[Mistr]

Week 3 update

 

Going okay so far. Sitting zen first thing in the morning seems to be giving me more patience.

 

Last night and today I sorted out a medical bill that somehow did not get submitted to insurance. That was stressful. Hopefully the appropriate people will do what they agreed to, and it will get handled. Tonight I am going to check on the rest of the finances before going on a short road trip to visit my mom and some friends.

 

Tomorrow are dan tests at the dojo. One of my friends is testing for shodan (first level blackbelt) and another is testing for sandan (3rd level). I expect to take falls for both of them. My goal is to give nice clean movement and not get injured.

[sarakingdom]

On 1/12/2023 at 7:06 PM, Mistr said:

I have made my peace with the house being dirtier than I would like a lot of the time.

 

Asking for a birthday gift of "four annual cleaning service visits" might be useful here. It's hard for working adults to do even maintenance cleaning, let alone deep cleans, but you guys are managing that, even if slowly. Having someone top it off every three or four months as a treat might make a huge difference.

 

17 hours ago, Mistr said:

My dojo used to hold beginner's classes in the spring and fall. We had good attendance at several of them. Long term retention = 0. We have talked about holding beginner's classes at a local community center in conjunction with the school district community and after school programs. That would get a lot of advertising and maybe some new people to join. So far, none of the instructors have the energy to organize and teach a new class. We have some younger instructors who would be great, but they are really busy.

 

If it's getting concerning, my recommendation is finding a discreet way of doing nerd outreach. Martial arts are always in style with nerds, and a nonviolent style has a lot of appeal to, say, Jedi fans, and so on. There's a group in Avatar: The Last Airbender that essentially do aikido. There are communities that want what you've got, but don't know you've got it.

[Kishi]

21 hours ago, Mistr said:

We noticed a lack of interested new people coming to aikido several years ago. So did most of the dojos in the US. I don't know about the rest of the world, it may still be popular elsewhere. There is a lot of speculation as to the cause, but most of it is probably a general cultural shift. Yoga is popular now, martial arts not so much. There is a lot of discussion in the aikido community about how to get younger people involved. Some groups are even having success with that.

 

Hm. Any word on what the successful groups are doing that maybe y'all could pick up?

[Harriet]

On 1/21/2023 at 12:17 AM, Mistr said:

 

The aikido situation is actually worse than the work situation, but is not yet a personal concern for me.

 

We noticed a lack of interested new people coming to aikido several years ago. So did most of the dojos in the US. I don't know about the rest of the world, it may still be popular elsewhere. There is a lot of speculation as to the cause, but most of it is probably a general cultural shift. Yoga is popular now, martial arts not so much. There is a lot of discussion in the aikido community about how to get younger people involved. Some groups are even having success with that.

 

My dojo used to hold beginner's classes in the spring and fall. We had good attendance at several of them. Long term retention = 0. We have talked about holding beginner's classes at a local community center in conjunction with the school district community and after school programs. That would get a lot of advertising and maybe some new people to join. So far, none of the instructors have the energy to organize and teach a new class. We have some younger instructors who would be great, but they are really busy.

 

My boss has talked about getting our staffing level up so that we can handle these transitions with grace instead of scrambling. I am all in favor of that. The hard part is going to be finding good candidates for the positions. In some ways this should be easier than the aikido problem. I know there are people finishing graduate degrees and postdocs who are looking for jobs, and new ones every year. Academia is looking less and less inviting. Hopefully that will help our recruiting. A 40-hour a week job in the sciences is not easy to come by.

 

Oh, that's tricky. What are the popular sports doing right? I guess if they are offered as standard at school, they'll get a huge number of people at least trying them, and that will lead to more converts even if the rate of people who stick to any one sport is low. Having classes close to and really available for young people and students seems idea. And I totally agree that some people are rethinking if they really need that second degree, so yeah. Maybe someone of them will choose movement instead. Good luck.

[Treva]

On 1/20/2023 at 6:17 PM, Mistr said:

We noticed a lack of interested new people coming to aikido several years ago. So did most of the dojos in the US. I don't know about the rest of the world, it may still be popular elsewhere. There is a lot of speculation as to the cause, but most of it is probably a general cultural shift. Yoga is popular now, martial arts not so much. There is a lot of discussion in the aikido community about how to get younger people involved. Some groups are even having success with that.

I wonder if it is a general cultural shift.  You are right, if people are looking for workouts that involve movement or cardio workouts, my friends are more into the cult followings like peleton, orange theory, or CrossFit.  Part of the appeal seems to be it's pseudoscience and I gotta be honest, a lot of them feel like they offer quick easy guaranteed gains.  Most martial arts are dedicated practices that require commitment, which doesn't hit the instant gratification button as hard.  Peleton practically sells itself as an endorphins program.  

