July, 2015 | Sunny Spirit

Weekend Mornings

Weekend mornings are unique, and we’re given a simple choice two days each week:

Should I catch up on my sleep, or should I catch up on everything else?

Normally, we all go for the latter. I try to split my weekend between the two. Sleep is very important because we all have those good jobs that are annoying because our bosses expect near-perfect performance all the time. That means we have to be well rested to stay smart.

It’s true, you could just get the proper amount of sleep during the week, but we all know that doesn’t work. We have deadlines, maybe a kid was not allowing for sleep, or maybe a girl stayed over/talked on the phone too late. These are all valid reasons (yes, the last one is valid because 1) us men can’t control women, and 2) the whole point of work is to have means to enjoy life, so it’s fine as long as it doesn’t affect your performance).

I usually split up my two mornings. So I tend to have late Friday nights and early Saturday mornings.

I focus on mornings because after lunch, you get busy with plans, so mornings are really the only time that’s your own. Unless you have kids, then you get your time in 20 years.

I go out Friday nights. Saturdays are good for doing some work, running errands, and all that exciting stuff.

Sunday mornings are spent sleeping in and just relaxing. You make and eat a good breakfast. Sunday mornings are your time to do what you want. You can work outside, read a little, or just lounge around in bed.

Running Form: The Dasher

Many of you remember me telling you about my running form, The Dancer, and I mentioned there were two forms I use to run. Perhaps you were wondering about the other form.

The other form, called The Dasher (likely ‘The Sprinter’ would be more appropriate, but c’mon, it sounded like a cool team).

This one is very much like sprinting.
You would run on your toes the whole time, which like an Olympian sprinter. This form is harder to pace yourself. It’s super good for building your calf muscles.

Mich like the Dancer, I think it is low impact on your knees. In this case, though, it’s a very high impact run. While the Dancer tries to make less of an up and down motion, this one does not.

However, all of the force from hitting the pavement is absorbed by your calves, and they just think you’re hopping up and down. It’s the kind of impact they’re made to do.

A little later, I may talk about the two forms and talk about neat concepts I’ve developed. Until then, run safely!
Running Dasher

People

People are good. People are fun. I generally like most of them.

Going with it

Life being as crazy as it is, I’m glad I’ve developed an awesome skill at just going with it.

This is slightly different than going with the flow, which is very not type-Justin. I can do that when being social, and I’m great at doing it when someone takes the lead, and I actually like to do it.

People just don’t take the lead, and when people are being lame, they just need someone to show them otherwise.

I’m not here to talk about how I’m good at not being boring and having boundless energy.

No, I mean “going with it”. It’s different than “going with the flow”. Going with it is a skill for someone who wants to get things done. For my own business, I have everything exactly how I want it, and I like it because things work.

The biggest part of going with it is having a backup plan. And then having a backup for your backup. And making it so the biggest reason you’re experiencing down time is because you decided to write a post, not because of your IT issues.

stick man presents act now symbol

And to be able to do crazy pivots without having down time.

For instance, I was working. I just noticed that my computer wasn’t charging. It’s probably a power source issue, since both power cords didn’t work (and the charger for my phone is working and plugged into the same outlet, etc.).

So what do I do?

Naturally, I click a few times to start my local machine backup process. With two easy processes, the computer backs up all of my Outlook PSTs and the few machine-based files.

Once I do that, they’re just hanging out on my server. I then grab my other laptop, tell it which way to sync, and download everything to my other computer.

And BAM! Up and running within 30 minutes with full capabilities.

Things Checked Off the List

Sometimes I like to tinker with my side projects. Today’s side project? Sewing. My friend ripped my shirt, which kind of made me mad. He offered to buy a new one, but I just told him to save his money.

Now, most of you probably think I’m cheap, but that’s not always the case. It’s true, I don’t like wasting money. But I just don’t like wasting anything. I mean, no, I don’t wash my paper plates or anything, but I tend to avoid paper plates.

I take care of things so they last. Like my bright colored shirts? They’re bright colored because I hang dry them.

I don’t like to waste things. So even though my friend offered to buy a new shirt, I told him no. It was a casual shirt, and therefore didn’t need to be prefect. This is the tear:

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It was along a seam, so I think it’s fixable, right?

Well, I went to it. The first thing I did was clean the edges because they looked messy.

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Then I tried to use pins to hold it still. That didn’t work at all, so sewing it was a lot of hand maneuvering.

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I eventually got it decent looking. Two things were off. The main thing was the extra bits of fabric after sewing it together. I trimmed that. All the cutting I did for the entire project basically produced balls of fuzz because it was so little.

I initially started sewing a loop to mend the pieces together, but then I decided that wouldn’t allow for the angles of the fabric to line up right, so I changed to more if a weave.

Here’s the final product:

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Advantages & Disadvantages of Being In-Shape

There are many, easy to see advantages to being in-shape:

You feel good
You have more energy
People of the other gender generally over-respond with smiles and enthusiasm when you randomly ask them how they’re doing
You look good (well, relatively)
You have more confidence
You can eat cookies without looking like a shlub

But there are some disadvantages to being in shape that I think are often overlooked when someone decides, “Hmmm.. should I have get in-shape? I think I will.”

The Slippery Slope

Initially, when getting into shape, it’s easy! When you go for a walk, your pulse gets increases, and by walking you’re generally (in theory) increasing your lifespan. Go you!

After you get in shape, that’s no longer the case. Tonight I went for a fast walk. I usually go for runs, but I ran this morning before work, so I figured I was good, and I could just go for a walk to get some exercise.
Anyone who knows me knows that my walk is pretty quick. I mean they know that it’s quick all the freaking time. The only time it is slower is if I’m interested in talking to someone, usually one of the female-type (so ladies, if I slow down when walking with you, take it as a compliment).

Since I’m usually a fast walker, tonight I went for a walk. I was walking pretty fast (4.5 mph). After a 12 minute walk of this, my pulse was a mere 85 to 90. It also takes longer before anything.

So the disadvantage of being in shape is that it takes more time, effort, and discipline to work out. I apparently can’t go for walks and get a cardio workout. Runs only, I guess.

Essentially, being in shape makes a person have to go faster, harder, longer, and stronger. Maybe that’s the reason to number three….

Obviously “disadvantage” is sarcasm.

Being Cool

Cool Girl — This is a cool girl, per my search results

One thing that’s challenging is being cool, well, not for me, but for most people. You know me – I define “stellar cool”…. It is important a lot of time with the female-types. Guys should be interested in them, be a gentleman, and just make them laugh.

Quite frankly, that’s important for always, not just the beginning.

One trick from my play book is to send the lady a text message whenever you want. It’s a play that should make them like you… Guess what? It never works. Keep those feelings bottled up until you see her…. after you’ve been dating for a while.

Be cool in the beginning. The big problem is that guys may come off as aggressive if they’re too enthusiastic. It’s important that you take time to get to know one another so the timing can happen right. This is because guys are barbarians and have a bad rep.

Timing is so important, and it’s one of the hardest things to grasp.

Be cool, but still be nice. As most things that are good, it’s s precarious balance. Of course, there’s a song about this kind of thing: