Jarric

Well, another goal for Dirty Weekend 2021! (Talking about dirty weekends isn't making this sound less dodgy, is it?) Yeah, though I can't see them doing that now they've said that you should work from home if you can. Or "If you need to go to work, and it's a COVID safe environment, then you absolutely should go to work. Unless you can work from home." Or whatever other crystal clear advice we're being given... We've just had some more information about why the company thinks they need people in the office, which will hopefully make everyone feel a bit more like they're not just going in to support the pre-packaged sandwich industry.

I've been playing for about 3 years I think, and I still feel like I've got a lot of rules to learn! There's a reason some people call it mathfinder The most important rule for me to know with a rogue was using acrobatics checks to avoid attacks of opportunity. Really useful for getting a flanking position, and you probably have the DEX to pull it off.

You're looking at getting back to Muay Thai? That'll be good man!

I will never cease to be impressed by your pullups, good going!

Tuesday - W2D2 Yesterday was a good day. It was good because I will it to be so, and I can re-write how I feel about a day if I want to. I did most of this update already in my earlier rant, so this should be a short one! Work was busy but ok. There was also quite a bit of tension with our government announcing that people should work at home if they can, on the same day a lot of people were due to go back to the office for the first time since March. Still waiting to hear on whether I'll be in the office next week, but I'm determined not to stress about it. After work I grabbed a snack and headed over to meet Hopalong for snooker. It was really good to see him as always, I got to have another rant about things too and that made me feel better. On the way home I picked up some bottled water that the water company were giving out whilst the mains water was off. WW cooked jacket potatoes with cheese and beans, and we watched the first episode of the Great British Bake Off. The start had been delayed by our monkey prime minister making an announcement, which was bloody annoying as it messed up our recording and I had to sit through an extra 10 minutes of adverts to watch the last 8 minutes online. Nice to see Bake Off back though. Calories finished at 2,218 which is about right. Teeth were done, but no other goals completed today. * * * I want to try and get back to sharing a whole day as a block the following day, so I'm not going to start Wednesday's update. I did however want to share a little win I had this morning. Crossfit started with heavy singles on bench, and I set a 1RM at 72.5kg (~160#). Then I got home and weighed myself, and came in at 72kg (~158#), so I can officially say I have benched my body weight .

Is there a level you can reach out to in the wider company, if you're not getting anywhere with management in your store?

That's a damn good question; you should either a. not have to do things that aren't in your job description, or b. be paid for the work you actually do. Sorry that the new restrictions are so harsh for you. You sound like your handling it really well though, and you should be proud of that.

Thanks Yeti . Snooker did help, and the water came back this morning which helped a lot more!

Ah she sounds really cool. I'm currently playing a bloodrager after my rogue trapsmith got killed by a statue. Rogues are really fun. As someone who's first car was 19 years old and who's currently nursing along an 18 year old Toyota Corolla, I fully support the choice of cheap motoring. I think most pickups here are 4 wheel drive now - an empty RWD pickup sounds like a nightmare in the snow. My first car was a small engined Volvo 340 - it was RWD and weighed less than a ton, so it was hopeless in the snow. Or, depending on how you look at it, very very good fun.

