I’ve mentioned here, a few times, how I’m not in the physical shape and health that I used to be in. That I want to be in. During my younger days, I was naturally thin, and I kept satisfactorily toned and healthy by irregular workouts. During my early 30s, it was tae kwon do, 4-5 days a week, that kept me in good shape.

In the past 5-8 years, I’ve put on some extra padding, and my muscles have gotten soft. This distresses me. I really miss having a relatively tone physique (though I was never really “ripped” or “buff”), and I don’t like the “getting older” feeling that has started enveloping me, lately. I need to do something about this.

I’ve never tried a fad diet or started a fad exercise routine. I’ve been able to drop 10 pounds a couple of times through just cutting back on the junk food and desserts. But although the bathroom scale shows the change in numbers, I never see a real difference in my physique. 10 pounds off my size is noticeable, but without a corresponding increase in muscle tone, I still look “soft.” I need the strength and tone and endurance I had back during my superhero days.

But I need more than just a gym membership, and random self-directed workouts. I need guidance, a measurable goal, a regular routine, and a challenge.

I’ve seen the P90X infomercials on TV a few times, and I find the workout advertised, intriguing. A couple of weeks ago, I stopped my channel surfing to watch more of one of these commercials. Out of curiosity, I tried a couple of the exercises demonstrated, and maybe I’m a masochist, but I found them very cool. Very cool because they’re very hard.

Something about the “hardcore” workout really interests me. The concepts of challenging exercises, an hour a day, every day, with definite results in 30, 60, and 90 days, got me to looking more into the program. I found lots of reviews of the system, and many photos of people before and after going through the system. (Photos not presented by the makers or marketers of P90X.) I even got the approval of my resident medical expert (my wife).

So I ordered the system, and the box just arrived last night. I’ve got some reading, studying, and planning to do before I start the program, but I’m already excited about it. Heck, even before the box arrived, over the past few days, I’ve felt energized just thinking about taking on the challenge.

Honestly, I think the challenge has become half the reason I’m going to start this. I haven’t had a real, hard physical challenge since my black belt testing, nine years ago. (I always felt great after a hard martial arts training session.) At this point, the resulting body shape is just a secondary thought.

I know this workout routine is going to kick my ass, and that’s gonna be fun as hell.

Bullgrit

My gaming group finally got around to giving the latest edition of D&D a trial run. I’ve had the Player’s Handbook for many months, and I’ve read most of it. Reading it just didn’t turn me on to the system.

Reading the rules gave me one main feeling: this ain’t D&D.

The rules/mechanics — races, classes, abilities, etc. — seem well balanced, but there’s a lot of stuff that just feels like a new game system than D&D. But I withheld real judgment of the game until I could actually play it.

Well, now that I’ve played it, I have one main feeling: this ain’t D&D.

I know “this ain’t D&D” is an inflammatory statement among D&Ders, and I fully understand how and why it will completely piss off some of 4th edition’s fans. But it’s an honest feeling from me. Just too much has changed, too much is drastically different from the game’s predecessors. It feels like a whole new game system, not a new edition of D&D. I don’t see an evolution, or even a revolution. It’s just, different.

There are some things that I just don’t want in my D&D, like dragonborn and tiefling player character races. There are some things that just seem alien to D&D, like 1st-level characters having two dozen hit points (and goblins having equal combat lasting power). And there are some things that seem to go counter to making D&D “better,” like so many character abilities and even more things to keep track of.

But when I look at the game system as a new game (rather than an evolution of D&D, specifically), I still see problems. For instance, the 1st-level characters have half a dozen abilities. (My pregen tiefling warlord had 7 abilities to choose from each round.) That’s a hell of a lot of stuff for beginning players, with 1st-level characters to deal with. (It was a lot for me, an experienced gamer, to keep up with.)

I like some of the concepts the designers said they were trying to incorporate into, or eliminate from, the game. Like make the characters abilities work well with a group of allies, and give the characters the ability to keep going beyond the 15-minute adventuring day (after expending their big daily powers). But many of the systems the designers put in place really didn’t solve the problems, or worse, made things more problematic.

