Accidental Troll

Curiously I'm allegedly on the vacation that was supposed to be moving into my house. I'm doing...nothing, kind of on purpose. I made no plans, spent a wonderful weekend being productive and completely nonproductive with the girlfriend, and just kinda crashed after a very stressful home and work week. I could have made plans tonight, but didn't, and may just literally work and do chores all day like a regular day...only one where the chores actually get done. Shockingly happy to have a) restored my headlights, b) rain-x'd the windshield & back window, c) laundry kinda, d) kitchen, and soon to be e) sinks sterilized like surgery. I also probably worked 6 hours but ... I'm slightly compulsive. I guess that's actually a full day huh? But there was a nap...

I could not move to my DC home in as I was warned because the upstairs floors are still "wet" or tacky with the not-done finish. At least now I can see and touch a reason I can't move in. However, what about paint, fixtures, hot water, heat, a/c, the stairs, the closet under the stairs, the entire fucking kitchen...but at least I'm getting updates from the guy. I'll probably visit the place tomorrow. I visited this weekend with the girl, but learned fast I couldn't walk on the floor at all (I thought it was just too tacky for furniture - nope, you could push into the varnish with your finger). On the huge plus side, omg it's gorgeous. The floors are 100% sock-slide compatible. The internet says that's the problem - huge thick applications take forever to dry (as opposed to many thin coats as recommended).

More people are calling out the consistent racist-activist on the listserv. I filed a few cool things on the most horrible complainant I'm defending against right now. I'm starting in on the hearing plan in more detail, and find his answers are objectionable as not being consistent with his discovery responses. I fear this case but winning it will be a really important blow for good (I know that sounds goofy, but it's how I feel).

All advise against it, but as I can't nail a firm move-in date, it seems a u-haul is my best option. One version is I do it literally myself, u-haul only for boxes and little things like the futon, then hire a company for the balance. I'm a simple man. I'm not worried about damaging my Ikea furniture - the pinball machine, radio, and Victrola are probably my only valuable pieces. Veronica and I sat around talking through where things go, what goes, and how to make sense of it.

I was feeling like an alcoholic as I had alcohol the last 3 days in a row, but in each case never got intoxicated. At all. It's just been a restaurant weekend. I feel like drinking tonight, but I feel relaxed, happy, and possibly a little bored. I wondered why until I spotted the chocolate frog and considered eating it whole. It seems I want a minor indulgence (can I be chemically dependent if I'm not particularly enamored with which chemical I ingest?) I may yet go for the frog.

The gym continues to be ok to me. I am on the week of big lifts, which is probably not a great idea with my rib injury. Still, 325 squat went up for a double - I had the same problem with a hinged back, but I was also able to fix it. I'm still a little happy that my block of 315 is a thing of the past, happier that I may be at 335. I can "see" 365. Tomorrow I will probably pull 405 (deadlift). My only mehs right now are my static OP at 155 for 1 (with good form) and the fact my rib is still bothering me. I was able to do pull-ups though, so while slow, I'm getting better. I also respond more when I realize the belt is ninja-chopping my organs.

Oh I'm happy and boring. Fuck yeah. I wonder what life will be like in my new house?

Sure I'll write now - as long as I'm avoiding something else.

Gym:
Today is squat day, on schedule, though I missed DL and bench this week. I think I'm going to go cautiously, warm up way too long, go to my favorite empty gym...and really, really, really try to watch what I do. I would normally be on down week, I need to do form over all else (no shame in dropping the weight, you say it now do it), and...I travel this week so I'm probably going to miss far more workouts along the way. I may be able to stay on schedule-kinda if I ditch religious this-day this-lift. Just hit it if I've had at least one day off. I could Mike my way through combined workouts...why not DL and bench the same day?

My gf's out of town, so I'm sort of unfettered and missing her at the same time. I keep sending her pictures of the cat. Last night I had a solo-date-night of beer (ok starting with friends), old video games, kittie, and watching american greed. Geekin' hard.

Do other people get pissed off at people who pull half a car space into a space at the end of a parking area on the street (parallel parking) so invariably a space is wasted?

Fucking house:
Moving - I didn't really choose not to get quotes from movers, but I did fail to get moving quotes...it's like I just didn't get around to it. However when I priced a move from downstairs to upstairs, it was quoted around $700 which is why I went with friends. EVERYONE tells me to use movers (but I lift weights!?). However last night friends noted prices of moving an apt locally for $4-500 (one not so local) including packing. WTF...I thought I was avoiding spending $2500 +, if it's like $500 fuckyeah as renting a truck alone is $100 minimum and easily $200.

