Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

So I have done a lot of talking, but where am I financially right now? Here is a list of my (mostly, looking at you gas) fixed expenses that recur monthly.

Rent/mortgage: $0. Living at home. May or may not change when I begin electrical apprenticeship.
Cell phone bill: $15
Car insurance: $92.94
Gas: $44 (average over 3 months)
Gym: $11.28
Foodbank: $25 - I get tax receipts for this. Been doing it since early 2020 I think?

Total: $188.22

All other expenses, ranging from food I buy to stuff from Canadian tire make up the rest.

I earn an average of $251.96 per week or $1007.85 per month working part time at the grocery store.

I have no debts to my name. I have assets totalling $35,401.01. This includes my cash on hand at the bank and in my investments.

I am adding $100/month to purchase $50 of both the canadian index and the canadian bond index. I have cash on hand, and am soon buying some precious metals to make up the fourth portion of the permanent portfolio. I should get myself some sort of checkbook to keep track of it.

Next steps for me include shrinking my fixed expenses. I do not need the gym membership.
Most of what I end up doing now is bodyweight exercises which I do not need a gym for! We have a couple dumbbells at home too, along with rafters in the garage where I can do pullups and chinups. I will be exploring the different workout routines you guys do for ideas.

I will make another post discussing my non fixed expenses. This will be very good to keep me accountable!!

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

I am following through on my decision to cancel the gym membership. At this point, most exercises I do there are bodyweight ones which I can do at home.

Off I went to the library a couple weeks ago. I signed out a book called You Are Your Own Gym by Mark Lauren. He apparently trained folks in special operations military forces, which makes me feel pretty cool.

The first two weeks of the ten week program are building muscular endurance. Here are the exercises:
Day 1: Push ups, let me ins, seated dips with feet on ground, let me ups with knees bent
Day 2: Alternating back lunges, alternating one legged romanian dead lifts, squats, swimmers,
Day 3: Same as day 1
Day 4: Side lunges, romanian deadlifts (RDLs), squats with 1-3 second pause at bottom, side crunches

The building endurance happens though ladders. For each exercise I go for 7.5 minutes. I do one rep, then rest for the time it took me to do that rep. Then two reps, then rest for time it took me to do two reps. I go as high as I can rep wise until I think I will run out of steam before completing the set. For example, maybe 5 push ups max, then 4, then 3 then 2, then 1 and back up again. And so on, until the timer goes off. It is INTENSE.

Some exercises I can do straight right through, mostly the leg stuff such as lunges and and RDLs. However for push ups I need to lower the intensity throughout the time period to make sure I make it through the whole 7.5 minutes. So full push ups, then push ups with hands on a pillow, then on a chair, etc. As I get stronger I will be able to go the whole way without reducing the intensity.

It has only been a week, but wow is it ever great. I am a huge fan of short intense exercise so this program is doing me a lot of good.

Goal wise...I want to be able to do 5 consecutive pullups by the end of January 2022. I say this because I could not do a single one when I did a whole inventory at the gym a few weeks back. I can do a wall sit for 3 minutes but not a single pull up. However I just tried one after only a week of this program and I did one!! So I am making real solid progress.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

Here I am wide awake at 5:38 am. I actually woke up at 4 to go to the bathroom, but I just didn't fall back asleep afterwards. After about an hour of laying there in bed I just got up. I put a load of laundry on, loaded the dishwasher, emptied the compost and am now drinking some coffee.

I'm pretty excited because I know I'm entering a new stage of my life soon. I'm done the fall semester of my welding program and wow has it ever been fun. Going to learn some advanced SMAW as well as some GMAW (mig) next semester. The real exciting thing is beginning my career in electrical. There are 42 electrical businesses in my area. I have my hard hat, safety boots, and safety glasses. In addition I have my own little car, and a full set of high quality tools. I am beginning the process of starting an apprenticeship. I will be going around to electricians in town, and showing up at the office or jobsite with resume in hand. I'll ask about openings for apprentices. If there are none for the next while, I will move on to the next business. If I go through all 42 and none are taking apprentices (unlikely) I will go back to my favored businesses and ask how long it is until they have an opening. For example they might say in 4 months one of their apprentices is moving on to another company. I can just be hired on as a laborer so they can see my good qualities such as my work ethic and punctuality. Then when the apprentice leaves I hopefully take their place. That is the plan at least. Eventually I would like to get into the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) too. I put an application in for the first time last year, but wasn't accepted. That's alright. I know my chances increase on the second attempt because they know I'm serious...I gave them a call about the process for 2022 but haven't heard back yet. I will call them again on Monday.

