SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic) Question

Here's a techy question that I need help on...

Many of the roadsigns that I am using for my weigh-in graphics are saved as .SVG files. For the ones I actually use, someone on a page has already converted the SVG to a JPG file...

But I could use so many other signs if I only knew how to convert SVG files to JPG files...I could put up a roadsign from Nevada, Nebraska, or even Minnesota (how exciting!).

Does anyone out there work with SVG files and knows a easy and, more importantly, free way to convert these files to a format usable by blogger?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

Weigh In - Week 9

9 weeks in and 28 pounds down...

28 divided by 9 equals 3.1 pounds lost per week...

I wanted to lose 30 lbs by week 30...

Based on my track record thus far, I am going to lose 30 lbs by Week 10...

Pretty excited about it...

Once again, I'm a little surprised as well...I was pretty good about my eating / exercise habits up to Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday evening, I ended up getting a little crazy with the drinking...I'm guessing I had 1 glass of whiskey, 1 glass of wine, 2 bottles of cider, and ohhhh...7 or 8 glasses of beer...yeah...I was feeling pretty bad the next day...and alcohol has a way of making you eat bad as well...I didn't eat too poorly on Monday, but I didn't do myself any favors either...

Still...I ended up 3 lbs lighter...I'll take it and hopefully I can come in at an even 30 lbs loss or better next week...

Proud Father Video

More of the newest addition to our family...this was taken on Saturday, 5/26 @ roughly 7AM when it was my turn to change AJ and spend some quality time...

Progress Photos - 25 lbs lighter

By popular demand (for the one person who requested in comments):

It's funny...you probably don't see too much change due to the clothing covering most of the noticable changes...On the flip side, most people say that I really don't look overweight when I was up in the 230's...

Enjoy!

Healthy Choices - 5/24

Food:

B: Weight Control Oatmeal (switched from Maple Sugar to Cinnamon)
L: Grilled Chicken Sub from Genaurdi's (local supermarket) w/ mozzarella, roasted peppers, lettuce on a roll.
D: Rotini Spinach Salad Leftovers

Exercise: None

Comments: Hmmm....if you read my previous post, you can see I wasn't too happy yesterday. That translated into a bad evening with Carolyn. Nothing really to note from a food and exercise standpoint. Overall, pretty healthy...at least this type of food has been working for me. Been eating a lot of cherries for snacks lately...which is odd as I never ate them growing up. I read somewhere that cherries have a very low glycemic index. I'm not specifically attempting to eat low GI foods, but I figure if I keep the blood sugar low and regulated that will help with the overall diet as well...And I never realized that cherries were so tasty or fun to eat (I've only ever really eaten the maraschino type you put in drinks)

Depressed Rant...

I've been trying to keep my personal thoughts, per se, out of this blog. Instead, I've tried to strictly focus on weight loss inspired topics...

Today, I'm going to veer a little off course and just write about my generally depressed state as of late. This is going to be more of a "stream of consciousness" thing, so bear with me.

It's funny actually...if you read my first post, I noted I was depressed then...and I thought that losing weight would solve my problems...well, I've lost more weight over 8 weeks than I would have ever imagined (doing it the right way as well) and yet I still feel this way...why?

When I was in high school, I said that if someone would pay me six figures to be a fry cook, I would do that in a heartbeat. It was always about the money with me and not about doing something I actually enjoyed. As a a matter of fact, I've never really found something that I both enjoy and could make a decent living at. So, I got my BA in Business and took the first decent job that came across my path...and did well enough to get promoted...and then left that job to take another job at better pay...and then more jobs and more promotions, etc...I even went back and got my MBA so I could keep the better jobs and promotions coming...

And here I am at 32 in a corporate director's position with my own office, people working for me, and a six figure income...and I pretty much hate the position I'm in...and I have no idea of what to do next...

I think part of the problem is that I currently have no boss to work for really...the person who promoted me into my current role has moved on to another role in the company and his position has been vacant for *9 months*. The person who is filling the role on an interim basis is on the opposite coast from me and she has enough on her plate without worrying what I am doing for the company (If anything). Honestly, I could probably take the next 2 weeks off, not tell anyone, and just dial into the bi-weekly staff update and no one would know the difference (except for the people working for me )...

You might be saying, "You're telling me you make 6 figures in a job where no one cares whether you actually perform or not, and that is a bad thing?" And I think that takes me back to my earlier statement about being happy being a fry cook for $100K. I think I underestimated the importance of actually getting some satisfaction out of your job...

But the problem still remains as to what I want to do that will provide some satisfaction in my life? I'm pretty sure that being a corporate director is not going to make me happy, but what will make me happy...and if I find that profession, can I make enough $$$ to be the sole provider for my family (now of 3)?

That's all I want to write for now...I'm not really loooking for answers from the crowd. Sometimes it helps to just write it all out....you know?

