Why the Blog Hiatus?

In the past few years (wow, has it really been a few years already?) things have really changed for me. We (meaning my family) have had some upheavals and trials. For a while it seemed like there was no hint of good news without a wave of misfortune following close behind.

I'm the type of person with a brain wired for routine. I managed to keep some constants, such as recording the Geeking After Dark podcast with regularity, which helped maintain the illusion of control over my own life. I had a friend with contacts that managed to help me find employment after going back to rural PA. And of course there is the constant barrage of terrible that is the state of our country under the current administration, and worse, the support the people of this area show for the ideology of said administration, which does little to quell fear of what other people will do if given the opportunity to show their "true colors" without being held accountable for their actions.

I didn't realize it at the time, but the combination of stresses were taking a toll. Both my physical and mental health were in decline until it reached a point where I couldn't keep turning a blind eye to the situation.

Back in the beginning of January I had a "coronary incident;" my wife took me to the ER in the wee hours of the morning and I spent the next day having tests run (ever have a catheter run through your arm to see if you have a blockage to the heart? Highly not recommended.) It turned out to not be a heart attack, but pericarditis, in which an inflamed sac of tissue around the heart swells and imitates the first symptoms of a heart attack.

Ironically, I had already agreed to take the preliminary steps for a more thorough admission to a weight clinic at the hospital, and my first appointment was three days after my discharge from the ER.

I've had appointments to address a wide range of issues from the stresses and...while I hesitate to call it this...the psychological trauma that has been building up over the previous two years. I have doctors coordinating in fields across endocrinology through bariatrics to try making progress on my health. Some of this I've already brought up in the podcasts, some of it I never really talked about because I didn't think it was worth mentioning.

I've been working a lot on my programming in Golang at my new job position, and thoroughly enjoying it. Usually I'd blog some thoughts or tidbits about what I learned. Then one day I looked at this blog and realized I hadn't written anything in months...I couldn't believe how much time had passed while I was in some kind of mental fog.

That isn't to say I haven't made progress. Since January 10th, I've lost 106 lbs. I've gone off several medications while cutting back on others.

Doctors have not only been forcing me to work on eating "healthy" stuff like...vegetables (yuck) but to exercise more. My current job is heavy on the sitting-at-the-desk duties, so I've been using an under-desk pedaling machine to work my legs. As summer approached I started looking at an alternative exercise that was tolerable for my taste and lifestyle; I started investigating recumbent biking. As I type this, there are two recumbent trikes on their way to an almost local recumbent dealer earmarked with my (and my son's) names.

While treating some aspects of my various diagnoses had made progress, one side effect has been a diminished passion for side projects. My work on side programming projects has slowed down, but I still have an idea bouncing in my head that I'm thinking of trying to explore.

So, why the blog hiatus? It boils down to the stresses of the past couple of years being addressed, and not realizing how much time had passed. I haven't disappeared. Nothing tragic happened. I've simply changed my focus for a bit. As a result, my health, so far, has been slowly improving, and I've been nursing a new obsession with recumbent triking.

If things continue to go as I hope, I'll get back to blogging more. I'll continue programming and making progress on the learning front. And maybe, just maybe, I'll continue to improve my diet and exercise lifestyle changes with the help of a new recumbent trike!