Check-In: 2015-11-26

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, moderate added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking, occasional misc exercise, rest)
Sleep: IMPROVE(D) (stabilizing...)
Mindfulness: PASS (meditation)
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting with friends, visiting with family, French, Toastmasters)

The check-ins are slowly creeping back into the pass/win category in the post-Fallout 4 apocalypse. My sleep is still oscillating between good healthy rest and staying up too late, but the morning routine is stabilizing, and slowly I should be able to get those bedtimes under control as a result. Still more work to go, though.

Diet has been solid for a while now. I've been eating quite a lot of vegetables, and thanks to mandarin orange season, eating fruit is really easy. They're nature's version of candy: pre-packaged, sugary, and convenient to snack on.

I'm still resting my core and continue to feel better as a result. I still have some discomfort in my ribcage now and again, but the overall symptoms are much reduced. So I'm going to keep this strategy going for a while before starting to re-introduce those core exercises. In the meantime, I'm still walking and doing the occasional random standing exercise, like kicks and leg stretches.

I've managed to incorporate a little bit of meditation recently as well, pulling my Mindfulness score up into a passing grade--and more importantly, it seems to help stabilize my emotions. I've noticed that meditation has been tricky since my thoughts are so turbulent, but that's pretty normal. I find when I meditate more regularly, the turbulence quiets down and I'm able to get deeper into the meditation. But that calming effect is the first stage.

I saw my family yesterday for lunch. They had a car appointment near the city so we met in Legal and then ate at a small diner in Morinville. Add to that the friends I visited with over the weekend and the socialization from French class and Toastmasters and it's a solid win in the socialization category.

Learning Goals

Learning Goals 2015-11-23

Another mixed result on the study goals this past week, though this is actually pretty impressive for the week after the Fallout 4 study-pocalypse. I did surprisingly well on the Writing and Game goals, and French and Toastmasters are easy wins since I only need to do some basic prep and show up.

Yoga was really low because I'm resting my xiphoid process (it still seems to be feeling better as a result). I do need to get some meditation done though, and I again found it difficult to fire up the AI course.

For the coming week, I'll take another stab at it. I'm lowing Yoga and putting it into Writing and Game in order to distribute the load a little better, at least until my ribs are feeling better.

The new chart is below. Overall goal target is still modest at 16 hours, but I'm hoping I'll get this project more on-track again this week and then I'll be able to start upping the hours again.

Check-In: 2015-11-21 (Saturday)

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, low added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking, rest)
Sleep: IMPROVE(D) (stabilizing...)
Mindfulness: IMPROVE(D) (some meditation)
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting with friends, corresponding with family, toastmasters, game team)

It's still steady-as-she-goes on the game addiction front. While my sleep and mindfulness still need more improvement, there has been progress, and the fact that the other categories are really solid helps.

I'm taking it a little easy lately on exercise because of the possibility of irritation of the xiphoid process, and it seems to be helping. Symptoms are down the last day or two, so that's promising. It's important to exercise, but also important to heal when necessary.

This weekend I'll be taking care of Amber and Jason's cats for a couple of meals, so that'll be good for the soul too--even though I still have a Zug scratch from a few days ago that itches a little.

Learning Targets

Well, it's Thursday and I have finally set out my educational plan for the week. Actually, I set up the targets on Tuesday and didn't get around to publishing them until now. On the plus side, I'm doing okay with them. The goals are modest but some of them are well under way--as of tonight I'll be a little over on my French target, and tomorrow evening I should be able to get the Game category in the bag too.

That just leaves AI, which is very doable, and Yoga, which may be my shortfall this week. I've been taking it easy a little bit, especially while still looking into the odd sensations in my innards. I'll be going into the medicentre for a follow-up on my more recent blood test to make sure all my enzymes are still looking reasonably stable.

I'm also going to be asking my doctor about the xiphoid process, which is cartilage at the base of the sternum. When I put my symptoms into Google, I found other people with very similar symptoms who had irritation of the xiphoid process. It would be good if that's what it is, because it's a relatively benign issue.

In any case, I need some mindfulness, so I'll be trying to score some meditation in the Yoga category over the next few days.

I'll send out my end-of-week report on Sunday so I can take the weekend for a little catch-up if need be.

Busy Day

Just a quick note: thanks to a water outage in my building, I decided to be away from the computer for the entire day. So I've had a busy time of Toastmasters, writing, and then more Toastmasters.

I'll put my education plan together for tomorrow, then report on it Saturday or Sunday. I might yet be able to get some hours invested, though it will have to be a modest plan for this week.

