One of the so-called rules of blogging is to never aplogize for the lack of updates, therefore there will be no apologies forthcoming.

Hasn't been much new & exciting happening lately, so I'll post a few little odds'n ends.

iPhone. Still diggin' it. Got way too much crap installed on it and have been slowly thinning it out.

Rocksmith. Haven't played it much lately. I have been picking away "unplugged" though to keep up the calouses. They just released an update to fix bugs and make the game a little more user-friendly, so I'm anxious to try it out.

Photography. Aside from the odd photo taken with Instagram on my phone, I haven't done much at all in over a month. Got no inspiration. The cold and crappy weather certainly doesn't help either. One thing I did do was pick up a pretty cool app called Portrait Professional. This is one slick app. I'm all for keeping a more natural look with portraits, but when used minimally, you can fix up the small imperfections without making it appear overdone. Now all I need is people to take photos of.

Computers. I picked up a D-Link DNS325 a couple of weeks ago. I was long overdue for getting a home NAS, and after my wife and daughter lost data with a recent laptop hard drive crash it was time. I wish I had done something sooner. Right now I have an old 500GB drive that I hacked out of an external USB hard drive, and an 80GB. Once hard drives come back to a more reasonable price, I'll be picking up a couple of 1TB drives to replace them.

Music. Look for something new(ish)?  Check out Ravenscode. They're also Canadian, eh? :)

C'est tous.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I changed the look of here. I didn't put much thought into it, I simply picked a new theme template. I kinda like it. Except that the search field above overlaps the page description. Ugh.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Brief, and to the point — a year of ups and a few downs, not too unlike previous years.

It's time to focus on the positive things in life, no matter how insignificant you think they might be. As the saying goes, "It could always be worse", and if you take a moment to look around, you'll see that it's true.

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family, wherever you may be. If you're out partying tonight, play safe so you can contribute to the ups of 2012.

Keep the party alive, don't drink and drive!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

My cell phone contract was due for renewal in January. My wife's has been expired for a year or two, but she had been waiting for mine to expire in case we could get some kind of deal.

She had been wanting a smart phone for a while. I had one for 3 years, and HTC Touch Diamond, that I've been cursing at for 2 years. I swore I'd never get another touch-screen phone. They're fun for anything but using as a phone. As a phone, they're slow and awkward. Or at least mine was. Probably because it was using an older Windows Mobile as the operating system.

I looked around at some Android options. The touch-screen/keypad combos. I was leaning heavily to those that were free with a contract. Nothing really stood out with my carrier, Telus.

I've always thought that Apple products were overpriced, so the iPhone wasn't even a consideration. At first. But I have an iPod Nano that I won years ago, and I use iTunes to sync my music. If I had an iPhone, I could use it for my music, and as a phone, and to run some apps that I couldn't find on the Android. But it was a touch-screen only phone. And it was by Apple. And it wasn't free.

The upgrade price for a 16GB iPhone 4S was $160, and if I got one, I'd have to get my wife the same. It only made sense to not have to learn two phones to do stuff. I could go for the 4 or the 3GS which were cheaper and also free, but considering the phone would have to last at least 3 years for us, it didn't make sense to get the older technology. I suppose the 4S will be at least two versions old by the end of a 3 year contract.

I Tweeted questions out on the net to see what owners of iPhones had to say about their phone. What they liked and disliked about it. What the battery life was like. Everyone liked their phone and didn't really have anything negative to say about them.

After a little debate with my wife over pros and cons, we decided that we'd get the iPhone 4S. It wasn't free, but it did do everything we wanted it to do and that's imporant when you're "stuck" with it for 3 years. She has always leaned toward a Blackberry because many of her friends have or had one, but I don't think it mattered too much since I was paying for them. :)

I did a little web researching and found that the 3 big carriers, Telus, Rogers, and Bell all offer pretty much the same things at the same prices. Whatever happened to competition?

My wife called up Telus last Friday to see what kind of deal we could get to stay with them, over switching to the competition. We've been with Telus since they were ClearNet (14-15 years?) and we've never really had much trouble with them.

