u/WasabiCrush

I’m not sure if it’s my increased job workload or a thinning attention span, but I’m dealing with some exhaustion lately when sitting down to play a game. My brain isn’t amazing, so any hiatus of significant length has me starting from scratch in the rule books. Odd sensation to have memories of a self that was flying unassisted around a system that now feels like it’s in a different language. Who was that guy.

p.p.s. please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in thebak yard.

This evening, I pulled out Bag of Dungeon and had a perfectly decent time of it. There’s not a ton going on there, but it got me chucking dice and exploring tiles again. Escape the Dark Castle I’ll play, too, and I’ve got some of the D&D games, (too big of a footprint right now), but I’m looking for something else in the fantasy neighborhood that won’t require any major rule deciphering. I bounced off the iconography of Tiny Epic Dungeons and One Deck I just wasn’t a fan of at all, so those are out. Gloomhaven: JOTL I’ve got, too, but I’ve never been super satisfied with it. Still can’t put a finger on what my problem is with that one. Massive Darkness I sold.

Thoughts on this? Help a dumb brother out.

The initial intent, I believe, was for the son, Chad, to gather and repair a family fractured by partisan politics. Which appears to have been somewhat successful, particularly now that the father, Bob, has been sidelined. He was a malignant presence and made for some truly vile listening.

This adjustment then landed us a platform where the mother, Mary Lou, visits affably with her two children, Chad and Haley. She's a bricked-in MAGA acolyte and each episode consists of the kids pushing back on this.

I've been following along with interest and processing it for what it is - entertainment - but I finally hit a level of exhaustion with how repetitive it's become. Every episode now consists of Chad flaying out the shortcomings of the current administration and then asking what Mary Lou thinks. Fairly often she's in disagreement with what she's hearing and she'll saying something like, "That's not good" or "That's an X", which is then followed by some celebratory recognition from her kids. This was a promising advancement initially and her growing criticisms were tallied towards some dreamy end total that would finally get her to denounce her president, but that's not what's happening.

Now, the show's in a bit of a mindless rhythm. There was a point where I'd wondered if Mary Lou was a malleable presence molded by Bob and eventually her children, but I'm realizing now that she's likely just placating as a sort of peaceful obstinance. She gets hammered repeatedly and will occasionally push back, but her primary tactic at this point, (and I have to assume there's some weariness in this), is to simply move things along.

And I know I'm not making any groundbreaking points here, but it's interesting to me how quickly I went from passively listening to what I hoped would be a family meeting in the middle to wondering if they've simply locked onto a formula that's only measurable success is longevity.

Mary Lou ain't bending.

I purchased a used touring bike in October of 2024, rode it semi-regularly through 2025 to the tune of around 800 miles, and then started hammering a bit harder on it this year. I'm at around 800 miles for 2026 and my distances and speeds are consistently increasing. (These certainly aren't impressive numbers in the biking world - I've seen what you people can do - but it's encouraging to know my ceiling's continually climbing.)

What is impressive, however, is seeing what it's doing for my heart health. I'm a fairly slender 51 years old and have always been in okay shape, but I'm also 28 years into a stressful career that has caused me cardiovascular concerns. I've been in the prehypertension range for longer than I'd care to admit.

By about the middle of the Summer last year if I was riding steep inclines in hot weather, my heart rate was wandering into some sketchy territory. 190-200. (Learning this may be too extreme of a number - I use an exercise watch, so take this as you will.) I'd back off, calm down, and work my way along 180. I was also seeing a resting heart rate at the time of around 85.

I've seen a massive improvement this Summer. I rode a 50-miler in high temps this weekend that was teeming with climbs, (I live on a roller coaster of a landscape), and could not get my heart rate above 165. I've been monitoring my resting heart rate before bed every night and it's a reliable 60. I'm still no poster child for cardiovascular excellence, but these numbers are better and I feel better.

Again, it’s exercise, so I know I'm not blowing any minds with this breakdown - cardio works - but I think it's important for anyone getting into this hobby for health reasons to understand just how impressive a workout it is.

