BoldUlysses.com

My back is hurting again, but at least I don’t know it. It’s been hurting for a good half-week now, and I finally broke down and took some ibuprofen this morning. It was sore over the past few days to the point where it was affecting my posture, which I think was probably exacerbating the situation; I’m hopeful the restoration of my posture helped by the lack of pain at the moment will help eliminate the pain long-term. We’ll see.

Good, albeit tiring weekend. I put the rest of the beadboard up the in the kitchen, took the kids to church Sunday morning (Diane wasn’t feeling well) and had a reasonably productive Sunday afternoon and evening. The job I’m doing for my father-in-law requires the use of a tool which happens to be portable, so I brought it home and clamped it to my (awesome) work table in the garage. I’ll be able to put in a lot more hours this week, and get the job done more quickly, which is a big win-win for both Mr Eppley and myself. I’ll be down there tonight, listening to my homeboy on the radio starting at 9 p.m. whilst I crank away. Should be fun.

I’ve had a real hankering lately to play the old games in the Gran Turismo series. I was a huge GT1 and 2 junkie and played most of GT3 before GT4 came out. But when I saw the size and depth of GT4, I decided I didn’t want to spend a month holed up in my house completing the game, which I certainly could have done, so I kind of fell off the horse. This was during flight training in ’05-’06, so I certainly had enough to worry about at that point without getting engrossed in a video game. And I’m still not sure I’m ready for something that immersive, but…I would like to revisit the earlier games. GT1 and 2 at the very least. I remember blasting up Trial Mountain in GT1 with an Impreza WRX…good times.

I can’t think of anything to post at length about that doesn’t bore me to tears, so we’ll just another session of notes:

1. Guitar playing is coming along pretty well. Like I told my brother David yesterday, I know 8-9 chords and can switch haltingly between them. It makes for some herky-jerky songs, but I’m getting there… The main thing now is that it’s actually fun. I’ve gotten to the point, six months in, where I can eke out something resembling a song, and that’s a big confidence booster. It makes me want to practice and play more, and I have, almost every day.
2. Diane’s anniversary present to me was Mario Kart Wii, and let me just say I’ve been greatly enjoying it. The gameplay is just brilliant, the tracks and characters are fun, and aside from a few niggles (no dedicated one-on-one battle mode, for instance), I can’t find a fault with it. Part of the reason why I enjoy that game in particular and the Wii in general is just the utter creativity of it—the ingenuity of the movements and interaction with the games leaves me satisfied creatively in addition to the quality of the games themselves. I think it was a good purchase.
3. This year we decided it’s my parents’ turn for a Thanksgiving visit. We’ll be packing up Wednesday night and leaving bright and early (read: 10 a.m.) Thursday morning. I’m really looking forward to it—I love my mom and dad, and of course the change of scenery for a few days is nice.
4. I’ve got to resume running. It’s been a good month and a half since I hit the pavement, and while the scale may not show it, I feel it—psychologically and physically. I miss the physical high, as well as the time to just clear my head and the knowledge that my need for exercise is fulfilled. Tomorrow evening I’ll get out there.