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I burn about 400 less calories each day at my current workplace compared to where I worked before and my weight loss has ceased.  Standing at an Instron has been replaced by spreadsheets and walking across the building to bullshit has been replaced by yet more spreadsheets.  My solution was to build a  standing desk from the design I found here and I raided an Ikea to get the parts to assemble one.  Yesterday evening I assembled the stand and today I brought it onto the Regional Rail line to get it to work.  The day after Christmas saw light traffic and few people gave me guff about the snow plow/censor box that I had held around my waste to keep it from moving in the jangling train.  I then walked it through Suburban Station, past the clothespin, up an escalator, and into an elevator.  Placed upon my desk, here it is:

2012-12-26 10.55.31

The desk didn’t quite prove to be tall enough so I propped it up with reams of paper.  The laptop to the left is held up with a 10 ream paper box and things seemed pretty comfortable for the first three hours or so.

Then I made a critical miscalculation by putting on these:

2012-12-26 12.20.54-1

I had meant to try ice skating at the UPenn rink earlier, but this was the first day I had scheduled the time to do so.  I had stood for three hours then went ice skating for two.  The benches on the SEPTA car have never proven more comfortable.

The rest of the day passed without much pain but I was quite glad to again sit when I took the train home.

 

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I had a doctor visit today and I can’t remember when I was last this excited to see my doctor. When last we had seen each other I weighed 402 lbs and I was on my way down from my peak of 420 lbs. After a paperwork update and some preliminary paperwork I was in an examination room and waited. I had dropped 150 lbs from my last visit and the back and forth with the doctor sounded like this:

HIm: What the hell are you doing to yourself?
Me: Eating less and exercising.
Him: Good job. I see you have a question for me.
Me: Yeah, I’d like to talk about getting a medically covered abdomenoplasty.
Him: That’s tough, what are your symptoms?
Me: Chronic skin abrasion again my clothing, difficulty sleeping, and some lower back problems if I’ve been leaning forward at all during the day.
Him: I’ll add it to your record. Keep up the good work. See you in a month?
Me: See you in 10 lbs.
Him: Don’t get cocky.

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I chose brownies as my baked good of the week for my return to active employment and sent out my standard 15 recipient email to say they were in.  Later that day, there was still some brownie remaining when I saw a coworker return to his work station with a Doritos grab bag.

Me: Didn’t like the brownies?
Coworker: They’re great, but I didn’t want something as calorie dense.
Me: I think a home-made brownie will stack up well against that chip bag.  *look at nutrition information* I think this bag of chips has as many calories in it as a 2″ x 2″ piece of brownie.
Coworker: Oh, I didn’t know they were that close.  Hey <other coworker>, did you hear what Terry said?  They’re not that bad for you.
Coworker #2 Whose Mouth was Full of Brownie: That’s a plus.

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As an hourly employee, I’m not a terrible fan of snow days.  Like most closings, it simply a way of saying “try and get 40 hours in now, bitch” while the full-time staff blows a holiday to make-up the difference.  Late openings are a different beast entirely as the calculus of presence changes.  If one shows up and one’s supervisor doesn’t, the work time is entirely unverifiable.  Alternatively, some may expect their wards to arrive on time in spite of the delay and yet others use it as an excuse to try to force time out of people later.  So, what was the outcome of the snow day roulette?  By some stroke of amazing luck all three of four of the full time office members were sick today.  What are the odds of this happening?  I wanted to find out:

The average American gets 1.7 colds a year lasting on average 3 days generate 2.8 sickdays a year.  Let’s assume most colds come in a 4-month window and that colds that are start at the same time are independent of one another.  What’s that come out to?  About 0.00041%.  Sure glad I trudged through the snow to get in my time and to see that statistical miracle.

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I enjoy waiting rooms far too much.  Everyone sits around acting like they shouldn’t be in a doctor’s office but failing to realize that applies to everyone else as well.  The woman to my left sat fidgeting the whole time until someone she knew arrived.   The first woman simply referred to her condition as a “feminine condition” and said it in a really low voice, to which the second woman responded “doctors do that now?”.

After sitting around for 20 minutes the nurses started calling in the backlog of patients two at a time taking them as they made it to the door except in one case where a knuckle-dragging trollwoman yelled “make way, I’m gimpy” before hobbling in front of the other person.

I ended my visit with dicussing my weight with my doctor:
Doctor: So, how’s your exercise going?
Me: Fine, I suppose, I had to suspend my walking regiment when I messed up my back.
Doctor: Have you lost any weight since your last visit?
Me: …. I don’t know.  The nurse didn’t weigh me when I can in.
Doctor: *Incredulously* Well, do you feel lighter?

What kind of question is that?  They have 10 exam rooms each equiped with a balance and he asks me if I feel lighter? Gha…