Jarric

That's a great mix! I wonder how they'd get on with each other though... They were really good, but a lot of work - I think it took WW about an hour to cook them in all. The best bit was the homemade tartare sauce - I don't like tartare sauce but this was great. https://www.gousto.co.uk/cookbook/fish-recipes/fish-chip-wraps-mushy-peas-tartare-sauce if you're interested. We've got quite a long todo list, to the point where I'll probably make it a goal for my next challenge! There's stuff that we need to do ASAP - cavity wall ties, fix leak in roof, replace back door, get internet wired up so I can work. Stuff that I want to do for my own peace of mind - electrical inspection, gas safety inspection, install smoke and CO alarms. And then the whole place is just a bit tired; the bedroom needs a carpet, the living room needs decorating and a lot of book shelves going in, and I've go no idea what the state of the loft room is because we basically couldn't see the floor when we went to view it! There's also an outhouse at the end of the garden that needs work, but the door was so busted we couldn't get in when we viewed it so it's hard to know what needs doing. The only things that are fairly new and shiny are the kitchen and bathroom. So yeah, nothing too major, just lots of little projects. Basically we've got a pot of money and we're going to keep improving the place it until the money runs out.

Oh 100%, I count myself very lucky to be able to buy a house. It's only that WW's parents gave us some premium bonds a couple of years ago, and that we spent fuck all money last year with the whole lockdown thing, that got us to this point. Otherwise we'd be 3-4 years off, and even then I'd still think we were the lucky ones!

Tuesday - Week 5 Day 2 Tuesday was a good day. I didn't get to cook posh sausage and mash in the end, because we were out of potatoes. I did sausage and tomato past instead, which was pretty good. In the evening we had Pathfinder - our Rise of the Runelords game. We came across an abandoned miners hut, and on exploring started to see ghostly apparitions. We were attacked in various horrible ways by ghosts, a huge snowstorm blew up outside, and then the hut started shaking like we were in a giant snow globe. We're fairly sure that this place is very cursed, and that the previous residents of this hut ate each other, so that's fun. We ended the session with my sorcerer casting rope trick, and trying to get everyone to climb a rope into a small extradimentional space. Protein was had and teeth were done. Bedtime was relatively sensible. * * * Wednesday - Week 5 Day 3 Wednesday was a good day. I got up at a somewhat leisurely pace, and did day 10 of Strength Protocol: Those bridge extensions were properly nasty by the end! Not pictures are the three sets of pullups I did. The format was 3 sets of max reps, with a 1 minute rest between each set which didn't feel like a lot of recovery. I hit 13, 5, 4 reps. @Mr_Willes and @Starpuck should we have a PvP thread for this next challenge? ? Work was ok. Immediately after work I had a video catch-up with an old mate, which was really nice. I thought it would only be a quick one, but we ended up chatting and drinking for over two hours. In the evening WW made very posh looking fish, chips and mushy peas wraps, and we watched TV until bedtime. No foam rolling done again, but protein and teeth were done. * * * This morning I got up not quite as quickly as I should have done, and went for my run. I hit 4.14 miles (~6.6km) which felt pretty strong, and that puts me at 99.14 miles (~158.6km) for the challenge. I think on that basis I should just about make my 116 mile goal if all goes well. After my run I just about had time for day 11 of Strength Protocol: The jumping lunges were murder after a 4 mile run! I only managed sets of 20, 16, 16, 15, and 13. The side leg raises were also tough, given my somewhat dodgy hips, so I alternated between sets of 25 to make up the 50 each side. Interestingly I found this harder on my right side, despite the left hip being ostensibly the bad one. I have been very distracted at work today - probably something about expecting to buy a house tomorrow! The solicitors have acknowledged all our money and all of the bank's money, so everything is in place. All we have to do is wait... Tonight I'm cooking a turkey chilli with the leftover turkey thigh from our Sunday roast, and we're playing Pathfinder - our Mummy's Mask game.

