Things I did today

What a great time! We chatted and drank and ate and watched the International Space Station fly by! Neat to think there were about a dozen humans flying 220 miles above us going 4.8 miles per second! https://photos.app.goo.gl/tx3wwxgXVhxXunHf7 Here's potato quality from my phone. ISS in the center and Venus is at the top. It was really fun to share the experience with a few friends who wandered around the parking lot with me to get the best vantage point. Today, I'll just be relaxing and reading and recharging from all the activities I've been doing the last few days. Tonight, the ISS is flying by again, just not going to be as bright as last night. I might try to get a better look then.

What a great day! I'm almost ready for people to start arriving to the party. The apartment is clean and I'm showered. I just have to wait for the time to draw near to start cooking the hot food. I'll be back to writing and reading and hobbies now that I'll soon be done with a party and going to lectures, which is what I did last night. Randall Munroe is doing a book tour for his new book How To and I really enjoyed how interested he is in figuring out ridiculous questions with equally ridiculous answers. I still haven't quite figured out what I want to do for the gym, but I am leaning toward the Regular commitment, knowing I can make sure I use the facility and be cognizant of their cancellation policy. At the very least, I would want to use the gym for at least a year, if not make it a life long habit. Now it's time to start setting up food for the party. Happy I'm Not Dead Day!! http://utmc.utoledo.edu/clinics/neurology/laura.html https://www.y

I wonder occasionally if I should join a gym. Then I feel bad about considering spending money when I could just as easily work out for free at the complex gym. However, the complex gym has no fan, is cramped and not cooled well - I've run on the treadmill there and very much disliked it. There are two Planet Fitness locations close to my home. Both have the same pricing structure. The black card level would be $316 for the first year, $315 for subsequent years, a 12 month contract and access to all gyms in the franchise. There's also a $58 early cancellation fee. The regular level would be $210 for the first year, $160 for subsequent years, a 12 month contract and access to one gym only. There's also a $58 early cancellation fee. The no contract level would be $280 for the first year, $240 for subsequent years, no contract and access to one gym only. I've no idea what level I want, though I'm sure I won't use the black card level. I also want t

So I don't slack off in the fall, I've been encouraged (goaded?) to sign up for another 5k. I'll be running for Hope Through Education on the east side of Raleigh, on November 2nd. Since my result for my last 5k was 48:44, my goal here would be a total time of 47:00 and a stretch goal of 45:00. Six more weeks of training means I just might be able to hit it! Also, there won't be as many hills (I hope) as the North Hills 5k. Every Saturday (as long as it's not storming) I'll run either a 2 mile or 3.1 mile loop around the neighborhood. I'll also run either Tuesday or Wednesday each week. I suppose I'll have to run on a treadmill for days that have poor weather, or after the time changes since the Tuesday and/or Wednesday run will be after dark. Other than that, I will just maintain this level of fitness and increase time on other hobbies or exercises.

I started well with gathering food a few months ago, and either keeping it in my pantry, or freezing it. Tonight I'll be making Spicy Pineapple Pork from Nom Nom Paleo. It will create enough leftovers to have dinners the rest of the week. On Friday, I'll cook something else and that will be dinner for a while. I know I have ham and bean soups to cook, and recall having all the ingredients for a chickpea recipe that I'll cook up next week. I'm trying to cook all the food out of my freezer and pantry. I also need to get more staple meals around. I love the Spicy Pineapple Pork, as well as the Brazilian shrimp stew I used to make once a month or more. I just need to decide on meals that I enjoy cooking, and how many leftovers each one will make. Another good way to make sure I follow the meal plan is to not ask myself what I feel like making or eating that day. Just eat either the next dish in the plan, or some left overs. I'll keep eggs and wheat tortillas and r

I used to set goals, but realized that those are something you do, not something you are, and then when you hit them, you either have to set another goal, or decide you want to maintain or regress in that skill. But if it's a habit, and if it's part of your identity, you won't have to continually set new goals and eventually fail as you set larger and larger goals. Current habits: Procrastination Reading the news/watching Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers Reading on Kindle Tracking and forecasting personal financial status Reading nonsense on Reddit Running Writing in blog Meditation before bed Habits I want to break: Procrastination I find that if I have more time than required for chores, I won't do the chores until I have to, or put the chore off if it isn't urgent. I'd like to switch to getting all important but not urgent chores done first, then going to do other things, like Minecraft or reading. Reading the news/watching Stephen

After understanding your habits, made of a cue, routine and reward, even habits that seem solid break down in times of high stress and the old habit routine appears. However, a way to learn to keep the new habit in times of stress is believing in something that positively impacts the way you think you can overcome the old habit in times of stress, even if you do not believe in yourself. Belief that your family wants this change in you, and that they support you can be the catalyst to get you through a difficult time, even if you do not believe you can do it alone. Eventually, with your belief of others who chose to not let you down, you can get through it, and the habit is cemented more and more. After a while, it becomes just your identity. Instead of being a person that works out a few times a week, you could change your mindset to thinking that you are an athlete. That exercising is just what you do. Same thing with diet, going from making healthy choices some of the time to a per