Osu

[Kishi]

22 minutes ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Part of the campaign's charm. I'm running a bunch of friends through it too, though much earlier, they're still in Vallaki.

 

Aah. Is that what they call it? Well. Should be interesting to see how charmed everyone is.

 

That being said, part of why I find this fascinating is that brother is actually a fascinating storyteller within the mechanics and he has made slight tweaks throughout to emphasize roleplay over grinding. I'm hopeful that this turn will in fact allow some great things to happen.

[Mistr]

Sounds like you had a great weekend. When you look back in a couple years, you will remember seeing cool people at Galaxycon. You won't remember skipping a gym session.

 

Granted that time management is a real concern as your social life gets more complicated. You are clearly prioritizing working out as much as you can.

 

Cool that your brother does a good job of making the story come alive for the players. That is tough with a scenario written by someone else.

[Kishi]

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

Sounds like you had a great weekend. When you look back in a couple years, you will remember seeing cool people at Galaxycon. You won't remember skipping a gym session.

 

This is true. I'm not emotionally invested in the weight that I lift.

 

2 hours ago, Mistr said:

Granted that time management is a real concern as your social life gets more complicated. You are clearly prioritizing working out as much as you can.

 

Yeah. And it's weird as martial arts is taking on a kind of social component, so it's training but it's also life off the mats and... yeah. I dunno. It's a good kind of weird, but it's still pretty weird.

 

3 hours ago, Mistr said:

Cool that your brother does a good job of making the story come alive for the players. That is tough with a scenario written by someone else.

 

Yeah, and it's something he's had to work really hard with. He wound up inheriting the game from the former DM who had to take off and do things, and the party had been left in a bit of a lurch because their characters didn't really have access to necessary information and no real in-character reason to go looking for it. So he had to tweak things a bit in order to make a scenario where the characters could actually pursue the endgame in a way that was true to them.

 

Thing is, I honestly have no idea where they go from here. My understanding is they got all the things that could make a difference on this scenario, and by the time it was over, they didn't really have all those things anymore. And if brother plays Strahd as a competent despot, he'll be after them and they'll be done. So like I said, curious to see how they solve this one.

 

*

 

And life goes on.

 

Writing class is finished. I got a certificate and everything. At this point it's all a matter of keeping the reflexes sharp and writing every day. Can do.

 

Went back with my friend to his place afterward and watched the Debates. We came away with some Heavy Thoughts as he seems to have realized that his dude, for all that he likes his dude, is maybe possibly not the dude we need. Also found his One Issue, which feels like he had a bit of a breakthrough on it, but at the same time the fact that I don't find his dude terribly impressive weighs on him and I suspect that when I go to hang for Round 2, it's gonna come up again.

 

Work's been fun. I met some of the goals that were set for me but not others, so I'm being put on a sort of probation. They're taking me off of receipts for the next month to really focus on closures. Oh, and by the by, I'm not allowed to take a day off for the next month, which I'm not sure if they mean it's frowned upon or if I'm not actually allowed access to my leave. Which I think is illegal if it's the latter? Not sure, need to talk to HR about that.

 

Whoof. I'm tired.

 

But life goes on.

[Kishi]

So! Turns out it is legal to bar me from taking days off. Word.

 

So, went to drink and talk and things turned out okay. We didn't write together, but we sat down to watch Debate 2: Electric Boogaloo and I gotta say, I think writing would have been a better use of our time.

 

It feels weird to stand here and have so little to say, but. What can I say? Some days end relatively quiet.

 

Today's docket includes BJJ and strength training. The added twist is that I'm running at a sleep deficit this week. I guess we'll see what sticks and what doesn't.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Yeah, you need out of there fast. Take it from me as a former government worker, that job holds no future for you.

[Kishi]

3 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Yeah, you need out of there fast. Take it from me as a former government worker, that job holds no future for you.

 

You're right. I talked about it with my friend last night and he was talking about how the skill set I have would transfer really easily to an insurance adjuster job. Looking at the salaries there, even the opening for a trainee would bump my pay by 15%. Which is just one option; it stands out to me as the closest match in terms of my skillset, but allegedly I could go for other work in other fields as well.

 

At this point, I really need to carve out some time to work on the resume and get my social profiles updated. That would be good. It's not like I've been lazy this past week but it always seems like all the time has been spoken for. So.

