Daily 5 Minute Journal - Jan. 6, 2016

Health

Blood Sugar seems to be improving slowly (97 at 9 AM, 100 at lunch and 89 at dinner). I'm trying to get my blood sugar < 90. My weight down to 163.8.  I'm trying to follow closely the ExcelDiet.com which I've tried a number of times in the last year but failed. The diet uses the acronym (MEAT)

• Measure
• Enter
• Adjust
• Talk

I measured and entered but didn't adjust and talk about it. The key is to be very aware of whether I'm above or below my goal and to adjust based on that. 

I was drinking Bulletproof coffee for a while but it didn't really work. The drink is about 500 calories for 2 cups and I was usually still hungry. 

Today I skipped my usual 6 mile walk because I'm ahead of my goal. I'm considering having ice cream if my family wants it.  

Work

Work has been a little more interesting as I've started working more with some new tools:

• Tableau
• MapR

Tableau is a dashboard system that takes data and creates interactive dashboards and MapR is a system that managed Big Data. 

A strange thing I noticed today is that we hired a new employee who is black. My co-worker is black and she hired another person who is black. It just seems odd to me that her group has 3 blacks in it. I guess people will hire people who are like them.  Many years ago I noticed the same thing in a department at a finance firm where all the employees and the manager was black. I feel more connected to them than to the foreigners at work which are either Indian Chinese or Russian. They're all very nice people, though I dislike when the Indians eat in our lunch room and talk in Hindi, makes me feel excluded.

One annoying thing at work is I can't load software to my computer. I have to learn this software but until it's officially approved can't use it. This really sucks.  

Happy and Depressed

I'm a little down from the short days, long nights and cold weather in NY.  When I walk my dog no one is out, it's very quiet.  I've been enjoying my older son being home from college as we've been playing chess and watching Curb Your Enthusiasm. 

Idea

To day on my phone I can say "OK Google" and it allows me to talk to it. I asked "What song is this?" and then whistled 2 songs. It wasn't able to guess it, but it should have asked me if I knew and then improved it's guessing via these types of "training sessions."

Goals

My month's goal is to weigh < 160. I've also have some goals from previous months, to declutter and to lower my blood sugar.

September 7th, 2015

I woke up at 7:00 AM today. Yesterday I went to a dog beach with my wife and dog. Worked on Listi.net conversion. Ran a blood sugar test.

Blood Sugar

Had pizza for dinner. One slice of Buffalo chicken. My blood sugar (bs) hit 166 but may have gone higher. I thought I could have pizza but not candy or sweets. The problem is once I have pizza it sets me off to seek out other great tasting food. My wife went to the ice cream store 16 Handles but I didn't buy anything. I'm so glad. I tried to do so weight lifting, curls and presses and it didn't seem to lower my blood sugar. I was going to test my bs but I thought it was too high at 109. I'll wait 1/2 hour so it comes down before I test a Zone bar.

Listi.Net

Worked on Listi.net conversion to SQL Server and can finally see lists. Ran into issue with bit vs. boolean values, but resolved it by changing the code.

Excel Diet

Got a new user yesterday and was reading through the book. It's not that bad. I'm thinking of printing out a copy of it. I've been afraid to reach out to users and follow up with them. So far only one user reached out to me and I assume he failed his diet. 

I've stalled on my weight loss as I weighed 165 today, due to the Buffalo pizza yesterday.

Wisdom of a Dad

This project has stalled while I'm upgrading Listi.net. My next goal is to proofread the book but this is a daunting task as to the size of the book. You can see my progress at WisdomOfADad.com. 

Home Chores

Desk is pretty messy, I have to clean the poop and do the yard, boxes of stuff, garage.

Fun

This may be the most important goal of all. You want to have longevity and $ so you can have fun. I'm still looking for ways to have more fun. I like blogging but am not getting enough feedback to make it enjoyable. 

Problems are opportunities

I now have experience converting from access to sql server maybe a business possibility?

Overdue books. I keep running into this and could use a better/easier way to add books to some mechanism of reminding me to renew them.

Writing the book WOAD has been difficult and this could be a business or I could develop a tool to assist with the issues. 

Blogger doesn't support shortcut keys.

Could use a system to better analyze and improve my tweets to get more clicks on Twitter.com, 

• What times are the best?
• What copy gets the most tweets?
• What if I do some A/B testing

My website getting a 500 error means there's an issue with the code. This is very difficult to find. I wish I had better version control and could easily identify what changes I make and to easily go back to a previous version.

Book

I'm reading 2 books:

1. $100 Startup (reread)
2. The Power of Now

Key Principle

Today's key principle is Time Balance. 

Liking

Shortcuts in Excel. Learning from Blood Sugar Meter.

Aug. 30, 2015

Health

Blood Sugar 97. Drinking Bulletproof coffee for breakfast. 

News

• Dr. Wayne Dyer, self-help guru passes away at age 75
• Bernie Sanders gains on Hilary Clinton in primaries for Presidential nomination
• Sheriff gets shot. A lot of shootings in the news

Excel Diet

Find a way to get below 160 lbs. Figure out why diet hasn't been working.

Listi.net

Work on getting tables created in SQL Server. I decided to find an automated way to do it instead of creating tables manually. This isn't easy as it's been 2 hours working on this. 

1. Download SSMA for Access 6.0.0.exe
2. Download and install Sql server express 2014 
1. I do the above but I don't see how to run sql server express or do anything.
3. Annoyance: I install the MSI in step 2 but don't know what to do next
4. SFA (So Fucken Annoying) trying to install .net Framework
5. Computer acting strange
1. My "Logger" software is having issues now, WTF, so
2. Shortcut not working to start it
3. Had to kill program from taskmgr
6. Decided to manually recreate the tables
7. 
   

$
How much time do I spend pursuing money?

WOAD - Wisdom of a Dad

Proofread book plan. This seems to be a daunting task.

My writing needs improvement.

I want to proofread the book and turn it into a book on tape.

Idea

Process to create a book using FTAD method

1. Write one article on a topic
2. Store ideas for articles
3. After 10 articles, create a small book with the information
4. Use top/down, bottom/up or hybrid of both methods

Home

1. Fix Hole in bathroom
2. Clean desk

Terrorism and Random Murders

How big of a problem is this vs. other problems.

Random killing by people instead of lightning, animals, accidents. It's preventable? 

Dogs

Do dogs get mosquito bites? Yes and can get Heartworm from them.

Problems/Ideas

I'm trying to upgrade my Microsoft Access DB to SQL Server and it's a PITA (Pain in the Ass). Have a method to do this easily. Too many decisions, perquisites. Just have an install button and check whatever is needed then allow to install by default.

Book

The $100 Startup. 

I read this book awhile ago and now to look at my highlights and implement what the author says. I read a lot of nonfiction books but don't take enough action. 

This is a great title. It tells me that for $100 I can start a business. 

Maybe I could learn something from the author as he wrote a book and what questions would I ask him

Cover

The cover has 4 sections

1. Title
1. 2 words with "the"
2. Centered
3. Red
4. Caps
2. Subtitle
1. Uses 2 colors
3. Picture
1. Red "Pee-wee Herman Bicycle with money bag on rear carrier
4. Author's name
1. Caps
2. Red
5. Background 
1. Off-white
2. Black thick border