[sarakingdom]

16 minutes ago, deftona said:

 

22 hours ago, deftona said:

Martin Lewis, is that you?!

 

Or, with one added comma, you get what I was thinking you said, which is this:

 

 

(While I wouldn't generally go to them for financial advice, they probably would know about purchasing coke at those prices.)

[Jarric]

 

On 9/26/2024 at 6:08 PM, deftona said:

 

...I guess?!

 

 

On 9/26/2024 at 6:31 PM, sarakingdom said:

 

 

Or, with one added comma, you get what I was thinking you said, which is this:

 

 

(While I wouldn't generally go to them for financial advice, they probably would know about purchasing coke at those prices.)

 

Well there's definitely a difference in cultural touch points here, because I had to reverse image search to find out who that was  

[Jarric]

Ok, I've missed a few days, let's catch up on some stuff.

 

 

Wednesday W3D3

Wednesday's adventure was a visit to the physio. He's discharged me, and I have a reasonable running plan for the next few months which will hopefully get me back up to distance without further injury.

 

Spent some of the afternoon at my Dad's house as he had an appointment so someone needed to be there to get him ready for it and make note of what he was told. Managed to do some painting and almost finish my 3rd mini for the challenge, and then went climbing.

 

Through some miracle I spent no money, calories were very low at 2,346, I did update here, so 3/3.

 

Thursday W3D4

Thursday's adventure was finishing an important report at work. Before that was crossfit - almost all of the session was spent skipping and 3.5 days later my calves are still killing me. We did a load of double under practice - I'm still shit at them - and crossover practice - first time I've ever done these but they seem a bit easier.

 

In the evening WW and I went out for an excellent tapas, then I grabbed some more beer on the way home and we caught up with High Rollers and Taskmaster over beer.

 

Calories tracked at 3,382, spent lots of money on tapas and beer, didn't update here. 1/3.

 

Friday W3D5

Friday's adventure was a big client meeting.

 

First thing was Crossfit - some power snatch practice and then a workout of skiing, down-ups, and box jumps. The jumps were not kind on the calves. Then spent 4 hours in the morning in that meeting, and spent the rest of the working day just trying to clear and organise stuff. Next week I've only got 2 relatively normal working days, so just trying to get everything cleared.

 

In the evening I had a couple more beers in front of the TV with some baked camembert, bread, and carrots. I was actually ravenous all day for some reason. Had 6 chocolate cookies in the meeting, 2 jam doughnuts after lunch in the office. With that and normal meals, I hit 3,548 calories. I also spent money on a bottle of coke whilst I tried to get out of the office for my late lunch, and didn't update here, so 1/3 again.

 

I think it was on Friday that I also managed to finish my latest mini - a little gnome guy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday W3D6

Saturday's adventure was a bonfire procession and fireworks. First thing was a run and some climbing though, which was a fun start to the day. Spent most of the afternoon chilling at home, and then out in the evening to watch the bonfire procession go by.

 

I've recently learned that this phenomenon is not only a British thing, but is quite specifically a Sussex thing, so I'll try to explain. All of the local towns and larger villages have a bonfire society, who spend the year raising money for a firework display on or around 5th November. Because there are so many of them the displays actually start in September and run all of the way through. In every town, every society from the surrounding towns march. Add into that local businesses and clubs, and you end up with 100s of people, all in fancy dress, all carrying flaming torches and burning signs, marching through the town. When they get to the end there's a big firework display, they light a massive bonfire, and everyone has a lovely time.

 

Bonfire night commemorates the time someone failed to blow up parliament, and if you want to know more you can look up Guy Fawkes. Bonfires are common everywhere, but apparently processions are not?

 

Calories tracked at 4,075 including a massive slab of chocolate cake at climbing, a sausage and egg baguette for lunch, a lovely beef burger for dinner, and evening beers. Spent money on the cake, and didn't update here, so 1/3 again.

