Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

Distractionless.

So as I was sitting at my desk this morning, getting ready to jump feet first into this experience we lovingly call Monday, I was about to fire up Microsoft Lync on my work Mac. Now, there is nothing unusual about this, being a WFH guy (work from home guy) or telecommuter, it is important to use as many tools possible to remain connected with your co-workers. When you can’t collaborate in person you must do so electronically. It’s all logical.

The downside to Lync and Facebook and Google+ and Twitter and text messaging and Instagram and all that stuff is that it is really a boatload of distraction. Whether these tools are used for work or play, when not managed properly they can take you out of the moment. Your “here and now” is actually elsewhere. At work, a Lync popup can pull me out of my coding zen space because when I hear that “message!” sound I feel compelled to see what’s up. When I try to get back to my coding I think I had started where I left off, when in reality, all lines of code start to look alike and I didn’t really leave off at the particular point. I then think that I’m being productive when in reality I’m just breaking something because I have left some unfinished code lingering where I really left off.

I hate it when I do that.

When a message pops up on our phones or whatever, it takes us away from the moment. I noticed that I checked my phone on a couple of occasions between courses at dinner the other night. That was rude of me and I am publicly apologizing to my husband right here and now for that. I don’t know that he noticed because he was checking his phone at the time. By the way, we’re not awful, we don’t check our phones during a meal or in lieu of a conversation, only in lulls of activity, but still, I guess I was being a little rude and I don’t like that. My I should strive to be less lulling. I think it’s important to set a good example. Maybe one in a million will notice and do the same.

Another thing that has kind of been getting on my nerves lately is the number of people taking selfies in front of important things, like visiting the Queen of England or sitting between Abraham Lincoln’s legs.

Well I do take my share of selfies and I share them via Instagram and all things connected to that, it’s not something that I want to do. The analytical side of me wants to know why I’m doing this. What need does posting yet another photo of myself fulfill? I have no idea.

So in an effort to be a little less distracted I made a couple of adjustments to my iPhone this morning. First of all, I deleted Google+ and Facebook right off of my phone. If anyone needs me immediately they can send me a text message; they know how to get a hold of me. Now, I’m not committing to this forever, I am going to try to go FB and G+ free for a week. I still have Instagram and I still have Twitter because well, truth be known, Twitter is my favorite of the the social networks and I do like looking at all kinds of photos on Instagram. As a quick aside, if Facebook gets ad crazy with Instagram, I will dump it like a hot potato in an instant and go back to Flickr.

I can’t do much about Lync at work, I just need to train myself better in not being distracted when that awful “new message!” Lync sound rings out from my MacBook. But I can be vigilant about making sure my status is up to date and sharing with the world when I’m in that zen worker bee space.

I think the most important thing that I’d like to figure out this FB and G+ free week is how to be in the moment with the people I’m in the moment with. I think I might have lost touch with that a little bit. If it’s worth sharing, I’ll share it when it’s appropriate and most likely via my blog.

Let’s see how this goes.

9 September 2013 by J.P. Geek 1

Bragging.

I’m totally bragging here, but my husband left me this little salad for lunch.

I’m one lucky man.

9 September 2013 by J.P. Love. 1

Memories.

So today Earl and I made the trek to my hometown in a pickup truck. Today was the first day I had step foot into my Dad’s house since the beginning of 2012. The reasons for the long stretch of not visiting the house is not really important.
Per my Dad’s wishes outlined in his will, the estate is getting ready to list the house for sale. This involves cleaning out the contents, making sure things are in order, etc. My aunt and uncle have been handling most of this and quite frankly I am very appreciative of their efforts.

Since it was most likely the last time I would be in the house that I grew up in, I took a few moments to reflect and remember the good memories I have of living in that house. We had moved into the house the night before my first day of fourth grade. Dad had been building the house for two or three years prior to our moving in; the house wasn’t completed that first night we slept there. I remember Mom not having a stove at the time (it was on back order), so she was making everything in an electric skillet.

This room was my bedroom. The carpet is original to the house, the walls are lighter than the matching green paint that was chosen for me shortly before we moved in. The ceiling fan was added long after I had moved out on my own.

So many memories in that room. My Yorx stereo with recordable 8-track deck, messing around with my first computer, looking at a magazine that I didn’t dare let anyone in my family know that I had (it wasn’t porn, it was actually Army recruitment literature. There, I said it.) I didn’t really get too emotional when I walked into the room and saw it in the state that it was currently in. I appreciated the moment for what it was.

