Probably gonna do bits and pieces since some things are still a mess. Also, punch list is still ongoing.

Got some beds yesterday. Guest room is in pretty decent shape as is the master. I still haven't figure out how to get good pictures.

I need to take a spending break so the rest of the house is pretty meh.

Guest



Master

So the electrician came to install those fancy breakers that the inspector tagged him for and now none of the lights in the guest room or guest bathroom work. Both breakers trip if I turn on anything.

Perfect timing since I have guests flying in Tuesday.

I've bitched and moaned about my job so I figure I probably needed to post this as well.

The actual job seems sort of meaningless. I spend 95% of my day dealing with administrative nonsense. But I've come to terms with this.

On the other side, my new manager is awesome. It's night and day. My previous manager was just incompetent. There was a constant war between her and the tech lead. The new one lets the tech lead run the show for my group. Night and day.

The commute sucks but it's only 4 days a week. And, I'm able to sneak out a little early most days.

Huge turnaround. As far as jobs go, this one ain't too bad.

Got my Discover card statement

Put up my vertical blinds - 4 of them. Took me a while to do the first one but once I figured it out, the rest went pretty fast. Super happy with them. Finally have some privacy.

My sister and my niece flew out to visit and help me decorate.

We bought a bunch of sheets, blankets, and towels for the guest bedroom. You'll see their taste is a bit more colorful than mine but I like it.

We hung a bunch of my Dad's paintings as well. It really feels like a home now.

In between we did some fishing, which really means I put bait on their hooks, casted the line, and took the fish off the hooks. But it was fun.

It was good to see them.

New and improved guest bedroom



A couple of my Dad's paintings. I'll probably take pics of all of them and post here when I have time.

Awesome!

I haven't been keeping up. Are you still in Tampa & at the same company? just moved farther away?

Sort of forgotten about this since nobody has been out here for 2 weeks. They still need to finish up the punch list. I'm not too upset about this since I still owe them a decent chunk of change and the longer I wait to pay them, the better.

Thanks!

Yeah, still at the same company. It's about a 50 minute drive in but I've been taking a little longer route to avoid the big bridge. It's longer but a lot more stress free.

About ten minutes after making that last post, Keith called. He brought the remaining drawer/cabinet covers. This would have finished things up but he didn't have screws to attach them. He'll deliver that Friday. They also arranged for the inspectors that day.

I had a chance to talk to Keith for a while. He said he was completely wiped out by the recession that hit here a few years back. He and his wife both lost their jobs and they also lost their home. It's funny but he said it was the best thing that ever happened to them. They are now debt free and are doing better now than before it happened.

I've been struggling with some depression lately. But this internal dialogue I have is just crazy. I feel bad (about something in particular) and I keep telling myself it's completely irrational to feel bad about whatever it is I feel bad about. And, it is irrational. But I can't make it disappear and it doesn't make me feel any better. dafuq?

I notice that several posters here that get depressed seem to have this brain hamster always running in their wheelhouse.

Do happy people simply lack this internal dialogue?

Happy people do have less internal dialog. I often feel bad on irrational basis. There are some strats that do help some to stop or at least slow down this hamster. I mean no guarantee ^^
- Sometimes it helps to speak through the situation with other people. At least for me if others confirm that it is irrational to feel bad, it brings this point somehow better into my brain. It tends to believe other people more than me.
- Sport, but I am pretty sure that you implement that one already.
- Focus on something different. That one is easier said than done. ^^ I find that for me yoga or anything that keeps my fine motoric skills busy helps. There was time in my life, when I was going to a shooting range. In germany it is a lot more difficult than in USA, but possible. It helped a lot. I mean you have to focus completely on a gun if you want to be more or less good. I have heard that for guys fishing helps a lot.

Wish you to feel good.

What?

I mean this ruminating discussion in my head. This anxiety... this: " Why I didn't say/done XYZ. And he certainly hates me now..... That will never end well. I am such a looser". This irrational almost always negative thoughts.

Happy people lack an internal dialogue filled with constant negative thoughts about themselves, the world/other people and the future. Formerly unhappy people have modified their internal dialogue to eliminate some or most of the above.

It very well is a subconscious issue. Our subconscious runs most of what we do afaik. So happy people run less problematic subconscious software.

The first step to changing your subconscious algorithms is to notice when they're running and tell yourself to reject them. But you have to replace them. One good way to do this is to reframe the negative algorithm. E.g. "I'm worthless because I don't have friends" to "I find new friends when moving to a new place."

So, you want to start forcing yourself to think that instead when you think the old thing. And your subconscious will then just start offering up that thought instead after a while.

This is a great post.

Some people frame this as simply "just think happy thoughts" but to someone that struggles with this, that seems so dismissive.

My therapist has told me similar things and at first I completely rejected her suggestions but it started to make more sense as I thought about it.

