ICB Watches the Watchman VI

[ICB]

1. Strong Enough to Shoulder It

He grabbed the Librarian by two handfulls of chest hair and pulled him up to eye height.
'I'm not bloody well going to have it, understand?' Vimes shouted, shaking the ape back and forth.

'Oook,' the Librarian pointed out, patiently.
'What? Oh. Sorry,' Vimes lowered the ape, who wisely didn't make an issue of it because a man angry enough to lift three hundred pounds of Orangutan without noticing is a man with too much on his mind. -- Guards, Guards

Goal: Lift Heavy Things (preferably not Orangutans) 3 times a week

 

I've decided to scale back on running slightly and start folding in some weightlifting. To this end, I've joined a gym near work. The goal is to go workout before my morning meetings, but we'll see if that pans out. If it doesn't, I can go at lunch or after work instead. 3X a week.

 

2. Dis-Organizer Mark V

'Good Morning, Insert Name Here! I am the Dis-Organizer Mark Five, "The Gooseberry"^TM. How may I —' it began, speaking fast in order to get as much said as possible before the inevitable interruption.
'I swear I switched you off,' said Vimes.
'You threatened me with a hammer,' said the imp accusingly, and rattled the tiny bars. 'He threatens state-of-the-Craft technomancy with a hammer, everybody!' it shouted. 'He doesn't even fill in the registration card!' -- Thud!

Goal: Keep Bullet Journal Updated 80% of the time

I filled up my old bullet journal and got a new one, and I'd like to keep it newly organized and do better about keeping up with it. This is a bit of a cheat because instead of focusing on goals like Meditate Every Day and Write Every Day and Keep Checkbook Balanced, I'll just track how well I track all those other things.

 

3. Run Hungry

Someone was running, and they were chasing. They were chasing because he was running, and he was running because they were chasing. -- Men At Arms

Goal: Run and Intermittent Fast 2 times a week

Slightly scaled back, but still there. On days that I'm not lifting weights, I'm going to 1. Fast for 18 hours and 2. Go for a short 1-2 mile run in the mornings. I'd never try to do any serious cardio distance on no fuel, but a short run while fasting has been shown to have all kinds of good benefits.

 

Special Long-Term Quest: Cholesterol II

Vimes carefully lifted the top of the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich and smiled inwardly. Good old Cheery. She knew what a Vimes BLT was all about. It was about having to lift up quite a lot of crispy bacon before you found the miserable, skulking vegetables. You might never notice them at all. -- Thud!

Goal: Lower cholesterol numbers (significantly) by August.

No changes here.

 

[ICB]

Scoreboard:

 

1. Strong Enough

Goal: Lift 3 times a week

Week 0 ☐✘☐☐✔☐☐

Week 1 ✔☐✘☐✔☐☐

Week 2 ✘☐✔☐✔☐☐

Week 3 ✔☐✔☐✘☐☐

Week 4 ✘☐✔☐✘☐☐

8/14

 

2. Dis-Organizer Mark V

Goal: 80% Update Bullet Journal

Week 0 ✔✘✔✔✔✘✔

Week 1 ✔✔✔✔✔✘✘

Week 2 ✘✘✔✔✔✔✔

Week 3 ✔✔✔✔✘✘✘

Week 4 ✔✔✔✘✘✔✘

23/28

 

3. Run Hungry

Goal: Run and Fast 2 times a week

Week 0 ☐✔☐☐✘☐☐

Week 1 ☐✘☐✔☐☐☐

Week 2 ☐✘☐✔☐☐☐

Week 3 ☐✘☐✘☐☐☐

Week 4 ☐✘☐✘☐☐☐

3/10

 

Hat-tip to @Luciana Valerosa Culming for the formatting idea!

unicode: ✔✘☐

[ICB]

Some may say that my goals are too ambitious. To them, I say no. 

[The Shogun]

1 hour ago, ICB said:

Scoreboard:

 

1. Strong Enough

Goal: Lift 2 times a week

Week 0 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 1 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 2 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 3 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 4 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

0/10

 

2. Dis-Organizer Mark V

Goal: 80% Update Bullet Journal

Week 0 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 1 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 2 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 3 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 4 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

0/28

 

3. Run Hungry

Goal: Run and Fast 3 times a week

Week 0 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 1 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 2 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 3 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

Week 4 ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐

0/15

 

Hat-tip to @Luciana Valerosa Culming for the formatting idea!

unicode: ✔✘☐

 

I'M TOTALLY STEALING THIS! Also, I need to see pictures of this BuJo! More Bullet Journalists than I thought here in NF!

