mountainFrugal Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
shaz
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:05 pm
Location: Colorado, US

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by shaz »

That sounds much safer than what I was picturing. Running with poles is interesting.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

Image

Many projects coming to fruition this month and a few serendipitous things happened. (let's be honest... @ego and @jennypenny are both very wise and nearly always right). Many options are opening for next year.

# WINS
I got official approval to convert my "white paper" into a National Geographic style article for a scientifically literate audience instead. This article (potentially website) will include graphics, illustrations, photos, and text. This is 1/3 of my job description so I can further prototype this style of learning, making, and communicating. I worked through the Nat Geo storytelling courses for educators. I only did the relevant work on each topic (courses are designed for K-12 which is not me). We also finished the figures and are outlining the academic paper associated with my project. This makes extending my job a much more likely possibility if it is 1/3 code, 1/3 papers, 1/3 mF Nat Geo style articles. I really like the current work and it often does not feel like work.

I placed in the top 10 and finished under 7 hours for my 55+ km with 2500 m gain/loss. It snowed a few inches the night before. The higher elevation portions of the race were so pretty with moody clouds, old trees and fresh snow. My feet were soaked for the final third of the race, but I did not get any blisters. I passed the guy in the last 3 km who blew by me on the long downhill. He went too hard and had to walk the small hills on the forest road finish while I shuffled on by. Tortoise and hare. I physically recovered well too which was a major training goal. I was back running 3 days later (albeit slow). Overall I am super stoked how things turned out. Placing against ranked ultra-runners was unexpected icing on the cake.

I completed some of the recommended Plotkin exercises in my office and out in the forest. Really interesting insights that I will eventually take the time to write up and share some modified sketchnotes. I want to let it simmer more though as an additional recommendation is to revisit time and time again these natural places to see how they change over the seasons and see how the various parts of your ego interact with them. It is fun stuff exercising imagination muscles while out in nature.

We found a really cheap solar powered off-grid wedding venue with an industrial kitchen, some on-sight cabins, and nearly unlimited camping in the surrounding area. They have surprisingly few rules around food and drink so we can do most of that ourselves. We reserved it for an entire weekend of mountain shenanigans. We are scheming for a weekend scavenger hunt that has equal weights for things like childcare, reading a book in a hammock, or an epic trail run. Teams will be randomly assigned.

# IMPROVEMENTS
I have been seriously working on my hammies. Thanks again for input above. I was looser before my race and then tightened back up after. So one step forward two back, but doing daily stretches now. We are nearly done with our garden mounds consisting of branches, leaves, compost and soil. We also have some veggie containers to move around the yard or inside in case it will get cold at night. Solanaceae do not tend to do as well with cold nights, especially during pollination and fruit development.

# NEW DIRECTIONS
I think the sweet spot for trail running training and getting other projects done is 50 km to 50 milers with a lot of elevation gain/loss. These races are usually always fun and challenging without putting in excessive amounts of time on long training runs. It can be a drag to only ever be training for something. Sometimes the evening hatch is on and you have to make hard choices about training vs. pure pleasure. The way out is training less overall AND enjoying pure pleasure.

I enjoyed the book, message, and exercises in "How to want what you have" (see the book thread for a few comments). I read Refuse to Choose by B. Sher. @7w5 has recommended this book and author many times (I think @grundomatic as well?). It was just okay overall because I have already implemented various strategies that she recommends towards my projects. This would have been a much better read for me personally a decade ago (recommended for sure!). I am a "master it" scanner according to her definition so tend to work on projects more deeply for longer periods but then abandon them all together once I know how to do them. Her advice to write up project summaries for the overall idea, what has been done so far, and what should be done next was a good reminder for physical projects. I do this for my digital projects, but should do it for physical projects as well. This can give you a sense of completion even if the project is not fully complete. "I got what I came for" and move on to other explorations. No apologies. Onward!