Wow, that's a fantastic deal, as a student I can imagine how useful that would be. And yeah, house prices have gone up a silly amount - we're buying our place for £253k, and the seller bought it in December 2013 for £178k. That's 42% in 7 years. What's scarier is that in 1875 the value was £100 and in 1954 it sold for £175, so it only went up 75% in 79 years, but went up 144,500% in the following 67 years.

It's little wonder how we got to the financial crisis really... Ah ok, that makes more sense. The other thing that I was idly thinking of this morning, is that if you can't afford a repayment mortgage but have a career expectation that you will be able to a couple of years down the line, you might start with an interest only mortgage and then change in the future, so that you have the property in the meantime. ETA: or, I suppose, if you live somewhere on an interest only mortgage for 20 years, you go from having 90% loan to value on the property to 30% loan to value (for example), as the value of the property goes up but the loan stays consistent.

Oh 100%, but Blockbuster could always have decided to move into online rentals and streaming. Hence my caveat that the money, if used correctly, could lead to actual company growth.

Yeah, I can see that. I'm 31 and just buying my first house now. Most of my parents generation seem to have bought their first place in their early 20s. Property just costs so much more, as a percentage of average wages, than it used to. Of course, this also depends on where you live, just like with you. For the price of the tiny 2 up 2 down I'm buying here I could get a manor house in rural Scotland.

Yeah, I think things were a bit more like that here before the financial crisis in (?2007 I guess?). You can still get interest-only mortgages, but like you I can't really see the point unless you're buying somewhere to rent out to someone else.

Yeah, I can see that being tempting - there's a lot you could do with that kind of money. That's interesting, is it normal there to get a house without putting your own money in up front there then? Here the normal thing is to have a 10-15% deposit out of your own money. Yeah, you're probably right. But back to normal know this has been dealt with would be great as far as I'm concerned! And that's really nice, I think that would make a great dinner party.

But if more money is invested in the farm, they can buy more cows, and the farm produces more milk. I've not really been following this to be honest, but I feel like if loads of people are buying shares in a company, that company will have more available funds, which if used correctly could create sustainable growth?

Well I was not expecting those names. Then again I don't know what I would be expecting. That would certainly be a lively evening anyway. I'm not surprised; it's an amount of money you never see in your own bank account, isn't it? Thankfully we pooled everything in one of WW's accounts, so I didn't have to see the final amount in my account!

First up, it occurs to me that I didn't answer last week's icebreaker question. If I could choose my superpower, it would be shapeshifting. Firstly because it would be amazing to transform into other things and be perfectly adapted to any environment, but also because it gives you so many benefits of other powers. Flight? Turn into a bird. Invisibility, well no, but you can be a literal fly on the wall. Get through tiny gaps? Be an ant. Want super strength? Gorilla. You get the idea. And that's without stretching the concept into being able to transform into anything, like air, or light, or mythical creatures, or emotions. Icebreaker for this week: You can choose 3 people, past or present, to invite to your ideal dinner party - who would they be? * * * Monday - Week 5 Day 1 Is it week 5 already? That went fast! Yesterday was a good day. I spent a huge amount of time procrastinating in bed, but eventually got up for day 8 of Strength Protocol: Another death by abs workout, which I was totally not up for! Still, I got it done in the end. The leg raises were probably the worst exercise of the lot, so at least it was downhill from there. DOMS today aren't as bad as last week either, so that's a positive so far. After that I did some hangboarding, though as I'd got up so late I didn't get any stretching in. Work was ok. I was a bit distracted by house stuff (this feels like it was my challenge theme), but I managed to get it all sorted and after work we posted the house transfer deed and transferred a terrifying amount of money to our solicitors. There's nothing more for us to do now, and all being well the solicitors should complete the legal process on Friday and WW and I will be homeowners. I can't wait for Friday - I honestly feel like I've been holding my breath for the past week, and I know I'm going to feel like that all week this week. It'll be a massive weight off my mind once the purchase actually goes through (even though it will come with new challenges in terms of turning into a habitable and, dare I say, nice place to live. Anyway, yesterday evening after we'd sorted out that I spent a while looking at sofas and desks and other things that will definitely not be available by the time I get round to buying furniture. WW made a cauliflower and celeriac soup for dinner, which was really good, and we watched Critical Role until bedtime. I should have foam rolled, but I didn't. I did get my protein in and my teeth done. * * * This morning I got up and went for my run - 4 miles (~6.4km) with 3 x 0.6 mile (960m) tempo intervals. When I got back I just about had time for Strength Protocol day 9: The three-point pushups were really tough, but I managed sets of 9, 7, and 6 reps. The plank walkouts took forever, to the point where I nearly gave up on them - particularly as I was short on time and I hate rushing a workout. Got it all done though, followed by a very brief stretch. Work has been ok, though it's been busy and I've spent too much of it in meetings. We had an hour's meeting on mental health and workplace wellbeing, which is a nice idea but in reality it was at an incredibly basic level, and I think it would have been better for my mental health to get more of my work done and not spend an hour listening to someone teach me to suck eggs. Add to that that the comments on men's mental health were downright sexist, and they had the nerve to give us 'tips for home working' after we've been working at home for the last 10 months, and it put me in a fairly bad mood! I'm not quite sure whether to say anything about it officially at work, unless they ask for feedback of course, but it was quite annoying. I spent my lunch break today sorting out my character sheet for our Pathfinder game, the Rise of the Runelords campaign, which we're playing tonight. Now I'm off to cook a posh sausage and mash, and then get playing some Pathfinder.

