Day 7: Reds Beat Indians

I was lucky enough to see one of very few Reds wins in the past month on Friday night. So I took a pause in my 2,984 minute campaign.

Total Pledged/minute: $0.04 + ($1 per pound lost + $0.01 per mile)

Today's Minutes: 0 Minutes
Total Minutes: 194 Minutes
Today's Distance: 0 Miles
Total Distance: 52.6 Miles

Day 6: Yet Another Crappy Netflix Movie

While my little TV and DVD player in the basement is great at helping to pass the time as I peddle away, it amazes me at the number of bad movies there are out there. The most recent completed moving being "The Girl Next Door". So, we've been renting and watching '24' the series on Netflix. I suppose because of that rental history, one of my Netflix Recommendations was the above mentioned. Apparently because Elisha Cuthbert stars in '24', and is the lead actress in TGND, I should like that movie. Perhaps Netflix needs to work on its recommendation engine, as this movie was horrid. It's the same concept as American Pie, except for not nearly as funny.

Anyway, the movie is now complete, I've got X-Men 2 up next and while I don't expect this to be very good, I am hoping that it will at least be entertaining, and the action should make the minutes go by.

Total Pledged/minute: $0.04 + ($1 per pound lost + $0.01 per mile)

Today's Minutes: 40 Minutes
Total Minutes: 194 Minutes
Today's Distance: 11.0 Miles
Total Distance: 52.6 Miles

Day 5: Short and Sweet

I'll make this one a short update. I've added a couple more pledges to the ranks, and I expect to spend some time this weekend pulling together a registration site to allow for quick/easy pledges. Once that is up, I'll start recruiting pledges aggresively for my 100 day journey.

Total Pledged/minute: $0.04 + ($1 per pound lost + $0.01 per mile)

Today's Minutes: 31 Minutes
Total Minutes: 154 Minutes
Today's Distance: 8.3 Miles
Total Distance: 41.6 Miles

Day 4: Food in Ecuador

So I am just now doing my research on what to expect when I get to South America. And of course first on my list is the food. I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater. Pretty much anything but Sushi is good in my book, and even that I've tried on multiple occassions. Something with me and raw fish just doesn't mix, and inevitably about 3 hours later the fish tends to come back up. The way I see it, raw fish is for Bears and Whales...not Humans.

Anyway, so the research on Ecuadorian food started this way:

Ecuadorian food consists mainly of soup and stews, corn pancakes, rice, eggs and vegetables.

Not a bad start. Nothing to exciting, but certainly some interesting dishes... but then it turned south:

ceviche a favourite throughout Ecuador. It consists of uncooked seafood (** see my comments above about Joe and raw fish **) marinated in lemon and served with popcorn and onion. Sounds strange but tastes delicous. Other local specialties include caldo de pates, a soup made from cattle hooves; cuy, whole roasted guinea pig; and lechón, suckling pig.

So we are dealing with raw fish, Cow Hoof Soup, and Guinea Pig. Perhaps I better pack some trail mix!

Total Pledged/minute: $0.01 + $1 per pound lost (I am planning on beginning the recruitment for pledges in earnest Monday.)

Today's Minutes: 35 Minutes
Total Minutes: 123 Minutes
Today's Distance: 9.5 Miles
Total Distance: 33.3 Miles

Day 3: Another Day Going Nowhere

So, I spent another evening of vigorous exercise without moving an inch. I often wonder if someone from 200 years ago was vaulted into the future, if planned 'exercise' and gyms wouldn't be the strangest part of modren life for our friends from the past. I mean, think about their lives of hard work in the fields, hunting/gathering food, etc. How silly is it that we set aside time to 'exercise', and even more crazy that we do it on contraptions that serve no practical purpose other than to increase the rate at which our heart pumps... strange isn't it?

Total Pledged/minute: $0.01/minute + $1 per pound lost (Thanks Chuck!)

Today's Minutes: 43 Minutes
Total Minutes: 88 Minutes
Today's Distance: 11.6 Miles
Total Distance: 23.8 Miles

Day 2: The First Minutes Logged

I spent the morning finishing up my landscaping project, and then went downstairs to my own personal cardio cinema, which amounts to a stationary bike in my damp/dark/unfinished basement, with a 13" TV and a DVD player. Not exactly the lap of luxury but it does the job and allows me to work out without having to hit the gym. So I watched the first 45 minutes of 'Dogville' with Nicole Kidman. Strange movie, which is really just a filming of an onstage play. The set literally amounts to a stage with chalk on the ground defining the various homes/stores in Dogville.

Total Pledged/minute: $0 (Who is going to be first, no one has pledged yet, but that's because no one but me yet knows of this blog).

Today's Minutes: 45 Minutes
Total Minutes: 45 Minutes
Today's Distance: 12.2 Miles
Total Distance: 12.2 Miles

100 Day Journey Begins to Raise Money for Habitat Ecuador

Give Back Cincinnati, a non-profit volunteer group that I am Advisory Board Chairman for, is taking a trip to Catamayo, Ecuador for 10 days in October with Habitat for Humanity Global Village. I will be going along on this trip and this blog will be used to track the progress from now through the end of the trip.

During this journey I will blog on issues related to our trip, Ecuador and Habitat for Humanity. But I am also embarking on a journey to raise funds for my trip and the Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Ecuador. Rather than just beg for donations, I've decided to make some sacrifices myself. There are 2984 miles between Cincinnati, USA and Catamayo, Ecuador. Over the next 100 days (ending August 23rd) I intend to take a journey to ride/run/walk 2,984 minutes (nearly 30 minutes a day). I hope to travel at least 1,000 miles (though some of that will definitely be on my stationary bike, so 'travel' has to be taken in context).

The trip costs (including supplies, donation to the affiliate, insurance, etc) $1800. But my goal is to make a substantial additional gift to the affialiate in Ecuador. So what I am looking for is a total pledge of $1.00 per minute with the hopes of raising $2984. You will be able to make payments via paypal or check, and all donations will go to Give Back Cincinnati (501(c)(3)) and are tax deductible. I will ask for payments at the end of June, July and August (as there are costs that are required to be paid in advance to Habitat).

So make your pledge today, by sending me an email at chairman@givebackcincinnati.org. A pledge of $0.01 should equate to $29.84 over the next 100 days. If you choose to just pledge a dollar amount do that as well. I will update this page with my daily minutes, and the total pledged to date!