Category: Blog Posts About Me

Run Jeremy, Run!

A Health Wake-Up Call

How my father’s heart surgery changed my perspective on health

Person running on a path
The simple act that might have prevented my father’s heart surgery

My Father’s Urgent Advice

“Jeremy, RUN!”

My dad had a four-way bypass today here in Portland. After being able to talk to him after the third time seeing him today, he had some advice he urgently wanted to share with me. This was the first thing he said to me.

What he was referring to was that I had started to train for a 5k a few months ago that I wasn’t able to participate in because I came down with the flu. Essentially he was saying, “Jeremy, do whatever you can to take care of yourself because you don’t want to be where I am someday.”

Trust me, I want no part of what I saw today.

How This Experience Changed Me

I played some basketball in school, but once I got into the corporate world, exercise—like a lot of things—took a back seat. Today I got scared straight, let me tell you.

Food Perspective

I haven’t been able to eat meat for 2 days now. I’m scared to death of meat in general after seeing what I saw. If one of your favorite foods is ice cream and hamburgers like mine was, go to a hospital cardiac unit and see how good that hamburger and ice cream sounds after sitting in the lobby.

Next Steps

I’m seriously contemplating going vegetarian, but want to talk to a dietitian as soon as I can to make sure I do things correctly. My dad had to go through so much over the last few days—I am so motivated to get healthy.

The Toll of Medical Crises

My dad is doing well, but he had one heck of a day today. The anxiety of the last 5 days has caused a big strain on all of us, but nothing like it has for my dad.

Physical Effects of Stress:

  • Different breathing patterns
  • Frequent headaches
  • Tightness in back and shoulders
  • Carrying the family’s collective stress

I saw my dad three times today and like most dads, mine is like Superman to me. I really haven’t ever seen my dad down for very long, ever. Today he was strong as always and determined as ever, but man did it shake me to my core about eating right and taking better care of myself.

If you aren’t taking care of yourself, spend 5 minutes with me, and I’ll try my best to convince you to change course.

Run Jog Walk Hike Bike Get Active Eat Well

Web Hosting in 1997

Unearthing web files from 1997 on forgotten floppy disks

I finally decided to throw out all my old floppy disks after cleaning out a closet last weekend. Before I threw them out, I had to go through them all to see if there were still any files left on the disks. To my surprise, there were still a few files I found which was like going back in time.

When I lived in Maryland, I had Erol’s for a while instead of AOL like everyone else. One of the files was a page I saved because I was researching web hosts back in 1997 for hosting my own website. I was going to start my own online grocery delivery business.

1997 Web Hosting page screenshot showing browser logos and hosting information
A web hosting research page from 1997 saved on a 3.5″ floppy disk. Notice the placeholders for the IE4 and Netscape logos!

1997: A Digital Retrospective

Storage

3.5″ floppy disks typically held 1.44MB of data — less than a single modern smartphone photo.

Internet

Dial-up modems typically connected at 28.8 or 33.6 kbps, with 56k becoming available.

Browsers

Netscape Navigator dominated with over 70% market share, while Internet Explorer was gaining ground.

Ahead of the Curve

Looking at my plans for an online grocery delivery business in 1997 reminds me how some ideas are simply ahead of their time. Services like Instacart, Amazon Fresh, and Walmart Grocery wouldn’t become mainstream for nearly two decades.

Sometimes the right idea just needs the right technology and market conditions to succeed.

What’s in Your Digital Time Capsule?

Do you have any old digital files or websites that bring back memories? Have you discovered anything interesting while cleaning out old technology? Share your digital archaeology finds in the comments!

My 2013 Resolutions

My 2013 Resolutions

With extra animated GIF flair, because that’s how we roll in 2013!

I know this might be shocking, but I’m famous for not following through on my resolutions, but I do them each year any way. What is more awesome than New Year’s resolutions? Animated GIFs, my friends. So hold on to that computer mouse, here are my 2013 resolutions. I added some animated GIF flare because that is how we are going to do it in 2013.

This is my 2,900th post to jeremyperson.com!

I think that is awesome and if you are reading this you might too. I’m looking forward to a few more posts, so I can be a 3k post blogger. I like to share…a lot.

Past Resolution Adventures

OK, now let’s get into the resolutions!

Push-up animation gif

Resolution #1: 50 Consecutive Push-ups

I can do 16 currently. I have push-ups on my resolution list almost every year and for 2013 let’s shoot for 50 since I’m half way there.

16 of 50 (32%)
Camera shutter animation

Resolution #2: Take More Pictures

Try not to worry too much about what others are doing. Just take lots of pictures and document the life through the camera lens. I really enjoy life and love sharing it with others.

Ping pong animation

Resolution #3: Rock the Ping Pong

We got a ping pong table at work, which has given me a chance to get pretty decent at it. OK, it probably helps that I have freakishly long monkey limbs. Playing more ping pong is not really a goal, but I just want to keep doing more things that make me happy.

Kid shaking brush animation

Resolution #4: Make the Bed Each Day

Next comes something I don’t like, and I don’t think I’m alone. I want to make the bed each day in 2013. OK, kid, stop shaking that brush at me, I’ll do it, I’ll do it.

Bike riding animation

Resolution #5: Teach Tyler to Ride a Bike

Teach Tyler to ride a bike without training wheels. He is super cautious like his dad and I won’t be like the dad in the animation, but we will prevail in 2013!

Running animation

Resolution #6: Run a 5K

Run a 5k with an average pace of less than 10 minutes a mile. I just started getting serious about running and although that is probably slow to some of you, it would be a remarkable feat to me.

I have never taken my health too seriously and with me losing so many around me in 2012 I don’t want to be the next person to leave prematurely. I’ll see how the 5k goes and hope to do a half-marathon in the summer if I can get super dedicated. If you can have a lion, tiger, or bear chase me, that would be even better.

Celebration animation

Happy New Year and here is to another year of rocking the Internet together!

What are your 2013 resolutions? Let me know in the comments!

All animated GIFs lovingly collected from around the internet. If one is yours and you’d like credit, let me know!