Life’s Little Adventures Are Sometimes Not So Little...

As of the date of this blog, I have 6 working days remaining in my tenure at my current employer. I’ll explain below.

Back in early July, my boss came into my office and gave me some, at the time, rather stressful news. He said that he had restructured the support team I am part of, and alluded to the fact that I wasn’t in the plan for the restructure. This quite obviously gave me heartburn, as I’ve been employed by the same parent company for 8 years now. I remember exactly how I felt as the conversation went on and came to a close. My body started shaking, my heart was racing; so fast it felt like it was going to jump out of my chest, my thoughts were going nearly as fast as my heart was. I was livid, hurt and sad, all at the same time. I told my coworker I needed to leave, which was completely understandable since I’d just heard some pretty heavy news, and managed to hold back a few tears until I got in my car.

The news came on a Thursday. I worked Friday like normal, my thoughts abound with “what if” and “coulda, shoulda, woulda”, into the weekend. The following Monday I started fishing, using my résumé as the bait. There were several opportunities, but only about one percent of them actually returned anything. My first two interviews were busts. Something about me didn’t jive with what they wanted. I found myself feeling more and more stress as time went on, knowing that my time with the current employer was finite. In a last-ditch effort, I sent my resume out to one more good looking candidate; an insurance firm. Within a week, I was hired. Stress managed.

With the job hunt out of the way, I started counting of the days I had left with the current employer. Not out of excitement or anything, but just to keep track of things. I do that.

As the days go by, I reflect on my time served here and how I will be in the new job. I get both excited and frightened when I think about it. I talked to my mentor today about all the various feelings I’ve been having, and he helped me validate some of them. The others, he explained to me that I should be seeing this as a time for introspect and reflection. Think back on the time I’ve spent here - what I did right, what I did wrong, what I can improve on, etc. Think about these points, reflect on them, find what they really mean to me and then figure out how I can apply the lessons and knowledge I’ve acquired to the new job. Essentially, grow.

So here I am now, writing this for all to see. I suppose this is my way of starting the process of reflection; I find it much easier to comprehend my thoughts when they’re written.

Funny, I seem to have lost the inspiration to write any more this afternoon. Ah, well. I feel this won’t stop here. In fact, I’d be surprised at myself if I didn’t have another blog post within the next week or so, as time moves toward my jump between stages in life.

Until next time…

Adventures in Weight Loss!

Ok gang, here’s the deal. Most of you who know me also know that I’m a bit overweight. About a year ago, I lost about 50lbs and was doing pretty well at keeping it off. Unfortunately, I “relapsed” over the 2012 year and gained at least most of it back. This year I plan to lose it all again and then some, and get myself back to a state of generally good health. I’ve got a pretty decent list I plan to cover, and I’ll detail that list here:

-          Bring my current weight down to mid-range ideal for my height/age

-          Knock approximately 10 points off my BMI

-          Quit smoking

-          All-round “better shape” (Fitness, strength, etc)

Initially, I am only going to change my diet; eat fewer calories, healthier food and drink much more water. I’ll most likely change my alcohol habits, as I’m sure they’re not helping me any.

Here’s the plan I’ve got so far, with a bit of help from myfitnesspal.com:

-          Daily Calorie Intake: 1,670/day

o   230g carbs

o   56g fat

o   63g protein

-          Normal Daily Activity: 2,670 calories burned

-          Daily Calorie Deficit: 1,000/day

-          Projected Weight Loss: 2lbs/week

This is not taking into account any extra activity/exercise I may do on a daily basis, and my goal is to make the 1,670 calorie limit the maximum number. If I eat less, I’m not affected negatively.

Since this is a pretty important subject for me, I’ll be continuing the weekly posts and they’ll be at least mostly about this new adventure.

Wish me luck!

Streams of Consciousness Sometimes Turn into Actual Posts!

I don’t really have a subject to talk about but my brain is a bit overactive, so you all get a super-awesome stream of consciousness!

I think about things a lot. What things, you ask? It’s all a bit random. Am I being a good parent? What about my performance as a boyfriend? What’s the next project I should work on? I like animals, but don’t have the motivation to keep one. One day, I’d like to buy a house – preferably before I’m 40. I need to lose weight. I should really clean out my fridge.

Seriously, so many different thoughts go through my head in a matter of seconds that it’s really hard sometimes to focus on one thing. That of course, leads to me being overwhelmed, which then makes my mind race even more. Sometimes I wonder if I should be medicated or something.

Ok, I’m picking a thought and running with it for the rest of the blog. Here we go.

