EricMN

Monday

The day started off well. We did a bunch of last-minute moving and rearranging in preparation for having our pellet stove installed in the garage. By afternoon I was feeling dizzy and my vision was kind of blurry, the "Brain Fog" that comes with Long COVID. When this happens I tend to try to lay low. It's frustrating and I'm ready for it to be over.

Be Active

It wasn't a great day. Fortunately, I work from home and Mondays and Tuesdays are loaded with meetings that for now I'm more of a listener than an active contributor and I don't need to burn through my PTO. It was a good day not to have a great day.

Be Positive

Three positive affirmations from yesterday:

• I am thankful for my project managers at work. They are taking a lot of the stress off of my new position. 
  Spoiler

  Oh yeah, I took a "new position". 
  
  In December of 2017 my company was acquired but instead of being consumed and spit out, Rancor-style, we were slowly digested, like Boba Fett in the Sarlacc pit.
  

  With equal chances of escape.
  
  In June of 2020 my team was called together by the VP of IT for Sarlacc Corp and told that our services were no longer required. We were each given an exit date of either June 30, 2022 or December 31, 2022 with a significant severance for me unless we were offered a new position at up to 80% of our salaries. We all decided to do what we were asked when we were asked and otherwise not add value as to not risk being offered a lesser position and lose our severance.

  

  "Or at 80% of base pay"

  
  That strategy lasted me exactly three meetings into our first "hand off all our stuff" project before I couldn't take it anymore and exposed myself. By December of 2021, I was actively working on 15 separate projects as either an implementer or a subject matter expert. I was getting feedback that the managers I was working with at Sarlacc Corp didn't want to lose me. This past June they offered me a permanent position, which I accepted in July, that included a retention bonus equal to my severance, payable over three years. I will work from home permanently as part of this new position. Currently my duties are "Support all the stuff you have always supported" until we sunset some of it and figure out what to do with the rest.

• I am thankful for my daily 30-foot commute to work.
• I am thankful for Good Days^TM.

Three positive things that happened yesterday:

• I got complimented by a co-worker on my office redesign from list past summer.
  Spoiler

  Oh man, I guarantee I didn't mention this anywhere. It was a metric ton of work but it's turning out the way I want it so far.

   

  The room was old 60's plywood paneling with old 60's fluorescent lights and a drop-ceiling before I started. I tore everything out down to the studs and installed drywall, a custom light fixture, and new carpeting. 
  
  Here it is, pretty much empty:
  
  
  
  I'll clean the joint up and take some pics later. I still have a lot of work to do.

• We got some much-needed rain. The temps fell way off and it was still windy and it wasn't much rain, but we're in the middle of a major drought and it was good.
• We scheduled a contractor to come in and install a pellet stove heater in my garage shop so I can work out there comfortably all winter long.

Be Present

I posted my update and I'm looking forward to seeing how the NGW story lines play out in @DarK_RaideR's thread.

21 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Est. 1997 in Athens, Greece

Obviously I have showed back up at the right time.

Sunday

It was unseasonably warm, nearly 80degF on both days when our normal high temps are around 55degF. On Sundays I have had a standing Tech Crew obligation at church for three or four years. We're finally making headway so it's not an Unpaid Second Job. I was able to get there much later than usual, only had to assist with one troubleshooting item, and was free afterward to actually be present as a member of the congregation. It feels weird. I'll have to get used to it.

We spent all day Saturday putting away our patio furniture and cleaning my garage in preparation for some HVAC work that will happen this week. We spent the better part of the afternoon on Sunday raking the yard. This felt like an exercise in futility, as our back yard backs up onto a large city park and is tree-lined along the back of our property, and about half the leaves have still yet to fall, and yesterday afternoon we were under a high wind advisory with sustained winds of 15-25 miles an hour and gusts between 24 and 45 mph. Nature replaced whatever we took away. We'll have to do it again next weekend. Sounds like a built-in excuse to get some more active time in.

Be Active

I spent all day Saturday and most of the afternoon Sunday moving furniture and raking leaves. 

Be Positive

Three positive affirmations from yesterday:

• I am thankful for the people at my church who have stepped up to volunteer with the tech work. 
• I am thankful for my partner and fiancé, who loves doing yardwork and keeps up that part of our home.
• I am thankful for my kids, who are all much better adults - young and not-so-young - than I was at the same age.

Three positive things that happened yesterday:

• I am getting support with the tech crew at church and wasn't needed by default.
• I enjoyed the weather! Arthritis sucks, cold weather hurts, the warm weather was appreciated.
• I was able to get a very non-standard, fiddly piece of my deck skirting taken care of yesterday. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, stepped back and thought about it, used some techniques I have learned over the past few years and made it work. I got it done before the winds blew my tools off the deck.

