Met My Neighbors

Posted on January 8, 2021 by John F Croston III

With all the walking around my neighborhood, I have met more people on my block or within six or eight blocks of my house. All this since the pandemic started.

Some I met for the first time, and we have lived a few houses away for over ten or fifteen years. I had seen others a few times a week and would say hello on my commute to and from work, and I finally learned their names.

Interesting Neighbors

I even met a couple that is retired and is now Certified Master Gardeners. That we talked about plants, gardening, politics, or whatever came up that evening.

I even got a small fig tree that I replanted in a five-gallon bucket. By talking to another neighbor about all their fig trees. Of course, I spoke with the two master gardeners about the best way to replant the small fig tree.

They gave me advice on how best to replant the fig tree. The master gardeners informed me not to use potting soil. They had soil, compost, etc., on their driveway, they would give me.

So a few days later, I dropped off two five-gallon buckets for them to fill half to two-thirds full. By doing that, I would have enough soil, and it wouldn’t be too heavy to carry it the two blocks home.

How I Replanted My New Fig Tree

I took one of the buckets and drilled a few dozen quarter-inch holes in the bottom. To make sure there was enough drainage if it rained too much. I then mixed the soil from the neighbor with crushed-up leaves from under my car. Along with some chopped up vegetable scraps to add some extra nutrition to the soil.

I filled the five-gallon bucket about two thirds full. Then removed the fig tree from its small pot. Next, I knocked most of the dirt/potting soil off the fig tree. Watered the soil, so even the lower parts were wet.

I made sure there was a mound of higher soil in the middle, as I was told to do by the master gardener. Once that was ready, I spread the roots out so they have more room to grow. Then covered them with more soil that was about three inches from the top of the five-gallon bucket. Once all done, I watered the new soil with another 16 oz. of water.

I met Even More people in the Neighborhood

I have met others in other parts of the neighborhood to stop and chat with on my walks. It’s a nice break on the walks and makes it a bit more interesting. Plus, it was nice to see other people and get to have different conversations.

In conclusion

Because of the pandemic, I saw more of the neighborhood and met new people.

Here’s to more learning about my neighborhood and meeting new people.

Posted in 2020, 2021, Neighborhood, Neighbors, Walking | 1 Comment

No More Car

Posted on January 7, 2021 by John F Croston III

In the fall of 2019, I had car issues that I decided not to spend the money to fix. For an 18-year-old Honda Civic with 170,000+ miles on it, I had paid between $700 and $1,200 per year to fix things that had broken/needed repair.

So I used the metro (commuter train), bus, and walking to get around the DC area. Being that I lived in a large metropolitan city, I figured it should be fairly easy to do.

Going Places Using Public Transportation

I even managed to attend NOVA Code and Coffee events, which is between 12 and 15 miles from my house without a car. It meant walking to the metro (commuter train). Then take a blue line train. Transfer to an orange line train at Roslyn until the second last stop. There I could either walk the mile to the venue or if I timed it right, grab a bus that got me within two or three blocks.

The nice thing about this event was there were many great places to grab lunch afterward with other attendees.

Another bonus of the event was an H Mart (Korean/international) grocery store was near there. So I could grab a few things that would fit in my backpack with my laptop, charger, etc., that I couldn’t get at my local stores.

Before the pandemic, on Friday nights, I would make sure to bring my laptop to work. So I could go directly to one coffee shop and catch up on e-mail and listen to live music. Afterward, I would go to another coffee shop that stayed open later to do more if I felt like it.

Every other Saturday, I would walk a half-mile to the Alexandria Code and Coffee event to hang out and work on my side project. Then take the bus a few blocks away from M. E. Swing Coffee Roasters to do some more work or e-mail/newsletters, etc. Between 2:30 PM and 2:40 PM, I would head out to take the 10B bus from Del Ray to Arlington to grab a late lunch.

Then walk a mile to Norhtsdie Social for a bit more work. Then down to Three Whistles for live music and a bit more work. There typically was a bunch of Twitter reading and other distractions during all this.

Finally, close to midnight, I would catch two trains to get home. So spent the whole day either walking, taking a bus or train on days like this.

Getting Around Before the Pandemic

So before the pandemic, I managed to get around by foot, bus, or metro.

Okay, there were two weekends where I rented a car. About three months apart to do some large grocery shopping. At places like Wegmans, Sam’s Club, etc., to stock up on more bulk items like toilet paper, Kleenex, paper towels, etc.

My sister made fun of me for having a 30 part of toilet paper and some other rolls at one point when she visited. I felt good when I still have close to 25 rolls left when everyone else was attempting to buy some at the pandemic’s start.

Plus, I would go on the two Sundays to a buddy’s place who lived in the country and raised pigs on the side. To get out to the city for a bit and get some fresh air.

Finally, Got Rid of the Car

After not being able to use the car, I sold my car to a friend’s friend in late August. Because they thought it would be cheaper to fix mine than theirs. Now I need to find out if that was the case.

I checked. It seems it cost more than I would have wanted to spend, and that didn’t include my friend’s labor. I probably would have bought an eight or ten-year-old car for about the same price.

In Conclusion

Getting to go out in the country is the one thing I miss without having a car.

Since the pandemic, I have not been more than I think a mile and a half or a little more from my house.

I don’t want to get on the metro, bus, etc., at this point.

