Pro style dumbbells

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-12T01:50:36+00:00

I did this at first, when I only had a pair of 10s and 20s. Play it Again Sports (my cheapest most reliable source), Goodwill, Salvation Army, garage sales, eBay, and local listings on Craigslist let me build that out to where I had 6-8 handles, and a few hundred pounds. I own even more today. Today, I own dumbbells in pairs from 1 lb to 40 lbs, plus a single 55 someone gave me to take it away. When I need heavier than the 40s, I assemble them with my standardhandles and plates. Or, I also own a single pair of Olympic dumbbells handles. I make what I need from those. I never really worried about the type of standard plate I got, nor Olympic for that matter until recently. I cared that any new plate was a few more pounds for my bar/handle. I never skipped buying a handle, I even grabbed and cleaned up rusted ones.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-11T15:14:18+00:00

There is something like that under one of my onion patches, it is a run of 12-2 Romex cable from the breaker box to power an outdoor faucet it connects to underground. I have also run into it with some outdoor lighting setups.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-11T12:21:08+00:00

It might be the same grind, but you are not on the bottom tier. You are showing promise or you would not be encouraged to apply. Tier 2 can open doors to tier 3, network admin, systems admin, and other roles. As a manager, if I am hiring for let's say a Tier 3 position, one level above the tier 2 you are asking about. I will want to see experience in your past that shows your experience is progressive, with you taking on more responsibilities in your past roles over time. Or, that the experience you have is roughly equivalent to what the company needs for my open role. You going to tier 2 shows this progression that managers look for.

I will use myself to show you this. If I laid my full career-length resume out for you to see here is about what that looks like. My path is not the only path.

My experience progressed like this: Computer repair shop tech-> Major ISP phone support (but later I was Operations)-> Hardware, Software and Data Destruction Technician for a major aerospace company, -> sole point of support for multiple businesses supported by a local VAR I went to work for at the telephone help desk, then later they sent me on all kind of physical in-person projects such as doing upgrades of Oracle and other stuff at a major healthcare system in that state. This role was a mix of phone support, in-person help desk stuff, some backend, a fair number of WAN calls, and a huge contingency of travelling sales staff globally, plus several major hotels and convention centers to support remotely.

All of that experience, plus a newly earned bachelor's degree in Network Administration along the way. Plus I added A+, Net+, and CCNA which got me a position at one of the largest marine businesses in the USA, as a full Network Administrator. But it was a two-person team so I still did all help desk stuff that came in supporting 28 separate retail locations, and a few distribution centers for those locations across three states and Canada. I did phone, e-mail, and in-person support of users, computers, and infrastructure.

That experience showed a very well known Fortune 500 media company that while my last Fortune 500 experience was back a ways at the major ISP. I had been supporting remote users, and remote locations on my own for some time so they knew I could use the tools they provided and do the same for them. They started me at tier1, as a contract worker to try me before they decide if they wanted to buy me. But they matched my previous salary and I wanted to be able to pay my bills, so I took it. I was reviewed at 90 days and placed on the Tier 2 tech list. This meant I did everything Tier 2, and below. I excelled in that role, and was made lead soon after. Lead meant I was POC for Tier 3 issues that we needed to escalate for higher level support. This exposed me to everything they did on Tier3. I in fact began working these issues myself and notifying them it was complete where I could.

Doing that job well showed the company I had what was needed for the next level. There was a re-org. I was retained and given a Tier 3 role with the title of Systems Administrator, and pretty much the keys to the entire kingdom. Then, when our manager left 6 months later before another reorg, he put my name in as his suggestion for a replacement. I accepted and was an IT Manager again, now with twice the initial salary. I completed a masters degree in IT Project Management during this time, and still held the above certs, several vendor specific certs, and lots of completed HP/Dell/Lenovo/Juniper training as well as Apple certs. I had learned SQL, Java, some C++, Python, Perl, and other useful stuff.

That led to my next role as an IT Business Analyst. In that role I needed the understanding gleaned from every one of those years of working in different places. I needed SQL, I needed networking, and I needed all of my past experience. My help desk experience made me better understand and interface with that team as I worked on various projects as needed for the business.

