sarakingdom Posted September 12, 2017 Report Share Posted September 12, 2017 I've had this thing going on lately where I need to get a lot of work done, but I'm also showing a lot of signs of burnout. Which is not cool. I've also been binge-reading the Rivers of London series. Well, those two things go together. Do too much magic as a trainee wizard, and your brain turns to mush. You need to limit your daily training to avoid becoming a statistic. But there's a lot to learn when you're apprenticed to the last wizard in London. Who is also your boss on the police force. I'm still working on the right challenge. I'm thinking sleep, meditation on the fly, lots of breaks during the day to take walks and reset my brain. My brain gets pretty tired. Oh, and actually making myself take my rewards. Or maybe points for burnout-fighting things. 7 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted September 13, 2017 Report Share Posted September 13, 2017 Following along again. I may actually have to contribute this time since I don't know the series you referenced like I do Discworld. Crivens! Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2017 18 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: Following along again. I may actually have to contribute this time since I don't know the series you referenced like I do Discworld. You might enjoy it. It does reference Pratchett in some of the books. The main character is sort of a nerd. Although basically they're magical police procedurals. 22 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: Crivens! Ach, yon bigjobs! 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2017 Okay. I have a challenge. The two constraints: first, I'm too burnt out to design a challenge, and two, this is basically injury recovery. For mental injury. As a result, I've signed up for an Avatar: the Last Airbender challenge on Habitica, and since I'm not in the mood for an Avatar challenge this time around, I'm going to rebrand it for Rivers of London. Which is feasible, since the classical Newtonian magic in the series works on the same four elements. And I will choose the second book, Moon Over Soho, because one of the characters is recovering from a gunshot he got in the first book. Also, jazz vampires. Body and Soul. The song. That’s what London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho’s 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body—a sure sign that something about the man’s death was not at all natural but instead supernatural. Body and soul—they’re also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace—one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard “Lord” Grant—otherwise known as Peter’s dad. The elements Fire: Work towards a goal you're passionate about. Air: Meditation. Water: Reading or learning a new skill. Earth: Exercise. The challenge Habitica does two a day, for ten minutes. Nice and minimalist. The modification Points for every ten minutes per day. The context Recovery challenge. Bonus points for recovery efforts. Maybe some experimentation. "You can’t die of jazz,” said Dr. Walid. “Can you?” I thought of Fats Navarro, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker who, when he died, was mistaken by a coroner for a man twice his real age. “You know,” I said, “I think you’ll find you can.” 4 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 Week 0: Day 3 Water (reading & study): 1 Earth (exercise & health): 2 Air (meditation): 1 The exercise and reading were both a little disorganized, but they met the ten-minute rule. The extra earth point is for a badly-needed early bedtime, and I'll have to go to sleep now if I don't want to give back the point. I have not been feeling well lately. Every fatigue issue of being sick, without being sick. I have been leaning hard on the vegetables and multivitamins in hopes they'll help. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 5 hours ago, sarakingdom said: "You can’t die of jazz,” said Dr. Walid. “Can you?” I thought of Fats Navarro, Billie Holiday, and Charlie Parker who, when he died, was mistaken by a coroner for a man twice his real age. “You know,” I said, “I think you’ll find you can.” You were right about the Pratchett influence, I can almost hear the Patrician there. 29 minutes ago, sarakingdom said: I have not been feeling well lately. Every fatigue issue of being sick, without being sick. I have been leaning hard on the vegetables and multivitamins in hopes they'll help. I think your burnout is getting so bad your body is producing physical symptoms in response. Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 1 minute ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: You were right about the Pratchett influence, I can almost hear the Patrician there. The third book in particular is loaded with Pratchett references, some of them quite obscure. And an Airbender reference, now that I think about it. 5 minutes ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said: I think your burnout is getting so bad your body is producing physical symptoms in response. You could well be right, the sign to slow down. My sleep has been bad, too, which can't help. And there might also be something going around at work, a lot of us seem to be having bad weeks with the fatigue. