A few Measly Steps a Day #2

Bit by bit, I'm bringing my attention to Right Now. Stuff's gotten done! Windows installed and paid for and our rebate received and spent. Cousins have come and gone. My turns leading 2 different discussion groups are behind me. No work service, no board service.

For the moment, it's quite quiet. Well, 'cept for a bit of dental work, dealing with savings bonds my mom left us, some tardy owners who haven't paid their increases, a pile of dirt next to our dumpster which needs to be shoveled out, a car which needs washing, and papers to shift through to see if I want to send any to the shredders, a movie to watch for this week's chat, and another that's due in 2 days, … and ... and.

Yup, quite quiet.

Todos:

• dental work DONE
• dealing with savings bonds my mom left us BEGUN
• some tardy owners who haven't paid their increases NOT YET
• shoveling a pile of dirt next to our dumpster DONE
• a car which needs washing TODAY?
• papers to shift through IN PROCESS
• a movie to watch TONITE?

After a blistering few days today is overcast an cool. Perfect for being active ... washing the car. Which brings me to loving chores? Aren't chores to be left unloved and quickly abandoned if offer a chance, or eased out of? Ask Tom Sawyer.

Did find a podcast on loving laundry from a man who started with a memory of being 2.5 y.o and being handed a clothes pin by his grand mom. Then at three he got a toy washing machine for his birthday. Went on to great careers with big brands before launching Laundry Bootcamp (i think that's the name) and springboarding into his own thang.

As a teen, I read Peg Bracken's "I hate ... " series beginning with I hate to housekeep. Maybe I've been misled?
Revu2

I thought Tom Sawyer evoked a love of chores so that others would pay him to do them for him

Anyway, the Buddhist would say, "What comes after enlightenment? Laundry." And I do like doing laundry, the washing and drying, the folding and the putting away. But I'm one of those folks who discovered during COVID that he has too many clothes, so I've been having trouble with the putting away part. The only chore I dislike is washing the bathtub and shower because it's such a strain on my back. I usually wash it while I'm taking shower.

Cooler, dry weather came, so this morning I was able to remove a lot of the branches from the huge cherry tree that fell a few weeks ago.

And I'm trying to heal a tick bite on two toes. The oral antibiotic seems to keep the infection and swelling from spreading to my instep. It's not helping the toes themselves, so I need to keep up the hot soaks and topical antibiotic.

If this makes no sense, it might be because I'm pretending to listen to my wife complain about people she sends cards to not getting them.

The only chore I really enjoy is cooking. As for laundry, dishes, etc. - a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. or a woman as in my case.

I have interesting chores on my plate. Four feral cats showed up in my back yard. My friends down the block are involved with "Fix our Ferals" so they're helping me catching the cats and having them fixed. They are both sick with lyme (the women, not the cats) disease and about five other horrible diseases ( one that's the result of a cat scratch or a cat bite).


Also, at our church we are having an Octoberfest spaghetti feed, and I'm supplying sing-along/karaoke. Last year was a flop. We couldn't get the karaoke machine working. Today, I went down to the church, and my friend and I got everything working. So, hopefully, this year will be better. We had fun singing - well, we had to test it all out, didn't we?


Next job - I made some mini boxes (3 inches long) with mini birds or butterflies on fake grass, rocks, and fake flowers. I made 24 of them. I loved it. So yesterday, Lois asked me if I'd make 80 of them. I said, "sure, no problem" 80 boxes - it might be a problem.


Also, I'm leading a class on Ikebana - that's Japanese flower arranging. (just a few people - about eight,)

Have I taken on too much?????????

Here goes nothing.
Oh, and I've finished proofing my book, and I'm going to publish either today or tomorrow.



This follows a period of total bordome when I had next to nothing going.

Ha, I was curious how fat MSF allows a thread to get. Now I have a better idea.

Where am I ...
> a car which needs washing DONE
> papers to shift through IN PROCESS
> a movie to watch DONE

And more just keep rolling in.

Companies missing their chances. Via State Farm, I saw an offer for a US Bank credit card. Part of their seduction was up to 5% off our premiums if paid with the card. Applied, and in under 30 seconds I was turned down! My credit score is 813, my mortgage is fully paid. What nerve.

I also have put my credit reports on "freeze" but they could have coded for this to trigger a reminder to remove the block and that they would retry in X number of hours. Don't have the patience to explain how they can better run their business.

There will be more offers. Always were, always are, always will be. Amen to capitalism.

I've had two website failures just this week. Today I was trying to make a purchase from Ulta and I had to give up.

