Jack's Diary

Great to see you too Mols! I saw your post, strange about your system getting hacked, that is nasty. Hope you get that all sorted.
 
aiminglow said:
Well done! That really is good news, you brilliant man! :D (But yeah, tell that boss that twenty hours is twenty hours, end of story.)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Amy. It's been rough keeping it under 20, but then again, I can think of worse fates. I barely worked this week, except for the app, of course.
 
It's nice outside. I've already been shopping, and have 55 pushups and 50 crunches out of the way (shooting for 100 each, which I've been doing the past couple of days).

I made some improvements to the app - it seems like there's always more that can be done - and mentioned to P about it. He asked for access, but I said give me another week. I want to do some more testing and get some licenses generated without having to scramble due to one technical glitch or another.

My left foot has been sore all week, under the arch of my foot. I think it's some kind of muscle spasm or strain because sometimes in the morning when I wake up and flex my feet automatically, it cramps up and it kills for a minute or two. I think it's getting better, but I'm seeing the doctor anyway at 11:45 am.

My weights being holding pretty steadily in the 165-166 range. I think that's about my best sustainable weight over time - anything less doesn't really last.
 
I just did the waist-to-hip ratio measurement - 36 inches to 40. That puts me in the low health risk category, as Rob had pointed out earlier. However, it's pretty close to 37 inches, which is a health risk anyway. It's true I have a bit of a gut, but it's really hard to get below 165 lbs on a consistent basis. When I played tennis or jogged, I could get lower. But knee issues have kind of ruled those out.
 
It sounds like you are doing ok, Jack. You seem fit & healthy & active, mentally and physically. Good for you :)
 
Thanks, Cate. I always appreciate the feedback.

So, my wife was upstairs partying with her buddies on Zoom and it got a little noisy. I didn't want to go up and shut the door or seem anti-social - in fact, I like to hear Japanese in the background. But I didn't want to crash their party either, so I just spun up Pandora, broke out the guitar, and jammed out for a while. I think that's what I like to do best - kind of see if I can play along with tunes, guess the chords sometimes. I did some more this morning.

But it's absolutely gorgeous out. I was meditating (also the first time in a while) by the window and could feel the sun and the breeze, and I was like, I have to get out.

Oh, yeah, my foot feels better today. The NP thought it might be arthritis because I mentioned it in my knee, but I think it is some kind muscular thing because I've had cramps in exactly that spot before. I googled it, and it's very common, but the after-effects are what got me - I don't even remember the cramp, I don't think I got that.

I submitted my invoice yesterday - only 2.5 hours over the 40 hours for the two weeks. The can't complain about that.

I think I'm going to throw out the new pina colada mix I bought - two bottles worth. I don't really like it. But they didn't have the other brand. Oh, well, maybe it's for the better.

I'm going to help my wife apply for unemployment today. She lost a gig worth $100 a week due to the Corona.

Oh, I think I found the best system for getting the 100 pushup and crunches in.

1. 30 of each when I get up.
2. 30 of each before I shower.
3. A set of 30 each right after the shower.
4. A set of 10 each right after that.
 
Last edited:
I've got a nice little routine for getting up now, for the last couple of days:
1. 30 situps and 30 sets of crunches
2. meditate 15 minutes
3. Repeat 1
4. Shower
5. Repeat 1
6. 10 situps and 10 sets of crunches to make 100 each.
7. Stretching (7-minutes of magic exercise)

I just added 7 this morning. The nice thing about it is the 30 is an achievable number. I could even drop it back to 25 because the last 10 are too easy. But it's still a nice way to kick off a day.
 
I finally let the boss know about the app. He was very appreciative, but he still hasn't physically looked at the site - I know because he still hasn't activated the account. It's just at level he's playing in, it's enough to know there's an app, he doesn't really need to care or know about the details, there's not much mystery about what it does.

He did say track the hours that I spent on it because it could be useful "down the line". That certainly means something about budgeting for my position. So that's a good thing.

Actually, his insistence that I keep to 20 hours is maybe a good thing. I'm working hard to stay within 20 hours (that's doesn't make sense, but it's not easy). But having a couple of days off a week and still get decent pay, that's not bad.
 
Last edited:
Now that the app is finished, I'm starting to waste my free time again. I'm playing a lot of poor chess against the computer. I think I need a deadline or something to get me motivated. I could sign up for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. That would be some motivation. But I can't decide. I could sign up to renew my Java certification, which is badly out-of-date. Or I could sign up for some kind of on-line open-mic. I wonder if they're having those? There's still a lot that I have to do to get up-to-date on my computer skills - especially automated testing and deployment. Also - technical interview questions.

