ROLLING STONES ARE BACK - DID THEY EVER LEAVE?

Just announced on Thursday February 6, 2020

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CHICAGO CUBS WORLD SERIES FEVER TRAIL

Each of my hikes 'need' a theme, mostly because it amuses me. (I am easily amused.) Yesterday's theme was an urban hike that created its own trail of Chicago Cubs World Series Fever related points of interest. There were three highlights of this imaginary trail that I hiked in yesterday's cold and windy day, which turned into a cold, windy and rainy day. I was 'rescued' by my wife after I had hiked ten miles. My clothing was wet, although my new waterproof hiking shoes kept my feet dry and my spirit remained undampened. First stop along this 'trail' was Daley Plaza.

Daley Plaza's fountain is bright blue for the Cubs. The fountain outside the Daley Center, 50 W. Washington St., was dyed blue at the start of the National League Division Series.  The fountain is scheduled to remain blue as long as the Cubs are playing. With their win in Game 2 of the World Series, the season is now guaranteed to extend at least three more games.

The next stop on this Chicago Cubs World Series Fever Trail was the Willis Tower. You might recognize the previous name of this skyscraper - Sears Tower.  As the Cubs are playing in the World Series, it made sense to visit the giant globe at the base of the Willis Tower. The 2016 Major League Baseball World Champions will either reside in Chicago or Cleveland - we will know in about one week. Flying nearby are blue "W" (win) flags and Chicago Cubs flags. Willis Tower has the fever.

The Willis Tower Globe was installed in January 2010 in front of the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. The 25 foot diameter globe was made by the Poblocki Sign Company entirely out of 316 stainless steel, which was rolled, coped and fully welded at each intersection.

Although in Game 1 of the World Series, the Chicago Cubs' bats were silenced, they do have a powerful lineup capable of scoring lots of runs. This brings us to the third and final stop along my imaginary Chicago Cubs World Series Fever Trail - Batcolumn

It would be difficult to find a bat bigger than 'Batcolumn'

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 3 packet	300	66	0	6	930	0
	300	66	0	6	930	0
L U N C H
Grilled Whitefish	300	0	13	43	113	0
Buttered Cabbage	150	6	14	2	120	4
Brussel Sprouts - Roasted	150	11	10	5	435	3
Garlic Tofu	200	10	10	15	565	4
Clif Bar - Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch	260	42	7	10	200	20
	1,060	69	54	75	1,433	31
D I N N E R
Chipotle - Burrito: Shredded Beef, Black Beans, Cheese	1,000	104	37	68	2,367	1
Nestle - Dark Chocolate Bar	300	31	18	4	0	0
Milano - Cookies, 3 cookies	180	21	10	2	80	11
	1,480	156	65	74	2,447	12
S N A C K S
Dark Chocolate Bar With Mint	440	40	36	6	0	22
	440	40	36	6	0	22
Totals	3,280	331	155	161	4,810	65
Your Daily Goal	4,221	527	140	212	2,300	158
Remaining	941	196	-15	51	-2,510	93
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,291 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 202.9 lbs in 5 weeks.
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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
10 MILE URBAN HIKE	118	2,291
Daily Total / Goal	118 / 30	2,291 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	517 / 210	9,429 / 4,130

WORLD SERIES FEVER

I used to be New York Yankees fan. I kinda think that I still am a Yankees fan. Yet, this year the only player that I was able to name on the team - Alex Rodriguez - I despised.  In recent years, I would settle crank up my interest in baseball when the Yankees were in the playoffs. It's been a bit quite in October in recent years. Now in my adopted hometown of Chicago - the Cubs, yes the Chicago Cubs are going to be in the World Series. I watched my first game of the season on Saturday night as the Cubs clinched the pennant. Local TV media went wild and pre-empted all local broadcasting. It's the kind of thing that would usually be reserved for an imminent meteor strike heading towards downtown. I suppose Cub pennants are an equally likely occurrence. I am officially on board the Cubs bandwagon.  They have four more wins to achieve the greatness that has eluded them for 108 years. Go Cubs!
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Prices have increased a bit since the 1908 World Series

The resale market for Chicago Cubs World Series tickets at Wrigley Field seems a bit enthusiastic for Game 3.  These are the LOWEST ASKING PRICES for tickets as of October 23 @ 7PM Central Time on Stub Hub. These prices may go up or down depending on supply and demand. Me personally, if I were to pay $2,235.90 for a ticket I might expect to have an actual seat - but these tickets are for Standing Room Only. On the other hand, I suppose I could get some steps in while I tried to keep warm during a chilly October night. Can you imagine how much tickets will be traded for, for any potential World Series Clinching game? I'll keep myself updated... and you too.

from baseball-almanc.com

The Cubs became the first team to record three consecutive World Series appearances and two consecutive World Series victories with both championship wins coming off the heels of a record one-hundred sixteen victory season of 1906. In 1908, Chicago's West Side franchise was more than just a winning baseball team, they had just become sports first official "dynasty".

