Going Green…Finally

Today we purchased radiant barrier insulation from Green Barrier Energy after seeing it at the annual, local home show. Radiant barrier is thin mylar (like the balloons) foil that reflects heat. It is installed in various places around the home, but ours will cover the top of the attic, or underside of the roof. It has some sound science behind it, and the demos are impressive. Is it worth it?

I’m not going into how it works. Check out any number of videos online. I like this one. It shows how it is really done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ShAiclBt4&feature=related

The House

My house is a spaceship. Your argument is invalid.

Our house is 1780 square feet, located in central Kentucky. All one story, except for a loft/bonus room. It turns 5 this year. Built by Beazer Homes at the height of the housing boom (bubble).

One important note: Our furnace is high efficiency, but it is located in the attic space. (Heat pump is outside of course.) The salesman stopped when he saw that and said that is a bad design. I have to agree. The furnace is working against 140-160 degree air in the summer, and against 30 degree air in the winter. Basically it is outside with a roof over it.

All electric home with 2 adults and 3 kids and the bill is $190 on a budget. It was $130 until October 2010, and will drop to $160 next month. The power company adjusts it at least every six months. YOU SHOULD BE ON A BUDGET if possible. Call your utility provider.

The sales guy said we had one of the highest budget bills he had seen (of course). However I asked our neighbor and they’re paying $105, but just two adults and 100 less sq. feet. I’m going to poll all of our neighbors.

The Science

The standard demo is (also on YouTube) is two heat lamps heating a two chamber box. One chamber with a couple of inches of standard insulation, and the other with insulation plus foil. In our demo the hot side was 180, and the foil side was 110. Saw that at the home show.

The cool thing was after an hour or so the sales guy threw a piece of the foil in hot side. After a few minutes the temperature dropped to 100 degrees. Less than the original side. I’m sold on the product’s performance.

The Deal

It cost us $3000. $1500 down and $50 per month, no interest. I don’t know if that’s a good deal. They will cover the underside of our roof, the gables at the ends of the house, and the knee walls around the bonus room. Plus they will wrap our water heater. We must have a yard sign for 30 days, give 5 referrals, and write a letter in 6 months saying how great it is. How would they enforce any of that!?

Some quick notes on the sales pitch. It’s a good pitch, but the sales guy is aggressive. He was nice, and I liked the guy. But he is working on commission. “The original price was $7800, but with today’s deal and your home show coupon……..” argh. We sat at a price point of $5000 for awhile. I turned him down, and he was almost out the door before dropping to $3000. He was here for TWO hours. It was just like buying a car at dealership.

They promise a reduction of 50% on heating costs. I don’t see our bill dropping to $80. I was working off a $190 bill at the time of sale. But the power company had us adjusted high after a very cold winter.

The product itself is cheap, about $125 for 1000 square feet. But not all barriers are the same. And like anything, you pay for labor.

Working in the attic is not enjoyable for me. I consider myself a DIYer, but attic work sucks. If you watch the video I linked you will see the installers lying down to reach the lowest points. YUCK! Also our home & attic design is simple, but peak is over 10 feet above the attic floor. Not my thing, so I can hire this out. (Our neighbors paid $1200 for interior paint. We thought that was crazy.

I kind of feel some buyer’s remorse after checking online, but again. It’s a job I do not want.

The Final Verdict

We shall see. The product isn’t even in yet. I will check the attic temp tomorrow, then again post install and report.I was up there today. It was 75 and sunny outside. It was well over 100 in the attic at 6pm.

April & May are our cheapest months utility wise as the windows are open (even now at 1:22AM). I plan to keep checking the attic temp and report.

1. Dallas Cowboy Baked Turkey Breast (white meat) — The center of many NFL feasts & traditions. To many this is the feast, but most realize that it’s disappointing. Even in its best years it was actually bland (Aikman/Staubach), but dressed up with lots of gravy (E. Smith/Irvin/Too Tall Jones) made it a worthy classic centerpiece. Today it’s remembered better than it ever really was and comes in a flashy dish.

2. Deep Fried New England Patriot Turkey – The new way to deliver the classic. It’s moist, succulent, packed with flavor, and talked about by anyone that’s ever had it. There are a lot of technical parts/setup that some may not understand, but it brings more to the table than anything else. It’s somewhat dangerous, so if an inexperienced assistant chef doesn’t know what they’re doing it may blow up (McDaniels) or be underdone and leave everyone hungry (Weiss).