[sarakingdom]

This is a fantastic challenge.

 

[ICB]

4 hours ago, The Shogun said:

 

I'M TOTALLY STEALING THIS!

I know, right? It's great and I'm happy I stole it.

 

BULLET JOURNAL SHOWOFF POST!

 

My new journal is the same type as my old one: a Leuchtterm1917. I originally got into this notebook when I (re-)taught myself cursive a couple of years ago using a fountain pen. The paper's soft like sin but the book is made sturdy by righteousness.

 

It's a good notebook, is what I'm saying. My previous one fell out of my bag and got run over by (multiple?) cars with barely any damage.

 

I added a decal to my new book:

It's funny because the bullet journal is my guide through the twisting paths of self-actualization, but at any moment I could slip off the edge and go insane! Ha! Ha!

 

Inside is probably more sparse than most people think of with bullet journals. My wife's journal looks like a scrapbook because that's what she's into, and that's fine. Mine is just a constantly scrolling set of to-do lists.

 

New addition is the habit tracker since there's three things I need to do every day to a c h i e v e o p t i m a l f u n c t i o n, as we humans like to say: take my pills, meditate, and exercise. Then I added a few more.

 

Every day gets its own page. Date at the top, current freelance projects and invoice reminders, regular to-dos, and a section where I can copy some block of text for handwriting practice. Usually a quote from a book or movie, or if I'm desperate I'll grab a magazine and just copy down whatever text I see first. I've copied legal disclaimers before. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

 

[Kishi]

That is so pretty! I can see the appeal of having something like that around.

 

Which lifts are you planning to focus your weightlifting on?

[sarakingdom]

Such journal envy.  I love me some quality bound journals (and I have a thing for graph paper I AM ENGINEER HEAR ME WRITE), but I've given them up due to the high number of printed pages I was folding up and sticking in every week.  So I did the next best thing, and got the most over-engineered semi-bound loose-leaf notebook solution I could find.  That'll hopefully keep my mind off the lack of awesome binding.  (Although I think I will get a hard leather cover for my discbound journal, so I can come close.  I've now played with it enough to know I like it, though I think I might need to get heavier-weight printer paper.  The regular 20lb stuff works, but I think the 24lb would work better - the extra stiffness seems a little grippier on the binding disks.  Shame, because I've got a ton of the 20lb to use up.  Like literally a ton.)

 

I'm also a fountain pen fan.  Combination of environmental reasons, and, my god, do they write smoothly.  Even more smoothly than a gel pen, and that matters when you're writing up to a few pages a day.  Fortunately, I have simple tastes there.  Plain old cheap Muji fountain pens have a great modern look that I like, are indestructible, and are better designed than any other pen I've used when it comes to refilling cleanly and keeping the ink wet through dry spells.  (The only real downside is plane travel.  If it weren't for plane travel, I'd get rid of disposable pens altogether.)

 

Also.  My friend.  I cannot walk past the combination of "Thud!" and "table saw" without inquiring.

 

 

(PS, lift an orangutan.)

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

Nice BuJo and really good goals. =)

[ICB]

On 6/27/2017 at 9:02 AM, Kishi said:

That is so pretty! I can see the appeal of having something like that around.

 

Which lifts are you planning to focus your weightlifting on?

Thanks! I'm working with the StrongLifts app on my phone to track exercises. On A days, I do 5 sets of 5 reps of Bench press, barbell row, squat. On B days, I do 5 sets of 5 reps of Overhead press and squats, and 1 set of 5 reps on the deadlift. I'm going 3 days a week (more on this later), so that gives me alternating ABA and BAB weeks.

 

Eventually, I'd like to move to a 3x8 program on a broader variety of exercises, but I like the app because it's simple and it helps me get my form back on lock.