Oh really the house:
Brick stain - is harder than it looks, as the contractor points out the nice exposed brick wall is red brick with light gray mortar covered ONLY with clearcoat. The long stair/hall wall is clay brick, which is sort of a yellowish brown) with yellowish mortar to match. The problem is whatever stain we use on the wall will also color the mortar. He's right, in our test areas the mortar is not only brown - but we're losing the color change from the mortar to the bricks which gives the wall the appeal - it's not a big one-color wall, it's a pattern of color changes. So I may just clear coat it...or go with some minimal red stain in the mix. Hellno we're not painting each brick around the mortar.

Paint colors - screwed up on my whites and didn't pick a trim color, so I really need to do that and fast. I may hit SW this weekend (Scott noted one is near me in DC, another is the one here in Arl).

I felt like there was more to say. Ohshit forgot to call the gas co...

I still need to get appliances, which is harder than it sounds. Like mattresses, different models aren't very different but vary by store so price-comparisons are hard. I think I'm going to just take the risk of scratch and dent - may shop for them today. Where is that list of what I need...

Yesterday I hit happy hour near my place - ran into Jordan who was waiting for the subfloor tile material to arrive. I wasn't allowed upstairs as the last layer of finish was put on the floors now that most of the work was done. The top floor is mostly done...my god. Really? The closets are done, trim is done, mudding done...even the bathrooms are coming together (I saw the radiant heat tubes going under the shower!)

I'm going to be there by halloween. Neat.

Skipping a million details I'm sure, but I need to call the gas co.

I'm suffering a bit from stress - kinda had a cussing meltdown in the office the other day to the degree it alarmed a friend. I think the constant weight of money-bleeding, the stock market taking 20% off something I need to sell soon to pay bills, a shutdown, a huge series of cases this month, and all the tasks that NEED to be done for the house or delay and lose yet more money...it is all doable, I can handle it, but there is definitely a stress effect. Horrible time to have an injury, worse when I don't even know when or how it happened. No pop. When I've moved in, licensed if that happens, and the old place is filled with rent coming in? Perhaps then it'll be less madness and I can return to a more level state.

Random thought:
Shouldn't I engage in a more social sport, or push to parlay my sport of strength training into something more socially positive and interactive?

Yesterday this was my thought process as a good deadlift day made me want to die. Well not die - the gym is good and I have bad, bad mood worlds without endorphins regularly pumped into me. But I feel social while I'm not talking to anyone - I mean I talk in passing and recognize a few folks in my regular gyms, but it's not like those interactions have blossomed into actual friendships.

Come to think of it that was the big disappointment from boxing - I hoped to branch out into other social circles and it failed. I always seemed to get along, and a few happy hours and parties were ok...but it never spawned any friendships. To this day my friendships are based on nightclubs that no longer exist and social media.

In lifting a lot of us are in there doing our own thing, competing with one another, but not interacting other than seeing each other do well or suck and not saying anything about it. I've never made friends with a spotter or spottee.

There's always crossfit I suppose. I'm sure some schools do not do it all wrong, I feel like I'm a team player, and I do some fairly decent lifts.

I'd say running is the same thing - you can do it on your own and a lot of people do, but there are also a lot of running clubs I see meeting in the area.

Random - the more ink you have buried in your skin, the more likely you are to run around in tiny clothes.

Yesterday I wore my bestbelts "Fuchsia" (bright pink) belt for the first time. Not only that, I wore it to the SW DC gym, full of machismo guys bellowing at one another in thick dialects. Some of these guys were strong (though as is often the case, the quiet guys were by far the strongest). Nobody said anything to me (or about me that I noticed) but I felt like I got odd looks. My imagination? No idea, didn't really care.

I wanted to pull 405 because I think I can, but I kept to my "don't injure yourself again" motif and pulled 385. The belt both helped and hindered for the deadlift. First, it took some work to get it on and tight as it's new and stiff - no surprise. What caught me off guard was how the thing pinched when I squooted to the ground to pick up the weight. It is about as wide as the fleshy bits between the hip bone and rib cage, so as I bend over it digs in (I haven't checked for bruises). I also didn't really feel it so much on my lift, and I only got 2 at 385 ( was hoping for 3).

