Sloth: The Man with the Hammer

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

I hope the steroids help your back. You're a badass for doing those hammer races with intractable back pain. I love the Coffee M&Ms, had them for the first time last week.

 

As a Minnesotan, it's probably a good thing you don't follow the NFL.

[Elastigirl]

Hope the steroids help your back. Shovelglove seems like a good way to get your exercise in without aggravating your back

[Big_Show]

Hope that spinal injection does the trick!

Look at you getting all your adulting tasks done. Any more remindered you need to outsource?

[Mrs Van]

11 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

At lunch I snuck off to the chiropractor.  He wrote a referral for a spinal injection of steroids.  Considering my back hasn't had a moment when it hasn't hurt in five years, I'm excited at the prospect.

Wow, that is bad! When are you going for the injection. Hubby goes to the chiro every other month. He hurt his back because of having to wait so long before he had his hip replacement. All the sitting, weights, training, etc. takes its toll on his back though.

11 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Adulting: I straightened out my bullet journal, balanced my checkbook (first time since July), and sorted out insurance with chiropractor.

Woot! Woot! High Five!

[The Most Loathed]

it has been a while since you watched the foosball if you still think that the Oilers are a thing.

 

Good luck with the shots. Apparently people are aging because I increasingly know people who are getting cortisone injections. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

On October 31, 2016 at 4:37 PM, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

I hope the steroids help your back. You're a badass for doing those hammer races with intractable back pain. I love the Coffee M&Ms, had them for the first time last week.

 

I only tried the m&ms because I trust your opinion. They were terrible, but so addictive.  

 

Thanks for that perspective. I hadn't thought of things that way. 

 

On October 31, 2016 at 9:47 PM, Elastigirl said:

Hope the steroids help your back. Shovelglove seems like a good way to get your exercise in without aggravating your back

 

Thanks. My back doesn't hurt too badly right now, but it isn't tolerating Shovelglove.

 

On November 1, 2016 at 0:34 AM, Big_Show said:

Hope that spinal injection does the trick!

Look at you getting all your adulting tasks done. Any more remindered you need to outsource?

 

Thanks . I'm still working on the contacts. There's probably more I need to deal with, but that the big irritation right now. 

 

On November 1, 2016 at 2:40 AM, elizevdmerwe said:

Wow, that is bad! When are you going for the injection. Hubby goes to the chiro every other month. He hurt his back because of having to wait so long before he had his hip replacement. All the sitting, weights, training, etc. takes its toll on his back though.

Woot! Woot! High Five!

 

I'm going in tomorrow. Bad hips are the pathway to back pain. I hope he gets better. 

 

On November 1, 2016 at 7:57 AM, The Most Loathed said:

it has been a while since you watched the foosball if you still think that the Oilers are a thing.

 

Good luck with the shots. Apparently people are aging because I increasingly know people who are getting cortisone injections. 

 

The last time I purposely watched professional sports was in the 90's when I briefly went through a period when I said yes to all requests for social engagements. Nowadays I see sports at family events and I usually play with the kids or take a nap. 

 

I hadnt thought about it, but you're right, most of the people I know have had cortisone shots. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

For Halloween we all dressed up Star Wars style - Slothboy was Yoda, Slothgirl was an Ewok, I was a Jawa, and the Missus wore and R2-D2 outfit.  It was fun.  The kids got about 5 gallons of candy.  I've ate until I had a belly ache two days in a row. 

 

Its the the end of the quarter.  In my programming with scratch class I had a small group of oppositional girls.  They knew they had to keep scratch on the screen, but they refused to do my projects, so they just played around with it.  With two days to go they got concerned about their grades and whipped out a quarter's worth of programs in an hour with the skills they learned from messing around. My take-away was that my teaching adds no value.  

 

Training has been a bit frustrating.  Normally I can still shovelglove when my back is iffy, but right now it isn't tolerating anything dynamic even though it doesn't hurt that much. I'm going to start body weight training tomorrow and see how it goes. 

 

Tomorrow is a record-keeping day for the end of the quarter.  I took half a day off to get ADD meds and the cortisone injection. I'm hopeful that both will improve my life. 