The other thing I'm excited about is moving out. I remember reading about house hacking back when I was in university and thought it is such a neat way to turn a house from something that costs you money each month to something that earns you money - or at the very least costs you less than it usually does. What my dad has mentioned to me before is my grandparents' house. I live in a university town, and my grandparents have a semi-detached home down in the student neighbourhood. Before they bought it back when I was just a kid, the house was a student rental. It has 4 bedrooms, with one more room that could be easily be changed into a fifth. My grandparents have been there I think around 20 years. They have not been maintaining it in terms of keeping things up to date. Why would they? They have no plans on moving out any time soon. If they can, they will live out the rest of their lives in that house. As a result things do not look great. The ceiling in the basement is drooping. It is some sort of foam tiling that could be replaced with something much more solid. The bathroom downstairs has a shower where the stick on tiling (or whatever you call it) long ago began peeling. It could use a re-tiling. The kitchen is functional, but looks as if it is from the 70s, basically because it is. There is no dishwasher. There was a hook up one but it started to leak about 7 years ago and they haven't gotten around to replacing it yet (lol). What my dad has mentioned is me buying the house from them, and them paying rent to me. It would give me a cheap place to live, and they would have all their built up equity freed up for them. I could work on fixing the place up while I lived there. My trades buddies would be helpful there - I have one who does tiling for a living and one who does property maintenace for a living. Another idea is to have a single student stay in the basement with me. This would increase rental income and give the student a pretty peaceful place to live. That wouldn't be until after fixing some stuff up.

There are some unknowns. Maybe my grandparents would want to buy another place with their freed up money. There are a few well priced condos around here. Thinking far ahead, when I want to sell the house (I don't want to live there long term) I'm not sure who I would sell it too if this is before my grandparents pass away.

Either way it is an interesting idea. If the unknowns end up killing the idea, that's okay. It has gotten me thinking outside the box that's for sure. If so I think I may look at other student rental homes to try house hacking in. To me it seems like a great way to build up quite a bit of capital pretty fast.

For now I am focusing my energy on getting into some electrical work.

basuragomi
Posts: 419
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2019 3:13 pm

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by basuragomi »

Having faced a similar housing situation myself, I would run screaming from that "opportunity." Might work out for you though, my family is pretty neurotic.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

My family gets along very well because we're all quite chill. It would still change the dynamic though - I would be grandson and landlord which is strange. Definitely not something to rush into.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

This thought process has brought me back to the idea of house hacking. I really like it. I don't see myself becoming some real estate mogul, because that's not how I want to live my life. It seems like a great way to use leverage and build equity in a property pretty darn quick though, which lends itself well to my long-term plans of purchasing some rural property and living in a smaller town. To me it almost seems like one of those moves where if you do it right, it is almost guaranteed to help you out in the long run. I do have the chunk of cash sitting there.

I am also thinking I may finish up this welding program this semester instead of going all summer. That way I can really get going on my electrical apprenticeship hunt. It will also mean I can actually sack some of the cash i earn away now, because for the last 6 years now it's been going to tuition costs to avoid student loans. My chunk of cash has shrunk, and I want to see it begin to grow again.

I think it could become a down payment on a home to house hack. The minimum down payment here in Canada is 5% for an owner occupied place. Non owner occupied jumps up to 20% I believe, correct me if I'm wrong. I could also put a higher percentage down. I will spend some time thinking about how much to put down.

This seems like a great way not only to earn some money and build equity in a home, but a great way to learn a lot about real estate. I'd get to move out too, which is exciting all on its own. Don't get me wrong, my parents are amazing, but having my own place (even if it's shared) will be very neat.

*Edit* I did explore real estate a few years back. Got into Bigger Pockets and everything. I started to run numbers on multifamily properties in my town. The only thing i didn't have was an income - unfortunately $9000 per year
at the grocery store didn't cut it. Gettinga full time job, even as a beginner apprentice or laborer should give me much better chances. I do have excellent credit, I'm sitting at over 800 right now. This is exciting!

