These are definitely not times to start a new business in
Still I'm sorry to hear that you were in the right place at the wrong time but what can you do?
west of philly - bob
-
max
- Australofrenchbrityorkus
- Posts: 3751
- Joined: 24 Apr 2002 00:12
- Location: Bondi Beach, Australia
- Contact:
With the economy being what it is right now, and most of US (and the world) still unsure on where / when the financial crisis will end, what the repercussions will be on all economis sectors, it seems wiser to stick with what you have (a comfortable lifestyle with uninteresting job) untill the storm rides out.
These are definitely not times to start a new business in
Still I'm sorry to hear that you were in the right place at the wrong time but what can you do?
These are definitely not times to start a new business in
Still I'm sorry to hear that you were in the right place at the wrong time but what can you do?
Maxime Boucoiran
French ConneXion
BFC
French ConneXion
BFC
ken wrote:
Ken wrote:
Max wrote:
Regarding the bailout.. I'm not sure where I stand on all the finer points, but I do know that in theory, fixing financial markets makes sense. In my opinion, it starts with people not being able to borrow money (at least, that's the biggest impact.. bigger purchase = bigger $$ = more impact initially).
I also read something I didn't realize. For past, say, 10 years, first time home buyers could use the gov't FHA program to get into starter homes. The program was pretty relaxed and allowed mid-grade (sometimes low grade) credit scores to still purchase a home... and do it without any money down. As these people bought starter homes, the previous owners of those homes were able to move up the property ladder. And a chain of moving up, and driving up home prices was launched. NOW, FHA has changed the rules making it very difficult for the first link in this chain to happen - namely, the zero % down clause is closed.
If housing collapse was a key driver behind all other current climate conditions (and I think it was) closing out the people that start the food chain doesn't make sense. Thankfully, I also read that there are compromise positions being slated for discussion - what I gather is that zero/low down payments would be back in play, but would be restricted. My guess is the restriction would be to people with good credit and with solid employment history. This position would allow people to climb the property ladder again, but would also keep the high foreclosure risk crowd in rentals (and a healthy rental market is a good thing too). That's a more stable position going forward in my opinion.
Max wrote
----
Kicked last night. Was an extremely shitty session. Bad mood = bad footbag. We'll try again on Thursday.
Thanks Ken. We've known each other a long time now, and I obviously respect you quite a bit, so that means a lot coming from you.just wanted to say that I admire your drive and desire to improve yourself.
Ken wrote:
I respect you a little less now I think! ha haRieferman wrote:
Mind is swirling big time lately.
That's understandable; these are not symple problems you are dealing with
Max wrote:
One of my undergrad degrees is in economics. Our advisor used to do an exercise with us that he called "The Ripple Effect" and we would hypothesize downstream impacts of various issues. In the current climate, this exercise is really scary actually. For example, at first, new home builders were affected, but renovation companies were booming, since people opted to fix their homes instead of buy a new home. Now, loans are increasingly difficult for home owners to get, because housing market is down and equity is therefore lower, so less renovations are happening. Therefore, renovation companies are hurting. This same phenom is happening anywhere that borrowing money is in play. Example, car industry. Zoom back 10,000 feet, and it follows that more people will be out of work (and are already flooding unemployment statistics in record/near-record numbers). More people out of work means more people applying to less jobs, which in turn drives down salaries (e.g. 10 people all desperate for work apply to same job.. if 5 of 10 are close, company will not be willing to negotiate higher salary). Lower salaries means less to spend etc. etc. etc. Pretty rough cycle of events that could possibly unfold (and you see some of it unfolding already).With the economy being what it is right now
Regarding the bailout.. I'm not sure where I stand on all the finer points, but I do know that in theory, fixing financial markets makes sense. In my opinion, it starts with people not being able to borrow money (at least, that's the biggest impact.. bigger purchase = bigger $$ = more impact initially).
I also read something I didn't realize. For past, say, 10 years, first time home buyers could use the gov't FHA program to get into starter homes. The program was pretty relaxed and allowed mid-grade (sometimes low grade) credit scores to still purchase a home... and do it without any money down. As these people bought starter homes, the previous owners of those homes were able to move up the property ladder. And a chain of moving up, and driving up home prices was launched. NOW, FHA has changed the rules making it very difficult for the first link in this chain to happen - namely, the zero % down clause is closed.
