down. Like, a lot. And I did. My normal consumption can be anywhere from 20% to 10% of what it was two years ago.

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"Maybe you should sleep more."

Yeah... I got nothing for this one. I suck at sleeping. I might have apnea, but that's small potatoes when I refuse to usually sleep before midnight.

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Okay, so it's a short post, but I felt like I needed to get some stuff down on paper. Enjoy.

Prodigal Me

Hey guys,

Yeah, I know. It's been a crazy long time. I started this blog as a way to kill free time, but I have very little of that these days. However, I think this is still a good place to dump my ideas and thoughts. My current job sits me behind a desk, often with little to do from day to day. Therefore, I will use some of that time as a quick stress dump and get a lot of this stuff off my chest. Now, like I said, it's been a few years since we last chatted. So let me catch you up.

2014:
Two years after graduating and only a short six years after I started looking for a job, I finally landed my first interview and job. There is a nice Carl's Jr. (Hardee's for you East Coasters) and they hired me on as a back line worker. They started me doing basic cooking and sandwich assembly. After only my first month, they noticed I had an aptitude for picking up other positions super quick. Two months in I was running fryers, cleaning, sorting incoming shipments, training new people, cooking on the line, etc.

But the work was hard... So hard...

Every day I would end sweaty, nasty, and smelling of grease and oil. All I wanted to do was go home, shower, burn my clothes, and sleep for a month. But there was always the next day when I had to do it all again. I started developing problems after my fourth month. My ankles started being perpetually in pain. Small bumps, flexing, stretching, and just general use would send signals of flaring pain shooting up my legs. I tried a few things to help, but the problem never really went away. On top of this, they offered discounts on food when you were on shift. So... Yeah. I ate a lot of junk food...

Like, heaps of fast food... I think I did the math once and it came out to over 1,000 hamburgers, sandwiches, shakes, salads, burritos, and such. Millions of calories. So I put on some considerable weight.

I stayed with that company for just over a full year. But one day... My life finally took a better turn.

2015:
Just days before my one-year anniversary and pending promotion to Shift Leader, I got an email from a long time family friend. Apparently the company he worked for needed people with computer skills and experience for an open position. I replied instantly and in the excited affirmative. My interview was just two days later, and I nailed it. They gave me a whole month to quit my current job, and I started work in March for a tiny company known as Commercial Fitness Equipment.

Irony, I know.

You go from fast food and the industry creating health issues and obesity, to the company trying to fight back against it. But I love it here. In less than 6 months of working here, I lost 15 pounds and have been working to get more off. The big factor is that I am no longer on my feet. I sit behind a desk taking calls, answering emails, and filling out and sending paperwork. But as of last week, I can now exercise in our showroom here at the office. So there is only myself standing in my way.

2016:
Now we catch up to the present-ish. I've passed 1.5 years with this company. I love it here so much. This is where I see myself in 10 years, 20 years, and so on. I have no reason to leave. I am still living at home and have faced a few points of interest in my life up to this point. Nothing really noteworthy just yet, but that's what it is for now.

Now, as for the future of this blog. You will see random stuff here from time to time. Sometimes it'll be mad ramblings like this one, or it could be pictures of current projects I have ongoing, (Car, cosplays, trips, etc.) But more likely than not, this will be a place for me to rant on about things that annoy me in this cruel world. So keep your eyes open, follow my blog and my Facebook for regular updates, and we'll keep in touch.

Jake of All Trades, Back again, and signing off.