Double Trouble with Prim and Harrier - Poker, Sports, Cooking, Gardening, Mixed Drinks and more

Tech Stuff

The data transfer is finished now, I let it run in the background while Prim and I were watching videos together. I can now deal with the software and everything else, to get the new machine ready for use as my new main PC.

5 Minute Plank

Primrose deserved a break after her exciting tennis battle, I did the plank as usual today. This week's plan is tough, however, with several workout days requiring us to hold the plank for 3 minutes or more. I will post the schedule, for what it's worth:

Tuesday: 3:00 minutes
Wednesday: 2x 1:40 minutes (2:00 minutes rest)
Thursday: 3:15 minutes
No workout on Good Friday
Saturday: 2x 1:45 minutes (2:00 minutes rest)
Sunday: 2x 2:00 minutes (2:00 minutes rest)

With Prim being in the middle of her tennis tournament season and several setbacks beyond our control having interrupted our workout, we brought up the legitimate question if we still want to do the 5 minute plank at all. I will leave it on the table for the time being...

100 Pushups

As for the pushups, I think I simply got too far to quit now. Nevertheless, I noticed that it's tough to get back into it after having to skip yet another week due to sickness. I foolishly went for the "Column 2" plan today, but then decided to downgrade in the middle of it. What I ended up doing should have been more or less comparable to Day 1 for this week in the lower column.

My plan is to get through the lowest plan for Week 6, skipping Good Friday once again, and then ignore the 100 reps test and simply start over next week with the higher column, the one I originally attempted today. It probably doesn't make much sense to read this without being familiar with the plan. To get to the point, what's left to do this week is:

Wednesday: 14, 14, 15, 15, 14, 14, 10, 10 and 44+ reps
Saturday: 13, 13, 17, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14 and 50+ reps

Other sports

My karate meetups will be "optional" for the next three weeks, as they don't count as part of the normal eight weeks course due to school holidays. I might as well still attend, though. Can't hurt to get some repetition.

Tennis practice will soon recommence for me as well, after the winter break. The exact date is still to be determined, but it should be towards the middle of next month.

I am ready to start a new jogging program, partially as training for the Trollympics, and I should be able to start in two weeks, I expect, possibly earlier. Maybe I will get back to the Quest for Arnsburg Abbey that I teased last year on the old blog in the meantime. My swimming plans should be the subject of a dedicated post.

Cooking

Our Surprise Menu will still have "Below Five" as our motto, as I mentioned yesterday. The Spring burgers are technically ready to post, I made them last week, but... the cartoon still isn't done, you know. There was too much tech trouble to deal with.

Poker?

Yes, soon. The new PC still needs a while.

Sounds very good with the data. Soon you will return to the tables.

Originally posted by DonWolfo
Sounds very good with the data. Soon you will return to the tables.

I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I can install the first poker clients later today already. I hope that crypto site will work again.

"Harrier, you gotta ROW!" :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly:

Okay guys, as Harrier asked me to write a few words about "Mario Olympics", here´s my version of the story. Well, we played a couple of Mario Olympics events and rowing was among them. We played as Mario and Daisy. I think this game on "Wii", was about being rhythmic, but it was also about rowing FAST! Urm....right? So as we picked up our Wii-controls and started the event, I started rowing fast and vigorously!! It was about going fast, wasn´t it? :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: But somehow we were still too slow and I rowed even faster and faster! I scolded Harrier for being too slow :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: because: Mario and Daisy seemed not to go anywhere ... Was a bit chaotic the whole thing, but it was pretty much me rowing like crazy, while Harrier kept the rhythm and me "scolding" poor Harrier for not rowing fast enough. :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly: ... Well ........ afterwards it turned out that we should do that rhythmically ... oh well, okay!

Again I proved, that I´m a REAL troll. :f_ugly::f_ugly: Hey, but that may bring me closer to the "Troll of the Year" award, maybe? :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly:

Originally posted by Primrose6789
"Harrier, you gotta ROW!" :f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly::f_ugly:

Here's how it works:

You are supposed to make the rowing motion when those circles on the screen are about to close. This is the rhythm you need to keep. Do it right, and the canoe accelerates, do it too early or too late, or not at all, and the boat may slow down, depending on how far off you were. In the two player co-op version shown above, which is also the one we played, you also need to make sure that both players coordinate their movements, so they are both moving at the same time.

