The Constants of Partying In Vegas

This weekend I started questioning whether I was simply getting too old for this or what was the deal. The thought comes from the fact that I have become quite understanding of several things that seem to happen everytime we go out drinking in Vegas. So I have made a list of them just for the fun of it and I'm also curious if others would agree that these things are typical happenings when going out in Vegas or other drinking establishments of the world.

So here is my list of the constants when going out in Las Vegas.

A. Someone drinks too much and makes some extremely awkward conversation.
B. The group tab is always bad because people always end up stiffing on the tab.
C. Following up with B. some poor sucker such as myself ends up paying more than they should have had to to cover the tab.
D. Vegas clubs are over priced, over crowded and not really that fun.
E. There is always some macho guy with too much testosterone flowing that wants to start a fight.
F. Some dude always gets too grabby with random females.
G. You can never have a conversation with anyone because the music is too loud.
H. You know you're not cool enough when you have never heard the song playing but everyone else knows all the words.
I. The more the drink costs is directly proportional to how much smaller the drink is than a normal out of the way bar.
J. There is always one creepy old guy who seems to be really out of his element in a mostly younger crowd looking to accidently rub up against someone.
K. The person taking all the pictures doesn't realize how annoying the constant picture flashing is to everyone else until they are not the one taking the pictures!
L. At the end of the night your ears will be ringing so loudly that you probably couldn't hear the smoke detector going off if it was.
M. The person that you hoped to avoid will always find a way of showing up to the gathering.
N. When said person shows up there is never any waiting staff around for you to get another drink quickly.
O. You or one of your friends will always have to apologize for another friend by saying they just drank too much they're not normally like this.
P. There is always some random guy in the bathroom who is a little too chummy.
Q. Girls are never back from the bathroom in less than 10 minutes!
R. When you are in that bathroom you notice that the bathroom attendant has made more money in one night handing out towels than you have made in a whole week of normal work.
S. You never realize how little sleep you are going to get until you have to wake up really early the next morning.
T. Texting random people when drunk always seems like a great idea until the next day when you have to apologize for it.
U. Someone always disappears from the group without anyone noticing until an hour later.
W. A bottle of water generally costs more then a domestic bottle of beer.
X. Each time you go out there will always be something that happens that you could have never seen happening in a million years.
Y. Why did I stay out this late is one of the many questions you ask yourself in the morning.
Y. You know it's bad when there's a line to get out of the place.
Z. The next day you look at all of your receipts and your account balance and wonder was this all seriously worth it?

Well that's my A-Z list of the Constants that happen while going out... I'm sure there are more but I figured 26 would be good enough for now. There are definitely some things on the list that I'm guilty of but I'm just starting to think that I have seen these constants one too many times any maybe my going out days are coming to an end...

Too much time to think...

This week has been a week of battling with my health. I have had a nagging cold that has been annoying me. I'm a horrible person when it comes to being sick because I hate being unable to do whatever I want when I want. I was going to go out to lunch today but had to cancel due to barely feeling able to function. Sunday morning is softball practice. I think I'm not going to make that either.

The only problem with laying around at home trying to recover, it leaves me with way too much time to sit and think. I have been doing my share of watching television...as I think of it.... I'm just trying to clear some space up on the DVR, although then I keep recording more stuff.

One of the shows I watched today was Michael Moore's Sicko. I have watched Michael Moore documentary's before and I always enjoy them. It's simply amazing how screwed up the system can be sometimes. I have been fortunate and not had to rely on the health system for anything more than a broken leg and having to go into get checked out for an upper respiratory infection. God forbid anything serious ever happens because the way our system is setup in the United States you will have to worry more about being in debt the rest of your life rather than actually worrying about getting better. Canada, England, France & even Cuba have Universal Healthcare. Why don't we? The answer seems to be that the healthcare industry buys off all the politicians then they pass laws to benefit them. It is so frustrating how corrupt the system is. I think this is the reason that I don't vote. It doesn't matter who you put in there because no matter what nothing ever changes.

Another movie I watched tonight was The Visitor. This movie was a surprise one for me, I had never heard anything about it. I happened to be going through the on-demand selection and saw the title and thought it might some alien sci-fi number so I figured I would check out the preview. The movie ended up being about this teacher who went to his apartment in New York after being away for several years and finding a couple living there. They turn out to be illegal immigrants and as a result of the teacher finding them and spending time with them eventually one is arrested and detained. You can't help but feel for someone that has come to the United States and has obeyed all of our laws and this is all they know before they get deported back to their former country. You have to especially wonder why they didn't go to a country with better healthcare!

Since I'm finding myself on a bit of a rant about things in life right now, what's the deal with this Chris Brown vs. Rihanna thing? I was raised to know and understand that you never raise your hand to a woman no matter what. Now I've watched a couple movies where the woman was beating the crap out of a guy and that might be reason to defend yourself. Seriously though has anyone seen the size of Rihanna, I don't think she could hurt much of anything. I guess I never will understand why women stay with the guys that beat on them. Of course I will never understand how so many good men in the world including myself are single and girls would rather walk all over us and take advantage of us before heading off to be with one of these pinheads.

