Jarric

That never helps, most of my friends are into the music, but I don't have many prepared to put up with the camping (WW included!). I have done a couple of festivals on my own and it can actually be really good fun - there's always "loner" groups that meet up (the Download one have their own official campsite now) and I've made some good friends that way. Sounds good to me!

Well there's still tickets, so you don't need to be jealous . Also, thanks! I'd never heard of it before I started coming on here; I'm guessing it's mainly an American thing. Recipe I had (from an IIFYM book, serves 6 apparently) said put 8 strips turkey bacon, 1/2 red onion, 1 yellow squash, 1 courgette (ok, it said zucchini), 2 cups spinach, 1 tbsp rosemary, 2tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp oregano, salt and pepper in a greased casserole dish, mix with 12 whisked egg whites. Put in the oven on 350*F (180*C) for about 45 minutes until it's set through. What I actually used was 250g pork mince (browned before going in), 1/2 red pepper, 1/2 orange pepper, 125g mushrooms, 8(ish) spring onions, salt, pepper, and 8 whole eggs to make 4 portions. Mostly cause that's what I had in the fridge. Thanks man, and yeah, love SOAD, really excited about that!

The best kind of issues. Well the registration stuff comes to about £500, but then a "pilot" and escort boat to go along with you is £2,500-£2,750. Throw in transport to Dover and staying there, accommodation in France and a flight home and you could call it £3,500 I guess given that I'm already in the UK. So your "friend" say a flight to the UK, plus accommodation, plus USD 4,500. (Info is from here: http://www.channelswimmingassociation.com/faq) Good man.

W2D1 - Monday Point scoring: Up with my alarm (this is happening a lot more recently ) (might help that it's half 6 rather than half 5 now) Brushed teeth Hayfever meds Workout - Leg day. Top set of squats was 65kg (~143#) for 3 x 8, and that was hard work. I was pretty exhausted throughout, but got a workout in [+5] Breakfast casserole on the walk to work The walk to work Updated bujo Walked home from work FINALLY booked my flights and accommodation for Ireland. Tough Mudder in less than 5 weeks! Cooked dinner for myself and WW. A bit more complicated than usual, I made Cheesy Pasta and Ragu Pie. Took over an hour, but was awesome! Work clothes laid out Teeth brushed Hayfever meds Bujo set up for Tuesday No alcohol all day No caffeine after 4pm On time all day For a total score of 21.

Woo, go you! I know it's easier said than done, but try not to get too far ahead of yourself! If you get an offer and you don't want it then you don't have to accept it. And you won't have to make the decision to accept or decline it immediately so you can leave agonising over that until you have the offer. If you're worried about putting them off you can always say you want to see a written offer before making you decision. What it does do is give you a great opportunity for a practice interview, for a job which might be good but you haven't got your heart set on so much that you have to worry about the outcome. Try to look at it like that if you can? I would love to do this. Just been down a brief spiral of looking into it and it's massively expensive, but one day!

Glad you had a good weekend . Hope all goes well with the tests.

W1D7 - Sunday I did a lot on Sunday afternoon! After lunch with the parents (accompanies by a couple of small red wines) I made a breakfast casserole for the first time and divided it up for 4 breakfasts over the week, washed and hung out clothes (which I left out over night and have now been rained on a lot, but I'm still keeping the points!), washed up and cleaned the kitchen. To my great surprise I also found the energy to go out for a run. Plan was for 6 miles trying to stick to an easy 10'30"/min pace. The splits were all over the place but I finished in about the right average time, and more importantly I didn't stop running. I know 6 miles isn't all that far, but it's the longest run I've actually completed in a little while. By the time I'd got back, stretched, done the daily dare and done everything in my evening routine I came away with a bumper 28 points for the day! Week 1 Wrap-Up All in all a pretty solid week. A quiet day on Saturday when I had a bit of a pity party and sat in front of the TV, but I bounced straight back on Sunday or a great finish. 120 points total for the week, which is a long way better than anything I got last challenge. Part of that is just that I have more time now I don't have to commute to work, but it still feels like progress.

