Motivational Haiku

A slight distraction?
Concentrate and clear your thoughts.
Write a micro post.

#mbnov

The current temperature is the high for today (54 F). As the day wears on, the chance of rain increases. I should get out for a run to help fight off the dreary thoughts of winter. Oh look, rain on my window. #mbnov

Apparently yesterday was National Cat Day. Here is Waffles (front) and Bear (back) doing what they do very well… lounging. 🐈

A walk through Cook Forest State Park. 📷

My special hiking buddy. 📷

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” Heraclitus

This is probably my favorite quote. I think of this every single time I look at a moving body of water. As a bridge inspector, I see many streams and creeks and rivers, but I know every time I look at them they are as different as I am.

10/14/2020 @ 9:45 AM - Beaver County, Pennsylvania, USA.

Inspector Office. #adayinthelife

16.8 mile day hike on the AT this past weekend. As usual, it was very cathartic. 📷

Finally… a tilt-shift photo I’m happy with. Taken with my Mavic Mini, edited with Luminar 4 and Affinity Photo. 📷

I ordered the material for my tarp tent and I’ve already made my first mistake.

I decided to go with 1.1oz Silpoly (Olive Drab) as the main fabric and HyperD 300 (Olive Yellow) to reinforce the corners. I order 9yds of the silpoly and 1yd of the HyperD. The mistake came when I only ordered a 3 yard length of the silpoly. That is appropriate for the length but it would only cover half the width. So I quickly ordered a second 3 yard cut and that has saved me the trouble of cutting a 9 yard length of fabric in half.

I also ordered some thread (Guterman MARA 70), nylon grosgrain (for loops at the corners) and a pack of needles.

Next I’m going to come up with a quick sketch, to make sure I have the tie-off points where I want them, and I have to get a sewing machine and learn how to use it.

Quote I’ll be thinking about…

"I judge you unfortunate because you have never lived through misfortune. You have passed through 
life without an opponent—no one can ever know what you are capable of, not even you." 
-SENECA, ON PROVIDENCE, 4.3

I tend to be a bit of a perpetual planner, or researcher. I like to learn by reading or watching videos but sometimes I just need to stop and DO. I want to stop this procrastination (I guess, that’s what it is) and get on with gettin’ on.

So far, I’ve all but deleted social media accounts and I’ve removed several time-sink apps from my phone, including all social media apps. I think that this removes a pretty big distraction from the palm of my hand and forces me to focus on whatever it is I want to focus on. I am also testing out a more restrictive schedule for my after-work activities and hobbies. I think designating a set time to pursuing my interests will result in more actual pursuit and less distraction and less analysis paralysis.

Of course, I’ll have to do some research to see what other tactics get me doing things…

Day 4: Via negativa; today, pick a habit that you’d like to eliminate from your life. Think about the steps you’ll take to get rid of that negative habit, as well as how to keep yourself accountable. (AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling

Day 14: Write a review of some form of entertainment you recently took in. Whether book or movie or TV show or Broadway play, write out what you liked and didn’t like about it. Were there any lessons to be gleaned, or was it pure entertainment (it’s okay if it was!)? (AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling

Lately, Sarah and I have been watching one or two episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine during dinner. I believe we are somewhere around the middle of season 6 and really enjoying each episode. I like that each characters personality is taken to an over-the-top extreme. Most of the time, the contrasting characteristics lead to great comedy. Some of the multi-part shows drag on and generally don’t sustain the comdey through the whole 2 or 3 episode series. In some ways it kind of reminds me of Scrubs, a TV show I’ve watched through multiple times.

Favorite Character: Captain Holt

Day 18: Identify one project you’d like to complete with your hands, whether chore or craft. Detail the steps, the resources, and the help you’ll need to complete the project. Then, set about doing it! (AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling)

A couple of years ago I switched my backpacking shelter from a tent to a tarp. I purchased the Mountain Laurel Design Solo Grace tarp. It’s worked great and is extremely light, but I’d like a tarp with a little bit larger footprint and a little bit more versatility. So I have been thinking about making my own, straight-cut, lightweight tarp.

I’m going to have to do some research on material although I will likely stick with silnylon. I will also have to settle on the overall dimensions of the tarp. I already know that I want a rectangular shape so at most I will only have to stitch two panels together. Ideally, I’ll be able to get a single piece of silnylon that is large enough and then come up with some tie-off points. I plan to do some google-ing and watching some youtube videos to figure out how to construct the tie-off loops.

The biggest challenge will be learning how to use a seweing machine. I’m probably going to have to practice a little bit before actually putting together the tarp.

Friday Night Scotch: anCnoc 12 year

An easy to drink Highland single malt scotch. A little too easy to drink.

Day 9: Simply write about your day. What time you woke up, what your commute was like, what you did at work, how you spent your evening. (AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling)

I started the day a little late. I finally managed to get a decent amount of sleep last night and was moving a bit slow in the morning. That’s usually not too big of a deal. I have an hour long drive to get to the area I’ve been working in so the coffee has plenty of time to kick in. I usually spend that time listening to podcasts. Today it was part 3 of The Unravelling. This series is an interesting retrospective of the Iraq War and Jocko’s involvement as a Navy SEAL officer. I recommend both The Unravelling and Jocko Podcast.

