Heaven on seven!

I love food!

I am no food critic and this is by no means a restaurant review. What this is a previously hungry's man's way to say thank you to the place which served an excellent dinner!

So heaven on seven is a great place to eat. I started off with a glass of Beaujolais because we had to wait 25 minutes for a table. Oh well, I thought; this better be good. So here is what I ordered - full slab of ribs with coleslaw, onion rings and mashed potatoes.

You gotto love southern food. The corn bread; whipped butter; gumbo; the spicy sauce (I am not a big fan for spicy though). I would love to visit New Orleans someday. I have heard it is rich in culture and the food is just awesome. How about that huh? Chicago has some great restaurants and I am ever grateful to be in city where I can find many restaurants that serve good food and with a large variety. Seattle was another city I really liked.

Anywayz...I just wanted to mention heaven on seven. I have a lot of leftovers for tomorrow - a full slab ribs is a LOT!!! But I am not complaining. :)

Do not *ever* call me list!

To Dish Network,

• I do not want to experience 500 HD channels for a low monthly price.
• And it is not like I do not know about dish network. I did subscribe to 10 HD channels for $25/month and guess what, my dish kept searching for satellite signal like a dog chasing its own tail. So I decided to ditch you guys and switched to comcast(ugh) few months back..get it!
• So the dude calling every other day to offer me a fabulous package - stop calling. I will let this once in a lifetime opportunity slip.

To Chicago Symphony Orchestra,

• I liked the performance of whoever-it-was-that-performed when my attended a show couple years ago.
• But no, I do not want to sign up for a lifetime membership or a yearly membership.
• And no, I am not going to sign up for your monthly newsletter to get "exclusive" offers for shows.
• If I decide to got for another show I know where to find you.

To Valley City Honda,

• I love your exceptional service.
• I really love your exceptional service.
• I really very much love your exceptional service.
• How much freaking exceptional service are your trying to give me for an oil change. Heck, get some real coffee in the waiting room and what's with the re-run of judge judy on all TVs in there?

To Citibank NRI service,

• Yes, I did visit your website and request some information about opening a new account.
• Yes, I am interesting in saving money and available great offers never ever offered in the banking industry.
• But I changed my mind. I am human. I picked your competitor. And besides, reduce the form size man!
• And no, I do not have to explain why exactly I am not interested anymore. I am not kidding. The guy really asked me that - "So why exactly are you not interested, Sir?". Uh hmm...

You get the picture! I need a do-not-ever-call-me feature on my phone. I don't mind paying couple bucks a month to get that service. It saves me time and lot of frustration and anger.

Run Forrest Run - Teil zwei!

So on with my rambling...

There is this cardio test you get done at your gym. I did...It costs me about $175 but what the hell. I strapped a heart rate monitor across my chest and ran on the treadmill for about 15 mins; with an oxygen mask. The works...After the end of this test the computer spit out a bunch of stuff. Tells me how fit I am; what zones I need to train at; a program for the next 3 months.

Now there is nothing that has worked better for me than this. All I had to do was stick to the program and I did. I was able to run more and faster. And...I was losing weight as well. Ah, how nice! Well, it wasn't all peachy and sunny! I first hurt my back doing weights but then *really* hurt it after running on a train. That hurt! Like bad! I didn't train and run for a whole month and got therapy for couple weeks. I got better. Started running again...then I hurt my knee, no therapy but my doctor said it's all good. Then hurt my feet; tendinitis apparently. That went away with some stretching...

So here is where I am now with my running -
1. I run close to 6 miles/hr but that is the most I have ever run. 6 miles. :)
2. I run 3 times a week and I always stretch before and after my run. yay!
3. My right knee started hurting earlier this week. Sucks! I got an appointment to meet a therapist at my desk. Will see how that goes...

This sunday is the chicago marathon so this blog is no coincidence. I hope I am able to train next year; not get hurt; stay focussed and run the chicago marathon. Well, maybe start with the half-marathon first.

As for my waistline, it has reduced. I am not where I was planning but I am definitely not where I was last year same time. Running is high impact and I am a little worried. How about little swimming? :)

Run Forrest Run - teil eins!

I haven't blogged in a very long time. Maybe I won't for a very long time...eh!

Anywayz...

It was about a year and a half ago that I blogged about my treadmill assembly ordeal. I used it for say a month or so and then it just sat there. I was getting no exercise and my wife's excellent culinary skills and my never-ending appetite ensured that my waistline grew at a very healthy rate. No bail out required there.
Last fall we went to this beach on a nice sunny day and there was a trail there for you know some lightweight trekking/hiking whatever you want to call it. I saw couple of these kids race by me. Well, I wanted to keep up with them. The thing is my waistline and ego don't really know each other. I would say it was 50 feet before I lost sight of the kids. I was puffing, panting and cramping. Damn! I thought to myself, how out of shape am I? Pretty bad....

Running wasn't fun at first. The first time I ran on my preciously-assembled treadmill I felt sick. My legs hurt and I was out of breath. I needed help. I joined a gym and signed up for some pretty expensive 1-on-1 training sessions. Weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry and this was my check for them. :) I was paying someone to kick my butt and get me back into shape. It was hard but I started seeing results. Now there was no running there but I was encouraged to do cardio on the days I wasn't training. It must be the pain I was enduring during training because I was able to run and it didn't hurt as much.

Rambling to be continued...