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What did you do this week (and weekend)?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
It's been warm in Minnesota this week, so I took the time to de-winterize my 1994 Miata and get her rolling for the year! I did an oil change, put in a new battery (the last one was on its last legs in fall and was completely dead after the winter), and gave her a wash!
Then, today, I did what is called the "foamectomy" https://youtu.be/8Nz-1Lsutl0?si=QZ-rw4gRLRLmUQFi
So I removed about an inch of foam where that hump is in the video where that guy removed it and it did indeed work and get me an extra inch of head clearance! The bad news is that it did not get me any more leg room. I have big thighs and the bolstering under your thighs is very thick in this car and due to the construction of the foam, I didn't want to shave that part. So I'll be looking at aftermarket steering wheels this week to get myself an extra inch of leg room. The stock steering wheel is 381mm, it's massive, so my legs are right up to it even when sitting in the furthest back seating position. Most aftermarkets are in the 320-355 range and even a 355 will be a massive improvement for my legs.
I'm a little nervous about taking out the airbag, since getting totalled in this car always seems like a "when", not an "if" (I'm a very good defensive driver, but people regularly do not see me in this thing and it's only a matter of time until someone pulls out into me), but I'm realizing that if the car came with an aftermarket wheel when I bought it, I never would have thought twice about it. It's just a bit nerve wracking when you are personally the one making your car less safe, but I'm trying to rationalize it by saying people ride motorcycles and drive older cars without airbags all the time. It doesn't make it any safer by justifying it, it just lets me stomach it a bit more.
You last paragraph is exactly how I feel about my project car, a '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee. I like it, but I'm anxious about the safety features of it, especially when I'm with my family. Though, guess that hasn't been an issue because for the last four years, it's been laid-up undergoing an engine rebuild; finally getting close to finishing with that, but I've been putting off finding a machine shop for my Heads because I have other priority projects right now...
Just a tip, but I have cut seat foam like that with an electric carving knife I picked up at a thrift store for $3. It cuts like butter and you can be more accurate as the knife does all the work.
I hear you on the lack of an airbag too. My 81 Vette has never had one and even the seatbelt is giving me trouble lately. But I try to drive it sensibly (not too hard, with only 195 hp) and just hope for the best.
I had my first academic job interview this week. It was going hard from 8:45AM-5:00PM. I was mentally exhausted by the end of it, but it was fun meeting with so many people passionate about education and talking shop with them. I also had a short zoom interview for another position yesterday that I think went well. It seems like things are coming to a head for the next phase of my career/life.
A full day at the university? That sounds intense. Are you interviewing for an upper level academic administration position? I hope it went well and I wish you luck!
Yes, many 4-year university positions are a full day of interviews with lunch and dinner. You meet with several faculty and admin, graduate students if you are applying for a research role, and you give a job talk about research/teaching.
The long one on Wednesday is an assistant teaching professorship that would involve teaching introductory and upper level courses. This is the ideal job I would like to get, but the pay isn't great. I'm also applying for community college positions. You are teaching lower-level courses, and I couldn't focus on teaching my primary interests, but you get much better salary growth there.
Thanks for the well wishes! I think it went well and I feel like I have a lot going as a candidate, although I'm still a Ph.D. candidate so other people who have the doctorate have a leg up on me.
Yesterday I picked up my dear friend and employer from the next town an hour away. She just got back from surgery. An elbow replacement. She's stoaked. She's the best. Im sleeping in the kitchen bedroom for the next few weeks as she recovers.
I'm teaching my friend to make chicken tortilla soup from scratch. Starting with the stock. The stock currently has 45min to go, then on to the soup!
Tomorrow is a memorial for my friend who died a year ago. We're all gathering under the bridge to spread his ashes and play music. Then heading to the bar to have a potluck and play more music. I'll be doing a song with a friend that the three of us used to play together at song circle.
Sunday is the open house for the community theater. It's going to be AWESOME. I've already gotten permission to go through ALL the costumes and props.
I'm interested in another person for the first time since my divorce. It's strange.