Check-In: 2015-11-17 (Tuesday)

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, moderate/low added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking, miscellaneous other exercise)
Sleep: IMPROVE (some improvement last night)
Mindfulness: IMPROVE
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting friends, corresponding with family, helping move kung fu)

In Fallout 4, there are various drugs (usually called "chems") that you can take for short-term bonuses, like being able to do more damage, resist damage, or be more charismatic. But every time you take a chem, there's a chance you'll get addicted and suffer side-effects whenever not using the chem.

Well, last week I shot myself up with a whole lot of Fallout 4, and I am definitely addicted. That addiction isn't too terrible right now, but will start to generate negative consequences if not managed. You can already see the dials sliding with two improve ratings.

Luckily, I have a lot of experience now with recovering from these kinds of addictions. Step one is to get the sleep and mindfulness under control. It's a lot easier to be motivated to deal with the world when you are healthy, and that makes it easier to work on useful tasks rather than just chasing the wasteland dragon all day (or giant mutant whale, as the case may be).

The good news is that my diet and socializing have been pretty good, actually, so my mood is fairly stable. Also, I was able to make some improvement even last night for getting my sleep hours back to a useful period of time.

I'm basically one sleep and one meditation away from being healthy again, and that'll help me get things back on track.

To that end, I'm going to work on pushing out the education targets tomorrow. They'll have to be quite modest, but that's okay. Modest victory is still victory, and nothing succeeds like success.

Status Update: Irradiated Kittens

I've been stumbling around in shock for the last few days, the image of the mushroom cloud seared into my mind. And everywhere I go, I see the devastation of the Great War, and the struggle for life to continue in its wake.

I found this cat outside of a shack that had some scavengers squatting in it. I'd found an actual working camera in a ruined subway station, so I decided to dust off the lens and get a quick photo. A reminder of a time before the War.

A couple of minutes later, he pounced on a bug the size of grape, not counting wings and legs. It was a mosquito. Many insects got a lot bigger since the bombs dropped. I don't understand the science, but I know that some of the new bugs are now so big that they would be able to eat the cat--or his owners.

Yes, I've been playing Fallout 4 a lot since it came out on Tuesday.

I had very high expectations and even higher hopes. They have all been exceeded. Fallout 4 borrows the best ideas from every RPG I've played in recent years. Let's walk through them in chronological order:

Splash Screen: The splash screen is beautiful. The camera pans slowly across the biggest symbols of the Fallout franchise: power armour, bobbleheads, workbenches. The tone is beautifully sad, with a touch of hope. I actually just watched it for a minute or two before hitting start, soaking up the tone.

Intro Story: The game transitions smoothly into a cinematic introduction to the setting, wonderfully sentimental for those familiar with the franchise while rapidly on-boarding anyone new. You then get some time to immerse yourself into life in this world. I will avoid story spoilers, but suffice it to say that the content isn't really anything new--one element is arguably hackneyed--but the execution is excellent. The fact you get to play through this introduction is a big part of it. The other part is that they keep the dialogue purposeful, introducing you to critical elements, setting the tone of peril and fear without turning the sequence into a dialogue-heavy slog.

Character Creation: The interface is very innovative, and I love the fact that they adopted so many good ideas from the Saints Row franchise. The "happy family" atmosphere that they added to the character creation gets a little over-the-top and cloying at points. On the other hand, they added atmosphere to the character creator. That alone is ground-breaking. Not a huge thing, but a new and valuable thing.

Entering the Wastes: Maybe an hour into the game, you finally emerge from the Vault you took shelter in to view the post-apocalyptic wasteland. I found my first few hours in the post-nuclear wasteland to be a little overwhelming and confusing. I have mixed opinions on this. On the one hand, this is something game designers should typically try to avoid. On the other hand, it mirrors your character's sense of being overwhelmed and confused. Actually, I think the thing I missed in the later conversations was a that the emotional impact of the starting sequence on my character seemed to fade quite a lot. But then again, I decided to help a small settlement rather than pursue the main plot at first, and those side plots can't have dialogue differences based on whether or not you *just* entered the wasteland or if you've been wandering it for months. I later encountered the main plotline and it felt really engaging again. Overall, Bethesda's writing gets better every game, and this is no exception.

Crafting: Possibly the biggest, most effective gameplay improvement in a Bethesda game. They like to scatter "junk" around the world, like coffee mugs and wrenches, just to create the sense that the world is real. But it was always just props. Sometimes they'd throw a collection quest at you (e.g. bring me 100 screwdrivers and I'll give you a screwdriver coat or something like that). But in Fallout 4, everything is now made of raw materials, and those raw materials are needed for crafting weapons, armour, and even entire communities! It now really feels like you're scavenging for parts in order to survive a hostile wasteland. So good!

