Bearlee is ...

[Bearlee]

I recently had my 44th birthday and I recently realized that my mindset since the beginning of the year has changed for the better. I’m wasn’t sure what it was until I listened to The Tim Ferriss Show Podcast featuring Terry Crews. He explained what I had been thinking since the beginning of the year, you say what you are and your mind finds ways to make it true. Since the beginning of the year I’ve been saying “I am a yogi” and I’ve made more progress in four weeks than I did the entire of last year because of that one simple statement. I’ve been thinking about how to improve moves and to hold them longer, how to get more sessions in, and do them for longer. I even have a plan laid out for the year where my yoga sessions are broken out into 4 thirteen week sessions.

 

So I’m using that simple phrase “I am” and then finding ways to make it true. At the same time I think it will also help me set my priorities. I’m thinking more about what I want to do and I am surprised by things I’m not saying also. Never once have I thought “I would like to watch more TV” or “I would like to eat out more”. So with this simple premise I’m starting to lay out my plan for the year with gradual increments.

 

So without further ado:

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

On January 2nd I started DDPYoga and have so far finished 4 weeks. When I made the decision in mid-January that this year I’m a yogi, my mind has been more focused on the task. I’ve added more yoga sessions, I’ve performed the moves better, and I’ve been doing longer sessions. The program is broken up into 13 week sessions which is perfect becuase the 4th 13 week session will end on December 30th. As of now I’m working through Beginner 2.0. On April 1st I’ll move onto Intermediate 1.0. Then on July 1st to Intermediate 2.0. And Finally on September 30th/October 1st onto Advanced 1.0.

 

As I advance in the program I’ll be able to expand my workout base that I can chose from to add extra sessions. For example, currently I’ve recently added Fat Burner 2.0 which means that now I can also use Fat Burner 1.0 along with the easier sessions of Engergy 1.0 and 2.0. Next with be Below the Belt 2.0 which with unlock Below the Belt 1.0 also along with the four previously stated workouts. I can also add “live” workout sessions that are on the same level that I’m currently on meaning the beginner “live” workouts. “Live” means workouts that were live but are now recorded to be played back later.

 

Bearlee is ... a Cook!

I also have a goal of cooking more this year. Then people that seem to have the most success with weight management seem to be people that cook. Plus I want to make more meals for my kids that are healthier. So what does a cook do? They get a recipe, gather the ingredients, and cook. Seems simple but I haven’t been doing it. My goal was to cook something new every week and have 52 new recipes by the end of the year, but so far I’ve only cooked one new meal. So I’m modifying this goal to a new recipe every other week with 26 new recipes by the end of the year.

 

I’ve found two books that I really like. The first is called the Ultimate Soup Book and the second is called Kitchen Counter Cooking School. I like the idea of learning to make soups because they are usually nutritious and hopefully easy to make. So the first part of my learning to cook willl be soups. But the other book breaks down cooking into really easy and understandable cooking skills. For. Example to make an alfredo sauce take two cups of heavy cream and reduce to sauce consistency and add herbs you like then add pasta and that’s it.

 

Things I want to learn cook:

Omelets (I cook fantastic scrambled eggs but not omelets)

Scallops

Steak cooked well

How to cook hamburger correctly.

 

I also have an issue where when I start something that I want to go and buy all the gadgets for that hobby. For example I would like to buy a food processor, an instant pot, immersion blender, grill, new cook wear, expensive knives, and so on. I’m going to hold off on that stuff until I use what I have properly. That is also why I want to start with soups since I have a pot.

 

Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer!

Since the Great American Eclipse (that I missed due to weather) I’ve been obsessed with space. I caught the final days of Cassini before it plunged into Saturn and have read some of the fantastic things it’s done. I’ve been learning tons about our solar system and just how neat it is. I’m surprised by the number of space missions going on that I never knew about before: New Horizons, Osiris Rex, and Juno. I’ve been learning about what looks like the new space age happening right now with private companies getting into the space business, specifically SpaceX. The number of exoplanets that are being discovered is astonishing. Just so much to learn and be fascinated by.

 

Since the eclipse I’ve visited my local astronomy club and viewed Saturn and the Moon through their telescopes. I visited my local planetarium and watched their “What’s in the sky this season” show. I joined the Planetary Society that was founded by Carl Sagan and is now headed by Bill Nye. And I’ve done some observations in the sky like on New Year’s Day super Moon and plan to watch January 31st’s Super Harvest Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse.

