I’ve now been at home for a week and a half. I’ve only left
once, to go to the grocery store, and I’m about to leave for the second time
today. I was jet-lagged until about Friday, a full week, and I had terrible difficulty
getting my schoolwork done by the due dates. I had forum assignments in both
classes, which are my most loathed type of assignment, but it also didn’t help
that I’ve been playing video games.
I continued the Terraria game that I started back in Japan.
On Saturday I fought the last boss and lost, but making it that far granted me nearly
all of the most powerful items in the game, so I more or less lost interest in
playing. A game that I have always wanted, Cities: Skylines, was on sale for
80% off. When I tried playing it in the past my framerate was so low that I had
to give up, but I’ve ordered a new computer so I felt justified in buying it. I
managed to play a couple of games on this computer, and sometimes it ran fine.
The sense of progression was difficult to grasp though—I think I need to watch
a video or read a guide to understand what I’m trying to do.
That game inspired me to return to Factorio. It has gone from
version 0.16 to 0.18 since the last time I played it (a seablock playthrough
that I dropped about eight months ago), but the only significant differences I have
noticed are cosmetic. Apparently BobsAngels has gotten a few updates, but so
far the only thing I’ve noticed is that the greenhouse churns out trees instead
of wood, and these trees must be cut (with a sawblade) to make the wood. I also installed an additional mod set, Pyanodon,
to give this playthrough a little more novelty. So far I haven’t seen any of
its content, though.
Given that I can’t really go out and plus I’m getting a new
computer, I’ve decided to relax my no video games rule. I’d also like to game online
with a friend now that I’m home, so that’s another reason not to maintain it. I’m
going to return to my no fanfiction rule, though. Last night I caught up on Quintessence,
a Worm/Star Wars crossover, and it caused me to stay up past midnight. There
are plenty of books in this house, many that I have not read yet and many that
I would read again. I have no excuse for wasting time on fanfiction except that
it doesn’t require me to turn off the lights when I’m finished. Maybe I can
find a different lamp or rig up something to make that even less of an issue.
So, other goals. My top priority right now is schoolwork. I
think that if I work 4 hours a day (2 hours on each class) I’ll be in a good
position and I might be able to forego working on the weekend. After three weeks
of laziness though, I’m not sure that I can jump right into such an ambitious
schedule. Furthermore, this week’s work is on the light side, so I’m not
feeling as much pressure. So, for this week I’m going to aim for over an hour
for each class every day for the next three days, and I’ll up the pace on
Friday if it looks like I’ll have difficulty finishing. Next week I believe I
have big projects in both classes, which should motivate me to stick to four
hours a day, and once I know that I can do it maybe I can keep up the pace thereafter.
I have a new strategy that I’m going to try—sessions. I’ll work on school work for
15-45 minute sessions, and then I’ll do something else. I’m hoping that the idea
of just working for fifteen minutes will decrease my desire to procrastinate.
Also, I’m going to time myself during these sessions, which I hope should
increase my focus, knowing that if I distract myself with news or whatever, my
reporting will be inaccurate.
My next goal is exercise. I danced on Monday of last week,
but I wasn’t very happy with how difficult it was to pivot. I pulled out my tennis
shoes and dance socks, but haven’t tried them yet. Last night I did do a song
on DDR, which was fast but it left me completely out of breath, just after one song!
I’m going to try to dance today, and if I’m still not happy with it, I might
decide on a different mode of exercise. I have plenty of choices: there are
weights and furniture, and I don’t have to feel bad about doing HIIT, and there’s
a rowing machine, and I could probably even use the elliptical. So, for the
next few days I might explore my options for exercise. I will set a concrete
goal for general exercise by Sunday of next week. However, I am going to extend
my five-minute plank goal for one (last) month. I’ll do a plank in the morning and
evening; preferably a side plank, that way I can do a normal plank with less
effort during the day.
On my list of priorities, getting a job would be number
three. While I think that I could get a job now at the grocery store, the
current situation is a good excuse to recuse myself from this requirement. At
the very least I’d like to get a better feel for how much time schoolwork takes
when I’m working on it diligently. Here’s my goal then—I’m going to look for job
postings at least once a week for the next three weeks, until April 19th.
At that point, if the virus situation seems to be calming, I’ll start looking
more frequently. If I see a job that is either (relatively) well-paying or a
good experience, I’ll apply. That’s all I’m going to plan for now. If something
changes my mind, next Monday I’ll give a report and reevaluate this goal as
necessary.
I want to help with cooking and cleaning of the house. Cleaning
I will do after exercising. So far, we discuss cooking on a case by case basis.
