Losing a part of me

Category: Work

  • Day 1329

    I am really looking forward to getting back to a normal wake-sleep schedule after Friday. I am just over this jet-lag-at-home situation. It is not making my life a whole lot easier, and it is killing my weight management process. Of course, the fact that I cannot get the meal replacements I need will have something to do with that.

    Yes, starting Monday next week I have two straight weeks of classes in my own time zone! How glorious that will be!

    I might have gotten three hours of sleep last night… but I doubt it.

  • Day 1328

    The seasons change. Yesterday was the first day that I took Her Floofness out for her morning walk (during my lunch break, from 6:00am-7:00am) and I was genuinely chilly. Today was the same, and I prepared this morning by putting a vest on under my blazer. I was not frozen, but I recognize that the summer is waning and autumn is nigh.

    I slept yesterday afternoon! I am not sure, but I might have gotten as much as 5 hours of sleep. It was glorious. I was awake at 6:00pm, and stayed awake until midnight when I lay down for a nap. All this to say that I was pretty well rested for my class today, which is just about done.

    When I get paid for a couple of engagements that I did in August I am going to place an order for some more of those meal replacements. I am not out of them, but my first order confirmed which I like better than the others. Some of them I enjoyed immensely, which some of them I am forcing myself to choke down.

    Have a great day folks.

  • Day 1327

    The weekend was too short, but it allowed me to catch up on sleep. Friday night I clocked nearly eight hours of sleep; I woke up Saturday morning with a feeling that I did not need to be awake. I went about my morning, and then took a four hour nap. I then slept nearly seven hours Saturday night.

    Of course, that streak came to an end today, as I am back at it for another week of working in the wrong time zone. I am now looking forward to Friday, when I can sleep properly again. Next week I will be working in the North American time zone, and I am truly looking forward to it.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 1324

    I did not get nearly enough of it, but I think I got more sleep yesterday and last night than on any other night this week. I probably slept three hours in the afternoon, and then when I got back from my Lodge meeting I got another two hours. It is funny that I feel so well rested after five hours of disconnected and interrupted sleep… but that is so much more than I have had recently so my body is grateful for it.

    For those of you who are wondering, especially since this is meant to be a weight loss blog, I have stayed about the same all week… except that I have been again weighing myself at 1:00am so I might be a little better than I was at the beginning.

    Today is Friday, and I am excited for several reasons. Today is the last day of my class, tonight I should be able to get a good night sleep, and I am going to see someone this evening to play board games and enjoy their company. It should be fun. Yes, I will be home at a reasonable hour.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 1321

    As predicted, I got through the class with flying colours. My level of exhaustion is pretty high though. I tried to sleep last night but I don’t know if I really fell off into slumber. Yes, i rested – I stayed in bed for at least five hours before getting up to prepare for my class. I hope I will get some sleep this afternoon… otherwise tonight’s class will be a bit of a challenge.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 1320

    Labour Day. I am going to spend most of the day relaxing although I do have to go out in the evening. I keep my promises… even when it means that I am going to be exhausted for my class. I will get through it.

    Yes, at 1:00am I will be online ready to teach. I begin a two-week (less a day) stint of teaching my overseas classes, which will then be followed by a week of teaching in my own time zone. It will be a busy few weeks, but I am glad I will be working a lot. It keeps me out of trouble.

    I did not sleep well last night. I honestly do not know why, but I will try to get a good nap in this afternoon. I know that when I finish my class tomorrow I will be exhausted and should get a good solid few hours of sleep.

    Have a great day!

  • Day 1319

    Sunday of the long weekend, and the last day of August. Tomorrow is Labour Day, and the unofficial end of the summer. What a season it has been.

    My summer has been far more productive than I thought it would be. For one thing, I did a lot more teaching than I had expected. Yes, most of my classes are booked within a week or two before the start date, but summers are usually slow. The fact that I taught three complete week-long classes and had five more days of 1- and 3-day classes since June 30 means that it was a very productive summer. However, if we add to that the fact that I have passed four certification exams since June 15 (including three major ones) and this summer vaults to the high end of productive and successful.

    While I consider my weight loss a complete shambles, I still weigh 22 lbs. less than I did on July 1… had my supplier not run out of meal replacements I know that I would be much further ahead… but here I am. I would rather be 22 lbs. less than two months ago than exactly where I was… or worse.

    In some respects the summer was a resounding success. Do I wish my life had not fallen apart? Yes… but that had nothing to do with the summer. Life is what it is… and I am going to continue to slog along. The last three certifications that I earned – SecurityX (Advanced Security Practitioner), Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect (Expert), and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) – are going to mean a huge boost to my career; the classes that I can teach are more in demand at the higher level, and the daily rate is much higher, and when I do decide to take a job (when my whole situation starts to stabilize) I will be worth a lot (with a much higher demand). At least there’s that.

    I certainly do not have all of my ducks in a row… but at least I have a lot of them lined up. What is next? I don’t know… but one thing I can say is that my life is never boring. Just once I wish it were.

    Have a great long weekend folks.