 

This is also another hobby where I want to go out and buy the best telescope and laptop to view and photograph the night sky. But first there are other things that I will do.

 

View a meteor shower

Learn the constellations and be able to identify them in the night sky

Learn the classification system for identifying objects

Read at least one astronomy paper a week to learn more in depth about a topic

Continue listening to astronomy Podcasts 

 

For now these will be my focus. I have other things I want to add to this list but I don’t want to overwhelm myself. If I can nail these down I’ll be off to a great start in 2018. And if I only get these down but do them really well I think it would still be a good 2018.

 

[Bearlee]

January 31st and I’m getting ready to go watch the Super Blue Blood Moon that starts at 4:51AM and runs to about 7AM. Got my yoga in today and felt really good about it. For some reason my BP shot up fairly high toward the beginning of the session and I was able to mantain it for most of the session. Usually my BP doesn’t hit my “zone” until about a third of the way through the workout. So according to the stats I was in zone 43% of the time 8% above (greater than 137 BP) and 39% below zone (less than 117BP) and averaged 119BP over the course of the workout. The thing I don’t like is that a third of the workout is warm up and cool down so my BP will be down and shouldn’t count against the average. Oh well, when I start doing longer workouts those times will count less towards the average.

 

Took both Cubs to doctors again today. Both have pink eye and youngest has ear infection in both ears again. They will both be missing school on Wednesday. Fortunately wife is going to work late so I can at least get some sleep.

 

Speaking of sleep, Tuesday I was a dumb ass and didn’t go to sleep until late and only got about 3.5 hours of sleep. Completely my fault since I was either reading, checking social media, or watching videos. I even took Cub2 to daycare so I could get an extra 45 minutes of sleep, but squandered it away. And of course with bad sleep comes bad food decisions. Went to Wendy’s which isn’t usually bad, but got a medium fries and ate that. Then on the way to work got Sonic’s and got a small Blast (ice cream), with burrito, tots, and Coke Zero. So all in all a disappointing food day.

 

There should be two more categories that I should add to my list, but these take 4th and 5th priorities at the moment.

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

Last week I discovered that my Fitbit is still connected to my company’s wellness website. When I looked at the data I noticed how sad my mileage has been for the past several months. I saw that the company average was around 8,000 steps daily so last week I vowed to get at least that many steps in on weekdays (weekends are still a sad sight). Made this vow because most of the people I see in my company make me look healthy by comparison, so I couldn’t let them be better than me. Petty, yes, but if it gets me moving so be it. P.S. not everyone is unhealthy, I just seem to cherry pick the unhealthy ones and focus on them.

 

This week I’ve also added stairs back into my walking routine. Last week I tried walking up stairs and was disappointed at how easily I got winded. So I try to get 10 flights of stairs in while I’m walking at work. Tuesday I actually got 20 flights in! And every weekday so far this week I’ve gotten 10,000 steps in.

 

Bearlee is ... a Reader!

Lately I’ve been getting a lot of reading done (at least for me). So far this year I’ve read The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, The Power of a Plant, and a good hunk of GOALS! By Brian Tracey (whom I didn’t know was a self help guru, I just saw the book on the library shelf and thought I would give it a look over). I’ve also been reading a ton of other things like magazines and some comic books that I bought for myself on my birthday. Not to mention Podcasts and Audiobooks that I have on my phone (perhaps not real reading but information still acquired). And I’ve got several lined up as well including The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg (another self help guru from what I gather) and Star Wars Aftermath, Life Debt because not all books can be self help books. Plus I want to know where the First Order came from in the Star Wars universe. Part of the problem I had with the Last Jedi, how did this rag tag group take over the whole universe? Was the whole space armada on those planets that got blown up in The Force Awakens and that is how they took control so easily? One of many huh moments for me in that movie for me, but maybe the books will explain more.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Petty is one of the great motivators.


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[Bearlee]

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Petty is one of the great motivators.

 

Why does it seem like the negative emotions are the ones that get you going? Now I know why the Dark Side only needed two people compared to the entire Jedi Order which barely seem to get anything done. Plus I hear the Dark Side has an awesome cookie vendor in TML.

[Bearlee]

Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer!

