luckycanuck | Entries tagged with luckycanuck is lucky

I'm doing Black Dog Pushups again tomorrow. This time it will be a target of 2,000 in two hours at lunch time in Garema Place, and there should be some pretty good exposure. I rejigged the media release and sent it to local TV, radio, and the Canberra Times, who are sending a journalist and a photographer to cover the story. I've also been hyping BDP on Twitter and today I was retweeted by two rugby league players, an ABC journo, a comedian, a judge on Australia's Next Top Model, and an Olympic swimmer, which means hundreds of thousands of people have been told about my project. After a good retweet, for an hour there was a surge in people following me. At times it was on the cusp of going viral.

I had a session with my psychologist yesterday and it was the first time there was more positive than negative talk. Plenty of talk about BDP. Excepting some frustration with Coffee Snob and work and one of the agencies, it was all good stuff. And to improve things further, while I was in session the frustrating agency rang and set things in motion to resolve my frustration over being knocked back from the DoHA job. Later, Coffee Snob dropped the Spartan Death Race advocacy, so I'm running out of things to complain about.

I was advised to think in terms of "and" rather than "but". Instead of saying, I have x, y, and z but I don't have a real job, I can say I have x, y, and z and I would also like a real job. I've also started thinking that I've been living with the gloom for a long time. Far longer than this year when I really started to notice it. I've long felt aimless and like I don't quite fit. It's only recently that this started to wear enough on me to make things break down. It could be that the gloom has been with me a long time and will remain with me for a long time, and it just needs to be managed. Much like the Asperger's perhaps.

( Gym, fire, possums, markets and more behind the cut. )

The project is going very well.

I set myself a high fundraising target and so far it is going quite well. I have raised close to $1000 without having done a single pushup. Most of it is from friends, but some donations have come in from total strangers who heard about me through others.

Barack Obama has just arrived in Canberra, and he will be around tomorrow so the Sunrise program will be doing at least some of their broadcast from Canberra rather than from the site of my pushup challenge. They may do the whole thing there which would mean the probability of getting on TV has dropped. That is a pain. I'm still doing it tomorrow. People are coming to support me, but I've thought about having another go tomorrow to get on TV.

I have been very impressed with the support that people have offered me. Plenty of friends have promised to come to visit me during the challenge and messages of support have been flooding in from all quarters. Even people who I thought might be cynical or who might find my endearing quirks to be annoying habits are being supportive.

This is good beyond helping me do pushups or helping me raise money. It is a reminder that there are a lot of people who care about me and are concerned about the state of my moods. My cousin and cousin in law who arrived in Sydney this morning were very supportive and were clear that there is nothing wrong with feeling gloom. They also mentioned a book by former All Black John Kirwan entitled All Blacks Don't Cry that details his problem as a big strong rugby guy who suffered from depression and couldn't talk to anyone about it without them saying "harden up."

Here are the contact details for Black Dog Pushups.

Twitter: @blackdogpushups (I am picking up new Twitter followers all the time, and I intend to live tweet during the challenge itself.)
E-Mail: blackdogpushups@gmail.com
Fundraising page: http://www.everydayhero.com.au/blackdogpushups

And here is the media release, perhaps the first media release in history that I've helped write that actually mentions me!

BLACK DOG PUSHUPS TO TACKLE DEPRESSION

A Canberra man who has been fighting a battle against depression is doing 3,000 pushups in three hours to raise funds for the Black Dog Institute and awareness of depression.

Luckycanuck will undertake his challenge from 6:00am to 9:00am on Thursday 17 November at the corner of Martin Place and Elizabeth Street in Sydney.

“I love pushups and I hate depression, so doing one to fight the other was a natural fit,” Luckycanuck said.

“All year I’ve been engaged in a running battle against depression. I've had good days and bad days, but one thing that always seemed to help me keep the black dog at bay was getting regular exercise.

“It was a self test from the Black Dog Institute that convinced me to seek further help earlier this year, so I wanted to do something to help them reach others struggling with depression.

“I know that exercise can have a very positive effect on people facing depression. Doing 3,000 pushups in three hours is how I choose to get exercise, but if you aren’t quite up to that, there are plenty of other ways to let exercise lift your mood.

Around one in five Australians will suffer from a mood disorder in their lifetime.

For some people it will be an isolated occurrence. However, the reality is that for many people, it will be an ongoing challenge throughout their lives that will also impact loved ones around them.

The Black Dog Institute is a not- for-profit organisation helping people with mood disorders and by undertaking this initiative/project we know we are helping those impacted to enjoy a normal life.