But you framed it in a way that makes a lot more sense (to me anyway).

I have learned that this is really hard for some (like me) and a lot of work. It sort of goes in waves. You really feel like you get a handle on it and then something triggers you and you lose your grasp.

Thanks

On a more building boondoggle note..........................

There were 2 remaining final inspections. Plumbing because a valve handle was missing, and electric because of some newfangled breakers.

The plumbing inspector didn't even show up. He just "approved" it electronically. LOL. The electric inspector spent about 2 seconds looking at my panel and rubber stamped it.

Keith came by and finished up the drawers.

I wrote the final check.

The remodel is officially complete. Woot!

Yes, it can be alot of work. That's why most people "never change". They are unable to alter their subconscious software. I tried to explain it in programming terms although I've come across this concept from a bunch of places.

Another way to try and help strengthen the new algorithm is to link it to emotional feelings. For example, when you think the thought you want, also picture and think of a time that reinforces it, like when you went to a new place and hit it off with a cool person/friend. That will help solidify it as congruent your mind and for your subconscious. But it still usually doesn't happen overnight. And it very much, for me at least, goes in waves. I have to feel pretty motivated and stuck to really go after changing stuff like this. But just knowing I can is very freeing

I worked on my script quite a bit this weekend. It's the first time I've had time to work on it in a while. I got a lot done but this last bit has been really challenging. I'm so close but the finishing touches seem to be taking forever. I really want to get this done.

So, I moved down here to be by the ocean so I could fish. So, I guess I'll write about fishing.

My porch backs up to a seawall. A major boat lane runs right along the seawall in this area. The current really rips through here when it is moving. There is a lot of sea life and I seem to see something new almost every day. There are a bunch of sea birds around all the time. Mostly pelicans but a lot of these as well.



Before I did anything, I had to get some saltwater gear. I've been a bass fisherman for a long time, and you can use bass gear but you really need saltwater tackle if you are going to fish regularly. So, I trucked over to the tackle shop, knowing absolutely nothing, to get some gear. I told the guy I wanted something for normal bay fishing (trout, etc.) and something for big fish like sharks. He sort of snickered when I said that and said "well, how big". I told him, I dunno, big? More on this later.

So, he sold me these two combos. He spooled both with braided line, something I've never used. The smaller one has 30 lb. line and the bigger has 75 lb. line. He taught me some knots and sent me on my way.



I've tried to catch the normal gamefish here - trout and redfish, with not much luck. In fact, I haven't caught either one from my property. I believe they stay in the shallower water but it might just be the time of year. There are a ton of little fish around the rocks that are up against the seawall. Grunts, pinfish, boxfish, puffer fish, snapper, catfish and more. I've caught a few nice flounder too.

I met my upstairs neighbor and we bonded immediately. He's a hardcore fisherman AND he has a boat so this is awesome. He told me that there are a lot of big sharks in the bay so I decided to try to catch one of them.

While I was talking to him, a big stingray swam by. I estimate about 2 1/2 ft. across. He caught a little fish and told me to go get my big rig and see if we could catch that stringray. Well, I did!



Hard to tell size here but, yeah.



The next night I decided to try to catch a shark. I caught a little fish, cut the tail, hooked it and tossed it out.

Just to get an idea of the tackle I'm using, here's the hook on a steel leader.



I almost immediately caught a small shark. Probably about 2 to 2 1/2 ft. long. Bad pic but more on this later.



About 30 minutes later, I got another hit and it was ON! Fought it for about 30 minutes and it finally appeared. I just went "oh crap, what do I do now". It was about 6 ft. long. I got it as close as I could but I couldn't manage it and get a camera at the same time. So, I cut the line and let it go.

Since then, we've been after even bigger sharks. My neighbor hooked one that wrapped around a channel marker about 50 yd.s away and broke his 80 lb. line. Then another one spooled his 50lb. line setup.

Last night I hooked a big one that I couldn't slow down. I finally cranked the drag down pretty hard after he took about 100 yds. of line out and my knot failed

My plan is to get a gopro to start documenting this.

Fished last night a bit. A thunderstorm hit right when this guy got on (my neighbor's) the line. The lightning was pretty bad so we scurried for cover and waited for the storm to subside. About 30 minutes later, we checked and he was still on. 5 1/2 ft bull shark.



We all checked our bait and mine was pretty wrecked from crabs so I got a fresh mullet head and tossed it out. Within minutes a huge tarpon hit it. Jumped 3 times and was off.

I need to figure out how to get better pics in the dark.

Got my gopro. I actually got it a few days ago but the first instruction was to insert a sd card that it obviously didn't come with. So, after ordering that I decided to figure out how to use it since that sort of instruction didn't come with it either.

My first video.

I'm thinking about going into video production.