 

On 6/27/2017 at 6:32 PM, sarakingdom said:

I'm also a fountain pen fan.  Combination of environmental reasons, and, my god, do they write smoothly.  Even more smoothly than a gel pen, and that matters when you're writing up to a few pages a day.  Fortunately, I have simple tastes there.  Plain old cheap Muji fountain pens have a great modern look that I like, are indestructible, and are better designed than any other pen I've used when it comes to refilling cleanly and keeping the ink wet through dry spells.  (The only real downside is plane travel.  If it weren't for plane travel, I'd get rid of disposable pens altogether.)

I have a nice little Pilot fountain pen that works nicely, but more and more I find that random ink leaks and smudges (I'm a lefty) make it a pain. Now that I've spent a couple of years re-learning cursive, I find that I enjoy writing with a simple gel pen almost as much but with 98% less screwing around.

 

I've stuck with buying really nice paper, though. I'll compromise on pens and ink but GOOD PAPER IS LIFE.

[ICB]

Update time!

 

Meant to post about this last week, but made a real quick change to my scheduling. Instead of fasting 3 days a week and running, I want to lift weights 3 days a week - and I don't want to lift weights and fast because then my muscles will just eat my brain. that's what my muscles whisper to me at night, anyway

 

So I've updated the scoreboard to reflect the change in the expected numbers. July 4 week messed up all my schedules all sorts of ways, but this morning was a good one: up on time, well-rested, took my medication, meditated, off to the gym, and at work in time for my 9 a.m. meeting. Boom! It's been a while since I did that, and it feels fantastic.

[Kishi]

Sweet! How's it feel as far as something that you could set up as a routine? You are trying to beat the morning meetings, after all...

[ICB]

1 minute ago, Kishi said:

Sweet! How's it feel as far as something that you could set up as a routine? You are trying to beat the morning meetings, after all...

Totally fine, actually. I dawdled a little bit this morning and still made it with time to spare. The key seems to be making sure that my bag is packed and all the food is prepped so I don't have to spend time on that in the mornings.

[ICB]

Also.  My friend.  I cannot walk past the combination of "Thud!" and "table saw" without inquiring.

 

Oh you're going to like this. Nicole is part of a crafting exchange, like a random secret santa that you make something and send them a homemade craft thing. This one: big discworld fan.

 

So I had to fix my ☑️Tablesaw so I could finish making the game of ☑️Thud! we made her.

 

 

I made the board, the missus sculpted the [short, bearded/big, rocky] bastards and actually made a game box(!) She is extremely crafty.

 

Also she knitted a Death of Rats and sewed a robe for him. I made the scythe. SQUEAK

[sarakingdom]

12 hours ago, ICB said:

I have a nice little Pilot fountain pen that works nicely, but more and more I find that random ink leaks and smudges (I'm a lefty) make it a pain. Now that I've spent a couple of years re-learning cursive, I find that I enjoy writing with a simple gel pen almost as much but with 98% less screwing around.

 

Yeah, fountain pens are not lefty-friendly.  Wet ink doesn't take kindly to a hand moving over it.  I think I'd do the same, if I weren't a righty.  (Or, like Leonard of Quirm, I'd just write backwards.  I swear, that's not for secrecy, it's because he was a lefty who was fed up with writing right to left with a dip pen.)

 

11 hours ago, ICB said:

Oh you're going to like this. Nicole is part of a crafting exchange, like a random secret santa that you make something and send them a homemade craft thing. This one: big discworld fan.

 

So I had to fix my ☑️Tablesaw so I could finish making the game of ☑️Thud! we made her.

 

This is like the best explanation I could have imagined.

 

11 hours ago, ICB said:

 

I made the board, the missus sculpted the [short, bearded/big, rocky] bastards and actually made a game box(!) She is extremely crafty.

 

Also she knitted a Death of Rats and sewed a robe for him. I made the scythe. SQUEAK

 

*gasp*

 

*lip quivers stoically*

 

Those are both amazing.

[ICB]

 

On 7/10/2017 at 11:29 PM, sarakingdom said:

 

*gasp*

 

*lip quivers stoically*

 

Those are both amazing.

 

Thank you!

