#so many accountants are on leave next week or WFH or

[fazcinatingblog]

It's not like I can be like "look, this has been fun and all, but let's call it quits because I think Tony likes me back" right???? I'm not doing that

[oriandre]

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023~

Hi, guys~ I’m back again after so long. Can’t remember when was the last time I logged into my account. Just wanna share some thoughts on what happened back in 2022. Well, I think it was a rollercoaster ride, there were both happy and unhappy moments. Things could’ve been better back then but too bad we can’t change the past and life still have to go on.

Tried to use a dating app after stopped using Tinder lol thanks to a close friend for recommending it. And when some countries slowly started to open their borders and allow tourists to visit, I managed to travel overseas again after a while. Thanks to this, I finally got to meet people whom I know online and plus more they’re foreigners (since the last time I met were mostly just local people in my home country). It was an interesting experience and of course felt shy at first since I’m quite different between online and offline lol. But none of those friendships progressed further into relationships HAHAHA. Had a good feeling towards one of them but he went MIA in which idk why we suddenly stopped talking (can only know how’s his life via IG story now). There were also only stopped till talking stage since I felt they’re too young for me or I wasn’t interested in them, a bit of drama also happened during the process lol. So, heading on, after leaving my previous workplace, tried to look for jobs in my hometown but it was quite difficult since there were not a lot of vacancies to apply to. In the end, I decided to apply for a remote internship from home and at the same time tried to WFH for few weeks but then I felt WFH didn’t suit me well and I changed my mind to work on-site in other city instead. Finally, my parents allowed me to fly to another city and met new people in my new workplace too. Actually, I stopped using the dating app since I became tired talking to new people all over again, but I was bored in the new city so started using it again and got to know new people from the app. Well, met someone who was interested in me, and I could tell that he was serious. So been talking to him for almost 5 months but too bad in the end it didn’t work out at all. Had too many expectations as I thought we gonna be in a relationship in the new year lol. But ofc I didn't talk to just one guy HAHAHA, met another person in the same app and I honestly didn’t expect that we’d still be talking to each other till now. Even though I can tell that he’s not interested in me lol and we’re just like good friends, I guess. Unless if he changed his mind after meeting me in person (soon hahaha). So yeah, there were heartbreaks, disappointments when it comes to this aspect (I’d say was in situationships for several times last year lol) and mostly only stopped till talking stage, but I guess I didn’t regret knowing those people and was a new experience to me as well. Not sure if this year gonna be my year to finally getting a boyfie? or just stay the same as previous years hahaha we’ll see

And working in the new workplace has taught me many things, well there were dramas at work but phew managed to go through it and things became slightly better. Got to know new people here even though the number of staff working here were surprisingly very few. New people were hired but there were also who left. Not really regret choosing to fly and come over to such isolated place, but this company really got a lot of things to improve honestly. Not really a good company for career progression, I guess. Unfortunately (for the company hahaha), I have to stop my journey here and continue to the next one after working for 6 months (supposed to leave around 3 or 4 Jan since my contract has ended on 1st Jan) but was asked to extend till 13 Jan lol. Gonna fly back to my hometown and start to work in a new place in Feb. New challenges await and I hope I can do well there and probably no more moving to another workplace in the meantime (aka stable permanent job). Ok that’s it for now hehe

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

OED Word of the Year expanded for ‘unprecedented’ 2020 (BBC) This year has seen so many seismic events that Oxford Dictionaries has expanded its word of the year to encompass several “Words of an Unprecedented Year”. Its words are chosen to reflect 2020’s “ethos, mood, or preoccupations”. They include bushfires, Covid-19, WFH, lockdown, circuit-breaker, support bubbles, keyworkers, furlough, Black Lives Matter and moonshot. Use of the word pandemic has increased by more than 57,000% this year. Casper Grathwohl, the president of Oxford Dictionaries, said: “I’ve never witnessed a year in language like the one we’ve just had. The Oxford team was identifying hundreds of significant new words and usages as the year unfolded, dozens of which would have been a slam dunk for Word of the Year at any other time. “It’s both unprecedented and a little ironic—in a year that left us speechless, 2020 has been filled with new words unlike any other.”

Jury duty? No thanks, say many, forcing trials to be delayed (AP) Jury duty notices have set Nicholas Philbrook’s home on edge with worries about him contracting the coronavirus and passing it on to his father-in-law, a cancer survivor with diabetes in his mid-70s who is at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19. People across the country have similar concerns amid resurgences of the coronavirus, a fact that has derailed plans to resume jury trials in many courthouses for the first time since the pandemic started. Within the past month, courts in Hartford, Connecticut, San Diego and Norfolk, Virginia, have had to delay jury selection for trials because too few people responded to jury duty summonses. The non-response rates are much higher now than they were before the pandemic, court officials say. Judges in New York City, Indiana, Colorado and Missouri declared mistrials recently because people connected to the trials either tested positive for the virus or had symptoms. “What the real question boils down to are people willing to show up to that court and sit in a jury trial? said Bill Raftery, a senior analyst with the National Center for State Courts. “Many courts have been responsive to jurors who have said that they’re not comfortable with coming to court and doing jury duty and therefore offering deferrals simply because of concerns over COVID.”

The next few months could be rough for the U.S. economy (NYT) The next few months have the potential to be very unpleasant for the American economy. Many states are reimposing coronavirus restrictions, which will likely lead to new reductions in consumer spending and worker layoffs. As Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman, recently said, “We’ve got new cases at a record level, we’ve seen a number of states begin to reimpose limited activity restrictions, and people may lose confidence that it is safe to go out.” Adding to the economic risks, several of the government’s biggest virus rescue programs are scheduled to expire next month. It isn’t clear whether Congress will renew them, because congressional Democrats and Republicans disagree on how to do so. A lack of government support, Powell has said, may lead to “tragic” results with “unnecessary hardship.” The longer-term picture is more encouraging, though. There is reason to hope that the next economic recovery, whenever it comes, will be stronger than the frustratingly weak recovery after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. “It’s a good guess that we’ll get this pandemic under control at some point next year,” writes Paul Krugman, the Times columnist (and Nobel Prize-winning economist). “It’s also a good bet that when we do, the economy will come roaring back.”

Student loan repayments (WSJ) The U.S. government stands to lose more than $400 billion from the federal student loan program, an internal analysis shows, approaching the size of losses incurred by banks during the subprime-mortgage crisis. The Education Department, with the help of two private consultants, looked at $1.37 trillion in student loans held by the government at the start of the year. Their conclusion: Borrowers will pay back $935 billion in principal and interest. That would leave taxpayers on the hook for $435 billion, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The analysis was based on government accounting standards and didn’t include roughly $150 billion in loans originated by private lenders and backed by the government.

Brazil’s local elections (Worldcrunch) Brazilian local elections can be fun to watch. Candidates come from every walk of life, and are notably allowed to use nicknames on the campaign trail—and there have been some true gems over the years: a loud man with thick sideburns and bushy hair campaigned as “Geraldo Wolverine”; an elderly man in army uniform and full beard was “Bin Laden for Governor”; and we’ve also seen a tropical, chubby Spiderman, an old Robin, and Jesuses in various shapes and sizes. Earlier this month, as Brazilians headed to the polls to elect local leaders in the country’s major states and cities—including Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro—there were exactly 78 candidates who chose to run as some form of “Bolsonaro,” and even one as “Donald Trump Bolsonaro.” Results are in and 77 of them failed to get elected, including the president’s ex-wife, who campaigned as Rogéria Bolsonaro. The Brazilian leader personally chimed in on his social media accounts to endorse the 59 candidates (with and without familiar nicknames) he favored—only nine of whom got elected, according to Estadão de S. Paulo daily. Centrist and moderate parties made gains in the local contests, which also came at the expense of the other massive political force in the country, the leftist Workers’ Party.

Reporter Gatecrashes EU Defence Chiefs’ Video Call After Login Details Posted on Twitter (Vice) A Dutch journalist managed to join a video call for EU defence ministers, much to his and everybody else’s surprise. Video posted on Twitter shows Daniël Verlaan, a technology reporter for broadcaster RTL Nieuws, in disbelief as he realises he’s actually managed to jump on the call. RTL said that Verlaan was only able to do so because of information tweeted by Dutch defence minister Ank Bijleveld, including a photo (since deleted) showing five digits of a six-digit PIN needed to join the call. Defence ministers representing EU members and foreign policy chief Josep Borrell were on the call. When Verlaan joins, Borrell asks, “Who are you?” After exchanging pleasantries, and as laughter is heard in the background, Borrell asks the reporter if he knew he was “jumping into a secret conference.” “Yes, I’m sorry, I’m a journalist from the Netherlands,” Verlaan says. “I’m sorry for interrupting your conference, I’ll be leaving here.” A spokesperson for the Dutch ministry of defence told RTL a staff member had accidentally tweeted the picture containing information that allowed Verlaan to join the call. “This shows once again that ministers need to realise how careful you have to be with Twitter,” said Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

France’s Dragnet for Extremists Sweeps Up Some Schoolchildren, Too (NYT) Armed with assault rifles and wearing balaclavas, dozens of police officers raided four apartments recently in a sprawling complex in Albertville, a city in the French Alps. They confiscated computers and cellphones, searched under mattresses and inside drawers, and took photos of books and wall ornaments with Quranic verses. Before the stunned families, the officers escorted away four suspects for “defending terrorism.” “That’s impossible,” Aysegul Polat recalled telling an officer who left with her son. “This child is 10 years old.” Her son—along with two other boys and one girl, all 10 years old—was accused of defending terrorism in a classroom discussion on the freedom of expression at a local public school. Officers held the children in custody for about 10 hours at police stations while interrogating their parents about the families’ religious practices and the recent republication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the magazine Charlie Hebdo. The fifth-grade classmates are among at least 14 children and teenagers investigated by the police in recent weeks on accusations of making inappropriate comments during a commemoration for a teacher who was beheaded last month after showing the cartoons in a class on freedom of expression. As France grapples with a wave of Islamist attacks following the republication of the Charlie Hebdo caricatures, the case in Albertville and similar ones elsewhere have again raised questions about the nature of the government’s response.

France’s Sarkozy goes on trial for corruption (Reuters) Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy goes on trial on Monday accused of trying to bribe a judge and of influence-peddling, one of several criminal investigations that threaten to cast an ignominious pall over his decades-long political career. Prosecutors allege Sarkozy offered to secure a plum job in Monaco for judge Gilbert Azibert in return for confidential information about an inquiry into claims that Sarkozy had accepted illegal payments from L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt for his 2007 presidential campaign. Sarkozy, who led France from 2007-2012 and has remained influential among conservatives, has denied any wrongdoing in all the investigations against him and fought vigorously to have the cases dismissed. Next March, Sarkozy is due in court on accusations of violating campaign financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid. Next March, Sarkozy is due in court on accusations of violating campaign financing rules during his failed 2012 re-election bid.

Merkel, Germany’s ‘eternal’ chancellor, marks 15 years in power (AFP) In power so long she has been dubbed Germany’s “eternal chancellor”, Angela Merkel marks 15 years at the helm of Europe’s top economic power Sunday with her popularity and public trust scaling new heights as her remaining time in office ticks down. With the coronavirus raging around the world, the pandemic has played to her strengths as a crisis manager with a head for science-based solutions. Merkel, 66, has said she will step down as chancellor when her current mandate runs out in 2021, and leave politics altogether. Assuming she finishes out her fourth term, she will tie Helmut Kohl’s longevity record for a post-war leader, with an entire generation of young Germans never knowing another person at the top. The brainy, pragmatic and unflappable Merkel has served for many in recent years as a welcome counter-balance to the big, brash men of global politics, from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin, as liberals have looked to her as the “leader of the free world”. A Pew Research Center poll last month showed large majorities in most Western countries having “confidence in Merkel to do the right thing regarding world affairs”.