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 So the chaplain in me just has to ask, why do you think you are burning out? 1 Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 Tomorrow is a Firebending day, so in honor of of that, a fire quote: Quote "What's the biggest thing you've zapped with a fireball?" I asked. "That would be a tiger," said Nightingale. "Well, don't tell Greenpeace," I said. "They're an endangered species." "Not that sort of tiger," said Nightingale. "A Panzer-kampfwagen sechs Ausf E." I stared at him. "You knocked out a Tiger tank with a fireball?" "Actually, I knocked out two," said Nightingale. "I have to admit that the first one took three shots, one to disable the tracks, one through the driver's eye slot and one down the commander's hatch - brewed up rather nicely." 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted September 14, 2017 Report Share Posted September 14, 2017 Nice challenge! Dumbledore has been binge reading this series too. I haven't started them because I don't want to take time for binge reading just now. Not that I am abstaining. I just bought the first season of Tremontaine (on sale for $2.99!). Having shorter episodes makes it easier for me to fit reading in with everything else. 1 Quote Level 68 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 On 9/13/2017 at 10:51 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said: So the chaplain in me just has to ask, why do you think you are burning out? I'm not ignoring your question, I've been taking a bit of a rest. Combination of middling physical self-care, including a lot of bad sleep, some work stress, some personal stress, and a bit of a downswing in mood and ADD symptoms. Sort of a vicious cycle of things that make all the other things worse. 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Tanktimus the Encourager Posted September 18, 2017 Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 3 minutes ago, sarakingdom said: Combination of middling physical self-care, including a lot of bad sleep, some work stress, some personal stress, and a bit of a downswing in mood and ADD symptoms. Sort of a vicious cycle of things that make all the other things worse. Ok, how much of that can you control, and what can be done to mitigate those things? P.S. Taking a rest is awesome. 1 Quote Current Challenge "By the Most-Righteous-and-Blessed Beard of Sir Tanktimus the Encourager!" - Jarl Rurik Harrgath Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 Quote "So magic is real," I said. "Which makes you a... what?" "A wizard." "Like Harry Potter?" Nightingale sighed. "No," he said, "not like Harry Potter." "In what way?" "I'm not a fictional character," said Nightingale. ― Ben Aaronovitch, Midnight Riot I'm going to amnesty the previous days. I didn't do too badly, but I was tired, so clean slate. Week 0: Day 7 Water (reading & study): 1 Earth (exercise & health): 2 Air (meditation): 0 Fire (passion project): 1 Habitica health stats: 42 life, 65 gold I've decided that mostly I'll let Habitica do my scoring this time around. I just need to think of a good set of rewards and try to use up my balance regularly. I tend to hoard earned rewards and never redeem them, which doesn't help the positive reinforcement much. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 Quote "Norwich station has your standard late-Victorian brick, cast-iron, and glass shed retrofitted with the bright molded plastic of various fast-food franchises. I gratefully staggered in the direction of Upper Crust and considered asking if I could stick my head under their coffee spigot, but settled for a couple of double espressos and a chicken tikka masala baguette instead." Also, now that I'm eating around my calorie goal, I'm hungry a lot more. I guess that means I wasn't eating enough. I did the NF yoga squat mobility session, which I must need, because I was terrible at it. I'll try to fit it in more often this week. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
RisenPhoenix Posted September 18, 2017 Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 On 9/12/2017 at 7:37 PM, sarakingdom said: Do too much magic as a trainee wizard, and your brain turns to mush. You need to limit your daily training to avoid becoming a statistic Burnout is dumb. Says the person who spent this weekend as a burnt out anxiety puddle. I like the challenge set up! It looks like it'll work well. I may have to steal it in the future. >.> <.< 1 Quote RisenPhoenix, the Entish Aikidoka Challenge: RisenPhoenix Turns to Ash "The essence of koryu [...is] you offer your loyalty to something that you choose to regard as greater than yourself so that you will, someday, be able to offer service to something that truly is transcendent." ~ Ellis Amdur, Old School Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2017 59 minutes ago, RisenPhoenix said: Burnout is dumb. Says the person who spent this weekend as a burnt out anxiety puddle. It is dumb. 1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said: I like the challenge set up! It looks like it'll work well. I may have to steal it in the future. >.> <.