Your Backup Hobby

It seemed like an irresistible bad idea, so I popped an ibuprofen about 20 minutes before going to the gym last night. My intention was to get in a normal workout without feeling hindered by spasms in my back or left side. Probably a bad idea because I could potentially push myself too hard without proper pain feedback, and then suffer consequences later.

In reality, I finished my workout just as the ibuprofen finally kicked in. Delayed onset probably due to eating dinner right before taking the capsule. But even with some pain, I pushed myself through a full workout, though still with a slight reduction in weight per rep. The hot tub afterwards was lukewarm, but at least the jets were at full blast. Another night of poor sleep, but right now I feel almost back to normal, with just a slight, dull pain about halfway up my left torso. I'm going to wait until Sunday before going back to the gym.

For anyone wanting to start this air rifle thing on the 'cheap':

- Amazon is selling the QB78S for $65. It has a synthetic stock, but the QB78 guts are top-notch for the price. I'd recommend the .177 for target shooting, but the .22 is fine. Anything cheaper won't be nearly as accurate, and word on the street is that the QB78 trigger is insanely adjustable for the price.

- Buy a cheap AO scope. An example. Amazon, Walmart, whatever. The QB78 won't shake a scope to pieces like a break barrel would, so any scope is fine. You might have to get taller scope rings for that 50mm - the 40mm scope on my rifle will just barely fit.

- WalMart is selling 40 CO2 cartridges to feed that thing for $16. The QB78 .177 out of the box will give you 70 or so accurate shots with two cartridges, and another 20 or so as it runs out of CO2. If they have them, grab a tin of Crosman Premier pellets while you're there.

So for $125 or so you've got a pretty nice rifle and a scope that works. After finding a brand of pellet that the gun likes, I can shoot dime-sized groups of 10 at 20 yards. I'd bet the gun can shoot better than that, but that's as good as I can shoot right now. There are literally dozens of ways on YouTube to set up backstops and pellet traps for cheap if you want to shoot 10 yards in your basement or don't want to hit the neighbor's cat.

I'll have to try that Big Three thing. I was religious about back extentions on that little padded stand thing but my gym now doesn't have it. Wish I could try the reverse hyper Joe Rogan talks about.

I combined my love of Lego with RPGs and got that Game Tank Wizards Dice Tower set. Yeah yeah, it has a 5e adventure in it but the real draw is the (not actually but compatible with) Lego dice tower.

Alas, the subtle but real differences between lego and "compatible with" add up to make a less than satisfying build. The brick quality suffers some, you dont get quite as nice a lock up and anything friction fit is hit or miss.

But the real downside is the build instructions. Not only is the color printing hard to differentiate between brown and dark grey, light grey and white, they violate several Lego laws(TM) like having just 1 stud of support, or tall towers of bricks only secured at the top, not interlinking like a good Lego should. Plus it is the "build up from the bottom" instructions style, which makes it hard to get a good tight join at times because you are building a wall that is resting on top of an unstable foundation when it should have been assembled in pieces, put together in a supported way, then flipped over and put on the base.

Regardless, it is serviceable and rugged enough it might actually survive a session as a dice tower. My kid has already clogged it by trying to force his dice case into it. It has few internal ramps, mostly relying on a bottom slope and gravity alone to impart randomness to the dice, which makes it tempting to jam big things into it.

This was a FLGS purchase so I'm not sure what the kickstarter differences are. I got no mini figs, but was left with so many extra plant pieces I feel like I'm missing an entire bag for a side tree or something. YMMV on this one. It says "Vol 1" on the side so presumably there may be more to come, hopefully with a little more functionality and better assembly instructions.

Triathlon season kicks off in Michigan this weekend with the Bear Lake Tri. What was looking like a mild, but pleasant outing last weekend has descended with characteristic Michigan élan into a chilly morning of mid 50's weather an near 62 degree water. No rain expected.....yet. I'm still planning on swimming bareback because I'm cheap and haven't bought a wetsuit. The water will be warmer than the ride will be. LOL

Good luck!

Last week I switched from the Nike Run Club app to Strava to track my miles. I started with Nike a few years ago because I didn't know any better. I switched because my right Achilles gave up halfway through July the last two years and I decided to move from pure running to alternating with road cycling days for load management. Strava could track both unlike Nike.

It's been a great decision so far. Strava's map is much better, and the public segments have inspired me to try some new routes even when my segment PR's are twice the local leader's. I've enjoyed following the work some friends and family have been posting, too.

