The bet to end all bets ended this morning......

The bet ended this morning.

In a shade under a month and a half Tony successfully dropped from 230 lbs to under 215...(after dropping 20 lbs in the months prior to the bet)....and he was able to bench 215 lbs.

In a shade under a month and a half, I was able to drop from 168 lbs to 150 lbs, and I was able to bench 215.

So now I am back in shape after a few years of being heavier than I should have let myself get. Will it last? I think so. I plan to hover around 155, I'm going to keep some of the dietary habits that I have learned over the last few weeks, and continue to excercise.

But what can we learn from this bet? If you are not happy with your situation, then change it. We are all in control of our own bodies and minds. If you don't like your job, change it. If you think you are fat, don't ask me if you look fat in those jeans...if you didnt look fat, you wouldn't even think about asking.

It takes just as much energy to be stressed over something, as it does to fix it!

I also learned that Hardee's (aka Carl's jr) has some amazing breakfast deals.

But most importantly, Joey does not get $50 from Tony, nor from myself. We each won the bet.

This is dedicated to Joey.

I would like to dedicate this post to Joey.

Some people dream, great people awaken from their dreams to make them a reality.

Nobody said it was easy......

As a followup to this previous post...grow some balls I must admit my plan certainly is difficult.

-it is hard dealing with tenants, no matter how great they are.
-it is hard getting started and finding repairmen. I look forward to the future when I have a network, but for now, it is difficult to build that network...its a trial an error thing. (Note: if you know of any good electricians, plumbers, carpenters, heating/cooling, or all around handy people, please refer them to me).
-waiting for rent is an anxious few days, regardless of how consistent they pay.
-it is stressful dealing with the unknown of when you will find a tenant.
-it is hard getting quickly loaned the amount of money necessary to buy 5 to 10 houses in 2 years...(especially off of my minimal income!).

Its not easy, but is it worth it?...I don't know, do the math. I am certainly giving it a go.

Patent idea and fatty fat.

Alright, so I hate things taking up space right? It just isn't efficient.

So as I was trying to fix my air conditioning (without knowing how to fix anything but dinner) I got pissed. People's AC units/furnaces often have their own room devoted to them. A room that could easily be the size of an additional bathroom, or storage.

So why don't they build these things flat instead of tall. They could get the same volume if it were flat, and have the same results. Then once these appliances (ESPECIALLY the hot water heater) are flat, they could be hidden in the ceiling in the basement. BAM! we automatically have a 7'X7' area of our house back.

Update on "The bet". Well the deadline is a week from today. I have 4 more lbs to go. I have lost 13 so far (my scale was wrong initially, so I was fatter than I thought). Dropping this much weight hasn't been too bad. I have just stopped eating processed foods and have ran 2 miles a day 6 days a week. I do not know where the next 4 lbs are going to come from...I am out of fat to lose. More to come....

Stupid is as a Stupid does

Alright so I was having a conversation with someone in management yesterday. She said that she doesn't understand why the benefits aren't better at her company....namely health care and vacation time. Health Care is obvious. It is extremely expensive, and the company can only pay so much of it. It is rising at a rate that handily outpaces inflation....

But I did get into the argument on "I don't see why they can't just give us an extra week vacation, it doesn't cost them anything." This was a manager saying this. I tried logic, but she wouldn't listen, so I decided to get my closure by posting to this blog.

Giving everyone an extra week would be VERY costly. For every 50 people you would have to hire someone new. (she didnt believe this at all, but its simple math, there are 50 working weeks in the year, so if you have 50 people out for one week, then you are a year short of labor). Its simple simple logic. Well we're a company of 30,000 people. We would need to hire 600 more people. Multiply that by the average pay and you are easily looking at a cost of $20 to 30 Million a year. Not to mention training 600 new people at a company that spends ALOT of money on training.

So by giving everyone an extra weeks vacation it will cost the firm $20-30 Million a year...or as this manager would say..."nothing"

Logic would hurt her if she understood it!

(She also said the top guys should spread their wealth to the associates. So I chirped in, "so we're a communist company now"....she had no idea what that meant.)

Rental house investment calculator

I created this calculator with Excel yesterday (shouldn't I be studying or running? yes).

It is more or less a rental property income/appreciation analyzer.

You can change the variables in blue.

Its not very clean and user friendly, but it gets the job done.

John Rocker.

There is a good article on John Rocker at ESPN.

The whole situation pisses me off. People hate him for no other reason than the idea that he was hateful. How hypocritical can you be? Can there be a more vicious cycle than hating for hate. Martin Luther King preached Hate breeds Hate. Isn't it sad that that's true.

Who hasn't said something bad about a race/gender/whatever different then theirs at one point in their life. If he has spent millions of his dollars to shut down the train, then I could see a reason to be upset. But he just said words. (sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.) The only way words can hurt you is if you are insecure. He could have said he hates 25 year old white men from Missouri. So what, I don't care. They're just words.

But I digress. The very people that hate him for who he was hate themselves, because they are no different than he was. They hate him for hating someone with different views than themselves.

Look in the mirror. John Rocker is not, and never was a problem. He was just a Sports Illustrated story.

(Now if they wanted to hate him for his 80's haircut, I could see that...there is no justification for it)

Open Letter To Shakira.

Dear Shakira,

I love you.

Truly Yours,
Greg.

Some captains make their crew wear seatbelts.

I got an email a few weeks ago from someone who I was friends with since age 4 or 5 saying "maybe someday you will realize what a fool you've been. I doubt it. so long, sucka!"

Which got me to thinking, what is a fool?

-Is it someone who has failed at every single thing he has ever attempted? Someone who can't even succeed in his amazing abilities.
-Is it someone who is so naive that they don't realize that they fail at every single thing. (If he stepped back and learned from his and others mistakes he wouldn't be a fool).
-Is it someone who is so naive that he doesn't realize that he is the source of all of his problems, each and every time?
-Is it someone who thinks he is gold, and then accepts a job the day of the interview. Here's a hint: If you are offered a job that quickly, you are worthless to the company. Good companies weed through people for months before they hire even the most remedial jobs. You didnt get hired because you were special, you got hired because you were breathing!
-Is a fool someone who takes things out on his closest friends when he is insecure about his own place in the world? (what kind of "friend" does not cheer on his friends, even when he is down?)
-Is it someone who asks someone to be his best man, and then changes his mind? (he failed at picking a best man! He knew the person for 20+ years. I would think that if you knew someone for that long than you know exactly what you are getting...but then again, I don't fail so I don't know how that works.) (That is a lie, I fail every day, but I try to be resiliant, and get up and go at it again.)
-Is it someone who gets jealous when other "friends" get on the radio and he can't?
-Is it someone who gets jealous when a close friend, and a fiance both get better jobs when he himself is unemployed. (I can not fathom someone being jealous of a friend!)
-Is it someone who drowns in his own insecurities, whereas if he gained confidence he would have the world in his hands? Replace your insecurities with confidence, instead of thinking you have done so already, and see what happens.
-P.S. when people ask which aisle the douche is in, do you always look up to see which aisle you are standing in, or do you tell them "this aisle"?

If a fool is any of the above, then a fool I am not.

If a fool is someone is so foolish that they constantly expect people to be the best person that they can be, then I am certainly a fool. If you talk a big game, then back it up...otherwise shut up so noone sees you coming.

APB, even though you wish me failure, I wish you the best of success in your life. If you ever overcome yourself, you know where to find me.

Some captains make their crew wear seatbelts. If the ship goes down he wants them to drown with them.

Cheer on your friends, regardless of what your ship is doing.