Wednesday morning I went out at 4:51AM Central to watch the Super Blue Blood Moon but nothing was happening. Ran and got gas and still at 5:30 nothing was going on. Came back outside at 6:10 and a quarter of the moon was eclipsed. Pulled out a chair and sat in the parking lot until the full lunar eclipse at 6:45. Then I lost site of the moon behind low hanging clouds and the horizon so didn’t get to see the waxing of the moon back to full moon. However I did really enjoy the event. I was surprised that the whole thing took a couple of hours when the solar eclipse had started and ended in a matter of minutes. While it was happening my head was spinning thinking about the celestial objects that were rotating in space and their spacial placement in order to make this event happen. And I also pondered what previous civilizations may have thought watching the moon being “eaten” and then like me not seeing it re-appear. Would they spend a whole day wondering if the moon was gone for good?

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

It was a little later than normal but I got my yoga in for the day. Did Fat Burner 1.0. Proud of myself for mostly no modifications, knee broke form once or twice when going from plank to push up on the 5th and 6th time. But my plank to push up has improved a lot in the past couple of weeks. I’ve also improved my forward bend by realizing that I get more stretch from folding at my hips more rather than trying to have my legs stretch further like rubber bands. Also realized relaxing my head and letting it drop has also added a lot of length to my forward fold.

 

Both Cubs are doing better now after taking their eye drops. Both will be returning to school today. Both will need drops until Sunday and Cub2 will be on antibiotics until Feb. 9th. He’ll probably need tubes for his ears, but I’ll let the doctors make the determination of if or when that will happen.

[Bearlee]

Stressful weekend. Cub2 has come down with a rash again and thought it might be related to the anti-biotics he’s taking for the infected ears. Got so bad that we took him to the ER Sunday during the half time of the Super Bowl. Come to find out he has Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus which has been going around his daycare (along with the pink eye, which he just recovered from). I’m really starting to wonder if I need to find him a new daycare because he has been almost non-stop sick since he’s been there which is racking up the medical bills and time off from work to watch a sick kid (which time to work is the whole point of daycare). And to add insult to injury we get charged the full price for the week if he goes for only one day. So it seems like he will miss at least two days this week, but we will have to pay for the full five if we want him to go back to daycare for three days.

 

So as I mentioned I’m stressed out with a very fussy (understandably) 16 month old and I just wanted to eat all the bad things. When I went to work I was able to talk myself down to a Carmel Frappe from McDonalds and a large fruit bowl. So partial win? For the big game I made a big pot of dumpling stew and overate that, but at least it has real ingredients and I know what’s in there. And I have enough to probably last me for most of the week. Is this considered batch cooking? Would like to add it to my Bearlee is a cook goal, but this is the one dish that I’m really good at and have made dozens of times so doesn’t count as something new or a learning experience.

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

So last week I almost knocked it out of the park. Mon - Thu I walked 10k+ steps but only got 8k+ on Friday. And my step count for the weekend increased a lot but is still pathetically low around 3.5k+ steps each day which triples or more my previous weekend step counts. Monday I am missing yoga because I forgot to bring shorts, so I decided to do extra walking. Instead of 10 laps (which equals 1.25 miles) I was going to do 20 but then thought “Hey why not do a 5k since you’re so close to it” so walked an extra 7 laps to reach 3.1 miles. Also each lap includes a flight of stairs so 27 flights of stairs climbed also.

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

The day is not done so may still be able to get a yoga session in today. Last week I got five sessions in instead of three. Missed Saturday in favor of more sleep.

[The Most Loathed]

I dig the new mantra. 

 

Sci-Fi reading pick for you: The Three Body Problem

It plays with the celestial themes that you are thinking about, and more.

 

Non-Fi reading pick for you: Left Turn at Orion

I recently got the idea that if I'm going to be camping again, I can star gaze again but maybe I should put some effort into it. I asked and astronomer friend and he recommended this for learning to navigate the sky with just the naked eye or possibly binoculars

[Bearlee]

On 2/6/2018 at 5:20 AM, The Most Loathed said:

I dig the new mantra. 

 

Sci-Fi reading pick for you: The Three Body Problem

It plays with the celestial themes that you are thinking about, and more.

 

Non-Fi reading pick for you: Left Turn at Orion

I recently got the idea that if I'm going to be camping again, I can star gaze again but maybe I should put some effort into it. I asked and astronomer friend and he recommended this for learning to navigate the sky with just the naked eye or possibly binoculars

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I’ve got The Three Body Problem on hold at the library and plan to pick up a copy of Left Turn at Orion.

[Bearlee]

Monday was a good day for me walking wise. I knocked out 10k steps before I finished work. Tuesday however I felt demotivated for some reason and only through a last minute effort did I get 5k steps in (would have been 2k if not for me finally kicking my ass into gear).

