Hurlshort

With what I owe in taxes, the IRS could build a decent gaming rig.

Dolly Parton is awesome. I took the family to the Dixie Stampede many years ago.

But Mitch Marner is better than whoever is the 2nd best player on Edmonton. Not that either team will win the Cup, since they don't know how to play defense. I am rooting for the Panthers and Father Time Joe Thornton.

I miss the NHL thread we used to have here, but it isn't the same without Volo and Krookie.

Welcome back @alanschuand good luck on the Lego games. At least, that is my guess on what you are doing at Epic. It better not be Fortnite.

A bunch of us had fun changing them awhile back, but now I don't remember how we even did it, so it is stuck like this.

This is a recap of the race my wife and I did Saturday. It went pretty similar for me, except I was much slower at everything.

I mean, I'm not sure if that is on the same level as invading a country, but ok.

Monkey Island 2 with the director's commentary is actually available free on Amazon Prime Gaming right now. I picked it up. It is fun to hear what the developer's were thinking.

Race Report! It was about 50 degrees out in the morning as I set up my transition area and got ready to swim, so not too cold. I went to bathroom, put on my wetsuit, walked to the beach, and immediately had to go to the bathroom. Ah well, it was going to have to wait. I know some people can pee on the swim, but I have never mastered that skill. We lined up in pens based on our expected swim time and slowly filed towards the starting line. It is a staggered start, with 5 athletes going every 5 seconds. The surf was pretty big, with 4-5 feet waves coming in sets of 3. I ran in somewhat cautiously and started duck diving. I was really focused on my breathing at the start. It can be extremely hard to catch your breathe on the swim. I used some breast stroking to get out past the waves, but after about 100 yards I was able to settle into freestyle. It was a bit hard to sight the buoys. It was choppy, it was overcast, there was a ton of swimmers everywhere, and one side of my goggles kept filling with water. But I made it out to the first big turn buoy and kept a decent line after that as we made our way towards the harbor. I swam it in just over 36 minutes. I was struggling with the cold by the end, and I had a few heavy kickers in front of me, but my time was good enough to crack the top 3rd of the 300+ people in my age group. Once I got out of the water I hit the bathroom and started to try to get ready for the bike. I have a bit of an issue with transitioning after a cold swim. My body doesn't cooperate. So I took 15 minutes getting my wetsuit off, putting on wool socks and my vest, and basically just shivering. But hey, I'm not a professional, so I'd rather get on the bike comfortably. The bike takes us through Camp Pendleton for most of the race. It is a pretty unique place to ride. There were marines everywhere, tank crossings, and lots of helicopters. It was also a very bumpy course with some sharp turns and 3 decent climbs. I probably could have used my road bike. I had a good speed going, keeping it around 20 mph average. I lost my water bottle and half my nutrition about 3 miles in. I was in good company, there were water bottles and nutrition all over the ground. I came around one turn and saw about 6 cyclists getting bandaged up, so I was trying to keep the rubber side down. There were a lot of flats being repaired as well. I enjoyed the climbs, but I love climbing up hills. I kept my pace where I wanted for about 45 miles, but started to struggle over the last 10 miles of the course. Overall I had a 19.1 mph pace, which was good, but it dropped me into the middle of my age group rankings. I managed to get water from the aid stations and ate a bit, but I knew I didn't do well enough on nutrition. I started the run and it was still pretty cool out. It was probably perfect conditions for most, but I think I do better in the heat. I felt decent as the run started, but my legs were pretty worn out from the ride. My plan was to push from the start and slowly pull back as needed. I started out at a 7:45 mile, then 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, and 9:00. By mile 6 I was settling into a 9:15 pace and I kept that for a few more miles. Mile 10 and 11 were hard and I had to walk for a bit, but I got back to 9:00 for the final mile of the half marathon. I ended up with a 2:02 total time on it. I was hoping to go sub 2 hours, but my legs were beat and I was also pretty nauseous. Nutrition is always my bane. Some friends were near the finish and let my know I had 3 minutes left to keep my time under 6 hours, so that motivated me to run the last stretch hard. I ended up with a 5:58 time, which is smack dab in the middle of my age group. I didn't throw up afterwards, so that was good. My kids actually found me at the finish too, so that was awesome. I spent the race a bit worried about my wife and how she was doing. The swim was not easy and she doesn't love the ocean. But she got through the swim using backstroke, and got on the bike for the full 56 miles. When she got in to run, they told her she missed the time cut off. She was devastated. The run is her best part. She still had almost 3 hours to finish the run, but they took her timing chip and told her she was done. It was tough, I didn't know quite how to comfort her. She was going through all of the stages of grief. The next morning she decided to go for a run. I tried to go with her but I was a mess. She ended up running the full 13.1 miles the morning after the race, and I had the kids meet her with my medal at the end. So super props to her for finishing the full distance despite the race directors. Honestly I'm a bit turned off by the whole Ironman way of running things. They are a big brand, but I think they focus more on the bottom line than the athlete experience. I guess they have to in order to have these huge events, but I think I'll stick to smaller local races for a bit. There were 2800 people racing yesterday and over 400 did not finish or were disqualified. Considering the training and investment people put in for these events, that seems like a shame. They should have encouraged her to run until they had to shut down the run course. Anyways, it was a good challenge. We've got a small local race coming up in May that is much shorter, so I've already got a reason to keep on training. Edit: Oh, her run time was 2:30 for the half marathon, so she had the time to finish. This is her working through the anger stage.