Some (or all) of you may already know, but I like to think of myself as a bit of an amateur replica prop maker. I have many unfinished projects:

-          A vintage Graflex 3-cell flash I plan on making into an awesome replica of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber from Star Wars, complete with sweet internals

-          A replica Mauser that will eventually become Han Solo’s sidearm

-          A set of Wolverine claws that need revision

-          A couple Nerf guns I’m converting into various replica guns

-          Replica Ghostbusters equipment (currently unfinished: Ghost trap and Ecto-Goggles)

-          Fallout replica “Nuka-Cola” bottle(s)

-          An at-least-fairly-screen-accurate replica of the Batarang from the recent Dark Knight trilogy

I’m sure there are more, but those are the ones I can think of while sitting at my desk at work. Seven projects I’ve yet to complete. All these replicas are made using various mediums; the batarang, for example, will be made out of styrene sheet. The Ghostbusters props are mostly foamcore, and will be top priority until they’re finished; I want to use them for Halloween this year, and if the set is good enough, trooping at cons and such.

I think I’ll take some time and document the creation process on this blog as I make headway with my prop projects. Would any of you be interested in following this progress? Just as a taste, I’ll let you take a gander at my 75% complete ghost trap:

I suppose that’s all for now, so to quote LeVar Burton: “I’ll see you next time!”

Further down the rabbit hole – Blogging in 2013

Well that was quite the long break, wasn’t it kids? After having not written an entry since just before Thanksgiving, I feel I’ve neglected this blog enough and it’s time to return to writing. New year, new things to write about!  I’ll admit, quite a lot of my absence has to be blamed on Skyrim. If you haven’t played it yet, make sure you have no other commitments before you start. You’ll ignore most, if not all of them.

Alright, down to business. My holiday break was good. I spent a lot of time with my son, my girlfriend and other family. Not much to report on my projects, those were back-burnered for a while. My weekly karaoke gig is still going, and I’ve come up with the idea of doing theme nights. This started about two weeks ago, when I decided to make myself do an 80’s night and sing only songs from the 1980’s. It almost immediately went viral! A couple friends jumped on the idea, and the next thing I knew I was putting in about 90% 80’s songs for the whole karaoke crowd. Needless to say, I’ve been trying to come up with more themes to run by the bar staff and announce.

In early December, I came up with the motivation to make an idea I’ve had for a while a reality. About a week before Christmas, Udland Craftwork was unofficially born. I’m hoping the first product can be debuted by end of January, early February. That reminds me, I better get cracking! Ha!

You know how I mentioned I’ve been playing a lot of Skyrim lately? I had an idea come to me while playing last night, and I may follow through with it if there’s interest. I thought about starting a character blog in a journal format. Document the journey through my character’s eyes; his thoughts, feelings, observations on the events happening around him.  What do you guys think? Would it be something you’d read?  Either way, expect new and exciting things from me in the coming months!

On Holidays, Family and Friends...

The holidays are upon us. The last two months of the year, holding the largest family gathering holidays we know: Thanksgiving and Christmas. The media would have us believe that these are some of the worst times we can have, but I think differently. These two holidays are some of the best and most important times for me, because I get to spend them with family.

Since I was a young boy, I’ve always loved the big family gatherings. My parents both have fairly large families, so during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays there was never a shortage of excitement in our homes. Children running through the house, folks in the kitchen preparing the different components of dinner, small groups of people engrossed in conversation, some of the men of the family would gather round the television to watch the game. We always had potluck-style dinners at these gatherings, with each family bringing a different part of the meal. I would think this is the norm for more families than mine, but can’t be certain.

The importance of these holidays does not fall on the spiritual side. For me, the importance lies with family. Being able to get as many family members in one place as you can, spending as much time in an evening as you can, everyone enjoying each other’s company; that’s what is important to me about the holidays. I’ll say it again: Family is important. Spending time with family is important.

I happen to know quite a few people who have family, but they’re spread across the country or otherwise out of touch. Some of them still get to have the family experience during the holidays, because friends are as important as family to some. I’m one of those people. If I know someone is going to be alone for a holiday, I’ll do my best to include them in at least part of the holiday festivities. My friends are my family as much as my actual family is, and I don’t believe in spending a holiday alone.

What I’m trying to say is enjoy your family. Spend the holidays with them if you can. Be with your friends if your family isn’t available. Include friends in your family function if you can. I know I will.

Happy Thanksgiving,

~J

The Men in Your Life - Personal Thoughts on Family

I’ve had a few different thoughts engage my mind over the last week and thought I’d share them for today’s post. While it may not be overtly educational like my previous blog posts, there still may be some information to glean from my brain dump.

This “quest for manliness” I’ve been putting myself through has made me think about the men in my life that should be role models, but haven’t been for one reason or other. Mostly family, this group of men would be my father, grandfather, an uncle or two; all men who should have a great influence in a young man’s life, but have not been in mine because for some reason I never looked at them as men to base my life on. I plan to change that while I still can; we’re not getting any younger.

