2008 #35 - Bank holiday comes six times a year

Days of enjoyment to which everyone cheers
Bank holiday comes with six pack a beer
...Then it's back to work A.G.A.I.N.

Actually for me I have until Thursday
Quite enjoying myself this very long weekend.
But if I don't do anything today
I'll get that funky feeling again
Sitting around is definitely bad for me
and you too.

1. I weighed myself a bit this weekend
Seem to have lost a few pounds.
The stomach illness of course,
takes some of the credit for that
but mainly I think it's my reasonable diet.
When I look back over all this,
despite a few slips
it's one of the more successful goals.

2. Poker doldrums. Not playing much
and grinding to just tread water
slighly above the zero chips I had for months.
I miss the 250k. That went away quickly.
Goal-wise, a hit as always.

3. I had a play with Photosynth
which is a nice concept.
Think I underestimated just how
many photos required to make a good synth.
In trying to make a walking tour of my flat
I ended up with 7 separate blocks
when the point was getting one.
Interesting nonetheless.
I also showed off my Bude photos to my
parents, which they seemed quite impressed with.
So, a week in which my camera never left home
but not a week devoid of photography.

4. Great night out on Saturday.
Wish I could see these two more.

5. Mostly acoustic this week,
but quite a bit of time spent playing.
Not overly motivated to do studio stuff at the moment.

6. The work goals thing was a tease. Still nothing.

7. Much of last week was spent considering
whether or not to apply for either sideways
moves or promotions that would land me
working back in Hinckley. Although as yet
no deadline has been missed, I decided
not to apply for either. As I rightly pointed
out last week, I already made this decision,
and when I asked myself why i'm trying to
compromise it, I had no answer.
I may not be where I need to be,
and cuting my commute down has been
a must-do since January.
It's too big a price though, forcing myself
into a leadership role for the sake of time
and money.

8. The miserable weather is killing my cycling.
It's pathetic really. I don't even mind biking
in the rain. Nonetheless, the only thing that
constitutes exercise this week was a 3-4 mile
walk at Rutland Water. Not good enough.
And yet I lost weight. What's the deal?

Weird, I wrote all this, forgot to post it,
then went for a pretty long ride.
Based on past weeks, this counts,
as I haven't posted this yet.
An estimated ten miles total doing
towpath Leicester West to Thurmaston.
Excellent tasting pint of water on return.
It's almost worth dehydrating,
just to enjoy a glass of water that much!

Later.

2008 #34 - Late!

This week marks the first time in 34 weeks that I posted this late for no good reason. I forgot. Plain and simple.

1. Stomach continued to rebel
whilst trying to recover from illness.
Finding myself less hungry
but still eating normal portions.
Normal portions are pretty much fine.
Workday drinks have slipped
from the ruled 4 to about 6.
I will get back to the normal 4 though
and substitute peppermint tea for the rest.
Workday snacks back under control at zero.

2. hit my 250k goal
thus obtained a new ranking
from that very moment onwards
could not win.
back down to 40k, now at 60k.
Weekday rule remains.

3. no camera stuff.

4. visited friends on friday
but night somewhat killed
by stomach relapse which
lasted all weekend.
plenty i could have done
if only i'd felt better.

5. trying to improve skill level
picking up electric a bit again
plugged into the real amp
first time in about a year
forgot how awesome it sounds
wish i could turn it up.
not really enough time spent here.

6. my work goals
may very well be set
before the end of this week!
four months late!

7. not much luck
figuring out my sideline.
getting slightly more enthused
with coding and databases
but i've been here before
there are opportunities
to perhaps work back in hinckley
but in a man management role.
pretty sure i ruled that out
some time ago
so why am i now considering it?

8. due to relapse
no exercise.
feel well enough
for the first time today
will get back to it imminently!

Not much this week really. Just checkin' in.

