Jack Danger

Guys. I finally finished the watch. There's some pictures of the finished product in this post, and here's a link to an album detailing the process if you want to check that out. The only problem with it being finished is that it's a gift for my friend's birthday, which is still two weeks away. So I've gotta hang on to this without spoiling it for that long. This is only the second leather crafting project I've worked on, and it's still pretty rough, but I'm really proud of it.

DANGER LOG DAY 22 - SUNDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Cooked myself dinner. Worked on the watch more. It's coming along very well. Another few hours' worth of work and it'll be all done. Friend bailed on me for Suicide Squad, which sucks. But I didn't eat any popcorn, so there's that. Went out for drinks for my brother's birthday. Had two beers and a shot. DAY 23 - MONDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked on the watch. Ran into a problem I probably should have noticed way earlier in the project. The buckle isn't big enough to fit the band through. Gotta go out and buy a new buckle. Went to the movies with my brother. Didn't see Suicide Squad. Saw Lights Out instead. Very good horror movie. Loved it. Had about 1/4 of a large popcorn, and a huge Vanilla Coke. Filled it all the way to the top with ice, but still. After, we had a small get together for my brother. I ate like crap. Lots of chips. Almost a whole pizza pie. Drank tons of soda. Had two beers and some jello shots. The worst part of all of that is the leftover junk food. There's still pizza, three bags of chips, and a couple dozen cans of soda lying around the house now. I'm almost tempted to binge eat/drink it all in one day just to get rid of it and not have to deal with the constant struggle to not consume unhealthy crap. Also didn't cook anything for myself. But, despite all the unhealthy, I had a good time, which is what life's all about anyway, right? Now, time to get back in the game.

DANGER LOG DAY 20 - FRIDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Cooked lunch. Worked on the watch a bit. It's actually starting to look like a watch. I just have to add some red stitching, glue a couple things, and punch some holes, and it'll be done. Didn't eat or drink anything terrible after work, even though I hung out with coworkers who were eating junk food and drinking margaritas. Little victories. DAY 21 - SATURDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out. Cooked myself lunch. Had a burger and fries for dinner tonight. For shame. Going to see Suicide Squad tomorrow. Probably gonna have a lot of popcorn, because I have no willpower. The planned trip to Atlantic City for my brother's 21st birthday has been unplanned because his 20 year old girlfriend is an evil harpy who can't stand it when things aren't about her. But, I'm taking the kid out to the bar at midnight tomorrow night and I'm not letting anything stop me. Probably gonna finish up the watch in the next three days, knock on wood. And then I'll post pictures. It's looking awesome so far, I'm actually pretty excited about it. I've been watching Stranger Things. I've got two more episodes left to watch. This show is making me amazingly happy. I think that's all I've got for now.

Am I accomplishing them? For the most part. Am I enjoying them? For the most part. Most of my goals involved getting back into healthy habits I had previously established but fallen out of. So getting back into them was actually pretty easy, and I feel a lot better because I've been living a bit healthier the past three weeks. Two of my goals were to start building new habits, which I'm finding more difficult. I just need to be more diligent though. Possibly putting in some sort of reward system would be beneficial in future challenges.

DANGER LOG DAY 18 - WEDNESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Cooked dinner after work. Read a chapter. DAY 19 - THURSDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out. Cooked lunch. Went to a county fair today. Ate two corn dogs, french fries, and three zeppoles. Drank two bottles of Snapple. Not proud of that. Gonna read a bit while I'm waiting to switch my laundry, then head to bed.

DANGER LOG DAY 15 - SUNDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Cooked lunch before work. Had poptarts as an after work snack. Finished the box. Not buying any more. Didn't read. DAY 16 - MONDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Had 4 Twizzlers at work because I have no willpower. Cooked dinner after work. Read. Not a lot though. DAY 17 - TUESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out. Cooked lunch. On Day 5, I broke down the process for my leather crafting project into 8 steps. Today, I finished the first 4 steps. It's really rough, but this is my second leather project ever, so I'm cutting myself some slack. Cooked dinner. Gonna go read for maybe 15 minutes before I go to bed.

