Chris

On Meditation

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The time to start taking care of myself is past due. Now that I have some time to focus on myself (not selfishly), I want to start with the simplest option and one of the most rewarding- meditation.

A basic method is to focus your attention on your own breathing—a practice simply called “mindful breathing.” After setting aside time to practice mindful breathing, you’ll find it easier to focus attention on your breath in your daily life—an important skill to deal with stress, high blood pressure, and negative emotions. This also helps with concentration.

Time required:

Let’s start out with at least 5 minutes daily for a week, keeping in mind that meditation mindfulness increases with practice

How to do it

Preferably sitting in a quiet space either in a comfortable chair, the bed or even a car seat (great for those long traffic light waits.) Your eyes may be open or closed, but you may find it easier to maintain your focus if you close your eyes.

Mentally focus on your head, will yourself to relax the tension there, then go lower to your neck and shoulders. Keep going until your toes are relaxed.

Then just simply do what you’ve done since birth. Breathe. Relax and inhale the delicious oxygen.

Sure, your body may be calm, but your mind is all over the place because it isn’t use to peace, quiet and a lack of distraction. Just redirect your thoughts to the feelings of your lungs expanding and deflating rhythmically.

Keep it simple, don’t overthink it. Repeat this practice as needed, but definitely do it daily.

Breathing guide in Apple Watch

If you have an Apple Watch, there is an app dedicated to Mindfulness and specifically breathing. Set a reminder in the app to schedule this practice. I have mine set to 6am & 6pm.

Woosah,

Chris

I was listening to this while I was editing the article:

Off Road

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Or, why I am done traveling for work

Since October 2023, I have been traveling for work at a grand total of fifteen weeks. Fifteen weeks of lonely nights in cheap hotels, a measly per diem that allows for groceries and fast food only and a longing for home. From Cincinnati, Ohio to Houston, Texas and all points in between. 

Cincinnati, Ohio
Galveston Island, Texas

This next week will be my last run before I turn in my truck and equipment back home into an uncertain future. 

I say uncertain because eventually, I will be back on the road but this time to move cross country to the gulf coast of Florida and a new life. I do not know where I will be employed, what I will be doing or if this is a smart move. It feels right and I want a new life with new opportunities and a launching point for another location out of the country. 

But first, I have five more days to get through. I was listening to this while I was typing the article.

Happy trails,

Chris

Reboot

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The idea of creating a brand new, anonymous digital identity was a good idea, until I decided it wasn’t. This wasn’t the first time I have flipped/flopped from a generic and private website, back to a domain with my own name in it. Currently it is silverfox.website. And now, I have decided that it is time to revert to what you see here, chrisdenbow.website. After recent price increases, subscription fatigue, privacy concerns and probably long overdue contentment, it’s time for a change. I’ll be withdrawing more from technology, technology blogs and restructuring everything to maximize privacy, reduce monthly subscription spending and pursuing avenues of personal interest.

I am heavily embedded into the Apple eco-system after decades of using Windows/Android. I have stuff scattered all over the internet, cloud storage and external hard drives with almost zero organization. That’s changing as of today.

I purchased a new web (chrisdenbow.website) and email address (hello AT chrisdenbow.website) to match it and then made THAT one the new/updated Apple ID. The hard part is switching everything from contact information to businesses and services I use over to the new account. Sure, I’ll lose a lot of subscriptions, but I am pairing them down and prioritizing anyway.

With iCloud+ services such as Private Relay and “Hide My Email” I can create generic, disposable email addresses. Apple then allows me to use random, generic passwords and will even store them for me using their KeyChain.

When all of this is sorted I need to discipline myself to keep it organized, unlike my previous attempts. Maybe then I can get back to enjoying what I love in peace such as photography, reading and geocaching.

This post was written with this song playing in the background:

Off Road

by

Or, why I am done traveling for work

Since October 2023, I have been traveling for work at a grand total of fifteen weeks. Fifteen weeks of lonely nights in cheap hotels, a measly per diem that allows for groceries and fast food only and a longing for home. From Cincinnati, Ohio to Houston, Texas and all points in between.

This next week will be my last run before I turn in my truck and equipment back home into an uncertain future. 