I thought the new edition was supposed to make the game easier and smoother, especially when running combat. But what it really did was make combat more complicated and longer. Absolutely not an improvement.

Playing the game felt like trying (but failing) to mimic D&D with an entirely different system not actually meant to be played as D&D. It felt as weird as playing in the Star Wars universe with the Marvel Super Heroes rules set — a bad fit.

Now, I don’t hate this game, though I do see some flaws in the design (especially when I consider what the designers said they intended to make better). But it really does not feel like D&D. A new edition of D&D should be like coming home to find your spouse has dyed their hair, lost weight, and put on sexy new clothes. 4th edition as D&D is like coming home to find a new person there, posing as your spouse. No matter how good they may look, it ain’t what you know and love, and want.

Bullgrit

Today is my wife’s birthday.

I met her when she was just 21 years old. (I was just about to turn 23.) Thinking back, and looking at old pictures of her, she looked so very young. In her twenties, she looked like a teenager. She was petite, sweet, and cute, then; Now she’s petite, sweet, and freakin’ hot. She wears maturity well. So very well. Hubba, hubba.

We’re one of those couples like you see on TV sitcoms: dorky guy with a hot wife.

For a mother of two rambunctious boys, with all the whirlwind of activity and craziness that goes with them, she’s managed to not only hold herself together well, she’s actually gotten better through it all. She’s a great mother.

She’s a great wife, too. She’s a great cook. She’s a great organizer. She’s. . . just a great everything. I’m lucky, proud, and blessed to have her as my wife.

And if she keeps getting better with age from here on, as she has from 21 to now, good lord, she’ll be the pinnacle of God’s creations before she gets grandchildren.

Bullgrit

I mentioned on Wednesday how our boys were up sick early Wednesday morning. Well, they both stayed sick all day Wednesday. Thursday, they were still pathetic with fever, just sleeping all day. Friday, Calfgirt5 was better, but Calfgrit9 was still out of it. He was maintaining a 102-104 fever, lowering occasionally, with Motrin, to around 100.

Friday, he was taken to the pediatrician. They tested him, but he had no flu or strep. Because he wasn’t eating or drinking much [at all], the doctor feared he was becoming dehydrated. She said if he didn’t “round the corner” by Saturday, to take him to the hospital children’s emergency department so they could set him up with fluids by IV.

Saturday morning, CG9 was no better. He still had a 103 temperature, and still didn’t want to eat or drink anything — he just wanted to be left alone to sleep. We called his doc again, and she directed us to take him to the hospital.

We dropped his little brother off with their grandmother, and we headed for the main county hospital. We arrived at about 11:00, and handled the paperwork, went through triage, and then waited with a pager (like at a restaurant). While waiting in the waiting room, we managed to get him to eat a couple of crackers and take a few sips of water, but he was just lethargic. He did laugh a few times at watching Ice Age on the TV mounted overhead. (This was the children’s emergency department.)

Eventually we got called back to the rooms. The children’s emergency department is very different than the normal, adult version. With all the colors, shapes, and pictures, it looked more like an elementary school (with lots of computers and strange gizmos all around).

The nurses and doctor got us all settled in, and got CG9 set up with an IV drip — he was very brave about it all. (Although having the TV in the room tuned to Cartoon Network helped keep him distracted like a zombie staring at a brain in a jar.) We were going to be there for a while. And we were.

The IV drip finished after 3:30, and CG9 was discharged at about 4:00. We’d been at the hospital for five hours, total. Not exactly how one wants to spend a Saturday.

But after the IV fluids were in his system, CG9 said he wanted a hot dog. Great! He hadn’t eaten anything for three and a half days. We gave him a hot dog.

The rest of Saturday, and all day Sunday, per the doctor’s orders, we kept him drinking water and Gatorade to keep him fully hydrated. His fever went away, his energy came back, and he’ll be going to school this morning. His parents are happy to have him well, again. (And are happy to get him out of the house, back in school, for a few hours each day, again.)

Bullgrit