training 11.30.2012

Cube week 3, day 3 -- squats for reps

B-Ala/creatine mix, dynamic work, used loose briefs and knee sleeves.  Used a Spud DL belt loose for a lot of it, just to keep the briefs up and mild back support on the GMs.

Squat, 5x3, 75%: 255kg, felt pretty easy

SSB Good Morning, 3x8, wide stance: I think I stopped at 100kg on the bar, worked on pop

DB Lunges, 3x15: used whatever was close to the bench -- 80s, I think

Olympic squat, 135#, x50 without letting go of the bar: sucking wind hard by the end

Abs

I have to say, I love volume.  These are good days, and my legs are feeling it.

Very hungry throughout the session, so I'm off to eat a large farm animal.

Later.

Addendum

Shoulders and arms are very tired this morning and a little sore -- great, great session yesterday.

Based on a comment from Brandon, I went back out to the room last night and checked weight on the DBs.  I over-counted and will edit yesterday's post; I used 65kg DBs on the incline, with 4 15kg plates per and a 5 kilo apparatus.  Sorry for the mistake, though I'm feeling every bit of whatever it was.

Time to eat a lot today, because tomorrow is squat day.  I may have to ping Kiefer about how to pack in low-carb calories during the day.

Have a great day everyone.

training 11.28.2012

Cube week 2, day 2 -- bench speed

I'm really tired and my right shoulder hurts, so no editorializing today.  I'm sure you're crushed.

I was eager to get started, so like an idiot, I did no dynamic shoulder work.  Idiot.  I wore elbow sleeves and Spud velcro wrist support.  Started with B-Ala/creatine mix.

Floor press, 5x5 @70% of comp bench 1RM: 175kg, felt pretty good

Incline DB, fat DBs, 3x15 @RPE=10: used the fat freespotter DBs with 65kg on each, and my last rep of each set was definitely a grind

Band pushdown x100: strong bands -- these were a bitch

Standing military, 3x10, RPE=9: worked to keep back from hyperextension.  Weight doesn't matter.

Band fly, 3x15: average band under the bench and squeezed each rep hard at the top; felt these

Abs: 50 rollouts

Done.  Arms and shoulders are just fried.

Later.

training 11.26.2012

Cube week 3, day 1 -- max DL

Tired and need to get moving, so I will be brief.

B-Ala/creatine, lots of dynamic work, really loose old Ace briefs, Spud DL belt when it got heavy.

Deadlift from mid-shins/pins: 280kg was all I had.  Not real happy about it, either.  Pulled conventional (usually pull sumo) from the pins set at mid-shin.

Sumo SLDL, 2x6 @65%: used 65% of 280kg, and it was not bad at all.

DB Rows, 3x10: used the fat DBs at 50kg

DB shrugs, 2x20: used 40kg skinny DBs and pinched and held at the top.  Very strict form.  Felt them.

Up/down plank x50

Survived another T'giving.  Got a lot to close before the end of the year.  Time to knuckle down.

Thanks.

training 11.25.2012

Cube week 2, day 4 -- bodybuilding day

Just assistance work on Sundays.  Wore elbow sleeves and Spud velcro wrist support.

B-Ala/creatine mix, some BCAAs, and a scoop of Craze to start.

Military press, 3x12: went up 10kg from last Sunday
Chest-supported row, 4x15, up 10kg from last Sunday
Fly, 3x20, flat bench with chains and doubled monster mini bands -- right shoulder was barking pretty loudly
Front trap raises with 25# DBs, 3x15
Posterior fly with same DBs, 3x20

Aches, pains, oh my.  Getting old sucks.  If I had a legit GH source, I might think about a low maintenance dose just to feel young again.  Times like this...

Eating a ton.  Body weight is creeping upward and I seem to be managing to avoid getting fat.  Been pounding chocolate milk, which goes down easily and is cheap calories and decent protein.

Was going to include pull-ups today but didn't.  Stayed up late last night talking with my wife, so I'm a bit curt today.  Just didn't feel like it.  I'll add them to tomorrow's max DL day.

Hope everyone has had a nice weekend.  Back to the grind tomorrow.

training 11.23.2012

Cube week 2, day 3 -- max squat

Started with B-Ala/creatine mix and one scoop of Craze.  Added another half to my peri-water.

Used a loose set of briefs, knee sleeves, and added a belt when it got heavy.  Dynamic warm-up for quads, hams, glutes, hips, and knees.  Bar work jumps for warm ups were 10%.