Communities: Speaking of which, you are no longer just a lone adventurer, killing monsters and taking treasure. You can actually build up towns, providing them with farms, water supplies, electric generators, and defences. You can build houses and walls and place them how you like. It's incredibly powerful. I'm amazed they managed to provide this kind of functionality, as this is a big technological challenge for games. Usually customizability comes at a cost, like simplified worlds (e.g. Minecraft). I suppose there is one cost: my computer only runs on medium graphics settings, and it sometimes chugs to keep up--especially at dawn and dusk when the lighting effects are changing rapidly.

Progression: For non-gamers, progression is the sense that you start weak and get stronger over time. This is the experience points you earn and the new skills you unlock. So far, I've spent a significant amount of time studying the charts to figure out exactly what skills I need for the type of character I want to play. I may have made some mistakes, but they're mistakes that I can live with. For example, I am now not sure if the "Science" skill was a good choice. On the other hand, it let me build a really cool laser rifle, improve the armour pieces on my power armour (an unstoppable juggernaut that was the height of infantry technology before the Great War), and will even let me build superior power generators for towns later. So I'm still pretty happy to have the skill.

Time for me to hit the real-life wasteland of Edmonton to scavenge for some groceries and to get some exercise. I'm starting to feel like a Vault Dweller.

Learning Targets

Targets are modest this week. I've got company today (Monday) and part of tomorrow, and Fallout 4 is released this Wednesday (I think--I'm not exactly sure which midnight it becomes available).

Anyway, I will be reducing my targets to get some initial hours in on the game, but I don't want to squish my education entirely this week.

French classes and homework will be happening regardless, yoga will be important for health regardless, and I really want to make at least a little progress in AI and writing, so they're still on the list in some manner. Toastmasters is cancelled this week due to Remembrance Day. So the current total target is only 13.5 hours.

I could feel guilty for letting a game take precedence, but it's more honest to admit that there will be an impact. It's also not worth beating myself up about it--I think it's reasonable to just manage the impact rather than trying to deny it entirely. I do have friends who are taking time off work for it. This is my equivalent.

Check-In: 2015-11-09 (Monday)

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, moderate added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking)
Sleep: PASS (regular wake-up times, adequate hours)
Mindfulness: PASS (meditation)
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting with many friends, visiting with family)

Had a good weekend. I went to Athabasca to visit family and friends. One the one hand, this is disruptive to routine, which makes hitting targets trickier. But on the other hand, this is disruptive to routine, which is great for mental health.

I'm still eating too much added sugar, though the home-made ice cream and fudge was worth it, as was the post-noodles candy-and-TV that's part of the Sunday tradition. But I did only buy a moderate amount of candy this week, and I ate a bit less of it than usual. I'm actually keen to get back to a healthier sugar intake now that the leftover candy of Halloween is starting to fade.

I went a bit short on walking a couple of times recently so I'll need to do some better exercise soon. But I'm keeping up with the recommended amounts by the Heart and Stroke Foundation so I'm managing. I'm at about the same level with sleep. I'm getting to bed a bit late, but I'm at least consistent and feeling an acceptable amount of energy during the day.

On Friday I had a really good meditation where I intentionally engaged my emotions. I didn't force my emotions, but rather just let them do their thing. I have a bit of a tendency to repress, especially when nervous, so I figure some exercise in letting them express would be good. Since I was just meditating and calm the emotions were generally positive, and the physical sensations were quite pleasant (I find that emotions have physical sensations that are difficult to describe). I think technically my Friday meditation was already recorded in my Saturday check-in, but my weekend wasn't well structured for mindfulness since I was on the road. But it's also easier to be in the moment when doing something non-routine. I guess to be fair I'll give myself a pass rather than a win, but I feel like it's a solid pass.

The real win was in the Love and Support category. I went to the Café Croissant at L'Alliance Française on Saturday morning and met some new people there while also practising my spoken French skills. I then visited Amber and Jason since Jason just got back from Calgary again. I then met my parents and some of my aunts and uncles for a late mini-Thanksgiving (my aunts were busy with Elections Canada so we didn't have Thanksgiving at the time). Then I met my friend Geoff for a chat at a pub, then met up with my parents again for a visit in the evening. On Sunday it was family breakfast and meeting Jim, Shane, and Dean for supper. So my social fuel tanks are pleasantly full.

This week is going to be a little unusual for my education targets. Jim is still in town as he's getting a ride out tomorrow, and on Wednesday a game called Fallout 4 his the street. I'll still have French classes and I really want to get some hours in to AI again, but I may have to accept some lower goals this time around. More on that later.

