Working out in the office

Last year I developed a nice little bodyweight routine. Then I got away from it. Partly that's because I wanted to get back into running. When I started working again and had to deal with time constraints, the strength routine went by the wayside. In an attempt to get things going again, I started doing pushups at work. I started with 10, then 20, then 30 at a time. Now my first set is usually 40, which I hadn't been able to do without stopping for years.

This week I wanted to incorporate some more exercises. I was inspired by an article I read that described the four basic movements: push, pull, squat, and hinge. Searching via Google brought up articles mentioning more basic movements. The squat is ubiquitous, and something that is easily done at work, so added it to my routine. But what else can I do?

I saw an article from Inc and another from Forbes. The four basic movements reminded me of Stronglifts, but I have to remind myself that it's okay to do exercises that don't work multiple muscle groups. So here's my office list so far:

Stair Climbing (But the three floors to my office aren't enough to count)
Pushups
Squats
Dips
Magic Carpet Ride
Calf Raises

Maybe don't be yourself

I've always thought that be yourself was terrible advice, but I came across an article about that very thing. From Leah Finnegan in The Outline. Maybe at some point I'll add some of my own reasons that differ from the ones in the article, but for now, I just wanted to capture it.

Hurricanes

We were always forgetting which Hurricanes were when, so I finally looked it up.

Hurricane Katrina: August 2005. Hit New Orleans.
Hurricane Rita: September 2005. Hit Port Arthur.
Hurricane Ike: September 2008.  Hit Houston.

Obviously more places were affected, I just didn't feel like capturing them all.

I totally forgot that Katrina and Rita were back to back.

Scholarly reflection

I'm taking a class where I am supposed to submit a reflection on each week's reading assignments. Almost all of the online classes have been this way, but it seems that this professor wants a bit more than the previous ones. He mentioned scholarly reflection, so I decided to Google it. I came across the following pages:

Reflection Tip sheet from the International Institute for Restorative Practices. It starts off by saying that it isn't a summary or a stream of consciousness mind dump. Many of my papers have definitely been the latter. But it is the "identification of the main themes of the readings integrated with your classroom experience and how both affect your thinking and practice." I think of identification of the main themes as a summary. I think that's what's been throwing me off.

But I do get how it says it's my opportunity to demonstrate that I've grasped the material and to explain how it may affect my thinking and practice.

How to Write a Reflection Paper by Trent University. What is the thesis? What is the evidence? What ideas stood out to me?

From RMIT University: Writing an Academic Reflection.

• Write using a detailed plan for each reflection: describe, interpret, evaluate and plan for future application.

• Write the body paragraphs containing one main idea (interpreting and evaluating the insight) stated in the topic sentence. Other sentences explain, support and give detail, with evidence from research and/or examples. Integrate theory and include references as you go. Expect to write a number of drafts. 

And directly from the professor:
What are the central themes?
What are arguments?
What's at stake?
Why are these things important?
What are they failing to see?
Do you agree or disagree and why?
How do their arguments work or not work?
What are they not considering, or not considering fully?
Do their conclusions not follow from their premises?

Practical AI

I've been saying that I was going to delve into AI. I started looking into some of the free courses when I was in Tampa, but I didn't stick with it. Honestly, I probably won't really realistically work on something like that until I'm done with my current studies. But maybe next year...

Anyway, I got a work email from SkillSoft Books about their latest releases, and this one caught my eye:

Mastering Machine Learning with Python in Six Steps: A Practical Implementation Guide to Predictive Data Analytics Using Python, Second Edition by Manohar Swamynathan

Apress © 2019 (457 pages)

ISBN: 9781484249468

Your practical guide to moving from novice to master in machine learning with Python 3 in six steps, this book covers fundamental to advanced topics gradually helping beginners become worthy practitioners.

I'll have to come back to that...

My chin and neck

I started shaving when I joined the Army at age 17. I'm not sure when the color of the skin on my chin and neck started changing, but it did. I vaguely recall having more of the symptoms of pseudofolliculitis barbae, specifically the bumps, but that hasn't really been a problem in recent memory, even though I shave daily. But the discoloration remains.

I started making inquiries in the Army about this, since healthcare was free. I got creams in Maryland, but they weren't effective. When I got to Korea, the thought process was to stop the hair from growing, so I wouldn't have to shave, which hopefully would allow the skin to heal. I got laser treatment, and the hair stopped growing, but the skin didn't recover.

During my last conversation with the dermatologist, he said that there were devices that could probably help, but he didn't have one in Tampa. He mentioned picosecond lasers, nanosecond (q switch) lasers , and non-ablative resurfacing lasers. These lasers are used for tattoo removal. He figured those would remove my pigmentation too, but he said the last one was probably questionable on the neck.

They had one of these devices in San Antonio, but I didn't pursue trying to have it done through the Army when I learned that it wasn't super expensive. Less than $1000. I found a place in Tampa called Erasable that did the work. I contacted them via email, but never followed through on it. Now that I'm back in Houston, maybe eventually I'll have the procedure. Maybe not.

Storytelling through media

Human beings used to tell stories. We transmitted our history orally. We shared who we were as a people through storytelling.

We still tell stories, but now we tell them differently. They aren't transmitted orally anymore, at least not directly. We use media to tell stories. Books and magazines. Movies and television shows. And for the last two decades or so, we use social media.

One benefit of social media that I hadn't seen until now is the ability to allow ordinary people to tell stories again. The printing press was revolutionary, but it limited who could tell stories. Not everyone can write a book. The bar is even higher when it comes to movies and television. But telling stories via social media is something that almost anyone can do. There's still the question of access. You have to have a device that can connect to the internet and have access to the internet itself. And you have to know how to use those things in order to share your message. But those barriers are much more easily overcome than to have a movie produced.

There's also the question of who will listen, and how you get people to listen. But that's a separate issue.