3. Steeler Sugar-Cured Ham — A classic from years ago that still can hold its own as the centerpiece dish. Many people what to leave this style of food in the past as a boring entree that doesn’t fit with today’s style. But those people are jealous of the old family recipe that they can’t seem to copy or don’t have the patience to learn. Real foodies (fans) know it as a classic that fed legions of people and will continue to do so.

4. Green Bay Packer Salt-Cured Country Ham — People were doing it this way before there was a feast. It’s the old way of doing things, but it still belongs at the table because it is so good. Great when it’s hot (Holmgren – 1996). Great when it’s cold (Lombardi/Starr – Ice Bowl). Great with cheese (Favre). It’s the classic that made a Sunday meal into a feast to behold. Then the turkeys showed up and stole its glory.

5. San Francisco 49er Oyster Casserole — An obscure dish for decades until a family with real culinary skills turned it into a classic that everyone loved. Then the head chefs sold the recipe (DeBartalo – Walsh), but never told anyone how to select the best oysters. It’s been sadly disappointing ever since. Most of it ends up in the disposal.

6. Washington Redskin Broccoli Casserole — A stinky staple of any meal, dressed up with cheese and crumbs. The head chef (Snyder) buys the most expensive pans, oven, seasonings he can, but it’s all wasted on bad base ingredients (McNabb, Haynesworth). It takes up too much space on the buffet table. Doesn’t taste too good either. Also it seems to leave a foul funk in the bathroom after the meal is over. Why do we have this every year again? Oh yeah, tradition and a couple of your uncles like it.

7. Bronco Chili — A classic dish in its own right, and loved by most. It just doesn’t fit at the traditional holiday feast table. We kept trying it for years and it disappointed except for a couple of times (Elway). Doesn’t live up to hype now, and tastes best on cool Sunday in October. Rarely so good in late December though.

8. New Orleans Etoufee — A laughable, misunderstood dish that wasn’t doing anything right for years. But did you try that new recipe last year!!?? Man I hope whoever (Peyton/Brees) brought it last year shows up again. Reserving judgment, but it’s earned high honors lately.

9. Chicago Deep Dish Pizza — A loud, messy dish made by a brash uncle (Ditka) that knows how to make one thing. There was that one year when mom was sick and this pizza delivered a feast that was more party than family get-together. Man it was great. Too bad the guys he brought that year focused more on partying and killed too many brain cells in the late 80′s & 90′s. He’s almost got it together again though.

10. Raider Sprouts — Everyone hates brussell sprouts. Everyone except for that one asshole patriarch (Davis) in the family that insists they’re good. He’s gonna bring them every year. Make sure people eat at least one, and F&*$ you for trying to change the recipe.

11. Viking Purple (Green) Bean Casserole — On the table every year. Dressed up with fried onions, red peppers, spices, etc. Hell someone even threw some old cheese on it a couple of times (Favre). Too bad it’s the same disappointing green beans when you dip into them (and the cheese went from Wisconsin gouda to busted-up limburger). There’s a new soon-to-be-ex spouse that brings them every year. The dish finds a new way to disappoint every year.

12. Kansas City Barbeque — Man this stuff is great. It’s what tailgating is all about! Too bad this is a special holiday feast and not tailgating. There’s always a few cousins that can’t stop talking about it even during this meal. A classic for sure that dresses up tired meat (Montana/Allen/Vermeil), but rarely finds a spot on the menu late in the year.

13. Charger Steak Sizzle – Your hot-shot aunt & uncle for southern California talk this dish up every year. Then they show up empty handed on feast day with a bunch of lame excuses on why they couldn’t deliver. Some years they just don’t show. No one misses them (Fouts/Rivers/all Chargers ever).

14. Giant Mashed Potatoes — As classic as they come (Gifford/Parcells), but rarely a featured dish. With some butter and gravy they can really satisfy and make a meal great. How do they end up so far down the list most years?

15. Philadelphia Stuffing — Can’t have a holiday feast without stuffing can you? Actually you can, and stuffing isn’t required for turkey, ham, or anything else. Lots of people fill up on it, but they’d be better off with more turkey or ham on their plates. People that say they like stuffing more than the meat are just being assholes.

16. Miami Dolphin Cocktails — Loved by many at parties, but only your alcoholic aunt is drinking them on Christmas afternoon. Can’t wait for the New Year when they turn it all around and get back to the way they were in their youth. Been saying that for almost 40 years now.

17. Deviled Jets Eggs — A classic recipe from the old days, but now brought in a new dish altogether. Everyone has one or two just to compare farts later (Sanchez to Namath). Good for a laugh with your boisterous Uncle Ryan.

