Mike Wazowski

Hugs, friend. SADD sucks. +1 for rabid ice cream brand loyalty starting in 2020. I didn't know I cared if my ice cream brand of choice was "woke," but apparently I really, really do!

Woo, what a successful Week 1! Love the rugs you're looking at - lemme know about the quality you find from ruggable, I've been seeing them advertised for a while and would totally consider one in a future apartment (or maybe my current one with a shift in decor).

Ooh, I'm here! Mainly a ballroom boy (since 11 years ago, started fall of 2009) and competing / training with a partner pretty much constantly. I've dabbled in ballet / jazz / tap, but nothing beyond a beginner level (intermediate / advanced at my college in jazz, but that felt like it was overstating my competence).

Hahahahaha it's an absolute blast. As long as it doesn't push my work hours TOO LONG, I actually kinda enjoy the challenge of identifying this stuff (not fixing it, that's never fun for me). Oh yes, they were indeed lovely. My last one had me doing a mashup of monterrey jack and sharp cheddar and it was a delicious combo that I'll be putting into mac n cheese very, very soon. Haha that's....kinda usual for Fridays, actually. I live a very active life (though I don't have a time turner like @raptron - I'm convinced that's the only way she packs so much into her weeks).

Still need to do a recap of last week and check in with goal numbers - but mostly, the weekend was relaxing with a chill date night of enchiladas and a BOMB tres leches cake from a local tex-mex staple plus watching "La La Land," one of the BF's favorite movies on Saturday night. Dance also happened, and it feels like we're slowly getting back into the swing of things after almost a month off (good thing we have nothing coming up urgently!). I slept LIKE A ROCK on Sunday night - first time my watch has ever said I was asleep for more than 9 hours in a night. I also need to lay out the yearly plan and stuff - better get it done before the year is 1/12 over. But the biggest, urgentest project is getting some treatment for my chronic sinus infections as they're a source of constant headaches (literally, or nearly literally constant anyways). Definitely an impediment to getting higher quality sleep and just generally feeling better quality of life. Have a consult booked tomorrow (after the first consult to refer me to a thorough CT scan and the CT scan last week - I think this is the last step before a procedure would be performed). Here's this morning's workout with comments in italics - I'm still slowly rebuilding to a beginner level of strength, but I'm not too stressed about how fast it goes. It's not like my main sport really cares about absolute strength at all! though it cares an awful lot about aesthetics A1: Chin-ups: 2 x 6, 5 Maybe had a 6th rep in me on the last one, but it would've pushed me to near failure on my first superset and that felt like a bad idea A2: BSS (w/o weight): 3 x 8/8 these were fairly easy and are ready to be lightly weighted again B1: Rings Support Hold: 22s, 21s, 20s still inching closer to being ready for ring dips again (honestly, I might never have been really ready for ring dips, but you live and you learn) B2: 1 Leg RDL (w/o weight): 3 x 5/5 really relearning balance here, and how to not collapse my back into anterior pelvic tilt at the bottom, a common fault of mine C1: Push-ups: 3 x 12 fairly easy, ready to upgrade to either diamond push-ups or pseudo planche, haven't decided which yet C2: Ring Rows: 12, 10, 9 with the ring bottoms at roughly the base of my ribcage (heck if I know what angle that is) - still a long way off from getting my body horizontal for these, but it'll get there D1: Ab wheel rollout (kneeling): 8, 9, 9 still working on my overhead mobility / building the strength to not go into extension over a range of motion- might even need to film these to self-check my form D2: Pallof Press (half kneeling): 3 x 10 x red band (my lightest) these weren't super tough on the obliques but I felt them in the shoulder joint D3: Reverse Hypers (tuck at start to straight legged): 3 x 10 these are new to me in this program, and I'm really liking them / wishing I had started using them sooner I was supposed to do handstands / L-sits before and mobility afterwards, but both were cut for time - I started off my morning by boxing up all my Christmas decor so my workout didn't start til just after 8. C'est la vie.