Oh yeah. I try to be organized and routine-oriented normally, but this 4 week challenge brings it to another level. Honestly, you just might wind up moving before I do. My friend and I both still live with our parents, so there's no real rush on us to leave. But we're looking for places, and have been applying to a couple. We could have somewhere to move in a couple weeks, or a couple months, no idea. I just know that I've gotta get out and get on my own sometime soon. I've been kind of aimless for the past three years since I graduated college (the first time). I'm too complacent where I'm at, and I've gotta make some changes or I'll be stuck in this rut indefinitely. Hence, going back to school, getting a new job, trying to move out, etc. Complete life overhaul. Definitely looking forward to subbing. I'm going back to school to be a history teacher, so I'm trying to use this to gauge what grade level I want to teach, how I handle classrooms, whether teaching is right for me at all, that kind of stuff. Glad to hear you had some positive experiences with it. I hope it's not too exhausting, considering I'll be juggling subbing with a full-time course load at school, and another definitely exhausting part time job. I have always thrived with a jam-packed schedule though, so we'll see. Good luck on your own move, and thanks for the positivity, man. Sending some right back your way.

DANGER LOG MIDPOINT STATUS REPORT FITNESS GOALS Walk every day. 14 days. 14 walks. Grade: A+ Workout 3x a week. 6/6. Grade: A+ DIET GOALS Cook at least one meal a day.13/14 Grade: A No fast food, no Wawa, no candy, no junk. Mostly good, but I've had cake twice, several poptarts, and a candy bar. Grade: B- No soda. No soda, but I've had sweetened iced tea at least 3 separate times. Grade: A- No more than 2 alcoholic drinks a week (Drinks roll over). No alcohol. Saving it for my brother's birthday in Atlantic City next week. Grade: A+ HYGIENE GOALS Floss more often. Haven't flossed once. Super gross, I know. But at least I brush my teeth twice a day. Grade: F HOBBY GOALS Read a little bit every night. 8/14. Grade: D+ Finish baseball watch leather crafting project by end of challenge. Worked on it a little bit. Grade: N/A AVERAGE CHALLENGE GRADE: B NOTES: The challenge has been great so far. Exercising gives me more energy, I feel better about myself. My sleep schedule has been slowly normalizing. I've been getting up earlier (except for this morning, slept in way too late). Somebody at work commented the other day that I seem more like the old me. I guess that two month stretch of not exercising or eating healthy was having more of a negative impact on myself and those around me than I originally thought. And the challenge helps keep me organized and focused, which I desperately need because of all the other crazy stuff going on in my life. I'm looking for an apartment with my best friend. I'm going back to school this fall for the first time in 3 years. I'm in the process of getting a job as a substitute teacher. Basically, the structure (and support!) that the challenge gives me helps as I slowly sort my life out.

DANGER LOG DAY 13 - FRIDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Cooked dinner when I got home. Banged out 50 more mountain climbers. Didn't read. DAY 14 - SATURDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out. Had a blueberry Poptart, a Milky Way candy bar, and an Arizona iced tea for snacks because work kicked the crap out of me and I have no self control. Didn't read. My excuse this time is that I was too tired from work.

And with today's workout done, I made it out of the mud pit alive. 50 mountain climbers a day for six days.