A couple of days ago I subscribed as a beneficiary of a metal health app. But when I went to link the beneficiary form to my app, they said they couldn't reconcile the donation to the app account.

It's very possible that the rejection of your "instant decision" application was due to some sort of glitch. And I'd venture to guess that it was a query to an AI server that failed to return a coherent response. (I' ve been in the mood to blame AI for everything ever since it failed to mention anything about the Listeria contamination in Boar's Head products.

But it is also possible that a credit card applicant could be rejected for having too high a credit score. The most money can be made not from the folks who pay their bills off in full every month, but who leave a balance and perhaps pay late a few times.

And speaking of credit score, obtaining another line of credit could lower yours. But you have some to spare. Mine is over 800, too.

What's the deal with "Measly Steps 2?"

No, I didn't publish.

No, I didn't catch any cats yet. It's harder than you'd think.

Depressing day, yesterday. I went to physical therapy, and my range of motion is about 20% lower than a couple of weeks ago. The therapist working with me kept saying, "Great job." Now, I'm all for positive reinforcement. I live for it. But when reality and what he says are that far apart, it feels like condescension. This happened once before. The problem cleared up when I got a different therapist.


Okay, talk to you guys later.l Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work i go.

We've reached the limit on the number of posts in the previous thread, hence MS#2

Hi measly step 2-ers,

I have several ways to "get to" a challenge. I flit among starting small and not missing a weekday (modified Seinfeld method), setting a block of minutes on a specific day and hunkering down and seeing how far I get; & setting a number of how many times to work in this "season" and getting to the challenge when I can and counting down the ticks till I reach zero and declare a "break." No time brackets for the last alternative so 1 minute or 2 hours are both just a single tick for that moment on task.

I evoke all of this because I'm facing a run of challenges around the condo that deal exclusively with owners actions or non-actions. Yuck stuff.

I propose a definition of fate as repellent challenges that there's only one person to address: you.

Hi,
R, I'm impressed with all your accomplishments.


The paperback proof of Unfamiliar Waters is coming tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I uploaded the manuscript for the ebook. Amazon AI informed me that it would be better with a table of contents, and offered links to make that happen. First try - unsuccessful. Second try - uploaded KDP's software and followed the steps to create a table of contents, and uploaded to the publisher. The table of contents was missing.

Third try - Kindle Create suggested upgrading. In a moment of stupidity, I said, "allow". It was taking forever to upload, so I cancelled it. The screen froze. I turned off the power. When I turned it back on, The frozen screen came back on. Interestingly, the rest of my computer is not affected (thank you, thank you) But I can't get rid of the Kindle Create screen. Control, alt delete doesn't do it. Turning off power doesn't do it. I can click on the k icon at the bottom, and a miniature of the Kindle Create screen pops up, but I can click on the X and it doesn't close the screen. Tried calling Amazon. They called me back on my old number and said they couldn't reach me. Tried the chat. They asked for a screen shot. Followed directions. It didn't work. Took a picture of the screen by phone. I am now working on getting that picture to my computer.


Have a nice day.

Geez, D, I've been in similar app hell spins. Not fun. Sending you hi-res vibes.

I've been thinking about how hard it's been lately to stop myself from blurting out some random recent discovery or insight and wondering if it's a style of bragging. I think it might be. I've found the definitive blog on it and will patiently work my way through on my awards/obit thread her at MSF. There are bunches with examples so this will allow a deep unraveling of this common, minor?, annoying performance. It will also alert me to catching examples from other people and especially in films I watch. Gonna be fun.

As I tread, I'll also play with an idea I've been chewing over, creating personal zines (I know now they're called perzines) as my discovered processes like awards/obits. And if I get one ready and printed, would telling people I have it fall into news or bragging?

I've noticed that when I share my life with high enthusiasm and the reactions I get in words is a slight or question or doubt about the content, but the reaction I feel in my body is they are afraid of my spirit and vim—because they let their own drain out long ago?

Yes folks are definitely afraid of us! Don't let that stop you!

Hi, all,

R, I never thought you were bragging, and I have a low tolerance for that. On this thread, we talk about our measly steps, and we check in when we've completed them. And yes, it feels wonderful to complete something that was hard to do.

Speaking of which, I spent the day at the computer and published the paperback and ebook for Unfamiliar Waters. They should be up on Amazon in a few days. And I feel happy to have finally finished them, and very tired.


Good stuff to you both. I'll yap more when I'm not tired.

Hello. Rolling up my sleeves and getting going on this. Look at my Twin Wins thread for posts and update.

