Wednesday Write Your Own Ticket

[Harriet]

If you write your own ticket, you control the terms and conditions for something and have them exactly the way you want. - from usingenglish.com

I was amused several times yesterday when we gave each other advice to just change some circumstances ourselves, especially Elizabeth suggesting that Dee move the recliner.

Most may or may not happen , but it's one way of looking at things!

How can you just change your circumstances and Write Your Own Ticket today?

[DeeClutter]

Good morning, Harriet. I'm amazed I got 10,000 steps in too! But I'm going to try for a relatively high amount again today. I just HAVE to rebuild my strength and stamina -without marathoning it of course. (sure that's not a word). And as for moving the recliner: We did that last year for some months. Then when something happened??? we moved it back to the living room (well, not me but someone). Not sure dsonil would agree to it right now, but we'll see how things go. At the worst I'll only have to get through a month of it. By the time we come back in October he should be back on days.

Not sure I'll see dd the rest of the week. She was only home long enough to change her clothes last night and then was off to the Rays/Yankees baseball game in St. Pete. Tonight she has a hockey game in Orlando, tomorrow she's speaking to a group at Southeastern University about the value of teaching STEM, then on to Trivia (unless I decide to go which I doubt since she'll be coming directly to that, probably and I have no car), then Friday she has another hockey game. But Saturday is ours since dsonil has to go to work that day.

Off to eat breakfast.........

[helia]

My fitbit died yesterday so I don't know how many steps I got in. I was charging it when I went for my jog. The days I jog, I get in a lot of steps. I don't always make 10K the days I don't jog. Personally, I think the fitbit overestimates my steps. If I were really into it, I would measure my steps and adjust that.
Kathryn, I still get sleep infor from my fitbit on my phone app. Maybe that's different from the website though. In fact, I looked online this morning and didn't see sleep as an option there, but I didn't look too carefully. Sounds weird. Sorry they're treating you poorly.
Dd sounds like a busy lady, Dee! Wouldn't a bed be more comfortable for dsil? Or maybe a recliner in the bedroom would also be quieter for him??
Hmm.... I'm actually not good at writing my own ticket, Harriet. I tend to let others dictate that for me. Today, I'm going to tweak my exercise plan b/c I was so tired yesterday. I think I'm doing too much, and dh concurs. I'll do a leisurely 2 mile jog, maybe with one 1/2 mile sprint this morning. I really want to be able to do 7.5 miles on Friday ,and at this rate, I'm just tiring my body out each day. Tomorrow is my scheduled rest day though. I also need to write my own ticket for my visit with dfriend B this afternoon so we can end our visit in a timely fashion. She has the day off work, but I don't. She's coming here to walk and visit at noon.

Main Goals for today: 6x6
1. morning routine
2. short easy jog
3. prep for class today
4. walk and talk with dfriend B
5. go to work
6. figure out if I'm taking my car in for an estimate of repairs tomorrow

[Harriet]

I wrote my own exercise ticket and got a favorite workout done early this morning. I can't do that with all the workouts but this has lots of stretching and lends itself to morning. First pint of water was had by then.

helia, I have had many similar thoughts about the ways in which others arrange my plans, sometimes very appropriately, in that I'm needed and it makes sense. Sometimes it exceeds that, and I need to re-assess.

Some errands are "mapped out" here - a deposit and a pharmacy trip. I need to work on my grocery list in case there is time for that.

Elizabeth, I'm sorry you will have a hospital stay. Also that your dd will be disappointed about her grandfather's change of plans, but I can see why the other trip is meaningful to him.

Nancy, I think I saw on a map where you were yesterday.

LadyM, I would assume the childhood maladies won't affect your household - hope there's not much trouble that comes of it. I remember my older children's bouts with chicken pox, though not my own, but do remember my own bout with mumps - being so sad, with that heavy, fat feeling in my cheeks/jowls, and looking out a distant window but not feeling like walking to it. Funny the things that become memories.

[CathyS]

Hi!

I got to the point where there was only one dirty pot in the house yesterday. I had to stop because I realized that the septic system was struggling due to all of the rain. (There were noises coming from the tub and toilet, so I went to investigate... )

Went stitching yesterday and a few other women showed up. I also spoke to one of the other women, and we might just go somewhere else on Thursday.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harriet: There appears to be only one option to switch to from fitbit because I refuse to wear a tracker on my wrist. Several reasons:

Accuracy in step counting is one (wrist worn are more inaccurate depending on how you swing your arms while walking, and I walk holding onto dh.)

Durability: the straps don't last very long compared to the holder for the One. There are far more complaints about non-functioning wrist trackers. My guess is more complicated means more things to go wrong.

Charging: If I go with a fancy one with more features it will have to be charged more often than once a week and since I wear it 24/7 that puts more holes in my tracking. Most smart watches are only good for up to 24 hours so to wear one 24/7 means you have to have two, so one is charging overnight while the other is tracking sleep.

Privacy: why should everyone know I'm tracking everything? Wrist worn trackers are visible and the feature-filled ones and Smart Watches look ridiculous on my tiny wrist (I have such a small wrist some regular watch bands can't be made small enough for me and the fancy trackers have to be worn tight because they are tracking heart rate.) No-one knows if I have my tracker on or not. I can wear it in a t-shirt or a evening gown and no-one knows it is there. While a wrist worn will look fine with a t-shirt, with an evening gown it will look awful and ruin the outfit.

