Such Weirdness & Food

I apologize for leaving you hanging Friday afternoon. Little did I know when I mentioned in crimson font color around 1:35pm that I was NOT even close to ending that phone call with my friend. We met at college in 1975 and use to have long discussions then about bicycles, bicycle racing and 35mm cameras. So really, long conversations are not new to us in any form. I'll get to my weird Friday but I want to just add a short Saturday update before I get started. The weirdness continues.

You know how you have your routines to start your day. While the hounds eat their breakfast kibble I make my coffee and I always glance out the large picture window in the kitchen toward my neighbor's house.  This morning it was strange because my neighbor's truck was still in the driveway ... after 9am ??? What's up with that ... he never misses work.

We had stayed up late last night, as I watch the first three movies of The Bourne Identity back to back to back. Then Stella woke me up around 5am, standing by the bed whining in front of my face .... I heard her stomach 'girgling' and knew she wanted to go outside. She would eat grass in the dark ... I've seen it before at that time of day but today I did not go outside with her.

Instead of staying up, I went back to sleep until 9am. It had not dawned on me what day it was ... but there was a 'strange feel' this morning. I did my normal routine of two cups of coffee and reading on the internet like always ...

As I glanced at the upper right corner of my computer monitor I see why I felt weird this morning and why there was confusion about seeing my neighbor's truck in the driveway .... it was Saturday !!!!!  I had no idea it was Saturday. He works Monday through Friday.

That also explained why after 30 minutes of doing internet searches for Indiana High School basketball scores last night at 1:30am, that I could not find them. My local school is in the "Semi State" as well as the town 12 miles away. I wanted to find out if they won or not. The problem I realized while walking this morning .... duh .... the games are today, not yesterday ... I forgot it wasn't Saturday, until this morning.

How's that for a senior moment?

So when I left you yesterday, abruptly and a total loss of focus, it was early Friday afternoon and I had plans. Once my Best Buy delivery arrived (DVD Player), I was going to go grocery shopping for a couple of reasons. (1) I needed food. (2) I was changing my diet drastically.

Not diet ... but the way I am going to eat. I'll talk about the food decision later in this post.

This morning as I turned to catch Stella running ... she was already right behind me ... then slowed to a crawl right in front of me.

Little did I know when I posted yesterday that we were not even HALFWAY into our phone conversation. We had texted earlier and he was thinking like I was ... "if we have time to text, typing back and forth, why not call?"  He called me as I was walking to get my phone.

We always cover a wide range of tropics, from sports, politics, society, personal opinions, bicycles, getting older, our we insane, moderation in eating, road trips, past road trips, plans, my retirement living, his semi retirement and can't stop working, my hounds, his maple trees, my cynical view of the world, his agreement in being cynical .... you get the idea. We cover everthing !!!!

Ralph is also a big believer in the Apple Earbuds ... I never have been. He almost always talks while wearing them and if he is in the car he uses bluetooth, I don't talk at all when driving nor have I set up bluetooth in my car for my phone. In fact when I drive my iPhone gives out a warning that I am not available because I am driving.

One thing we both can do and do quite well during these long conversations, is fixing meals, working on projects in his garage and me in my yard or house, while he pounded on metal things in his garage I was opening my Best Buy delivery and installing my small DVD Blu-Ray player to my tv ... still talking back and forth nonstop.  :)

He doesn't have dogs but did not mind when I warned him "you are going to hear some loud barking and howling because I am going to feed my hounds, it will only take me a couple of minutes" ... I even let the hounds outside just like always while I talked to my Apple Watch outside and he continued while working in his garage.

He isn't one to watch the news. He has better discipline than I do. Yet, his wife will keep him updated on the political scene in D.C whether Ralph wants to hear it or not. She works full-time but still finds time to keep updated on what's going on in the world. He is also middle/left in his political views, she is a Republican true and true. THEY are ABLE to "agree to disagree" in a calm manner, both have told me. Something many cannot do.

When I had posted yesterday we were a little over 3 hours into our phone conversation. YES .... THREE HOURS !!!! I had no idea what lay ahead.