2008 #33 - Strange Low

On Saturday night I had one of those nights
I couldn't find anybody interested in doing anything
felt bad about it
then decided to go it alone
at around the time that would have happened
i realised my still dodgy stomach had other plans
clearly it takes time to fully recover from poison

Either way, the feeling was not good
I opened up this very window
and typed a long ramble about myself
extremely negative in nature
and using exactly this format

I didn't post it
nor will I
but I like writing like this
It seems that if you start this way
it eventually starts to get more poetic
even if you aren't trying to achieve that
nice peter does it on his blog
so it's not my idea, but i like it

anyway
during my strange low
i decided that my goals were pointless
i can see why i thought that
but i don't feel that way in the daytime

they are there
perhaps not to get me where I need to be
but to push me in that direction

true, i am not holding myself accountable
and this was the point to begin with
but my year to date has been better
for striving to meet some of these targets

even if it's hard to deny
i'm not making much progress on the wider goals

i don't weight any less that i did in january
the time i don't waste on poker is otherwise wasted
i even accepted i just ain't a photographer
my friends seem more distant than ever right now
i'm just not a very good musician
i am not trying at work. much
and i haven't managed to find a new direction

but

i am overeating less
some wasted time does yield new ideas
i do have some great photos of the year so far
i have a great time with my friends, whenever i see them
theres plenty of evidence that i have musical skill in some areas, if not talent
i have still progressed at work (to be confirmed. 95% sure)
and i am thinking about changing my life. i never did before this year

so it depends on your angle
the point is
i'd rather go with the positive
and keep doing it
rather than abandon the whole idea
giving myself an excuse to wallow
and fester

this week

1. portion control strong.
illness didn't stop me eating
but some of it was cashback (yep, ugh)
some day snacks
mostly due to my forgetfulness

2. played lots of fake poker when ill
and quite a bit more at the weekend
i finally hit a hot streak.
i might finally hit 250k very soon
but if it happens on a weekday (on which i am at work)
it will still be the only game that day

3. no camera action this week

4. a weekend void of human contact
with too little effort made to remedy
this weekend cannot be like the last

5. not much music
unhappy with my skill level
on the guitar
my accuracy when trying to record
is awful
and it makes me feel bad
frustrates me to the point of hitting the desk
with my fist
more than not, something flys off.

6. its now a contest to see if we can literally go
six months without work goals
not that much longer really

7. back to trying to figure out a sideline
something great i can build in my time
whilst working as usual in the daytime
it could be my skills being built on
or it could be an actual thing
hard time deciding what
my mind always goes to some kind of website
but i haven't had a good idea of that nature in ages
and even good ideas are failing right now

8. a week of recovery
or near enough that
i will get back to biking
this week, but not today
i have a banging headache

Will I keep writing like this?
maybe
i do like it
see how i feel
thats it for now

2008 #32 - Who Poisoned Me?

It was either a very cheap ASDA Smart Price lasagne or two glasses of Stormhoek wine. The odds are very much in favour of the lasagne being the culprit I guess.

WEEK ON EDIT: Stormhoek is vindicated. I drank another glass once feeling better and no further problems. God awful wine though. Not my thing at all. That said I enjoyed it initially. I think perhaps the memory of the taste when I had my head down the toilet might be clouding my judgement. Don't let me put you off it. Give it a go. ASDA smartprice - you shouldn't be able to to get away with this shit.

On with the show.

1. Not a terrible week food and drink wise. I did buy one snack at work though. I steered clear of greasy takeaways as promised, but did eat out twice. About average overall. I should benefit slightly from my poisoning too I guess, not eating a main meal yesterday, instead sticking to cereal, fruit and a little tuna.

2. On sick days all poker rules are off. I am doing well at the moment in that I have a good number of chips. That said, all that really happened yesterday was me losing half then regaining them. The rest of the week I did stick to the rules.

3. Not been anywhere to take the camera.

4. Had a visitor at the weekend. That doesn't happen much anymore, so it was good. Not an incredible couple of nights out, but also got to see my ex-housemate who for some reason I hadn't seen in something approaching 9 months I think.

5. I am trying to record decent takes of my acoustic numbers. The problem is the one i'm working on is quite fast and involved. My movement between dispersed chords isn't what it has been at the moment, so I think i'm a little out of practice. At some stage I wouldn't have had any problem shifting from an open A to a barred G7 without error, but now i'm finding myself landing between strings a lot. This ruins the take of course. Nonetheless, each time it gets a little better, and I am spending time.

6. No work goals.

7. Haven't really thought about it much this last week. Guess thats one miss.

8. As mentioned last week, I have decided to stop swimming for now and concentrate on cycling. I'd like to be cycling three times a week ideally. This week I believe I went out twice, one of which was quite strenuous, the other one a little more leisurely, but exercise nonetheless. I still need to get back on the weights.

An uninspiring week in which most things are ticking along..