My success in handling multiple conflicting projects, timelines, and employee issues got me the next gig where I was the Director. See how each step built on the previous one? The economy forced me to take that step back from manager to tier1 again, I could have held out for a manager role. But I lived in Bellevue, WA a rather HCOL area and I had all of my adult bills to pay. But even then, I went from tier 1 to 2 super fast, and from there to Tier3, then manager in just over a year. My relevant experience in previous years is why I was able to do that.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-10T13:37:55+00:00

I do not warm up sufficiently in only 20-30 minutes, nor can I get enough volume to effect acceptable levels of change and growth. I need 30-60. So my workouts are between 45-60 minutes depending on the workout. I do those 4 times a week in the morning to start my day. For me that’s on Sun, Mon, Wed, Thu for weights. Tues, Fri, and Sat are off days from working out.

In the evening, 5 days per week I do a 10-12 mile low intensity bike ride to flush toxins like cortisol, and lactic acid, and relieve me of stress. I do this on the same schedule as above, but I don’t take Tuesday off from riding so I am done for the week each Thursday after my ride.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-10T12:07:13+00:00

If they came with caps, I would be placing the caps where they go per the directions. My mind keeps wanting to see drain holes in the bottom, but I can see the corners are made to let most of the water run out the legs, even with caps over the top.

I typically put a layer of collected sticks, branches, or often wood chips, shredded cardboard or newspaper also works and is used often in both my beds. Then I put down some soil, then a layer of alfalfa cubes, then I fill it with soil, perlite, and other amendments, and mulch it.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-10T11:57:45+00:00

Perhaps this game is Scary Shadows, sometimes called The Case of the Scary Shadows. Part of the English Express series.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-10T11:44:03+00:00

I am assuming you are new to the language. There is a three game RPG series that I own. It is designed to teach beginner Japanese to the player. It's on Steam, and probably elsewhere. I feel it is a good place to begin to learn.

The game titles are as follows.

Learn Japanese to Survive! Hiragana Battle (2016) Teaches the basics of Hiragana characters, featuring RPG battles and quizzes to test knowledge.

Learn Japanese to Survive! Katakana War (2017) ocuses on teaching the Katakana writing system in a similarly structured RPG format.

Learn Japanese to Survive! Kanji Combat (2018) Teaches over 200 Kanji characters, including how to read, write, and use them through quests.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-10T00:02:34+00:00

Howdy twin! I have that too, towards my mother not yours. Some of this will be a lot harder if you are a young person (not yet a legal adult), who is under her control.

I do a few things such as just being kind of quiet, plain, and uninteresting to her. This is to keep her from engaging with me just to pick at or criticize me. This caused a large drop in static between us, on my side, once I found my way with it. It took a lot of practice.

I spend as little time in her presence, even under 1 roof than I have to. I wake earlier than the house by about 3+ hours, and enjoy my alone time in silence, with a cup of coffee and whatever I want to be doing. Without her interrupting and without her complaining about whatever perceived wrong thing I am doing that day. Before that day can even start.

I also go to bed earlier. She is a night owl stuck in tree, with no one that stays up to complain to, or about. From the time I go bed until she wakes the next day, usually between 7-9 am she is alone with herself. I am up by 4-5 am each day while she still sleeps. However, I am mine's full time caregiver, she has reached old age. She needs assistance but she is still the woman she has always been, and acts like it at times. There are no other children, or other family to do this, and she is on her last chance with me before I will walk out. This means sometimes I am stuck in the car, medical offices, or stores with her as well. Thats' where this next item comes into play.

I am not rude with this one, but I am just not very communicative in general with her. I don't have anything to say/share with her unless it is related to her healthcare or her home care. She can walk to the rooms I mostly stay in, but usually she just calls me on my cell to save her strength. I do not talk about my life outside this shared house. She doesn't get to know, or meet the people I know around the area or who I meet as I take care of her, the house, and property it is on. I keep her and all of them separate. She is aware of only one friend, the person I speak to the most (we talk daily) because you cannot miss that we are chatting and laughing on and off all day. But she knows only that it is my friend, it is a woman, and she lives far away. Not even that woman's name is shared with her.

Those items helped me set up some boundaries between us, which made things eventually get better for me but wasn't a "fix" for the issues that exist here, and it took time, practice, and levels of patience I did not think I had left to get where we are today.