China tests millions after coronavirus flare-ups in 3 cities (AP) Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. As temperatures drop, large-scale measures are being enacted in the cities of Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, despite the low number of new cases compared to the United States and other countries that are seeing new waves of infections. On Monday, the National Health Commission reported two new locally transmitted cases in Shanghai over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to seven since Friday. China has recorded 86,442 total cases and 4,634 deaths since the virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

Singapore, a City of Skyscrapers and Little Land, Turns to Farming (WSJ) In this skyscraper-studded nation of nearly six million people, all the farmland combined adds up to about 500 acres—an area roughly the size of a single American farm. That explains why more than 90% of the city-state’s food comes from abroad, a feat of globalization that plays out every day as beef is brought from New Zealand, eggs from Poland and vegetables trucked in from Malaysia. But recent developments—from Covid-19-related border closures to international trade fights—have shown that near-total dependence on the outside world may not be the best strategy in a shifting global environment. The Asian financial hub long focused on growing investment is turning to growing food. It can’t be done the traditional way, however. Land is so scarce in Singapore that the government continually reclaims territory from the sea to build new urban infrastructure. Instead, businesses are trying to reinvent agriculture. Industrial buildings are being converted into vertical farms with climate-controlled grow rooms. Rows of lettuce and kale are nourished not by soil, but via automated drips of nutrient-infused water. LED lights substitute for the sun. The government’s goal is to have 30% of the island’s nutritional requirements produced in Singapore by 2030, up from less than 10% today. Earlier this year, it shipped 400,000 seed packets to households to encourage home cultivation of leafy greens, cucumbers and tomatoes. In September, it announced about $40 million in grants to expand high-tech farms.

Reports: Israeli PM flew to Saudi Arabia, met crown prince (AP) Israeli media reported Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia for a clandestine meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which would mark the first known encounter between senior Israeli and Saudi officials. Hebrew-language media cited an unnamed Israeli official as saying that Netanyahu and Yossi Cohen, head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, flew to the Saudi city of Neom on Sunday, where they met with the crown prince. The prince was there for talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. A Gulfstream IV private jet took off just after 1740 GMT from Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, according to data from website FlightRadar24.com. The flight traveled south along the eastern edge of the Sinai Peninsula before turning toward Neom and landing just after 1830 GMT, according to the data. The flight took off from Neom around 2150 GMT and followed the same route back to Tel Aviv. While Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have reached deals under the Trump administration to normalize ties with Israel, Saudi Arabia so far has remained out of reach.

Cyclone Gati hits Somalia as country’s strongest storm on record (Washington Post) Tropical Cyclone Gati struck the arid nation of Somalia on Sunday as the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds, making it the strongest storm on record to hit the country. The cyclone made landfall after undergoing an extraordinary period of rapid intensification, which may have set a record for the entire Indian Ocean basin, at one point attaining the strength equivalent to a Category 3 storm, with 115 mph maximum sustained winds. Its landfall was farther south than any major hurricane-equivalent cyclone on record in that part of the world as well. Landfall occurred near Xaafuun, a small community about 900 miles northeast of Mogadishu, where the land juts east near the northern tip of the country. Hordio and Ashira, both desert communities, were also directly affected by the core of the storm. A broad four to eight inches of rainfall accompanied the system through northern Somalia, the driest part of the country, drenching desert regions with a year or two’s worth of rainfall in just a matter of hours to a couple of days. Rains also swept through the Gulf of Aden and brushed up against Yemen.

[reminiscences]

another attempt at blogging

i started this tumblr a couple years ago at the same time kate did. i can’t remember why—i’m sure tumblr was in the news again for some reason. i guess it was before the great porn purge. i was talking about blogging again this week with my friend daniel, and i woke up this morning and he had sent me a blog he wrote on a new tumblr account early in the morning, so to continue my regression to the early 2010s, i too have rebooted tumblr, given it an era-appropriate name, and decided to give it another go.

the problem with having a newsletter is that i don’t think anyone wants to hear from me in their inbox daily, so i’ve become very precious about the things i write there. it feels like it has to really matter. i like blogs because they’re disposable and can be dumb and not your best writing. how many two-graf tumblr posts did i write in 2011 that were just thoughts i idly had during a statistics lecture? anyway, here’s the first blog, they won’t all be this long probably. 

When I think about eventually looking back at this year I think about what I want to remember from it. I will remember the first week of March. I’ll remember the last birthday party I attended in person at Branch Ofc, a perfectly serviceable Crown Heights bar that was very full of people. I’ll think about that night and how I showed up to the party with a Ziplock full of homemade salted chocolate chip cookies in my purse, how I shared them with a table where the birthday-haver and their friends sat. Breathing in the same air as the four dozen other people crammed into the bar. I can’t imagine it now. I like Branch Ofc because it is unpretentious without pretending to be a dive, unlike Sharlene’s, which tries too hard to mimic the aesthetic trappings of an authentic dive bar but is really just a normal Park Slope bar. Branch Ofc is just a bar where you can buy drinks, and it was an eight-minute walk from my old apartment. It used to be a bar with a photobooth and Big Buck Hunter but I think both of those are gone now. 

For a few days in March, it felt like people were preparing for a snow day. Everyone was slightly more on edge than giddy—but only slightly. “WFH but make it a coffeeshop” I saw on someone’s Instagram story, a selfie with four of their friends coworking somewhere in Bushwick, completely nullifying the point of a work-from-home edict. I ran into my friend Maddie at the renovated Key Food on Nostrand the next week. Maddie, her roommate and I were in the aisle with the Pop Tarts and the Oreos. “I feel like I should get those?” we asked each other, pointing at junk food. I wasn’t wearing a mask or gloves; nobody was. Some guy wearing a Cornell University Sigma Chi tshirt walked by us with the largest bag of dried beans I’ve ever seen in my life slung over his shoulder. That was a man who had never soaked dried beans in his life. I wonder if he ever ate the beans. We were a bunch of idiot 20-somethings blindly grabbing for cans of soup and Fritos for the end of the world. What were any of us doing there? Why was it imperative that day that I make and freeze a lasagna? Maddie’s roommate had fresh lasagna noodles from Eataly she wasn’t going to use before she left for her parents’ house, and she said I could have those. She brought them over for me and I idly wondered if you could get Coronavirus from someone else’s fresh pasta noodles or if the heat of the oven would kill the germs. I made my lasagna.

I’ll think about how March-to-May is just one long gray blurry streak in my head. I baked, I got into running, I said “running with a mask? No thank you, no more running for me,” I got a job, I felt bad about getting a job when everyone I knew in journalism was getting laid off. I did a lot of Zoom Zumba. At first I slept terribly, and then I started sleeping too much, and then I stopped sleeping again at some point during that stretch. There was a novelty to suddenly being inside all the time that made it feel like an excuse to get “really into martinis.” I got really into martinis. Then I stopped drinking for a couple months. Remember “Zoom happy hours”? 

The thing I use most as a means of setting apart different eras in my head is the music I used as a soundtrack at the time. I rang in the 2014 new year in my cute apartment on Westcott Street in Syracuse with my college boyfriend, drunk and blaring Cold Cave, before we walked down the street to Alto Cinco and got Mexican food and passed out. It was my senior year and I only had a few more months of living like this and I loved the small life I’d built for myself there. Of course, it couldn’t stay. When we broke up a year and a half later after he moved to New York, where I had been living for most of a year, I walked around the neighborhood near the Myrtle-Wyckoff stop, close to where we were living together, listening to Mitski’s 2014 album Bury Me At Makeout Creek. I sat in Maria Hernandez Park and watched a bunch of kids play Red Rover. I didn’t especially want to go home because I hadn’t taken an escape route into account when we broke up and somehow timed it out so that things ended after the first of the month, leaving me with three-and-a-half weeks of continuing to share an apartment with someone whose heart I had just broken. In retrospect it’s clear to me that I had just outgrown a relationship with someone five years older than me who hadn’t grown up at all, but I hear that Mitski album now and all I think about are the cold early April days of 2015 when no place and no person felt like home. There’s a line in First Love/Late Spring, by Mitski, where she sings “胸がはち切れそうで,” which translates to something like “My chest is about to burst (with grief).” My advice to recent college graduates moving to New York is to simply not do anything the way I did it. 

So when I think about 2020, I do not want to associate any music I previously had fond memories of with this year. This is unfortunate because every musician I like who produces sad music has nothing but time on their hands now and they’ve all come out with new songs and albums. My recently played selections on Spotify look like a cry for help: Phoebe Bridgers, Bright Eyes, even Tigers Jaw. 

On Saturday I couldn’t sleep in. I woke up at 5:30 and watched the sun appear through my bedroom windows. I kept rolling over, trying to sleep again, but it was futile. Eventually I got up and got dressed, and left my apartment on foot. The walk into lower Manhattan is a few miles from my new place in Fort Greene. I walked west on Fulton, and then down Flatbush. It would have saved me ten minutes to take the Manhattan Bridge, but I’ve always regarded it as the ugliest of the bridges to cross on foot or on bike—last fall, I would walk home from Ben’s apartment over the Manhattan Bridge, and it was just so grey. You get an okay view of Dumbo, I guess, on the walk east, but it isn’t much to look at. When I got back to the Brooklyn side on those walks, I’d get on the A at High Street and take it back to Nostrand instead of walking the last couple miles. 

So I chose the Brooklyn Bridge this time. It was as busy as you’d expect it to be in a non-pandemic event. Instagram boyfriends took pictures of their girlfriends, who took off their masks for a few seconds for the right shot. I saw a couple taking engagement pictures in front of the lower Manhattan skyline. It felt so normal, pedestrians and bicyclists squeezing past each other at the narrow points. 

I was listening to Saint Cloud, the Waxahatchee album that came out a few months ago, turning it over and over in my brain like a rock you pick up at the beach and end up carrying with you on a long walk. The album, outwardly, has this gauzy blue-sky Americana vibe but when you listen to the lyrics of some of the songs it feels like peeling back layers of skin until you hit a raw nerve ending. Every song feels like a eulogy for this year. “You might mourn all that you wasted/That’s just part of the haul,” Katie Crutchfield sings on Ruby Falls. I got to the title track, which closes out the album, as I ascended the bridge. When you get baaaack on the M train, watch the cityyyyyy mutaaaaaaate, she sings. I guess she’s singing about New York. Is there another M train somewhere? I don’t know. I’m going to think about this stupid year whenever I listen to this album, I thought.

I got off the bridge at City Hall, surveyed the ongoing occupation movement there and the literal dozens of cops that had seemingly been deployed to stand there and, at best, do nothing. I walked down Centre Street, eventually winding through the little park by Baxter Street where two adults were playing ping pong, which felt like a socially distanced sport, all things considered. I walked down all those side streets in Chinatown as the sun struggled to break through the oppressive clouds. I walked by Nom Wah, past the salon Polly taught me will give you a very good $12 blowout, past that annoying bar where the bartenders are dressed like scientists, past the place where Kate and I got our auras read on her birthday in January, and ended up at Deluxe Green Bo. I ordered my spicy wontons in peanut sauce and ate them right there, the hot plastic container burning my knees as I sat on the sidewalk. 

Afterwards I walked by all my favorite places—the skatepark under the bridge, Cervo’s, Beverly’s (RIP), Little Canal, Jajaja, the Hawa Smoothie near the East Broadway F. The skaters were hanging out in Dimes Square. Everything had changed but standing outside Kiki’s, it felt for a second like almost nothing had. It was almost a normal Saturday on Canal Street. The sky stayed electric blue until I got back to Brooklyn. 

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations GRACIE! You’ve been accepted as ENCELADUS with a FC change to GEMMA CHAN.

Welcome back, Gracie! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: your app for Dana does such a good job at portraying the balance between human and mutant in Dana and how her mutation impacted her mutant life so strongly. I always feel for her when reading your writing because she feels like such a real person and truly she doesn’t deserve all she’s been through. I especially love the hints of a direction you plan to take her in now that the scene has changed! It’s refreshing to see someone mourn our dear Benjamin Granger, and I wonder what the changes in Kings Collective have in store for Dana.

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Gracie

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 25

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: EST & on a number scale, probably a 4-5, so about 5 replies throughout the week, if not more. I do work full-time but with ‘rona, I am WFH until further notice.

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Dana Ramone

GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis female & she/her with FC change to Gemma Chan if possible, thank you!

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

Dana is a contradiction in and of herself. She is constantly walking a tightrope between control and the lack-thereof, between who she was, who she could’ve been and who she is. She has always been soft but her embrace is no longer warm and inviting – it’s timid and terrified. She’s got an underlying current of fear running through her, a fear that one day she’ll not be able to catch all the broken pieces of the life she once dreamed of and that they’ll shatter once they slip through her fingers. She can no longer draw someone close without pause or hesitation– she has to think through every action now and try to predict her own reactions. She used to be so certain, so self-assured –– not proud by any means, but she used to be confident in her ability to heal. Now, even as she sutures up a wound, she’s wondering if the next moment she’ll be unintentionally opening it up again with a flare up. That’s what she calls them. Flare ups. When her hands begin to tremble and she feels power welling up inside of her like a wave before it crashes and she can’t keep it in.

