The Life Thread

[BojackHorsefella]

I remember that and on best days I could complete that shit lol.
Remember the Tae Bo fad?

I think I was a kid back then but I definitely remember the commercials (that was Billy Blanks, right?)

[Crewe]

yep, good memory lol

[TheNorm]

Lol I tried that Insanity for a bit...nope. All of his stuff is on Beachbody On Demand now...T25 is a good start if you decide to sign up for all of that. Same concept, doesn't require equipment.

[Crewe]

Im here to make you feel better about yourself by comparison.
So, I pawned a bunch of crap for $100 yesterday.
So I figured it was time for a trip to the store, free groceries right? Well, I mean I sold shit for it, but I didnt want it anyway so yea, free.
At the cashier, I exceeded my $100, so I put it back in my pocket, paid with my card and left.
Came home, put away food, went on a bike ride. Came back in, $100 is gone.
So, the TLDR is, I gave $100 to charity today and you better believe I'm writing that shit off.

[Crewe]

I am no longer the only guy that has never been to Colorado!

Me and a couple of friends took off to the Rockies and I am so happy we did.

First off, this was my first real big outing since the pandemic hit and while I felt safer having been vaccinated, I was still leery heading in to an airport. I don't freely touch anything now and am cautious still about touching my face and of course, others.
Mask mandates are on in airports and on planes, and I have to admit, it kind of is a pain in the butt to wear one that long, continuously. Not to the point of complaining though, and certainly not to the point of dressing some one down over enforcing said rule.

So, Monday afternoon we arrived in Denver, hit a few bars as we were only there one night. Really wanted to hit Rockies stadium, but it didnt work out.
We did however, find an Astros bar, well, Houston bar I should say, so it was great meeting some immediate friends.
Tuesday morning we boarded a train to Glenwood Springs. My cousin and I wanted to take a train trip all our lives and now we have. The scenery was just stunning, especially to someone who hasnt been there before.
That afternoon, we endured the hike up to Potters Field to see Doc Holliday's grave site along with Kid Curry and others.
Relics like that just fascinate me as a reader of history.

Wednesday morning, rafting the Colorado river. Now Ive been tubing here in Texas, floated the river and what not but never actual rafting and it was fun as hell. Maybe the highlight of the trip. If I get pics sent to me, Ill post a few.

Thursday was the amusement park atop Iron Mountain in Glendwood. You have to take a gondola ride up, scamper in and enjoy the vertigo inducing rides.
We did the zip line, well, that's what they call it I think, but you are taken up in a seat away from the mountain an then they reel you back, or zip you back in. A few roller coasters that were fun but not torturous or anxiety ridden.
For that experience, we chose the Haunted Mine Drop.
You are in a short bench seat with six people side by side, and when I say short, I dont mean width wise, but the edge of the seat didnt extend out to mid thigh for instance, more like to the edge of your butt.
You are in the mountain now, seated, while a holographic video is displayed about 30 feet in front of you against the make shift mine wall.
I knew this narrative didnt play long but wasnt sure how the ride was executed because we were up against a wall ourselves.
We would be dropped of course, I knew that, but as I was sort of tuning out the happening in front of me, sort of gawking around, in an instantaneous second, I hear "fire in the hole" while simultaneously noticing the floor was retracting from under us.
110 ten feet later, we were at the bottom of this cold, pitch dark mine inside the mountain.
That was an instant free fall that will get your heart in your throat lemme tell ya. I typically dont shy away from shit like that, but even having done it once, Im not sure Id do it again...unless I could get one of your fellas in it, then I might 😝
As we are lifted back out, the worst part was thinking we were going to be dropped again. Fortunately, we weren't.
After reaching safety, I told my fellow riders, the good thing was, I didnt have to pee any longer.
There was more, but those were the highlights.

Friday, we had a rental and drove to Silverthorne just in time to take a biking tour that also hit a distillery and a brewery, which of course is always fun.