# DRAWING
28/30 full page days. This month I did a lot of figure drawing from imagination. All of the reps copying from images has paid off. Dynamic figures from imagination is now my default warm-up or go to. They also offer off the cuff story idea planning. What if the 02 in the atmosphere was greater concentration? Huge insects! (not actually well researched...just drawing board ideas). I finished most of my full comic script. The storyline is completed with some thumbnails. I have to work on the dialogue to call it fully done and check it off, but will do that after the panels/pages are roughed out.

I made an art portfolio website that is separate from my general website/blog. I have been so focused on learning that I need to take a few illustrations to completion to freshen this up in the coming months. We are still really active on our Proko Yo! art group and added a new member this month. I went on two art dates with my MTB/painting buddy. He is trying to convince me to do a few framed ink and water colors for an upcoming show in a neighboring town. The themes are usually more pop-art focused, but the curator seems to be open to interpretation. It would at least be a good way to meet other artists and grow the local scene. I plan to make a few postcard sized pieces ($20 each) and one larger piece ($60).

# OUTDOOR ADVENTURE
Movement stats above. I had a PR on my hard 18 mile route 3:15:44 with 1293 m (4200 feet) of gain. This was my last hard run before tapering for my race. I knew after this training run that physically the race would go well.

My post race recovery week did not go as planned. I joined a search and rescue (SAR) for a missing person in the neighboring watershed because I knew the area relatively well. I took some days off work and put in 48 hours of search time over four days with 75 km of hiking, tracking, mapping, grid searching etc. over steep thick forested terrain. The SAR did not have a conclusive ending which is a bummer for the family and loved ones seeking closure. In addition to meeting cool people and strengthening existing friendships, I found some good old growth groves that I did not know existed and will revisit at a later date. I had a serendipitous meeting with another volunteer on my search team. He is an active member of various trout organizations. We were chatting about my research and my idea for the trout project. He thought my current projects sounded cool and would be even cooler if applied to trout related watersheds as planned in my freedom to! project. He is going to introduce me to some folks at other trout/conservation orgs that might be interesting in funding it!

# WORK
My boss applied for another leadership position in an adjacent unit and wants me to follow if she gets it. Likely will (see above).

The water color kits I have been making using mostly trash are being noticed. I sold one for $10 to a person who saw me using one while sketching at the local watering hole. This money immediately was put in the hobby piggy bank. It would be really cool between making inks from charcoal and recycling paper if I could turn waste streams into funding for the hobby that produces the waste. Infinite game?

# SOCIAL
Wedding 2/3 this summer was fun. Van camped to save on housing, but gas prices were a gut punch.

After the race we had a joint bday party for a few members of our running crew and a celebration BBQ.

My college roommate and best friend visited for a few days. It was right during taper week so I was the most boring host. lol. He understood though.

The SAR community is really interesting. They were really organized and coordinate between groups with reciprocity agreements. I had an inkling of volunteering for more training with our local group, but now that is more of a possibility. SAR integrates a lot of my interests and you can get various trainings/certs for free through volunteering over time. I did not know this, but they are in special need for ski based winter related SAR missions. My winter/ski skills could be used for serving the community as well. It is a big time commitment because you are on call a lot, but I will start by going to the regular meetings in the fall to see how the leadership is. There would have to be a good group if you are going to be spending all that time out in stressful situations together.

sky
Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:20 am

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by sky »

I really like your drawings.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

Thanks @sky! They are seriously fun to work on. How to make images of things instead of words? All the SAR stuff this past month got me much more interested in the different radio/sat/cell comms for remote areas. I might have some questions for you after doing some more reading. Communication out there was extremely important and not always done in the best way despite having access to good tech.

shaz
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:05 pm
Location: Colorado, US

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by shaz »

You got me with the "die young from toxicity" plot twist. I thought you were going a whole different direction with the giant bugs.

Congratulations on another good month.