 

I'm trying a positivity based approach to classroom management (The Nurtured Heart Approach).  I'm hopeful that this will make teaching more pleasant again.  It should make learning more pleasant too.  I'll have to steal myself, whenever you change management approaches behavior gets worse before it gets better. 

[Elastigirl]

Sadz when you can't even do shovelgloveHope the cortisone makes it better.

Funny about the girls messing around and then at the last getting it together. Course you know, you are a good teacher. I know what you mean though. I homeschooled my son, but really the stuff he learned the best and still remembers is the stuff he just learned on his own

[Shello]

Sounds like it's time for some yoga. 

[Marauder]

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

Thanks. My back doesn't hurt too badly right now, but it isn't tolerating Shovelglove.

 

... when I briefly went through a period when I said yes to all requests for social engagements...

 

 

Im not sure which of these sounds more painful.. Shovelglove with sore back or mandatory yesses (yes I know that's not a real word). Hope you are feeling better after the shot. 

[Big_Show]

Any photos of the world's tallest jawa?

[Xena]

sadly I could find a picture of a sloth jawa

 

 

I can see it being frustrating the way it worked out, but it's kind of cool that those girls pulled it together. You created the environment that allowed them to learn.

[Mrs Van]

On 2016/11/04 at 1:23 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

I'm going in tomorrow. Bad hips are the pathway to back pain. I hope he gets better. 

He had to have a hip replacement at 38, 10 yrs ago. He doesn't have any hip problems anymore, but he isn't allowed to run. His back still acts up because of him sitting and working for 10+ hrs a day, but now the chiro is more preventative than treatment after.

On 2016/11/04 at 1:36 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Its the the end of the quarter.  In my programming with scratch class I had a small group of oppositional girls.  They knew they had to keep scratch on the screen, but they refused to do my projects, so they just played around with it.  With two days to go they got concerned about their grades and whipped out a quarter's worth of programs in an hour with the skills they learned from messing around. My take-away was that my teaching adds no value.

Nope, kids differ. Some kids need you to be there, help them every step of the way. Others mess around, listen to what you say (and keep that in mind in the back of their heads), and learn that way. Some like to do things step-by-step, have enough time to prep, others work better under (extreme?!) pressure. Just like adults. I sometimes think my Youngest doesn't hear a word I say because he goes on his own mission with a new programme or something hands-on, and then out of the blue, he pulls this rabbit out of a hat and tells me he heard me say this and this to Oldest.

On 2016/11/04 at 1:36 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Tomorrow is a record-keeping day for the end of the quarter.  I took half a day off to get ADD meds and the cortisone injection. I'm hopeful that both will improve my life. 

Glad you got your meds and hope that injection helps.

On 2016/11/04 at 1:36 AM, Sloth the Enduring said:

I'm trying a positivity based approach to classroom management (The Nurtured Heart Approach).  I'm hopeful that this will make teaching more pleasant again.  It should make learning more pleasant too.  I'll have to steal myself, whenever you change management approaches behavior gets worse before it gets better.

For a minute I became confused with "Educating the Wholehearted Child", which opened a whole new world to me. I'll have a look at The Nurtured Heart Approach. I wish you could start something like a private school (don't know if your co-op classes are like that), because I think you're a great teacher with a lot of empathy for kids. Your enthusiasm for projects would really help as well as your "laid-back" attitude in giving kids space to learn (or rope to learn ... or not )

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 3, 2016 at 7:10 PM, Elastigirl said:

Sadz when you can't even do shovelgloveHope the cortisone makes it better.

Funny about the girls messing around and then at the last getting it together. Course you know, you are a good teacher. I know what you mean though. I homeschooled my son, but really the stuff he learned the best and still remembers is the stuff he just learned on his own

 

Thanks.  I kind of figured they'd learn more playing around than with me fighting them to work through everything in my linear manner.

 

On November 3, 2016 at 9:11 PM, LadyShello said:

Sounds like it's time for some yoga. 

 

 

On November 3, 2016 at 9:20 PM, Marauder said:

 

Im not sure which of these sounds more painful.. Shovelglove with sore back or mandatory yesses (yes I know that's not a real word). Hope you are feeling better after the shot. 

