Snickie

So I'm not Back to Nerd Fitness right now because I have too much procrastinating going on irl to maintain activity on this forum but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night I put Habitica on my phone and tablet today to help me keep track of the Things that I need to do. Username there is Snickie. Feel free to send me guild invites if you so please. *goes back into her rabbit hole of (un)productive procrastination*

So I didn't mean to disappear on you all again BUT in my excuse I have been Very Busy. The tenants moved out of the rental house and so we have spent six of the last eight days getting it ready to put on the market. They left it kind of grimey so there's been lots of cleaning and painting and their dog tore up part of the yard so today we laid sod. Mom says we saved at least $500 by laying it ourselves. I told her to let me know what the chiropractic bills come out to be. And the cost of the pain meds and rehab from the pain meds. And of whatever meds we need to fix these mystery bug bites because we did not wear long sleeves (because Florida, and the sod wasn't delivered until about 1pm so we were laying sod during the hottest part of the day). I've also been making sushi at home (fake sushi since I'm using lox and jasmine rice but who cares) and with friends and stuff. Saw my best friend on Thursday and we made sushi and went swimming. Saw my other two best friends from university on Sunday for her birthday and we were going to make sushi and it didn't happen because there was too much other stuff going on but it was a lot of fun. University is being a butt. First they lost my payment and I had to jump through many many hoops to prove to them that I paid them $31 for my application. Now they want my AP scores, which are 7 years old, so I had to fax a paper to CollegeBoard and pay $25 to have my scores dug up and sent to University. Our phone line has been down for a month but miraculously fixed itself this weekend and so I was only able to send that fax yesterday. Last time I did this for community college it took about 2-3 weeks to come in but I was able to still take courses using one-semester overrides. University, on the other hand, is deferring decision until they receive my AP scores from CollegeBoard (they're on my other university transcripts). Collegeboard's website said that order processing could be delayed for as long as 8 weeks due to reduced staffing due to COVID-19. So I'm going to have another minimal semester (maybe I'll get into Fluid Mechanics 1 which would be good because I know that course is going to be very hard) BUT it should finally be fixed after this semester so I'll be able to dive in for real starting in January. I emailed my boss at the community college so hopefully I'll get some hours but I'll probably try to do some freelancing as well. Chin-ups are not happening. At all. Too busy cleaning and painting to pull up my weight on a bar. Maybe I'll try tomorrow but we'll see with my back since I used Very Bad technique today while sodding the yard. 🙃 I will likely spend some time in Constructive Rest (Alexander technique) while waiting for my mom to be done with the hot water so that I can have my shower. I don't have a plan for the rest of this week. The house is pretty much done - all that's left (that we're going to do) is sweeping the entryways and doing some staging for the pictures and showings. I do have to take my dad to an appointment for his new wheelchair Thursday morning and I have to do about two weeks' worth of meal planning. I'm doing a comment thing for Flash Fiction Month and they're trying out a Drabble Month in September as well so I guess I'll be planning for that.

I have no idea why that song of all songs is going through my head right now. I fell off the last challenge wagon. That's okay. I ended up with a B in Solid Mechanics so we're only in tepid water right now. Flash Fiction Month is also wrapping up and I currently have zero income (furloughed at Dr's office + between semesters at the community college) so! Gotta find some other way to entertain myself until August 24 when class finally starts back up. Ideally in ways that don't involve screens. (This is going to be hard as my mother was recently forced into early retirement and she is rewatching House which is one of my strongest kryptonite.) We're starting off with a hurricane about which I can do absolutely nothing. Fortunately it's so small and weak that they didn't even put out an advisory for even the eastern end of our county. After Monday I can probably maybe focus on actual funness. In the meantime, here are some vaguely defined goals: * Get up and move. No sitting on my ass all day. I might go back to using the timer that tells me how many reps of xyz exercise to do. * Focus on rows for the chinup challenge. Secondary pushups (normal width knee pushups ideally but I'll probably end up going wide like before). Tertiary any leg exercises. * Continue new brushing and flossing routine. I had six cavities filled plus an extra tooth drilled and expanded so I wouldn't get irritated on that section of gum anymore. I also no longer have dental insurance so gotta make sure these babies stay strong and healthy until we do carry dental again. * Limit screen time. I don't have any hard limits in mind but if I end up with a headache like I have been (until recently a necessary evil in order to pass Solids) then it's been too long. This includes television and Animal Crossing (which I haven't touched since Test 2 anyway). * Get school stuff squared away for fall. Specifically this looks like getting my AP scores from Collegeboard archive sent, informing my boss what time slots I can expect to be available for work, getting paperwork ready for class registration, and more. * Actually talk to the guy I was dating (but I still don't call him my boyfriend) before coronavirus went ham on our social lives. And my best friend. And my other friends (if I still have any of those). * Address the contempt issues when I'm not too busy to drown it out with mindless noise. (This probably won't happen.)