Stats after week 4 Running: 90.87/116 miles for the challenge - thanks to missing my long run I'm now only at 78% of the way through this after 80% of the challenge, so this is going to be close. I did hit my January mileage goal though. Foam Rolling: 2/3 for the week, 9/12 for the challenge - I keep only getting 2/3 each week; need to find a way to fit this in better Protein: 6/7 for the week, 27/28 for the challenge - I've broken my perfect streak here by having a 'fuck it' day on Saturday, which is a shame Create: 1/3 for the week, 6/12 for the challenge - this didn't really factor in this week. To be honest I've spent the week listening to comedy, reading a new TTRPG book, and sorting things for my house move, so I'm not worried about it. Teeth: 4/7 for the week, 21.5/28 for the challenge - this is probably a sign that I was a bit more stressed last week than I realised. Between month end and house moving stuff that's not surprising, but I want to get into the headspace to do better here.

Well done on completing dry January! That's something to be proud of.

I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I was a bit worried it could either end up too slow or too stressful, so I'm glad it ended up fun! The battlemaps will be back, don't worry. This was an interesting experiment though, I've never played or run theatre of the mind combat before and I really wasn't sure how well it would go, but now I feel like I'd at least be confident to do it in future if I need to.

100% reasonable reaction!

Friday - Week 4 Day 5 Friday was a good day. In the evening I had quite a few beers, and got to bed after midnight. Had a good evening in front of Questing Time though, and spent the rest of the evening drunkenly catching up on various Discord chats, so that was nice. Teeth were not done again, though protein was. * * * Saturday - Week 4 Day 6 Yesterday was a good day. I woke up a little late and a little tired after going to bed late on Friday, and I did not feel like going for my long run. Between a lot of DOMS from that 'easy' leg workout on Friday, and not enough sleep, I just really wasn't feeling it. I had breakfast and a pot of tea whilst watching Acq Inc: The C Team. After that I still couldn't be bothered to run, so I decided to re-string my bass and start learning a song that I've promised I will record for someone. I didn't really think about it as a creative thing at the time, but I will count it as a tick against my creativity goal for the challenge as that seems reasonable. It was nice to play again; it's been a long time! In the afternoon I had an excellent D&D session with @Mr_Willes and @WhiteGhost, run by @jonfirestar. It was mostly a roleplaying session, as we explored some towns in the underdark and talked to people about an impending kobold attack; all very good fun. I also spent all day yesterday eating all of the things - I just couldn't get full! In the evening I cooked pork steaks in an orange sauce with rice, fine beans and mange tout, and chilled in front of the TV. I didn't feel like doing much of anything still, so I mostly just laid there with the cat sat on my stomach. Still ended up going to bed late, after we got sucked into the latest episode of Narrative Telephone from Critical Role. Overall not a good day for goals - no run, no teeth brushing (which I would have done after I washed and showered), no protein (which I would have had after my run), and I only ticked off the create goal retrospectively. * * * This morning I got up and, with not too much of a rush, went out for my run. I hit a slowish 5.69 miles (still with all the DOMS from Friday). That puts me at 109.39 miles for January, and despite missing my long run I'm bang on track for my 1,202 miles this year. After my run I cooked scrambled eggs, and threw down as much fruit as I could manage before our D&D game. In D&D the party were finishing off an epic battle against hill giants, ogres, bugbears, and goblins. Last session @DarK_RaideR's lizardfolk ranger Vutha had flown over the battlefield after being thrown by an awakened tree, only to drop a green dragon breath sack on the hill giants and kill a hell of a lot of goblins. Standing between two hill giants I was fairly confident that Vutha was going to die this session, but somehow he survived all of his death saves. @iatetheyeti's character Scoria also survived, despite starting the session on about 4hp. Even Naxene, a wizard NPC that @Mr_Willes was playing, survived getting hit by a spiked goblin, losing concentration on her fly spell, and falling 60ft. to the ground. It was a good time, even if I didn't manage to kill any of the player characters! This evening WW is cooking roast turkey thigh, and we're going to chill in front of the TV and get to bed at a sensible time!

