Milestone 1 and 2

Posted on April 5, 2016 by jonas

The first milestone is now in the past and the scales did show 76.3 kg on 1st of April which is 5.6 kg less since the start 6 weeks ago. Next milestone is 1st of May and I have approximately 6 kg and 3 months left until the target, i.e. 70 kg on 1st of July. That means 2 kg per month if I aim for “linear progression”. To make it easy I’ll go for that and aim for 74 kg on 1st of May. I can see a challenge on the horizon since I have a visit to Barcelona planned for the second half of April…

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One month later – reality check

Posted on March 20, 2016 by jonas

It is about a month after announcing the get-in-shape challenge and it is time to check the progress. I am approaching the first milestone which is in 10 days and the plan says I should be at 77 kg by then. The scales did show 78.4 this morning so with a good finish it should be possible. If we would trust the scales, which one could of course argue against but this is not a scientific study by any means, I would be minus 3.5 kilos of fat since a month back. It’s alright, not great and not bad.

The past week had its own set of challenges and temptations since I spent it on a business trip with hotel breakfasts and daily social dinners in restaurants. Fortunately I did not get totally carried away and seems to have neither gained or lost any weight in Poland. I did squeeze in one or two exercise sessions per day so I guess that helped.

Well, that’s enough as a status check for now. I’ll write again after the upcoming milestone to keep up the motivational pressure.

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Get in shape challenge

Posted on February 18, 2016 by jonas

After a long break, the blog is resurrected and returns with a classic “get-in-shape-saga”. Facebook is clearly not the right forum for that, so the blog will do in order to up the ante and add some peer pressure.
 
I have to admit that since the move to Switzerland, my physical shape has degraded substantially and some people need to hit the bottom in order to get one’s act together. Some clothes don’t fit at all or much worse than before and this got to stop before overweight turns obese. Now is the time.
 
Tanya is on-board with her set of goals but here I will focus on my own targets and (hopefully) achievements.
 
To help to achieve ambitious goals we don’t only need a stoic mindset – technology to the rescue! In this spirit we have therefore invested 50 hard earned francs in scales worthy of the 20th century, i.e. with Bluetooth and apps.
 
After the initial set up of the new technological wonder, the scales are able to understand if it is Tanya or myself who is staring at the display and the scales present all measurement values (BMI, body fat percentage, and – wait and behold – the weight), on her or my mobile together with graphs and indicators.
 
It should be noted that the method used by these cheap scales to measure fat, water and muscles, bioelectrical impedance analysis, is not always 100% accurate but if measured in the same way at the same point in time of the day with the same device, the figures can be used to observe trends.
 
So, now to the hard figures… I start off at an not so impressing 81.9 heavy kilograms which is way too many taken into account my 175 centimeters and my current body fat and muscle percentages. Just the weight alone would of course not say much since in theory I could have much more muscles and much less fat than what is the actual case (and muscles obviously weigh more than fat).
 
To have a simple goal which is “easy” to work towards, I have stipulated that on 1st of July (this year, I am closing down that loophole…) the weight is no more than 70 kg and the muscle percentage (41.3) not lower than today. That should protect against the sloppy solution of just getting rid of muscles and preserving the hefty body fat level of 20.5.
 
So, what is the strategy? It is possible to theorize about energy balance, calorie deficit, the thermic effect of carbs vs protein and so on but it can also be put quite simple: eat well and do more work-out. “Eat well” in this case means for me to skip the sugar (and other food with excessive GI load) and up the protein on the expense of carbs. When it comes to the training, I aim for more and heavier power training and some cardio to be able to eat enough to keep the protein synthesis level reasonable. The lunch gym sessions that I already do needs to be more serious and be allowed to get longer. It goes without saying that alcohol will be kept to a minimum.
 
The almost 20 weeks are split in three blocks. The first block, which started yesterday is about shocking the body and making some progress which is good for motivation. There will be a noticeable calorie deficit and by 1st of April  we have the first milestone, the scales should show no more than 77 kg. The would mean almost 5 kg in 5 weeks which is challenging but realistic.
 
It is not possible to keep a hefty calorie deficit for long, the body adapts and lowers the basic metabolic rate and it might start to use muscle tissue as an energy source. In the second block I will keep only moderate calorie deficit and increase the workout intensity. Heavy load is the only way to show the body it needs to keep, and add, muscles meanwhile continuing to loose body fat due to still being on a calorie deficit. I expect a weight around 75 kg on 15th of May.
 
In the third phase it is time to get in shape for the grand finale which means back to fewer calories again and sufficient training to reach 70 kg on 1st of July.
 