She misses who she was before. When sunshine meant good days and rain meant bad ones. Now she can’t even trust the weather. She can’t even trust herself. She does her job because she’s always done her job but, even three years later, Dana still wants to do her old job at the hospital. She wants her old identifiers: MD. Surgeon. Wife. Human. Now she must live with: Level Five. Divorced. Mutant. It’s a ringing in her ear that won’t go away – a constant reminder of everything she’s not anymore. And everything she is even if she wants things to be different.

Dana adapted, slowly but surely. She cares about her fellow members. She cares about doing a good job. She’s got a big heart, always has, and that hasn’t changed just because she’s considered dangerous now. It’s one thing she can’t let change. Because if that changes then she’ll have let this new ability change everything about her. She’s still clinging to who she was. Who she knows herself to be. And she’s channelling it into the work she’s doing now. People don’t expect her to get the job done, they see her soft nature, they see her struggling for control, they see everything she’s fallen short of but when there’s a body on the table, when one of their own is suffering, they see a new side of her. She takes a breath and begins to work. Calm and collected and if she ever feels the trembling start then she talks through what needs to happen.

She may not know who she is anymore, she’s still trying to figure that out, but Dana knows she’s a healer and she holds onto that like a lifeline, drawing her in from the stormy sea that’s her life now.

BIO:

Life is a series of before and after.

Dana’s first before was the year she was born.

It was the year her father and his new wife were trying to have a child. It was the one thing her father knew he wanted more than anything. To have a child with his new wife. Her father had never really known what he wanted in his life – it was one of the reasons why he and his first wife divorced. Despite having a young daughter, Angela, there were too many differences to settle, too many that even their mutual love of their daughter wouldn’t let them overlook.

So they separated and, eventually, her father married Stephanie – a young, ambitious resident who wanted a child early on in their relationship so she could continue her career. Stephanie hadn’t been planned, and her parents always reminded her of the fact, and so she was determined to plan their lives to a tee –– have a child, go back to work in a year, live the life she knew her own parents never could. It was what she wanted most and so that’s what Dana’s father wanted most.

They tried for nearly two years before Stephanie was willing to consider adoption. And though hesitant at first, when they adopted Dana – a small, bright-eyed baby with laughter on her lips and a curious gaze following wherever she looked –– it was impossible not to love her.

Dana’s first after were the years following her adoption. The years in which she grew up a kind, curious child who loved books and pillow forts and nature and picking wildflowers. She saw her sister occasionally, but she knew they were different, even from an early age. It wasn’t the fact that they didn’t look alike, nor the fact that Dana spent her weeknights in dance class and her Saturdays at swim – she knew they were different because of how people looked at Angela. Because of the words she heard floating around: mutant. Dangerous. Different.

Her parents let her see Angela, of course, her father especially liked his daughters to spend time together but the more time she spent with her, the more Dana wondered if she’d ever get an ability like her sister. And the more time she spent with her sister, the more she realized that Angela wasn’t too fond of her.

It was another before for Dana. Before she realized that her sister wouldn’t be her best friend and they were destined to leave separate lives. Eventually, circumstances created a wedge between them and they started seeing less and less of each other.

Her next after was one of growing up and following in her mother’s footsteps. Dana had always been an intelligent young mind, curious about the world around her and the inner workers of practically everything. As a child she would ask her mother endless questions about the human body and as she grew older, those questions turned into requests for books, an interest in science and, eventually carving a path to medicine herself. She’d always been curious but she also always wanted to help people, like she saw her mom do on a daily basis. And when she was seventeen, having graduated high school a year earlier than most, she pursued her higher education at the University of Chicago. She remained there until she was twenty-five, graduating with a medical degree and a residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she hoped to become a neurosurgeon.

She’d worked so hard for so long and had rarely had time for a personal life, something her parents had warned her about when she expressed a desire to go down this path. That changed when she met Alistair McGovern. He was a few years ahead of her in his residency, but of the same mind that she had –– that all of this work was so they could be equipped to help those who needed it most. So many of their fellow doctors were there to make a name for themselves, to get a big job to pay off some big loans but not Alistair. Not Dana. He was easy to love and they fell for each other within a few months of meeting.

But despite her love for him, she was always uneasy with his family. The McGoverns were a prominent family in Chicago politics, supporting anti-mutant legislation and “protective” measures for the city’s human inhabitants. They weren’t too crazy about her either, having learned about her sister but as long as Angela wasn’t brought up at family dinners, both parties could live in harmony.

They got married when she was twenty-nine and their lives just fit together. They had matching schedules, they worked in the same place, they had the same dreams and goals and plans. They didn’t want to have kids just yet, they wanted to enjoy their lives together. And they did for several years.

If only Dana had known that their time together leading up to her thirty-third birthday would become before.

They went out with friends for her birthday, celebrating, dancing and drinking – nothing out of the ordinary but that night she began to fill a bit off. It was small at first. A bit of vertigo (surely just a result of one drink too many), a headache (the music was loud) and cold sweats (she hadn’t eaten much that day and had had several long shifts leading up to it). Every strange feeling was easily identified by Dana and any worry dispelled by logic. By science. By medicine.

But the feeling persisted. She wasn’t sick. They thought that maybe she was expected. It hadn’t been in the plan but stranger things had happened. They’d deal with it together, Alistair assured her but the five tests she’d purchased two days later turned out negative and still, the disquieted feeling in the pit of her stomach persisted. It was like a ringing in her ear – she could forget about them occasionally but once she noticed them, it was nearly impossible to ignore.

Still, she took some time off, just a few days she’d had saved for years of not taking any time off, and after four days the symptoms subsided. She went to work the very next day, feeling lighter and better than she had in nearly a week. There was surgery scheduled and she’d never have gone in had she been feeling off. After all, operating on the brain took an almost robotic like precision that Dana excelled at in the OR. It was what she was known for – remaining calm and staying on track, even when the unexpected happened.  At least, that’s what she’d always thought.

After, she’d look for the signs – for any sign of how she would’ve known what was to come. What might’ve happened. How she could’ve prevented it.

But before….she couldn’t have known. There was no way to predict that in the middle of surgery her hands would begin to shake, no way to know that those tremors would spread to the rest of her body and that she’d have to call for an emergency stop as she dropped her tools to the ground and began to shake uncontrollably. There was no way to know she should’ve warned her colleagues when she collapsed, no way to tell them to get away from her, that this wasn’t a seizure or a stroke. That the moment they huddled around her, trying to help, they’d be blasted back with a tremendous wave of energy emanating from Dana.

She couldn’t have known the events that would follow –– that the after would be hospital security rushing in as her colleagues were knocked unconscious by the blast, as alarms began going off while their patient began to code on the operating table. Later, she would learn that the only reason she wasn’t immediately detained and imprisoned was because of Alistair, and his family.

Her employment was terminated at the hospital, her files shared with the government and her credentials stripped. Even with all of this, her husband stayed by her side. Or he tried to. He really tried. He knew she hadn’t known what she was and he fought tooth and nail against his family to make sure they knew that.

She was his wife. He loved her. She was a healer, who’d killed a patient and two colleagues, landing several others in the ICU. She was a doctor, who’d had all her certifications and titles stripped. She was a good person. She was a good person. She was a good person. It’s what they both clung to in the midst of everything. But being a good person wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to ignore how her hands would shake for days. It wasn’t enough to stop watching her warily, for fear of a random burst of energy coming his way. It wasn’t enough to keep them in the same bed, both tossing and turning with different fears. Love wasn’t enough to deal with all of this. He divorced her six months after her powers manifested.

Another before. And this one hurt like hell. Another after. She was lost. A ship at sea, unmoored and drifting in the dark abyss her life had become. While Alistair tried to keep things quiet, tried not to make her life any harder, word got around. Eventually, Dana found herself without recourse, without a path and with the knowledge that all the years she’d poured into being a healer had amounted to nothing, all by her own hand.

But where one journey ends, another begins. Despite Northwestern’s attempt to cover it up, news had spread throughout Chicago that one of their best surgeons had been a mutant and, eight months after that first incident, she was approached by Kings Collective. They wanted her to be their doctor.

She was wary at first, the thought of joining a criminal organization a bitter taste in her mouth. But nothing was more bitter than the fact that she could barely help herself, much less others. Still, that calling she’d had from a young age –– the one she couldn’t ignore, compelled her to help others. She knew that this was the only way she could continue doing so, and hoped that maybe being a doctor again would heal the sting of the past months. She accepted their offer and has been their doctor for nearly three years now.

Things were going well or, as well as could be with the unrest in the city but when Benjamin, a man she’d worked closely with and who’d been one of her saving graces after everything happened, was killed –– she knew trouble was coming. Without much time to mourn the loss of someone who’d helped her more than she could say, and without the time to make any real plans, she and the rest of Kings Collective set off for Miami.

They haven’t been in the city long and she can already tell peace is just an illusion. The “peace” she thought she’d had, sticking to medicine, sticking to helping others, was gone. As Kings Collective attempts to stake their claim on the city and to make a mark for themselves, she knows that it won’t be long before she’s asked to help make that happen. Levels had never meant much to Dana before. Hers only served as a reminder of the pain she could cause and the lack of control she had to keep that from happening.

But she knows that being what she is…doing what she does…it’s worth something, especially when breaking new ground. If they want to claim a piece of the city for themselves, Dana knows it’s going to be all hands on deck and she’s struggling now, with whether she can balance having hands that heal against hands covered in blood. She hasn’t had to indulge the latter yet, but images it’s only a matter of time.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

Angela – I would love to explore their dynamic and how they grew up/viewed each other more in depth. Also, how they view each other now, Dana with her new understanding of what it is to be a mutant/what Angela’s dealt with her entire life and Angela with what Dana is dealing with, also them being on opposing sides.

Cain – I think the difference between them is interesting, especially since Cain is so hardened by life and Dana is determined not to have the same thing happen to her. The fact that they are both doctors but only one of them wants to truly heal is so dynamic, especially since they are in opposite organizations. I think it could be fun to explore that dichotomy and whether or not it gives Dana a new perspective on her position.

EXTRA:

Hands shake after using her powers

Emotions heighten it

Meditates

ASMR is the shit

Listens to classical music when she operates on anyone

Jogs around lake michigan every morning / helps her feel centered

Kept her wedding ring but has it buried away somewhere

Doesn’t like to hear about plans if they involve Alistair’s family –– she finds it hard to be objective and has made it known that no one should tell her anything if that’s the case.

Has kept brief contact with Alistair –– he’s engaged now. She doesn’t resent him for any of it.

Has had limited contact with Angela since her sister joined the Jem family. Has thought of reaching out but doesn’t think it’s a good idea.

Has thought of tracking down her birth parents but doesnt think it’d do any good now –– too much time has gone and they could be dead or in prison with other mutants. It won’t change what’s happened and could only hurt her more.

Mother and father were supportive once everything happened but she can tell her mom’s still nervous around her and hates it. She’s secretly glad for the move, thinking that maybe it’ll help keep her parents safe, without her around.

[40sandfabulousaf]

Hihi all except warmongers, 大家好! Day 6 of my block leave. K came along when I met C, so I introduced them to my favourite happy place. Anyone who's tried their foie gras and truffle 小笼包 (xiaolongbao, steamed pork broth dumplings) talks about it for a very long time. I haven't been back to this restaurant for some time, so I had an Aperol Spritz to celebrate.

The chef has tweaked their 小笼包; instead of serving these delicate morsels in a bamboo basket, they came swimming in a dish of pumpkin broth. The broth itself was delicious; I prefer the dumplings on their own though. Never mind, they still brought a hint of paradise to our taste buds. Still as yummy as ever. K gushed about them too!

My other favourite whenever I dine here is the Chicken Papillote, except this time it came wrapped like a pretty pleasant on the plate. The cellophane wrapping was cut just before eating to preserve all the flavourful juices. K and I slurped up all the gravy after finishing our meal. Nothing went to waste.

Finally, we had a sorbet duo - mango and Earl grey. Tbh, this was kind of a letdown. It was alright; nothing to scream about though. What I liked most was the wafer. The Earl grey was a tad too strong, drowning out the delicate sweetness of the mango flavour. Even the strawberry chunks were overwhelmed by the Earl grey sorbet.