I actually had a week to do it but. Procrastination. It ended up going really well.

Hmm well, if you're out of fat right there then you're basically left with muscle, bones and organs. You're trying to shrink your waist so definitely don't do any strength exercises or else your muscles will grow which is the opposite of what you want. Most of your organs are essential for daily functioning but you might be able to get away with losing your spleen, some small intestine, part of your liver, and maybe a kidney. Your female organs too, if you don't plan to have kids and don't mind going into early menopause, especially that pesky uterus that leans against the wall of the abdominal cavity and makes that little pooch nobody can seem to get rid of. You can sell some of them too, which will pay for the surgery to get a few ribs removed as well to complete the look. As a less expensive but perhaps just as extreme alternative, you could just accept that you look the way you do and you don't need to have a 60 cm (23.5 in) waist to be beautiful or have the perfect body and that anybody who tells you otherwise likely doesn't have your well-being in their interests.

We probably have those too, but not as bad as the paper and mud wasps that build their nests on our house and in our doorways. 🙃 Winter? What is winter?

Post Title: Week 2 Report CLARINET Less than minimal PHYSICAL Pretty much none SOLIDS So much procrastination, but the c11-12 assignment due date was moved so I am significantly less stressed over that now. Homework for chapters 6-10 is due on Friday night. Fortunately I have most of 6-8 done already so I just have to do 9 and 10 this week. *smiles but also cries because already off-schedule for that* WORK I'm working half-days at the Dr's office all week except for Friday and Saturday (both off) which gives me time to do the things for Solids (as long as I actually do them). Friday is supposedly a paid holiday, but I am a contractor there not an employee, so we'll see if he pays me or not. I expect he won't. I'm also dog-walking this week. They are sweet puppers but I have a complicated relationship with their new leashes. Online tutoring is the same: three hours twice a week of sitting on my computer scrolling through Facebook hoping somebody logs on and says "halp." TEETH I'm 100% on brushing my teeth every night. Not on flossing, but still. We're about to see if any of it has paid off. (Probably not, since a few weeks of consistent brushing probably aren't enough to undo years of highly inconsistent brushing habits.) I have a dentist appointment on Wednesday. I expect to have three or four more appointments following this (cleaning + filling the many cavities I probably have T_T) MINOR STUFF Flash Fiction Month starts on Wednesday asdfghjkl I don't know if I am ready for this! I got voluntold to lead Bible study tomorrow night and the subject is prayer and I am definitely not ready to talk about this because my prayer life is practically nonexistent. Fortunately someone else agreed to lead the actual prayer but still. OTHER The guy I'm dating wants to hang out on Friday or over the weekend. I told him yes but it depends on whether or not I finish with the Solids assignment prior. Still need to open a credit account. It's between the Discover IT Cash Back card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited. One of the things I like about the Discover card is their ID protection thing, but they're not taken in as many places and I don't necessarily relish altering my list of places I frequent based on where I get cashback (even though I have done this before given coupon availability). And again, my meager income will probably land me a credit limit of some $500 which is manageable so I don't know how much I can really benefit from the.... benefits.... of the cards but still.

New work schedule! I'm only working two evenings a week for the college - Monday and Wednesday. For the next two weeks, I am welcome to work as much as I want at the Dr's office. I am definitely working tomorrow afternoon and all day Friday. Starting July 13, I work there on Monday afternoons and all day Friday in addition to the Saturdays I'm already working. This situation is indefinite but may change once the fall semester starts and I can hopefully take a decent course load. The Dr's office is supposed to hire a full-time receptionist anyway, so tbh it's only definite until they hire someone and the former office manager (who is "retired" but is somehow still at the Dr's beck and call) trains that person. It's so temping to just go in and take the hours but also I have a test in two weeks for Solids that I am not even halfway through the material for, nevermind that two chapters of the material for test 3 is on the homework that's due next Friday. Also, I need to get my own credit card this week because I am not using my debit card to get gas. I have good credit (thanks Mom) so I have some good options even though with my tiny and ridiculously-taxed income I'll only have like a $500 limit probably. I've looked on NerdWallet and I've picked out a few I like with 0 annual fee, but if there's anything you guys would recommend as well I'd love to hear it.