Been working on painting around 115 Warhammer: Age of Sigmar models after beginning building them on January 6th and I can finally see the finish line. My goal for this week was to finish up painting the last of 6 Troggs (trolls) for my army and I managed to finish slightly ahead of schedule yesterday, which is damn nice, because I got to get started on the next 18 models, which I'm going to try and finish this weekend and then I'll be down to 2 left to paint. One quite small one that will probably take a day and then a very large model that stands about 8" tall and will hopefully only take me a few days to crack out, given I need to have everything finished by March 16th.
Very excited to see the finish line, as I really wasn't certain I'd get here, given that I have very limited time to actually paint, so I tend to paint 30 minutes to an hour at a time. I'm definitely going quickly, but I'm pretty happy with how things are coming out and I don't hate the models yet, because I'm not painting them all in the same scheme. I have another army, consisting of a similar amount of models that I did last year and I ended-up being so sick of them by the end, I haven't even touched them since last year.
My Troggs
So this past year I started getting into the video game Warhammer: Verminitide II, and I have gotten super interested in the lore. It's such an interesting world that I just want to dive into.
If you want to get into it for the Lore and/or painting the models, go for it. The models do tend to be expensive, but if they're one of your primary hobbies, they're not too bad on the whole.
I've read a couple of the books pertaining to my factions, notably, Gloomspite, Soul Wars, The Twice Dead King: Ruin and Brutal Kunnin', they're ok, at best. The Twice Dead King is a 40k novel and was easily the best of the bunch, Brutal Kunnin' kind of bad, Gloomspite was ok and Soul Wars was a little better than ok. My biggest issue with them is that they feel a little forced, especially as they introduce the faction specific units in each book. It ends-up feeling very artificial to me, with overly long and detailed descriptions that describe a model perfectly; I find it a little silly, but I might just be nitpicky. I do much prefer the Lore of Age of Sigmar (haven't yet delved into Old World) to 40k, which I just find dismal, though I do enjoy the lore of the Necrons, my favorite faction in 40k.
Painting is a ton of fun and since I picked it up four years ago, it's become one of my primary hobbies. I love sitting down and getting stuff painted and seeing my skills improve (though they've plateaued currently) and it's just fun to show off a creative hobby.
The games, I find can be frustrating. Games Workshop is a model company, not a rules company and it shows. They're constantly bringing out new editions and balance is all over the place; your army might be terrible for a year or more and then suddenly be on top of the "meta" the next because they got some new models and GW wanted to give you a reason to buy them, only to have them nerfed again a few months later. Don't take this as bitterness, it's just a frustrating aspect to go along with the numerous frustrating aspects of GW game design, not the least of which is tons of "gotchas" and rules bloat. It takes constant repetition and memorization just to remember what your models do and then you look to the other side of the table and need to have some idea how all the opponents stuff works as well. It's...a lot. Also, if you're intending to be playing, pick a faction you like the look of, because you're going to be painting a shitload of them.
Much as I love the models, I don't care much for the game. The only reason I'm getting everything I have painted currently is because I'm going to a tournament with a friend who really wanted to me to go, but I'd much rather be playing one of the countless other wargames I have, because they're generally better written and not subject to the gotchas and bloat that GW games are.
I still like Age of Sigmar, but Warhammer is a "lifestyle" game, meaning it's THE thing you do; you learn the rules, you learn the models, you learn all the interactions, you learn deployment strategies, how to pick certain tactics to score points, you watch Youtube while you paint so you can learn the game and the meta and on and on and on. I'm more of a "Beer & Pretzles" type player, where I want relatively straightforward and simple rules that I don't need to study to pick-up and I can just have fun rolling dice, drinking beer and bullshitting with my opponent.
The community is mostly pretty cool, I've been to several tournaments and the people there are generally nice and while some get super competitive, many just want to throw some dice and the hobby itself, which I got into through Games Workshop is extremely enriching (I mean like...creatively. Your wallet will beg to differ), I love painting and I do like playing the games, as fiddly and annoying as GW games can be, because I tend to do my best to ignore what is "meta" and the Best Thing Right Now (tm) and play with models that I like the most that have rules that work well with my style of play.