18. Colt Rolls — Can’t call it a feast without them, but rarely satisfy you on their own (Unitas). One year even the Jet eggs were better. Once we got yeast rolls from a restaurant owner friend. Wish he’d come back again (Dungy).

19. Falcon Beer — Hardly a dish. Most don’t even bother making it, but whoever found that special recipe (Ryan) sure has made it a hit. Maybe they can pair it with a real dish.

20. Baltimore Bourbon & Coke — What your alcoholic uncle is drinking (Modell). They were really a different person in the past. He’s got it together since about 2000, but his recent new found youth is fading we fear. Let’s just hope life doesn’t beat him up too bad and he’s got a few more years.

21. Cleveland ______ — The druggy cousin that lost it all and couldn’t be found on a map for years. Now he shows up empty-handed looking for a meal. Maybe he’s found a mentor.

22. Jacksonville Mac & Cheese — Hardly a ‘classic’, but you have to have something for the kids to eat. It’s really good some years and surprises.

23. St. Louis Ribs — Too much of a mess to deal with most years, but when someone takes the time to make them right they sure are good. Your cousin should’ve written down that recipe from a few years back. I think he’s almost figured it out again though.

24. Tampa Bay Rum Cake — Made right it’s great. Rarely made right. Usually just beats out the bad stuff on the menu and gives those that try it a little sugar rush.

25. Houston Butterscotch Pie — Almost too sweet, but man is it good (Schaub/Johnson). Won’t fill you up though and can’t stand on it’s own due to a lack of real substance (defense).

26. Tennessee Mixed Nuts — Something to chew on while waiting for the real meal to start. But it’s just damned nuts (Young/Fisher/owner).

27. Seattle Fresh Ground Coffee – Enjoy before, after, or with your meal. Definitely not filling, and just makes you wanna shit (Carroll).

28. Detroit Boiled Sweet Potatoes — Classic ingredient, but no one has a clue how to make them right. Boiled? Baked with marshmallows? Why do these suck so bad? Who cares? No one is even taking the time to try anymore.

29. Bengal Fruitcake — It’s  actually good if you give the recipe chance, and pair the right ingredients with the right chef. Usually it’s been too full of nuts and bad ingredients to be any good at all, and I think the chefs (Mike Brown/Lewis) are mailing it in. Maybe someone will find the hand scrawled recipe that great-grandpa (Paul Brown) wrote when he helped start the feast.

30. Buffalo empty dish — In years past your sweetest aunt made some great dishes. Then a series of tragedy. The dog snuck in and ate it. The next year she slipped outside and spilled it in the yard. The next year she had a wreck on the way over. The next year she burnt the house down trying to make whatever it was. Even her kids (fans) are suicidal now.

31. Carolina Cool Whip — The kid home from college needed to bring something and their ditzy girlfriend showed up with a tub of this. Thanks. We’ll send them out for ice so their constant grab-assing doesn’t offend grandma.

32. Arizona Soft Drinks — The one person in the family that can’t even make tea buys them on the way over. One year they made home-made root beer that was really good and almost stole the show with some store-bought St. Louis ribs (Warner). Now they’ve lost their job and are buying store brand crap. Big-K, Faygo, and Dr. Bubble are hardly cutting it Uncle Weisenhunt, and keep your belligerent kid (Anderson) off the XBox.

For the newbie or person trying to get fit the weigh-in number is huge, even if we know it shouldn’t be. To take emphasis away, well-meaning trainers & gurus want people to limit their weigh-ins. But when a person finally weighs-in a tragic thing often happens. Their weight hasn’t changed or even increased after a hard-earned week. This leads to nothing but disappointment and quitting.

Has their weight changed really? Who knows? Maybe they just drank some water or ate something heavy yesterday. Something is slightly throwing off their weight from last week’s weigh-in. Humidity and temperature can affect a common bathroom scale more than people realize, but all the person sees is another reason to quit. A meaningless three-digit mockery staring back at them.

So when I started my weight loss trek in March I resolved to weigh all the time. The result is a better understanding of me. I know that I’m light in the mornings, but gain as much as 5 pounds. Then usually settle 1-3 pounds heavier in the evening. By morning I’m back to the starting weight or lost/gained a small amount. I know all sorts of reasons weight changes, and the size of a change. Just ate, just went to the bathroom, just worked out, or even just showered all affect weight. Often I can tell clothes are fitting differently on a new day. So I go weigh and see a number that hasn’t changed. Think I care about a number at that point?

You are never a solid, consistent weight than can be summed up in one number. I now view my weight by a range. If someone asks what I weigh I tell them low 260′s (meaning 261-265), or breaking 260 (meaning 259 – 263). Soon I’ll be a high 250 (meaning 255 – 259). These ranges are much more accurate than a single number unless you have just stepped off a scale.