DANGER LOG DAY 11 - WEDNESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Finished reading Something Wicked This Way Comes! Holy crap. I had it on my list of favorite books since I read it for a class in my freshman year of college, but this last read through was something else. Definitely tops the list now. I don't think I've ever been affected so much by a book before, especially one I'd already read before. Bradbury's prose is astounding, his imagery and metaphors are like nothing I've ever read before. And the book perfectly captures the wonders of youth, the feelings of growing older, the battle between the light and the dark that takes place within every man's heart. It's so relatable. I've been struggling with getting older, still feeling young, not knowing what I'm supposed to do in the world. All of my friend's are getting engaged, married, they've got real adult jobs, some are talking about having kids. This was the perfect book for helping deal with my quarter (or one-third?) life crisis. Did 50 mountain climbers. Cooked myself lunch before work. Started work on my leather crafting project. Took apart the baseball glove I bought at the flea market. It's not much, but it's some type of progress. I can probably bang out the entire thing in one day, if I have the free time. Next Tuesday's my next day off, so I'll see how much I can chip away at then. Had two more blueberry poptarts as a late night snack. Buying them was probably a mistake. A delicious mistake. DAY 12 - THURSDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Went to a hiring event for substitute teaching. Getting the ball rolling on finding my life's purpose and all that jazz. Had some Arizona Iced Tea (just as bad as soda) and two Quest Bars for lunch. First time trying Quest Bars. Not a fan. Worked out once I got home. Cooked dinner. I might read tonight. I have no idea what book I want to start next, considering I have about 200 unread books scattered around my room. My back is killing me. It was hurting earlier in the day, before my workout, mainly when I was in the car during my 2 hour drive to that hiring event. I don't know if it was the long drive, or maybe I slept funky last night or what. This isn't the first time it's happened either, but I can never pinpoint the cause. Working out probably didn't help. I really need to work a cool down back into my routine. Also, I'm adjusting my reading goal from "one book every week" to simply "read a little every night," to account for different lengths of books, and how much free time I have/how tired I am at the end of the day.

Ah, that really sucks about the seizures. Sorry, man. I hope you get out to the reef in some capacity though. Like you said, even just seeing it in any way at all will probably be amazing. I definitely recommend the Yucatan, if you ever head back to Mexico. The cities are so diverse and exciting, the ruins are awe inspiring, and the cenotes, oh man. So cool. I spent entire days just swimming in a few of those. That writing contest sounds really cool. I'm gonna have to check it out. I used to do something similar years ago, back in college. The student theatre club did an annual 24 hour play competition. The writers would be given a genre, a prop, a quote, and a few other things that had to be used in the play. Starting at 8pm, we'd have eight hours to write it, then the arbiters would spend the next four hours reading the plays and casting them, directors would meet with the writers at 7am the next morning to discuss the shows, and then at 8am, the actors would find out their roles and be given 8 hours to rehearse the shows. At 8pm that night, 24 hours after everything started, all of the shows would be performed. It was insane. Some of the most fun times I've ever had. But anyway, that's awesome that you finished it. Good luck to you. I love me some action-adventure, and some beer kegs. If you ever post it up on the internet somewhere, I'd definitely give it a crack if you want, let you know what I think.

Pug superheroes look awesome. There was a guy at NYCC last year that had a similar comic to Battle Pug, but it was superhero cats instead of dogs. He was also doing commissions of people's pets on blank covers of the first issue of his comic. I was thinking about getting one done of my cat, but wound up skipping it. Kind of regret that now though, so if I see him again this year, I might have to get one.

DANGER LOG DAY 8 - SUNDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Had two cups of sweet tea with my breakfast sandwich today. It's not soda, but it's probably still not good for me. Walked around the flea market for a couple hours. Picked up a baseball glove to use for my crafting project. Saw my old middle school best friend at the flea market. I've been thinking about my childhood a lot as I read Something Wicked This Way Comes, so this was a strange, but welcome coincidence. Mowed the lawn. Cooked lunch. Had a little bit of a cookie shake at work. At least it wasn't cake? Read a bit. DAY 9 - MONDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Had two blueberry donuts and a poppy seed bagel for breakfast. Blueberry flavored anything is my weakness. Borrowed two more books from the library, despite being in the middle of reading one right now. Cooked myself dinner after work. Did 50 mountain climbers. Read a bit. DAY 10 - TUESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out. Getting stronger with each workout. Snuck my 50 mountain climbers for the day into my workout. Went to Jersey City to hang out with a friend. Walked around a bit. Had actual ramen at an actual ramen restaurant for lunch. Not the cheapo 99 cent stuff I lived on in college. Had papaya and soursop ice cream as a snack. Homemade fruit flavored ice cream is better than cake, right? Went to see Star Trek Beyond. Had movie popcorn with butter, but no soda. Bowl of cereal and a poptart (blueberry, of course) for a late night snack. Didn't really have dinner. Didn't cook today, ruining my two-week cook-once-every-day streak. Oh well.