If housing collapse was a key driver behind all other current climate conditions (and I think it was) closing out the people that start the food chain doesn't make sense. Thankfully, I also read that there are compromise positions being slated for discussion - what I gather is that zero/low down payments would be back in play, but would be restricted. My guess is the restriction would be to people with good credit and with solid employment history. This position would allow people to climb the property ladder again, but would also keep the high foreclosure risk crowd in rentals (and a healthy rental market is a good thing too). That's a more stable position going forward in my opinion.
Max wrote
Definitely not. But not a bad time at all to gain training/education so that you're ready for future. Regardless of what career choice I make, it will be a 10 year plan basically. A plan for a second career in my 40's. By then, I'll have better financial stability from years of high earning power, and my wife will be back in the work force as kids grow into their school years. Those factors allow me to take a risk on learning a new industry (and presumably taking a pay cut while I do that learning).These are definitely not times to start a new business in
----
Kicked last night. Was an extremely shitty session. Bad mood = bad footbag. We'll try again on Thursday.
Bob R.
Hopefully kicking tonight will go better. I really need to break out of this pissy mood. I'm totally back on my usual schedule of morning workouts, no beers during weekdays, and usual shred schedule (for a couple weeks, there was some moderate beer intake, say, once per week... some morning workouts were missed, food was still fine, some footbag sessions missed while recovering from my cold). So I'm back to feeling good about my body which helps my mood. I'm just going to shred for a few sessions because I need a little less structure in my current pissy mindframe. I think I'll use my lists of combos as run starters and see where it goes from there. I think I'll also run the video camera.
One thing I learned recently watching some practice vid is: after a set, the closer you put your foot down compared to where the ball is, the faster you can get that foot to the ground, and the easier it is to stay balanced and get a good window. Example, stepping set. Strong side, my setting foot moves from clipper to the ground right next to my support leg, and it does it really really quickly. Thus, good set, good balance. On weakside, set foot goes from clipper to a spot about a foot and a half away from my support leg, and behind my support leg. Therefore, immediately out of balance, and making the window smaller, thus lower set and less pop. It works on symple swirls, pixie set, atomic set, quantum set, even spins. Oh, and drifters and whirls. Watch the foot placement of someone really good at shuffle, and you'll see what I mean. They could literally shred inside a 1 foot by 1 foot square.
One thing I learned recently watching some practice vid is: after a set, the closer you put your foot down compared to where the ball is, the faster you can get that foot to the ground, and the easier it is to stay balanced and get a good window. Example, stepping set. Strong side, my setting foot moves from clipper to the ground right next to my support leg, and it does it really really quickly. Thus, good set, good balance. On weakside, set foot goes from clipper to a spot about a foot and a half away from my support leg, and behind my support leg. Therefore, immediately out of balance, and making the window smaller, thus lower set and less pop. It works on symple swirls, pixie set, atomic set, quantum set, even spins. Oh, and drifters and whirls. Watch the foot placement of someone really good at shuffle, and you'll see what I mean. They could literally shred inside a 1 foot by 1 foot square.
Bob R.
sometimes, even ehhhhhhhhhhh sessions improve your mood.
effed up music again somehow
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enE-hm6I2dg[/youtube]
effed up music again somehow
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enE-hm6I2dg[/youtube]
Bob R.
Didn't kick this weekend.
Friday - wife was out for "mom's night out" so I was home chilling solo. Nothing interesting to report.
Saturday - early driving range followed by golf lesson. Then took kids to hay ride / pumpkin patch. Then played with kids. Then mowed and other yard work. Then visit friends to see their new house. Home and asleep by 9 p.m.
Sunday - Took kids to Home Depot while wife was at church. Then played in the yard, really nice day. Then watched Eagles suck ass again. Then played with kids some more. Watched end of Phillies kicking ass. In bed and asleep by 9 p.m.
After a week of no beers (to get back on my normal routine) I had maybe 5 beers all weekend. And two of them were during yard work / mowing.
I think I'm depressed. My mood is shitty as hell. Tired. Disinterested.
To dig out of it, I'm going to focus on family and hobbies. Footbag / golf / hoops, woodworking, kids/wife etc. I just bought plans for building adirondack chairs. I plan on making a bunch for our house and for some family. Then possibly selling them.
I'm considering not having any drinks at all for next few weeks. I don't think it's good to drink when you're depressed. And luckily, this particular bout of depression has me completely disinterested in drinking anyways. Maybe getting even skinnier and getting some accomplishments at home will compensate for the utter "oh my god I have to go to hell job again" feeling that is taking over my thoughts.
Remember as a kid when your parents would make you sit at the dinner table until you ate something you just didn't want to eat? That horrible "I know I have to do it, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to" feeling? That's every morning for me right now, but the 'food' is my job.
