The Waking Badger

So, pre-op registration/testing for my surgery is all complete and all I have left is the waiting. Now, of course it isn’t too long now, but I’ve considered this to be somewhat of the climax or dramatic pause to my layoff for so long that it is now weighing heavily on me. Not only will this be a somewhat invasive surgery (laproscopic), a massive life change, but also the beginning of the requirement to look for new work. Wow, that seems a lot to compact into a ~1 hour surgery

So, here is what I plan to do going forward (daily if at all possible):

• Update a published Google Doc spreadsheet (image embedded below) with my current weight.
• Take photos, straight on & profile to visualize weight loss over time (I’m trying out some software to convert a series of images into a video).

The chart which is linked below and on the “Gastric Bypass” page link (top right of the header) will automatically update when I post new weights. I’ll evaluate how often to post new time-lapse weight loss videos (monthly?) and I will blog about any significant changes or when I need a cathartic moment Otherwise, the latest chart and time-lapse weight loss video (once I have enough days post-surgery to warrant one) will always be available on the “Gastric Bypass” page.

Once again, let me know if you’d like to know anything specific or if this turns into information overload I can always set the blog up to exclude these posts from the front page and feeds if the idea holds merit with you all.

I’ll be back soon with more…

John Gruber over at Daring Fireball posted a link to a great interview at Art of the Title regarding the WALL-E end credits shots by Jim Capobianco and Alexander Woo. As the interview explains, the animation tells the end of the story and offers a lot of interesting details on the film and production. Art of the Title even offers a downloaded zip package containing multiple snapshots from the credits. Definitely worth the time to check out if you’re into animation, Pixar, or WALL-E specifically…

I loved this video as it’s really well done and the original sound/music makes it.

Also, if you haven’t noticed, I find many of my videos through Laughing Squid, just like this one, so I HIGHLY recommend you follow their site…

As much as I was disappointed to see that Up was a bit too much for Ben at three years old, I’m thrilled to see it continuing to do extremely well on the charts.

If you look at this chart over at Box Office Mojo, you’ll notice that Up is now the 4th most successful Pixar film to date (based on the box office) and it looks poised to hit number 2 in the next couple of weeks if all things remain steady. BTW, if you haven’t visited Box Office Mojo before go look around. It is a great site run by IMDb and it contains a wealth of information for movie geeks.

I take a certain amount of pleasure in this as previously the NY Times reported on toy retailers concerns that Up wasn’t commercial enough. Basically, there is no abundance of Up merchandise as they felt children wouldn’t “buy in” to a story with a 78-year-old man as the lead. Read the article, see if it sounds as idiotic to you as it did to me (not the reporter, but rather the business rationale). I was annoyed and frustrated when I originally read this and now I feel that the reality has proven the point successfully.

Pixar knows how to make “good” movies and the kids will come. Up has proven that yet again and I am always impressed with their output. I really look forward to introducing Ben to this great film in the future.

2.5 out of 5 stars

I went to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen last night with Matt and Sean. I had been waiting to see this movie since walking out of the first Transformers flick. I loved the mythos and the style, but most importantly for this type of film, I loved the explosions It was a melding of Michael Bay’s trademark action style with a story line that mirrored what I loved as a child. The first film had it’s own drawbacks, such as Bumblebee urinating on people and some poor CG where it was difficult to tell which robot was which in some of the more fast-paced scenes. On the whole, it was a good action flick. I hope not to disappoint, but this successor does not rate as highly.

I have to say the action sequences are even better. The CG is more carefully designed where motion is less blurring and the robots are more distinct in the fights. When there was action on the screen, I was loving it for the most part. When anything else was going on though, the prospects were a bit more dank. The scale is much more grand with regard to action, number of robots, etc., but this is also leads precisely this movie’s downfall. Outside of say 5 or so robots total, the rest are generic, poorly defined, and ultimately placeholders in the plot. For being a bigger, longer movie, the plot/story line is mostly non-existent and often is riddled with unexplained events. Now, this isn’t truly a deal-breaker given that Michael Bay brought the explosions, but it certainly didn’t help.