 

It it was the nineties and I had a dial-up modem, but my RL friends didn't have the Internet. I literally would have gone weeks without talking to people outside of work if I didn't force myself. 

 

On November 4, 2016 at 5:39 AM, Big_Show said:

Any photos of the world's tallest jawa?

 

It's just a store-bought costume. I want to make something decent for next year.

 

 

On November 4, 2016 at 10:47 PM, Xena said:

sadly I could find a picture of a sloth jawa

 

 

I can see it being frustrating the way it worked out, but it's kind of cool that those girls pulled it together. You created the environment that allowed them to learn.

 

That is the best picture ever.  

 

I wasnt that frustrated. The boys hiding a video game tab and not doing anything else frustrated me.  

 

On November 4, 2016 at 11:42 PM, elizevdmerwe said:

 

Nope, kids differ. Some kids need you to be there, help them every step of the way. Others mess around, listen to what you say (and keep that in mind in the back of their heads), and learn that way. Some like to do things step-by-step, have enough time to prep, others work better under (extreme?!) pressure. Just like adults. I sometimes think my Youngest doesn't hear a word I say because he goes on his own mission with a new programme or something hands-on, and then out of the blue, he pulls this rabbit out of a hat and tells me he heard me say this and this to Oldest.

 

For a minute I became confused with "Educating the Wholehearted Child", which opened a whole new world to me. I'll have a look at The Nurtured Heart Approach. I wish you could start something like a private school (don't know if your co-op classes are like that), because I think you're a great teacher with a lot of empathy for kids. Your enthusiasm for projects would really help as well as your "laid-back" attitude in giving kids space to learn (or rope to learn ... or not )

 

Your youngest sounds fun. 

 

I appreciate your faith in me.  I have some holes in my skill-set, I think I'm good in the role I'm in, but I wouldn't do well in a private setting doing project-based learning.  Although I think it's the best way to learn. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Friday -- no training..

 

I went to the doctor and got a check-up as it was cheaper than a straight med check. My triglycerides and cholesterol are a bit high, but my blood pressure was goodish, blood sugar is always good. I'm back on a non-stimulant ADD med. I'm excited for it to kick in. I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy; I'm not excited for that. 

 

The spinal tap was interesting. I had to consult with a back guy first so that insurance would pay for it. He wasn't too hopeful that cortisone would help.  Mostly because I described my issues wrong.  I'm so used to some things that I forget about them, like how stiff I am in the morning.  I also learned that my pain-scale only has three settings (1, It might not be good, but I can ignore it. 9, I'm laying on the floor hoping to die.  3, I hurt, but I can put up with it.) I learned this trying to describe to the nurse afterwards that my pain was still a 3, but the scale changed.  I tried to compare the atmosphere of Venus and Earth to my pain, stopped myself and said, "it's a 2 now."  

 

Anyway.  On a scale with 10 graduations, it went from a 5 that I was used to and called a 3 to a legitimate 2.5. It was a revelation not to hurt (too badly). I was also able to get out of bed without moaning and groaning so loudly that everyone wakes up. My back should continue to improve over the next two weeks.  I'm excited for this too.

 

Whenever I talk with a back guy, their faces scrunches up a bit when I say mountain biking, it scrunches up a lot and they shake their head when I say kettlebells.  He suggested I switch to Pilates and swimming.  I guess I could do that, but what would be the point of living. I'm going to focus on body weight training for now until things settle back in. 

[Sloth the Enduring]

Saturday - no training.  It was a beautiful day, but we ran a million errands. We went to a doggie adoption meet-up and Bonita found a new set of owners. The missus lost her desire to keep her when she found out the hard way that the dog is a runner.  She's kind of growing on me. We went to a kid's birthday party in the showroom of a playground equipment company. It was great for the kids.

 

I also bought a few more used weights for my curl bar at school.  It needs to be too heavy for the kids, but light enough that I can pop off 15 reps easy. I have stronger kids this year, another 15 pounds ought to do it. 

 

Sunday - I bought a body weight program aimed at cyclists, but I modified it because I'm a special snowflake. 

-Half-assed yoga flow 10 minutes 

- quick foam rolling

- 3 minute jumping jacks

- animal flows. This was more exhausting than I expected.