He also likes to "ramble" as much as I do but he doesn't  have a blog, is not interested in blogging in any way and doesn't even read blogs ... but he still talks as much as I do. IN FACT we both also continue talking as if neither of us suggested we need to go, or I have to go, or .... I can't talk anymore.  No, those suggestions, requests or whatever, vanish into thin air and the conversation continues.

At the 4 hour mark I told him I needed to go and that I needed to make a trip to the store for food, in fact it was around 2pm when I realized I had not had breakfast nor lunch ... just my two cups of coffee. He replied by telling me IN DETAIL about the project he was working on in the garage while we were talking.

My requests??? Zip ... went right by my suggestion or request that I needed to go. But that's Ralph and he has even done that to me in person ... so no big deal.

Well if he was going to continue talking nonstop I had to make something to eat ... I wondered if the sound of me eating a large salad would be heard on my very clear and sharp Apple Watch phone conversation???

During all of this weirdness, and I am not even close to finishing, the hounds didn't bat an eye and continued with THEIR daily routine ... our conversation meant nothing to them and they slept the afternoon away like always.

I swear it was not intentional .... really it wasn't ... it's just who we are.

HE SUGGESTED that we needed to go an hour later, that he had to run some errands before going to the gym to swim. JUST LIKE HIM hours before .... it was like I didn't hear him and continued my ranting about illegal immigration !!!!  LOL

That didn't bother Ralph, he never brought up the topic of ending the call again and joined right in my ranting but talking much more in a civil tone than I. He laughs but never gets animated with his voice or hands when talking in person or on the phone, like I do. So by this time my Apple Watch has just passed 3pm ....

When I mentioned to him, "Ralph we have set an all-time record in phone conversations and for the first time in 44 years we have talked non ******* stop for 4 hours and 23 minutes !!!!!

What did that do to two similar older men that still think they are young as they use to be .... we moved the conversation back to 1975 ... up through the 80's, barely touching the 1990's .... when he veered off the tracks telling me about the three years he and his family lived in Germany while in the Air Force. He was an Air Force Dentist.

That had me coming back with stories of Washington and Whidbey Island, the time they all visited me and we hung over the edge of Deception Pass Bridge as he wife kept saying "come on kids, you're scaring me, get back on the sidewalk." We were both only 41 years old at the time.  LOL

So you can see how we tie-in our different subjects and possibly how a conversation can pass 5 hours long without it even noticed.

At time or story from the past "activates" our brain cells and we keep rambling !!!! Or a "sudden thought or sudden idea" ... activates our brain cells and we keep rambling !!!!

When I told Ralph "Jesus Ralph we have gone over the 5 hour mark I really need to go" ... he proceed to tell me he thought of our long conversation and those in the past, while he worked on projects wearing his Apple Earbuds ... was just like the times I have visited while he worked on his projects or needed a 2nd man to help move or lift something.

He equated our long phone conversation to us spending all day talking while he worked in his garage or we drove around his town doing errands. Yes, that has happened every time.

I told him "it's much more like insanity to me"  ... ******* insanity !!!!

You won't believe it .... IF you have even lasted this far in this post.

If you would have told me at the 5 hour mark of our conversation I had 3 more hours to go I would have told you that you were certifiable crazy and I don't have time to waste 8 hours on a phone of any kind, iPhone, land line, flip phone, megaphone, loud speaker, yelling or even screaming ... no way !!!!! .... NO WAY !!!!!<

By this time I am walking around the kitchen looking for something to eat for my 2nd meal of the day. My Apple Watch was on the charger so I was able to click the speaker phone icon on the iPhone and continue talking.

I cannot remember what we talked about during the 5th and 6th hour ... seems like a distant memory this morning.

That might have been when we talked about retirement life, how he can't seem to fully break away from part-time work to retire. He travels the midwest to eastern states giving dental exams to future dental technicians. He does not need the money but as he says it "gets me out of the house AND I still feel attached to the dental field in someway."