  • Day 1317

    If you are wondering why I have been so distracted these last few days, let me assure you that it was not because I was being lazy. The following came up (one externally, one internally) since Tuesday:

    • Because I am teaching the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect course next week, I decided that I wanted the certification. A brief explanation: The course is Microsoft’s SC-100, which corresponds directly to the exam of the same number. This will be the second time that I am teaching the class, and I passed the exam a few months ago in advance of teaching it. However, after I passed the exam, I realized that I had not earned the certification – I had only passed the exam. The certification requires one of three or four other exams. Okay, that’s fine… I’d get around to it. Well, Tuesday I decided to book one of the other exams for today at noon. That exam is SC-300: Microsoft Identity and Access Administrator. I spent most of the last three days studying for that exam.
    • In the meantime, one of the training companies that I do a lot of work for called me sometime over the last couple of days and asked if I would be willing to learn another course (Cloud Security Alliance’s Certificate of Competence in Zero Trust) so that I could take the exam sometime in advance of teaching it the week after next. The courseware is only 340 pages.

    So yes, I have been working my furry little tail off. This afternoon I passed the exam (yay). One of the training brokers that I do a lot of work for had asked me five minutes before I sat down for the exam if I would send my latest curriculum vitae, and so before I did… I edited it to add this new certification, as well as the one that I earned a few weeks ago, to it.

    I had just pressed Send on the email when I saw another email come into my box. I immediately re-emailed him to tell him to delete it. After five weeks of waiting, I received at that very moment the confirmation of my ISC2 Certified Information Security Professional (CISSP) credential. I had been waiting eagerly for that, and I re-did my CV and resent the email.

    I have neither gained nor lost significant weight this week. The status quo is better than regression; next week I need to start losing weight again.

    Have a great day folks!

  • Day 1309

    I forced myself to stay awake as long as I could… which is to say until about 3:30pm. I then crawled into bed and slept for a couple of hours. As happens far too frequently, especially when I try to sleep during daylight hours, my eyes popped open a couple of hours later. I then did something that I do not usually do. Despite feeling like I was awake, and knowing that I was still exhausted, I stayed in bed. I probably got up to pee, but then I got right back into bed. I might have checked my email quickly, but I did not stay on my phone for any other purpose. I stayed in bed, and I eventually fell back asleep. While my fitness watch did not register it as such, I probably slept a full nine hours last night. It was blissful. I feel much more awake today than I have these last several days.

    These last couple of days I have eaten one of the new meal replacements for my mid-night breakfast. Aside from the fact that I would not have had time either day to prepare anything, it was a healthy and convenient ‘meal’ that I would not feel guilty about. I had the wafers both days – yesterday’s was mocha, today’s was chocolate – and they were both tasty and satisfying. By the time my lunch hour comes around (at 6:00am) I will make an omelette. As I mentioned, I have enough food in the house for a couple more days; by the weekend I should be able to get back onto the program… as long as I can do it with these meal replacements. It will be an adjustment, and I am not sure if I will succeed. I just looked and the product I usually use is still sold out. That is frustrating, and I am not sure how I will adjust… or if I will stick to a revised partial program for the time being.

    For the third night in a row, my weight dropped… significantly. I am now 5.8 lbs. lighter than I was just a few days ago. That is great, except that I am also still six pounds heavier than I was on my best day. I have a long way to go to even be back on track.

    This program is easier when the product is available but maybe the non-availability will force me to use some sort of self-control which might, in turn, become a habit.

    It is now 8:15am and I have less than three hours left to go before the end of my work day. I am hoping that a buddy is coming over for a cigar in the afternoon. I am also hoping that I can repeat yesterday… sleep from 5pm-1am. We’ll see.

    Have a great day folks.

  • Day 1308

    We are half way through the week. This morning I woke up at 12:45am and said to myself that there are only two more ridiculously early mornings left before I can resume a normal schedule. I am truly looking forward to that. Once again, I got a bit of sleep in the afternoon yesterday, and then I got four hours of sleep at night. I would have slept much better in the afternoon had I put my phone onto ‘silent’ mode. I do not ever ignore phone calls from my sons, and I was happy to hear from my son the elder. After he gave me a not-so-brief rundown of what was happening in his life I told him I wanted to go back to sleep and he understood. As inconvenient as if initially felt to be awakened, it was fortunate that I was because there was a message from a friend that he was coming over… I had completely forgotten that I had invited him! Aside from wanting to catch up, he also had a portable hard drive that I had loaned him. When I thought to back up my computer over the weekend I realized I did not have it and knew exactly where it was.

    The friend who came over is one who was on the same program that I am on. He was even under the care of the same doctor that I originally did it with. As such, I felt comfortable discussing the frustration I am feeling over the company’s supply chain issues. We discussed possible alternatives, and he had some good insight for me. In the meantime, the replacement meal replacements did arrive yesterday, and I had my first one just a few minutes ago. It was palatable if not delicious. I just have to remember that it will be six per day rather than my usual four. With that said, I will not be resuming the full program today; I have food in the house for two more days, and I do not want to waste it. I also do not want my class to suffer for my Day One Syndrome.

    My weight had shot up terribly over the previous week, and I am relieved that after a peak a few days ago I am back on a downward trend, even though I am not back on the program, and my circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) is shot to smithereens. I have dropped three pounds from my peak (not Day One)

    I am tired as I type this, but I am sure I will be able to make it through the day. I only have 8.5 hours left of teaching. How fun.

    Have a great day folks.