FEMA offers some free courses/certificates that you might find relevant to your SAR interest. I'm working my way through their Animals in Disasters and Livestock in Disasters courses; next up is the incident command course because it is required to volunteer to help with animal emergency rescue with our local Humane Society.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

shaz wrote:
Thu Jun 30, 2022 1:44 pm
I thought you were going a whole different direction with the giant bugs.
Care to offer your ideas? This is not actually a story (yet).

I will check out the FEMA resources. Seems generally good. Thank you for the suggestion.

theanimal
Posts: 2627
Joined: Fri Jan 25, 2013 10:05 pm
Location: AK
Contact:

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by theanimal »

That person riding the insect is great. Have you planted anything in your garden beds?

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

We missed the full season crop timing this year (travel, sick, running, beds not done in time etc.). The first crop to go into the beds will be fall/winter greens. We have a few fruit trees, some blue/black/rasp berries and many herbs already established around the yard (from previous owners). We planted 5 tomato plants in 5 gallon buckets so we could move them around. We got two of the starts from a neighbor and three other starts from a friend we occasionally give bread to. My other yard time has been spent tearing down a dilapidated chicken coop and prepping an area to replace "lawn" with rocks and sitting space. I repurposed nearly all of the chicken wire for the bottom of the mounds to prevent/deter gophers from burrowing up. This is necessary in this area according to our gardening friend. We will use the remaining chicken wire for a bean lattice next summer. I am taking a 5-10 year view of the yard and it has to be balanced with all of my other projects or I might become resentful towards maintaining it. Slow and steady.

shaz
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2021 7:05 pm
Location: Colorado, US

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by shaz »

Well of course my first thought was giant bug ranching, rodeos, bug on the grill, etc. And then the bugs get organized and take over. You averted that nicely with the toxicity and death thing.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

I think your vision is a more developed world than my initial one. I was thinking lets run our large geoengineering experiment faster by taking it in a different direction and party all the way down (not well thought out). As far as global ecological systems are concerned, the arthropods are already in control, but not coordinated like in your vision. As an example, the humble mosquito is a leading vector for death and disease globally.

sky
Posts: 1726
Joined: Tue Jan 04, 2011 2:20 am

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by sky »

Regarding telcom in mountainous areas, to get reception in ravines and valleys, there is a term you should know: NVIS.

NVIS, or Near Vertical Incidence Skywave, refers to a radio propagation mode which involves the use of antennas with a very high radiation angle, approaching or reaching 90 degrees (straight up), along with selection of an appropriate frequency below the critical frequency, to establish reliable communications over a radius of 0-200 miles or so, give or take 100 miles.

If you use this term in reference to radio communication, other people will think you are a wizard.

User avatar
Slevin
Posts: 626
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2015 7:44 pm
Location: Sonoma County

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by Slevin »

Slight update I'm implementing to the hamstring work that you might be interested in as well, adding a band for resistance (if you have any). Check out the form here: https://youtu.be/WWEYP0CFmRQ?t=644 . Cadence is 5 seconds in the straight leg part of the hamstring stretch / elephant walk, then slowly bend leg and chill for a couple seconds. 12 reps per set, 3 sets per day. I'll probably be doing it 3x / week for now, but between 2 and 4 times per week will probably see good results.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

Thank you for the update and link. I look forward to checking out and trying the stuff in the link later. I can borrow a band from my partner.

guitarplayer
Posts: 1300
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by guitarplayer »

Hey @mF, it goes without saying your graphics look great!

If you want to chip in with resources you have used to learn here (I realize there is not really a 'quick way' to learn as I have mistakenly assumed in the title of that thread), perhaps other forumites could use it, too. I still have the intention of learning how to draw (though suspect I have very little talent in this regard).