Now, come the real problems in my opinion; obvious, yet COMPLETELY unnecessary trash added to the film:

• Dogs humping peoples’ legs
• Robot humping peoples’ legs
• “Rascist” robots – 2 robots based on what appears to be African-American stereotypes. I doubt they were intended to be offensive and many seem fine with them, but I found their inclusion to be at the very least jarring and unfortunate.
• Robot “balls” – Ugh, enough said
• Cursing robots

Much of this seems to be intended to drive towards the younger demographics, but I’d be curious to know why they did what they did. I’m sure I may be missing somethings, but the above could have been cut without ANY LOSS and it would have been heading in the right direction of shaving 30-45 minutes of the runtime. You see given all of the above, the main pain point for me is that the movie is just TOO LONG. I think if it had been properly edited and moved along a more brisk pace, much of the issues could have been avoided.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It is an enjoyable movie. I’m glad I saw it and will likely watch it on Blu-ray many times in the future when I can fast forward when needed. Bay brought the explosions, the babes, and Optimus Prime. This alone made the movie worth watching, but all of the rest drags its overall value down.

HP releases iPhone versions of classic calculators | Software | iPhone Central | Macworld.

I never personally used any of these as the TI calculators were what I used in school, but the idea of bringing back an icon is very cool. Now, the prices seem somewhat untenable to me. Now if you loved one of these, it’s definitely worth checking out…

HP 15C Scientific Calculator – $29.99

HP 12C Financial Calculator – $14.99

I loved this roast, but I’m not sure the subject matter entirely engaged the whole crowd at the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Dinner, but I found it engaging and hilarious. Anyone who can spend time with the President’s attention discussing Dune is great by me

I haven’t really wanted to discuss some of the things going on in my life post-layoff as I have always been a bit superstitious. Often, I feel discussing something that is pending publicly (outside of a small inner circle) dooms the chances for success. I know I should ignore such impulses as unrealistic, but it is a challenge for me… Not everything is fully complete that I will discuss in this post, but I needed to discuss it more openly to clarify my own thoughts, feelings, and expectations.

While I haven’t spoken of it, Heather has commented about our foray into IVF and the subsequent delays. This has been one of two major events that we’ve been facing in addition to my loss of employment. This has been difficult for a variety of reasons, but we’re both committed to pursuing the path and have high hopes for eventual success. I don’t yet have a strong desire to go into depth on IVF or my layoff.

The third event is coming soon and it is the main reason for this post. I think if you’ve read this blog or know me personally, you’ll know that I have a weight problem. I am a very big guy. The last somewhat successful diet I was on was with Weight Watchers in the second half of 2007. I lost 10% of my body weight falling from 360.6 pounds down to 323.8 pounds at my lowest point. Unfortunately, at that point I plateaued and failed to accomplish any further loss. During the plateau, I became more and more demoralized and eventually fell out of the diet and began to gain my weight back. Eventually, I rose above my previous high to my current weight of ~370 pounds. The reality is that with diet and exercise alone it is difficult at best to correct a weight problem like mine. If you’re looking to drop 10 to 15 pounds or something similarly small, it’s not a real issue, but when you’re trying to lose 100+ pounds the situation becomes somewhat more tricky. This has to deal with my body type, metabolism, tiredness, etc. You see, the high weight has brought on conditions such as sleep apnea which results in decreased energy levels (working to deal with that independently) and other complications/co-morbidities. These conditions reinforce the weight problems and make a solution that much more difficult. Backslides become less possible and more certain. Giving in to temptation results in immediate weight implications which further deepens the spiral downward. All of this boils down to painful repeated failure.