[Kishi]

Thursday was a great night for training.

 

Got out to the mats and got to try out a brand new flow in BJJ, working an x-guard from the back which is the one way I seem to be able to get it. It's damned powerful, but I feel like it's going to need more practice than we're going to get. Oh well. It was still fun. Got to go a few rounds with the teaching blue belt afterward and almost managed to sweep him a couple of times. I'm also finding more opportunities for offense, which is good. Means I can identify them.

 

Got to the gym afterward and worked on squats and push ups. Squats are feeling grindy in a way that they shouldn't on a Soviet-style lifting plan, so I'm probably gonna re-cycle this weight, (as opposed to the deadlifts, which feel controlled). Push ups had to be practiced again but they went up well this time so can advance.

 

I also figured out what this guy was talking about with bar rotations. I can't post video link here, but suffice to say it's actually a rather violent motion that left my core sore and my heart racing. Good stuff. Felt that in all the right places.

 

So all in all, a damned good night.

 

Tonight should be open mat. I've been working late all week, so I'mma take off early today to get my gis cleaned up and use the time to work on, in order - 500 words, resume, side gig. Feels like a good use of my time since I plan to come in to the job tomorrow for OT.

[Kishi]

Welp, the weekend happened! It was definitely a thing.

 

I didn't get my words done, but I did do something that was arguably as important - I compiled the words. Since I've been doing my work on the work computers at lunch break, I've had to email the words to myself day by day. So I've got a bunch of emails with a bunch of words, and not all necessarily in order. So I spent the weekend compiling the work. I found myself liking it, too, something that feels good to be able to say. It's nice to like my work again.

 

I also got the resume cleaned up and updated, and got it passed to a friend of mine who consults on these things for a living. We'll see what she says, but I'm hopeful.

 

The only thing I didn't work on this weekend that I meant to was the side gig. I could have made time for it, and I didn't, and that falls on me. My fault. I suspect that with the state of the indie market right now, I'm not really missing much, and I don't think it's done any harm, and we're way up on what we mean to do, but at the same time it was still something I said I'd do and I didn't keep my word to myself, so.

 

Friday night was open mat, but nobody showed up. Professor, unbeknownst to me, got shipped down to Texas for his job (which none of us had planned, as far as we knew he'd done all his travel for the year) and the weather I think probably kept everyone down. Had one of those nice summer rains which we seem to be getting more of around here. It was nice to sit and hide from the world for a while, but I really wanted to work too. Oh well.

 

Saturday my sleep debt caught up with me and I slept until about 13:00 despite getting down only a touch later than usual. So my motivation was pretty much gone. I did some of the aforementioned projects and got over to the office for some OT and hit the gym to work on skipping rope, but not much beyond that.

 

Sunday, brother's stream didn't happen. Not sure if it's over or what, or if everyone's recovering from the marathon session. I didn't go to boxing, though. The coach, much as I like him, sees this as a conditioning opportunity rather than letting the skill work be the conditioning, and while I can see that being part of the appeal for the majority of people, that's just boring to me. It's part of what's driving me to the local MMA place - BJJ tends to treat the skillwork as conditioning, which is appropriate, and I'm wanting to see if that bleeds into the kickboxing as well. Let me do my own S&C on my time; I know what I'm doing and don't need more time there.

 

Did make BJJ. Didn't have a very strong performance, but that happens from time to time. Went with a white belt who I know to be super nimble; he's like that in his striking as well and he's able to translate it to ground which makes him really hard to track with. And I got smashed by the teaching blue belt. Oh well. This happens from time to time; all the same, I'm pretty stoked to get out of the classroom and back on the mats. Worried I'm getting a little rusty.

 

Made handstands work afterward, which was good.

 

Today or tonight will vary depending on which DM-san is running the game and how long we get. We start another cycle tonight and it's the last of 3 before I complete a full 12 weeks. At which point, I'm taking a week off. Whee.

 

I got a copy of Pavel's new book. It's another GPP program, but this one's tailored more toward endurance than any other quality. And as this is the thing that I'm the most paranoid about, I'm kind of itching to give it a shot. Problem is, Pavel says if you're going to do this program for its endurance benefits, it needs to be done in the morning, and that's not a good fit for me. Gives me a case of the frownies. I suppose I could hit this up on the weekends, one day after the other - only needs 2 days a week for to work - but I didn't do it this weekend as I devoured the whole book in the course of one night and needed a couple days to digest it and see what it was telling me.

