Rain it Rains it Pours: Configuring the Man Cave when the Universe is out to get you

While on vacation, I had a seal on the basement toilet break and slowly leak into the basement.  My area was spared, but we decided to replace all of the carpet in the basement.  After turning the majority of my house into what looked like an episode of "Hoarders," I was able to start moving things back into the basement.  I started moving things Friday evening and planned to work on it Saturday in earnest.  

Got a good bit of the large items moved and in place.  Was going to take an afternoon nap before hitting the gym but noticed my FIL's fish tank was missing water.  This happens all the time through evaporation.  This seemed like it was more than normal, but we refilled it.  Ran to the basement after the nap and found a puddle of water.  The filter was discharging water onto the floor and into my basement area.  The damage was minimal from what I can tell now (need to drain the tank and see what the floor in the dining room looks like).  The basement has luxury vinyl, and the ceiling has a small hole from the previous fixture that I haven't patched yet.   

The backstory on the fish tank was that my FIL had three.  Two in his room and one in the dining room.  One of the two in his room had a similar issue about 5 years ago, which leaked into the living room.  Those were thrown out and left the one in the living room.  Well, that is going this week.  It only had one goldfish, and it was rehomed.  

Now, on to the fun stuff.  My area wasn't properly organized since it was technically two rooms combined into one.  The organization was more "organic" instead of planned.  Packing up valuables and breakables gave me enough breathing room to organize things.  

The first area I started setting up was my hobby area (after the computer).  I purchased a hobby station (or two of them) from Arttystation.  Originally, they weren't set up very well.

Cluttered

Even more clutter

Sort of used properly

I moved the hobby area to where I did my airbrushing and had my 3d printers set up.  It was wasted and didn't really work well for anything.  

 

Undisturbed

Side View

Coming together

The last picture shows most of the hobby stuff from boxes on the desk.  The only models that are active not are the top and bottom of a Dreadnaught drop pod and the car model.  I need to finish this weekend to start working on the models for NOVA open.   

That's all I have for today.  I will post more from this area as I prep for NOVA in a few weeks.  

  

An Old Geek Learning to Love Exercise

Disclaimer: First, this is just my experience and not health advice.  Health decisions should always be between a person and their medical professional.

Getting Old Sucks

Getting old sucks.  One minute you are young and fit, and the next, you are old and fat.  The geek life takes a lot out of you without you realizing it.  Before marriage, I was really active.  I would do stick fighting on weekends and hit clubs several times a week.  I also worked retail which meant I stood for hours a day.  I didn't eat great but got enough exercise to counteract it.  I weighed around 160lbs and looked well enough to trick my wife into starting to date me.

    

Me from the late 90s

Marriage, kids, a desk job, and gaming change things.  I slowly stopped being active like I used to.  I started eating better, and my doctor visits still showed I was healthy.  As my age went up, so did my weight.  Part of this was because I loved to eat.  This was because I was used to always being hungry and would eat but not gain weight.   Well, that changed.  I was putting on weight and didn't really care.   

Me from the early 2000s

I did notice that I was getting bigger, and my habits were only making it worse.  One day, while playing WoW, I just said this sucks.  I wasn't happy and just felt terrible.  I took a break from gaming and started running and going to the gym.  I used to run as part of my old hobby, and it was the easiest to do.  It was cheap.

I got into it and started running longer and longer.  I eventually did a few 5ks and worked up to a half marathon.  My finish times were great; I was slim and having fun.  My running habit lasted for about two years.  Slowly I stopped running as much and going to the gym.  Then my weight ticked up.  

Sometimes Life Smacks You in the Face

In 2017, my doctor retired, and a new doctor took over.  He mentioned that my liver numbers were terrible, and I needed to see a specialist.  After many appointments and tests, it was confirmed that I had Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver disease.  The only actual treatment is diet and exercise.  I needed to lose fat and eat better.  Reducing alcohol consumption also helps, but I barely drink as it is.  The Specialist wanted me to join a drug trial, but I decided to try the diet and exercise route.  

I started running again, and it helped.  The problem was that I no longer clicked with it.  I just couldn't keep a steady routine.  I did a lot of walking, but running wasn't happening.

With the help of my daughter, I decided to try strength training.  Something just clicked.  I started going deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.  I learned all I could learn about exercises and found a bunch of routines I could do in under an hour.  

My first check-in with the Specialist after the weight training was fun.  She said I gained weight, but my numbers were great.  I explained what I had done, and she was shocked.  She said most people just ignore her recommendations.  I was happy that my numbers were down, and I felt better.

It was also good to know (maybe not good) that many of my friends and family also had Fatty Liver Disease. 