- Roman chair X 15.

- Band pull aparts 2X15

 

it took a long time to get through the intro.  Pavel would be critical. 

 

Push ups 3,5,7,5,3

Inverted Rows 3,5,3,3,3.  I could only maintain good form for 3.

Racked squats 12 kg 3,5,7,5,3. I kept it light because I'm nervous about my back. 

Reverse lunges 12 kg 3/3' 5/5, 7/7, 5/5, 3/3.  

 

I did a lot less than I planned because I am not nearly as strong as I thought I was. I'm already sore, I think from the jumping jacks, my stabilizing leg muscles don't see much action. 

[Xena]

5 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Whenever I talk with a back guy, their faces scrunches up a bit when I say mountain biking, it scrunches up a lot and they shake their head when I say kettlebells.  He suggested I switch to Pilates and swimming.  I guess I could do that, but what would be the point of living. I'm going to focus on body weight training for now until things settle back in. 

 

I got parallel advice when my back was hurt. Was freaking out over potentially needing to quit distance running. One coworker was very pessimistic about my running future and advocated strongly for pilates. Another friend said "couldn't you just take up biking again."

 

It's tough. Like me I'm sure you'll figure out some modifications to your exercise routine if/when you need to. Otherwise keep doing what you love.

[maegs]

I hope the injections help with your back. It must be frustrating to be told not to do things you enjoy 

[Shello]

6 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

Whenever I talk with a back guy, their faces scrunches up a bit when I say mountain biking, it scrunches up a lot and they shake their head when I say kettlebells.  He suggested I switch to Pilates and swimming.  I guess I could do that, but what would be the point of living. I'm going to focus on body weight training for now until things settle back in. 

 

Doctors are dumb.  When I asked m doctor about doing squats with my knees he recommended I just don't go down all the way. O_o   

[Mrs Van]

Glad the pain is less, and I'm impressed with what you managed to do.

Do you have a full-floater bike? Shocks front and back? And fully padded seat? Those helped hubby when his back and hip gave him trouble.

14 hours ago, Xena said:

One coworker was very pessimistic about my running future and advocated strongly for pilates. Another friend said "couldn't you just take up biking again."

Mountain biking is a lot of bumps, which is hard impacts on your back. Road cycling is supposed to be more smooth, softer on the back, depending on how you sit. A lot of people would recommend road cycling, or have the road and smooth paths in mind, and not proper mountain biking with jumps and twists and sharp turns.

[EricMN]

20 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Friday -- no training..

 

I went to the doctor and got a check-up as it was cheaper than a straight med check. My triglycerides and cholesterol are a bit high, but my blood pressure was goodish, blood sugar is always good. I'm back on a non-stimulant ADD med. I'm excited for it to kick in. I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy; I'm not excited for that. 

 

The spinal tap was interesting. I had to consult with a back guy first so that insurance would pay for it. He wasn't too hopeful that cortisone would help.  Mostly because I described my issues wrong.  I'm so used to some things that I forget about them, like how stiff I am in the morning.  I also learned that my pain-scale only has three settings (1, It might not be good, but I can ignore it. 9, I'm laying on the floor hoping to die.  3, I hurt, but I can put up with it.) I learned this trying to describe to the nurse afterwards that my pain was still a 3, but the scale changed.  I tried to compare the atmosphere of Venus and Earth to my pain, stopped myself and said, "it's a 2 now."  

 

Anyway.  On a scale with 10 graduations, it went from a 5 that I was used to and called a 3 to a legitimate 2.5. It was a revelation not to hurt (too badly). I was also able to get out of bed without moaning and groaning so loudly that everyone wakes up. My back should continue to improve over the next two weeks.  I'm excited for this too.

 

Whenever I talk with a back guy, their faces scrunches up a bit when I say mountain biking, it scrunches up a lot and they shake their head when I say kettlebells.  He suggested I switch to Pilates and swimming.  I guess I could do that, but what would be the point of living. I'm going to focus on body weight training for now until things settle back in. 

 

13 hours ago, LadyShello said:

 

Doctors are dumb.  When I asked m doctor about doing squats with my knees he recommended I just don't go down all the way. O_o   

 

Yeah, my doctor doesn't like what I do, either. He and I don't see each other often for this reason. Is someone really healthy if they can't do what they want to do?