< It's super lazy. I can't take a lot of credit for it. I basically outsourced everything. But it keeps me off the streets. I'll probably do the same one next month with more Avatar. I've kinda been missing Avatar challenges. I need to get my hands on the DVDs, now that it's not on Prime. I may add lots of stuff to it, I guess. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2017 Quote "That's much better," said Nightingale. "They need to go faster. If the enemy can see them coming, you might as well just carry a gun and shoot them with that instead." "Why don't we just carry guns?" I asked. "I know you've got a roomful of them." "Well, for one thing," said Nightingale, "the paperwork has become very tiresome, then there's care, maintenance, and trying to ensure one doesn't leave it on the Underground by mistake. Plus a fireball is more versatile and can pack more of a punch than any pistol I'd be happy to carry." Week 1: Day 1 Water (reading & study): 0 Earth (exercise & health): 12 Air (meditation): 1 Fire (passion project): 1 Habitica health stats: 42 life, 100 gold All the Earth stats are from aikido plus two walks I took at work as scheduled brain replenishment No idea if they did much, but I think it was promising. It was a fairly good day at work with minimal brain burnout. Not my most productive day, but a good solid effort. It is hard to justify the time away from my desk, but I'm trying to treat the brain burnout like any other medical thing and do the rehab. (I think the ideal might be something more demanding than a walk, but walking is easier to fit into the day in quantity, so I'll start there.) They asked if there were requests at aikido. No one ever says yes but me, unless there's a test. I never request test stuff. Today I asked for jo techniques and we did those for two-thirds of the class. It was awesome. Another dude thanked me for requesting it. Then we did kubishime techniques, which were fun, and it turned out that somewhere I'd picked up a correct instinct for adapting when you miss the timing on the throw we were doing. I kept switching to jujinage, which is apparently the perfect backup move. No idea why that instinct was there, I'm not a big fan of jujinage, and don't recall training it more than maybe once at the old dojo and once here, so it's a mystery, but it's not easy to get the right instincts wired up at speed, so it's a win when it happens. And I was working with a guy who teaches well for my tastes, and is always happy to go off on a tangent with the technique, so we played with the timing and adapting the technique. And my rolls during warmups were not terrible. All in all, the unintentional extended break wasn't a disaster. (The other big win was time management good enough to actually leave work in time to get there.) I did not have trouble eating enough food today. I might even have gone over, though it's hard to tell what aikido burns. (I was probably over by a whole lot.) But I'm not going to worry about it. I'm still getting the sort of hunger I associate with recovering from chronic undereating, so I'm going to assume my body needs it, and one day is just a day. I've made a little more food for packed lunches so I can get more protein and calories at work. It's a total food desert for stuff I can eat, so I'll be glad of some extra hard-boiled eggs in the lunchbox. And I've started stashing jars of peanut butter everywhere, for when you just need 500 calories ASAP, which happens to me more often than you'd imagine. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted September 19, 2017 Report Share Posted September 19, 2017 On 9/18/2017 at 0:58 AM, sarakingdom said: I did the NF yoga squat mobility session, which I must need, because I was terrible at it. I'll try to fit it in more often this week. I didn't realize that NF yoga had a squat mobility session. I've been doing a combination of squat mobility from other sources. Which NF yoga session is it? 15 hours ago, sarakingdom said: All the Earth stats are from aikido plus two walks I took at work as scheduled brain replenishment No idea if they did much, but I think it was promising. It was a fairly good day at work with minimal brain burnout. Not my most productive day, but a good solid effort. It is hard to justify the time away from my desk, but I'm trying to treat the brain burnout like any other medical thing and do the rehab. (I think the ideal might be something more demanding than a walk, but walking is easier to fit into the day in quantity, so I'll start there.) They asked if there were requests at aikido. No one ever says yes but me, unless there's a test. I never request test stuff. Today I asked for jo techniques and we did those for two-thirds of the class. It was awesome. Another dude thanked me for requesting it. Then we did kubishime techniques, which were fun, and it turned out that somewhere I'd picked up a correct instinct for adapting when you miss the timing on the throw we were doing. I kept switching to jujinage, which is apparently the perfect backup move. No idea why that instinct was there, I'm not a big fan of jujinage, and don't recall training it more than maybe once at the old dojo and once here, so it's a mystery, but it's not easy to get the right instincts wired up at speed, so