by Fat Daddy, Esq. on January 31, 2012
Many people desire a fit and healthy body. It is easy to read through fitness magazines and websites and dream of a beach-ready figure. The demands of work and family often crowd out the hard part, finding time to actually exercise. It is even worse if you have a desk job where you tend to sit for hours on end and expend very little energy during the workday. Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic was an early proponent of the treadmill desk as a way of increasing the opportunity for an otherwise sedentary worker to increase his or her exercise while updating TPS Reports.
The first step is to get a treadmill. Craigslist is a great source for people looking to get rid of their treadmills now that they have found suitable clothes-hanging space elsewhere. I decided to purchase the Exerpeutic TF1000 Walk to Fitness Electric Treadmill
. The Amazon product page includes a video which explains the machine’s features.
There are several important features that make this treadmill an ideal solution for a treadmill desk. First, the layout lends itself very well to placing a desk atop the long, gently sloped arms without too much modification of the machine. Second, the treadmill is designed for slow walking and is adjustable in 0.1 mph increments up to 4.0 mph. Third, the on-board computer keeps the workout data in memory until you reset it, meaning if you walk for 20 minutes, turn it off, and then return later your time and distance is added to the previous 20 minutes so that at the end of the day you can see how far you traveled without having to write down the distance every time you step off the machine. The machine does stop after 99:59 minutes but you can simply press the start button again to continue your walk. The timer resets but the distance remains in memory. And finally, price. The treadmill and desk materials should not cost more than $500.00 which sounds like a lot but is quite a bit cheaper than some of the other available options such as the Details Walkstation
which will set you back more than $4,000.00. Obviously you can save even more money if you already have a treadmill.
To get video to the monitor on my treadmill desk, I used a Startech ST122LE 2-Port USB-Powered VGA Video Splitter
to run a second VGA cable. I went ahead and purchased a Logitech Wireless Desktop MK320 Keyboard
keyboard and mouse set so that I do not have to move anything to go from seated to walking. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are always setup and ready to go.
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by Fat Daddy, Esq. on December 22, 2011
As I have discussed here before, it can be a pain keeping track of your billing in six minute increments. It is even more of a chore to keep track of time when you are on the go. Trying to go back and recreate a day or a week out of the office can be difficult and you are more likely to, in the famous words of Roger Clemens,”misremember” just how much time you spent on various tasks.
Recently I purchased iSlips from Brain Freeze Software to try to make my life easier by entering my time and expenses when I’m out of the office and make more money by capturing my time and expenses more accurately.
I downloaded the software onto my iPhone and iPad and within minutes our client list of over 2,000 accounts, including the reference fields for each client, and the task descriptions we use were transferred from our Timeslips database to the iSlips app.
One of the best features for mobile time entry is the abbreviations used in Timeslips transfer to the app. For instance, I created an abbreviation in Timeslips so that when I type “rre” the software converts the abbreviation to “Reviewed and responded to email from” upon hitting the space bar. With iSlips I can do the exact same thing, which makes entering a description much quicker on the mobile device. I am going to go back and create many more abbreviations to take advantage of this feature.
Data can sync wirelessly, with a cable, or by email. I had some trouble with the wireless syncing but the company founder, Steve Stasinos, was very prompt and helpful in addressing my problems. The email sync option will be particularly helpful for my boss. He will be able to input his time in the app and then email the file to his secretary. Once she receives the file, all she has to do is import the file with the free iSlips Sync software and the data is seamlessly sent to Timeslips.
I am always searching for ways to make my job easier and more efficient. This app looks very promising.
by Fat Daddy, Esq. on November 20, 2011
Dressing? Stuffing? Around my house we call it dressing because it doesn’t get stuffed into anything. This recipe is my grandmother’s and is one of my all-time favorite foods from my youth. When I was growing up she would make this every Thanksgiving and sometimes for other gatherings as well. Before she passed away I learned her recipe and now I am the official dressing provider for our Thanksgiving dinner.
I will be the first to acknowledge that this recipe is not complicated or fancy. The difference in this recipe and many other recipes I have sampled over the years is in the preparation. Most stuffing or dressing recipes are looser, meaning that the end product is somewhat fluffy and sometimes dry. This recipe produces a moist but dense dressing that can be sliced into squares and served alongside the juicy turkey and gravy.
- 1 bag Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing
- 2 boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
- 2 Eggs
- 2/3 Cup Milk
- 1-2 Onions
- 4 stalks Celery
- 2-3 14.5 oz. cans Chicken Broth
- 1 stick Butter
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