Taking a Walk....

Exercise is done against one's wishes and maintained only because the alternative is worse.
George A. Sheehan

Okay. I admit it. I have, over the past 25 years, put on a little bit of weight. I mean, it's only been 5 pounds a year. That's not so much. Until you start doing the math. And then, well, WOW. That's a lot of weight.

So, over the years, I've struggled with the whole weight loss thing. The one thing I've learned, is that it all comes down to diet and exercise. Frankly, that just sucks. I've been hoping that someone would invent a magic pill that I could slip under my pillow one night and awake the next morning magically transformed into that gorgeous under-appreciated body I had at seventeen. I'm still waiting.

I have food issues. I GET that. I'm working through them. But the kicker for me has always been exercise. I just don't like it. I mean come on... It's so FREAKING BORING!!! And it's time consuming. Did I mention it's BORING? And it takes time away from doing things that are actually enjoyable. Like reading, or eating, or surfing the net.

So, I've been trying to think of what motivates me. I didn't have to think very hard. It's confession time:

My name is Agbag and I'm a WoWoholic.

Yes it true. Four and a half years ago, I discovered the World of Warcraft. I discovered that I love my virtual world. I love the friends I've made and the toons I've created. I would rather play WoW than just about anything. But I have guilt when I play WoW. Is this time I should be spending cleaning house? Should I be playing with the dog? Paying bills? Doing laundry? Pampering Ondigo? Every time I sit down to my computer to play, I feel guilty.

Which brings me back to the whole exercise thing. One day, while reading one of my favorite blogs, I saw this:


Yes, that is a treadmill with a desktop retrofitted to it, so that one may use a computer and walk at the same time.


Inspiration! I have a treadmill. I have an Ondigo who is very clever with his hands. I can have this! Then, I can play World of Warcraft. GUILT FREE!! Because, after all, I won't be frittering away my time on a useless pursuit. I'll be EXERCISING!! I'll be VIRTUOUS!! Fair to say, I won't be raiding Blackwing Descent, but I can farm and do Archeology and track my auctions.

So I approached Ondigo with the idea and being busy repairing our master bath shower, his lack of enthusiasm was palpable. So I thought, what the hell, I know how to use power tools. I can do this myself. Fortunately for everyone, the idea of me and power tools together was disconcerting enough to Ondigo that last weekend he made this:





So, now I am motivated to exercise. It's not much, but it's a start.

Thank you Jen at Cakewrecks, for writing your wonderful Epbot blog. And thank you Ondigo, for being so very clever with your hands.

And as icing on the cake (get it? cake?), I wrote this while walking on my treadmill! Woot!

As people are walking all the time, in the same spot, a path appears.
John Locke

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The pop culture archetype personality test

Your result for The Pop Culture Archetype Personality Test ...

The Wizard

Ninja, Robot, Zombie, Cowboy

The self-confidence of the wizard is often mistaken for arrogance, but it is a confidence rooted in expertise. The perfectionist wizards focus on specialized knowledge, and are willing to work at things and improve until they are masters of their domain. They know what they know, and they know what they don't know. Yet wizards are not all about logic; they combine intuition and imagination with reliability, and turn everything they work on into a personal moral cause. To this end, they will disregard authority if it suits their purposes, even pretending to conform while secretly working in their own unconventional, opportunistic ways. Anything is possible, and paradoxes are seen as a source of amusement, not an obstacle. With people, wizards have no tolerance for slackers, and their lack of appreciation for social rituals, small talk and flirtation means that personal relationships are their Achilles heel. They are deeply private and impassive, and their unempathetic self-confidence and expectation for directness means that they turn off many, leaving them with only a few close friends.

Wizards are prone to Schizotypal behaviors, wherein they feel extreme discomfort in close relationships and often experience strange cognitive and perceptual experiences and eccentric appearance and behavior. They may see chance happenings as being related to their own experiences, and react with odd, magical beliefs and thinking. Their paranoid, suspicious natures leave them with few close friends, and their odd speech and inappropriate behaviors often drive away others, leading to increased anxiety in social situations.

Famous wizard types include Dan Akroyd, Augustus Caesar, Chevy Chase, Arnold Schwarzenegger and John F. Kennedy.

Take the pop culture archetype personality test

Joss the Jolly Dog

It has been brought to my attention, that I have been so busy *playing* with our new puppy, that I have neglected to blog about him. Well...

Meet Joss.





If you are at all familiar with puppies, you will know that it's very difficult to get Joss to hold still for a picture. He can be a total wild man. Several times a day, he will go beserk, running around the house like a chicken with his head cut off. I am told that this is normal puppy behavior and that he will grow out of it, but man... He is a serious goober. Joss likes to chew on EVERYTHING, especially hands and clothes, but we are working to curb it. I only expect it to last another few months.

