3 Day Juice Cleanse

So I agreed to do a 3-day juice cleanse with my wife to support her.  She participated with me when I did the Ornish program a few years back so it seemed only fair.  Eating normal meals when she is only drinking juice seems mean on top of not being fair.  Granted the cleanse is entirely voluntary, but regardless of that, the "unfairness" perception and feeling is still real.

Anyway, this post will journal the 3-days since I'm pretty sure I'll forget how I felt.

7/13/2020 8:30 AM - Day 1, Juice bottle #1
This one was like drinking almond milk and that makes sense since the main ingredient was almond milk.  It wasn't overly sweet and nutty in flavor.

7/13/2020 10:50 AM - Day 1, Juice bottle #2
This one was perplexing.  It had a strong apple flavor, but other flavors mixed in that I can't place hence the "perplexing" word.  It wasn't bad, but it makes me ponder.  30 minutes later I'm burping cucumber.

7/13/2020 12:50 PM - Day 1, Juice bottle #3
This is another one that makes me go "huh ... that was interesting".  I could taste the apple and maybe the ginger, but couldn't taste the carrot and kale which is probably good considering the second (I'm not a kale fan).  Not feeling any caffeine withdrawal symptoms which I'm thankful for.  Still so far, so good.

7/13/2020 3:40 PM - Day 1, Juice bottle #4
This one is a repeat of juice #2, but this time the "spice" was more noticeable.  I'm still "perplexed" by the taste, but still in the middle of the road with regards to judgement.  I don't dislike it, but don't exactly like it either.

7/13/2020 5:45 PM - Day 1, Juice bottle #5
This one I liked.  It was what I would expect when I hear the word "juice".  Apple, pineapple, and lemon with some mint.  It wasn't overly sweet either, though, I wouldn't have minded it being sweeter.

7/13/2020 8:00 PM - Day 1, Juice bottle #6
This one I liked, too, but not as much as the more fruity bottle #5.  It was a good chocolate shake type drink; not too sweet and not too thick.  I would put this one in the 2nd place slot if I had to rank these juices.

7/14/2020 9:30 AM - Day 2, Juice bottle #1
Today this one seemed a little thicker, but that could be because I shook the bottle a little longer before drinking.  This one is my third favorite one so far and a good way to start the day.

7/14/2020 11:30 AM - Day 2, Juice bottle #2
I could taste the cucumber more this time, but it wasn't very strong, mostly noticeable.  I burped cucumber again and the word "perplexing" is still appropriate.

7/14/2020 2:00 PM - Day 2, Juice bottle #3
I liked this bottle better today than yesterday.  I don't know if it's because I liked the taste more or was hungry.  This one is #4 in my list of juices in this cleanse.

7/14/2020 4:00 PM - Day 2, Juice bottle #4
I didn't particularly like this one today.  I definitely tasted the cucumber and the ginger was very strong.  I gulped it down as fast as I could so I wouldn't taste it as much and get it over with.  Definitely my least favorite of the juices.

7/14/2020 6:00 PM - Day 2, Juice bottle #5
My favorite one hands down.  This one definitely good to end the day on and what I think about when talking about juicing.  Drank this one quickly, too, like the previous juice, but quickly because I really like the taste.

7/14/2020 8:00 PM  - Day 2, Juice bottle #6
Nice way to end the day.  I do enjoy a chocolate milkshake at the end.  It makes the entire day of other juices turnout good.  Yes, it's not really a chocolate shake, but it's close enough to it for me.

7/15/2020 8:00 AM - Day 3, Juice bottle #1
Last day of juices.  I have to say I haven't been dreading the juices like I thought I would.  I'm not looking forward to it per se, but there's not feeling of dread or anxiety with the juices.

7/15/2020 10:00 AM - Day 3, Juice bottle #2
I have to admit I felt some anticipation with this one, in a good way, probably because I know it's the last day and this is the second to the last green juice I have to drink.  It actually isn't too bad, but I still wouldn't say I like it.

7/15/2020 12:00 PM - Day 3, Juice bottle #3
I have to say I decided I like this one rather than just be neutral.  It's drinking carrot juice for the most part and I went past the "got used to it" stage into the "I guess I kinda like it" stage.  Not looking forward to the next one, though.

7/15/2020 2:00 PM - Day 3, Juice bottle #4
It's official, I don't like this particular one.  I think it's the ginger that's included in this juice that I don't like.  Actually, it's the burping cucumber that I really don't like.  *laugh*

7/15/2020 4:15 PM - Day 3, Juice bottle #5
I'm taking my time drinking this one, my favorite one.  I noticed a little bit of tang this time, but that's probably because I'm savoring it.  The other days I drank it quickly because it tasted really good.  Funny how that means I'm always gulping down the juice ... if I don't like the taste it's because I want to get it over with, but if I like the taste it's because I'm wolfing it down.  Well, at least this time I'm taking my time a little bit to enjoy the juice.

