Wade - Refocusing in 2012

This was Posted on Face Book already, and some of you read it there - but - they don't 'link' anymore -so, I'll post it here for the 'non' face book type to read. :-P

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It has been a sort of tradition for me, that at the start of the year, I write about the things that I'd like to do in the future. This year I was just getting over a pretty horrible cold, that I'd had Since Christmas - and I really didn't feel like doing anything other than just 'getting better'. That was a Month ago, and the desire to put some words on a page is still there.

On the 5th of February, I have a 'half Birthday' meaning that I'll be half way through my year 40. I know most of us don't track 'half birthdays, but my Brother has his Birthday on that exact day, so it's pretty easy to remember... anyway - this seems like as good an event as any to get a 'new start' with. I wrote the following as sort of a 'personal' guide for the direction I want my life to go over the next several years.

It's kind of personal, but I've never been one to shy away from posting such things - so, Ill do the same with this. Feel free to read it, but be for-warned, it's pretty long and wordy and in the end, it's mostly just here to help me get my thoughts in a row. Every once and a while I'll be more likely to read this here, than in a forgotten folder on my computer some where.

It's not a polished document it was kind of written in 'chunks' and I'd go back and forth to sections of the document and fill them in... it's ruff form, really shows, but it will do the job that I need it too.

here it is:

Refocusing in 2012

I feel that if I will do a few things every day to help me focus my efforts, that I will quickly achieve some of the things that seem to have eluded me to this point in my life. I believe that the primary thing holding me back, is my ability to find joy and happiness in almost all things or situations that I find myself in. In general I just "enjoy Life".

Let me preface this by saying that I'm fully aware that my "satisfaction" in life, is a wonderful thing that I in no way am dismissing or making less of. I just feel that it needs to be stated, that my satisfaction with "where I am," is playing some roll in my inability to become anything other than what I am.

An overview of the things that I need to focus on that will get me moving on to new and hopefully wonderful things are:

A Routine that will direct my actions towards my goals.
I need to do things each day, each week, each month and each year that will focus my time and resources.

Clearly defined objectives.

There are four areas that I feel that I need to focus on, and if I do, my potential will increase. these areas are; Spiritual, Temporal, Emotional, Physical By improving in each of these areas, my ability to do more will increase. As an example, as I get my self in better physical shape, I will better be able to do more activities that improve my temporal state.

One might look at those four areas and think that I'm missing some, for instance, Social is something that at first glance might be thought of as something overlooked. there are several such things but I think that they can spread themselves well across the four area's. Social is one such aspect, Education is another, and I'm sure that there are other 'aspects' that obviously, deserve attention - however for the purpose of keeping it simple, and easy to follow, If those four Key Areas are improved upon, the potential to do more will increase.

But those are broad strokes - what specifically do I want to do?

I want to be healthy which requires me to change my eating and exercise habits.

I want to be wealthy which requires me to intelligently focus time and efforts on acquiring wealth.

I want to have a Wife and Participate in a Family of my own, this requires me to Socialize and I'll admit it, I'll need to stop being so selfish.

I want to be Spiritually just, which for me, and the way I was raised, will require regular Church Attendance and the adherence to certain principals that are ingrained in me as being 'right'.

And guess what, That's about it. like I said, I really like where I am at, I just want to start pushing myself towards some of the things that I don't feel that I'm one hundred percent 'there' yet on.

There may be other things that 'I want' but, I'm listing the things that I want 'more' of, or that I want to improve on, if some things are not on my 'list' it's most likely that I'm pretty happy with where I am in regards to that aspect right now.

So, I have my general 'direction' set - however, the 'clearly defined' part still needs done:

Healthy means that I will weigh between 175 and 185. That I choose to eat healthy foods every day - and that I exercise 5 times each week for at least 20 minutes each time. (that's a minimum, preferably I'm doing 5 hours of Exercise each week.)

Wealthy means that I have two moderately nice houses paid for, and an income of $15,000 each month after taxes that is generated through investments and business that does not require my daily attention to maintain.

I wish to be a Husband to my Wife, and be a part of my own Family. This one is fairly self explanatory, The fact that the person I wanted to marry chose another may have thrown me off for a few years... :-P but it's time to get over that.

in addition to that though, - I'm really not the person that I want to be yet, so, I have this insecurity about attracting the wife that I'd like to attract - I understand that 'getting there' is normally a journey enjoyed and survived by a married couple together and that over coming challenges helps to build the relationship and all that, but that still does little to conquer the insecurities I have. So, I'll be dealing with that - and I imagine, that I'll still want to be a ways along on my other goals before focusing terribly much on this goal. Sigh... it is what it is.

Spiritually just is pretty easy for me to define as well - it might not be so simple for others to define, however, it may be easier for others to achieve. I was raised as a Mormon, and, the beliefs of that Faith are ingrained in to who I am. The gospel preached, is the gospel that I personally believe to be true, there for - for me to 'feel' Spiritually 'just' I must obey. The nice thing about that is it's really not that difficult - it just seems like it is on the surface - the no Tea Coffee Alcohol or Tobacco, is pretty easy since I have spent my whole life mostly avoiding the stuff. Tithing is 10% of increase (income), but, honestly, I have to ask myself, if I'm not willing to give 10% of my income towards bettering society, am I really that committed to bettering the world that I live in? when it comes down to it the cost to benefit ratio is really a no brainer. The wonderful Family relationships that I have with my Brothers, my Sister, my Parents and even Extended Family are infinitely more valuable than the a ten percent donation. Oh and lest that be confusing, there is absolutely not a doubt in my mind that the Latter Day Saint Church, has played a HUGE role in building those Strong Family Ties.

Hmm, lets see, what more is there - Being True to my Wife - (what's referred to as the law of Chastity) this shouldn't be a problem... just have to figure out who it is that I'm being true to and then stay 'true'.

Regular Church Attendance, I was able to do that as a kid, I should be able to do that as an Adult.

Being Honest is second nature by now. Over all I'm really not too far off on this objective, I just really need to make sure I make it to Church each week instead of finding other things to be doing. Skipping Church is a bad habit that is pretty easy to fall into, but with a little effort it should also be easy to mend that one, and make sure I make it to Church each week.

But like I said, getting all of 'that' in order is kind of important to me, previous to getting Married - lets say I fell in love with some one in the Church, I'd expect that she would want her husband to be that guy that does all of those things I listed above. In my head, she ought to want to marry a guy that already DOES all of those things right?

or,

lets say I fall in love with a wonderful woman and she is NOT a member of the church, well, since this is an important part of my life, wouldn't it be better for her to know that is all part of the package? instead of being married for a couple of years and then springing the 'oh, and honey, I really want to get back to being a devout Mormon now'... I wonder how that would go over. heh, best to just 'be' that guy, and deal with it all as a relationship progresses I think. Others may agree or disagree on this point but bottom line is, it's me who's gotta live my life in the long run. and in my mind, 'being' that guy is pretty much something that has to happen previous to me feeling 'ready' to marry.

Hmm, I got a bit 'wordy' on the 'clearly defined' portion of my list here, but, it's all good - this was a needed exercise - I honestly needed to FORCE my mind to un-tangle the knot's a bit, and this document has REALLY helped.

ok, to continue: (I'm sure glad that I typed out the 'frame work' of this before I started typing, or I'd have never stayed on track.)

Daily reminders of what my focus is.
When I was much younger, I once made an audio cassette that had me talking to myself and reviewing what my goals were. I would start by telling myself to relax, and to focus on what I was saying - I would then state my goals and aspirations. I was amazed at how quickly many of the things that I had on that tape came about. It really almost seemed like magic.

To this day, I think that it was the fact that each day, I was reminded of what was important, and what I should be focusing my efforts on for the day that helped me so quickly achieve those aims.

Since then, I have done a similar thing by writing goals down on paper. That really seems to help focus my efforts, and allows for fast achievement of goals as well.

One thing I noticed about Writing things down though, is that even when I tape them next to my Bathroom Mirror, and hang them above my work place, Days, Weeks, and sometimes even months may go by before I actually 'focus' on them and re-read them.

I plan on doing a combination of the 'audio' reminder that I'll listen too just before bed, or / and just as I wake up - and reminders that I read each day.

Clear tasks broken down into daily actions that will eventually achieve my objectives.

To achieve Health in my life, I will limit the intake of foods into my body, to between 1200 and 1700 Calories each day until I hit 175 pounds (whic is the BMI for a fellow of my height.) and then I will consume the amount of calories that maintains that weight.

These Calories that I consume should be healthy foods, and mostly water as far as beverages go.

I will Exercise 5 Times Each Week, for at least 20 minutes each time. Preferably for an hour but, don't go beyond 2 hours, or I'm over balancing my focus. (it had to be Said.... once the enjoyment of Exercise kicks in, it's easy to focus more on that than the other aspects that I have set forth.)

To Achieve Wealth in my life, I will spend 55 Hours each week on producing income. The majority of that time will be spent on building the Family Business, Imperial Asphalt. On the side I would like to focus some time on some Online Training Ideas that I have, and explore the possibilities of You Tube, that medium as a source of income intrigues me to no end.

I will also track all of my financial transactions. I need to know where I am spending and receiving money so that I can better manage that flow, and make sure that it is directed in a 'gaining' direction instead of a 'losing' one.

I will get some 'specific' activities for each day set in here shortly - but it's nigh midnight, and I need to draw this to a close.

Spirituality - This should be easy to define, read daily from the good books, Pray each day for guidance and to give thanks, go to church each week, and serve others as called. Live the laws of God and enjoy the fruits of righteous living. Keep good things in your life, and avoid the bad.

Family - Specifically, get going on the above stuff, then, once you are solidly heading in the right direction, start actively seeking out that wonderful woman who I'll be attracted to, and who will be attracted to me, and with whom I share some common interests, I really want a good friend as my wife - I have been 'picky' for so long, that part of me isn't going to go away any time soon. :-P my life WITH a wife, really does need to be better than my life alone, and I like my life alone pretty much.


Well! The overall direction has been set, and a lot of specifics have been written down. The one thing that needs to be remembered is that above all it is the DOING of the tasks that will move me towards my objective.

By focusing on, and doing those few things, I believe that movement towards new adventures in my life are inevitable.

I have had a great 40 years, and I'm looking forward to great times ahead, it's up to me to make them happen. Thanks for reading.

Wade Hone.
February 2nd 2012

Some thoughts about turning 40 in a few short months

Time flies doesn't it? Wow 40 years of my life lived. (almost) My cousin Brian always heralds a new year just 3 short months before I get there. It has been a fun ride so far, and I'm looking at enjoying several more years.

In order to do that, and perhaps with even more "zest" and "zeal" than I have had for the first 40 years of my life, I propose to dedicate the next 5 years following some "Dave Ramsey" advise.

He advises folks seeking financial freedom: "Live like no one else, Later you can live like no one else. "

With that advise ringing in my ears, here are a few guide lines I'm going to post, that I feel will help me get to where I'd like to be In 5 years.

Guide lines to live by till aug 5 2016

1. I don't spend money, I make money.  Or, I only spend money on Needs, and Investments. 

2. I eat to live, not live to eat. 

3. I do something every day to stay in shape. 

4. Live righteously. 

To go along with that, I'm going to take advantage of the technology of the day. I have to admit, I am thrilled by you tube, and social networks. I remember WAY BACK in the early days of the internet, how exiting it was to think that I could post something on a web page, and any one that had access to the Internet could instantly read it! That kind of communication was and is revolutionary.