No worries! They're usually open until about 10pm too if that helps you. Actually, because I think this is really important, and without wishing to start any kind of political debate here: BRITISH PEOPLE - DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THURSDAY Aww, I got a Starpuck pun! Awesome!! And thank you, I've very much looking forward to it.

Actually I think these are the two reasons I know a bit of French. In my school French was mandatory in year 7 (not sure if that's the same as 7th grade? I was 11). The following year both French and German were mandatory, and we were never given the option for any other language after that. Also, Spanish just isn't that useful over hear, but I could theoretically swim to France. (ok, I'd probably die, but point to point the coast of France is 75 miles from my house which is pretty close). ETA: Sorry to hear you're neighbour's still being a dick.

Hey, just caught up! Unlucky with the driving test; most people I know (myself included) failed their first one though. It's much easier the second time round when you know what to expect. Huge congratulations on getting into your masters course, and good choice in following the course you really want! Loving the narrative too, looking forward to seeing where this week takes Rhovaniel

Oo, that sounds nasty! I find the medication needs a few days to build up before it's really helpful, so I'm hoping I may feel a little better by the time we get to the campsite this weekend Seeing mum was ok in the end, she actually doesn't do a bad job of pulling off a shaved head! And thank you. I had a good couple of months where my grip strength got ahead of everything else and it wasn't holding me back, even on climbing and even on deadlifts. Damned if I know how I achieved that though! Maybe . And it did go well, thank you. ===== While I think of it, I found out yesterday that I should have a bit of spare time Thursday morning before I head off. In the interest of not missing too many workouts I've revised this week's plan:

I had to use Google to get that, which I guess partially proves your point.

Following (finally)! Hope your hiking trip's going well

Thanks! To be honest I think that sounds like an excellent way to spend your birthday . And if I forget to say it again, happy birthday for Monday week! ===== Saturday - W1D6 Woke up full of hayfever and a 6 pint hangover, and decided not to push myself to go to Parkrun. I was still up at 8 to drop WW to work, but I just went back home rather than out running. Spent most of the morning feeling sorry for myself and watching TV, with a pre-packaged sandwich and much diet coke for brunch. Somewhere I found the energy to drag myself out of the house to go bouldering. It actually went pretty OK, and I worked through half of the grey circuit (font 4B-5B) which is pretty good for me. Grip strength is an issue at the moment, and I realise I've only been going once every two weeks and shirking my pull-up practice, so now I know why! Once my grip gave out I made some time for some pull-up practice. After bouldering I went back to vegging and feeling sorry for myself, watched a whole lot of Critical Role and eventually ordered Dominos for dinner when it became clear I didn't have the energy to get off the sofa and cook something. Got 3 points for 3 lots of hayfever medication, 5 for bouldering, 1 for the handstands and 1 for updating my bujo, for a meagre 10. ===== Plan for today is to try and catch up with people on here, then off to my parents' for lunch. Mum had her head shaved this week - I'm not nervous about that but I'm worried about reacting in the wrong way when I first see it. Still, I do want to see her. This evening I plan to meal prep, check of some of my todo list and generally be useful to get a high scoring day. I should long run too if I feel up to it, Should be easily possible to clear 100 points for the week, which would be pretty cool (I didn't manage that once last challenge). Plan for next week: Monday - Leg day, work, snooker. Tuesday - Short run, work, chill/adult Wednesday - OHP day, work, snooker Thursday - vote, then off to DOWNLOAD Friday - METAL! Saturday - METAL!! Sunday - METAAAL!!!

So you got to enjoy the beautiful weather we had last year then? Lucky you Yeah, that it annoying, I must have missed this. I don't really get the having a go at people thing myself. I remember seeing Bring Me The Horizon one year and they were swearing and shouting at the crowd and really having a go, and maybe I'm getting old but I thought "Who the fuck do you kids think you are that you can talk to us like that? You're not nearly as big as you think you are!".

