It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

Have finished reading “What a wonderful world – Life, the Universe and Everything in a nutshell” – by Marcus Chown. Very interesting, especially the chapters on human evolution, from the start to where we find ourselves now. Some of the latter chapters went over my head, Quantum Theory anyone? That just all sounds like the problem the Grand Old Duke of York had….too many “ups” and “downs”!!!

Also have read “The Antidote – Happiness for people who can’t stand positive thinking” – by Oliver Burkeman. An alternative take on what makes us happy, and how to be happier. I think I am a Stoic. This can be summed up with the phrases “Expect the worst and the rest is a pleasant surprise”, or “S**t Happens!!”. He also concludes that “Goal Setting” can actually make you miserable rather than happy, as it puts too much pressure on you to succeed and doesn’t allow for failure.

3 Runs completed – 1 x 6 Miles, 1 x 5.5M (with 6x2 min efforts included), 1 x 5.3M = 16.8M

Swim – I had a catastrophic equipment failure!!! – My nose clip snapped in half!!! Basically it eventually fatigue cracked across the bridge, as I have had it quite a few years. So I had to just do a combination of Breaststroke, and Backstroke, as I can’t do the underwater breathing thing without it, try as I might water goes up my sinuses and it’s horrible. I’ve looked on Amazon and ordered 2 (so I’ve always got a spare) as they were only £2.85 each. The pool sell the same ones at £6 each!!!. Hopefully they’ll arrive in time for next week’s swim. I still managed my 50mins, but only 70 (18m) lengths.

However, what this has taught me is that I NEED to do these other strokes regularly, as my arms (bingo wings) are killing me after all that breaststroke…so must be in need of toning!!!

Have managed to actually complete 5 x “hard” sudokus and 1 x “very hard” one on my phone app. Never completed those levels before! Took about 25 mins each. That’ll be my neuroplasticity.

Found an old “Kriss Kross” puzzle book that still had some left to do. Always enjoyed these, so will look to buy another one next time I’m passing a newsagents. So “Rock and Roll” in our house!!

DH needed some new walking shoes. He’d seen some in Blacks for about £35, but low and behold Aldi had them on specials, and we managed to rummage for his size, bargain £14.99!! Win!!

Bit of a turbulent week for the markets, but they seem to have stabilised a bit, and recovered some of their initial losses earlier in the week.

We’ve got our Dental check-ups this morning, so hopefully just be standard charge with nothing extra needed at this stage.

So there you go….that was my week!!

Anonymous101 wrote: »

Sounds a pretty good week to me SS!

I've never heard of the Marcus Chown book, sounds right up my street. I'll have to have a look for that one.
If you're interested in Stoicism then "A guide to the good life" by William Irvine is great. Well worth a read IMO.

Your running puts me to shame, great effort. Are you trying to do fairly deliberate exercise each day, every other or just going whenever you fancy it? Do you have any long term goals there now you've got more free time?

How are you finding the mental aspect of being in draw down (technically)? Are you watching the markets more now?

I'll see if the library have that book, thanks. Always looking to expand my mental horizons.

My next read is..."What if? - Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions" by Randall Munroe. Sounds fun!

As for my running. I was running twice a week already, but I wanted to up that to 3, even if its just an extra shuffle round the block, as I love FOOD too much. Need to burn off those pesky calories somehow!! - Swimming I enjoy as something more "relaxing" whilst still putting in the effort (huffing and puffing at the end of each length!)

I just want to stay fit, active and healthy for as long as possible. In a few years time, will I still be the only lady in the pool over 50 who's doing front crawl??!! - I hope so.

As for drawdown, it still seems a bit "unreal" as this month is only the first with no pay. I've been watching the markets closely for a while anyway, and have been doing a monthly round up (comparison) for a couple of years now, so will just carry that on. We can then see, month by month, where we are in comparison to the same time last year, and month on month, and adjust our strategy accordingly. Well that's the plan.

I'll be Stoic about it....what's the absolute worst that can happen!!??