Running the Books, by Avi Steinberg

I've been reading Avi Steinberg's 2010 memoir Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian for our mystery group. Today I finished it, which is good, since we meet tonight. I was really looking forward to this book for a couple of reasons. First, I'm an accidental librarian myself, although in a public library and medical library setting. I wanted to see how his experiences in the profession paralleled my own. To a certain extent, they did. There's that feeling of being out of your depth that you have in the beginning when you're not quite sure how things work. You do eventually get your bearings, though. Working in a prison library has very different dynamics than any other library, and it was fascinating to see how power and authority, and patron relationships play out in that environment. Very different from my experience, and I'm not sure I could have adapted as well as Steinberg did to such unique circumstances. The second thing that really interested my was why a "good Jewish boy" would go into such a line of work. Although Steinberg is nonpracticing and never comes right out and says it, by the end of the book it's clear that he feels a sense of duty imposed by his heritage, a feeling of tikkun olam (restoring the world). This comes through most clearly when he writes about prisoners he has gotten close to, only to lose them to violence. Those are probably some of the most moving parts of the book.

Daily Check-In #3

OK, here's the results for today:

Blood glucose: 261
Blood pressure: 161/106

Slowly coming down. Maybe not as fast as I'd like, but everything's still headed in the right direction. It'll do.

Workout Check-In #2

I think I must have added something wrong, but I'll report it as I've got it:

Treadmill (walking): 1h 12m (246 calories)

I actually walked faster and for more distance than I did yesterday, so I'm not sure how it's less calories. Unless I added wrong when I combined the two workouts (one 60 minute and one 12 minute). I'll see what it's like tomorrow.

Daily Check-In #2

I remembered today. And there's some slight improvement over the last time.

Blood glucose: 275
Blood pressure: 168/108

So exercise, even as minimal as it was yesterday, does help. So it's off to the gym again.

Workout Check-In #1

Well, I missed my daily check-in this morning. Too much going on, I guess. I went to the gym, though, so here's a workout check-in.

Walking (treadmill): 1h 12m (248 cal.)

It doesn't sound like much, but it's a start. It's enough for someone my age who hasn't really gotten any exercise for years. I felt pretty good afterwards, so it'll be easier for me to increase that next time. I had the machine set on level 1, and it was a real problem for me to go as slow as it wanted to. Next time I'll try level 2.

Daily Check-In #1

This is my first daily check-in. Each one will have my morning blood glucose reading and my morning blood pressure reading.

Blood glucose: 305
Blood pressure: 174/111

It's obvious from these numbers that something needs to be done. I know from past experience that losing weight and not eating after 9PM is enough to get my blood glucose and pressure under control. However, diet alone is not longer enough for me to lose weight. I need exercise for that now, which begins today. With numbers like those, though, I probably need to start slowly.

I look forward to seeing those numbers drop in the near future.

Weekly Check-In #1

OK, here's my first weekly check-in. This is the basis for future comparisons.

BMI: 32.6 (obese)
Waist: 44"
Weight: 227.2 lb.

As you can see, I've got a long way to go. My first goal weight is going to be 204.4 (10% of my current weight). I'd really like to set a waist measurement goal of 39.5", but we'll see.

Next weekly check-in: June 8.