RenFengge

5/18/2021 Workout 15 minute AMRAP 10 Ring Rows 20 Box Jumps 25 Jack Knives 1 minute ring hold Thoughts: Haven't done a 5AM session in a while. I got really used to not waking up at 4:30AM. At least there was a little crack of sunrise when I was getting to the gym... made it seem less... terrible. Nice, standard HIIT session.. with one really terrible "movement"... and I use that term lightly. Fun fact for those who don't know, CrossFit's foundations are gymnastics based. However, very few places actually incorporate gymnastic moves anymore. So, seeing the "1 minute ring hold" on the board.. I thought, "well, this is terrible. At least I'll be working on my grip strength, I guess." Obviously, I had to scale the ring holds. The amount of stabilization needed, I just don't have. Even the newbie, who actually did gymnastics and might be from Russia(?), said that going straight to ring holds is difficult. They would start people on bars since those don't move as much. It was a good session. Definitely a good choice in movements as I get back into it after 2 weeks out and after the minor surgery. Going again tomorrow for some 21 minute EMOM... I'll probably cry inside lol. But, I won't cry as much as I will during Thursday's 45-minute rowing session. Yay, cardio? 😛

We have the 2 from K H group. They are brothers and in the Netherlands. Before I ask that group if anyone else wants in, I think we should fill up the last slot with someone from FG if we can.

Fantastic! We actually only need 1 more now. Who else wants in??

5/16/2021 Workout MMA Thoughts: The benefit of having your MMA coach also be a doctor and a physical therapist is that he takes injuries and muscle stuff pretty seriously. More seriously than I would, tbh. I mean. I would never do hand-to-hand with boxing gloves, but he "requires" them. We talked about the procedure I had done and tailored today's workout in oh-so-fun ways. I basically had to do the session as if my right arm was tied behind my back. But, also, we focused more on kicks. As much as I love kicks, what I really enjoyed was him showing me a move he calls "passing". It's where you parry/block to manipulate your opponent one way/to one side to set it up for a follow up punch/elbow/kick. I picked this up very quickly because it's very similar to what we do in Arnis/Kali/Eskrima. You "swat" at the same time as you adjust your position, then counter. Additional things we did today involved elbows and knees. Which, I also love and prefer. But, the way we started was not anything I had previously done. We will get there. Some of the moves Jonesly was showing me today definitely made me go "hmm..." So, I asked him, "These are leading up to jiu jitsu and judo, aren't they?" He laughed and said, "You noticed?" I said, "The third move in this combo is to hit the back of the leg. You hit the back of the leg, then the person is going down. If the fight isn't over, then you're on the ground." Jonesly seemed so excited that I realized this. I said, "I don't do ground fights. Remember? I do 3 power hits and run away! Far far FAR away." He laughed at that. Anyway. It was a good session. It feels good to be back working out.

5/15/2021 Workout Squat Clean Workshop Thoughts: What was supposed to only be about a week of rest starting on 5/5, ended up being 2 weeks of rest starting on 5/3. I had a super minor procedure scheduled for 5/6 that was supposed to take 10 minutes and only have like 2 days of down time. It became a 45-minute more invasive procedure with a full week of rest/not allowed to do anything per doctor's orders... and because Carl grounded me. Anyway. Today was my first day back. Some weightlifting is a good way to get back into it. Nothing intense. No expectations of hitting any of the goals set in today's workshop. We were supposed to get to 90% of our 1 rep max. So, for me that meant 115lbs on my squat clean. I thought to myself, "We'll keep it light. Maybe just go to 85lbs." Lolz. The really cool thing about having the unexpected mass and "strings" removed from my upper back is that the tightness and knot that has been plaguing my right shoulder up to my neck is basically... gone. Slightly knotty right now, but that's because I fell dead asleep on it last night. Every clean I did, I was able to do faster, better, more in-sync with what I was supposed to be doing. So, what did I end up doing? I ended up actually going up to 125lbs. I failed it twice, but by then we were up to 30+ reps for the sessions. Not once did my right arm not match the height of my left arm. Not once did I not catch the bar because of the weird tightness. It was all just.. flexible. 125lbs, my original 1 rep max, and I'm not done healing. Here's hoping that I can hit 130lb at the end of this cycle.