Since we’re near the end of the month, we have wrapped up our regularly scheduled bridges for the month and have been relegated to picking up additional work. Today, we visited a couple of under 8 bridges. Under 8’s have a span less than 8’ and typically get inspected on anywhere from a 24 to 60 month interval based on their condition. The first was a rather poor looking cast-in-place culvert that was actually not in too bad of shape. The area was pretty nice too. I like working in the more rural areas as I am able to scope out property that is for sale. The second “bridge” was basically a square drainage pipe. I had to crawl through a 36” diamater pipe just to get a decent look. Again, generally good condition.

This evening, Sarah and I ate dinner while watching another episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It seems to be our go-to show for dinner lately. Now… here I am. Typing a mundane blog post about my day, which was for the most part very average.

Day 7: You’ve made it one week! Reflect on what this newfound practice of journaling has been like. Have you enjoyed it? Has it been difficult? Has it been what you expected? AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling

Seven days of micro.blogging. I can say for certain that going with writing prompts for many of these posts has forced me into writing about things I wouldn’t post about otherwise. I’ve also had to put a bit more time into a couple of these posts, so I guess it’s been a little difficult, but manageable. Overall, I’ve enjoyed the challenge in the more difficult prompts and look forward to a few of the prompts that are on the horizon.

Day 5: Write a letter to a loved one. Maybe it’s a wife, a parent, an estranged friend, or a grandparent you never really got to say goodbye to. (AoM: Jumpstart Your Journaling)

Bri,

It’s been a little over 10 years since you passed away unexpectedly. I think about you pretty much every day. I wonder what you would be doing nowadays. I wonder what you would think of the world. It’s a lot different now.

Sarah and I try to take a shot of Firewater twice a year for you. You’d be bummed that they don’t make it anymore. We’ll have to find a different cinnamon liquor once this bottle runs out.

We have a dog and two cats now. I know you’d love Barley. He’s almost 10. Bear and Waffles are the cats. Bear is a year old and has his moments - good and bad. But we still love him. Waffles is only 4 months old, but he’s a pretty cool little dude. I found him at work crying underneath a section of guide rail.

We try to visit you when we’re in town. It’s always nice and quite there. Peaceful.

I miss you.

Love, your brother

Today… just a picture from this weekend. 📷

Smithfield Street Bridge, Pittsburgh, PA.

I’m going back to day 3: Decide on one positive habit you’d like to implement in your life. Write out the steps you’ll take to get there. (AoM: Jumpstart your Journaling)

I’d like to look for some ways that I can do volunteer work. I suspect, because of covid, that opportunities are not easy to find. So my first step will be to commit to a schedule I can consistently follow. To make this simple, I will set a goal of 3-5 hrs each quarter. Next, will be to identify a few volunteer opportunities in my area. I will look for opportunites that compliment my interests. In order to stay committed and accountable, I will provide updates regarding how the time made me feel and what I learned.

I’m going to skip ahead to the day 6 prompt in Jumpstart your Journaling. This prompt is to write a 6-word sentence that describes your life.

I often try the difficult path. 📷

Day 2: Manliness has been defined in different ways in different times. What does manliness mean to you?

Day 2 and I already see how my idea of using the Art of Manliness article on Jumpstarting Your Journaling can lead to some odd topics for a blog post. Regardless, I think I can do this.

The engineer in me wants to simply provide the defition: the essence of being a man. But that is not the point of the task.

I think manliness, as a traditional concept, invokes thoughts of bravery, strength, confidence. That is likely how I would have left my answer when I was younger. But now I think manliness is a bit more complex. I see manliness as a set of characteristics, or behaviors, that are displayed with more finess. Manliness is being confident in your ability to accept criticism. Manliness is showing respect to others when they disagree with you. Manliness is not being ashamed to show love, fear, or sorrow. Manliness is working for the betterment of your community, standing up for your beliefs, accepting responsibility. I guess if I had to boil manliness down to a few words today, they would be: confident, disciplined, virtuous, inspiring.

To get me started on this blogging adventure, my first 31 posts will loosely follow a series of prompts designed to jumpstart a journaling habit. The idea comes from an article on the Art of Manliness website and can be found here. Since this is day 1, here is a little bit about me and why I am beginning this blog.

My name is Jeff. My family is made up of my wife (for 13 years), our dog Barley, and two cats: Bear and Waffles. I am a civil engineer currently working as a bridge inspector. It’s a job that I never imagined myself doing and now I can’t imagine myself not doing it. I am able to work outside just about every day and I get to see some aspects of infrastructure that the general public will only ever take for granted. My favorite activities include hiking/backpacking, music (playing and listening), biking, photography, reading, and learning new things. Lately, I’ve been trying to learn more about cryptocurrencies, programming with Python, and a little Japanese.

I managed to find this site from indieweb.org. I really like the concept of the indieweb community and may pursue the development of my own website at some point, but I thought that micro.blog would be a nice starting point for now. While I have been a member of a few social media websites for some time, I have never really felt compelled to engage with others on any of those sites. I hope that this blog develops into a space that I can use to hash out my thoughts, share my creations, celebrate success, learn from failure, and ultimately curate as a portfolio of my life.