Lego Fri... Thursday Night

09.15.2012

Instead of opting for Lego Friday Night, this week had Lego Thursday Night, which actually started with unbagging all of the pieces on Monday. Since the Lego Batmobile was a 1000+ piece behemoth I opted to take some extra time and lay everything out where I could find it. This turned into a necessity once I got started because I was having fun reading the instructions. Pictures of black Legos on top of black Legos are hard to read for an old man like me.

After taking 2 days to lay out everything where I hoped I could find it, I got to the crux of snapping everything together on Thursday. I was multi-tasking by watching laundry at the same time, and I had season 5 of Big Bang Theory playing on TV. Multi-tasking supreme! It took a while to put the Batmobile together, not just because there were so many pieces, but I kept getting lost in the instructions. Lego instructions have no words and are just pictures of Legos as you layer them on top of each other. The Batmobile is so big that at times I had no idea where the new pieces were supposed to go. Eventually everything came together, although I still managed a handful of leftover pieces.

I'm not sure which Lego will be on tap for next Friday (or Thursday if the week goes like this one). I may skip a Friday and take a gander and some of the new boardgames I'm suddenly been acquiring.

Permalink action figures/toys

Lego Friday Night

09.07.2012

I'll admit I haven't grown all the way up. Probably not halfway-up. Case in point, on a Friday night I thoroughly enjoyed myself by having a creme soda and building a Lego F1 race car.

Starting from the left is the large assortment of Legos that I dumped out of the box. Second, I decided I needed that creme soda. Finally, the finished car and creme soda.

I had iTunes playing some songs in the background but was otherwise ignoring the computer. There's a certain mindlessness that you go into when putting Legos together. I forgot how nice that zone is. This may become a Friday night tradition as I've recently uncovered a cache of unopened Lego sets.

After those are open, this could turn into an expensive tradition, though.

Permalink random

Shake Report - Special K

09.06.2012

As previously mentioned, I'm trying alternatives to the Atkins Shakes that I've been drinking for years. Over the past week I've tried a couple of Special K Chocolate Protein Shakes. I waited past the initial "wow this tastes different" until my palate got used to the flavor. The big things I notice in comparison to the Atkins shake are:

• It's thick.
• When first drinking, it's a little chalky.
• The aftertaste only lingers about 10 minutes (and that's good).

Those things may sound negative, but it's not a bad shake. As far as how the Special K shake ranks against the Atkins as far as nutritional value:

Atkins Shake Special K Shake Size : 11 oz 10 oz Calories : 160 190 Fat Calories : 9g 5g Total Carbs : 5g 29g Protein : 15g 10g

So, in 1 ounce less I'm getting an extra 30 calories and 24 grams of carbs, but 4 grams less of fat. Although I was only drinking 1 Special K shake at a time as opposed to the 2 Atkins shakes, so I guess overall I'm coming out ahead on all points.

Next up: Slim Fast shakes!

Permalink diet

Chilled Meleagris

09.01.2012

The phrase "Give Up something Cold Turkey" has been in my head for a couple of weeks now, thanks to a conversation with Gina. I know, I know, you probably want to know what's being given up, but it's just another entry into a long running joke she and I have so in reality those details aren't important. Still, the phrase has me perplexed.

When first brought up, giving up something Cold Turkey sounded like a good idea as I thought I was trading in my vice for Cold Turkey. And I like Cold Turkey, it's scrumptious. A week went by and I received no Cold Turkey.

It was then brought up that I was giving up the vice and Cold Turkey, that being the reason I had received no Cold Turkey previously. I didn't want to give up Cold Turkey! Even though I couldn't remember the last time I had eaten Cold Turkey, I wanted the option to stay open. I had a hot turkey sandwich in support of this idea on Thursday. It was scrumptious.

I wanted to rebel and have my vice and Cold Turkey - if they're joined and I want one, must I have both? This was just an empty threat, though.

This lead me to the inevitable "where did that saying come from" question. According to the Wikipedia:

• A narrowing of the meaning "suddenly or without preparation," from cold turkey being a dish that requires little preparation; originally used for heroin addicts.
• From the American phrase talk turkey meaning "to speak bluntly with little preparation".
• Some believe the derivation is from the comparison of a cold turkey carcass and the state of a withdrawing addict — most notably, the cold sweats and goose bumps.
• Reference to the periods after Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays where cold (leftover) turkey was likely to be eaten, coinciding with the end of those holidays' characteristically high alcohol consumption.

The last explanation, to me, has the best chance of being universally accepted. Quit drinking about the time the cold turkey runs out.

I still want the option to have Cold Turkey, no matter what I'm supposed to give up. The better option to prevent me from doing something would be to replace "Cold Turkey" with "Or Get Poked In The Eye".

Permalink random

Time for a change in breakfast

08.29.2012

For years my go-to for breakfast has been Atkins Shakes. I got hooked, or maybe I just switched, to them years ago when I was serious and lost weight going low-carb. Each one seems a little high in calories(160) and fat(9g), especially since I'm not focusing on low carbs, so that 1 net carb does me no good! Generally I have 2 shakes, so double those stats for me. As such, I'm going to experiment and see what other shakes are out there that I might enjoy.

The hard part is that I actually like the flavor of the Atkins Milk Chocolate shake. I used to drink Slim Fast shakes, and I tried one years ago, in the midst of Atkins, and found it too sweet to drink. But I'm going to persevere and see what options are available today for my on the go breakfast option.

Today at the grocery store, I picked up 3 alternatives to try over the next week. They are:

• Special K Protein Shakes
• Slim Fast Shakes (going to see how that sweetness thing has worked out)
• Muscle Milk

There may be more options, but these were grouped together at Publix. I got a 4-pack of each, so we'll see if that gives my taste buds long enough to make a decision.

Probable boring updates to come!

Permalink random