Checking Luggage: Adventures in Time Bending 9178

ChrisRU said:
  • We have 168 hours/week.
  • Assume we spend ~40 hours a week at work 🙄
  • Optimistically sleep 42 hours a week (6h x 7)
  • Commute 10 hours/week (still need that helicopter)
  • Spend 10 hours/week at school
  • Assume 16 hours per weekend devoted to other planned activities/obligations
That leaves us with an average of ~7/hours a day left over to work with. NFW. Of course this omits a lot of crap like getting ready for work, preparing/eating meals, etc. It still seems like a big number. But then you step back and realize giving Netflix a try was a bad idea. Or that night when you just chilled out and had a few beers, you could have done something more productive. So without going all Matthew McConaughey on the space time continuum, there are real opportunities for us to be more efficient.
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Looking forward to reading this RU. And when time bending permits, having enough time to be part of the conversation.

What is the significance of "9178"? Maybe I missed that somewhere.

As far as I have been able to posit, here are the universal truths of parenting as related to time bending:

1) You can cram 30 pounds of shit into a 20 pound bag.

As @MountainBikeMike says it's easy to be amused at how busy people without kids think they are. I realize that sounds arrogant and judgmental because it is. The truth is that no matter how busy your life is before having kids, it will be much more so afterwards. That is not to say that non-parents can't be objectively busy (or at least wholeheartedly believe they are busy...of course, the other truth is that if you have time to post on social media about how busy you are, you aren't.) It's just that there are plenty more parents out there who are just as busy AND have all the duties of being a parent piled on top of it. It's all about relativity.

The upshot is that becoming a parent teaches one that you can do more in a day then you ever thought possible. This is partially because there is no choice--you do what you have to do to make it through. Then you realize that you can get it all done you start thinking about how much more you could be doing. Fill the bag with more shit!

Although the numerator (168 hours) never changes, the denominator in the equation is totally up to you. You find more hours (or minutes) in the day. You become more efficient or less wasteful of time. You cut out things that can be cut out. You prioritize, multitask, optimize. All in order to do have time to do the things you want to do, which might be going for a ride or might just be getting some sleep. Time bending is all about creative management of the denominator. For example, does your commute have to be 10 hours/week? Can you make dinner while watching the child and riding the trainer and drinking beer while watching Netflix?

2) If you try to fit 31 pounds, the bag will break and it will be very messy.

Optimization will only get you so far. Inevitably you will get to the breaking point and when you do either you have a nervous breakdown or something has to go. I hit that point last fall during cross season. Keep the antennae up for signs of time-bending fatigue--with all the business it can creep up on you. When you see the seams starting to leak poo, don't be afraid to let thing things go.

Also, things will invariably fall apart at exactly the wrong time. That big race you had planned to peak for? Norovirus sweeps the house. The dude abides by Murphy's law. Make plans, set goals, but don't be surprised when life happens.

Caveats: These rules really only apply to those of us who subscribe to a modern egalitarian view of parenting gender roles. And I'm not just talking about who does the dishes or changes the diapers or brings home the bacon. I talking about a family in which both parents wanting to be actively engaged in difficult work of the raising of a human child while retaining their own adult identities. Pay no attention to the dad behind the curtain who has time to play 36 holes (or go on 6+ hour rides) on the weekend after working a 60+ hour week. Those dads certainly still exist today as they did in the 1950's (I know a lot of them) but that kind of lifestyle is becoming increasingly incongruent with 21st century American sensibilities.
 
ChrisRU said:
I'd like to point out that the time bending theme embedded in this blog is simply documenting my own journey with juggling and achieving a balance that I am happy with. I'd be remiss to not acknowledge that this is something we all face.
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I'd like to re-emphasize this point and take it a bit further. I understand that by blogging I'm putting myself and my thoughts out there for criticism, which is fine- have at it. I know there are people that are busier than me, and people that have more free time. That's really not what this is about. So let's shelf that and move forward. Let's keep it positive 🙂 The goal of this blog really comes down to a few points:
  • Accountability: If I post up a goal or a workout, I'll feel more obligated to do it.
  • Documenting the journey: I don't mind writing, so let's see where this takes us.
  • Content: this is pretty self explanatory. So far I think its generated some great dialogue on the site. Some posts won't have much, but I'm optimistic I can come up with some interesting topics to discuss.
So goals- if we don't have defined goals any route will do. Goals give us direction and purpose. I have various goals, some I'll share at some point, others I won't. We'll get to that. For now, to be the ball, I have to start with just getting it rolling.

Nice to see @Delish stop in and drop some knowledge. @Delish and @Dominos, aka team-O, don't post a ton, but when they do its generally always worth reading.