The Institute has an international reputation for its outstanding research while at the same time operates a clinic for people with mood disorders at its Randwick facility as well as extensive community programs and education and training for health professionals, including GP’s.

Donations can be made at http://www.everydayhero.com.au/blackdogpushups

To find out more about the Institute visit their website: www.blackdoginstitute.org.au

I may send this off to the newspapers along with photographs after the fact if there is not much media coverage of the event.

I am very optimistic about tomorrow. In 24 hours I expect I will be quite sore, quite tired, but also quite happy. It's good having a purpose again, even if it's just for a little while.

This afternoon Ginger Harpist (whom I picked up from the airport after her trip to France yesterday) said she was impressed at how proactive I was being.

It has certainly been one of those weeks.

I enrolled to get a qualification in personal training, I made a trip to Bunnings and bought the elements of homemade workout equipment. Some pvc pipe became a slosh pipe, which, when filled with water isn't heavy, but is extraordinarily tough to keep steady.
( Home gym pics )
Today I visited Bridgestone and they are delivering a tractor tire right to my backyard tomorrow. I have got plenty of things to do with all this. I also bought an interval timer this morning, for the first time ever making a purchase on eBay.

YW: 5 slosh pipe squat and press, slosh pipe walk around the backyard, 10 Bulgarian sandbag around the world, drag both tires and sandbag back and forth across the yard - 10 rounds - 21:31.

TW: Overhead slosh pipe walk 20m, 10 sandbag around the world, 20 sandbag weighted pushups, 10 sandbag flip up and squat, 20 walking lunges w sandbag - 5 rounds - 14:45. Also slosh pipe practice. Bicep curls, deadlifts, squats,100 shoulder presses.

My arms are buzzing. That is the best adjective I can think of. There is a lot of improving grip strength and a lot of work put on to the little stabilising muscles you never knew you had.

I made an appointment with the bank to talk about my banking needs now that I am setting up an ABN and doing some freelance work. Now I have to get an ABN and maybe register a business name or two. I've thought about one name for the political consulting and one for the training.

There was finally a response from the mental health policy job I interviewed for. Again, they didn't go with me, and again it was because they felt my experience was too political. That annoyed me. I have been perfectly professional in the past, and have on many occasions written briefs and speeches that I did not agree with. I told them so in both interviews, but they still thought I didn't have enough experience in an apolitical environment. There is not a single public service job in which that excuse could be applied, so I am annoyed at the thought that it may well be applied again. I'm going to speak to some other agencies and reconnect with others who already know me.

Aside from that, it has been a good week.

Oh yes, and here is the poster for the next Rugger Bugger show.
( GLADIATOR! )

It turns out I've got the whole house to myself this weekend. And it turns out that I am exploiting that.

Last night I happened by JB Hifi and picked up some DVDs as they had a sale on. My attempts at manification of our DVD collection in this case consisted of bringing home Godfather III (I've heard it's not that good but I've already got the first two), Inglorious Basterds, and Fight Club in addition to Office Space which is an appropriate film (in some ways) for me at the moment. Last night I was up late with the heat on in only one room watching films with the sound up and eating more than I should have.

Today I watched a bit more, and interspersed that with stepping out onto the back deck to play some back deck cricket on my own. Smashing a ball into an area where I knew I wouldn't lose it or break anything was very satifying. I made some good shots. Some square cuts, some flicks off the legs, and plenty of drives down the ground. Of course I never really got good at cricket, but this afternoon I got to imagine myself as Don Bradman.

I also watched Fight Club again, and it seems to be a good time to do so. Halfway through, it stirred me up sufficiently to make me want to put on a singlet and rugby shorts and run down to the gym in the cold of a Canberra winter. I found myself quoting lines from the show during the run, but I don't think anyone heard me saying "I'm a space monkey ready to be shot into space" or saw me hitting my head as I ran. A Fight Club style haircut is on the cards tonight.

My time at the gym was spent sampling out plenty of exercises to see how they made my neck feel. It's still a bit stiff and it does limit being able to do some things at higher weight or high reps, but even riskier things like kettlebell swings, full pullups from a dead hang, and half clean and press with a bar were fine (at least in small doses.) I've been really keen to get back to the gym. A few days off are always tough to take.

It's been a dehumanised day, but I'm in a good mood when it comes to people. On my run, fueled perhaps by endorphins at last, I decided while looking around that this is a good day to be alive, and I enjoyed talking harmlessly to the eye candy at the gym.

Last year when I was out with my fellow Australians to observe the American elections, we went out on the Saturday before Halloween and in the process I met MCat who was dressed up as Lady Gaga. We spoke for a little while and became Facebook friends.

