Jeremy Tymes

Hello everyone, or just that one person who reads out of pity! I have posts planned, and I really hope you like them, but I have been so swamped with school and work, and blah! So I will be back soon, I promise!

So recently (as in Christmas), I was given an iPod Touch 8GB as a present. It has been extremely fun and useful, and I tend to take it with me wherever I go as a quick source of entertainment not only musically, but with games, etc. Alright, enough rambling about how much I like the darn thing.

The Problem

After a little bit of use, I started noticing that whenever I connected my iPod to my laptop, which is running Windows Vista Home Premium, the date on my iPod would change to a random date and time. So I would have to go through and change the date and time each time I connected the iPod. This was extremely annoying. I searched, but not intensely, so if my solution has been posted, I apologize.

The Solution

Update: So apparently this doesn’t fix it. I just synced my iPod Touch today and it got a weird date again. I’ll keep trying to figure it out and let you know.

What I found out was that this started happening after there were a few pictures or backgrounds on my iPod. When I connected my iPod, not only did iTunes pop up and sync, but I got an AutoPlay popup. I just ignored this popup at first. But when this date thing kept happening, I was determined to find the answer, step by step, hopefully without having to remove apps from my iPod and restore them, etc. So the first thing I tried was changing the AutoPlay settings. Instead of it asking me what I want to do every time it connects, I opened up Control Panel and told it to Take No Action and then I disconnected and reconnected my iPod, and voila! It worked, and has since.

I’m not quite sure why AutoPlay is sending invalid (and apparently random) date and time data to the iPod, or if it’s the iPod’s fault in interpreting something else, but that changing the settings seemed to have fixed the problem. So for those who were struggling with the same issue, I hope this works for you! If you have another solution for the same problem, leave it in the comments and I will update the post for people who are searching for this problem.

I have made the blog mobile-browser friendly by installing MobilePress. So all of the iPhone and iPod Touch users can get at the blog in a more friendly format, as well as other mobile browsers.

As 2008 comes to a close, I have begun to reflect on the past year of my life. This is the perfect opportunity to check up on ourselves and what we’re accomplishing, and making sure that it aligns with where we want to be. Looking back, I can say that 2008 was a good year for me. I feel that I developed quite a bit over this year as a whole. There are a few spots that I still need to sharpen of course, and there is always room for development, year after year.

The Questions

Do you want to reflect on the past year? You can do it any way you like, but here are a few suggestions to get you started.

1. Did I achieve the goals that I wanted to achieve?
   This is an important question, because setting goals is a huge part of developing yourself. Did you set appropriate goals? Why didn’t you achieve some goals? Answering these questions will bring you to a closer understanding of yourself and your life.
2. Did I work hard enough on my goals?
   This holds true especially with performance-related goals, such as school. This past semester, I slacked off in a couple of classes and I really shouldn’t have. Find ways to improve your approach toward your goals.
3. Am I happy with who I was over the past year?
   How can someone be happy without being happy with themselves? Did you stray to an unwanted path? Or did you stay on course with who you wanted to be? Answer these and find ways to get yourself on track. If you’re on track, congratulations!
4. What can I do different for 2009?
   Now is time to look forward and see what you would like to do different for 2009. Look for ways to improve, to be a better a person, and to live a fuller life!

So I just wanted to let everyone know about my new present that I got from Lindsay yesterday! I got an iPod Touch! Woot!

I have found that being active in warmer months is far easier, or at least far more accessible than in the winter months. This is such a pity because it is during these months that we need it the most, with all the holidays and being on break for those of us in school. Some have already been preparing for handling the food and the activity. But most have not. So here’s a small list of activities you can do to keep active during the winter months.

• Shovel - If you have a snowblower, leave it in the garage for once. Get outdoors, and get working! Save the environment and save your body!
• Go Ice Skating - One I have yet to accomplish so far this winter, but I am planning on heading down to Rosa Parks Circle with my girlfriend for some good fun on the ice!
• Play In the Snow - I did this today, and it was a blast. I built a snowfort, or at least started to, and it brought back good memories.
• Keep Working Out - Hey, being on break and the temperature are not acceptable justifications for not working out. Especially if you have workout equipment in the home. Get off your butt!
• Go Sledding - Sure, going down the hill is easy, but once you’ve gone up the hill a few times, you’ll understand why it’s on the list.
• Go For a Walk - Bundle up and take a walk (with your pet if you have one) and take in the winter wonderland. Be sure to watch for ice!

After each of these, you can wrap up the day with a nice hot cup of cocoa!

Alright, so I posted earlier about my need to refocus my life. Part of this was getting back on track with working out. So far, so good (I started last week). I’ve worked out Thursday, Friday, and today! Only three days, but that’s three days down! Only the rest of my life to go!

What I’m Doing

Ready for this? Well, I’ve been doing a combination of Tae Bo Cardio Circuit, and Stronglifts 5×5. It’s a pretty intense combination, if I do say so myself.

Tae Bo isn’t as easy as I thought it would be (honestly). It’s pretty tough. Especially the sideways balancing and leg lifting stuff. But it’s nice to start up some cardio in a way that is more fun and entertaining than just running, which is pretty boring to me.

