Jobs

My first job was a paper route. I received a bundle of papers every day. I rolled them and delivered them on my bike. Each month I collected the money. Later I moved up to the main paper in Kansas City, The Kansas City Star. My first route was to deliver about 180 papers to an apartment complex. I was 14 and waking up at 2:30 am for the large sum of 13 dollars per week.



Here are the jobs I have done in my life:



• Paper boy

• Bus boy at Red Lobster (later I worked as a dish washer, then finally cooking)

• Cook in another locally owned restaurant

• Laborer for a brick and block mason

• Ground crew: All kinds of lawn work, eventually I primarily worked on the lawn equipment, I can fix a small engine.

• Summer missionary trying to start a new church

• Summer youth minister

• Caregiver for an elderly man one summer

• Church planter apprentice, trying to start a mission church

• House and yard keeper for an MD in New Orleans

• Cleaned houses between seminary and first ministerial job

• Security guard - not armed

• Psychiatric aid

• Psychiatric hospital work, many titles and positions both clinical and administrative.

• Counseling private practice

• Currently working as a clinical social worker with acute psychiatric patients.



From $13 a week delivering papers to $1.60 per hour as a bus boy, those early jobs taught me a lot. All work has dignity. I may complain about my job from time to time, but I am thankful to be working.



What are some of the interesting jobs you have held?



Until the next time

John Strain

Ronald Reagan

When Ronald Reagan, then a private citizen, addressed the Republican Convention in 1992 he was 81 years old. The following excerpt is from that speech. I include it here because he addresses his own legacy and how he hopes history will remember him:

And whatever else history may say about me when I'm gone, I hope it will record that I appealed to your best hopes, not your worst fears, to your confidence rather than your doubts. My dream is that you will travel the road ahead with liberty's lamp guiding your steps and opportunity's arm steadying your way.



My fondest hope for each one of you -- and especially for the young people here -- is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here.



May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism.



And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.



Before I go, I would like to ask the person who has made my life's journey so meaningful, someone I have been so proud of through the years, to join me. Nancy…



My fellow Americans, on behalf of both of us, goodbye, and God bless each and every one of you, and God bless this country we love.

1992 Republican Convention Speech

All politicians make speeches and say things, but when Ronald Reagan spoke, it seemed genuine. Regardless of one's politics, Ronald Reagan encouraged us. He appealed to our values and efforts. He often spoke to our spirit. Like a coach or a father, his speeches were like a gentle hand on the shoulder. You could believe the person talking really cared about you and wanted you to succeed.



I have been watching tributes to Ronald Reagan all weekend. Person after person speaks of how much Ronald Reagan loved the country. They spoke of his values, his humor, and his relationship with Nancy.



One of the things Ronald Reagan could do is disagree with someone and they not hate him. He was not divisive himself. His enemies wanted to hate him, but they could not. Even today, reaction in the former Soviet Union is positive.



Ronald Reagan was more than a great Republican. He was more than a great American. Ronald Reagan was a great man.



Rest in peace Ronald Reagan, you earned it.



Until the next time

John Strain

Cottage Cheese and Peaches Diet Results

I will give you the raw data about the diet first, then share my fitness philosophy with you.







Diet beginning weight: 198

Diet ending weight: 191.0

Difference: -7.0

Time on diet: 6 days

Weight 2 days later: 192.8 (+1.8) I have not eaten a lot of food, so I figure the weight gain has something to do with salt and fluid retention.



Next step for me: I am going to continue eating cottage cheese and peaches for breakfast and lunch. For dinner I am going to eat salads, vegetables, beans, and small portions of meat. I will have a couple of alcoholic beverages on the weekend, say about 4 drinks total. If I get hungry between meals, I will eat cottage cheese or peaches.



I really started cutting back on May 26th which gave me a four day head start going into the diet. In addition, I was food poisoned on the Friday evening before the diet began on Saturday. I lost three pounds then and did not eat a thing Saturday until about 5:00 PM.



Only eating cottage cheese and peaches was not a hardship. It satisfied my hunger. Breakfast and lunch are not problems for me anyway. I am hurrying to get out of the house in the AM and I eat lunch at my desk. Dinner time is where I was over eating. I was coming home and snacking on chips, maybe having a beer or two, then eating two helpings of supper, topped off with something later in the evening.



This diet cut out all of the bad habits. My toughest time was right after work. My stomach was programmed to go home and wolf down some snack food. What I did during the diet was immediately go in and eat my cottage cheese with pepper and some peaches. Once my hunger was satisfied, I went on to other things. The scales were showing immediate results so it was easy to keep doing it. I did not cheat all week. I was surprised at how satisfying the peaches were. They are very sweet and hit the spot taking the place of other rich desserts.



I am convinced this diet can be useful in your weight loss / fitness plan. It is one facet of what is needed. For me, it was like pushing the reset button on my bad habits. Everyone is different, but I tend to do better going cold turkey to break a bad habit than I do attempting to scale back. Now that I have gone a week without the drinking, eating snack food, and eating large portions, I am not inclined to rush back into those behaviors.