 

Bearlee is ... a Cook!

Finally got around to doing something in my cooking category. While I was making hamburger and rice for the cubs I made Corn Chowder for myself. I thought it was only so so but my wife loved it so I guess it’s a victory. Tryin to figure out if I want to do another soup again or try a meatloaf recipe I found on Pinterest. I was so glad I finally just buckled down and did this. Cub2 wasn’t so happy because I put him in the high chair while I worked but fortunately it wasn’t for too long. Still behind on this goal, I should have completed my third recipe by now. But that is the nice things about setting deadlines, it lets me know where I am on my goals.

 

Bearlee is ... a Reader!

Wednesday I finished GOALS! By Brian Tracy. I really liked the book and may buy it for a source to refer back to and use as a workbook. Now the problem is that I read through the book but I haven’t done anything the book mentions in order to help set goals and achieve them. It’s like reading a recipe book and not cooking any of the food. So that is something I will be working on over the next couple weeks to see if there is a difference in my attitude and see if I get things done.

 

I also finished The Power of a Plant which is a fascinating read about a teacher in the Bronx that is using gardening to inspire underprivileged youth in the worst parts of the Bronx. The teacher’s name is Stephen Ritz and he started the organization Green Bronx Machine. If you have time it’s worth watching one of his TEDtalks about his program.

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

As I mentioned Monday I crushed my walking goal. Tuesday not so much. Wednesday I squeaked out 10k at the last minute (literally). Thursday is off to a good start with nearly 6k and 15 flight of stairs in already. After I post this I’ll go get at least another 1k of steps and 5 flights of stairs. I’m not crushing this goal but I am staying above the company average which is surprisingly consistent number between 7k and 8k every day of the week.

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

I haven’t been doing as much as I would like to be doing but I am getting at least the minimum in. Wednesday was Energy 2.0 and it really got me going and got me motivated to focused on my yoga again. Unfortunately Thursday has been a really busy day at work and I didn’t get my yoga session in like I wanted but at least I’m getting steps in.

 

Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer!

I don’t know if I should call my self and amateur astronomer or space enthusiast (or space dork). I watched the Falcon Heavy launch on Tuesday and got chills down my spine. The simultaneous landing of the two outer cores was an amazing site. And Star Man riding in the convertible in Earth orbit is maybe the coolest propaganda scene I’ve ever seen. Seeing the Earth in the background or being reflected on the side panels was just awesome. It’s a great time to be a space dork.

[Bearlee]

Bearlee is ... a Cook!

I finally decided I need to take this cook task more to heart. So Saturday I went and bought ingredients and Sunday morning I went and bought the ingredients I forgot and made my next soup Butternut Bisque. Really good soup but not very filling. Was thinking a nice piece of white fish would have been very good in the soup or if I had a grilled cheese everything would have worked well together. Caught up to my goal now on to my next dish.

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

Over the weekend I didn’t do excellent but I didn’t do bad. 5k on Saturday and 8.5k on Sunday. In the near future I’m going to test a mile walk to see how fast I can do that. Then also do a 5k test to see how long that takes. The 5k is 30 laps at my shop which involves 30 flights of stairs also. Monday I started doing my walk and realized about a half mile in that I was not wearing my watch. Finally got it on and completed 15 laps (plus 4 not recorded), good start to the day.

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

Did my first session for the week. Will be an interesting week, first time I don’t have an Energy 2.0 and the first time I’ll be doing Red Hot Core 2.0. It only gets harder from here but I’m keeping up fairly well.

[Bearlee]

I poked Sloth earlier in the day to see if he was still alive (he is but apparently in a degraded form). But he mentioned I haven’t been posting much so I’ll have to try to rectify that.

 

Let me start off with this...

 

Bearlee is ... Frustrated!

Don’t know what’s going on but I’ve been fluctuating between the same three or four pounds for the past month. And that’s after I gained 5 pounds over the Christmas holiday. Frustrated becuase in October and November I lost 15 pounds each month with little to no effort and now that I’m really putting in the work I’m not seeing anything. On the scale at least. I did take a measurement around my waist and I have lost 2.5 to 3 inches there but if I’m losing there why is the scale still in the same place? It’s only been a month and maybe I’m gaining muscle mass or something but if this continues much longer I’m going to have to seek some help. Maybe thyroid, or hormones, or lack of sleep, or too many carbs?

