Jack's Diary
- Thread starter jackbenimble
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jackbenimble
New member
Thanks, Cate - Happy New Year to you!
My daughter and her boyfriend are visiting for the New Year. It's the first time we've had them stay over, and it's very easy. He's a nice, pleasant guy, has a nice job, treats her well, we're happy about him.
I'm up around 168 right now. I gave up on the pushups because they were stressing my knee, which sucks. I got a visit today from a former buddy who I had a falling out with. We talked, so I guess it's ok. Ah, I was supposed to call back another buddy, I couldn't talk because we were with my daughter and her boyfriend. Maybe I will call him after the neighbor's party, which starts like now. It's just busy with my daughter and the holidays and everything. I do like my down time, though
My daughter and her boyfriend are visiting for the New Year. It's the first time we've had them stay over, and it's very easy. He's a nice, pleasant guy, has a nice job, treats her well, we're happy about him.
I'm up around 168 right now. I gave up on the pushups because they were stressing my knee, which sucks. I got a visit today from a former buddy who I had a falling out with. We talked, so I guess it's ok. Ah, I was supposed to call back another buddy, I couldn't talk because we were with my daughter and her boyfriend. Maybe I will call him after the neighbor's party, which starts like now. It's just busy with my daughter and the holidays and everything. I do like my down time, though
jackbenimble
New member
Thanks Cate!
I've had some trouble logging into the site recently, so glad to get in.
I have a new years resolution to give up sweets, so far so good. But my weight is up to 168 or so from all the parties, and there are a couple more coming. Giving up sweets isn't enough. I need to stop eating at night, also stop eating junk food, and not over-eating as well.
I have many more bad habits to break and good habits to establish.
Here are some of the ones I want to do:
Quit reddit. It's just a waste of time.
Get up at least by 7.
Get to bed by 12:30.
Stop clenching my teeth.
No more junk food.
No more eating at night.
No more ruminating on the past. I've decided to replace that with thinking about what I like.
Add a little bit of stretching and meditation. Just like 5 minutes each. Just to get the ball rolling.
Don't take a nap when I get home from work. That will help me get to bed earlier.
Never watch TV without doing something else at the same time. Work on licks at least.
I've been pretty good with the Japanese study recently. The Anki review is an easy daily thing. I'm up to about 700 (out of 2100) kanji entered on the study site. But Kanji review also needs to be a daily thing.
I've also started (finally) learning Angular and Spring Boot. I found a few good courses on Udemy. I love the Angular course. I'm building a todo app (well, copying the guy building one).
I've found a piece of software that costs about $50 which can download streaming video. You can even schedule it, and watch while it's recording. It's effectively a VCR for streaming video.
My iPhone 6 Plus is killing me. The Wifi and Bluetooth aren't working. I did a factory reset and they came back, but now they're down again. If I need to get a new one, I'll get a used iPhone 6s plus. My wife got a 6s recently and it seems pretty good. Only two or three hundred bucks.
As far as the job goes, next or the week after is my last one, unless they extend me. I haven't heard anything, and the boss doesn't come back a week from Monday. Realistically, they should probably keep me on for another month or two. There are still some things that need to be cleaned up.
But I'm finally cleaning up my lazy act.
Here are some goals for 2019:
Find a new job (assuming I'm not extended)
Learn Angular
Learn Spring Boot
Pass Japanese N4 (n3?)
Do at least one open mic
Get unit testing incorporated into my workflow
I've had some trouble logging into the site recently, so glad to get in.
I have a new years resolution to give up sweets, so far so good. But my weight is up to 168 or so from all the parties, and there are a couple more coming. Giving up sweets isn't enough. I need to stop eating at night, also stop eating junk food, and not over-eating as well.
I have many more bad habits to break and good habits to establish.
Here are some of the ones I want to do:
Quit reddit. It's just a waste of time.
Get up at least by 7.
Get to bed by 12:30.
Stop clenching my teeth.