That leads into person finance, more stores of the past and a lot of laughing, then the 22 Trillion dollar US debt, dragging us back into the politics discussion. Oh ... a slip of the tongue and we are back talking about bicycle racing, his son's racing and the drug culture of professional cycling in Europe. Europe ??? ... leading into traveling to Germany, Italy, and France ... maybe even Spain, as we can both travel Military Standby and fly anywhere in the world for $10 and showing our ID cards.

We ended our last hour and a half on the current and future of the USA and many topics inside that topic. We both laughed nonstop when we realized we HAD TALKED FOR OVER 8 HOURS !!!!! EIGHT HOURS !!!!!

It was already past 6pm my time, he is on Central time. While talking he had texted his wife at work telling her we were setting all-time records on the phone ... she laughed he said and she told him to tell me ... "your both crazy, insane ... as always"

He headed to the gym as he said bye, while talking through Bluetooth in his car. I told him "I'm mentally exhausted, I cannot believe we did this" !!!!! ... as Stella stood next to me in the kitchen wanting her afternoon walk. With the fantastic time change we had plenty of sunny daylight to make that walk after 6pm with no problems.

After our walk ... I decided to check this out, my latest purchase. I had lost all desire to go to the store. I had lost all desire to talk in the phone again, possibly forever.  :)

As you can see it has a lot of apps and features in a very very small package. I'll probably not use any of them as I only wanted to watch DVDs, some in Blu-Ray but still wanted to have the ability in the future to take advantage of those apps or the WiFi depending what the future brings to my tv viewing options. List price was $99 before my $40 in credit with Best Buy's Reward Points. It worked FANTASTIC !!!!

Now to the food.

I mentioned the other night I had found a great blog about eating ... I have also been in contact with the blog author who is a chef, owns a restaurant I believe and lost over 200 pounds going to a Vegan Diet without oil. He has many great articles linked on his blog, click here.

I've done Vegan before. Here I am discussing that diet along with other diets results back in December 2016. Reading through that post again I wondered if I had made the right decision. There is still room to change my mind today since I have not gone grocery shopping yet and it's already 12:03pm.

Even as far back as March 2016 I am still going through the same thought process as I am now in 2019, and posting about it. The more I read this older posts the more I think I need to read old blog posts to see what I was finding when trying different diet plans back in 2016.

You will have to excuse my many deer hoof print photos. It was like this deer was walking right down the middle of our path heading home

I would love to know if it's something Stella is hearing or smelling or both. Mysterious field cat ??? Or food ??? She stops and looks toward the neighbors every morning walk in the same spot.

After just glancing at those two old blog posts from 2016 I am going to have to fix the hounds lunch, fix me some lunch (a large salad) and go back to my old blog and read about my results with the different diets. Was the indigestion I had when on a Vegan diet or even a Veggie Diet just part of the process of my body getting rid of toxins?? Did I not wait long enough for the change to take place?? Or were those foods just foods that I can no longer eat???

Right this minute ... I still think I am going back to the Vegan way of eating and here's why.

In the Keto and Paleo Diets, just like anything else there are pros and cons for following that type of eating. Just like on the Vegan diet, IF you don't pay attention to your foods it could be dangerous because you are not getting enough nutrition. 40 years ago I knew someone on a strict Vegan diet that fell into that range. Hospitalized.

Yet ... when I read medical reports or reviews, the disadvantages of the Paleo and Keto meat, fat high protein policies ... the disadvantages are ALWAYS HEART DISEASE !!!!

Even this latest announced medical research on eating eggs ... click here ... has me OFF the bandwagon for eating eggs. NOT that it's going to happen to me but I have always been aware of my familys history of heart problems on my dad's side of the family. I am reminded when seeing the grease from bacon or a steak, maybe sausage links left in my cast iron skillet as it cools. THAT stuff is in our arteries after we eat it !!!!

The thought of arteries, fat, meat, gross chickens and mercury found in seafood has always bothered me a little and lingered in the back of my mind ... making me wonder if I was doing the right thing with Paleo or Keto ... or was I killing myself and not knowing it ... just because I was losing weight ????

