The Updates
Backups Update
The Time Machine backups to the Time Capsule are running flawlessly. I manually run the backup every Sunday morning.
The Backblaze initial backup is still running. I blame our lousy <1Mbps upload speed; also, I only run it full out when we're not here. So it's only running maybe 12 hours a day. Still, progress is progress.
The 5+ year old Western Digital 2TB drive is still connected to this Mac and it appears to still work, but I should just unplug it and recycle it. I should set up the newer 4TB drive, partition it, have Time Machine running continuously in one portion and set up a Carbon Copy Clone in the other partition.
I should, but I haven't.
At this time, I have no interest in spending time and money on a NAS device, though that seems the way of the future for file hoarders like myself.
Diet Update
I'm hovering at 210 lbs., neither gaining nor losing. I'm not practicing any particular eating strategy, apart from starting my 8-hour eating window at about 1:30 or 2 pm, and fasting once or twice a week.
I will try another stab at a full 3-day Potato Hack next week. Can I break through my 1.5-day limit?
CriticalMAS, in his post celebrating a full year of being 25 lbs. lighter, turned me on to the book Volumetrics. I have placed a hold at the library for this. I also like his Peasant Diet idea.
Last week, I went back to my old Slow Carb lunch meals of chicken breast, lentils, and veg (splashed with apple cider vinegar, Tabasco, and seasonings). I found adding more chicken to the lunch kept me satisfied through the afternoon, with no crashing and no cravings. So my partial success with this lunch last year may have been due to not eating enough protein.
Fitness Update
Not walking 10,000 steps/day, not even close, some days not even half that. The nicer weather makes walking around the lake at work more attractive. My current audiobook is Mrs. Dalloway and that would go nicely with a walk.
Still alternating the kettlebell routines my coach mapped out for me, two or three times a week. Have been using the 35-lb. bell and that's a workout; still not bored with it yet, still requires my full attention.
On Sunday, I did the 7-Minute workout (I use the Johnson & Johnson iOS app) just to vary my routine and see how I'd do. My goal was to do 2 sets of the workout, but I crapped out about a third of the way into the second set. This short, simple, high-intensity workout kicked my ass. My muscles are still sore.
What does this tell me? I'm not as fit as I'd like to think. (I'm fitter than I would be if I didn't do all this stuff, though.) Adding the 7-minute workout to my regular kettlebell workouts to vary the conditioning is a good idea.
I realized recently with a shock that I've not been to a yoga class in maybe 10+ years. I need to get back to that; my muscles and posture would love me for it.
Productivity Update
We met with a financial planner recently and I was shocked at how ill-prepared I was in pulling my info together.
To pull together what I needed for the meeting, I emptied my paper inbox into various piles on the floor and it was shameful, SHAMEFUL, a floor full of shame for me and me alone. Piles of paper. Months of postponed decisions. A midden of trapped energy. Sorting through all that paper, finding homes for everything, setting up some simple filing or even paperless systems so I feel on top of what's coming in -- that needs to go on my Now page.
Speaking of my Now page: I've stalled on the video editing project. My inspiration for it is not high right now. I could attack it from a point of low inspiration, but based on my experience with the last video, I know I'd have to redo it all and start over. I will wait for the carousel to circle back and then jump on the horse when my mood about the project is higher.
Diarizing Update
Still writing the 5-lines-a-day for our weekend exploits, but not bothering to record daily stuff.
Not using the 1-second daily video capture. Though I probably will when we go on vacation -- that would be a neat souvenir.
Up till yesterday I had a pretty good record of blogging daily. But lately I've been splashing in the shallows, reposting links or adding to the Commmonplace Book quotes, settling for the good-enough post. (Lowering your standards is an underrated strategy.)
We were so tired from our busy weekend that I decided to relax my self-imposed daily-blogging rule and think about what I wanted to do next with the blog.
Hence, the swivel.
The Swivel
The definition I like is that a swivel is omnidirectional, whereas a pivot is one-dimensional.
One of the Now page items I don't refer to much in this blog is the Three Principles. The Principles are a form of spiritual psychology I've been reading and thinking about for the past 5 years or so.
I was thinking of starting an anonymous blog to do a bit of writing about the Principles. But to make the most of my Now goals of blogging daily and continuing my Principles self-study, I will start bringing the spiritual side of my life and thought to this blog.
I am frankly uncomfortable about this because I feel I can barely articulate my thoughts and feelings on this topic. I had a coach a few years ago give me the homework to "write something someone might criticize." Spirituality is that topic for me.
The blog will still feature ephemera and whatever catches my fleeting attention, it will still be a logbook and catch-all, but it will also start reflecting other interests and become a little more personal.