It is very elegant how you have established this bridge between data visualization at work and vizualization more broadly via drawing.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

guitarplayer wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 2:53 am
though suspect I have very little talent in this regard...
It is very elegant how you have established this bridge between data visualization at work and vizualization more broadly via drawing.
Thanks @guitarplayer! I am a very visual person, but learning to see detail and try to capture that on a page with line, value, or color has fundamentally changed the way I view the world.

Talent (even if it exists) is overrated when compared to hard ass work. Put in the pencil miles. As you see your gradual improvement it will motivate more pencil miles.

guitarplayer
Posts: 1300
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by guitarplayer »

mountainFrugal wrote:
Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:41 am
Talent (even if it exists) is overrated when compared to hard ass work. Put in the pencil miles. As you see your gradual improvement it will motivate more pencil miles.
I definitely experience this with playing music so easily see the value of the statement!

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

Minor update/observation. We noticed that my West facing studio/office/spare bedroom was a lot cooler in the mornings than our South facing "master bedroom" despite having a fan in our bedroom and the master being heavily shaded by trees during the day. The master is only slightly larger than my office or my partners office, but is closer to the bathroom. We just followed the script of "the master bedroom is where we should sleep" without thinking too much about it. We started sleeping in my office/spare bedroom as a test. Even though it gets more afternoon sun, the West side has more of a consistent breeze (even on calm nights) because of the surrounding topography moving the cooler air down slope. So we switched my partner's office (also facing West) and our bedroom. It is now a few degrees cooler at night while we sleep, even without a fan. If we have guests, they will also enjoy a few degree cooler temps in the summer sleeping on the West side of the house.

guitarplayer
Posts: 1300
Joined: Thu Feb 27, 2020 6:43 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by guitarplayer »

I always find it refreshing when yet another layer of convention gets unpicked.

Thanks for keeping the journal, I aim to read it sometime.

For the gratitude journal, when you do it, do you have a set time for it? I think I will start one, not sure if last thing before bed or first thing in the morning. Probably down to personal preference though.

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

guitarplayer wrote:
Fri Jul 29, 2022 4:40 am
For the gratitude journal, when you do it, do you have a set time for it?
You are welcome. I have kept gratitude notes for nearly a decade. I usually do a written gratitude journal in the morning as part of my morning habit stack before doing art. This has worked well for me, but one potential downside is that it has trained me to be more grateful on quiet mornings with a cup of coffee in hand rather than at various points throughout the day. It is not that I am not also grateful at different parts of the day, but it comes less often to the forefront of my mind. Since reading How to Want What You Have, I have been trying to incorporate compassion, attention, and gratitude check-ins throughout the day as an extension of my mindfulness based check-ins. I have noticed at least with the gratitude component, that only doing it at one time of day would have me more often being grateful for things that were closer to top of mind. As an example, reflecting on a good night's rest. Snuggling with my partner. Etc. Moving it out into different parts throughout the day has made me more grateful for my life overall in the past month of doing this.

Be specific in your gratitude journal entries and incorporate multiple sensory experiences if possible. This will help to train noticing more subtle delights throughout the day that often go unnoticed. Let us know how it goes! :)

User avatar
mountainFrugal
Posts: 1125
Joined: Fri May 07, 2021 2:26 pm

Re: mountainFrugal Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

sky wrote:
Sat Jul 02, 2022 12:47 pm
NVIS, or Near Vertical Incidence Skywave
I had a chance to look into this more. Really cool wizard stuff! I recently had an in-depth conversation with my partner's relative who specializes in comms for the coast guard. He had many interesting stories of different conditions where the limitations of various frequencies would be found. One of the most surprising things was that most (war) ships still have a person that wears an eye-patch at all times (I forget the exact name of this position). If the ship needs to go dark for some battle situation, this trained person is then the "eyes of the ship" in the dark and can spot distant ships with fairly good accuracy. Their eyesight eventually suffers from this though so their "career" in this sub-profession is limited to 5-7 years. They then usually move up to other managerial roles.

Post Reply