Gym

The only facilities that I use at our condo on a regular basis is the gym. It's worth it because I don't feel like paying $30+ a month for a membership somewhere else, especially when I don't use a lot of the equipment.

Working out has been something that I've been doing on and off for the past few years. I would always start a good regime, stick to it for 2-4 weeks, then stop for 2-3 weeks (because of work or other issues). This hurts me because after not working out for 2-3 weeks, it's hard for me to get back into it again.

Obviously I'm not the biggest, most muscular guy out there, so that's why I need to go to the gym. It takes time and dedication to actually see a difference from lifting weights, and so far, I have not seen a difference :) but then again in my mind, I expect to look like a Hulk after working out for a week.

My old schedule involves me going to the gym in the late evening, usually around 10pm and sometimes as late as 11pm. I would do my work out, go home, take a shower, and go to bed. I've read and heard from people that that's not exactly the best way to gain muscle or mass because by going to sleep after you work out, your muscles just sit there. Also, I'd be inconsistent in the days I would go work out. I'd go 3-4 times a week, but it would be clumped together and sometimes I wouldn't go back to the gym for another 3-4 days. There would be nights that I'm just too tired from the day's events and just rather call it a night and go to bed. And sometimes I would have commitments in the evenings that matter more than going to the gym.

I leave home at 9am in the mornings to go to work. Before, I would set my alarm for 730am and snooze it until close to 8am, then get up and get ready. Two weeks ago, I started working out in the mornings. I thought, rather than slowly getting up in the mornings, why not use my time more wisely. So now I wake up at 710am and I'm at the gym before 730am. I work out for about half an hour or so, then come back at my regular "getting ready" time.

I've been doing it for two weeks and so far it's been good. I go four times as week (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri) and so far I've been able to get up and go on a consistent basis. I find it better because now I can at least control when I go and I don't feel as tired in the mornings as I would at night when I used to go. Also, I'm able to do my work out and I'm awake for the whole day as opposed to laying down and going to sleep afterwards.

It's only been two weeks but I really hope to stay consistent this time around, and when I say consistent, I mean months at a time. I will report back in a few months to let my giant group of followers know how I'm doing!

Weekends Should be Longer

Why?

Because Friday, you finish work and most of the day seems finished already. Saturday, you get the whole day. Sunday, you get half a day because the next day is the start of the week and you have to set your mind to that instead.

There should be at least a three day weekend so you have two full days to make plans. Then Sunday, or the day before the work week, should be reserved for preparation. On Sundays for us, we usually do groceries, clean up around the house, and prepare for the week.

Maybe it was just this past weekend that felt too quick since I worked until 10pm on Friday, so by the time I got home, there wasn't much time to do anything. Whenever we have plans after work on Fridays, the weekend actually feels long.

Don't get me wrong, I love our weekends because it's obviously time for us to do something other than work (most of the times). Every weekend for the past few months has been planned with something with either ourselves or with friends, so it gives me something to look forward to during the week. One thing we haven't been doing as often as we used to is going back to Whitby to visit our parents, but I'm glad we have seen them for dinners and other gatherings.

One thing I will try to do are more posts here. Judging by the stats, I have a big client base that comes back to visit every day (not really, but there are a couple that are coming back, so I should give them something to read when they do).

No Data, No Problem

I stepped into the world of a smartphone with data about a year ago. At that time, smartphones were already on the rise and now, they're everywhere. It seems like you can't go anywhere these days without seeing someone on their phone. You get those people walking on the streets with their head down, looking at their phone and walking in a zig-zag formation, and then there's me who's trying to avoid them by doing my own zig-zag formation. And then during rush hour on the streetcars when everyone's already packed in like sardines, there are the people who still have to take up extra room and not paying attention by being on their phone, because they just have to get to that next level in their game or they urgently need to see what their friends are doing on facebook. Anyways, that's another topic.

My main post is about data on my phone. We were talking to a friend one day and she doesn't have data on her iPhone; she cancelled it after a month and was charged a minimal fee. I thought this was a good idea for me too. I had a 1GB data plan for $30/mth and on average, I used around 200MB.

So I rationalized -- I'm at work all day, which has wifi access and I'm in front of a computer anyways so I'll use that instead of my phone. On most days, I go straight home after work, which has wifi. So the only time I actually need data on my phone is during my ride to work and when I'm out. Most of the time I'm out with D anyways, who has data on her phone, or I'm with someone who has data as well.

I called in to Rogers to find out the process. The cancellation fee was $5/mth for the remainder of the contract, or a maximum of $100 (I have two years left on the contract, so it would be the $100 fee). At $30/mth + tax for the cost of data, the cancellation fee would be equivalent to three months. At first, I thought I'd have to cancel my phone wireless and data plan, and get a new wireless plan, but luckily I was able to just get rid of the data itself.

So, I've been data-less since the beginning of February, which now that I think about it, feels much longer than it is. I'll admit it kind of sucks not having data while I'm on the road because it gives me something to do, but I honestly don't need to pay $30 a month for it. What do I normally do? Check my non-urgent email -- nothing that can't wait until I get wifi access and if it's really that urgent, the person would call me...or I would see what's up on facebook -- no offence to anyone, but it's not that important to be paying $400 a year to do. The only time I'll miss it if I'm by myself and I'm lost, I could easily use the maps feature, but hopefully that doesn't happen.

I'll stop now, seems like a long post.

Waiting for Spring

I'm anxiously waiting for spring to come this year -- not that I don't like winter, but because of what's in store starting in spring.

