OT: The Daily Thread

Fired up my level 60 Javazon in NM yesterday, and she's currently in Act 1 Hell running the Pit at level 76. Fun! Haven't really chosen a secondary skill for LI's yet - I've used Plague Javelin in the past to good effect, but am considering Strafe with Windforce on switch. Maybe WWS on switch, so I can use the built in Magic Arrow on PIs/LIs. No drops of any note yet, although Tal's belt fell, which is nice.

Edit: Also, I forgot how effective Slow Missles is against the LI archers in the Pit, who can hit pretty hard. Love this undervalued skill.
 
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RL:It’s the last day of the NCRI conference today, and there are two talks (sat waiting for one...) specifically on the microbiome in colorectal. It’s been such an awesome conference. Obviously, my poster was the best part of it

Picture of us looking dapper in front of the hashtag sign.

P.S. Does anybody know what dapper means?


D2: Not for a few days of course, see above. Mostly I will just be doing occasional LK runs with Gwynt.


OVG: I’m on a reading run just now, so my spare time is mostly there. Halfway through Akira, it’s awesome. Also a few random bits and pieces, plus the first 87th Precinct book - still undecided.
 
In Dutch, 'dapper' means 'brave'. Not sure if that is what you mean though ...

RL: I just finished my inscription for my first ever mountain trail run: the Zugspitz Supertrail XL on June 15 2019 !!! 81K and 4200m of altitude gain around the highest mountain of Germany. I'm so excited about it. I'm going with 2 of my running buddies, a third one might join us too, so should be plenty of fun. Time to log some serious distances I guess.

For the short term: I currently have a minor injury. Nothing too bad, but I have planned a half marathon race in less than two weeks, which might be a problem to attend. I can run just fine if done at slower pace, but the speed work is the issue currently. Hopefully it will be ok by then, but it will be a close call. If in doubt, I won't participate, as I don't want to take any risks and have a 44K Coast Trail planned only 2 weeks afterwards.

D2: not much, but a bit of this and a bit of that. Slowly leveling my Doom/Phoenix Furywolf, who killed Hell Duriel yesterday. Rerolled maps for my lvl 99 Fire Sorc, in preparation for the Snoopsnap Gobber tournament later this week. First try out of some 100 runs gave good results in terms of safety. No good drops at this point, which is great, because it means I have kept them for the actual tournament.

Next to that I also got back to my 99er HC Hammerdin, who still needs one Sur or Ber from LK for Enigma. I'm so tired of running that area with an euhm, running character, so hopefully it will drop soon. I'm currently at 3200 runs, and while I got very lucky early on, I'm now at some 1300 runs without Sur and even hardly without anything Pul+.

OVG: none at the moment. A PoE expansion has been announced though, which is always very interesting. Amazing how much content is in that game and keeps being added.
 
RL: Off to a school friend's tonight to play Uncharted, no idea what that game is, but there is pizza. Also, I've been working up the antibody that I will be mostly using in my PhD and we already know from that alone that we will be publishing, so I'm feeling very, very happy right now :D

D2: Madawc is halfway through NM, not sure when he will be finished though as I am working this weekend.

OVG: I am tempted by ESO, SP and mostly for the lore, but I know that I have limited time available so I'm wary of getting into it.
 
@Kitteh Nice that things are going so well for you :).

RL: the right calve seems to be better, so Sunday's half marathon shouldn't be a problem. Certainly not to finish it, but most likely also not to do so at a high pace.

The other running buddy is also joining us for the Zugspitz Supertrail XL, so that's fun. Finding a place to stay isn't easy though, which is no surprise, given the amount of participants already registered. I think we have finally found a place after a lot of searching, but I'm still waiting for confirmation.

The weather is getting colder in Belgium. Which I don't mind, as I enjoy this period of the year a lot. I have been able to take some beautiful pictures already over the last few days, sceneries can be so nice at the right place and the right time !!

D2: finished the Doom / Phoenix Furywolf. I have been doing some 600 runs at Chopchap in the tournament. Didn't enjoy it, but after switching to Pindle for 250 runs and not really enjoying that either, I came to the conclusion it's not Chipchop's fault, but that I just want to do different stuff at this stage. So while I'll quite certainly do some more runs, I won't be competitive in the tournament, not even close.