Plus, it's a blast. For my entire adult life I've put effort towards being better. I've tried jogging, I've purchased home exercise equipment, and I've had gym memberships. All of that felt like a chore. With biking, though, all of the health benefits, (mental, too), are happening idly in the background while I'm up front having fun. It wasn't until recently that it dawned on me how much of an impact is being made. I'm happier, stronger, sleeping better, and, for the first time in probably a decade, feeling like I've managed to slow the aging process down. Worth mentioning, too, that it keeps me off my phone...

For what this is worth, I guess. It's just a cool hobby.

I'm sure for some of you what I'm about to say is already common knowledge, but Joey Isbell has opened a fantastic bike shop at 1111 1st Avenue North.

My bike is on the older side and was purchased used from another local shop in 2024. I brought it to Shift for repairs and a tune up this Spring and it's still riding better than the day I bought it, which is nuts because I have put a lot of miles on this thing.

He's affordable, he's quick, (seriously quick), and the environment is friendly. It's just an excellent vibe in there.

He sells supplies and bikes, too. In fact, I saw a Facebook post from Shift this week where he's offering free delivery within 200 miles with the purchase of a new bike.

I should mention, also, that I don't know Joey outside of visits to the shop and I've no skin in his business. I'm just a local cyclist passing along an excellent experience with a smaller shop. If you're looking for a place to take your machine, I cannot recommend this dude enough.

Because I've seen so many people wondering how the eBay process goes, I thought I'd relay my experience as a new contributor to the ACEO community. Briefly, I created six ACEO pieces and posted them all on eBay within only a day or two of each other. My primary art style is minimal/abstract landscapes, but I also had a single cartoonish caricature I'd thrown in.

Each piece was listed at a minimum auction price of $4.99 with a buy-now price of $14.99. All six sold, with only one selling at the buy-now price.

My descriptions may need a little work. The format I basically landed on was:

ACEO Original Abstract Landscape | "Title of piece" | Ink & Pastel | 3.5 x 2.5

Where I got a little confused was how to categorize the items. I've heard that "sports cards" is a good route, but there's quite a lot to choose from throughout the listing process and I believe I varied my input piece-to-piece. Some clarification here would be nice, if anyone has any input.

The money made was varied, too. It costs me $1.27 to make and mail each ACEO. This includes envelopes, small thank you cards, sleeves, stamps and art supplies. I'll break down how each piece did and include what eBay charged me. It'll look like this:

SOLD FOR | AFTER EBAY FEE | TOTAL MADE AFTER SUBRACTING THE $1.27

1. $14.99 | $12.55 | $11.28
2. $5.40 | $3.96 | $2.69
3. $19.00 | $16.02 | $15.52
4. $22.27 | $17.07 | $15.80
5. $5.41 | $3.95 | $2.68
6. $9.50 | $7.91 | $6.64

• Before costs, I sold six ACEO's for $76.57 for an average of $12.76 per.
• After eBay's fees and my costs, I made a total of $54.61 for an average of $9.10 per.

One thing I'm not factoring in is time. I'm only doing this as a hobby outside of my normal job so I'm truly excited to be selling anything at all - it really has been a blast communicating with people who seem so genuinely interested in what I'm creating - but I can see where it could be difficult for someone to get into if they've a more intense focus on results.

Experiences artist-to-artist will of course vary, (especially considering the talent I see out there), so I'm certainly not trying to stamp out a template based off of these few sales, but I thought it might help newer people like me get an idea of what this all looks like.

I sold all six, though, which was more than enough encouragement to increase the gravitational pull of my art desk. I want to get better at these and I want to engage with customers. I am having fun.

On a final note, I think a social media presence is very important. I joined every ACEO Facebook group I could, got on this Reddit sub, and linked my eBay account to my IG page. I posted my items in all of these locations once my listings went live and interacted with folks as the notifications came through.

And it's my opinion that said interactions should be happening sales or no. It's been such a wholesome experience so far. I'm following new artists, hearing amazing stories, and chatting with some truly decent human beings. It's a neat community and worth every comment.

I'm still learning and definitely still struggling with a few things, but I'm getting there.

First off, I’m having a difficult time getting a good photo up, so I know that needs dialed in. I think the actual piece is better than this looks. I’m wanting natural light photos and have been experimenting with different windows and times. It’ll get fixed.

I’m curious about how I categorized, described it, and what anyone’s thoughts are on my pricing.

