#99 - Get Fit

I recently started working out again in an attempt to get fit. I think by my count this would be my third attempt at trying this. What I'm really trying to work on is getting rid of my beer belly. Well since I don't drink I guess that would mean that its just a non beer belly belly. Either way its definitely something I could do without.

The last time I attempted to get fit I went all out. I started on the South Beach Diet and bought a whole bunch of food for the diet. I also spent money on a new elliptical machine, some weights and a few other pieces of exercise equipment. And even after all that money spent I still managed to fail. I can't remember the moment it all went wrong but its obvious that I got off track. I tried to stack the odds in my favor but it just wasn't enough.

So this time I'm going to try again. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and see how it goes. This time I'm not going to spend the money on getting food for a new diet. But I'm in luck because all that exercise equipment I bought is paid for so that's some money I don't have to spend in this attempt.

Now that I'm starting out again I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. I'm running on my elliptical and doing push ups and sit ups. I was hoping to do something else to help get in shape. Something like playing a sport. But nothing really came up that seemed to work well for the situation.

Hopefully this time will be successful. This time I also have other reasons for getting fit. Since I have other things on my list that require me to be in better physical condition I guess that makes this goal more of a first step on a longer journey. I just hope I'll be able to remember why im doing this in the first place and remain focused on my ultimate goal to complete my list.

#1 - Go Skydiving

Intense. Thats the word I would use to talk about what its like to skydiving. Today I jumped out of a plane on purpose and it was amazing.

For those of you wondering what an experience like this is like let me explain. When I was looking out of the plane door about to jump out I'm sure I had the same thought that everyone has the first time they jump, "Am I really doing this". And then a second later I was out of the plane.

The first thing I noticed was how very cold and windy it was while falling. I guess I should have expected that what with the high atmosphere and terminal velocity. But where your jumping out of a plane the rational part of your brain pretty much turns itself off. Now I'm sure your all wondering, "So how insane is that freefall". Well actually the feeling of freefalling you get in your stomach lasted only a few seconds then all I really noticed was the cold and the wind. I know it sounds weird but it makes sense. Since there is nothing around you its not really possible for your mind to comprehend how fast your going. Sure the ground is coming at your face at terminal velocity but your so high up that it appears as though your not moving at all. So you really do get that feeling that you are floating in the air.

When we got to a certain altitude the guy I was attached to gave me a signal and I reached behind us and pulled the chute open. A second or two later there was a hit when the chute caught the wind. After the chute deployed he started adjusting things behind my back. For a second I thought he was going to unhook me and I was going to fall to my death. But he was just adjusting the harness so that instead of the pressure being on my crotch region it was moved to under my thighs which is much more comfortable.

So after I was in this new comfortable position he let me control the chute itself. He had me turn us a few times and then we did a few circles. And then finally we landed safe and sound. The whole thing was quite an exciting experience. Now that I know I can survive the experience I would love to do it again hopefully with more people.

And for those of you that maybe afraid of heights let me just say that my girlfriend did it and she is terrified of heights. So I believe if she can do it pretty much anyone can.

Also if you would like to do this yourself you should probably check out Skydive Elsinore. I did a bit of research and they seem to be the best ones. Of course this is only useful if you happen to live near or around Southern California. Otherwise you will have to do your own research.

# 89 - See a Lunar Eclipse

This is the last past entry I need to do to get caught up to the present. I had completely forgotten about actually seeing this one. Also I didn't take the picture located above I just thought it was cool.

The lunar eclipse happened on 02/21/2008 and its the last total lunar eclipse until December 2010. I actually found out about it 3 days before it was going to happen. And it was more a matter of luck then anything else. The list is so long that sometimes I forget that there are items on it that only happen at a certain time. I think when I learned about this I was not really thinking about it. But I happened to be looking at digg.com and thats when I was reminded that I needed to check it out. I'm wasn't much of a digger at that time I just happen to be bored and went to the site. Not I can't stop checking out digg but thats another story.

So the total lunar eclipse took place on a Wednesday and was suppose to start at or around 7pm. I still happened to be at work at the time but this was a once in a 2 year chance. When I went outside at 7 I couldn't see the moon anywhere. As luck would have it the moon was located behind the only freaking cloud in the sky. But I was determined to see it so I stood there and watch the clouds move across the sky.

