Here are some selected photos for 11-17 February 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Personal Update 201702 | 11 February 2017 | Saturday
Greetings,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.
In my work-life over the past 30 years, what has always driven me is the desire to help as many people as possible. Not for the sake of greater earnings, but in seeking greater positive impact. In fact, when I get really busy, with so many support requests in a day, I often don’t have time to bill out all my time. There are just too many emails, text messages, phone calls, and other encounters to keep track of and not enough time in the day to generate invoices. So, typically only the more time consuming support calls are billed out.
I’ve rarely said ‘no’ to a support request. During times of peak demand, this means staying up late and cutting back on my personal life to keep up with the needs of others.
I’ve looked at time tracking apps that might help in this regard, and began using one of the best available. Yet, even the most efficient of these creates administrative overhead and a costly drain on time. I found that I’d rather just skip billing people, and move on to help the next person in need.
With this in mind, one of my goals this year is to help fewer people and spend more quality time with each one.
As a result, here’s what I hope to have time for in the year ahead:
In addition to the tech support related items listed above, I’m also interested in expanding on my consumer advocacy work, photography, music composition, public speaking, and pursuing my wellness goals.
As you can see, there’s a lot I want to bring back into my regular monthly schedule.
This month I’m expanding my wellness goals. I’ve been committing to a daily workout that includes 20 minutes of strength training, a 20 minute elliptical cardio workout, and about 20 minutes of bike riding. This month, I want to add back into my daily routine a 20 minute morning yoga and meditation practice along with a 20 minute walk-hike each morning. I’m hopeful this additional activity will help me reach my overall wellness goals faster.
For the past few years I’ve been using an Internet-connected scale that measures body weight and body fat. The scale can upload the data to an online service where it can be displayed in table or chart format. However, these systems are becoming less reliable due to massive global hacking of Internet connected devices. There are now delays, sometimes of several days, before data shows up online. This could be due to security countermeasures in place. Whatever the cause, these expensive devices become less useful if the data no longer shows up online in realtime.
This month I’m switching back to using a more sophisticated full-body composition analysis system that measures body weight, percent body fat, percent of body weight that is water, percent body weight that is muscle, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), bone density (bone weight), and visceral fat rating. This data is used to calculate overall physical fitness (on a scale from 1-9) as well as Metabolic Age. By collecting this data daily, it’s possible to more precisely map and track progress.
Each week I post some of my favorite photos from the week in a series of weekly Featured Photos. In recent weeks, these photos have all been taken with my iPhone 7 Plus. In the future, I hope to get back to taking higher quality photos with some of my other cameras.
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
~ Greg
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Want More News? For additional news and updates you can subscribe to the Resources For Life Newsletter by sending an email to resourcesforlifenews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 17 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.
Here are some selected photos for 4-10 February 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Here are some selected photos for 21-27 January 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Here are some selected photos for 14-20 January 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Personal Update 201701 | 17 January 2017 | Tuesday
Greetings,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my latest update.
For many years I was a year-round cyclist. Then after spending two years living and working downtown in Iowa City, I stopped riding as much. After that, since the summer of 2011, living on a bus route made it tempting to just let someone else do the driving on rainy days or during cold icy snowstorms. So, I transitioned to becoming a recreational fair-weather cyclist.
Heading into this winter, I decided to return to bicycling year-round. This required outfitting my bicycle with some special modifications. [Read More]
As a teenager, I became aware of leaders and role models who were influencers for social good: Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, Nelson Mandela, Ralph Nader, and others before them like Gandhi.
It seems that the more successful activists chose peaceful and creative ways to get their message across and build public support for their message.
Today there’s a troubling rise of confrontational and violent activism among right wing and left wing activists. I’m concerned that civility and some important social values may get lost in the noise.
With that in mind, I wrote Counterproductive Activism: How Direct Action Protests Could Harm the Progressive Movement in America. It’s an essay about how peaceful and respectful freedom of expression is more effective for anyone trying to get a message across. [Read More]
We we’re moving into a new year, I’m reflecting on last year and planning ahead for how I can be more effective at everything I’m doing. My main focus this coming year will be to continue to refine and improve my technology consulting business, as well as staying focused on health and wellness.
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
~ Greg
__________
Want More News? For additional news and updates you can subscribe to the Resources For Life Newsletter by sending an email to resourcesforlifenews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 17 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.
For many years I was a year-round cyclist. Then after spending two years living and working downtown in Iowa City, I stopped riding as much. After that, since the summer of 2011, living on a bus route made it tempting to just let someone else do the driving on rainy days or during cold icy snowstorms. So, I transitioned to becoming a recreational fair-weather cyclist.
Heading into this winter, I decided to return to bicycling year-round. This required outfitting my bicycle with some special modifications.
One of the first things I noticed when bicycling in sub-zero temperatures was that the shifting mechanism for my bike would freeze up. I was able to get a special double-sleve shifting cable. This means the shifting cable goes through a sealed cable that is inside another cable. So, the shifting is smooth and responsive in extreme conditions.
Very low windchill temperatures are especially severe on a bicycle. If you’re riding into the wind, frostbite conditions happen much faster. Dermatologists use liquid nitrogen to burn and remove skin. The procedure is painful. That’s how unprotected skin feels in high winds and sub-zero temperatures. So, it’s important to be well covered and insulated.
In the winter, I tend to carry more things with me. On my bike ride to the gym, I need to pack my exercise shoes separately, and wear winter boots for my ride. So, I purchased some oversized side-bags for my rear bike rack. These are also helpful at any time of the year when needing to carry extra items.
With icy roads, normal bike tires may not have the necessary traction, so I had some winter tires put on my bike. They have silica embedded in the rubber. The gritty sand in the tires, along with softer than normal rubber, helps ensure better control on slick roads.
With all of these upgrades, I’m now able to venture out in just about any weather. As a result, I’m enjoying the outdoors more, and taking some photos I might not otherwise have taken. Bike riding is also great for promoting health and wellness.
Here are some selected photos for 7-13 January 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Here are some selected photos for 31 December 2016 – 6 January 2017. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. Hover over any image for captions if available.
Here are some selected photos for December 24-30. Click any image for a larger gallery view which also includes information about the camera and settings used. The Prisma App for iPhone was used for some of these photos. Hover over any image for captions if available.