It was still a good meal overall and I enjoyed catching up with these 2 friends. Like many lawyers, they're glib, sarcastically humorous and so much fun! This will probably be our last catch up for the year; I don't intend to go out everyday like this. Delta still exists even as new infections have plateaued and I still have to keep my parents as safe as possible.

Back to KN95s when I begin WFH again on Wednesday. Well, for half a day on Wednesday and again half a day on Friday. Then I will have cleared pretty much all the leave I need to clear, with 5 days carried forward to next year. The next few weeks will be shorter ones thanks to Xmas Eve and New Year's Eve. YAY! I love winding down for the year!

Xmas will be a quieter affair with family. We don't intend to celebrate; just spending time together is something we don't take for granted after last year's lockdown. 春节 (Chinese New Year), with its cheerful and rowdy songs, promise of new beginnings and numerous rounds of feasting, is my favourite festival of all.

These feasts have been more subdued ever since covid reached our shores. We're in a much better position now than 2 years ago, so there's much to be thankful for. For now? I'll be enjoying these much-needed breaks from work as much as possible!

Till the next time, 下次见!

[steadymantra]

7 WORK-FROM-HOME FRIENDLY EXERCISES TO HELP YOU GET STARTED.

Your body is the finest resource you can have for obtaining a terrific exercise regimen without the need of any fancy exercise equipment. Body strength workouts (movements that require you to lift or push your own body weight) may shape and trim your physique while also providing structure to your musculature. They also train you for the physical actions that you might have to undertake on a daily basis, such as lifting up your children, practicing excellent posture, and moving large luggage.

If you've not already, it’s high time that you incorporate the best practices given in this blog into your daily routine so that you have don't feel alien when returning to the gym.  

Why should you be concerned?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that individuals in the age range of 18 and 64 should engage in "a minimum of 150 minutes of mid-intensity physical exercise each week." These can involve going for a stroll, biking, or participating in some sport.

There are several advantages to this, including improved muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance, bone density benefits, and weight management.

Maintaining proper posture whilst sitting, in addition to physical exercise, is critical to remaining healthy. Bad posture can cause a variety of health problems, ranging from back and neck discomfort at the least to terrible coordination and migraines at worst. If you slouch after eating, it can also cause stress incontinence (lack of bowel control) and indigestion. Constipation can be caused by poor lavatory position too (we know, that’s horrible!).

How can I stay active while working from home?

Work from home has been something like a dream for many— avoiding rush hour traffic, answering phones from your couch – but it may rapidly descend to a toxically sedentary lifestyle. It may need some innovative thinking and discipline, but being active even when working from home is vital for your mental and physical health. Here are some pointers to get you started:

1. Make your workplace uncomfortable

Yes, you read that right! It is not necessary to devote practically hours of your week to workout. There are fun alternative methods to get your body moving; all it takes is a little thinking.

In businesses, we usually focus on how to make the situation faster, easier, and more efficient so that we may be maximize our productivity. When you apply this strategy to your home's work environment, you may find yourself sitting for extended amounts of time because everything is there easily available front on you in front of you.

Adjusting the physical layout of your home workspace (and making it more tough to find comfortable) might help you move about more.

Try some of the suggestions below:

Take your glass of water and place it in a different room

Take your phone to a different room

Move your printer to a different room.

2. Get up and move around your desk.

Moving around your desk is a wonderful option if getting away from your desk feels impossible. To prevent distractions, turn off your work device and your phone, then spend at least five minutes each hour practicing some easy desk exercises to relieve stress and get your heart pumping.

Here are a few examples:

Arm twists  

Shoulder rotations  

Left to right head spins  

Forward and backward head tilts  

Arm circles / swings  

Leg lifts  

Upper body twists  

Side to side leg swings  

Calf raises

3. Sign up for a virtual workout class

Gym memberships may often be costly for your budget, particularly if you are the sort of person who joins up and then never attends! Online courses are a great method to get your body moving without leaving your house, with only a fraction of a typical gym membership fee. In most cases, you pay a monthly fee to have access to a variety of videos and other wellness information. It is also conceivable to participate in live classes, in which students join the class and the instructor conducts a session in real time. Since you are given some internal accountability to ‘turn up' with your class mates, you are considerably more likely to attend and participate in this dynamic virtual atmosphere.  

4. Go out for a walk

If online courses are not your thing, go for a stroll, preferably in a green place. Stepping out in nature will help you feel better and also get away from the "noise" of city life. Some research also shows that engaging in physical activity in a natural setting might help treat moderate depression and decrease physiological stress markers. Walking has the advantage of not requiring any additional equipment; simply put on your shoes and go. And even ten minutes of walking is all that is required to feel the benefits.

5. Put it in your calendar

You will not forget to schedule a client appointment, but why would you relax with your exercise schedule? Your virtual/real calendar is a tool that may help you stay disciplined in spending your time the way you intend. Taking a stroll will not happen until you compel yourself to do it. Placing a date in your calendar may seem excessive, but it's all too simple to allow your work to dominate your mind and realize at 5 p.m. that you have not left your desk at all since morning. Thus, make a sensible decision and schedule your active time for exercise on your calendar.

Exercises to do at home without equipment

New tech has provided us with several advantages and comforts, but there is one big disadvantage: many of us sit at a computer for 8 (or sometimes more) hours in a day, nearly six days a week, for several weeks in a year.

However, the same item that may make us busy, successful, and effective workers for our organization also can impair our health—possibly forever.

So, the next thing you think as if your posterior is cemented to your computer chair, try a couple or all of the WFH exercises listed below. They will help get your circulation flowing, avoid muscle soreness and damage, or even help you gain some muscle.

1. Dips in the triceps

For this, you would need a stationary (and not a rotating, wheeled!) chair to do this maneuver. Move towards the front edge of the chair and place both hands on the end. Put your hands flat on the chair, bend your elbows backward, and drop yourself few inches straight down, maintaining your back as near to the chair as possible. Then extend your arms to return to the starting position.

Perform 20 dips like this.

2. Pulses in the arms

These extend your shoulders and works your triceps. Stand at your workstation with your arms by your sides and your hands placed behind you.

Pulse your arms back for 20 seconds, maintaining them to be as long and straight as you can.

3. Arm Circumferences

The phrase "circle back" takes on new significance in this context. Stand with your feet shoulder-width and your arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height. Make a tiny backward circle with your arms.

Do this for 20 times in this direction, then swap directions and continue.

4. Squats on a Chair

Try out these short exercises them out amongst your meetings, during a call, or at any other time. All that you would have to do is get out of your chair and bring your body back down, pausing just before you sit down again. (To train those glutes, concentrate your weight on your heels.) Then go back to your feet.

Rep this 10 times more.

5. Standing Pulses

This exercise will come naturally to you if you have already ever attended a barre class—but your desk is literally standing in for a barre. Bend a leg behind you, bending the foot, while holding the edge of the desk for support. Raise your foot a few inches off the ground, then gently release and push your foot squarely behind you. Switch between raising your heel up and pushing it back.

Perform 20 to 30 reps on each side, then alternate sides.

6. Squats

Squats are a well-recognized and an important part of any training regimen. This form of exercise is an expert at multitasking. You learn balance, lose more fat than other workouts (owing to muscle growth), stimulate your core and spine, and increase circulation while doing them.

It's also one of the oldest and most beneficial utilitarian workouts, so you won't have any trouble crouching to reach the bottom of the fridge.

7. Lunges

Lunges, unlike regular squats, require a significant weight transfer because you are stepping backwards or forwards. Gym trainers refer to them as lunge complexes since you will go forward, backward, and laterally. But don't get caught believing that this motion is exclusively for your legs. You'll be exercising your calves, glutes, and hamstrings regardless of the variety. Balance will also be provided through your core and lower back. Lunges also help to enhance the mobility of your hip flexors.

In conclusion

One of the best features about work-from-home calisthenics is that it can be the foundation of your whole fitness routine or just one component of it. You can practice our recommended workouts while concurrently lifting weights, swimming, or riding your bike.

In this regard, exercising from home is the ideal type of exercise. It's secure, efficient, adaptable, and cheap. It is something that everyone can do at any time and from any location. Not even asparagus can make that sort of a health benefit claim!

Keep Following Muscle Mantra for the latest tips & facts about fitness and nutrition. 

[empmoniitor]

GET READY FOR HYBRID FUTURE OF WORK THIS POST PANDEMIC [2021 UPDATED]

The future of work got completely changed at the beginning of 2020, but we all must admit that 2020 was really a very long decade. In conjunction with all the uncertainties & personal issues, most of the businesses had to respond promptly. Therefore, this struggle was real when they were juggling on how to keep the lights on and manage their employees.

Survival for corporations was the name of the game during the early months of COVID season, seeking work around them to enforce stop-gap steps while they shifted their operations remotely.

But now, as we are into 2021, companies that have made it through this COVID-19 and are settling in for the long term, preparing themselves for the future of work, which is most likely to be faced within the years to come.

Most of the companies & employers are wondering how they can position themselves not only to survive whatever comes next but to actually prosper.

Here are some of the simple yet useful tips which I am sure will help you deal with the upcoming waves.

DEALING WITH THE FUTURE OF WORK

While the vaccinations are coming up, seismic shifts have taken place in the field of work.

Although several organizations have already started to introduce hybrid models where certain team members turn up a few days a week or month at the office for particular meetings or projects.

In addition to the possibility of significant cost savings, remote work helps with minimizing the cost of workplace lease and also provides an option to access a wider range of talents across the country/world.

Shifting the employer thinking to the questions about how they can accommodate the sustainable remote/hybrid future of work for their organizations. These companies now recognize that they need tools that allow them to work uninterruptedly, both in and out of the office.

Firstly, the upcoming future of work is the idea of dealing with legacy, on-premise solutions that enable workers to operate from inside the predefined firewall of the organization on local machines at the workplace. Therefore, rapidly shifting to cloud solutions that allow access to all the software and services that an employee may need to do her job, irrespective of the location they are situated.

Above all the fundamental questions about how staff can expect to access their resources, there are also some vital things to consider, about how organizations need to handle the remote workforce? How can they manage employees’ day-to-day activities? What about securing IP or other confidential information against threats from inside and outside the business? How to combine efficiency with security?

To help you with all these questions, we have prepared an analysis of some of the essential technology and management concepts that should be taken into account in hope of helping companies to solve these obstacles as they prepare for the long term.

CHANGING THE CULTURE WITH EXPECTATIONS

Even when many aspects of our lives are still up in the air about our child’s school and other day-to-day issues, organisations need to explain to workers what they expect from them when they operate remotely.

In short, policy consistency is crucial!

Although exceptions can often be sorted out as they were at the workplace. But at the same time, anxiety and needless disputes can be caused while working remotely.

Where do you expect staff to be available and available online?

Requirements depend on the types of work the employees are associated with. Employees working on customer support, or online representatives are supposed to be online for hours. Alternatively, more detail is required for roles that are more autonomous where each person has his or her tasks to focus on.

Many staff are likely to discover that they are often more effective during non-traditional working hours. As they may choose to go in the mornings for bike rides with their kids and errands and then work later in the evening and night balancing their work-life balance in a better way possible.

For this to work, breaking away from the frameworks of the “must be in the office” mentality is crucial.

ALSO READ –

How to Keep Employees Productive During Work From Home (Covid-19 Outbreak)

PROMOTE SCALABLE WORKFORCE

As the market environment continues to evolve, the size of the staff of an organization would also have to shift. A scalable workforce allows flexibility to adapt as required, adjusting to developments in the market and financial circumstances that will be faced by companies in the future.

It is no longer a simple task to hire a full-time employee; along with benefits and wages as additional expenses. Due to administrative duties, paperwork, and potential attrition, the average cost per hire comes out to be very high, and all these costs can be easily addressed & minimized by recruiting external talent. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that a versatile workforce is a reality that corporations have to face in a rapidly shifting environment to thrive, and they will need the right tools to do so.

Thankfully, there are tons of companies which offer the best ever solutions. There are various services which include Upwork, Assemble, & Fiverr. It provides technical work that you can easily employ to fulfil your short-term or recurrent talent needs and help you better plan for the future of your career.

MINIMIZE INSIDER THREATS

Phishing emails that can lead to credential theft and company email breach have become one of the greatest threats to businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To avoid these types of attacks, it is necessary to train employees to spot these emails that might appear to come from the IT department demanding access to their work email account. If passwords are stolen, they can be used by an attacker to travel sideways within a network, raising the privilege of accessing higher-level accounts where they can do more harm.