Ah, pictures of the famous homemade pot rack! Aww yes, glad you were able to get some peace amid the crazy! I wanted to make some joke double entendre about posting noods, but all of them felt like TOO MUCH. The progress is definitely noticeable, though both look tasty!

This is even funnier knowing that tron follows a bar's fridge on instagram! Those cookies look awesome, tron! And I am promptly forgetting that I looked up Hades, since it looks like a game I would *definitely* spend too much time with.

Way to go with the slow and steady consistency last week! The master study looks excellent as well - any idea how they created the subject vs. background contrast to be as strong as it is? It seems almost unrealistically sharp in the master study version, I kinda prefer how you softened that a bit (intentionally or not). Like others, I appreciate the change in rain angle as well, gives it the look of a harder, driving rain.

Yikes, sorry to hear about the car crash, but glad you’re rolling with the adjustment to the bike life (and that you live somewhere with half decent public transit for getting to work).

Ooh, I love he way you captured the drape of a loose sweater. I’m sure that’s a challenge, but it looks good!

❤️ that you’re feeling so good, I’m sure it feels great to get a nice payoff from all the hard work you’ve put in on the routines and mindfulness front.

Way to get a workout in in spite of a brutal workload!

Haha - I waited over a year after it was recommended to actually do it so you’ve got time! yes, thank goodness for them or it would’ve been a real crappy week. Ooh, good reminder for me to look at that goals page for the semester I wrote in December and have already forgotten the content from! Friday wrap up: Got good sleep going into the day (over 8 hours!) - and although I felt kinda crummy all day (God, I hope they’re able to do something with my sinus headaches), dance after work (which was a brutal day - I was sprinting to finish something by 6 so I could go to dance late) was a real treat. It was our first practice back so we set expectations super low - literally just getting through choreo to slower speed is a win right now. But it also felt like some of the posture info we got right before the holidays is finding it’s way into our dancing (especially samba, the relaxed pelvic tick it’s supposed to have is now actually relaxed - literally has never been that way for us). I came home, made some quesadillas, and PTFO’ed on the couch before apparently scraping myself into bed (I have no memory of it but I awoke in my bed). All in all, a solid Friday in spite of a beat down of a work day. Sleep: over 8 hours! TV bedtime and no alarm let me get some much needed shuteye Mobility: I didn’t think I did this, but I forgot I did it to kick off dance practice Meditate: Yep! Plan: kinda deviated on the work front, but it was because super urgent things cropped up (we may have IDed a tech system breakdown where two systems aren’t talking to each other like they should and it’s critical to fix quickly. My role involves me feeding the tech folks the data so they can research the breakdowns). But that’s ok - it’s not about following my plan to a T, it’s about learning!

Alright, update from yesterday. First and foremost, I’m cutting myself a lot of slack (ie goals i missed don’t count yesterday) as yesterday was an absolute fucking shitshow, news wise. Work this week has likewise been stressful as we continue round “I’ve lost count” of debating the truth of performance metrics and the causes of changes in them with a vendor. It’s exhausting, it’s repetitive, and I don’t like it (and it seems to never end). All that added up to me getting super frustrated by tech difficulties with my mic / headset during D&D. Today was the spillover of it but this afternoon was a presentation that felt like it got close to the finish line (or at least an interlude). And a really exciting project came across my desk today which is awesome! On the plus side, there were some bright spots from yesterday and today: D&D was a great thing - both for the escape factor and because my play group has gelled incredibly well over the past months into a great group of friends I got to video chat with my parents, and it’s always just really great to catch up with family I had a first consult with an ENT specialist for a possible surgery to help with my recurrent sinus infection issues (less of a bright spot - my insurance covers nothing until I pay $2k out of pocket for the year, so that’s a big ole expense) I called my best friend during an anxiety meltdown, and it was really uplifting. She was able to confirm that my voice in my head was being a jackass, helped me get a good perspective, and I think it’ll strengthen our friendship because now she’ll feel more able to call me when she’s in a similar rough spot I couldn’t sleep so I channeled my angsty 6 am wake up into a good morning workout (calisthenics - Reddit body weight fitness recommended beginner workout) If you’ve also had a rough go of things the past day or so, I’m hugging you from afar. Love ya, nerds!

