The musings of a Norwegian At Large
I’m writing a series of articles on how I lost 53 kg (117 lb) in 18 months and managed to keep the weight off.
I’m trying very hard not to preach or assume to have all the answers, I’m just telling my story, what happened to me and how I dealt with it.
This is the second installment, dealing with motivation and how it all started.
Please make sure you read the first part of the series, including the disclaimer.
Fiction
This is a little piece of fiction I just wrote for Nixy Valentine’s Writing Adventure Group. I was going to follow the guidelines, honest, but once I started things just flowed and this was the result.
The assignment for this WAG was to observe someone, imagine their background, and come up with a secret for them. I really did observe the boy in my story, the rest is pure imagination.
This is my first ever attempt at writing fiction that I’ve showed to anyone outside my closest circle of family and friends, I hope you like it.
I’ve decided to call it “One down“.
I lost 53 kg (117 lb) in 18 months and I’ve kept the weight off for two years now and counting.
There were no particular diet involved, no counting of calories or carbs, no magic bullet. Just some careful thought and a decision after life happened to give me a kick in the behind.
This is what happened to me, what I chose to do about it and how I turned my life around. It’s not a 12-step program, it’s not expert advice, I’m not trying to sell you anything or sell you on anything.
It’s simply a story, my story. Enjoy.
The 2010 Prius. Credit: Toyota
The thing about the Prius is that you know it’s going to be a high volume car (yes, even in this economy, car sales will pick up again eventually).
So, given that we’re going to see a lot of them on our roads, why couldn’t Toyota make them look cool too?
I mean, the technology is great, but the car looks like someone took a particularly uninspired brick, tried unsuccessfully to streamline it a little so they could toss it further, and then called it a day when they got to the rear doors.
I’m not asking for Italian sportscar styling here, just a little inspiration, like the good people at Toyota actually care about the product they put out.
Because now the car looks like they really couldn’t care less about it.
Spinning a good yarn
Writing is pretty scary business. There is absolutely no way you can string more than two sentences together without revealing something about yourself.
Writing in public is like inviting a bunch of strangers to come hang out in your head. Sort of like having them over to your place to watch TV, except once there you can’t get rid of them. They’re on your couch, in your fridge and on your case.
So you might as well come on in and make yourself at home. Don’t mind the mess, I haven’t had a chance to clean up. Actually, I’ve given up. You would too, if you lived inside my skull.
The Tesla Model S. Credit: Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors introduced the new Model S sedan this week. This new EV (electric vehicle) will most likely be built in Southern California, not San Jose as previously announced.
The good news: It can be charged in 45 minutes, can drive up to 480 km (300 miles) on one charge, will do 0-96 kph (0-60 mph) in under 6 seconds, it seats 7 and will cost under $50,000 in the US after tax credits.
The bad news: That 480 km range won’t be available at introduction, production won’t start until late 2011 and the company needs almost $400 million in federal loans to even get started.
Still, it’s a beautiful and very capable car, if it were in showrooms right now with the above specs it would be downright revolutionary.
Ill. Credit: Unk.
I have quite a bit of experience as an entrepreneur and thought I should share some of it.
There’s a lot of information out there on how to succeed, but I’ve yet to see someone discuss what not to do, and share their experience as to why they think so.
Well, with the current shape of the economy, someone should. So here’s one man’s take.
The first, and post important piece of advice:
Don’t give up!
You know what they say, “If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving may not be for you”. Well, what applies to skydiving doesn’t always apply to starting a business, surprising as that may seem at first glance.
There certainly are enough similarities, like the feeling of throwing yourself out of a perfectly functional airplane at altitide and seeing the very solid looking ground rushing up at you.
Right Whales. Credit: NOAA
There’s a very interesting article in the New York Times about how the population of Right Whales (Eubalaena glacialis) has increased over the last few decades.
These magnificent animals are making something of a comeback, which is very welcome news, especially to this Norwegian who is strongly opposed to commercial whaling.
At the turn of the previous century there were only a hundred animals left, now there could be as many as 400. If that doesn’t sound like much, consider that not only is it a four-fold increase, but it’s also the likely difference between extinction and a sustainable population.
Ill. Credit: Unk.
A new study by the National Cancer Institute (in the US, that is) concludes that eating red meat significantly increases your risk of dying prematurely.
And yes Dorothy, that includes pork.
I won’t bore you with the details, you can read them yourself if you’re interested. Let’s instead just skip to the bottom line.
Eating the equivalent of a small hamburger every day will increase your risk of dying in the next 10 years by over 30%. Eating fish and poultry will slightly decrease your risk of death.
The Tata Nano. Credit: Tata
India’s Tata Motors, the recent buyer of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford, is struggling with poor sales and high debt.
That purchase, of two money-losing luxury brands, might just be one of the worst timed acquisitions in the history of the automotive industry.
Tata is about to launch their new, ultra-cheap Nano model (pictured), starting at about 100,000 rupis ($2,000). The new car is unlikely to improve Tata’s fortunes in the near future though, which doesn’t bode well for Jaguar and Land Rover.