Today we have you tube, which fascinates me. I have stood on the side lines, and watched. I posted a few home videos to see how it worked, but I want to get more involved. So, over the next while, I'll be working on getting the following "Channels" going.

Wade's you tube channels:

Return and Report
Experience of the day

Level 20 - Gamers
Level 20 - Motivational Moments
Level 20 - Sales

Wish me luck, it's gonna be a fun ride.

Wade -out

McCall Idaho 2010 - Winter Festival

McCall Idaho 2010 - Winter Festival, originally uploaded by Zachary Wolf.

Just going through some Flikr photo's and I saw this one of McCall Lake - taken during the winter festival there in McCall Idaho in January 2010. I liked this panoramic, and figured I'd share it.

A Fun Night Playing Toypocalypse.

I just got done playing a role play game called 'Toypocalypse'. This was designed by a friend of mine, Trevor Cristensen. He put it together as an entry for a contest over at RPG Geek where you design a game in 24 hours.



Here is the Link that points to information about the game on RPG Geek: Toypocalypse And if you wana skip all that, this link takes you straight to the PDF file that you can save to your computer Topocalypse PDF Link


here is a little 'blurb' from the game book

"In Toypocalypse players play toys in a strange ominous setting where humans mysteriously disappeared a few years ago and the toys have become sentient. No one knows where the humans have gone, but everything has been left in place, and the toys have been left to pick up the pieces. The more powerful toys have created various governments to rule the towns but most are oppressive and tyrannical and the toys can no longer suffer the oppression of this hastily formed government. Danger lies around every corner, and exploration of this new world drives each toy to find his place in a world where they are alone. Toypocalypse is intended to feel very much like Toy Story meets Roanoke Colony meets Lord of the Flies."

We had a lot of fun coming up with our characters. I played a Blue 'Halo Action Figure', Melissa played Rainbow Bright's horse StarBright, Kelly was an odd toy that carried an extra head, and one of the most unique play experiences came from Dave playing a Rubik Cube! Trevor Ran the game for us, and we all had fun.



We Escaped from a pack of Rats, well... Star Bright drew them off us. We ended the session staring down a group of hostile Frisbees! Being that we are oppressed Slaves, mining stuffing from old couches in a warehouse, I'm sowing the seeds of sedition amongst the fellow slaves in hopes of encouraging an uprising.

All in all, we are having a good time. The Rules are Free to down load, The PDF that has the rules is just 17 pages long, the rules are simple to learn, the dice mechanic is fun and plays smoothly. If your looking for something different for your gamer group to change up the pace a bit, you really might want to check it out. Feel free to look at the other games in the contest too, and if your already a member of RPG GEEK (or want to sign up,) feel free to cast a vote for which one you think is the best.

Here is a link to the thread that talks about the contest: Contest Forum Post.

The contest won't last much longer I think it's over on Monday Mar. 28th 2011 - but the rules to the game should still be free to down load from the site. Feel free to snag the PDF.

Enjoy,


zWolf -out.


(I'm riposting the links again so you don't have to scroll back up heh):

Here is the Link that points to information about the game on RPG Geek: Toypocalypse And if you wana skip all that, this link takes you straight to the PDF file that you can save to your computer Topocalypse PDF Link

Getting Back in the weight loss Saddle Again!

Having been inspired by my Cousin Brian - I'm gonna get back on the weight loss Saddle again. Here's my 'announcement post' heh.

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Ok Ok Ok, I give!

sheesh! I'm going to utilize the power of Face Book, once again, to help me with losing weight.

I see now the Value of Meeting regularly like they do in 'Weight Watchers' and 'Curves' and such things.

For me, 'reporting my weight' to Face Book - seems to be a great motivator... when I'm tellin the world (and Five Hundred Plus of my closest friends via Face Book,) how I'm doing on my goals, it seems to be enough to keep me out of 'great harvest'... (Best Bread in the Freaking Wolrd... well... Except that one place in Santa Fe Argentina....:-P )

So!

here is the 'Launch post'.

the Goal =

Lose 31 Pounds by the 5th of July

That will be 2 pounds a week for 16 weeks, and at the end - I will have crossed the 200 pound thresh hold! yay!

My Birthday is in August, and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to turn 40 and be under 200 pounds - I don't think I have been under 200 since I was 20 ish! but I really think it's an attainable goal.

I'll track my Calories like I did before via - lose it, or some iPhone App. and I 'might' post the exercise I do as I do them a few times a week... not sure on that.

however, I'm going to try to keep the 'weight' updates to a 'weekly' post to Twitter and Face Book - which should cut down from the last time we did this when I was posting most every day...

So my last 'goal attempt' was quite a success, going from 330 pounds to 220 pounds in seven and a half months (1/1/10 to 8/25/10)

I ended up getting as low as 209.6 as of the Monday before Thanks Giving, I then proceeded to take a bit of a 'break for the holidays' and haven't gotten back 'real' serious about losing till now. I 'Have' stayed fairly regular at the Gym though - so that has helped.

My Current Weight is 230.6 Goal Weight is 199.something/anything.

Wish me luck!

:-)

Craters of the Moon Panoramic Shot - in the Snow

I did a trip past Craters of the moon a few weeks ago (in Feb 2011) and figured it would be fun to shoot this overlook off the road at Craters of the Moon National Park where I'd shot earlier when there was no snow.

It was pretty windy, and snowy, and on the far side of the panoramic, I was shooting into the sun. I didn't know how that part would turn out, a Little tweaking to compensate for the shots into the sun and over all I like the pic. it was at least worth the little walk through thigh high snow, and braving the wind for a few minutes heh.