By constantly weighing I don’t notice if I’m heavier or lighter a week at a time. I just notice small changes every day, and do my best to keep them trending down. There has never been disappointment. Just reminders of where I’m at and reinforcement of my new work habits as the numbers slide down.

In the past three weeks the number of times I’ve weighed myself has dropped off. I really don’t care that much anymore, and isn’t that the real goal?

In the beginning…

I was a fat kid as far back as I can remember. There are photos of me at 3 years and earlier where I wasn’t fat, but I don’t remember those days. I remember fat jokes from kindergarten on, so that’s pretty much the beginning: overweight, big-boned, husky…fat.

Why? Southern comfort food with a sedentary life. Nintendo + Paula Deen like mother = fat. Not to mention too many trips to a local convenient store for Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and such.

5th grade = 265 pounds & basically taking up two seats at the lunchroom table.

Kids say the darndest meanest things

I was picked on. Oh well. I was tall & fat so I bullied some kids too. It evens out. Skipping the tear jerking, but now humorous stories of chubby-dom.

I get to 13, 7th grade. I’m old enough to join a gym. My parents support me in this & take me to a new gym owned by a high school friend of my dad. He was big too, and realized a problem getting winded going DOWN a long flight of steps (uneven chunks of concrete down a hillside).

March of 7th grade year – still 265 pounds

We met a great guy, Jerry, that ran a hard-core aerobics class. It’s misnomer to call what he did aerobics. Today it would be rebranded P90-Convict-Total-Hardcore-DVD-Kung-KaPow and sold at 3am on every cable channel. Jerry was the closest thing to a personal trainer I’ve ever had. In short: run-run-run crunch-crunch-crunch (not the yummy snackfood crunch either).

August, start of 8th grade – 220 pounds (plus a foot taller)

High School & other formative years

Pretty much stayed the same. I felt good. Looked good, but not an adonis, star athlete or anything.

Stopped going to the gym, but not sure why. I never got the concept of pointless body-building exercises. Just not my thing. Maybe it was because the muscle-heads couldn’t make it through 5 minutes of light aerobics. I saw more benefit in being able to run and maintain activity over power-lifting in 30 second spurts from positions you’ll never assume in daily life.

Graduation, 1996 – 215 pounds Note: This is 50 pounds less than I was in FIFTH grade or 11 years old.

The Roaring Twenties

Just before turning 21 my dad died suddenly and tragically. I spent my twenties depressed mostly.

Dad’s funeral – 220 pounds

One year later – 350 pounds (estimated. I didn’t weigh myself for years)

The Dot-com Bust

I finally got it together somewhat and started walking & trying to run at a nearby park. I would lay in the floor and cry in pain after 30 minute walks. My ankles would swell and cut off circulation to my feet. You know that feeling of your feet ‘waking up’ after being ‘asleep’; multiply by 100. I pushed through.

2002 – 330 pounds with solid abs under my fat after following an ab workout plan for a few months.

The Real Estate Bubble

After moving to a new apartment with a pool, tennis courts, and a gym…

2004 – 300 pounds

Hey! I said no transitional material didn’t I?

The Biggest Loser

Came in second in my office’s Biggest Loser contest. Started with the Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start book we had bought a year earlier. Took me 6 weeks to get through it. If I missed a day I didn’t care. I just refused to miss two-days in a row. I got a lot of great recipes that I still use.

After that was over the contest was half complete. I just kept working out however I could. I jogged for over a mile or did day 30′s workout again.

I was (and still am) working third shift. My greatest commitment was not to let late night schedules be an excuse, but rather an opportunity. I started going upstairs during my lunch hour and working out in the hallway. Push-ups, crunches, burpees, crab-walk to bear walk, dips (on the window sill), military press (with the fire extinguisher from the wall). Fat people got excuses. I got creative. I also added in an exercise mat and some elastic bands.

Now I’ve bought a kettlebell. It hates me I think. It definitely has no pity or remorse.

I’m also on the 100 Push-Up plan. http://hundredpushups.com/

2010 – 260 pounds and dropping

What does any of this have to do with beer (real or fictional)?

Beer is full of calories so it was complete fiction in my life for several weeks. The few Buds & Millers I had one weekend out of 12 don’t qualify as beer anyway.

I got hung up because the item 14 on the 30 days list was ‘Write a letter to your father’. That was a lot tougher for me to face than what I had anticipated. So I put it off…and off…and off.