Isn't that what the murder hornets are known for? 😧 My mom wouldn't spray the wasp nests this spring because they sting / lay eggs in tomato hornworms which kills/prevents the hornworms from destroying our tomato crop. Luckily our tomato plants aren't blooming anymore (too hot) so she reluctantly allowed our neighbor to spray all the nests she could find. Fact: wasps come with facial recognition software.

Post Title: Zero Week Summary I'm behind schedule on Solids. Quite behind schedule. I was supposed to have done chapters 6 and 7 by Friday night and I got caught up in the boot socks. Which, admittedly, were fun and they will be useful (albeit not matching any other piece of clothing I own) come boot season. Yesterday, being at work on a Saturday (slow day), was my chance to get caught up but I didn't want to be running YouTube on work computer (even with incognito mode) with headphones and miss a phone call of a patient outside or something. (We make them wait in their cars and call them when it's time to go in.) As it happened, I built from scratch an income tracking spreadsheet, after which I realized I had another sheet that was similar but had more developed input (for income prediction) so I combined those two sheets. So now I can stay on top of my taxes and not get blindsided next February when I eventually receive my tax documents. This move was motivated by two things: going back to work at the 1099-MISC job (no income or FICA taxes deducted) and a rekindled fury and hated toward TurboTax courtesy of Bitches Get Riches. I also learned that my W-2 job is taking out more in social security tax than is necessary. 🙃 Anyway so now my timeline has me doing 4 chapters this week for Solids. Because, you know, human sponge with absolutely no executive dysfunction at all. :"I'm in danger" meme photo I'm too lazy to look for: I'm also behind on clarinet. I was supposed to have the entire Kovacs under my fingers at severely reduced tempo by yesterday. But this is less important than Solids.

My boss dragged his feet about it but I now know I am down to 6 hours a week (previously 20). The thing about the Dr's office is that I have next to no practical knowledge about anything medical and I also lack assertiveness on the phone. Bitchy co-worker had been doing this kind of stuff for her entire life and I don't know what to do without her yelling at me aggressively correcting me on all the shit I do wrong. (Bitchy co-worker is officially retired now.) Now, once I had an idea of what I was doing the days without bitchy co-worker were nice so long as we didn't get swamped. I'm not HIPAA trained/certified (I don't think anyone at the office is except for maybe the ultrasound techs on the weekends because they have hospital jobs during the week). Yeah my self confidence is basically in the toilet regarding that job lol. Maybe it'll be different with bitchy co-worker gone. It'll be sink or swim for me managing the whole front (fielding phone calls and urgent faxes and fighting with insurance companies on the copays which I've never done ever) by myself. Only complaint I have about working on the weekend is, well, it's Saturday. (Also people calling and demanding scripts and not wanting to wait until Monday to get them even though there's nobody in the office to sign for them.) I love my weekend co-workers. Idk. It's a thought process and I'd insist on only being there a few weeks because I don't know what fall is going to look like yet. Hopefully I'll be full time at uni and get enough hours and scholarships to pay for my being full time as well as other adulting endeavors.

I know right? It's so much fun and also stressful but in a good way? I FINISHED THE SOCKS. Well, minus the weaving in of the ends but they're going to be in boots so what do I care lol. I think from now on I'm going to do circular toes rather than shaping them. It's just easier to fit them that way because then I'm not thinking about orienting when I get to the heel / ankle.

I was about to say there is metallic yarn (which is more pricey than regular yarn). I've worked with it before - looks cool as long as you don't accidentally nick it since the shiny metallic looking stuff is only on the outside and the inside is black. I'd say go with crochet rather than knitting (I find increases and decreases, which you need for shaping, more straightforward on crochet than knitting) but I'm definitely biased. 😉 On the other hand, you could *ahem* commission someone who, ah, *ahem* knows how to do that to make it for you. *ahem* *puts on facemask*

I miss climbing the tree in my backyard. Maybe I'll try on Monday morning, when my mom isn't home to freak out.