That said, why someone would choose to flip tires over learning to wreck somebody is beyond me.  You could probably HIIT-ify a whole lot of combat drills and call it KendoTheory or something, make a mint.  

 

I hope you're able to hire more staff at work.  The idea of a steady job with a 40 hour work week as a science PhD has got to be appealing to anyone with sense. Academia has all the gilt, but way more risk.

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, Treva said:

You could probably HIIT-ify a whole lot of combat drills and call it KendoTheory or something, make a mint.  

 

If I'm not mistaken, this is the entire idea behind "kickboxing".

 

6 hours ago, Treva said:

why someone would choose to flip tires over learning to wreck somebody is beyond me

 

You and me both.

 

But, bizarrely, a large part of the population around here find martial arts intimidating, both due to perceiving it as a big commitment, and because they have this weird notion in their heads that martial arts are really difficult to learn.

 

[Mistr]

On 1/24/2023 at 8:03 PM, Scaly Freak said:

But, bizarrely, a large part of the population around here find martial arts intimidating, both due to perceiving it as a big commitment, and because they have this weird notion in their heads that martial arts are really difficult to learn.

 

In the case of aikido, it is true that it is a big time commitment and it takes a long time to get good. The general estimate is that it takes five year of 3 hours a week to reach black belt level. That is where a person knows the basics well enough that they can learn to apply them in more realistic situations. Not a quick fix.

 

Weekend report

Last weekend Dumbledore and I went to Minneapolis to have brunch with a bunch of friends and have dinner with my mom. We tested before we left home and in the morning before we went out to eat. It was a fun day with all the socializing. Dumbledore was smart and  had arranged that we would drive home on Monday. We went to an old favorite breakfast place, took the scenic route through town, and got on the road earlier than planned. That gave us both a full evening at home to work on our own stuff.

 

Tuesday was mostly normal. Not great focus at work, but that is not unusual. At gaming in the evening I noticed that my throat felt tight, like I was coming down with a cold. It felt more like a cold in the morning and I was suspicious, so I tested again. Positive this time. Not a strong band, but enough to be convincing. I cancelled my dentist appointment and worked from home. By late afternoon I was really dragging. I got 11 hours of sleep last night and feel like I have a regular cold today. I got a prescription for Paxlovid, just in case.

 

The only people I may have exposed are the four at gaming and Dumbledore. Not great, but it could be a lot worse. It took me 2-3 days to show symptoms, so we will know by Friday.

 

Missing aikido and working from home are not bad. The thing I may miss out on is my aunt's funeral next week. I am not going to risk being anywhere near my mom if I am still contagious. We shall see.

 

 

[XBlackWidowX]

I had covid last month, it really sucked. But not as bad as some people. Hope you'll get better soon! Take rest!

 

Staying at home is so great, so much time to enjoy and work on anything you want, right? 

 

I'm really intrigued by the nickname Dumbledore. Any special reason?

[Harriet]

Ah, covid? I hope it's mild and over quickly. Get well.

[Mistr]

14 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

I'm really intrigued by the nickname Dumbledore. Any special reason?

 

When I started in NF, he was a professor. Smart, personable and somewhat easily distracted.

[Sovalis]

I hope you feel better soon, Mistr, and that it doesn't linger in your body or your family. 

[Mistr]

Checking in to report that I have come through fine (so far). I was feeling pretty awful on Wednesday afternoon, so I called my doctor and arranged for a Paxlovid prescription. The nurse said that it probably would not make my symptoms better, but would prevent complications. If I hadn't tested, I would have thought it was just a bad cold and sore throat. As it was, there was the extra layer of paranoia. That was spurred by the death of one of my former dance instructors from Covid a few weeks ago. He was in his early 70s and very active. I decided not to take the risk when the medicine was easily available.

 

Aside from the normal unpleasant symptoms, I have been taking this as my best excuse of all time to take it easy. I spent a lot of time lounging on the couch re-reading Thief of Time. On Friday I worked (remotely) and got a ton of tedious stuff done at work. Turns out not having quite enough brain is prefect for just plowing through. I got rid of a third of my backlog of open customer contacts. I got Elf and Cleo to do all the snow shoveling. Apparently they were worried about me.

 

I tested again yesterday and was still positive. That means no road trip today and tomorrow. I will miss seeing my family, but there was no way I would risk exposing my mom. Happily, Dumbledore is still testing negative. So are my friends from gaming, who I might have exposed last week.

 

One of the things I appreciated was not having much appetite and not being able to taste anything (mostly because my nose was congested). I tried eating things that sounded good early on, but it was disappointing when I couldn't appreciate the taste. So I just ate small meals of protein and veggies because I figured I should. I weighed myself this morning and am back down to my pre-holiday weight.