Done. Henceforth he is MC (Mr. California, to acknowledge your friends while also specifying his gender, which I guess we only do for Bike Boi). Haha.

Soooooo at what point does the FaceTime date person need an acronym? Or did we already land on DH for dark horse, since you referred to them as such at some point? (I’m assuming, without confirmation, that the FaceTime dates you mention are, in fact, with the same person). Oh, and good luck with the projects launching and all that that entails!

❤️ Haha I only learned from a college ultimate frisbee teammate, who was convinced there were two different pronunciations (based on my limited research, there aren't, at least not in the Anglophone world. Haha guess that was my naive american "everything must be better run in Europe" perspective talking. Well, best of luck as we all muddle our way through a messy but well-intentioned response to this crazy situation (and honestly, I've been really lucky in all of it - my job is almost 100% performable remotely and my company produces and sells electricity so our business was not near as severely hurt by things as many (most) of my friends' employers). Haha amazing the impressions that can be made at such a young age. I remember a Saturday morning tradition of watching a discovery channel show called "Amazing Animals" with my parents and loving it (like, lowkey was sad when we got home too late from breakfast at a pancake house one day and missed a new episode). Oh yes, I enjoyed the HH on the Gallic wars and Julius Caesar, but then didn't end up listening to any other episodes (I think I need to pick my topics selectively for it, there are some that just aren't interesting enough for me to listen to an audiobook on them). glad to have found another NPR fan running around here! Quick drive-by update: Yesterday was a day full of "I don't wanna" at work, and I didn't suspect any particular reason until I tried to go to bed and some disgustingly thick mucus drained into my throat and kicked off a coughing fit. It appears I'm mildly sick and/or dealing with an allergy flare up, so I'll temper expectations of myself accordingly this week. On the plus side, I kicked off this morning with a first consult with an ENT specialist that'll likely lead to some outpatient surgery that'll help prevent future recurrences of the aforementioned sinus yuckiness. Next step is to schedule an imaging appointment so they can map out how my head's plumbing is messed up - I'm assuming then it'll be another consult appointment and then an outpatient surgery, but I'm hopeful I can get this all wrapped up by around February (since it's looking like I won't get a COVID vaccine by my birthday, better functioning sinuses are a nice consolation prize). Goals: Mobility: Yes, and knowing I'd need to report out here did its job - regularly doing couch stretch is leading to noticeable improvements while doing the stretch that'll hopefully translate well to other activities. Shoulders and wrists, you're next up on the recurrent issue fixing train! Mindfulness: I didn't meditate, but I did go for a nice relaxed walk in the sunshine yesterday and it was a great mood booster. Not doing the work as prescribed, but gonna grade myself leniently and count it. Sleep: TV bedtime did what it was supposed to do, I was in bed by 10:30, but sinus yuck kept me up (yay, coughing!) and disrupted my sleep once I fell asleep. Not gonna ding myself for being sick, this ish happens. Plan: My plan got changed to include even less focused working time than I intended, but that's ok - I tracked what I did, and at this point all data is good data (also, I didn't waste time with fake-productive things, I just legitimately slacked off - IMO, that's much better for my sanity). It's a kinda gross day outside today, so I'm planning to shift my conditioning schedule around slightly (normally I'd try to run MWF, calisthenics TRSa). Here's my plan for the rest of the week (excluding work stuff): Wed: Calisthenics workout after work, D&D night Thur: Date night, maybe some solo dance practice after work, maybe a run before work Fri: Dance practice after work, maybe a calisthenics workout before work Sat: Possible breakfast and/or dinner date, some grad school work, and dance practice; maaaaybe a run before dance, but that's probably getting too feisty Sun: Dance, life maintenance stuff

