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Ranger Hal Goes to Bed at a Slightly More Reasonable Hour


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I like the stuff I was doing last challenge, so I'm going to continue doing it and add a few things. Jump rope to get my heart rate up on some days that I'm not doing workouts. Over the last week or two, I've noticed that I'm less inclined to get out on the weekend and do even what things I can do with the COVID restrictions, so I'm going to get out and do something. If I get out on Saturday, it will count for the week starting the next day. Also, I need to get to bed at a slightly more reasonable hour. As things start opening up again, I will eventually have weeknight stuff going on. If I don't get to bed early enough, I sleep in and have to work later which makes it difficult to get to the weeknight stuff. So I'm going to start with getting to bed by midnight. This will be recorded with the next day's activities.

 

This Challenge:

1) Morning walk every day. Weekends it doesn't have to be in the morning.

2) Workout 3 times per week. Hiking can count for one of these workouts. SAR missions can count as long as I get a reasonable amount of exercise. Walking the (unfortunately flat) trail in my neighborhood with a heavy pack will also count.

3) Wash dishes and clean something every day

4) Eat vegetables every day

5) Something creative or garden related every day. Doesn’t have to be much. Color in a coloring book, sew a quarter of a quilt square, pull a few weeds, whatever.

6) Jump rope 2 times per week.

7) Something outside on the weekend (hiking, a long walk, yard work, etc.).

8) In bed, lights out by midnight.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 0, Day 1 Sunday

Weekend: (1/1) 4 mile walk

Morning walk: (1/7) Afternoon walk

Workout: (1/3) Walked the neighborhood roads with a 35 lb pack

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (1/7) Washed dishes and put away laundry

Vegetables: (1/7) Cabbage/carrot/turkey soup

Creative/Garden: (1/7) Pulled out some blackberry runners and pulled the hose out from under two years worth of grass and weeds

In Bed by Midnight: (0/6) Will start recording tomorrow

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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8 hours ago, Quirky Quinn said:

Good luck with the challenge, what's a SAR mission?  It sound interesting!

 

It's search and rescue. I volunteer with one of the local teams and it's something I really enjoy, even if it does sometimes mess up my workout (and sleep) schedule. It's been pretty quiet the last several weeks, but some of the public lands are opening up again tomorrow, so we might get busy. Hopefully everyone stays safe and doesn't need to call us.

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Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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22 minutes ago, Ranger Hal said:

 

It's search and rescue. I volunteer with one of the local teams and it's something I really enjoy, even if it does sometimes mess up my workout (and sleep) schedule. It's been pretty quiet the last several weeks, but some of the public lands are opening up again tomorrow, so we might get busy. Hopefully everyone stays safe and doesn't need to call us.


That sounds like a very fun and rewarding thing to do, although I bet it doesn’t feel that way when you get a call out in the middle of the night!

 

I hope you’re not needed anytime soon! 

 

 

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Week 0, Day 2 Monday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (2/7) short walk

Workout: (1/3) 

Jump Rope: (1/2) yes

Dishes/Clean: (2/7) Washed dishes and swept bathroom floor

Vegetables: (2/7) Cabbage/carrot/turkey soup

Creative/Garden: (2/7) chopped some grass

In Bed by Midnight: (1/6) yes, exactly at midnight

 

Week 0, Day 3 Tuesday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (3/7) site visit for work

Workout: (2/3) Workout 3B

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (3/7) Washed dishes and filed some papers

Vegetables: (3/7) Cabbage/carrot/turkey soup (Yes, again. And there's probably still 3+ quarts of the stuff left. It was a large pot of soup.)

Creative/Garden: (3/7) chopped some more grass. And moss. Why is the moss over 4 inches thick?

In Bed by Midnight: (1/6) no, I was 8 minutes late

 

I need to remember to get off my computer with enough time to get ready for bed.

 

Ack!!! I went to take out the garbage for the first time in several weeks (the smelly stuff goes in the compost, so it's not a problem to wait that long to take it out) and there was a small hornet nest (normal wasp hornets, not the insane giant hornets) on the inside lid of the bin. So I knocked it off with a broom and ran inside. And ummm, now I'm wondering how long hornets stay mad and when I can safely go outside to take the garbage bin to the street.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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4 minutes ago, Quirky Quinn said:

When you say chopped some grass, is that the same as mowing?  If yes, how big is your garden that it takes days to chop it!!!!

 

Umm, sort of. I don't have a lawn mower, so I use the weed whacker. It's battery powered and I only have one battery which lasts about half an hour. My yard isn't that big, but when I let the grass (and apparently moss) get too long, it takes a couple of sessions to get everything chopped. It would totally be faster and easier if I just got a lawn mower, but then I'd have to find somewhere to store it (no garage or shed).