Friday - wife was out for "mom's night out" so I was home chilling solo. Nothing interesting to report.
Saturday - early driving range followed by golf lesson. Then took kids to hay ride / pumpkin patch. Then played with kids. Then mowed and other yard work. Then visit friends to see their new house. Home and asleep by 9 p.m.
Sunday - Took kids to Home Depot while wife was at church. Then played in the yard, really nice day. Then watched Eagles suck ass again. Then played with kids some more. Watched end of Phillies kicking ass. In bed and asleep by 9 p.m.
After a week of no beers (to get back on my normal routine) I had maybe 5 beers all weekend. And two of them were during yard work / mowing.
I think I'm depressed. My mood is shitty as hell. Tired. Disinterested.
To dig out of it, I'm going to focus on family and hobbies. Footbag / golf / hoops, woodworking, kids/wife etc. I just bought plans for building adirondack chairs. I plan on making a bunch for our house and for some family. Then possibly selling them.
I'm considering not having any drinks at all for next few weeks. I don't think it's good to drink when you're depressed. And luckily, this particular bout of depression has me completely disinterested in drinking anyways. Maybe getting even skinnier and getting some accomplishments at home will compensate for the utter "oh my god I have to go to hell job again" feeling that is taking over my thoughts.
Remember as a kid when your parents would make you sit at the dinner table until you ate something you just didn't want to eat? That horrible "I know I have to do it, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY don't want to" feeling? That's every morning for me right now, but the 'food' is my job.
Bob R.
Hey Man,
(Relatively) dissapointing news: I will be going to the Catskills to have Thanksgiving at my mother's house, so this makes shred less-than-likely.
I am sorry to hear that you are in a funk. It is a reak eye-opener though. It seems like you have so much going right for you that it reminds me how much of a role perspective really is.
Can't wait to kick again some time soon. In the meantime I will be practicing variations of ripstein till I got it down.
(Relatively) dissapointing news: I will be going to the Catskills to have Thanksgiving at my mother's house, so this makes shred less-than-likely.
I am sorry to hear that you are in a funk. It is a reak eye-opener though. It seems like you have so much going right for you that it reminds me how much of a role perspective really is.
Can't wait to kick again some time soon. In the meantime I will be practicing variations of ripstein till I got it down.
Sorry to hear you aren't doing so well. I like your idea of cutting out alcohol while you are down. Just in general I think it's a good idea to take breaks from alcohol.
Some footbag challenges for you:
*symp dlo
*As many contacts as you can of barrage-paradon repeat
*ducking lo(s) back to back. Harder than it sounds
*pdx dragonfly-drifter/torque
*10 genuine
Hopefully see you in Boston in May.
Some footbag challenges for you:
*symp dlo
*As many contacts as you can of barrage-paradon repeat
*ducking lo(s) back to back. Harder than it sounds
*pdx dragonfly-drifter/torque
*10 genuine
Hopefully see you in Boston in May.
shit, those chalenges are pretty freaking challenging. Specifically the dragonfly combo. I only pretend to be good at dragonflies
had a more fun sesh tonight. no camera, just practicing what i wanted to practice. played after kids were asleep so i didn't feel rushed.
i actually think it's good that i suck compared to, say, clavens. he's seemingly down on the game even though he's achieved so much. though he's worked hard, so have i. and i think the paradox (ha) of this game is that when it's hard to get better, it's actually healthier. I'm on my way to a lonnnnnng freaking journey in this sport ultimately, with each year being better than the last, but always leaving SO MUCH room for improvement. Maybe i'd get sick of it if I was bap today etc. you know?
had a more fun sesh tonight. no camera, just practicing what i wanted to practice. played after kids were asleep so i didn't feel rushed.
i actually think it's good that i suck compared to, say, clavens. he's seemingly down on the game even though he's achieved so much. though he's worked hard, so have i. and i think the paradox (ha) of this game is that when it's hard to get better, it's actually healthier. I'm on my way to a lonnnnnng freaking journey in this sport ultimately, with each year being better than the last, but always leaving SO MUCH room for improvement. Maybe i'd get sick of it if I was bap today etc. you know?
Bob R.
I wisely left the camera inside again last night so that I could just practice and play (rather than try for "video worthy" runs). Practiced after kids were in bed again which seems to work better for me. The feeling of being rushed is a total footbag mood killer for me.
I'm really sore today. All over. I did a lot of atomic set practice, really concentrating on pivoting my hips during the dex, and on setting the ball from a position close to the dex leg. Also, a lot of stepping set - really only working on tightening it up, and making it take less effort (which interestingly takes effort to do). Drifter, pixie, paradon, spinning, and some other stuff rounded out the session.