There's really no end to the list of stuff I should be doing.

But one thing I like to do is jam along with Pandora. It's fun to hit a note or a few notes that catch the music, that sounds nice. I've been doing that for the last couple of nights.
 
If liking jamming along with Pandora is bringing you enjoyment I say keep doing it & don't worry about it being a possible waste of time. Does it matter?
 
Cate said:
If liking jamming along with Pandora is bringing you enjoyment I say keep doing it & don't worry about it being a possible waste of time. Does it matter?
Click to expand...

Absolutely right, Cate. I was jamming with a couple of guys and we did some open mics a few years ago, which is the closest I've ever been to being in a band. I don't think that's going to happen again, but I'm getting back to making some kind of guitar practice a daily thing.
 
Trusylver said:
my husband has been playing games via messenger video calls with other chess club members and practicing his notation skills
Click to expand...

Ah, your husband's a chess player and in a club yet. Yeah, notation isn't easy - I try to follow along sometimes, but find it hard work. Good for him to practice that.

I remember one time there was a chess club meeting at a local bookstore (not local now). I walked up and said hi and ended up playing a game with one of the guys - and won. But it wasn't quite fair because the other players kind of kibitzing and I was picking up on some of their hints. Still, every once in a while I've surprised people.
 
Last edited:
Well, an IT called me while I walking the beach yesterday, telling me a virus I had on my PC was flagging their monitoring system and to shut down my PC, reboot and scan. I completed my walk anyway, but my Zen had been disjointed and I grew concerned about the licenses I've been sending out, which are installed at customer sites - what a bad turn of events that would be, just after I've unveiled my app. So spent the rest of the afternoon running virus scans on every system I have (4 of them) and also downloading all the licenses on to one of the spare PCs and re-running the scan on that. Every scan turned up zero viruses, thank God. Imagine having to try to fix that mess.
 
My weight is 165 right now, so all's well that ends well. I had bumped up a couple of lbs due to a savage attack on batch of brownies my wife cooked up last Saturday, but I've been relatively good since.

I continued my new morning routine today, including an extra try at meditation and extending the stretching to 15 minutes. All told 100 pushups and crunches, 15 (really 30) minutes of mediation and like I said, the stretching. It's easier to do this I think when you're not rushing off to work, so I should be able to continue this for the interim.
 
I've been poking around recently for some good podcasts on Zen. I love Eckhardt Tolle, but I've listened to his books a ton by now, and, I would like something more based on traditional teaching rather than one (amazing) individual's interpretations - which at times fall into distinctly questionable assertions, to be honest.

There is one really good podcast by a lady in Oregon, Home - The Zen Studies Podcast. I initially liked it because of the rigor and knowledge she has of Zen, but one thing that put me off a bit was how it was so much like organized religion. Also, the fact that it's through the filter of a Westerner so invariably has that tint to it that clearly wasn't in the original teachings. Not that it's a bad thing, but not exactly what I was looking for.

So I cast around a bit more and yesterday I started listening to a podcast by a Japanese practitioner of Zen at ZEN -Japanese Spirituality-. It's kind of strange because it's based on "Tokyo FM" and the music is kind of almost elevator jazz, hardly what you'd associate with Zen. But the branch of Zen is the Soutou school, founded by Dougen in about 8 centuries ago. It's a couple of iterations removed from the original Buddhism (through China to Japan), and it's more along the lines of what I traditionally associate with Zen, that is a bit less churchy and softer, more subtle. I'm pretty sure that branch of Zen is what I would want to land on based my personal history and understanding of what I've thought Zen is.
 
Last edited:
What a relief that you weren't passing on computer viruses, via your new app, Jack.
Your side yard is very pretty & I also love your side fence.
 
Hey Jack, great yard pictures. You have a nice place!

It is interesting I have been reading through your diary and it has given me a few insights into my own situation. I have always thought of you as being in the ideal place, good weight and fit. Now that I am getting closer to you, not to infer that I am as slim or fit as you, but getting closer. I can see some interesting parallels. You are at or near the weight I had been hoping to reach and you still struggle with a bit of belly fat and wanting to do more. Kind of the same as I am feeling now, except that you are slimmer and fitter than I. Anyway I appreciate being able to follow your role model.

Your 100 pushups a day is very impressive to me. I just started trying pushups about a month ago, could not do a single one. So I started with doing them on my knees, and it was even hard to do one that way. Now I am up to 30 of the on knee pushups and doing a few regular ones. Your 100 a day is a good inspiration to me to keep after it! Have also been doing the occasional crunch, at your suggestion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top