Squat:
  80% x2: 270kg
  85% x2: 290kg
  90% x1: 305kg
  93% x1: 315kg
  80% x4: 270kg  felt fine

Weights went up pretty fast.  80% felt easy, actually, which I didn't expect.  Felt pretty good.

GM, 3x8: 100kg, took them slow.  Felt surprisingly good, but low back was checking in during the last set.

Step-ups, loaded, 3x20: 50kg, I think (maybe 70), superset with...
Lunges, loaded, 3x12: same bar

Reverse Hyper x60: with whatever was there.  Back was tired by this point, so I got them done.

I was a little concerned about how much this one would hurt, but it really didn't.  I went in a little tired in the quads, I think because I've been squatting under bathroom cabinets swapping out plumbing for the past three days.  My back was stiff as anything this morning.  Didn't turn out to matter, though I may take a contrast shower just to protect myself.

Time to eat.

Thanks.

training 11.21.2012

Cube week 2, day 2  -- bench for reps

Was a little distracted training the boy while running through this.  You have to watch new lifters (particularly weak ones) like a hawk for form; he has the best of intentions, but...

Started with dynamic shoulder work, used B-Ala/creatine mix, drank straight water during.  Used elbow sleeves and Spud velcro wrist support.  I may have to sew thin neoprene liners in the Spuds -- they'd be about perfect then.  Warmed up with the bar and got to it.

Incline, seat at 45 degrees, 5x3 @75%: didn't think this through well and used 75% of my recent best for comp bench (250kg), which is a bastard for incline.  I did the first set with 185kg and backed it down to 175 thereafter, which was still brutally hard.  I will have to dig through my notes for a reasonable incline max and/or talk with Brandon about whether this was intended.

Incline, seat at 45, fat DB, 2x20 at RPE=9 on the Tuchscherer scale: used 60kg DBs, but need to go up a little next time.

Narrow grip bench, 3x12: pinkies were about an inch inside the ring, 100kg, getting toasty by now

Band fly, 3x15: used chains with handles because I felt like it; if I remember correctly, it was about 80# per hand

Triceps pushdown with band x100: average EFS band, got them done.

As I'm posting this late, today is a max squat day that looks to be pretty near obscene.  For some reason, my legs are already tired -- stood all day yesterday cooking (used to be a chef, so I always get the duty), which also has my back tired.  Better get a fire going or I will get buried.

I ate just as I was supposed to yesterday.  I made a bourbon-marinated tenderloin on the grill, sweet onion relish, Ree Drummond's crash hot potatoes, a huge salad using mache and watercress with pomegranate seeds and orange and edible flowers, homemade sour cream drop biscuits, a ginger-pumpkin pie, and a skillet apple pie.  Yes, everything was from scratch and I ate a ton.  Like someone was going to come take it away from me.  I was bloated until I crashed around 9:00, and I'm ready for round two today.

Hope everyone enjoys some peaceful time off.  Keep reflecting on things to be thankful for, and give your family folks an extra hug today.  And go crush some weight, people.

Thanks for checking in.  More later after the squats kill me.

training 11.19.2012

Cube week 2, day 1 -- speed DL

Started with B-Ala/creatine mix and some dynamic warm-up work.  Wore loose briefs that were pretty tight by quitting time.  Nothing but water during, AtLarge Results after.

Today is speed day for deadlift.

DL 45% + doubled monster-mini bands stretched tight, 10x1: used 140kg, which is 5kg under 50%, and need to go up -- these were more than quick.  I think I've gotten stronger since my last test, maybe.

4" block pull, snatch grip, straight weight, 50%, 1 set of 20 reps: used 150kg; knew this was gonna hurt, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  Sucked serious wind and felt it in my back when done, but liked the way the weight moved.  This is good.

SSB Olympic squats, ass to calves, wide knees with heels on a plate, 3x8: 100kg and quads were screaming.  Last rep of the last set was a bit of a grind.  Sort of.

Back raises, 1 set of 50: got them done, no weight -- next time, weight or bands.

Bar shrugs, 3x12: 100kg, slightly bent.  Love these shrugs -- haven't included them in maybe 8 years.  Didn't know I missed them until Big B brought them back in this program.

Supersetted these with...

Band lat pulldowns with strong bands, 4x15: maintained constant tension, got them done.


Still eating enough to frighten people around me and pounding lots of chocolate milk -- drank over 1500 calories of chocolate milk alone yesterday.  Love that.