Spring brings warmer weather, which means more outdoor picture opportunities. I'm going to try and focus more on portrait photography this year and see where that takes me. So for those who are reading this and haven't been photographed by me, expect to be asked this year :) and for those who have, expect to be asked again this year :)

Also in spring, the plan is to buy a new camera. What's wrong with my camera right now? Not much; it's in good condition, it still works, and it serves me well. It's sad to say, but if I'm going to take my photography seriously, I'll need a better camera. The one I have now is pretty much the lowest end on the Canon side. It's an expensive upgrade, but I always like to call it as an investment instead.

At the same time, I don't want the whole year to go by in a flash. It's only February right now, but I know the next couple of months will go by quickly. Once those months go by quickly, it'll be spring and I hope to be busy thereon after, but again, I don't want it to go by that fast.

I'll try to blog more too. I personally wouldn't visit a blog that often if I only see updates once a month.

Until next time...

Cable

We did it! We switched to Geico!

...actually, we downgraded our cable (for real). We had the Digital VIP package for the past year after getting suckered into it. As you may recall, we cancelled our cable last year for a whole 20 something days until we added it back because of a "deal" (and we weren't even without cable since we had 30 days to return the box).

A year has passed and we wanted to cancel it again but found out that we still had one year left in the contract, so if we wanted to cancel it, we would have to pay the cancellation fee. So instead, we downgraded to Basic cable. We'll end up paying more over the period of a year for Basic cable vs the cancellation fee, but not by much. We decided paying that little bit extra and having Basic was better than just giving them money and having no cable at all.

It's just ridiculous how much we pay for cable since we only watch a total of maybe 10-15 channels (10-15 of the channels only in the Digital VIP package mind you), so back to Basic(s). We're going back to a digital box as well, and returning the HD box :( it's in my bag as I type.

This should reduce the amount of time we watch tv, which wasn't even a lot to begin with, and allow us to focus on other things. I finally finished the novel I started reading over a year ago, so I'll look for another to start. And my third and final course begins next week, so I will put my tv time towards studying.

2011 Year in Review

It's hard to believe that another year has almost gone by. It's December 21st, 2011 and there's only about 10 days left until the New Year.

When I look back at 2011, a lot of different things happened in just one year.

I finished two classes in a certificate course; the third and final one will be taken in the new year. I'm taking those courses to hopefully enter into a new field of work, but still relating to computers.

I also started my love for photography this year. We had our DSLR since December 2009, but we just used it as it as an expensive point and shoot camera. I started getting into photography around March and I taught myself how to use the camera. I'm still very new at it, but I think it's one of the bigger steps in my life of the year since I plan to pursue it further in the coming years.

Friendship was an important part of the Year 2011 as well. We now hang out with a close knit group of friends on a regular basis and it's great because we're all at the same stage in our lives of "growing up". Our likes and dislikes are similar, and I'm happy and confident to say that we will be hanging around these group of friends until we're all seniors and meeting up at a local Tim Horton's every morning for coffee.

Everything seemed to be packed in the summer months. We finally went back to a cottage I used to go with my family, and it was a real treat because I had a lot of childhood memories there. The weekends were non stop, and it seemed like we had something to do each weekend, which was great, I had no complaints.

At the end of August, two of our close friends got married! We were part of the bridal party, so we had our delegated tasks to do for those couple of days. We also prepped months in advance to do a surprise music video and performance, so the summer months included that as well.

And the biggest part of 2011 was our trip to the Galapagos Islands and Easter Island! We spent two weeks exploring parts of South America and we loved every single moment of it. This was our first time vacationing in South America so the people, city, food, and atmosphere was all new to us. We had an unbelievable time, had many experiences, and will store all those memories for the rest of our lives. That trip seemed to trigger a want to travel to more places, so hopefully the new year will be nice to us :)

What's going on in 2012?  Only time (and this blog) will tell...

THE year.

I was reading an old post here, which talked about our obsession of opening up presents in advance. It's funny reading the post from a year ago because it says that 2011 will be the year. It's 2011 now, it's Christmas season...is it the year?

Time will tell.

It’s December 09, 2011.  We purchased each other’s gifts already and they’re wrapped.  We don’t have a tree as yet, so there isn’t an official place to put them and taunt us. With just about two weeks left until Christmas, we’ll see if we get tempted J

Darkness

Daylight Savings Time ended about a month ago, and since then, the sun sets at a rapid pace and by the time I finish work at 5:30pm, it's already dark outside. This doesn't give me much of a chance to take any pictures in the day time. There's always the weekend, and I can go out during lunch, but I usually see more interesting things when I'm on my way home.

I've learned to accept the darkness and use whatever light is given to me, and along with the settings on the camera, create a picture.  

I was walking home yesterday and down a street that I'm familiar with. It was cold out and all I could think of was getting home. I looked up and saw this particular house that caught my eye -- I've walked by many times  during the day, but a light shining down was bright and illuminated the door. The rest of the house was dark, so only the door was brightly lit, giving it an eerie feeling. I snapped a couple of pictures, and continued my walk back home...after a few steps, I looked behind me to see if anyone was peering through the window :)

Fine.

Due to an overwhelming demand, I will not retire from this blog. And when I say overwhelming, I meant that one person who called me out on my Retire? post, who by the way should show their face and not be Anonymous! I dare you!

It's actually my own fault for not posting anything. I wouldn't check a blog on a regular basis if it doesn't get updated either. One post I will do this month will be a year in review of 2011. It's been a quick year and lots of things happened, but it's not over just yet!

Talk soon...

Retire?

I think I may start thinking about retirement -- for this blog, that is. As you can see, I haven't posted a blog since the end of September. My other blog/website has become my focus which is a photography blog.

Hopefully I'll have something to blog about soon :)  for those who still visit; thanks!!!