[sarakingdom]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

Well there's definitely a difference in cultural touch points here, because I had to reverse image search to find out who that was

 

 

Right, hand over your passport. It's mine now. I've won it fairly.

 

 

 

[Jarric]

8 minutes ago, sarakingdom said:

Right, hand over your passport. It's mine now. I've won it fairly.

 

Yeah, if you like. It's dropped in value somewhat in the last few years anyway  

[deftona]

30 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Yeah, if you like. It's dropped in value somewhat in the last few years anyway  

 

Have you considered marrying a European ?

[Radost]

1 hour ago, Jarric said:

I also managed to finish my latest mini - a little gnome guy

He turned out great! I love the colours you chose: lots of nice contrast but they also fit together in a harmonious palette. 

[Jarric]

28 minutes ago, deftona said:

 

Have you considered marrying a European ?

 

Now there's an idea, can you recommend anyone?

 

(In all seriousness, I should probably just sort out my Irish passport, but there's so many layers of paperwork required and I lack the motivation to do it without a clear reason.)

 

8 minutes ago, Radost said:

He turned out great! I love the colours you chose: lots of nice contrast but they also fit together in a harmonious palette. 

 

Thank you! That's nice to hear because it's almost exactly what I was going for. It's a bit of a cartoony model, so I wanted to go quite contrasting with the colours, but without them being too garish.

[deftona]

10 hours ago, Jarric said:

(In all seriousness, I should probably just sort out my Irish passport, but there's so many layers of paperwork required and I lack the motivation to do it without a clear reason.)

 

My sister is doing this for us. My step dad's dad was Irish and because my step dad adopted us, we meet the conditions for a passport. I do know there is huge demand since Brexit so there's quite a wait so get the wheels in motion asap! 

[Jarric]

4 hours ago, deftona said:

 

My sister is doing this for us. My step dad's dad was Irish and because my step dad adopted us, we meet the conditions for a passport. I do know there is huge demand since Brexit so there's quite a wait so get the wheels in motion asap! 

 

I should. This is 100% a feeble excuse, but the annoying thing is that step 1 is to get my grandma a passport (she lives in England now, her passport has expired and she's got no plans to travel internationally ever again). Despite having two Irish parents and spending a chunk of her childhood in Ireland, my mother had the cheek to be born in the City of Westminster, making me one step further removed from citizenship.

 

...I've just thought that I might be able to get m,y Granddad's death certificate - that could actually be an easier route. Will investigate with my Mum.

[Jarric]

Sunday W3D7

Yesterday's adventure was running D&D. The party decided to go to the plane of fire and explore a plot hook that I've been dangling since about session 2. We're on session 11  . Having exhausted every other option they went for it though, and were generally pretty successful at killing almost everyone they've met so far.

 

First thing I went for a run - an easy 5k (3.1 miles) which will become my long run as I increase it over the next couple of months.

 

Spent a load of time reading Bram Stoker's Dracula (I've been doing the Daily Dracula, where you read each entry in chronological order on the day that it happened in the book, but I was a couple of weeks behind). I also spent a decent chunk of time catching up here. I did not paint.

 

Calories tracked at 2,443, updated here, and no money spent. 3/3 for the day.

 

Week 3 stats

Decisionist - 7/7 days tracking calories. Finished the week at 20,848 calories, and gained 0.5 lbs.

Hoardsperson - 3/7 no-spend days. I want to get at least 4 this week.

Documancer - 4/7 days updating here - must try harder.

Cartographer - completed another mini, so I remain 1 week behind target on this. It's not slipping any further though, which is nice.

 

On the calorie-counting front, today marks the first day of my bulking phase. I plan to gain an average of 0.5lbs per week for the next 13 weeks, taking me from about 12 stone to about 12 stone 7.

 

I've worked out over the last 4 weeks that my maintenance calories are about 21,078 per week, or 3,011 per day. The plan to start with will be to eat 22,800 per week (3,257 per day), which I'll split as eating a minimum of 2,850 per day and then having a bonus 2,850 to spread over the week. I'll update the numbers over the weeks if I stop gaining weight, or gain weight much too fast. I'll also be aiming to hit at least 150g of protein each day, which should be easy if I stick to the protein shakes.