Saturday we toured a working gold and silver mine. As a reader of old west history, everything stems from mining and the boom towns so I was really interested.
We went 1000 feet inside the mine and it was fascinating to me. We were shown the evolution of methods and equipment, given demonstrations of panning and even allowed to pull out some rocks we thought might be laced with ore and minearls and if they were, we were able to keep them.
Our guide was telling us how miners in the 1850's had to use candles because you didnt want to bring kerosene lamps in with you.
He lit one, wedged it in to a nook then turned out the lighting. It really put in to perspective the drive and determination those folks had back then. Well, lets be honest, necessity too.
At that point, he blew out the candle without turning on the lights and if you arent scared of the dark, you woulda been then.
We have all been somewhere and uttered the phrase "couldnt see your hand in front of your face."
I shit you not, you couldnt see your hand a literal inch from your face. It was suspenseful dizziness at its finest.
Once out, we broke open our rock(s) each of us freely selected. Our group of about 8-10 people all had gold, quartz or silver in their finds.
Now, in a mine, standing at a working vein with tons of rubble to choose from, who can guess if my choice had any of those minerals?
Of course it fucking didnt lol!!
Lucky me, my buddy cracked open a pretty good one and gave me a piece and the guide let me choose a rock from previously mined rocks, so that was a win, I guess? ;-)

Saturday we tooled around Breckenridge, hit a few original 1800's saloons and also went axe throwing, which was fun in its own right.
I didnt even know that was a thing.
You get ten rounds of throws and I came in second in our group by only four points (35-31) while sticking nine out of ten tries.
Guy that beat me lived there and had done it before, so yea, Im calling win lol

We flew back Sunday and all is well as far as I know.
Ill say one more thing, people are acting like everything is safe and sound now and maybe it is magnified by the pandemic, but I notice now that people, most, and I mean like 99% of ones I see, are really careless, if not down right disgusting.
I really hope my vax held up. I still washed my hands as often as possible. honestly I didnt mask up unless it was mandated, but I still kept my distance as best I could. Everyone I went with either had Covid or was vaccinated, mostly vaccinated. So here's hoping 15 days from now Im not regretting this decision.

I wish there was a way I could upload a few short vids and some pics for you guys. Maybe Ill look in to that a bit later.


Edit - You cant take phones, etc because you'll lose them, but here's a promo vid and the only thing it doesnt demonstrate well is the surreal surroundings, and keep in mind, you arent aware the floor is sliding out from under you because you just walk in and sit down right there so unless you see it, and even if you do, like I did, it doesnt matter, its over lol

[BojackHorsefella]

That sounds like an awesome time Crewe! If I ever make my way to Colorado I'll have to copycat some of this, not so much the roller coasters as I am a certified scaredy cat when it comes to those, but the gold mine and Breckenridge sound incredible.

Like you, I want to make my way to CO eventually and go to the Rockies stadium. My brother went here a few years ago and said the stadium is amazing, one of his favorites.

[Crewe]

That sounds like an awesome time Crewe! If I ever make my way to Colorado I'll have to copycat some of this, not so much the roller coasters as I am a certified scaredy cat when it comes to those, but the gold mine and Breckenridge sound incredible.

Like you, I want to make my way to CO eventually and go to the Rockies stadium. My brother went here a few years ago and said the stadium is amazing, one of his favorites.

I can help you with info if you ever do go lol
It was too bad I couldnt get to Rockies stadium, but that means Ill just have to go back, right? ;-)

[TheNorm]

Sounds like a blast, man! Glad you had a good time, long overdue.

[BojackHorsefella]

Got to spend the 19th-26th in Myrtle Beach. City itself is still garbage, with even more garbage apartment complexes going up on every corner, so many trees gone. Suppose that's the story everywhere.

BUT! Fortunately I had a very good time and a very good trip. Got to see my son for the first time in over a year and spent the whole week with him which was great. We stayed at my parent's place as did my brother and his two nieces, so had everyone together. Brother grilled out two of the nights, steaks, burgers (which I didn't eat the beef burgers, but he got some Beyond for me), shrimp, tuna steak (those two I ate with no hesitation).

Spent some time at the pool, got to catch up with some old friends for sushi, and even hit the theater with kiddo to see Fast 9, even though he's never seen any of them and I've only seen, oddly, 1 and 5. We enjoyed it for the "switch your brain off" entertainment that it was, haha.

The one crazy thing to me was the day before I flew out, I had to make a quick run to a grocery store up here. WA had only recently lifted its mask mandate, and a few employees had no masks, and a few customers, but majority were masked.

