Alas, the Summer Fades Away

Well, it has begun. The annual draining of the pool. We have a small 12 foot by 3 foot pool, that we set-up in the backyard each year. Usually it is just my wife and kids that use it. I figure if I would be seen outside without a shirt on, someone might harpoon me. Anyway, this signifies the official end of summer and I for one, have mixed feelings about its departure.

It's not like I dislike summer, it's just that I no longer have the same feelings about it. When I was younger, I would look forward to the last day of school with steely anticipation. Once that bell rung, summer had officially begun. My days would be spent down at the pool with all my friends and my nights would be spent looking forward to the next day.

As I grew older (about age 14), I spent less and less time at the pool and more of my time working. When I did have a free day, my friend and I would walk to theater and see a movie. Soon, even that would fade away to just a memory and the days of summer would become just that...days. I would go to work and go to school ( I went to school during the summer, so I could graduate early); thus the days would pass.

These days, I enjoy watching my kids have fun during the summer. They look forward to it and just hate to see it end. I really hope that they take after my wife and never lose their child-like love of summer.

It's been just about 12 hours now and the pool should be just about empty. As the pool gets dried-off and stored in its box so too, is summer placed in storage for yet another year.

Climbing out of the Plateau

Well, it’s happened again. I have hit, yet again, another weight loss plateau. At first, I thought it was just a result of the new strength exercises I was doing, but after 4 weeks at the same weight, I have to say that it looks suspiciously like a plateau.

I am so tired of these things. The first one I hit came after I lost 40 pounds. This current one has come after losing only 8 pounds. I was hoping that I wouldn’t hit another one for at least 20 pounds or so. You see, I need to lose another 35-40 pounds. At the rate I’m going now, it will probably take more than a year.

I realize that at the start of my diet, my body was not used to the exercise and it was shocked into losing the weight. However, as my body adjusted to the routine, it knew just how much energy to expend in order to complete the exercises. Yes, I know I talked about this in my first article on the dreaded Weight Loss Plateau, but it does bear repeating.

As I mentioned, at first I thought the stagnation was due to the extra muscle mass I gained. You see, after the last plateau, I mixed it up a bit and added new exercises for muscles I had not previously targeted. My thought was to once again, trick my body and it worked, but this time for only about a month.

As of this writing, I have followed my own advice and have just completed my week off from working out. Yesterday, I started a new workout routine and I have to say that today I am sore! I’ll let you know if this has broken the plateau.

This is part of a Blog Hop with Angie's Healthy Living.

How to End a Career in One Easy Step

I see myself standing in a lecture hall and giving a lecture to 75 eager freshmen. Fast forward 1 hour and I am at my desk giving advice to a Graduate Student. Fast forward 12 years and I'm a stay at home dad homeschooling my children, sitting on a chair and helping my 11 year old with geometry. Quite a lifestyle change, isn't it? What happened? How did this picture change? Well, I'll tell you in one word: Politics.
When I began graduate school in the History Department, I was seen as a rising star. The Chairman of the Department became my advisor, and he assured me that he would help me on the way to becoming a college professor. He helped me pick my courses, advised me on which languages to take (in order to get a PhD, you must be able to perform research in at least 3 different languages), and he even helped me get an internship at the State Museum. Yes, things were going great. I was working 30 hours a week, going to my internship for 20 hours, all the while attending night classes.
My typical day began at 6:30 am when I got ready and went to work. In the afternoon, I would walk over to the museum and work there for 4-5 hours. I would then go to my class from 7:00-10:00. I usually didn't get back to my dorm room until 10:30 each night. I was very busy, but very happy. My advisor was even discussing the best Universities for obtaining my PhD. Then one day, it all went away.
While in his office one afternoon, we were talking and I let slip out that I was thinking of taking my degrees and going into business. I explained that many of the large corporations have a Staff Historian who also acts as a Personnel Officer. I was excited because I would still be able to perform research and teach. My advisor turned to me and told me that he would not allow me to throw away my degrees on a career in business.
Needless to say, all talk and assistance with regards to my future ceased. My advisor began to throw roadblocks in my way and since he was also the Chairman of the Department, my other professors would not help me. I was alone. I still took my courses and continued to get good grades, but I knew that he would live up to his word and stop me. In the end, he did.
In order to get a Masters, you need to write a thesis. This thesis needs to be original research on a subject to be approved by my advisor AND the Department Chair. Well, he approved my topic, but wouldn't let me write the thesis.
I was stopped dead in my tracks. Two years were essentially thrown away. Why? Because I wanted to go in a career path my advisor did not agree with. I had never come across anything like this during my undergraduate career and was totally blindsided by the consequences of my statement. In one unguarded moment, speaking to someone I thought I trusted, I threw my entire career away.
Please, no violins, this was my own fault. I was a naive 22 year old who took everyone at face value. There are many times, such as now, when I look back and wonder what my life would have been like. Being able to take my kids to work and let them watch as I gave my lectures. Being able to teach and advise my students. Being able to to make my kids proud of what their dad does for a living. Oh well, such is life.
I'd better go, my daughter needs help in geometry.