Education Report

Education Report 2015-11-07

Another week of mixed results.

On the positive side, I did very well with yoga and with the video game work. The yoga is especially interesting as, due to timing and health, I only did one actual exercise session, and the rest was either intention-based (attempted blood donation) or meditation. Yesterday I clocked an hour of meditation, with 30 minutes at the doctor's office in the waiting room, and 30 minutes in the evening before bed. In the Game category, we had a long meeting and I then spent some time on brainstorming and organizing to double my initial target.

On the down side, being under the weather on Thursday made me fall short on French, though I'm going to excuse that as a cold. Writing and Toastmasters fell short, though I at least did some outlining work on the writing side to at least be on the score board. But I think it's reasonable to apply those excess Game hours to the Writing category since they are both in the same universe, which gets me a lot closer. Falling short on Toastmasters is only a small slip-up, and sometime in the near future I'll probably overdo the goal when I write and practice my next speech.

So the main slip-up here was AI. I didn't get the time to work on it yesterday--the wait at the doctor's office was long, and I then had to prepare for company that evening.

So, like I said, a mixed report. Things to work on, things that went well.

Honestly, as I work on this plan, I find myself often asking the question, "What do I want to do?" That's the real question, and one I'll be contemplating a lot as I set targets in the next few weeks.

(Update: I just attended the Café Croissant this morning for an additional hour of French.)

P.S. I need a new name for this. "Education Report" is as dry and dusty as the baseboards behind my computer desk. Please post suggestions in the comments if you have any.

Check-In: 2015-11-06 (Friday)

Diet: WIN! (fruit, vegetables, but high added sugar)
Exercise: PASS (walking)
Sleep: PASS (regular sleep, steady wake-up times)
Mindfulness: PASS (a few minutes of meditation)
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting with friends, corresponding with family, game meeting, toastmasters)

Today's report has a couple of marginal wins but wins none-the-less, and the passes are strong passes, not marginal. So it's a "steady as she goes" situation, which is totally acceptable.

I was really low-energy yesterday, with a scratchy throat again, and had a really hard time motivating myself to do anything. My original plan had been to go out to the clinic to get my test results, but instead stayed in to rest. I still got some game work done and did some meditation, so it wasn't a total write-off as far as my learning goals. I'm feeling much better today, so maybe the rest helped stave off a cold.

I'm going to head off to the clinic today, and this evening I'm going to have a few friends over to taste strange wine (I have a cucumber wine I've been dying to share). If I manage to get some AI training in-between I'll be able to have an imperfect but solid, "steady as she goes" education report this week.

I haven't been writing much in terms of word count, but I'm taking the opportunity to outline from scratch again. Since I haven't been working on my fiction for a while, I'm going to be a little more willing to do re-writes, which is a necessary part of the process.

Learning Targets

It's a new week, and new goals are in order.

I've had a bit of a poor start, since I ended up spending most of yesterday traipsing around after the blood donation that didn't happen, and then fell into laziness by the time I got home. So I'm going to shoot for a slightly more modest target of 20 hours this week.

I've added half an hour to French to give me time to do French homework. I've trimmed AI and Game down to two hours each in order to make more time for Writing while still giving them 1 - 2 solid sessions this week. I've cut Yoga back to 4 hours and given myself 1 hour of credit for the attempted blood donation.

This is about as far as I want to push NaNoWriMo at this point, though we'll see how the week goes.

For today, I'm going to see if I can start off with some Yoga and French.

Check-In: 2015-11-03 (Tuesday)

Back after a brief internet outage yesterday. :)

Diet: WIN! (fruit and vegetables, though lots of added sugar thanks to Halloween)
Exercise: WIN! (walking, yoga)
Sleep: WIN! (some ups and downs, but long sleep and good wake-up time this morning)
Mindfulness: WIN! (meditation)
Love and Support: WIN! (visiting friends, corresponding with family, attempted blood donation)

Wow. I didn't realize how good the scoreboard was looking until I wrote it up.

I do need to cut down on my Halloween candy consumption, I should try to get some more yoga in today, and I need to repeat last night's sleep to make sure I'm in a stable, healthy sleep habit. But things have gone quite well.

Yesterday I attempted to donate blood, but because of some still lingering question over my gall bladder they advised I not donate. So sometime in the next few days I will swing by the medicentre to get my ultrasound results. If everything looks good, I'll schedule another appointment. I'm still taking it as points under Love and Support as a generous gesture--not that I need those points for the win score, what with all the visiting I did over Halloween weekend.

The downsides will show up more on the education side, as I already have some catching up to do, but more on that later today when I present the weekly goals.