 

The things I’m doing well. I’ve been doing well on my yoga program and I’ve only missed one workout since the beginning of the year but I’ve added several that were not scheduled just because I find it fun and I want to reach my goals faster. And for the past couple of weeks I’ve been getting in 10k steps in almost every weekday. And since I’m not losing weight I’ve started logging my food on MFP to see if something is amiss there. I’ve only been doing it for this week so far but I’ve been around the 2,000 calorie mark every day (where I need 4,000 cal to maintain my current weight) and my diet has been the same for the past month. So I am baffled but marching on because I’m doing the things that I should be doing.

 

Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer!

Today I got the book Turn Left at Orion that TML had suggested. I’m looking forward to getting into that book. I’ve also been reading a lot of things online about different space related articles. I’ve been finding the history of SpaceX’s failures fascinating, it is surprising that most of the problems they’ve had recently is that they did not have enough of some type of fluid (hydraulic for operating the fins or ignition fluid to start the main rocket) and that is what caused their recent problems and they solved them by just adding more fluid.

 

I’ve also been looking up at the sky to see what stars I can make out but the only stars I’ve been able to see for about the past week are in the Orion constellation. There is one other bright object in the sky but I haven’t been able to identify it yet, it might be Jupiter.

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

So far this week I’ve nailed 10k+ each weekday. And even got more than normal steps in Saturday and Sunday (5k and 8k respectively). The only thing I’m a bit concerned about is that I’m almost becoming manic about having to get the steps in everyday. Days where I might be short I take the Cubs shopping with me just so I can walk around the store a few times. Cub2 loves this but Cub1 hates it.

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

Wednesday was my first Red Hot Core 2.0 and it sucked. Had to modify everything which is okay because it gives me something to improve upon. But I was frustrated because I was always about 10 seconds behind in the workout and was missing moves. Transitions from position to position seemed fast to me, but perhaps in the future they will seem normal. This was also my first time, so perhaps in the future I can anticipate what is coming next better.

 

Bearlee is ... a Reader!

Perhaps too much of a reader. I’ve got books and magazines coming out of my ears. Lately I’ve been working through The Power of Habit but recently bought an ebook and have been reading that instead. And now I have TML’s suggested Turn Left at Orion. And not to mention a couple of other books I picked up from the library. Today I took back Star Wars: Aftermath, Life Debt because I didn’t remember the characters from the first book and I wasn’t getting into the story. Oh, and I also have 5 audio books now to work through. Recently I just got The Big Fat Truth by JD Roth and have really been enjoying that even if it is a little painful some of the truths he’s telling in there about why people are fat.

[Sloth the Enduring]

It sounds like things are going well. I don’t line Red Hot Core, it’s too painful.

Why are people fat? I’ve always assumed a lack of movement for most people.


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[Bearlee]

23 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

It sounds like things are going well. I don’t line Red Hot Core, it’s too painful.

Why are people fat? I’ve always assumed a lack of movement for most people.


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According to the book, it boils down to mostly lack of coping skills. I think Lady Shello has nailed it on the head in her thread about eating her emotions, which I empathize with. If I think about when I had my biggest weight gains it was after something stressful or negatively emotional that I either didn’t want to deal with or didn’t know how to deal with. And there is also defensive mechanisms where a person uses weight to “protect” themselves, which Emma has mentioned in her threads before and which I’ve also used. So the book doesn’t offer any exercise or diet advice but mostly indicates that when you learn to deal with negative feelings that you’ll be able to control weight better. Kind of a poor summary of the book but that is about the gist of it.

[Bearlee]

Bearlee is ... Tired!

Thursday I only got 3 hours sleep because I had to wake up early to take Cub1 to the orthodontist to have his expanders and braces removed. The top expanders came out with just a few snips but guess the lower expanders are more complicated because I had to leave so he could drill out parts to be able to remove them. Cub1 was glad to finally have them removed. However Cub1 is sick again and constantly coughing and in my lack of sleep daze was mostly unsympathetic to his plights. It seems like he wants to be sick so he can stay home from school. He has already missed 12 days of school (perhaps 13 with appointment yesterday). I’m hoping he can make it one more day then he’ll have four days off for President’s day and teacher’s workshop day.

 

Bearlee is ... a Reader!

