Author: robertjames1971

I'm wicked tall.

Bed Time

Daily writing prompt
What time do you go to bed and wake up currently?
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I have been hyper aware of this for the last few years. Ever since I started sleep apnea therapy I have gone a little nuts keeping track of my sleep.

Ideally I would go to bed at around 10:00pm and wake up around 6:00am. There literally aren’t enough hours in the day though so that rarely happens.

Realistically, I got to bed at 11:00pm, or even a little after. Jen has an alarm set on our Amazon Echo for 6:00, but I have one set on my Apple Watch for 5:00am. Most mornings I hit snooze for nearly an hour, but I would prefer not to. Six hours of sleep isn’t really enough, but it gets the job done for me most nights.

Checking my sleep stats from last night, I went to sleep at 11:05pm and woke up at 5:45am. I was also awake from 4:40 to 4:50am as I needed to pee. I was asleep for 6.5 hours, 74% of which was in restful sleep. My sleeping heart rate dip was 19% and my average sleeping heart rate was 52 beats per minute. My sleep distruption was 2.5%, or 10 minutes.

Like I said… I’ve been sort of hyper focused on this for about four years now.

Work Anniversary

I almost forgot about this one. Fortunately I am a nerd and added it as a recurring date on my Google calendar many years ago. Today is a noteworthy day, but this date next year will be a much more important occasion.

On this date, July 12, in the year 2004 I started a new job. 19 years later, I’m still here. 19 years, one promotion, countless reorganizations, one wedding, one house purchase, two high school graduations, one college graduation (and counting), one ridiculously invasive stomach surgery, and one continuing global pandemic later, and I am still here.

My 19th workaversary is a big deal, but my 20th next year… that will be a big deal. We’ll see what happens in the meantime. For now at least, go have a piece of cake or something to celebrate for me. You know, have the kind of sugary thing that I can’t eat anymore in honor of me not getting sacked at all over the last 19 years.

Lame Photo-a-Day Day

The whole photo a day challenge thing gets pretty lame on the one day per week I work in the office. It’s usually just a picture from the highway, or from the parking lot at work, or of my desk, or something lame like that.

315/365
315/365
I took this with my Coolpix, but remotely via my iPhone… just because

What Strategies Do You Use to Increase Comfort in Your Daily Life?

Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to increase comfort in your daily life?
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Huh? The eff?

Did ChatGPT come up with this question? Strategies to increase comfort? Who talks like that?

The answer? Who the hell knows? I don’t know that I do anything to increase comfort. Do I answer this literally? When I am cold I put on a coat. When my stomach is empty I have a bite to eat. What other strategies do you need?

What about figurative answers? I try not to be an asshole. I fail at that all the time, but when I don’t I guess my daily life is more comfortable.

This question is pretty terrible. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s question makes more sense. That’d be a nice change.

2023 50/90 Challenge Day 7 & 8/90

The recap of day seven is simple. I didn’t do anything. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

Day eight is a little more interesting. I’ve already written about most of it. I put vocals on five songs this morning while Jen was out of the house. The performances are all pretty crappy. Almost as bad as the lyrics and the melodies. The only other thing I accomplished today was coming up with the 12th new song idea. Super simple, but it has the complete song form.

Tomorrow is a work from the office day so there isn’t much chance of making any progress before work, unless I can manage to get out of bed ridiculously early. I won’t have much time after work either. I may be shut out on day nine the same way I was on day seven.

Lunch Break in the Back Yard

Just sharing a couple of scenes from the back yard today, while I was cooking a hamburger on the grill.

First, there is a bird living in this bird house! Jen and I have both seen it!

DSCN3622

Second, Robin still does not know how to deal with me being outside. She freaks out when I talk to her through the window.

DSCN3623

Also, that window is super dirty. I should hose it down.

Works in Progress Playlist

I do this every time I do a music project like 50/90. I create a playlist on some music sharing site that is made up of works in progress. Quick rough mixes of whatever I have in the pipeline at any given time.

I start these things and then never update them and never listen to them and never do anything with them… but I still set them up for some unknown reason.

Here’s this summer’s 50/90 works in progress playlist.

Morning Music

Raise your hand if you put vocals onto five songs this morning before work.

*Robert raises his hand*

I didn’t need to hide in the car. I did it at my desk in the cellar. Five songs with vocals. That’s 10% of the 50/90 goal. Not bad, red head.

314/365
314/365