Hackers pretending to be a vendor or even a boss, asking the employee to do something that could compromise the company, which is a serious danger.

Therefore, Training staff to step back a second and search on a secondary channel, such as picking up the phone, and confirming that it is actually a valid request, is important. In remote work, this is doubly relevant where the employee does not turn to the individual next to them for a second opinion or simply walk down the hall to ask their supervisor if they really wanted the transaction of a million dollars.

SETTING UP NEW RULES FOR FUTURE OF WORK

2021 has come up with an equitable distribution of the tragedy and the consequences of the jobs as well as the lives which are lost in this period resonate for the upcoming years. But, every hurdle brings up new opportunities to bounce back and skyrocket your excellence in a more strong and tough.

With the fast-moving cultures, all the companies try out different workplace practices along with managing their employees work activities to make their productivity scale up in an efficient way. Primarily, employers conduct different surveys, asking questions related to the remote work culture, WFH transformations, etc.

Apart from these, employers can also give a try to scale up their overall productivity with work from a home employee management software.

INTERESTED IN EMPLOYEE MANAGEMENT?

Employee management is increasingly common among organizations of all sizes, from small scale industries to large corporations. It may involve keeping a track of the internet use, email, apps and websites used and more.

Tracking employee activity helps to improve productivity, determine variable pay, and comply with requirements for data security.

But, how to choose a perfect employee management software? To help you with it, I have been here with 3 most important ways for you to implement –

RISK ANALYSIS

Tracking employee activity, if done correctly, can improve productivity, determine variable pay, and comply with requirements for data security.

Some of the things include –

CONTRACTUAL & CONFORMITY OBLIGATIONS

Company laws, rules, ethics codes, standards for confidentiality, or contractual responsibilities enables employers to track the work-related activities of the employees.

In the form of fines, license cancellations, or litigation, not doing so will expose you to liabilities. Data fraud or insider trading, both of which are criminal offences, is a typical example of rules violation, especially for banks and financial services firms.

PRODUCTIVITY

Productivity risk includes individuals not meeting deadlines, remote workers focusing on personal errands, and so on. It minimizes the overall productivity of the company.

QUICK & EASY MANAGEMENT

Deploying a time tracking program to manage attendance and leave tracking. If your company doesn’t have a concern about company productivity, then this employee management software helps in eliminating the need to manage all these aspects in one go!

INSIDER THREAT PREVENTION

There can be some cases where employees may unknowingly share company resources which includes company data, software or equipment. Or in other cases, if any employee, for instance, uses company software to work on private freelance projects.

COMPUTER ACTIVITY & TIME SPENT

Keeping a check on the employee’s computer activities is one of the common practice which most of the employers tend to implement in their companies and teams. You can use different employee monitoring software like EmpMonitor, for managing the employees work time, top apps & websites used, screen activity monitoring, etc.

ESTABLISH TEAMS AND LEVELS

Would you like to implement a monitoring tool for your whole business or only for selected departments, levels, or places?

Employees above a particular hierarchy appear to be devoted to the job and usually spend a great deal of time away from their desks training new joiners and attending client meetings. Thus, attempting to track the productivity of such employees with time tracking software would not be feasible.

Similarly, since salespeople will hardly be in the workplace, and more significantly, their pay is substantially related to their results, you would want to track only your remote workers or your field salespeople. If they don’t work, they make less money!

USING EMPMONITOR TO MANAGE EMPLOYEES

A trending employee management software that comes with tons of features which helps both employers & employees in managing their working place activities & boosting overall productivity swifty.

And here’s where I suggest EmpMonitor!

Used by different companies like FabDesigns, LBM Solution, Lexmores, EmpMonitor can help in skyrocketing their productivity by 45% and manage their times.

Some of the important EmpMonitor features include –

WEB & APPS TRACKING

The feature of time tracking will let you know how many hours working on tasks and projects have been registered. But how were those hours used productively?

That’s where the employee tracking tool comes in, it needs to keep track of what websites your employees have accessed and the apps they’ve been using.

With EmpMonitor, at a glance, you can even lookup the applications and top websites apps that your workers have used in the past 180 days and obtain feedback from the top 10 apps & websites used in real-time. You may change the date accordingly as per your requirement.

USER LOGS

Sign In and Logout time plus their productive and non-productive hours in one place. Get detailed insights into your workers. You may – at one glance –

Look up to 7 days in one location User Logs Including the present day

Today’s Active & Non Productive Hours

The last 7 days with Gross Productive & Non Productive Hours

All knowledge is illustrated with graphs and charts that are both basic and interesting. You may set dates ahead, too.

CLOUD STORAGE

Yeah, EmpMonitor is software for cloud-based employee tracking. Your data will all be processed in the cloud. No more fussing about problems with storage.

WRAPPING UP

Now is the moment to make the transition from one of treading water and merely living to one where we succeed and have the opportunity to look ahead again. As it begins to take shape, those who are willing to move rapidly enough by embracing the right innovations and cultural shifts will be well-positioned to capitalize on the future of work.

Originally Published On: EmpMonitor

[supernoondles]

2020

A lot happens in a year, even when nothing seems to happen at all.

There's nothing new my commentary about a global pandemic (and the particularly frustrating experience of living in America during it, even with all my privileges of continued employment, owning a car, rent stability, and living in the bay area) will bring to the reader, but I will underscore this: my feelings aren't that 2020 is any kind of exceptional year, but the point where, hopefully, we finally realize that economic/climate/racial injustice has been a terrible problem for a long time, and will continue to be unless we enact massive collective change. A vaccine is not going to make any of those issues disappear, and I worry the people in power (including myself) will return to their comfortable life styles as if the next decade won't be even worse.

Anyway, general DOOM aside (RIP man), here's my year in specific!

From looking through my photos: January was off to a great start. I celebrated the new year with dim sum with J/M/M, as per tradition, and went on a foggy hike through SF with my family that involved my dad and J getting hilariously lost. Soon after I went to Sonoma with J/M -- for all my years in the bay, I had never explored north of the Golden Gate that much -- which was a wonderful trip seeing J's hometown. I helped my lab demo research at the Exploratorium, started growing my own microgreens, and went on more (to become semi-regular and my only source of cardio through the pandemic) bike rides with my lab mates. I finally saw Hamilton (though feel a need to justify here how "cringey" I think LMM is). I went to Genesis, my first gaming-related convention, and it was a lot of fun despite seeing no women. I did so many things, was making progress on research (I think? I don't recall any breakdowns) and my mental health was generally good.

The doing of things continued in February. After not going last year, I went to the Tet Festival in SJ (which was kind of sad). I joined a Chinese learning club and a crafts club and had a delicious omakase. N visited again, I went ice skating and tried to rescue a giant rat from string lights, and saw the Sonic movie in theaters (which would have been my last movie in theaters, sigh). After having a drink at Wursthall with T, I felt terrible (to the unaccustomed reader, not only do I Asian glow, my hands/feet itch whenever I drink and I feel like I want to die), and decided that was the last drink I'd ever have -- thanks to the pandemic that's stayed true. I went on a ski retreat with the lab that felt particularly special (and not just because I didn't have to pay). We (I, in convincing my mostly Asian office) wanted to make 元宵 on the eve of E's birthday, but it turns out that a bunch of CS PhD students really love singing karaoke for like 4 hours straight into the night, and at some point I was like, okay y'all, time to go to bed. So I hosted 元宵 making at my apartment the next weekend, and we watched another Bong Joon-Ho movie (The Host) to celebrate his Oscar win. Typing this out, it seems wild that this was even in this year. I also did sh*** for the first time, hallucinated white woman in the edges of my vision like a GAN, ate a lot of shaved parmesan from TJ, and let go of any stress I had about the UIST deadline to the abundance of nature and the world.

I break from the month-per-paragraph format now because we all know what happens next. M and I biked around campus to film a virtual tour for the newly virtual admit weekend. Being in Gates that Friday (three days before the bay area wide shelter-in-place order) was the last time I'd be on campus for a while. The next day I adopted 3 wonderful baby rats (my biggest brain move this whole year) and the day after that I moved home. I was counting down the days until Animal Crossing and then J and I were duplicating royal crowns in ACNH. At some point my hair got really bad. The months blurred together. Adjusting to WFH was extremely challenging for me, someone who had structured their whole life around the "I only do work in the office and I leave the office when I get hungry for dinner" logic. I would stop working at 6pm but spent the entire afternoon mentally prepping myself to do maybe 30 menial minutes of it. I binged AtLA. I gave up submitting to UIST. In May I hung out in the park with J, who came home from Seattle, which was the first time I saw anyone outside my family. Sometime in there I decided to become a Twitch streamer and had a brief revival as DJ Noon before I felt bad for roping my friends into listening to my music and ran out of interesting songs I wanted to play. In June I, like many others, took to the streets. For two weeks I donated $50 a day to a different organization. I couldn't get any work done at all and spent an entire advisor meeting sobbing so intensely that they felt bad and canceled it after 10 minutes. I emailed the university and got my housing back for the summer and I moved back to start my internship.

The internship was the break I needed -- working with W was a godsend compared to the struggle of my advisors. After reaching new lows at the start of the summer, my mental health was sloping positively again -- working on a new research project helped clear the emotional baggage of the last one. I was also getting more outdoor social interaction -- I went to Ocean Beach with M/D, Half Moon Bay with my family, and going on weekly bike rides with M. At the end of June, M, my roommate, her boyfriend M the clown (there are now 3 different Ms) and I waited for negative COVID results before going on a 2 day camping trip to Mt. Lassen, which felt completely surreal, and, at that time, completely necessary.

The summer dragged on and my mental health, at some point, began to slip. If I were to graph it it would probably look like the inverse of COVID cases in the US -- gradually decreasing, but with high variance from the day to day. I got an embroidery machine, I attended a workshop on docu-poetics with CPH that was so ripe with information my brain physically ached, I saw my lab mates again for the first time as we sat in a very, very wide circle to say goodbye to a post-doc who got a faculty job in Israel. Most weekends I drove to my parents' house and would take J on various hikes around East Bay so he could better appreciate his roots before he went off to Boston for college. He was taking the Switch with him, so in August I bought myself a new one and planned out my entire second ACNH town, which kept me busy for a while -- but surprisingly not as long as I thought, as with planning (and money from my old account) the whole project took I think less than 50 hours. The camping itch came back and the day before my birthday, which was also the day before J would leave for Boston, we went camping at a small state park in San Jose where he got heat stroke and we slept on top of fire ants. The entire experience reminded me how much I disliked camping -- but what else was there to do? I had a wonderful (and long, bless the folks who stayed) Zoom birthday party where I wore a mesh shirt I made and covered with worms on a string. The day after my birthday someone backed into my car, which, following the demands of a racist letter from the HOA, was parked in guest parking. (Ultimately this would be a blessing of insurance money, as the damage was mainly cosmetic and the person kindly left their contact information.) At this time I was also unironically watching ASMR videos to fall asleep, so I painted a two Bob Ross style paintings, one in my virtual art club, to pay homage.

Fire season this year was worse than it's ever been. Being trapped inside the house combined with my roommate moving out at the start of fall quarter and now living alone marked the second downward spiral of my mental health. The bad days were more frequent. I TA'd a game design course, my first time teaching at this university, where many students messaged me to complain that their 95s were not 100s. In the end the lowest grade in the class was an A- and 20% of the class got an A+. At some point I submitted a summer-long project I did with J and S to CHI; it is so much easier to produce work when I do not have to wrangle with M. (This paper gets accepted, but my silly grad student excitement is tampered both by general "why are we still trying to publish when society is crumbling" pandemic feelings and the fact that CHI will not be physically in Japan next year.) Maybe once a month I go birding. I feel increasingly as if there is nothing novel in my life; I am tired of it all and my body feels fatigued even though I don't do anything with my days. Some days it feels like if I don't touch someone I will explode. My use of recreational marijuana skyrockets. I start doing exercise videos semi-regularly with A. I briefly consider moving to Seattle with E, who is about to defend, before it's clear we have, as always, different boundaries and expectations. I look for places in Sunset/Richmond with M to little success.