I say uncertain because eventually, I will be back on the road but this time to move cross country to the gulf coast of Florida and a new life. I do not know where I will be employed, what I will be doing or if this is a smart move. It feels right and I want a new life with new opportunities and a launching point for another location out of the country. 

But first, I have five more days to get through.

Happy trails,

The Silver Fox

XX

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This book, like the Rabbits novel is not an easy read and requires patience and concentration. There are so many layers and even a soundtrack to listen to complete the novel (much like the Rabbits podcast). This will take some time.

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This book, like the Rabbits novel is not an easy read and requires patience and concentration. There are so many layers and even a soundtrack to listen to complete the novel (much like the Rabbits podcast). This will take some time

Lunar New Year Photos

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Chinese dance troupe inside the Houston Galleria

Asia Town/International District/Houston/Texas

Red envelopes filled with small money bills are gifts to signify wealth & prosperity for the new year

Traditional Chinese dancers

street festival sights, sounds and smells

While writing this I was listening to:

Systems Diagnostic 2.2

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HARD RESET: DEBUG LIFE

  “Version 2024" type": "node"  "request": "launch 2024.02.02",  "name": "Launch Program",  "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],  "program": "${workspaceFolder}\\app.js"

Debugging, in computer programming and engineering, is a multi-step process that involves identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem and then either correcting the problem or determining a way to work around it. The final step of debugging is to test the correction or workaround and make sure it works.

Each month, and the corresponding day, I will run a systems diagnostic and report on either the overall performance or list any bugs that may still need to be addressed. The first diagnostic and reporting will be done on February 2nd or 2/2. The following will be on March 3 or 3/3, etc etc until December 12 (12/12.) Then one year from now on 12/31/2024 I will run more more systems check and prepare for another hard reset.

This is the first diagnostic check of 2024 on the personal operating system.1

There are a few known issues, or bugs in my personal life that I need to identify, isolate and correct the problem.

Bug #1: To maximize system performance, I need to focus on the overall health of the personal operating system and that is to stay physically fit. Sure, the outdoor work that I do does help but there is more I can do. Time to access the walking and yoga sub-routines. These will both be done on a daily basis. Yoga in the morning to stretch out and purposeful walking for cardio.

Bug #1 Performance Analysis: fail. Sure, the weather was too cold everywhere I went to enjoy walking but this is a flimsy excuse. Yoga practice was a total of 2 out of 31 days in the new year so far. 

Bug #1 Task prior to 3/3: Walk a minimum of five minutes daily to get the blood flowing. Yoga a minimum of 15 days out of February’s 29 days2

Bug #2: Nutrition is a crucial component to all of this because I have not eaten well the last quarter of 2023. 2024 will be a rocky start since I will be traveling for work but I will be mindful and look for healthier food options.

Bug #2 Performance Analysis: Critical. I am back on the road and do indulge in fast food. But to note, I have consumed a lot of salads, grilled meats and healthier choices.

Bug #2 Task prior to 3/3: Maintain or improve current intake of greens and meats.Limit sugar. I do need to watch the salt intake as it corrupts the personal OS. 

Bug #3: Smoking pipe tobacco and drinking alcohol is inserting bad code into my system and so, once again, I will work towards debugging those substances to enhance system performance.

Bug #3 Performance Analysis: Critical. Back on the tobacco pipe while on the road, but also drinking no alcohol. 

Bug #3 Task prior to 3/3: …

Inputs

Other applications will be used to maintain the mental health of my personal operating system such as:

Reading (finished 3 books in January!)

Creative writing ( writing almost daily!)

Journaling (maybe 3 times a week)

Meditation (daily!)

Overall, these benchmarks for analyzing and evaluating overall performance will help maintain my personal operating system for years to come.

Next Systems Diagnostic will be on 3/3. 

While writing this I was listening to: 

Systems Diagnostic 2.2

by

HARD RESET: DEBUG LIFE

  “Version 2024" type": "node"
  "request": "launch 2024.02.02",
  "name": "Launch Program",
  "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"],
  "program": "${workspaceFolder}\\app.js"

Debugging, in computer programming and engineering, is a multi-step process that involves identifying a problem, isolating the source of the problem and then either correcting the problem or determining a way to work around it. The final step of debugging is to test the correction or workaround and make sure it works.