No more junk food.
No more eating at night.
No more ruminating on the past. I've decided to replace that with thinking about what I like.
Add a little bit of stretching and meditation. Just like 5 minutes each. Just to get the ball rolling.
Don't take a nap when I get home from work. That will help me get to bed earlier.
Never watch TV without doing something else at the same time. Work on licks at least.
I've been pretty good with the Japanese study recently. The Anki review is an easy daily thing. I'm up to about 700 (out of 2100) kanji entered on the study site. But Kanji review also needs to be a daily thing.
I've also started (finally) learning Angular and Spring Boot. I found a few good courses on Udemy. I love the Angular course. I'm building a todo app (well, copying the guy building one).
I've found a piece of software that costs about $50 which can download streaming video. You can even schedule it, and watch while it's recording. It's effectively a VCR for streaming video.
My iPhone 6 Plus is killing me. The Wifi and Bluetooth aren't working. I did a factory reset and they came back, but now they're down again. If I need to get a new one, I'll get a used iPhone 6s plus. My wife got a 6s recently and it seems pretty good. Only two or three hundred bucks.
As far as the job goes, next or the week after is my last one, unless they extend me. I haven't heard anything, and the boss doesn't come back a week from Monday. Realistically, they should probably keep me on for another month or two. There are still some things that need to be cleaned up.
But I'm finally cleaning up my lazy act.
Here are some goals for 2019:
Find a new job (assuming I'm not extended)
Learn Angular
Learn Spring Boot
Pass Japanese N4 (n3?)
Do at least one open mic
Get unit testing incorporated into my workflow
Last edited:
jackbenimble
New member
Hi Cate,
As far as the web site, I did a right-click and "inspect", and it showed a "500" code, which means server error. That's pretty vague, though, could be anything.
I think ruminating on the past is a tough habit to break. I mean, there are good memories, too, but for some reason the mistakes come back to haunt you more than the happy memories, at least for me. I think I heard Tom Brady, the quarterback for the Patriots, who has won 5 Super bowls, say the losses sting way more than the wins make you happy, something like that. So, if a guy that successful feels it, imagine how ordinary humans must.
That said, it's obviously one of the most important things to be able to do, to move on, stay in the present. There's a self-help guru named Ekhart Tolle, you may have heard of him, his big thing is never to think about the past, that the ego, the sense of self, is a false construct based on flawed, transitory thoughts. Dale Carnegie says live life in "Day tight compartments". I know Zen is all about staying in the present, so it's not like this idea is anything new. I've never succeeded in that so far, but it's on my list. Pretty far down, though, I'm chasing the lower-hanging fruit first.
As far as the web site, I did a right-click and "inspect", and it showed a "500" code, which means server error. That's pretty vague, though, could be anything.
I think ruminating on the past is a tough habit to break. I mean, there are good memories, too, but for some reason the mistakes come back to haunt you more than the happy memories, at least for me. I think I heard Tom Brady, the quarterback for the Patriots, who has won 5 Super bowls, say the losses sting way more than the wins make you happy, something like that. So, if a guy that successful feels it, imagine how ordinary humans must.
That said, it's obviously one of the most important things to be able to do, to move on, stay in the present. There's a self-help guru named Ekhart Tolle, you may have heard of him, his big thing is never to think about the past, that the ego, the sense of self, is a false construct based on flawed, transitory thoughts. Dale Carnegie says live life in "Day tight compartments". I know Zen is all about staying in the present, so it's not like this idea is anything new. I've never succeeded in that so far, but it's on my list. Pretty far down, though, I'm chasing the lower-hanging fruit first.
Strangely enough, the sting of failure is worse for those who have built a career of success, elite level athletes expect success, success and winning is normal, this makes the failures feel so much worse. When success and failure are in proportion then you have the ability to experience real joy when achieving a difficult goal and failures are not total devastation.
jackbenimble
New member
Good point, Trusylver. I think Brad Stevens, coach of the Celtics, has a good perspective. His big piece of advice is to "be the best version of yourself".