Other than that I have continued LK runs with ShouldBeEasy, my HC Hammerdin in the untwinked 99er challenge. Still no luck on that last Sur / Ber, so I'll be spending some more time there. I'm also considering entering with yet another character in that challenge, since I promised to do so if @Grape (who we aren't putting any pressure on, no really ... ) would enter the challenge with a character as well.

Other than that I should start doing with all the HRs I have in my stash. Obvious question is: what? So they might remain in my stash for a good while longer I'm afraid.

OVG: nope.
 
@Kitteh Nice that things are going so well for you :).

RL: the right calve seems to be better, so Sunday's half marathon shouldn't be a problem. Certainly not to finish it, but most likely also not to do so at a high pace.

The other running buddy is also joining us for the Zugspitz Supertrail XL, so that's fun. Finding a place to stay isn't easy though, which is no surprise, given the amount of participants already registered. I think we have finally found a place after a lot of searching, but I'm still waiting for confirmation.

The weather is getting colder in Belgium. Which I don't mind, as I enjoy this period of the year a lot. I have been able to take some beautiful pictures already over the last few days, sceneries can be so nice at the right place and the right time !!

D2: finished the Doom / Phoenix Furywolf. I have been doing some 600 runs at Chopchap in the tournament. Didn't enjoy it, but after switching to Pindle for 250 runs and not really enjoying that either, I came to the conclusion it's not Chipchop's fault, but that I just want to do different stuff at this stage. So while I'll quite certainly do some more runs, I won't be competitive in the tournament, not even close.

Other than that I have continued LK runs with ShouldBeEasy, my HC Hammerdin in the untwinked 99er challenge. Still no luck on that last Sur / Ber, so I'll be spending some more time there. I'm also considering entering with yet another character in that challenge, since I promised to do so if @Grape (who we aren't putting any pressure on, no really ... ) would enter the challenge with a character as well.

Other than that I should start doing with all the HRs I have in my stash. Obvious question is: what? So they might remain in my stash for a good while longer I'm afraid.

OVG: nope.

Runeword grail of course.
 
RL: the half marathon went really well. No issues with the calve anymore, and a finish time of 1:32. Not super fast, but I'm happy with it, since I wasn't pushing my limits, but instead decided to stay with my 2 running buddies. This way it was a lot of fun, getting to chat a bit while running, and still reaching a good finish time, while not feeling spent afterwards.

Strangely enough, I've had the exact same thing happen as last time when I did that half marathon: I had a lot of pain in my right shoulder after finishing. I suppose it's because of running for a prolonged period in the same way. It's strange though, as I have never had it happen on any other run, be it a shorter fast run or one of the ultra's I have done. Really strange. As a consequence I almost didn't get any sleep this night, so I hope it will improve soon.

Next on is the 44K coast run in two weeks time. I'll be running that one with the same 2 buddies, so that should be a lot of fun. The goal there is completely different though: just taking it slow and having fun.

D2: haven't done any runs for the Trophip Trouper tournament anymore. I just don't feel like it. Instead I have continued LK runs with my 99er Paladin in search for that last Sur or Ber for Enigma. Unfortunately it refuses to drop, or any Pul+ runes for that matter :(. When one finally did drop, a Gul, but I couldn't reach it because I was being chased by monsters, I gave up, switched gear to his battling gear, and started doing area runs instead. Some Travincal, some CS, some Eldritch, but in the end I settled on Pits. The Paladin can run it on /p8 comfortably and xp gain is steady that way. It's far less efficient than keep on running LK, unless I luck out and score some good runes too. But I'm finally having fun with the character again, so that's most important.

In between I have also leveled a Barb, who will be my 200% fcr chest popping character (LK, but mostly RoF and act 5 chests), I ever feel the need to do so.

OVG: nope.
 
@T72on1 Although not for many years, I used to get post-running pains similar to what you're describing. After mentioning it to a doctor and doing some research, the best answer I could come up with was poor form. Although I think my form was fine, I did try to pay more attention to it after that and the pain seemed to stop recurring. Still, in your case, being such an experienced runner at this point, I would be surprised if that's the issue.