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

4 pull ups! Remember my goal of 5 pull ups by the end of January 2022? I am almost there. Before starting the bodyweight program I could do about 3/4 of one with full effort. I just went out into the garage last night and grabbed onto the rafters, and surprised myself. I am also noticing that my work at the grocery store is getting easier - specifically lifting skids off the ground and putting them onto a pile. I don't lift them with my lower back, no no. I've seen too many young guys do that and then leave work for a couple weeks due to a sore back. I get them sitting on the side, with the slats facing me. Then I grab the slats, squat down, and lift the skid by squatting it up. It works very well and I don't strain myself until the pile gets about chest height. At that point I get someone else to help lift.

The difference I've noticed is that I can effectively lift the skid and almost toss it onto the pile now with relative ease! I'm definitely getting noticeable stronger which is always nice. It's not beginner's gains either because I have been doing strength stuff for years now. The only muscles that are relatively new to the game would be my stabilizers, because up until now not much of my strength has involved balance. Now though with the one legged romanian dead lifts and bulgarian split squats and iron mikes balance is becoming a much more developed aspect of my overall strength. I've got one comment on how my back muscles appear much stronger which is good for the ego.

I am also reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, which ties into my new years resolutions. I remember when I was younger I was never a coffee drinker, because I never needed it. I remember I tried it out of curiosity a couple times and all it did was speed up my thoughts and make me need to poop but not much more. For years it was only me and my oldest brother who didn't drink coffee, then even he started. I held out until I went to the homestead this summer, and my bedtime went from 10:45pm to about 1:15am. That was this summer, and I was still drinking it - up until yesterday. I know how long it stays in my system, because I now have hypnic jerks as I fall asleep which I never had before when I was younger. It's always mild - basically just my core flexes for a split second and relaxes. It has been happening ever since I started drinking coffee at the homestead. I know correlation is not causation, but my guess is that it's remnants of caffeine in my system messing around.

Back before I drank coffee, my parents thought I was a bit strange because I would not do anything to remedy how tired I was if I messed up my sleep schedule the night before. That is if I went out with friends or stayed up really late. I would carry on with my day, but just really tired. It worked really well, because when I deviated from my sleep routine i felt the effects acutely and I didn't forget it. I would then revert to my 10:45 bedtime and wake up refreshed once again. The past two days I haven't drank any coffee, and honestly I am not missing it a whole lot. I think I may just stick to herbal tea in the morning so I still have something to sip on. I think my sleep will be much better for it.

Now what about booze? I honestly never realized how much it messes with your sleep. I've always known it was a sedative, but I never realized that it wakes you up repeatedly during the night, but only for short bursts so you rarely remember actually waking up. This is something I can also easily cut down on because I'm not exactly a party animal. The most I drink now is a couple glasses of homemade wine in a night and that is rare - it's usually just one. However I'm guessing even that is affecting my sleep. I think I may have a drink later in the evening about once a week, if I'm doing something social. If I'm not I just won't drink at all.

So giving up coffee and red wine? Well, yeah. It sounds bad, but I do remember how refreshed I felt when I was younger, waking up after a good nights sleep. That is more than worth giving those two up, especially considering the coffee was only because I feel tired.

I know guaranteed way to fail with goals is to set too many at one time, so this one will be for later on. I would like to also reduce my screentime before bed. Both my phone and laptop have the blue light filters on, but I know even so they would still be affecting my melatonin levels at night. To replace this screentime I can start my end of the day journalling I used to do. I've got about 5 notebooks completely loaded up by my daily writings, and I'm honestly not too sure why I stopped. I think it just sort of faded away with time. I've made about 5 entries in the past year, and I always enjoy myself when I do one. So that is a habit that I can happily increase instead of whittling down this year.

So with all this in hand, I think I will say that 2022 will be the year of better sleep for me. And a stronger back!

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

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by mountainFrugal »

I noticed the reduction in sleep quality with booze consumption recently as well. Once I noticed it, I found that having any alcohol two hours before sleeping had a consistent negative effect. So there might be a timing component to how much your body processes it before sleeping (dependent on how much you have). Even taking a month or two off of these things would be a good win.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

mountainFrugal wrote:
Sat Jan 01, 2022 1:18 pm
I noticed the reduction in sleep quality with booze consumption recently as well. Once I noticed it, I found that having any alcohol two hours before sleeping had a consistent negative effect. So there might be a timing component to how much your body processes it before sleeping (dependent on how much you have). Even taking a month or two off of these things would be a good win.
I think so too. I will commit to it in writing here but I have already begun because this is fun. Until January 31st 2022 I will not consume any alcoholic drinks, nor any coffee or similarly heavily caffeinated drinks. I will exclude green tea as it is relatively low in caffeine.

