I'm back
Hello out there. I’m back from a long hiatus. Things have been unbelievably busy since I left this blog back in August of last year. Here’s a brief synopsis of what’s been going on.
I finished the Hold The Pass challenge from Gibborim at the beginning of September and went right into a Soulcon Challenge. It took me a while to recover from both of them.
I started working in the men’s ministry at a local church back in November. The pastor was interested in Soulcon and needed someone to lead it.
If I had to give 2020 a rating, I would give it one and half stars. The only reason it’s this high is because I’m alive and kicking. Let’s see:
Where I work, which is a local school board, there was a cyber attack that crippled us for several weeks.
While we were recovering from the cyber attack, we had to stop working because of the pandemic. Now, I have to answer help desk calls on Thursdays until we are cleared to go back to work.
As of now, our stuck, I mean, stay at home order is until May 15th. I have a feeling this is going to be extended even longer but we shall see.
My oldest daughter went from going to college to being an online college student. It’s a bit difficult when the degree is Industrial Electronics. She’s going to finish up her technical degree this summer.
It’s not all been rough, though.
I’ve purchased some photography/videography gear — four Moment lenses for my phone which are fun to use. There’s a 1.33mm Anamorphic lens, 58mm tele lens, 18mm wide lens, and a 10mm macro lens. I’ll be doing a review video on them soon.
I also got a new tripod from Neewer. This has been a wonderful purchase. I did a reveal (click on the link) video and it’s posted on my YouTube channel. A review video on this is also in the works.
I’m not sure how often I’m going to post on here. I will post at least once a week. It’ll depend on what’s going on.
Thanks and I’ll talk to you later.
I am not affiliated with any of the companies listed above. I just enjoy their products.
Hold The Pass Challenge - Day 6
John here.
Yesterday was Day 6 of the Hold The Pass Challenge. The challenge was to burn 600 calories during cardio. When I got home from work, I got changed and got to walking. I decided to try it without putting my knee brace on. It was a mistake. I’m feeling it today for sure.
From the Samsung Health app
I won’t be doing the next cardio challenge without wrapping my knee. The next challenge, and my most challenging one I have so far, is 600 pushups. I have to touch my chest to the tennis ball or the rep does not count. I’m currently fighting arthritis in my left shoulder so I’m not sure how many I will be able to do before my shoulder decides to give out.
I’m outta here.
John
Hold The Pass Challenge - Day 5
John here.
Yesterday was Day 5 of the Hold The Pass Challenge. The challenge was to do 600 crunches while squeezing the tennis ball between your knees. A couple of things I figured out while doing this challenge.
First off, my core is extremely weak, almost non-existant. I had gall bladder surgery earlier this year and I haven’t done any exercises to strengthen my core. I realized that after my first crunch attempt. I went as high as I could go to get the challenge done.
Second thing, I should have spread the attempts throughout the day instead of waiting until I got home to do the 600 reps. As I’m typing this, I’m a bit sore but after each 100 or so reps, I would stop to stretch so I believe the stretching has helped with me not being as sore as I thought.
I don’t have any pictures for this one. I forgot to take some. I will have some for the Day 6 challenge, which is burn 600 calories during cardio.
I’m outta here.
John
Hold The Pass Challenge - Day 4
John here.
Yesterday was Day 4 of the Hold The Pass Challenge. The challenge was to burn 600 calories during cardio. I had to some serious improvising to meet this challenge. I started out on a treadmill because we got back from shopping too late. Here is what I was able to do on the treadmill before I had to stop from hurting too much.
From the treadmill
I got back home and set my Samsung Health on phone for aerobics to burn the final 500 calories as a suggestion from my wife.
Screenshot of the Samsung Health app
I was able to finish but was definitely feeling it when I was done. Another day, another challenge. Day 5 is 600 crunches while squeezing the ball in between your knees. This is going to be an all day challenge for me because of work.
I’m outta here.
John