For the past few days, I stayed with MCat and her cats (who reluctantly got used to me.)

I suppose in theory it's an odd thing to do for both of us. She opened her home to a guy from overseas (and had to reassure skeptical friends that she would be ok) and it was a long way for me to go, though given that I was in America anyway, Orlando isn't all that hard to get to.

We had gotten to know each other pretty well though, in fact better than most people I interact with on a daily basis. She knew about my frailties and quirks and accepted them all. For both of us it just felt right.

So when my bags were delayed (again) coming in from Washington, I didn't mind much even though it meant waiting around the airport a bit because my bags came in on the next flight right at the same time as MCat finished her class and came by to pick me up.

On Thursday little aside from resting was done. I've been fighting a cold since last week (probably punishment for lack of sleep in New York) and medicated myself to a point where I felt much more human. (Though I think I passed some of my symptoms on to MCat.)

On Friday she hauled me across the state to her native Tampa (which is, I was assured, much better than Orlando) and we went to Sand Key so that I could swim in another body of water, this time the extraordinarily warm Gulf of Mexico and do pushups on the shore. An onlooker asked if we were visiting on our honeymoon, and we said no, but for some reason I was inspired to spin a bit of a tale. I told the guy I was a rugby player when he asked what I did. Now technically that's true. I am a rugby player. I never said I played rugby for a living, I just let him conclude that. He said he was going to look out for me when he watched ESPN. I told him I played for the Sydney Convicts, and I'm pretty sure he forgot the name of the team by the time he left.

People in the south are really very friendly.

On Saturday we went to the other coast and visited Kennedy Space Centre, which was expensive, but worth it. A space shuttle was on the platform in preparation for launch and we got a pretty good view. We also met with an active space shuttle astronaut and, of course, I did pushups with her. I'm not a full on science nerd, but I do have some tendencies in that area and the opportunity to get that close to space was too good to pass up. The whole production was quite impressive and was aimed at promoting the idea of space travel amongst people who might lobby their Senators and Congressmen to increase NASA's funding. I know there are a lot of demands on taxpayer funds and the US Government is going deeper and deeper in debt everyda, and I couldn't actually explain in simple terms what NASA is doing with all those expensive missions, but it was hard to come away from the place without wanting to send a man to Mars.

This morning MCat took me to the airport and saw me off. (I made it through security in time to catch most of Easter Sunday Mass.) Now is an odd part of the holiday. I am currently in LAX on an 11 hour stopover (luckily I have a guest pass to the Qantas Club which was accepted which is good because as much as I like adventure, I think I've had enough of it for now and I would rather have some quiet time.)

The problem with quiet time is that sometimes it gives me time to stew, and stewing at the moment would likely be on the subject of feeling alone now that I am leaving all my American friends behind.

But you know, this has been a pretty good trip and I have had some very good friends to share it with. From starting my holiday visiting JAQ in San Francisco to visiting my family, to getting in touch with some old friends in Ottawa and Washington, to getting in touch with newer friends in New York, to meeting blog friends in Baltimore, to ending my trip with MCat, I have been fairly well surrounded by people who know me and care what happens to me.

There were a few lonely and teary moments on the flight in to LA, but they are behind me now.

I am, indeed, a Luckycanuck.

Alleluia and I applied for two places yesterday, both in the same suburb a bit further away from work than we are now.

Alleluia and Helga had applied for some three bedroom places that wouldn't include me as a fallback measure, and their prospects were looking good. Of course, ours looked good too, given that we turned up straight from work and probably looked more dependable than the car full of what looked like stoners who also came. Additionally, one place was being managed by the agency we are currently renitng from.

Alleluia and Helga were going to have to say yes to one of their places unless we got a a quick and positive response from one of these.

This afternoon we were offered both. It's not yet clear which one we will go with. Carpet and closer to the shops and or a bit more for more space and further from the shops and wood floors that will be louder and colder in winter. We are consulting with Helga and Roxy about their preferences, but either way it looks as though we will be staying together.

I realised last night after we put our applications in that it was entirely out of my hands. If we heard back in time we would stay together, and if not we would be finding different places. It was kind of liberating, and I was quite calm.

It's still a temporary place to live, but at least I will be able to leave on my own terms.

Hooray!

One thing that happens when you meet old friends whom you've not seen in a long time is that they make observations about you that can surprise you.

Observations made in the last day...

( Read more... )

I have been wondering if this trip could be a watershed moment for me.

