WhiteGhost The Arruvia Conspiracy Chapter 2

[CourtnieMarie]

stretch!

[raptron]

What an awesome trip! I've loved your boldness in trying new food things this challenge as well. I tend to really like heart and other things that are clearly more just muscle (heart, tongue) than some of the goopier organs (intestine, brain). Kidney and liver are great tooo. 

 

You are doing lots of good work this challenge.

[Elastigirl]

That is so cool that you tried all those new foods. Yay for being adventurous.

 

Interesting what you said about grip vs using friction to hold on. What would you say is the difference in how you grip now?

[WhiteGhost]

On 8/2/2017 at 2:14 AM, CourtnieMarie said:

stretch!

I'm on it!

 

12 hours ago, raptron said:

What an awesome trip! I've loved your boldness in trying new food things this challenge as well. I tend to really like heart and other things that are clearly more just muscle (heart, tongue) than some of the goopier organs (intestine, brain). Kidney and liver are great tooo. 

 

You are doing lots of good work this challenge.

 

10 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

That is so cool that you tried all those new foods. Yay for being adventurous.

 

Thanks!

 

In the past my food adventures have been kind of forced on me, usually in the form of being offered a local delicacy by a host and it would be extremely rude not to try it.  I am not sure why, but I suddenly I feel abnormally adventurous when it comes to food.  Perhaps it is because I am becoming more adventurous in general*, but regardless of the reason, Mi Vieja has been quite pleased that I am willing to try some of the foods she loves (she loves some really weird foods...) instead of making faces and pantomiming vomiting

 

*this year I have felt the strong call of adventure, trying a number of things that I have always imagined I would try someday (or never imagined at all), but in the back of my mind "knew" that it was just a wishful fantasy.  New things tried this year include parkour, pole dancing, circus (silks and trapeze), OCR (Spartan Sprint) and skydiving.

 

10 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Interesting what you said about grip vs using friction to hold on. What would you say is the difference in how you grip now?

 

It is a slow process, and I don't think my grip has changed significantly yet.  However, I have become much more aware of how I grip, which helps to make minor modifications.  Before, I would simply lock my fingers around the bar so that the rotational friction would keep me from sliding off. When my hands get sweaty, I lose most of the friction and I slowly slide off the bar.  I discovered that by activating my forearm muscles forcing me to clench down with my fingers, I can maintain a grip even when it is wet, and also helps relieve some of the pain and blisters that come from relying on friction alone.  Through this, I have also discovered that my ring and pinky fingers are much weaker than my index and middle fingers, so when I hang I try and focus my strength on those two to try and balance things out.  I don't expect to have a monster grip in the short term (or maybe even in the long term) but I am really glad I made this a priority this challenge.  I will drop the grip focus on future challenges, but will keep implementing and improving on the things I learned this time around.

[WhiteGhost]

Update as of Thursday Afternoon - Week 4

 

Mission 1: Improve Grip Strength 3x/week  included in Mission 2

30c and really humid during my workout so I was super sweaty, making grip work really hard.  I had to use my feet to support myself for pretty much every hang.  Ripped a few calluses doing plyo pulllups  

 

Mission 2: Muscle Up Routine 2 Days/Week

Had a good but very tiring workout this morning.  Only one more to go before vacay!

 

Mission 3: Focused Flexibility 5 Days/Week

I forced myself to stretch both Tue and Wed, even though it was well after midnight by the time I got around to it.  I wonder if I will ever get to the point where I enjoy stretching? 

 

Mission 4: Homemade Meal 1/Week

Made baked fish with mashed potatoes and baked broccoli yesterday.  The fish and potatoes were pretty good, but I haven't been able to get the broccoli to come out as well as it did the first time I made it.  I thought the difference may be because I switched from pork grease to olive oil for the seasoning, but I think cooking times and temps are also making a difference.  I need to go back and see if I can remember exactly how I did it the first time.

[Mad Hatter]

2 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

*this year I have felt the strong call of adventure, trying a number of things that I have always imagined I would try someday (or never imagined at all), but in the back of my mind "knew" that it was just a wishful fantasy.  New things tried this year include parkour, pole dancing, circus (silks and trapeze), OCR (Spartan Sprint) and skydiving.

 

Midlife crisis?  

[WhiteGhost]

52 minutes ago, Mad Hatter said:

Midlife crisis?  

Likely!  

[raptron]

I think the NF community also strongly encourages the pursuit of adventure~  We have all these friends doing cool things! 

[WhiteGhost]

18 minutes ago, raptron said:

I think the NF community also strongly encourages the pursuit of adventure~  We have all these friends doing cool things! 

The NF community is certainly the reason for the OCR happening (I didn't know they existed before I found this place)

[Elastigirl]

11 hours ago, WhiteGhost said:

 

 

*this year I have felt the strong call of adventure, trying a number of things that I have always imagined I would try someday (or never imagined at all), but in the back of my mind "knew" that it was just a wishful fantasy.  New things tried this year include parkour, pole dancing, circus (silks and trapeze), OCR (Spartan Sprint) and skydiving.

 

 

It is a slow process, and I don't think my grip has changed significantly yet.  However, I have become much more aware of how I grip, which helps to make minor modifications.  Before, I would simply lock my fingers around the bar so that the rotational friction would keep me from sliding off. When my hands get sweaty, I lose most of the friction and I slowly slide off the bar.  I discovered that by activating my forearm muscles forcing me to clench down with my fingers, I can maintain a grip even when it is wet, and also helps relieve some of the pain and blisters that come from relying on friction alone.  Through this, I have also discovered that my ring and pinky fingers are much weaker than my index and middle fingers, so when I hang I try and focus my strength on those two to try and balance things out.  I don't expect to have a monster grip in the short term (or maybe even in the long term) but I am really glad I made this a priority this challenge.  I will drop the grip focus on future challenges, but will keep implementing and improving on the things I learned this time around.

