Juliebarkley vs the Piles of Doom

[juliebarkley]

Aka mostly the same challenge as last time, but now the piles are smaller. I want to clear out some physical space in my living area, which should also clear out some mental clutter for me and create good things for the coming year. That's the idea, anyway.

 Here's what my goals were last time:

Spoiler

 

 

On 10/26/2020 at 1:39 AM, juliebarkley said:

Here are the goals that look salvageable (some more salvageable than others):

  Hide contents

 

- I can do three pullups.

- I can do 5 pistols on each side.

- I can do 5 parkour movements.

- I am brushing my teeth at least once a day with proper routine.

- I am reading for 30 minutes per day minimum.

- I will be praying isha every day.

- I will email one family member per month.

- I will have no repair pile (or 1-2 very recent items max).

- I will have all RSS feeds from the mini moved.

- I will be completely finished with my physical book project.

 

 

These are in the maybe pile of my year-end goals:

  Hide contents

 

- I can do a 5-second handstand.

- I will have all of my money invested in logical places and a set of objective investing criteria in place.

- My paper inbox will have nothing older than 1 week and will be regularly checked.

- I will have a gold Duo tree in French, Esperanto, and Spanish.

- I will have reread Fluent Forever and started creating cards.

 

 

That's quite a few things! And a lot of them are not time-consuming, hard things. The ones that are fit two themes: clearing-out-type projects and fitness projects. Very convenient.

 

Here are the goals I have gleaned from that longer list:

1. Stick to my schedule. The daily items on my goal list are already in there, and I have been doing them at least some of the time, but they need firming up.

2. Fitness goals.

     - Research scapular exercises and add these to my post-walk routine. I am pretty convinced that weakness here is what is holding me back.

     - Research parkour moves (vaults, jumps, really anything counts) that I could practice either indoors or outdoors in my current location and try a new one each week. Maybe the snow that's coming will provide padding?

     - Find my pullup bar, install it, and see if they are any easier with a stable bar.

     - Don't miss workouts! They already have exercises for working towards pistols and pullups included! (BTW, is anyone interested in the actual details of said workouts? I never include them because it is the same thing every time. Only the reps change until I'm ready to move up in a category.)

3. Clearing-out goals. Work on one of the clearing-out projects every day. They'll likely not be done by the end of the challenge (this is an annual goal, after all), but I want a good, solid dent. Ideally, they would average half the amount they are now by challenge end.

4. Make Christmas/"winter holiday" presents. I have a lot of new work colleagues. Truthfully, I do not currently know how many - somewhere between twenty and thirty, I think. I always make a small present for everybody. Last year, I made origami snowflakes. This year, I will make tatted snowflakes. (I like snowflakes. They have no religious meaning, so they are good for everyone and you can keep them around after your Christmas decorations go away if you want). I will figure out how many colleagues I have, and make at least half of the snowflakes that I will need. We will see how realistic this is.

5. Post on someone else's challenge every day. I really do feel happier when I have posted something one someone else's thread - both more engaged and connected with the community, and more welcoming, helpful, and supportive. So I shall make the time to do this.

 

Bonus goal:

I would love the get a backup system set up for my computer setup. It feels overwhelming to think it through, decide what needs to be stored where, how to connect it all, and what I need to buy to make it all work. It's probably not actually that bad if I sit down and plan it out. If I have extra time after working on the above (not too likely), I shall work on this.

 

 

 

 

I am going to be pulling slightly different goals from my 2020 list, but this is going to be very much like last challenge. Hopefully with more habit retention.

 

1. Stick to my schedule.

This means do my daily habits. More specifically, this means pray twice per day, do at least one Duo lesson/review in each of Spanish, Esperanto, and French, and read something every day (reading for language practice counts). Full tooth brushing routine is a bonus because that would be building a new habit.

Sticking to the actual schedule as written is a bonus. I have to rewrite it anyway because my work schedule has changed. Again.

 

2. Fitness goals.

Don't miss workouts!

Go for a walk every day (even if it is up and down the stairs) and do the stretching and scapular exercises that are the post-walk routine.

Parkour will be a bonus. The weather is currently crappy and my heart just hasn't been in it. But I want it to be, so I don't want to drop it entirely. I need something fun and physical to aspire to so that "curl up on the couch in a blanket" isn't my plan for every non-workday.

 

3. Clearing-out goals.

Clear out the book pile, the inbox, and the repair pile. The inbox pile is quite far along, the book pile is still quite a bit, and the repair pile is also probably quite a bit. So this is ambitious but maybe doable?

 

4. Post on someone else's challenge every day.

Because it is a good thing that makes me happy and part of a community and such, and if I don't schedule it it doesn't happen.

