March 2019.
We've now lived in the house for almost exactly six months, and in that time a lot has happened. I myself haven't updated this blog here since Thanksgiving week, so let's do a quick recap of some major events since then:
1. My job will eventually disappear.
I haven't really spoken much about my job as of late, but in the past six months or so I've lost a lot of the stability and security I had with it. My firm was bought out by an Indian-owned outsourcing company whose overall goal is to cut costs in any and every way possible. As such, the contract that myself and my employees work under -- as well as everyone else in our firm -- has a hard out at the end of this year. Hard out meaning end of the line, full stop, the job will still exist but it won't be us in America doing it anymore, hit the bricks pal. Many employees have already left, including some close friends, and many more are looking to get out before the endgame. I am of the latter; I'm still there, but I know the end is coming and as such have been looking and applying for other forms of gainful employment since around Christmas or so. Current projections have my team lasting at least until the end of summer or so, but anything past that is a mystery. It also doesn't help in the present that said job has become a miserable slog of stress almost every single night I'm there, to the point where I'm pretty sure it's regularly negatively affecting my health. One night a few months ago, my heart rate dropped to something like 40 beats a minute over the span of about five minutes and I came very close to passing out. To this day I have no idea why.
2. The health kick continues.
I mentioned here before that I became vegetarian shortly before we purchased this house (late August, something like that) and that remains a thing. My weight loss stalled out quite a bit over the holidays, and I put a little bit of weight back on, but right now I've lost a net total of about 40 pounds since January 2018. It's not so much the vegetarianism as it is just being mindful of what I eat and how much of it I eat. I also don't think I could ever go full vegan -- I love cheese far, far too much to ever go without it. It is a necessary evil for me. I also don't know if I'll remain vegetarian indefinitely or what have you; it's not so much a life philosophy for me as it is for others. I just want to be healthier, and any diet and exercise plan has to be live-able. If I come to a time where I need to do something else, or I need to make a change, I'll address that when I come to it.
3. This winter has fucking sucked.
We're out of winter and into spring now, of course, but for the record, I've lived in the midwest almost 13 years now and I've seen a lot of nasty weather, from tornadoes and tennis-ball-sized hail to 18-inch snowstorms and high temperatures of -15. I'm not sure I've seen a winter as nasty as the one we just had since I was living in West Virginia in the 90s and early 2000s. Adding insult to injury, when you own your own home in Omaha, you have to shovel your own driveway and sidewalks. If you don't, even if you have nowhere to go and you're snowed in and the like, the city issues you a steep fine.
4. The flooding.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Nebraska flooding, which a few weeks ago was one of the biggest stories in the country. Because of all of the snow and all of the rain, once it got warmer everything here flooded. Like, a lot. Entire towns underwater, bridges and roads washed out, etc. Some of them will not reopen for many months or until they are rebuilt (many are still closed now). Several of my coworkers and employees were uprooted and/or made completely homeless by the flooding, and the wife and I did what we could to help out via donations and gift cards and by organizing/working with local charities. The wife worked with some charity groups to get one of my employees put up in a hotel for a week for no cost to them, as well. Suffice it to say, though, it's bad. However, we are lucky enough to live in a part of town that's not been affected by any of the flooding, and I have seen very little, if any, of it firsthand. I have fielded many questions about it from friends and family out of state, though.
5. The new Brandon mentality
Jumping a bit off #2, the wife and I have purchased a Planet Fitness membership, and goddamn do we ever use it. I've been hitting the gym for 60-90 minute workout sessions generally 3x a week. I had to start slow (because it hurt after not really working out in about ten years) but now I'm doing 2-3 miles cardio per session as well as weights and abs pretty much every time I'm there. I sweat, I burn calories, I take muscle-supporting supplements (BCAAs and B-vitamins) and every time I'm there it gets easier than the last. My goal is to get swole, or as I put it on Facebook, #getswole. I'll let everyone know how it goes, of course, but I want to look like a bodybuilder with nicely-defined muscles by the end of the year.