Fly to South Carolina the next day, go to a grocery store, there are like, 1% of people masked. Not only that, my own parents shamed me for trying to wear one in the store. "We've all been vaccinated, you don't need it!" No shit, I wasn't looking out for myself. Bizarre times.

But yeah, all-in-all just a relaxing, fun trip. Was nice to see the family and especially kiddo. Figured out he'll be getting my 2012 Cruze in October as his first car. I'm sad, there goes my stick shift (especially since we're both working from home, fiancee and I figure we'll just share her automatic. Very saddening). Also, kiddo just got his permit, and despite me living all the way out in WA, somehow I was the first person to take him out driving (for only ten minutes, but still, gotta break that ice initially). So I got to have a big dad moment too.

[Crewe]

that sounds really cool. glad you got to see your kiddo.

[Crewe]

I was able to re visit this thread today and...

Im curious and dont share if you dont want, but what prompted you to be a vegetarian?
Was it just a cleaner healthier lifestyle? Were you a big meat eater before, and if so, was it hard to switch over? Kinda like quitting smoking?
I wonder because I dont think I could ever do that, even though I probably need to for obvious reasons lol

Were your parents always anti maskers or just since the vaccines became somehwat ubiquitous?
For me, I would never shun anyone for that, but I find myself pretty relaxed about it even though I was sort of skittish during my Colorado trip.
Im not out much so it doesnt really affect me but I dont wear one at the grocery store etc anymore.
I still keep my distance from folks though

And lastly, I used to be turned off by sushi so much, but I guess it was maybe 7-8 years ago, my cousin introduced me to it in Vegas and I really like it now. I mean I dont gush over it, but I get cravings once in a while and Ill even buy it from my local grocery store from time to time. They have an Asian couple there making fresh sushi every day at their kiosk.

[BojackHorsefella]

My parents were never anti-maskers, no, it's just since they've been vaccinated themselves I guess they decided they were fine now. Which, I mean, I get it, you're in your late 60s and all and it sucks breathing with the mask on and you did what you're supposed to do, get the vaccine, but with this delta variant out there, and the fact that you could, especially in a place like SC where people DON'T get vaccinated, spread it to others and the immunocompromised, I'm not thrilled with their post-vax stance.

As far as being vegetarian, never, EVER would have considered it. But, my fiancee, before she moved to SC and we met, was vegetarian (well, pescatarian, she did and we do eat fish). Anyways, she gave it up in Myrtle because Myrtle's grocery stores and restaurants weren't too accommodating to that crowd. But, when we moved to Washington she wanted to get back to it, and I was iffy, but when I got my job at Comcast out here, one of my coworkers was vegan, and yes, he was the type to talk about it and push it on everyone, BUT I actually learned a LOT from him even though I didn't go full vegan.

And especially with the latest stuff like the entire Morningstar Farms selection, Beyond, Impossible, it was actually an easy transition for me to make. My fiancee always said she'd still eat meat on special occasions, like on a vacation or whatever. I actually went two years with no meat, and finally broke that this past January when we took a brief trip to the mountains in Wenatchee for our anniversary and did outdoor dining at a real nice Italian place. Got me some chicken parm that was fantastic.

EDIT: I'll also note here, I HAVE felt genuinely better since giving up meat. Less lethargic, just overall better physical feel. What's great is this past year, during the pandemic, I didn't exercise one bit because I suck, and yet, I gained 0 pounds. Not snacking had a lot to do with this, I was very good about avoiding temptation at the grocery store and if I don't get something then, I won't like, go out at 9 PM when the craving hits me. I'm lazy, I need the snacks to already be in the house, so yeah, I think the combination of very minimal snacking and removing meat from my diet over the past year helped me maintain a healthy weight. And you know, they always say removing red meat's better for your blood pressure or cholesterol or whatever, and that red meat leads to cancer, so hopefully I'm setting myself up for success in those areas too.

Oddly, going back "home" to Myrtle, I did hit up a few places. My old chinese restaurant, got my chicken and broccoli, the chicken felt yuck to me now, but I will say the brown sauce they used was still FANTASTIC coated on top of the white rice, which I guess was always the real appeal.

Even more odd to me, given the previous chicken parm anecdote, I went to my favorite Italian place and got some chicken parm this past week too, but was unsatisfied. The cheese and sauce were good, but the chicken was kinda dry and not crispy at all.

