"Health is wealth", I'm told... (Patreon)

Anyone who's been following me for some time likely knows that I have a number of side projects I can be distracted by. My excuse for most of those is a simple need to work on new things. When the game industry can keep me busy on the most unimaginative projects for months or years at a time, can you blame me? Regardless, my latest side project is certainly having a massive impact - both positive and negative - on everything else I'm trying to do.

So what is it I'm working on this time, that's so important? Myself.

Last summer, I had a bit of a scare. I was half-way through a bacon cheeseburger, when I felt like the inside of my chest was being squeezed. I'm pretty sure that's never a good sign, so I... did absolutely nothing about it, other that wait for it to pass. Which it did, in a matter of seconds. Still, my first thought was "this is how I'm going to die".

A week or so later, it happened again. I figured I should see a doctor, which I did... several months later. Clean bill of health, btw. Cholesterol's a little high, but that's all.

The more immediate thing I'd done after the two scares, was I'd started riding my friend's bike around his neighborhood. Then when I got back to Florida, I ordered one for myself. I've been riding it every other day since October, and have been seeing results.

At first, my goal with the bike was simple - ride to the front of my subdivision and back, a round trip of about 6 miles. Initially, I needed to stop to catch my breath every mile or so, and I'd drink a bottle of water at the half-way point. And then another bottle once I got home.

Now I'm up to 15 miles every other day, non-stop.

Some days are easier than others. Sometimes conditions will be just right for the ride to whoop my ass, to where I'm done with anything else for the rest of the day.

My off days are a crap shoot. Current politics aren't exactly motivating, and any number of other things can distract me from drawing. Perhaps the biggest one is that if I know I might be interrupted, then I just won't start. I've been interrupted before; it sucks. And there can be so many interruptions throughout a typical day, that I might only have 2-3 hours in the evening where I can safely sit down and do anything creative. But by then, the day is already effectively over.

For now, my goal is to stick to my bike schedule, for however long it takes for me to reach my target weight. When I get there, then I may dial the bike riding back to once every 3 days, or just the weekends.

As for everything else... I don't know. There are too many factors that I can't control. The work gets done when it gets done.