I am so sorry 😂😂😂 After I-4 Ultimate is complete through Orlando they're planning to bring the same kind of messy construction into your neighborhood. Think about where you'll be working and the commute. A lot of us don't work in the city/town where we live because most of central Florida is a bedroom community to Orlando or Tampa (with the maybe exceptions of Lakeland and Sanford and maaaaaaaaaybe Leesburg area). My mom's commute puts a good 300+ miles on her engine every week, not counting going out to lunch or grocery shopping or taking detours when something awful has happened on the toll roads. (Mine was some 200 but not since I've been working from home.)

Ooooo neighbors! (If neighbors can be some 15-20 miles apart lol.) I'm a ways up US-27.

Progress on minor hobby: I finished a sock! (The second one is almost done, just needs the cuff and the heel.) The toe is kind of loose though so I think if I make another pair like this I'll add the heel and fit it better before I go too high up the leg. Also, they're cutting our hours at work to less than half because there aren't as many classes being taught during Summer B and so we tutors aren't exactly necessary anymore (until Fall). At the same time, the doctor's office wants me to come in during the week, presumably so they don't have to hire and train someone new like they were supposed to after our usual receptionist retired and our part time receptionist left for medical reasons. I need the hours more than ever now, even at less than I make at the college, but I also don't enjoy working there.

*sneaks in all sneaky and assassin-like* Right now I'd have to say push-ups. Mainly because I can do them (wide grip). A few months ago, when I was going to the gym with some regularity, I would've said pull exercises closely followed by goblet squats. Favorite form of cardio is biking. Least favorite overall is running. Marching band / drum corps. There, I said it. MARCHING BAND IS A SPORT. If it's fruity then I probably like it (unless it's watermelon). House M.D. Closely followed by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Oof, I don't really have one. I guess I'd say Paul and Jessica from Dune are pretty cool, and I'm kind of miffed about what happened to Kynes, but I'm still reading, so there's plenty of time for my opinion to change on all of that.

It's still zero week. Don't worry about it Mine is an expanded version of my last challenge with clearer stakes and a reward system. I've been putting this cycle's spreadsheet together since last week, and most of it was copying and pasting. And I'm still tweaking it. Just start a thread like "I want to do a thing" and let it grow.

How far southwest?

This is my second degree. So I have a history of bad choices from my first degree (at least 3 D's and a handful of C's) that I have to compensate for as well as the fact that non loan funding doesn't seem to be as available for second degree seeking students as for first degree seeking students. I've worked harder than I need to for my 3.4. I'm smart enough to have a 4.0. I just lack the work ethic. This is why I'm taking this challenge cycle so seriously. This particular class isn't a weeding course (e.g. organic chemistry is one for premed) so it really shouldn't be this low. I think the professor was expecting a 60% average. Biggest reason for the spread might be that classes are online due to COVID and, if people are like me, their motivation and discipline tank in such an environment.

Post Topic: Y'all I can't do these pushups! So last challenge my pushup variation was wide grip knee pushups and from my original post I'm supposed to be doing incline diamond pushups on this footstool but my body is like "nope" and I can't even get psyched into the negative motion. This is entirely related to my arms because I tried and I can do (1-2) full RoM pushups with wide grip, while I struggle even with incline knee diamond pushups on a chair (higher than the footstool and also cushioned), so I know it's like 65% mental and 35% noodle arms. I'll try to record on Wednesday so I can show you all what's going on. My dad told me that doing rows would help me with pushups and while I admit I've been neglecting my pull exercises due to <cop out> the hassle it is to transport my dad's walker to the workout space in the living room where there's carpet and then back into the closet in my parents bedroom </cop out>, I'm also like "how do pull exercises help with push exercises?" Like I understand the whole balance thing but still. Aside from the core, I'm working opposite muscle groups (hence balance). Any ideas on improving the noodle arms? (No gym, heaviest dumbbells are 10 lb and I only have access to one of them.) I'm like where do I even put my hands on these variations?

