Weigh in, jog, brick shifting

15th Weigh in - Day 197 - 13st 8lbs - 86 kgs

I had a weigh in as I was meeting my Cambridge Diet Counsellor to fill in some blanks on my application form. it's two months since my last weigh in and I've lost a couple more pounds so I am happy with that.

I jogged (albeit at a very geriatric pace) all the way there which I am pleased with, as it is the first decent sized run I have done since starting to lose the weight - approximately 4 miles each way. I intended to get the bus back but got impatient waiting for one so jogged most of the way back as well - as far as the city centre which was a bit too busy with the lunch crowds for me to jog through.

I spent the afternoon shifting bricks into my back garden as some twerps threw one through someones car window the other night. I had already stacked up most of the loose bricks in my car port. The police called out a Council work team and having got the insurance companies ok I let them take some of the smaller lumps of bricks and a couple of wheelie bins that I had filled with the useless broken bricks and rubble. I then moved the ones I'd stacked up into my back garden.

Hit & run

I came back from my afternoon dog walk to find my front wall in this state. The prime suspect is a Tesco lorry seen by one of my neighbours at the right time. Have had the wall knocked down by the Council's Highways team as it would have been too much of a temptation for the weekends drunks to knock over.

A day's food

Inspired by the tv show "you are what you eat" where they put the persons weekly food intake on a groaning table, I thought I'd put together my food intake for today, ignoring the dozen or so cups of tea/coffee.

The real ales are a leftover from the book I've just finished - Bar None by Tim Lebbon after a plague five survivors are holed up in a mansion with a cellar full of beer. Their small patch of Wales is peaceful while the rest of the surviving population are eating each other. As their supplies dwindle, a passing stranger tells them about Bar None in Cornwall where there's plenty of beer so off they go on a road trip through the nightmarish countryside. The author titled each chapter after a real ale. As I normally stick to lager I thought I'd try a few as I read the book. I might have been converted.

The Book of Eli

Two post apocalypse movies in one week!! This one is ridiculous though - the viewer is expected to believe that a bunch of murdering, raping, mad max type bad guys would be prepared to sacrifice their lives to try to get the last existing.....bible!

The Road

It's a couple of years since I read the Road and I have been eagerly awaiting the film, which was completed ages ago but has only just reached the screens.

I saw the film last night and it is very good and as bleak as the book.

I am reading The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegard at the moment. For 5 years "The Despair" has been causing people to commit suicide. There are only the last 10% of the population left in the crumbling civilization and they are disappearing fast. The mysterious collectors appear after each suicide to take the dead bodies.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I've dropped a size since my New York shopathon and now fit into 30" waist jeans, so I couldn't resist getting a pair in the sales. My weight has been hovering at just above 13 stone for the last couple of months.

Eat more Beans

Thats my resolution for 2010 - sorry to anyone downwind of me this year.

Reading Resolution - I intend to read some books by authors I have meant to read or by authors that I should have read more of. So my resolution is to read these 5 books at some point this year:-

The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Marukami
Portnoys Complaint by Philip Roth
White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Walking Resolution - to do The Ridgeway with the dogs in the spring/summer.

Blind Panic by Graham Masterton

Red indian demon seeks vengeance on modern day America for the genocide of Native Americans. He does this by resurrecting an army of laser eyed coffin babies which materialise all over America, striking people blind. Fortunately, a couple of pesky psychics save the day by the cunning use of seances and mirrors.

I can't wait for the movie!

I have put on a couple of pounds over xmas so will be eating porridge and salad for the next few days.

Books I read 2009

* 43. I Spied a Pale Horse by Mark Timlin
* 42. Blind Panic by Graham Masterton
* 41. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
* 40. Duende Meadow by Paul Cook
* 39. Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills
* 38. One by Conrad Williams
* 37. The Lincoln Hunters by Wilson Tucker
* 36. I am Justice by Paul Kenyon
* 35. The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall
* 34. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
* 33. Red Partisan by Nikolai Obryn'ba
* 32. Private 12768 by John Jackson
* 31. Survival World by Frank Belknap Long
* 30. Kronk by Edmund Cooper
* 29. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
* 28. A Cat Called Adolf by Trude Levi
* 27. Journey Through the Night by Kurt Grubler
* 26. The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway
* 25. Narrow Escapes by Samuel P. Oliner
* 24. Roman's Journey by Roman Halter
* 23. While Flocks Last by Charlie Elder
* 22. The Lonely Dead by Michael Marshall
* 21. The Straw Men by Michael Marshall
* 20. All fool's Day by Edmund Cooper
* 19. Defiance by Nechama Tec
* 18. Left for Dead in the Outback by Ricky Megee
* 17. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
* 16. Flood by Stephen Baxter
* 15. Death Cloud by Michael Mannion
* 14. Shallow Graves in Siberia by Michael Krupa
* 13. October Skies by Alex Scarrow
* 12. The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstoya
* 11. Barefoot Soldier by Johnson Beharry
* 10. Last Light by Alex Scarrow
* 9. A Good Day to Die by Simon Kernick
* 8. Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells
* 7. My Idea of Fun by Will Self
* 6. Brennan by Bernard Knight
* 5. Footprints of Thunder by James F. David
* 4. The Gift of Stones by Jim Crace
* 3. Relentless by Simon Kernick
* 2. Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
* 1. Velocity by Dean Koontz