Sounds easy. I hope I will have good news to report along the way instead of some miserable excuses.

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Fishing expedition

Posted on August 26, 2015 by jonas

Sasha and I joined a few guys and went for a three day trip to a remote location far from cellular network and electronic grid along river Terensug which joins with river Tom which flows through Novokuznetsk in south-west Siberia.

To get there we took a taxi to Mezhdurechensk on Friday morning, then a train to Balyksu and from there jeep and Russian 4×4 all-road (off road) military truck (GAZ-66) to the end of the “road”. The road was not suitable for normal cars since it crossed multiple small rivers without bridges and sometimes was more terrain than actual road. Since we sat on the truck bed we clearly noticed where and how we were going. To go by car to Balyksu is also a challenge for normal cars and the train is preferable.

The next day we went up early and walked a few kilometers to some spots along the river which were suitable for fishing Thymallus. Unfortunately we did not have much luck and our small company (Andryosha, Sasha and I) only got two during the whole day. Anyway, it was a great place and I got a chance to improve my fishing technique. The weather was perfect, at least in general (maybe not in terms of the fish catching suitability), but the water was cold so it was good to have warm socks under the waders. In the evening it was obviously time for banya and dinner. The place, owned by one of the guys, offered simplistic facilities but everything that was needed (including 57 bee houses) was in place.

On Sunday we went back to civilization the same way and also transported about one hundred kilograms of honey from the honey factory in the forest to Mezhdurechensk.

All in all a memorable experience which gives some more understanding of the background of the movie Peculiarities of the National Fishing.

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Brief update from the Siberian countryside

Posted on August 17, 2015 by jonas

We have spent a week at the dacha 40 min outside of Novokuznetsk with a few visits to the city. Today was a city day for example and Tanya and I got our teeth fixed with excellent service for a very reasonable fee.

After the visit at the dentist I bought a mobile 3G router and a mobile internet subscription for the only provider (out of three with coverage) that has decent 3G coverage. It works quite well and it has a battery, is charged via micro USB and handles 10 concurrent users.

The weather has been poor, intermittent rain and cloudy around 20 degrees Celsius, but this week has started on another note and the coming days are said to be sunny and around 30 degrees instead.

After some bureaucracy I am now once again allowed to drive one of the two cars and I drove back from the city today. Just in that short time I saw two ruthless over takings but for being Russia they were legitimate…

Anyway, it is late and Sonja will wake us up tomorrow so I better get some sleep. I will write soon now that I have internet connection.

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Home alone

Posted on August 2, 2015 by jonas

Wife and daughter are in Siberia since two weeks and in one week I will join them. The last week I have been in Adliswil alone and the week before that I spent in Wroclaw in Poland.

I miss Freja (in Sweden) and the girls (in Russia) but it also means I an can do whatever I want or need. Yesterday I went to Germany to fix some things and at home I have mowed the lawn, fixed some lamps, ironed my shirts, cocked for the coming week and washed the bed linen so I think I look after myself quite well for being a grass-widower.

Wroclaw was a good visit and the drive there and back was without incidents. For the first time I got to get to know the city a bit more than just the hotel, the city square and the office. I went to visit two garages in the south and north for some “Saab spa” and also took the trams around the city in different errands. I went jogging in the southern suburbs and could see how it looks like outside of the the tourist areas in the city center.

The summer has been hot so far here in Adliswil but lately we have been blessed with some rain too. I have equipment for “artificial rain” too but meanwhile I am away I would prefer some natural precipitation.

Now it is getting time to get the bed linen from the tumbler and to go to bed…

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Lake Garda in May

Posted on June 7, 2015 by jonas

June is here and the summer in Zurich has been hot so far. It might be that we have had it all at once, or maybe we will be compensated for last year’s cold weather. Anyway, we have had good use of the AC the last days and we have probably already used it more this year than last year.

In May we did not go for anything particularly spectacular but we did one trip abroad when we went to Lake Garda together with Tu-Anh, Piotr, and both dogs for a long weekend. The car was packed but spacious enough to cope with the challenge. On the way there we took a car train under the alps and on the way back we went via Innsbruck. The stay in Malcesine on the east side of Lake Garda was very pleasant even though the weather was less reliable than one could have expected on beforehand. I hope and think that we can go to this area more in the future.

We have not had a modern DSLR for some time. Neither Tanya or I are fanatic about photography but we have missed one sometimes and when there was a decent offer on Canon’s low-end, but “enough-end” for us, we got a Canon EOS 100D. It is pretty light and familiar to use. My old zoom lens fits and I will put some photos from Lake Garda in the web album later on.