On my last day in New York, I found myself wondering if I have been living too conservatively. Have I not been taking enough risks. I've been going to a steady job, getting a steady pay packet, and more or less living a pretty steady life. Things haven't been dull, but at age 22 I picked up and moved to Korea. At age 25 I picked up and moved to London. At age 27 I picked up and moved to Australia. Now I'm 33, and I wonder if I'm getting itchy feet again.

Ok, I'm not. I don't really want to move again. Though I did consider picking up and moving to America over the past couple of weeks on more than one occasion, I am not keen on throwing away what I have built up, both on a personal level and a professional level in Oz. Not even for New York. I would need an extraordinarily compelling reason, so until a stunningly attractive and independently wealthy New York girl gets all smitten by my whimsical desire to do pushups in public...

I guess I'll stay in Australia.* It's the lucky country, and I'm a luckycanuck.

But I can still live more deliberatly. I can be less passive. And maybe I can get back to travelling. I'm in a position where I can do it, and I don't know how long that will be the case. I'm 33 now. In seven years time I will never be able to visit anywhere in my 30s again.

Also, I've found myself feeling a bit lonely today. I get on very well with a number of people, but most of the people who I feel really understand me and what is going on in my life are far away. I love my family, but I wonder if I am growing, not apart, but independent from them.

I'm still shaking off the post travel fatigue. This part of the holiday is the holiday from my holiday.

*But if you know any stunningly attractive and independently wealthy New York girls who get all smitten by guys who like doing whimsical pushups in public, you let me know.

I got a call from NRMA this morning. There will be no second interview. It's a little disappointing (it's been nice to know I can get to the first interview stage and it would have been nice to know I could get to the second interview stage also) but it's not a problem. I am still confident there is work out there in the event that I feel like a change after the election when there is likely to be some flux. Also, there will be an election in March which will almost certainly result in the odious NSW Labor Government being turfed out after 16 years, and that would shake things up further.

There was good news though. The overall market may have droppped but two of my stocks that have been dropping recovered (and may have a clearer run ahead.) Even better, a mining service company (AEC) is apparently going to be the target of a takeover offer. It jumped by nearly 30%, so I sold a stock I was thinking of unloading anyway. I just sold it for a lot more, and instead of waiting around for the cash and risking the chance that the deal would be withdrawn or voted down or somehow rejected, I got nearly the full amount immediately. Lucky day.

After work I ran to the gym and had a core centric day.

TW: HIIT with a total of 140 lateral jumps and 100 dynamic pushups to warm up. Then 20 sit ups, 1 minute plank, 20 leg raises - 5 rounds. Then 100 twists left and 100 twists right. Then 100 side dips left and 100 side dips right. Then run home, for a total of about 9km.

Bulletproof! This seems to be a recent trend.

One more thing, I hope I get selected for this so I can tell the Bureau of Statistics that my personal health choices are none of their bloody business.

It's gone from being a good day to being a good week.

The market has recovered, almost to the point where I was two weeks ago. And the attention being paid to the class action lawsuit against the banks is focussing a lot of attention on IMF, whose stock price is up again.

I had a briefing on some legislation and then wrote a shadow cabinet brief on a Bill relating to airport parking. Not especially exciting (though I think a lot of people will take the opportunity to have a free populist kick at the price of airport parking. Quite recently Sydney apparently had the most expensive airport parking anywhere in the world.) It was approved with only minimal changes. So on an issue I knew nothing about that involved legal points about which I have no training, I pulled together a brief in one day.

Everyone who works in Parliament got a pay rise today, and I got more of a pay rise (in percentage terms) than most.

Around 5pm, I got a call from the NRMA. It was about the job I applied for on Monday. They wanted to have a bit of a chat about the work I do now and about the position they have vacant. Then they offered me a phone interview next Tuesday. It would be more money than my new wage (they thought it would be less) and a move back to Sydney which is fine, but it would also mean leaving my current position just a few months before an election. We could win which would mean I would be working for the Deputy Prime Minister, but even if we lose it puts them in an awkward position and can compromise my prospects for coming back. If nothing else, I do have a sense of loyalty and I don't want to leave them in the lurch. Generally there are a lot more moves after an election rather than before, and for good reason.

But that is putting the cart before the horse. I've not yet had a first interview let alone been offered a position, so I will face those questions when the time comes. In the meantime, it is a huge boost for me. I feel as though I am being sought after, and I feel that I have real value in the job market, which is something I had forgotten in recent months. In just a short time after starting to look, I am getting results. So even if I don't wind up with this job, I am far more confident that I can find another than I was even a few hours ago.

I think next week I will hit the gym hard. I am feeling bulletproof.