Be Present

Hello! It was nice to catch up on some of y'all's threads here. It felt good to embrace some community.
 

Well, that's a little dramatic, but I appreciate all y'all.

On 10/21/2022 at 6:13 PM, Lyn said:

Wow ... I hear you on so many levels. I will leave it at that, for now. 

 

Prayers for you & yours. 

Fair enough. Thank you and thanks for your kind words.

On 10/21/2022 at 8:32 PM, Everstorm said:

Eric!!!!  I remember you and all the obstacle course racing (I went by Phoenix Burning back then).  You were one of the people who got me into it, although I am also in respawn mode since injury, surgery, weight gain etc etc etc.

 

I am glad you survived your bout with long COVID,  even if you are still feeling its effects.  I'm pulling for you!

The good news is we have an awesome community to use for our respawn point, right? 

On 10/22/2022 at 3:04 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

Here for old man Luke Skywalker images and to support my adopted nerddad. Sorry about your COVID struggles, but real glad to see you back around here.

There will be plenty of Old Man Skywalker complaining as per usual. Good to see you too, my adopted nerdson.

On 10/22/2022 at 9:33 AM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Hugs buddy. I am so happy you are here. I will always be here to support you old friend.

Thank you, my friend. I'm not active on social media but I still read enough to hear the siren's call. Thank you for that.

I feel every word you wrote. Solidarity, kat. 

On 10/17/2022 at 1:49 PM, Sylvaa said:

I get tired of cooking for people who don't appreciate not having to cook.

Not cooking for me, but I feel this in my bones. What's up, friend.

On 10/19/2022 at 9:09 AM, Sylvaa said:

Nothing like work going, "oh, you've decided to make a challenge and focus on time management? Let me throw three priorities at you that all need done within the next day."

This sucks. I'm finally learning to say "no" to unreasonable last-minute work requests. I have support. I hope you do too.

It's a pretty solid place, honestly.

What's up, nerdson. Good to see you again.

On 10/22/2022 at 1:12 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

No more freelance lawyering and not knowing when I'll get paid for something again, it's back to steady paychecks

What a massive win. I'm glad to hear it.

On 10/22/2022 at 7:21 AM, shaar said:

Are we all really coming BACK?

 

Like... Ranger zombies???

"We're putting the band back together"
 

Hello. I'm Eric. I'm a guy in my mid-50s. I'm a massive Star Wars nerd. 

I was a long-time regular here on the challenge forums and regularly struggled with time management, over-commitment and in late 2019, a massive change in my family structure when my ex-wife passed away and I gained full custody of my two teenage children. I tried to stay active here but the last couple years have been rough at best and I haven't been here for quite a while due to a variety of factors that I won't bore any of you with. 

I was a skinny teenager, I gained a bunch of weight as an adult, and then I finally got healthy in my mid-40s. I spent some time kicking around a second career as a personal trainer but never got certified. I also got into Obstacle Course racing. At first I just did a LOT of races and piled up a substantial "I crossed the finish line" count but eventually I got decently good at it, meaning that on certain weekends with certain turnouts I could place in the top 10 of my age group in the "Competitive" category of a Spartan Sprint. 

That feels like a long time ago. I am effectively starting over.

I've gained about 30 pounds in the last three years. I have lost most of my functional strength and all of my cardio fitness thanks to Long COVID. I have arthritis, which has really done a number on my feet and my grip strength. I have lost my 10-year relationship with the gym where I was a founding member as it has been sold and I no longer know anyone there.

That seems like a lot of bad news. The good news is I have Hope. And this is why I'm back here.

Goals for this challenge:

Be Active

One of my friends joked that I am a long-winded speaker and now I'm constantly out of wind and if they had known that all it took was an infectious disease to solve that problem they would have coughed on me sooner. It's been hard to want to be active when I can run out of breath while speaking a medium-length sentence (again, thanks Long COVID). I'm at my happiest when I'm active, and vital. Yes I'm seeing a doctor as I get back to being regularly active. I won't do anything dumb like start running every day or doing high-intensity workouts four days a week. But I will be active. Walking, running, bike riding, "Prison Cell" workouts in my home office during the day. Those kinds of things.

Goal: 30 minutes of activity every day.

Be Positive

I've noticed over the last three (four? maybe) years that my levels of social anxiety have spiked. Part of that may be getting older, part of that may be me keeping far too up-to-date on the worst parts of society, part of it may just be the built-in relationships I've had for the last decade going by the wayside. It's easy to find the worst in every situation and even easier to find the worst in others. That's unproductive and unhealthy.

