Staying the Course - - Winter Edition

[Superman]

How about it? Another thread reminded me to see how our good friend @Superbob is doing these days. Aside from the setting goals, we haven’t had one of these since Autumn.

Winter has been somewhat typical if not late around here. No Christmas snow, but the ground has been white for all of 2022 so far. Since Thanksgiving between the flu, a back issue, and a mild case of Covid, it was a string of calamities. Overall came through okay but lost some fitness and added a couple lbs. Getting back to it though. Resting pulse is my main tell, and it’s coming back down to my normal healthy level.

My oldest is doing well in college, number two was accepted to the college of his choice, and the other three are all doing well in school. I managed to stumble into a promotion, so that was exciting. Helps offset the recent inflation a bit.

How is everyone else doing on their respective courses? Staying healthy? Staying active?

 

[KLS39]

Glad all is well with you Superman.
We were on vacation and avoided the 18-24 inches that got dumped here in January. Not so lucky this time, it just snowed for over 24 hours. It's not a lot, just enough to be annoying.
Prior to vacation I was pushing myself to work out 5-6 times a week. I work out twice a week with a friend and if I can't get outside for a walk the other days, I will do some kind of exercise video. I was doing well until vacation. I took one long walk while away, but mostly it was leisurely strolls. Ate lots of food that I normally wouldn't eat and drank a little. We don't travel often (yet) so I'm not too worried about that. Ended up with Covid so I didn't push myself too much for a week or so. Getting back to it now!! Ended up having to reschedule my appointment with the cardiologist because of Covid which was annoying since they couldn't get me in for another 6 weeks.
We are empty nesters now and my husband is hoping to retire in a few months. Not sure what we will do when that happens but looking forward to figuring it out.
Take care and be well everyone!!

 

[pellicle]

speaking of members, haven't seen the Chimp (aka Cooker) no posts since Sept 2019 and somehow his username isn't returning in @ mentions either.

 

[MartinF]

Haven't been here much, big changes here. Moved from CA to FL. Weight is down to around 160, was 185 two years ago. Got off the beta blocker. Recent yearly exam (used to be yearly physical but now it's mostly the blood test) and all is good. Funny, I am sure I'm healthier than the doctor. Total cholesterol was 167. Turned 65 in January. Valve is still good after 9 years. I need to find a new doctor and cardiologist that understands an active patient. I plan on getting more running in this year.
Hope everyone else is doing well. Miss SB.

 

[skeptic49]

Enjoyed reading everyone's updates. We resumed travel with a cruise in January. I got a breakthrough Covid infection after we returned. It was like a bad head cold. It never went into my lungs, thankfully. My husband did not get it. We're determined to resume life as best we can since Covid is not going anywhere. I went scuba diving in Aruba and Curacao. Being able to continue diving is my motivation for staying healthy. I got good reports from various doctors including my cardiologist. My repaired plumbing is doing well at seven years out. I decided to go on BP meds to lower my systolic pressure. A small daily dose of Norvasc seems to be doing the trick. I'm friends with Tom (Cooker) on FB and he seems to be doing well. He and his wife just celebrated their 39th anniversary. Our 39th is in May. Wishing health and happiness to all.

 

[Chuck C]

Doing well here in S. California. As those of you who watched the Super Bowl observed, we have had a heat wave the past 10 days with some highs of 85 to 90F+. We actually had heat avisories a few days. But, that is now past and back to more normal winter temps with highs of 55 to 75F expected this week.

Trying to get my 60 minutes of moderately high intensity exercise in daily and my 14,000 steps and mostly hitting the mark.

Still have two young ladies living at home, one in HS and one in college. My 16-year-old should get her license soon, which will be a game changer for me and the wife. After being a taxi service for all the kids and their various activities for the past 30 years, not sure what we will do with all the extra time.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, what a game with all the back and forth right up until the end! I think that the commercials also lived up to their reputation- I always enjoy seeing what creative new ones they come up with.

Here are some of the best Super Bowl commercials of all time:

 

[Superbob]

Great to see a Man of Steel leaping in here to rescue and give new life to the Throwdown! I have started to do so a number of times, but household chores intervened. Yes, I am still a 24/7 caretaker for my dear wife but she is gradually making progress, now five months post-hip fracture. Yes, I feel sorry for myself for not yet being able to return to senior fitness class, or to adopt a new canine walking companion, but I get an amazing amount of workout in and around the home. Will be on the trails and in class planking again soon enough. For now, I am still down 30 pounds from the 2019 UNC/Chapel Hill aneurysm surgery and getting good reports when I get to a doctor of my own. (Cardio coming up in a few weeks.)

Superman, I cheer you for the TD restart and hope you will continue. I am looking forward to catching up to all the reports from our hearty crew.