Ha ha I'm laughing to myself because I'm thinking about how bitter and angry this blog is sounding and how I was told that I should not be so bitter and angry about the world. I don't know that I would classify myself as angry and bitter. I actually think of myself as a pretty happy person. I just want to understand why the world is the way it is. Especially when things just don't make a damn bit of sense to me.

Maybe it's just me, maybe I just have too much time to think. Just wait though, in a couple of days when I'm feeling good again then I'm going to start taking some action. I've sat back for too long and I'm ready to take my life into my own hands.

I'm finally giving myself permission to let people dislike me, I'm giving myself permission to give up on some people. I'm going to put more effort into the friends that actually show friend like qualities to me and less time to the spoiled little brats who walk around with their stuck up attitudes hoping everyone will notice them because of their attractiveness and ability to charm people to doing whatever they want. It doesn't work on me anymore and I'm going to show you what you missed out on.

I'm a very generous, thoughtful and passionate person. Those who have gotten to truly know me, they know this about me. For those that haven't just sit back and watch because "you ain't seen nothing yet".....

This is my story and I will tell you how this story is going to go.... Oh and I would summarize this all up by saying... I'm not angry and bitter, just very passionate about knowing what I want and knowing that it's time to move on....

Keep moving forward!

Falling off the wagon

So it's been a while since I've blogged and right now it's looking like I'm not going to reach my goal. I don't like being negative but last night I did feel the negative thoughts coming on.

I think part of it was the fact that this weekend, feeling that I needed to go out and get out of the apartment I unfortunately went out and started taking in alcohol again. I am so one of those people that I have to fall hard sometimes before I realize that I really need to stop making those decisions.

So I have about 60 days to go on my goal. I don't think I'm going to hit the 30 lbs but I think I may have refound my inspiration.

Lets start by saying I watched and practiced a little bit with the Channel 3 softball team on Sunday morning. I think we are just going to have one team and with that said I think I will not be playing. This team is awesome and for someone who is not playing at the high caliber that all of them are playing leads me to believe that I will just keep the books and enjoy my time on the bench.

With this said this will not deter me from doing what I can to get into shape. The inspiration I found today was going online on Facebook and looking at the pictures of the people from my high school class. Amazingly I saw a picture of one of the star athletes from high school who looks bigger and heavier than I am. I also saw many of the girls, most of which are now, married who look nothing like what they used to. They've put on a lot of weight although its hard to tell some of them could have just had a kid.

I realized that for me when people see me and say you haven't changed a bit that isn't a bad thing. I also today woke up a bit early and was watching the today show. I saw a man who lost 136 lbs in a year and a half. He was only 19 but if he can do it then I believe I can.

I may not play softball regularly this year but I'm going to continue to get into shape and if there is ever a time that I'm desperately needed on the team then I will promote myself from the minors otherwise this year I'm going to be a fan. I'm not quitting the team, I'm just going to do what's best for the team and allow the best players to do what they do best. WIN!

Meanwhile I'm going to start setting myself up to do the best that I can and also to work up more situations where I can see my self succeeding and not put myself in situations that I know I will fail. I can be better, I can do better.... I will be better!

Calling it Quits

This past Thursday I made a trip to Walmart and figured I would call that my workout. Then on Friday I had a bad day at work. I decided on my way home that all I felt like doing was going home and after stopping by the convenience store to pick up some drinks....just sit at home drink and give up on the whole work out thing.

I had truly come to the decision, that maybe things weren't going the way I had wanted them to so why not just call it done. So Saturday morning I woke up and I had got a text from one of my friends telling me about the movie times for a movie we were going to go see.

So I sat around watched some TV ate some breakfast before it was time to go to the movie. I went to the Palms parked on the 3rd floor and took the stairs as I usually do. The difference though this time was that I was speeding down the stairs. I realized when I had got down to the first floor that my mind may have said it was okay with me quitting the whole exercise thing, but my body answered in it's own way that it was not ready to quit. In fact it has just started.

After the movie, I came back home and put on my workout gear and made my way to the apartment gym where I spent about an hour in there doing my thing. It's funny even though I only usually walk maybe to a light jog for a bit, that has been enough for my body to demand that I keep on doing it.

Even last night I was hanging out with some friends and co-workers while they played Rock Band and my legs just were wanting to bounce around and go and do something active. I have found it to be quite interesting.

The other thing I found funny about last night is how big of a deal people make of the fact that I don't drink anymore. People tell me it's a good thing that I don't drink anymore but then they come back 5 minutes later and say "I can't believe you're not drinking anymore!" As I have told them it's a personal choice. I can't control the decisions I make when I drink so I have made the decision not to leave the decision I make in the hands of alcohol.

So I just sit back, drink out of my bottle of water and just enjoy watching the festivities. I never realized that being the sober one can be just as entertaining and sometimes even more fun that being the drunk one. Watching people make comments about each other, spilling drinks on themselves, dropping their stuff and being overly clumsy... That's just good free entertainment.

Well tonight's the last day of my weekend and I will start my work week again on Monday so I look forward to the start of a new week. I have developed a new philosophy or two for my life. One of them is to work harder to show appreciation to the friends I have rather than wishing I was involved with people that I have up until now put up on a pedestal.