The thing about dynasties... they tend to end. For example, the Ming Dynasty. That only lasted for nearly 300 years - and then poof - no more Mings. The Cubs dynasty lasted 3 years. It was a good run. Might be time to crank up a new one. 

2016 World Series Schedule

Game	Date	Time (ET)	Home Team	TV
1	Tue, Oct. 25	8 p.m.	Cleveland Indians	Fox
2	Wed, Oct. 26	8 p.m.	Cleveland Indians	Fox
3	Fri, Oct. 28	8 p.m.	Chicago Cubs	Fox
4	Sat, Oct. 29	8 p.m.	Chicago Cubs	Fox
5	Sun, Oct. 30*	8 p.m.	Chicago Cubs	Fox
6	Tue, Nov. 1*	8 p.m.	Cleveland Indians	Fox
7	Wed, Nov. 2*	8 p.m.	Cleveland Indians	Fox

      Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, October 23, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Omelette - 3-egg Omelette With Cheese	425	0	21	28	650	2
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon	120	0	9	9	525	0
Honey Nut Toasted Oats	600	120	5	10	950	55
	1,145	120	35	47	2,125	57
L U N C H
Hot Dog With Bun (2)	580	0	0	0	0	0
Homemade German Chocolate Cake	300	16	26	6	207	5
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
	1,180	81	26	11	1,707	45
D I N N E R
Homemade Broccoli Chicken Casserole, 2 cup	600	38	16	62	1,392	0
	600	38	16	62	1,392	0
Totals	2,925	239	77	120	5,224	102
Your Daily Goal	3,084	385	102	155	2,300	115
Remaining	159	146	25	35	-2,924	13
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,154 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 210.5 lbs in 5 weeks.

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	99	1,154
Daily Total / Goal	99 / 30	1,154 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1205 / 210	14,558 / 4,130

Throughout the day, I thought I would skip a day of workouts...that is, until 10PM .  At that time, I did decide that it was time to jump onto the elliptical machine 99 minutes.  At 9:55PM when I glanced at my fitbit, it indicated an accumulated total of ZERO minutes of activity and a grand total of 2634 steps. That was simply unacceptable. Perhaps if I had walked around the corner, or gone anywhere for any reason, maybe I could have skipped a day.  Seriously, I did more steps per day when I was recovering from my hernia surgery.

99 minute workout on the elliptical machine at 10PM burned 1154 calories

from wikipedia.com

The Ming dynasty was the ruling dynasty of China—then known as the Empire of the Great Ming—for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history,"^[ was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

On the day that Donald Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015, approximately four hundred days ago, I don't think that there was a serious pundit on Earth that thought that he would be formally accepting the nomination for President of the United States at the Republican National Convention. This tells us that sometimes it pays not to pay too much attention to the all-knowing wizards of TV, Radio and Print Media.  It was these same pundits who eight years ago, when Hillary Clinton lost the nomination to Barack Obama breathlessly explained that her time had passed and she would never again be a force in politics. (Question: Are these all the same type of geniuses who warn us about global warming destroying the planet in the year 2525? Answer: Yes)

A man I greatly admire, Dennis Prager, has said countless times that Donald Trump was his 17th choice in the primaries - but now that he is the nominee, Trump is his first choice. Things were not so difficult for me, Trump was my 13th choice, so I guess it has been somewhat easier for me to pivot and support his candidacy.

The 'Left' is destroying America. It is as simple as that. Donald Trump has held many dubious beliefs in the past. (In fact, he holds a few dubious beliefs now.) If he were to become President, there would be the hope that perhaps he could surprise us and somehow do some great things to right the ship we call America. If his opponent should prevail, we are doomed. If Trump's opponent should win, the Supreme Court is definitely doomed. If Trump's opponent should win, there will be no hope, but there will be change - and it won't be good. Here is something 'fun' to do... Find someone who supports HRC and ask them what her biggest political accomplishments have been. This question stumps all Hillary's supporters every time. The question stumps Hillary too. Donald Trump actually has an answer to this question. He reminds us that Hillary's biggest accomplishment was skating away from prosecution for her unauthorized personal server as Secretary of State, the mismanagement of the classified emails, and lying about it.  I agree with him on this one - Avoiding prosecution was a quite an amazing accomplishment.

Donald Trump gave his acceptance speech last night. I admit that I was underwhelmed by his speech. I had fantasized about a speech with soaring rhetoric that would have energized America. Maybe his speech hit the spot with other Americans. I hope so. It did not for me. Nevertheless, when I cast my ballot on November 8th, I will be voting for Donald J. Trump for President of the United States of America.

