Quality of Life

I am not going to weigh in on the whole Schiavo deal because most people already have their opinion on the whole thing. One fat white guy's opinion isn't going to make much of a difference. But there is one thing that sticks in my craw and that is the notion that death by dehydration and starvation could possibly be considered a "calm, peaceful and gentle death." Life means different things to different people. Whether or not you view life as a gift from God has a lot to do with how willing you are to throw it away. Don't hold your breath waiting for the Pope's feeding tube to be removed any time soon.

Tonight I learned that one of my former Cub Foods colleagues committed suicide back in February. He was 41 years old, a husband, a father of two, with both parents still alive. I hadn't seen or heard from him in years and obviously have no idea what could have been so wrong that he would have killed himself. And it's not something that I want to understand. Life is just too good right now to even imagine wanting to end it prematurely.

As I spent my spare moments this past winter poking at my flabby white belly, the realization slowly dawned on me that I am carrying around my waist roughly the same weight and bulk as my two year old son. I set two goals for myself and they are simple ones: Fit into my 2002 clothing by spring and fit into my 2000 clothing by fall. I have actually been employing my methods for a few weeks already- I completely stopped drinking pop and started carrying around a bottle of water wherever I go. For treats I will drink green tea or coffee. Also I have seriously cut back on sweets. I have cut back my starch intake (No easy task when you are married to a filipina who serves rice with everything, and most importantly I started excercising. I do situps at night before bed and tonight for the first time in ages I went jogging. As I anticipated, it was quite an unpleasant experience. I irritated portions of my lungs that I forgot that I even had. My legs don't feel that bad all things considered. But then again this first time out I only went .5 miles and had to stop three times. For those of you who are fit & trim and just don't get it, try strapping a 40 pound bag of salt pellets around your waist and then running around the block.

Well I am off to bed now, there's still one more workday yet this week. I imagine by the time I wake up all the joints in my legs will feel like they are constructed of broken glass.