Basically, my last 2 sessions were designed to kill me so that the pissy mood would be beaten right out of me. It seems to be helping. Or maybe it's just because the Phillies won last night.
I'm really sore today. All over. I did a lot of atomic set practice, really concentrating on pivoting my hips during the dex, and on setting the ball from a position close to the dex leg. Also, a lot of stepping set - really only working on tightening it up, and making it take less effort (which interestingly takes effort to do). Drifter, pixie, paradon, spinning, and some other stuff rounded out the session.
Basically, my last 2 sessions were designed to kill me so that the pissy mood would be beaten right out of me. It seems to be helping. Or maybe it's just because the Phillies won last night.
Bob R.
Only got to play on Saturday this weekend because I ended up being too sore and busy on Sunday to play. Saturday went like this:
- wake up and play with the kids
- errands with kids including Keegan's first "big boy" hair cut (which is the same as a normal hair cut except that it's shorter on the sides and he looks like a little man now)
- lunch
- killed myself playing footbag really hard while Emi napped and Keegan had down time
- Mowed the lawn
- Played with kids some more, took them for a long walk through the neighborhood, and had dinner
- put kids to bed
- hung out with wife
Sounds like a normal day, and it is... But the footbag and mowing on the same day as the rest of it is tiring. You'll all see someday when you have kids.
On Sunday, the day was built around hanging out with Grammy, and then while Emi was napping at her house, we took Keegan to see his cousin Stephen's 7th grader football (american football) game. Side note: It's kind of cool that I have to write "american football" as clarification because the footbag world is bigger than the US. Anyhow, it was a thriller of a game - really, it was. We totally had fun watching. And it was perfect atmosphere for Keegan. Only like 50 spectators, and we knew a bunch of them, so he could run around the stands etc. Stephen was awesome - in this league, the kids play offense and defense, and he was a star on both. On defense, he was playing nose tackle, and the oposing coach had him double teamed for the entire 2nd half because he was wreaking havoc. On offense, he was blocking really well, and he had 4 outside runs for about an average of 10 yards per run. But the best was... On one defensive play, he forced a fumble, recovered the fumble, then stayed in for next play on offense, and busted through the hole down the middle for 20 yard gain! We ended up losing by 3 points, but the other team was huge and undefeated, and we were their closest match of the year. So it was a moral victory. Afterwards, Keegan idolized his cousin (who is the nicest kid ever) and checked out his helmet and pads etc. So cute. Stephen wasn't embarassed at all to hang with his 3 year old cousin in front of his friends. He took Keegan around and showed him off to all his buddies. Keegan was on cloud nine.
Then Eagle won, thank god. Dallas and Washington both lost, thank god.
---
I guess it's a footblog, so I should talk about Saturday's good practice. Did a cool drill to improve torque. Basically it's just clipper set far osis, but I do the footwork and hop as if it's a torque. The only thing missing is the torque mirage dex. Through the practice, I worked just about every concept that I do. Atomic and stepping are making the most notable improvements right now. Really getting the hang of the inward portion of the dex on atomic, then again, I've been saying for years that I'm "this close". Ha ha. But really, I think I'm "this close" to being able to really have that set. For example, I hit 10 atomic mirages in a row, separated by a couple kicks each. That's good consistency. Weak stepping is popping better and better. Weak drifter isn't that weak anymore. Good spins practice, nice and controlled. Lots of weakside gyro mirages. Blah, that's it.
- wake up and play with the kids
- errands with kids including Keegan's first "big boy" hair cut (which is the same as a normal hair cut except that it's shorter on the sides and he looks like a little man now)
- lunch
- killed myself playing footbag really hard while Emi napped and Keegan had down time
- Mowed the lawn
- Played with kids some more, took them for a long walk through the neighborhood, and had dinner
- put kids to bed
- hung out with wife
Sounds like a normal day, and it is... But the footbag and mowing on the same day as the rest of it is tiring. You'll all see someday when you have kids.
