A Small Milestone

My three and a half year old son (Tank) came to me a few weeks ago and begged to have his training wheels removed. Thinking he was too young, I put him on his big brother's "blue-bike" and let him make a few attempts. Tank, at three, is actually heavier than Little Bear (who turns six in March), and only a few inches shorter, so the "big" blue-bike is all of one inch taller than the "little" one. (Both bikes are blue, the smaller one has racing flames on it, so they've dubbed it the "fire-bike.") Tank wasn't quite ready for me to let go, but he was surprisingly good. I didn't remove the wheels from the fire-bike at that time, but decided to let him try again -- soon.

Last week, one of the training wheels came loose on the fire-bike; Tank went down pretty hard, but shook it off (hence the nick-name). He brought the bike home and laid it in the driveway in front of my wife's van for me to fix. (Daddys can fix anything you know.) Seeing the bike in the driveway reminded me of our "escapade" a few weeks ago, so I let the bike lay there for a few days. (Long enough for poor little Tank to be dying to ride his bike again.) Saturday (while my wife was out shopping) I took off his other training wheel, put him on the fire-bike, and told him to pedal. Guess what he did?

If you thought, "Sat still and cried his eyes out," you were right. He remembered the previous attempt -- as well as going down hard last week. Not to be deterred by a few tears (Momma was shopping, remember -- he couldn't "tell on me" until later) I told him I wouldn't let him go, but he had to pedal. After several bent-over jogs up and down the street (holding onto the bottom of his seat), I thought he was almost able to ride on his own (there'd been very few forays into the grass). So first thing, we sat down for a few minutes -- I don't jog very well bent over and needed to catch my breath. While I was resting, I had Little Bear take the fire-bike, told him to ride up & down the street, and called Tank to come sit with me to watch. He complained the whole time, but dutifully got right back on the bike when I was ready.

As we headed down the street once again, I did let go, but kept jogging behind him -- and he did fine. We turned around (I helped) and he went back up the street -- this time I ran right next to him. He was concerned, but started getting excited when he realized he could ride with no training wheels. We turned the last time and started back down the street (with me still running alongside) when my wife started up the road. Without him knowing, I signaled to her to stop and (as she waited) told Tank to "pedal to Mommy" and show her "how good he was doing with no training wheels."

In case you don't know, there is something built-into 99.999% of all men: we must show off in plain view of females. As a child, the female of most import is Mom, but Grandmas, Aunts, friends, neighbors, and siblings follow close behind. Tank falls in the 99.999% category -- as soon as he saw his Mommy flashing the headlights of the mini-van at him, he needed no more help. At least, no more help riding -- he doesn't stop well yet. He didn't let that deter him though -- he crashed into the neighbor's mailbox, jumped up, and told his mother what he'd just done. At every opportunity since, he's been telling friends and family of his latest accomplishment, and begging to ride some more.


P.S. Sorry for spilling the beans guys, but ladies -- if you want your man to get something done, word your request in a manner that feeds his ego, then make a big deal out of what he's accomplished for you -- preferably in front of other females that are important to him.

Book Review: FASTER, BETTER, STRONGER

Well, I've finished another book, and I doubt that I'll top this one for a long time. I've read many books on improving one's body (I have over a dozen sitting on the shelves of my library right now); this is, by far, the VERY best book on starting a fitness program, achieving wellness, improving oneself to whatever level of potential that's desired, and maintaining that high level of physical fitness. I would highly recommended Faster, Better, Stronger: 10 Scientific Secrets to a Healthier Body in 12 Weeks to everyone that is the least bit interested in their health.

There are very few "cons" about any part of this book. The only one I can think of (other than the fact that I got a pre-publication yellow-paper-covered reviewer's copy... rather than the full Monte) was the main title: Faster, Better, Stronger. It just doesn't convey the full scope of the expertise relayed in this book. The subtitle is somewhat better: 10 Scientific Secrets to a Healthier Body in 12 Weeks, but it has still taken me several minutes of explaining the book (to avid readers) to pique their interest in purchasing the book.