I don't know how if the image will be way compressed, for the blog post, so this blog's title link should take you to a shot that is compressed, but not toooo much.




and I think I have posted this before, but I thought I would re-post it for reference (its the same location.... just closer up.)

My 'Profile Greeting' from a Singles Website ->

I figured THIS would be fun to add to my Blog - hah! so, I'm 39 now... um... still not married... and, well - ya, I haven't really done much about it over the past several years either... I mean, I have been in love with some AMAZING women, and the bar is SO high, how could anyone measure up to their standards anyway! (if any of you are reading this, YES, I'm talking about you! ...heh, and even though that sounds pretty funny, to say it like that, on the other hand, it really is true... go figure!! )

Anyway - I recently started thinking that it would be down right cool to have some one special to do things with - my buddies are fun to hang out with and all - but in spite of the fact that I'm single at 39, Guy's really just don't do it for me. :-P.

Sooo, I figured I'd check out these singles website things since 'I love technology' and all, it only figures that I should turn there to look for a date right?

Anyway, one thing they have you do, is make up like a 'profile' greeting thing - I figured I'd share mine on face book - kinda personal ya, but.. after I wrote it, I figured it would make a great blog post too hah!

so, with out Further introduction, this is how my singles website profile greeting thing reads:

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I'm a happy person. I love life. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Family is very important to me, and I'm surprised to find my self at 39 without wife and children! woah! Surprised, may be the wrong word heh, as we pretty much 'are where we are due to the choices we made to get us here' ya know. Lets say that when comparing my present life, with out wife and children, to my projected plan when I was 14 to 19 and thinking about what my life would be like when I was in my 30's, I'd have always thought that whatever version of my life I envisioned, would have included a Wife and Children.

-for future edit - this need's a better transition here- ;-P

O.K. More about me, January 10th of 2010, after setting a 'regular' kind of New Years resolution to do something about my 'extra pounds' I stepped on a scale, and was... well, Surprised and that word actually DOES work pretty well here, that I had grown to the hefty weight of 330 pounds! wow! no WONDER those restaurant Booths were feeling a tad tight...

So, instead of a 'run of the mill' new years resolution, I set a focused goal to lose 110 pounds, by 1/1/11 (a year and a day)- I was dead serious about doing it. I watched what I ate, and increased my activity levels, and seven and one half months later, (8/25/10) I had met my goal. yay!

At 5'11'' and 220 pounds, that STILL puts me with a bit more to lose, BUT, I feel OH SO MUCH BETTER! more energy, more life, more love for myself, and every one around me. it wasn't the 'fat look' so much, as the health aspects that really motivated me to get in better shape...

It's been about 6 months since August and I have done pretty good about keeping that weight off - I workout fairly regularly, and I eat better (as in more healthy... not as in 'with a fork and knife instead of with my bare hands...')

I'm about to set another 'real serious' goal to lose another 25 pounds so I'm pretty exited about that. (Apparently Dad is right (as usual) and setting goals really does make a difference heh.)

In addition to improving my physical attributes, I'm also working on my spiritual well being as well. I'm working on getting my weekly church attendance back to 'every week' like it is supposed to be. Am I doing too many all night Saturday LAN parties perhaps? Naw, I know that's not it, most of the people that I hang out with on Saturday Nights, are able to make it to their meetings the next day... So, it's just about making getting to my my meetings each week a priority, I know, and I'm committed to making that happen! (do I feel another 'focused Goal' coming on perhaps? heh. :-P.)

As for why I joined this social networking web site; I'm looking mostly to get to develop healthy friendships. for a long time now I have taken myself out of the dating pool. I was engaged twice before when I was younger, but I never married. I have fallen in love a few times since then and after awhile, I just chose to not get into close relationships, eventually even preferring the 'even keel' of single hood to the emotional roller coaster ride that being in love seemed to be.

That said, - Families and the importance of them are so deeply rooted in my DNA it is pure folly on my part to separate myself from the blessings that come from being in love. I think that thought is the main force that motivated me in to signing up on this 'Singles' web site. I want to meet people that share my values and hopefully find friends, and perhaps eventually even an eternal companion that shares similar interests and desires as well. Though, truth be told, I'd kind of like to start with 'friends' at first then gradually move towards that 'magical madly in love' time... if your looking for a 'within three weeks we will just 'know' we were made for each other forever kind of relationship... I'll just say up front, that it's doubtful, that 'I' will be 'that' person. heh.

Some more tidbits about me = I've been told, (to the point that I'm starting to believe it myself,) that I am a good listener, and that people like to talk with me, and feel confident that if they confide in me, that they trust that I will accept them for who they are, (of which they are 100% correct.)

I also think that I have a good sense of humor, I'm loath to use sarcasm, as rare is the time that some one isn't at least 'somewhat' hurt by playful jabs. Besides, there are so many other ways to make a joke or be funny! :-P

As for the 'moonlit walks on the beach' list; I like Video Games, movies, Board Games, camping, Card Games, photography, and watching the Ocean off the Oregon coast (California Coast is awesome too,) oh, and I almost forgot to mention, I like Games. and ok ya ya, moonlit walks on the beach sound fun too.

I speak Spanish thanks to my mission to Argentina, but I should practice more since I think I'm quite rusty.

I look forward to getting to make some good friends here on this site!

oh ya, I think my 'profile' thing lists my profession as "Writer" when it should say 'wana be writer' though that sounds rude ;-P. Truth is I Sell Asphalt Maintenance Products for a living, and do a bit of Web Design / IT work (they are such complimentary professions, I just couldn't see why not to merge the two... "We will Seal Coat and Stripe your Parking lot, then Fix your Computer, and add A forum to your Web Site while you wait!" <--- has a handy ring to it doesn't it? :-P

That ends my greeting! I hope to get to know you better now that you know all about me! send me a message!