So that's what I told Prim after we skimmed through the instructions: "The key to this are rhythmic and coordinated movements!". And of course, when the starting signal sounded and I did my best to keep up with the on-screen rhythm, Primrose immediately started wildly flailing her arms around and shouted "Harrier! You gotta row!". We kept falling further behind, I told her "No! Rhythmically! Both at the same time!" and she was like "Then row!" as she kept waving her arms around like crazy.

Needless to say, we didn't do too well... and this was one of those instances where we had to take a break because Prim was laughing so hard. We tried again, this time following my commands, and did a little better, securing a good Bronze by finishing 3rd out of 4.

You know... I planned to take a trip on the rowboats the next time we visit the Palmengarten in Frankfurt together, but on second thought... maybe we should stick to the familiar pedal boats after all. I have the slight suspicion that Primrose may approach real rowing the same way she does it in a video game.

Tech Update

I made some progress with the customization and got rid of a fair bit of bloatware and unwanted features. I would be ready to install my software now, but I just can't get over the fact that I am unable to save my settings on DuckDuckGo, which is immediately noticeable in the search results too - including when I am searching for those installers.

Taking Pokerstrategy for example, the standard settings would always prioritize the DE community, based on my locality. Obviously, I am interested in the international version instead, and that applies to the majority of other websites too. I can change the settings, but it is only good for one session.

Again, it worked fine on the old PC, but I just can't figure out how I made it work there. I once tried Brave Search, and ran into the same problem - except I couldn't get it fixed on the old computer either, and I even remember coming across a post which claimed that saving those settings was impossible on Brave Search, which made me skip it.

I'm considering switching search engines anyway, does anyone have any experience using Startpage, SearX or Qwant, for example? Or can you guys recommend another one? If I make it sound like Google is not an option, that's because it's not.

Tech Update

Computers are a terrible thing, aren't they? Well, I suppose they take a lot of time and effort to properly set up first, at least. Kind of like how airplanes need a lot of energy to get off the ground, but then not so much energy to stay in the air once they have reached their altitude. I trust it will be worth the effort - the easier ways to set up your PC are easier for a reason.

The great dilemma with the search engine has now been cleared up too. Turns out that regardless of which engine I'm using, settings will not get saved without keeping a website cookie, and that was the case on the old PC too. The reason I didn't mind my settings back then was because the standard website language in the browser was set to English - and that was exactly what caused all those inconveniences on the new laptop, the standard language was still set to German. It was very easy to miss, especially because all of my settings were supposed to have been copied from the old system - except this one, for some reason.

Now I can finally get to the software, which is the meat of the matter. It feels like a second job at the moment, but I should have passed the worst, at least I hope so. I'm aiming to play my first few poker hands on the new computer around Easter.

Originally posted by Harrier88
Tech Update

Computers are a terrible thing, aren't they? Well, I suppose they take a lot of time and effort to properly set up first, at least. Kind of like how airplanes need a lot of energy to get off the ground, but then not so much energy to stay in the air once they have reached their altitude. I trust it will be worth the effort - the easier ways to set up your PC are easier for a reason.

The great dilemma with the search engine has now been cleared up too. Turns out that regardless of which engine I'm using, settings will not get saved without keeping a website cookie, and that was the case on the old PC too. The reason I didn't mind my settings back then was because the standard website language in the browser was set to English - and that was exactly what caused all those inconveniences on the new laptop, the standard language was still set to German. It was very easy to miss, especially because all of my settings were supposed to have been copied from the old system - except this one, for some reason.

Now I can finally get to the software, which is the meat of the matter. It feels like a second job at the moment, but I should have passed the worst, at least I hope so. I'm aiming to play my first few poker hands on the new computer around Easter.

So go,go,go. And you know what a famous German comedian is saying about airplanes? "Mama sagt immer tote Materie kann nicht fliegen". One reason I hate flying, maybe other reason is in the past I was sometimes flying 2 time around the world in one year.

