Category: improvement
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Eating is hard
Losing weight is probably less important for regular people than you think. Increasing muscle mass is more important than focusing on body fat percentage. There was an article in the Washington Post last fall sort of downplaying low-carbohydrate diets. Maybe she’s right. If so, why does one eat less on fewer carbs? A hypothesis is…
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Brother, can you spare a buck?
I have been riding the Metro for a while and have encountered many unique individuals. The majority of these people are either asking me for money (I don’t have any) or commenting on my uniform, or a combination of the two. A woman once started talking to me, thanking me for my service, etc. etc.,…
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Automate
Microsoft’s Power Automate is a great tool to connect SharePoint Lists, Outlook, Forms, and other apps to keep data consistent, standardized, and repeatable. I’ve been using Power Automate for a few years now to help my coworkers get out of their Outlook inbox or PowerPoint slides as a starting point for work. Granted, much of…
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Mastery
When I was younger, one of my favorite websites to waste time on was Lifehacker’s “This is How I Work.” Even now, searching for that link, I am starting to get sidetracked looking at all the great authors and what type of laptop they use. I am pulled by the notion of, “if I just…
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Continuous Process Improvement (CPI)
Remember when you were a kid and your dad used the same sayings or lectures or aphorisms over and over again? One phrase my dad used was, “Always improve your foxhole.” He is a former Marine and that was a phrase they used to remind themselves to continue to improve their defensive fighting position. Things…
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Caveat emptor
When I was a kid, I watched G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Skyhawks, and played out in the woods behind my house. On weekends, my dad and I would often go on short trips together, sometimes collecting soda cans for the recycling money. During these car rides, my dad would impress upon me two things: don’t use…
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Habits
In September I finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. I had been reading his blog posts for some time and find it laudable that he includes weight training into his annual assessment. Part of the title of the book (the supra-title?) is “Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results” which sums up the chapters nicely. The point…
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Toastmasters
I officially joined Toastmasters International back in December. I first heard about the speech-giving organization seventeen years ago and it was recommended to me again a few years ago to improve my speaking ability. My natural approach ranges from silence to curt-monotone to brief-direct-scowl, so I am embracing this opportunity to learn some vocal and…
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Networking from home
As many other people around the country are experiencing, I am teleworking and my kids are teleschooling. This means that in between Microsoft Teams calls and teleconferences I get to play IT helpdesk and system administrator. Unfortunately my home only has one operating coaxial connection (no thank you splitters!) so I purchased the TP Link…
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Touchpad
If you have a touchpad on your laptop and use Ubuntu, this is how you can disable the device. I keep bumping the trackpad and moving my cursor or paging up or down. No longer.