Checksum Arcanius

Well, ok, I’m not great, but I’m incredible in comparison to the last two days. I didn’t feel at the top of my game this morning, and after a short day at work today, I came home with a headache. But then I took an Aleve and rested, and things just keep getting better. Tomorrow I’ll feel confident saying that I beat this cold, and it was a doozie.

After work, Shai and I worked on a function that would monitor an anolog input for a second to determine its zero-point with high precision. Its a work in progress, but I think I just figured out fixed point fractional numbers, so I’m gonna work on it just a little more as my energy winds down for the evening.

Well, it seems that nobody’s well-wishing has done me much good yet, as I remain feeling still quite sick. I don’t seem to be getting any better, but I also seem to notbe getting any worse, either.

Its been a while since I’ve felt really sick, and truth me told, I am not really that bad (no fever, no throwing up), but I just don’t feel at all good, and nothing is pressing at work or elsewhere, so I’m going to try to expedite my recovery through proactive rest (if that makes any sense).

Not too long ago, I came up with a plan to go to sleep earlier. Its not working very well. The cabin trip didn’t help – I stayed up till 2:30 the night before getting ready and also the night I was there. And last night, I didn’t get to sleep until 12:30, and I’m on track for that time or later tonight. The results are already painful – I’ve come down with some sort of disease that has me feeling none-too-good. The plan will have to be restarted, but stragely, despite its obvious benefits, I’m not feeling too motivated to start it right now. That might be due to the three hours of sleep I got right after work.

Saturday Morning, I picked up Shai and Joel and headed North to Greg’s Cabin, where Greg, Katie, Beth, Ethan, and Mike already were. Once there, we had lunch, and five of us headed out on a hike in the Mt. Baker Wilderness area, up table mountain. The view was incredible; it was certainly the most beautiful hike I’ve been on in recent memory (I may post some photos soon, if I ever get around to making this web photo software I’ve been promisng my brother). Ethan and I had fun tossing rocks off the edge of cliffs (making sure, of course, that no one was below). We walked around the entire table mountain area before heading down. Once back at the cabin, we played frisbee and volleyball, and at the very end of the volleydisc game that emerged, I went down on my left knee in a very bad way. I was able to walk, but I am also still limping from the incident. After this, we had burgers for dinner, and settled down to play card games, chess, mind games, and finally, Mafia. I love that game. I managed to be mafia in the first three games, and was a townsperson the other two times. My team managed to win four out of five times, and I survived to the end of the game three out of five times (two as mafia), which I think is a pretty good average, especially considering that I was the first one to be offed in the first and last games.

Upon returning home, the planned TRC hack session was cancelled, so I set about blogging, continuing to rest my knee, listening to music, and ignoring suggestions to go hear some old guy talk that I’ve never heard of before.

I woke before 7:30 and got to work around 8:15, but grew tired by 5:00 and returned home via Costco where I picked up some drugs and food for the cabin activites that start tomorrow. The family then headed to the Space Needle, where we had a 9:15 reservation. After spending some time on the obervation deck, we were paged down to the resturant, which made a little over two full revolutions while we ate. We were treated to two complimentary starters, due, I believe, to the 15 minute delay we had before being seated. We chose the crab cakes and the satay sampler, both were good. For my main course, I had the pan seared wild salmon, which was excellent (although I have had better). I nibbled a little at other people’s deserts, but ordered none myself. On the way back to the vehicle, I finished the job started by a wayward car of knocking over a parking limit limit sign. My cousin thought it would be a perfect gift for her boyfriend, but she didn’t think getting it back home would be practical. So, thats the day in review, but what about the title, you ask?

Well, thats where it gets fun. After making it home, we gathered for a family prayer. Me, being in a light mood after a fine meal and a deep conversation on the ride home, took it upon myself to committ a crime of convinience, using some rubber bands that happened to be lying around to zing the speaker and my cousin. The result was a nearly endless fit of laughter that spread thoughout the group. It was great. Proof, my aunt says, that God has a sense of humor.

Considering recent anomalies in my sleep patterns, I have developed the following 5-day plan (actually its a week-long plan, but I wanted to sound more Maoist), and I post it here publically so that there is a system of accountability in place.

I plan on going to bed ealier and earlier over successive days of the next week. The baseline is going to be around 1:00am today. Tomorrow, I will aim for midnight, and I’ll try to work it back to 11:00pm or 10:00pm by the end of the week. Simultaneously, I will set my alarm earlier and earlier, and I will not hit snooze. I will wake, shower, and get to work early, so I can put in a full day and leave early and pursue hobbies and other interests. I will aim for 7 hours of sleep a night nominal.

Wish me luck.