Originally posted by DonWolfo
So go,go,go. And you know what a famous German comedian is saying about airplanes? "Mama sagt immer tote Materie kann nicht fliegen". One reason I hate flying, maybe other reason is in the past I was sometimes flying 2 time around the world in one year.

No progress in the last few days. On Thursday, I was stuck doing a few things that required some of the working software on the old PC. For example, I had to take care of some email correspondence, and didn't manage to get my scanner running on the new computer yet. I will have to look into it later.

Primrose and I are also visiting our respective families over Easter. For Prim, it means a longer trip, whereas I simply have to go downstairs to my mother's apartment. That's where our visitors are staying, and I kept them company for most of the day. The new PC had to wait, but I may find some time for it in the next two days.

Instead, I embarked on a massive building project with my older nephew, constructing another massive marble run.

The final structure is about tall enough to reach my chin, and too tall to fit into a single picture.

It contains elements from three different sets of marble runs, connected through a series of jumps. I originally wanted to include a fourth one too, but couldn't find a good way to implement it.

Look at 'em go. Not all marbles always make it through the entire course, but that just adds to the excitement.

Before we forget again, here is this week's Surprise Menu.

Below Five was our motto, so it was simply supposed to be something cheap. I think we can arrange that.

There - just two simple sandwiches with two slices of cheese each and some roasted onions.

Put them in my handy sandwich toaster...

...and there they are.

As simple as you can get, and surely below €5.

I like your food. But I hate this small sandwich-makers. When your sandwich is a littler bit thicker you get problems to close them. And mostly ypu can not controll temperature. Because of this last month my wife and some money over and we bought this one. Great difference from the results and also perfect for steaks.

Only problem, what should I buy a next for my kitchen

Originally posted by DonWolfo
I like your food. But I hate this small sandwich-makers. When your sandwich is a littler bit thicker you get problems to close them. And mostly ypu can not controll temperature.

I have had a few of those sandwich toasters in the past, and yes, some of them had those problems you describe. Another issue was that the nonstick surface often didn't last very long. The model I have right now seems to work pretty well, however. I have been using it for a several years now with no issues.

I think there are some other models out there which also allow you to adjust the temperature, but if I am only toasting basic sandwiches, I don't think it is necessary. The standard temperature usually works for me.

The device in your picture in one of those panini presses, isn't it? I have been considering getting one of those in the past. I remember seeing some of the dishes you prepared with it on your blog, they looked pretty good too.

I believe my brother has another device at home where you can switch the cooking surfaces, so you can use it for either sandwiches, waffles, panini, and possibly some other stuff too.

Originally posted by DonWolfo
Only problem, what should I buy a next for my kitchen
Fair enough, whenever Christmas or my birthday is approaching, there will typically be either books or kitchen appliances on my wishlist.

Happy Easter everybody!

I´m back now. Spent some time with familiy and friends. I got a surprise menu, too (that one was before Easter):

Those sausages were 1,27 €, they´re organic, but they are always cheap when they come near expiry date. I use to buy lots of them and then freeze them down. And I got some potatoes and coleslaw with it. The potatoes were 1,29 € per kilo, the carrots in the coleslaw were 0,99 € per kilo, because they do not fit the EU-standard (they´re too big). The cabbage was also cheap, don´t exactly remember but bought it at our local farmer´s shop, where the local and seasonal veggies are always cheap.

Some just can´t wait ........(HOT stuff!)

Ornamental (HOT!): Already flowering and even the first fruit is growing

Another Ornamental dwarf chili flowering:

Dragon´s back (spicy) flowering:

Piquillo (sweet pepper): flowering and first fruits are growing

Thank you for that lovely gardening update, Prim. I believe our blog has been in dire need for a threadsaver for a while.

To give a brief update on my tech situation, I have made some progress over Easter - so much that I am typing up this post on the new PC already. Most of my commonly used software should be in working order by now, with the exception of Steam, which may need another big file transfer.

I haven't installed any poker clients yet, but the installers are ready for Pokerstars and that crypto site where I used to play OFC. I decided not to install PartyPoker, so I will most likely cash out there. It would have been a fine side room, and trying to build up a little bankroll over there would have been fun... but not with those new regulations that require me not to play any games on any other licensed room (e.g. Pokerstars) after opening the PartyPoker client. And PartyPoker definitely doesn't offer anything that would make me even consider making it my main room.