 

5. Music.

I have been inspired to pick up the fiddle that is sitting in a box upstairs by @WhiteGhost's ukulele adventures, but I currently have an infection in one of my fingers that is going to keep me from getting started this challenge. To try to keep up the momentum, I will post one Canadian or fiddle song per day (or some other song if I feel like it). This will make me think about and listen to music, which I don't do much casually. And share fun things that are fun.

 

5. Bonus Goals.

I have a few things I would like to get done by the end of the year.

- Set up backup system for my computer network. I ordered the things I need last challenge. Once they arrive, I want to get the whole thing set up so that my laptop, my son's laptop, my old computer, and several external drives all back up regularly.

- Evaluate and transfer the RSS feeds from my old computer to my current RSS setup.

- Get my business website live.

- Probably some other things that I can't think of right now. This goal subject to addition.

 

 

[deftona]

Following along to see you attack your piles of doom! 

[Mad Hatter]

Piles of doom begone!

[KB Girl]

Declutter inspiration \o/ 

[Epsilonte]

Ecxited to see your progress with mount doom!

[WhiteGhost]

Here to learn some Canadian songs  

[Scaly Freak]

11 hours ago, juliebarkley said:

- Set up backup system for my computer network. I ordered the things I need last challenge. Once they arrive, I want to get the whole thing set up so that my laptop, my son's laptop, my old computer, and several external drives all back up regularly.

 

 

Looking forward to details on this!

[Jean]

I'm here for the feats worthy of the most heroic sagas. Piles of Doom are the worst, they need a good kick in the buttocks, for Goodness!

[JuiceeTarget]

7 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Here to learn some Canadian songs  

They are the same as songs from the States, just in the key of "Eh?"

[18ck]

Oof, piles of Doom, eh? Sounds painful. Plenty of warm baths, that's what you need. Good luck. 

[Jupiter]

Following!  

[juliebarkley]

19 hours ago, deftona said:

Following along to see you attack your piles of doom! 

18 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

Piles of doom begone!

14 hours ago, KB Girl said:

Declutter inspiration \o/ 

14 hours ago, Epsilonte said:

Ecxited to see your progress with mount doom!

11 hours ago, Jean said:

I'm here for the feats worthy of the most heroic sagas. Piles of Doom are the worst, they need a good kick in the buttocks, for Goodness!

1 hour ago, Jupiter said:

Following!  

Huzzah! And verily they shall be defeated. Or at least, reduced in size.

 

6 hours ago, 18ck said:

Oof, piles of Doom, eh? Sounds painful. Plenty of warm baths, that's what you need. Good luck. 

Um, ah, well. I think we may be thinking of different things. But baths are good!

 

14 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

Here to learn some Canadian songs  

6 hours ago, GoodDoug said:

They are the same as songs from the States, just in the key of "Eh?"

I never promised to teach, only to share. And maybe? I guess we shall see!

 

11 hours ago, Scaly Freak said:

Looking forward to details on this!

Briefly, all of the computers are Macs, so I will be using Time Machine to pull this off. The central computer is a 2006 Mac Mini; it will be the drive that the two laptops back up to remotely via Time Machine (I did research this and it can be done, but I have to look up again how to pull it off exactly). The Mini also has a USB hub attached to it which the drives will be plugged into when not in use. The Mini (including the laptop backups) and its attached drives will all back up to another external drive. Cloud backups would be great, but nothing works with MacOS 10.8.6 any more and the whole thing is built around my little work horse of a Mac Mini.

 

 

I have not done any of the daily habits yet. I had to hop on a Zoom call for Scouts five minutes after I got home from work, then took the cat out for a walk and took a longer walk myself. I had to pass a vehicle (twice) that made me very nervous. The first time I went past, the engine was on but all the lights were off, I could see a flashlight beam flashing around, and it sounded like someone was throwing up in the woods. And of course, just as I went by, the headlights came on. On the way back, it had moved up to the corner with the lights on as if poised for a quick getaway. I cut way into the grass on the other side of the road to avoid it, and I was seriously having visions of being grabbed and thrown into the attached trailer. I don't know what they were up to, but I don't think it was anything good. Then it was supper and some important email. I did do some scapular exercises after the walk and found that, if I pay attention to where my elbows point, I can almost do a pullup!

 

I have posted on someone else's challenge, with more to come most likely. It is so much less effort when you start early when the threads are short and you don't have to catch up on everyone's long threads all at once. I have done a teeny bit of inbox work, but more has also just shown up. I want to pull out the next pile of books tonight and get them started, too.

I had a different song picked out for today, but I have been convinced by my son's terrible singing to offer this song instead. I first heard this one while on a language exchange in Quebec back in 1998. It is the catchiest song about drug overdose that you will ever hear.