Not sure why, felt off rather than weak, so I pushed for more heavy lifts. I've switched from getting my lift and go - to doing high weight doubles and singles. Here I was also learning how to lift with the belt. On my next lifts I spent more time pushing out my ABS instead of just feeling the thing in my glute/lumbar. I think with the super tight belt instead of fixing form, I was leaning on the support of the belt (or trying to, this makes no actual sense). So my sets were weird at 385: 2, 1, 1, 2 or something like that. I was both trying not to overdo it (hence 385 rather than 405, I can wait another month for more weight) and fix form. WHEN I pushed my abs and locked my whole body the weight came up much easier - the 2 almost felt like it could be 3.

I also got pink fuzz all over my black shirt. I liked it.

My reps were meh - I used wraps, but only did 315 for 10, 8, 6 or so and was exhausted. I probably should have dropped the weights and banged out more reps but maybe next time.

Form - I've found a conventional style that works for me, but I'm not sure it's good form. Instead of nailing the back straight at 45 deg or whatever, I keep my chest higher up and drop my tush more. It feels easier, comes up straighter, but is it a standing floor squat or a dl? Does it matter compared to a sumo? Should I keep doing sumo even though I don't need to any more - work it in as a variant? Was Bladerunner not just forward looking with questions of sentience and life, but sexist in the portrayal of sex robots and how much of today's nostalgia is based on the objectification? I think I need to check online videos and research my form - never hurts to revisit form tips.

Posting because poor Veronica probably can't stand any more of my whine-bragging about how gym-tired I am because I'm so ragingly obviously proud of it.

I'm at or above where I was on all my lifts. I think it ... would be time to throw in the labral tear tag, but I still feel it, am still tight in some weird ways, and still doing that yogashit because of it.

I've learned a little from yogashit. I have some moves that warm me up from completely cold, enabling more morning workouts and under less than ideal conditions. I think I need...no I know I need to research a better warm-up routine (maybe scan Cressey) and save the wacky stretchy crap for the end of my workout. Working out in the morning would make for a nice routine - opens up the whole day.

So, scanning videos and Mike links I found a bunch of info debating buttwink and what to do about it (or whether to do anything) and I walked away with a new mission to really arch my back on my squats. Mike was notorious for calling me on my form, but I was still being the worst kind of stubborn; trying to keep my "big" lifts while only fixing form as an afterthought. So, since I was in rehab anyway, and since I pulled a hamstring in rehab, I upped the reps and really tried to nail the form. So now my squats are squats, good form only asshole, then reps, then front squats, and if I really am still alive lunches. In so doing, I'm arching the shit out of my back and trying to hold it the whole time (I used to just arch, but it was more a shoulder movement). The tricks I learned on setting up bench helped too - trying to squeeze the shoulders together while also arching as if my I could stick my ass on my back. Then the icing is trying to push my legs apart / spread the floor to keep my ankles from rolling and my knees from buckling.

And I think I'm having success. With what I think was good form, subject to review, today was
Squats for warm-ups and 5 at 285; 5x5 at 225, front squats 135 at 5x10 (working on that from scratch), and lunches with 2x30lb dumbbells 3x10 each side (one side at a time, not alternating of course).

And my ass is tired on the side, my quads are tired, and shit my back was tired when I started from Thur's deadlifts.

I need to get some more equipment. Sadly I still have sore elbows from my one return to the heavy bag for only 3 rounds. Seems that shit's permanent...but hey surgery is going so well, maybe I should revisit the elbows' issues?

This...isn't worth writing about but it feels so intense right now. I'm still pumped with endorphins, hard. I still feel great, strong, happy, confident, even though the guy before me was squatting around 400 while injured.

Labral? I am far better off than I was. I am beyond happy I did the surgery - it's a no brainer. I write this because I'm so happy with the results and my gym time that I'm in danger of forgetting what I had to do to get here, how different things were a short time ago. Labral tear - it doesn't hurt to squoot anymore. I can pick things up off the floor. It's been 6 months and I'm probably stronger now than I was before the surgery.

Girl's about ready to go so I'll have to stop this particular form of self-indulgence. We're going to do chores and watch a stupid movie as she recovers from her surgery. By 50 I may be all replacement parts - I'm thinking my next ones should be in blue chrome. Then I'll be dying my hair in ultra-violet ink. My tattoos will be LED so I can change the art...

I still mentally compose posts but then don't make them.

Last night I went to another arcade and bar; played golden axe for a bit. Like some other memories that don't stand the test of time, I don't seem to be terribly good at the game. Sadly my legs were so tired from running I was barely able to dance as kiss-kiss bang-bang.