Wade.

1st Play test of Epic Table VTT / Jaws of the Six Serpents / Prose Descriptive Qualties rule set

I just had a wonderful time playing a Game with Murgh GM'ing and playing along side of Nick (a Friend of Murgh's) and Jan van Leyden (from the forums here at ET).

The game was in the Jaws of the Six Serpents setting, which is Fantasy / Swords and Sorcery type of a setting, we used theProse Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) System Core Rules and Epic Table as the Frame work for the VTT.

I had a blast! Epic Table worked was fun to play in, and considering that we had players from all over the world in there, it did pretty good. (though one player had a hard time seeing all of the stuff all of the time... like chat, and some assets seemed to disappear on him.)

I was especially impressed that the game flowed as smoothly as it did in spite of us electing not to use a voice chat.

I imagine that several things combined to make that a success, including a Great GM for keeping us on track, and even managing 'splitting the party shenanigans that I just couldn't resist, the ease of use of the rules to create characters, the fact that the tools for sharing game assets mostly worked in Epic Table, and to a large part the fact that most of the players seemed to be 'veteran' RPG players, hence caught on quickly to what was going on.

we made characters and got used to using Epic Table for the first hour, then played for 2.5 hours and honestly for me the time literally flew by. ( a sign that I was enjoying myself for sure.)

here is a screen shot:



So, this being my 'first' real 'game time' experience with Epic Table, I have to say it was quite a success, I look forward to finishing this adventure up, as we left on quite the 'cliff hanger' .... literally, a knife is in flight towards an enemy bad guy - and we are surrounded by 12 angry farmers... It should be quite a fun brawl!

oh, I must say, other than really liking how Epic Table performed (other than the dropped info for one player...) I really enjoyed the ease with which the PDQ rules were learned and used in the game... they flowed quite nicely, and seemed to handle all the various actions that we wanted to toss at it... Combat looked like it was going to go smoothly.. though we have yet to see how the damage mechanic works - a Juggling performance was done, Flirting, negotiating, discussions with various locals etc. it all worked smoothly and the rules stayed 'out of the way' just like I like em to.

I know I should spend more time talking about Epic Table, but I just had to mention the rules and setting since it was my first time being exposed to them (for all of us I think.. including GM.)

one thing we all wanted was a way to 'emote' our actions as we used *character does this* to indicate an 'emote' ... that said, it really seems like I remember John showing us how to 'emote' as the character in a demo.. I just have forgotten how it works....

We used the character sheet to make our toons, I put a 'bio' tab in mine and fleshed out a bit of a story, with the 'stat's on a separate tab. we then cut and pasted our 'stats' to white cards, that we put on a table and pretty much used that to reference our skills from, it worked quite well. (for most of us... )

We had an overall map to look at which was fun, and various hand out's with easy to reference tables on them. Murgh, used Notes and Cards to paste info on how to create a character, and though I had recently purchased the PDF, I ended up not using it much as Murgh had the critical details available for us on the character creation. (though I think I'll enjoy getting to know the setting a bit better as I read the PDF between now and our next session.)

So, over all, it was a great success, and I really had a blast! I look forward to running a Dark Heresy game with some of my friends soon!!

zWolf -out

Me and my new red truck

So, last Thursday or Friday night I did a late night Gym Run... getting there the car started fine, like it always does, however upon my attempted exit from the Gym, I had 'car start Failure' occur.

Justin, (I think,) an Employee at Apple, didn't want me getting frost bite at 3AM on my walk back from the Gym, so he gave me a ride home - which I thought was very kind! I only live 9 or 10 blocks away, but he's right, it was COLD! ( a good below zero night, I'm sure.)

Anyway the next day I attempted a restart, and the day after that. I talked to the Manager of the club, and he was very cool about me having my car parked there till I could impose on my Dad for help getting a Tow to a shop.

Long story short, several attempts to start the car, and two mechanics later, the verdict was in, the Engine was dead - no chance of revival.

so, my brother, father and I discussed options, and decided to go with buying a vehicle instead of investing more into the car, which was getting on in age...

I'm REALLY happy with the truck! It's perfect, for me - the 4 wheel drive makes me feel much better about a truck in the winter ice and snow, and I have always been a fan of Extended Cab's.

here are the pics:



and:



Thanks Dad for helping with trying to get the blue car revived, and the help with the Car Shopping, (something I normally vehemently hate doing,) you too Trent! thanks to both of you guys for the help!

Wade (now with upgraded wheels,) -out.

Playing World of WarCraft : not 'beginer' friendly... heh

ok, sooo - I hesitate to post this, it is a 'news' article I did for the 'guild' that I'm in in World of WarCraft... there are some... many of you that might read this and not know What the H. I'm talking about - and that's ok... but, I did put it together, and I might as well pop it up here on the blog as a record - so, just 'skim on by' if World of WarCraft and the news of the guild doesn't interest you. heh - this post is mostly just for me - and of course the many others of you who DO play WoW might get a kick out of it. heh

here's the post - :

--- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- ---

December 19th the Crimson Empire did a guild run and downed the Boss of ShadowFang Keep.



That's one down off of a list of many.



This run didn't go with out a hiccup, however, as those in attendance can attest to, being slightly under level, and having the Main tank in 'learning' mode, (the tank was me,) made for a nice Challenge that felt like a true reward when the boss finally dropped his 'phat lewtz'.

