by BabyAngel
Salutations, Reader.
My End-Of-Year Resolutions are the same as they have ever been: Get on with The Mission and draw Comics & Cards. Yet, for the past four years, misfortune has befallen our house, and I have learned that health is true wealth. Before the pandemic broke in 2020, I was suitably content and figured I had found a good balance in life. For six months a year, I would Work as a carpenter and fill the gaps with working on my Hobby.
This fifty-fifty equilibrium between Occupation and Vocation is what gave my wife and me a happy life, until bad-luck struck. On December 16th, 2020, your humble narrator tested positive for COVID, and therefrom, the dominoes of disaster started cascading…
Tired of repeating the same story over and over, I must direct you to the Covid-Diaries if you want to know what transpired from that point. (Read: Chronological, from bottom to top + use: Next.)
Forgetting about a past of pain, we are looking at the future and are hopeful we can re-achieve our equilibrium. Since the aforementioned misfortune affects the whole family, I dread to think where I would be without their loving support. Here’s to new beginnings!
Once New Year’s Eve has passed, I will no longer be a prisoner in my own house; Rebuilding will begin… To prevail, it is pertinent to train, regain strength and stamina, get back into the routine, and back on mission! As I will be seeking outside coaching or guidance in these future endeavors, I am making my daily schedule public. For those who want or need to know, view below…
Dog-Patrol Explained…
Resolutions come and go, but my love for dogs will never leave while I breathe and roam these pitiful plains. When I work and draw all day, one can easily go down the rabbit-hole, and dog walks keep me grounded. Much like monks in scriptoriums, sitting behind the drawing-board for 8 hours is not great for your posture and eyesight.
Dog-Patrol is a combination of Dog-Sports and Boot-Camp to help clear my mind and train the body, keeping us healthy. In short, you want to drain the dog of excess energy while recharging your own battery for the next session. When curious people ask what I am doing, the answer is: Training Me and My Dog!
To better understand why I need these athletic-breaks in between sitting on my ass all day?
Consider the constitution or influence on my biorhythm from my other job…
It Stands And Falls With Carpentry…
Not my highest calling in life, but certainly better than working for marketeers or advertising agencies in spades for sure. What’s so good about it is that it trains your brain to think analytically while being physical practically all day! Essentially, you only ‘sit’ in the car to ~ from the factory, and the rest is spent thinking on your feet.
Besides the fact that woodwork keeps me grounded and I love logic and building shit, carpentry charges my creative energy!* To elaborate, there is no room for fantasy or flakiness, and quality is measured in solid craftsmanship rather than intangibles. Esthetics take shape or are found within the confines of “form follows function,” where you may not stray or falter.
*Stored and ready to explode while drawing during downtime in between jobs!!
In short, Carpentry is a workout of wits, skills, and stamina that is unequaled in any gym! On these workdays, dog-patrols are regular dog-walks and serve as warming-up and cooling-down periods, and dog-training is at a minimum. Nevertheless, these quintessential sessions with the canine function as a reboot of the mind before entering factory or family settings.
In regard to schedules or routines, I must add: The one thing in my life I cannot tolerate is ‘Wasting~Time!’ Therefore, ‘Rush-Hour’ is an important aspect of the workday; You either leave Before or After to safeguard ones mood. Back when I was a young god, I would mostly leave the workplace after the daily traffic congestion had evaporated.
Good for earning Coin, possibly a little less for your body, since you make ten- to twelve-hour workdays… For this reason in the third act of my lifecycle, the target is stop work at 15:00 and head home. A main part of my resolutions is to keep this as a rule of thumb.
Leaving a little more room in a day for only; Work, Eat and Sleep!?
Recovery, Rebuild and Rehabilitation…
It needs to be said, there have been times these past four years where returning back to carpentry was unimaginable. Yet, with the successful Surgery in the rear-view mirror, one dares to dream and plans to get into shape again.
To achieve set goals in both Work and Hobby one needs to Gear-Up!
Yet, if there is one thing four years of contending with Long-Covid has taught me about training, it is that Gear-Down is equally important. Any (sports) training is based on Graded-Activity in an upward-curve, knowing your 100%, training at 80%, and keep pushing boundaries. In other words; You always focus forward or up and beyond!
“I Train Like A Tractor and Not Like A Race Car!”
Tunnel vision towards the front or up and beyond is not without its hazards, for you can simply forget your six. Assisted by Power-Tools as a modern carpenter or cabinetmaker, the analogy is not hard to understand. While Working or Training, you need to keep an eye on your Reserves and Recharge your Battery in time.
Borrowing an advert-warning to explain how Covid crashes affect one’s training: Previously Achieved Results Are No Guarantee For The Future. To dumb it down further, yesterdays energy-level might not be available today, so you need to be able to Gear-Down!
For this reason, I have Multiple-Weight-Vests with presets to better allow Gear-Shifts in training sessions to prevent resource depletion. (Including: 2 sets of Nine-Irons sponsored by MoreColor.)
It all comes down to NOT blowout your battery and possibly relates to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Maybe there is another way to view an old fairy-tale here: the Hare = Graded-Activity (Sympathetic) and the Turtle = Recharge-Reserves (Parasympathetic).
All Resolutions Lead To One Thing: Weight-Loss!
Being Overweight is simply unhealthy. In 2022, I took a sports test and failed, while otherwise _recalculated with my previous weight_ I would have passed. This motivated me to drop 10 kg in 10 weeks. I have done it before, and I can do it again!
But I need coaching from a dietitian or internist because, for some reason, my metabolism has been shot to hell these past few years. How much does this has to do with Corona? I don’t know what to think anymore; Pre-2020, my blood-work always showed No-Particulars.
A test in the summer of 2021 also gave no particulars. After another (covid-)crash during the spring of 2023, my blood-test parameters started to show severe vitamin D and B deficiencies.
Recent results from a bone density scan, precipitated by a march-fracture, indicate low calcium levels and heading towards osteoporosis. Currently, I am awaiting a full blood panel to be revealed a few weeks from now, so this story is not over yet…
Meanwhile, the point or goal of my end-of-year resolutions has not changed one way or the other; We go forth. Before Covid, I consistently weighed in at no less than 72.5 and no more than 75 kg for a decade. This past year and a half, I have gained close to 15 kilograms of fat on my ass; Ridiculous!
The formula is simple: Burn More Calories Than You Consume!
Anywho; Best to You and Yours.