Halfway there. 150 down, 150 to go.

Looking at this, we have a lot of the same goals. This is my first challenge too, and I'm hoping to get myself back on track as well. Backsliding sucks. Good luck to you!

I was in the Yucatan. I flew into Cancun, and then headed around the whole peninsula counter clockwise, coming back to Cancun at the end of the month for my return flight. I'd love to go back, but there's so many other cool places I want to see, I don't know when I'll get around to it. I didn't have a concrete plan either. I just knew the general direction I wanted to travel in, that I wanted to see a bunch of the Mayan archaeological sites and museums, and that I wanted to get scuba certified. Otherwise, I just kind of winged it. I'd definitely recommend going scuba diving, if you're medically cleared to do so. A lot of dive shops have a one-time beginner's dive available, where they give you a crash course on scuba diving, and then you do a dive with a trained guide for around forty five minutes. No need to be certified. There's no way to describe the experience, it's not like anything I've ever done before. Can't recommend it enough. Also, I don't know exactly what would be available, but I'm sure you could find a hiking tour with a guide experienced with the area and local wildlife, which would minimize the danger and probably give you a lot of insight on things you'd have never known about otherwise just walking through. No matter what though, I'm sure you'll find some awesome things to do once you're there. Also also, good luck on the writing contest. First drafts are always the hardest part, in my experience. What are you writing?

DANGER LOG DAY 7 - SATURDAY Walked ~30 minutes, completing this week's mini challenge. Worked out for the third time this week. I've been doing the Recommended Routine from the Bodyweight Fitness subreddit. I'm still bothered by how much strength I've lost in the past two months, but I'm slowly building back up, and that's what's important. Cooked myself lunch. Chicken, rice, veggies. Finally got that "Veggie Powered!" quest in the Academy finished. Little victories. I went to my cousin's wedding today, where I ate so much pasta and bread. Also had some wedding cake. Didn't dance enough to make up for it though. But I didn't have any soda, and I didn't have any alcohol at all. Which is probably why I didn't dance enough. Going to read some more later, but there's no way I'm finishing this book tonight. WEEK 1 SUMMARY All in all, I've been doing pretty okay. I've gotta keep doing what I'm doing, and then put more of a focus on eating less cake, reading a bit more, and maybe actually flossing at some point. I'm going to dive into that leather crafting project after tomorrow, once I finally have all of the materials I need. I've got my attack plan all sorted out for that which makes it seem a lot less daunting. I'll post pictures as I work on it.

Cut it a little close to the end of the week, but wrapped up the challenge this morning. Six days worth of 30 minute walks, plus 15 minutes of biking just to drive it home.