Okay! Now also this morning I thought of starting a sleep journal. I knew if there was too much work involved that I'd only do it for a couple days and stop, so I checked to see if there's a template out there. Indeed there is, right here https://www.sleepfoundation.org/wp-cont ... pDiary.pdf

This will take at most a couple minutes to fill out each night and morning, and I think it will really let me root out the issue(s) that is/are messing with my sleep. I woke up a little frustrated today. I had no booze or caffeine yesterday. I had a good day at work where I get moderate exercise for about 7 1/2 hours working as a grocery clerk. I did eat a meal when I got home from work, some steak and rice. A girl I've been talking to for a while recently texted me which probably threw me off (lol she is great, but for a bit I thought we were done talking). I watched some funny youtube videos last night as well before bed. To finish off I did some reading.

I woke up frustrated because I am tired. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being kill me now and 10 being I had the best sleep of my life, I'd say I slept a solid 6.5. Not bad, but not great either. I woke up twice (??) to pee. Got a little angry at my bladder for that one. I did not have any big drinks of anything before bed last night.

Okay I need to get ready for work. I will print off those templates today though and begin that process. Time to learn why I am not waking up refreshed!!

white belt
Posts: 1452
Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by white belt »

Cam wrote:
Mon Jan 03, 2022 7:59 am
This will take at most a couple minutes to fill out each night and morning, and I think it will really let me root out the issue(s) that is/are messing with my sleep. I woke up a little frustrated today. I had no booze or caffeine yesterday. I had a good day at work where I get moderate exercise for about 7 1/2 hours working as a grocery clerk. I did eat a meal when I got home from work, some steak and rice. A girl I've been talking to for a while recently texted me which probably threw me off (lol she is great, but for a bit I thought we were done talking). I watched some funny youtube videos last night as well before bed. To finish off I did some reading.

I woke up frustrated because I am tired. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being kill me now and 10 being I had the best sleep of my life, I'd say I slept a solid 6.5. Not bad, but not great either. I woke up twice (??) to pee. Got a little angry at my bladder for that one. I did not have any big drinks of anything before bed last night.
In my experience, texting girls and watching youtube videos are both highly stimulative. You also will have the effects of light from looking at your phone screen. If you want to get serious about your sleep quality, then you probably want to restrict any activities related to electronic devices 60 minutes prior to bed time. Another related tip is to place your phone in a different room if possible and just use an old school alarm to wake up (in an ideal world you don't need an alarm, since your sleep and wake times are the same everyday). Have a consistent bedtime routine and all that jazz.

Also in my experience, the effects of sleep quality are cumulative and sometimes have a lag. For example, if I get a poor night of sleep in terms of quality or quantity, I will often feel worse two days later than the next day. If you have serious sleep deprivation, then you will initially likely feel worse after a full night's sleep rather than better. Take it from someone who has experienced severe sleep deprivation that is likely reserved only for those at war and those who are subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques."

I would recommend reviewing your sleeping habits on a weekly basis and tracking trends rather than a daily basis because there are so many variables. I haven't tried a sleep journal, but I would say just be careful about stressing over sleep quality. I've heard of people getting neurotic regarding sleep quality which just results in more stress when they feel like their sleep didn't go perfectly.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

Yes the screen time before bed does not help. I have blue light filters on both my devices but i think no screens at all would be best. I do charge my phone downstairs which helps keep my bedroom a place for sleeping only.

The lag is interesting. It's not something I've noticed, but i haven't really thought of it that way before. I will try tracking on a weekly basis instead, or every few days or something like that. I'm not one to get neurotic about stuff so I should be okay that way, but I'll still keep an eye on that.

I do think my journalling (not sleep stuff, just what happened that day/what's in my head) is the key factor that let me sleep so soundly when I was younger. I was not only clearing my head of todays thoughts but planning for tomorrow, both of which help me get the sleep with a quiet mind.