In the near future we will be happy to have Rasmus as guest and after that I will go for my yearly trip to Poland.

Posted in arbete, bil, båt, tåg och flyg, fotografering, semester | Tagged , | Leave a comment

March and April

Posted on April 21, 2015 by jonas

I got a mail today from my blog saying that it had updated WordPress, i.e. the blog tool used for publishing these texts. I guess the blog is trying to make fun out of me for updating the blog more often itself than I do. Nevertheless, it is time for a comeback again… The good thing with my update interval is that at least there are some things to write about. 🙂

I did not go to the Geneva International Motor show last year (the year before I went with Rasmus and Tanya) but this year I got an invitation from Porsche so Fredrik and I took my 911 out for a ride in southwest direction. The reasonable choice might be to take the train to avoid traffic jam and horrible parking far away from the expo but Fredrik rightfully pointed out that it does not make sense to go with anything else than a sports car to a car show. Porsche did by the way offer a splendid lunch and some VIP access to their latest automobiles. It was all very appreciated and maybe it is time to get a 918 after all. It’s not more than a million Swiss francs after all…

Over Easter my parents and my older brother visited us. We did not do any spectacular, or unspectacular, trips together but we did a few nice walks in Zurich city. We all enjoyed the stay despite the weather being mostly crap with quite a bit of rain but that’s life north of Spain… Freja did for sure enjoy my mother’s extensive care and probably wonder why she can’t follow that nice lady to wherever she stays.

Not much have changed with the cars since last time. I have got the windscreens changed on X5 and 911 plus the X5 has passed its first car inspection. No drama, no complaints. Like it should be. Sonja did her first Porsche ride two weekends ago when we took a sunny ride around Zugersee. Both ladies still sit comfortably in the back seat without complaints about lack of space for head and legs. I have to admit though, it is not a family car and to take Sonja in and out of the car demands an act of acrobatics or some decent will power.

In February I started the project to install two lamp posts in the garden, one in each corner basically, by installing one of the two cables. Last weekend I completed it by running the other cable in the ground as well plus actually installing the lamp posts themselves. They both have LED lamps so I don’t feel too bad about letting them spread their light from 7 pm to 7 am. With my contract the electricity is cheap (half price) in the night so they are subsidizing the cozy garden atmosphere heavily. (I guess it goes without saying that cables, isolation, and lamp posts are all bought in OBI in Waldshut…)

Last Friday I did a German test, Telc B1, since I will need that certificate for the immigration authorities later this year. I don’t know yet if I passed it but if I did I might blog about it in a month. If I failed you will know due to the lack of such statements. 🙂

At work things are fine, not much to complain or get super excited about. Most days I am able to get home in reasonable time but when there is a release the pressure builds up slightly. Unfortunately there is one on Saturday but hopefully it will be quick and smooth.

In the apartment we have done one project lately. As usual it was triggered and led by Tanya. The old work place in the living room got upgraded and now facilitates two seats and a 2.6 meter long desk. The printer is neatly installed “in the air” under the desk and cables are hidden neatly. One of my favorite shops, once again OBI in Waldshut, provided the desk and the legs so it was basically for free. In an expensive country like Switzerland one learns to appreciate such occasions. 🙂

I have seen some good movies lately and those which I remember as noteworthy are The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, Still Alice, I Origins, Leviathan, Tangerines, Citizenfour, Exodus: Gods and Kings, and Interstellar.

Tomorrow my younger brother with girl friend will come and visit us for a few days. We are looking forward to it and still have some hours to get rid of the cold we have caught lately. The weather has been great the last days and I hope it can stay this time meanwhile we have Joel and Sara visiting. The walks with Sonja are even more enjoyable with nice warm temperature.

Time flies and it is time to get to bed and read a few pages before the eyes get too tired.

Posted in arbete, bil, båt, tåg och flyg, djur, freja, hus och hem, Sonja, vardag | 1 Comment

February update

Posted on February 22, 2015 by jonas

It turns out that this is my first blog post in 2015. I don’t have any illusions about daily or weekly updates in the blog but occasionally I will drop by to summarize some recent events.

Nursing a baby obviously takes a lot of time, energy, and commitment. During February, and beginning of March, we are enjoying the support of Tanya’s mother which makes life much easier for us. There is of course also a valuable social component to it as well and Tanya is able to escape the “apartment prison” to a larger extent.