What contest? 😬 I literally don't even bug her about it anymore. She's not going to do it. She'd rather watch tv or play that word connect game (and then complain that she (and by extension we) stares at screens too much and she's going to make her wet macular degeneration worse). The one time I got her to do it she was like "I feel guilty because I'm not reading the Bible instead." And I'm like "but you already weren't doing that????" Fortunately for me, Dune got interesting so now my motivation to finish is sustainable without that contest. But I'm still a little pissed about it.

*pokes her head in* Howdy, welcome to our lair. I was into Star Trek a while ago and I'll gladly rewatch anything from Voyager prior. I'm not caught up on any of the series from Enterprise forward though. I do watch a bit of anime. I binged Naruto in my first senior year of college. I'm writing a fanfiction but what's published is outdated and not very good. 😅 More recently I've been watching My Hero but I'm very behind on that. I'm not really a comics nerd, but I am co-authoring another fanfiction that takes place in the DC Universe. I don't mind you finding that one, mainly because what's published is mostly not my writing XD Most recently I've rediscovered classical music nerddom via TwoSetViolin.

Topic Title: Snickie Builds a Solids Foundation Topics: Challenge requirements (Major and Minor Goals), Reward System, Commentary Spreadsheet CHALLENGE REQUIREMENTS Major Practice clarinet. Average 40 minutes a day every other day. Concentration on Cavallini Caprice 1 and Hommage a J. S. Bach by Bela Kovacs Scales to rebuild my finger prowess Clarinet in boat pose is always encouraged Follow a set study schedule for Solid Mechanics. For each chapter, in the following order: Jeff Hanson videos Pearson homework and book example problems Lecture videos Practice problems Get solid, using the 22-minute math alarm timer UTR Leg Day Bulgarian split squats with back foot on a footstool. Start 30. Goblet squats with 10 lb dumbbell. Start 30. MWF Triple P Day Pull: inverted rows on my dad's walker, straight legs. Math 1-6 Start 25 Push: diamond pushups on bathroom counter Math 7-12 Start 30 Planks: front and side, bonus for boat Math 13-18 Start 60 S Rest Day Brush my teeth every night sometime after dinner Minor Read my Bible Or otherwise do the homework for the Bible study sessions Finish Dune Start Dune Messiah Write for Flash Fiction Month (July only) Do some crochet (on an existing project only OR start and finish a project in one session) Do literally anything outside Other Eat three meals a day. Do meal planning (minimum 4 dinners and 2 lunches) so I know what to cook and how much to buy. Week 5 of the challenge, I will record myself (video and audio) playing Hommage a J.S. Bach and forward to my guy-I'm-dating-and-has-video-making-experience to edit into a parody Twosetviolin esque video full of memes. General adulting stuff. REWARD SYSTEM Daily Rewards: ~30 minutes of Animal Crossing in the morning For daily town maintenance only - digging up fossils/gyroids, watering flowers, hitting money rock, shaking fruit trees, accounting for visitors, visiting already-awake villagers For brushing and flossing my teeth the night before Animal Crossing in the afternoon/evening Everything I didn't do in the morning For clarinet daily minutes average over 20 For having practiced that day For being on schedule with Solid Mechanics coursework For making progress on at least two of the minor goals There will be no time travel. Midterm Reward Advance my campaign on Heroes of Might & Magic 3 For following the study schedule and earning an A on the next Solid Mechanics test, to be redeemed on the Friday immediately following. Test 3 falls during week zero of the next challenge cycle. This will apply to that as well. The order on the spreadsheet corresponds to how I would like to have my daily schedule set up using these element. Of course, the likelihood of me actually following it is pretty low, but it's a model. COMMENTARY I got a 76% on the first Solid Mechanics test and was literally told by my dad that that was below expectations, which in his mind is equivalent to unacceptable, like I didn't already know that. I'm not Asian and my work ethic definitely isn't (stereotypically) but my academic expectations are. The average was a 44%. The high was 92% and the low was 8%. I happen to know the professor will drop the lowest test grade and may also apply a generous curve. That said, I need this 76 to be the test that is dropped. I can't afford to not have straight A's anymore, and not because of what my dad said. The better I do in classes, the more money people will throw at me to help me finish the degree. Leg Day might get moved from Sunday to Saturday now that I'm working Saturdays again. Saturdays are slow so as long as patients don't bring their families I can do all the squats I want and just use stacks of charts instead of a dumbbell lol.