Jarric

Wednesday W1D3 Yesterday's adventure was a trip to the dentist! I need a filling, apparently, and judging by my dentist's comment of "I'm not looking forward to that one, that'll be a real pain to get to," I think I'm in for a tough one. I had Crossfit before the dentist and climbing after. Crossfit was fun - I did squats at 100kg (220#) for 4 sets of 4 and relished the opportunity to lift heavy. Then there was a load of assistance stuff, which was ok. Climbing was fun too - I did a lot of slab climbing, which was pretty hard on my legs and really very scary in places, but I'm quite happy with what I managed to top. When I got home I got a message out of the blue from someone asking if I'd been impacted by the changes at my current job, and if I'd like a chat about job opportunities. I made it clear that I needed to let the dust settle for a couple of weeks before I make any decisions, but I'm going to have a chat just to see what the opportunity is there. After that my head was all over the place, so I just sort of bounced between catching up here, chatting on Discord, playing guitar, looking at houses I can't afford, looking at houses I might be able to afford in a couple of years, and googling executive dysfunction (the irony of that last one isn't lost on me). The evening was equally chilled and unfocused - I cooked a sausage casserole and watched TV, but I did spend a bit of time reading Dracula so I finally get a point on that goal! A morning cup of tea ruined the no-spend goal, but I did eat my fruit and read, and as I wasn't working that goal didn't apply, giving me a 2/3 day.

Tuesday W1D2 Tuesday was also an interesting day. Found out about 1 more redundancy that wasn't announced on Monday, as the person going had been off sick on Monday and they needed to tell him before they could tell the rest of the business. I was also spending the day in our other office to meet our new interim CEO, and it was the day that most of that office found out about the redundancies, so there was a lot to talk about! Another day of seeing people pull together to cheer each other up though, which was really nice. I went for a very early run before work, with my new headtorch, and was reminded that running in the dark is hard work! This is surely a good thing for me though. I got home from the office early so I logged back on to work to tidy some things up, and ended up getting engrossed in a spreadsheet and working much later than I had planned to. Pathfinder was cancelled, so I had some time to do some reading for my reading goal. I didn't actually do any reading; I watched Bake Off and chilled on the sofa, but I would have had time had I put the effort in. To be fair, I did at least do a bit of mini painting. I managed my 3 fruit for the day, and somehow a no-spend day too, so 2/4 dailies.

Good to have you! Thank you, I appreciate it ❤️ Yeah, I'm thankful to be in that position. The uncertainty for me comes around workload (the people leaving have books of clients that will have to be shared out somehow) and line management (there's one team that will soon have no managers, and whilst that's not my team I think there'll be changes across the business to get all of the teams running more efficiently). Still a much better position than wondering about whether I'll be keeping my job though! Thanks mate. The upside of having done that process is that I'm pretty confident I could find another job if I wanted to, and it would almost certainly pay better than what I'm on now, which is good to have in my back pocket.

Yeah, I'm enjoying the novelty of being able to see who's active on a thread too. The novelty might wear off, but I can't see it becoming a negative even if that happens.

The hulking figure of Guglug looms behind Heid as she write her name on the board. "I'll 'ed norf too," he says, simply, and shoulders his pack to leave. Looking forward to seeing what this challenge brings! My current challenge is here:

It's 10 specific people who have been chosen for redundancy (or put into a consultation, or what ever the correct term is). They'll have to be given all of the usual options for alternatives, but knowing the list I doubt any of them will be coming back to be honest. It doesn't happen to me very often, but it's a lovely surprise!

They look really cool! Can't wait to see the coloured versions.

I get a digest e-mail every... every little while? I've never really thought about it, but looking back through my e-mails it appears I get a weekly one, and some weeks I get a bonus one that also calls itself weekly. The last one of those I got was on 20th October, but being weeklyish I won't know if I'm missing one until next Monday.

Welcome back!

...skull collection? O.o

Monday - W1D1 Yesterday was an interesting day. My work announced a round of redundancies, two from my team and 10 across the business. I sort of knew it was coming, but it obviously put a bit of a weird atmosphere in the air at work. Before work was Crossfit - I worked up to 55kg on clean and jerk; possibly should have gone heavier but it was good practice anyway. Then a boring workout of cycling which was repeatedly interrupted by wall balls (I actually quite enjoyed the session somehow ) At lunchtime I bought a headtorch for morning running as I seem to have lost mine. That spoiled the no-spend goal for the day, but I did leave work close enough to on time. In the evening I crashed on the sofa a bit, cooked chicken fajitas, then crashed again. No reading done, or painting, but I did eat my fruit. 2/4 dailies done.

Thanks! The key word is just. I'm not saying there won't be doughnuts and beer, but there should also be fruit.