Earl and I loaded a couple of things into the pickup truck we had borrowed from his work for the occasion. We have two small pieces of furniture that match our house in a very natural way.

I walked the property, visiting the barn that my father had built in the 90s. The barn still smells new. It’s where he finished building the plane that he ultimately flew for his very last flight. I didn’t know a lot about that plane but I know that he was excited to build it.

Going through some of the stuff in the garage I did find the checklist that he used for the 1940 J-5A that he had restored in the early 1980s. The checklist was my contribution. It was typed by me on a manual Smith-Corona typewriter. I remember typing two identical copies up for him as if it were yesterday.

After gathering the few things we wanted from the house, I decided to walk the front half of the back eight acres. The property is actually 10 acres, with the front two being the site of the house and the lawn. The remaining eight is bisected by railroad tracks that aren’t nearly as busy as they used to be.

The woods were my domain when I was a teenager and I was always outside on some sort of personal adventure whenever the weather permitted. Being the road geek that I am, I had a “road map” of the woods laid out in my head and I even marked these imaginary roads with paper road signs. My geekiness hasn’t died off as I’ve grown older. I loved those woods, and I thought it was appropriate to go for one more walk.

Dad built this bridge over a swampy area around 10 years ago. While starting to show its age, I think the bridge is still holding up well. The path leading up to either end is barely discernible, but I was able to find my way. I guess the road map in my head still lives on. Dad’s paths followed my trampled down paths from years earlier.

Facing east on the railroad tracks. The tracks are actually a north-south line that runs from Syracuse to Watertown, however, a short section runs from east to west. When I was younger trains seemed to pass by every hour or two. Before my day there was a second set of tracks (as seen by the roadway on the right).

I always used this marker, which indicates that Syracuse is 41 miles away, as a guide to know where I was when I would come out of the woods and end up on the tracks. It’s about a 1/3 of the mile west of my Dad’s property but it was a good orientation beacon when I was a kid. I surprisingly jogged the distance from the far side of Dad’s property to this marker to snap this photo. I guess being in the woods helped me find my youthful energy again.

After we said our goodbyes, I told Earl that we had to make a run into town before heading home. We stopped at the Byrne Dairy in the center of town where we both enjoyed a chocolate milk.

All in all it was a good day today. I have been going through old yearbooks that I inherited from my Dad’s estate this evening. I never knew that my grandmother had collected yearbooks for many years and they are in pristine condition. Kinda cool.

7 September 2013 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 2

Move.

So this morning Earl was up before sunrise so he could head off to the Hudson Valley for a business meeting. I woke up with him and took a look at the weather: it was clear and the sky was gorgeous, but it was cold at 38ºF. When it’s that cold it’s a little too chilly for cycling. I have gone on bike rides when it’s been that cold but I haven’t enjoyed the experience.

Besides, the warm blankets were feeling extra awesome this morning.

Since I had slept like a rock* and I was feeling great, albeit all comfy, I knew I had to get myself out of bed and do something that resembled exercise in lieu of my planned bike ride. I didn’t really have time to head to the gym and back before work so I opted to go for a walk instead.

I bundled myself up with sweat pants and a couple of layers of shirts and ended up walking for about 45 minutes this morning. The sunrise was beautiful, the air was crisp and though it was chilly, it wasn’t bad walking (versus having the breeze from cycling in my face). It was a wonderful experience and I feel like my day got off to a good start.

I need to remember this more often. While staying in bed snuggled up in the blankets is perfectly fine for the moment, and I will certainly opt for that from time to time, in the context of the entire day, getting a bit of exercise to get things going is certainly worthwhile.

Tomorrow’s forecast won’t be as autumn like so I’ll probably ride again in the morning. But this morning’s walk was certainly enjoyable.

6 September 2013 by J.P. Fitness. Fun and Games Dept 2

Outgoing.

So beginning on the first of this month I decided to take the 30 days of September to build a new habit. I was inspired by Matt Cutts from Google and his TED talk on trying something new for 30 days.

[ted id=1183]

I am trying to say something nice to a complete stranger at least once a day for 30 days. It could be a friendly smile, wave and greeting as we pass by in the mall, I could compliment a waiter or waitress on their demeanor or I might tell someone in an elevator that they look quite nice today. I am doing this for 30 days for a couple of reasons: 1. I need to break out of my comfort zone a little bit, 2. I want to send a positive vibe by sharing positive conversations with others, with the hope that the recipient will pay it forward and 3. believe it or not, I’m a little shy when it comes to talking with strangers. I’m not comfortable talking on the phone and while I am good at filling “dead air” with random chatter, I’m not really that good at making small talk.

