c o l l i s i o n b e n d . c o m

Just flew in from LaGuardia yesterday (well, Monday), and boy, are my arms tired. ;-)

OK, so I thought I’d run one past ya. Oh, well…

Anyway, my bride and I just returned from a trip to Connecticut, with a sidetrack to New York City on Friday. As usual, we had a wonderful time.

First Thought: we flew this time, instead of our usual 9-hour-plus drive. On Thursday, it was an aggravating experience, with the plane delayed 3 hours. We finally took off around 6:45 p.m., which brought us in to LaGuardia Airport about 8:15. The only upside for this was the fact that the plane flew Northbound up the Hudson River, right alongside Manhattan, taking us right over the Big Apple — and Ground Zero.

The City, from an altitude of about 2,000 feet, at dusk, is incredible — a sight to be seen by anyone alive. It’s simply awesome.

Second Thought: LaGuardia Airport. Wow. It really sucks. It’s run-down, grimy, and seriously needs remodeling. It’s cramped, and there are far too few gates for incoming flights, making for the delays. they blame the delays on the weather, but that has little to do with it.

Third Thought: Broadway. My bride and I ate dinner at Meson Sevilla, on 46th St just off Broadway (between 8th and 9th Streets — Restaurant Row) on Friday night, and followed it with Kevin Spacey’s performance in “Moon for the Misbegotten” at the Brooks Atkinson Theater. With train fare, dinner, and the theater tickets, this was a $400 date.

Judging by the play only, it wasn’t worth the effort. Spacey was too far over the top to be emotionally tangible. Eve Best and Colm Meaney (from Star Trek: The Next Generation and DS9) were outstanding, however. They made the show, in my humble opinion.

Add walking Broadway Avenue at 10:30 p.m. on a Friday night (see photos) to the mix, and you have a memory. It’s hard to believe that Broadway sidewalks are just as crowded at this time as they are during the mid-day, any day of the week. Add to this that the store were all open, and you have a Mecca.

I was in total awe.

The only fly in the ointment was the temperature in Grand Central Station, by the trains as they idled: it was almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit down there. We sweltered as we waited for the trains to open.

We arrived back at our in-laws in Connecticut at about 1:30 a.m., which is really late if you need to rise early the next morning, as we did (our niece had her First Communion Saturday morning at 10:00). Now you know why I am tired this week…

Fourth Thought: Grand Central terminals need a serious upgrade. Not the station, mind you, which is one of the neatest places in the entire world: when you are down by the trains, however, it’s pretty ruddy. I guess I was spoiled by the Washington D.C. Metro, which is modern and spotless in comparison. Grand Central, down below, is old, grimy, and worn down.

It adds character, for sure, but it’s reminiscent of Cleveland’s Terminal Tower train center.

Which brings me to Thought Five: we here spend so much time comparing our fair city to New York when we really have no right to do so: our town is dinky in comparison. I had the opportunity to ride back seat back to LaGuardia yesterday (Monday), and crossing the Hutchinson Waterway, I had the chance to see the *entire* Manhattan skyline.

Manhattan stretches for miles, folks. There’s no comparison anywhere in the world to that view. It’s 40- to 60- story buildings for about two miles, followed by about a mile of 20- to 25-story buildings for about a mile, then another two miles of 40- to 50-story buildings stretching into Harlem. All this while driving through Queens and the Bronx.

It’s no wonder why New Yorkers love their city: there simply ain’t nothing like it anywhere.

While we were up there, my brother-in-law and I went to Stew Leonard’s Beer and Wine Outlet Store (a division of Stew Leonard’s) to buy some beer. In the store, you can purchase a mixed six-pack of beer by the bottle.

My six-pack, plus two bottles, cost $29.15. Oh, yeah.

In the pack: 2 12oz. bottles of Harpoon Smoked Porter (Boston): I had high hopes for this one, as I have had some smoked porters before, and I really liked them. That’s why I bought two: I thought I’d like this one. It’s good, but not repeatable: too smoky, really. It’s a good beer, quality-wise, with a great body and good notes, but the smoke overpowers the porter.

1 bottle of Saranac Caramel Porter (New York): This one was interesting. Too much caramel flavor for me (the caramel flavor was added), truth be told. It’s a quality brew, and it has some serious potential, but it’s overdone. A little less caramel would work better for my taste. Nice chocolaty finish, even though it was a bit too sweet.

1 bottle of Dogfish 120-Minute Imperial India Pale Ale (Delaware): An excellent I.P.A., although the alcohol content is 21%, which is quite noticeable. I’d rather drink Commodore Perry from Great Lakes Brewery, as the alcohol is not so noticeable. But this *is* worth trying. It has a great body and an excellent flavor, even though too strong on the alcohol front.