However, having explained the crux of the book and letting those others look at it (with my highlighting and bookmarks throughout), each has been excited about the possibility of reading it. Even my Dad wants to read this one, and other than the Bible, he rarely reads more than one book a year! After reading a few paragraphs, he said he'd be willing to PAY for this book! I don't ever remember hearing him say that about any other book.

So what, you may wonder, is "the crux" of this book? It starts by explaining the reasons behind exercising -- even the easy, common sense stuff that we all should know -- and builds from there. It explains how to tailor the sports you play to exactly what your body- and muscle-type can excel at the most. Do you have primarily "fast-twitch" or "slow-twitch" muscle fibers? Give yourself a "twitch test" to find out. Not sure how fit you are? copy the risk score sheet, look yourself up on the BMI charts, and assess your personal fitness level -- comprehensively -- including a VO2max test that will rival what you would get in a full-blown lab. Not only that, but the book will also assist you in preparing nutritious meals, planning a 12-week workout schedule, and even go so far as to make recommendations of the frequency and intensity of the exercises you should be doing for maximum improvement -- no matter what level of physical fitness you start at!

Faster, Better, Stronger should not only be required reading for EVERY high school and college coach in America, it should also be placed in EVERY library from coast to coast -- whether in elementary schools, retirement homes, or on military bases. This is a MUST read for anyone that is the least bit interested in improving their life.

Faster, Better, Stronger is a keeper -- for life!

Another TWO Free Books Are Coming... Soon!!

Last night, for the first time in I don't know how many months, I went to bed before midnight (think it was even before 11.30pm, but not sure). This morning I found a message on my LibraryThing profile that excited me! Here's the text:

Congratulations. You've snagged an Early Reviewers copy of 1,000 Dollars and an Idea: How an Inspired American Entrepreneur Built a Billion-Dollar Fortune by Sam Wyly.You should get your copy in the mail shortly. The publishers ship the books directly--some are speedier than others, so please be patient!

private comment posted by                 at 12:43 pm (EST) on Jul 1, 2008

After I checked LibraryThing, I went and checked my email -- found even MORE good news!

Dear Matt,

You have been selected to review Faster, Better, Stronger by Eric Heiden/Massimo Testa. Your Advanced Readers Edition should arrive at your address within 14 days via U.S. Postal Service.

Thank you for participating in the First Look program.

HarperCollins Publishers
               @harpercollins.com

The only thing I like better than a good book is a good book that's FREE! and the only thing better than that... is TWO free books!! I can hardly wait!!!


In other (church) news, VBS is rapidly approaching (next Monday). This year's theme is on having a "Wild West Witness." Since I wear cowboy boots (to church, with my suit) every week anyway, I have a jump on most of the other people, but I'll still have to dig out my old saddle, my bolo tie, pocket watch, and a lariat. I might have two lariats, but I've never thrown one -- I just like western things. Today (and maybe tomorrow as well) I'm going to try to build a scale that will hold ~200 lbs per side. That's going to be tons of fun. (We need the scale to measure the offerings... which we don't expect to be very large this year, but next year [and after] we hope to grow the church and our outreach.)

Also, Varmint 4 is due 15 July 2008. The only good thing about a C-section is the ability to pick the date of delivery (provided the baby cooperates and doesn't come early). My (74 year old) neighbor thinks we should have stopped with 2 kids (kinda hard when the 2nd pregnancy was with twins) and is constantly giving me a hard time about having a 4th child. (He's even offered to buy us another TV!) Yesterday I told him it was exactly 2 more Tuesdays until our 4th Varmint is due and my wife was somewhat nervous about the upcoming surgery, but excited to finally know if we're having a girl or a boy. His comment was something along the lines of, "Why don't you just ask them to install a zipper so the next one is easier?" It took me a few seconds to see the humor, but my wife thought it was funny too.

Lastly, my favorite (only) sister is going to visiting FL in the next few weeks. She's not sure when she'll be coming over to see us, but if I had to guess I'd think she'll do all she can to make sure it's after the baby is born.

And now I'm going to come up with a few different plans for the VBS scale, then see what I have in the way of parts & supplies, then attempt to build one...

Back to work... again

My neighbor and I finished remodeling our new Pastor's home around the end of March. Here it is, the end of April and I'm finally getting around to mentioning that (good thing there's no deadlines or need to rush).