After Cub1’s doctor visit I went to the library that had the other book TML suggested The Three Body Problem on hold for me. So all other reading will be put on hold until I read this. I got through the first chapter and I knew the author was Chinese but was surprised that the story starts during the cultural revolution in China’s history since it’s a SciFi novel. I’m interested in seeing in where it’s going to go and where the SciFi part will come in at during the mid 1960s. @The Most Loathed Did you know that I studied Chinese language and culture in college or was this just a coincidence suggestion? I probably have a better understanding of events happening during this time period than most Americans. I even got to see the corpse of Chairman Mao during one of my visits to China. How the country can still revere a monster like him I’ll never know. I think he was probably well meaning but almost everything he did led to disastrous outcomes.

[Sloth the Enduring]

My completely ignorant WAG would be a combination of Confucian ancestor worship and that he brought the country from a divided back water towards a global powerhouse.@Whiteghost may have some insight.


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[Emma]

Hi! You were dropped from my follow list

Catching up.

[WhiteGhost]

15 hours ago, Bearlee said:

I even got to see the corpse of Chairman Mao during one of my visits to China. How the country can still revere a monster like him I’ll never know. I think he was probably well meaning but almost everything he did led to disastrous outcomes.

This is not really sonething that can be answered in a single post, but there are 2 primary driving factors. The first is that every country has a mythology around their founders and history (as taught in that country) tends to focus on the positive (founding the country) rather than he negative (the mess that comes with a newly founded country and the foibles of humanity).  If you research the founders of the US you can find a lot of things about them that cast them in a negative light, but they are not generally taught as part of the prinary education curriculum. Because the founding of China was much more recent, the records are more clear and the standards of comparison are higher. 

 

The second aspect is that most Chinese are aware of the terrible impact of Mao's terrible policies (cultural revolution and great leap forward). Nearly all of them either lived through it or had parents who did. Even with that knowledge they also ecognize that without the contributions of Mao there would not be a China as it is now and they consider the work that he did in creating the country to be great enough to counter the terrible governing he did. He is revered as the founder of the country but you will be hard pressed to find anyone here who thinks he did a great job running the country he established.

 

 

10 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

My completely ignorant WAG would be a combination of Confucian ancestor worship and that he brought the country from a divided back water towards a global powerhouse.@Whiteghost may have some insight.

Actually, Mao put in a lot of effort to rid the country of Confucianism and his governing actually ended up leaving the country impoverished and mismanaged. The person who is generally credited with actually bringing the country out of poverty and putting it on to the road to becoming a global powerhouse was Deng Xiaoping.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Thanks. It’s amazing how little world history we get over here. If I didn’t watch war movies I wouldn’t know anything


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[The Most Loathed]

On 2/16/2018 at 5:24 AM, Bearlee said:

@The Most Loathed Did you know that I studied Chinese language and culture in college or was this just a coincidence suggestion? 

I did not. Just a happy accident.

[Bearlee]

So I said I would post more but I’ve been posting less. But has been a very strenuous week for me so hopefully you can forgive me. The week started out awesome, got 8k and 11k steps in on Saturday and Sunday respectively. And I thought yes I’m going to have a kick ass week on steps. Then I looked at what DDPYoga had planned for me and this week had all four work outs for the first time. So I thought I would make it an epic yoga week but not only doing the scheduled 2.0 work outs but I would also do the corresponding 1.0 work outs for a total of eight yoga sessions for the week. I knew it would be difficult with President day holiday but thought perhaps I could get it done. Then got to work Sunday and got an email saying I had training Tuesday and Wednesday so I knew no walking or yoga those days. Then ice storms hit Monday so no going out to walk like I had planned. Then the lack of sleep started to kick in. I woke up Sunday at 8 AM and I didn’t get to sleep until Monday at 11PM so I was awake for 39 hours. So not only really tired but also added meals and bad food decisions. 

 

Tuesday continued the unraveling of plans for the week. Ice storm was so bad that my car was a solid block of ice and decided to keep Cub2 home from daycare. Cub1 already had the day off for teacher workshop so I already had that figured in. But Tuesday I had planned a Daddy Cub1 day since he usually gets the short end of the stick because Cub2 requires so much attention. We were going to play games and go watch Black Panther. But with Cub2 home none of that happened.

 

Bad sleeping continued on Tuesday. I woke up Tuesday at 8AM and didn’t go to sleep again until Wednesday 8AM, awake for 24 hours straight. And when I did sleep on Wednesday it was intermittent and short. Cub1’s school was closed due to ice (which oddly there was none) and therefore I slept on the sofa while Cub1 did his thing. I woke up at 1PM to chip my car out of the ice from the day before so Cub1 and I could go see Black Panther, I loved it but think Cub1 thought it was only so so and he probably would have enjoyed staying home to watch YouTube more, but I tried to have a bonding experience.

