$25 Oly bars, Work, and Why I Can't Stand Online Courses.

Well, yesterday I called the guy in Bremerton, and I suppose the person that was going to check out the bar didn't stop by, so I went to his house and picked it up (two dumbbell weight bars too). It's in great shape. I'm pretty excited I found it for $25. Now I need to get some cheap bumper plates. I'll do some reps of the front squat tonight, since I've never squatted with an Oly bar before, so 45 pounds should be good at least to figure out the proper movement.

Work started today. I guess it's kind of a good relief to be back at work, but I miss spending the day with my family. I suppose I can't be on vacation all of the time. I've gotta finish my SRO qualifications before the end of the month, which should be very feasible. So our schedule at work is pretty lax right now.

• 0730 : Show up to work


• Training in the morning for a couple of hours.


• 1030 : Go to PT at the Gym


• 1200 : Lunch / Shower


• 1300 : Back to Work


• Sometime after 1300 : Go Home

It's pretty good. Some days I will work later, but it sure beats a nine-to-five job.

So I'm taking online classes at Baker College, finishing my BS in Computer Science. Overall, I recommend taking online classes, but when participation is based on number of posts per day (although I'm sure quality counts too) it gets quite annoying. For example, just today someone in the class posted this comment:

It is interesting that in Java to allocated memory for a named constant, you use the reserved word final . After analysing why the word final is used for named constants, I came to realize that final must stand for final value. This means that there is no other value, that the value will never change and that's exactly what I named constant is. Through the execution of the program, the value of a constant never changes.

Another Student's Response:

I like the word final. It is a very strait forward word to use.

You've got to be kidding me. That is your reply. I don't know what the original poster is trying to say anyway, and to feel the need to respond. *sigh*

Well, enough rants tonight. Off to do some front squats. Tomorrow is Cindy, so that should be fun. Maybe I can convince my wife to do Cindy with me.

The quick and the patient.

Well today I was browsing craigslist, looking to start adding stuff to get my garage gym off the ground, and low and behold, some guy was selling his Oly bar, two dumbbell bars with a few weights and a belt for $25. So I called him about 2 hours after I saw the add. I swear I saw his post just as he had put it on. And what do you know, some guy already called him and was going to look at it tonight. Grrr. That's the last time I wait to call somebody if I see a good deal on Craigslist. Here's hoping that he doesn't sell it tonight, and I will call him in the morning. Guess I better be quicker next time.

So much for "daily".

An online journal sometimes takes the back seat to everything else in life unless you are a professional blogger (what the hell is that anyway?) or have no life. So, I've take about three weeks off from working out. Although relaxing, it probably hasn't been the best thing I could have done. I did Angie (100 pull ups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats) back on the 17th and I was sore for 4 days. So I'm starting again today. In the mean time, I've started working on a Mac program for fitness tracking and you can check out information at http://fitnessapp.blogspot.com/. Until next time . . .

Break Busy

It's been a few days since I last posted, and I've been at work for the most of them. We've been turning the boat over to the Blue Crew, which is a Good Thing. We need a break from the boat.

Jennifer is still in Arizona with the kids, and it gets harder by the day for the two of us because we haven't seen each other in almost two months. She will be home on Wednesday. I'm very excited to have her home and the kids. It's not quite the same at home without one's significant other around. It's also going the be very weird since it has been so long since we've even been able to actually even touch one another. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but sometimes it doesn't quite work out that way. We'll get through though -- I'm not worried about that, and I have faith in our relationship. The Navy lifestyle isn't working out so well for us at the moment, but I'm sure with our determination we can make it through strong and be better off for it in the end. I miss her so much. If only I could tell her in another way or make sure she understands.

Anyway, I've worked out only twice since last week.
19 Nov 2007: Tabata: Pushups / Sit-ups / Squats: 7 / 9 / 16.
25 Nov 2007: 20 mins of: 5 Handstand Push-ups, 10 Dips, 15 Steps - Walking Lunge

I need to work on those handstand pushups -- used the couch to assist in the handstand part.

Short Yet Long

What a patrol! I'm am so happy to be back. Being underway isn't that bad, but I'd rather be home than under water.

We were pretty busy this patrol. The first four days were a readiness inspection which means lots of lame drills and losing sleep. After that our evaporator decided to go crazy and we were constantly on water conservation which meant very little if any time for showers, with even less sleep getting it repaired underway. After that, the clothes washers and dryers were on the fritz, breaking at least every other day. It doesn't help that these pieces of equipment are probably the most abused gear onboard. Good times being an electrician.

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about and missing my family -- glad it was a short patrol! I also had a lot of time to work out, and I ate quite a bit, so I gained 10 pounds over the last five weeks. Good stuff.

12 Oct : Run 1/2 mile, 50 air squats 3 rounds for time: 20:29.
13 Oct : Row 500m, max rep pull-ups 20 mins: 6 rounds complete.
16 Oct : Tabata: Pushups:4, situps:5 squats: 14
17 Oct : Row 5min, row 1min rest 1 min (5x) 1200/1300
18 Oct : 100 Burpiees: 13:42
19 Oct : 1 mile run; 7:32
20 Oct : Murphy (1/2 reps full run):43:38 OUCH
23 Oct : 20-19-18-...-1 Pu/Su/Sq
26 Oct : Barbara (no rest): 33:09
29 Oct : Nicole : 5 rounds (max reps: 7 on 5th round)
31 Oct : 1.5 mile run : 11:20
1 Nov : 100 Burpiees: 11:22
2 Nov : Cindy: (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats - 20 minutes) : 12 rounds
3 Nov : Row: 5min/rest 1min/rest(x5) 30sec/rest(x10) 15sec/rest(x20)
5 Nov : Run 5k: 32:20
6 Nov : Angie: 20:13
7 Nov : Row 500m, max rep pull ups -- 5 rounds:13:45
10 Nov : Susan (200m run, 10pushups, 10 squats 5 rounds) : 6:28
11 Nov :10 push-ups 10 squats 10 sit ups 10 rounds. 10:07 && 1 mile run 7:03
12 Nov : 15 Pullups, 25 squats 7 rounds for time: 14:40
14 Nov : Run 1/2 mile, 50 air squats 3 rounds for time: 18:29
15 Nov : 2000m row : 7:49