Healthy Choices - 5/23

Food:

B: Weight Control Oatmeal

L: Slender Fender Bender Meal Replacement Shake

D: Kitchen Sink Quesadilla & Salad (recipe can be found here)

Exercise:

Cardio: Elliptical Machine (30 minutes)
Abs: Crunch Machine (100/25, 115/15, 130/10)

Strength: Seated Press (75/20, 80/15, 85/10, 100/5)

Comments: I was able to work out over lunch again today (and I'll try again tomorrow as well). Extra bonus when you work out over lunch: There is hardly anyone there! Although I didn't take advantage yesterday, it's a great time to try out new machines without looking like too much of a jackass. My wife is trying out the "happy homemaker" thing and made another new recipe again last night...and she is now 2 for 2 in making tasty meals. This one was a little messy (and I usually require some kind of meat in a dinner), but these were satisfying and mostly good for me...

Healthy Choices - 5/21, 5/22

Let's get to it, shall we?

5/21 Food:

B: Weight Control Oatmeal

L: Cosi "Spring Wheat Salad" w/ Multi grain Bread

D: Chicken on Rotini Spinach Salad (Recipe wife found in Real Simple)

5/21 Exercise:

Cardio: Elliptical Machine (30 minutes)

Abs: Crunch Machine (100/25, 115/15, 130/10)

Comments: If I can find an online version of the recipe, I will post on here. It was pretty awesome! It had spinach, ricotta, scallions, golden raisins all mixed with whole wheat rotini pasta. I wasn't feeling all too great today, so I cut the workout short and ditched the strength portion of the evening. I would have cut the workout all together, but I needed to get my weigh in number.

5/22 Food:

B: Weight Control Oatmeal

L: Chicken Caesar Salad from Boston Market (no dressing or croutons)

D: This chicken and rice dish given by friends

Exercise: None

Comments: As I've noted before, I'm not keen on adding dressing to salads. Besides, Boston Market throws enough shaved Parmesan into the mix that I felt like I adding enough taste. Visited friends on Saturday and they gave us a decent portion of the chicken and rice dish they were making...I ate the chicken but the rice did not hold up too well. Instead, I went to town on a bag of cherries I bought...

Update: That recipe wasn't hard to find at all...

Weigh In - Week 8

8 weeks is a little under 2 months...How did I do after a week where I drank heavily Friday night, ate Taco Bell, had a Moe's Burrito, and had a plate of fried chicken wings?

I lost another 2 lbs :)

I've lost 25 lbs since I've started this :)

Total Weight loss is now at the 1/2 way point...17 weeks early :)

I'm still averaging over 3 lbs lost per week :)

And I found a cool Michigan road sign this week! NY road signs were starting to get a little stale.

I attached the personal chart I am keeping to show how awesome I am doing. I am a full month ahead of where I need to be to achieve my aggressive goal (60 lbs in 30 wks). I am over 4 months ahead of the 50 lbs in 50 wks plan I had originally set...

Can you tell I am psyched?

I *heart* Craigslist & Rssfwd

Why? Because, as a kid, I loved looking through the classified ads to see if anyone was looking to get rid of something I wanted on the cheap.

For those in the know, Craigslist is essentially a classified ads section where the interface is minimal and easy to use and the ads are free. If you live in our just outside a metro area, like Philadelphia, you will find tons of people looking to sell their used wares or themselves (through personals, community listings, resume listings, etc.). Unlike Ebay, there isn't some frantic bidding (I hate to bid). Someone wants to sell item X for price Y and you decide whether the price is acceptable (The trick at times is to be the first to respond if the deal is good...more on that later). And...since you are usually dealing with people local to you, you can save by not paying tax or shipping (Beware the price you bid on ebay...is it really such a good deal when you factor in the shipping costs?)

Today, as a matter of fact, I purchased a set of 500 11.5g poker chips in a nice felt lined case for $15. A set like this would sell new for $75 - $100. How did I beat out fellow craigslist folks to close the deal? This is the "more on that later" part. Here is what I do when I am looking for a craigslist deal:

• First, go to craigslist.org. Find your local metro area on the right hand side
• Click on the "For Sale" hyper link. You can choose a subcategory, but I personally like to keep the net as wide as possible
• Once there, you can filter by keywords. Location may be important if you're only willing to travel so far for items or descriptive terms like "poker" if you're looking for a poker set. They've upgraded recently to allow you to filter by price or ads with images. I prefer to keep my filters minimal. Narrow too far and you may miss out on something.
• Click search and you should see a bunch of ads...some good and some bad. Perhaps you see the deal you are looking for and you are done at this point. If you want to keep this search active and have an email sent to you every time an ad fits your criteria, here's what I do (here comes the magic!)
• Scroll all the way to the bottom of your filtered list. You should see a RSS link in the lower right hand corner. Click on this link. On the next page, copy (Ctrl-C) the url address. It should look something like this: http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=weight&minAsk=min&maxAsk=&format=rss
  

• Go to the following url address: http://www.rssfwd.com/
• Paste the craigslist RSS address from before into the text box and click submit.
• It will verify that you are submitting a true RSS link and then ask you for an email address. Give them the email address that you slavishly check into every minute. Click subscribe.
  
• Presto! You should start receiving emails every time someone posts an ad that fits your criteria. Once you find your special deal, you can easily choose to unsubscribe to the feed (similar to unsubscribing to any reputable email solicitation).

There you go. Since you are getting new deals soon after they are posted, you have the best shot of being first in line with a reply. And being there first in Craigslist (or any classified ad) is half the battle.

Have any other Craiglist tips? Share with the group please! :)