I made a little more progress on the walk-in shower remodel today. Installed the backing board. Here’s a before and after.
Author: Patrick Rhone
A Health Update
You may remember my writing a few months ago about making major changes in order to get on top of my type 2 diabetes. Well, I had a follow up appointment yesterday, labs done, and the results are in. Here’s comments from my doctor:
How exciting!!! Your a1c has dropped from 6.9 to 6.3! That is excellent. Your cholesterol has also dropped! And the HDL cholesterol (the heart protective cholesterol) went up from 41 to 55 which is excellent. You can still consider starting a statin drug — not for your cholesterol– but to help reduce your risk of stroke and heart disease given family history. For sure start the aspirin as we discussed. Kidney function is normal.
Also, my weight is down over 20 pounds as of this writing. My blood pressure which for years has run a bit high is back to the low normal range. But, most importantly, I continue to feel great and have not had a “sugar crash” that I can remember. Pretty proud of all of this.
Turns out, if you change things, things change.
Simultaneously – Garrick van Buren
Very interesting.
My iPhone 11, even though I have had it for five years now, is still getting software and security updates from Apple, and the battery is still decent for this phone’s age (around 80% maximum capacity). My iPhone 11 is still plenty fast (for me), and the camera still takes decent quality photos (for me).
Steve Best is keeping his phone. I have a 12 mini and have no plans to change it anytime soon.
Sketchnote Lab Live Tickets, Sat, Dec 14, 2024 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite
Join Mike Rohde for a one-of-a-kind event where he tackles a real-world problem live. Watch as Mike demonstrates his visual problem-solving process using sketchnotes, shares actionable tips, and works against a deadline to find solutions.
Mike is an excellent and patient instructor. Recommended if you are at all interested in this sort of thing. Only $10 too!
Some really interesting, and infrequently discussed, data about homelessness (shared with me by my wife):
- Within 18 months of emancipation 40-50% of foster youth become homeless.
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Nationally, 50% of the homeless population spent time in foster care.
Related, my wife and I were struck by how few unhoused folks we saw in New Orleans.
Home for Good New Orleans is a community-wide effort to achieve low to no unsheltered homelessness in New Orleans by the end of 2025.
How? Give them a place to live.
Seems to be working.
You Should Do The Work
You do the work because the work is worth doing. There may be many reasons why doing the work to get something or somewhere you want wont get you the results you were hoping for. But, this is not a reason for not doing the work. The work is worth doing because it makes you smarter. The work is worth doing because it gives you experience. The work is worth doing so that not doing the work is not a reason you fall short of the goal.
There will be insurmountable challenges to meeting many of your goals in life. Try anyway. Try because the challenge is worth meeting. Try because it may make the next opportunity surmountable. Try because it will make you better and smarter and stronger. You may fall short for many reasons, don’t let the work be one of them.
The work is how you grow and that makes the work worth doing every time.
Came up with the perfect inscription for my tombstone:
He didn’t post much.
It’s not my dream, it’s my future. I’m manifesting it.
— Beatrix Rhone
New Orleans is the only place I know where even the bumps in the road seem set to a rhythm.