James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I am no pizza pro but the pizza was pretty good. I cooked up some chicken and added a little buffalo sauce. D then put all the pizzas together and I think this one was the winner.

It's Friday night and as a rule I generally do not blog on Friday & Saturday nights. But I feel like it tonight and if you feel like something, why not do it? I also find that sitting down and writing maybe relaxes me to an extent. After having the kids home from school for 3 days in a row, I'll take all the relaxation I can get. Added to this is the general chaos that is work. I know I go back to this comment a lot but it seems like every week gets a little bit more crazy. Today was just another of those days. I'll try to stop repeating this theme but it is my life right now to some extent.

Last night I booked a ticket to Seattle then cancelled it this afternoon after having it confirmed that they screwed up the dates. I figured as much but since United has a free 24 hour window to cancel I was ok. I re-booked the trip and will be flying out Monday afternoon and coming back Thursday early morning. The first flight was Sunday to Wednesday, which would have been a drag on the weekend since D's parents are here now. I'll be doing a 2-day workshop at Seattle Children's Hospital which it just north of UW (U-Dub, whatever happened to U-Dub-step?), which is maybe 5 miles from D's brother & his husband. So I'll be staying with them and the dogs while I'm there.

That was towards the end of the work day. Before that, I got on the trainer for a 2 hour jaunt through the hills of London and spent the bulk of the time texting with my boss helping him with a proposal we're doing for Mayo Clinic. We came to a number but were then told by sales that it was too high. In the end I don't know why the sales guys ask us anything. They should just make up a number they want to see and go with it.

After dinner I sat with Julia and helped her make this castle that I got for Xmas a few years ago. I found it relaxing to just sit and pull the little pieces she needed for each step. Now and again it's good to take some down time to do something simple like this. I wish every time the kids asked what to do, I had an answer such as, "Hey, you want to build this with me?" No matter how much they had previously wanted to play with their iPads, they're always more than happy to do this instead.

IMG_5938.JPG
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
After having the kids home from school for 3 days in a row, I'll take all the relaxation I can get.

I get it. This is the time of the year everyone is getting a little nuts and stretches of time like this are breaking the camel's proverbially back


I found it relaxing to just sit and pull the little pieces she needed for each step.

This is relaxing. First, I take all the pieces and sort them but color ( maybe that's a bad thing to do nowadays?). Then I find the pieces needed. Good times.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
love the architects series - and i think they make great gifts.
provides a setting to go from puzzle pieces, to something complete, to something real.
i want my kid to be an archi so i push this crap on him........

is the bazillion piece x-wing fighter he is building getting him there?
we have a 3k piece harry potter puzzle up next - you'll get that one around september....so finish the books to know where the pieces go :D
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@fidodie - I look forward to the 3000 piece puzzle. Not really. But if you actually give it to us, we'll try to do it. 3000 seems insane.

If you are reading this blog I ask you to try to answer 1 of these 2 questions. Just as an exercise:

1. What do you do to generate time with your kids together? Like the above effort, this was really something to do with Julia. As they get older and self-entertain more and more (eg, Ipad the day away), it's good to find things to try and do with the kids.
2. What do you do to relax? You are not allowed to say biking, or exercising. I mean things like build Legos, or do a puzzle, or pull weeds in the garden, or paint, or yoga, etc. What do you do that allows you to idly pass time without having to think too much about life, the universe, and everything.

I ask that every single person who reads this tries to answer 1 of these 2 questions. I don't ask for a lot from the blog. But I ask that you at least try.

Here is what I engaged the kids with today. The kids lasted about an hour then D and I finished it up.

IMG_5939.JPG
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@fidodie - I look forward to the 3000 piece puzzle. Not really. But if you actually give it to us, we'll try to do it. 3000 seems insane.

If you are reading this blog I ask you to try to answer 1 of these 2 questions. Just as an exercise:

1. What do you do to generate time with your kids together? Like the above effort, this was really something to do with Julia. As they get older and self-entertain more and more (eg, Ipad the day away), it's good to find things to try and do with the kids.
2. What do you do to relax? You are not allowed to say biking, or exercising. I mean things like build Legos, or do a puzzle, or pull weeds in the garden, or paint, or yoga, etc. What do you do that allows you to idly pass time without having to think too much about life, the universe, and everything.