I'm putting me, myself and I first, next my true friends and then I will try and make time for the rest of those folks when I feel like it.

Litigation Nation

Now if this works this will be my first blog written soley on my blackberry phone. If it fails then I will have wasted 5 minutes of my life I may never get back.

So this blog is inspired by the yearly forms we have to fill out saying we will follow the rules, code of conduct, the laws of the nation, the policies, the 10 commandments and whatever else will keep our respective companies from costly lawsuits.

Now I might just be going on a rant here but is it just me or is corporate america starting to get just a bit too paranoid? This coming from the person who wrote a blog about all of my own personal paranoias! I just think when it gets to the point that you can't surf the internet at work without being fearful of losing your job then maybe rules are getting to strict. I understand that if people are visiting pornographic or downloading files they should not then something should happen to them. But for the average joe who is just trying to kill a little time by expanding his mind seeking out knowledge on the internet then where is the harm in that?

It is even getting so bad in this litigation nation that we live in that we cannot even field a privately financed sports team with the company name without it being cleared through the lawyers first! I understand that accidents happen and that yeah if someone gets hit by a ball they are going to sue someone rather than just learning to pay better attention.

I think America has become to dependent on suing someone when an accident happens. I think people need to understand that life happens and if an accident occurs where there is no malicious intent or there is no intent to cause an injury then we need to just suck it up. Now if someone is drunk and gets in a car or isn't paying attention while operating a machine and causes an accident yeah there should be a lawsuit and someone should be held liable!

If you are just out in public and a bird unloads on you...then just suck it up and don't go and try to sue the old lady who feeds the birds. Just realize that sometimes shit happens and move on without taking legal action!

Now just in case there is a question on this... I love my job and I have no problem doing whatever they tell me to do while on their time. I just wish the world was a more understanding place. Times are tough right now and I am very thankful to be working. I hope one day we can all relax again and be the happy productive employees we were before we lived in fear of if we are going to have a job tomorrow.

I also hope that eventually the world learns that people work best when they are allowed to breathe and don't have to worry about a plethora of policies, possible layoffs and threats of litigation. Can't we all just get along?

Every Little Bit Counts

So I'm learning quickly now that every little bit counts... Each time I lose a little bit more weight I'm extremely happy. It's good to see pounds coming off rather than going on constantly. I'm starting to make it a routine now that every day after work I go home and I work out. Sometimes it's just 15 minutes sometimes it's 30 minutes. It just depends on the day.

I have found though it's a great way to end my day. There have been a lot of stresses from work lately. Since we have had cutbacks, like most companies I find myself working a little bit harder everyday. This week is actually more relaxing then last week, last week I was pretty much doing double the work. Normally this would have worn me down to the point of burnout, but I think I have to credit the new exercise regimen as helping me through all of this.

Yesterday we had some more layoffs at the station. It was very sad but in the end I'm happy that I'm still fortunate to have a job. I'm very sad for the people that are no longer hear but we all have to understand that we work for businesses and if a business is struggling to stay a float then they have to start throwing things off the ship no matter how valuable until there are better conditions on the horizon.

In other news, we are already preliminarily talking about Softball season coming up. Our first practice is scheduled for the start of February....by then I'm aiming to be 1/3 of the way to my goal or even halfway to my goal if I'm lucky! I love softball so I'm looking forward to getting out and playing!

85 Days to Go, Current Weight: 242.5
23.5 Pounds to go until goal is reached!

Biggest Loser Season 7

I am at work right now and as I work I have the TV on in the background, but I have been getting distracted by the latest season of Biggest Loser that is on. This season they have the biggest cast on that has ever been on Biggest Loser.

The first thing the show starts off with is all the groups being told to work out on their own. The most shocking moment comes from Jerry the oldest member of the group who we later find out once he started working out his blood pressure shot down and he ended up passing out in the gym.

I couldn't help but feel for the guy, I honestly feel for everyone of these people because I'm not too far off from being in the same predicament as some of these people.

I was talking with a co-worker today and we were discussing the getting in shape philosophy that I have recently entered into. I was telling her how honestly I am now realizing just how much of a mental game getting in shape is. You have to convince yourself to make the change in your life. If you don't commit to it with your mind, then you're just setting yourself up for failure.

My philosophy lately is kinda like that saying "you've got to get yourself right with god" well with fitness my philisophy is "you've got to get yourself right with Shawn".... I can't make this change in my life primarily for anyone except for myself. I'm the one who will have to deal with the consequences of my failure first and foremost.

I am still committed to my own personnel success. I am motivated and I am determined to get myself into the best shape of my life this year. It's only the 6th day of the new year and already I've made more progress in my personal fitness goals than I have in years.

I definitely relate to the people on the Biggest Loser although I'm not as heavy as most of them I know that I'm in the same boat as them. I was lazy for the first 30 years of my life and if I want to live a successful, healthy next 30 years in my life then I have to make some serious changes and get myself right with Shawn!

92 days to go....current weight: 245.1 pounds
weight left to lose to reach goal: 26.1 pounds