Tuesday. Not too much going on today, with the the sort-of "big day" yesterday with the breakfast and bike ride and all. I just sort of hang out at the condo, send some emails, catch up on the blog, read, and so forth. I'd really into digging into the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. Great book. He really does a good job of capturing the turmoil and turbulence, both within Job's own life, but in our world during a key paradigm shift as we wobbled, walked, and eventually ran headlong into the world of personal computing. I thought the book would get boring after the chapter on the Macintosh, and would cease being a book about the creative drive behind Jobs, and turn into a corporate history. But the drama continues unabated. (Niece) Kris, I encourage you to get back into the book as soon as you can, and to try to keep at it consistently. It's not really the type of book you can set down, forget for a week, and then try to resume. There are simply too many "characters" to keep track of, and I think you would lose sense of the book's natural "flow," for which Isaacson has a real gift.
My friend, Carol, and I have a brief email exchange about the cruises I referenced in the March 5 blog. But I get the feeling that's she really not interested in either cruise, for reasons that will become clearer a little later on. She says the Key West day cruise is definitely out because it's simply too expensive for her, and that I can totally understand.
I put the finishing touches on my wristwatch story for the NAWCC magazine, and send it via email to Diana, the editor, along with the images. It always feels good to hand off a story, having created some tangible from an idea.
After a workout at Anytime Fitness, I tune into tonight's episode of "Biggest Loser." Again, it is a fairly interesting episode, with the show focusing more on the business of losing weight rather than the drama of the players. We lose another contestant this evening, Cassandra, and I kind of feel sorry for the girl. She still has a ways to go, and needs the help and support of the BL staff, but I confess I'm kind of tired of her near-constant whimpering.
Meanwhile, my favorite line (so far) of this season's show comes from Megan. After losing only one pound for the week, she laments how ridiculous this is and says, "I could lose one pound taking a poop." I have heeard this expression before (and used it myself) but I don't think I have ever heard a woman say it, at least not publicly, so that was pretty funny.
Next week's episode is going to be a shameless tie-in with NBC's latest reality show, "Fashion Star," and one of the show's judges, Jessica Simpson, will make a guest appearance on BL. I hope it's a short appearance, because, frankly, I don't give a rip about Jessica Simpson and the world of fashion, and don't see what in the world it has to do with losing weight, other than perhaps to cultivate an anorexic/bulimic lifestyle in order to fit (literally) into the world of current fashion. This is clearly a fishing expedition on NBC's part to gain increased viewership of their latest reality show, which is sinking fast (it's getting terrible reviews).
Wed. March 7
Another relatively quiet day today. I have to confess that one of my "guilty pleasures" lately has become "hanging out" at the nearby McDonalds with the other "seniors," soaking up the air conditioning, free wi-fi, and 69-cent all-you-can-drink coffee. They keep the interior of this particular restaurant in Fort Myers at about 65 degrees, and I swear this is to keep the native "senior crowd" from lingering too long. Their low metabolisms and fragile bodies and bones simply cannot take it. They complain to the manager that it's too cold, the manager just nods and smiles and says he'll (or she'll) "see what they can do," but then they just keep pumping the cold air until the seniors finally cry uncle and hobble on out of the restaurant.
This strategy, of course, does not work with me. They would have to chill 'er down to about 40 degrees or so before it would even occur to me to complain, so I just keep drinking my coffee and surfing the Internet and reading. I have even begun to bring my earbuds and listen either to my MP3 player or plug into pandora.com and listen to music in order to drown out the more irritating ambient noise in the place. If nothing else, the whole thing provides a nice diversion from the solitude of the condo, and a little bit of a bike ride on top of that. My "standard order" at McD's is as follows:
- McDouble, without the salt (did you know McDonalds "play book" calls for the grill people to sprinkle salt over the beef patties as they are frying? It's totally unnecessary; the McDouble [and all of McD's beef sandwiches] is plenty salty enough with the cheese and the condiments);
- Small fries, no salt. My strategy here is that when you do this, you always get "fresh fries" right out of the fryer, because McD's fries have a shelf life of about five minutes after they come out of the fryer, then they are horrible. Asking for "no salt" requires they have to grab my order from the fry basket before a designated crew member douses them with salt. You can salt them to your liking, or like me, just dip them in ketchup wehich has plenty of salt in it; and
- Senior coffee. If the restaurant has a self-serve soda machine (and most of them do nowadays), I dump the first cup of coffee, and fill the cup with Diet Coke to go with my meal. Then, when I'm done with my meal, I take the coffee cup back to the counter and have them fill it up with coffee, and have one refill of coffee. Both coffees are with cream and sugar.
That last one -- beverage -- might seem a little unethical to some, but honestly, the price of a "senior coffee" and a "senior soda" are the same --- 69 cents --- and you can have unlimited refills. So, from a purely economic standpoint, what difference is it whether I have coffee, soda, or a combination of both? As far as "ethical" standpoint, well, c'mon folks, this is McDonald's we're talking about. Would anyone deny me the small satisfaction of "working the system" a little to my advantage?
The only caveat with doing this (if you plan to replicate my strategy) is that you have to order the coffee first in order go get the "right cup." Because you can put soda into a coffee cup, but not coffee into a soda cup. (It just doesn't work, trust me!)
The cost of this little repast is a mere $2.86 (with tax) which I think the bargain of all bargains for a meal that includes free wi-fi and air conditioning suitable for a Norwegian. Admittedly, it's not the most nutritious choice for a meal, but I figure if you only make it an occasional indulgence, it's not that big of a deal. I figured it out using McD's nutritional charts, and my "standard meal and coffee" comes to 700 calories. And the 34 grams of fat keeps me well satisfied to the next meal.
So there it is, for whatever it's worth. If you're ever traveling "on the cheap," that's about the most calorie-dense meal I've found for the cheapest price. You can also go to Wendy's for a small cup of chili with all the free crackers you want, and a senior soda, and keep it under two bucks, but Wendy's (so far) does not offer wi-fi, and I've found that meal doesn't keep me full as long. (But certainly better for you!)
Expenses: McDonald's $3
Bruce
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