Phayze

Thanks, T! It's been fun, but now that it's almost over, part of me is kinda looking forward to getting back into the regular routines... it's just too bad that routine has to involve going to work. :/

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I'd like to object to the use of "middle aged" to describe us 35 -year olds. .

Other than that, though, looks like you've got a good plan and the chart building skills to keep it organized. ^^

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Way to look on the bright side, T! ^^

I really dig that dadlife-positivity goal - it can be way too easy to fall into the trap of only thinking about the hard parts at the expense of the good parts... i know I do it more than I like.

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Give it hell, hero! Those things won't know what him em!

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[Important note:  I'm posting now, and may be around a little for week 1, but I'm on stay-cation this week and won't officially start challenge activities until everyone else is on week 2.  I'll make up for it on the break before the next challenge... probably.  ^^;]

Breaking news from the Goodfellow Cluster!  Early this morning employees of the Ettin Conglomerate arrived for work at asteroid mining facility H414n and were surprised to find a group of heavily armed mobile frames guarding the docks.  A representative for the group claimed to be acting on the collective will of laborers throughout Ettin territory who have been demanding improved wages and working conditions to no avail for several years.  They stated an intent to guard the entrance to this mine against all intrusion until their demands are met, and have called on workers in other Ettin Conglomerate facilities to rise up in solidarity.

While rumors of dissatisfaction within the Conglomerate have circulated since it severed ties with the Free Allied Ergotacrocies over 25 years ago, this is the first such act of open rebellion.

You may recall our report last week regarding a shipment of advanced charged particle weaponry and SK-1 "Imp" mobile frames that had been reported by manufacturer Phayze Fructification, inc as "seized by pirates" during transport to the Oberon Tvier Solar Energy Collection Array.  

We reached out to PFi to ask if these could be those same units, and executive spokesman Destin Puck had this to say:

Puck: "There is simply no way of identifying the stolen units short of examining the serial numbers etched onto the inner frame on the left underarm, and I'm certain that the thieves burned those off with a plasma welder long before selling the frames to whoever has them now.  Even if these were the same units, PFi bears no responsibility for what may be done with property that's been stolen from us."

More on this story as it develops, but for now let's turn to Alex for the latest on the Trundleball Quarterfinals!  Alex? --

TL;DNR:

Pointman - Ring Row/Bridge Progressions 4x/week
GWACS - Post 2x/week to this thread + 4x/week in other threads
Ground - Movement 15min 4x/week
Pound - Meditate 10min 5x/week 

[/b]Pointman[/b] (???+x)


 

As the backbone of the team, this unit uses its linear grapple to pull itself over difficult terrain to crash through enemy formations or provide assistance to allies in need anywhere on the battlefield.

 

Everybody needs a strong backbone, right?  I'm going to work (slowly) on supporting mine by alternating bridge progressions with ring row progressions 4x/week.

 

[/b]GWACS[/b] (???+x)


 

The team's communications specialist uses its twin scanner arrays to gather battlefield data in real-time and keep that information flowing for ideal coordination and unit cohesion.

 

My comm skills needs some honing, apparently, because I've been a really terrible forum member since I returned from my hiatus (nevermind that I was never super active before that  ^^;).  So, I'm going to update this thread 2x per week, and participate in other threads 4x per week  - MINIMUM.)

 

[/b]Ground and Pound[/b] (???+x)


 



 

It may not be a glamorous role, but these versatile grunts are sturdy and reliable in any situation.  When things go sideways, these guys have your back!

 

We all need things in life that we can depend on when the feces strikes the oscillating rotary air circulator - for that, I have my "basic training" routine, which includes seated meditation for 10 minutes 5x/week, and 15 minutes of movement training (includes stretching and balance exercises) 4x/week.

Let's get rebellious!

Challenge 1 Complete!

Bridges 15/16 94% A! STR+1, CHA+1

Balance 15/16 94% A! DEX+1

Stretch 16/16 94% A! DEX+2

AM Qi Gong 16/20 80% B! CON+1

Zazen 18/20 90% A! WIS+3

Movement 15/16 94% A! STA+3

Listen, I'm not going to lie to you people - as soon as I hit the threshold for an A on these things, I declared it "good enough" and stopped. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. ^^;

What I AM proud of is my general diligence and devotion to duty throughout this challenge!

Thoughts on each mission below the cut!