As soon as she explained to the rep why she was calling, she was transferred to someone who could make it happen. Without any trouble at all, she got them to throw in Call Display, Free Evenings and Weekends (after 6pm instead of 9pm), and waive the $25 activation fee. Plus, without any hassle, she got them to add that to my account as well to save me a call. She then called the Telus store at the St. Laurent Shopping Centre to make sure they had a white and a black iPhone 4S in stock. They did, and they put them aside for us.

We stopped by there later that evening and I have to say it was a very pleasant experience.

We were greeted almost immediately when we arrived. My wife explained why we were there and the rep went to find the person my wife spoke with on the phone, Mohamed. Minutes later, he came out from the back with both phones on-hand and escorted us to a quieter area at the back of the store to assist us.

While we were talking with him, my wife asked about the $50 accessory credit that the store offered for new phone purchases. He explained that it was only for new customers, but suggested that we could always call Telus and see if they'd offer us a similar credit. While he processed the paper work, my wife called them on her cell phone. Oddly enough, she spent more time on hold with this particular call than she did when she called from home.

While she was on hold, Mohamed explained the AppleCare Protection Plan. It was around $80, per phone, but gave us coverage for 2 years and a one-time replacement if the screen got broken. That was my biggest fear with the iPhone. I had dropped my old HTC two or three times in the past, and it survived, but the iPhone is glass. We agreed to buy the two plans and after the fact, Mohamed said he'd knock 20% off each one of those as well. Who discounts something after you agree to buy it? :)

My wife finally got through to someone on the phone and Telus said they couldn't give us an additional credit for the "accessories" since we already got credited for some things. Not a huge deal because Mohamed had already said he'd discount accessories 20% for us which was better than nothing.

In the end, we got the two phones, two AppleCare plans and two Otterbox cases. And he also put two additional reusable Telus shopping bags into our bag for fun. All in all, a very enjoyable experience. Mohamed wasn't pushy. It never once felt like he was trying to sell us something we didn't want. He was friendly and joked with our daughter while we waited. Above all, he was patient with us, answering every question we had, and didn't seem to mind waiting while my wife was on the phone with Telus to try and get us the accessory credit. He even spent time showing us the basics of using our new phones.

Yeh, we spent way more than we had originally planned, and it is touch-screen only, which I swore I'd never buy, but after a few days of playing with this phone and the 57 apps I've installed on it :) I'd have to say that it is worth it. The touch-screen does take a little getting used to, but it works way better than my old HTC Touch Diamond.

Kudos to Telus and their store reps, in particular Mohamed.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

As you can see in my previous postings, I love Rocksmith.

However, Ubisoft's technical support leaves a lot to be desired.

I posted a problem in a message thread in their support forum. They have a "sticky" thread there titled: "Rocksmith Official Bugs and Issues Thread". The "forum manager" made the first post, saying:

Please post all bugs, repeatable crashes and any major game play issues in this thread. Do not make new threads since this can result in your problem getting lost and the Topic getting closed.

This is not a means of Direct support but a means to collaborate all issues. You should also report any bugs or glitches directly to Ubisoft Support. The direct link is in my Signature.

Thank you for taking the time to report any issues.

Toward the end of the very lengthy thread, they advised users to submit support tickets for their issues.

I did that, on December 4:

I am unable to pick Tone Slot 2 in the Amp. When I tap the directional pad or left stick on my Xbox controller, it skips Tone Slot 2 and goes straight to Tone Slot 3. So I try to go back and it skips 2 and goes to Tone Slot 1. I thought it was my controller, but if it were the controller, you would think that it would go past Tone Slot 3 to the guitar picker... or it would skip past songs when trying to choose one. I also tried another controller just in case and it does the same.

I posted this same problem in your forum and it appears that others have the same problem. I'd love to see this fixed in an upcoming patch as it makes this feature somewhat useless.

As you can see, it has nothing to do with my guitar or playing the guitar. It has to do with selecting an option in the game's menu.

I first received an auto-response from the support system with various links to commonly asked questions (aka FAQs)

The next day, I recieved what I believe to be a human response from a rep:

Hello Scott,

Please follow the instructions in the following FAQ for assistance with this configuration issue: http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15549

I'll save you a click and tell you that their suggested solution explains how to adjust my guitar's intonation. This is completely unrelated to my problem. Not to mention it could result in me messing something up with my guitar. The issue was also closed as "resolved".