Ok, those are legit horrifying. WW actually shouted out in terror when I showed her! *shudders*

Well that's because you are smart. It mostly made me feel like I need to start studying French again . I enjoyed the bits I understood anyway.

Thursday - Week 4 day 4 Yesterday was a good day. I hadn't planned anything for dinner, so I threw together a quick carbonara and then it was time for Pathfinder. ETA: update as requested @Mr_Willes We last left off with the party having got into a massive combat with a group of mathlets, a shadow daemon, a vrock, and a glabrezu: Right at the end of the last session my bloodrager Urah finished off the vrock, leaving 2 normal mathlets, the mathlet cult leader, and the glabrezu. The GM did an excellent job at keeping us tied up with the mathlets and whittling us down, which gave the glabrezu a chance just to throw spells at us from a distance and be the threat that it really ought to be. By the time we broke our way through we were all thoroughly beat up, and even though it's a spellcaster it's also an absolute monster in close combat. 5 attacks (the claws, the pincers, and a bite I think), and given that the thing's like 15ft tall it's got a bit of strength to it too! So our warpriest Jemima (played by WW) dropped. In Pathfinder you have to make a constitution check when you're at negative hp, or continue to bleed out. I'll spare you the maths, but 1 round after dropping she was at -13hp and could only stop bleeding out on a natural 20. She failed, and after that point it was impossible for her to survive on her own, and she had 18 seconds to live. Out alchemist swept in to give her a healing potion, got caught by a pincer and also dropped unconscious. Meanwhile Urah and our barbarian Woody are wailing on this creature, and our brawler Tarn is taking a potion himself to stay conscious. Tarn grabs a potion from Saphia, our sorcerer, and pours it down Jemima's throat. She's still unconscious, but no longer dying. At the same time Woody is dropped. Urah takes a ton of damage, reaching 7hp, before Tarn jumps up and finally slays the beast. Cue then a mad scramble to heal everyone before they die. Urah is conscious at 7hp, but if he stops raging he drops to -41hp and is very, very dead. Woody is in a similar situation. Eventually we managed to get everyone to the point where they were at least technically alive and stable. Then in floats a creepy spectral figure in plate armour, who thanks us for slaying the people who were causing it such trouble. Before we have the chance to respond, we end the session. I had a few beers with Pathfinder, and got to bed a little late. Protein was done for the day, but for some reason which I can't quite articulate (and I'm not sure I understand myself) I didn't do my teeth in the evening. * * * This morning I procrastinated in bed for far too long before getting up. Nonetheless I did get up, and did day 7 of Strength Protocol: This was a bit longer than the other workouts, purely on the sheer number of reps, but it wasn't terribly challenging. Having started so late I didn't do any hangboarding, I just stretched and got ready for work. At lunchtime I had some leftover beetroot soup and watched Eddie Izzard performing stand up comedy in French. My French is less than good, I've recently learned that the idiom to describe this is 'parler en français comme une vache espagnole', which I rather like. Anyway, it was still very funny, even if I only understood parts of it. Work today was ok, until 4pm when we suddenly had a last minute thing to sort out, so I've ended up working late. On that note I'm going to sign off soon, get some beers, and chill in front of last night's Questing Time. Plan for the weekend is long run tomorrow morning, @jonfirestar's D&D game tomorrow afternoon, short run Sunday morning, and my D&D game Sunday afternoon.