On Sunday, the day was built around hanging out with Grammy, and then while Emi was napping at her house, we took Keegan to see his cousin Stephen's 7th grader football (american football) game. Side note: It's kind of cool that I have to write "american football" as clarification because the footbag world is bigger than the US. Anyhow, it was a thriller of a game - really, it was. We totally had fun watching. And it was perfect atmosphere for Keegan. Only like 50 spectators, and we knew a bunch of them, so he could run around the stands etc. Stephen was awesome - in this league, the kids play offense and defense, and he was a star on both. On defense, he was playing nose tackle, and the oposing coach had him double teamed for the entire 2nd half because he was wreaking havoc. On offense, he was blocking really well, and he had 4 outside runs for about an average of 10 yards per run. But the best was... On one defensive play, he forced a fumble, recovered the fumble, then stayed in for next play on offense, and busted through the hole down the middle for 20 yard gain! We ended up losing by 3 points, but the other team was huge and undefeated, and we were their closest match of the year. So it was a moral victory. Afterwards, Keegan idolized his cousin (who is the nicest kid ever) and checked out his helmet and pads etc. So cute. Stephen wasn't embarassed at all to hang with his 3 year old cousin in front of his friends. He took Keegan around and showed him off to all his buddies. Keegan was on cloud nine.
Then Eagle won, thank god. Dallas and Washington both lost, thank god.
---
I guess it's a footblog, so I should talk about Saturday's good practice. Did a cool drill to improve torque. Basically it's just clipper set far osis, but I do the footwork and hop as if it's a torque. The only thing missing is the torque mirage dex. Through the practice, I worked just about every concept that I do. Atomic and stepping are making the most notable improvements right now. Really getting the hang of the inward portion of the dex on atomic, then again, I've been saying for years that I'm "this close". Ha ha. But really, I think I'm "this close" to being able to really have that set. For example, I hit 10 atomic mirages in a row, separated by a couple kicks each. That's good consistency. Weak stepping is popping better and better. Weak drifter isn't that weak anymore. Good spins practice, nice and controlled. Lots of weakside gyro mirages. Blah, that's it.
Bob R.
Had a fun night last night.
Got home and had dinner with wife and kids. Then, my wife had setup our tent in the back yard earlier in the day, so Keegan and I pretended to go camping (spiderman came with us, of course) for awhile. We pretended there were bears outside the tent, and then I'd scare and tickle him (Keegan, not spiderman.. spiderman isn't ticklish). Just one of those "sigh, life is good" moments. Meanwhile, Emi was enjoying having mom to herself on the playground. Went inside, had one TV show and then bath time. The kids take their bath together right now, so it's really fun. They splash each other and "share" the bath toys (i.e. Keegan gives Emi whatever castoffs he's not interested in... and she's tickled pink anyways). Wife puts Emi to sleep, I read Keegan bedtime stories and just hang out a little before he goes to sleep.
Then, I went out to the barn and played some footbag. Mostly worked on challenge combos and then running out of them. Some highlights:
- Ripwalk > pdx DLO > pixie butterfly > symple swirl > run
- ripwalk > blur bsos
- spinning legover > smear on both sides separate runs
- midrun pixie legover > atomic mirage (strong side)
- midrun pixie legover > atomic butterfly (weak side)
----
Mind is turning over and over on how I will renovate my barn. I don't want to sink more than $10K into it, else I'll never get that money back out again unless we stay in this house at least 10 years. But I'm on the fence as to whether we'll stay that long or not. On one hand, our house has all the amenities I want (character, screened in porch, big fenced yard with jungle gym, basketball court, barn/wood shop, fire pit area) and all the major work on the house is complete. On the other hand, we'd like a little quieter of a neighborhood, more spread out, more remote. Basically, if we could take my house and lot and drop it someplace else, we'd be sold on staying. But we can't so we're not 100% there.
So, the barn.... I want to:
- Structurally reinforce certain parts of the building.
- Pour a new concrete floor throughout first floor.
- Turn the back part of 1st floor into a finished "rec room" (aka footbag room / exercise room)
- Replace front sliding door with traditional garage doors so we can park the cars in there
- Add siding to the outside to protect the deteriorating wood from further deterioration
- Add new plywood subfloor to 2nd story.. this would allow me to move my wood shop upstairs, thus allowing parking on first floor (bullet above)
- Pipe out electric trunk (currently, they have one breaker dedicated from house to barn.. it's underpowered) network, and cable TV for exercise room.