So I'm trying to...I can't say I'm fat, but I can say my pants don't fit. I'm not sure what the sudden change is - surgery? Drinking more often? Restaurants more often? But I weigh more and my pants don't fit, while I don't seem remarkably stronger so...what else do you call it? So I'm trying to be a little more responsible about drinking, eating, and in the gym I'm adding back in running.

I hate cardio. At the same time, I also had my bp/hr taken at work the other day by our office nurse, who noted it was very good...she handed me a chart for basic information and described how being athletic and healthy essentially meant your pulmonary system remains more elastic. I looked up bp/hr figures online, and it seemed to support that theory as a hr for athletic at 18 was nearly the same as athletic at 75.

At the same time I'm trying to bring up the training volume in the gym, as Mike noted. So I'm super watching form, bringing up the volume without mercy, and making my workouts much longer (including a lot of that yoga crap).

With that, it's hard to do cardio in addition but I'm still trying to run my 3 miles in 30 minutes at incline 3. I stopped for a bit but since my strength is just a silly fetish anyway, and the cardio arguably has a larger impact on my average health, I'm trying to keep it in the program.

Also I suck at boxing. I finally got around to hitting the heavy bag and I was awful. So now I'm bringing my coffee timer to the gym, making 3 minutes rounds, and doing some simple bag work with gloves on. It's cardio I hate less, and I could really use that work.

The more I do it, the less it hurts, and the more I enjoy it. In that sense it's addictive, and I appreciate the cardio gains and returning strength. Speaking of, my strength is largely back.

Can this be as dull as it sounds? It's important to me but it's like describing my financial portfolio.

Gym:
yay. So the doc confirmed that I have a slight hammy strain, but noted it's not a big deal...I have to back off and be careful for a while, but that's not that different than rehab. For the record, this means "I over did it in rehab."
My squat is ok, but I like the direction I'm in - I feel like I've really hit some form problems and made progress. I'm not strong enough (strong enough for what!?) but I anticipate slow growth for a long time. My DL is way down now, just to make sure, and I rediscovered how horrible romanian deadlifts are.

On the silly side my OP is back to 155 (only for 1) while today I benched 225 for 2. I'm working on some form issues on flat bench, with mixed results. I think I have a strain in my shoulder and I may also need to work on that.

It seems the gym is really just a constant dance of revolving injuries.

House:
Floor: The flooring looked good but was removed/cut so a lot of it was not usable, leaving us about 160 sf short on the main floor. Jordan is going to pick up more at 2nd chance (which is good as I'm leaving town for a bit). I'm not sure if/what he's charging for going up there!
Drywall is mostly up, hooray.
Utility movement and new lines (the utilities all insist on replacing lines when you do this much work to get you up to modern code, makes sense) is still pending...what I don't know. The utility companies?.
Basement - I'm still waiting for pictures of proposed grading for the back, and while we're at it there is no framing up in the basement yet.
Windows - won't have tilt latches unless I pay another $45 per window - I declined so I have the pop out of frames kind, which I've had before - fine. That's another $450 I didn't want to spend as you flip windows what - once in 6 months if that?
Ordered a sexy radiator but having it delivered to his place. I was alarmed when it appeared on sale (more than half off) but then indicated no longer available. It popped back up and I was able to order it (I nearly ordered more). http://usa.hudsonreed.com/savy-high-gloss-black-designer-radiator-59-x-14.html
Master bath skylight - decided to put one in at Jordan's suggestion, loved the idea and thanks to a great roof guy (same one that did my roof) it's installed and paid for. Scott intervened with great tact to ensure I chased the guy down to pay him - I'm more the email and catch up or mail type, and none of those are really how this guy works so...bill is paid (and I'm happy with the work and price).
Waiting for a bid to "dip" (remove paint) and clean the radiators on the insides of any 100% year old debris.
Doors - waiting for bids on used wood doors, new wood doors, and solid doors that are not wood (one variant is whether they come with frame/jams and how much that adds in)

Oh that's all quite lovely and dull.
Tonight I'm going to the Black Cat for Dark & Stormy in the backroom (last time I hit that room it was Dyke Night or something, as I think my last "fag bash" was upstairs with drag queens). I think I'm going to dress well for it - by which I mean shorts, thigh-hinting black chucks, and a tank with my spikey hair. It looks like a bunch of my friends are going. I'm only nervous about parking - the new safe 14th street could make that a real bear. I could walk the 1.6 miles...NO. But after being all oddly nostalgic and just plain weird Wed it could be a lot of fun to be in a real club tonight.