Goal: Start a journal and write down at least three positive affirmations each morning, and note three positive things that happened at the end of each day.

Be Present

When my office closed in March of 2020 due to the global pandemic, I made sure I had a support system. I'm an introvert by nature, but there's a difference between having some alone time and being lonely. Now that I'm working exclusively from home - permanently - I'm going to need to find ways to make sure I am not staying isolated. Part of that is coming back here and posting regularly to the forums. I'm at my best emotionally when I'm building relationships and being supportive of others.

Goal: Post an update here every day of this challenge, even weekends.

What's Going On During This Challenge

I used to have a laundry list of stuff - as I said, over-committed. Right now I don't. My most pressing project I'm working on right now are some updates to the deck I built during June of 2020.

Also, my oldest son is moving out of my place into his own apartment on the First of November and I'll be helping him move all his stuff, which also means we'll be doing some major rearranging around here.

This means I should have more than enough time and emotional energy to put some focus on regaining my health. I can feel what the cooler weather is bringing.

Nice. I liked the Etsuko protégé storyline and building up Maisie is smart. The tag match was right up my alley and I bet the Belt match had pop.

10/10 would buy this.

I like how you're building the women's division. Good job using the analysis without over-explaining it all.

Ladder matches are mild chaos all to themselves and you don't need extra to put them over.

Well-booked tag match at the end, sir.

On 4/9/2022 at 8:01 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

it was enough to make Howard snap; he just slapped the taste out of Montero’s mouth

You’re hitting the high notes, my friend.

On 4/6/2022 at 3:39 AM, DarK_RaideR said:

it clearly states here that if you're into this type of program, your not only a wrestling nerd but also in the 18-30 demographic, so stop calling yourself an old man.

Maybe I need to start angrily typing "spot monkey" and "sports entertainment" in order to not confuse the algorithm.

......naaaaaaaaahhhhhhh

On 4/1/2022 at 4:31 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

Giovanni Bruno vs Robert Howard

I loved everything about this match. Are you data-mining my wrestling viewing habits?

On 3/29/2022 at 12:16 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

Pro Wrestling Hero Europe #3
Mon. W1 Mar 2020, 110.417 viewers on Euro Cable Sports 4 and GBTV Sports

I like the way you're building this. Put the titles on the established stars to bring in the old audience from the former NGW and use them to put over both those that weren't as established and the next generation of younger wrestlers.

4 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Pro Wrestling Hero Europe #1
Mon. W3 Feb 2020, 37.913 viewers on Euro Cable Sports 4 and GBTV Sports

/w/w
Petrov Yakovlev (with Tereza Smirnov) vs Ragnarok (with Petter Eriksson)

I thought Ragnarok was exaggerating when he spoke of slaughter, but man he and Yakovlev brought the fight. Not much wrestling to speak of, this was a down and dirty fist fight. Yakovlev as the scrappy, foaming-at-the-mouth bare knuckle boxer, Ragnarok as the big hard hitting Viking, those two are just made to fight each other and I could watch it for hours. Things got even crazier when the two men ended up in the front rows, trading shots amidst the live audience while Eriksson and Smirnov did their own little act every time the competitors were down on the ground. I was expecting Vidmar to chip in and smash his signature vodka bottle, which did not happen but there still was a dirty finish as Smirnov interfered to draw Ragnarok's attention away just long enough for Yakovlev to line up his Knock Out Left Hook. Bang, drop, pin.

Rating: 47
 

"Milan" Marcello Ricci vs "The Louisiana Pitbull" Robert Howard

I've been thinking about why this match didn't turn out to be as great as I had expected it and the best explanation I could come up with is that it fell victim to those that came before it. Not that the fans were burned out by that point, but having seen Yakovlev and Ragnarok go wild earlier, in comparison Howard really lacked that edge and it turn he didn't quite feel like the great obstacle that Ricci was trying to overcome. I'm glad that Ricci didn't wrestle like a cowardly cheating heel though (that role had already been filled by Bruno in the previous match) but he brought a more serious mat grappling version reminiscent of Ultimate European Wrestling, using technical skill to counter Howard's size and power advantage while being absolutely vicious in his joint manipulation. It worked too, and some ten minutes into the match he dropped the Milanese Elbow for the pin.

Rating: 44

My favorite two matches of this show. Howard was such a savage back in his heyday, having Ricci beat him straight-up instead of in a screw-job did a lot to establish him as a legit heel contender for those who remember both guys from NGW. Like old people, like me.
 

3 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I'm enjoying the first person perspective. Ragnarock is a lot of fun too.