- patch roof
So, as you can see, that's like $25K worth of work. But my goal is to do it mostly myself. Basically, I'll pay someone to do the concrete floor, and I'm researching doing everything else myself. But it's a LOT of work. And a LOT of it is outside my experience level, even with all the home improvements etc. that I've done. Could be really cool if I can pull it off.
edit: If you want to see the pictures I've taken of the barn (took them for some barn renovation experts to review) look here: http://rieferbarn.shutterfly.com/
Got home and had dinner with wife and kids. Then, my wife had setup our tent in the back yard earlier in the day, so Keegan and I pretended to go camping (spiderman came with us, of course) for awhile. We pretended there were bears outside the tent, and then I'd scare and tickle him (Keegan, not spiderman.. spiderman isn't ticklish). Just one of those "sigh, life is good" moments. Meanwhile, Emi was enjoying having mom to herself on the playground. Went inside, had one TV show and then bath time. The kids take their bath together right now, so it's really fun. They splash each other and "share" the bath toys (i.e. Keegan gives Emi whatever castoffs he's not interested in... and she's tickled pink anyways). Wife puts Emi to sleep, I read Keegan bedtime stories and just hang out a little before he goes to sleep.
Then, I went out to the barn and played some footbag. Mostly worked on challenge combos and then running out of them. Some highlights:
- Ripwalk > pdx DLO > pixie butterfly > symple swirl > run
- ripwalk > blur bsos
- spinning legover > smear on both sides separate runs
- midrun pixie legover > atomic mirage (strong side)
- midrun pixie legover > atomic butterfly (weak side)
----
Mind is turning over and over on how I will renovate my barn. I don't want to sink more than $10K into it, else I'll never get that money back out again unless we stay in this house at least 10 years. But I'm on the fence as to whether we'll stay that long or not. On one hand, our house has all the amenities I want (character, screened in porch, big fenced yard with jungle gym, basketball court, barn/wood shop, fire pit area) and all the major work on the house is complete. On the other hand, we'd like a little quieter of a neighborhood, more spread out, more remote. Basically, if we could take my house and lot and drop it someplace else, we'd be sold on staying. But we can't so we're not 100% there.
So, the barn.... I want to:
- Structurally reinforce certain parts of the building.
- Pour a new concrete floor throughout first floor.
- Turn the back part of 1st floor into a finished "rec room" (aka footbag room / exercise room)
- Replace front sliding door with traditional garage doors so we can park the cars in there
- Add siding to the outside to protect the deteriorating wood from further deterioration
- Add new plywood subfloor to 2nd story.. this would allow me to move my wood shop upstairs, thus allowing parking on first floor (bullet above)
- Pipe out electric trunk (currently, they have one breaker dedicated from house to barn.. it's underpowered) network, and cable TV for exercise room.
- patch roof
So, as you can see, that's like $25K worth of work. But my goal is to do it mostly myself. Basically, I'll pay someone to do the concrete floor, and I'm researching doing everything else myself. But it's a LOT of work. And a LOT of it is outside my experience level, even with all the home improvements etc. that I've done. Could be really cool if I can pull it off.
edit: If you want to see the pictures I've taken of the barn (took them for some barn renovation experts to review) look here: http://rieferbarn.shutterfly.com/
Bob R.
component practice last night. Stepping ss clipper (in my opinion) is probably the best thing you can do for your stepping set. Hit a bunch of other stuff, but no real highlights. Just cleaner play overall.
Have been continuing my morning workouts still. It's been over a year since I started. I'm still holding steady at 200 lbs, and clothes continues to get looser, so I'm successfully converting fat to muscle.
Have been continuing my morning workouts still. It's been over a year since I started. I'm still holding steady at 200 lbs, and clothes continues to get looser, so I'm successfully converting fat to muscle.
Bob R.
-
bingchenzo
- Hack Fiend
- Posts: 34
- Joined: 08 Jun 2006 20:16
- Location: chocolate city
- Contact:
great posts! inspiring for another fogey taking another hack at steefryle.
great times, Rob. looking forward to another jam or SMURF (WMURF, AMURF?) with you in the future. Mr. Payne will be back in the states in a month or so.
keep up the awesome everything, sounds like you have found the good life in spite of the hell job. Very impressive, and great to know.
Highly inspirational, can't thank you enough.
Keeping it on the good foot, great feet-
vince
great times, Rob. looking forward to another jam or SMURF (WMURF, AMURF?) with you in the future. Mr. Payne will be back in the states in a month or so.
keep up the awesome everything, sounds like you have found the good life in spite of the hell job. Very impressive, and great to know.
Highly inspirational, can't thank you enough.