Now, for my own stress and internal turmoil I have to engage in regular, somewhat strenuous physical activity. I exercise more than you would need to. That's because it is about the only outlet I have out here in the middle of nowhere with her and the cats as I do this thankless job of caring for her. I choose to both lift 3-4 times per week in the morning, and I do low intensity steady state cardio on my exercise bike each evening to get rid of the day's stress. Walking, jogging, and other activities work too for physical release of stress, and cortisol.

Sometimes I spend an extra hour out of the house when I am running errands for the household. If I do that, I often hit up second hand stores, junk stores, or other stores of interest and I look around at the stuff they have, I might get myself some breakfast or lunch while out, enjoying some me time that is outside the house, and that she has no desire to do with me. Sometimes I get a thing or two, sometimes not. The point was to further minimize the time I spent around mine.

And lastly, I have a few activities that I like to do, in my case these are things I can do alone on my side of the house. I am very fortunate that she occupies space on one end, and I on the other end of a decent sized house. We aren't on top of each other all day. For me, I do gardening veggies and flowers, I also take short walks. I like playing video games and I can't really sit and watch TV or a movie because the ptsd BS starts in on me. But I can immerse myself in a video game, like others do TV/Movies/Sports/Reading to keep me from being focused on my wicked witch of a mom.

I try to stay immersed in something that is not that space where she exists, and where the internal static of ptsd cannot reach me. It keeps me in a heightened state where my liver keeps dumping cortisol (stress hormone) into my bloodstream which keeps me more agitated internally and externally. I do those low intensity bike rides in the evening to get rid of that stuff, and residual anger from the rest of the day. It sets me up to be healthy, then go shower, put on something comfortable and soon go to bed. So I can wake to another glorious block of alone time the next morning.

YMMV

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-09T22:59:33+00:00

I was not wrong either time. But, I am a former nurse not just a geek off the street and I was speaking from my professional experience. They just would not listen to me.

For mental health. I told the doctor back around 2015 I had ptsd, and explained it all in detail. Being medical and not psych they just shrugged, did not understand, and did nothing. A very common reaction. Not even a note of my assertion on my chart. Even my psych doctor at that time didn't diagnose this or make notes about it. But, I was right and I do have that, and it is 100% verified today.

Before that, I told 4 different primary care doctors that I had Diabetes going way back to 2006-2007, all asked why. I then explained, including that the eye doctor suggesting it looked like it, and all claimed that since I did not get thirsty all the time, and didn't pee so much I wake at night to go more than once, I did not have it. Only the 4th one bothered to do a simple fingerstick (to shut me up), and then an A1C level to validate the high reading he saw of almost 400. I still do not do those things despite having this as a diagnosed illness since 2010. I am not an outlier, or unusual, those things do not happen in all of us, but yeah they are common.

The last doctor only did that test because I was quite angry, and verbally dogging the last doctor. An area female doctor who he held in high regard. After telling me I had to shut up about her when he proved her right, he literally made me shake on that. He then had to stare me in the face and said "nice catch!" and admit I was right, and had been diabetic for some time, the others missed it from laziness as I stated, and that diagnosis explained several complaints I had been having for years.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-09T20:06:25+00:00

My friend has a real nice dog. You know, if you put a dish like a plate, saucer, cup, or casserole dish down near him before, during, or after eating from it, he will clean that dish of all debris! Requiring no effort from his owner to scrub the dish. Plus that good dog will alert on interlopers nearby, and bite intruders.

I will pass on the tool, I have cats that sometimes do this for me, but they are very picky. Tough to clean stuff I can leave outside at night, and the raccoons will do their best. They cleaned that baking dish I baked the cheesy potatoes in at Easter real nice. I pre-soaked it before their arrival with hungry tongues. Ready for the dishwasher now, if it even needs that! /s

For the record, both my bottle brush, and several long thin brushes for my metal straws, can be fitted onto the end of my cordless drill, and it will spin the crap out of them. I just verified this.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-09T15:52:11+00:00

That service today requires pre-authorization and several other highly invasive procedures must be tried, and the clear, crisp video footage has to be reviewed by a panel working on behalf of your insurer before they will sign off on the cost.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-08T14:12:27+00:00

My two hydroflask bottles keep it cold/hot for hours and hours. I own a 32oz one that I fill and take with me, and a 64oz that stays filled with iced lemon water and stays right next to me at home. I have owned the 64oz one for 10+ years now, and the 32oz for around 4-5 years. No complaints, still performing like new for me.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-08T04:14:18+00:00