Still fighting tiredness, but I think that's between my ears.

Everyone, keep at it.  Work hard this week, honor your employer for three days, and enjoy your families for the holiday weekend.  That's an order.

training 11.18.2012

Cube week 1, day 4

Typed in a lengthy explanation of my assistance work yesterday and failed to publish it -- got distracted, etc.  So this will be pathetically uninformative, I suspect, unless I go back in and straighten up.

Two sessions, lots of dynamic work, B-Ala/creatine, wrist support

Hang clean/press 4x8
Push-ups + 120# chains: 3x15
Military press 3x12 (seat at 80 degrees)
Incline press (seat at 40 degrees) 4x12
Chest-supported rows 5x15
Curls with curling bar  3x10

Weights need to come up on most.

Sorry to be brief.

not germane to anything

Did some assistance work today just to get the blood moving. 

Did hang-cleans to press, 4x10, and should have done more reps or more weight. 

Also did push-ups with all my 30# chains, which was a lot at the top. 
Did other stuff, but it was mainly filler.

If you're the sort to like the Deftones, the new album is fantastic in my opinion.

Later.

training 11.16.2012

Cube week 1, day 3 -- speed squat day

Some dynamic work (not enough) and some bar work.  Used B-Ala/creatine mix + BCAA+.  I wore my loosest Jack briefs and knee sleeves through the first two movements, after which I ditched the sleeves.

Squat 3x3 @75%: 255kg   felt light; left knee barked a little on the right side of the patella, so I put some blue horse liniment on it and it was fine

Reverse band squat, 1x2 @85% with average band: 290kg  came up fast

Olympic squat 5x5: These were fine -- weight was enough that I thought I could get about 8 or 10 reps -- maybe an RPE=8 on the Tuchscherer scale; kept feet narrow and toes out a little, kept knees out

Step-ups 4x15 with a barbell loaded with a couple hundred pounds: sucked wind like a Hoover and got a vicious pump.

Good mornings 3x12 with the same barbell -- supersetted the two.  Had some serious low-back cramps, but worked through it.  Both of these movements, I was trying to figure out what weights to use going forward.  100kg worked pretty well, I guess.  I little heavy for the step-ups and a little light for the GMs.  We'll see.

DB Swings with a 30kg DB.  No KBs at the Smash household, I'm afraid, so made-do.

GHR is still in-bound, but I will be able to sub a reverse hyper for one of these movements (step-ups or GMs) soon.

Off to eat a smallish animal and then chase the wife around the house.  Have a great Friday, all.

Rest day rambling

I'm really tired from yesterday, which I consider very positive.  But I'm really tired.  Time to eat more.

I think this is a point often lost: eating is restorative.  Most are concerned about getting fat, feeling too full, whatever.  If you aren't eating enough, recovery will be hampered.

Another way to think of it is this: Berardi's Scrawny to Brawny first habit taught is to add three blender shakes a day, and it's usually wildly successful for adding lean mass.  Why?  Because most of us think we eat enough, but we don't; add a few more quality, protein-laden calories, and lean mass results.  Does lean mass just happen?  Of course not, but if you're lifting heavy, activating the GLUt pathway, and eating a lot of clean calories, your chances are much improved.  Unless you track your calories faithfully, I'm willing to bet you don't eat enough.

Worried about getting fat?  Check out CBL from Kiefer and/or Robb's Paleo stuff.  Both are solid.  Carbs matter, as does timing.  If it didn't have a face or grow in the ground, don't eat it.  Simple.  Most Americans are getting fat from eating processed junk. (this from the guy who downed a pizza yesterday -- no need to be militant, but do be realistic)

Also, I got some BCAA+ from True Nutrition.  It's my blog, so I can shill for companies I like.  AtLarge is the bomb-diggity for protein and other supps, and True Nutrition (nee True Protein) is fantastic for just about everything.  Plus they are just up the road from me, so I get my orders within a day.  Awesome.

BCAAs pretty much suck -- no amount of froofroo additives can change the basic, fundamental compounds.  And shouldn't.  TN's BCAA+ are not cheap (you can buy cheap BCAA powder from them, but I like the additives (extra leucine, citrulline malate, etc.) and flavoring (I got watermelon), so I spend and get the plus.  The taste is not the remarkable part (it sucks, slightly hidden by the tasty watermelon) -- the solubility of BCAAs these days is amazing.  Used to be, taking them was like drinking water with crushed styrofoam on top.  This stuff dissolves entirely.  Much better, and much more likely not to induce gagging.  Joe Bob says check it out (obscure cultural reference, I know.)

