Yesterday was a good day. I accomplished a lot of work stuff that I needed to get done, followed up with Apple, connected with friends, and got in a good workout. I’m really starting to get organized about my life. It’s been just over a month since my CP and things are starting to gel. I have work, though unpaid at the moment. I have meetings. I’m working out. My schedule is beginning to settle into something less nebulous and more concrete. It’s a good feeling.
Last evening I realized I hadn’t sent my follow up/thank you email to Nick at Apple for the interview, so I made an entry in my calendar to do it first thing this morning. But as I thought about it, I realized that I didn’t want to wait – I wanted the thank you email to arrive the day after my interview, not two days after. So I sat down at 10pm and wrote out a thank you note, expressing my appreciation for the opportunity and excitement about moving forward in the process. I sent it out at 10:30pm and felt great about having made another step forward. Every day since Friday, I’ve done something to move the process with Apple ahead, and it feels great to be taking positive actions, keeping that momentum going as best I can.
Today got off to a fantastic start. I had a call with my good friend Fred, who has been working for Apple for 13 years now. We caught up on what’s been going on, I filled him in on my story, and we had a really enthusiastic reconnection. Fred and I were motorcycle buddies back in the late 80s; we used to go for rides up Angeles Crest outside of L.A. every Sunday. He’s going to put in a direct referral to the Apple Retail Store Leader that I hope to have my next interview with. He credited me with getting him into his job with Apple – I was the guy that got him hooked on Apple computers 25 years ago – and he is going to do everything he can to support me. He was so encouraging, totally positive, and it was a joy to catch up with him.
The rest of the day is pretty filled with meetings and doctor’s appointments, and group tonight if it’s not cancelled again due to the snow. A new development on the group situation – since I’m not getting much out of the recovery maintenance group I currently go to, the team and I are investigating alternatives. I’ve been checking Meetup for more business/networking/technology/creative groups that I can go to instead. I’ll get more out of them, possibly advance my career, and learn and network along the way. We just need to find a couple good ones, get them approved, and I should be set to start going to them instead.
I also hit the gym last night for the first time in maybe a week. It was good to get back in there and hit the iron. I lifted chest and back, did some abs, and soaked for 10 minutes after. My diet is coming into form too – I’ve transitioned from eating lots to drinking lots of protein shakes, and I’m feeling better and healthier because of it. The shakes give me the protein I need and don’t fill me up or make me feel bloated. They’re pretty low calorie and have very little sugar, so I can grab one whenever I feel the need to fill my stomach. The dietary changes had good effect – I’ve already lost the seven pounds I put on last week, and I can feel my body start to tighten up. I’ll hit the gym to do legs tonight, after group if necessary, and keep the workout momentum going too. I need to get a workout journal so I can start tracking sets and reps, that’s on my list of things to do now. I used to post my workouts to fitbob.com, but decided that I didn’t need to maintain a separate blog for that, so I’m considering posting them here now. I still have the database of recipes from there I’ll transfer over here eventually too.
