Sterre adjusts

[sterre]

I'm back for another challenge with the druids! This challenge is going to be a bit different because I'm not going to be setting exactly hard and fast goals for the entire challenge before it starts because I'm going to be moving from Tokyo to Edinburgh (or getting very close to moving) during the challenge so I'm not really sure what's going to be reasonable to achieve each week at this point since life is just going to be its own challenge, so I'll also have an overarching to do list to tackle.
 
For now, here's sort of a rough draft of the quests.
 
Main Quest: Develop reasonable and healthy habits to help me avoid injury, feel awesome and have fun!
 
Quest 1: Yoga
I'm going to aim for some yoga most days I think I can (e.g. probably not on travel days, likely not on moving days). I won't be timing my sessions because I really didn't like doing that last time, but count complete sessions (e.g. when I've done at least 10 stretches). 
Measurement: TBD
Stats: +3 CON, +2 STR
 
Quest 2: Moving myself
I'd like to get a walk or run each day, basically. And make sure that I move around enough on the airplane. 
Measurement: TBD
Stats: +2 STA, +2 DEX
 
Quest 3: Journaling
Since things in my life will be changing a lot, I figure keeping a journal of this time is a good plan. I hope this will help me sort things out in my life a bit more than I have been. So my general plan is to journal for at least ten minutes every day.
Measurement: A = 34+ journal entries, B = 25 - 33 journal entries, C = 17 - 24 journal entries
Stats: +1 CON, +1 WIS
 
Life Quest 1: Learning
I plan on registering for two more Coursera courses in November. I'm not sure I'll be able to reasonably tackle both, but I'll give them a shot and drop one if necessary. I won't sign up for any in December because that's probably just not going to work.
Measurement: Pass = complete all quizzes and assignments.
Complete the Ruby and SQL courses on Codecademy
Measurement: A = 80+% complete, B = 60-79% complete, C = 40-59% complete
Stats: +2 WIS
 
Life Quest 2: Moving house
There are a lot of things I have to do before moving. Not only to prepare for moving, but also some last minute tourism things. I've been in Japan for two years and there's a lot I would like to see before I go. My budget won't allow me to see everything, but I'll be making a list of placed I need to go or things to do and I'll work on getting these done during the challenge. That will be the first list. The second list is just all the things I need to do for moving. 
Measurement: A = 80+% of items done, B = 60 - 79% of items done, C = 40 - 59% of items done.
Stats: +1 STA, +1 WIS
 

To do: Last minute tourism

• Visit the Fuji five lakes
• Visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building
• Visit Shinjuku park
• Go to the owl cafe
• Get tea in a teahouse
• See kabuki performance
• Go to Ueno park
• Go to an aquarium
• Eat okonomiyaki

To do: Actual moving

• Apply for visa
• Harass my Canadian bank until they give me the letter I need for my visa application
• Start packing.
• Sayonara sale prep:
  • Determine everything we're selling and prices
  • Clean items
  • Take pictures of items
  • Create website for items

Post-challenge moving list

 
Because everything got super delayed by my bank letter problems so we won't even know if we have the visas by the end of the challenge, let alone when we're going, I can't do everything I initially hoped to do by the end of the six week challenge. This is all going to have to be done eventually though.

• Book shipping container
• Sayonara sale:
  • Advertise
  • Meet with buyers
• Plan going away party
• Buy plane tickets
• Find a temporary apartment in Edinburgh for when we arrive

Now with statistics assignments. I figure that the second life challenge gets stamina because a lot of the tourist things involve a lot of hiking and wisdom because it'll be a good idea to get everything done.
 

Weekly summaries digest

 
Week 1
Quest 1: 5/6 (A)
Quest 2: 7/7 (A+)
Quest 3: 6/7 (A)
Life Quest 1: Videos watched, no quiz done
Life Quest 2: Three tourist locations visited, one moving item done.
 
Week 2
Quest 1: 3/6 (C )
Quest 2: 7/7 (A+)
Quest 3: 6/7 (A)
Life Quest 1: Quest reset!
Life Quest 2: One moving item possibly unnecessary. 
 