Then lastly, I hadn't eaten beef in nearly 3 years, but I went to my favorite sub place (I hadn't planned on it, but my son actually wanted to eat there) and I got a meatball sub, partly out of science, and partly out of nostalgia. Unlike the other two it actually still tasted great, but it left me feeling bloated and disgusting, and a lot of abdominal cramps which I don't really get with the chicken, so I think that's officially the last of beef for me, which is fine. I've got greater burger substitutes, and somewhat strangely, I don't really miss steak at all.

The crazy thing about sushi is my ex-wife was always trying to get me to eat it. We'd go to the hibachi steakhouse and she'd get simple tuna rolls and I'd always be like "WHY IS THE RICE COLD, THIS IS DISGUSTING."

Fast forward a few years to back when I was in the Navy and we ported in Hong Kong back in 2011, I went with one of my buddies willingly to a sushi place and just....ate it like a normal human being. Still a tuna roll! Same thing! Just had to be in that mindset I guess. Haven't stopped since.

[Crewe]

that was my thought too, revolving around the new variant.
I keep my guard up still, and when I have in person jobs now, I still wear a mask.

My nephew turned me on to morningstar black bean and buffalo chick patties. I use them in my salads instead of chicken etc.
Sometimes Ill use em in a sammie because I typically stay away from deli meat.

As for meat, I just use it in everything almost. I mean, I love my chili, just smoked ribs this weekend. Sausage and all that comes with that, jambalaya, gumbo and the like, pastas...I enjoy making my own red and white meat sauces, so I just dont see myself as a vegetarian.
I just incorporate healthy meals more often, like smoothies and salads all week then its go time on Saturdays lol
The snacking gets me too. I cant have Reeses, Twinkies, anything in the house. No matter what, Ill eat em, all of em, quickly lol

That makes total sense how your body reacts after not eating meat for so long, so now, you dont even miss it. Interesting.

Side story; said nephew is pescatarian also. One time I was making my tomato sauce which included beef, pork and veal, while he and others were visiting me one day.
In this dish, once done, you remove all the met once the sauce is done, and you can serve it with your sauce if you want or ala carte.
I asked him, once removed, could he still eat the sauce even though it was made with beef.
He thought for a moment and said, just dont tell me beef was used
LOL

[Crewe]

Back in school, I used to ponder the future of society, with regard to population, resources and the like, but I never envisioned the things we seemingly accept as normal now.
I remember hearing about population concerns as far back as the early 70's. Obviously it didnt resonate back then.
And I get it. Every generation has its dystopian concerns, and history eases the impact.
Now I sit around and think about the future and how things might be, its seriously soul crushing.
I mean, almost literally, half the world is on fire and the other half is flooding. Just in California, people are being evacuated permanently because towns are being destroyed. Where do they go? Most come here, apparently. We are losing resources at rates higher than previously thought, cities all over the world are sinking faster than initially projected. But hey, as long as some zillionaire asshole can launch himself through the atmosphere, things will be ok, right?
And Im not trying to paint a picture suggesting my mind is telling me this all happens at once, or even in my lifetime.
I do have to say, Im really glad Im not a younger generation because how could it not be a bleak outlook?
Is society changing for the better? Is there time?
Until education becomes the focus, I dont see it getting any better, and even then it will take generations to nullify all we destroyed.

The thing is, I marvel at how everyone just goes on with their daily lives, mostly completely unaware. Well, that's what I say to myself, but are they? it's just a new normal.
I have friends in CA living in a raging inferno of a state and they seem totally unmoved by what is happening.
But, what could they do? What could I do if I were them? They cant fight fires, or increase fresh water supply or preserve land.
This is not a hopeless we are doomed post. It's just an observation of things progressing in my lifetime.
In the 80's, when the term "going postal" was created by stressed postal workers shooting up their respective places of employment, it was unfathomable that someone could do that. But it happened more than once, and became a joke on late night tv after years. It happened seemingly all too frequently but I would never imagined I'd get used to hearing about so many mass shootings, in schools even.

In any event, maybe it was due to me being younger, but there always seemed to be an answer; a hopeful one. Maybe my thoughts drift too much to the fatalistic side of things, I dont know. And I dont know the point of this post either.

[BojackHorsefella]

Life update: am married.