I’m pretty sure we talked about him before (when MM was reading Digital Minimalism, maybe?) but I forgot you’d be familiar! Task management is basically a buzzword for “fancy to do list” - I use it to keep track of all the work and personal life projects / stuff I should do eventually that doesn’t necessarily need to get done right that moment (I’ve found it really helpful for quieting down the anxious voice in my head that asks “what if we forget this because we didn’t do it RIGHT NOW?!?” - physical cues like leaving the laundry closet door open or the rosary on a chair help a lot with remembering things around the house too in the super short term). Ya.....I imagine your country has a better support system to help workers and businesses affected by shutting down or reducing operations (based solely on my vague understanding of Kurzarbeit in Germany) that helps soften the financial incentive for people to act like going back to near normal is totally fine (my roundabout way of saying I understand that my neighbors are making tough calls and I’m not sure I’d make different choices in their shoes). But still, it forces me to dig my heels in. On the plus side, I have a more or less stock response for when ,y coach broaches the issue in the future. I’m not familiar with connections, but definitely give the podcast a listen! Their episodes tend towards heavier topics, just as a heads-up (examples include examining the history behind the Shia-Sunni conflict in the Middle East, the emergence of cyber warfare, and the history of race as an American social construct).

Wooo for the new house!!! Best of luck with all the things you’ve got to sort out, and glad you get to have fun shopping for some forever things.

Sorry it was such a crummy night's sleep, those are truly the worst! Here's hoping you can crash *extra early* tonight!

That is an adorable kitty face!! 10/10 for the well-being benefits (and I'm not even that much of a cat person)

Ah, my point was maybe slightly poorly made. The point I was trying to make was roughly: If you're investing your money in an index fund, it'll almost always outperform an actively managed fund that's comparable to that same index, net of management fees If you do try to pick an actively managed fund, there's essentially zero data you can leverage to try and pick Ergo, picking an index fund is likely the better Also, as a follow-on point - many target date funds (at least those from Vanguard and Fidelity in the US) are like slightly more costly index funds - but read the fees on them carefully, there are some that are not near as efficiently run. On ethical investing, I hear you, although I've kept my head in the sand on it. Something to keep in mind as you look at any investment branded "ethical / sustainable" is to research how they define that quality and then contemplate whether their definition is a good enough reflection of your own measuring stick in that arena to be useful (for example, do they evaluate "environmentally friendly" more strictly or more leniently than you would? does avoiding vice companies (alcohol / tobacco / marijuana) matter to you? are you ok investing in a gun manufacturer? are you ok or not ok with investing in an energy company that currently burns fossil fuels but is taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by X date?). Not that it matters if you invest in mutual funds (you won't directly hold the shares and therefore won't be talking at shareholder meetings) but there's also a cool story from about a decade ago of the Sisters of Francis (an order of Catholic nuns) using their collective funds to invest in a major gun manufacturer (Smith & Wesson) to get the company to change its stance on gun regulations as a point in favor of investing in businesses with practices you find disagreeable so that you, as a partial owner of the company, can tell them to clean up their act*. *Don't buy individual company stocks just for this reason, please! Just sharing a fun story Always happy to nerd out over personal finance stuff - especially if I can help steer a friend in the generally right direction! Oooh! I have stuff to add on this one. Most robo-advisors that I'm familiar with (really, just Betterment and Wealthfront in the US) have you take a questionnaire on your risk tolerance, then allocate your portfolio into a mix of ETF's* based on your risk tolerance plus age. They also advertise some very small benefits like tax loss harvesting (seriously, only google it if you have nothing better to do, you really don't need to worry about it if you're like 99.99% of investors, and that number may be understated). But you can think of most robo advisers (that I know of) as a slightly *fancier* way to invest in something similar to a target date fund (fancier in this case may not mean better, though it means more customizable). *ETF's are generally index funds, though there may be exceptions out there. What makes them different is you can buy them in real-time, rather than transactions settling at end of day like a typical mutual fund (or that's my understanding). I used them only when I didn't have enough invested to meet the minimum for an index fund I wanted to invest in, since then I've invested solely in mutual funds (I think Vanguard only let me buy whole ETF's, and I wanted the ability to invest exactly $100 more into a fund if that's what my asset allocation spreadsheet told me to do). RE: private pensions, they're typically a much more conservative investment option, think of them as somewhere between a high-yield savings account or CD and a bond fund (though research what happens to your pension if the company it's provided through made an actuarial miscalculation bad enough to close up shop - there may be a hidden risk there that's worth weighing). What that means is your money, on average, will not grow as much, but the company guarantees that your money won't lose value either. I, personally, prefer to hold cash in a savings account in lieu of buying into a private pension (my ex-fiancée was also starting to get into selling private pensions on the side - her dad was a full-time salesman - when she and I broke up and that *definitely* makes me biased against them, in the interest of full disclosure).

