Thursday, January 21, 2010

Life is Good!

I haven't posted for many months, mainly because I haven't taken the time but thought I might want people to know that all is well with me except I sit at work all the time and have not succumb to the perils of sitting. A new report form London states that sitting for prolong periods can be deadly to our health!
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Research is preliminary, but several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die.

In an editorial published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences suggested that authorities rethink how they define physical activity to highlight the dangers of sitting.

While health officials have issued guidelines recommending minimum amounts of physical activity, they haven't suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.

"After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," Ekblom-Bak said. She explained that genes regulating the amount of glucose and fat in the body start to shut down. Even for people who exercise, spending long stretches of time sitting at a desk is still harmful.

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I have been sitting at my job for almost 40 years. Only the increase fat has been my nemesis. Good news, maybe!

One person here at CSI last year gave up his 'sit-at-desk' and switch to a 'stand-up-desk'. He says it has made a world of difference. Less back pain, more productive at work, and more energy when he goes home. The first couple of months were tough until his legs got strong enough to stand all the time and now he says no going back. It is very relaxing to him. Maybe we should get rid of our kitchen table chairs and add some length to the table legs and stand-up for every meal. That might be a secret for us to live longer, less fat, more energy; just like dieting!


For all you exercise conscious people, keep doing what you are doing but find ways to sit less and you should live longer.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Bridge over 'T.......' Waters

This past week I was in Philadelphia for a Fatigue and Fracture Conference sponsored by Lehigh University. The purpose of the conference was to understand how to make our bridges safe and functional for the next 100+ years. After the conference I visited three customers and helped them with their programming questions using our hardware. I have attached some pictures below. The Burlington Bridge had me at about 200+ feet above the river and 60+ feet above the traffic going across the bridge. This was the highest I had ever been on a bridge and was slightly unnerving when trucks would cross. I am thankful that Campbell's makes ruggedized dataloggers that can operate for years at a time unattended and collect bridge monitoring data that is needed to do renovation/retrofitting work on bridges. I love my job. The other bridge is the Tuscony bridge which is a Bascule Bridge.

Burlington Bridge. The whole bridge section is raised by gears and counter weights.


Gears built in 1930 for controlling the raising and lowering of the bridge section



Mega-Ton Counter weight on 32 steel cables. Picture needs to be rotated 90 degrees

Tuscony Bridge. It is a Bascule Bridge with the opening next to arch like a draw-bridge. It is between two brick piles.

For a demonstration of this type of bridge go to this website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bascule_bridge

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Up Up and Away!!!!!!!

After having our house on the market for almost a year and with the opportunity for Bryan and Natalie to get their own home, we have sold our home. It may be a crazy way to do it but it appears that it will work for us. We sold it on a Lease to Purchase. If the prospective buyer execute their option then we will be officially out of the home market. we have chosen to move into a small Condo for a year with the aspiration of looking for property and building our retirement home in 2 or 3 years. Sounds like a plan with a lot of faith.

The biggest stress factor in our lives in downsizing from a 5500 sq ft home to a 1600 sq ft Condo. We have accumulated so much in our 42 years of bliss that it is hard to let goal. I have a lot of reference books that I hardly ever open but when I need something it has been good to have. However with the invention of the Internet almost everything is now online why keep these books. I am getting rid of them except for a couple that seem logical to keep.

The move has been very hard and seems like we make very little progress but with the help of many (Natalie, Bryan, Hallie, Sydney, Luke, Heidi, Don,Kendra, Amy, Lonna, Lisa, Shawna, Adam, Tara, Marilyn, Sharon, Barbara, Laurie, and soon to be some Relief Society Sisters) we could not have done it. (I hope that I did not forget anyone). We should almost be out tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
From K & C to all

... A G R E A T B I G
T H A N K - Y O U

T H A N K - Y O U

T H A N K - Y O U
...

So life goes on and we thank the Lord for our many friends and family. Thanks for your love and support.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Not Lost but alive and kicking

A few years ago, I had a great experience, in fact the family had the same experience; we built a retaining wall. Well with all this rain we (who is 'we' yet to be TBD) get to do it again. The rain caused the base of gravel and dirt to settle and shift; thus getting the wall moving outward until it fell over into my neighbors yard. We are currently moving the blocks out so we can build a better base. Then we will move the blocks back. This is a great way to exercise and lose weight at the same time. I am soooooo exciiiiiiiiited.... Anybody looking for exercise "come on down". We will be out there almost every night and Saturday mornings. Tuesday Night's Trent and I will not be there but you can come if you want too. Have a great Spring and a better Summer.

Friday, March 6, 2009

And the work goes on and on and on

Some days I feel like the Energizer bunny. My work goes on and on and on. This week has been just that. Every time I finish one project I have two more appear on my plate. At this rate I will never catch up and when I retire I will have (100)s of projects left unfinished. As a simple example consider this progression (1 on my plate, complete it and now there is 2, complete one more now there is 3, complete that one and now there is 4, and on and on and on).

For an economy in a very stressful mode because many people are losing their jobs, Campbell seems to be getting busier and busier. For personal reasons this is good but I am left to wonder if this will break down later in the year. I hope not but I do hope that we get back to an even keel with our work load.

Even though the world is worried about jobs and finances and lack of mortgages and limited car loans, I remain the ever present Optimist and know that we will be stronger for having endure such an experience.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Oh Yeah!!!

Mother Nature is just tempting us. The weather has been so balmy these last couple of days that I am itching to get on my bike and ride to work. I know that winter is not over but I am so ready for the warm spring. Oh Yeah, I am ready. Prepare your bikes, oil the chains, put on the glasses and helmets and lets peddle. Saturday mornings are a great time to get in longer rides. Anyone interested in joining me; let me know.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Spring Wishes

I'm counting the days until I can get back on my bike and pedal to work. It has been a long winter but I am ready to exercise and shed a few pounds. My Goal 20 pounds by June first.