I'll still stick with the no booze or coffee for a month, because it's honestly kind of fun to switch stuff up.

Thanks for the tips white belt.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

Guess who can do 5 consecutive pull ups now? Woo! That is a lot of progress from just a couple months ago when I could only do half of one. In addition to that I am getting closer to being able to perform a one legged squat. A one arm push up is still waaay off but I hope to make it there someday.

I applied to one electrical business in town. I didn't hear anything for a few days, so I called. He said he didn't have any openings until next year. However he was very happy that I physically brought in my application rather than just calling or emailing - he said just about no one does that anymore. He also mentioned that if I can get in somewhere even as a labourer and not an apprentice I'll be able to log hours towards my apprenticeship for when I do get in somewhere. That's great news.

I applied to my second business this last week, and I need to give them a call too to see what's up. I will ask the same questions: 1) Are you looking for an apprentice? 2) If not, when do you think your next opening will be? 3) Do you know anyone who is looking for an apprentice, or even just some help?

I know by repeating this I should have a good chance of getting in SOMEwhere around here, because we have 42 electrical businesses in my area.

The welding program is still going great. Currently doing a double V joint on 3/8" plate and filling it all up with a single pass of a 5/32 6010 rod. Not easy but I am getting closer! This program was an awesome choice.

Now what I am deciding is where to work when I'm done school in May. There are a few jobs at the hospital in town cleaning for $23 per hour, which is far more than my current grocery store job. It would involve shift work though, and I know night shifts would mess me up a bit. The other option is to really buckle down on my electrical business hunt and get in somewhere as a labourer. Apprentice would be best but I'm fine with sweeping and doing menial work as a labourer if it counts towards my hours. I would earn much less, probably anywhere from $14 to $17 per hour. Folks would see my work ethic and punctuality though, and that is what counts when they're deciding if I'd be a good apprentice or not. I will try to union again too.

Oh and I am learning some javascript too on free code camp. I actually took a complete web developer course on Udemy back when I was a teenager and that's what I thought I wanted to do career wise. Now I know it involves far too much sitting for my liking but I do still find it really interesting. During the course I did HTML, CSS, something like jQuery (this was a while ago I apologize) and I got to javascript but I got stuck there because I couldn't get whatever file I was working on to run for the life of me. So when I read a thread on here about programming it piqued my interest. I took programming in highschool in grade 11 and 12. In grade 11 I created a shooter game similar to space invaders but with cats. In grade 12 I made a grocery shopping simulator for adults with learning disabilities to learn for a local program in my town. Both projects were challenging but a lot of fun at the same time. Getting back into coding is a lot of fun now.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

I did my first pass on the 6010 double V exercise. That's some good news. In not so good news, the second electrical business also said no. No big deal, but he also said a big part of the reason no one can take any people on is that parts are hard to get right now because of the supply chain mess. I first heard about this issue when I lived on the homestead this summer. There was a carpenter living there too with 20+ years of experience. He was working away, but near mid summer he was coming home and saying they weren't able to finish jobs anymore because they were missing crucial parts e.g. screws that are a certain length, certain dimensions of lumber. Some parts could be substituted, but many could not be. So the jobs just sat.

The same thing is happening in electrical right now, and has been happening for over a year now. By the sounds of it, even getting in somewhere as a labourer will be enormously challenging. So I am switching gears. There are always mining jobs posted in my area because it's a big industry around here. Just yesterday I saw a posting for a labourer for a mining company that does camp jobs. That means 2 weeks at work, 2 weeks off alternating. I know the work is not easy, but there are plenty of benefits. All expenses are paid from travel to hotel to food in addition to a $23/hour salary. There is lots of opportunity for overtime as well. I know the work is not easy, but I think this will be a real good way out of my comfort zone and the rut I'm in trying to get into electrical businesses. I know my electrical and welding knowledge can do me nothing but good in that job too. I put in an application today, and I'd say the only downside to me as an applicant is that I'm in school until April. If I don't get it that's fine, I can still try for the hospital cleaning job. I will update when I know though.

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

Just did 100 burpees, wowza. Then some push ups, some jumping jacks and some core stuff. Then I took a cold shower. So I am pooped but feeling great.