In that vein, I've been doing decently enough in the young year. So far, I've quit sweets, junk food and eating after 9. Also, I played some licks while watching the Celtics, did a couple of chapters of Angular, did Anki, added 10 kanji to kohii, and reviewed the daily kanji. We'll see how long this all lasts.
I tried going to bed at 12:30 but I'm up again. Sigh. That world series really screwed up my sleeping cycle.
In that vein, I've been doing decently enough in the young year. So far, I've quit sweets, junk food and eating after 9. Also, I played some licks while watching the Celtics, did a couple of chapters of Angular, did Anki, added 10 kanji to kohii, and reviewed the daily kanji. We'll see how long this all lasts.
I tried going to bed at 12:30 but I'm up again. Sigh. That world series really screwed up my sleeping cycle.
jackbenimble
New member
Work was a grind today. I decided unilaterally to make a version of the install for one company only, and it turned out to be more complicated than I thought. Well, at least it's done now.
I also had to get a patch out, and I did it under that guise of asking for help in testing. So, I got it out, and also generated a reaction, basically poking them so they would say what the status is. I think I was dropped off an email trail. At least I know what the situation is now, and I feel pretty good about the patch.
E is working on getting the new version of the install into production. He had some good feedback, and I cleaned up the scripts a bit. Tomorrow, I'll test the company-specific version a bit more. Then I should be onto the 3.57.
I'm basically 50/50 on whether I want to get extended or not. The company is boring and stressful, but the people are decent enough.
Anyway, here are some work habits I need to get better at:
Always do testing with a spreadsheet.
If you can combine versions, do it.
Plan, plan and plan some more.
Here are some personal habits:
Food
No junk food 3 days
No Sweets 7 days
No eating after 9 - say 5 days?
Stop clenching my teeth - this is a hard one to track
Reddit - stay off of it - 2 days
Anki - maybe 20 words a day? like 10 new, 5 review, 5 something else. I don't know how many words there are.
Kanji Kohii - add 10 a day - I'm up to 760 out of 2000
One chapter of N4 (Japanese) a day - I'm on 86 of 218, but I skipped a few here and there.
two chapters of Angular a day - I'm on item 28 of 118, so I have a ways to go there.
Guitar - how do you count if you practice licks during a game?
Oh well. No Celtics tonight, so I have time.
8 days of work left, probably. This week and next week.
I also had to get a patch out, and I did it under that guise of asking for help in testing. So, I got it out, and also generated a reaction, basically poking them so they would say what the status is. I think I was dropped off an email trail. At least I know what the situation is now, and I feel pretty good about the patch.
E is working on getting the new version of the install into production. He had some good feedback, and I cleaned up the scripts a bit. Tomorrow, I'll test the company-specific version a bit more. Then I should be onto the 3.57.
I'm basically 50/50 on whether I want to get extended or not. The company is boring and stressful, but the people are decent enough.
Anyway, here are some work habits I need to get better at:
Always do testing with a spreadsheet.
If you can combine versions, do it.
Plan, plan and plan some more.
Here are some personal habits:
Food
No junk food 3 days
No Sweets 7 days
No eating after 9 - say 5 days?
Stop clenching my teeth - this is a hard one to track
Reddit - stay off of it - 2 days
Anki - maybe 20 words a day? like 10 new, 5 review, 5 something else. I don't know how many words there are.
Kanji Kohii - add 10 a day - I'm up to 760 out of 2000
One chapter of N4 (Japanese) a day - I'm on 86 of 218, but I skipped a few here and there.
two chapters of Angular a day - I'm on item 28 of 118, so I have a ways to go there.
Guitar - how do you count if you practice licks during a game?
Oh well. No Celtics tonight, so I have time.
8 days of work left, probably. This week and next week.
Hiya Jack.
Good gosh that seems like a lot of goals you are trying to work on all at the same time!