This was always a cash grab/swan song for BioWare. But, i"m still gonna play it for the memories. Also, when I originally played it, there were some bugs that drove me a bit... ehh.. So, it would be nice to see a clean playthrough.

I present to the FG Server... the Wolf Sanctuary... where I am building a wall around this Meadows section... and letting all the wolves eat as soon as the 1 star deer and boar spawn from the sky into their mouths. For sale, we have deer hides, leather, and some wolf pelts from heroic wolves giving their lives to the pack to protect it from Surtlings, Trolls, Skeletons, and some wayward Fulings. Although, a few wolves decided to test their might against a hoard of Lox... For those looking for shiny things to adorn themselves and friends, we have Black Metal bars in addition to Silver, Iron, Copper, and Bronze. May you happily wander onto my Wolf Sanctuary and enjoy your visit.

Well, the red doesn't offend my eyes this time around.. sooooooooooooo. Not like I would buy one unless I needed it lol. But, I might opt for the red if I needed to.

I definitely feel you on the protagonist and most of the NPCs... and the story. But, I found it interesting when I finished the game (this was when it first game out), and the Reddit boards had people say things like, "Deacon is f*cking crazy... but they really did nail down how PTSD affects people when they come back from a tour." I read a story about how a girl's father was very much like Deacon in all ways of how he acted. The story wasn't great.. Like, I cannot emphasize this enough for anyone who is interested in it. But, the gameplay? That was just so much fun. Take out a bandit camp over a horde cave? Lolol.. It took me like 4 times to do it. Ride your bike while trying to not die by waking a horde? Only to be smacked by some new zombie that you never encountered (Reacher).. so you fly off your bike and go "OMG.. WHAT'S ABOUT TO KILL ME? IT'S MOVING TOO FAST!" I have no clue what other game just sucked me into a world like that. I legitimately turned off all other noise distractions around me IRL just so I could hear if something is creeping up on my Deacon to kill me... or is there was a damn Shreiker/Screamer in the distance. Stealth. I learned to love Stealth in new ways. Like, how to take out a horde still sleeping in a cave during the day without firing 1 bullet.. because bombs/mines... Lol. Or lure bandits near a horde to let the horde kill them. The gameplay was just... so different and enthralling. It made me look up the lore and find out that this is the same universe of Syphon Filter. Days Gone was definitely a game about gameplay and not so much about story. I'm sad there will be no sequel. Maybe we will need to wait another 20 years for it lol.

Andromeda is so shallow compared to the trilogy. You can tell there was so much potential and that so much was stripped away to make deadlines. You can see that there were thoughts on how to really expand bases on planets.. and have more planets. The Quarians were left open for another installment. I wanted to love it. But, it just wasn't there. When you read about the development of Andromeda and Anthem, you can tell that it probably came from the same idea, then split into two games. So sad. Finish Andromeda just to put the story to bed, but know that it is nowhere as complex or deep as the original series. The amount of emotional awe I got in ME2, especially when I came upon Garrus... I don't think BioWare has ever topped that. Even when I played ME3, I found myself racing to find him again. "There's no Shepard without Vakarian." Even if you didn't play that route.. and went Shepard with Tali or Liara... it was all still "I need to find my companion." And, Garrus was still always there to be your best bud lol. So, yeah. I definitely am looking forward to doing a fifth playthrough on the trilogy.

Lol. I didn't even watch the video.. But, have you played the trilogy? I played it after I finished all the Dragon Age stuff. When I played the first Mass Effect, I immediately thought, "Ohhhhh.. Sooo this is where you sent your A-team for graphics." Because seriously. Mass Effect 1 compared to Dragon Age Origins in terms of graphics... night and day. Like, I seriously had to get past the ugliness of Dragon Age to start enjoying it. Thank goodness the story was enthralling.

I'm actually really excited to replay this on my PC.

Lolz. There's a reason why I refuse to touch WoW... after all the hours I sunk into WarCraft and StarCraft...

The movie was actually enjoyable. If it picks up into a movie franchise, I look forward to the franchise releasing worthwhile movies that might rival Marvel. The movie is nowhere as clever as anything in the MCU, but let's not forget that Marvel had quiet a many terrible movies before getting to where it is now.

Xur? He exists.. He's just not around today. 😄

@Rumelylady -- someone told us it was your birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And, let's not forget @Steak and Potatoes 's birthday.. should he ever peek back in.. because steak and potatoes.

Did you not buy a season pass?