In short, if you prefer running or biking (or canoeing or skating or kitesurfing or roller skiing or swimming or more which can all be tracked and compared), Strava, even free, is pretty great.

I like Strava. My suunto GPS watch thingies will automatically upload an event to it. So if nothing else if I am ever lost, injured, or kidnapped while out on a run I can document it to my 3 followers assuming I can end the run so it will upload

The Bear Lake Tri was a success for me. finished in 1:31

The swim was rough with a 62 degree water temp. It was warmer than the air temp. my feet didn't thaw until a mile into the run.

My Tri Results

I age grouped it and got 2nd place for 45-49. It was out of three people, but still.

My ride and run were both good for me. My transitions still suck and the less said about the swim the better.

jason10mm wrote: I like Strava. My suunto GPS watch thingies will automatically upload an event to it. So if nothing else if I am ever lost, injured, or kidnapped while out on a run I can document it to my 3 followers assuming I can end the run so it will upload

The two things I like about Strava are the wide range of activity types it covers as well as the ability to find trails/routes that are not on many maps. You can also get a detailed look at trail elevation profiles that are more informative than just looking at a topo map. They've hidden a lot of the stuff behind the paywall that used to be free, but even the free version is quite useful.

After a month of nearly normal workouts, I have dropped all seven pounds that I gained during the pandemic. The gym no longer requires masks, and they even re-opened the sauna, and turned the drinking fountains back on.

Airgun: I did adjust the trigger in the CO2 gun. It is easy to do, and after you look at it for a few minutes you can see exactly what the adjustments you're making are doing, as opposed to "Turn Screw X to decrease pull" voodoo. Trigger pull is much reduced, and the rifle seemed to pass the "beat on the gun with a rubber mallet" test.

I also bought a replacement trigger blade for the break barrel rifle. Working on that involved needing a spring compressor to take the spring or gas piston out. Doing it by hand can be mildly dangerous, as in face full of released spring dangerous. Store-bought spring compressors are mildly expensive, but there are about as many DIY ways to do it as there are people that want to do it. I ended up using a 5/8 socket, a $10 ratchet clamp, and no fear. The trigger feels much smoother now.

Fishing: the bass in the pond are biting. The smaller ones, 8"-12", are voracious.

My garden is pretty well planted out now, and last week I had my first harvests: radishes and spinach. Not much, just enough for a small bowl of salad for lunch, but it’s a start. Both have tasted great. The radishes are almost creamy, not woody at all, and full flavored despite being more mild than what you’d buy at the grocery. The spinach is tender but tasty without leaning into the bitterness of store spinach. It’s great. When friends and neighbors tour the garden, I’ll just rip a leaf off or break the tip of an asparagus spear, and they can eat it right there.

Most other plants are doing well except for the butternut. I’ve only found one so far that germinated and sprouted, which is disappointing because I really enjoy them. In a week or two I should clear out a spring planting and get the fall harvests of cabbage, leeks and kale going, but it’s mostly just maintenance now. Already have plenty of ideas of how I can improve the garden for next year.

I have a little garden that is EXPLODING due to all the rain we have been getting. Tomatoes and peppers doing well. Sunflowers are 4-5 feet high.

But it has been the pumpkin and (unbeknownst to me but apparently planted by the previous owners) cucumber that have turned into lovecraftian monstrosities with tendrils running everywhere and hideous spikey bloated tastey fruit under every leaf! I've never done those before and holy cow do they spread everywhere!

My garden is just beginning to show sprouts this last week. We have been experiencing a heat wave in the Twin Cities for over a week now, with highs in the high 90s and lows in the mid 70s. So I have been watering my garden for 15 minutes every other day. The next ten days will stay hot and dry, though ease to highs in the mid 80s and lows in the 60s. Hopefully there will be rain in July.

Airgun: that stuff is like a drug. Have to get a PCP gun and a compressor now. I saw a 20-page forum discussion about what is the best oil to put in a $200 (cheap!) compressor. Like any other hobby, how far the rabbit hole do you want to go? And which rabbit hole do you want to dive into?

Fishing: the cicadas are out where I live; actually starting to fade away now. My wife is Friend to Animals, but for her that involves catching the cicadas and feeding them to the bass. Doing that puts catching bass on easy mode - just throw a big foam rubber fly out there and wait about 10 seconds. Rinse, repeat. I also caught one of the grass-eating carp that live in the pond - I don't know if it hit the lure (not the fly) in self-defense or cicada frenzy, but I was in a serious River Monsters fight with this thing. They're about 4 feet long, and that was the biggest fish I ever caught.