I think being a part of NF has really inspired me to be more adventuresome. Also, I think the fact that  I feel stronger helps. 

 

Thanks for the write up on grips. I have that problem that as soon as my hands get sweaty, I start to lose grip. I am going to try activating my forearm muscles and see if that helps. Good chance to practice it, as it is really hot here right now.

[Hazard]

On 7/31/2017 at 2:44 AM, WhiteGhost said:

Sunday we spent touring the old imperial summer residence in Chengde.

 

I'm jelly. 

 

 

[WhiteGhost]

29 minutes ago, Hazard said:

I'm jelly. 

 

It is so easy to forget that the things nearby are big draws for tourists. When I travel I go to every touristy thing I can find, but have still never visited the Forbidden City or Tiananmen Square even though I drive between them a couple times a week... 

[WhiteGhost]

Challenge Summary

 

Mission 1: Improve Grip Strength 3x/week  included in Mission 2

I overestimated how much progress I would be able to make over the course of this challenge, but underestimated the amount that I would learn about grip work and how to manipulate it.  I am really happy with the progress I have made and will continue to work grip strength although it won't be a focus in future challenges

 

Mission 2: Muscle Up Routine 2 Days/Week

3 of 2 for the week.  

 

Mission 3: Focused Flexibility 5 Days/Week

Only did my stretching Tue, Wed and Fri this week so 3 for 5.  I need to decide if I keep the same routines for next challenge or mix things up a bit.  I am kind of leaning towards something for my shoulders next time, leading up to back bridges

 

Mission 4: Homemade Meal 1/Week

Did not have time to make Shrimp this week, so it was just the fish.  I am really happy that I am now able to make a few dishes so I am not completely dependent on delivery, but I need to expand my recipe base.  Next challenge I will only count if I make something I have never made before

 

Overall Result

 

On 6/28/2017 at 4:05 PM, WhiteGhost said:

Go/no-Go = 15 second one hand hang on each hand by end of week 4

Neither hand = Can’t decipher the clue, needs to keep working

1 hand only = Deciphered the clue but needs help

Both hands = Deciphered the clue and can act on it

 

I did not even get close to my revised goal of 15 seconds, so technically this is a failure for the challenge.  However, I think this story is dragging on and I don't get the feeling anyone is really that interested, so next challenge I will do a segment each week, and then once the story is finished move on the other themes.

 

[WhiteGhost]

In other news, I am leaving for holiday tomorrow to visit family in the US (San Antonio, Salt Lake City and San Diego) so I will not be doing weeks 0 and 1 of the challenge, and will back here for week 2 or so.

[Sloth the Enduring]

Enjoy your trip.

[sylph]

Travel safely!

[SymphonicDan]

On 8/4/2017 at 3:03 AM, WhiteGhost said:

It is so easy to forget that the things nearby are big draws for tourists. When I travel I go to every touristy thing I can find, but have still never visited the Forbidden City or Tiananmen Square even though I drive between them a couple times a week... 

 

#sotrue

 

I lived in Cambridge for 7 years and never went to King's College Chapel, despite cycling past it nearly 1000 times, and being able to enter for free. For many tourists from China/Japan/USA it will be a highlight of their trip but as someone living in the city I just wouldn't think about going!

 

#oneday

[Mad Hatter]

Have fun!

[LouCarJo]

Happy travels!

[juliebarkley]

On August 5, 2017 at 0:46 AM, WhiteGhost said:

I did not even get close to my revised goal of 15 seconds, so technically this is a failure for the challenge.  However, I think this story is dragging on and I don't get the feeling anyone is really that interested, so next challenge I will do a segment each week, and then once the story is finished move on the other themes.

 

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

I like your story and am interested! Of course, if you want to move to weekly segments and there is MORE story, I shan't complain. I really like your format actually, with story rewards for making goals. I'd like to move to a weekly format eventually too, but right now it would be too much work (and I would need to be more consistent about posting first). 

 

Also, your fish with broccoli was beautiful.

 

Hope to see you next challenge!

[WhiteGhost]

New challenge is up

 

 No idea why the RPR picture is at the top of that...

 

[SymphonicDan]

On 8/25/2017 at 2:29 AM, WhiteGhost said:

No idea why the RPR picture is at the top of that...

 

When you embed a link, it searches for various information in the page, (so the HTML code of the page you're linking to) to find out what captions/photos etc. it should display.

 

For example on this current webpage, the og:image meta tag looks like this:

<meta property="og:image" content="https://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/uploads/monthly_2016_03/avatar.jpg.df565f57dad6156aeca888e4a8ac5a5c.jpg">

So the embedding software will probably take the following photo as any thumbnail: avatar.jpg.df565f57dad6156aeca888e4a8ac5a5c.jpg

 

However if someone deletes that file, or something messes up, it will look for another picture, e.g. any other random JPEG file linked into the webpage.

 

Your new challenge has the same og:image meta tag, but for some reason the algorithm has chosen the gun one instead... maybe it likes images with more pixels? Strangeness...

 

[WhiteGhost]

Yes, strange indeed. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I had a double post which I subsequently hid. I suppose that could be messing with the algorithm