/cheer





The Dungeon range in the dungeon finder was levels 16 - 26.

the Participants were as follows:

Healer / Off Tank = Rahkirn level 21 Tauren Paladin (Eric)



Tank / Tank in training = Duhaustme Level 21 Tauren Warrior (Wade)



DPS / Off Healer = Zikky Level 16 Goblin Shaman (Tom)



DPS / Dew Hero = EmoGoblin Level 21 Goblin Rogue (Andy)



DPS / Zen Master = Faliglio Level 18 Goblin Mage (Chris) [/size]



This 'image map' is included 'mostly' because I was using the guild pictures to learn a bit more about what Photo shop and Fireworks can do... it's... "training material" heh.

it 'should' link to the 'armory' which is the data base WoW has for people to see the characters and guild on the web.

Enjoy:

A photo Contest Entry by my Cousin and her Husband

My cousin Emily and her husband Jim, entered a photo in to a contest that could use your vote.

it is found at:

http://www.reasonstoloveidaho.com/vote

Reasons to Love Idaho

on that page, you will see a picture in the center of the screen, and a row of 'thumbnail' photo's below it. if you click the thumbnail image to the right or left, you can scroll through the images much faster than waiting for the slide show to play through.

Their Photo is of a sprinkler line in the snow, it's cool looking, this is it:



it says:

Snow White by Jim, Meridian
41 people like this photo do You? Vote

once you find it in the thumb nails, then click on the photo so it is in the 'center' of the screen, then just click 'vote' and presto -

I don't think you have to register or anything, which is nice. (unless I registered last time I was there, but I don't think I did.)

Anyway, your support is appreciated! :-)

Wade -out.

Some pictures I may 'tweak' for Blaines book

My brother Blaine is working on a childrens book and is looking for illustrations... I by no means claim any 'artistic' talent - but I have 'dabbled' at some drawings and I told him I'd scan em in and show him where I'm at - they still need colored (I dropped a few colors in one of them, since I had the image open in photo shop anyway..)

the scans weren't the 'best' usually, I just use the scanned image as a 'background' then trace over it in photo shop so I have something with clean lines etc....

... um... when I say 'usually' it means the 'one' time I did it before :-P

here's the first one - Anime Robo Girl :



here she is again with a pink neon effect from photo shop:



This is one I'm working on... maybe I could try to drop an alien in the back ground... coming out of the sea or something heh...


"Girl on a moon lit path near the sea" :



So that's them, they need some work - but - it at least lets you know the level I'm at heh - it's fun to play and learn.

Wade -out.

Blizzcon 2010 - intro

So, It's 4:30 am, and the 'next day' of Blizzcon starts early... soo, I'm going to toss up some pics here, and promise more soon - these are just a few I grabbed from the hundreds that I took the first day at Blizzcon 2010.

Enjoy:

This is me, in front of one of the big screens that they used to 'Broadcast' the proceedings out to the huge crowd.



Honestly, this whole Deal is all about celebrating being 'Geek', one of the main speakers dwelt on this topic quite a bit, it was actually pretty cool what he had to say, so I'll try to find a link to that speech... or at least post the slide show part of it which I filmed from my seat... to tide you over, here is a pic from the opening slide:




The next few pics are of some of the costumes that people dressed up in when they went, some folks got pretty elaborate. Most of these are all 'Fans' I think only one is a paid 'booth babe' paid to help at one of the booths. Enjoy:










This Final shot is of the Contest Winner, the Costume is pretty awesome, I was 'lucky' enough to get her to point her blades at my throat for a photo op... yikes!



I'll try to get more posted tomorrow, and talk about how cool some of the games I have played are! (group PvP in Diablo III anyone? - it's awesome, just in case you wondered.)

zWolf -out.

(Wade.)

Weight Loss - Part Deux - (I think that means 2 in French or something...)

On August 25 2010 I hit my goal to lose 110 pounds in a year. In stead of a year, lucky me, it just took 7 and a half months. The thing of it is, according to that silly 'BMI' thing losing 110 pounds only gets me from the obviously un-healthy obese (330 pounds) -see photo-



down to where I'm knocking at the door of overweight (220 pounds.)
-see a couple pics from today -



at 5'11 ish I now fit into what I call 'normal fat guy' mode, meaning that when I look around there are quite a few folks that have the extra pounds that I have... some might say that I'm just being patriotic at this weight... supporting the 'American way of life' as it were. :-P never the less, I still feel that it's not optimally healthy.

It is now October 18th 2010, in one week it will be 2 months since I hit the, lose 110 pounds, goal. I have 'maintained' my weight (thanks to Arizona Slim and not going totally crazy on Cheese Burgers and Pizza... except that one time... Ahem, I digress...)




It is time to re-commit myself to a new goal! I still have quite a ways to go to get to 185, which is what I weighed in High School - wouldn't that be a hoot to get back to that weight?? I don't think that is too 'extreme' or anything, as that silly 'BMI' thing says that 185 STILL puts me about 10 pounds over the 'average' weight for my height. The only thing 'Extreme' if you think about it, is the fact that I was just 18 pounds away from weighing TWICE what the BMI says the average dude of my height weighed. Sure that 'average' is from like 50 years ago, but still, yikes you know?

Here is a shot of me at that High School Weight:




This time around, I want to be a 'tich' less intrusive to my face book friends, so I shall eschew the daily updates of my weight tracking and exercise that I did last time. That said, I would still like to 'report' my progress. I find that by posting my weight to the 500+ face book friends, it helps to motivate me to do better. So, I will settle on reporting once a week.

Each Monday I will post via Twitter or FaceBook - what my weight is, and perhaps some thoughts on the goal from the week previous... for instance if I had a bad week, I may talk about things I can do better in the future, if I had a great week, I could mention some of the things that helped.

So! I have a plan! it's time to get back up on the horse and ride it to a healthier lifestyle! Thanks all for the encouraging comments and support in person, and on Face Book. I feel like that really helped in my quest to improve my life style.

Speaking of... can I just say that life minus that 110 pounds has been INCREDIBLY good! seriously, it is difficult to express the improvement of my energy level, and thus my desire to 'do' more in life. it is HUGE!