Five days into this challenge and I’m feeling I’m making progress. Just a few moments ago I waved to a man getting into his car simply because he had a SU jersey on. He waved back. I said “Go SU!”. I refrained from jumping up and doing a split in the parking lot because I didn’t want to ruin my work slacks. I’m not that much of a cheerleader anyways.

I’m thinking I like the idea of this 30 day challenge and I’m already thinking of what my challenge could be in October. I’m finding this challenge to inspiring.

And inspiration is always good.

5 September 2013 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 2

Mid Week Dance.

Dance with me on this hump day!

From 1987 when she teamed up with Stock, Aiken and Waterman (Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue) here’s “Shattered Glass” by Laura Branigan.

4 September 2013 by J.P. DJ 2

Pensive.

I am in a bit of a mood today. It’s not the best of mood that I am in and I kind of feel bad about that. I’m not feeling like my usually feisty/angry/frustrated self when I’m batting around this kind of mood, but rather I’m feeling pensive. Analytical. Disappointed.

For the past 20 minutes I’ve been trying to write a blog entry about my mood and I just can’t do it. I guess what I’m feeling today is better suited for my personal diary and meditative efforts.

So here are some things to smile about:

1. It is a gorgeous day in Central New York. Autumn is quickly approaching and the leaves are changing color to dress themselves for the season. I’m looking forward to some crisp cool weather for cycling this weekend.

2. My husband always makes me smile and today he brought home lunch so we could enjoy our lunch hour together. Jamie always makes us smile and he phoned during lunch to make sure we were having a good day.

3. Earl and I have little in the way of plans this weekend outside of cleaning up the house and reorganizing our existence a little bit. The whirlwind of travel over the past month has slightly scattered things and quite frankly I’m looking forward to home time this weekend.

4. For one that could theoretically claim that he is halfway through his life, I’m feeling good physically. My prime might not meet the charted ideals, but I’m feeling good, comfortable in my own skin and overall just feeling “prime”.

The glum feeling that plagued the beginning of this blog entry is lifting. Maybe I just needed to think about the good things for a few moments.

4 September 2013 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 1

Pedestrian

A few years ago, Earl and I went to Dublin to attend the wedding of my brother- and sister-in-law. When we arrived in Dublin and made our way to the city center, I had an immediate sense of familiarity, even though that my first occasion to leave the North American continent. There was something that felt very comfortable, very grounding. It just felt right. Somewhat surprised at this, I realized that among other things, Dublin was a very pedestrian friendly city. People were walking about the city center. It was a very normal, standard, everyday thing but I was struck by the number of people walking around.

Now, naturally I don't need to travel off of North America to experience this. The United States, while a very automotive-centric society, still has millions of people walking their city streets at any given moment. However, being in a foreign land and thus having my senses heightened a bit, I was more aware of my need to be able to walk.

Living in a relatively rural area of Upstate New York doesn't really afford me the opportunity to enjoy an urban stroll. Even to get to the closest Dunkin' Donuts is a mile walk along a county route that has no facilities for pedestrians aside from a small shoulder wedged between the pavement and a four-foot deep drainage ditch. The posted speed limit on the route is 45 MPH but that is rarely obeyed or enforced. The bright side is, cycling is a no-brainer in this area, but walking can be a challenge.

Spending the Labor Day holiday weekend in Chicago has given me the opportunity to do a lot of walking. We are walking everywhere and if we are not walking we are utilizing mass transit. Luckily my cyclist legs are enjoying this change in exercise without complaining too much. I know that I am enjoying this change of pace immensely. The idea of walking to Starbucks or to the market or to the Apple store or wherever is highly appealing to me.

I know that if my husband and I relocate we have to move to a place that affords us a much better pedestrian experience. While there are many things that I love about living in rural Upstate New York, there are many things that we miss out on, including the experience of not having to drive any and everywhere.

I think one of the things that might be plaguing the general health of Americans is the reliance on our automobiles. And now that I think about it, not only does it plague our own personal health, but it's affecting our environment and it isolates us from being around other people. I think an important element of a strong society is being a society that spends time physically around one another. Even in the carpool lane, our cars isolate us.

Relocating to a specific urban center would have to feel right for us and our adventure this weekend has shown me that one of the things I need is to be in a place that is very pedestrian friendly.

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