1 bottle of Ayinger Dark Lager (Germany): My favorite of the group. An original Schwartzbier from an original German brewery. Black Lager done right. Now I know what beer Sam Adams used to model for their excellent Black Lager. Outstanding.

1 bottle of Harpoon 100-Barrel Select English Pale Ale (Boston): Another favorite. Simply excellent. Far and away better than a lot of imported English Ales. Too bad it’s of limited production. Subtle hints of caramel and chocolate, with a great finish, and nice Belgian lace; excellent body.

1 bottle of McEwan’s Scotch Ale (Scotland): Wow. WOW! I can’t believe I haven’t had this for over a decade; I’ve forgotten how great this brew is. Smooth and silky, even and hoppy — you couldn’t beat this ale with a stick if you tried. One of the best from the English Isles, and one I will return to in the near future.

1 bottle of Morland Hen’s Tooth English Ale (England): Too sweet, until you get to the sediment in the bottom of the bottle (I drank it out of the glass, but couldn’t get away from some of the sediment on the second pour; it was a pint bottle). Once you had some sediment, the character of the beer changed greatly into something far more potable. Not repeatable, in my book: there are far better English Ales out there, like Newcastle or Sammy Smith’s, to waste your time and money on something like this. Pass.

OK, Thought Six: we arrived back in Cleveland on Monday afternoon, about 4:00. Back in the ‘hood, truth be told, and that’s exactly what we saw: the ‘hood. We have little connection to reality any more, truth be told. We have sunk to a new low, and we have little to pull ourselves up with.

Yesterday morning (well, as I write this, this morning), at 9:45 a.m., I stepped on the scale at my weekly Weight Watchers meeting.

For the last 6 weeks, I’ve been trying to maintain my current weight, which has been a real trick since I’ve vacationed in Washington, D.C., served as best man at a friend’s wedding, and spent a couple of days (and evenings) at my brother’s house on the West side, where (and they belong to Weight Watchers, too) the food is abundant — and delicious.

Last weekend was the toughest: I gained 3.8 pounds, right after the wedding and two days of painting a house for my brother. I was .8 pounds over goal, which is not too bad when you consider that I have a 2 pound leeway (which means I can weigh as much as 176 pounds).

This week… well… I weighed in at: 169 pounds. Huzzah!

I no longer have to pay for Weight Watchers meetings. Since January 7th of this year, I’ve lost a total of 76.8 pounds (41 weeks, for an average weekly weight loss of 1.87 pounds), lost 8 inches from my waistline, dropped one or two sizes in shirts (depending on manufacturer), and more. My sleep apnea is gone; I now sleep through the night peacefully. In fact, I now have a hard time waking in the morning, since I get into such a deep sleep. And my blood chemistry is now well within normal, healty guidelines. Glorious.

Further, I can now walk vast distances again, just like I used to do in high school. (My father, may he not be spinning in his grave — like a lathe) used to call this mode of transportation “shank’s mare,” translated as the “leg’s horse.”

What a kidder, he.

More importantly here is that I have learned a lot of new behaviors and habits, a ton about grocery shopping, and even more about what why processed food frequently is unhealthy, and what to watch for when shopping.

Let me tell you, it’s been an eye-opener; I won’t go into it here.

Now, I don’t write this to boast or brag; far from it: I write this because I want to bring hope to those who feel that they’re hopelessly overweight and could never get to a healthy place and weight in their lives. Hey: if *I* could do it, so can you. I was the worst of the bunch. Well, close to it, OK? You get the picture. I had some pretty severe habits — that I’m glad are gone — and I’m on a much healthier path now than I was just a few short years ago.

And it was all a matter of choice — and truly wanting to make a change in my life. That’s all it took. Honestly.

OK, all of that in the last paragraph and a little fear, OK? I was getting scared of my family history with heart disease and diabetes, me being an old fart and all. I didn’t want to end up on a slab a few years too early, ya know?

Now, if I don’t want to pay for a Weight Watchers meeting, all I have to do is weigh in once a month at 176 pounds or less. I’ll post that monthly weigh-in here, too; it’ll help keep me honest. It’ll look like this, for now: my weight, followed by the difference between my weight and my Weight Watchers goal weight.

Today, it would look like this:

[169 / -5.0] That means that my weight is 169 pounds, and I’m 5 pounds under my Weight Watchers goal weight. (Note: my personal target weight was 172 pounds, which is what I weighed the day I graduated from Rocky River High School way back in… well, you get the picture; then I decided that my personal target should be a total loss of 75 pounds instead, so the target became 170.8 pounds… then…)

So I like 170 pounds; it’s a nice, round number. I feel good, I’m looking OK, and my blood work is where it should be.

Now, I need to learn how to eat more in a day so that I can break the current habit of weight loss and maintain my weight instead of losing it. In a way, that can be scarier than looking at 75 pounds to lose…

[169 / -5.0]

Maybe they’ll create a new style of beer.