 

Tuesday night I had safety training for my job. The trainer was nice enough to take time out of his life to come to my shift to do the training of which I’m very grateful for. And we actually ended a little early so I was able to squeak out some walking and a half ass attempt at yoga. Wednesday continued the training and again finished early and got some walking in and a yoga session that I was suppose to do yesterday. And after writing this I’ll get a few more steps in to make myself feel better about the week.

 

And while typing this up I got a call from Cub1’s school saying that school is canceled again so I’ll be spending today on the sofa again trying to get some sleep. I have a feeling more bad food decisions are on their way. Plus I have a Scout Committee meeting that I’m totally unprepared for tonight.

 

On the bright side, I have done 3 of the 4 yoga sessions for the week and I should be able to get the fourth in Friday. Not the eight I was hoping to get but I’m taking bare minimum as a big victory this week. Also I signed up for a walking contest at work. Starting Febuary 26th over the next 28 days I’m suppose to get 20 days of 10k steps per day. That will be a nice challenge but will mean that I’ll have to be perfect on all of my weekdays since I almost never get that many on the weekend. But it’s something positive to shoot for. Think I’ll go get some practice in now.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Bad sleep = bad decisions. Always. I don’t know how you keep on brother; you’re stronger than me.

I saw this and thought you might be interested:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-star-is-shorn-the-fine-art-of-spotting-supernovae-is-ideal-for-amateurs/


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[Bearlee]

10 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Bad sleep = bad decisions. Always. I don’t know how you keep on brother; you’re stronger than me.

I saw this and thought you might be interested:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-star-is-shorn-the-fine-art-of-spotting-supernovae-is-ideal-for-amateurs/


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Thanks for the encouragement. You don’t know how many times I feel weak, not only physically but just in life in general.

 

Thank you for that article. It was really neat to read and is nice to know that there is something that the general population can contribute to the scientific community. Plus having an observatory on top of your house is pretty neat.

[Bearlee]

On 2/16/2018 at 10:18 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

My completely ignorant WAG would be a combination of Confucian ancestor worship and that he brought the country from a divided back water towards a global powerhouse.@Whiteghost may have some insight.


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You would laugh if you knew how long I spent trying to figure out WAG. I was thinking along the lines of White Anglo German and you were talking about one of your relatives that had spent time in China.

 

Guess I shouldn’t have said I don’t understand since I’ve read some of China’s history and understand his importance in breaking China away from Imperial rule and bringing power to the powerless. My “I don’t understand” is I kind of get where people are coming from but how can you think that way. Like “I don’t understand” how the Nazis came to power and people were alright with that. When I know that the Nazis brought economic stability and growth and was giving Germany back a sense of identity and power. But at the same time genocide and a military state is okay to meet those means? Or “I don’t understand” how people think Trump is a good President when he’s really a Captain Planet super villain. Okay, so Trump I really don’t understand.

 

On 2/16/2018 at 8:52 PM, WhiteGhost said:

This is not really sonething that can be answered in a single post, but there are 2 primary driving factors. The first is that every country has a mythology around their founders and history (as taught in that country) tends to focus on the positive (founding the country) rather than he negative (the mess that comes with a newly founded country and the foibles of humanity).  If you research the founders of the US you can find a lot of things about them that cast them in a negative light, but they are not generally taught as part of the prinary education curriculum. Because the founding of China was much more recent, the records are more clear and the standards of comparison are higher. 

 

The second aspect is that most Chinese are aware of the terrible impact of Mao's terrible policies (cultural revolution and great leap forward). Nearly all of them either lived through it or had parents who did. Even with that knowledge they also ecognize that without the contributions of Mao there would not be a China as it is now and they consider the work that he did in creating the country to be great enough to counter the terrible governing he did. He is revered as the founder of the country but you will be hard pressed to find anyone here who thinks he did a great job running the country he established.

 

 

Actually, Mao put in a lot of effort to rid the country of Confucianism and his governing actually ended up leaving the country impoverished and mismanaged. The person who is generally credited with actually bringing the country out of poverty and putting it on to the road to becoming a global powerhouse was Deng Xiaoping.