I don’t think this is ideal, but I don’t feel that it’s the right time to try
to institute something more regular. At least until next week, and possibly for
the next month, I’m just going to cook whenever I see the need.
Writing and reflection is an important habit that I have
neglected for the past two weeks. I think my productivity will receive a
tremendous boost if I write regularly. In the past I found it difficult to
write every day, but I think I’m going to try from tomorrow. I’ll wake up and
eat breakfast, do a session of schoolwork, and then write about how I did with
my goals on the previous day and possibly what I intend to do next.
I have been playing piano most days since I came home, but a
couple of the notes ring painfully in my head, and I would really prefer to
pick up the violin, even though it’s more difficult to set up and play. At this
moment I don’t have any goals. If I practice consistently this month, I think I
could aim to play Bach’s double concerto by the end of May, but I feel that it
is out of reach for this month. I would like to be able to play one song (maybe
a less familiar one) well enough to perform (to myself), and I would like to be
able to play the G scale confidently, with good intonation and at a decent tempo.
I need to find a program or something that will help me with the intonation—that’s
something to think about. More details to follow.
Next is my language studies. For the month of April, I’m
going to go casual with Japanese—reading only when I feel like it. Spanish will
be my new focus. My ultimate goal is an ACTFL certificate, which is a valid
certificate for teaching licensure in some states. I’ll do more research on the
usage of these certificates, but I was amazed to see them available for so many
languages. They might be a future goal for other languages as well. What are my
steps toward passing this test? Obviously I need to learn more about the test
first, but I’m having a little trouble with my research there. I feel confident
about my reading ability, but I know that my knowledge of the grammar rules is
quite sketchy. For today, I’ll look for a way to focus on improving that, in
addition to researching the ACTFL test.
I’ve been doing the Rubik’s cube consistently but not
deliberately. My last solve, which I did casually, took me 1:42. I think by
concentrating more I could knock twenty seconds off, but that still puts me way
behind my beginner method. I’m still making several mistakes with F2L, taking
my time remembering steps for PLL, and hardly using OLL at all (since I only
know three of the seven algorithms for it). My first priority then, is to
finish learning OLL. For the next four days starting today, I’ll pick an algorithm,
practice the steps 30 times, and train it five times. I’ll do that in addition
to my casual solving, and I’ll practice the other OLL algorithms ten times. On the
weekend I’ll practice all the OLL algorithms ten times and do mixed training 18
times (three for each algorithm I’m less familiar with). If I stick to this, I think
my OLL should have a solid foundation that only requires more practice. I’ll
announce my next goal for the Rubik’s cube on Monday.
My programming has once again been completely neglected. I
don’t have the motivation for it at the moment. I’d like to pick up another
hobby if I’m not doing this or working, but for now I think that I might spend
any extra time on Factorio. Well, I’ll think about this tomorrow.
Finally, Bible reading, prayer, and memorization needs to be
given a much higher priority. I haven’t reviewed my Psalms in the past two weeks,
so first I’ll focus on reviewing Psalms 1-20 between now and Monday. I
recognize up to Psalm 31, so I’ll review Psalms 21-31 for the rest of the month,
with memorizing Psalm 32 (I’m pretty sure it’s new) as my stretch goal. As for
reading the Bible and praying, I think I need a modest formula to get me in the
habit. Also, I know that the amount I pray is never sufficient, so it’s
discouraging thinking about how I fail each time. I need success and reasonable
bounds, so I’ll read one chapter a day (I think I’m in Mark now), and I’ll pray
for two people.
Writing this reminded me of a thought I had from all the
farewells at the end of the school year in Japan. I think I need to write about
a person every day, extolling their virtues and why I’m thankful that they are
in my life. I think this will give me a better attitude toward interacting with
people—more of a “you” focus, because I’ll be looking for material and/or I’ll be
looking to validate what I have written about them. I probably shouldn’t post
this writing online, so I guess I’ll start a word document for it. I plan to
start this tomorrow—today I’ve already been writing for two hours, so it’s time
to do something else and catch up with my other tasks.
Before I go, a quick summary of my goals as they relate to
my next 24 hours.
- No fanfiction—read a paperback before sleep (right now it’s A Gathering of Old Men)
- Work on schoolwork in 15 to 45-minute sessions, at least 1 hour per class
- Try dancing with dancing socks
- Look for jobs by next Sunday.
- Write in the morning after the first schoolwork session, starting before 10 AM.
- Choose an easy but less familiar violin piece to master.
- Find a way to monitor intonation for scales.
- Research ACTFL test—what’s the use, content, and how to prepare.
- Find an interesting way to practice Spanish grammar.
- Practice one OLL algorithm deliberately
- Review Psalms
- Read Mark and pray for two people
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