Stronglifts 5×5 is a modification of the Starting Strength workout by Mark Rippetoe. It focuses on building strength through compound exercises such as squats and deadlifts to build a solid core and base strength. I love this workout for its simplicity and how little equipment is required to complete the exercises. My basement gym has all I need for it.

What I Want To Achieve

I’m not looking to become huge, but I would like become more fit, not get winded doing high intensity activites, feel better and just be healthy. I don’t need to lift the most weights in the gym, but I want to feel good about my body and what I’ve accomplished with it.

As in most things, focus is essential to clarity. Focus in your life is definitely no different. Focus leads to a path of successful and happy living. I would say that I get focused on something and keep to it for a while. But every once in a while (quite a bit of the time, to be honest), I lose focus and need to readjust. I was a bit off this past semester in school, and my guess is that I wasn’t as interested in the courses I was taking because they were something I was either too familiar with, or because they were outside of my interests (mostly Accounting). But now that the semester is over, I can force myself to refocus!

The Plan

So what am I going to do? I’ve come up with a few ideas to try and get myself back on track.

Morning Routine

First, I need to establish a morning routine, which has been discussed widely across most productivity blogs, and I’ve tried it a few times and it’s worked wonders. I need to establish one that I can stick with, and it will depend on my course load as well as other factors, but here’s a general goal:

1. Eat a healthy breakfast - I often forget to do this, and it’s the most important meal of the day!
2. Read - I love reading (check out my bookshelf), and recently I have not been reading as much as I would like to, so this is something I will work into my mornings.
3. Relax - Too often I get caught up in rushing out the door to make it to classes, I’d really just like to sit back and relax before heading out, maybe with a cup of tea along with my next goal.
4. Mentally Prepare - To have a great day, sometimes all it takes is a bit of mental preparation. If I wake up and am dreading the day, the day will be dreadful. If I wake up feeling great about the day, the dreaded things will be great (or at least less dreadful). Just giving myself an attitude adjustment in the morning before I take off will help me tremendously in taking on the day.

Work Blocks

Now that the morning is taken care of, I need to organize the rest of my time to a general guideline. What I’d like to do with this is being to block out my time for certain activities. For example, I would set aside a certain amount of time, depending on the day, for some hardcore homework and studying. I’m talking highly productive. Not the Youtube-sufing, Google Reader-checking, typical studying that I do. This will help me a lot with my chronic procrastination if I can force myself to get started on things and not be distracted. This will also give me more time to do other things such as relax, or read, or spend more time with my girlfriend and maybe even more time on this blog!

Spirituality

Another area of my life I want to refocus is my spiritual one. I have wandered (yet again) away from being diligent in my studies of the Bible and my spiritual life in general, but I am working on becoming more disciplined, to be a better person, and to live a fuller life through God. I am going to accomplish this by reading the Bible every day (I have a reading plan for it), and also joining a Christian group on campus.

Health

Finally, to fit the cliché, I need to really work on eating healthier and being more active. I was doing great this past semester up until right after Thanksgiving. I fell off the workout bandwagon with exams and whatnot. So I’ve jumped back on and have been working out at home. I plan on doing some sort of cardio everyday while lifting 3x/week.  I wonder how much progress I can push myself to achieve in only three weeks! I can only hope it will be enough that I won’t have to make a New Year’s resolution out of it.

Your Turn

So there it is, a few points in my life that I need to refocus. How about you? Do you have any blurry spots in your life that need to be refocused?

Annoying, I know, I keep saying that I’m coming soon or to hang in there. I haven’t been, not that anyone has noticed besides myself, but that is besides the point. I really need to just make up my mind of whether or not I’m actually going to start blogging. Today’s verdict? Yes. But who knows tomorrow, or a week from now. But at least this time I feel like I’m making a real effort. I just have to setup a plan and get into the habit of writing more often.

Expectations

So what to expect from this? I still haven’t figured that out, so I’m sure this will really just become a random mashup of my thoughts and the goings on of my life. Things that will most likely be covered here are

• Programming - This is kinda what I plan on doing with my life, so it should have a place here on a site about my life. PHP, Javascript, and others will be covered here.
• Books - I love reading. I will talk about what I’m reading, what I want to read, and perhaps start discussions about certain books
• My Life - Surprising as it is, my life can be pretty interesting sometimes.
• Being a Freelancer - Especially as I start out in freelancing, I will post about my trials and tribulations, do’s and dont’s, and my general experiences as a freelancer.
• Who knows what else - Honestly. I might have a post about sports (eek gads) one day, I might give my opinion on current affairs or maybe you’ll be so unfortunate as to take advice from me about little things of life. Who knows.

What I’d Like To Get From This

I really want to connect with more people by opening up discussions here on the blog as well as improve my writing. And who doesn’t want their ideas to be heard by lots of people? I know that I love to share ideas as well as hear other’s as well. So here I go, off into the frighteningly large arena of blogging. If you’re reading, leave a comment, I’d love to get to know you!