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[hadonions]

Public Spitting is Illegal in Saint Paul

This is news to me since I’ve been spitting on the sidewalks here for years. I have a lot of spit and it kind of grosses me out to swallow it all the time.

Time to turn a new leaf and start abiding by the law. I’m a stickler for rules, so I gotta put up or shut up.

Sec. 207.01. - Spitting prohibited.

No person shall spit, or expectorate, or deposit, or place any sputum, spittle, saliva, phlegm, mucus or tobacco juice upon any part of any sidewalk; nor upon any part of the floors of theatres, churches, concert halls or other public places; nor upon the floor, steps, gates or seats of any bus or other public conveyance.

(Code 1956, § 266.01)

Source

[hadonions]

Learning some stuff

I have an incredible long list of things that I would like to learn. I’m going to start learning them. In an effort to learn more, and more rapidly, I’m also going to explain what I’m learning here. The venue might change, but the facts will not.

Come along, internet. Let’s learn some stuff.

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As my life is in a period of chaos, I'm filling the void with learning chemistry and biology. The Kurzgesagt YouTube channels are one of the greatest online resources. Learn yourself something.

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This is my new favorite reaction gif. John Green reacting to the idea of a video of Oprah peeing in a hole for 10 minutes.

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I blocked reddit during my work day in order to increase my productivity. I have subsequently spent more time on tumblr and youtube. My master plan is backfiring. 

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The GORUCK news post about Java dying had some really sad pictures and none of them really looked like Java, in my opinion. Here's to remembering that life is what you make it and Java made it pretty great for a lot of folks, even those of us who were never lucky enough to meet him.

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My gear spread for the Minneapolis MS 150 this weekend.

Not included is my sleeping bag, sleeping pad, pillow, tent, and a rain jacket (that I have yet to buy).

And my woman said that my GR1 would be too small... HA!

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Holy shit! You do GORUCK? What events/classes have you done? I was on GRC Class 493 in Colorado Springs, and I did Scavenger 022 in Denver

Hell yes I do GORUCK! I'm GRT class 477 [0100 March 30th in Minneapolis, MN] and Scavenger class 027 [0800 May 11th in Minneapolis,MN (took home that gold patch)]

We had Cadre Carlos this last weekend for Scavenger and after my team (@FlatIvan) already won he had the two last teams to a tie breaker. Well, one of the teams didn't have enough guys to fill out their relay race so I stepped in to help out. It didn't work out for them since I kept dropping the "baton" aka a beer and had to keep chugging them... so I guess it worked out well for me.

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Finally back in the climbing gym on a semi-regular basis. Starting slower since my hands are feeling it… the last one is after an hour of hard climbing.

On-sighted a 5.10a and a 5.10b. Got bad elvis leg on a 5.9 and after dodging boy scouts for 20 minutes trying to send it again, I decided to head to the bouldering cave where it took me about 6 tries to send a v1 problem.

After too many tries on the v1 I couldn’t get more than a few holds up the other routes, even a v0 one that I had been working on the other day.

I ended up trying a v2 and got a flapper, and not having any tape and being tired anyway, I decided my victories were enough for the day and headed home.

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Just my coworker doing some target practice with my Nerf gun and her brass knuckle coffee mug.

Did I mention that I love my office?

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Last night My Woman and I attended the very intimate performance of Naked Girls Reading, Banned Books Edition. I'll try not to spoil the surprise  but basically it's an event where girls are reading stuff... and they're naked. As a member of the Literature Community, based on my English degree and my subscription to the /r/literature subreddit, I found the whole thing to be quite thrilling and entertaining.

Not to brag or anything, but I have seen a naked woman or two in my life... but that is not really what made the whole thing exciting. I'm a sucker for contrast and visual representation. For example there is a really great art film/documentary about Alan Ginsburg's poem "Howl" that expresses the work and history or conflict around the poem so well that I get goose bumps watching it. So, as one of the girls is reading Kate Chopin's "The Awakening," a novel noted for it's feminine promiscuity and unorthodox sexuality, while naked on a couch infront of about 20 people was a little surreal and mind blowing. Not just because of boobs; because the whole thing.

Other notable reads were "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, a children's story about two gay penguin dads at a zoo; "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka; various poems by Shel Silverstein; and my personal favorite, "The Cather in the Rye" by JD Salinger.

Naked Girls Reading got it's start out of the Burlesque scene in Chicago but now has local chapters all over the US. I HIGHLY recommend attending if you're into that kind of thing.

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homemade-energy-bar breakfast adventures

I used to never eat breakfast. I always wanted to, and I usually considered it... at least until I glanced at the clock and realized that I was already half an hour late for work. I would then trudge through an unproductive morning before walking my lazy ass to the food court for a ruben or chicken tamales. It wasn’t the best situation for me or my wallet.

The easy solution would have been to grab a Clif Bar or something similar and just call it a day. Boom, a prepackaged, nutrient dense, sufficiently tasty meal. However, I kind of have beef with Clif Bars. Not the company, I love their mission and all, but they utilize processed soy as their main source of protein. I’ll save you my soap box rant since the Livestrong Blog covers The Side Effects of Soy in Men pretty well. Unfortunately Clif Bars aren’t the only culprits; almost every meal bar out there that I can tolerate uses soy.

So, no soy. Moving on.

I’m also pretty proud of the fact that I don’t suck at baking, either, so my remaining choice is pretty clear. I’m making my own breakfast bars. The objective is the same: create a prepackaged, nutrient dense, sufficiently tasty meal.

I happen to work with a pretty great recipe author and blogger, Fit Foodie Lee, who helped me modify her baked banana oatmeal bar recipe.

Here is how I make my version:

Ingredients

Dry Stuff: 2 cups oats (not the instant kind) ⅔ cup unsweetened coconut (or sweetened, whatever you want) ⅔ cup almond meal (I get sliced almonds and stick ‘em in my coffee grinder) ⅔ cup whole grain flour (bring on the gluten, I’m not that way) 1 teaspoon baking soda (for science reasons... or magic) 6 tablespoons chia seeds (to make you regular and full) 1-2 tablespoon cinnamon (I like extra cinnamon) 3 scoops of protein powder (the cheapest whey stuff from GNC) Wet Stuff: 3 or 4 ripe bananas (or however many are ripe on the counter) ½ cup maple syrup/rice syrup/honey (add more if you want it sweeter) ½ cup almond milk (I just like almonds, ok. sheesh)

Directions

Add the wet stuff together in a bowl. In a different bowl add the dry stuff together. Once your nanners are good and mashed, put the wet stuff into the dry stuff. Mix. put it in a 9x12 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes. Once it’s done and you take it out of the oven go play a few rounds of Call of Duty, terrorize your cat or dog, go for a short jog, whatever takes you about 20 minutes... just let that sucker cool down. Cut it into bars (I get about 10 bars from the 9x12 in pan) and wrap it in wax paper or foil or just stick it in a reusable container if you’re into that kind of thing. I keep mine in the refrigerator because I don’t want them on my counter and it takes me a few weeks to go through them, but they would be fine to sit on the counter.

Thus emerges a prepackaged, nutrient dense, and sufficiently tasty meal.

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How my conversations with My Woman go now...

Me: So... I haven't placed an order to GoRuck in over a week...

The Woman: Sthap!

Me: ok... almost a week... same thing.

The Woman: ...not almost the same thing...

Me: I JUST NEED MORE RUCKS OK IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S A PROBLEM OR ANYTHING I JUST REALLY NEED IT OK!!!!

The Woman: YOU DO NOT NEED THEM.

Me: I ONLY READ "YOU... NEED THEM"

The Woman: STHAPPPP

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Indoor Mountain Biking with the Boys

My dad, Pops, and I are almost the same people; we have a lot of shared interests, one of them being nerd-outs over Google tools. So this weekend when I was visiting Milwaukee we ended up in a situation where we both had our phones out and were comparing our Google Drive Docs. Yes, I realize that this sounds really, really nerdy... it was.

So eventually I list off my wish list, titled: Shit I Want Sooner Rather Than Later, which includes things like GoRuck bags and the Red Wing boots that I've wanted for years. Things that I have to budget a bit for, because I'm 22 and live on my own (for now) and have to watch my finances pretty close. Pops chuckled when he saw my list and said, “I don't have a list like that!” Which is part because he’s also a minimalist like me and is happier with experiences rather than stuff, but also because he can just get stuff when he wants it. He’s obviously worked hard to get to that place in his life... but still, he never has a wish list. Which, as it turns out, has made gift giving for Pops a headache shared by my brother and I for years.

So, this last Christmas my brother, Eric, and I got to thinking... What does Pops want that he doesn't have or wants more of that he doesn’t get enough of? The answer turned out to be an easy one: us. Meaning Eric and I. I live 6 hours away. Eric is busy with his life. Pops is always running around doing stuff. I couldn't for the life of me remember the last time the three of us were able to just get together, just the guys, and shoot the shit or go share some beers or whatever.

Eric threw this idea into the hat that I was pretty unsure about right away. He said, “hey, there’s this indoor mountain biking place where the old Menards used to be. We should go. Just the three of us. Get lunch and beers or something. Hang out.”

Well, alright. Why not... So, that’s what we did.

We had a blast taking on the course. There were plenty of challenging trails and obstacles as well as easier stuff to just bike around on. Pops got some wicked battle wounds, Eric got pretty filthy from falling into the ramps, and we all got nice and sore and exhausted. It was a pretty great time and has made me consider adding mountain biking to my long list of hobbies.

Moral of the story: I'm going to try to do a lot more stuff with my brother and dad. Those guys are pretty great... who woulda thought.

Eric being a goon by the Sport tracks:

Pops being a bad ass:

Pops showing off his battle wounds:

Eric and I being goobers eating Mexican for lunch:

Pops wanted a picture of my nasty knees:

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Alright kids, I'm all signed up for the GoRuck Tough Reunion Tour aka Scavenger for May 11th in Minneapolis.

Still trying to gauge whether my foot will be good enough for a GoRuck Light Challenge in June, or another Classic Challenge in Milwaukee in September. My schedule might be decided by how well I survive mountain biking with my dad and brother tomorrow. Further intel to follow.

[hadonions]

On Chasing the Right "Zero"

Put to best use, Inbox Zero is merely a philosophical practice of learning to be parsimonious about which and how many inputs we allow into into our lives—and, then, to responsibly but mindfully tend to those inputs in a way that is never allowed to hinder our personal commitment to doing the work that really matters to us.