Getting (and Staying) Motivated

As I got more confidence in lifting weights, I started making goals.  I am not typically goal-oriented, but the goals were more to show progress.  I learned I loved to do back squats.  My first goal was to do 300lbs by my 45th birthday.  I trained hard, and on my birthday, I could do it.  It was probably one of the highest squats, and I knew it wasn't really something to be proud of.  It still motivated me to do better.  

I decided to make some changes to my routine with the help of a friend that used to lift competitively.  I trained hard, and 5 months later, I hit 360 lbs for depth.  This got me more excited about what I could do.  I had ideas for new goals and worked on modifying things to get better and better.  

Deadlifting Heavy

I kept improving and decided to sign up for a Powerlifting competition.  I won't get into the specifics of what it entails now.  I will say it's a lot of work, not just the training.  

Lifting on Stage

I can say that it was more than I expected.  The event was the Winter Wrecker.  It was one of the first events post-lockdown.  Lots of rules for what we could and couldn't do, but it was all good.  The team behind the event knows how to run a show.  It was mind-blowing.  Video boards, smoke machines, and even commentators.  

I did ok for my first event.  I didn't bomb out of a lift but came close.  My weakest lift, the deadlift, was the best in the competition.  I will save that for a future post.  I can say that I had the time of my life.  My friends and family cheered me on, and it was a blast.

It's heavier than it looks.  

Constantly Improving

If I looked at the scale, I haven't really changed.  My weight pre-pandemic was 195lbs on lifting and walking.  Currently, it ranges from 205 to 209.   Except for the scale only tells part of the story.  It doesn't show muscle changes.  It is a number that can be all too consuming.  I had to look beyond that.  One thing was going from a 36 waist to a 34.  This change showed I was going in the right direction.

One of the other things was seeing my muscles grow.  My thighs went from fat to muscular.  I joke and describe my legs as being drawn by Rob Liefeld.  Large thighs and no calves.  The visible gains help me show some improvement and keep me going.  

The other and, to me, the most significant improvement, is weight on the bar.   Am I increasing weight on the bar?  Is the weight I am used to getting easier.  This isn't always the easiest to track.  Yes, if I had a squat PR of 360 and now hit 380, it's an improvement.  Sometimes it's not as simple.  Sometimes it's struggling to work through sets, and when I get to the heaviest weight, it feels lighter than the middle sets.  

In Closing

I have been rambling for long enough and should probably end this post.  For five years, have been able to maintain my love for lifting.  If young me were told I would be in my 40s and into powerlifting, I would have thought I hit my head.  Yet, here I am.  I am preparing for my next competition in a few weeks.  I am hoping to get complete all my lifts without failing one.  If I can make some new PRs, I will also take that.  

Hopefully, this post helps other old geeks and brings more people to the sport.  

Starting a blog again

It's been half a decade or more since I wrote a blog post.  The main reason I stopped is nothing relevant to say.  This brings me to now.  Why start again?  It's partly due to the Wife coming up with the idea of wanting to send some a year in review out to people for Christmas cards.  She mentioned that it would be cool to list some of the accomplishments in my hobbies (well, the one she approves of), our kids' accomplishments, and our travels.  

The second reason I thought about starting was to have a creative place to discuss whatever I wanted about my hobbies and progress.  I think one of the things I really missed about my original blog was seeing progress.  Mostly, it was progression on models.  I would show them and explain what I was doing color-wise.  Then progressed to what the force looked like and the games I played with them.  I want to continue that but expand to my other hobbies.  This way, the wife can pick and choose what she wants, and I can see my progress.

My Hobbies     

Miniature Gaming and Model Building

I mentioned this above a few times.  I do miniature wargaming and some board games.  It's one of the few social things I do.  It also allows me to get my creative side out.  I plan to post my hobby progress and some of the 

A hobby I picked up just before the pandemic was collecting Gundam models.  I made a lot of trips to Japan in 2 years and fell in love.  I say collecting because I currently have more models in boxes than built.  I will be rectifying that soon.

Video Games

This was always a big hobby growing up and continues to play a big part in my life.  A few friends got a kick out of my game reviews when I emailed them recommendations, and I thought I would transfer that to the blog.  Not that my recommendations mean a hill of beans, but everyone has an opinion.

Powerlifting

This is the one hobby that my wife approves of (sort of).  I picked it up a few years ago.  I had some health issues; the only way to fix the issue was to diet and exercise.  This is particularly funny because I made fun of a friend for years about this as his hobby.  I figure this would be the perfect way to show progress and allow the wife to take what she needs for her family write-up at the end of the year.

That's it

That's the whole reason for restarting a blog.  I will go into detail on things as I write them.  I don't plan on posting any labels or anything for this post.  It's mainly just to kick things off.