7/15/2020 6:30 PM - Day 3, Juice bottle #6
It's chocolate milk time.   It's not really, but it sure tastes like it and I'm enjoying it.  Well, it actually is when I think about it.  Chocolate flavored almond milk is chocolate milk even though it's not regular milk.  This is the last of the juices in this 3-day cleanse and quite a nice way to finish.

Take away
It wasn't a bad experience and I dropped a few pounds, though I didn't really do this for any kind of weight loss.  That loss could very well be water loss which is just fine, too.  It does give me a place to start to get on a portion control habit; not eating until I'm full or sick, but just enough to be comfortable.  Basically, stop eating before I get full and don't go back for seconds or thirds.  No more Hobbit style eating for me.

Thoughts on July 4th

I have to admit that I haven't read up on important figures from American history beyond the most well known ones.  I don't remember when I started reading the Declaration of Independence and Constitution (this one takes a while to get through) along with the Bill of Rights, but this year I started looking at speeches that people made on or about the 4th of July.

I listened to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s July 4th, 1965 speech

I listened to Frederick Douglas' July 5, 1852 speech

I listened to Calvin Coolidge's July 4, 1926 speech


Dr. King called for having the right attitude as we move into the future and denounced any race to be raised above any other.  He said he was convinced that black supremacy was as dangerous as white supremacy.  He did not want one tyranny to be replaced with another.

These speeches talked about the greatness of the American Dream and how much good this country has done.  Of course Frederick Douglas denounced slavery because it was an evil injustice, but one that was taken are of.  He also praised the Founding Fathers for the ideals they had and the direction he wanted things to go.

I admit that I never paid much attention to Calvin Coolidge, but after hearing and reading his speech on the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence I have a new understanding and appreciation for our 30th President and the wisdom he had.

Every year brings new knowledge and every year brings new appreciation for this great country.  Yes, there were problems in the beginning, but I challenge anyone to show me a country that had a perfect start.  A country that starts out perfect only has downhill to go.  The United States of America is not great in and of itself and it is not perfect.  The United States of America is great because of the ideals that were instilled in its creation and the mechanism it has to improve and grow.  And it does grow and mature and improve as long as it remembers its history and those ideals

How to Reduce Fear & Anxiety About Disease & Death

Found these steps on the Psychology Today website and I thought they were pretty good (from a non-theist point of view)

10 Tips for Reducing Health Fears.

1. Understand that fear sells and you're being manipulated.
2. Assess the real risk.
3. Shield yourself from the media.
4. Meditate.
5. Tap into your inner knowing.
6. Dissociate from your fear.
7. Push the limits of your comfort zone.
8. Affirm your courage
9. Surround yourself with courageous people
10. Trust the Universe (God from a Christian perspective)

Source: How to Reduce Fear & Anxiety About Disease & Death

The sad truth is that too many people are operating on fear and blindly taking in all the fear-mongering from social media, print media and the like.  We really need to stop, take a step back, look at all the things we still have and be grateful.  Think about the real issues and analyze facts to make decisions, not feelings.

I am not a germaphobic, hypochondriacal child

Wearing a mask when you are out and about and not sick does not make any sense. Granted, if you are going into a healthcare facility situation where there is a high prevalence of the virus then by all means wear something if you want (I don't plan to), but as a general rule walking around in public please knock it off with the masks. In those countries cited for wearing masks in public, the people that are sick are the ones wearing them. The healthy people are not wearing a mask. Wearing a mask does not prevent you from getting sick, it is meant to prevent the larger droplets from a sick person from being spread around. If you are not sick the mask does not prevent anything. Why would you put up a chain-linked fence to keep out mosquitoes? That is the scale we are talking about when it comes to the size of a virus and the size in the pores in the cloth of the typical mask people are using. If someone is immunocompromised, they should already be taking precautions since even a common cold would be trouble. Those people don't ordinarily go out into the public and mingle, and the people that do visit them stay away if there is any chance of getting them sick. There are also many studies that show that wearing a mask when you are healthy is actually detrimental to your health. Also, wearing a mask in a healthcare facility is an entirely different scenario and would be comparing apples to oranges. The masks the workers use are fitted to their face and designed to filter out virus-sized particles. They are very different from the handmade ones that are cropping up all over the place. Never in the course of human history has a disease outbreak been treated like this. History will look back and say "What a bunch of lily-livered, frightened children."

Getting Ahead

There is little doubt that most people want to get ahead in life.  What is puzzling is that many of those same people want things to change for the better, but do not want to do anything different to facilitate that change.  In other words, they want it handed to them on a silver platter; win the lottery / jackpot / powerball / fill in the blank.

Real and lasting success does not work that way.  It takes time.  It takes effort.  And it also takes a coach or mentor.  It is rare to be that one person that comes along to change the way things are done so the common folk have to get training.

That is not a bad thing.  It is a very good thing, but one needs to know where to get advice and coaching from.  Does the person doing the coaching have the results you want?  If they do not then you need to find another coach.

It's like that for anything in life not just sports; finances, personal relationships, etc.  They all should be done with a coach that has the results you want and a method that is simple to copy.  Also, people need to be willing to get out of their comfort zone and do things when it is not convenient.

