Aaron's Status
January 31, 2025
6:37 am
Last day of January; 120 posts!!
The days are really flying by and somehow January is over today. It’s an almost meaningless boundary to me at this point since I have pivoted my life more and more toward “what is sustainable” rather than streaks of indulgence followed by forced abstinence.
A big driver of this for me is both $WIFE
’s four-year sobriety (hoo-rah!) and
our increasing adoption of edibles as the occasional vice. I will have a drink
now and then, but I don’t miss hangovers, let me tell you.
What we did commit to was elimination of all added/processed sugar for January, which is mainly “not eating candy at night.” We got into quite a candy habit, and though I don’t think it was overall that bad (we only buy the bite-size ones and maybe I would eat like four or five of them), getting out of that habit is definitely good for us.
We also tried to cut out all processed food, including pasta, which we didn’t eat a ton of before either but it felt like a good experiment to run. Overall I don’t think I feel much better or worse, but I plan to continue the no-sugar thing for a couple months more and get another lipid panel to see if it affected my cholesterol at all.
This is actually my 121st post on this “microblog,” which has gotten progressively less and less “micro.” Some thoughts.
First, I’ve found it rather impossible to keep up with a daily posting habit, though for the last few weeks I’ve managed to post each day on LinkedIn to promote my “thought-leader coaching presence,” and I’ll take the credit for that instead.
I’m not sure what good this thing is doing. I am also not sure what it was I hoped to get from it. Everyone says “journaling is so good for you,” etc., etc., and I have always been partial to “learning in public” and driving my accountability through visibility so that’s where I started from.
Apparently people read this? I never expected anyone to actually read it, and I don’t track analytics or anything, but if you’re reading this and it is doing something for you, I’d love for you to let me know.
I treat this as almost exactly what LiveJournal was in the ’90s. It’s a place for me to post whatever the fuck I want, without much reservation or purpose, and let it exist out there, mingling with the (fewer and fewer) weird, original content on the world wide web.
But what would a status post be without any mention of climbing or lower back pain, right?
What I am bummed about: it’s been almost a whole week since the last time I climbed and I don’t feel like my back has returned to its fully functional glory. I continue to work on it through PT, heating pad, staying attentive to my posture, etc.
What I am excited about: I received my Edelrid Ohm II and Edelrid Pinch belay device yesterday! I am soooo excited to try out the Pinch and compare/contrast to the Grigri. At this point I have fully trained myself to belay right-handed, but the Pinch actually has left-handed usage instructions pictured, which is neat.
What I’m most excited about is how it has a built-in belay loop attachment rather than a hole for a carabiner, which is supposed to help it stay in an upright orientation. One of the trickiest things about belaying with a Grigri is holding tension on it so that you’re aware of its position without looking (when leading, especially).
Of course I’m also curious to see how it feels to feed slack, which is another one of the things they optimized it for. I’m sure they designed it to compete directly with the Petzl Neox. I think it’s quite innovative and I’m excited to see what it feels like to use.
Hopefully with care and attention I can be back in fighting shape by Sunday for our family climb.
Finally, I have an introductory coaching session this afternoon with a new client, and it’s a bit late in the day for me, and I’m a bit underslept, but I’m nonetheless excited to dive in and do some real work.
I’ve been on a coaching sabbatical for a few months to give myself some space
between my last long-term clients and to focus on $DAYJOB
and I’m totally
ready to be back in the saddle.