I will continue to set up the new PC, and we should see a few "practice games" of poker soon. Possibly on Wednesday, I plan to go to another karate session tomorrow evening, not sure if I would have time to start any SNGs before that, and certainly no MTTs.

As for the other series and challenges on this blog, Prim and I decided to send the Surprise Menu into an "Easter break" of sorts until next week, since we would be a little late with the planning. We also got an idea for a new cooking series on short notice, I hope we can get to it soon. The plank will also be on hold so Primrose can enjoy her last week of vacation in full without any obligations, we will be back next week there too, repeating the previous week from our schedule once again.

My pushups challenge, however, continues as normal - and I am aiming to complete it this weekend. I dutifully went through my workouts last week, and instead of doing another test to determine my current level, I simply dived straight into the next highest column in the program. Today, I cleared Day 1 after doing sets of 40, 50, 25, 25 and 50 pushups. The program for the rest of the week will be:

Wednesday: 20, 20, 23, 23, 20, 20, 18, 18 and 53+ reps
Friday: 22, 22, 30, 30, 25, 25, 18, 18 and 55+ reps

Let's wrap this up, alongside with my tech troubles.

We got guests .....

in our insect-hotel. I think this is a young little bumble bee?

Tech Update

We're almost done. Even my Steam library should now be in working order. I am really looking forward to my next gaming sessions with Primrose next week. We haven't been able to do any of those for over a month by now. Apart from that, it's mostly just some minor housekeeping that's left to do on the new PC.

But let's get right down to the part you guys care about, as followers of this blog: Pokerstars has been installed and seems to be ready, though I still need to adjust all my settings and all of that. There is probably a way to do this by importing this or that file, but it's not much of a hassle to do it manually instead. The SwC installer for that crypto website still gives my a Windows Defender warning. It's probably something I can ignore, but I guess I better talk to support about this first, to see if this is a known issue.

Just about time for my big comeback, then... those "mixed games" players have been far too comfortable for too long.

Originally posted by Primrose6789
We got guests .....

in our insect-hotel. I think this is a young little bumble bee?

should be a Steinhummel (Bombus lapidarius) Body is black and the rest is orange. They are very friendy. Living over a long time at the same place. Maybe you could make better pictures in the starting spring.

Super Mario gardening

Ludwig wants parsley!!!

Okay okay, I have to admit: I suck at planting and taking care of parsley! But Ludwig loves it! What can you do? I bought one! :f_biggrin::f_ugly:

Carrots and Red Beet make Morton strong!

That´s what he said, even though I´m sooooo fed up of that red beet!! Had so much of it over winter, but we wanna think about next fall/winter season, right? And Morton convinced me to plant them, because he loves them.

Lemmy screams for radishes (and me too)

You gotta love radishes! I love them and Lemmy too!

For her special, healthy diet!

Wendy O´Koopa is always on a "super healthy diet" - and so am I! :f_ugly::f_ugly: But we both really love salad! And there it is! This salad will later go to the big "free time farmer"-garden but the weather pretty much sucks at the moment. But in a couple of days, when the weather is better for farming, this salad (and a couple of other salads) will move to the big garden!

Bowser jr. is happy!

Because at least the "Feuerküsschen" (="fire kiss")- chili is at its final place: in my office! It´s a dwarf chili, a spicy one, and my office is just the right place for little dwarf chilis.

The princesses love kale-chips!

And so do I! Just today they reminded me on yummy kale chips in fall/winter and that it´s time to sow the kale.

I´m quite reluctant with cucumbers....

because of the "Mehltau" (a kind of mold) which always destroys the cucumber plants in July. But the Super Mario Brothers convinced me to try it again - because we love cucumber-salad!!

...and little Lemmy Koopa had one more idea!

Pumpkin!! Yumm! Planted Hokkaido, "Spaghetti-pumpkin" and "Pink Banana". I´m new to planting and taking care of pumpkin so let´s see ...

The HOT STUFF has moved ....

into their "new home". Had to repot them and they will be indoor-chilis.

Zimbabwe Bird´s Eye (spicy one from last year)

Trinidad Moruga Scorpion (HOT!! also from last year)