I reopened it with this response:

Your suggested solution has absolutely nothing to do with the problem I reported. In fact, my problem has nothing to do with actually playing the instrument. The problem is with selecting an option in the game's menu, using the game controller. Please re-read the problem that I reported and perhaps try it yourself. Like I said, it has nothing to do with the guitar.

A couple of days later, they closed the incident as resolved, without explanation.

That's right around the time a new thread started in the Ubisoft forum, titled WTF kind of answer is this Ubisoft support criticizing the response that someone else had received. I replied with my experience. The Ubisoft Forum Manager replied, telling me to re-open my incident if it wasn't resolved, and they explained that the first response may be a simple FAQ. Why there's a need for multiple FAQ responses is still a mystery.

So I did, with a strong suspicion that it would be closed again within days, without a response. I sent:

This problem is not solved.

It was closed a day or two later.

I posted an update. The topic died off after a few people responded to my update.

Yesterday I decided to re-open my incident. It irks me that some companies feel it's ok to treat their customers like this. I used to work in tech support and this was never acceptable. I sent the following message:

I don't know why you keep closing this. Closed means resolved, and as you can see, there is no resolution posted by you in this incident.

Surprisingly, I received a response the same day.

Hello Scott,

Please follow the instructions in the following FAQ for assistance with this configuration issue: http://ubisoft.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15549

Deja vu? It's the exact same thing that they sent me the first time.

I responded with:

Is this a joke? You can't be serious. Did you even read what my problem was? Or read the reply I made when you first suggested this same "solution" which is completely unrelated to my problem?

My problem is NOT a configuration issue. If you feel so strongly that this is a solution to my problem, can you please explain to me how adjusting the intonation of my guitar affects TRYING TO SELECT AN OPTION in the game with a game controller.

Thank you.

I couldn't hold back. I posted a complete summary in their forum with an admittedly sarcastic  ending:

I have a sneaking suspicion that the link they sent me is also the solution to world hunger.

Within a couple of hours, I received a private message from someone whom I assume is directly involved with the development of Rocksmith, apologizing for the lack of response from support and reassuring me that my problem was a rare issue related to DLC and said that it would be fixed in the upcoming patch.

I thanked them for the reply.

Now when I posted my "summary", I admit that I did do a faux pas, and named the rep in my posting. Only their first name, and to be honest, I'd be extremely surprised if it was their real name.

The Forum Manager didn't like that, and edited my message and the replies of a couple of other people. They also posted:

Like I have stated previously, the first reply may be a simple FAQ. If your question has not been solved there may not be a solution to your Ticket. Even if the answer is not to your satisfaction, the details have been logged and if others report the same situation a fix is more likely.

Trying to call out Ubisoft Staff whether it be Forum or Support will only lead to further action.

Can you please PM me your Incident Ticket number?
Thanks

Here is my entire reply to that:

First, I apologize for naming the rep, there was no intent to "call them out". I was simply putting a name to the "bizarre" responses I received.

Secondly, what purpose does sending a completely unrelated FAQ response serve, AFTER the support system has already sent an auto-response with links to FAQs? That's rather pointless, don't you think? The only thing it does is make the company look like they don't care about the customer.

I worked in software technical supprot for 6-7 years and we used the same support system that Ubisoft uses, so I know how the back end works. I know the real reason why they close them off, but I won't get into that.

If there was no answer to my problem, then they should be straight forward and say so and at the very least reassure me that the issue was forwarded to their engineers. The incident should not simply be closed with the hopes that I'll just go away.

Having said that, I did receive a private response from someone at Ubisoft (or from Rocksmith) shortly after I posted my message, apologizing for the trouble and they reassured me that my problem is a rare issue somewhat related to DLC and will be fixed in the upcoming patch. I thanked them for their assistance.

That is how support should work and if it did work like that, this entire message thread wouldn't even exist and you wouldn't have to threaten your customers with further action for being rightfully upset.

If you still want the incident number, feel free to PM me, otherwise I no longer need a response as I did get one from someone who cared enough to give me one.