1) i dont have kids, just a dog and hes always up for a good walk or chance to chase . . . everything (deer squirrels rabbits fox birds ect ect.)

2) i have several other hobbies besides biking, including racing (mostly autocross and iracing (online simulator), but i have plans for a couple full on track days this year).
 

pooriggy

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
1.What do you do to generate time with your kids together?
My boys are older, 19 and 22. When they where younger throwing the baseball around, shooting hoops and full contact pillow fights where always a hit. When they got to be around 13-14 it was harder to hang. They had the I don't want you around attitude but in reality they where always happy to see us at there swim meet, soccer game or basketball game, even if they didn't show their feelings. My older son now enjoys doing things with me again, we can kayak or mtb together and enjoy each other's company. Honestly I don't think it matters what the activity is, just being present is the important thing.

2. What do you do to relax?
I find driving to and from work relaxing. I have a reverse commute, the roads I travel are never a busy rush hour scene, I listen to music and let my mind flow. Also putting music on while I work on bikes or skis in the basement feels good, I'm being productive, taking care of business an not working overtime.
And yes yoga, I'm a physical person. When mind and body are in sync life has a rythem.
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
2) I vacuum the house. Seriously. Dirt in the house and dog hair skeeve me out. I find it relaxing to get rid of it all, while not having to listen to anyone. Same thing with blowing off the lawn. Yeah. I know. Strange.

1) This is constantly changing. Having the kids pick a recipe from a cookbook for dinner on the weekend and prepare and help cook it. Taking the dog for a walk with them sometimes. Skiing/snowboarding, although not so much this year.
 
Last edited:

rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
@fidodie - I look forward to the 3000 piece puzzle. Not really. But if you actually give it to us, we'll try to do it. 3000 seems insane.

If you are reading this blog I ask you to try to answer 1 of these 2 questions. Just as an exercise:

1. What do you do to generate time with your kids together? Like the above effort, this was really something to do with Julia. As they get older and self-entertain more and more (eg, Ipad the day away), it's good to find things to try and do with the kids.
2. What do you do to relax? You are not allowed to say biking, or exercising. I mean things like build Legos, or do a puzzle, or pull weeds in the garden, or paint, or yoga, etc. What do you do that allows you to idly pass time without having to think too much about life, the universe, and everything.

I ask that every single person who reads this tries to answer 1 of these 2 questions. I don't ask for a lot from the blog. But I ask that you at least try.

Here is what I engaged the kids with today. The kids lasted about an hour then D and I finished it up.

View attachment 65148

That's a great painting! Looks like some European fishing town!

Well, since I can't answer your first question, I will attempt to answer the second. Besides the defaults which are a given, like "spending times with friends, etc.", there are a number of things that I engage in to promote relaxation, some are beneficial/productive, and some are just complete wastes of time, save for relaxing me. I enjoy doing yard work, cutting the grass (I have a really small yard, so it's not that consuming), taking care of whatever has to get done outside. Never really feels like work, and I like the instant gratification it produces. The IG aspect also ties in to painting for me (rooms, trim etc., not art)...some think it's mind numbing, but I can be in room all day doing ceilings, walls and trim as long as I have good tunes or podcast going, and be totally content...BTW, I have a massive collection of Purdy brushes. Also tinkering in my garage with stuff, building furniture from scratch from trees (cutting, drying, milling, designing, assembly and finishing), making MTBNJ awards is fun (and relaxing to me).

Interestingly, it seems that the things that relax me are the exact opposite of my professional white collar life, and much of these "relaxing" activities involve physical labor.

But sometimes I don't mind zoning out in front of the tube for a few hours, and watching movies...we watch a lot of movies. Loved Black Panther last weekend as well...

Biggest challenge these days is time tho
 

rottin'

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
2) I vacuum the house. Seriously. Dirt in the house and dog hair sleeve me out. I find it relaxing to get rid of it all, while not having to listen to anyone. Same thing with blowing off the lawn. Yeah. I know. Strange.