Spoiler

 

 

[Scaly Freak]

27 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

I have not done any of the daily habits yet. I had to hop on a Zoom call for Scouts five minutes after I got home from work, then took the cat out for a walk and took a longer walk myself. I had to pass a vehicle (twice) that made me very nervous. The first time I went past, the engine was on but all the lights were off, I could see a flashlight beam flashing around, and it sounded like someone was throwing up in the woods. And of course, just as I went by, the headlights came on. On the way back, it had moved up to the corner with the lights on as if poised for a quick getaway. I cut way into the grass on the other side of the road to avoid it, and I was seriously having visions of being grabbed and thrown into the attached trailer. I don't know what they were up to, but I don't think it was anything good. Then it was supper and some important email. I did do some scapular exercises after the walk and found that, if I pay attention to where my elbows point, I can almost do a pullup!

 

That does sound scary.  Wise decision to avoid that car! If it comes back, it might be worth it to take a picture  of the license plate, and report them for loitering?

 

And that is great progress on the pullup!

[juliebarkley]

22 minutes ago, Scaly Freak said:

If it comes back, it might be worth it to take a picture  of the license plate, and report them for loitering?

If I had been less nervous, I would have walked close enough to see and memorize the number, but from my safest possible distance, I could not read it. Honestly, I was just glad no one was following me. (I checked multiple times.)

 

Loitering cars are not an uncommon thing here. We get drug dealers, prostitutes, adulterous trysts, people skiving off work, all sorts. As long as no one is getting hurt and they don't litter, I don't really have a problem with it. (Neither does anyone else around here - this is probably a rural cultural thing.) I certainly wouldn't call in the law (and the law probably doesn't care anyway). But I got really bad vibes off this one. I'll check out the area next time I have a walk in the daytime and see if I see anything. And if I see that vehicle again, I'm just gonna turn around and go home.

[Scaly Freak]

9 minutes ago, juliebarkley said:

Loitering cars are not an uncommon thing here. We get drug dealers, prostitutes, adulterous trysts, people skiving off work, all sorts. As long as no one is getting hurt and they don't litter, I don't really have a problem with it. (Neither does anyone else around here - this is probably a rural cultural thing.) I certainly wouldn't call in the law (and the law probably doesn't care anyway). But I got really bad vibes off this one. I'll check out the area next time I have a walk in the daytime and see if I see anything. And if I see that vehicle again, I'm just gonna turn around and go home.

 

I remember you mentioning at some point in the past that loitering cars are a common thing. In my mind, that makes it all the more remarkable that this particular car tripped red flags. But as long as you are careful, that is the most important thing, of course.

[KB Girl]

When danger warnings go off, best to listen to your intuition. Glad you’re ok! 

[juliebarkley]

I am not sure what to do right now. I spent last night thinking over what I saw on my walk, and the more I think about it, the more I realize it is consistent with someone trying to hide something that they very much do not want to be found. I feel like there has to be a more innocent explanation, that maybe my mind keeps going there because of a similar incident in a field nearby, but I can't think of one. (Like, if it were summer, I would assume they were growing pot back there - they wouldn't be the first - but it's December.) I was going to have a look-see in spite of really not wanting to today, but there is snow on the ground now and I can't deal with the idea of stumbling across something I didn't see. It's so unlikely though, right? And I didn't see anything really, so what would there be to report? I'm going to have a chat with my supervisor, who also lives in an isolated location, to see what she advises. If anyone happens to have a similar living situation to mine, I would appreciate your thoughts.

[juliebarkley]

9 minutes ago, KB Girl said:

When danger warnings go off, best to listen to your intuition. Glad you’re ok! 

Thanks! I do try. I was actually seriously considering waiting until the vehicle drove out when I saw it had moved, I was so nervous of walking past it again.

 

This is not how I wanted to start this challenge. I really hope that it is all a bunch of fuss over nothing.

[Jean]

Just now, juliebarkley said:

so what would there be to report?

 

Speaking as someone dealing with public property damage and working close to police officers, I'd report it. If something has been amiss, that might be a piece of information that could help connect the dots. It could also be that they didn't know something had happened and they'll think of it later. If not, well, no harm done. You're not wasting anyone's time by calling them (taking in these kinds of calls is part of the job).

 

ETA: Then, of course, moving on with your life. No sense loosing sleep on something you can't affect anymore and no sense hanging around a place where something might have happened looking all suspicious. This is a job for the police: investigating it is their call so they need to know there's a call to be made but if they choose not to investigate, then there's nothing to investigate there.

[juliebarkley]

6 hours ago, Jean said:

Speaking as someone dealing with public property damage and working close to police officers, I'd report it.