I wasn't sure if I should post that because I thought it might touch a nerve, but thankfully it didn't. I received this response from the Forum Manager within the hour:

We do care and I understand your frustrations. This is why I asked for you Ticket number. I still have to uphold the rules though.

I am glad you were contacted about your issue and given an answer. Please let us know if you are still affected after the patch release.

Seriously, Ubisoft, you have to do something to improve your technical support. Why couldn't I have received an answer the first time I submitted the support ticket? Surely, your first level tech support people must have some kind of escalation route for problems that they can't resolve or at least provide some assistance for?

I suppose it could be worse — I could be a PS3 user. The PS3 version appears to be plagued with problems. There are endless reports of crashes and lost progress.

This is the second Ubisoft game that I've had a poor technical support experience with. My patience is wearing thin, Ubisoft.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

A couple of months ago we took our 2008 Ford Escape to the dealership to get some front end repairs done under the extended warranty. In that same visit, we reported another problem where it felt like either the brakes were slipping, or the automatic transmission wasn't dropping down a gear when braking. It's hard to describe unless you actually feel it happen.

Anyway, the front end work was done and the second problem could not be reproduced. Admittedly, it was somewhat intermittent. Our extended warranty repair cost us $100 deductible.

Over the last few weeks, the ABS light and traction control lights were coming on, and staying on for anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour.

My wife made an appointment with our Ford Dealership for last Friday and brought it in. I did a little searching on the web and found that this is actually a fairly common problem with the Ford Escape. Nearly all of the posts that mentioned this problem said it was due to a cracked "tone ring". 58,500 hits when searching for "Ford Escape" and "tone ring".

Sure enough, one of the tone rings was cracked. They replaced the tone ring and the ABS sensor. This visit also cost us $100 (plus other charges for an oil change that we had done in the same visit)

During my internet search, I found one posting that said if you experience a slipping feeling while braking, it was likely due to a cracked tone ring.

That got me wondering if the tone ring replacement might also fix the other problem that we reported.

In the last two days of driving since it was replaced, we have not experienced any of the "slipping". I'm very confident in saying that the tone replacement did in fact fix it.

Now, I'm a little disappointed that this could have been fixed in the first visit, saving us the $100 deductible. But, seeing as how it was somewhat intermittent, I guess that could be excusible.

However, there are two tone rings and only one was replaced. It was explained to my wife, when she asked if both were replaced, that they could only replace one because they have to send the damaged part back to Ford. Since the other is not (yet?) cracked, they couldn't replace it.

That's a bit upsetting. The fact that this problem seems so common, it's probably safe to assume that the other will eventually crack. If it happens while our extended warranty is still valid (until August) it will cost us another $100 deductible. If we're not lucky and it cracks after the warranty is up, who knows what it'll cost us?

Some say that they were told the entire front axle needed replaced at the same time, costing them $500-$600 for the repair.

It would have been nice if Ford and/or the dealership were a little proactive in preventing a future visit and expense.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Still playing Rocksmith. Still enjoying multi-player with my daughter.

It surprises me how much she remembers from some of the songs we've been playing. She seems to have a knack for it. Her small hands make some of the chords pretty tricky though.

One song in particular that we both enjoy is "Use Somebody" by the Kings of Leon and she plucks away some of the notes even when the game isn't on. I thought I was nearing the complete chart for this song since it hasn't change in a while, but then I found a video on YouTube that shows quite a few more than I've seen so far. I guess I'll have to get better at what I have before they'll show up. Looks like a lot of fun though.

When I'm not playing, I'm surfing the web for more knowledge. I found these two:

http://www.chordbook.com

http://all-guitar-chords.com/

A friend sent me this one that he uses: http://guitaralliance.com/

Today one of my co-workers (who also has Rocksmith) sent me a couple of YouTube links to videos showing some 12 bar blues that look like fun. From there, I found the creator's web site: http://www.justinguitar.com/

There is a wealth of information on that web site, and it's ALL FREE. Of course, you can make a donation or buy one of the many books he also wrote, but all of book content is from the web site.

I've only been reading some of it for about half an hour and I already want to buy the book. :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It's paying off

I played Rocksmith for a few hours last night.

While I really enjoy playing this game, I sometimes feel like I'm struggling with it and that I'm not making any progress toward getting better.