Thirded! ETA: and third paged!

Yep!! He and I started dating around mid-August, but things weren't official until end of October. It's been an exciting thing so far (and low-key my longest relationship since...my ex fiancée called things off in June 2013 - for anyone curious, yes, the gender is right on fiancée, and no, me being gay wasn't the reason for the breakup, it was the far more garden variety "fight about money and our approaches to managing our future shared finances" reason). Yep, basically my concern - at least one family that I know of eats out at restaurants fairly regularly, and some of my co-teachers would be folks who also aren't taking the same level of precautions I am (also, it's ~30 people in a room, sometimes more - even if most of them are children, that's still more than my comfort level). Some other parents are super cautious and group dance is the one riskier thing their child is involved in, but still doesn't feel like the right time to go back when my county and its neighbors are setting records for new cases and/or total hospitalizations regularly. Current mainstays: Planet Money - economics podcast from NPR The Indicator - daily offshoot of Planet Money, does it show that I'm an econ nerd? Up First - news roundup from NPR, the US's rough equivalent of the radio arm of DW or the BBC The FiveThirtyEight politics podcast - US based political analysis, with a heavy application of data and statistical modeling - also enjoyable because it features multiple gay men as regulars Keep It! - really just listen to it to hear three entertaining queer people banter about pop culture, it's how I can pretend to know more than I do on those topics Some political podcasts that are more biased than I'd recommend to anyone (I listen to them for cathartic humor, with a going-in knowledge that I'm listening to biased content) I've also recently started listening to some Throughline - it's also from NPR and it looks at historical trends and how they connect to modern topics of interest (for example, they did a great one about the increase in the power of the US Supreme Court over the years). Haha I would enjoy it - if it didn't interfere a bit with dance! I'm happy to be rid of it quickly given the impacts on my main training. It really was!! Especially the morning one - it felt peaceful and almost normal for a couple hours (and then I put my mask on to walk into the apartment building, haha). I got a paper one - "The Time-Block Planner." It's published by Cal Newport (author of some of my favorite professional self-help / productivity books, specifically "Deep Work" and "So Good They Can't Ignore You"). It's a pretty decent planner for what it aims to have you do - plan out your week in advance with whatever system you need to use that week, block your time by day and revise those time blocks as things change, track key metrics that you identify every day. One of the things I'm appreciating, so far, is that it offers a bit more flexibility than other planners I've tried out, and it specifically doesn't try to take the place of a task management system (I'm playing with Trello for that) or a calendar app (my work outlook does well enough for that, and I use a personal google calendar in the rare instances when I'm planning far enough ahead to need that). It's not for everyone (IMO) but it works really well for me - no idea if I'll use it forever, but it's good for now. It truly is!

I'm the same with facebook - I'd happily never open it were it not for the college kids I coach still using it to organize their club's activities (there's even a joke every year about the freshmen needing to sign up for Facebook just to use it, and yet the leaders have not yet switched over to Slack, Discord, or something else that could support their community building needs).