Agreed. I'm imagining something like this, except waaaaaay less 'Murica-centric, with match clips and promo stills.

On 3/21/2022 at 2:50 PM, DarK_RaideR said:

w/
Etelka the Hun vs Malady (with Fusae Etsuko)

Out came the imposing Etelka the Hun and immediately I knew this was not going to be Malady squashing a nobody to look super strong. If anything, I was afraid it might turn out to be the other way around, because after a couple of flashy spinning kicks, Etelka no-sold the last one and tackled her opponent against a corner ringpost, then things spilled to the outside of the ring where utter chaos ensued. I was honestly expecting something horrible to happen, because I looked up Etelka after the first show and her main claim to fame is deathmatch wrestling, namely a match where she powerbombed her opponent onto a board of scissors. Not that this was booked like a deathmatch, but you get the idea of what Malady was in for once the ringside brawl began. In hindsight, I realized this chaos was probably set up this way to make up for the fact that fans didn't really know any of the competitors, even if the excitement for Malady's reveal was there and Etelka had already made her RotO debut the month prior. Somehow, Malady was able to keep up with her opponent, including spots where she kicked a chair into her face and another where she curb stomped her head onto the ring steps. Still, Etelka would have the last laugh when she hit her finisher, which she calls the Hungarian Death Drop, to get the pin.

I'm here for this. 
 

I like the narrative feel so far.

"GREAT SCOTT! MARTY! WHAT YEAR IS IT????"

Wait... I'm mixing thematic elements and that weirds me out.

I would like to say the last four weeks have come as a surprise, but no, they haven't. I'm coming up for air between major projects. It's been... not great. It's been a lot of long hours and at the very least I'm being recognized for my work but this whole "being digested by the Sarlacc" is not as cool as it may sound.

I'm mostly making good food choices and I'm down anywhere from three to seven pounds, depending on how late I have to work and how much I move around, but when you're working anywhere from ten to 16 hours a day to make sure things don't burst into flames, well... This isn't how I wanted the last month to go, but here we are. We'll see what the world looks like since I heard it's starting to warm up out there.

Thank you, friends, I have missed you all.

Ahsoka Tano is the most nuanced character with the most depth in the Star Wars universe. I will not be entertaining your incorrect opinions on this issue.

We're going through a major project implementation at work. in 2017 the privately-held company I work for (which would be immediately recognizable to locals) was purchased by the second-largest multinational corporation in the industry. They claimed they needed to adopt our business practices and wanted to scale them up from "regional success" to "global empire". They left my team more or less alone at first. In April of 2021 my team was brought in to migrate one business-critical information flow to change the way we were feeding the data into our system. This poorly-tested, loosely-managed effort turned into a crap-fest upon implementation that had me on my last nerve for 14 hours a day for two weeks.

In August, they came back to us and told us they were going to move all our systems to theirs based on "the success" of the first project. We have spent six months ramping up for what I knew was going to be the scaled up version of last June's disaster. We launched the first pilot on Monday. It has turned out to be akin to a pride of monkeys having a crap-flinging contest. 

So far this week I have been over-booked and need to do a better job of intentionally carving out "Move, Intentionally" time. But I'm still here on this challenge so far this week. I'm counting this as a win.

Monday

Overbooked and the monkey caca was beginning to fly.
A bit of non-consecutive Intentional Movement to clear my head every hour or so - body-weight squats and lunges. No dedicated workout. It's something, which is better than nothing.

Spent about an hour reading a book in the evening. 
Got started on macro tracking (all values validated by my kitchen scale, no guessing allowed):

KCal: 1735

Protein: 77g (too low)

Carbs: 125g
Fiber: 26g
Sodium: 2500mG

Tuesday
Hip-deep in poo, dodging monkeys. The metaphorical monkey screeches got worse as well.
The temps rose above 35degF and a lot of the snow and ice in my driveway melted and then re-froze when the sun dipped below my roof-line. I wound up slipping and falling on my driveway and hurt my hip and my wrist. Wrist is tender and sore but it's not seriously injured. My hip is bruised but I'll be fine. I'm going to let "Move Intentionally" happen organically as time and body permit.

KCal: 1796

Protein: 82g(too low)

Carbs: 170g
Fiber: 32g
Sodium: 2500mG

This is off to a respectable start considering. I'll feel better when "Move Intentionally" becomes "Worked out today".

14 hours ago, EricMN said:

I won't understand one bit of this but of course I'm going to follow it.

5 hours ago, darkfoxx said:

This weekend, I finally got around to cleaning up my closets and de-cluttering them a bit.

 

Closet envy...

I won't understand one bit of this but of course I'm going to follow it.

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