Much Ado About Nothing

Have you ever run across those people that magnify or fabricate trouble in a situation which makes things worse or harder than they need to be?  Have you ever had to work with those people?

It is one thing to encounter them in passing, but to have to deal with their hypersensitivity and exaggeration on a regular basis is quite exhausting.  I have found that the most effective way to handle them is to put them on the side after responding to them one time.  Fueling the crazy does not work at all and serves to make the spiral into absurdity even faster.  I like to keep things simple and uncomplicated as much as possible.  The more complex the solution becomes, the more likely something is going to screw up.

With email, Outlook makes this really easy with rules and separate folders where they can spin in their own little world all to themselves while the actual important things are taken care of.

Text messages are trickier.  I need to find a messaging app that does the kind of message sorting that Outlook does except for text messages.   There might be one out there, I'm almost positive there are, but I have not taken the time to seek one out.  Maybe I should.

Phone calls are both simple as well, but could become a tricky situation.  Caller ID makes forwarding calls easy, but having the right phone system to use it effectively or even have the forwarding functionality problematic.  However, eventually calls have to be taken and/or returned.

Rememberance

It has been 13 years since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.  There are many things going on to commemorate and remember that day.  I'm a little more sanguine about things with regards to the goings on in the world.  That is not to say that there are not a lot of problems happening or that serious things are on the horizon, but I choose to stay on the positive.  I remember a line from Deep Space Nine that Sisko said during a monologue he was doing for his personal log.  "The souffle will either rise or it won't.  There's not a damn thing you can do about it, so you might as well sit back and wait, and see what happens."  Suffice it is to say, don't fret and worry about things out of your control and focus on the things you are able to change.

With that being said, things have definitely changed over the past decade.  Some for the better, some for the worse.  However, more and more people are growing up with no idea how "things used to be" which is good and bad.  I think "the way things used to be" gives a certain perspective that is important.  I think it's helpful to know how to "do things the hard way" so you can appreciate the way things are done now.

A good week

I always have the fear of jinxing things when mentioning how well things are proceeding, but one needs to bite the bullet and mention the good things anyway just so that it doesn't look like it's all bad ... because it isn't.

This week is a continuation of last week's fortuitousness:

• A firmware upgrade for a server went off without a hitch.  
• A virtual server migration completed without any issues.  
• A system set up completed smoothly.

This week, after months of going back and forth between vendors and a multitude of hours of troubleshooting, a process is doing what it is supposed to be doing and data is moving between systems as desired.  (Cross-fingers that it continues)

Unexpected acts

Sometimes things happen out of the blue that server to restore my faith in humanity, in the short term at least.  A few weeks back I lost my driver's license somewhere in the Ala Moana area.  I had taken it out of my wallet so that I would only be carrying a minimal amount of valuable things, i.e. car keys, license, phone, water; nothing of value that I would be particularly stressed about losing.

Suffice to say, in a rather ironic or perhaps tragic way, I lost my license.  It must have fallen out of my pocket at some point during my workout boot camp.  I spend a good 30 minutes after the class was finished looking for the darn thing in the sand, but all for naught.  I had to use my phone as a flashlight to keep looking.  I resigned myself to the fact that it was gone for good.

The replacement process was surprisingly quick and relatively lacking in headache; I only spent a half hour at the satellite city hall getting a replacement.  I had to walk away with a paper copy since the real license would take 4-6 weeks to arrive (not sure why that would be, but at that point I wasn't in a complaining mood)   If nothing else, it provided a talking point / ice breaker.

Fast forward a month / month and a half, I receive a letter from the DMV with my replacement license.  In the same bundle of mail is a letter from someone I did not know or even heard of, but it was addressed to me.  Inside was my original license that they had found.  I was very surprised to say the least since it is not common for such acts of kindness; small as it might be.

So, while the world blows up around us (it's always going to be blowing up from what I can observe), we can take comfort in the fact that there are people around that will do the little things to make things a little better.

Crazy? Possibly.

Insanity.  Albert Einstein described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  Hawaii is definitely insane according to this definition.   Originally a French saying, "The more things change, the more things stay the same" is a quote that is equally apropos.

The same politicians get voted into office, the same problems happen every year time and again ... and people have the same complaints year after year which they, themselves, caused by voting the same politicians into office.  And even if there is a new face, they do things the same way as those that came before which amounts to the same person being in office.

There are spots of change here and there from the Republican side which shakes things up for a little while, but then they are replaced with another establishment Democrat who does the same broken, and even somewhat crooked, things as before.

I have to state the caveat that I am not affiliated with any party so it is not merely an "unga, democrats bad, smash" reaction.  I object to the fact that there is virtually no opposite side to the equation and that is a major problem which would be the same if the situation were reversed and Republicans were the extreme majority.

So what is the solution?  I honestly am not sure.  I know what the answer is, but getting things changed to make things better is a Quixotic task.  I am fairly certain I will be ok when the ultimate break down occurs, but I really do not want that to happen any time soon.  Time will tell.