Another thing I've added is a morning shake two hours after waking.  I freeze a couple of very ripe (must be badly spotted) bananas, stick the frozen things in a blender, add heavy cream (about half a cup), three scoops of Nitrean+, two squares of dark chocolate (must be 72% cocoa or higher), and some almond milk to motivate everything, and blend.  Fantastic and a jolt of quality calories that doesn't leave me dragging.  Delicious.  Word to the wise: buy the bananas in bulk (think Costco or Sams or whatever), let them get super-ripe, PEEL THEM and put them in plastic ziplocks, and freeze.  Then you just shake out the frozen nanner and don't have to worry about that peel, which never wants to come off after frozen.  Peel them before freezing.

One other bit of babble: if you have a big box store like Costco, buy the McCormick taco seasoning in the gargantuan size that you'd never normally use in a year -- don't bother with individual packets.  Buy a ton of ground beef, whether from there or your favorite grass-fed source (highly recommended, and I can offer recommendations for online sites you can order from), and make up five or six pounds of taco meat.  Then go to the refrigerator aisle and buy a 5-pound bag of shredded cheese -- cheddar or Mex mix, doesn't matter.  Buy a gargantu-bottle of hot sauce.  You can eat a pound of taco meat with a half cup of cheese or more, throw some lettuce and diced fresh tomatoes on it, and eat a pound of the stuff while reading email at lunch time.  Seriously, otherwise I'm deadly bored with food by 6 ounces, but I can down a pound of this without thinking.  Mix in some mashed potatoes (Costco has excellent mashed pots in the section over by the roaster chickens and fresh fruit) and warm up a couple of flour tortillas, and it's a slice of heaven.  Drink with water and chocolate milk and you have a caloric orgy.  I make six pounds of ground taco beef at a time and freeze it in individual pounds.  Works like a champ, is stupid-easy to make, and takes nearly no prep on the day you eat it.

Another winner is to make a chicken divan -- chicken, broccoli, and cheesy sauce.  If you want a recipe, someone let me know and I'll publish one.  Might anyway -- that's a slice of my childhood right there.  Use rotisserie chickens (Costco's are bigger than anyone else's and at least as cheap, so buy two and pull them as soon as you get home; store the pulled chicken in ziplocks and freeze it if necessary) and it's very easy. 

Anyway, enough rambling for the moment.  Hope some of this is helpful.  Go eat.

training 11.14.2012

Cube week 1, day2 -- bench max

Not very chatty -- too beat.  Very excited going in today.  I love days of testing.

Spiked mid-afternoon; between being oddly tired  and knowing a test was coming, I was yawning all afternoon.  B-Ala/creatine mix before training.  Dynamic work and the heater to start.  Very hungry at the start even though I ate a large pizza for lunch (seriously).  Should have been dragging and full with fat belly, but instead am hungry and skin tight.  Go figure.  Finished dynamic warm-up with some band work for shoulders.


Don't call it a comeback -- I've been here for years.  (name the artist for extra points)  It felt good to get back under some heavy weight, I have to say.

Get to it.

Floor Press 1RM: 225kg  might have had one small jump left, but I don't think so.  This might be a FP PR for me -- I'll have to go back and check.  No shoulder pain, which you may recall has always been my FP nemesis.  Ring finger on the ring.  That's a lot of weight.

Bench 2x15 @70%: these were really freakin' tough after the FP.  Weight wasn't important. 

Pull-ups, widest grip, weighted, fat grip, 3x12: used my Ironmind belt and some plate weight and cranked these out.  Just felt fantastic.  These were supposed to be lat pulldowns, but I don't have the plate-loaded cable machine yet.  Ought to just weld one up, but finding a stainless slide is not trivial.  Anyone knows where to find one, please let me know.

Band press-downs, average band (elitefts, old school) x100: a bitch, in a word.  Triceps are pretty done by this point, so I was whining like a kid by the time I hit 100.

DB shrugs, 40kg DBs, 3x15: slow and squeeze at the top, no bobbing.  Wow.

Military press, wide grip (outside the ring), 3x12: wimp weight -- it's all I had.  Ground them out.  Right shoulder barked a little, but not badly.  Did these seated with seat at 80 degrees.

I'm cooked.  Loving this.  Triceps are screaming, everything is pumped tight.  Time to eat.