Posted in 2019, 2020, 2021, Bus, Car, Coffee Shops, Metro, Transportation, Walking | 2 Comments

Eating Healthier

Posted on January 6, 2021 by John F Croston III

In the last nine months to a year, I have gotten healthier because I have been eating almost all my meals at home and making better food choices.

By only bringing in healthy food, it’s easier not to eat less healthy foods. Doing so has made it easier to eat what is in the house.

Another reason is when you are walking to the grocery store with a backpack, there is less room for junk food. Plus, when you are stocking up on fruit and vegetables, along with kombucha and eggs every two weeks. You buy less junk since there is less room. Not that I haven’t been buying tortilla chips to crumble on my salads for some crunch or dark chocolate bars, etc.

I think I’m healthier partially because I’m not eating at restaurants. Or I haven’t had any takeout since mid-March, and I’m walking more. Doing so has improved my eating habits. I have been making, cooking, or assembling (salads) for all my meals, which I enjoy doing. But hadn’t done much of or as often until this year, especially when cooking for one person.

Changes in Eating Habits

I have managed to eat more peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, on tortillas, than in the last ten years. Which is still better than what I would eat for breakfast or lunch from the work cafeteria.

Breakfast at work used to be scrambled eggs and pork sausage. Or two egg, pork sausage, and cheese sandwiches on a croissant or toast or a toasted bagel. At the same time, lunch ended up being about a pound or more of hot food from the lunch buffet.

I have eaten more fruits, vegetables/salad, nuts, this year, which has been a good thing. Along with trail mix of peanuts, cashews, almonds, raisins, and M & M’s.

Rethinking My Cooking

When cooking hot meals, I have used more grains, fresh vegetables, and less meat. When using meat, I would put a pound in what I was making. That gets divided amongst the six to eight servings that I ended up eating over time. So there is less in each portion. I even ate more tofu and plant-based meats too.

By making larger quantities, I was able even to make enough to have many extra meals. So I only had to reheat them and put others in the freezer for later. That way, I wasn’t cooking every day, but a few days a week. Then I would have salads, etc., so I wasn’t eating the same thing for every meal.

Not Everything has Been Healthy

Not that everything I ate was healthy, but it’s been an improvement. I have eaten more fruits and vegetables, healthier snacks, salads, etc. The snacks have been more nuts (peanuts and cashews).

I nice dessert I have made many times is to take a large handful of nuts. Put them in a bowl with half a pint of blueberries, a sliced up banana, and then add some dark chocolate sauce. To me, it’s like an ice cream dessert without the ice cream and a lot more fiber.

How I Fared with Eating Better

All in all, I have been eating better but not on what I would call a diet per se.

So here is to making more eating improvements in 2021 for the long term.

Posted in 2020, 2021, Food, Health, Snacks, Walking, Weight | 1 Comment

More Sleep

Posted on January 5, 2021 by John F Croston III

At the start of the pandemic, I started going to bed earlier to got more sleep. So I would feel rested and help my immune system in the process, not knowing what to expect with COVID.

As I ate better and walked more, I didn’t need as much sleep. So  I stayed up later or back to my old time between 11:00 PM and midnight.

With not starting my workday until 9:00 AM, I could stay in bed until closer to then. Even if I woke up at 7:00 AM or before and couldn’t get back to sleep. I would stay in bed and rest until close to 9:00 AM, when I would start my workday.

Instead of reading Twitter or other things on my phone, I stay in bed with my eyes closed and rested most mornings. Which has helped with starting the day more relaxed.

Another positive thing with this year has been I have been getting more sleep. Because my commute is now from one part of the house to another. My commute has gone from about 45 minutes to about 45 seconds each way.

Getting more sleep/rest has helped me cut back on my need for naps on the weekend. Even though I enjoy a good nap on the weekend when I don’t have any plans. I can get more done that way since I took a long nap of a few hours.

Posted in 2020, 2021, Sleep | 3 Comments

Working at Making Better Use of My Time

Posted on January 4, 2021 by John F Croston III

I need to start making better use of my time, which means not scheduling every minute. But when I’m out on a lunchtime walk, by starting to outline a blog post. Then on an evening walk working on what I want to say for the blog post. So when I get to writing the post, a lot of the work is done, and it will go faster.

By outlining or writing parts of my blog posts while walking or doing other things, I can get them done quicker. Or maybe even a few ahead when I have time. To make it easier for those times when I don’t make as much time and want to get something out there.

What to Use My Time Doing

I need to figure out what my next thing to learn is and spend time doing that. Be that cooking, farming, raising animals, tiny houses, new coding languages, etc. Or even how to relax or read more.

I have been watching many YouTube and other classes on how to raise my own food, be that plants or animals. Along with watching cooking videos for inspiration and different ways and things to cook.

My reading lately has been from beekeeping to comic books, creativity, to work/business-related. I’m attempting to get more diversified with my reading. Even read a few fiction books this last year or so, which I tend not to do much of before.

What I Have Noticed Taking Classes or Reading

I have noticed when taking training classes or reading an article. Taking handwritten notes has been great. Which tends to make it twice as long to watch or read something. A ten-minute video depending on the content could take 15 or 20 minutes to watch. With stopping and replaying parts to take notes from. I think I’m getting more out of them that way, but I wish it would go faster, is all.

Conclusion

My guess is this will be a work in progress as much of life is to make better use of my time with more to come over the year.

Posted in 2021, Code, FOCUS, Writing | Leave a comment