My Fitness Philosophy

(1) What do you want? Answering this question is the most important thing one has to do, because it determines your cost. If you were looking for an automobile you would have to answer this question. If your answer was Mercedes or BMW then you would need more money (commitment) than if you answered Chevrolet or Ford. In the area of fitness there are various levels and answers to the question "what do you want?"



Do you want a hard body like a Bay Watch actor?

Do you want to look good in your clothes?

Do you want to look good out of your clothes?

Do you want to run up a couple of flights of stairs without having a heart attack?

Do you just want to lose enough weight to go from a size 40 waist to a size 38?



If you want the hard body, you will have to reduce calories, eat protein to build muscle, and lift weights. You will have to think about it and spend a lot of your free time to get into this kind of shape.



If you just want to lose a few winter pounds, you could probably change some bad eating habits and remedy the situation in a month or two without doing major exercise.



So determine just what you want as fitness is related and that determines the price you must pay.



Individual Variables We are all different. I know how to lose weight and how to get into shape. I know how it unravels for me. I bet you know the same for yourself. Therefore, you must factor in your individual variables for any plan. No matter how hard I work, no matter how much I starve myself, my body has a certain potential. I have a certain body type and it will not change. Make your expectations realistic. You may never completely lose the hips, the stomach, or the thighs. If you have to go to the gym two hours a day and think about every bite you put in your mouth to look the way you do, then you probably will not maintain it for long. Your plan must become second nature. You must learn how to eat and do it wherever you are. If you overeat, then you make up for it the next day. Exercise should be something you enjoy and do without too much effort or it will be too much of a burden. All of these factors must be customized to you. Make modifications as needed.



The Basic Formula Move around more eat less. That is the secret to fitness and getting to your ideal weight. One pound is 3500 calories. If you cut out or burn up 3500 calories in one day or one week, it is reflected on your scale.



Those who only cut back on calories lose some weight initially, but the metabolism is efficient and slows down. Once the metabolism slows, the body ceases to lose weight at the lower caloric intake but maintain the weight. This is where exercise is so important. Exercise keeps the metabolism churning.



To me, exercise is essential, but the amount of exercise required is not that great. A brisk walk is painless and enjoyable. Most people can find room in their schedule for 3 to 4 30 minute walks per week. Then cut back on the cokes, alcohol, sweets, anything high in calories. You need to know what you bring in and what you burn up. The difference in calories is the weight you lose.



If you do not exercise at all now, 2 hours of walking per week would burn around 800 calories. At that rate, you would lose one pound per month if you did not even change your calorie intake.



Check here for a calorie burning calculator



You will see results if you make some changes that (1) cut down on the calories you eat and (2) increase the amount of calories you burn. You can play around with (1) and (2) to suit your lifestyle and goals.



Personally, I like to eat so I increase the exercise quite a bit. At this point, though, I have to give close attention to number (1) and (2) if I am to achieve my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.



Good luck to you whatever your goal



Until the next time

John Strain

College Living in Baton Rouge

John and Roy are going to be living large in Baton Rouge. We found an apartment complex which caters to college students. They will share a two bedroom apartment. This baby comes with washer, dryer, microwave, dishwasher, fully furnished, cable, HBO, and high speed internet. A bus comes by the apartment every ten minutes going back and forth to the LSU campus. It is more like a place we would stay on vacation, but these dudes will be enjoying it at college. I guess times change.



I think about my dorm experiences. The moving in and moving out, putting up with noise, hearing Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama played non stop, the practical jokes. I really miss those days, not.



Here is a photo I took yesterday of the two sophomores.









Tomorrow, I will post the results of the cottage cheese and peaches diet.



Until the next time

John Strain

John & Roy

John and Roy have been friends for 12 years. They met at age seven on their first organized basketball team. Since then, a lot of water has gone under the bridge. The two were good players together. One write-up in the local paper referred to them as the "double trouble" combination. Since then, their nickname has been "double trouble." The boys liked sports, the outdoors, and all things boy. They spent as much time together as they could. During the summers, the two spent the night together almost every night. They were like brothers.



Even though they attended different schools, their friendship stayed strong because of sports and common interests. Five summers in a row, we drove them to the Roy Williams Kansas Basketball Camp at the University of Kansas. For basketball lovers, that trip equated to a pilgrimage to Mecca.



Friday, I am taking off of work and going to Baton Rouge with John, Roy, and Roy's dad, Big Roy. Both boys will be sophomores at LSU in the fall. John is transferring in, Roy was at LSU as a freshman. Children make us aware of the passing of time. The photos below illustrate the point.





John and Roy in 1994 at Navarre Beach Florida





2003 at Orange Beach Florida





Basketball awards in 1994





2002 Allen Field House at the last year of basketball camp, just before their senior year





2002 Kansas Basketball Camp





I am looking forward to another historic day with my son . . . the day we find his first place away from home.



Happy Friday Folks



Until the next time

John Strain