Christmas Day, Joss looked very festive in his bow. Unfortunately, 7 week old puppies have little patience for bows and it was removed soon after. We had my entire family over for Christmas dinner, so we moved Joss's crate up to our bedroom so he could have a quiet zone during the festivities. It worked out fairly well, but we were all glad when things were moved back to normal. Puppies don't really like it when you move their stuff around.


Joss was supposed to sleep in the bed with Dan and me in order to faciltate the bonding process. Unfortunately, the little goober would rather sleep on the floor next to Dan. Joss has comfy bed in the bedroom, but he would rather sleep on Dan's winter coveralls that are kept handy beside the bed for 2AM walkies. Dan decided that the little Prince needed a bed in the living room as well. I think Joss would rather eat it than sleep in it.

Joss's house training is coming along. and along. and along. I am seriously considering changing his name to Puddles. (He also likes to splash in his water bowl. Oh, joy.) I am also thinking about buying stock in the company that produces Nature's Miracle. As the name implies, it is truly miraculous.


Patch and Lily are reserving judgement on the puppy. At this time, all I can say is, they are not pleased. They have both passed the hiding from the puppy stage and have moved into the "Are you talking to ME?!" stage.

We really enjoyed the winter holidays and being able to stay home with puppy. It was very sad when we all had to go back to work and school. I've taken to coming home from work around 10:00AM and taking a 2 hour lunch so we can have lots of walkies and play time. And then Jack gets home around 2:45, so the puppy is not left alone for too long. Jack spends some time tiring him out, and then when Wendy gets home, she does the same so that he will nap while they work on their homework. By the time I get home from work, he's ready to play again.

I'm telling you...Puppies is 'xhausting!

Gentlemen--Beware of the Doghouse

My friend Les sent me a wonderful link to a cautionary tale for men wishing to please the woman in their lives during the holidays.

I know from personal experience that this truly happens. Men DO give their beloved household cleaning devices as "gifts." Last Christmas, Ondigo gave me a Roomba. His plaintive cry of "But Sweetie! It's a ROBOT vacuum cleaner!" did not spare him. The silver braided necklace he gave me *next* is what kept him out of the doghouse.

And, while I must admit the Roomba is strangely hypnotic as it wends its way around the room sucking up bits of detritus, it is still NOT an acceptable holiday gift. EVER.

Puppy!

We got to go visit with our new puppy this evening. Bridget at Faith Ridge Border Collies was very kind and gracious about letting us come late on Sunday and I'm sure we overstayed our welcome, (we were there 2 hours) but it was very hard to tear ourselves away from the little man. We played with Cody and his brother Chip and his sister Margo. Chip and Margo are still available and it is taking everything I have not to take them home with me. :) The puppy's litter name is Cody, but we haven't decided what his *real* name will be. In the running are Joss, Cai, Kip, Pip, Mick, and Nick. Which one do you like? I'm sure the little guy will tell us which one it is shortly after he moves in with us.

Which should be Tuesday December 23. Ondigo and I are only working half days on the 23 and we both have the 24-26th off, so we're looking forward to some bonding time!

I apologize for the red eyes. He really isn't a demon dog, but I don't have a decent photo editor on this 'puter, so I can't fix it right now.

Ondigo had a dream...

As most of you know, it's been several years since we lost the Blessed St. Davey and Miss Nell. Ondigo and I had thought that we would not get another dog until we had retired and it could go with us wherever we went.

Well... Ondigo had a dream last month. He dreamed of petting a dog. And when he awoke, he could still smell the dog. The dream stuck with him. And it churned in his mind, so that he began to look at border collie rescue websites, and the dogs therein spoke to his heart. But adopting a border collie through a rescue organization is much like purchasing a house, but with more stress and a longer wait time.

And lo it came to pass that Annabelle was looking in the classified section of the newspaper and saw an advertisement for border collies. And the advertisement listed a webpage! And the webpage had photos of dogs! Black and White Border Collies! Red and White Border Collies! Blue Merle Border Collies! Red Merle Border Collies! Blonde (Yes BLONDE) Border Collies! And Puppies! Pretty Pretty Puppies!

So into the car we hopped and trecked out into the wilds of Culpepper, Virginia. Wendy fell in love with Ace. Annabelle fell in love with Margo. But Ondigo fell in love with Cody. While Annabelle tried to talk Ondigo into getting two puppies, we settled on sweet Mr. Cody.

So...with out further ado... meet the newest member of our family. These pictures are a little old, but hopefully I can get some better pictures later. The puppies are still too young to leave their mother, but Cody (Ondigo has not yet chosen his permanent name--do you have any ideas?) will be coming to live with us shortly after Christmas.