My father, as I think back on my life, has always been the “kidder” – quick to answer with a sarcastic comment or joke. As such, I’m not sure I’ve really gotten to learn all I can from him. I honestly don’t really know what he’s all about. I know he does his best to provide for his family, both financially and emotionally, he loves music more than any other person I know, he’s big on politics, and he’s had a subscription to the New Yorker for nearly as long as I’ve been alive. I feel like there’s more to him than I’m able to recall. The knowledge bank I have on my father seems incomplete; like there’s more I should know.

My mother and father divorced before I could walk, and I can’t recall seeing him before about age 5 or 6. I got to spend alternating weekends and every summer break from school with him until I was 17 or 18. After that I saw him much less frequently, thanks to young-adulthood and thinking I knew everything. I honestly think that by doing so I missed out on a lot of things I could have learned from him, and now find myself needing to “play catch-up” as it were.

I feel the same about my grandfather. He always seems like he has a lot to say, but doesn’t say it for reasons unknown except to him. I don’t know much about my grandfather. He’s quiet, very stoic. I know he used to be a pharmaceutical rep, when I was a small child. We always had some sort of promotional trinket advertising the latest drugs; a pen, paperweight, once I had a pedometer that had the logo for some drug company on it. I’ve heard some of his opinions on politics, religion and “sensitive” subjects, and while I may not agree with them it’s good to hear opposing beliefs and opinions once in a while. Of course now he’s sick, though he may be getting better, but it shows me that I may not have much time to really sit down and talk to him; to learn his story, his thoughts on life. I plan on visiting him soon, to start reconnecting with him on a more man-to-man level.

I’m starting to realize that the days of men passing knowledge down to future generations are on their way out. This is a tradition that, in my opinion, needs to stick around. Boys grow up to be men, and they don’t have a chance of knowing what that means unless it is passed down to them by their fathers. In our generation many boys have missed out on those life lessons and pieces of advice that only a father can give, due to either the father not being there enough or just not at all.

If you haven’t already, reconnect with the men in your family. You might just find a mentor in someone who has been next to you the whole time.

Until next time,

~J

The Importance of Routine and Planning

As I’ve been on this journey to being a better man, I’ve started reflecting on how to be more conscious of the time I have during the day to do things. I’ve read a few different blog posts on time management, routine and planning, and I’ve noticed that I have been wasting so much of my brainpower by just floating through life, going where the universe takes me. Up until this point, I never really knew where my time was going to be spent; I just existed.

Recently I decided to put a stop to that; to work on assigning myself tasks for the day/week/month and make sure to complete said tasks. Something that is helping me is a calendar I picked up a couple weeks ago. It’s made of metal, dry-erase, and it’s wall-mounted. I mounted it next to my pantry in my kitchen so I’ll see it when I enter my house, and on it I’ve mapped out all the important dates and tasks, including paychecks and what they’re mostly for on each payday.

One of the things I really like about it is the redundancy of everything. The calendar I have on my wall directly reflects the digital calendar I have, so I don’t forget anything while I’m away from my home. Whenever I make a note on either calendar, I make sure to add it to the other. Now no matter where I am, I only have to take a quick glance at my calendar and I can remind myself when a certain bill is due, what I may have planned for the weekend, any appointments I may have during the week and so forth. Already my mind is clearer, I feel more structure in my life and I don’t have to question whether or not I have to do something later; it’s all on my calendar.

Add planning to a good daily routine and you can make a finely tuned, well-oiled machine out of yourself. When you think about it, men are the definition of routine. We are set in our ways, not wanting to deviate too much from the status quo, because it disrupts what we see as a good thing. My father, for example, is a practitioner of the “bookend” type of daily routine. Every morning he wakes up a couple hours before work, showers, shaves, gets dressed, makes coffee, reads the paper and eats breakfast. After work, he comes home, has dinner with the family, washes the dishes, spends some time unwinding and goes to bed.

Bookending your days like this gives you the opportunity to both start and end on a calm, organized note. You can use this time to get some of the smaller household tasks done, prepare for your day, or just take time to center yourself. It’s up to you how you spend the time you set aside for morning/evening routine. My setup will hopefully look something like this:

Morning:

0530 – Wake up

0545 – Three S’s

0615 – Dress to 90%, remainder to be done after breakfast

0625 – Make and eat breakfast, while going over schedule for the day

0700 – Complete getting dressed

0715 – Out the door to work

Evening:

1730 – Home from work

1745 – Make and eat dinner

1900 – Family time (play with son, etc)

2100 – Bedtime for the boy

2115 – Unwind (notes in journal, cocktail, TV time, etc)

2230-2300 – Head to bed

This is the initial draft of my planned morning/evening routines, subject to change until I feel it is rock solid; a rough draft, if you will. I think it will work out nicely once I iron out any kinks I may find. As with all new projects, you have to kind of massage it into what you want it to be; it doesn’t start out perfect.

I encourage you to start thinking about how you spend your time, and give the planning and routines a shot. I’d be interested to hear how you all manage your time.

~J