Stress stress stress

03/14/2025

Unlike a lot of people, I don't like to talk about my stress levels. Count me skeptical of those who complain about stress as if it's a badge of honor.

That said,...

I’ve suspected for a very long time that I have sleep apnea — I snore, and I seldom feel very well rested from sleep, even if I sleep in.

I’ve also long had occasional midday drowsiness, but in recent months, I’ve found myself falling asleep or taking deep, long naps a couple of times every day.

I’ve had an Apple Watch Series 9 for a while, and it is FDA approved to detect sleep disturbances and to warn of sleep apnea, but I didn’t realize until a couple of days ago that I had to turn that functionality on. I did so, and I’ve had elevated levels of sleep disturbance each of two nights so far.

I’m going to look into non-CPAP solutions.

——-

Also, my weight loss hit a plateau and has even reversed for the past two or three months. Dr. Tran suggested it might be stress affecting my cortisol levels. She’s said that at every annual physical, and I’ve mostly set it aside because my lifestyle and job are pretty stressful. I'm not inclined to, say, change jobs, and I don't take very many vacations.

I don’t like to wear stress like a badge of honor, and I don’t like to complain (brag) about it.

But along with the sleep apnea, I’m starting to take it seriously. If it really is getting in the way of my weight loss, well, I take the numbers (weight) seriously.

I spoke to Harvey Slater, my nutritionist, and to Dorothy Waterman, my personal trainer, about it. I’ve been working with both for over a year in diet and exercise. We’ve started thinking about stress coping efforts.

And maybe I should talk to a therapist.

Oh, and to add to the stress, I found out we might. It get a 3rd no-cost-extension on SuperTIGER, so I need to spend down Caltech’s ST money and FJ ish my work.

Fuck.

And why did Apple make Journaling available only on iPhones? It’s a stupid, tiny keyboard. Seriously, this is the kind of thing that should go onto the iPad, if not also the Mac.

Sparkle/Sitely Fixed

11/27/2024

Sent a query to Sitely customer support. They requested the sitely-log.txt file.

The problem is now fixed, from there end. I guess it was a licensing issue?

Published the page(s) to InMotion hosting, and Sitely then said the certificate was out of date. That's the site's problem, though. I connected anyway.

Sparkle is now Sitely

11/26/2024

WTF, Sparkle is now called Sitely on the Mac App Store. When did that happen? It looks like it happened a week ago.

I assume my Mac App Store license hasn't been downgraded in terms of features.

It looks like I have to set shit up again. Supposedly this allows only one website, but it's acting like I'm trying to publish a second.

Tried Sitely > Settings ... > Remove caches. No Go on Publish.

Weight Loss

03/31/2024

I guess I need to return to this blog.

Okay. James is in college, and William is finishing his senior year.

I went to Nagoya last summer for the 2023 ICRC, and in the few days I was there, my weight ballooned to well over 265 pounds. I had to buy new pants and shirts.

My family physician wanted to put me on injectable weight loss drugs, but it took forever to get permission from the health insurance company. I decided to start working with a physical trainer and a nutritionist. I've since lost over 15 pounds, so that's working without the drugs.

In February, I had a bad bike accident. No bones were broken, luckily, but I landed very hard on my left arm, mostly the elbow, and by the time I got home, the soft tissues were swollen and agonizing. I went to urgent care and got x-rays (no broken bones), and they put me in a splint and sling. After a couple of days, they were removed, but my arm was still in pretty bad shape. I decided to start re-visiting my physical therapist at short intervals to get it worked on and speed the healing and recovery. (I had previously worked with her on a left knee injury and right shoulder-cuff injury.)

Eagle Scout

05/09/2023

After many years, and after cutting it close on the deadline for completion, James finally made it to Eagle Scout. (At 18, James becomes ineligible to become an Eagle Scout, but the deadline was met when he turned in his final Eagle binder before his birthday. Days before.)