I was a little nervous about the bridges, because it's been so long since I've done any kind of strength work, but I'm taking Coach Wade's advice in Convict Conditioning, and I'm only adding a rep or two each week - I haven't burned out yet, so here's to the future! Definitely going to continue working this, and more things like it in future challenges.

My balance is greatly improved already, if my performance with the drills I've been using are any indication. I can stand with one foot in front of the other, eyes closed, and follow the movement of my hand by turning my head side to side, up and down, and around in circles and I ALMOST never fall over! I'm better with my left foot in front, because in that position the right foot does most of the adjusting. I'm going to keep this as part of my regular routine, though I'll likely shorten the time spent on it.

I still can't do the center splits, BUT I think I'm probably closer than I've ever been before. Even if I'm not, it makes more sense to me to stretch for a goal than it ever did to stretch just for the hell of it, so I'm keeping a variation of this in my regular movement routine henceforth!

The main reason I did as badly as I did on the Morning Qi Gong thing was pure absent-mindedness - sometimes I'd just plain forget, expecially if there was something going on that day and I couldn't be as leisurely as I'm used to with my morning routines. Still, B is good, and I'm not complainging! ^^

Seated meditation, the bane of my last challenge, has seen some good improvements in consistency! I mostly stuck to the same relaxation practice I used last challenge, but also experimented with what "The Mindful Geek" (great book, you should read it!) called "focus on the positive", which is basically a variation on classical "metta" or "loving-kindness" meditation. It feels good, and it's much more natural than other metta variations I've tried.

I had a few "brain flatulence" days with the movement goal, where I'd just sort blank out and not know what to do. It's weird for me to NOT have a meticulously curated schedule and a list of skills I want to work on, but it's also freeing in a way - I'm not pushing myself to drill things like advanced rope dart moves when I'm too tired to even practice the basics effectively, and instead I'm asking myself questions like "How do you feel today? What are you up for?" It's oddly empowering.

DING! Phayze has gained a level!

Level 2 Air Nomad Assassin

STR: 2 STA: 6 DEX: 7 CON: 3 WIS: 6 CHA: 4

My next challenge is pretty much done, I just need to figure out one last mission before I can pull the trigger on it. Oh, and I need to gather up some good pics to keep it interesting!

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Week 3 Complete!

Bridges 3/4

Balance 4/4

Stretch 4/4

AM Qi Gong 3/5

Zazen 4.5/5

Movement 4/4

Not my best week.... on the bright side, though, I have lots of room for improvement going into Week 4! That's something.... right? o0;

I really need to pay more attention to what's going on in the forums (something I've always sucked at)... I thought I could rely on Tapatalk to remind me to check make appearances here, but instead I've just gotten really good at not seeing Tapatalk notifications.

I don't have much to say other than that, really... probably why I'm not very active on the forums. :/ I'm trying to make some choices about my next challenge, but I'm struggling with what to do, both thematically and substantively. I had intended to do all four elements in my Airbender cross-training thing, but I'm already feeling restricted by that plan, and I haven't done very well at keeping up the themeyness beyond my intro post, so I'm thinking about moving on to something else. It's been a long time since I used a challenge as an excuse to make LEGO mecha battle scenes, so maybe I'll do some more of those? I have some WIP mechs that would be cool for that, but I'd need to come up with some useful scenery and terrain pieces.

Hmmm.....

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Ideally, I guess... it's hard enough to just become one with the steering wheel! o0

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Week 2 Complete!

Bridges 4/4

Balance 4/4

Stretch 4/4

AM Qi Gong 3/5

Zazen 4.5/5

Movement 4/4

I had every intention of making up those two dropped morning Qi Gong sessions on the weekend, but somehow managed to just completely forget until it was way too late. ^^;

http://gph.is/1crVrp0

Better luck next week? Honestly, I'm kind of conflicted about that particular quest... on the one hand I think it's great to start my day with some kind of movement activity, but on the other hand I'm usually more interested in breakfast and morning chores when I first get up, so I have hard time motivating myself to put the time into it. Starting with Week 3, I'll probably loosen the parameters to include pretty much any kind of intentional movement, just to make it easier to think of things to do.

I earned that half point for meditation when I forgot my formal practice and did some "mindful driving" on my way home from work. After so many years of doing it, I'm pretty shocked at how difficult it is to stay focused on the act of driving. Kind of scary, really... o0

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Week 2 Update!