In October I somehow pull it together and organize student volunteers for a 3 day conference that requires waking up before 5am every day. I do nothing the rest of the week. After we get flu shots and I let someone into my apartment for the first time since the pandemic started, I help E move up to Seattle. The trip is comfortable and we get to take care of each other; this fulfills a need in me. On Halloween J and I dance in a soccer field next to a combination anarchist recruitment center and homeless encampment -- now cleared by the cops -- and eat a mud pie that is too sweet. On my last day in WA I ask E if he would like to have sex, as friends, and he politely declines. I am pleased with how easily I emotionally accept this answer, how through time and therapy I've finally come to cherish our friendship without always looking for what could have been. I am extremely nervous on the flight home, and it's the first and only flight I will take during the pandemic, and the N-95 squishes my face so my head looks like a balloon, but I have the privilege of free 5 minute weekly tests through the university and I collect another negative result.

In November I fully embrace the hyperfixation lifestyle. My brain, always looking for novel stimuli, has given up on doing work entirely and instead thinks of Thanzag constantly. There is one day where I play Hades for 8 hours and I feel gross, as if I've completed my regression to my high school self. It takes 90 hours until I achieve all my goals, and with no more runs necessary to roll for RNG-based conversational triggers, I finally feel a sense of freedom. (My Switch tells me I have used it for 580+ hours this year, which is more than double last year.) The second SwSh DLC is a struggle for me to complete as I do not find catching legendaries enticing. J comes back early from university at my urging to avoid the travel surge, a week before Thanksgiving, and starts living with me. This helps a lot. My next hyperfixations come overlapping and staggered: I write 25k words of a second iteration of my 2015 NaNoWriMo with the protagonist I had developed in high school before I get bored with the story and realize I need yet another iteration; I buy a combination air fryer pressure cooker and ask my parents for a functional vacuum and bidet as early Christmas gifts and become obsessed with immaculate inside living spaces. This carries on to re-decorating my room at my parents' house, after installing a shelf in the closet and a curtain to close it off from the living room, and spending roughly 30 hours over December break organizing and cleaning their entire garage--they have not thrown out a single piece of paper or article of clothing since they set foot in this country over 20 years ago. My therapist quits the practice and my relationship with my advisors improve. I watch a few housewife vlogs and make my own. I have the revelation that doing research in a pandemic is basically just like any other creative project -- no one really cares that much if I get it done, it's just harder to do than, say, putting together a vlog in a few hours. This shift in mindset feels life changing to me, having before thought of research more as work, a taboo thing to pursue in a pandemic, and when W compliments me for the progress I've made in both the system and managing our meeting with M I do not know how to respond because no one has ever done that before. In the last two weeks of the year I start tracking my time. In our last session (that I almost sleep through), my therapist tells me that I seem stable to her and she is not worried about me. I believe her.

In 2020 I made a marked point to let everyone know that I didn't have goals. It felt lofty to have personal ambitions in the face of everything at a global scale. With this said I will now revisit the 2020 resolutions I wrote last year: (1) Intentionally seek out love: absolutely not, (2) Do enough work such that I don't feel guilty: also no, (3) sew one thing a month: no, but in the end I sewed 11 things total this year so I was close, (4) improve my Chinese: this was actually the only thing that did happen, and now my mom and I have better conversations because of it and I'm so thankful.

In 2021, however, I feel like I finally have it in me to have goals again. They are simple. (1) Get laid. (2) Submit the two research projects I've been doing forever. (3) Commit to writing down my thoughts that make me think, "Oh, that's interesting, I should write it down." Ideas are unfortunately such currency in what I do.

Last year I wrapped up this post with some candid, but embarrassing, optimism. I will offer no such high hopes for 2021, but I do ask the reader if they have noticed that I switched tenses from past to present halfway through this post. And that's 2021: an incidentally unintentional, but then consciously controllable, shift to the present.

[8livescatrescue]

So we’re settling into working from home now.   Bizarre as it all felt on our first WFH blog, just 3 weeks ago, we’re now settling into a new sort of (ab) normal.   Seriously was that three weeks ago?   It feels simultaneously like only yesterday and at least a decade ago.

We’ve installed several new work stations, carefully stepped so that our older work colleagues can comfortably access them.  And close to the desk to save travel time for cuddles.

morning shift

This is still all quite surreal.  We’re very very fortunate to still have a job and be able to work from home.   We’re enjoying the positives of that, being home with the cats, missing the rush hour traffic and struggle to find a parking space.  There are day to day improvements in the IT set up, and a growing experience and confidence with working remotely.  At the same time we’re painfully aware of the hardships others are going through, desperately grateful to the key workers who keep the whole show on the road, and guiltily trying to avoid the full awfulness of watching the news.

afternoon shift

Our lighthearted comments about some of the joys of lockdown can only be be viewed through the lens of this being a traumatic nightmare to many.  Nevertheless … we hope to share a little fun and the lighter side of lockdown.

Having worked pretty much alone in the ‘office’ for the first couple of weeks … other than Jango popping in to chew the electric cables … I’m now regularly joined by fur people who I think of as my new team mates.  I like to think of this as being a new routine and sense of solidarity & support around the hosue … but suspect that the sun coming out and my office being the sunniest room in the house has rather more to do with it.

Patch of sunshine …. well used

Jango has emerged as my most faithful, hard working colleague.  He’s usually first in the office in a morning and last to leave at night.  He even turned up over bank holiday weekend as he got mixed up with days …. as we all do in times like this.  He’s taken on the role of senior solar tracking consultant … and gradually shuffles his way between litter tray and my desk as the sun moves.

  Jango solar tracking consultant

  There are times he’s not able to focus and just needs a cuddle.   That’s not a problem  … regular hugs have been written up as part of his professional development plan.   The plan has also taken account of a necessary adjustment to using wireless headphones … this has been quickly actioned to prevent “chewed through” hang ups on work calls.  His current learning objectives are mainly focused around understanding the importance of my being able to use my right hand for typing and the mouse and the impact of him trying to use it as a pillow.   We’ve set this as fairly low priority though and are balancing it against his skills in stress reduction.

He’s calmly sat through a 3 hour training course on Zoom this afternoon … resassuring me and amusing the other participants ….  and earning himself a bonus can of tasty Applaws for his supper.

Flipper has set herself up as security and wildlife monitor.  She takes her job seriously on the odd occasions when she’s awake and not thinking about something else.  From her windowsill viewpoint she comments on any activity in the surrounding gardens, and prevents anything coming in through the window.   She was devastated yesterday to find that she’d missed the heron that flew over and landed on next door’s fence.   Mr Heron sat there for quite some time and I was desperate to take a photo and/or go to fetch her to see it … but I was on a work call … and was concerned how my human colleagues might evaluate my mental health if I were to say “sorry, I’ve just got to fetch my cat to see this”

Flipper in charge of security and the environment

  Apparently she’s also taken on a research project involving wardrobes.   This has clearly been set up through another department  as I don’t have one single clue what the method or objectives are.

i have …

.. no

… idea

Rowan, our office junior, reports to Jango.   His duties are best described as “miscellaneous”.    He’s certainly enthusiastic … I can’t fault him on that.

Rowan in supervision with Jango

I suspect his job description was written whilst the residents were a bit high on the nip.    They seem to consist of digging loudly and vigorously in the litter tray whilst I’m on phone calls, but also leaping from the top of the filing cabinet and crashing onto the desk during video calls.  I understand he’s also being given an out of hours payment for rearranging the room in the middle of the night.   I personally haven’t sanctioned this … and will raise it as an issue at the next team meeting.

sleeping on the job

but very cute

One of the other joys of WFH is that we can sit out in the garden for lunch breaks.   I was impressed to find that the rest of the team were appropriately socially distancing.

team social distancing

Though it didn’t last long.  Kevin is far too needy of other feline contact to hold out for long.   He was soon snuggled up to his best friend Dasher.

  Honey remains in overall charge.   She’s the go to purrson if any issues arise, and is on top of remembering what day it is and whether its tea time.  I’ve been a little disappointed in her actual engagement with work.   She did briefly pop into a microsoft teams meeting but found her attention quickly wandering …. and went to sit in the garden instead.

Honey … Chief Exec

To be fair, I miss my human colleagues lots.   I’m loving my new fur team though.

WFH (3) .. my new colleagues So we're settling into working from home now.   Bizarre as it all felt on our first WFH blog, just 3 weeks ago, we're now settling into a new sort of (ab) normal.   

[opepin]

august: week four

21: i woke up at 8:30 am and then did 30 minutes of hiit and it killed me LOL. my body felt up for it though and there was a bunch of sweating. i showered and then ate breakfast and woke kevin up. we both wfh’d today because we wanted to see the eclipse together :) plus, dave would be out until wednesday. i ordered my nike free tr7s from zappos and then i did some internet errands and started to go over some training stuff for tomorrow. x_x; it was a really chill day because everyone was too preoccupied with the solar eclipse haha. i got off a really short stand up and then kevin and i brought our leftovers outside to eat. we had the lobster and garlic bread for lunch outside in the courtyard while watching the eclipse. it was nice :) then we cleaned up and went back in. i think i was mainly distracted when i got back. i started feeling pretty crappy in the stomach area and i felt nauseous after a while too. ugh, these period symptoms got me going crazy this week. i laid down for a while and did my best to get through a call that phil led, which wasn’t too bad. then i did some window shopping on reformation clothing’s website and kevin helped me decide against buying a new dress LOL.

i had to try on my dress with my heels to restrain myself from buying another dress. when i felt a bit better, i worked out my legs and kevin went to cook. i showered and then watched agents of shield while kevin did his thang in the kitchen. he made taiwanese beef noodle soup because i have been craving it and i needed some tender lovin’ from soups for my stomach. i ate a lot today tbh, but i think i worked out enough to balance out the calories. i didn’t feel like i overate though? lol. idk. we watched more agents of shield and then i got a really bad tension headache. i laid there while watching another episode before calling it quits and brushing my teeth and washing the dishes. i hopped into bed and just ko’d because my head really hurt. i went to sleep at around 12:30 am.

22: i woke up at 8 am and just went on instagram to get to the eggie clothing launch. i was upset to find out that the one shirt i really wanted was sold out of smalls already :( so i decided not to get anything. lol this choice haunted me for the rest of the morning and afternoon T_T i should have gotten an xsmall. anyway, i spent 20 minutes on that in the morning and then did a low impact workout so i don’t kill my body from doing too many hiit workouts. then i showered, ate breakfast, and kevin left for work and then i hopped on the first call of the day. it was just me and a client and it went really well. she was super understanding! then i did some emailing and more regretting LOL. ugh, i need that black blazer and eggie tee and the try again tee in blush -- i guess i have to wait now. i also made another uniqlo order because the jeans i wanted were on sale and i tossed in 2 mock neck ribbed crops tops in there for only $3.80 each ;D lol sigh.

my second meeting of the day was rescheduled for tomorrow so i took this time to reassess my work stuff and do some internet errands. i watched agents of shield while working and then hopped on the third call of the day and right after, went on stand up that lasted an hour... haha... i continued watching agents of shield and then did a 40 minute back / arm workout. i showered and then chilled for the rest of the evening. it’s nice getting things done early. kevin came back from climbing, i washed the dishes, and he made dan dan noodles. we watched more agents of shield and then he went to game and i watched another episode. lol, i feel like i can’t trust anyone in that show anymore T_T i called it a night at 11 pm. i brushed my teeth and ko’d in bed at around 11:30 am. zzzz.