Yeah, it's obvious you are lukewarm about staying in that job else you would have been actively pursuing it with them long before now. Will be watching for updates.
I'm not up on what's happening with the playoffs other than being aware that the Bears' kicker blew it and there was much abuse of the poor guy in my FB feed. Is your team still in it?
Good gosh that seems like a lot of goals you are trying to work on all at the same time!
Yeah, it's obvious you are lukewarm about staying in that job else you would have been actively pursuing it with them long before now. Will be watching for updates.
I'm not up on what's happening with the playoffs other than being aware that the Bears' kicker blew it and there was much abuse of the poor guy in my FB feed. Is your team still in it?
jackbenimble
New member
Hi Mols,
Well, the goals are because I can't make up my mind. Up till now, I've let it freeze me. I just figured do a little bit of each and see what happens.
As far as the job, let me be clear - I would love it if they offered me a full-time job. I would like it if they extended me. But, I'm just bracing myself for the fact that neither will probably happen.
I saw a replay of the kick the guy missed on - it hit the sidebar and then the crossbar, then fell out. Really bad luck, but I guess he's hit the crossbar like 6 times this year. How is that possible? Anyway, it's a tough job.
The Pats are still in it. They have a tough game at home against the Chargers this weekind. If they win that, they will probably have to travel to KC to play the Chiefs, where they most likely lose. The could've played that at home, but they blew a couple of games this year, particularly a brutal loss to Miami on the last play of the game where Miami scored a TD on the Pats from their own 40-yard line. Oh, well, I can't complain I guess, the Pats have done a lot of winning in the past decade.
It was a tough day for the goals, as I got up late and had B over tonight to watch the Celts, and he stayed till midnight. But that's ok, I love the guy. And he finally landed a real job, 9-5 in an office. It just happened today, so good for him.
But I did do the Anki and the Kohii kanji stories. Also, had a good day at work.
As far as food, I had a sweet at work (thought it was pork, it was something from India, pretty tasty, though). Also had a bunch of cough drops, my wife gave them to me to stop the coughing. Other than that, no junk food, no eating at night. I was below 168 this morning for the first time in a while, that was nice to see.
Well, the goals are because I can't make up my mind. Up till now, I've let it freeze me. I just figured do a little bit of each and see what happens.
As far as the job, let me be clear - I would love it if they offered me a full-time job. I would like it if they extended me. But, I'm just bracing myself for the fact that neither will probably happen.
I saw a replay of the kick the guy missed on - it hit the sidebar and then the crossbar, then fell out. Really bad luck, but I guess he's hit the crossbar like 6 times this year. How is that possible? Anyway, it's a tough job.
The Pats are still in it. They have a tough game at home against the Chargers this weekind. If they win that, they will probably have to travel to KC to play the Chiefs, where they most likely lose. The could've played that at home, but they blew a couple of games this year, particularly a brutal loss to Miami on the last play of the game where Miami scored a TD on the Pats from their own 40-yard line. Oh, well, I can't complain I guess, the Pats have done a lot of winning in the past decade.
It was a tough day for the goals, as I got up late and had B over tonight to watch the Celts, and he stayed till midnight. But that's ok, I love the guy. And he finally landed a real job, 9-5 in an office. It just happened today, so good for him.
But I did do the Anki and the Kohii kanji stories. Also, had a good day at work.
As far as food, I had a sweet at work (thought it was pork, it was something from India, pretty tasty, though). Also had a bunch of cough drops, my wife gave them to me to stop the coughing. Other than that, no junk food, no eating at night. I was below 168 this morning for the first time in a while, that was nice to see.
jackbenimble
New member
Well, six days left on the job. E showed me an email he got today, from my bosses right-hand guy, inviting a bunch of offshore developers to a kickoff meeting. Just a company/company thing. There must have been 8 or 10 guys on it, and they were all from India, except E. So, if I'm not on that list, there's no plan to transition me to a new project. So, the odds of me being extended have just dropped to near zero. My only shot is if they keep me kicking around to support the legacy product for another year, but there's really not much left to do on it. I'll probably get the word from my recruiter early next week. Unless my boss has the decency to tell me straight. Oh, well, it doesn't really matter.