Week 3
Quest 1: 4/6 (B )
Quest 2: 7/7 (A+)
Quest 3: 6/7 (A)
Life Quest 1: 20% of Ruby course (D )
Life Quest 2: Progress on a few moving items.
 
Week 4
Quest 1: 3/4 (B )
Quest 2: 7/7 (A+)
Quest 3: 5/7 (B )
Life Quest 1:
Life Quest 2: One moving item done, three tourism items done.
 
 
Running totals
Quest 1: 16/22 (B )
Quest 2: 28/28 (A+)
Quest 3: 23/28 (A)
Life Quest 1: 20% Ruby course, 0% MySQL
Life Quest 2: 6/9 tourism items done; 3/4 moving items done

[spooky]

Following along for awesomeness, cool Japanese tourist shenanigans, and moral support <3

[LittleTurtle]

Moving across town for me is challenging.  Moving from Tokyo to Edinburgh?!  I can't even imagine!  I'll be lurking around to see how things go...

[Kairiel]

a set of goals i am excited to follow!

[Leimanu]

• Visit the Fuji five lakes
• Hike between Jimba and Takao mountains
• Visit the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building
• Visit Shinjuku park
• Go to the owl cafe
• Get tea in a teahouse
• See kabuki performance

 

Pictures please!

[spooky]

Pictures please!

Ditto!

[sterre]

Following along for awesomeness, cool Japanese tourist shenanigans, and moral support <3

 

Thanks!

 

Moving across town for me is challenging.  Moving from Tokyo to Edinburgh?!  I can't even imagine!  I'll be lurking around to see how things go...

 

I'm not quite sure that I can imagine it either. I'll definitely feel much better about it when we have the visa application process underway and the flights purchased. Right now, I'm just trying to avoid freaking out.

 

a set of goals i am excited to follow!

 

Thanks!

 

Pictures please!

 

I'll try. Sometimes my camera likes to have issues whenever I want to use it.

[sterre]

Week 0, Days 1-3 Update

 

(In no particular order)

 

On the final day of the last challenge, I started my journal and I've been keeping it up so far. I've found that a good way to go about making sure that I write something is to just bring my journal to work with me. That way, I can find some time either during lunch or while commuting and just write a few things down. I seem to have a lot to write, which is a bit surprising, but nice.

 

I haven't been running yet. I was considering it today, but the tickle in my throat this morning has developed into more of a sore throat and I just ended up not feeling like it. I've been walking though, which is good and I did a HIIT cardio thing to make up for my lack of running.

 

I also still haven't done yoga yet. I guess I'm sort of getting into a rest mode, but I'll try getting some bed time yoga done tonight and do something more tomorrow.

 

I'm also going to try getting some of the sayonara sale stuff sorted out tomorrow. I have to start somewhere with that and doing it on a day off when I have natural lighting for photographing everything sounds like a plan to me.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following! I like your goals. I think you should get bonus points if the tea house has owls in it. And in honor of your move I think you should find a way to have haggis sushi.

[SpecialSundae]

Stalking for imminent Edinbugger!

[sterre]

Following! I like your goals. I think you should get bonus points if the tea house has owls in it. And in honor of your move I think you should find a way to have haggis sushi.

 

I think the owl cafe has tea in it. I don't think the other way around is true though.

 

Haggis sushi also sounds rather unpleasant.

 

Stalking for imminent Edinbugger!

 

Imminent sounds a bit scary for how much work I have to do still.

[sterre]

Ugh, so my bank apparently responded to my message quickly, but they did not obey my request to send an email to the regular email address they have when they do so, which means that I thought they were taking forever to respond.

 

They might also only be willing to send me a letter to my parents' house in Canada, which means that in addition to the two business days it takes them to put the letter together, I'll have to wait a few days for my parents to receive it and then another week for them to airmail it. At this point, I think I'm going to ask them to fax a copy as well because we have to start applying for this stuff asap.

[sterre]

Okay, after harassing my bank a bit more, it looks like they can hopefully send a letter to me in Japan (or that's what one person told me). If they respond the way they have been lately, hopefully I'll have some confirmation on this point before I go to sleep tonight and if I'm really lucky, maybe their "2 business days to send the letter" is like their "2 business days to reply to messages" and they'll send it out later today. Then my partner and I can get it by the middle of next week and then get the visa application going without worrying about this.