[Sloth the Enduring]

On November 6, 2016 at 7:21 PM, Xena said:

 

I got parallel advice when my back was hurt. Was freaking out over potentially needing to quit distance running. One coworker was very pessimistic about my running future and advocated strongly for pilates. Another friend said "couldn't you just take up biking again."

 

It's tough. Like me I'm sure you'll figure out some modifications to your exercise routine if/when you need to. Otherwise keep doing what you love.

 

Personally I think you should take up biking again.

 

Thanks. 

 

On November 6, 2016 at 7:59 PM, maegs said:

I hope the injections help with your back. It must be frustrating to be told not to do things you enjoy 

 

Thanks.  I'm willing to give up the kettlebells for another workout, but I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't bike. 

 

On November 6, 2016 at 8:00 PM, LadyShello said:

 

Doctors are dumb.  When I asked m doctor about doing squats with my knees he recommended I just don't go down all the way. O_o   

 

Doctors are dumb.  Pave says, or maybe it was Dan John, that you should only see a doctor who deadlifts.  Where the Hell do you find one of those in-network?  When I dislocated my knuckles the hand doctor said I could keep lifting weights as long as I kept it under 5#. 

 

On November 7, 2016 at 9:57 AM, elizevdmerwe said:

Glad the pain is less, and I'm impressed with what you managed to do.

Do you have a full-floater bike? Shocks front and back? And fully padded seat? Those helped hubby when his back and hip gave him trouble.

Mountain biking is a lot of bumps, which is hard impacts on your back. Road cycling is supposed to be more smooth, softer on the back, depending on how you sit. A lot of people would recommend road cycling, or have the road and smooth paths in mind, and not proper mountain biking with jumps and twists and sharp turns.

 

Thanks.  No, Minnesota is pretty flat, unless I travel a full-suspension bike is overkill.  I do have a suspension fork, but I prefer to run without it.  My seat has minimal padding; I've found that less is more comfortable in the long run. I think I'll get one of those suspension seat posts though to take some pressure of my back. 

 

 

 

On November 7, 2016 at 10:48 AM, EricMN said:

 

 

Yeah, my doctor doesn't like what I do, either. He and I don't see each other often for this reason. Is someone really healthy if they can't do what they want to do?

 

I've been to a sports medicine guy and a couple of PTs who understood and focused on getting me back on my bike, but otherwise you're right. If I couldn't bike I'd probably give up on my back and spend my life on the couch playing video games. 

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

11/7/16 Monday

 

I was wicked sore from my first body weight workout.  I also raked leaves on Sunday and put too much strain on my back.  Physically it was a hard day.  Mentally it was great.  Diminishing the pain put me in a great mood, which was funny because I hadn't noticed that I had been perpetually living in a bad mood. But I was singing along to the radio all day and I'm a much more positive and thus better teacher when I don't hurt. I hope this continues. 

 

 

Training: I did one short round of the B day workout.  I skipped all the warm up stuff except for the half-ass yoga flow.  I could only manage 1 chin up.  

 

11/8/16 Tuesday

 

I used my training time to stand in line and vote. While filling out my ballot I realized that because of the demographics of my district my vote doesn't really matter.  The people who win are going to win by a landslide.  In an act of enlightened self-interest, I did vote yes to renew the school referendum.  

 

My body weight days have a 5-10 minute met con finisher.  I'm not sure what to do the suggestions (ex. Burpees) seem too jarring right now.  

I also don't know what to do with the off-days.  It should be level 2 cardio, but I don't want to get on the trainer and I can't fit biking in unless I'm out of bed at 4:30.  I guess I could start pulling the tire again.  

 

The trainer I bought the body weight program from is going to test  a combination mace/body weight training program.  If I don't pick up kettlebells again, that sounds perfect. 

 

No, not that kind of mace, but I would wear the heck out of that shirt. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Glad to hear reducing back pain has improved your mood.

[Xena]

Maybe see if the burpees are still challenging if you do a low impact version (step in and out, maybe substitute a squat or something for the jump at the end). For me, it's still plenty hard and I can get my heart rate up.