1) This is constantly changing. Having the kids pick a recipe from a cookbook for dinner on the weekend and prepare and help cook it. Taking the dog for a walk with them sometimes. Skiing/snowboarding, although not so much this year.

Totally agree with blowing the lawn...
 

StayHydrated

Swedish Chef
1. What do you do to generate time with your kids together?
No kids, but will take notes on what others say for the future.


2. What do you do to relax?
This question, hoooooooo boy. I could have had many answers to this in the past few years. I haven't been very good at relaxing lately, and I struggled to come up with an answer to this. Really. I finally leveled with myself and will admit I have found relaxation in food for the past 8 months. I mean eating. This made me feel sad about myself. I've put on weight since the fall and am at my highest weight ever. Not feeling 100% and a number of different stressors have contributed here. For me, I sometimes find that relaxing can be pretty difficult.

On a less sad note, I have found recently that I really enjoy chopping vegetables, and is probably the only other way I have found some relaxation . I get into a very peaceful and weird flow state when focusing on a dice or mince, in particular.

In the past, I have found little projects to be relaxing. Playing with electronics, Arduino, etc. in particular. I have a bunch of stuff on a someday/maybe list, including taking an Ikea Lack table and adding internal wireless charging or LEDs, and modifying these old TV trivia games I bought on eBay to run a freeware Jeopardy! on RasberryPi (with the ultimate intent of loading it up with 1st grade content for my girlfriend to use in her classroom). Like @pooriggy, skis were great too. I worked in a ski shop in HS and I LOVED prepping rental gear. Ripping through a bunch of pairs really fast with a quick base grind, edge tune, and running them over the wax pot. Waxing is EXTREMELY peaceful, paying attention to brushing and corking and all of that really lets you tune things out. I also did a LOT of yoga in HS, and would love to get back to that.

This made me really think hard about needing to restore balance to my life. I got up and cleaned the kitchen after this.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
My son still wants to do something all the time, so we wrestle, jump in the trampoline, play play station, go riding. This is all when time allows, which isn’t a huge amount of time each day.

The girls, puzzles, books and we take turns turning the house upside down and then cleaning it up, yet they do 1% of the cleaning up.

To relax, while riding isn’t really relaxing that is the thinking and resetting time.

Outside of that, doing mindless house tasks like doing the dishes/ cleaning up is relaxing in the sense that it is stuff easy to do and feels
Like something is complete after it is done.

I guess watching tv too.
 

Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
  • (1) My kids are 14 girl and 16 boy.
They want nothing to do with us at this age.
Me and my wife are just taxi service at this point. The occasional movie night.My daughter will still ride bikes with me, the boy won't.
When they were younger Legos, puzzles painting.Math work books.
Swimming in the Black River @Hacklebarney Park.

(2) mowing the grass. Dog walking,hiking
 

MissJR

not in the mood for your shenanigans
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Does a cat count as a kid? Well, he just wants to eat soooo... anyway... on to relaxing...

I like reading or watching a good tv show... Something that doesn't require me to think... But also, as some others have said, physical labor... You'd think doing something physical wouldn't be relaxing... But I was out shoveling snow after the storm and it just felt good. It was a nice day and I had this task in front of me that just required my body to work and not my brain... So my brain got to shut off and chill out.
 

jShort

2018 Fantasy Football Toilet Bowl Lead Technician
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I find driving to and from work relaxing. I have a reverse commute, the roads I travel are never a busy rush hour scene, I listen to music and let my mind flow. Also putting music on while I work on bikes or skis in the basement feels good, I'm being productive, taking care of business an not working overtime.
And yes yoga, I'm a physical person. When mind and body are in sync life has a rythem.


I'm down with these. Driving for sure. I love having a manual transmission to wind out the gears.

Also wrenching on my bike. The only thing with that is time. It's so hard to find time to work on my bike. I've actually gotten up early before work to do some work on it. And when something isn't working out it can actually be a little stressful.

I need to do more yoga. It's almost impossible to squeeze that in. But I just found that they have classes at the gym at work.



There's a difference between clearing your head and relaxing. I think you need to spend time doing both.
 
Top Bottom