I know this is normal. I keep telling myself to be patient. It will come. (see previous post about my Rock Band experience)

Well, last night -- for a brief moment -- something clicked.

I was playing a new song for the 4th or 5th time, to achieve the minimum score to continue, and at one point in the song I didn't look down at the strings to find my next fingering position. I instinctively moved my fingers to the next string and fret position, and my picking hand found the right strings to pluck.

It felt so natural.

Then I realized what I had done, got a little too excited, and screwed up my moment of happiness. :)

It was a cool feeling though and it confirmed what I had posted previously.

Persistence and patience.

It's nice to know that the callouses on my finger tips are not for naught.

Multi-player

I felt bad for my daughter last night. When she came home from her cousin's house and saw me playing, she picked up the Fender and sat with me, and followed along as I played. Unfortunately, because we only have one cable for the game, she played "unplugged". She still seemed to enjoy it, but she's not getting any real feedback about how she's doing aside from hearing the guitar's own unamplified sound. Also, for one song, the tuning was Drop D and since she wasn't plugged into the game, she couldn't tune down the guitar for it.

I decided this morning that we're going to buy another "Real Tone" cable, so my daughter, or my wife, can also play at the same time. $30 for the cable is a little pricey, but I think it'll be worth it if she continues to remain interested in learning to play.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I am coming to the realization that learning Rocksmith (aka, learning to play a real guitar) isn't much different than learning to play Rock Band or Guitar Hero. That's not to say this is as easy, but the learning process is similar.

I still remember years ago thinking "I can barely play 3 damn buttons, I'm never going to learn to play 4... or 5. This is insane." Yet, about a year or two later, I was playing some songs on expert and gold starring them. With that in the back of my mind, I push on with this real guitar thing.

I know that things that seem impossible aren't impossible, with a little patience and persistence.

I have frustrating moments, like I did with Rock Band. Probably more so now. With 6 strings and so many frets, the combinations seem endless. It's really tricky trying not to look at the buttons strings so I can concentrate on the TV instruction. It's easy to get lost.

Another thing I recall from my Rock Band experience was that when the frustrations were too great, put down the guitar and take a few days off before trying it again.

It's the same thing with Rocksmith and a real guitar.

This afternoon I finally felt like I was making some real progress. Not just with my in-game score, but actually feeling I could do this, eventually.

I got hooked on a seemingly simple song, "When I'm With You" by Best Coast. I was really getting into it. Rockin' it out. It's a fun song. My daughter actually said "Was that really you playing that?" I felt like a rock star. I played it five or six times. I then decided one more time before calling it a night.

That's when I discovered just how dynamic Rocksmith's difficulty can be. Seconds into the song, it looked foreign. "WTF? More notes?!" *panic* I struggled through the tough parts and it wasn't long before it started to look a little more like I had been playing previously. Maybe it should be called Dynamic Reality Check. Yeh, I still have a long way to go.

I finished up the night with playing one of the mini-games, "Scale Runner". My daughter even took interest. She got a small acoustic guitar for Christmas a year or two ago, had some interest for a while and it has since been gathering dust. She brought it out, I tuned it up the best I could, and we sat playing/learning scales together. :) I might have to pick up an extra USB adapter cable once my new guitar arrives this week so we can play multi-player.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Overdue for an update...

• Weigh 210lbs or less — This was originally 200 but was revised months before achieving it at the end of October, so I'm marking this as complete.
• Quit smoking — Completed almost 3 years ago.
• Visit the UK — Still to do.
• Visit my Dad's grave site in Louisiana — Still to do.
• Own a Ford Mustang — Probably a long way away from getting this one done. :)
• Visit every province in Canada — Still to do.
• Cycle 1000 kms in one year — Done mid summer 2011.
• Cycle 2000 kms before the end of the summer 2011 - Done
• Cycle 3000 kms before the first snow fall — Done. Can't recall the exact date... maybe I blogged about it?
• Ride in a hot air balloon — Still to do.
• Ride in a bi-plane — I see one taking off and landing at the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum all the time, but I think it's a bit pricey.
• Learning to play at least one full song on guitar — New! :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Ok, maybe not. :)

I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was in my late teens, along with a beginner book and some guitar picks. Weeks later, after building callouses on my fingers, I set the guitar aside.