Flash forward to this year. Somewhere along the way, I became convinced that I needed to take more drastic action regarding my weight. This led me to look into gastric bypass surgery (also known as Roux-en-Y) more seriously. The layoff helped push me forward even faster as that horrible event opened the doors to having the surgery without worrying about using sick time/vacation or pressures from the job. Being able to start a new job fresh with only needing to follow the proper diet was exciting. Also, the thought of having a surgical change that would help to enforce lifestyle changes was empowering. You see, gastric bypass involves both restrictive and malabsorptive components. The first is a shrinking of the stomach that enforces smaller meals and a physical response to sugary foods (referred to as dumping syndrome – becoming nauseous after eating/drinking simple carbohydrate-based foods. Malabsorption acts to prevent less of the food from being absorbed by the body. These two together drive a resulting diet that is 900-1000 calories a day and provide strong warning bells when you stray off of the proper diet path. This surgery when pursued with a proper diet (which is physiologically reinforced) and exercise is basically guaranteed (nothing is ever really guaranteed) to force large amounts of weight loss.

I’ve gone to multiple pre-surgery appoints such as a nutritionist, psychologist, gastrointestinal doctors, etc. to ensure I was physically/mentally ready for surgery. All of that has now passed and I have a surgical date that is fast approaching. I’m ready and I’m actually excited to get things going. It will actually be easier for me as this is the same surgery Heather went through five years ago. I’ll now share in and understand the experiences she had in a more personal way. We may actually be able to split an entree when dining as under the bariatric diet that is likely to be enough food for two. In going back to re-edit this draft, Heather suggested a new title. It was something that my surgeon has mentioned on more than one occasion. Basically, if you take the statistics of males with obesity such as myself, you find that they typically live about 20 years less than the average due to complications from the excess weight. Today, he started my final results visit with the question, “So, are you ready to add 20 years back to your life?”. Now, I know that there are no guarantees in life, but the chance to do so is what is driving me. The chance to spend more time with Heather, to see Ben get through college, start a career, and get married. All of what comes will be totally worth it.

I’m quite sure I will blog on this and keep a series of posts detailing the progress of my weight loss and what I experience in the surgical aftermath. I’m considering weight charts, daily profile photos, etc. I may even start a second blog so as not to force content that has little to do with my typical fare. Let me know what you think as I know this won’t be of interest to many except possibly my close friends, but it is always helpful for me to be accountable to more than just myself and I also hope this can help others decide if this surgery might be right for them.

I find the concept of Mountain Dew Game Fuel to be somewhat pathetic and patronizing, but it is advertising. The idea that gamers are somehow so different from the average cola drinker is ridiculous, but they obviously feel there is a market segment here dying to be pandered to. So normally this wouldn’t even be of any interest to me, but I found the commercial interesting as I enjoyed the image of two women changing into WoW characters and battling it out in a supermarket.

All that said, I doubt I will be purchasing this…

Possibly troubling additions to the iTunes Store’s Terms and Conditions regarding ‘In App’ purchasing:

Certain Products may include functionality that enables you to purchase additional services, or licenses to additional functionality or content for use within the Product (”In App Purchases”). In App Purchases that are consumed during the use of the Product (e.g., virtual ammunition) cannot be transferred among devices; can only be downloaded once; and after being downloaded, they cannot be replaced. Once a consumable In App Purchase is purchased and received by you, Apple shall be without liability to you in the event of any loss, destruction, or damage. All In App Purchases are deemed Products, and In App Purchases made within Third Party Products are deemed Third Party Products, and treated as such, for purposes of these terms and conditions.

I’m a bit concerned about this as Heather and I use the same iTunes account. Apple made me happy by allowing this use case as it seems rather ridiculous to assume an app couldn’t be used by both spouses. However, we likely won’t be able to use the same ‘In App’ purchases. This isn’t a deal breaker, but I am concerned about my ability to back this content up and restore if needed. I wouldn’t want to lose any added content any more than losing a purchased app.

Guess this just needs to be clarified a bit…