 

Sadly, they can't fax a letter or scan and email it so I just have to hope that it shows up at a reasonable time, but there's not much I can do about that.

 

So maybe I'll be able to cross one item off my list before the challenge even starts!

 

 

Otherwise, I've just been feeling sick all day so I took a few pictures of stuff we're selling and then just sat down to play a game while drinking all the water.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I have the sick as well. Your post reminded me to go drink water. Thank you.

[sterre]

I have the sick as well. Your post reminded me to go drink water. Thank you.

 

It's easy to remember to drink water when you have a sore throat. Taking in any kind of fluids just makes everything feel so much better.

 

I hope you feel better soon.

[sterre]

And it looks like my bank will be sending me the necessary letter to Japan like I need. Apparently they only pay for "regular mail", but checking Canada Post's website suggests that the regular international mail for letters is airmail. So depending when they send the letter (and I'll check in on that tomorrow), I should have it in a week at most. This means that we'll probably apply for our visas on Monday if the letter is in the mail by then.

[oldnews]

Ooh, keeping up on your goals whilst moving house is admirable. It looks like you have some pretty realistic goals, though. Good luck!

[sterre]

Ooh, keeping up on your goals whilst moving house is admirable. It looks like you have some pretty realistic goals, though. Good luck!

 

Thanks! Hopefully I can manage.

[Alanna]

Thanks for stopping by my challenge--I'll be following yours for yoga and the travels! I was just in England for a year, so if you have any questions about navigating the UK feel free to send them my way (though I'm sure SS will be much more knowledgeable about the UK and esp. Scotland/Edinburgh).

[Silverwitch]

Looks like a very ambitious challenge!  

No Poi, but I can see that there is barely any time for this, since you have a long list to check off.

 

I am sure you will manage, and gladly pop my head in every now and then to see you rock this!

[Elk]

Wow, moving! That sounds both very exciting and very stressful. @.@ I think it's admirable that you're taking your current life situation into account in choosing your goals! 

 

Also, moving around on plane = very good plan. I just flew from Poland to the BC... now that was a lonnnng flight. I found that the tips in this video helped me manage:

[sterre]

Thanks for stopping by my challenge--I'll be following yours for yoga and the travels! I was just in England for a year, so if you have any questions about navigating the UK feel free to send them my way (though I'm sure SS will be much more knowledgeable about the UK and esp. Scotland/Edinburgh).

 

Thanks! I'll definitely ask any questions I have around the forums if I run into issues.

 

Looks like a very ambitious challenge!

No Poi, but I can see that there is barely any time for this, since you have a long list to check off.

 

I am sure you will manage, and gladly pop my head in every now and then to see you rock this!

 

Thanks! Yeah, no poi this time. I hope I'll find time to do some anyway, but I'm not making a challenge for it this round.

 

Wow, moving! That sounds both very exciting and very stressful. @.@ I think it's admirable that you're taking your current life situation into account in choosing your goals! 

 

Also, moving around on plane = very good plan. I just flew from Poland to the BC... now that was a lonnnng flight. I found that the tips in this video helped me manage:

 

Thanks! I'll have a look at that when I'm at work this week and have a better internet connection. I definitely did not move around enough when I went from Toronto to Tokyo last time. It was one of the few flights when I fell asleep most of the way and my legs were not happy when I got moving again.

[sterre]

And on the eve of the challenge, I'm still sick.

 

I might be making the first week a bit easier than I had originally thought.

[SpecialSundae]

Noooooo! Don't be sick!

What kind of sick?

[sterre]

Noooooo! Don't be sick!

What kind of sick?

 

It started out as a sore throat, but it's become more of a stuffy nose, a cough and generally really low energy in the last two days. It isn't so bad that it kept me from going out for Halloween last night, but that's mostly because I've been looking forward to Halloween all month.

 

I think for the challenge, it might mean that I postpone my return to running a few days until I feel up to it. I should probably go out walking more than I have been and being sick is really no excuse for slacking on yoga like I've been doing. :S