Returning to Work? / Montana Trip / Exercise Begins / Record Heat Wave
For the first time in at least a year, I was asked to go back into work to have a special introduction meeting with a new manager. Beforehand, I had a weird anxiety of being back in that building. It's been so long... As strange as it is, not much has changed. Lots of cubes are empty and I was recognized a couple times even with the mask. The entry to the building has a subway-like scissor-door thing that read my temperature and used a camera to prove I had a mask on before opening the doors. Crazy times. The meeting was only a half hour and it went very well! I'm glad I made it and was able to check out my cube as well as my neighbor's cubes. Supposedly we'll all be back into the office full-time sometime during July, so I have to enjoy these final weeks of working remote. It's been a blessing and truly a joy to have worked from home but all good things apparently must come to an end and that day going in was a reminder of that and a taste of things to come.
Nicole and I have finally taken our first trip away from the house since we moved in back in December. It's funny to think that we've been living and sleeping under this roof non-stop for six months. We spent five days with friends in Montana and had a great time getting away. The trip was too short. The drive out there was entertaining as a plastic plate that spanned the underside of the engine began falling off and flapping in the wind; smacking the engine and creating a scary noise. We had to stop and buy some tools to finish removing the plate so we could continue the drive. Nothing like doing car work during a road trip hundreds of miles from home and safety! But we succeeded and got to Montana just fine. Chip spent the trip being boarded here in Oregon at a new place we've been trying out. We were relieved when we got home to pick him up as we spent the trip having just a touch of anxiety about whether or not Chip was doing well at this new dog boarding place. Thankfully, all is well and now we've got confidence in these boarders. It's going to be a busy summer and fall as we have more trips coming up nearly every month until 2022 begins. Busy busy busy.
When we got back from the Montana trip, Nicole and I decided to get serious about taking even better care of ourselves. Even though we've been on a very good diet for eighteen months (No fake sugars, no enriched breads, no fast food, only home-cooked meals, no snacks, portion control, real ingredients...) my job is currently very sedentary and I'll go days without leaving the house or moving around all that much. So we've begun a morning exercise routine which begins with a brisk walk/run around the local park followed by strength training with weights at home. 45 minutes five days a week. It's difficult finding the time before work to do this and get in a breakfast (And soon having to get in a 45 minute commute) but I'm sure we'll find a rhythm. We're already quite sore from the first week of this, but I'm already feeling good results. As I creep ever-closer to my 40th birthday mere months away, I guess it's time to get busy doing the right thing and starting to make a habit of working out for the first time in my life.
Right now the Pacific Northwest has been suffering through a record heat wave. This will go down in history as the hottest few days in the history of the state. Yesterday, where I am, it was 106. Today it's going to be 113 and tomorrow it'll be 106. Portland itself recorded the hottest temperature in the history of the city going back 150+ years. Today will be even hotter. So two record days in a row. Insanity. Thankfully, we're in a house with a heat pump air conditioner and it has performed flawlessly. It seemingly has no trouble cooling down the entire house just from one single unit. We've been a comfortable 65 degrees all week. You wouldn't know it's so hot outside unless you step out there onto the surface of the sun. I remember how hard it was to keep the apartment cool when we lived there. It was always a struggle year after year for a couple months at a time. I was worried a full-on house would be harder but this wall-mounted heat pump gizmo that came with the house is getting the job done without breaking a sweat. Just gotta get through today... and tomorrow... and the week of 90-degree temps we have coming up... Going to be a hot summer.
Nicole and I have finally taken our first trip away from the house since we moved in back in December. It's funny to think that we've been living and sleeping under this roof non-stop for six months. We spent five days with friends in Montana and had a great time getting away. The trip was too short. The drive out there was entertaining as a plastic plate that spanned the underside of the engine began falling off and flapping in the wind; smacking the engine and creating a scary noise. We had to stop and buy some tools to finish removing the plate so we could continue the drive. Nothing like doing car work during a road trip hundreds of miles from home and safety! But we succeeded and got to Montana just fine. Chip spent the trip being boarded here in Oregon at a new place we've been trying out. We were relieved when we got home to pick him up as we spent the trip having just a touch of anxiety about whether or not Chip was doing well at this new dog boarding place. Thankfully, all is well and now we've got confidence in these boarders. It's going to be a busy summer and fall as we have more trips coming up nearly every month until 2022 begins. Busy busy busy.
When we got back from the Montana trip, Nicole and I decided to get serious about taking even better care of ourselves. Even though we've been on a very good diet for eighteen months (No fake sugars, no enriched breads, no fast food, only home-cooked meals, no snacks, portion control, real ingredients...) my job is currently very sedentary and I'll go days without leaving the house or moving around all that much. So we've begun a morning exercise routine which begins with a brisk walk/run around the local park followed by strength training with weights at home. 45 minutes five days a week. It's difficult finding the time before work to do this and get in a breakfast (And soon having to get in a 45 minute commute) but I'm sure we'll find a rhythm. We're already quite sore from the first week of this, but I'm already feeling good results. As I creep ever-closer to my 40th birthday mere months away, I guess it's time to get busy doing the right thing and starting to make a habit of working out for the first time in my life.
Right now the Pacific Northwest has been suffering through a record heat wave. This will go down in history as the hottest few days in the history of the state. Yesterday, where I am, it was 106. Today it's going to be 113 and tomorrow it'll be 106. Portland itself recorded the hottest temperature in the history of the city going back 150+ years. Today will be even hotter. So two record days in a row. Insanity. Thankfully, we're in a house with a heat pump air conditioner and it has performed flawlessly. It seemingly has no trouble cooling down the entire house just from one single unit. We've been a comfortable 65 degrees all week. You wouldn't know it's so hot outside unless you step out there onto the surface of the sun. I remember how hard it was to keep the apartment cool when we lived there. It was always a struggle year after year for a couple months at a time. I was worried a full-on house would be harder but this wall-mounted heat pump gizmo that came with the house is getting the job done without breaking a sweat. Just gotta get through today... and tomorrow... and the week of 90-degree temps we have coming up... Going to be a hot summer.