Sorry I can't say more about the Lore, which you seem to be interested in. I'm really a Gamer and a Painter first and while I like the Lore (My current list I'm painting for this tournament is themed on the Lore), it's not my primary focus. Hopefully I've answered your questions without exhausting you or driving you off. If you're interested in learning more about the Lore, this guy 2+ Tough has lots of Lore videos that are fun to watch.
If you're interested in getting into the hobby for painting or gaming, I'd recommend looking at the factions and finding one that looks attractive to you, either model wise or lore wise and picking up a box off Amazon, as basic models can usually be had pretty cheap. You'll need some flush cutters, hobby knife, file and super glue or plastic cement to get started building; once you've done that Army Painter is pretty good to start with for your first paints. Pick up some cheap brushes while you learn and set to work. Youtube videos for getting started building and painting will be indispensable.
All that said, I should point to one of the other companies that makes my current favorite game, Bolt Action and that's Warlord Games. A little cheaper than GW stuff and mostly focused on historical, the games are more streamlined and better to play, I find; plus if you're a WW2 junky like I am, they've got you covered.
Again, hopefully I didn't overload you here, as I do love the hobby and I do enjoy Warhammer, in spite of my bitching about it. I just don't always have the time to commit to it that it demands, so I get a frustrated with it at times. Don't hesitate to ask any questions and I'll write you another novel, I'm sure.
I had my first chamber of commerce meeting since I incorporated my software agency, also had a IxDA meetup and a number of client calls. Overall a good week for networking! But unfortunately came down with something that's knocked me on my butt the past 2 days. Hoping I recover quickly, it's supposed to be nearly 70F on Sunday and I'd love to get ~50 miles in on the bike.
Yesterday we placed all the orders for the trees and shrubs for our 2024 plantings. There were three main groupings of plants.
The first was upgrades to the garden and included 2 new heirloom blueberry varieties, a boysenberry, and 3 hazelnuts. The garden was set up last year and encompasses a 40x40 vegetable patch, a 13x30 berry patch, a small orchard that currently has 5 fruit trees, and will be getting a 20x20 squash patch this year.
The second group of plants were mostly serviceberry along with some dogwood and viburnum for the front and side landscaping. This is a very long term project so I won’t see the final effect for nearly a decade. Next year we plan to install a pond and a willow as well as more dogwoods.
The final group is the larger effort group and includes more dogwood, swamp white oak, bur oak, shellbark hickory, and some other things. These will be part of our efforts to return our back woods to native plants. We have several acres and have been painstakingly removing invasives and now need to put in their replacements.
Because returning woods to natives is such an endeavor we first started by carving a hiking trail through the woods for access, and then split it into sections so we could target one area at a time. This year we are targeting an area we are calling new woods where have been removing multiflora rose, autumn olive, and Japanese stiltgrass to make way for a new oak hickory forest. We also have an area we are calling low swamp that borders our creek that will return to a forest low meadow environment with native grasses.
It’s a huge job with a slow burn of pay off but I am excited to see how much gets done this year.
Didn't really do much at work this week as I'm still waiting on management to scope out what they want us to do for this upcoming quarter. As a result, my PR count has dropped a decent bit. My company recently started tracking PR counts, which they claim is never used to determine performance, only to bolster what your manager and team mates say about your performance. That being said, my manager rang the alarm bells to me in our 1-1 saying my PR count for the last 30 days has been a bit low and that I need to bring it up. It honestly felt like a gut punch and kinda has me wanting to move to a place that doesn't track metrics like this. Management did keep to their word and my PR counts from last year had no influence on my performance rating but I doubt that'll be the case for much longer. Luckily, mid-week management finally unveiled what they'd like us to work on from now until June so I've been putting my name on things to try and get some work assigned to me.