RL: Just a 2-day work week this week. Took Wednesday off and we all get Thurs/Fri off for Thanksgiving. Due to the short week, I didn't order any sample material so no lab work for me this week. Makes for a relaxing couple of days at the office!

D2: Been making some good progress with my current character, and that will hopefully keep up with the 5 day weekend coming up!
 
RL: Today I had my first session with the university counselling services (I'm on a crazy long waiting list for specialist help). It has really messed my head up because it was a consultation and I thought that it would be quite basic, but we went through everything; my childhood, teen years, self-harm, suicide attempts and then the current situation. In quite a lot of detail, she asked and I was just blunt and honest. My mask was stripped away in 1.5 hours as if it never existed and I left feeling pretty damn vulnerable. It didn't help that she was considering whether she needed to arrange additional intervention, so I had to persuade her that I'm not in immediate danger, and for the record I'm not. However, I did really talk well with her and although the entire day has been a wreck as a result (and I expect that this weekend is going to be rough), it means that maybe there is somewhere to start. Unfortunately, it was just a consultation and their general system is that she may not be the person that I see regularly, and I got the impression that it could be anybody for each session. I cannot do that. I can't go through this every time I have a session, it has not put me in a good state of mind. I've contacted them to say can I please see the same person each time, even if I have to wait longer, but I'm not sure that it will be possible. If it isn't possible, I think that I will just back out of the service - this response is not workable. I'm kind of reeling, I didn't expect to come out of it so shaken up. Also, I was chairing a speaker at the institute today, and all I wanted to do was go home and sit in the dark with Tyrael and a mug of tea.

D2: I may play some tonight, not sure. I will be playing over the weekend for sure, D2 remains my go-to coping method. Madawc should hit guardian status.

OVG: Nope... Maybe some manga? I'm starting a lunchtime chess club at work too, but I only have on board, so... I'm on the social committee (I need to stop saying yes to things), so I'm hoping to get some funds for more :)
 
That sounds tough @Kitteh, hope things work out.

...Unfortunately, it was just a consultation and their general system is that she may not be the person that I see regularly, and I got the impression that it could be anybody for each session. I cannot do that. I can't go through this every time I have a session, it has not put me in a good state of mind. I've contacted them to say can I please see the same person each time, even if I have to wait longer, but I'm not sure that it will be possible. If it isn't possible, I think that I will just back out of the service - this response is not workable...

What, that's such a stupid system o_O, it's not like you're calling customer service - where you need to repeat the information at the beginning of every session despite them 'making notes' - consistency is important here, especially with medical professionals. It is difficult to get comfortable with people and build up rapport. I hope they take your comments seriously.
 
That sounds tough @Kitteh, hope things work out.



What, that's such a stupid system o_O, it's not like you're calling customer service - where you need to repeat the information at the beginning of every session despite them 'making notes' - consistency is important here, especially with medical professionals. It is difficult to get comfortable with people and build up rapport. I hope they take your comments seriously.
I may have misunderstood her and I'm really hoping that I did, because as you said, consistency is important.



Kitteh that is very brave of you !!
Thanks, but right now it feels a lot like a stupid thing to have done^^
 
In quite a lot of detail, she asked and I was just blunt and honest.

Kudos for your courage!

I did really talk well with her and although the entire day has been a wreck as a result (and I expect that this weekend is going to be rough), it means that maybe there is somewhere to start.

The sooner you're able to accept that the problem is not you but other people's expectations of you, the better! :D

Unfortunately, it was just a consultation and their general system is that she may not be the person that I see regularly, and I got the impression that it could be anybody for each session. I cannot do that.

Nor should you. From what you wrote, it appears to me that she's very good at what she does. Perhaps she's a specialist in placement / triage, and might be endeavo(u)ring to match you up with someone even more helpful? In any case, you have MY permission to let it go for the weekend. :p
 
Has anyone seen Fantastic Beast 2 yet? And if you have, what do you think?
I am asking, because it appears to have gotten quite mixed reviews. But I trust the opinions of you good people over any random fella on IMDB. A simple number between 1 and 10 will suffice :)
I'm sure I will see it regardless, but I might wait until it is available for streaming. I tend to get uncomfortable around many people, and it would have to be pretty good for me to dare go into a cinema.
 
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