Jessie Hock

OK, I am really unironically enjoying Crossing Roads by Jesse Hock. It’s like he just recorded over some karaoke tracks. I mean, that is literally what he did, I think. But his voice is mic’d pretty good from what I can tell over my bluetooth headphones. I have hearing damage, too, so take that with a grain of salt. Anyway, this guy loves to sing. He loves to sing so much he made a damn album. And there’s some heart. He’s seen some shit. I would definitely go see Jesse Hock at a local open mic and I’d tell anyone who talked over his set to get out.

sitrep 2018-09-27

OK, I have 2 minutes left on my lunch break.

My use of Google Sheets has been the most productive period of my life. I really like how it is so customizable but I don’t spend a lot of time fiddling with it. This is a great thing. See: https://macdonaldster.ca/howdoi/manage-my-tasks/

Health-wise, I am sleeping pretty well and eating OK although the last two days haven’t been stellar (keeping it under control, though).

The whole US Supreme Court thing is like a waking nightmare. Please just kick this monster to the curb. Let’s get to the mid-terms, already!

Trying to walk the dog more!

sitrep 2018-09-17

So I decided to hold off on my first coffee until I’ve been up for a couple of hours and so far (this is pre-coffee) I don’t hate it. I feel “ok”.

This should reduce stress on my body and allow wake up more naturally. Also, that first coffee of the day will have a better effect on me, theoretically. And it saves me some time between getting up and sitting down to work.

We’ll see how it goes.

sitrep 2018-09-10

It’s funny. I want a blog and like to write but what do I really have to write about? I have a bad cold so I guess I’ll write about that.

First of all, unless you have immune system issues or something more complicated than the common cold you really just need to ride this out for seven days. And everyone knows you need to drink plenty of fluids.

Here is what I have to add: sweat out that cold. If you are like me you can’t just lay in bed all day just because you caught a cold so you need to make any sleep you do get count. Start by downing at least acetaminophen or a nighttime cold pill. Wash it down with gallons of water. Now layer up. Wool socks, a touque, a goody over that. Throw on some sweat pants, too. Now add a blanket onto the bed.

Get into bed and prop yourself up so you are basically sitting up I bed. This prevents chest congestion from waking you up.

Now drift off. And sweat. Let it flow. Your elevated body temp is destroying that virus. You made your own fever. When you wake up to cough, go into the washroom and spit up as much crap as you can and down more water

Do this for two nights in a row and you’ll be over the worst of it before you know it.

sitrep 2018-08-28

Doing this on my lunch break so no pics today.

I have resigned myself to life as a domestic shark. Never rest. Always keep moving. There is always more to do. A good night’s sleep will be my reward. I am trying to never lose my temper, either. It gets me nowhere and only teaches my son to do it and shows other people I can’t handle stress. Pretty counter-productive.

Lots of family visiting over the next couple of weeks. It will be nice to see everyone. Our son is going to love having his uncle and grandfather around and so will we. Plus lots of good meals. :) ha ha

Two minutes are up.

sitrep 2018-08-22

This is the first of a series of two-minute sitreps. Just writing whatever for two minutes… I’ll also embed an instagram that is probably unrelated.

In the news:

  • Big day for the Trump people yesterday! So many people around Trump are going down. When will it be his turn?
  • Smoke from wildfires headed back to Western Canada from BC today, too bad because I was enjoying the fresh air. I really hope, for their sake, BC gets some rain.

Two minutes are up.

Wake Up Early

I see lot of people talking about waking up early. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. I love the peacefulness of an early morning and now I am working in a different time zone (there’s more to it as well) so I have to do it for my job.

For me, the key to waking up early is the bedtime routine. Much has been written about sleep hygiene so I will focus on the things I do the night before to make the morning go smoothly. Reducing the reasons to stay asleep just makes it easier to get up when you need to. If you pay attention you will notice that stumbling around first thing is way less efficient than setting things up the night before.

sitrep 2018-07-30

First post in a while:

  • After stalling with weight loss for a bit I am back on track but feeling hungry sometimes so my fat intake is off, I guess.
  • I got a Halti for my dog. As a 100lbs Lab with impulse control issues he was a lot to handle and I wasn’t walking him because I didn’t want to deal with his lunging and pulling… The Gentle Leader solves all that. I don’t know why I waited this long. He had one before but he fussed so much he ended up damaging the skin around his muzzle so I had to get rid of it. Maybe it is because he is older now but he is tolerating it much better (yes, I read all the stuff about how to introduce it). Very relieved and he is loving all the extra walking.
  • Health-wise I could use more sleep but what can you do? Feeling pretty good and have some new stretches from physio to do that will also help core strength.
  • I want to get back at the bot fight code! I will do some now for 20 minutes, I guess.

Outrage Porn 2018-07-14

I just went down a rabbit hole on YouTube following a chain of videos where Jordan Peterson was apparently “owning libs” and “destroying feminism”. What was actually going on was reasoned debate and discussion between him and people slightly to the Left.

The videos, though, were edited to have childish reaction graphics like a visual laugh track telling the viewer how outraged to feel. These were really extreme reactions that had very little to do with the actual context. In the video where he is “destroying feminists” the two women are largely agreeing with him, the interviewer is doing her job by pushing him a little, and everyone is being respectful. If you were incapable of following what was being said and just relied on predudice and the reaction graphics you’d think it was a completely different, and fictional, conversation.

The Bill Maher clip was actually worse as the video makers were editing in violent footage of the Charlottesville riot including the car plowing through the crowd. I think the viewer is supposed to be on the side of the alt right at the rally or you are supposed to be afraid of what the Trump people will do once he’s impeached or convicted. It isn’t really clear (I am definitely not the target audience).

This experience really has reinforced my belief that critical thinking is declining and people want to be spoon fed thier echo chamber media even when it makes no sense. From my pespective this is a much, much bigger problem on the right but the left has these people, too.
something and something else stopping them. There needs to be a cost to be paid, something risked.