Last night I got out for a run @10:15pm. The mercury was reading an even 32*. The legs felt good so I knocked out 3.3 miles. Halfway through I thought I might be able to pull off <30 mins, but I missed it coming in at 30:24. Why 3.3 you ask? The running loop I due is exactly .55 miles. You might call this jogging instead of running, which is fine. Goal #1- I'd like to get this down to 22 minutes and be able to knock out sub 7 minute miles by the end of summer.

no pics today, the server responsible for uploading must be in the dishwasher getting freshened up. @soundz, "A server error occurred. Please try again later."
 
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ChrisRU said:
no pics today, the server responsible for uploading must be in the dishwasher getting freshened up. @soundz, "A server error occurred. Please try again later."
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Cool! I love detailed error messages!

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you went jogging at 10:15? thats impressive...I was scrubbing my kitchen stove at 10:15 and asleep on my feet.
 
Here is what I think. I think it's good that you have a blog and it actually gets me writing too. I'm sick of creating content just for the sake of it on a daily basis. My brain is tapped and sometimes I just don't have a lot to say. That is, until someone says something that triggers something in my head. Then I reply. D often asks me to tell her a story and a lot of times I draw a blank. But sometimes when we get together with friends, shit just comes pouring out of the attic of my mind like nobody's business. Not sure where it hides but it is what it is. I also know you well so my posting on your blog seems like we are just having a pseudo-unreal conversation, just online.

I like the "keep it positive" idea lately, a real lot. The B rides are starting up again and I think I'm going to step back a bit from them for various reasons. I've been talking to some of the HG guys in the last 2 days and instead of saying I am stepping back I am saying I'm stepping forward to something else this year. Is there a difference? Maybe, maybe not. But in stepping we have the choice to word it in a positive or negative way. As I get older I ask myself, what's the point of the negative perspective? I think ego is a huge reason many times. Losing the ego is a great thing.

I said something like this to Lou the other day. The beauty of getting older is this. At some point you realize that the vast majority of things that you thought you knew your whole life turns out to be wrong. When you make this realization it makes speaking your mind a whole lot easier, because then you're not afraid to say what you think, knowing damn well that there's a good chance you're wrong. I think this is a big step in not clinging irrationally to notions that may or may not make any sense.

I do agree that writing it out makes you more accountable. But this is sort of the 31 pounds of shit in the 20 pound bag. At some point you just don't GAF about being accountable anymore. This is especially true at 3:00 am when you screaming child makes you want to smash shit. Hopefully this won't happen to you. But probably it will. Just remember, it gets better.

Running sucks but I was dabbing in it last fall. I think this is what ended up exacerbating my left big toe to experience "nail impact" or something like that. It is totally benign but I thought it was the dreaded toenail fungus. God, why am I talking about that? Anyway, it wasn't. But I was pulling like 7:30 miles at one point, on a 3.5 mile-ish loop. So next time you see me, say to yourself this. If that fat son of a bitch can run 7:30 miles then I can too. In fact, take a picture of me and put it on your fridge. That's motivation. Maybe I'll wear a sombrero.

Jimmy is too busy wondering WTF to do with his time now. PC Load Letter. Probably the best error message ever is My Hovercraft is Full of Eels. Originally from Monty Python. But used wonderfully in this example.
 
That is a fine job getting out there for a cool evening run. mucho kudos.
the hardest part is getting started - well, unless it involves an ambulance or something....
:thumbup: <- which will be working soon, since more time is available to do the important stuff 😀
 
Norm said:
The B rides are starting up again and I think I'm going to step back a bit from them for various reasons. I've been talking to some of the HG guys in the last 2 days and instead of saying I am stepping back I am saying I'm stepping forward to something else this year. Is there a difference?
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Stepping back would be to continue to do the B ride but not take a leadership role in said ride. Doing so may be perceived by others to be negative however we all have our own reasons why we do things, others interpret our actions negative or positive, sometimes we have no control how others perceive us...they believe what they want.

If you stop doing the B ride all together and organize a weekly mountain bike ride then I would say this a step forward 😉
 
Delish said:
When you see the seams starting to leak poo, don't be afraid to let thing things go
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Reposting this just because.
Delish said:
What is the significance of "9178"? Maybe I missed that somewhere.
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You didn't, we'll get there. I don't think its too cleverly disguised.

Commuting and optimization has come up. I've lived in 3 different places so my commute has varied over the almost five years I have worked in NYC. You can optimize to a point, but there are only so many options and each comes with trade offs. Do you mind transferring or do you prefer one seat? Spend more time in the car or more time on the bus/train? Do you need flexibility (more arrivals/departures) or is your schedule fairly routine? I find its important to be open minded and try different options, you may find some good shortcuts. Its too easy to find something that works, and just stick with it.

