Things I did today

I thought it was a very successful month! I was able to keep up on my PT and my endurance, range of motion, and most importantly hip pain is much better! I wasn't able to hit my goal weight today, but I'm not deterred. Weight is always finicky in the short term, and I'll keep at it. As far as my walking activities for the month go, I did really well! Similarly to April, I walked 39.5 miles (better than April's 38), walked same number of activities, but somehow didn't get to 4000 calories burned - only burned 3900 calories! Not a big deal. It means I still got out and made a difference in my exercising. I'm looking forward to another month of walks (not specifically surge related, I just like walking) and possibly hitting my stretch goal weight by the end of June!

 Surge 6 will be all about reading. I'd like to get into a habit of reading a half an hour a day. I think I lack committing to memory things that I'm learning, so a quick note about what I read that day (or the day previous if I read too late in the day) would be helpful. I don't want to box myself in about finishing books in a certain amount of time (I have some long books) or forcing myself into genres I'm not interested in yet. Setting just a minimum time limit sounds appropriate. I'll focus on my Kindle books, as my Kindle is easy to carry. June 1 - 30, read a half an hour or more per day, and write something, either in this blog, or in another spot for notes (haven't decided yet), for that day's content. I'm currently reading Successful Aging by Daniel J. Levitin. I have quite a few book on my Kindle that are non-fiction that I'm excited to read, like The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow, and The Innovators by W...

This month was a rather momentous one! I turned 40, enjoyed the morning at a cat café where I got to pet several kitties! I went to a brewery I've been meaning to try for a while since they also are highly rated for their pizzas. I enjoyed the Most Outgoing pizza and a Czech lager. I'd certainly go back if I found myself in the south part of downtown. I went to SQL Saturday Raleigh, a conference all about SQL Server and adjacent fields. I was able to snag a preconference seat to Brent Ozar's talk. He is my SQL Hero! I've learned so much from him, and he's a genuinely likable guy. His all day talk on cloud databases was great and helpful. I think I'll make sure to attend any precon he has in the future within 100 miles of me, as well as any talk he's giving in conferences I'm going to. I even got a picture with him! I like the picture, but I didn't realize how tall he was until I tried to snap the photo! Overall, the conference was good. I'm hopin...

I have really enjoyed Dicey Dungeons! Between the different styles of play throughout the varied characters and episodes, I've found it so much fun!  I completed all 36 regular episodes, all six Hard Mode Bonus Rounds, all I have left is the final boss... I think it's great you play as the Jester with this, since in the first half of the game, he is an enemy that taunts you at the end of the episodes instead of a playable character. Not only does he become a playable character after you defeat him as a boss, but he's the one that will face Lady Luck, the Dungeon's keeper. And as you defeat the enemies, they decide to join you in the fight! This is such an interesting way to play! Pit the enemies' strengths against each other. You don't upgrade your health or abilities as you go down the dungeon, but you do pick up the enemies to add to your party and get a few more dice from the shops. You can switch between party members once per turn, which helps. Here's m...