From little things like being able to actually 'run' back to the car to grab something I forgot, and feeling like participating in fun activities that I would have 'passed' on last year. To bigger things like being able to focus on getting more done at work, and Dating and romance. What a freaking change 110 pounds has made in my life.

Like I said, I recognize fully how much farther that I have to go - and that I'm not a 'paragon of strength and fitness' or anything. Nope, I'm just a pretty regular guy, but the big difference is that now, I can do 'regular' things where as before they just seemed beyond my grasp.

ok, enough gushing, it's time to go for a walk and burn some Calories!

My 'Mile Stone' goal will be to reach 205 pounds by Jan 1st 2011. (that was the old date that I was going to try to hit 220 by.)

Once I hit 205, I'll set a time for when I'd like to be at 185... I may also mark the occasion by doing a full head shave... or at least go WAY short all over.

Wade -out.

Playin Dragon Age ( Video Games ) on 'Easy' mode...

The other Day, a friend of mine asked me how I liked
Dragon Age, which he knew I was playing from my Xbox automaticly posting updates to Face book, (how cool eh?) My reply back to him got kinda 'long' and ended up seeming more like a 'blog' than a face book post... So the reply is going 'both' as a reply to him, AND as a Blog post - since it's been a while since I wrote ANYTHING! heh.

The Question was from Jonathan Lofthouse: [I'm] So torn on [Dragon Age]. Do [you] love it or hate it?

Jon, I quite enjoyed Dragon Age, however... I did use a recently learned 'trick' to do so. When I first bought it, I played Dragon Age on the computer on 'normal' difficulty where there is quite a bit of 'pause and play' strategic combat... which is pretty well suited for a mouse and keyboard - I think I played it for 30 - 40 hours, and only got about a quarter to a third of the game completed. it was fun... but I really kinda wanted to see 'what happened' in the story but just didn't have any more time to invest what with all the other good games to play.

Sooo - this time around on the Xbox... which isn't as 'suited' for pause and play 'tactical' combat, I tried something that I'd read about in a gamer magazine... I played it on 'easy mode' (called 'casual' in the game.) This pretty much made it so I rarely had to 'pause' to control my parties actions and I could zoom through combat scenes to get to the pretty cool story that there was.



(I did the same thing with Mass Effect 2 Recently and really liked that as well.)

with both Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age, I got what I wanted out of them, which was to 'see how the story ended'. The time investment was much less than if I had played it on 'normal' AND I got all those wonderful Achievements :-P



So, that's a long answer - but if you are enjoying the story, but ify on the 'pause to play tactical combat' and the time commitment that requires to get through the game then pop it down a notch and cruise on through it... I think total time to get through Dragon Age +some DLC was 30 hours, and there were a few hours where the xbox just sat on while I had lunch or was other wise distracted.



You could try switching the mode to 'normal' for boss fights to get the feel for how it was designed to play out. That might be a 'happy medium' compromise. Over all, I was able to enjoy the story line. and I even died once or twice when I was just WAY lazy heh, so there was a 'hint' of a challenge even on Easy mode... ok, that's an exaggeration... but still - I had fun and that's what playin games is all about right?

Wade -out.



The opening pic in this Blog, was from the Penny Arcade Convention 09 in Seattle (PAX09) I had been talking to the Lead Designer of Dragon Age Origins, Mike Laidlaw while I was waiting in line to see the Dragon Age Demo... that Donnie Darko Bunny 'Frank' came up and I asked them to pose for a Pic. it's one of the better pictures I got from the con that year heh. I just figured I'd pop it up on this blog since the subject matter was related.

2010 Oregon Coast trip pics Family Vaca

here are a couple of pics from the family vacation I went on, we stayed in a house near the sea, it was great! I totally did an EPIC fail on staying on my diet, but then again, I wasn't trying to succeed this trip either... I'll hop back on that horse and start riding today n tomorrow though, then see what damage was done to the goal in question heh.

ok, as for the pics, I don't have time to get them all posted up here all nice n such... sooo, I'm going to paste the link to where you can veiw them 'raw' Here's the link.

and here is a Flickr Link to a few ... my 'paid' account has expired, so I only uploaded 20... they are of a size you can print out though if ya want, and the slide show is a nice way to view them.

here is that link. or http://www.flickr.com/photos/wadehone/sets/72157624629808168/show/

and here are a few of the pics... most of these are of Lances Family - he asked me to take some pics of his family while we were here, I did, but they haven't yet seen the cleansing wash of photoshop... well other than automated stuff... soo, I'm guessing I have a bit of light to clean up - as the gold foil reflector was... um... much more effective than I anticipated, heh.

here's a sampling of what you'll find in the above links... I had a BLAST! it was great spending time with the Fam, playing StarCraft II with friends online, and with Ryan... reading on the Beach, Flying a Kite! taking pics, seeing many realitives I haven't seen for years at the reunion, and just relaxing - what a fun trip this has been!


the house was great too!

and now... the break down of the computer, and a 13 hour drive home.. sigh.

I'm outta here - (Below are a couple of pics as promised.)

Wade Hone.

How I lost 90 pounds over the past several months.

One of my friends asked me to go into Detail as to how I lost 90 pounds this past several months. The response got kinda long, so I figured I'd post it on this blog... however, let me first say, in spite of losing 90 pounds (which certainly sounds like a lot of weight...) I'm still pretty over weight... (I'll post a pic at the end for proof heh.) Im 239 pounds at 5 foot 11, (10 and one half, for those that count half inches. :-P ) I'm just saying, I have a long ways to go before I'm at that 'healthy' stage.

I figured I'd post this anyway, because there are those who are genuinely curious as to how I lost the weight... there is more to the story, but this is a good enough overview for now.