Next is speed squats.  Thanks for checking in.

training 11.12.2012

A new beginning today.  Since I have had to suspend work with Big Mike T for a while, I asked Brandon Lilly if I could get in on his newest group of Cube Method guinea pigs and he was gracious enough to accept.  So today is the beginning of ten weeks of something I love -- self-experimentation -- using the method of someone who has experienced what could be considered an explosive renaissance in powerlifting of late.  In other words, it seems to work, at least for Brandon.  So I'm going to try to see how it translates to an old fart like me.

Used B-Ala/creatine mix to start; no extra caffeine.  No food in several hours, since 1# of chicken at lunch with a salad and a ton of bacon.  Yup.  Used knee sleeves (not wraps) and loose briefs with a Spud DL belt to prevent dropping my briefs.

Today is DL reps day, day 1 of week 1.

DL, sumo, 3x3 @80%: 275kg -- harder than expected, probably from a month of not doing heavy DLs

DL from 4" blocks, 2x3 @85%: 285kg -- felt good

SSB Olympic squats, glutes to calves, 3x8 @55% of squat max: 180kg -- sucked wind badly

GHR 4x10: my GHR is inbound, so I did SLDL to a stretch with 100kg; back was barking a little at this point

Back Raise x50: this was polish -- my back is officially toast.

Knees were barking walking up and down the stairs at the office today, but didn't feel them at all in the rumpus room.  Ran the heater to start until the sweat was pouring; felt a little like high school wrestling practice at that point.

Next is bench max.  Off to eat -- stay tuned.  Feel free to ask questions; I think I understand enough to answer at this point and can always involve BL if not.

Thanks.

training 11.11.2012

Gorgeous day today, though quite cool for around here.  Actually ran the heater in the rumpus room today, primarily because I wanted to get a good sweat on.  I did.

Started with a fair amount of dynamic work and regular bar work.  Took B-Ala/creatine mix prior to and strictly water during.

Nothing more than wrist support today.

Competition bench x4@8.5: same as last 3x8.5.  Felt good about that.
Bench + chains x4@8.5: precious little.  Think I was a little toasty from the previous sets.  Changed grips up to get as many fatigue sets as possible.  Ultra-wide was strongest, which was a little surprising, actually.
Squats x10: light weight, heels on a plate with toes out a good 30 degrees, glutes to calves.  Did a lot.  Going to get back to heavy squats very soon and will likely continue to do bodybuilding squats on the side for added size.  Actually given some thought to a Sheiko squat cycle, but not sure.  I'll have to think about it.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Be safe and buy extra ammo.

training 11.8.2012

Another day in the rumpus room.  Started off chilly, but got a good sweat on in a hurry.

B-Ala/creatine mix, nothing else in me but my lunch and snack.  Wrist support and a sweatshirt.

Seated DB shoulder Press with the fat DBs loaded to 65kg, sets of 10

in a superset with...

Weighted wide-grip pull-ups with 75kg between my legs, sets of 10

Tried some belt squats but kept riding my knees forward over my feet, so I decided not to hurt myself and instead moved on.

Did a bunch of direct neck work with one of those head-harness doo-hickeys

in a superset with

Partial squats -- bottom half -- with heels on a plate and a lot of weight.  No support of any kind, dropped to heels slowly enough to maintain control and squatted to just beyond parallel.  Sets of 20.

I love this kind of stuff for a little while; it's nice to hit things I wouldn't normally.  My next program will have to include some of these things as distractions to maintain focus and fight boredom.

Plus, even though my neck is bigger than it has ever been, someone I hadn't seen in years recently reminisced about when my neck used to be so much bigger.  Makes me wonder what changed to give them that impression.

Thanks for checking in.

training 11.7.2012

B-Ala/creatine mix, wrist support only except where otherwise noted.

Dynamic warm-up and a bunch of bar work.  Going to undertake a specific shoulder program to build up, particularly because I will likely be back to throwing a baseball hard in a few months and need some shoulder girdle stability.

2-board bench x4@8.5:  hit a ton - as much as I've ever done with a 2-bd.  Felt great.  Was seriously pissed off by my boss in mid-session, which might have helped. 

Threw on my loosest shirt and cranked out a bunch more sets with the 2-bd.  Very happy with the way it felt, the groove, everything.

Incline (45 degrees) x12@9: Again, a ton.  Reached 150 kilos for a dozen, though the last set was a serious grind and I did not bother to lock out all the reps.  Full ROM down, though, and stayed tight.  Again, very happy about this.  Triceps are entirely cooked now.