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 0, Day 4 Wednesday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (4/7) site visit for work again

Workout: (2/3) 

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (3.5/7) Washed dishes

Vegetables: (4/7) zucchini

Creative/Garden: (3/7) 

In Bed by Midnight: (2/6) yes

 

Between the work site visits (I think I did something like assisted squats for several hours) and adding the jump rope workout the other day (which makes my legs sore), I want a break. I'm tired and sore and I'm taking the evening off from jumping rope and trying to figure out what to clean and how to be creative. I had enough trouble figuring out food (and probably still didn't quite eat enough). I'm good with the decision to take a break.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 0, Day 5 Thursday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (5/7) walk

Workout: (3/3) Workout 3C

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (4.5/7) Washed dishes and laundry

Vegetables: (5/7) salad

Creative/Garden: (4/7) coloring book

In Bed by Midnight: (3/6) yes

 

My head is not a very nice place tonight. I'm feeling like I'm bad at things and maybe I should walk away, but I like the things and I don't want to be bad at them. And I'm probably not bad at them, it just feels like it right now. I'm going to go eat some cookies and read a book. Well, actually, I'm kind of full, so maybe I won't eat the cookies.

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 0, Day 6 Friday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (6/7) short walk

Workout: (3/3) 

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (5.5/7) Washed dishes and organized SAR pack

Vegetables: (6/7) zucchini

Creative/Garden: (5/7) started on a new style mask that hopefully won't squash my nose as much

In Bed by Midnight: (4/6) yes

 

I think I won't worry about being in bed by midnight on Friday nights unless I have to get up early on Saturday.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 0, Day 7 Saturday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (7/7) short evening hike

Workout: (3/3) 

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (6.5/7) Washed dishes and put away grow light stuff

Vegetables: (6/7)

Creative/Garden: (6/7) planted the garden!

In Bed by Midnight: (4/6) no, but that's okay on a Friday night

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 1, Day 1 Sunday

Weekend: (1/1) Hike!

Morning walk: (1/7) evening hike

Workout: (0/3) 

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (1/7) Washed dishes and put away the laundry

Vegetables: (1/7) Salad and roasted carrots

Creative/Garden: (1/7) ummm, not sure I did anything here, but maybe I will count the (hopefully final) solution to the hornets nest as creative problem solving

Water the Garden: (1/7) yep

In Bed by Midnight: (0/7) Oops, SAR mission didn't help, but I could have done better

 

Went on a real (not SAR) hike for the first time in uhhhh, I dunno how long. Public land is starting to open up again, so I chose an area where I could walk the logging roads instead of trails because it's easier to stay far away from people on something as wide as a road and I didn't want to try to figure out whether I was supposed to be wearing a mask. Since I only passed one person and waved to two more from a distance, I think I was pretty successful and safe. The colors in the sky after sunset were pretty awesome!

 

The hornets nest that I knocked out of the garbage bin a couple of days ago unfortunately did not die. The hornets were still living in it on my deck. So I put a plastic jar over it and carefully slid it onto a plastic bag. The hornets started buzzing around inside, but the plastic bag over the opening kept them inside while I screwed the lid on. Can hornets chew through plastic jars? I really hope not.

 

I'm adding Water the Garden to my list to remind me to check on that. It counts as complete as long as the garden has enough water, so if it's raining or the soil is still wet from the day before, it counts.

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Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 1, Day 2 Monday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (2/7) short walk

Workout: (0/3) 

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (2/7) Washed dishes and put away food

Vegetables: (2/7) carrots and peas in chicken soup I had in the freezer

Creative/Garden: (2/7) shopping

Water the Garden: (2/7) rained today

In Bed by Midnight: (1/7) close enough

 

Big shopping run after work today. I hit Costco and the grocery store. I was hoping to get a few things from the hardware store, but they were closed by the time I got out of Costco, so I'll do that another time. Hopefully I don't need to do food shopping for another couple of weeks.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 1, Day 3 Tuesday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (3/7) walk

Workout: (1/3) Workout 3A 

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (3/7) Washed dishes and took out the recycling

Vegetables: (3/7) leftover roasted carrots that weren't nearly as good as the first time

Creative/Garden: (3/7) worked on mask, just needs ties now

Water the Garden: (3/7) rained today

In Bed by Midnight: (1/7) stayed up too late on these forums, oops

 

Baked banana nut muffins so I will have something for breakfast tomorrow. Getting off the computer now so I don't stay up too late again.

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Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 1, Day 4 Wednesday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (4/7) site visit walk

Workout: (1/3)

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (4/7) Washed dishes and laundry again?!?

Vegetables: (4/7) stir fry veggie rice thing with cashews on top

Creative/Garden: (4/7) played around with the mask a bit more

Water the Garden: (4/7) still wet from rain

In Bed by Midnight: (2/7) made it!

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 1, Day 5 Thursday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (5/7) walk

Workout: (1/3)

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (4/7)

Vegetables: (5/7) salad

Creative/Garden: (4/7) 

Water the Garden: (4/7) forgot to check and now it's dark

In Bed by Midnight: (3/7) close enough

 

Ugh, today was not fun. Corporate procedures for "reopening" the office are being shoved on the 10% of us who have been coming to the office through this whole mess by the new office boss who arrived a couple of weeks before the shutdown because my office was having some issues integrating with the new company. Sure, I get it, there will be new procedures, and I even think some of them are a good idea, but the result of today's emails, which told us we had to chose a "hygiene leader" to basically make sure we're following the rules (which most, if not all, of us have been doing a pretty good job at on our own, to the extent that I rarely see more than one or two people in a day, and that's often from 50+ feet) was that I had more social interaction in the office today than in almost any other week since this started, all of it unwanted and unnecessary. Anyway, lots of tears. I think general stress has been building up since before COVID and this just happened to be the event that caused me to break down. It's probably a good thing I will be in the field tomorrow and then it's the weekend.