Monday - W2D1 Yesterday was a good day. Crossfit was Squats - 80kg (~176#) x 5 x 5, and then 50ft yoke carry where I worked up to 160kg (~352#). So that's a little over bodyweight on the squat and a little over twice bodyweight on the yoke. Squats should build up gradually over the next few weeks. Yoke I'm pretty cautious about breaking myself on it so I'm not too worried about progressing the weight. After Crossfit I did some hangboarding. It felt pretty hard - maybe I'm out of practice or maybe that's from climbing on Sunday - but at least I got some done. Work was ok, had a couple of hundred e-mails to clear from my week off but I was able to do it with no drama. Also managed to do some washing in the day, and after work changed the sheets on the spare bed, put the dirty ones in to wash, and sorted out a load of other washing too. For dinner I made a fish and spinach gratin with crispy potatoes, it was really rather good, if I do say so myself. Afterwards we went to the supermarket and got a big shop in, by which point it was pretty much time for bed. ===== Calorie plan for this week is 5 days at 2,300 calories and 2 at 3,070 calories, but if I can save more calories for Friday night that would be good as I've got a poker night at The Captain's house. With that in mind, yesterday was really low at 1,989 calories. Not intentional, but without snacking and with a very light dinner it's where I ended up. I'm not keen on under fuelling by that much, but it will give me a bit of leeway for the rest of the week. Teeth were done. Hangboarding and calories as above. Nothing to report on rolling, split stretches, or drawing. ===== Today is a challenging day. I woke up at 02:45 having had a horrible dream, and decided to get myself a glass of water before going back to bed. Then I found that there was no running water in the bathroom. I went back to sleep and got up at 05:45 to head to the gym; still no water. Ran to Crossfit. The session was ok, I got 75kg (~165#) on sandbag loads and the same on d-ball loads, which is more than bodyweight so I'm fairly happy with that. I came over really dizzy a couple of times though, maybe from under fuelling, maybe from poor sleep? I also felt really anxious and paranoid for the whole session. On my way home I ran the wrong way because I wasn't paying attention, adding ¾ mile (~1.2km) to the distance. When I got home we still had no water, so I dropped WW at work and went to the shop for bottled water. When I got to the till I realised I didn't have my wallet, because I don't take it to the gym, so I had to go home, get that, and go back to the shop again. So I ended up with a late start to the day, still no running water, and not the best headspace. I'm sure I can make the best of it, but it helps to rant on here a bit I think! Tonight is snooker, which should be nice.

thank you! Guglug did all the hard work really

Great to hear about the mindset shift, it sounds like you've got a really healthy way of looking at things. What are you playing for your new Pathfinder character?

Guglug's week 1 wrap-up Reminder of my goals: Catapult/Dodge: Average calories 2,588. A fail on catapult, but low enough to dodge so no damage either. I knew it was going to be hard to hit my calories whilst on holiday and eating out every night, but what I didn't realise is how far apart 2,520 and 2,630 are (being an average, we're actually talking a difference of 770 calories in a week). Green flame blade: 7/7 for teeth brushing - 2 damage! Greataxe: No hangboarding, as I didn't take the hangboard on holiday. True Strike: Split stretches were done on day 1! +1 damage to the green flame blade attack. Thunderwave: 3 drawing sessions complete, and I completed Aila. Still not quite sure how best to do shading, but otherwise I like here. Will try and get round to scanning her in and sharing her here. 1 damage! Absorb elements: 3 foam rolling sessions complete, so no damage to me. Damage done to Mindwitness: 4 Guglug current hp: 9/9 * * * Seeing this horrifying creature appear before him, Guglug's immediate reaction is to try and cast a spell. A sudden beam of energy lances towards him however, and he is forced to dive behind a pillar for protection. Pausing for a second to compose himself, Guglug calls on arcane energy to guide his strikes, before commanding his axe to ignite in a burst of green flame and charging back into the fray. Leaping through the air Guglug manages to draw the greataxe across the entity's side, cauterising the gross, pulsating flesh as it does so. This is followed by a thunderous burst from the half-orc's hands, which sends the creature rocking end over end away from him. * * * By my count that's a combined damage of 13 damage, leaving the mindwitness with 62/75hp after week 1. Also, importantly, our party are in pretty good shape with only Tsaraji having taken 1 point of damage.