Outside of work, life has been pretty chill this week. Been going on some walks (2-4 miles) and have cut down on snacking again. For the last few months, I've also just been cutting down on how much I eat so I've started seeing some weight loss. I hope to start doing some regular weightlifting soon, I just struggle with getting into a routine for it. Only time I've ever had a gym routine was when I had friends in college basically drag me to the gym with them. But overall, pretty optimistic about my own health.
I'm looking forward to the weekend as I'm finally test driving some cars. I've been looking for something compact, sporty, practical, manual and >200hp all for ~$30k USD since around September 2023. Unsurprisingly, millions of other car enthusiasts also want something like this so options are limited. I've settled on getting a Golf GTI but it's hard finding one at a dealership that stays long enough for me to go test drive it. I've been torn between the Mk7.5 and Mk8s as they both have things I like and things I dislike. I've also never had a manual car before so I'm hoping this test drive goes smoothly enough for them to not kick me out haha.
PR counts? In any case, numerical metrics are such a toxic way to judge individual performance for many jobs, I'm sorry you're dealing with that :(
Keep going on the weight loss! I'm there with you, too, I heavily cut snacking and have been tracking calories. It sounds like you're doing it right, where you're gradually changing your habits and lifestyle rather than being on x or y diet cold turkey.
Cars!!! I had a MK7 GTI and it was utterly fantastic. I hope you can find one! I had mine for about 3 years and I wish I kept it (after 3 years I owed 12k and could sell it for 15k when the car market went bonkers during covid, so it would be financially dumb for me to have not sold it). Manual cars are a blast. Just be patient with yourself when learning, I only learned manual during a test drive at a dealer, too, ha. I knew what I was "supposed" to do, but it's different when you need to do all the steps in order in real time. You don't need to slam your shifts or anything, just drive it like a granny until you get a good feel for the clutch (selecting gears is the easy part, learning the clutch pedal is the "hard" part).
Ah sorry, I should've explained a bit in my comment. In basic terms, a PR or Pull Request is basically one task in software engineering. So PR count basically means how many tasks you've done.
Yeah I've tried doing diets before but I can never hold myself to it for more than a few weeks. I appreciate the support! I've always been a bit unhappy with my weight so I'm happy to see some changes in the right direction.
Glad to hear you had a great experience with the MK7 GTI! There's a MK7.5 at my local dealership, its just a few thousand dollars more than I want to spend. Luckily, the car has been listed for quite a while now (think around 6 months?) so I'm going to negotiate the price down. I've actually practiced a little with driving manual by paying for a lesson. I found it extremely worthwhile and even learned to do some hill starts (with and without hill-hold assist) so I feel fairly confident now. Hope the test drive goes well tomorrow.
Oh, I know what a pull request is, I also work in software, I just hadn't heard the term "PR count" and didn't know that you work in software. And yeah, judging performance on number of PRs or number of lines of code is so, so stupid. Our company doesn't do that, but we did start tracking metrics on number of Jira tickets completed by engineering group (not by individual, thankfully) and my group is data and reporting, so I actually crank out like 10 times the tickets as most other teams by myself, just from the nature of my work (it's a whole lot easier to complete a ticket that is writing or reusing 200 lines of SQL than it is to implement a new platform feature). My boss kept telling the engineering heads that it's not going to work if they compare our team's metrics to the other engineering teams, but they won't listen.
And it sounds like you're already on top of things with learning manual, you'll be fine! The first time you go pedal down in that car, you'll be addicted, that's what got me with the GTI over buying a Focus RS or Fiesta RS.
My fiber went out a week ago. I spent all week quietly fuming, missing events, missing deadlines, accumulating work I'll have to eventually do, and generally going stir crazy. My ISP has already changed the deadline for fixing it three times. They still haven't bothered to show up. They've also lied (proven) about a number of other things every time I called them. There are no consequences for them; the government regulator for their industry is ineffective and corrupt and they're a local monopoly and part of a nationwide unopposed price-fixing cartel. I'm using mobile data right now, but my traffic limit for that is so low I already used a quarter of my entire monthly allocation for March, despite not watching any TV, streaming any video or music, playing any online games or downloading anything.