Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Author: garry.c.stewart

  • Modified Goals

    I read some things about goal setting a while ago that goals should be like a Lighthouse, something to guide you, to help you make course corrections and not as a destination. One analogy was if you had a goal to “run a marathon” that might be considered a “destination”. Once you achieve it you’ve “arrived”. Verses “get healthy” more of a Lighthouse goal, that may well involve running a marathon, but would allow for other options to achieve the goal and for “course corrections”.

    It seems like a “course correction” is in order these days.

    Earlier in the year I set a goal when I was feeling awesome and the world was more normal. Maybe not a pure Lighthouse goal, but something I really wanted to try to do and something I thought was within my reach to achieve. It was about my cycling. 2018 was not a good year for my cycling but 2019 was pretty good. And, over the 2019/2020 I was training indoors quite regularly and doing the Wednesday FROG ride outside through the winter, regardless of the tempertures.

    I was using a combination of Zwift and then some Sufferfest for an additional challenge. Then I discovered Xert (Canadian eh!) and started getting serious with a formal training plan to reach my goal.

    So, what was the goal? “To ride with the FOG “B” group by April 15, 2020, full distance (~95km) and not get dropped on the 206 hills”. That last part was the challenge, “not get dropped”. Once upon a time I could do it, and I wanted it back. With this in mind, I set my Xert training plan to get there:

    Here is the setup for being ready by April 15 for the first potential group ride, which is totally not happening this year. Fairly aggressive training for me anyway.

    And the modified goals thanks to Covid-19 and my current health challenges. A more relaxed training plan that I’m hoping to maintain. More course corrections may be required.

    Basically this is a switch from “peak” training to “maintenance” and planning for some good relaxed group rides late in the season, in town and hopefully around the Kenora area.

    Wishing all my ride buddies all the best during these challenging times. Ride On, and be safe.

  • The heavens declare

    The heavens declare

    A sky shot I took at the lake last summer combined with a little Photoshop work, nothing fancy.

  • Missing these guys

  • Tattoo?

    A while back in March 2019, I started to get some ads for Inkbox in my Instagram feed which caught my attention. I’ve never been interested in getting tattooed myself, but this #tattosfornow seemed like a way to experiment without the big commit. So I tried one out.

    The tattoo was fun and it looks quite real and I didn’t tell people it wasn’t, at least not right away. 😉 It faded away in a little over a week. Experiment over.

    Fast forward to March 2020 and I’m doing some bible devotions and come across this scripture.

    This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.

    Hebrews 6:19 New Living Translation

    For many reasons, now is an extra important time to have my hope anchored firmly in Jesus Christ so this scripture really hits home for me. Perhaps for you too during this Covid-19 pandemic. And, as the mind does, one thing leads to another and I remember a song.

    More that 20+ years ago some good friends introduced us to the singer Ray Boltz and his Concert of a Lifetime. In the concert he performs “The Anchor Holds”. The concert was back in the mid ’90s but still worth a watch.

    As a relatively new Christian at the time all the songs in the concert were quite impactful, especially “The Anchor Hold”

    Flash forward to the present day and now I’m thinking about getting some more Inkbox tattoos. On their web site I had previously “favourited” a couple that I thought would be potentially good to “try on”. Here are a few I’ve considered.

    Turns out the with all my thoughts around my anchor, Jesus, I’m test driving this one.


    I’m strongly thinking of making this one permanent when the world returns to whatever the new “normal” will be post-Covid-19 and tattoo parlours are once again open.

    I think it will be a great reminder for me that my hope, faith and trust is anchored in the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

  • Some way practical advise

    “You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands.”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:73‬ ‭NLT‬‬
    https://www.bible.com/116/psa.119.73.nlt

  • Rejoice

    Rejoice because of the Lord, even in the midst of the storm. It does not mean that we do not care about our problems, instead, we are strengthened to face them so that God can open the ways and lift us up.

    Psalm 37:4-5

  • Rejoice

    Rejoice because of the Lord, even in the midst of the storm. It does not mean that we do not care about our problems, instead, we are strengthened to face them so that God can open the ways and lift us up.

    Psalm 37:4-5

  • Rejoice

    Rejoice because of the Lord, even in the midst of the storm. It does not mean that we do not care about our problems, instead, we are strengthened to face them so that God can open the ways and lift us up.

    Psalm 37:4-5

  • Coffee and Kleenex

    Just one of those real life days. I seem I have a cold which started with the sore throat and then moved on to the runny nose phase. Couple that with an emotional God encounter during devotions and you get a big pile of Kleenex .

  • Coffee Mugs through the Years

    Over my working career I’ve had a lot of coffee mugs. some came and went, some hung around, some were collected. The collection ends up in a a box , stored away for who knows what. I still buy more and more coffee mugs from trips like to Maui, Frank Lloyd Wright, Route 66, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, all my current favourites.

    So, what to do with the excess? Well, it was give away time! But, before they got donated away, they had their photos taken for posterity. The above photo is mainly my work collection showing the Sperry, Unisys (after the Burroughs takeover of Sperry) and IBM in the e-business days and beyond as well as some software products I was involved with like Sperrylink (early office automation), Mapper & Linc (4GL languages), Lotus Notes & Domino (best software ever and one of the reasons I moved to IBM as they bought the Lotus Corporation ). Somewhere I have some Great-West Life (now part of the new Canada Life) coffee mugs but they didn’t make the photo shoot. Days gone by, all just a photo memory now.