 

Thank you for posting your insight into Chairman Mao. He’s one of those great people in history that is truly complex and I would love to meet you some day to discuss him and Chinese history in general. And thank you for pointing out Deng Xiaoping whom I think should actually be more revered than he is. Without him there would be no modern China as we know it today. And after the Communist Party killed his son and tortured him, he had every reason to turn his back on China instead of building it up the way he did.

 

If you don’t mind me asking, I see that you are listed in Beijing, are you native to there or moved there from somewhere else. I’ve spent more time in Shanghai but I have been to Beijing a couple of times and I really liked it there, minus the orange smog.

 

On 2/16/2018 at 9:33 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Thanks. It’s amazing how little world history we get over here. If I didn’t watch war movies I wouldn’t know anything


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My favorite war movie is Kelly’s Heroes. Guess I learned from that is that greed is a great motivational tool.

 

On 2/20/2018 at 12:41 PM, The Most Loathed said:

I did not. Just a happy accident.

 

I love happy accidents. If you think of other things I may like keep throwing out suggestions.

[Bearlee]

So didn’t get the best sleep today, but I definitely got more than I have been getting lately. Surprising what a little sleep will do to improve your mood. So onto the good stuff.

 

Bearlee is ... a Yogi!

Today I got in my fourth and final yoga session for the week. And it was the first time I did Below The Belt 2.0. I was surprised at how well I could do most of the moves but still a couple of modifications were needed. The work out actually builds nicely onto the previous workouts and added some new and challenging moves. I was surprised at how steady I was doing the “hood ornament” where you stand on one foot and with the other bent so you try to touch your heel to your butt and lean horizontal and stretch your opposite arm in front of you (the arm on the same side as the bent leg is supposed to be holding the foot, but I’m not there yet).

 

So this was the first week where I completed all four workouts that I’ll be rotating for the rest of this 13 week cycle. Just finished up week eight with five more to go.

 

I’ve kind of been obsessing over the Red Hot Core 2.0 since I do so badly at it. I’ve watched it without doing any of it so I can break it down and understand the individual moves better and I’ve done each of the exercises individually also so I can understand them better. I really want to be able to do this work out reasonably well by the end of this thriteen week cycle for some reason. Guess it’s just a nice challenge to work on.

 

Bearlee is ... an Amateur Astronomer!

So I didn’t mention it last post, but Saturday I took a late walk around my neighborhood and while doing so I saw several stars in the sky. I could easily make out the Orion constellation but wondered what the four other stars I could make out were. So I pulled up my Sky View app and determined that they were part of the Canis Major constellation. If you look to the left of Orion’s right foot (as your looking South)  their are four bright stars in a trapezoid shape which the shorter side top side of the trapezoid is the dog’s body and the two stars that make the longer bottom portion of the trapezoid is the dog’s legs. The star that is suppose to make it’s head were not bright enough for me to make out. But I’ve finally added a new constellation to my repertoire. 

 

Bearlee is ... a Walker!

Thursday I finally got a good day of walking in and actually ended up with 11k steps. Friday I’m off to a good start and I’m hoping to get 7k steps in before I head home.

 

This weekend looks bad for weather so I will probably have some low numbers over the weekend. However the company walking competition starts Monday so I’m looking forward to that. If I get in 20 days of 10k steps between Feb. 26th and Mar. 26th I’ll win a company duffel bag, which I don’t care much about, I’m more interested in the satisfaction of completing a task.

[WhiteGhost]

2 hours ago, Bearlee said:

 

If you don’t mind me asking, I see that you are listed in Beijing, are you native to there or moved there from somewhere else. I’ve spent more time in Shanghai but I have been to Beijing a couple of times and I really liked it there, minus the orange smog.

I was born and raised in the US but have lived most of my adult life in Asia, the last 14 years of which have been in Beijing (2 years in Hong Kong and 4 in Japan).    I married a local girl from here and expect to be here many years to come.  

 

They finally put a stop coal furnaces in Zhangjiakou (where the winter olympics will be) which was a primary driver of pollution in Beijing. This winter has been exceptionally nice in terms of good air days

 

 

2 hours ago, Bearlee said:

Thank you for posting your insight into Chairman Mao.

I wanted to make sure what I was saying was accurate so I actually checked with my inlaws before responding to get their take, because they are the people in question who have a very high regard for Mao. They are both lifelong party members and experienced both he good and the bad of Mao's leadership (they both were sent to work on communal farms during the Cultural Revolution). The second part of what I posted was pretty much their responses.