23: i woke up pretty energized but i checked my phone and happened to check my chase account and i got charged a service fee -__-” so i had to deal with that later on in the morning. first thing’s first though -- i did a kickboxing workout, showered, and ate breakfast. then i hopped on the train and the man sitting next to me reeked of smoke and body odor T____T it was the most unpleasant train ride to work that i’ve ever experienced... i got to work at around 9:30 am and then went into a telephone booth to figure out this darn chase thing. the customer representative was not helpful at all so i sent chase a secure message asking for a first time fee waiver. then i talked to dave about the eclipse and started prepping for my prep call with phil, ahha. my call went really well. we got a lot of work done and i feel more confident of doing training on my own now. well, we only got through one section of it but we’ll schedule more time later.

it was a very quiet day but i bumped into cait in the kitchen and talked with her for a bit. joe came in the afternoon and we talked for a bit. we got on stand up and after that, i finished my work (had to erase some templates to make more space) and then packed up and walked to kevin. we met on the bridge and walked to south station and went home. we had a small argument about accessing saving account money with atm cards and/or debit cards. i got mad because i hate it when he’s right because he thinks he’s right all the time. -__-” we both turned out to be right and kevin kept teasing me which made me even angrier. so we talked about it when we got home and then i took like an hour nap in the bed with kevin while he read and/or gamed. then he went for a run and i did my oblique workout. i showered first and then chilled for the rest of the day. kevin made eggs and chives and this new green bean recipe for dinner. we watched agents of shield and then kevin went to game and i watched a bit more before going to sleep. zzzz. it was nice coming home early and just cuddling with kevin (:

24: this was the first time in a while where i turned off my alarm and ko’d right away. luckily, i only woke up 15 minutes later and then i got up and did my low-impact workout for the morning. i took my time getting to work resulting in me getting there later than usual, but i let dave know and i skyped him on the train to ask for more work to do. i started working on a journey map and creating a few icons :) i changed into glasses again today to gauge how comfortable my eyes are with the computer again and wearing them constantly. my prescription is high so i’m still getting used to it. dave had to step out for a bit and then i bumped into a bug that byron had to fix himself so i tried walking to uniqlo with my glasses during this “break” but walked back because my eyes felt really tired and it was too bright outside with too many moving people.... oh, also i felt bad for using about an hour’s worth of work time to walk there while dave was dealing with something.

so i walked back and then worked on the map some more. byron fixed it fairly quickly! dave got back before 4 pm so it’s a good thing i didn’t leave for long. my eyes felt tired so i took my glasses off for a bit and rested them. i’ll walk to uniqlo after work and take my time; kevin won’t be back until 8 pm because he’s climbing today so i’ll have enough time to get my stuff, go back home, exercise, and get the chicken thighs in the oven. ;D there was only one hour left of work and i just had questions for dave so i did internet errands while dave finished a call. i talked with dave, made some changes, and then i was basically done for the day. i walked over to faneuil hall by memory and without my gps because my phone was at like 10% when i left the office. i picked up my order and tried on the items in the changing room. i took a while because i needed opinions on whether to keep the two shirts i got as well as the boyfriend slim fit jeans i got from uniqlo. i got two ‘yes’es from michelle and vivian so then i walked to downtown crossing and commuted home. i got back at like 6:40 pm.

i got my shipping box for my macbook pro trade-in as well as my new nike free tr 7s; tbh, i was kind of underwhelmed. :( i think it’s because there were too many color ways that were pretty nice but none that i loved. i went with the black / lava glow / anthracite color way, which i think is the nicest one that isn’t too girly. anyway, i was a bit rushed because i opened my packages, put my macbook in the box, tried on my shoes, ate a snack because i was pretty hungry, seasoned and put the chicken thighs into the oven, washed rice (and apparently forgot to hit cook Dx), put away and washed the dishes, and clean up all the boxes we have in the apartment. we have a ton of boxes in our apartment right now and we haven’t even begun moving LOL.

well, i managed that and then kevin got back home from climbing, showered, and i went straight into doing a free weight butt workout, which i love! it burns so good lolol. then i showered while the rice actually cooked and kevin and i ate dinner while watching agents of shield. he went to game and i continued watching. i stayed up until 1 am for some reason -- it felt like a weekend. i ended up going to bed at the same time as kevin, which happens rarely. :P he wants to do other things instead of just watching tv together so we’re gonna brainstorm what we can do. i think it’d be fun to game with each other, but also scary territory because most of the time, i’m a sore loser @_@; we’ll see!

25: it was a nice day to wfh. i woke up pretty sore so i just did some hip hop cardio in the morning. then i ate breakfast and showered. kevin left for work and i did some errands. i re-ordered my new nikes in a 7.5 because the 7s seem a bit too tight. then i started making wireframes for a new feature in ux360 while watching agents of shield! i finished the second season and the next one seems a bit weird... i got on a client call with dave and phil and then worked some more before stand up. i am very happy with my prototype right now and i spent more time adding in more functionality to it in axure (: ahhh, so much fun! after work, i ate a scallion bun as a snack and some chips while watching youtube videos. hm, i think what’s plaguing my mind right now is when eggie is going to restock the items i want LOL. i think i am in a fashion phase right now @_@; i did my workout, kevin got back home, and then we played a trivia game together. then i went to shower while kevin made dinner. we had a really late dinner because we played that game...lol oops. we didn’t watch anything while eating because we were starving. then kevin went on a run and i watched an episode of shield on my ipad before going to sleep... it was a nice start to the week. 

26: i woke up at 10 am and just took it easy this morning. kevin and i looked for coop games on steam and i did some internet errands. i ended up watching the rest of the digimon tri series that i forgot to watch. there’s still part 5 that’s not out yet, but now i’m excited. kevin gamed and then we meal planned and went grocery shopping. we stopped at kam man and bj’s and also got my car washed :) lol we’re still noobs at going to car washes. we got back home and then put everything away and started going through the games that kevin bought on steam. we played a lot of overcooked -- we both really liked it. then we started cooking dinner. kevin cooked the ribeye on the cast iron skillet and i made garlic mashed potatoes :) we ate dinner while watching agents of shield and then after digesting, i did my 45 minute workout. kevin tried getting me to play portal knights at like 12 am after he showered but i was so tired and i got grumpy because the set up took so long. i was tired and ko’d before 2 am. x__x; it was a pretty productive day though, and kevin’s idea of playing coop games together seems like it’s going well.

27: i woke up earlier than kevin again to clean the kitchen and bathroom. kevin did wake up earlier today though. we ate breakfast and after i put the fleece blankets in the wash, we went straight to gaming. we started playing the other coop games that kevin purchased yesterday. we gave portal knights another chance but it was meh. out of the ones that we played, we really liked ibb & obb and battleblock theater from this batch. then we went to get our thai massage! the massage was just ok today because a different person massaged me and she was either too gentle or too hard. i did get walked on though :O afterward, i started washing our clothes and then we ate lunch outside. then we continued to play games. i legit started crying while laughing while playing ibb & obb. i’m really bad at jumping but it was so funny. kevin asked what was wrong with me LOL. we stopped gaming at around 6 or 7 pm and kevin cooked off the last piece of steak while i did a 60 minute kickboxing routine. he ate while i worked out and then i went to shower and ate while watching agents of shield. kevin washed the dishes and then watched with me for a bit. i folded the clothes and stuff and then we continued gaming. we ended the night playing overcooked and battleblock theater until 11:30 pm. i went to sleep at like 12:30 am or something because i was still really excited about all the games we played together <3 hehe, it was a good idea to do this. it was a great weekend :)

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations GRACIE! You’ve been accepted as ENCELADUS with a FC change to GEMMA CHAN.

Dana is such a unique character because, unlike most mutants, she knew what it was like to have a human life, and you capture that and the drastic changes between human and mutant life so well, Gracie! Reading your application, she felt like such a real person to me, with motivations and morals I could totally identify with, which makes me all the more excited to see you and her on the dash. Her desire to help people despite the moral conflict of helping a gang is a take I’m excited to see explored, and truly, I am so excited for everything she’s going to do!

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Gracie

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 24

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: EST & on a number scale, probably a 4-5, so about 5 replies throughout the week, if not more. I do work full-time but with ‘rona, I am WFH until further notice.

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Dana Ramone (FC change to Gemma Chan)

GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis female & she/her

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

Dana is a contradiction in and of herself. She is constantly walking a tightrope between control and the lack-thereof, between who she was, who she could’ve been and who she is. She has always been soft but her embrace is no longer warm and inviting – it’s timid and terrified. She’s got an underlying current of fear running through her, a fear that one day she’ll not be able to catch all the broken pieces of the life she once dreamed of and that they’ll shatter once they slip through her fingers. She can no longer draw someone close without pause or hesitation– she has to think through every action now and try to predict her own reactions. She used to be so certain, so self-assured –– not proud by any means, but she used to be confident in her ability to heal. Now, even as she sutures up a wound, she’s wondering if the next moment she’ll be unintentionally opening it up again with a flare up. That’s what she calls them. Flare ups. When her hands begin to tremble and she feels power welling up inside of her like a wave before it crashes and she can’t keep it in.

She misses who she was before. When sunshine meant good days and rain meant bad ones. Now she can’t even trust the weather. She can’t even trust herself. She does her job because she’s always done her job but, even three years later, Dana still wants to do her old job at the hospital. She wants her old identifiers: MD. Surgeon. Wife. Human. Now she must live with: Level Five. Divorced. Mutant. It’s a ringing in her ear that won’t go away – a constant reminder of everything she’s not anymore. And everything she is even if she wants things to be different.

Dana adapted, slowly but surely. She cares about her fellow members. She cares about doing a good job. She’s got a big heart, always has, and that hasn’t changed just because she’s considered dangerous now. It’s one thing she can’t let change. Because if that changes then she’ll have let this new ability change everything about her. She’s still clinging to who she was. Who she knows herself to be. And she’s channelling it into the work she’s doing now. People don’t expect her to get the job done, they see her soft nature, they see her struggling for control, they see everything she’s fallen short of but when there’s a body on the table, when one of their own is suffering, they see a new side of her. She takes a breath and begins to work. Calm and collected and if she ever feels the trembling start, she talks someone else through what needs to happen, unwilling to let someone die if she has even a fraction of a chance to save them.

She may not know who she is anymore, she’s still trying to figure that out, but Dana knows she’s a healer and she holds onto that like a lifeline.

BIO:

Life is a series of befores and afters.

Dana’s first before was the year she was born.

It was the year her father and his new wife were trying to have a child. It was the one thing her father knew he wanted more than anything. To have a child with his new wife. Her father had never really known what he wanted in his life – it was one of the reasons why he and his first wife divorced. Despite having a young daughter, Angela, there were too many differences to settle, too many that even their mutual love of their daughter wouldn’t let them overlook.

So they separated and, eventually, her father married Stephanie – a young, ambitious resident who wanted a child early on in their relationship so she could continue her career. Stephanie hadn’t been planned, and her parents always reminded her of the fact, and so she was determined to plan their lives to a tee –– have a child, go back to work in a year, live the life she knew her own parents never could. It was what she wanted most and so that’s what Dana’s father wanted most.

They tried for nearly two years before Stephanie was willing to consider adoption. And though hesitant at first, when they adopted Dana – a small, bright-eyed baby with laughter on her lips and a curious gaze following wherever she looked –– it was impossible not to love her.

Dana’s first after were the years following her adoption. The years in which she grew up a kind, curious child who loved books and pillow forts and nature and picking wildflowers. She saw her sister occasionally, but she knew they were different, even from an early age. It wasn’t the fact that they didn’t look alike, nor the fact that Dana spent her weeknights in dance class and her Saturdays at swim – she knew they were different because of how people looked at Angela. Because of the words she heard floating around: Mutant. Dangerous. Different.

Her parents let her see Angela, of course, her father especially liked his daughters to spend time together but the more time she spent with her, the more Dana wondered if she’d ever get an ability like her sister. And the more time she spent with her sister, the more she realized that Angela wasn’t too fond of her.

It was another before for Dana. Before she realized that her sister wouldn’t be her best friend and they were destined to leave separate lives. Eventually, circumstances created a wedge between them and they started seeing less and less of each other.

Her next after was one of growing up and following in her mother’s footsteps. Dana had always been an intelligent young mind, curious about the world around her and the inner workers of practically everything. As a child she would ask her mother endless questions about the human body and as she grew older, those questions turned into requests for books, an interest in science and, eventually carving a path to medicine herself. She’d always been curious but she also always wanted to help people, like she saw her mom do on a daily basis. And when she was seventeen, having graduated high school a year earlier than most, she pursued her higher education at the University of Chicago. She remained there until she was twenty-five, graduating with a medical degree and a residency at Northwestern Memorial Hospital where she hoped to become a neurosurgeon.

She’d worked so hard for so long and had rarely had time for a personal life, something her parents had warned her about when she expressed a desire to go down this path. That changed when she met Alistair McGovern. He was a few years ahead of her in his residency, but of the same mind that she had –– that all of this work was so they could be equipped to help those who needed it most. So many of their fellow doctors were there to make a name for themselves, to get a big job to pay off some big loans but not Alistair. Not Dana. He was easy to love and they fell for each other within a few months of meeting.

But despite her love for him, she was always uneasy with his family. The McGoverns were a prominent family in Chicago politics, supporting anti-mutant legislation and “protective” measures for the city’s human inhabitants. They weren’t too crazy about her either, having learned about her sister but as long as Angela wasn’t brought up at family dinners, both parties could live in harmony.

They got married when she was twenty-nine and their lives just fit together, puzzle pieces finding their match. They had matching schedules, they worked in the same place, they had the same dreams and goals and plans. They didn’t want to have kids just yet, they wanted to enjoy their lives together. And they did for several years.