I'm feeling a little depressed about it. It's never fun to be rejected, on an emotional level. And it means all the disruption of finding a new job.
On the plus side, I have enough in savings that I could semi-retire, although I'd have to work a part-time job for a few years, just to play it safe. Like, 20k a year for a few years. We own the house, so that's a big plus. I'll be eligible for Medicare in less than 4 years, so that will bring down the health insurance bill.
Actually, what I'll probably do is to try to find another job. It's a good employment market right now. I have plenty of experience, and I'm picking up a couple of new skills - spring boot and angular. But I'm going to have to study up on the interview questions. I'm holding off on that because I want to add the skills to my resume with a self-project, and possibly a freelance project. It would be good to get one customer because that adds a lot of credibility to the resume.
No sweets or junk food today. I did Anki and kanji. Played licks while watching the Celtics. It's always good to play licks while watching sports. You really do improve, even if just a little.
I'm feeling a little depressed about it. It's never fun to be rejected, on an emotional level. And it means all the disruption of finding a new job.
On the plus side, I have enough in savings that I could semi-retire, although I'd have to work a part-time job for a few years, just to play it safe. Like, 20k a year for a few years. We own the house, so that's a big plus. I'll be eligible for Medicare in less than 4 years, so that will bring down the health insurance bill.
Actually, what I'll probably do is to try to find another job. It's a good employment market right now. I have plenty of experience, and I'm picking up a couple of new skills - spring boot and angular. But I'm going to have to study up on the interview questions. I'm holding off on that because I want to add the skills to my resume with a self-project, and possibly a freelance project. It would be good to get one customer because that adds a lot of credibility to the resume.
No sweets or junk food today. I did Anki and kanji. Played licks while watching the Celtics. It's always good to play licks while watching sports. You really do improve, even if just a little.
Hiya Jack. I haven't understood all along why there wasn't a conversation about your job a month ago. I empathize with your situation. Keep us posted.
I don't watch tv/sports very much but I think it's great that you are using the time to work on guitar licks. I've been missing guitar lately and you've got me thinking about how to make time. I can't multi-task while on the computer or commuting, but can maybe reduce computer time.
I don't watch tv/sports very much but I think it's great that you are using the time to work on guitar licks. I've been missing guitar lately and you've got me thinking about how to make time. I can't multi-task while on the computer or commuting, but can maybe reduce computer time.
jackbenimble
New member
I was just looking at cheap places to retire. It's unreal, you can get by - easily - for $1500 a month or less in most of these places. Thailand, the Czech Republic, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Chile, Panama. We (especially my wife) work hard to keep expenses around 4 to 5 K a month. Imagine - sell the house, and then move to say Panama or someplace to so far from home. We would be living large. If I was single - you know I'd end up in Vietnam or Thailand. Probably Thailand. I visited there for one very memorable week while I was living in Japan. But, even as a couple, to not have to constantly worry about money during retirement - what a blessing just that would be
But my wife will never do it. We'd have to separate or divorce. Then I'd have to give half my hard-earned savings away plus lifetime alimony. No thanks.
I was thinking today, one bad habit I have is I tend to fidget. Yup. Fidget. So, I'm going to make it a point to not do that. It's going right to the top of the list. Maybe meditation will help with that. I still haven't got that ball rolling.
James Clear, who is an internet self-help guru, has put out a book on how to form new and better habits, and also a habit-tracking journal. The journal is a physical book, not an app, which is interesting. I'm kicking around the idea of buying them, but it would probably be a waste of money.
No sweets or junk food yesterday, nor so far today. I was down to 167.0 on the scale today. So, I'm ever so slowly losing weight, by just not eating junk and not eating in between meals.
