Christmas/Gaming/DP-12/Bike Projects in 2022

[Foreward: click the bolded words for pictures. For my life, I can’t get my Prosebox to display the pictures in the body of the entry]

Christmas was sublime. That is to say, it was basically a repeat of Thanksgiving. I stayed home and was glad to do so. I spent the past two weeks reading, going to the gym, and gaming. I bought Chivalry 2 and God of War on Steam during its end of year sale. I was hoping to have beaten God of War before returning to work next week, but I’m pretty sure I’m not even half way through.

I’m enjoying God of War, but I don’t think I’m much for long games. During the normal work week, I like smaller experiences. Games like Rocket League or Chivalry can be experienced in 15 to 30 minute increments. Whenever I launched God of War, I was basically going to spend hours engrossed in it. Even if I didn’t have to work, I’m not sure I’d care to play more long, story rich games. They can easily take up an entire day, and even if I have a completely free day to do so, spending all that time gaming feels wasteful. I will finish God of War, but it may be the last long game I play. Years ago, I started a campaign in Elder Scrolls, but the game was just so big. I kept accumulating quests, but hardly resolving any of them. I took a break when my sorcerer character made friends with another sorceress, and I found out they could get married. I didn’t like the idea of my avatar having a fuller life than mine.

Earlier this year, I purchased Horizon: Zero Dawn to play over spring break, but that world was just so huge. There was no way I was ever going to play through all of that. I even got the expansion pack for it. Not being able to play regularly made following the story difficult, as well, so that further disincentivized me. Over Thanksgiving, I bought Need for Speed Heat on sale for $3. I figured a racing game would easier to enjoy in bite sized chunks, but it’s built more like a simulation than an arcade racer. There’s just so much stuff to do to your cars; it feels like I’ll never get to enjoy the full experience. I’ll probably finish that game, too…eventually, but after that, no more open world games. It’s all very frustrating. Rob the child, preadolescent, or teenager would have relished such large games. To adult Rob, they just feel like more chores demanding attention.

I know I said I wouldn’t do the following, but I couldn’t resist. I had been lusting after a DP-12 for some time. The DP-12 is a double barreled, pump action shotgun, informally referred to as the Syzlack Special. There’s a joke in an old episode of the Simpsons in which Moe, the bartender, gets into a confrontation, pulls out a double barrel shotgun, and rack the pump. The joke being that such a gun didn’t even exist, and the animators simply drew an intimidating, yet non-existent weapon, thereby making it absurd.

Well, just such a firearm exists now, and while it normally retails for around $1,300, Palmetto State Arms was having an end of year sale, and I was able to pick it up for $950. I mean, I could afford it, and it was Christmas, so why not? Of course, the day after I pulled the trigger (no pun intended) on that purchase, my heater broke. Consequently, I had to spend another $400 to fix that. Again, I’m not going into the red, but I wasn’t able to save as much as I anticipated during December. 2023 is going to be a year of frugality. I’ve made a spreadsheet to track all my expenses month by month, and I’m recommitting to saving and investing.

I didn’t get to go biking as much as I wanted, or at all. For one thing, the weather was consistently cold and wet. Also, I was consistently sore. I’ve revised my resistance training program. I’m still doing Bulgarian Split Squats and Glute Drives, but I’ve started doing the Glute Drives, one leg at a time. Where as I could push upwards of 240 lbs with both legs, just moving the machine without any weight becomes a challenge with just one leg. Currently, I’m doing 0 lbs, 5 lbs, and 10 lbs in this manner.

I’m also doing the following exercise, though I don’t know what its called. I’ll set up a step bench, put one foot on the bench and keep one on the floor. I’ll then extend my bench leg to lift my entire body off the ground. Now, I’m not doing a step up like in step aerobics; I’m not pushing off my floor foot at all. I’m only using my leg planted on the bench to lift myself. I’ll then lower myself in as controlled a manner as possible, then repeat. Whereas one would normally add either weight or reps to increase the difficulty, I’m adding range. As I get stronger, I add another level to the step bench, so I have to exert the force through a longer range of motion. I’m aspiring to be able to do a full pistol squat. I used to be able to do them nearly two decades ago, and I aim to reclaim that ability. More importantly, the videos I’ve watched on these exercises have ensured me that they’ll basically build bullet proof knees. The good news is that the workout is seemingly delivering. I’ve only been at it since Thanksgiving, and my knees feel like their packed in muscle. To just squat down on my haunches feels like an intense stretch. However, these exercises may be working too well. After completing them, my quadriceps are so sore, I can barely walk. It literally takes two days of rest before I can do any sort of leg activity, meaning riding isn’t particularly feasible.

That said, I was able to complete a couple of bike projects over the break. For one, I built a manual trainer. I can insert my mountain bike into it, climb on to the bike, and practice manuals. I also built a bunny hop limbo from some of the scraps. Now I can practice at least some of my riding skills even on days I can’t get to the trails. Skadoosh!

Last updated January 01, 2023