Ok, I've been pretty rubbish at updating this thread and totally useless at keeping up with you all. I'm sorry guys. I'm still trying to figure out how the forums fit with my new schedule and new job, but I've definitely got the time to make it work so I'll work it out. Belated Update Wednesday was Deadlift day, so that's always a good start! Ramp up sets went up to 60kg (~132#), and then work sets were due to be 70kg (~154#) for 5 x 8, so obviously I added 10kg to each side. 1st rep thinking "wow, this feels heavy", 2nd rep "I'm sure this shouldn't feel so hard", 3rd rep "you're an idiot!". So after that I deloaded from 80kg (~176#) back down to 70 and did the 5 sets as prescribed. Otherwise an uneventful day. Walked to work and back, had shepherds pie for dinner with enough leftovers for Thursday lunch, did some balance practice, played snooker, drank beer. Score: 16 points. Thursday I got up late, but in time for my run. The plan was for 2 speed miles with half a mile either side and half a mile in between. The first fast mile went ok, but then by the start of the 2nd I was walking and walked pretty much the rest of the way. I still don't know what the problem is with this; I think it's mostly in my head. The late start and the much slower time also meant that I was cutting it very fine to get to work on time. A good points scoring evening was had with extra bujo work (thanks partially to the bujo PvP), buying a new journal online, daily dare, a decent meal (Turkish mixed grill with bulgar wheat pilaf), grocery shopping, miserable yoga at the supermarket for the PvP (see below!). Also I went the entire day without any soda whatsoever - this is a pretty big deal as it's the first time in months at best, if not longer! Score: 26 points. Friday was bench day. Got in and was feeling just a bit weak and a bit rubbish, though I more-or-less got through everything. All day my nose was streaming and I think I can officially say my hayfever is back with a vengeance. By the evening I was feeling thoroughly grumpy and irritable and sorry for myself, so not too much got done. Went to see a local pub band who weren't very good (not that I was in the best mood anyway, but they need a lot more practice), drank too much and went to bed very late. Score: 14 points. I'm going to work out yesterday's score and update that shortly, but in the meantime here's some music:

Nice, well that will get you going! I must confess I only recognise about half of that, but it's good stuff! Cool! I've never heard of Demons & Wizards, but I like that track. More research needed then! Hi! What years did you go to Download? I've been a few time (ok, 8 times, consecutively, this year will be the 9th). I don't think I've seen FFDP being rude to staff (though I've probably only watched them properly once), what do they do? Cheers man! System are one of the few bands this year that I've definitely never seen and am really, really excited about . When did you see them? Hi! I need to catch up with your thread too. Judging by your profile pic I'm excited for this month's villain! Hey yeti! Yes, we will get you along to Download some time Hi mate! Your thread has actually inspired me that I might catch some of the wrestling this year for once.

Amazing view, that's so cool! Relatedly, 23k steps is a long way; go you!

C'est plus facile pour comprendre espagnol que français? Non! Ce n'est pas!

Ah, I see. My Fitbit does that, but I need a lot more to get me out of bed in the morning unfortunately.

*Jarric slinks in late, looking messy and tired, with what might be a hint of blood splattered amongst the mud* Damn it's quiet in here, where the hell is everyone? He asks the barman. It's that time of year again anyway, I'll have a Trooper please friend.

Interesting idea on the clocks. What do you do for an alarm though?

You look fantastically unimpressed here

So if you're looking for a goal and something to study towards to replace the certification, I think I might have spotted something.

Thanks for the tag @Laghail. Also think @jonfirestar and @Wild Wolf should have a look in on this. I don't know at the moment if I can fit this in with my programming, if I do it will be the end of week 4. If not I'll still give it a go, just as a benchmark.