As before mentioned, my strategy for gaining control of my weight is based on the idea of self-regulation. In other words, when I chose to lose weight, I did not look at it as a project with a goal of losing weight, but rather as a behavior modification experiment where the subject of the experiment is me.
So what is self-regulation?
Most people hear about self-regulation via popular notions such as self-control or self-discipline or the exercise of willpower.
More formally, (see "Losing Control: How and why people fail at self-regulation" by Baumeister, Heatherton and Tice for a more complete description) self-regulation refers to any effort by a human being to alter its own responses, such as actions, thoughts, feelings, desires and performances.
When people fail to self-regulate, they behave in ways that are due to learning, habit, inclination or innate tendencies, in other words, in the manner that Robert Cialdini terms "click and whir" behavior, in his book "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." It's the type of behavior that happens mostly by automatic response. In contrast, when people self-regulate, the result is behavior, choices, actions, that are fully conscious and intentional, which overrides the previously described behavior.
Self-regulation, therefore, can be defined as intentional overriding of unintentional behavior.
Today I mowed the lawn. I had not done it in about a month, mostly because the lawn mower broke and I did not want to fix it. I debated what to get to substitute it and finally went to Home Depot today and got a Scott reel push mower. The lawn was a bit on the high side, but I did it without a lot of trouble.
Yai!
As of today, therefore, I am petroleum independent as far as my grass mowing activities are concerned.
Even the longest journey begins with a single step petroleum free mowing.
What I best remember from traveling are the many differences and new experiences that I find, which makes traveling interesting and worthwhile. I still have memories from childhood, from the many places I visited with my parents. Realizing that people can live different lives, yet be just as satisfied, creates, I think, a fuller sense of being and makes being human more worthwhile. That is why I like to take Filipa and Maya everywhere I go, whenever possible.
Among the most striking experiences I have had from traveling, I count the striking poverty and dirty streets of Kathmandu, eating snake in Beijing, and the wild life of Mala Mala, South Africa.
More recently, I cite the 50 bucks I paid to a cop on route 307 in Quintana Roo Mexico.
On the day of our departure from Mexico, we left Playa del Carmen at 5 am to catch a plane in Cancun. About half way towards Cancun a police car gets behind me and flashes his lights. I looked at the speedometer and since I was not speeding I became a little concerned as to why he was stopping me. He came out of his vehicle and asked me for my license, asking me to get out of the car, where Elsa, Filipa and Maya remained puzzled at what was going on. He looks at my license and tells me that I was speeding, which I was not, and that he was going to give me a speeding ticket but that he did not have a receipt to give me.
Aha! No receipt. Immediately I knew what he was after.
He went into his car and fetched an envelope and told me that I would have to pay 1,250 pesos for my infraction, and that he was going to keep my license, like the ones in the envelope, and that I would have to go to the station to pay my fine where they would then give me my license back.
I opened my wallet and gave him all the pesos I had and told him that that was all I had. He took the money and counted and then told me that the fine was 1,250 pesos and that he could not give me a receipt. I asked him where I could pay the fine and he told me I had to go to Tulum, which was one hour away. I told him I had to catch a plane, I could not go to Tulum and that was all the money I had. Furthermore, that I was not interested in a receipt.
He said he would call the station and ask if he could accept the money, which was around 500 pesos. Such a straight guy I tell you.
After faking a call he tells me that it was ok and that I should go slow.
"Claro, mucho devagar," I told him.
And so I got back in the car as he went out to look for another tourist to swindle.
I made sure I pointed out to Maya and Filipa what had just happened and what it was called and slowly crept my way towards Cancun.
I felt so priviledged to have had the opportunity to show a live demonstration of what corruption is to Maya and Filipa. For fifty bucks, I collected an experience that I will always remember.
Well, first, the reason I went. I had not seen my father in three years and I was glad to see him for he is doing great.
And so is my mother.
Besides being my parent's anniversary on the 12th, it was my sister's 40th birthday on the 13th. Here she is in front of the Aeronautical Enginnering building where she is getting a Masters in Airport Management (or something like that).
Madrid was a lot of fun. The museums are world class, the people party like there is no tomorrow, and the city is awash in history.
Atocha Train Station.
Plaza de España. Do you recognize the two men on the horse and the donkey?
Plaza Mayor. Used to be the market, now a big tourist attraction.
Statue of Velasquez at the entrance to the Prado Museum.
Puertas de Alcala
A statue of Cristobal Colon (aka Christopher Columbus)
Below is Puertas del Sol. We stayed nearby. This place is always busy, regardless of the hour of the day or night.
It's also Km 0. The point from which all distances in Spain are measured.
It's after 1 am and these people are lining up to enter the theater.
Yours truly at Puertas del Sol. The statue of the bear and the tree is the symbol of Madrid.
Entrance to the Thyssen Museum.
Below is a Mayan stele stolen by the Spanish from Palenque in Mexico. It, along with other loot, can be found at the Museo de America, which should be in everyone's list of places to visit in Madrid.
I went to the Salamanca neighborhood, which was and is the most Fracoist neighboorhood in Madrid. Nowadays, the old fascists are dropping dead on a daily basis and being replaced by ... Anyway, I decided to take an antithetical picture instead. If you do not know what the message means, click here or here (in english).
Look at the funny hats. They are the equivalent of State troopers.
Talk about choice. Check out this coffee vending machine that I found at Kiki's university.
Next time I'm taking the girls with me. Madrid is fabulous to visit.
Today I mowed the lawn. I had not done it in about a month, mostly because the lawn mower broke and I did not want to fix it. I debated what to get to substitute it and finally went to Home Depot today and got a Scott reel push mower. The lawn was a bit on the high side, but I did it without a lot of trouble. 