Was going to do some belt squats, but decided to do them tomorrow.  I know I won't train Friday, so it will be good to do some things tomorrow.  These days, this is mental health time.

Also eating much heavier -- experimenting here.  Still on CBL and have been hitting a pound of meat each meal (which is more than my usual has been) several times a day.  My veggie intake is pathetic -- too much effort for too little perceived gain.  I down them in the evening more than during the day in the office.  Besides, they just take up room.  Been keeping the carbs pretty clean at night, though have hit some Halloween candy pretty hard the last couple of nights.

Speaking of which, I don't know about you guys, but we hardly had any kids this year.  We usually average about 10 pounds of candy handed out, and I doubt I gave away 3 this year.  Almost no one showed.

Anyway, thanks for checking in.  Take care.

training 11.6.2012

Had to split time with training the boy, but got some concerted work in.

Warmed up under the bar.  Wore loose briefs and knee sleeves.  Used B-Ala/creatine mix.

Squat x2@8  lifted a ton and did five sets of two reps.  Feel good about it.

Kroc rows, Arnold press, power snatches by the bushel-full. 

I'm tired in several ways.

training 11.4.2012

Hot day today for November in Sandy Eggo.  Must be a slight Santa Ana, because it's mid-80s and very little breeze.

Started with Craze (probably too much) and B-Ala/creatine mix.  Did some dynamic work to warm up; used loose briefs for squats and my shortest EFS wrist wraps (18", I think).

Box squat + chain x3@8.5: reached same as 10/23, which was no box.  Surprised me, as I worked up slowly.  60% of my eventual total felt really heavy, but that passed.  Odd.  I'll take it.  These were more like a RPE=9.

Incline + chain x6@9: started off with the seat at 80 degrees and worked it out, then dropped the seat to 45 degrees and worked that out.  More weight (maybe 10% more) at 45 degrees, which is no surprise.  Shoulders and elbows felt fine.  Triceps are cooked.

Kroc rows x15 for several sets using the fat DB with 110# on it.  Caught myself cheating in the second set -- was pulling it up in a sort of curl with minimal scapular retraction -- and fixed it for ongoing sets.

Threw on my Ironmind squat/dip belt and did belt squats with my Ironmind plate loading pin.  Loaded 120kg and did sets of 20 because I wanted to.  Felt good -- think I'll make these a filler staple, particularly on pull-up days.  Once you got the belt on, might as well make good use of it.

Wife gets back tomorrow, which is good.  My world isn't quite right when she's away, even though I get a lot more done.  She's my kind of distraction.

Time to de-stink and eat.  Have a great week all.

training 11.3.2012

Back at it.  Pretty much over the crud, back from the road, ready to get at it.

No support wear today.  Started with Craze and B-Ala/creatine mix.  Did dynamic shoulder warm-up work.

Essentially restarting the last phase of my work with Mike T, back to May 9th.

2-count bench x3@8 + fatigue
2-count DL x3@8 + fatigue
JM Press

Shoulders felt fine, right pec didn't bark at all.  Everything was good.  Moved a lot of weight -- considerably more than I expected to.  Very happy with the day and had to purposefully stop, as I really wanted to do some power cleans and shoulder work.  I'll do that tomorrow, as adding stuff to work sets tends to limit progress.  Gotta know when enough is enough, and it doesn't have to be when you're totally cooked.

Feel good, though some of that may be the Craze.  Had a decent trip this week, but came home to an empty home -- my wife is in Virginia for a conference.  So, I'll go see Looper tonight, since it's one she has no desire to see.

Still tightening the belt stringently, but haven't killed cable yet.  Yet.  Everything else is going, including the motorcycle and probably the '75 Blazer too.  Told my boy that we'd get another project, and he surprisingly was very upbeat about it. 

In the meantime, came home from travel this week with commitments for some significant revenue.  I say commitments because nothing is real until I see a check, but I think they will all bear fruit.  That will make life a little easier, particularly since one might mean a great deal of money.  I feel a sense of urgency given the election, as I believe we will have a short time before a serious swoon regardless of the outcome.  Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security eat more than the country receives in tax revenue, and defense eats 700B a year.  Doesn't matter what we do; without cuts, we're going down.  And politicians' appetite for spending your money is insatiable.

Nevertheless, vote Tuesday or shut up.

Thanks for humoring me, guys.