 

Things have been going great this week. Not sure what it is exactly, but I've been on a total streak for bullet journal stuff. I had to skip the gym on Wednesday and I skipped my run on Tuesday because I was sore from Monday (lol). BUT today I met with a personal trainer—the gym gives out consultations/tries to sell PT spots for new members, and I had him give me some tips on my lifting form. He was really knowledgable and it was a good use of time, then I went and did my full lift workout as per usual. Feeling good!

 

 

This is almost embarrassing, given how long (years!) I've been meditating, but yesterday I hit a 5-day meditation streak for the first time ever. Ever. I don't think I've ever gotten about 3 in a row before. Last weekend, I set up a little meditation corner in the house, and I think it helps to have a physical space that is just for meditating, and whenever I walk past it I get reminded that I should do that thing. Since I set it up on Sunday, I haven't missed a day.

[Kishi]

Hey, who cares when you get the streak so long as you get it? Meanwhile, you keep showing up and doing the work for your challenge. But you're being smart about it too - waiting until you're not so sore and picking up tips and such from others.

 

Looks like things are going great!

[Kishi]

Yoooooo!

 

How's it going over here? Keeping that stiff upper lip and all that?

[ICB]

Yoooooooo it's going well. I've noticed a big improvement in mood and mental health as consistent meditation really starts to show results. Alas, I broke my streak last week and again last night, but that's ok. All time is an illusion; run-streaks doubly so. BUT I've gone from meditating 50% of the time to 90% of the time—huge change. Incremental growth in my weightlifting isn't showing results yet, though I'm really proud of my solid gym attendance. 

 

Perhaps it's not a coincidence, but a couple of weeks ago marked 1 year since The Employment Unpleasantness really started burning down. It seem odd that I was waiting for an anniversary to really start letting go, but in retrospect maybe I was a bit. Now that I'm on the other side of that anniversary, I'm feeling better and better.

[Kishi]

That's awesome, man! I'm really glad to hear that. Keep going at it, slow and steady. Incremental changes are the best way to go, even if they don't show results for a while. Keep showing up and doing the thing!

[RisenPhoenix]

2 hours ago, ICB said:

Perhaps it's not a coincidence, but a couple of weeks ago marked 1 year since The Employment Unpleasantness really started burning down.

 

The beginning of this month was the anniversary of my getting laid off and the 11-month stint of unemployment.  I joked that day with my boss that I was expecting her to fire me.  Except it wasn't entirely a joke.  Now that it's gone and past, I feel a bit better.  So I totally get this.

[ICB]

1 minute ago, RisenPhoenix said:

I joked that day with my boss that I was expecting her to fire me.  Except it wasn't entirely a joke.  Now that it's gone and past, I feel a bit better.  So I totally get this.

 

I completely understand this. Last November, I'd been at my new job about 6 weeks, and a manager pulled me and a couple of the other people on my team into a quick meeting. We ended up in this little interior office with no windows—you know, like the kind of place you go to fire people. I was sweating bullets. The manager told us that he was going on vacation the next week, so if we needed anything to email his assistant. That's it. But I was absolutely, completely ready to get laid off. Again.

[RisenPhoenix]

9 minutes ago, ICB said:

 

I completely understand this. Last November, I'd been at my new job about 6 weeks, and a manager pulled me and a couple of the other people on my team into a quick meeting. We ended up in this little interior office with no windows—you know, like the kind of place you go to fire people. I was sweating bullets. The manager told us that he was going on vacation the next week, so if we needed anything to email his assistant. That's it. But I was absolutely, completely ready to get laid off. Again.

 

I won't lie.  I was brought on to cover a woman's maternity leave.  She gave birth early.  My immediate thought was "Well now they are stuck with me at least until she comes back..."

 

I really miss having some semblance of stability in my life...

[ICB]

On 7/24/2017 at 1:49 PM, RisenPhoenix said:

I really miss having some semblance of stability in my life...

You'll get it back. It may take some time, but if you keep working, stability will come.

[ICB]

Wow, we're at week 4 already? Week 3 was overall quite good. I've noticed an annoying pattern where I either run or fast, but rarely both. I think the mistake has been in combining two very different goals with two very different failure states—one relies on time management and scheduling, the other on minute-by-minute will power. Maybe diet and running will break out into two different goals next month.

 

My new bullet journal is a nice success—with a week to go, I'm already very close to my goal of 80% updates. I should finish well north of 80%, so that's encouraging.