Rant 1059 / "Need For Speed" Has Already Been Taken

The workout continues to improve my strength despite my waning interest in it. Today I found the 10kg bag of rice to be surprisingly lighter than before, causing me to lift it higher than was necessary to put it onto the cashier's counter.

But it's getting boring again and I'm not seeing results often enough. This was a boost for my motivation but I'm not sure how long it will last.

Meanwhile my workout continues to evolve.

Now instead of doing three sets of five for a number of different exercises, I'm trying to reduce them.

Initially I tried to combine several exercises into a single continuous movement but that didn't help.

Currently, I'm doing two sets of ten instead, warm up by taking a short walk downstairs to collect my mail or go to the market, and doing fewer but harder types of workouts.

Like instead of doing the lateral raise, I'm doing the overhead clap with dumbbells. Probably trains different muscles but it gives me some variety.


























Not sure why the widget says 206ms because the test result was 208.6.

Screenshot added after dinner, hence "4 hours ago".

At rank 37 for the week and 171 for the month, I am kinda proud of this, even though

I'm only 6.4ms quicker than the median reaction time, ie pretty average. In case it's not clear, a millisecond is 0.001 second. My fastest was:

Which also means that my slowest was pretty damn slow to drag my average down to 208m.

It's 2.50pm right now, and I'm sure I'll be much slower at night.

Go ahead and check your reaction speed at http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/index.php

...

Ok, as expected, I got even faster after my pre-dinner workout and a dinner. It's now 189.6ms for the second session of 5 clicks. Surprised my dinner of MCD's Hotcakes and a Filet-o-Fish didn't slow me down. Exercise is more effective than I thought!

In other words, even e-sports players need to dabble in physical sports to be good.

This is not proof but it's good evidence IMO.






















When someone who has done far worse deeds than you becomes more successful than you are, it is simply proof that sense and justice are concepts invented by the human mind in its search for a predictable pattern in reality.




























Surprisingly, this is not an American film but a Hong Kong one directed by a terrible HK director, Godfrey Ho, who used the same poor actor (the guy talking on the phone) for several of his bad ninja films, which are under the little-known film category "Z-movies" which is like the category "B-movies" but far lower on the scale.

These films pretty much killed the actor's career.













































I Am Alive isn't my cup of tea, the biggest reason being the nausea it causes me.

Another is the unexciting plot. I'm only at the mall and I can already see where the game is going.

This game, unlike most other games, seems to focus on climbing as its main gameplay feature.

While the shortage of ammo is not an uncommon theme, in this case it forces the player to not only aim properly but consider the gun as the last resort.

Moreover, combat isn't the main theme of the game. While it is in the third-person view, it is only a third-person shooter in the sense that you can shoot, but you don't always have to.

This is because the gun itself intimidates enemies who are armed with only melee weapons. Often, it is enough to either knock them out or kill them with your machete.

Most of the time, though, it's like what one would expect in a post-apocalyptic world. I learnt the hard way that I really have to watch my every step. Just because you're on a deserted street doesn't mean there's nobody out there.

In one area, I was going my own way when, all of a sudden, I got shot by someone hiding in a doorway. The game seems to be programmed in such a way that NPCs who are just trying to protect their own territories would shoot me when I'm within a certain radius, even if they hadn't seen me a moment ago and did not give me a warning.

In this case, I was not within range of sight until I was right in front of the narrow entrance, and then I was way too close since I was trying to stick to the walls.
























Still waiting on NS2, which I expect to be sent to me at around the same time as its release.























I'm thinking of getting an interior designer to renovate my place. My wooden floor is full of warping boards, my airconditoning system needs to be removed, I want a balcony that's actually a balcony instead of a sun-baked storage area, I want a spot for a hammock and I want an aquarium or pond for our terrapins.

But it's expensive D:

I wonder how much it will cost. Without knowing for sure and without an actual plan for what we want, I think I'll have to wait till my bro and I have like $50,000 to spare before we look for one.

Or maybe I should wait longer since there are signs that my flat's about to be demolished for redevelopment within the decade. If we get a new flat, I'm definitely getting an interior designer as long as we can afford it.




















Playing with a syringe. Though you can't squeeze water out of stones, you can squeeze water out of air, literally.





















Taking a small step towards the possibility of getting a dog. Emailed a dog shelter about it, explaining my lack of expertise in the field and asking for help in considering this option.

As a dog shelter, I'm sure they are concerned about potential owners of their dogs, so I'll trust that they will make better judgements than I can, or at least help me make an informed decision.

Though I had previously expressed hesitation in this, I'm trying to be open to new possibilities to solve my problem at its root.

Being fully aware of the future this path leads, I do not feel that it is a good idea to simply maintain the status quo. Better to get rid of the issue now while I can still afford most options. I'm only 27, surely I can make it all back quickly in the future once this is over.

I'm... flabbergasted by myself. It is so easy to make a profit I can live on, yet I'm only putting in like 5% effort into it. I recognize the fact that there are lots of money within my reach, yet I'm unable to stretch out towards them. I want to because what I need to do to cut even is a piece of cake, I know exactly what I need to do and none of it is beyond me, yet something stops me every time I try.

Certain tasks, I can delay out of laziness. Not this, lest I lose the motivation to resolve this issue altogether, like how alcoholics don't give a damn about their addiction after some time.





















I just realized I can get Diablo III for S$72.54 inclusive of $5 shipping.

$5 coupon plus 7% discount cart coupon.

And I'm still not buying it.

Too bad this shop doesn't sell Guild Wars 2 or I might have seriously considered spending money immediately.