My dad died from cancer in 1998. He thought he had a summer cold on June 5th. He was diagnosed on July 5th. The funeral was on August 5th. It was ocular melanoma, which is a form of cancer so rare that doctors will stop what they are doing and really listen to you when they meet a direct relative of a victim. My doctor told me he will probably go the rest of his career and never meet someone directly related to a melanoma patient.

Anyhow. Here’s my letter to Dad.

Dear Dad,

We haven’t talked in awhile, and never will again. Your sudden death caused me a lot of problems and put my life on a different path. Who knows where I’d be now, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is my present and future.

I went into depression for what I believe was 10-12 years. It came and went in severity, but I don’t believe I ever fully got over it until recently. I know you struggled with your father’s death, so perhaps we share a common bond even post-mortem. I have been very angry and negative for a decade now. Even being married for 10 years and having three wonderful children couldn’t fully shake my sadness.

However in the past few months I have been working out these feelings. Physically I have been getting healthy by losing the weight I gained within six months of your passing. I was up to 350 lbs. at one point. Got down to 330, and stayed there for a year or so. Then dropped to 300 and have been hovering there for 3+ years. I’m now at 280, and I aim to get back to my weight at your time of departure, 220. This time I’m really eating healthy and feel better. About two weeks in, during a workout, I almost had an emotional breakdown. I think it was all that negativity leaving, and me moving on.

This helped me mentally, and I finally see that I have been unmotivated for years. Upon your death I let myself slide for years with very few meaningful goals. You were a source of motivation. I always wanted to beat you, and prove myself.  I realize now that I don’t need to do that. I need to be me, and stop punishing myself for not living up to a standard that never did exist in the first place.

You gave me everything I needed to be successful in life and will be. You were a good dad, and I was lucky to have you. I learned much, and I have built on your lessons and example. I will pass my own lessons on to my family, and carry on your legacy of hard work, sacrifice, and love for your family.

Your loving son,

Joe

And finally item 14 is done on the list.  Moving on…in more ways than one.

But years later that I have come face to face with a simple task that is still tough. Day fourteen’s task is to write a letter to my father. I’m dreading this one, and putting it off.

Dad died just over 10 years ago. I still have trouble with it sometimes.

The task requires ten items at least, but I can beat that. (Does that mean I’m not doing nearly enough with my life?) I can come up with many because you can add anything, even as simple as eating a local restaurant you frequently pass, but never stop.

1. See all seven continents
2. Go to Cedar Point
3. Weigh less than 250 pounds again.
4. Eat at the Moonlight BBQ in Owensboro, KY
5. Visit Russia and see the Kubink museum and Kursk.
6. Travel in space.
7. Ride on a bullet train
8. Take a trip by train.
9. Take a trip by steamboat.
10. Take a trip via ocean freighter.
11. Take a cruise.
12. Visit Savannah, GA with the wife.
13. Take the kids to Disney World.
14. Take a wilderness trip to Alaska.
15. Become a CCIE.
16. Speak a foreign language moderately well.
17. Go deep sea fishing.
18. Skydive.
19. Climb a mountain (1001 feet counts).
20. Scuba dive.
21. Visit Hawaii.
22. Win a poker tournament at a casino.
23. Get a bachelor’s degree.
24. Continue this list.

Proud of myself for sticking to the journal even though it was late. I was tired, and it would have been easy to skip.

Best day of the year so far!!

I’ve always wanted to start a journal, but three things have always prevented it, my lack of initiative, lack of follow-through (notice how much the Fictional Beer articles are updated), and thinking I have nothing to write about. But the Art of Manliness has pointed out that it is the mundane things that will be interesting in later years. I’ve taken the initiative, so now I hope I can stick with it until it is a habit.

It takes 21 days for something to become habit. Reading each entry in the ’30 Days’ series should keep me reminded. However I’ve already been post-poning some days, and just coming back to them the next time I check the site. Two-weeks to get to day 8.

I do feel improved. Today I also completed day seven’s task by reaching out to an old friend, Jeff Roback, and MCSE classmate at Sullivan University.

I’ve been trying to eat healthier, and have been successful. However beer is still thwarting some of my efforts. A good beer buzz certainly increases the late night appetite.

Tomorrow I complete day nine’s task, take a woman on a date. Megan & I will be going to Kings Island’s Fright Fest without the kids. I’m really looking forward to it. We haven’t been anywhere alone (other than simple dinner & a movie) since going to St. Louis 3 years ago.  Only a day trip but still fun.

I hope to write about all sorts of subjects, and I have no real goals for this journal. Other than to keep it up.