Week 1 round-up Reminder of my goals: Catapult/Dodge: Average calories 2,588. A fail on catapult, but low enough to dodge so no damage either. I knew it was going to be hard to hit my calories whilst on holiday and eating out every night, but what I didn't realise is how far apart 2,520 and 2,630 are (being an average, we're actually talking a difference of 770 calories in a week). Green flame blade: 7/7 for teeth brushing - 2 damage! Greataxe: No hangboarding, as I didn't take the hangboard on holiday. True Strike: Split stretches were done on day 1! +1 damage to the green flame blade attack. Thunderwave: 3 drawing sessions complete, and I completed Aila. Still not quite sure how best to do shading, but otherwise I like here. Will try and get round to scanning her in and sharing her here. 1 damage! Absorb elements: 3 foam rolling sessions complete, so no damage to me. Damage done to Mindwitness: 4 Guglug current hp: 9/9 * * * Seeing this horrifying creature appear before him, Guglug's immediate reaction is to try and cast a spell. A sudden beam of energy lances towards him however, and he is forced to dive behind a pillar for protection. Pausing for a second to compose himself, Guglug calls on arcane energy to guide his strikes, before commanding his axe to ignite in a burst of green flame and charging back into the fray. Leaping through the air Guglug manages to draw the greataxe across the entity's side, cauterising the gross, pulsating flesh as it does so. This is followed by a thunderous burst from the half-orc's hands, which sends the creature rocking end over end away from him. * * * Not much to say about Sunday; I went bouldering in the morning, mowed the lawn, and then mostly vegged in front of the TV all day. D&D Celebration was on Twitch, so there was some fun stuff to watch there. I did get my last foam rolling done, and my last drawing session. I also boiled a load of eggs for breakfasts, and made a chicken pasta salad out of the leftovers of our roast chicken for lunches. So I suppose all in all it was a pretty productive day, even if it felt like a quiet one.

It's literally a big holdall with a few side pockets. I've been looking for one for ages, but from camping shops they're like £60-£100 easily. This was on a random market stall for £15, and because it was missing a stud in the bottom he gave it to me for £12. It might not last very long, but if it does it'll be a bargain.

That's a really good train of thought. I really need to remember that - often I don't feel like finishing things if they're not going great and actually I should wait until I see the finished result.

Good job on week 1 man, you got a lot done considering you were away for most of it.

Absolutely, it's the best time to do it! That's fair. Ironically you're one of the few people I know who could have dealt fine with the water temperature though!

Awesome job on week 1, well done! Your painting look great so far.

It's been really good! Unfortunately I can't afford to eat out every night of the week the rest of the year, but it's lovely to do it for a while. The beaches were good - I've not got to the beach enough this summer so I'm really glad I got the chance. The water was pretty cold, but it's lovely to swim in the sea.

Love that you're bringing your kids along for the ride on this challenge, I think it'll be really good for them and for you.

Sounds like week 1 went well, just need to get those squats in this week to totally nail it!

Friday and Saturday - W1D5&6 More good days to end the holiday. Friday we went to a little museum and art gallery in the local town, which was quite nice. For lunch we drove off into the forest until we found a café. I ordered a sausage, onion and cheese baguette, which turned out to be bloody massive! It was really nice, but a bit of a calorie bomb. We had some time to kill, so we went for a bit more of a drive, stopped for a wander along the beach and the docks, and then headed back to the cottage. In the evening we went to another pub for dinner, and I had herby lemon chicken with chips. I was actually doing alright for calories, but I was having a nice night and opted for a 3rd beer which pushed me over. ===== Saturday morning we went out for breakfast - I had poached eggs on an English muffin with smoked salmon, which felt very decadent. We pottered around the local market, and I bought a big bag for all my race gear, and then drove home which took a little less than 3 hours. After we'd unpacked and got ourselves sorted I didn't want to do much else, so I bought a load of beers and sat down to watch Questing Time. Calories will be over for the week now, there's no saving that, but they should be in the higher bracket so Guglug doesn't take damage. Everything else apart for hangboarding is fully on track.

Thanks! It was a really fun week. Thank you! Probably not quite as adventurous as your trips round national parks, but I feel like it's the sort of holiday you'd enjoy.

Looking good man, glad you got back home safe and avoided the storm.