Yesterday I was more down. I didn't get the mining job, which isn't really surprising. I put in my cover letter that I couldn't start until April, because my welding program ends then. I wasn't too sad about that, more just frustrated at how challenging it is to get in somewhere. I will keep applying to electrical businesses just to get my name out there, but I'm not expecting any jobs from that for a little while at least. It's the winter when construction slows down, and the supply chain stuff slowing down jobs that are ongoing.

I do have options though. There is a stockroom labourer job at a mining company for $17 per hour that I think I could get into. I could work at my dad's workplace because I have an in there. It would involve shift work but is unionized and has a good salary ladder to climb depending on experience and skills. My friend works at a tiling company that is always looking for good workers. Another friend builds bridges further north and he says his company is looking for guys too. I kind of forgot all that yesterday though because I was frustrated.

No matter what I do, I think I'm going to buy myself a multiprocess welder for at home. I know now that I really enjoy welding and I'm happy to invest more money in it as a hobby. It's a great ERE hobby too because of the potential to make money with it, especially if I learn aluminum there is a TON of work out there. I'm thinking the Hobart Multihandler 200 will do me good. It's multi voltage meaning it can run off 120V and 240V and will do SMAW (stick), MIG and DC TIG. The downside to multiprocess machines is that they are jacks of all trades and masters of none. For example the hobart will not TIG weld aluminum but it will MIG weld it with a spool gun. That's fine with me though because I do not plan on building airplanes or sticking i beams together for bridges or anything. The hobart looks like it will be $2100 canadian taxes included. Not cheap, but it is a name brand that I can get parts for if necessary, and it is still far cheaper than other options (looking at you Miller and ESAB - $4800 and $5000 respectively). I'm pretty excited to get into it. I've got enough money to purchase it now, but I'm going to wait until I have several hundred more so when I purchase it I'm not dropping to zero.

My investments in the canadian index and bond fund is still $100 per month. Sitting at $300 now. I think I am going to focus my savings on building up cash to either purchase land or to use as a downpayment on a home. Now that there are no more tuition payments I can ramp up my saving.

And some fun news. A real pretty girl I went to university with added me on facebook last night. I chatted with her at a coffee shop recently before the most recent lockdown. Just small talk, but really nice. I had a few classes with her and we always caught each other's eye - you know the eye contact that lingers just slightly longer than is friendly. Nothing ever happened in uni but maybe something might happen now. When this lockdown lifts and the coffeeshops open up I'll continue my studying down there and chat her up when I see her. We'll see where it goes!

Jupiter
Posts: 82
Joined: Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:45 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Jupiter »

That is a lovely journal entry, thank you for sharing Cam! 100 burpees... The cold shower must have felt nice. I hope you will be able to find a job you like soon. And your last paragraph is very sweet. Good luck :)

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

Jupiter wrote:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:58 pm
That is a lovely journal entry, thank you for sharing Cam! 100 burpees... The cold shower must have felt nice. I hope you will be able to find a job you like soon. And your last paragraph is very sweet. Good luck :)
Yes it sure did feel nice. I love burpees because they are a quick but very intense way to workout. I can definitely say by the end they were pretty half assed but I was still getting my feet off the floor! Thank you for the well wishes :) I'll find something, and it'll be a lot easier once I'm out of my welding program so I can devote more time to searching and applying. As for the potential romance, thanks again for the well wishes! Looking forward to reading more of your journal. It sounds like we're at similar life stages: low expenses but low income too.

jacob
Site Admin
Posts: 15907
Joined: Fri Jun 28, 2013 8:38 pm
Location: USA, Zone 5b, Koppen Dfa, Elev. 620ft, Walkscore 77
Contact:

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by jacob »

Cam wrote:
Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:43 pm
Just did 100 burpees, wowza. Then some push ups, some jumping jacks and some core stuff. Then I took a cold shower. So I am pooped but feeling great.
So then ... consider yourself called out

viewtopic.php?t=6588

User avatar
Lemur
Posts: 1612
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2016 1:40 am
Location: USA

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Lemur »

@Cam

+1 on the cold showers.

And for chin-ups/pull-ups what is great about being "weak" now is that every rep you do is basically a maximal strength lift. You'll build strength/endurance fast if you do them everyday.

