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moonlake [he/him] @hexbear.net

Weekly Improvement Thread - July 6th 2025

Hello comrades and welcome to the first improvement megathread of July!

The month has just begun so there is still time to set some goals or plans for the month.

Some discussion ideas:

  • How was your week?
  • Do you have some plans for next week?
  • Do you have any sober days or streaks?
  • Do you have some plans for July?

Poster caption: "To the soviet people – the first builder of socialism. Glory!"

9 comments

  • Graduation from my training is coming up this week, already got my hands on knowledge for AC systems, got my EPA 608 universal and now spending my time studying for the NATE cert. Thinking might give it a week or less idk before I apply to some places if that fails then a union.

    Still studying this extra thing is real difficult so I kinda get why it's the difference of earning 15+ more dollars an hour. I guess my best strength so far is getting used to failure and not knowing things, means I gotts keep trying and keep studying. I wanna be employed not just as a regular HVAC tech but an elite one so I guess that will be my goal after I get a job. It took me a 1 month to study and get my EPA 608 universal so anytime frame of 3 maybe 6 months is my ambitious goal I'll set. I will not get fired again after a week

    and I'll make everyone proud

  • Last week managed to pass my epa 608 and got my universal, I missed part 3 but was allowed by my school another go and got it. My card came in the mail today and now I have it. Got around 2 more weeks of training left and I'm more driven now, doing some self study to fully understand hvac systems. Took advantage of a free resource my library offers called udemy and today managed to finish a course on troubleshooting hvac. Made flashcards and looking forward to expand my knowledge and get a good career in this.

    Also been spending my free time listening to HVAC school podcast and I've requested a book to prepare for the NATE certification for HVAC techs. Also found some good books on hoopla (another free resource from my library) to start learning more advanced electrical work for HVAC. The NATE test basically will be a measure of everything I know HVAC wise and it's also another milestone in getting a good paying job.

    I can't lie money has been getting tighter and tighter recently, I'm stressed and worried but I feel like I got a chance at a better life through all this for me and my family. I just want to live without worrying about bills so much or having to budget so aggressively on food

  • I started therapy with a new psych on Friday! I’m gonna struggle to keep it up for too long financially, but hopefully can get something from it in the meantime. He thinks I have undiagnosed ADHD which tbh would explain a lot. To get an official diagnosis means going through a different, even more expensive process. So I’m gonna have to try figure that shit out.

    My other small self improvement decision was to take FinnishBolshevik’s advice about reading. I used to read a lot more but in the past year or so I got out of the habit somewhat. I’ve started using spare time like waiting for the bus or at the laundromat, sitting on public transport or whatever, to get 15 minutes in here and there instead of doomscrolling. I’m finding PDFs I can read on my phone when I can so I don’t even have to carry around a book or my ereader. I’m listening to audiobooks more instead of just random podcasts/youtube at work. It’s helping me read a lot more!

  • I stepped up my usage of Anki. Been using it for language learning, but I want to branch out and use it for general memory and learning. My weakness in education is that I often stop short of the details, satisfied learning only the broad concepts. I suppose my attitude has been, if I understand the concepts, then I can reproduce any particular detail as needed. But at this point, I really ought to do better with trivia because it does matter and is often practical.

    I imported a couple shared decks. One for trigonometric identities, and another for geography. I'll add these in with my daily language flashcards. Moving forward though, I want to create my own cards. Should be better for learning, and I can make them more personal e.g. friends' birthdays or coworkers' names.

  • It's still too hot to live so it was not a great week. But I managed to go running on 2 days and practice meditation on 3 days. I also did a bit of reading.

    Next week the weather should be better so I will try to do more physical activity.

9 comments