I did Anki this morning, after this I'll do 20 kanji, then have dinner. It's a free night. I'll play some guitar, and study some Spring Boot (the Angular course has transitioned to the Spring boot part). Maybe do a few chapters of the Udemy Japanese course.
I watched an interesting sci-fi movie on Netflix, called Gantz:0. Something about an alternate reality where a Gantz device makes people fight monsters as part of a game. The vocabulary was nice and simple, the girls were pretty. The put a lot of work into the monsters, but that's not really interesting to me. Still, I watched the whole thing,
But my wife will never do it. We'd have to separate or divorce. Then I'd have to give half my hard-earned savings away plus lifetime alimony. No thanks.
I was thinking today, one bad habit I have is I tend to fidget. Yup. Fidget. So, I'm going to make it a point to not do that. It's going right to the top of the list. Maybe meditation will help with that. I still haven't got that ball rolling.
James Clear, who is an internet self-help guru, has put out a book on how to form new and better habits, and also a habit-tracking journal. The journal is a physical book, not an app, which is interesting. I'm kicking around the idea of buying them, but it would probably be a waste of money.
No sweets or junk food yesterday, nor so far today. I was down to 167.0 on the scale today. So, I'm ever so slowly losing weight, by just not eating junk and not eating in between meals.
I did Anki this morning, after this I'll do 20 kanji, then have dinner. It's a free night. I'll play some guitar, and study some Spring Boot (the Angular course has transitioned to the Spring boot part). Maybe do a few chapters of the Udemy Japanese course.
I watched an interesting sci-fi movie on Netflix, called Gantz:0. Something about an alternate reality where a Gantz device makes people fight monsters as part of a game. The vocabulary was nice and simple, the girls were pretty. The put a lot of work into the monsters, but that's not really interesting to me. Still, I watched the whole thing,
According to an Iowa State University study, researchers found that those who frequently fidgeted, stood up, and walked around could burn an additional 300 calories per day, compared to those who remain stationary.
Jack, piggybacking off your post and Trusyler's - have you ever heard of walking meditation? I like to do this in a park or small woods, in case there is something close to your house.
Granted I don't know a real lot about those places. But my general impression is that there is no way, as a woman, I would want to live there. We enjoy certain freedoms here in the US where it is relatively safe for women go out and do things independently. One of the things I was never interested in doing in my job is travelling to lesser developed countries. As a female, particularly as an American female, It would be necessary for me to be accompanied everywhere. I couldn't go out and take a walk or a jog on my own. I'm not sure whether I would lump Czech Republic into that category though. Any thoughts on this? Living cheaply is really attractive but not at the cost of feeling safe and secure.
jackbenimble
New member
Tryslyvler , Mols - yes, I think you're right. Some kind of regular walking is a terrific idea. It's pretty cold these days, but it's not always like that. B takes a walk around his neighborhood, which is a really nice part of town with lots of views and different kinds of houses. I might just walk the beach, which is my goto anyway for walking/jogging.
Mols, I know what you mean. I didn't mention a few of the other countries - Spain, Portugal, Austria, Chile, Ecuador were also on the list, off the top of my head.
Mols, I know what you mean. I didn't mention a few of the other countries - Spain, Portugal, Austria, Chile, Ecuador were also on the list, off the top of my head.
jackbenimble
New member
So, I got to the gym today. I'm going to back up the source code and project folders for reference from my job. That's a job for today. Plus, returning the computer. Then there's the Colts/Chiefs game.
I re-read one of Jame's Clears posts on habits. It's based on 3 things - a trigger, the actions, and the reward. The reward is positive self-talk. So, good job to me for getting to the gym. Oh, yeah, and for doing Anki this morning.
I re-read one of Jame's Clears posts on habits. It's based on 3 things - a trigger, the actions, and the reward. The reward is positive self-talk. So, good job to me for getting to the gym. Oh, yeah, and for doing Anki this morning.