Here is something similar to what I've been doing though I'm not doing the exact protocol:
https://sealgrinderpt.com/blog/navy-sea ... gram.html/

I personally perform about 50 chin-ups / pull-ups a day (spread throughout the day) with a 1 day break every week. 3x a week, I do weighted ones with a backpack on a few of those sets. It was around beginning of December I could only do 8 in a row. Previously before that I wasn't progressing much - the lesson was learned: don't be afraid to push the training/volume on these. You can progress very fast on pull-ups is what I'm saying!

mooretrees
Posts: 762
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 1:21 pm

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by mooretrees »

My DH bought a MIG welder for our school bus build and I've been amazed at what he can do with it and only self-taught. Welding is a really useful skill. DH would say he's more of a grinder than a welder :lol:.

I would suggest making sure that the welder you're interested in has good resale value. If it really is a jack of all trades, you might get tired of its limitations and want more specialized welders. If it's a good brand then selling it should be easy, if that ever happens.

I am just beginning with cold showers and they are not enjoyable yet, but I can imagine they soon will be. Great job with the pull ups!

Cam
Posts: 181
Joined: Tue May 25, 2021 8:21 am

Re: Building a better world - Cam's Journal

Post by Cam »

jacob wrote:
Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:34 pm
So then ... consider yourself called out

viewtopic.php?t=6588


Ouu I like some friendly competition. Especially if it highlights that I'm not in as good shape as I think I am (lol). I will give that a go!
Lemur wrote:
Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:36 pm
@Cam

+1 on the cold showers.

And for chin-ups/pull-ups what is great about being "weak" now is that every rep you do is basically a maximal strength lift. You'll build strength/endurance fast if you do them everyday.

Here is something similar to what I've been doing though I'm not doing the exact protocol:
https://sealgrinderpt.com/blog/navy-sea ... gram.html/

I personally perform about 50 chin-ups / pull-ups a day (spread throughout the day) with a 1 day break every week. 3x a week, I do weighted ones with a backpack on a few of those sets. It was around beginning of December I could only do 8 in a row. Previously before that I wasn't progressing much - the lesson was learned: don't be afraid to push the training/volume on these. You can progress very fast on pull-ups is what I'm saying!
50! Gee louise. I will definitely work on those because I know that is an area where I could see a lot of beginners gains because I rarely worked out my lats before. I was kind of the opposite of the typical gym guy with a big chest and tiny legs - I'm more strong legs but little upper body. That's why the body weight program has been so good for me. I think I will highlight working on pull ups, and also get that book back out from the library!!
mooretrees wrote:
Tue Jan 25, 2022 7:45 pm
My DH bought a MIG welder for our school bus build and I've been amazed at what he can do with it and only self-taught. Welding is a really useful skill. DH would say he's more of a grinder than a welder :lol:.

I would suggest making sure that the welder you're interested in has good resale value. If it really is a jack of all trades, you might get tired of its limitations and want more specialized welders. If it's a good brand then selling it should be easy, if that ever happens.

I am just beginning with cold showers and they are not enjoyable yet, but I can imagine they soon will be. Great job with the pull ups!
I am jealous of your bus build. I see them at the scrapyard all the time and think 'wow that would be a good greenhouse or house on wheels'. ANd yes lol grinding can be really magical when it comes to fixing screw ups! We're working on a 3 piece 90 degree turn pipe joint in class right now. We had to layout with stretchouts and everything, then transfer the drawings to our pipe. Then we had to hand cut the sections out with plasma cutting or torch cutting. I chose plasma because I'm more familiar with it...hand cutting pipe sucks, because it is so slippery. My first cut looked horrible - that is until I took a grinder to it. Now it looks like I actually kind of know what I'm doing!

And yes resale is another reason to buy a well known brand. Definitely more expensive than the cheap amazon ones, but they are more likely to work well, resell well, and have parts available all which help make up for the higher price.

In all honesty I only took the cold shower after the workout. When I take my regular showers they're still nice and toasty. Sue me! Maybe I will transition over. For now I'm happy that I've dropped the number of showers down per week quite a bit. I used to shower daily, but now it's probably once every three days or so. My skin actually feels a lot better when I don't shower. I do sponge baths though to make sure I don't actually smell bad. I haven't done any math on it but I'm sure I'm saving a good amount of water doing this. I know if I switch to cold I'll save even more because I won't want to be in there as long!

Thanks for all the replies folks I feel like a celebrity.

Post Reply