Keeping it on the good foot, great feet-
vince
what a nice surprise to have a visit and comment from vince I often wonder who's reading besides the 4-5 people that drop me a comment. welcome aboard!
this fogey felt like a fogey last night. I played more than usual this week, and component practice is extremely tiring. So I was wiped out when I was playing last night. Since that was the case, I just spent the entire practice on weakside drifter and weakside DLO. Both made a lot of improvement. I think weakside drifter is midrun reliable now, and DLO isn't far behind.
going to hit the driving range tonight. Otherwise, mellow weekend. Will probably spend some time beginning to prep the barn for repairs. Oh, and I decided that I'm going to try to do a "green" remodel. Green in the sense that I will buy as many materials from re-use places and used on craig's list etc. There are great deals to be had, and it saves the items from landfill. For example, I found brand new garage door for $100 yesterday. That's a STEAL. And used windows for $25 apiece (would normally pay $250). Even siding can be found - you might have to match up two slightly different styles (like 4" boards vs. 5" boards) of same color to do it, but no one would ever notice if you put the two sizes on different sides of the building, and at 1/4 of the cost it makes a ton of sense. There's even home wrap and insulation. Habitat for Humanity also runs "restore" stores where their materials are from deconstruction, donation, and excess/overage from builders. And your dollars spent there (again, excellent prices compared to Home Depot etc.) go straight to supporting other Habitat for Humanity projects.
Speaking of green.. A coworker and I are thinking of starting a side business as a hobby. He and I are both blue collar personalities working in white collar jobs. He's actually twice the builder that I am (his father was a general contractor). We plan to begin re-using various wood and other materials to build finished goods. For example, reclaiming barn wood to create kitchen tables, reclaiming wood pallets to make adirondak chairs, reclaiming wood studs to make washers games.. bird houses, crates, end tables, planters etc. Start small with simple web store, and maybe some consignments at local stores that make sense. Eventually, the 2nd floor of my barn could serve as a show room possibly (it's big enough, and my land is zoned village commercial.. plus it'd be a tax write off for me). It's a fun thing to think about because the overhead and risk are quite low, we enjoy the work anyways, and we both really mesh amazingly well in terms of business sense, building skills, and just generally as friends. Would love to hear and suggestions for items you think we should include in our portfolio.
I often wonder who's reading besides the 4-5 people that drop me a comment. welcome aboard!this fogey felt like a fogey last night. I played more than usual this week, and component practice is extremely tiring. So I was wiped out when I was playing last night. Since that was the case, I just spent the entire practice on weakside drifter and weakside DLO. Both made a lot of improvement. I think weakside drifter is midrun reliable now, and DLO isn't far behind.
going to hit the driving range tonight. Otherwise, mellow weekend. Will probably spend some time beginning to prep the barn for repairs. Oh, and I decided that I'm going to try to do a "green" remodel. Green in the sense that I will buy as many materials from re-use places and used on craig's list etc. There are great deals to be had, and it saves the items from landfill. For example, I found brand new garage door for $100 yesterday. That's a STEAL. And used windows for $25 apiece (would normally pay $250). Even siding can be found - you might have to match up two slightly different styles (like 4" boards vs. 5" boards) of same color to do it, but no one would ever notice if you put the two sizes on different sides of the building, and at 1/4 of the cost it makes a ton of sense. There's even home wrap and insulation. Habitat for Humanity also runs "restore" stores where their materials are from deconstruction, donation, and excess/overage from builders. And your dollars spent there (again, excellent prices compared to Home Depot etc.) go straight to supporting other Habitat for Humanity projects.
Speaking of green.. A coworker and I are thinking of starting a side business as a hobby. He and I are both blue collar personalities working in white collar jobs. He's actually twice the builder that I am (his father was a general contractor). We plan to begin re-using various wood and other materials to build finished goods. For example, reclaiming barn wood to create kitchen tables, reclaiming wood pallets to make adirondak chairs, reclaiming wood studs to make washers games.. bird houses, crates, end tables, planters etc. Start small with simple web store, and maybe some consignments at local stores that make sense. Eventually, the 2nd floor of my barn could serve as a show room possibly (it's big enough, and my land is zoned village commercial.. plus it'd be a tax write off for me). It's a fun thing to think about because the overhead and risk are quite low, we enjoy the work anyways, and we both really mesh amazingly well in terms of business sense, building skills, and just generally as friends. Would love to hear and suggestions for items you think we should include in our portfolio.
Bob R.
Ken, you've spoiled me with your witty comments over the years, so I have to say, this wasn't your most witty quip yet. I appreciate the effort though.
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Had a really nice weekend.
Friday night, took kids to neighbor's house because they have these huge maple trees and had an enormous pile of leaves already (our leaves haven't fallen yet at our house). So we played in the leaves and the kids just loved it. Later, after kids went to bed, wife was just chilling having some down time, so I got the go ahead to go to that same neighbor's house for a fire in the chimenia (sp?) on his patio. Chilling and some beers. Good times.