 

But yeah, it's fascinating work and if you're interested in what power work as conditioning work looks like from a Soviet perspective, it's definitely worth reading. Part of the reason I went crosseyed on it is that it actually digs into the energy systems and how to try to tweak them, and it's a lot of technical stuff that I hadn't seen in a while. It felt good to get back into that stuff - actual science rather than bro science - but the proposed protocol looked so easy that I honestly had a hard time grasping it. I was looking for something super complicated and I had to skip a couple gears before I could get where I needed to to understand it.

 

/ramble

 

Strength work either tonight or tomorrow. Let's get it.

[Mistr]

Sounds like you needed time to rest and recover. Mentally as well as physically.

 

Good for you getting your resume out for review. I hope you find a better place to work soon. Lots of companies are desperate for reliable people with good communication skills. You can be picky this time.

[Kishi]

17 hours ago, Mistr said:

Sounds like you needed time to rest and recover. Mentally as well as physically.

 

Yeah, and I don't think of rest as a waste of time, but I would like to use that time for more than just hiding from the world.

 

17 hours ago, Mistr said:

Good for you getting your resume out for review. I hope you find a better place to work soon. Lots of companies are desperate for reliable people with good communication skills. You can be picky this time.

 

Yeah, and that's a good feeling. Like I said, looking at insurance adjustment work first just because that seems to be the easiest jump. Believe it or not, I don't mind the work itself; I just think management is bonkers and doesn't want to take the credit it deserves.

 

*

 

Strength work happened last night. Wound up inadvertently taking it easy as brother informed me that our Netflix had its password changed, something that I hadn't authorized or asked for. So I used my rest periods to resolve that problem and then went to check on everything else. So far, it seems that it was isolated to just that, but I reckon I should probably take the time to change all my passwords up just to be on the safe side.

 

Didn't make time to do that last night, though; instead, got home, got dinner, went to bed.

 

Tonight's a pretty open night. Without class to go to, I think I want to see about this kickboxing program, which I mentioned earlier. They're apparently offering a free trial, and I'm curious. So I guess we'll see what that's about.

[ReturnOfTheDad]

35 minutes ago, Kishi said:

I want to see about this kickboxing program

 

What kind of kickboxing is it? Muay Thai? Freestyle?

[Urgan]

1 hour ago, Kishi said:

Yeah, and I don't think of rest as a waste of time, but I would like to use that time for more than just hiding from the world.

 

But dude, have you tried hiding from the world? It's amazing. 

[Kishi]

1 hour ago, ReturnOfTheDad said:

 

What kind of kickboxing is it? Muay Thai? Freestyle?

 

Looks like Dutch. So more freestyle, although I reckon there's probably some cross-pollination.

 

50 minutes ago, Urgan said:

 

But dude, have you tried hiding from the world? It's amazing. 

 

Hai, and it was, but it wasn't when I wanted it. I think that's the distinction for me.

[Kishi]

So, I did make plans for to go to Kickboxing, but the recent development of my hacked password made me paranoid for my finances. So I wound up taking the night to go back home and get my affairs in order, which sounds ominous but basically just means that I did laundry that needed doing, changed some passwords, and also ran the tests for Q&D, which is the abbreviation for Pavel's program.

 

It was a lengthy process. Like I said, it's essentially the use of power to build endurance, and as I started with my very lightest weights to figure out what I should be doing, I wound up taking lots of rest on the way to figuring out what I was doing. I went further than I thought I would for my lack of practice - I can still one arm swing the 53 just fine, and I can still two arm the 70. The other thing was push ups; I'm actually going to wind up having to do them with some banded assistance, which is going to be something of a novel experience.

 

The other thing I wanted to get done was getting our open mats promoted on our Facebook page at the BJJ dojo. Managed to get that process started; I don't have admin capacity so I can't do it myself and I'm having to work through someone else. It'll happen or it won't; I just think we stand to grow more if we use the school page versus just little old me. Hopefully I hear back soon and we can get this done.

 

Today should be an easy day. Nothing but rest and maybe writing? Not sure; will need to get the words done at lunch just to be on the safe side.