My current commute is typically 80 minutes door to door in the AM, 60-70 in the evening. Less time getting home is desirable, as once I walk out of the office I'm on my time. I should note that this includes exactly 1 mile of walking across town from PABT to the office and vice versa, which takes 15-20 minutes, or 10 at sweat through my clothes speed. From an optimization standpoint, walking is the most consistent and fastest way to get across town other than a bicycle or kick-scooter. Even with those options, its very difficult to make the trip in less than 10 minutes.

Yesterday I rode a bicycle for the first time this year. I got out on a quick 10 mile jaunt around the 'hood. I was a bit underdressed, which reminded me that I don't particularly enjoy riding in cooler weather. I think yesterday's ride confirmed that I really need to get back to MTB'ing to start enjoy riding again. Group road rides or long adventures are fun, but I can't say I enjoy plain old solo road loops that much. At least not right now.

Probably taking tonight off.

Straight out of the can, this was dinner at 11pm after the run Tuesday:
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we plan on moving to a larger location, three times as large, and with the floors being all tile and smooth as ice, i'm getting myself a razor scooter to get around. do they make a scooter that you could pimp in the city? would need some wild wheels to handle the potholes of NYC
 
I'm embarrassed to admit that I JUST saw your blog. I'm glad you're doing this, especially with a baby on the way. I think every day "how will I do it?"...When the time comes of course.
 
@pearl, I picked up one of these and commuted on it between PABT/Work/School almost every day this past fall semester. Handles uneven terrain pretty well. I'll probably start using it again once winter grime washes away.
Norm said:
But sometimes when we get together with friends, shit just comes pouring out of the attic of my mind like nobody's business. Not sure where it hides but it is what it is.
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I find this happens to me too. When I get together with my paintball buddies there are stories for days. We had many adventures and misadventures.

Downtime today. The sickness finally got me. The wife is sick often being a teacher, but I usually don't pick it up. She has been sick for the past week or so. Tuesday night into yesterday I got hit hard with the same head cold. First time this year so I guess I can't complain. Hopefully it doesn't linger too long.

Glad to see @pearl back up and running in the blogosphere. Also cool to have @mandi on as a reader. Things will certainly pick up once the new arrival is here. I'll either have a lot to talk about or this thread will implode. We also got a rare @map111158 sighting. Good stuff.

Random thought of the day: Community is important. The google defines community as "a social unit of any size that shares common values". Having people you can lean on enriches one's life. I also find being able to give back is extremely rewarding. It could be helping a friend move, or answering a question on a web forum, these small contributions have a cumulative effect of making life better.

I've essentially eliminated social media from my life, a topic perhaps we can get into another time. I place much more value on real, live interaction. This site is somewhere in between since many of us know each other and its localized. This place is a great resource, not just for biking info. In the past year alone I've made purchase decisions based on feedback in threads I posted about cameras, baby stuff, countertops, and a place to get my car fixed. That's awesome. Thank you.
 
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I've done the tuna in the can with frank's hot sauce!
One time I bought a gallon of frank's from costco, and carrying it inside Maria dropped it in the foyer of the old house. It completely exploded and there was frank's hot sauce on the god damn ceiling.
It smelled like hot sauce in that foyer for like a year.
 
thinking about my last can of Wild Planet tuna from Costco, I bought a few cases a while back when they used to sell it there,
used to think BB tuna was the bees knees, but can't go back there anymore

Anyone know where to get Wild Planet without shelling out $5 a can?
 
Chris, I was at your crossroads about 10 years ago

5hr commute into the city if I took the train, 4 if I drove assuming I didn't hit traffic on the way back
then to NYU for 3/4 hrs 3 nights a week and home around 11
already had my first child but second one on the way

looking back I wished I spent more time, at least 2/3 times a month playing with myself outdoors
I dropped anything which required travel time as I didn't have the luxury of a few hours in any sizable block
Found myself doing things around the house/yard, and picked up hobbies which kept me home like old stereos and building bikes (not ride)
I'm sure if I had planned accordingly I could have penciled in a few days each month to have gotten out

Unfortunately, time mgmt doesn't get easier when the kids get older
but with a much shorter commute, 1 hr round trip and school behind me
I'm finally getting back the time even though the family time is greater than when the kid's still wore diapers

I'll never get on a team or race like many of you, can't build skills only once a week for a few hours
But the few hours playing with myself outdoors is enough to recharge me for the week
 
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