I just can’t enjoy a regular cup of drip coffee, it seems. too water and bland. I need my espresso in the morning, or a good pour over from freshly ground beans. I think this qualifies me as an official coffee snob, yes?
A needed comic relief
One of the things that started to fit into my weird sleep schedule is watching stand-ups on Netflix. It takes me some time to find someone who fits my criteria, which is based on two things. First, I usually get bored with comedians who talk too much about marriage and/or kids, since these don’t relate to me and I only find them mildly funny; the second, they need to walk a thin line where they are provocative, but not downright assholes.
One of the folks whose shows I enjoyed recently is Gabriel Iglesias, who goes by Fluffy. I watched his most recent show, Legend of Fluffy, and found that while I didn’t laugh as much as I usually do, I did nod in agreement when he was talking about skittering around politically correct phrases and the importance of owning a gun. He explained it from a Republican angle; his show took place in Florida.
Something about the stand-up made it more down-to-earth, a level I can relate to and understand, not something that I usually read with a politically aware eye through a left-leaning newspaper website. It made me think, not just smile. Iglesias is, among other things, a Mexican immigrant, so listening to him describing serious issues like immigration to a crowd that mainly supports Trump (or so I assume anyway) at this time had a sense of authenticity. At one point, for example, he reflected on a show in Mexico where he performed in front of Americans who were there on behalf of their company, boasting that he caused a bunch of Americans to cross over the border to watch a Mexican. Hearing this from him made me smile about this topic for the first time.
I can’t help but think that someone like Iglesias is the kind of person we need right now. Someone who’s on both camps at the same time, who can tell a story with a sense of humor. Fluffy is a celebrity now, but he hasn’t forgotten his roots and the people that helped him reach fame, and his show is, eventually, about gratitude. This gratitude to his mentors and fans who made him what he is today touched me in a way I didn’t expect.
Moving
Yesterday, I finally managed to get through to our management company here at the apartment to let them know we’re moving out. I’ve been trying to reach them for the last two weeks unsuccessfully.
I’m worried because, on the other hand, we still don’t have the key to the new place that we found. It’s a co-op building in Manhattan, which I think is fair to say is one of the hardest places to move into. We’re throwing a lot of money into it that goes beyond just the security deposit and the first month’s rent. We are required to have insurance, we must pay for credit checks (plural, yes), we need to pay to move in, we need to pay for an inspection, we need to buy carpets because apparently, that’s one of the rules…
Financials aside, we’re also required to fill out tons of paperwork. After the lease that came first (this part is behind us; everyone signed), the documents from the board are a package of roughly 50 pages. This includes standard NYC stuff (bed bugs, guard rails, lead paint…) but also “house rules,” real estate documents, financial status statements, bank account information, and letters of recommendation - yes, we need to be recommended to live there - both personal and from the previous landlord, and on it goes. Our real estate agent is working with us on those, but it’s a nerve-racking race full of phone calls, emails, and visits to the bank.
Meanwhile, work projects do not let go. The amount of events chained together in a symphony of urgency has been almost comical. Just yesterday, for example, a new Dean joined the ranks after the previous one stepped down rather suddenly. “Why doesn’t this work?” is not a good way to start your relationship with the top VIP, but if you work in IT, you know that 80% of the time, you’re notified about a change only after something breaks. We managed to turn it around and demonstrate our skills and support. I am grateful for my unphased team, which followed through without ifs and buts.
Another major work project I’m engaged in involves overhauling network authentication throughout the entire medical center I work for. This requires new written instructions and a video clip demonstrating the changes. In the meantime, the old instructions need to be scrapped or updated from various places on the public web and the private intranet. This is where I step in, as the person who took over my role when I left for my current one was let go.
Other projects on my to-do list block my calendar and prevent me from attending my regular meetings, not to mention the aforementioned bank visits/phone calls/emails about the new place, which must happen during business hours.
So far, I’ve managed to keep my head up. I’m adjusting to sleeping in part and exercising in small intervals when I get the chance. I’m exhausted, but my mood, while serious, is not melancholic. I’m doing OK.
But I wouldn’t be without the tremendous support I get from everyone. Partners, friends, family, the people I work with. They all understand and support me. I’ve never seen so many people who know me step up in turn and say, “Yes, I can help.” I’m writing this with tears of gratefulness rolling down my cheeks, thinking of my support net. Whenever I feel too tired or overwhelmed, there’s a smile, a pat on the back, or an encouraging nod.
I hope that in a month, I will write a post from my new room in the new apartment. It would be a big upgrade for my two partners, not just me, and I’m happy for that.
Trying out Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse Book 1) by James S. A. Corey 📚. I wanted to give it a try for a while, but I’m not sure I’m up to the task at this point. We shall see.