Bridges 3/4

Balance 4/4

Stretch 3/4

AM Qi Gong 4/5

Zazen 3.5/5

Movement 3/4

Ugh.... I started out on Sunday thinking "this is not going to be a happy week", but thankfully things turned out a little better than expected. Illness has besieged the Phayze Household, and while trying to keep up with all the stuff that needs doing I left my flank open and got sniped. It turned out to be nothing serious, just muscle soreness, headache, fatigue and a little light-headedness. Mrs. Phayze and The Boy have a lot of sinus congestion and sore throats, which I somehow managed to avoid. I dragged myself through my missions on Sunday and Monday with some spectacularly half-assed effort, but my complaints didn't last long, so I was able to get my act back together for the end of the week.

Usually my workweek ends with Thursday, but I have an extra shift this Friday, which means an extra day on my "normal" schedule to make up for any dropped points (I'm usually too busy with family time and catch-up work around the house to get any challenge activities done on the weekend). I'll be on my own for a while before work, too, because the rest of the family is taking my car to the dealer for some warranty work. I'd do it myself, but I don't think it'd be done in time for me to get to that extra shift on time.

This is bad, because it pretty much trashes our weekend family time, but I'm going to make the most of it to take care of some chores and maybe even finish that LEGO build I've had in limbo for almost a month now. Don't tell The Boy - he hates it when I have fun without him.

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How's the challenge going? Week 1 good and crushed?

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Lookin good, T! Sounds like that meal planning thing is your toughest goal this time around. Mrs Phayze and I always talk about making a menu, but it never seems to come together. It's a lot of work!

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Thanks, Eve! Glad to have to you along. ^^

Week 1 Update!

Bridges 3/4

Balance 3/4

Stretch 3/4

AM Qi Gong 3/5

Zazen 3/5

Movement 3/4

All on track, except for meditation, and the reason for that one is totally stupid: I just forgot to put it on my "To-Do's" list for Wednesday and just assumed that I had intended to only do it 4x/week instead of 5. Duh. >

Everything is feeling pretty good, and I'm really liking the idea of using this super-remedial plan to get myself onto the "2-on, 1-off, 2-on" training week. I've always liked the idea, but whenever I've tried it I have failed abysmally at scaling back my workload to account for the higher volume. Lesson learned!

It's worth noting that I've also kept my 3x/week creativity time in my "To-Do's", I'm making good progress on (what I think is) a really cool new mecha build. I just need to finalize some colors and come up with good gear for it, which is proving better than expected...

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What can I say? I know what people want. ^^

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Yay for splits! I've just started working on that, so I'll be monitoring you for good advice to steal. ^^

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The transition from randomness can be a real doozy, but it feels great to make steps toward a solid goal! You can do it, Hero!

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I had a little talk with Master Tenzin the other day, and he agreed to consider recommending me for the Order of the White Lotus! There's a catch though, like always...

I JUST shaved my beard... ><

"The combination of the four elements in a single person is what makes the Avatar so powerful, but it can make YOU more powerful, too." - Grand Lotus Iroh

Obviously, I'm no Avatar (after seeing how bad at it Korra is, I think I prefer leaving that job to someone else!), but that doesn't mean that I can't benefit from an understanding of the principles and practices used in other bending arts, so I've been sent on a pilgrimage of sorts.

First stop: The Water Tribe!



TL;DNR:
1x10 "Short Bridge" 4x per week
Balance Training: 3 min 4x/week
Stretching for side splits - 4min 4x/week
Morning Qi Gong: ~5 min 5x/week
Seated Meditation: 10 min 5x/week
Movement Training: 10 min 4x/week

Let's get wet!

EDITED repeatedly because the dagone pics wouldn't show!!! ><

Congrats on the new recruit, T! Any body who can keep up with two kids is already a super dad on my book!

I'll be taking notes on what works for you to level up my own dad-ness. ^^

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Challenge 0 Completed!

-Creative Activities: 15/15 100% A! CHA+3

-Qi-Gong: 9/10 90% A! STA+3

-Movement Training: 13/15 93% A! DEX+3

-Mindful Coffee: 68/68 100% A! WIS+3

-Formal Meditation: 20/25 80% B! CON+2

Whew! It feels good to be back in the saddle here at NF. As great as Habitica is at keeping me on track, there's just no substitute for a Challenge Thread. ^^

Clearly, I could have done better done on my meditation goal, and I considered massaging the numbers a bit by removing Week 0 from these totals to get myself a better score but that just felt like cheating. I committed to starting the challenge early, so I'm going to own the consequences of that.