Each month, and the corresponding day, I will run a systems diagnostic and report on either the overall performance or list any bugs that may still need to be addressed. The first diagnostic and reporting will be done on February 2nd or 2/2. The following will be on March 3 or 3/3, etc etc until December 12 (12/12.) Then one year from now on 12/31/2024 I will run more more systems check and prepare for another hard reset.

This is the first diagnostic check of 2024 on the personal operating system.1

There are a few known issues, or bugs in my personal life that I need to identify, isolate and correct the problem.

Bug #1: To maximize system performance, I need to focus on the overall health of the personal operating system and that is to stay physically fit. Sure, the outdoor work that I do does help but there is more I can do. Time to access the walking and yoga sub-routines. These will both be done on a daily basis. Yoga in the morning to stretch out and purposeful walking for cardio.

Bug #1 Performance Analysis: fail. Sure, the weather was too cold everywhere I went to enjoy walking but this is a flimsy excuse. Yoga practice was a total of 2 out of 31 days in the new year so far.

Bug #1 Task prior to 3/3: Walk a minimum of five minutes daily to get the blood flowing. Yoga a minimum of 15 days out of February’s 29 days2

Bug #2: Nutrition is a crucial component to all of this because I have not eaten well the last quarter of 2023. 2024 will be a rocky start since I will be traveling for work but I will be mindful and look for healthier food options.

Bug #2 Performance Analysis: Critical. I am back on the road and do indulge in fast food. But to note, I have consumed a lot of salads, grilled meats and healthier choices.

Bug #2 Task prior to 3/3: Maintain or improve current intake of greens and meats.Limit sugar. I do need to watch the salt intake as it corrupts the personal OS.

Bug #3: Smoking pipe tobacco and drinking alcohol is inserting bad code into my system and so, once again, I will work towards debugging those substances to enhance system performance.

Bug #3 Performance Analysis: Critical. Back on the tobacco pipe while on the road, but also drinking no alcohol.

Bug #3 Task prior to 3/3: …

Inputs

Other applications will be used to maintain the mental health of my personal operating system such as:

Reading (finished 3 books in January!)

Creative writing ( writing almost daily!)

Journaling (maybe 3 times a week)

Meditation (daily!)

Overall, these benchmarks for analyzing and evaluating overall performance will help maintain my personal operating system for years to come.

Next Systems Diagnostic will be on 3/3.

While writing this I was listening to:

  1. 1if you haven’t sorted it out by now it is me. I am the personal operating system operating system ↩︎
  2. leap year! ↩︎

Kobo

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Yes! The new e-reader is here and by the looks of it, everything I wanted. I purchased a book from the Kobo bookstore that has been on hold at the library for 27 weeks (half a year!) and got it for 50% cheaper than Amazon. In case you are wondering about the cat on the cover of the title Starter Villain:

🐈‍⬛
“In a dog-eat-dog world, be a cat.”

I was able to synchronize the reader to my Pocket “read-it-later” account so any article from the web I want to save for later can be synced to the device.

Successfully added .txt documents, .pdf books and installed .epub books from a variety of sources like Gutenberg Press, Standard E-books and Global Grey Ebooks all titles are generally classics and in the public domain.

The ability to highlight text and make notations was great as those sync to my personal FoxOS database for references. W00t!

Kobo

by

Yes! The new e-reader is here and by the looks of it, everything I wanted. I purchased a book from the Kobo bookstore that has been on hold at the library for 27 weeks (half a year!) and got it for 50% cheaper than Amazon. In case you are wondering, the cat is a sarcastic metaphor1

I was able to synchronize the reader to my Pocket “read-it-later” account so any article from the web I want to save for later can be synced to the device.

Successfully added .txt documents, .pdf books and installed .epub books from a variety of sources like Gutenberg Press, Standard E-books and Global Grey Ebooks all titles are generally classics and in the public domain.

The ability to highlight text and make notations was great as those sync to my personal FoxOS database for references. W00t!

  1. “In a dog-eat-dog world, be a cat instead”
    ↩︎
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Look, I know what you are thinking, and you’re right. I did say no new gear for the new year. But if I have the ability to read more e-books on a non-Kindle and deny Amazon more money, that’s justified, yeah?