Hah! Pros do these races in about 4-5 hours. My goal is to keep it under 6. The pros actually go first, and then all of us age-groupers get moving. I will see them coming back on the bike while I am heading out though, and then I will see them on the run, which is a double loop. Sometimes a pro will struggle with nutrition and bonk and end up with us regular folk, but that usually only happens on the full distance Ironman events. Honestly I don't worry too much about placement in these big events. There are age group racers who drop all the money on the best gear, pay for trainers, and follow a plan religiously. I'm just looking to enjoy the race and feel good at the end, and my gear is usually about one step up from the cheapest you can buy.

We arrived in Oceanside yesterday for our half Ironman. It is pretty cool seeing all of the military helicopters buzzing around. We ride through Camp Pendleton tomorrow, so that should be entertaining. We attempted a swim in the ocean. It was really rough. Windy with about 6-foot swells. My first attempt to swim didn't go well, but I caught my breathe and gave it a 2nd go and got out past the surf. My wife was not up for it at all. Race day is supposed to be calmer, so hopefully that will help. It is fumny how I stress out more for her than I do for myself. Anyways, it is fun seeing all the triathletes around town. This is a big pro race, so it should be entertaining to race behind them.

Every faction is extreme is Elex.

I'm thinking about the Clerics. They seem the most stable of the factions.

Bernard Cornwell was my jam in my 20's, but I've had trouble keeping up with the Uhtred Saga. I can't remember what book I read last. It probably helped that I read the Sharpe series after they were all written, whereas the gaps in between the Saxon Series have made it hard for me to keep up with the story threads. I just finished Ken William's biography on Sierra. It was excellent and gave me a lot of information I didn't know about my favorite game company growing up. He is an interesting character.

I don't know if my liver can handle another Disco Elysium.

I reached level 20 in Elex II and I'm working through some issues I have with my Dad. The family dynamics in this game are very realistic.

20% seems terribly low. Didn't we use to tax rich people at 91%?

I'll take the latter. Both deserve condemnation.

That's very sad. I am very concerned that it is due to the use of PED's. It still seems to be rampant in cycling.

Way to cruise missile the fun out of the post.

Both?

Jesus. How do you get into an executive position without realizing that some stuff does not need to be communicated through email? Like, he could have just sent the last paragraph and it wouldn't have read as terribly.

-Etsy -Westboro Baptist Church Forum -Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons -Those moms that hate Harry Potter Honestly though, social media is filled with unrealistic and unsustainable parenting advice. This forum is better than that.