Sonja is now 4.5 months and she is developing well as far as we understand and are told in the regular checkups. She has invented her own language mainly consisting of variations of the sounds “agah” and “agoh” but she might also throw in an “rrrrrh” sometimes. She eats well and is not afraid of putting on some weight. When Ira and Vitaly is back I should ask to get the scales back so we can see if she is over 8 kg now (which would be in the upper segment according to the growth charts). Sonja grips things with her hands, also slightly heavier toys, and can coordinate both hands in operations like “grab the big matryoshka doll and bring it in for inspection by mouth”. She enjoys sitting in the bouncer reaching for toys and listening to psychedelic MIDI versions of great classical masterpieces. And she still falls asleep quickly when being put in the stroller for a walk. (She might have inherited it partially from her mother who also typically quickly falls asleep, also before becoming a mother, when she is going by car.) Since Sonja sleeps well in the stroller we take longer walks than we used to do when we only had Freja. Even if Freja maybe gets less attention than “pre Sonja”, she at least enjoys the longer walks.

Our lives are of course very Sonja-centric at the moment but we have also looked into other things. With the current state of the ruble it might be a good opportunity to acquire an apartment in Saint Petersburg so we have sent Tanya to sort it out. More details later if things play out as planned.

At CS, my work, things are going well and I have found a spot in the organization that I enjoy. It’s a good mix of requirements engineering, business analysis, software development, team building and communication. It takes time to shape the role to one’s liking in a big organization so I’ll try to keep it this way and then we’ll see how it goes. I have learnt that things can change fast, for good and for worse. At the moment I enjoy a bit more flexibility and freedom so I tend to work from home on Fridays. That works well since we have an office, including a bunch of laptops, a few servers, and a fridge plus water boiler, in the basement.

March seems to have some things lined up for us as well. In the beginning of the month we will escort Tanya’s mother to the flight home which departs from Munich. Meanwhile there we will visit the city center which I have not been to since 2010 if I remember correctly. Later on we will make an attempt for Geneva and the Motor show. We went two years ago and this year I was given tickets so we’ll go if we can.

We don’t currently have a big amount of renovation projects or such going on but before the snow came, we currently have a few centimeters covering parts of the garden, I started installing light posts in the garden. When the snow disappears, March?, I will try to finish it. Yesterday we bought a lot of Magazine files (“Kassett” for those who knows the IKEA products) to harmonize the chaotic book shelves in the living room. Small improvements can also be improvements…

I don’t usually recommend movies here but why not. Leviafan is worth watching as it gives a much more interesting and nuanced picture of some parts of the Russian society than one usually finds in big movie productions. Lately I have also watched Fury (not great, not bad) and John Wick (stupid but fun to watch Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tsarov).

The Sunday is about to unfold so it is time to finish and enjoy the day.

Posted in arbete, film, freja, hus och hem, Sonja, utflykter, vardag | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Observations as a father

Posted on December 6, 2014 by jonas

Today it is Sonja’s two-month-day and I figure it could be good to take some notes of what I have observed during the two first months as a father. In 30 years I have most likely forgot what it was like.

  • You quickly learn to do things with one hand since you have one hand busy holding a baby (and the head!) on your arm. Surprisingly many activities can be done with one arm, including figuring out why a raspberry pi camera does not work and watching TV series and reading magazines and so on.
  • You learn to do things “one at a time” if you are both at home, i.e. one person takes a nap/snack/dump meanwhile the other one looks after the baby.
  • It is possible to take care of the baby between feeding sessions meanwhile working if you have a decent headset and can solve issues by talking.
  • Everything, yes everything, takes long time with a baby and a trip to IKEA followed by a walk can be the adventure/challenge of the day.
  • Walks are indeed useful, especially to make the baby fall asleep and get some rest. Since Sonja sleeps well in the stroller I have taken more long walks than ever. With a sleeping child you can do a lot and the dog gets happy meanwhile “for free”. I don’t miss any issues of the Economist or the interesting podcasts. Since I can easily do the walk on my own, Tanya can take a nap or do something else meanwhile.
  • If you thought you had limited “me time” before the baby is born, it won’t be more afterwards.
  • TV series, and a media player that plays next episode automatically, is excellent as some kind of entertainment for daily repetitive tasks like feeding the baby.
  • Since the mother is devoting a LOT of attention and energy to the baby, there is little or no time for arguments or discussions. If she want’s something, figure out the quickest and best way to do it.
  • It is an excellent time to start following American events, like sports (e.g. NHL/NFL), since it might make you feel like you get something “for free” when you are awake at 4 am.
  • When the baby is unruly and does not stop screaming for hours during the night despite “food/temperature/diaper/whatever check” and your work day is quickly approaching, imagine that the baby will remember and remind you of your actions 20 years later. Getting frustrated and stressed out won’t help anyone.
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