The woes of flexibility vs. structure
I paused my Trainwell subscription, my exercise app. I didn’t give up my exercise routine if that’s what you’re wondering, though it has suffered in the last couple of weeks. As I explained to my excellent coach on the app, there were two reasons for that.
The more immediate and simple one is everything going around me: I’m moving out, and I am now tasked with working both in my new position and my old position, which I left a few months back since there’s no one else who can do it at this point. These two things with an additional few recent stressful events cause my insomnia to spike, and I often wake up after 4-5 hours of sleep, which messes up my ability to work even further, putting me in a vicious cycle of trying to make up lost for time and energy.
The longer, more complicated reason is the lack of flexibility. Trainwell is an exercise app with a limited number of exercises and a busy coach who can’t remember and adjust everything about you. Things like meditation and even running are not handled well by the app, at least not yet, and I have to look elsewhere for those. Since Trailwell costs $100 a month, I expect more from it, and it can’t deliver.
I have very limited space in the apartment to exercise, so some exercises and stretches don’t work for me. On top of that, the app works by introducing new cycles each couple of weeks, and these come filled with mostly new exercises that I haven’t done in the previous cycle. I tried to navigate away from exercises I didn’t want and keep the ones I did with limited success. New cycles usually mean a period of adjustment and learning, and I realized that this is starting to damage my routine. Instead of improving what I do slowly, I’m starting something new.
Speaking of routine, I’m now at a point where I want to exercise without being forced into it. It’s a good part of my day, with the key (that I keep forgetting) of doing just a little at a time and doing more after I start if I can and have the time. Doing a short 10-minute daily exercise is always better than not doing anything because I’m intimidated by an intense 30 minutes of weight lifting. Yes, I can adjust my exercises on the run and work with my coach, but that in itself is cumbersome, and I don’t always want to explain why I did one thing instead of the other every time. I asked myself: if I’m already adjusting and switching exercises to fit my needs, then what use is the app in guiding me anymore? And the last couple of weeks were based on adjustments to my crazy schedule.
So, I decided to return to my old workout sheet with the addition of a few exercises I’ve learned in the last months. Here’s a portion of it:
However, I quickly learned that a simple spreadsheet is problematic. I want to measure daily exercises (in the image, you see the page for February. I have a sheet for January and will keep going for a year), so I’m using the Y axis for the exercise names. I wrote the specifications for reps/sets/weights next to the exercise’s name (it will take too much room to specify for each day), but it is an issue if I want to change the number of sets/reps I’m doing on the fly. For example, if I join pull-ups and chair dips, I probably want to lower the number of push-ups I do that day since they overlap the same muscle groups. Another issue is that different exercises may have different data altogether - for example, running records speed and distance, not weight and sets. Yet another problem is that the list of exercises becomes longer, and finding the exercise I want to do on a certain day and joining it with others becomes confusing, so I need to start color-code those, which means I need to be more picky about which colors I use when I go up in sets/reps during the week…
you get the idea. It just doesn’t cut it, and I have issues already.
Meanwhile, I have my Apple Watch, which I’m trying to utilize for all of this. It comes with Workouts, but those are basic pre-determined activities that don’t allow me to add weight or follow sets conveniently if I break for rest in between. There are other apps out there I could use, but then I run into the same problem I have with Trainwell and flexibility: if the app doesn’t have a certain workout, it’s annoying to use it just for some things and not everything.
I don’t like the lack of structure in my exercises, which is why I need the table on one hand, but on the other hand, it’s not flexible enough to do what I need. It’s starting to sound like “I’m holding it wrong”, not an app or a sheet problem, if you get my meaning.
Still, the exercises I end up doing are good and fit my routine better than the ones I followed on the app, as in. At least I’m doing something. I need to figure this out.
According to my Apple Watch, the last time I slept more than 5 hours or so was Monday. Last week was similar. At work, I’m required to do two roles at once again, and it’s piling up on top of the apartment hunt. I need a vacation when this is over.
I updated my photo page plug-in and didn’t realize I had to toggle a new option. Now, it shows the photos it’s supposed to show.
Finished reading: Open Season by C. J. Box 📚 I couldn’t put it down at the end. The problem with suspense books is that they are suspenseful. It’s a good story, I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes out as a movie.
We found a good place, liked it, and were getting all our documentation in order, but then someone else applied and pulled it from underneath our feet 😡
NYC apartments are hard.
I’ve been enjoying Open Season by C. J. Box 📚. It’s a well-written (many details) country detective-suspense read. I’m at about 70%, but I figured out what’s going on already at 50% or so. Still, it’s a fun read. I enjoy being in Joe’s head, and I have quite a few life references highlighted.