[Kishi]

Wednesday down! Wednesday was a good day. No writing, but drank good booze and talked about my feelings with my friend. He's a good man. I'm glad I know him. We also started in on season 3 of Young Justice, which holy crap you guys is so good. Greg Weisman is off the chain of network television and it shows. Could've binged the whole thing, happily; I'm actively fighting the urge to do it now.

 

Tonight's plan is to go check out the new school and see what's up over there. After that, strength work.

 

Was informed by the Dramatis Personae (that friend group) that they wanted a meeting for business-related stuff. The DO was going to be there. I came up with good excuses not to be. Win.

[Urgan]

22 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Was informed by the Dramatis Personae (that friend group) that they wanted a meeting for business-related stuff. The DO was going to be there. I came up with good excuses not to be. Win.

 

"Sorry I just heard Timmy fell down the well again and needs to be fished out."

[Kishi]

23 hours ago, Urgan said:

 

"Sorry I just heard Timmy fell down the well again and needs to be fished out."

 

I keep putting him down there for swim lessons and every single time, I swear...

 

*

 

Thursday down! Thursday was fun. I went to check out the kickboxing place, and the head teacher wasn't there. Instead, there was a BJJ purple belt who has a Thai boxing background, so we basically hung out, hit pads, and shot the breeze comparing notes. We had people in common; it turns out this dude has heard of the Judo instructor at my school and also knows Manong, of all people. We talked about how badass Manong's daughter is - which she is; she's a blind judoka who's training at the Olympic center, and I'm not sure whether she's out for the games next year or if she's in for the Paralympics that follow, but she medals in international competition, so she's legit - and just... yeah. The place is super cool. It's got a real chill, semi-tropical vibe about it.

 

I asked about price after, and the guy wasn't able to tell me anything about all that, but he was like "Nah, dude, don't even worry about that. Just come back and hang out."

 

I reckon I want to.

 

Hit the gym afterward and got the meat and potatoes of the program but missed the finisher again. Hm. I probably need to cut some idle time in the car. I've developed a habit of constantly checking my phone when I'm out and about and it takes lots of time. Don't really need that.

 

Anyway. Open mat tonight! We'll see how it works out now that we have lots of people.

 

Tomorrow should be OT but realistically, given that I've run up a sleep debt again, I reckon I'mma crash and cuddle with my sheets for a bit. We'll see what happens.

[Mistr]

Yay for having fun with the BJJ person at kickboxing! That is a good start on more crosstraining for you.  

 

Idle time on the phone is always a prime target for trimming. I need to find a way to block FB at work. Most of the time my discretion is enough but every now and then I slip and waste hours.

[Kishi]

On ‎8‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:36 PM, Mistr said:

Yay for having fun with the BJJ person at kickboxing! That is a good start on more crosstraining for you.  

 

Yeah, I had a lot of fun. Food for thought - you don't have to kill yourself every single time you go to get something good out of the time you spend.

 

On ‎8‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 1:36 PM, Mistr said:

Idle time on the phone is always a prime target for trimming. I need to find a way to block FB at work. Most of the time my discretion is enough but every now and then I slip and waste hours.

 

Yeah, that social media tho. It's a potent drug.

 

*

 

So, open mat worked out to being just me and one other white belt. We rolled a couple times but she didn't really have the conditioning to make a full hour of it. She left early and I stayed to see if anyone else would show. Nobody did. So, quiet Friday night.

 

Saturday I slept late as I figured I would. Went to work and got my paperwork caught up, which was pretty much all I had time for. Oh, and I hit up Q&D for the first time, had a lot of fun with that. Did so in the morning for endurance benefits as that's the base I mean to cover. Hit up the gym after work and played with skipping rope and some power work on the bags. Sweet.

 

Sunday morning was more Q&D. Saw later that it was originally meant to be done with a day's worth of rest between, but I have to compromise somewhere at this point and I can choose between aiming at the benefits I want and having to settle for something else that I don't want. I think I'm okay with this as it is.

 

Bro's stream didn't happen again Sunday, so I guess that means it's dead. Guess they got a Sopranos Ending on this one. Oh well!