If you follow golf, the Pro-Am Golf tournament was just held in Aventura, Florida, at Turnberry. I've been working in a 40 story condo on Turnberry Isle that overlooks that golf course (a yearly membership is $250,000, excluding tips). The condo's board of directors, manager, and head of maintenance have all been begging us to come work on their building since January first. They can get other people to do the work, but the others don't ever seem to be able to follow instructions, and usually they take much longer... 3 to 6 weeks to do the same job we do in 6 or 7 days (and they do it poorly).

When my neighbor and I finally finished here on the Pastor's house in March, we went down to the condo and started. They have work enough for us to stay busy for months. It is about 20 miles each way, and with gas creeping ever upward, unless we raise our rates to cover the added expense, we'll be losing money soon. The work is fairly simplistic, but it's tiring. For much of the prep days (the first 4 or 5) I work mostly on 2' high stilts. I've used my stilts as high as they go (4') and even then, it's not overly difficult, but walking for 4 to 8 hours a day on stilts is murderous on the feet, calves, and knees. When not on stilts, much of my time is spent crawling on the floor -- that's hands and knees on marble floors. I'm so ready to be finished.

My first REQUESTED book review

I received a copy of Off the DEEP END: The Probably Insane Idea That I Could Swim My Way Through a Midlife Crisis -- and Qualify for the Olympics by W. Hodding Carter on Thursday just before last month ended. It just so happened that the months of February and March (and now April, too) have been some of the busiest weeks I've lived -- my Pastor of 12 years has died (he's been at this church 34 years, but I've only been here the last 12). It fell to me and another guy in the church to keep all the pieces together and make sure nothing was "broken" before our new pastor was voted in. (The church ran fine before, and I realize the probability of me "ruining it" falls between "slim" and "none," but it was still of great concern to me. We did call a new Pastor to step in on Sunday evening, March 30th.) I knew I needed to read this book and review it (that IS, after all, the reason they SENT it to ME), but I wasn't sure when I'd have the time. Late Friday night (March 29th) I decided to see how the first chapter started.

Picking up Off the DEEP END turned out to have been a bad idea (since I still had a lot of work to do that weekend). The first chapter started a bit slowly, but by the time I'd reached the end, then read the title of the second chapter ("Saggy Old-Man Butt"), I was hooked. It was all I could do to put the book down when I finished the second chapter. In fact, all day Saturday (as I was attempting to finish up my work) all I could think about was finishing Carter's story. Late Saturday night (when I should have been getting ready for bed) I picked up his book once again -- and couldn't put it down until I'd finished it.

I find that I can identify quite well with the author: I'm passing my mid-thirties, but (even though they aren't very large) I haven't enjoyed discovering I'm now growing "love bumps" (which I'm told turn into "love handles" very quickly), that I've had to start purchasing my pants 1 to 2 inches larger in the waist (depending on the brand of course -- I could still squeeze into a 31" waist, but I wouldn't do it on the way to an all-you-can-eat-buffet), and that my lack of endurance is getting worse. It seems life, wife, children, and my own lack of commitment tend to erect numerous hurdles and hindrances to my desire of getting back into shape.

Of course, "my" sport was never swimming (I do love the water though), it was cross-country jogging -- and I was never anywhere near world-class competition levels (I was happy when I wasn't running J.V.), but more often I'm noticing lingering thoughts creeping around in the back of my mind: if I would just commit to the effort... my body would respond to the challenge.

Off the DEEP END offered some reassurance that I'm really not crazy, it renewed my hope in myself, and has instilled a fresh desire to quit sitting around wishing I was in better shape and make time to do it.

I know footnotes and parenthetical statements annoy some people to no end, but that is exactly the way I think (and... in case you missed it... the way I write), so I enjoyed Carter's style of writing immensely. The only thing I didn't like about the book was its length: I found myself wanting to know more -- and to be able to follow his monthly progress (or even weekly).

I was initially disappointed that the last chapter wasn't included -- actually, the very first disappointment was finding a card STAPLED TO THE FRONT COVER!! They defaced a book! But now that I've removed the staple, I've come to the point of looking forward to seeing what else is included when this finally goes to press.