Saturday, hit the hardware store with the kids. Interestingly, they love going there. Anyhow, needed a new ceiling fan for kitchen and some stuff to make our house more energy efficient. Played with kids etc. Really tired them out, and Keegan (who doesn't nap anymore) took a mega nap. Meanwhile, I went to driving range to improve my use of the 4 iron.
Later when he woke up, Keegan was pretty obviously needing some special daddy time, so we did guy stuff just the two of us. (he says "Just us 2 guys")
- Since he had such a nice nap, we knew we could keep him up later.
- Started with a guys trip to the supermarket to get some marshmallows .
- When we got back, I broke up a bunch of sticks while Keegan piled them in a bin
- I carried bin down to fire pit, and Keegan helped me crunch up newspaper
- I lit the fire, and showed Keegan how to carve a stick for roasting marshmallows
- Then we roasted and ate marshmallows by his first ever camp fire. Just talked and hung out.
After awhile, we went in and watched a little bit of a movie together (Milo and Otis) and I put him to bed. Really fun night.
Hung the new ceiling fan (tedious!). Had a couple beers and called it a night.
Sunday, hung out and played with the kids while Megan went to church. When she got back, I kicked some footbag in the barn. After Emi’s nap, we went to the YMCA and played basketball and then went swimming. Kids were wiped out from long weekend of play, so we put them to bed nice and early. Then we went to bed early too.
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Yesterday’s footbag session was great actually. I was just shredding basically, but focusing on doing weak tricks. Did very well with weak: blur, drifter, spins, DLO, ripwalk, pixie. Hit 4 b2b drifters into a run. Just overall was linking well, very controlled, low bops, good both sidedness.
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Had a really nice weekend.
Friday night, took kids to neighbor's house because they have these huge maple trees and had an enormous pile of leaves already (our leaves haven't fallen yet at our house). So we played in the leaves and the kids just loved it. Later, after kids went to bed, wife was just chilling having some down time, so I got the go ahead to go to that same neighbor's house for a fire in the chimenia (sp?) on his patio. Chilling and some beers. Good times.
Saturday, hit the hardware store with the kids. Interestingly, they love going there. Anyhow, needed a new ceiling fan for kitchen and some stuff to make our house more energy efficient. Played with kids etc. Really tired them out, and Keegan (who doesn't nap anymore) took a mega nap. Meanwhile, I went to driving range to improve my use of the 4 iron.
Later when he woke up, Keegan was pretty obviously needing some special daddy time, so we did guy stuff just the two of us. (he says "Just us 2 guys")
- Since he had such a nice nap, we knew we could keep him up later.
- Started with a guys trip to the supermarket to get some marshmallows .
- When we got back, I broke up a bunch of sticks while Keegan piled them in a bin
- I carried bin down to fire pit, and Keegan helped me crunch up newspaper
- I lit the fire, and showed Keegan how to carve a stick for roasting marshmallows
- Then we roasted and ate marshmallows by his first ever camp fire. Just talked and hung out.
After awhile, we went in and watched a little bit of a movie together (Milo and Otis) and I put him to bed. Really fun night.
Hung the new ceiling fan (tedious!). Had a couple beers and called it a night.
Sunday, hung out and played with the kids while Megan went to church. When she got back, I kicked some footbag in the barn. After Emi’s nap, we went to the YMCA and played basketball and then went swimming. Kids were wiped out from long weekend of play, so we put them to bed nice and early. Then we went to bed early too.
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Yesterday’s footbag session was great actually. I was just shredding basically, but focusing on doing weak tricks. Did very well with weak: blur, drifter, spins, DLO, ripwalk, pixie. Hit 4 b2b drifters into a run. Just overall was linking well, very controlled, low bops, good both sidedness.
Bob R.
I'll have to check that out, it's so hard to find kid's movies that aren't too scary or dark for a 3 year old and a 1 year old kid.
I was about to edit my last post with pics, but I'll just be a 2 posts a day guy and do it here:
We went to a farm for hay rides etc. recently. Tried to get a nice pic of meg with the kids.. didn't go very well, but I think it's actually a fun set of pictures when you look at all three in a row:
Attempt to get similar shot with me and the kids, went a little bit better:
I was about to edit my last post with pics, but I'll just be a 2 posts a day guy and do it here:
We went to a farm for hay rides etc. recently. Tried to get a nice pic of meg with the kids.. didn't go very well, but I think it's actually a fun set of pictures when you look at all three in a row:
Attempt to get similar shot with me and the kids, went a little bit better:
Bob R.