Last Monday, October 2nd, a warehouse operated by one of the largest suppliers of hops to brewers around the U.S. burned, destroying some $4 million worth of the flavoring agent.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in the blaze.

The good news for craft brew aficianados: the burned hops were destined for mass brewers rather than craft brewers. Craft brew hops are handled by a different company at another facility nearby. Some 77% of the hops grown in the Americas are grown in the Yakima Valley; American hops production accounts for about 24% of the world’s hops production overall.

Don’t worry, GLBC lovers: this shouldn’t affect us. Apparently, Sam Adams shouldn’t be affected either, but I can’t be sure; as I understand it, Sam Adams is linked to Anheuser-Busch in a distribution agreement, so anything’s possible.

I always thought that some mass-produced beers tasted a little smoky…

For the first time in over 15 years, I’m under 200 pounds.

Words cannot express my joy.

I’ve worked hard at this, and I still have a long way to go — about another 28 pounds — but I have to take a moment and reflect on this milestone and what it means.

First off, I’m now having trouble with my high blood pressure medication. My readings today were 16 points lower than they have been — on both scales — in recent years while using the medication. If I move too fast, I get dizzy in a hurry.

It’s just about time to let the medication go, and I can’t be happier about it: I hate using medication of any kind, save for those that are essential, like for my sinuses and acid reflux, because I can’t do anything about those conditions. Besides, a good dose of common sense helps deliver comfort in these areas.

I’ve lost 4+” on my waist, and almost 6″ in my chest: my pants were a tight 38 when I started, and now they’re a loose 34, while my suit jacket size has gone from a tight 48 regular (or loose 50 regular) to a nice, even 44 regular. Time for new clothes, methinks…

My sleep apnea and snoring problem are both gone, thank God: I’m sleeping better and getting more rest, although I’m currently slowed by a pinched nerve in my upper back, which requires a heating pad and some kneading — and a little ibuprofen at times.

But — I’ll take it. It’s a hell of a lot better than weighing in some 75 pounds overweight, tired as hell all day long, hoarse from snoring all night, and squeezing into my clothes.

So I’m celebrating a little this evening — with a bottle of Samuel Adams Black Lager (sorry, age verification required), possibly the very best beer brewed in America today, served nicely chilled in a tall crystal pilsner glass with a gold rim.

And boy, does it ever taste good.

(73.8 — 46.0 — 27.8)

Change is in the air. Lots of changes — lots of ‘em.

First off, I have three web sites under construction, two of which are on hold, and the third will go live some time next week. That third one, by the way, is a members-only site.

Then there is good ole’ CB itself, which will be sporting a few changes with my coming anniversary next month. I can’t address those changes here — yet — but I will in due time. Let’s just leave it that I’m sprucing up the site, as well as making it faster. No, I’m not upgrading to WordPress 2.0, either — but I might at some point. I just don’t see the need for a WYSIWYG interface.

I am also waiting on approval to create another site, which hopefully will come some time this week. This is the one that’s making me anxious.

I hate waiting. Absolutely hate it.

Not that I’m not patient — if I’m anything, I’m patient. What gets to me is that this approval for the one site is the gateway to bigger and better things for me and my career, an opportunity that I can’t miss. It’s the difference between comfort and dreams on the one side, and another lean year at the Bend on the other. Your prayers are deeply appreciated, however you pray, and to whomever you pray to (as long as it isn’t evil).

Patience is an ally of mine, truth be told. I got married at the tender age of 44; I waited, and it turned out that it was the proper choice, as I’m far better off with my bride than I would be if I had married one of my prior relationships.

My career passion, web design and development, didn’t exist when I attended Ohio State. That didn’t come for almost 15 years after I left that fine institution. Again, I waited, and I’m glad I did: I really love the work.

The one place where I’m not as patient as I should be (and I usually don’t “should” myself) is in my attempt to lose weight: I want to reach my long-term goal now, not next week, next month, or 20 weeks from now (which is the healthy term, and the plan I’m on). I want it now.

Quite frankly, it’s harder work than I anticipated, and it’s not the easiest thing I have ever done, regardless of the excellent results I have achieved in the last 11 weeks (32.6 pounds lost).

So, what am I doing at the moment?

I’m sitting in the Wickliffe Arabica on Euclid Avenue and E. 293rd, avoiding the cold, sucking down some decaf, web surfing, blogging, listening to my iPod, thinking about the delicious, ice-cold Samuel Adams Black Lager I plan to quaff this Saturday night, and avoiding creating the slide show I need for a presentation I have to do next week.

I guess it’s in its own holding pattern.

*Sigh*

Back to work…

(73.8 — 32.6 — 41.2)