Thanks everybody, I need all the luck I can get. I'm gonna recap the past couple days here in this post, and then I'll probably try to be more diligent with my updates. So without further ado, here's the DANGER LOG. DAY 1 - SUNDAY Hungover. Great way to start the challenge. Did not walk, but rode my bike for ~15 minutes. Cooked myself dinner after work, the usual chicken, rice, and veggies. No soda or alcohol. DAY 2 - MONDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Had french fries with lunch. Cooked dinner after work. Went to the movies, only had a small popcorn and no soda. It's all about the little victories. No alcohol either. DAY 3 - TUESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Worked out for the first time in over two months. I've lost so much strength. Cooked lunch. Went out go-karting with my brother and some friends. Had a great time. Had Sonic for dinner. Whoops. No soda or alcohol though. DAY 4 - WEDNESDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Rest day. So incredibly sore. Blueberry donut for breakfast. Not the healthiest decision, but possibly the most delicious. Cooked dinner after work. No soda or alcohol. DAY 5 - THURSDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Still sore from Tuesday. Worked out anyway. Cooked lunch and dinner. No soda or alcohol. Read a bit before bed. Wrote out the steps for my leather project. No point in doing any actual work until Sunday, when I'll go to the flea market and pick up a cheap used baseball glove to serve as the base of the watch band. Tested the red lace and my technique for the mock baseball stitching I plan on using on the project. Came out pretty alright actually. DAY 6 - FRIDAY Walked ~30 minutes. Less sore today than I was on Wednesday. Had some strawberry shortcake as a snack at work. Probably not a great decision. Cooked dinner after work. Read a bit. No soda or alcohol.

Super jealous of your upcoming trip, man. My last vacation like that was over a year ago, backpacking through Mexico for a month. It was amazing. But between trying to move into my own place, taking on a lot of new debt to go back to school, and juggling two jobs, I'm just gonna have to live vicariously through people like you for a while. Any particular plans, scuba diving or nature hikes or anything, or just relaxing by the beach? I'm also in the same boat as far as sleep goes. I keep trying to normalize my sleep schedule, and then I'm up until 3am on the internet or video games, for no reason in particular. Kind of like tonight. Really messes me up sometimes. Here's to hoping we can turn that around though.

Wow, that's like a real life published book. That's awesome! I just ordered it, I'll let you know what I think when I read it. And at some point I might have to pick your brain a little about writing, the process of getting published, that kind of stuff, if you don't mind. I'm not really focused on it at the moment, but writing's definitely part of my epic quest list. I feel like I'm appreciating Something Wicked so much more than when I last read it, back in college. All of the themes about growing old but not growing up, that childhood is fleeting, etc., all resonate so much more simply because I'm older now. Honestly, it's getting me kind of emotional and nostalgic. I can't imagine what it'll do to me the next time I read it years from now. Also, I too would like to hear more of this collection of pug super heroes.

Not gonna lie, I'd read the crap outta that story. I'm trying to read a book a week as part of my challenge, and you've inspired me to revisit Something Wicked This Way Comes this week. It's one of my favorite books and I haven't read it in almost seven years, so thanks!

Not without effort, the lever finally loosened and turned in his hand. There was a loud rumbling and a heavy stone slab slid away, grinding into place to reveal a hidden doorway. Torch in hand, Jack ducked through the opening. Every step he took stirred dust up from a thousand year slumber. The light from the flame filled the small chamber, illuminating a space cluttered with strange contraptions that cast intimidating shadows upon the walls. Benches and bars and other miscellaneous instruments surrounded him. As Jack swept his torch across the room, taking in these wondrous devices, he couldn’t help but feel as though he had been here before… Okay, first challenge. I've been a part of the Academy for a while now, but I've never used the forums before. My fitness journey has been full of ups and downs, where I'd go a few months knocking it out of the park and then suddenly lose all of my progress and go back to eating like crap, not working out, not sleeping enough, etc. My latest relapse into unhealthy behavior happened just over two months ago. I've been looking for something to kick start me back into gear since then. A 4 Week Challenge thing seems like a good way to do that. The overarching theme of this challenge for me is getting back into healthy habits, or turning back the hands of time so to speak. FITNESS GOALS Walk every day. Workout 3x a week. DIET GOALS Cook at least one meal a day. No fast food, no Wawa, no candy, no junk. No soda. No more than 2 alcoholic drinks a week. (Drinks roll over) HYGIENE GOALS Floss more often. HOBBY GOALS Read a little bit every night. Finish baseball watch leather crafting project by end of challenge. So yeah. Here we go.