 

Went to do BJJ that night. Worked on guard breaks and passes, and managed to pull one off rolling. That was fun. Also got to go with a new guy who's all strength and knows how to place his body. Got pinned a few times but never got subbed. If I'd rolled with him 5 months ago, I would have been toast, but as it was I was able to receive his energy and eventually turn it back on him via Guillotine. Even now, I still say he's good practice. Tapped the next white belt about thirty seconds into the round because she'd been giving me lip earlier in class, and I said I would. :D Then I spent a couple rounds getting smashed by the coach. As happens.

 

Good end to the weekend.

 

Workplace stupidity continues today, mostly around documentation of hours. Apparently, you work overtime any time you work over 8 hours in a day and not when you hit 40 hours for the week. Unless you hit your 40 hours and then leave, except you can't just up and do that either without permission for what basically amounts to Reasons.

 

Ugh. Freaking management. I'mma message my friend and see where she's at with my resume.

[Kishi]

Well, after workplace stupidity, going out to game with folks was refreshing. We managed to get a lot of things to go right in the campaign and it turned out really well. I thought we were in for a fight, but our party basically took the enemy by surprise, took out the heavies early, and we managed to make a rout of what I honestly thought was going to be a fairly deadly affair.

 

I wonder how long DM-san's going to let us get away with that.

 

Afterward, he sidled up to me and said that he'd met a girl who he thinks would like me and whom I would like in return. He's trying to set up a meeting between us. I've never met this girl before and don't know much beyond the fact that she's smarter than me and shares some fandoms. Cool.

 

It's one of those things that, rationally, I know isn't a big deal. It's not a date, or at least it doesn't seem to be one. Sure feels like one, though, for all that I've been talking myself off the ledge of trying too hard. Like I'm not even sure how to dress for this, for all that I've studied up on this kind of thing. Need to read up on the place we're meeting and "read the room." Might put something good together.

 

Went and lifted things afterward and this time got it all done fast enough to hit the finisher. Guess there's something to this whole "don't waste time on your phone" thing.

 

Anyway. Today's plans are to return to the MMA place and see what's up. Might do some yoga afterward. Might just chill. We'll play by ear.

[Urgan]

2 hours ago, Kishi said:

Afterward, he sidled up to me and said that he'd met a girl who he thinks would like me and whom I would like in return. He's trying to set up a meeting between us. I've never met this girl before and don't know much beyond the fact that she's smarter than me and shares some fandoms. Cool.

 

It's one of those things that, rationally, I know isn't a big deal. It's not a date, or at least it doesn't seem to be one. Sure feels like one, though, for all that I've been talking myself off the ledge of trying too hard. Like I'm not even sure how to dress for this, for all that I've studied up on this kind of thing. Need to read up on the place we're meeting and "read the room." Might put something good together.

 

See also: blind date.

 

It's okay to be cautiously optimistic you'll make a positive connection. Whether it's a girlfriend connection is TBD, but it should at least be a good time assuming DM-san knows what he's doing.

[Kishi]

4 minutes ago, Urgan said:

See also: blind date.

 

Only if I don't wear my glasses.

 

5 minutes ago, Urgan said:

It's okay to be cautiously optimistic you'll make a positive connection. Whether it's a girlfriend connection is TBD, but it should at least be a good time assuming DM-san knows what he's doing.

 

Yeah. Working not to give this more weight than it needs to have, if you know what I mean.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

The point of meeting is to see if you want to meet again or not. If you go in with that mindset it might help. If you want to meet again, then you find out if she does. If you both do, then you meet again. If only one of you wants to meet again, you let it go. I put the emphasis on you deciding because it can help you remember your opinion of her matters too.

[RisenPhoenix]

*skims log*

 

Yup, he still has that damn TARDIS.

 

*reads closer*

 

AND he has a date!  Whoooo! (Yes, I'm 12.)

[Kishi]

2 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

The point of meeting is to see if you want to meet again or not. If you go in with that mindset it might help. If you want to meet again, then you find out if she does. If you both do, then you meet again. If only one of you wants to meet again, you let it go. I put the emphasis on you deciding because it can help you remember your opinion of her matters too.

 

Yeah. That does help, actually. Kind of takes the weight off. I could show up and we not really click with each other. That's a distinct possibility.

 

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

*skims log*

 

Yup, he still has that damn TARDIS.

 

 

All in a day's work.

 

1 hour ago, RisenPhoenix said:

*reads closer*

 

AND he has a date!  Whoooo! (Yes, I'm 12.)

 

Yeah no that's new and you are totally allowed to be excited over it.