Jarric gets going Last challenge I dropped off for the final 2 weeks - I had a week of work travel and trying to clear my plate, then a week off work which involves quite a bit of driving round the country to do various things (though we did get to drop in to see @DarK_RaideR and to meet the lovely @deftona for the first time, which was an absolute treat). This week has been full of public speaking on top of trying to catch up on absolutely tons of work, but I didn't want that to stop me getting going on this challenge. I will, hopefully, come back and format this post properly at some point in the week, but in the meantime here are the goals. The decisionist Eat 3 pieces of fruit every day. I'm bulking at the moment, and the temptation is to do that through doughnuts and beer (which, to be fair, is a very easy way to eat enough calories to bulk). I have also ended up throwing away too much fruit recently because it's gone off. This goal should ensure that there are at least some vitamins in my diet, and reduce food waste. The hoardsperson Spend no money. I'm spending far too much at the moment, so cutting out all of the discretionary spending would be good, particularly in the months leading up to Christmas. The documancer Read for pleasure every day, unless I'm playing Pathfinder. I've been enjoying reading recently, and I'm on a bit of a classic horror kick, so I'd like to stay on a roll with that. Pathfinder nights are going to be an impossibility for this goal, hence the exemption. The cartographer Paint 5 minis in 5 weeks. I have an ever-growing backlog of lovely minis to paint, so I want to average 1 per week. Last challenge I managed 4 in 6 weeks, which is ok, but let's aim for 5 in 5 this time. The timekeeper Leave work (within 15 minutes of) on time. Inspired by the talk of burnout in the tavern this challenge, I thought this would be a good thing to track. There's a lot going on at my work at the moment, some good, some tough, some who knows, but I don't need to be giving away time I'm not getting paid for.

Following! We've been getting Oddbox for a few years now and I'm a big fan.

Figured this gif was pretty much obligatory. Those persimmon monsters are absolutely horrifying, thanks for that. Look forward to seeing you smash these workouts.

A wood elf pushes his way into the inn, his singed cloak still smouldering gently. He flashes a warm but weary smile to the room and approaches the bar. Pint of the black stuff barkeep, he says as he takes up a bar stool. Burnout for me is definitely focused around work, and things are changing at work which may mean some more chaotic times ahead. There may be a goal on there somewhere, possibly around not working hours I'm not being paid for. Worth considering...

Anklehab? Ankeelhab? Ankeehab? You're right, it's not such a good fit. Great goals though! I hope the Cornish weather is kind to you.

Excellent! Who voices the audiobook for this one? I can't quite imagine the chap who does the main series doing justice to the voice. Relatedly, this is the book that has most convinced me that I should read for audiobooks. I'm absolutely convinced that I could pull off exactly the tone that Aaronovitch was going for. Spoilers for Masquerades of Spring: I definitely won't get to it this month, given that I need to catch up on Dracula. Finished The Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson last night though. I wouldn't recommend it; it's more a bleak story than a horror one, and I found it a bit hard to follow, but nonetheless I'm keeping with the horror vibes. I've been ok, thank you both for asking! I was travelling for work in week 4, which was busy and tiring, and then last week I was off work but driving around seeing people and doing fun things. I had a good time, but I somehow ended the week more tired than I started, and then this week work has been an absolute whirlwind whilst I try to catch up on work and do a load of public speaking that I don't usually do. All of that to say, good stuff is going on, but while I've absolutely had some time to catch up here I haven't really had the mental energy for it. Definitely intend to write a new challenge to start next week though. I might even wrap this one up first!

Maybe it's worth working on chest to bar pullups, and then working on making that contact point with your chest lower and lower? I also wonder if doing controlled negatives would be good - jumping on top of the bar and then trying to roll back off it and lower yourself down? I have never tried this and have no idea if it's a good strategy, but I might have to give it a go now I've thought of it. We all aspire to make it look as easy as that cute little bugger

Guglug wearily pushes open the taproom door, a slight smile crossing his face as he takes in the other adventurers enjoying their meals, bonding over tea, or sleeping off the work of the past few weeks. He drops his pack heavily to the ground, slumps into a too-small chair, and takes in his surroundings. I've been AWOL for a couple of weeks, so missed the end of this challenge, but I wanted to come here and thank @DarK_RaideR and @Sovalis for setting this up, and thank everyone who took part. The bits of this I did do were really good fun, and I look forward to the next one!

Hipe you feel better soon, and that you get all of the chickens you deserve. ?

In true D&D style, of course. Some of these players are from the party that I once gave two options to: go south down the road, or go southwest and cut across the forest. They went north and got on a boat It's good fun, though I didn't realise that the book itself isn't in chronological order, so you get a slightly different story if you read the e-mails. I read Jekyll and Hyde at the start of the year, and am starting on some more Robert Louis Stevenson now, as well as browsing some of the less problematic HP Lovecraft short stories, so it seems I'm on a bit of a classic horror kick too. Which reminds me, I have Mary Shelley's Frankenstein on a bookshelf at home... Oo, let me know when you've finished it and we can compare notes! I absolutely loved it.

I agree - muscle ups are super cool. I can get a few kipping ones, and ring muscle ups, but not strict bar muscle ups. It should be possible to do muscle ups on a bar without kipping, and as far as I know it is just pulling hard, but it's really hard to generate force all the way through that movement without kipping. For kipping, I would use a normal pullup grip, not gripping too tight as your hand needs to move round the bar. I know some people who like a thumbless grip because it makes the transition at the top a bit easier, but it also runs the risk that your hand slips off and you hurt your arm/ribs/face as you fall on the bar. I'm not sure exactly what the grip is for strict muscle ups. Ring muscle ups also look cool AF, if you have a bar you can hang some gymnastic rings from.

Very much in for this. Will this be the year that I finally complete an Inktober? Only time will tell.