If only Dana had known that their time together leading up to her thirty-third birthday would become a before. Before everything went wrong.

They went out with friends for her birthday, celebrating, dancing and drinking – nothing out of the ordinary but that night she began to fill a bit off. It was small at first. A bit of vertigo (surely just a result of one drink too many), a headache (the music was loud) and cold sweats (she hadn’t eaten much that day and had had several long shifts leading up to it). Every strange feeling was easily identified by Dana and any worry dispelled by logic. By science. By medicine.

But the feeling persisted. She wasn’t sick. They thought that maybe she was expected. It hadn’t been in the plan but stranger things had happened. They’d deal with it together, Alistair assured her but the five tests she’d purchased two days later turned out negative and still, the disquieted feeling in the pit of her stomach persisted. It was like a ringing in her ear – she could forget about them occasionally but once she noticed them, it was nearly impossible to ignore.

Still, she took some time off, just a few days she’d had saved for years of not taking any time off, and after four days the symptoms subsided. She went to work the very next day, feeling lighter and better than she had in nearly a week. There was surgery scheduled and she’d never have gone in had she been feeling off. After all, operating on the brain took an almost robotic like precision that Dana excelled at in the OR. It was what she was known for – remaining calm and staying on track, even when the unexpected happened.  At least, that’s what she’d always thought.

After, she’d look for the signs – for any sign of how she would’ve known what was to come. What might’ve happened. How she could’ve prevented it.

But before….she couldn’t have known. There was no way to predict that in the middle of surgery her hands would begin to shake, no way to know that those tremors would spread to the rest of her body and that she’d have to call for an emergency stop as she dropped her tools to the ground and began to shake uncontrollably. There was no way to know she should’ve warned her colleagues when she collapsed, no way to tell them to get away from her, that this wasn’t a seizure or a stroke. That the moment they huddled around her, trying to help, they’d be blasted back with a tremendous wave of energy emanating from Dana.

She couldn’t have known the events that would follow –– that the after would be hospital security rushing in as her colleagues were knocked unconscious by the blast, as alarms began going off while their patient began to code on the operating table. Later, she would learn that the only reason she wasn’t immediately detained and imprisoned was because of Alistair, and his family.

Her employment was terminated at the hospital, her files shared with the government and her credentials stripped. Even with all of this, her husband stayed by her side. Or he tried to. He really tried. He knew she hadn’t known what she was and he fought tooth and nail against his family to make sure they knew that.

She was his wife. He loved her. She was a healer, who’d killed a patient and two colleagues, landing several others in the ICU. She was a doctor, who’d had all her certifications and titles stripped. She was a good person. She was a good person. She was a good person. It’s what they both clung to in the midst of everything. But being a good person wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to ignore how her hands would shake for days. It wasn’t enough to stop watching her warily, for fear of a random burst of energy coming his way. It wasn’t enough to keep them in the same bed, both tossing and turning with different fears. Love wasn’t enough to deal with all of this. He divorced her six months after her powers manifested.

Another before. And this one hurt like hell. Another after. She was lost. A ship at sea, unmoored and drifting in the dark abyss her life had become. While Alistair tried to keep things quiet, tried not to make her life any harder, word got around. Eventually, Dana found herself without recourse, without a path and with the knowledge that all the years she’d poured into being a healer had amounted to nothing, all by her own hand.

But where one journey ends, another begins. Despite Northwestern’s attempt to cover it up, news had spread throughout Chicago that one of their best surgeons had been a mutant and, eight months after that first incident, she was approached by Kings Collective. They wanted her to be their doctor.

She was wary at first, the thought of joining a criminal organization a bitter taste in her mouth. But nothing was more bitter than the fact that she could barely help herself, much less others. Still, that calling she’d had from a young age –– the one she couldn’t ignore, compelled her to help others. She knew that this was the only way she could continue doing so, and hoped that maybe being a doctor again would heal the ache of the past months. She accepted their offer and has been their doctor for nearly three years now.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

Angela – I would love to explore their dynamic and how they grew up/viewed each other more in depth. Also, how they view each other now, Dana with her new understanding of what it is to be a mutant/what Angela’s dealt with her entire life and Angela with what Dana is dealing with, also them being on opposing sides.

Cain – I think the difference between them is interesting, especially since Cain is so hardened by life and Dana is determined not to have the same thing happen to her. The fact that they are both doctors but only one of them wants to truly heal is so dynamic, especially since they are in opposite organizations. I think it could be fun to explore that dichotomy and whether or not it gives Dana a new perspective on her position.

EXTRA:

These are just some headcanons I have for Dana, which will be expanded and added to should I be accepted in this role!

Hands shake after using her powers

Emotions heighten it

Meditates

ASMR is the shit

Listens to classical music when she operates on anyone

Jogs around Lake Michigan every morning / helps her feel centered

Kept her wedding ring but has it buried away somewhere

Doesn’t like to hear about plans if they involve Alistair’s family –– she finds it hard to be objective and has made it known that no one should tell her anything if that’s the case.

Has kept brief contact with Alistair –– he’s engaged now. She doesn’t resent him for any of it.

Has had limited contact with Angela since her sister joined the Jem family. Has thought of reaching out but doesn’t think it’s a good idea.

Has thought of tracking down her birth parents but doesn’t think it’d do any good now –– too much time has gone and they could be dead or in prison with other mutants. It won’t change what’s happened and could only hurt her more.

Mother and father were supportive once everything happened but she can tell her mom’s still nervous around her and hates it.

[steadymantra]

7 WORK-FROM-HOME FRIENDLY EXERCISES TO HELP YOU GET STARTED.

Your body is the finest resource you can have for obtaining a terrific exercise regimen without the need of any fancy exercise equipment. Body strength workouts (movements that require you to lift or push your own body weight) may shape and trim your physique while also providing structure to your musculature. They also train you for the physical actions that you might have to undertake on a daily basis, such as lifting up your children, practicing excellent posture, and moving large luggage.

If you've not already, it’s high time that you incorporate the best practices given in this blog into your daily routine so that you have don't feel alien when returning to the gym.  

Why should you be concerned?

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that individuals in the age range of 18 and 64 should engage in "a minimum of 150 minutes of mid-intensity physical exercise each week." These can involve going for a stroll, biking, or participating in some sport.

There are several advantages to this, including improved muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance, bone density benefits, and weight management.

Maintaining proper posture whilst sitting, in addition to physical exercise, is critical to remaining healthy. Bad posture can cause a variety of health problems, ranging from back and neck discomfort at the least to terrible coordination and migraines at worst. If you slouch after eating, it can also cause stress incontinence (lack of bowel control) and indigestion. Constipation can be caused by poor lavatory position too (we know, that’s horrible!).

How can I stay active while working from home?

Work from home has been something like a dream for many— avoiding rush hour traffic, answering phones from your couch – but it may rapidly descend to a toxically sedentary lifestyle. It may need some innovative thinking and discipline, but being active even when working from home is vital for your mental and physical health. Here are some pointers to get you started:

1. Make your workplace uncomfortable

Yes, you read that right! It is not necessary to devote practically hours of your week to workout. There are fun alternative methods to get your body moving; all it takes is a little thinking.

In businesses, we usually focus on how to make the situation faster, easier, and more efficient so that we may be maximize our productivity. When you apply this strategy to your home's work environment, you may find yourself sitting for extended amounts of time because everything is there easily available front on you in front of you.

Adjusting the physical layout of your home workspace (and making it more tough to find comfortable) might help you move about more.

Try some of the suggestions below:

Take your glass of water and place it in a different room

Take your phone to a different room

Move your printer to a different room.

2. Get up and move around your desk.

Moving around your desk is a wonderful option if getting away from your desk feels impossible. To prevent distractions, turn off your work device and your phone, then spend at least five minutes each hour practicing some easy desk exercises to relieve stress and get your heart pumping.

Here are a few examples:

Arm twists  

Shoulder rotations  

Left to right head spins  

Forward and backward head tilts  

Arm circles / swings  

Leg lifts  

Upper body twists  

Side to side leg swings  

Calf raises

3. Sign up for a virtual workout class

Gym memberships may often be costly for your budget, particularly if you are the sort of person who joins up and then never attends! Online courses are a great method to get your body moving without leaving your house, with only a fraction of a typical gym membership fee. In most cases, you pay a monthly fee to have access to a variety of videos and other wellness information. It is also conceivable to participate in live classes, in which students join the class and the instructor conducts a session in real time. Since you are given some internal accountability to ‘turn up' with your class mates, you are considerably more likely to attend and participate in this dynamic virtual atmosphere.  

4. Go out for a walk

If online courses are not your thing, go for a stroll, preferably in a green place. Stepping out in nature will help you feel better and also get away from the "noise" of city life. Some research also shows that engaging in physical activity in a natural setting might help treat moderate depression and decrease physiological stress markers. Walking has the advantage of not requiring any additional equipment; simply put on your shoes and go. And even ten minutes of walking is all that is required to feel the benefits.

5. Put it in your calendar

You will not forget to schedule a client appointment, but why would you relax with your exercise schedule? Your virtual/real calendar is a tool that may help you stay disciplined in spending your time the way you intend. Taking a stroll will not happen until you compel yourself to do it. Placing a date in your calendar may seem excessive, but it's all too simple to allow your work to dominate your mind and realize at 5 p.m. that you have not left your desk at all since morning. Thus, make a sensible decision and schedule your active time for exercise on your calendar.

Exercises to do at home without equipment

New tech has provided us with several advantages and comforts, but there is one big disadvantage: many of us sit at a computer for 8 (or sometimes more) hours in a day, nearly six days a week, for several weeks in a year.

However, the same item that may make us busy, successful, and effective workers for our organization also can impair our health—possibly forever.

So, the next thing you think as if your posterior is cemented to your computer chair, try a couple or all of the WFH exercises listed below. They will help get your circulation flowing, avoid muscle soreness and damage, or even help you gain some muscle.

1. Dips in the triceps

For this, you would need a stationary (and not a rotating, wheeled!) chair to do this maneuver. Move towards the front edge of the chair and place both hands on the end. Put your hands flat on the chair, bend your elbows backward, and drop yourself few inches straight down, maintaining your back as near to the chair as possible. Then extend your arms to return to the starting position.

Perform 20 dips like this.

2. Pulses in the arms

These extend your shoulders and works your triceps. Stand at your workstation with your arms by your sides and your hands placed behind you.

Pulse your arms back for 20 seconds, maintaining them to be as long and straight as you can.

3. Arm Circumferences

The phrase "circle back" takes on new significance in this context. Stand with your feet shoulder-width and your arms straight out to the sides at shoulder height. Make a tiny backward circle with your arms.

Do this for 20 times in this direction, then swap directions and continue.

4. Squats on a Chair

Try out these short exercises them out amongst your meetings, during a call, or at any other time. All that you would have to do is get out of your chair and bring your body back down, pausing just before you sit down again. (To train those glutes, concentrate your weight on your heels.) Then go back to your feet.

Rep this 10 times more.

5. Standing Pulses

This exercise will come naturally to you if you have already ever attended a barre class—but your desk is literally standing in for a barre. Bend a leg behind you, bending the foot, while holding the edge of the desk for support. Raise your foot a few inches off the ground, then gently release and push your foot squarely behind you. Switch between raising your heel up and pushing it back.

Perform 20 to 30 reps on each side, then alternate sides.

6. Squats

Squats are a well-recognized and an important part of any training regimen. This form of exercise is an expert at multitasking. You learn balance, lose more fat than other workouts (owing to muscle growth), stimulate your core and spine, and increase circulation while doing them.

It's also one of the oldest and most beneficial utilitarian workouts, so you won't have any trouble crouching to reach the bottom of the fridge.

7. Lunges

Lunges, unlike regular squats, require a significant weight transfer because you are stepping backwards or forwards. Gym trainers refer to them as lunge complexes since you will go forward, backward, and laterally. But don't get caught believing that this motion is exclusively for your legs. You'll be exercising your calves, glutes, and hamstrings regardless of the variety. Balance will also be provided through your core and lower back. Lunges also help to enhance the mobility of your hip flexors.

In conclusion

One of the best features about work-from-home calisthenics is that it can be the foundation of your whole fitness routine or just one component of it. You can practice our recommended workouts while concurrently lifting weights, swimming, or riding your bike.

In this regard, exercising from home is the ideal type of exercise. It's secure, efficient, adaptable, and cheap. It is something that everyone can do at any time and from any location. Not even asparagus can make that sort of a health benefit claim!

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