#56 – September 17, 2021

Hello!

Saw this animal on a quick family walk to get some vitamin D and actual fresh air into our systems. Once again, the best camera is the one you have on you when you need it.

On the home front: I’ve been tracking a few numbers recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that when monitoring a series of numbers, you are far better off tracking a rolling 7 day average than making all decisions based on the latest data. Especially if the tracking of numbers is done to try and better yourself.

If you are only reacting to the latest data point, a “bad day” could ruin your motivation. Inversely, on a “good day,” you can celebrate both a good result and knowing that your 7-day rolling average will only benefit you.

The whole concept of the 7-day rolling average was bought to the fore last year when it was used as a target for easing restrictions during our longest lockdown in 2020. We needed to get 14 days under 5 cases in order to be able to travel past our letterbox. As my wonderful wife would say, that was a slight dramatisation, but you get the drift.

I’m tracking blood sugar, weight, and the Victorian COVID case numbers daily. I really appreciate how the “smoother line” gives a better guide to how things are actually tracking than the rather more erratic daily data point. It gives me a better view of what I should do (maybe NOT order that Uber Eats waffle in the evening) instead of reacting to every daily shift.

I also feel that as long as my daily numbers come in under to 7-day rolling average, I’m doing well. I’m not starving myself to lose weight or to drop my blood sugar numbers, and by eating a little bit better than I would like to, I continue to see my numbers improve.

It just occurred to me that, unlike in business where the trend is to get the graph to go up, the three items I’m tracking are needing to drop. 

So each day, I input the results into my spreadsheet and see the lines magically move to reflect both the daily and more importantly, the 7-day rolling average numbers. And from the direction that the average line is trending, I can make decisions for the day.

Except for Mondays, if I can arrange it, I will always have that pizza on Monday night … and then pray I’ve done better for the past seven days.

On the technology side, I have confirmed with my carrier I can start the phone upgrade to the new iPhone 13 Pro (possibly Max) in 13 days. Can’t wait to try the new improved camera system with the 3x optical zoom and especially the macro capabilities! No doubt you’ll be seeing the results on this blog.

That’s it for now. Talk to you soon. Stay safe.

Richard