This is what I wrote (plus a bit,):

As to my weight loss - you know... last January, I had the pretty standard thought process most folks have thinking;

"sigh, I really ought to do something about losing this extra weight..."
so I bought a scale...

for some reason my 'self concept' was one that had me pegged at 'kinda fat' and I was surprised when the 'booth seats' at restaurants started seeming 'tight' as they pushed in against my stomach... In the case of 'tasty treats' I got down right mad... I remember thinking to myself,

"Hey, what's this! here is a place that sells Burgers and French-fries and Milk Shakes, thus helping to form this corpulent body of mine, but when I achieve the inevitable result that comes of consuming their product, they don't provide seating to accommodate it! Humph!"

but for some reason in my mind, I didn't really realize how outta control I had gotten till I bought that new scale at Costco and stood on it for the first time...

I was 330 pounds! holy cow, at 5 foot 11, that's just Way not healthy and for some reason, the numbers staring me in the face, in their bright electric 'LED' blue goodness, made me realize how truly obese that I was, much more so than looking at myself in the mirror ever had.

That was January 10th 2010. My cutting back started immediately. And, I'll admit, I have cut hard... I started out just 'not eating much' I found the 'point' where I didn't get 'weak and shaky' ish and would eat the # of calories up to that point. I found that for me it was about 800 - 1350 ish calories.

For the first 3 months, I tracked everything I ate. (I used a iphone app called 'lose it' I'd also record my weight each day, and set the application up to auto post to Twitter and Face book when I weighed in or exercised.) After a month or two, I started trying to 'walk' more and do more active things.

After the 3 months I stopped 'tracking' everything I ate, but I still keep a tight rein on what I ate each day... and I still record my weight fairly regularly. (though I don't record my weight, or exercise every day now I do stand on the scale each morning to see where I am at.) Now I Can add up the calories in my head - I'd estimate I eat between 1100 - 1600 calories now - I also am not losing as fast, but I am still heading in the right direction.

I am exercising more now too... I swim, and go to an athletic club (for the past 3 weeks or so,) pretty regularly. Before that, I Was walking a good 3 - 6 miles a week (2 or 3 walks a week) and those things really helped me feel better. I added activity and exercise pretty slowly to the plan, I was so out of shape when I started, just 'not eating' like I had was taxing enough. As I started losing weight, I started feeling better, and as I started feeling better, I started moving around more and walking more.

I remember after I'd lost 10 or 15 pounds, I was pretty happy that I walked 10 blocks. then later, when I was down about 30 or 40 pounds, I remember measuring a bike path that I new was a mile long, I'd walked it the year before at extreme duress, and this time around, it was easy going. That was a fun realization. Now I can walk 3 miles in 45 mins... and a five mile stroll won't kill me, so that's very nice.

I guess the main thing, for me, is that I'm trying to do things that I think I can do for the rest of my life... on the food, I have heard, (and have no reason to doubt,) that 'counting calories' isn't the best way to diet... there are lists of good foods for you to combine to lose weight and receive the nutrients your body needs etc. but, for me, I really wanted something that I felt like I could just 'do' naturally for the rest of my life.

Not that I go crazy and eat 900 worth of Donut Calories or anything, but I have been known to partake of a krispy Kream more than once during this time - when I do though, I know that Donut just ate up a significant portion of my calories for the day, so by default I find myself eating more of things like green beans, and corn or oatmeal and meat (Cause it fills me up while not using up my calorie budget for the day.)

Those sugar Free chocolate pudding snacks (70 calories) mixed with a half cup of oatmeal (150 calories,) are a filling very tasty snack. I do things like get only the grilled chicken breast when I go to Wendy's or Arctic Circle - (it throws the cashiers for a loop most times, but they figure it out and eventually charge the 2.50 vs. the 4 bucks for the sandwich heh.) so, that's how I eat stuff I still like, but only as much as the calorie budget I set for myself allows... which is based on what I think my body tells me I need to eat in order to stay healthy. So far, I've stayed pretty illness free this whole time I've been losing weight.

I don't like to get to the point that I feel weak and shaky, and if I'm being more 'active' I can eat more calories, and still lose weight...

The most important key to my weight loss this year is that I have this huge mental commitment and emotional devotion to the task. For this year losing weight is 'THE' thing that I am doing. It is the FOCUS for me I am dedicated to getting to 220 pounds (that's down 110 pounds from the 330 I started at... I'm down 90 so far.) If I accomplish nothing else this year, at least I'm dedicated to accomplishing that thing... I rationalize that making it such a high priority is ok, because it will have such a huge effect on the rest of my life, that the benefits I gain over the next many years, will justify the high priority that this goal takes, in the list of goals. If that makes sense heh.

Having that commitment doesn't mean that I don't have slow points... especially recently... there have been 2 or 3 weeks at a time where I just hovered at the same weight fluctuating slightly.

After 2 or 3 weeks of 'plateuing', I get 'real serious' about it, and ramp up the exercise and get vicious about only eating what my body needs to stay healthy. (like I said, I have found that I can do ok at around 900 - 1400 ish) I don't know what the calorie amount would be for others... I Think that Weight Watchers is probably the best 'guide' for where someone should be at... but for me, I didn't want to be dependent on any 'program' I really want to develop a life style that I hope to be able to maintain ... for life.

After 90 pounds lost, I'm still quite over weight... but I'll try to toss up some before pics.. and I took a couple snap shots just today that I'll attach as a reference... and a reminder that I still have quite a ways to go to get healthy.

---

Some pics of me before the weight loss I dind't find any 'right' before I started losing, so I figure I was anywhere from 10 to 25 pounds heavier than I Was in these pics:






and here are some snaps I took today for this post... like I said, it does show the results of the lost weight, but also shows how much farther I have to go. :-)

thanks for reading.