The weekend is unplanned but with the gf, which...is about as good as it gets. Where we will eat and drink being the only issue and not a hard to solve one. Will we drink on the roof? Will it be coffee at home or an afternoon brunch? What time will the zebras go off? All questions to which the actual answer is not important. IT'S THE PROCESS.

I keep apologizing for not posting interesting things, not posting interesting things, but posting things of interest to me. They're all just so adult, boring, sterile, and normal.

The gym isn't going poorly but I'm not setting records. There are a LOT more guys doing big lifts - as I failed to OP 155 today (I was close, but tired from yesterday) a man beside me was failing at clean and jerks with 225. I've done 135 on that. I've kind of gotten used to doing the long stretchy crap, but I'm having to go from "yay easy recovery workouts" to getting tired and sore again.

I'm also (fat) annoyed that my pants and shorts don't fit anymore, and I've had to shop for new clothes. So I'm running more and perhaps not pursuing just strength while I get my clothes to fucking fit again. On the other hand I hear dad-bod is in vogue.

This place https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1337-Spring-Rd-NW-20010/unit-1/home/79869089 around the corner is selling for silly prices, and they bought the end unit for $625k. It makes me more confident about the value of my place.

I'm pricing appliances and finding...app conn, best buy, home depo, lowes, sears, and even sears outlet have the same prices...the only variable is getting reconditioned / recert / scratch n dent at sears.

I have to make some career decisions and fast - a job opened in my field, but more LR oriented as they emphasize appearing before the FLRA. It's a GS-15, which I noted would be a promotion for about $10k. However after that it would take another almost-ten years to climb a whopping 8k to the top of the GS-15 scale. So that's nice, but ... why leave when I know the Agency so well and have so much reputation credit?

I'm also still flirting with that private firm, and thinking about it more since I met someone who left them for our Dept (not Agency, but close). I forgot - I used to work for the OFCCP, which is an entire line of work that is highly marketable as well - all client side (not a plaintiff lawyer). Hmm.

I just settled a case tonight, a sad one, but it's the best answer for everyone...but me, who loses out of some fun free travel and visiting in the deal.

Numbers...who's the person that you woke up next to today...

I think I’m going to pull back on the labral tear tag...maybe swap over to make a gym tag. But as I was, and am, worried my ass on the other side might be related -
I think I may be ok though slightly injured. Unlike the joint issue, in this case I _can_ target the problem with a lacross ball. Rolling I can find the part that hurts, and rolling / hurting does result in relief (not complete, but some). I’m pretty sure that’s good news.

In other gym news, progress.
I’m not ashamed, much, of my old man yoga shit. So I stretch out for 30-45 minutes, so what. I’m used to it.
Yesterday I overhead-pressed (OP) 135 for 3 - all my weights are jumping pretty quickly to old levels, really bolstering the theory of muscle degradation vs. neurotransmitter storage. Or my body reacts better to full body work overall than trying to just do upper body? Or I’m now resting each part more even while overall I’m working out more?
So my DL was 335 (or 345?) for 5, squat for 255 for 5 (not ez), bench is meh but around 215 max when it used to be 235 just shy of a 245? I think on bench and OP I’m facing bad and good impact of form issues. That’s all to say, I’m recovered enough that I think I may both chill a little on the weight while honing my form a lot more plus add in more volume training. Mike noted and I agree support work is both key and important for...well like single leg work. Sure a farmer’s carry isn’t a lunge, but it’s practical (“I carry groceries!”) and involves transitions. Problem is things like farmer’s and prowler are only out in Tysons’, which is a royal pain to get to...imagine when I’m downtown.

In other gym news, questioning my goals and behavior
As I go from injury to injury, and as I’m not “scared” of my workouts now, I am revisiting how much energy I put in the gym. I’m eating food for fun right now, drinking often if not much, and my entire life is not revolving around the gym. When I was trying to be strong, everything was timed or avoided for the gym, and I was in constant pain - working to get out of a chair at work or home. Honestly I don’t miss that. Plus - for what? Worse, it seems the entire gym is stronger...maybe crossfit isn’t a bad trend after all, but just yesterday there were 2 guys squatting sets at 315 (only 1 to depth, but still). Sure they’re bigger than me, but I really was one of the few just a year ago. Hooray for them, and how do I catch up? I’m not near a 405 squat.

Or...or am I :p

Quick post - I never did get around to my giant race/poverty/politics post.