I’m not at a point where I’m ready to start broadcasting my work on social media, but I do need some help to get everything cleaned up and comfortable.

Any advice you have I’ll take. Thank you!!

I’ve never been on eBay, so I’m wondering if conducting my ACEO selling will be fine through an application. Or is a laptop best for this?

Thank you!

Happened around 1:15. He was southbound in the northbound lane of Governors, then crossed over to the southbound lane without looking first. The car in front of me, southbound, nearly ran the kid over. The kid turned to see where his buddy was during that maneuver, and it looked like that was when he noticed the car he'd swerved in front of. Seemed he found some humor in it.

He was on a dark e-bike or possible an e-scooter. Dark helmet, possibly dark clothes. Maybe 12 or 13 years old. He was riding with another kid on a white e-bike or e-scooter with a white helmet and glasses. About the same age. The kid on the white scooter was easily doing 20mph on the sidewalk - they both had these things pegged - and there were people on the sidewalk, so I rolled my window down and told him to use the bike path.

I have a difficult time blaming the kids for this stuff because they're kids. Speed's fun, kids are dumb.

It's you parents handing your children motorized vehicles that need to start paying attention. Those were someone's kids out there today and they weren't operating those machines safely at all. One was dancing with traffic, the other was endangering pedestrians.

And this isn't an isolated incident. The High Sierra subdivision is teeming with kids on motorized bikes and scooters. I see a lot of them doing it correctly, (thank you to those parents), but I'm also seeing a lot who aren't. All it will take is one driver glancing at their cell phone to run over an e-rider, and it's coming. Had the driver in front of me today not been paying attention and braked, I'm convinced he'd have ran that kid over.

If that's not enough, (and it should be), there's no shortage of statistical reporting from reputable sources about the increasing injuries and deaths associated with e-bikes and e-scooters. It's getting worse.

A child might not have the maturity or reaction time on board to operate something moving that fast. This shouldn't even need to be said, but you, as a parent, have a responsibility to make an honest evaluation of your kid's abilities prior to buying them an e-bike or e-scooter. If you're not convinced they can process their surroundings safety at such speeds and you get them one anyway, you're rolling some stupid dice.

Misophonia has complicated my life. I'm not complaining - it ain't cancer - but ANC has become very important to me.

I see that the Space A40 buds are on sale for $45, which is a great price point, but I'm wanting to see what your experiences are with their ANC.

My primary concerns are wind noise while walking, (I have the Anker P30i's - they're terrible in the wind), and issues like barking neighborhood dogs, foot-tapping coworkers, etc. I know I can't filter this stuff out completely, but I do have a pair of aging/failing Jabra Elite 4's that have done an acceptable job of knocking the edge off.

Does anyone have any input on this? I don't expect to draft a miracle on a $45 dollar investment, but if I can get a solid year out of something that gets the job done, that's good enough for me.

Thank you!

I’m particular about what gets added. It’s a slow process, but I do add to it.

I get that these little electric bikes (motorcycles) are a blast - I’d have loved to have ridden one in my youth - but there are definitely some parents rolling the dice, here.

These kids, and I’m talking young, simply don’t have the reaction time or experience needed to control something at these speeds. But, they’re driving right out into traffic anyway. And they’re such a small/low presence.

I’m paying attention and I know other motorists are paying attention, but all it’ll take is one of your unmonitored children pulling out in front of some lifted pickup with a driver glued to a cell phone to make a tragedy out of a good time.

I have to assume anyone who’s gotten to a point they they’re letting a 10yo zip around on the city streets is beyond reach - it’s a terrible decision out the gate and no amount of warnings or stats will get through - but I’m pushing the issue anyway.

I’ll surprised if we don’t see an e-bike vs auto fatality this year.

We taxpayers are on the hook for $165,000. Do you think it’s justified?

Saw a kid this evening flying up Fantan on the sidewalk. Little black motorcycle on that pedestrian-busy stretch by the Skyview baseball field. Zero concern for his surroundings.

Watched another one on what looked like an e-bike pull out in front of a car by Ben Steele. Zipping along with no helmet.

It’s no skin off my back either way - the medical field levels up with practice - but I’d imagine the transition from raising a feral son to watching him drive a sip-and-puff wheelchair is going to feel fairly aggressive.