it's a win when it happens. And I was working with a guy who teaches well for my tastes, and is always happy to go off on a tangent with the technique, so we played with the timing and adapting the technique. And my rolls during warmups were not terrible. All in all, the unintentional extended break wasn't a disaster. (The other big win was time management good enough to actually leave work in time to get there.) Yay for getting in aikido time! I don't know why so many people are reluctant to make requests in class. Of course we all have lots of things we need to work on. You'd think they would have something at the top of their list. Nice that you had a backup move already in your muscle memory. Some moves are just easy for some people. Enjoy those when you find them. Getting the food you need and time to work out are both big wins. Keep up the momentum! 1 Quote Level 68 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
Toshimi Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 2 hours ago, Mistr said: I didn't realize that NF yoga had a squat mobility session. I've been doing a combination of squat mobility from other sources. Which NF yoga session is it? I think it's in the mini sessions, it's been awhile since done it 2 hours ago, Mistr said: And I've started stashing jars of peanut butter everywhere, for when you just need 500 calories ASAP, which happens to me more often than you'd imagine. Glad you've found something that helps! Quote Try not, do or do not- Yoda Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Week 1: Day 2 Water (reading & study): 1 Earth (exercise & health): 1 Air (meditation): 1 Fire (passion project): 1 Spirit (good mental self-care): 1 Habitica health stats: 42 life, 116 gold I've added the spirit realm to my Avatar challenge to note good brain care decisions. In Rivers of London terms, that's hard to map. There's a lot of non-Newtonian magic, but that can be pretty scary shit. Although it is in Avatar, too, so we'll call that fae or river magic. Probably river magic. Those are some assertive river spirits. Exercise was squat mobility yoga again. It seemed a little better this time. I'm not entirely clear on how it helps squats, but it feels awkward the way my squats do, so I'll assume it's going to loosen up the right stuff. I'm just going to keep doing it till I get it. Maybe I'll add another yoga mini-session in the morning to just get the morning habit going painlessly. It's convenient at night. Not the best day, due to bad sleep last night, but I got a bunch of it right. And my bento box and aikido bag are packed for tomorrow, and my iced coffee is ready for my commute. (It's a small thing, but my commute became much nicer with a cold drink ready to go, and the hydration is good for me in the morning. Not a breakfast person, but always an iced coffee person.) The bento box has extra protein packed, two hard-boiled eggs and a hot dog. I'm not a hot dog fan and would have preferred a carrot, but it's all protein right now and that's all I had to fill the empty space. I swear bento boxes are bigger on the inside. They always fit more than you expect. 3 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 Oh, look. People can fanvid anything. Even books with no video sources. 1 1 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 3 hours ago, Toshimi said: I think it's in the mini sessions, it's been awhile since done it Yep, it's a mini-session. Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Kishi Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 10 hours ago, sarakingdom said: I swear bento boxes are bigger on the inside. They always fit more than you expect. Do you have a TARDIS bento? And is that even a thing? Because it should totally be a thing. 1 Quote Work like a farmer, train like an athlete, fight like a soldier. 2 Tim. 2:3-6 BATTLE! Link to comment
sarakingdom Posted September 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 46 minutes ago, Kishi said: Do you have a TARDIS bento? And is that even a thing? Because it should totally be a thing. It should be a thing. Looks like a three-tier box to me. Now I want one. 2 Quote I felt like I could run forever, like I could smell the wind and feel the grass under my feet, and just run forever. Current Challenge: #24 - Mrs. Cosmopolite Challenge Past: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11a & #11b, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19, #20, #21, #22, #23 Link to comment
Mistr Posted September 20, 2017 Report Share Posted September 20, 2017 15 hours ago, sarakingdom said: Not the best day, due to bad sleep last night, but I got a bunch of it right. And my bento box and aikido bag are packed for tomorrow, and my iced coffee is ready for my commute. (It's a small thing, but my commute became much nicer with a cold drink ready to go, and the hydration is good for me in the morning. Not a breakfast person, but always an iced coffee person.) The bento box has extra protein packed, two hard-boiled eggs and a hot dog. Excellent steps in the right direction. Anything that makes mornings easier is good. 1 Quote Level 68 Viking paladin My current challenge Battle log Link to comment
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