Why stick with fitbit One? It is only one of two trackers I've found for sale that track all I need without being worn on the wrist. I own it and mine is reliable hardware. If I switch to the other brand it may not be reliable hardware and I'll be out $150.

If this isn't resolved, I'll use the fitbit as a pedometer, disconnecting my syncing device and tracking on my own spreadsheet so fitbit won't have my data to sell, use a phone app to track sleep (which means sleeping with the phone on the bed with us) or buy a sleep tracking only device. When the fitbit dies, I'll buy a regular pedometer that doesn't sync with anything.

Helia: it is obvious you don't use the same sleep data that I use. On the web interface there used to be far more detailed charts with three main data points that are no longer available daily. They weren't on the dashboard, there was a different page that I could link to that gave me the data. That page is gone, replaced (after 3 clicks and a sign-in) with the chart the app displays. The app never had the detailed information and therefore I never used the app. I have a One so I know when I pushed the button to go to sleep and get up. So a chart telling me that is not useful. I know when I was up in the night (I look at my clock for that information.) What I don't know is how long to go to sleep and WHEN I was restless in the night (important to track with external disruptions that might be avoidable) and how many 90 minute long cycles of sleep I got. That sort of information was available and is no longer available. I can sort of guess the 90 minute cycles but the chart I now see doesn't have a scale, so I'm guessing the number by mentally dividing the time between start/stop and then estimated what percentage of that number is indicated as sleep on the chart.

fitbit claims most people don't use that information. That could be true. Most people also don't use their fitbit 24/7. Friends often mention pulling their tracker out of the drawer. For those that do use it all the time, especially for sleep (why else would you wear it, since the One has to be removed from the clip and put in a wrist band at night), we've lost our useful data and get a chart that is vague at best.

This has highlighted that the data is not mine. I am producing data for the company to sell (that is their main revenue stream, not the sale of hardware) and they have decided to no longer share that data with me. They will sell me weekly data which includes what I used to get for free on a daily basis.

I would beg you to look at other trackers out there and choose another brand since such treatment of their customers is reprehensible.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm up and s2s. Tea and chocolate consumed. Email checked. Bedroom is tidied, outfit for tomorrow is laid out (we are singing in the morning so I need to move quickly tomorrow morning) and kitchen is tidied up. Have to leave in an hour so should get my breakfast in me and something done at the computer.

I have two bank appointments today. First for the NFs and the second for the RA. Two different branches of the same bank. I can walk to the second appointment so will since I need steps. I was short yesterday.

Monday I moved my giant poinsettia to an east window. I've been struggling to keep it alive until it can go on the balcony for the season. The thing cost me $20 the first week of December and still has lots of red leaves on it. It has perked up now that it is in the sun. When they are in full bloom I think they are to be out of direct sun. Anyway, I'm please because it was front & centre before and looking scraggly. Now it is filling an unused corner and looking quite good. That was a well spent $20! (I actually phoned dh to ask if I could buy it because it was so big (2.5' diameter) and would take up so much room in the apartment. I also walked past the first display, thinking, "that's too big", past the second, "I really like that", past the third, "I wonder..." and then finally phoned dh! Good marketing on Costco's part, having throughout the store so they wore me down!!!)

[blessedw2]

ooo I like that... but what if I loose my ticket during the day?!
Actually the only worry I ever have when writing my own day is that I get sucked up into a rabbit hole - the butterfly I am chasing veers off into another thing (and its like I obsess on that thing I wasn't supposed to follow) I did that yesterday all day.

Sorry your fit bit broke d helia
d harriet good morning what a great start!
d dee ... how neat that your dd is talking to others about the importance of science, tech etc. very cool!
d elizabeth sorry you had to stay in the hospital
hi d cathy nice to see you
good morning d kathryn thank you for sharing the information on the fit bit type systems
hi d nancy
hi d lucy
hey d twins
hi d lady
hi d lynn
and everyone!!!!

[blessedw2]

I have a dr. appointment (I can't believe I got this awful cold again...it never went away - since the end of februrary)
weird having dd younger and d mom gone (I am not used to having complete time to myself - knock on wood)
this morning I did my french already

I am trying to figure out how to connect to french Canadian radio

I wish you a wonderful wonderful day - may it be brilliant

[LadyMaverick]

what if I loose my ticket during the day?

Elizabeth - I love your wit!

Yesterday I was able to finish all my items for the day.

Today my plans include -
** Homeschool Day 152
** Day 1 of Walking Challenge
** Steadfast - Track hydration, food, steps, and sleep - I'm switching to tracking my points on paper (instead of app) for the next 7 days. I get bored doing it the same way all the time.
** Fun room, Cellar, Back & Front Porches = Weekly declutter/deep cleaning
** Monitor DS8 while he makes/bakes Brownies for church meal tonight

** 11:00 Appt in town with the new speech therapist.
** 3:35 Pick DGD5 up from school and monitor her homework
** 4pm Cook for Church family
** 6:30 Eat with church family
** 7pm Worship

B: Egg & Vegetables (Cereal & Banana)
L: Salad with 10 toppings + leftovers
D: Lasagna & potluck
Prep Ahead: Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing,