Always loved the late R. Lee Ermey's movies and History Channel programs, but I've especially enjoyed his autobiographical self-help book...



"It's about dedication, applying yourself, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen -- studying, working out, and even seeking help if need be." - Gunny's Rules p.24.


And because I like the man's non-politically-correct just-do-it attitude, I'm following his advice including time scheduling...






And there's no reason you can't have some fun with it. ...

Gunny Ermeys Reveille Alarm Clock...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgH0i-0zreo

Thanks Gunny and RIP.

74 isn't exactly "young" but I was surprised that he died at that age since he seemed to be in excellent physical shape. I guess I was in awe of the man so I fell into the trap of thinking that he would live forever!

If he'd been my DI I'd have been terrified. watching him in FMJ many years after basic training I had to laugh. Not because what he did was unrealistic, but because it was SO realistic.

Fun fact: the earliest released movie in which he appeared (and his first credited role) was not 1987's "Full Metal Jacket". It was "The Boys in Company C" in 1978. I can still see him doing commentary for the soccer game, responding to the civilian's question with "Well, what they're doing is your basic 'check your package'." And he had a VERY brief (uncredited) role as one of Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore's chopper pilots in "Apocalypse Now".

Surprised me too. My father is 81 and in such good shape that he still gets checkups that aren't always suggested for men his age.

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If I could snap my fingers and magically have my house repainted and decorated to look like drabby barracks for 10 weeks, I would. I enjoy proper atmosphere, right down to my morning workout clothes...



There's a couple of different sizes in there to match my once-again shrinking waistline.

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9 weeks to go and I'm thriving on this plan so far, especially the early morning (for me) routine. No concerts/events until May 29th (and then lots back-to-back) so cancelling Friday date night for a few weeks isn't a problem (wife gets it, even joining me for both exercise sessions). After 10 weeks I'll reschedule Friday 6PM to Sunday 6PM to include more free time, then back to a stricter weekday routine.

I wish I would have done something like this earlier when I first had the opportunity, then I wouldn't have fallen so far behind on my study schedule. The key to self-discipline for me is to keep an inner DI Gunny voice that hounds me when I'm slacking or being stupid, versus relying on my wife to do it.

EDIT: Pic of wife's camo/greens added...

The Gunny mentions all of these movie experiences in his book, a very good (if a bit short) read.

PT after dinner?

Unfortunate timing issue, wife sometimes getting home after 6:30PM (like right now). Now with Daylight Savings Time, we'll want to be outside on the track in the evenings (vs. treadmill) at least 3X a week. So a very quick light dinner (that I have ready) and we're off. Just not quite yet, it's still getting dark too early and the evenings have been dreary.

Grandma always told us not to exercise or play for a couple of hours after eating.

According to this, doing morning exercises before eating breakfast is backwards as well...
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/eat-early-morning-workouts-8653.html

But for the record, dinner is usually something very light and quick, like sliced mango/kiwi/strawberries with blueberries and pumpkin seed + flax granola over Greek Yogurt (and also Cottage Cheese for me). Or a grilled chicken salad with avocado slices and artichoke hearts, easy stuff like that. And it's always a much smaller portion size than lunch.

Before bed we enjoy a square of Lindt 70% Cocoa (the darkest we enjoy) with a cup of coffee (using small 1950ish coffee cups).

That's the breaks for scheduling a pseudo 'Basic Training' around everyday life. Tell you what, 'free time' (like right now) goes by waaay too fast. I've got some Archers on the DVR that I may never get to (probably already seen them anyway).

Remember Band of Brothers PT after spaghetti? I am thinking of that also. Some foods do not react well to exercise.

Lol. I might could pull this off by choosing wiser exercises like only walking vs. doing any running (just received 5 lb [2.27 kg] each ankle weights) or just weightlifting might be ok since I don't do HIIT nor lift anything to failure.

I did check out a few webpages of real military PT and...well, regardless of Service, I'll never be anywhere close to the real deal. I used to fantasize about going to one of those civilian survivalist boot camps just for a taste of what military boot camp might be like (if it's at all comparable) but not now, being over 50. I could have always used the forced discipline and training.

Tomorrow will be a week, long enough for me to make some initial observations...

1. Best thing I could have done! I'm doing the things I need to do as quickly as possible, especially if there's an allowance of free time within a time slot (like right now, posting after lunch but before 1PM).

2. Going to bed at 9:30PM (my bedtime as an adolescent, IIRC) isn't so difficult after a few days of getting up at 5:30AM (and with purpose) as it's all relative.

3. I expected some flak with shaving off my goatee after ~15 years, especially since we have a long-time agreement of, 'You wear your hair the way I like and I'll shave my face the way you like.' My response to her shocked expression of my clean shaved face was, "It's only for 10 weeks so suck it up, buttercup. I can look as scrappy as Charlie Daniels when we see him in June. Besides, I owe you for that Ferris Bueller haircut you came home with about 20 years ago."

So now I look like Uncle Fester with glasses, but that's not her complaint (knowing it's temporary). Her complaint was that I bought a bunch of cheap camo/green stuff from a Clearance rack (likely related to the hunting seasons around here) without buying her anything, not that I thought she'd be interested. So after library study today I went back and bought her some little camo/green outfits with the belt and cap.

#%&*$#, I'm already out of time!

4. Putting your self-disciplined time schedule on your kitchen refrigerator is a good idea, where everyone can see it. Besides my wife, I'm sure my parents have noticed it when we need them to walk over and take care of the animals. This way you hold yourself even more accountable as you don't want to feel like a doofus if the ones around you notice that you can't follow your own schedule. Plus your mom now knows what time to invite you to weekend dinner and also knows why you won't be staying for very long.

If you have an inner Gunny who gets easily pissed then you don't need others in your business, but it's still nice to let everyone know that you're staying busy and not to bug you unless they need to.

The Gunny has finally come out of 5-day quarantine, a 24" x 36" (61cm x 91cm) fabric poster that took a month to ship from China...



Going to stretch it around a wood frame and hang it at the top of one of the windows, letting the sun shine through it. That scary mug should help me get back on schedule as much as possible.

Meanwhile, wife is cluttering up the cave with work stuff, but it's nice to have her home (when she's not talking in that headphone mic thingy)...

Nice!

May I trouble you to share photos of the model airplanes I see in the corner?

Wow! How many computers you have? I see at least 2 towers and 1 laptop.

Sure, although these are older pics and they were then in a couple of locations...







Soon I'm going to take them down for a dusting and do a complete kitchen table airport pic.

Most belonged to my mom who retired as a network administrator for the FAA. The inspectors/pilots started her collection and added to it over the years. Some she kept, mostly cool wood pieces and pencil sharpeners (not so realistic looking).




Plenty...




Right now I have 6 working desktops and 2 laptops, most in closet storage. I love the old Dell clamshell desktops (shipped with WinXP) and I have a stash in case my original breaks...




My favorite is the oldest which shipped with Win2000...



Only 1GHz CPU / 256MB RAM which runs EF2000 (V2.0/Super) best as I only have to throttle the CPU 50%. The reason is that the more you throttle the CPU, the more joystick button presses get skipped. This is my DID (Digital Image Design) desktop and I've been itching to pull it out for some EF2000 and TAW (been a long time).

It's unbelievable to me that I started this thread earlier in the month before I'd even heard of a virus, or at least paid any attention to it. Already seems like a long time ago.

I had started this good thing about two months ago and then all hell broke loose with the virus, plus other issues!

My Samsung refrigerator/freezer (shown on first post) has bit the dust (diagnosed as probable freon leak at compressor, widely known problem with Samsung...never again). Fortunately we use my late mother-in-law's fridge/freezer in the barn for extra storage, as well as my old workshop half-size fridge/freezer which wasn't being used (now in our kitchen). We also have a separate freezer in the laundry room and my parent's have their own fridge/freezer in connected apartment, so we lost nothing and as time goes on we're gaining more space.

Since my wife now works from home, we're going to follow a slightly reworked version of this schedule together (really just eliminating commutes). We've been warming up to it for about a week now, mainly adjusting our sleep and wake times. As of tonight we get serious with it.

I also reworked my self-learning schedule to be included (I'm further along), now more consolidated to get to my game project sooner...
70 weeks of intense self-learning

Although that's the old schedule as well, I'll update it later.

It's freaking killing me to see what other single-person flight sim devs are pulling off these days (retro to modern). No more excuses, time to get back to it.

Alright, I think we've settled on a schedule that we can live with (since wife is working from home, this has become a full couples endeavor)...



About to begin the second half of 2020 and I want to have the greatest six-month self-improvement accomplishments of my life! Annual physicals scheduled end of September (we'll see), will post results and pics on Diet and Training thread. Will also update self-learning thread as I'm moving right along now.