 

And also, my fridge decided to start being a freezer. Why?

 

I think I will go curl up with a book and eat chocolate and then go to bed so this day will be over.

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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21 hours ago, Quirky Quinn said:

Sometimes it's best to observe, inform and let people make sensible decisions rather than instruct and demand.  So many companies forget that.

 

Especially when they're global companies with 40,000 employees, I'm guessing.

 

Things will get better eventually, but it might take a while. I suspect the main issue wasn't this incident, but general stress that builds up over time. I don't do a good job of relaxing at home because there's always stuff to get done and I could get a search and rescue call at any time (even though I'm under no obligation to respond). My normal ways of getting away to relax aren't options right now because of COVID and it doesn't help that the timeline is uncertain for when things will be opened up, so I can't even make plans. I will make it through, but there will probably be a few more meltdowns than usual.

 

Week 1, Day 6 Friday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (6/7) site visit walk and evening walk

Workout: (1/3)

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (5/7) Dishes and cleaned around the fridge (as part of an attempt to make it not freeze everything)

Vegetables: (6/7) veggie rice dish

Creative/Garden: (4/7) 

Water the Garden: (5/7) yes

In Bed by Midnight: (3/7) not even close

 

 

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Hmmm, I think I lost Saturday. Pretty sure I did some of the things. I know I did go on a couple hour hike and found some geocaches.

 

Week 2, Day 1 Sunday

Weekend: (1/1) Saturday's hike

Morning walk: (0/7) no walk

Workout: (0/3)

Jump Rope: (0/2)

Dishes/Clean: (0/7) oops

Vegetables: (1/7) cabbage turkey carrot soup from the freezer

Creative/Garden: (1/7) unstitched the new mask which wasn't fitting right and trimmed it so it hopefully fits better

Water the Garden: (1/7) rainy

In Bed by Midnight: (1/7) yes, maybe?

 

Week 2, Day 2 Monday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (1/7) short walk

Workout: (0/3)

Jump Rope: (1/2) yep

Dishes/Clean: (0/7) Dishes and laundry

Vegetables: (2/7) salad

Creative/Garden: (2/7) sewing

Water the Garden: (1/7) watered

In Bed by Midnight: (1/7) don't think so

 

I was wanting to do some exercise, but not really feeling like one of the workouts because I've kind of settled on Tuesday/Thursday for those, and then I realized I was forgetting about jump rope, so I did that.

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Week 2, Day 3 Tuesday

Weekend: (1/1)

Morning walk: (2/7) work site walk

Workout: (0/3)

Jump Rope: (1/2)

Dishes/Clean: (1/7)

Vegetables: (2/7)

Creative/Garden: (2/7) 

Water the Garden: (2/7) soil is still wet

In Bed by Midnight: (2/7) not quite, but I'm counting it anyway. SAR callout (turnaround) took up some of the evening.

 

Ugh, have to get up early tomorrow. One of the crews at the work site is starting early (working long days) so we're starting early, too. I'm hoping we find out tomorrow that we don't have to be there early the rest of the week.

 

Something is chewing up one of my zucchini plants and I'm worried it won't have enough leaves left to survive. I didn't get netting around the zucchinis because that will involve a trip to the hardware store and I haven't gotten to it yet. I might have to make more of an effort to get that done.

 

My right hip is hurting so I'm going to take it easy on the exercise.

Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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Well, I suppose I should try to get back on track after disappearing for a few days. Work was weird. I'm almost always in the office (like maybe once or twice a year I'm not), but this week they had me at a job site three days in a row. I did walk on Friday morning because I didn't have to be up early. Dishes mostly got clean, vegetables mostly got eaten, the garden was mostly rained on, and exercise didn't happen at all, unless you count the job site stuff which involved a lot of crouching down and balancing on cables to look at stuff all day. Bed was generally before midnight because I was tired and had to get up early. I even made it to the hardware store.

 

Today I installed a shelf and coat rack in the living room so I can hang up my rain gear. I had to do a bit of decluttering to get it installed. I made a sort of fajitas for dinner. They were pretty good, but some of the shaved beef pieces were kind of big and there was a lot of sauce which made it messy to eat. I was going to make pumpkin pie, but I kind of forgot and now it's late. Maybe tomorrow. Oh, and I need to pull some blueberries out of the freezer for muffins. Tomorrow starts a new week. I will try to get more exercise and hopefully my hip won't cause too many problems.

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Challenges: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, #17, #18, #19#20#21#22#23#24#25#26#27, #28Current

Walk to Mordor: 2019, 2020, 202120222023

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