A Good Plan is Coming

The best news I've received in awhile is that my oldest brother's malignant melanoma, a large spot on his back, was removed entirely and won't require further treatment. The cancer had not spread; they got all of it. That's cause for celebration!

Otherwise, life's relatively bland at the moment. My weight loss continues, though the pace has slowed considerably. I'm hovering right at 200 pounds right now, fully 40+ less than I was when I started my deliberate efforts to rid myself of unneeded and unwanted and unappreciated weight. At my peak, I was over 252, maybe closer to 255 or even a touch higher. What madness to have allowed myself to have reached that point! It was very, very easy, though. I simply ate and drank without regard to how much of, or what sort of, an affect it might have on my body, let alone my mind.

Two hundred pounds for a short guy like me (about 5 feet eight or a shade under) is too much. I should weigh around 170 or so (maybe less). So I've quite a ways to go, but it's achievable. It will take longer to get there than it has taken to get here (I started this process just under four months ago; August 9, to be precise). I'm guessing my next 30 pounds will take a good six months, maybe more.

If I maintain my discipline, I may arrive at my target weight as early as June 1. Before then, I intend to begin exercising in some form or fashion. My walks have gone by the wayside, thanks in large part to my knees and in equally large part to my laziness. Add to that the fact that my wife doesn't want to join me out in the streets and I've allowed myself to have three reliable excuses. But, my wife is making loud noises about getting a treadmill that we can both use and I've been pricing treadmills. We could get one for $500 that would be a decent starter machine, but my guess is that I would outpace it fairly quickly. The next price point for decent machines that lack the gadgetry that would be nice but is not necessary is about $1000. That's a fucking lot of money! But, an expenditure of that magnitude probably would shame me into using the treadmill, as I would be quite upset to spent the money for naught.

Where I'll get the money is up in the air. I can't borrow it from retirement, as that's basically gone (I bought my vehicle with it...but I'm working on paying myself back and I am thinking about selling that vehicle and relying on the truck that belonged to my late sister). And we need to spend money on the money pit of a house we live in. But I really do need to devote some energy and resources to my health, which I've largely ignored for 57 years. We'll see.

My mind continues to be on how to rid myself of the business I'm in and get into something that is more appealing and, ideally, more lucrative. I've worked for 12 years at half of what I used to make on an annual basis, which has hurt our retirement nest egg plans quite alot. So, aside from wanting out of this worklife, I want to have some stream of revenue that could help make retirement at least a remote possibility. I don't have the need for, or respect for, money that I once did, but I'd rather have more of it than I have now and I need more for retirement. So, I keep daydreaming about what I can do. Next trick: use my newfound discipline to stop daydreaming and get to work on making something happen.

Enough. Enough for now. Ideas are rolling about loudly in my head; I have to let them have their fun and then I will act. And it will be good.