                           * * * * * * * * * *

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It felt like I took a day off from hiking on Wednesday.  I 'only' took a 10 mile hike around the Cincinnati neighborhood. I started at my hotel, and when I returned to my hotel, I had logged 10 miles.

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Your Food Diary For:

Thursday, July 21, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Thomas' - Cinnamon Raisin Bread, 3 slice	240	48	3	6	375	21
Kelloggs - Raisin Bran Cereal	380	92	2	10	420	36
	620	140	5	16	795	57
L U N C H
Whole Foods - Chicken Tender	300	0	0	0	0	0
Whole Foods - Organic Indian Rice	225	50	1	5	0	0
Whole Foods - Chicken Tikka Masala	225	2	13	22	353	1
	750	52	14	27	353	1
D I N N E R
Read - 3 Bean Salad	300	65	0	5	1,500	40
Subway - Chicken Breast Footlong	640	94	10	46	1,220	16
Bai - Antioxidant Cocofusion, 32 oz	20	36	0	0	140	4
Powerbar - Protein Plus Bar Vanilla	210	27	5	20	130	14
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bar	190	29	7	3	135	11
Jack Link's - Jumbo Beef Steak	120	3	2	23	1,540	2
	1,480	254	24	97	4,665	87
S N A C K S
Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries	300	55	27	0	0	27
Yogurt Covered Raisins	300	53	13	3	25	50
	600	108	40	3	25	77
Totals	3,450	554	83	143	5,838	222
Your Daily Goal	2,820	352	94	142	2,300	105
Remaining	-630	-202	11	-1	-3,538	-117
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 890 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 223.3 lbs in 5 weeks.

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Thursday, July 21, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	160	1,090
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-200
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	161 / 30	890 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	810 / 210	5,307 / 4,130

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JACK'S DELI and RESTAURANT (JEWISH DELI - CLEVELAND)

As I have previously discussed, I am a creature of habit. I am trying to break the habit of being so predictable. For years, I bounced around among Burger King, McDonalds, Panera Express, White Castle and Subway. It was a rare day that I deviated from one of these five places for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The times that I did deviate, I actually managed to find a place to eat even less healthy - and that's not easy. Lately, I have been bouncing around restaurants offering far healthier choices: Jason's Deli, Panera Bread, Applebee's and Subway (making very different choices than I used to!)

Today, I met a customer for the first time in a very Jewish section of Cleveland, University Heights. I found myself in the heart of Jewish community with Jewish style food at a bunch of places. So, I decided to sample a new place today. I visited Jack's Deli and Restaurant a legendary restaurant in the Cleveland area for more than 30 years.

And although, I do not do a good job of keeping Kosher for Passover, I decided that I would order from the 'Passover' menu.  It was thoroughly enjoyable and it was simply fun to eat somewhere different.  When I visited my Mom last week, I had a lot of horseradish with gefilte fish with two meals.  My Mom's gefilte fish was store-bought, but the horseradish was homemade.  At Jack's the gefilte fish and the horseradish were both homemade.  (My Mom's horseradish was better - and no, I'm not just saying that because I know she reads my blog!)  Here was the menu that I selected from:

Jack's Deli and Restaurant  PASSOVER SPECIALS MENU

I started my lunch with a bowl of Matzo Ball Soup, and the matzo ball was the size of an apple! It was quite delicious.

Jack's Deli and Restaurant MATZO BALL SOUP

After my soup, I had the homemade gefilte fish with carrots, with horseradish and a piece of matzo.

Jack's Deli and Restaurant HOMEMADE GEFILTE FISH w/CARROTS and HORSERADISH

I may return to this restaurant again before my week in the Cleveland area comes to a conclusion...

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TUESDAY MENU

breakfast   Baymont Inn scrambled egg, two small sausages, SHMURAH MATZAH  280 calories
lunch         Matzo Ball Soup, Gefilte Fish w/carrots and horseradish, Matzo, pickle     421 calories
dinner        Campbell's Home Style Italian-Style Wedding Soup, Asparagus Spears     305 calories

total caloric consumption  1006 calories

calories burned
YMCA ELLIPTICAL 35 minutes (3936 strides)     443 calories
I specifically reserved a hotel room that allegedly had a fitness room.  The fitness room at my hotel was extremely bad.  There actually was an elliptical machine and it was totally useless as it simply was in great disrepair.  As it turned out, it was not a problem as nearby was a Y!

TUESDAY NET CALORIES    563 CALORIES


The walls of Jack's Deli and Restaurant were adorned with Yiddish words with their definitions.  Naturally, I took some pictures of them.  Shmooze, I knew.  Everything else, not so much!