Week 70 Update

I woke up early this morning. I tried to get back to sleep, but it just wasn't working. So, I got up at 4:00 AM, and woke up my old friend, Mr. Scale. He said, "185.0 pounds!" Bingo!

It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for my weigh-ins this week. My shoulder has been hurting, and so I was taking Advil for a few days, seeing if the shoulder would improve, by alleviating any inflammation I might be experiencing. Unfortunately, it did not. My shoulder still hurts, and the scale took off on me on the days that I took the medication. As much as I hate the idea, I am obviously going to have to go in and see my doctor about the shoulder.

It was pushing 90° yesterday (the record in Portland for that date is only 93°), and this morning it had only fallen to 57° by the time that I woke up. The normal temperature for this area at this time of year is 76° for the high, and 53° for the low. It is normal to have a number of days in the upper 80s or lower 90s during September, but then just as autumn officially hits, the temperatures normally fall off rapidly into the lower 70s and even the 60s. That is where I am most comfortable, along with nights in the 40s.

On Saturday, Dotti and I took a dinner cruise on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Click here for pictures. It was a lot of fun, and the meal was very good. (It added up to 21.0 points, including the delicious cheese cake at the end, which was covered in cherries.) The Columbia River is beautiful in its own right, but it also flows through some of the prettiest country on earth. From the Columbia Gorge, where it cuts through the Cascade Mountains, and is lined with tremendous pine trees, and breathtaking waterfalls, to the Valley of the Willamette, where Portland and Vancouver are nestled against it, and continuing on for over a hundred miles further, all the way to the Pacific, the winding path, defining the border between Oregon and Washington, is surrounded with beauty. Our boat went along its path for 5 miles, going under two bridges along the way.

We next cut back from our westerly course heading northeast into the mouth of the mighty Willamette River. This is the only river in the west that flows from the south to the north, and it provides drainage for the entire Willamette Valley. This River is one of the several reasons that Portland is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. It cuts right through the heart of Portland, and there are 12 bridges that cross its waters from its mouth to the southern border of the city. We went under 9 of those bridges and turned around when we reached the 10th. Each bridge is different in design, and there are more types of bridges in Portland than in any other city in America. From the St. John's suspension bridge, looking like a small and green version of the Golden Gate, to the arch of the tremendous Fremont Bridge, the bridges stood in testimony to the engineers who designed them. Some bridges were built during the first world war and some were completed in the 1970s. Others have been restored to new condition in the last few years.

All along both rivers there were ships, factories, and trees. The city of Portland stands in its cathedral, created by hills behind it, the Cascades to its east, and mighty Mt. Hood standing above the Cascades. The Willamette River marks the eastern boundary of the Downtown area, but to the west the city extends all the way to the mountains, through its suburbs.

There was a guide on the boat, dressed in buckskins, whom I got a chance to speak with. He said he had been a guide of one sort or another for over 35 years. He took people on backwoods trails, and snow-catted on the mountain. (For anyone who saw the movie The Shining from the 1970s, they realize what sort of snowfall is to be found in that area.) He is getting too old for the more vigorous types of backwoods activities, so the river boat allows him to share his experience without the physical demands that his previous livelihood demanded. He was full of stories of the area, and information about all the landmarks we passed. He also had a great deal of information about the Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery that came through in 1805 and 1806. He read some of the things that they had written about the area we were going through. We really enjoyed the evening!

We have been readying ourselves for our upcoming move. Dotti has been really busy getting things in boxes. It won't be long now.

One week and one day from now will mark my one-year anniversary of hitting my primary goal of 200 pounds (BMI of 25.0). Also, today marks the end of my 70th week on my journey. It is hard to believe that much time has gone by.

Today is the last day for my Journal #3. Tomorrow I will be starting my new 4th book. (Click here if you would like to print up your own journal.) This one will take over a year to complete. I will be able to decide whether I like the larger format, or whether I will stick to the shorter format in the future.

This Week In Books

I continued on with the audio book Battlefield Earth this week. I am over halfway through the second part of the book. I am still amazed that they could have butchered the story so badly when they made the movie. Other than the names of some of the characters, the story was unrecognizable. To do it right, they would have to create a production that would rival Star Wars, or the entire series of The Lord of the Rings in cost and length of the movie. Instead they made a 2 hour dud.

I finished Officer-Cadet by Rick Shelley. It was a very interesting look into the life of a soldier. It described what a soldier today would go through in a war, only set it in the future, and on another planet. The computer technology used in the story is not much advanced over what is available today, even though the story is set several centuries into the future. But even so, it was a good read.

I have now started the second in the series called, Lieutenant. In the first story they were fighting against enthusiastic amateurs. In this one their opponents are "professionals" and will no doubt provide a more serious challenge to the mercenaries. Shelley keeps his stories moving pretty well, and I am enjoying my lunch hour reading sessions.

Last night I finished The Case of the Demure Defendant by Erle Stanley Gardner. Once again Perry Mason untangles the confusing evidence and comes up with the answer to "who done it." The greedy heirs didn't commit the murder, but they were deprived of their inheritance, and the murderer was not going to get away, even though in the end, even after the defendant was cleared, Hamilton Burger still had no idea who it was before Mason gave him his clue.

1 year, 125 days OP, a lifetime to follow!

-Al-

6'3" 239.5/185.0/185±2/BMI:23.1/WK-70
Weight Loss Graph/Maintenance Graph/Success Story