 

Today I was feeling considerably better and made great progress on the Sekrit Projekt. I also cooked for the first time in over a week. It was just a simple saute of hamburger, onions, peppers and summer squash. It was a hit with Dumbledore and Cleo. We have pretty much eaten all the batch cooked food from the last two weeks. Hopefully someone else will be inspired to cook soon. Dumbledore has a recipe out, but I don't know when he will have time to cook it.

 

My big adjustment is going to be going back to 8 hours of sleep instead of 10. Maybe with a nap at lunch if I need it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that I'm nearly done with this.

[Harriet]

I'm very glad you're doing better. Do you really have to go back to 8 hours of sleep immediately?

[Mistr]

3 hours ago, Harriet said:

I'm very glad you're doing better. Do you really have to go back to 8 hours of sleep immediately?

 

Technically, no. I can go to bed early and get more sleep. I just need to go back to getting up at the usual time to prepare for work. 

 

I have been successful at getting to bed 15 minutes early the last few nights. Just not two hours early. Hopefully my body does not need quite so much sleep anymore.

[Treva]

oh no.  I am really glad you were able to get access to paxlovid.  Did they warn you about potential rebound, when you stop taking the medication?  Anecdotally, definitely has kept people out of the hospital, especially those with an underlying lung disease I would worry about. 

 

I am sorry to hear about the loss of your dance teacher.  That's awful.  I'm sorry.

 

On 1/30/2023 at 9:31 PM, Mistr said:

Aside from the normal unpleasant symptoms, I have been taking this as my best excuse of all time to take it easy. I spent a lot of time lounging on the couch re-reading Thief of Time. On Friday I worked (remotely) and got a ton of tedious stuff done at work. Turns out not having quite enough brain is prefect for just plowing through. I got rid of a third of my backlog of open customer contacts. I got Elf and Cleo to do all the snow shoveling. Apparently they were worried about me.

That is a very productive covid infection.  Geeze.  I am glad it sounds like you don't have a severe mental fog at the moment.  And that people are chipping in while you should be on the couch, doing nothing, and getting the rest.

 

On 1/30/2023 at 9:31 PM, Mistr said:

 

Today I was feeling considerably better and made great progress on the Sekrit Projekt. I also cooked for the first time in over a week. It was just a simple saute of hamburger, onions, peppers and summer squash. It was a hit with Dumbledore and Cleo. We have pretty much eaten all the batch cooked food from the last two weeks. Hopefully someone else will be inspired to cook soon. Dumbledore has a recipe out, but I don't know when he will have time to cook it.

 

My big adjustment is going to be going back to 8 hours of sleep instead of 10. Maybe with a nap at lunch if I need it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that I'm nearly done with this.

Enabler brain wants to tell you that 10 hours is awesome and you should do as much of the sleeping, hydration, and good nutrition as you want. 
But I know it's important to get back to the regular working. 

I hope you are done, done, done with the covid and you're feeling better today. 

[Mistr]

1 hour ago, Treva said:

oh no.  I am really glad you were able to get access to paxlovid.  Did they warn you about potential rebound, when you stop taking the medication?  Anecdotally, definitely has kept people out of the hospital, especially those with an underlying lung disease I would worry about. 

 

Yes, they warned me about the potential rebound. That gave me enough pause to wait until I was seriously concerned before starting to take it. I don't have any conditions that it could interact with, so no concerns there.

 

1 hour ago, Treva said:

 I hope you are done, done, done with the covid and you're feeling better today. 

 

I am feeling loads better. My sinuses are still clearing out some crud. That probably explains why I still tested positive yesterday. I'm fine working from home and my coworkers are happy not to have the risk of me near them. The main problem is that Dumbledore is being very cautious and holding to a firm "no smooching" policy until I'm completely better. 🤕 He has been testing and is still negative. Considering that we were together all the time I might have been exposed, I don't think he is going to catch it from me.

 

I did quite a bit of cooking the last two evenings. I roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, baked a spaghetti squash and made soup. That got rid of several aging veggies and a pile of pork bones.

 

Tonight I am not feeling very energetic. I think I am going to do some gentle yoga and head to bed early.

[XBlackWidowX]

12 hours ago, Mistr said:

Tonight I am not feeling very energetic. I think I am going to do some gentle yoga and head to bed early.

Great you're feeling better! It sucks so much to be sick. It's very wise to take it easy when you feel unwell. And yoga is definitely a good choice. Take care!

[Harriet]

I'm glad you're on the mend. It could be wise to get some extra rest and recovery for a little while even after testing negative.

[Mistr]

I seem to have a mild case of rebound Covid. I'm having to blow my nose again and I can't taste much. I'm grouchy because it has been 10 days and I was hoping to be back to normal by now.

