About a year ago, I installed Skype but had no one to talk to. Today, I use it to talk with Michael Geesmann in Berlin, Germany, and Caroline uses Skype Out to talk with her mom in Frankfurt, Germany. Michael is an old friend from Frankfurt who now makes a living working out of his apartment selling various small gift items on eBay. Since last September Michael and I have talked for free for a total of many hours. Another old friend, Olaf Finkbeiner, is also using Skype but he is rarely available. Using Skype Out Caroline has talked with her mom for about a dozen hours with a cost of only .02 cents per minute. Voice over I.P. or VOIP is a dream on broadband, but using Skype Out to call our friend Jay Patel in Bombay, India, on his cell phone hasn’t worked out yet; the connection is far too noisy and impossible even to establish anything resembling a conversation. Having a chat window open while at the same time talking is the best of both worlds – telecom and the internet; as we talk, we send links back and forth, introducing each other to various websites.

The past months have seen us take a curbing to go out for dinner. The restaurants within a 15-mile radius have become progressively more boring. Cooking at home, on the other hand, has become more and more enjoyable the more comfortable I get in the kitchen. As I eat more vegetarian meals, I also become more aware of shortcomings that might be part of the diet and am learning how to compensate and ensure we are eating balanced meals. Just yesterday, the USDA released its new dietary recommendations, and there is a heavy emphasis on more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds and less meat, sugar, fat, and salt.

Finding the balance of how a healthy diet works is not all that easy, though. At the moment I try to balance in my mind’s eye what we are eating over the course of the day and try to approximate what we need and where we fall short. This is a failing proposition; while we are probably getting a healthier meal, I’m not at all comfortable that the food is giving us everything we need. So I refer back to maybe trying to realize my idea for software that would help guide us to finding that perfect mix of food items.

This evening we had a dinner of Sambar, a south Indian soup which is supposed to be served with Idli’s – that I don’t make as of yet. Instead, I altered the recipe from a soupier to a more stew-like meal. My version contains the following: urad dahl (split urad or urd bean), channa dahl (split chickpea), toor dahl (yellow lentils), Kabuli channa (garbanzos or chickpea – larger than channa dahl), mustard seed, curry leaf, cumin, coriander, turmeric, green chilies, ginger, garlic, red onion, peas, corn, Mexican squash, crookneck squash, bottle gourd (doodhi), tomatoes, carrot, celery, cilantro, tamarind paste, and sambar seasoning.

Grandpa Herbert, Caroline, and I went to see the 1:30 matinee showing of The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes. Before taking off for the movies, we dragged everything we would need to make poha for Mom. She liked it but thought it was too dry; maybe some mango chutney would improve what she suggested. The film was okay, but the heavy focus on Howard Hughes’ obsessive-compulsive disorder distracted from his accomplishments a little too much for my liking; as a matter of fact, this could have been a film about anyone with mental instability. Before leaving Mom’s, we stopped downstairs to say hi to Aunt Eleanor, who is still recovering from hernia surgery from earlier in the week. Even in recuperation with a bit of congestion, she is the sweetest old lady I have ever known. If only everyone could have a touch of her good-natured demeanor, the world would be a much nicer place.

Moving back to America in 1995 saw me balloon from 172 pounds on April 6th, 1995, to 260 pounds today. Living in Arizona, there is nowhere to walk to with a purpose other than exercise, and in the summer, it is overbearingly hot, even in the early evening. Not only did moving back see me start smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, but Caroline and I gradually stopped sharing a dinner dish when we ate out, which was all the time. Initially, we split a dish and, over time, started having an appetizer in addition to the main dish. Next, we would have an appetizer, split a main dish, and split a dessert. After a while, we would order separate dishes but skip the appetizer or dessert until ultimately, we would have an appetizer, a main dish, and there was a good chance we’d also have dessert. While in Germany, eating out was inconvenient, and walking was mandatory as parking was hard fought for and necessary services were all within walking distance.

In less than five years, I put on 88 extra pounds – of fat. On September 9, 1999, I quit smoking for the final time. I had tried a few other times only to relapse within two weeks of quitting. The last time I quit, I knew I didn’t want to smoke anymore. Not only was the smoking affecting lung capacity, which was apparently going up even one flight of stairs, but the weight was also slowing me down. It took the better part of a year until I felt that I was at a safe distance from smoking and that I wouldn’t ever smoke again. At that time, I was aware I wanted to do something about my weight but figured I would first deal with the bad habit of smoking.

Over the past two years, I’ve slowly warmed to the idea of vegetarianism. We no longer cook meat at home, and with the help of Indian cooking, I no longer miss it; if I do, we simply go out for dinner, and I get my animal protein fix. Now, I’m comfortable with eating more and varied veggies. I’ve cooked with possibly every lentil and bean used in the Hindu kitchen, and we have a spice collection to rival famous chefs.

Now, the hard part: I had lost 15 pounds with the Atkins diet but nearly went insane wanting fresh anything. Today, the weight is back on. I went on an eating binge after the diet, stopped my efforts to exercise, and didn’t much care. I need to find that same gumption that helped me quit smoking to lose this weight, or at least 70 pounds of it. I started the day with oatmeal and raisins, and I committed to getting familiar with Soy milk. Next, I have to try to make meal plans and maybe consider fasting from time to time. Caroline has wanted to get me to fast with her for the better part of a year; maybe the time is closer today.

My blood pressure is elevated to about 140/92, and my doctor would like me on Altace, but I do not like the idea of taking these molecular human-designed miracles. The only choice I have then, if I’m to avoid diabetes and heart disease, is to dig deep and find the balls to stick this out. First, modify my caloric intake, and once that is under control, do some regular exercise!

A perfectly entertaining deadpan movie about midlife adventurers lost in their own mediocre world in an effort to recapture the glory days. The movie is absolutely charming in its mediocrity. No peaks, no super antics, pretty low-tech all the way around. The boat is moving towards being as decrepit as the characters who are trying to live one more high adventure. Caroline and I left the theater chuckling about how human and average the whole thing was but how it tickled us and had a feel-good nature about it.