Every few years after, I'd pick it up, with half-assed determination to learn how to play. I replaced strings a few times.

To date, I still cannot play the damn thing, mostly due to frustration, lack of patience, and no lessons I suppose.

Years ago my wife and I developped an addiction to the Guitar Heros and Rock Bands. Yeh, plastic instruments and all. Spare me the "pick up a real guitar and learn" crap. It's tiring. Thanks to Rock Band, my nephew bought a drum kit and took lessons.

Anyway, when Rock Band 3 came out with its "Pro Mode", my interest in learning guitar was renewed. Maybe this was what I needed? But the real Fender Squier Strat designed for it was a little expensive. However, when I heard about another upcoming game called Rocksmith, that used REAL guitars without anything more than a special USB cable included with the game, I was able to justify the Fender purchase. It would serve two purposes. Rock Band 3's Pro Mode, and to use with Rocksmith.

Rock Band 3's Pro mode was a tad frustrating, but mostly because of the "hybrid" Fender strat requiring tweaking to get to work properly with the game. It still isn't 100% good with the game, but to be honest, it was enough to make me set it aside.

In the meantime, I picked up a small 10w Fender amp to accompany my guitar, for real play. I should have held off on the amp purchase.

Enter Rocksmith.

After reading a couple of early reviews, I was a little hesitant. Latency seemed to be the issue. After reading a few positive reviews, I bit the bullet.

This "game" is awesome. It connects your electric guitar via a special USB cable to your console (PS3 or Xbox 360), and then connects to your home stereo, which acts like your amplifier, and also provides a whole whack of pedal effects to accompany game play. It turns out that my system configuration is the recommended best at minimizing latency. After tweaking the in-game latency setting, I think I've pretty much eliminated it.

I put the word "game" in quotes because it really is more of a teaching tool. Perhaps it doesn't go into as much theory as a guitar less might, but it teaches people like me enough so that one day they may be able to pick up a guitar and rock out a song or two.

I live for that day. :) Perhaps I should add this to my bucket list...

The game is not without some frustrations though, and I suspect it's mostly due to the Fender that I'm using. For one thing, the specially designed frets (for Rock Band 3 Pro Mode) sometimes make the strings catch when string bending. I also think that it doesn't stay in perfect tune, possibly due to the inntonation being a little off. That could be due to the weak neck because it contains eletronics for Rock Band 3 Pro Mode. I followed some instructional videos on YouTube for adjusting inntonation and it's a little better, but still not perfect.

Last week I decided to look into getting a new guitar; one that is designed 100% for real play. I emailed AxeMusic.com, where I bought the Fender and the amp, for any recommendations. They're Canadian, and I like their service. I told them looking for a decent beginner guitar in the $300 price range. After a few email exchanges, I settled on a See Thru Black Cherry ESP EC-100QM. I even checked out a few youTube videos of people playing this guitar. I liked the look at the sound.

I called late Friday and placed the order.

Maybe once I get a little better, I put up a video. Maybe. :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

Almost 50 weeks and 58lbs later, I finally beat my weight loss goal this morning. At 209.2lbs, I am the same weight that I was in the mid-80s. That equates to 5" off my chest, 3½" off my hips, 2" off my neck and 7½" off my waist.

I've been battling weight issues for most of my life and this is another victory for me. :) But it didn't come without some help. I owe thanks to...

• Xbox 360 & Kinect for getting me motivated. It put fun into exercise. Seriously.
• Ubisoft's Your Shape Fitness Evolved game (despite bugs that still aren't fixed... hint hint)
• LiveStrong.com for helping me track calorie intake. Being more aware of what goes into me was important.
• My tape measure. When the pounds stopped dropping, seeing the inches continue to come off helped keep me going.
• My addiction to cycling this past summer. What else can I say? It's fun.
• My brain for not letting me stray too far. Too many plateaus to mention, but I knew this day would eventually arrive.
• My T-shirt hording tendency. Nothing motivates you more than seeing a "One day it's gonna fit me!" T-shirt finally fit.
• Successfully beating nicotine addiction almost 3 years ago. I knew if I could beat that addiction, I could lose weight.
• My family and friends for the support. Even when they told me to stop because "You don't need to lose anyone." :)