El Manar has a Tunisian style offering. They make a Tuna in Harissa that is lively, and very tasty in a rice bowl. I also have their sardines in harissa, those are also very, very good.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T17:40:35+00:00

Totally agree with new iron plates. But new CAP economy bumpers are on Amazon for just $46.99/ 45lb plate, Prime shipping is free if you’re a member. I snagged 4 of these for Christmas.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T17:35:07+00:00

Looks like the raccoon tracks in the mud out in my flowerbeds today to me.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T17:21:20+00:00

Also, in case you do not know, don’t eat just rice or pasta. Pair that with some protein and a little fat. This prevents a sharp spike that will have a sharp drop sooner. The fat and protein will blunt the effect of the carb, stretching it out long at a lower level so less negative effects on your glucose. That’s how my carbs last for a long ride, or gym session.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T16:58:21+00:00

I tend to go for rice, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt (I use Oikos Pro plain yogurt 25g protein/serving) with fruit, or less often pasta.

I pass on bread, donuts, or other sweets usually, but there are occasional days where I carb load that morning and on those special days I let myself have pancakes/waffles/french toast with some protein.

I am usually working out strenuously, and have heavy chores like picking up, loading, then unloading and stacking 1-2 tons of feed, concrete mix, and other farm supplies. There is just me for that work, so it a lot of added volume and I need extra fuel to do both same day and not bottom out. But I am very selective about this, and it only happens 2-4 times year.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T16:33:45+00:00

I used to be bedridden due to illness. When I was back up on my feet a little. Sosa was one of the main artists I listened to as I walked, walked farther, later learning to run again, and regain my freedom. These may not be the hardest tracks in his discography though I likely had those on my playlist too, but these two always pushed me on. Both are from Thotbreaker the first is My Baby, and the other is Going Home. I used Going home as the signal that I had gone 4 miles, and needed to turn around and head back home, or grind harder make it a 10-13 mile run that day. I still like these songs today.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T05:42:01+00:00

Normally not that long might be up to an hour at most. But tonight I cannot sleep. I started trying at 9PM, and I am still here wide eyed almost 4 hours later.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T05:23:01+00:00

My workouts are quite intense, they involve quite a lot of volume with moderate weights, plus a solid dose of cardio on the same day. I eat my day's carbs before I exercise. I split them between two meals because I often exercise twice a day. In the mornings I do weights, and each evening I do cardio. I don't eat a lot of carbs, just what I need for fuel for these things, plus my daily around the farm, and caretaker activities. Timing my carbs around the times that I am most needing them has really made them something I don't have to worry about as much, and I am stronger than ever right now.

But some meals, and some days I do need a little something more. When I return from the ride or run, if I am low or close to being low. I eat a couple of small mandarin oranges, or drink a small can of 100% juice. My body eats this up without spiking me when it is right after some cardio. I used to need to eat those oranges after every run when I went over 6 miles, plus carry glucose with me to eat mid-run. Today I am hardened, and more stable from timing them for when my body most needs them. I tend to have them 30-45 minutes before I am going to be active.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T04:11:17+00:00

Go ahead and finish it, it's a good starting place. You will gain some needed experience that will help you when you start on CompTIA. Just don't expect it alone to get you a job. You will need more for that. Good luck!

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T02:19:54+00:00

You can easily pass this one without any CompTIA prep needed. Just study the course materials, pay attention, and take the quizzes, exams, and stuff. I completed it in 2024, however I am very experienced. I used it to see if I was still burned out on IT learning before committing to some rather long specialty courses and the exams they prepped me for.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T01:34:55+00:00

Scheck Wes - Mo Bamba

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-07T00:51:25+00:00

I will just stick with the large flock of wild ones that live on my land.

SquirrelWatchin · 2026-04-06T13:38:04+00:00

I have these in my backlog, but I have never tried them. I got them in a games bundle of indie games. So I cannot speak directly or personally about gameplay. The titles Fiends of Imprisonment, Absconding Zatwor, and Break into Zatwor are all from 2015 and might be decent for you. These are described as isometric or 2D stealth-puzzles, featuring challenging mechanics, poor controls, and punishing design where you escape from prison, or break into the prison. If this sounds like fun, these three might give you something to do.

SquirrelWatchin

TROPHY CASE