Yeah, it definitely doesn't sound like the kind of thing that can be solved overnight. The issue there being that if you try to solve it slowly you need a consistent political will to do so, but political leadership is seldom consistent. (That's not a comment on American politics, a lot of countries flip from one political party to another every 5-10 years, and the new party reverses the decision of the old party, which makes consistent progress really hard to achieve.) I suppose what really needs to change is for the majority of the populace to buy in to the idea of state healthcare (or at least a more equitable system).

I'll do a proper update later, but it all got a bit tense! I was thinking I'll have to run this as a one-shot at some point actually. I don't think I'm knowledgeable enough about 50's B-movie tropes to spin it into a long-running game, but it could be a fun break to fill a couple of sessions.

Wow, that is criminal. Literally criminal; how can it be possible to put barriers on healthcare like that? And $100 a week for insurance, even though you're still going to have to pay that much on top if you do need treatment? That's just madness.

Tuesday - Week 4 Day 2 Tuesday was a good day. In the evening I did sort out some house paperwork. Turns out that we can't get out deposit money quite as quickly as planned, but we should have it by the end of the week so hopefully that'll be ok. I've never had to move this much money in one go; it's a bizarre experience! I cooked a beef sausage casserole with quite a lot of veg and a lot of beans, 'twas good. Got in some foam rolling in front of Crit Role before bed, protein was had and teeth were done. * * * Wednesday - Week 4 Day 3 Yesterday was a good day. First thing I got up and did day 6 of Strength Protocol: For a workout entitled "back and biceps", this was certainly hard on the delts! The up & down planks were murder, so I reduced them to 4 x 12, and everything else was done Rx. I'm feeling my upper back and my inner elbows a bit today though, so I guess it hit the spot. Not shown is the additional chinups - I did 3 max rep sets and hit 11, 7, 5 reps. @Mr_Willes if you want to challenge me on chinups too, there are your starting numbers! Finished the workout with some split stretches. I got an e-mail for a discount on a TTRPG, so I jumped at that (I blame @DarK_RaideR for reminding me how many RPGs I want to play with his thread). So now I am the proud owner of this: It just looks too silly and too much fun not to give it a go! I spent most of my evening reading this, so no creative stuff was done, but I did do some foam rolling in front of Critical Role. Teeth and protein were done. * * * This morning I got up a bit late, and got out for my run later than planned. I think this is a failure of planning; last night I didn't lay out my running gear, I didn't look at the weather to decide what I was going to wear, and I didn't look up what was on the workout plan. The upshot of that is I still got out for a decent enough 4 mile (~6.4km) run, with a 3 mile (~4.8km) tempo interval in the middle, but by the time I got back I didn't have time to do my Darebee workout. Still, the next workout is leg day so maybe doing that tomorrow morning is a better call anyway. Work so far is going ok; it's weirdly quiet so I'm trying to capitalise on that and get some stuff done. This evening will be beers and Pathfinder (and possibly a TPK )

Or super funny, when you translate the Rammstein into English. Wow, that's mad, particularly when you think you know someone and something like that happens. How did he get a gun? I didn't think laws were much different where you are than over here? You're catching me up already!