Less Penguiny's definition: “Bragging is personally imposing what-you-believe-to-be-status-elevating thoughts on your audience.”

Yeah, I plead guilty.

I'm suck up "tips" articles like bon-bons. Since half of me leans in, and other other half flakes off. The lean in side must keep a step ahead of the flake off side. Never ends.

Found these tips based on the writer's journey as an adult into learning to play the drums and then jazz improvisation.

Jazz lessons for writers
In similar fashion, I made myself draft and send this essay in just a few days, so that I would not talk myself out of doing it. A little clean-up, aka editing and self-editing, came later.

Writing will always be challenging for me, but I’m hoping that “jazz drafts” will continue to instill the process with more confidence, and even some riffs of joy.

Here are some tips, inspired by my jazz journey, for making a first story draft (or other large, complicated task) less daunting:

Incremental. Set a small, specific goal.

Immediate. Give yourself an imminent deadline so you don’t have time to wonder or second-guess or calculate whether you can pull it off.

Accountable. Enlist a friend or coworker to hold you accountable.

Conversation. Real-time dialogue is a form of improv! When you don’t have someone on hand to bounce your ideas off, read your draft aloud and listen to yourself. It’s amazing how quickly rough spots jump out when spoken rather than scrolled.

Habitual. Schedule such conversations on a regular basis, for built-in accountability without requiring “initiation” energy.
* * *

Esther Landhuis (@elandhuis) is a California-based science journalist who covers biomedicine at all stages — lab discoveries, clinical trials, biotech, healthcare and its intersections with law and business.

I looked up bragging on the internet. "Excessively proud and boastful talk." I think excessively is the key word here. We should be able to talk about our accomplishments, and get a kudo or two. If we talk about ourselves, and no one else gets to get a word in edgewise, we've overdone it. It's especially bragging, if we know we're making the other person/s feel bad.

Re feral cats. We trapped one kitten and got her spayed. After that, I attracted ants and a skunk, but no cats. I'm taking a break to re-evaluate. I'll put the cat food in the middle of a dish of water, Karen will spray the area with flea spray, and I'm putting lights on outside to see who is showing up at nighttime. Also, I slipped one day and didn't remove the cat food by dusk (because I was lazy), hence the skunk. I'm also, cleaning out some of the brush that has grown around the yard because It attracts the nocturnal critters.

"Through Unfamiliar Waters" second edition is published. Yay!

D: "
"Through Unfamiliar Waters" second edition is published. Yay!"

One of the tips re: bragging, is track who cares and limit your good news to those people. I care, this list cares, so, Double Yay on getting this project into the world.

Aside: The current Brag I'm sitting with is the "Expertease Brag." I'm so guilty because I'm about to do it.

Getting this DONE and launched reminds me of Billy Collins's

Envoy

Go, little book,
out of this house and into the world.

carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
and far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out as late as you like,
don't bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.

Hi ya'll. My dive into patterns of bragging is working its charms. I'm more attentive and calmer in group settings. I'm finding I can delight with an introduction and chat and a quip that people laugh at. I ask more questions and get genuinely excited about what I can learn from the other person.

We had a movie actress among the poetry audience last night. I wasn't familiar with her credits, meaning, I hadn't seen the movies. But I did have a production question. Which she answered for me.

Progress. I'm up to #8 out of 17. But the original blogger can't count. He lists 20 styles, counting the 4 sub-styles listed under #7 separately. So I'm at #11 of 20.

Hi, R,

My latest - I tried to lift a wheelchair into my car. Result - I wrecked my back. I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame the first day after. Much better now, but I'm babying my back. I don't want to end up unable to get out of bed.


I'm so behind on things to do. And most of them don't have anything to do with my back. Next post, I'll write up a list. Today, I just wanted to check in and say, "Hi."


Oh, I'm getting half a mouthful of new teeth. Yes, I decided to go through with the procedure. Complaints yet to come. I hope it's going to be worth it.


What else???? The feral cat project is on hold.


Fun things coming up for me: I'm teaching a class on ikebana - Japanese flower arrangement. And I'm providing karaoke and sing-a-long for our church's fundraiser. And I make little boxes with a natural-looking environment. Inside each box is a fake butterfly or a fake bird. The cool part - Our priest is a hospice chaplain. Her hospice boss asked for 80 boxes. that's a lot, but it's something I love. I finished them, and I'll take them to her office this week. Yay.


That's it for now. I keep hoping for a day full of energy. They do happen. But today wasn't one of them.

Good stuff to all of us.

Wow, @delightful, you're on a creative spurt! Good for you!