Imperfection is not a bad thing, so I'm not really concerned about my lack of straight A's or the fact that I didn't spend any time working on the Bagua form that I was interested in. BUT I did practice some Bagua circle-walking and do lots of good, quality stretching work and rope dart practice, not to mention that I made some good strides here toward reestablishing my lapsed wellness habits and strengthening my mind-body connection.

All in all, I'd call that a level-up well-earned! ^^

DING!

Level 1 Air Nomad Assassin

STR: 0 STA: 3 DEX: 3 CON: 2 WIS: 3 CHA: 3

My next challenge is pretty much ready, but I'm going to take advantage of the off week to prototype some stuff without serious tracking. Most of the tasks from this time around are going to stay active in my Habitica Dailies, so I need to make sure the new stuff integrates well.

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I'm just going to leave this here: BrickJournal Issue 40. ^^

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Sounds like a classic application of the age old strategy "let the wookie win". Wise choice!

Right! Challenge! Almost forgot about that. ^^;

Better late than never? o0;

Week 3 Completed:

-Creative Activities: 3/3

-Qi-Gong: 2/2

-Movement Training: 2/3

-Mindful Coffee: 14/14

-Formal Meditation: 5/5

I sort of gave up that point on the movement goal willingly because I was feeling run down and wanted to rest. I know, I know: "listen to your body!" and all that, but let's be honest here and admit that 10 minutes of gentle stretching would have had benefits that can't be gained by sitting on my butt. Still, I regret nothing. ^^

Week 4 Progress:

-Creative Activities: 2/3

-Qi-Gong: 0/2

-Movement Training: 2/3

-Mindful Coffee: 5/14

-Formal Meditation: 2/5

Off to a good start for the last dash! I've been using my movement time to test out some plans for next challenge, and I'm feeling pretty good about all of that. Creativity is ramping back up after my little slump, and I'm starting to get some things together for a semi-narrative series of LEGO pics. Everything else is feeling pretty good! I've kept with the Focus on Relaxation practice throughout this challenge, and I feel like it's done a lot to get me in touch with when and where I'm holding unneeded tension in my body (*cough*shoudlers and hips*cough*) and making it easier to let that go.

I had another weekend of challenging physical work, this time helping to fell a tree and then clear up that resulting mess. I had almost recovered from the fence posts the week before, so it wasn't too hard to do, but I'm still feeling it now several days later. I'm hoping that my projects this weekend aren't so taxing... It doesn't help that my dogs have decided to issue a wakeup call two hours before I usually get by barking their precious little heads off for no friggin' reason for the past three days in a row... >

Oh, and I had to work a double shift on Sunday, which is good because overtime pay, but it's bad because it was a DOUBLE SHIFT! Bleh! I'm glad I like my job, or it would have really hurt.

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Edit: why does Tapatalk insist on removing all of my paragraph spacing?

Crush those goals! Crush them like the sweet, crunchy center of a Take 5!

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Ha! Awesome. This artist sounds pretty cool - I'll have to check out his stuff sometime. [emoji14]

Epicness is all relative, so it thrills me to no end that you guys felt inspired enough to play with my little model. ^^ As awesome as your mech is, I'm not surprised that it lost to the Hulkbuster - that pilot looks pretty fierce!

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Week 3 Update:

-Creative Activities: 2/3

-Qi-Gong: 0/2

-Movement Training: 2/3

-Mindful Coffee: 6/14

-Formal Meditation: 3/5

So, I know that "creativity is a habit/skill/whatever" is probably true, and I want to believe it, but this week I'm really struggling to make it happen. I put some time in with LDD, mostly trying to make weapons/equipment for my mechs, but I just can't seem to make anything that works for me. The guns are too bulky, the swords are too awkward, and the backpacks aren't even there. :/

My seated meditations are happening, but I'm struggling to keep focused. I'm still mainly using a Focus on Relaxation technique, which I enjoy, but it's not cool to get sidelined by random thoughts before I've even gotten as far down as my traps. Like we used to say in my old Aikido dojo: "This is why we train."

Moving/stretching is going well this week, but I still haven't made any time for Qi Gong (problematic, since the week is rolling by so quickly!), but I think I'll be okay.

This is my first 4 Week challenge, so I'm a little freaked out that it's so close to ending already. I've got my next writeup pretty much done, but I still have homework to do before I can finalize a few details.

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