Cheers,
SB

 

[Superbob]

speaking of members, haven't seen the Chimp (aka Cooker) no posts since Sept 2019 and somehow his username isn't returning in @ mentions either.

I, too, miss Cooker. Dang, he started the Throwdown and we were a merry bunch for years. Free-spirited, funny, though with serious points about weight and fitness. When he decided to move on from that, I kept it up in Staying the Course mode. I certainly understand the moving-on but regret the total loss of connections. Thought we were good buds. Often I wonder was it a remark or post of mine that caused offense? Hope not. Anyway I'm glad to hear that at least one of our STC folks is FB friends with The Chimp. Please wish him well, Jim, and tell him we miss him.

 

[Cooker]

speaking of members, haven't seen the Chimp (aka Cooker) no posts since Sept 2019 and somehow his username isn't returning in @ mentions either.

I’m doing great! Just celebrated 16 years.

 

[Cooker]

Greetings! Sorry that I’ve been MIA for so long. As is well and I jus celebrated 16 years!
Thanks to Jim for letting me know I was missed!

 

[pellicle]

I’m doing great! Just celebrated 16 years.

great stuff mate ... glad to see you still cookin.

And IMO missing in action is often just a positive mental health sign ... there is no doubt in my mind I'll go missing from here eventually (some will breath a sigh of relief I'm sure).

 

[Superman]

Good to see everyone’s updates. SB, glad to read your wife is in the mend and you’re returning the favor for what I can only assume is years of her taking care of you.

Re: pellicle commenting on MIA and mental health. Between you all and some camera nerds - since I’ve been working in the basement for the past couple years, this is my water cooler talk. Work stuff is fine, but they don’t share my vested interest in heart heath and photos. Speaking of which, took a couple bucks from this years nice bonus and treated myself to a 100-400mm lens for our travels and kids outdoor sports. Pretty psyched about new toys. I’ll give it a run on Spring Break first week of April.

 

[Superbob]

I’m doing great! Just celebrated 16 years.

Great to hear, Mr. Chimp! Congrats on the OHS anniversary AND the wedding anniversary. Hope you'll swing by here whenever the mood strikes and let us know how everything is going.

 

[pellicle]

and treated myself to a 100-400mm lens

nice ... good focal length.

details? (model and I can google it)

 

[Chuck C]

Speaking of which, took a couple bucks from this years nice bonus and treated myself to a 100-400mm lens

nice ... good focal length.

details? (model and I can google it)

@pellicle and @Superman

There you go again, playing professional photographer on the internet. Photography should be left to professionals who have advanced degrees.

To any new members here, a caution.

There are a group of people here, a tribe of shutterbugs if you will, who like to pretend that they are knowledgeable about photography. In truth, they have careers in other areas and are really just random internet people playing professional photographer on the internet. Don’t believe anything they say about lenses, aperture, depth of field or exposure. In fact, don’t believe anything they say at all. They would be best served sticking with taking pictures of kittens and kangaroos on their smartphones and leave any pretense of advanced photography to the pros.

As we all know, even if they have spent decades in a field, it is impossible for anyone to achieve any degree of competency in any subject unless they are a professional, have an advanced degree in the profession and a pretty certificate hanging on their wall establishing their expertise in said field. Only take photography recommendations from a licensed professional

 

[Superman]

nice ... good focal length.

details? (model and I can google it)

Canon EOS RF 100-400 f/5.6-8 IS USM. Super light weight, easy for travel and hiking. Not too conspicuous at the kids soccer games. Needs decent light, but very sharp. It’s lighter than my 24-240 travel zoom. It’ll take teleconverters too (although a 2x would make it f/16 for much of the range).

Haven’t had much time to play and the weather stinks here. Just walked around the house in 15 degree Fahrenheit weather.

I was playing around in Affinity Photo the other day blowing off steam (busy at work), and tried out an extreme HDR edit of one of my vacation scenes I bracketed. 5 shots. Affinity calls this edit, “Summer Gold”. I had a polarizing filter on. It was along the trail to Lower Calf Creek Falls. Not a big HDR guy, but this was fun.

 

[Superman]

Figure this is a good place to share my excitement. We have secured lodging at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and can start planning the logistics of our Rim-To-Rim hike! Woo-Hoo!!!

 

[Chuck C]

We have secured lodging at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and can start planning the logistics of our Rim-To-Rim hike! Woo-Hoo!!!

That's great!

Photos or it didn't really happen

 

[KLS39]

Figure this is a good place to share my excitement. We have secured lodging at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and can start planning the logistics of our Rim-To-Rim hike! Woo-Hoo!!!

Very exciting news. Grand Canyon is beautiful.

 

[Superman]

That's great!

Photos or it didn't really happen

How about Florida Spring Break?