I disappeared for a few days. Don’t worry, I have not abandoned the challenge. I was just busy getting the new house in order. It’s looking good! Only a few boxes left. Here are some pictures.

Front room

Office/Eventual room for little Hogalina (we picked a name!)

Dining room

Kitchen

Back room/man cave (awaiting sectional sofa)

Back room/man cave (alternate view)

The man cave is obviously my baby. I mean, before little Hogalina arrives, of course. I think we’re going to paint the floor a dark brown, put in a comfy sectional, and install wall-to-wall shelves across the left wall to act as our office desk/crafting area. One of the things I was insistent about when we moved into the new place was that I finally be able to install all 7 of my surround sound speakers for optimal 7.1 sound. I bought the necessary digital audio cables, measured the speaker heights out perfectly, used cable holders along the bottom of the walls so the room looked neat and fired the puppy up. It sounds awesome. Only trouble as far as I can tell is that DVDs are not encrypted with 7.1 surround sound. All DVDs, even fancy Blu-Ray ones, are made for 5 speakers. So why do I need those extra 2 speakers? If you have to ask, then you are not welcome in the man cave.

Weights and stories after the jump!

Thursday – Day 43
The weights are accurate for the next few days … I’m not 100% sure on the food, but it’s a pretty close approximation.

Morning weight
187.0

Breakfast
granola with fresh fruit

Lunch
leftover Indian turkey thing & green beans

Dinner
2 slices of pizza
1/2 a mixed green salad
2 Heinekens

The pizza came at the end of a ridiculous day spent chained inside the house. AT&T was coming because there was something wrong with our phone line that was preventing me from having Internet access. They screwed up our appointment numerous times, and then Sarah finally managed to eke out a promise from a robotic phone message that they would be here between 8 AM and 8 PM. At 7:30 PM, I called the office, got hung up on once, got transferred to a non-working number, and finally talked to a guy who told me they couldn’t get out here until Monday. I exploded and somehow managed to extract an ounce of compassion from the phone guy, who nonetheless told me his hands were tied. Sarah called back and, through her feminine wiles, managed to convince them to send someone out Friday morning between 8-12. At the end of the day, I was so frustrated that pizza seemed to be the only option.

Friday – Day 44
The phone guy came at 10:30. After testing everything, he told me that he’d have to rip out something in the wall and charge me $125. I said, “when we got our satellite dish installed last week, the satellite guy was working near the phone wires … could that possibly have something to do with it?” He went into the man cave and unplugged something the satellite guy had plugged into the phone jack. Instantly, the phone worked. “You mean I’ve been in this house without Internet for a week and all I had to do was unplug the satellite box from the phone jack?” “Yes,” he said. “Well, you still suck,” I answered. AT&T is the worst.

Morning weight
188.6

Breakfast
No clue.

I biked to work in the morning for the first time. It’s a pretty tough ride. The quickest route goes over a bridge where bikers are decidedly not welcome, so I had to go about 3/4 of a mile out of my way. On the way in, I caught a flat. Luckily the guy down the hall patched it for me. Unluckily, his patch busted by the end of the day, and I had to have Sarah pick me up.

Lunch
Leftover Indian thing

Dinner
Dinner was a little weird b/c we went to see Willy Wonka (the original) in Griffith Park with some of our friends. I had a chicken sandwich from Viet Noodle and lots of cheese and bread and snacks and wine. Willy Wonka was awesome. That movie really holds up.

Exercise
3 mile bike ride

Saturday – Day 45

Morning weight
188.4

Breakfast
Sweet baked egg
1/4 poppy seed pastry
1/2 fruity pastry thing
2 slices turkey bacon
1 piece rye toast

Lunch
kale salad with quinoa

Dinner
grilled cheese sandwich
lentil soup

Sunday – Day 46

Morning weight
188.4

Breakfast
3 egg white omelette with avocado & feta cheese
fruit salad

Lunch
torta with soy chorizo

Dinner
pasta primavera
salad

Exercise
3 mile (leisurely) bike ride

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