Thanks for your advice. My supervisor waved it off as nothing, but I don't know, it just doesn't feel right. It's the fact that I just can't come up with an innocent explanation for the whole thing. I'll see if there's a way I can contact them by email or something, since if I try to describe this over the phone I will absolutely sound like an idiot.

 

 

I did not do much else after my post yesterday, just a little book sorting. I was dwelling on the whole walk thing and didn't end up sleeping all that well either. I had gotten my reading done earlier that day, so there was that at least. I will make a better effort to get some Duo done today.

 

Daily walk was had today with no suspicious incidents. I didn't get my after-walk routine in though, as supper was ready as soon as I got home. D&D is in an hour, so not a great deal else will be getting done tonight unless I can do it during the game.

 

My library branch has been open for two days and the holds shelves are really starting to fill up now.

Today's music is about a girl who wants to marry a log driver because his skill at walking the logs makes him a great dancer. I get it stuck in my head for days whenever I hear it.

Spoiler

 

 

[PaulG]

Here for the fiddles, and because “Piles of Doom” sounds like the next market-killing iPhone puzzle game.

[Stronkey Kong]

Following cuz I need proof that piles of doom can be defeated. 

[juliebarkley]

5 hours ago, PaulG said:

Here for the fiddles

I shall do my best.

 

5 hours ago, PaulG said:

and because “Piles of Doom” sounds like the next market-killing iPhone puzzle game.

This is just the way I talk.

 

4 hours ago, Stronkey Kong said:

Following cuz I need proof that piles of doom can be defeated. 

No pressure or anything. We can do it together! What do your piles consist of?

[juliebarkley]

D&D was a lot of fun last night. We opened with a yeti attack (in which I never even got to the top of the turn order), followed by an attack by ginormous spiders after we thwarted their clever trap (they could totally have just attacked us while we slept; silly spiders!). Then we reached our destination (we are delivering bones to a better final resting place than we found them), and were confronted (and eventually attacked) by an elf who demanded we hand the bones over to him instead. Now I (and my character) are torn. We got our story and mission from the ghost whose bones we are currently carrying around. She says that she is an innocent victim of a sacrifice, and if we put her in such and such a place she will rest in peace, but is she telling the truth? We've nothing but her word to back up her story. Perhaps this new elf knows that placing her here would free her spirit to do evil, and that is why he is willing to attack us to prevent it from happening. Or maybe he really is a baddie. I want to try to press the point and force him to tell us more, but I'm not sure if the rest of the group will be on board with my plan. Since I'm currently holding the bones and hiding, I feel like I have some leverage here. After D&D, I made popcorn and ate it with my son while watching some marble racing (my teams are doing well and I am happy).

 

Work was a bit crazy today. Our customers have all clearly failed reading comprehension and a significant number were also rude, demanding, or inconsiderate. One was making me angry enough that I considered a rather blunt and confrontational encounter but opted to wait it out. Still not sure that was the right choice; we'll see if she tries it again. I rarely get angry; I think the day just wore me down. I'm exhausted right now. Walk did not happen - it was dark, wet, my feet hurt from standing most of the day, and I was tired. It was just too hard to say yes today. It is supposed to be exercise day, but I don't know if that will happen either. The bright side? When I have no energy, that is the time to curl up on the couch with a blanket, grab a pile of sewing, stick on a podcast, and still manage to make some progress on my goals. So that is the plan for tonight.

 

Music: I know I have heard this before, but I can't think where. I don't think it was a family member playing it. There is a neat bowing technique in this song which makes it sound really hard to play. Enjoy!
 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

[juliebarkley]

As expected, no exercise was had yesterday. I did end up getting 10 hours of sleep though! I also removed one item from the repair pile and worked on a couple of others.

 

The weather today is wet and muddy and generally unpleasant, so I did my walk on the stairs instead. I totally forgot to do the after-walk routine, though. After the walk, I got to work on my repair pile while also trying to get some response out of my fellow Scouters about tomorrow's meeting. As it stands, I am showing up but I have no idea what we are doing. That's how it was last year too, and it sucks, and we need to do better. I have spent the last three hours repairing a chain stitch holding a smocking line together, but it's done now (huzzah!) and that is one more item out of the pile. I'm going to take a little break and do some Duo, because chaining tiny stitches with toothpicks for hours is a little bit crazymaking. The pile currently stands at 19 items, of which 2 are essentially remaking the whole garment, so they kind of don't count.

 

While listening and trying to pick a song for today, I realized that I have absolutely no idea what is known outside of Canada and what is not. So if I end up posting something well-known, my apologies. This one is by Ashley MacIsaac, a versatile fiddler, interesting character, and household name. This song is more on the punk end of things.
 

Spoiler