Part of me would still like to make it to 200lbs, as I had originally planned, so I'm still going to try and continue with my current progress. However, I won't be as concerned about small fluctuations with my weight.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

It's been almost 1 year since I began my quest to lose weight and I still haven't reached my goal. I am so close. The last two weeks have been terrible, resulting in a small, yet still manageable gain. I was 215.8 lbs this morning.  My lowest to date was 211.4 lbs in the first week of October. I could have easily reached 210 lbs by cutting my food intake in half for a day or two, but I guess there really wouldn't have been any point to that because I would likely have gained it back in a day.

The indoor cycling, or lack of it, has played a role I'm sure, although to be honest it doesn't appear to help with losing as much as it does with maintaining. It's more difficult to motivate myself to cycle indoors than I thought it would be. It's not only boring, but I'm having to make time for it, unlike when I cycled to and from work. Or maybe I've hit another plateau.

I would love to reach my goal before November, or at least before my first recorded weight on November 14th.

I need to focus. I'm going to do this. Dammit.

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

The last time I cycled outside was a week ago. The weather took a turn for the worse after that. On the weekend I decided it was time to bring my bike inside and mount it onto the trainer so I could continue cycling inside.

My first indoor ride was on Saturday morning. I hooked up an old CCM odometer so I could track the distance, speed, and time. After ~3 hours of cycling I rode just over 72kms. I didn't intend to ride for that long, but I was watching TV at the same time and a movie grabbed my attention. :) (Spy Game, in case you're wondering)

I've ridden twice since for about an hour each time and I think that's what I'll stick with.

Cycling indoors is boring, unless you're watching TV at the same time, but the trainer can be a little loud so I have to set the TV volume louder so I can hear it. I've been wearing my iPod Nano and listening to fast-paced tunes to set my pace and it's working out pretty good.

I've discovered that when riding on the trainer my average speed is about 5kmh higher and I can "travel" farther distances in the same time. The downside is that there is absolutely no coasting. ;)

I also sweat like crazy without any wind resistance. It's unreal. It obviously shows that I'm getting a good workout, but I swear I could stay dryer if I jumped in a pool.

An hour riding each day is about 25-30kms. Over the course of a month, there's no way I'll get close to what I achieved while riding outside, but I'm fine with that. I getting really close to my weight goal so I don't need to work out to the same extent that I was over the summer.

I'm really hoping to reach that goal by the end of the week. I was close last week but then cut myself a little too much slack over the weekend. :)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

I had the opportunity to try out a digital scrapbooking software program called My Memories Suite and offer up a free copy to one lucky reader.

Unfortunately my recent workload prevents me from putting it through its paces for the time being. I decided to let my 13 year old daughter, Kaitlyn, give it a try and see what she thought of it and perhaps share what she came up with.

She's been using it for the last week or so, and is still putting the finishing touches on her masterpiece so I can't share that with you yet. I did ask her a few questions about it.

1. Did you find it easy to use?
   I did find it easy to use.
2. What is your favourite feature so far?
   My favourite feature is "Embellishments" because it has cool items.
   
3. Do you have a favourite template?
   My favourite template is the bank page because you can do anything you want to it.
4. Did you encounter any problems using it?
   The backgrounds are hard to find the colour and pattern you want.
5. Do you have any recommendations for improvement?
   No recommendations.
6. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, how would you rate My Memories Suite overall?
   I would rate it 9.

Sound interesting? Would you like to win a FREE copy of your own?

Enter the giveaway is simple.  Visit www.MyMemories.com and choose your favorite layout and then come back here and leave a comment on this post, saying which one you like. In two weeks time I will tally up the total qualifying comments, pick a random number, and the number associated with that comment will win their very own copy. Too easy. :)  (Note: this blog exists in two locations: Posterous.com and Blogger.com. You only need to leave a comment on one of them, not both)

If you'd rather not wait and would like to order your own copy with a $10 discount and an additional $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store ($20 total value) , visit  http://www.mymemories.com and use this coupon code: STMMMS84852

Good luck!

Permalink | Leave a comment  »