 

None of this changing my decisionist goal, which is just to track every day.

[Mad Hatter]

37 minutes ago, Jarric said:

The party decided to go to the plane of fire and explore a plot hook that I've been dangling since about session 2. We're on session 11

Better late than never ?

[Radost]

5 hours ago, Jarric said:

I've been doing the Daily Dracula, where you read each entry in chronological order on the day that it happened in the book

I heard about this and I think it’s such a cool idea! I might give it a try in the new year, I’m on a Spooky Classics kick right now with Le Fantome de l’Opera in progress and Carmilla waiting in the wings. 

[sarakingdom]

16 hours ago, Jarric said:

Spent a load of time reading Bram Stoker's Dracula (I've been doing the Daily Dracula

 

I'm subscribed, but I'm so able to ignore newsletters, apparently. Next year. Or maybe I'll just read it.

 

I have tons of vampire TV lined up for October, though.

 

(Also, I'm in possession of a certain novella, and I'll be hunting for your review soon.)

[Jarric]

On 9/30/2024 at 1:45 PM, Mad Hatter said:

Better late than never ?

 

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

 

 

On 9/30/2024 at 6:12 PM, Radost said:

I heard about this and I think it’s such a cool idea! I might give it a try in the new year, I’m on a Spooky Classics kick right now with Le Fantome de l’Opera in progress and Carmilla waiting in the wings. 

 

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...

 

On 10/1/2024 at 6:05 AM, sarakingdom said:

 

I'm subscribed, but I'm so able to ignore newsletters, apparently. Next year. Or maybe I'll just read it.

 

I have tons of vampire TV lined up for October, though.

 

(Also, I'm in possession of a certain novella, and I'll be hunting for your review soon.)

 

Oo, let me know when you've finished it and we can compare notes! I absolutely loved it.

[sarakingdom]

29 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Oo, let me know when you've finished it and we can compare notes! I absolutely loved it.

 

I have listened to it three or four times, and will probably give it another go before it goes back to the library, so it's safe to say that I, too, rather enjoyed it.

[Heidi]

5 hours ago, Jarric said:

I have Mary Shelley's Frankenstein on a bookshelf at home...

I have been meaning to read this for ages and ages, and I am thinking that an October Reading might be just the ticket for Frankenstein.

 

HI HI HI.

How've  you been?

[Sovalis]

Hey Jarric! How is it going? 

[Jarric]

On 10/15/2024 at 1:25 PM, sarakingdom said:

 

I have listened to it three or four times, and will probably give it another go before it goes back to the library, so it's safe to say that I, too, rather enjoyed it.

 

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:

Spoiler

I absolutely loved the way the story is set up, with Gussy=ie being an outsider because he's aware of magic, and because he's an Englishman in New York, and because of his sexuality. The way that those three elements play together is absolutely brilliant.

 

I also like the way that he brings in little things to make it feel of its time and place that I wouldn't have thought of, like how the word 'fan' is totally alien to Gussie, or how no-one in New York understands Polari. Neither of those points would have occurred to me until they were called out, and they put you right in that era.

 

And final point, I love that a lot of stuff is just left unexplained - we never really find out who Cocoa is, or how much Lucy really knows about the demi-monde, and it just feels more real to have some of that unanswered. In another book Peter would have tried much harder to find those answers, but it just doesn't feel in Gussie's nature.

 

 

On 10/15/2024 at 6:51 PM, Heidi said:

I have been meaning to read this for ages and ages, and I am thinking that an October Reading might be just the ticket for Frankenstein.

 

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.

 

On 10/15/2024 at 6:51 PM, Heidi said:

HI HI HI.

How've  you been?

 

On 10/16/2024 at 4:14 PM, Sovalis said:

Hey Jarric! How is it going? 

 

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!