 

I am planning a Costco run tomorrow (masked). That seems reasonably low risk. Aikido will have to wait a few more days. Too much close contact, even with a mask.

[sarakingdom]

17 hours ago, Mistr said:

I seem to have a mild case of rebound Covid. I'm having to blow my nose again and I can't taste much. I'm grouchy because it has been 10 days and I was hoping to be back to normal by now.

 

Oh no, you will have to read more Pratchett and sleep for ten hours a day and get people to do more shovelling. That is terrible.

 

[Harriet]

17 hours ago, Mistr said:

I seem to have a mild case of rebound Covid. I'm having to blow my nose again and I can't taste much. I'm grouchy because it has been 10 days and I was hoping to be back to normal by now.

 

Alas. 10 days is fairly short, though, isn't it? Maybe it would be useful to plan a little extra recovery? Lots of people need time to get over covid, even 'mild' cases.

[Kishi]

On 2/3/2023 at 6:10 PM, Mistr said:

I am planning a Costco run tomorrow (masked). That seems reasonably low risk. Aikido will have to wait a few more days. Too much close contact, even with a mask.

 

It's the right call. I can't think of a way to wear a mask and do martial arts unless it's just absolutely no contact in any meaningful way.

 

I hope you're feeling better since then.

[Mistr]

Yesterday my sense of taste was back to normal! 🎉🤩

 

I think Harriet is right and I should allow more time for sleep for another week yet. I want to be all better, but that is wishful thinking with this virus.

 

Challenge Summary

 

I did well on my main goal - 

On 12/30/2022 at 6:22 PM, Mistr said:

The biggest thing I have been struggling with is feeling like I have too much to do and not making good choices from that to-do list. Just changing the priority order on the list is not going to fix that problem.

 

It helped that for two weeks of the challenge I had a perfect justification not to do much. That break helped me reset my thinking about what I am pushing myself to do vs. what actually would be healthy for me to do.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 6:22 PM, Mistr said:

Things to test for this challenge:

1) Keep work in bounds. Stay on task during the day and put it down at 5:00. If is it clear that some tasks cannot get done by the end of the day, make myself a list of what needs to be done first the next day. Yes, there will be more to do the next day. Keep a priority order and delegate as needed.

 

2) Move my sleep schedule up and sit zen first thing in the morning. The house is always quiet and no one will bother me.

 

I did well on both of these. There were only a couple days when I worked late.  Sitting zen in the morning was good a lot of the time. I sat at lunch or in the evening some days. I only missed one day this challenge, and that was when I was really sick.  Most days I sat the full 30 minutes. This is the longest stretch of consistent practice I have done in at least a year.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 6:22 PM, Mistr said:

3) Exercise at lunchtime when I work on site. On days I work at home, I can exercise in the morning. I can fit in a 30 minute workout consistently and some days can go longer. I have the option of strength training, cardio or yoga at one of five exercise facilities within 5 minutes of my office.

 

4) Do actual fun things after work and on weekends. On days I am going to the dojo, bring a book or knitting to do before class starts. Playing phone games does not count. Those are a sign of stress, not a cure. Take at least 15 minutes a day to do something fun.

 

Not so great on these two goals. I did exercise at lunchtime a couple times. Exercise was the thing that got dropped when I was feeling tired. I am going to have to work to get back to where I was at the start of this challenge.

 

Fun things are still more of a challenge than they should be. Gaming with friends on Tuesdays is a win. I have been making a point to take breaks on weekends to do spinning or reading. I am still not sure if I am happy with the hat I am knitting. It is now at the point where I have knit several inches and it has a lot of time invested. I may still rip it all out and use a different pattern. TBD.

 

On 12/30/2022 at 6:22 PM, Mistr said:

Sure, I am going to make an effort to work on some of the other important things like home improvement projects, getting on top of my finances and doing general adulting. I'll do those anyway. First I am going to give myself more breaks.

 

I am making good progress on both the home improvement project and the finances. I'm excited about keeping those going.

[RES]

20 hours ago, Mistr said:

Yesterday my sense of taste was back to normal! 🎉🤩

 

YAY!!

[XBlackWidowX]

Wow, these are really great results!! Don't beat yourself up about the exercising, you were sick, when you're in such condition it's better to take rest. 

Very impressive with everyday meditation! I always struggled with meditation, I just keep on quarreling with myself in my head lol. 

 

On 2/9/2023 at 7:42 AM, Mistr said:

It helped that for two weeks of the challenge I had a perfect justification not to do much. That break helped me reset my thinking about what I am pushing myself to do vs. what actually would be healthy for me to do.

Yeah, right? I also had a similar experience recently. When you have a lot of time to youself you actually can think things through.