I'd rather take the chance with Vegetarian or Veggie diets, where I know there is a chance of poor nutrition ... but I always track what I eat, know what I eat and know about B-12 requirement and D3, etc. I spent 8-9 years as a Vegetarian in my 20's. I remember all the reasons I did that. I know about what foods do but I have also read recent information to get the latest on what to eat and what the current research has found.

I will go back to Vegan and see what, if anything causes me indigestion. I DO KNOW that once I stop dairy products this winter cough will go away because there will be a decrease in phlegm production by NOT eating dairy products.

Well Stella is whining for lunch since it's 12:44pm and it's been almost 4 hours since her breakfast. I think she was "free-fed" by her previous owner. If I did that now, she would eat the whole 40 pound bag of kibble.  LOL

Ralph tells me he and his wife have gone through the same research in what to eat. He is a colon cancer survivor. They both agree to eat all foods but in moderation, very little red meat if any ... enjoy some ice cream occasionally ... a burger from 5Guys ... or a pizza.

Moderation.

Well that's about all I have this morning. It's beautiful bright sunny day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Decision On Food Still Confusing

This is the normal position of Heidi and Stella every night. Stella will start by being curled up like Heidi but each time I get up out of my seat on the couch she will gradually stretch out. It will get to the point that I am sitting right up next to the arm of the couch and have to lift her head to slide into a small spot on the couch. They make the rules.

This is from this morning right before Stella and I took off for our morning walk. She knows it's not spring no matter how bad I want it to be. She knows that yesterday's 71° was only a tease and is not to be believed. She never changes her morning routine.

When Stella and I stepped outside around 11pm for her last trip of the day to pee, it was cold, about 30° colder than when we took our walk in the late afternoon. The hot weather was nice while it last, still nothing like those in Colorado have experienced. I think the wind we had last night and this morning is part of that storm which is heading to the east coast today.

I did not notice the wind last night and I was up until almost 1am. Yet, I saw a lot of these sizes of tree limbs not only in my yard but in the field. It's rare to see them in the field. When the mood hits me, I'll have a lot of these types of limbs to pick up all over the yard and add them to my burn pile.

Stella could tell the path was mushy with a saturated ground covered by wet slick leaves. I was just happy I could move back to hiking boots instead of the snow boots, but there would not be a difference in weight since both pairs are light.

It was windy from the SW and that wind was bring cold air. A sock hat and gloves were part of the walk today. The camera had a re-charged battery and it is Friday and that always feels nice. I'll be receiving my new Sony Blu-Ray player sometime today. After that I will head to the grocery store to replenish my food supply and also make some slight changes because I am changing direction on what foods I put into my system.

I have a lot more reading to do right after I post this. As you know there is so much information once you start digging for answers on the internet. One website leads to others, and those have new links for information and the number of tabs opened multiple like compound interest.

Without going into a lot of detail, I am moving back to higher carbs, lower fat and lower protein type of eating. That would be moving away from what Keto and Paleo suggest. I know over the past two to three years I have gone back and forth. I also know I always make slight modification by adding "moderation" in there somewhere. I am not sure that I will make a lot if any moderations with these changes.

The camera didn't capture the fast movement of those clouds heading NE. If it wasn't so cold in the mid 40's you would have thought that more rain was on the way. The wind was making those howling sounds as Stella and I walked.

I did start to read the book by Dr. Fuhrman yesterday. A lot of what I read came back from my memory vaults 15 years ago. I had forgotten some of the basics he talked about.

Stella moves out in front of me but it's not because she has found a scent to track, it's because I was standing looking at the fast moving clouds and the tops of the trees.

I am going to read more about it but right now it looks like I will eliminate olive oil and seafood, as well as poultry and of course beef.

It was good to see Stella do a little "wandering" this morning. She doesn't do anything fast nor is she an intense tracker like Sadie was .... she is just a "wanderer."

It's 1:45pm and I was at this point of the post THIS MORNING and was just about to finish this post and post it. My friend from college called and we have been on the phone ever since, covering every topic possible. It's been such a long call I had to take my watch off to charge the battery.

I did feed the hounds at the normal time while we talked, Stella was howling and Heidi was barking with excitement.

I've lost my train of thought and I had a lot more to say ... maybe later.

It's still be a good day here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.