Eventually I did get to see it but it wasn't a clear view of it. I could see it through a thiner part of the cloud cover. So technically I did see it so I can cross it off my list but hopefully come 2010 I'll be in a position to see it better.

And heres some knowledge about Lunar Eclipses.

# 131 - Final Fantasy III Started

Well now that I finished FF II its on to FF III. And since there are no ports of FF III to the PSP orPS1 I'm forced to play it on the DS. Don't get me wrong I love playing the DS however my DS has been acting rather strangely.

Sometimes when I put it to sleep (close the lid) the system will turn off. Now I'm sure I don't need to say how much this sucks for when I quickly put it away without saving first (well I guess I just did). So now I have to make sure that I save before I sleep it which is a minor inconvenience. But I will persevere so I can move on to the next one. Hopefully this version will not have the same issue as the FF II did.

More likely then not I'll end up losing progress at some point because I forgot to save.

Heres some knowledge about Final Fantasy III and also a video about the game.




This is from the gametrailers.com Final Fantasy retrospective. The Final Fantasy III section is in the second half of the video.

# 131 - Final Fantasy II completed

Well after my ordeal with having to restart the game from scratch I have finally completed it. The last few areas turned out to be a lot harder then I expected.

I had spent quite a few hours leveling up my characters plus they had some kick ass weapons so I was duel wielding 2 Masamunes (kick ass sword) on all the characters and just steam rolling through all the enemies. That is until I got to the "Jade Passage" which is the second to last area in the game. All of sudden my character were getting the crap beat out of them with each hit they took.

At first I was like WTF. How did I go from bad ass to ass kicked so quickly. Well this mainly had to do with the fact that I had not actually put a shield on my characters so I got the swords so it was no wonder I was getting pummeled so badly. When I finally realized my boneheaded mistake I quickly rectified the situation and put a shield on each of them. After that they were still getting hit hard but nothing I couldn't handle.

So eventually I made it to the last boss and I was totally ready to kick his ass with my bad ass swords. I figured the swords had made mincemeat out of everything so far that this should be cake. And since I figured that way I had not spent any time to level up any type of magic. Well I was surely surprised when I gave that boss a sound slash to the face and it appeared to do very little damage.

At this point I'm thinking oh God I don't want to have to spend more time leveling up magic just to beat this bastard. But even though I was doing not as much damage as I was used to I was still doing somewhat decent damage. And also I was able to keep my characters alive (just barely). And after repeated whackings from my sword to his face and cure/life to my characters I was finally able to win the day. Now its on to Final Fantasy III.

# 131 - Final Fantasy II started and restarted

I recently had to restart my game for Final Fantasy II. I started playing 02/12/08 the day I finished Final Fantasy I.

Well when I say recently I mean a few days ago but I have finally reached the point where I had to restart from. Apparently the version I had gotten didn't want to load the next part no matter what I did. I had a feeling I was pretty close to the end so I tried a bunch of different things to get past the part. I got few different versions of the game but my save wouldn't appear so finally after trying everything I could I just broke down and started a new game on a new version.

When I started the new game I contemplated downloading a save with maxed out characters so I could just run through the story and get to the end. I put the save in and started playing but even though my characters on my old game would have been able to finish the game without to much problem it didn't feel right using characters that someone else had made.

So in the end I started a new game completely from scratch and worked my way back. So I just got back to the area where it would not progress and this time it worked fine. And as much as I think it sucks that I had to do that sometimes you just got to roll with the punches and keep moving on. Hopefully I should be done with Final Fantasy II soon and then its on to Final Fantasy III on the DS. Which I'm not looking to forward to because my DS has been acting kinda funky lately. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Heres the info on Final Fantasy II and also a video. Enjoy

# 74 - Perform for an audience

This is another one I finished before starting this blog so I'm still in catch up mode.

I accomplished this on Christmas eve. Or at least it was for a Christmas eve service at church. I played my clarinet during one of the songs. It was weird cause I had not played my clarinet for sometime (probably around a year). So I was a bit worried that I may not be up to the task. But when the time came it went smoothly. And now I have one more off my list.