Author: backblasts

DATE: 2025-03-10AO: Mastodon
Q: Mr Roboto
PAX: Stock boy, Ankles, Hancock, Samsonite, LouGee, Da Vinci
FNGs: None
Count: 7

WOR:
SSHs x10
Mountain Climbers x10
Runner’s Stretch
Michael Phelps
Arm Circles x10 (forward and backward)

The Thang:
UBU – some rucked; some Murphed; some just tried to do a pull up.

Moleskine:
Recycled from Saturday’s Q, since the PAX were mutually exclusive… Don’t be okay with an okay marriage. Invest in it. Or, as LouGee put it, "Add in a buffer so it doesn’t get rougher."

COT:
Moment of silence followed by prayer.

DATE: 2025-03-08
AO: ao_flat_earth
Q: Mr Roboto
PAX: Shiplap, Banks, Jolly, Swish, TBTF, Bloomer, Spielberg, Gummi Bear, DQ, Jack, Panda Express, Cheese, Archive, Fogg
FNGs: 1 Fogg
COUNT: 15

WOR:SSHs x15
Runner’s Stretch (or whatevs)
There and Back Again

The Thang:
Game 1 – Line up by age, do Rock Paper Scissors, winners get frisbee and no pinnies
8 RPS winners v 7 RPS losers was a decisive 2-8 win for the 7.
Game 2 – Game 1 winners line up and count off, same for losers, to make new teams
8 v 7 this time was more equally matched with an 8-6 (?) win for the 8.

Moleskine:
Don’t be okay with an okay marriage.

COT:
Spielberg green card; local education of da youths Use the ‘New Backblast’ button to create a new backblast

AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @Stock boy
PAX: @Sparrow @TBTF @Samsonite @LeMond @Mr Roboto @Dumpster @Audible @Falsetto @Jailbreak @Glowstick @Ankles
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12

WOR:
Goofballs, copperhead squats, arm circles, Michael Phelps
The Thang:
Tabata, alternating 2 exercises for 8 rounds total, 40 seconds on and 15 seconds off:

1. Skull crushers and lying lumberjacks
2. BBSUs and flutter kicks
3. Popeyes and curls for the girls
4. American hammers and Freddie Mercury’s
5. Overhead presses and bent over rows

Moleskine:
It is not only a moral failing when you do what you know you should not, but when you fail to do what you know you should.
COT:
@Sparrow’s contacts in the Middle East dealing with controversy, @Mr Roboto’s friend dealing with skin cancer, and @Glowstick’s friend recovering from cancer related surgery

Backblast! UBU Monday
DATE: 2025-03-03
AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @Ankles
PAX: @Samsonite @Big Mac @Mr Roboto @Jailbreak @Sparrow @Audible @Stock boy @Dr. Phil @Ankles @:
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9

WOR:
SSH
Mountain Man Poopers
Picking Daisies
Various Leg & Arm Stretches OYO

The Thang:

UBU Monday. Some Murphed/Modified Murph at Cooties. Some ran. Some rucked.

Moleskine:

"Why Are You Rushing So Much?"

Most of us accept the standard ideas we were taught, but a major crisis can quickly change our perspective.
Perhaps someone close to us dies, and we are faced with how temporary life is. Or we have a health crisis, or an addiction crisis.
The standard ideas may come crashing down. We look closely at the rush of our lives and ask deeper questions:

"We may be industrious, but are we hurrying to a worthwhile goal? Or are we losing out in our great rush?"

These doubts can teach us personal things that broader society rarely can. Wisdom is born from pain and the willingness to learn from it.

Thought for the Day: "Today, I will allow some time to stand still and reflect."

COT: PAX prayed in quiet contemplation for @Sparrow and his acquaintances in the Middle East, as well as personal struggles we, our loved ones, or neighbors may be dealing with in life. Ended with the Serenity Prayer.

DATE: 2025-02-20
AO: #ao_mastadon
Q: @Ankles
PAX: @Tortuga @T-bone @DaVinci @TBTF @Ankles
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5

WOR: SSH, Abe Vigodas, Jack LaLannes (Abe Vigodas, but fast), Picking Daisies, OYO Runners Stretches & Michael Phelps

Thang 1: Modified F3 HooverBall

Original plan was to do modified HooverBall “F3 Wheaton” style as done previously.

Same 6lb medicine ball & volleyball net as the official HooverBall sport, but rather than keeping score, going for longest rallies possible & maintaining constant motion by having each PAX quickly switch sides immediately after heaving medicine ball over the net. PAX who are responsible for rally ending must do a quick mosey/run up Hoffa before returning to circulation.

Equipment snafu & extreme cold weather made use of volleyball net impractical, so PAX further modified. @Tortuga came up with the idea of using picnic benches to delineate the two sides. It worked so well, future HooverBall editions will likely use picnic tables in lieu of volleyball nets. However, lower barrier will likely necessitate heavier gauge of medicine ball.

Thang 2: Bull in the Ring

Glorified “monkey in the middle” style game. PAX form a circle & pass around HooverBall, as the single PAX in the middle (the “bull”) tries to disrupt the passes.

Moleskine:

Our lives can be constantly interrupted by technology & social media. Make a point to unplug for a few hours with your family & do an old school game/puzzle night. You’ll never know what important topics might bubble to the surface when given the space to do so.

COT:

A few moments of silence in reflective private contemplation, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

DATE: 2025-03-01
AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @Mr Roboto
PAX: @Stock boy @Jailbreak @Glowstick @TBTF @Falsetto @Bloomer
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7

WOR:SSHs x15
Copperhead squats x10
Runner’s stretch
Arm circles, forward and backward, x10

Thang 1:
11s around the path – Goblet Squats and Curls, don’t put down your coupon at any time
Continue around with 11s – Derkins and Dips
Mosey to pool lot…

Thang 2:
Start by one island. Lunge walk to the other island, do 12 Star Jumps. Lunge walk back, do 11. Keep going, 10, 9, … When the first PAX completes their round of 1, he calls "Final round." Everyone moseys back to the start and does their round of 1. (I didn’t think it would be that difficult!)
Same thing, but mosey back and forth with your coupon doing 12 rows (6 wth each arm), then another 12. Decrease to 10 and 10, 8 and 8, …

Moleskine:
It’s never too late to learn something about yourself and use your knowledge to improve yourself.

COT:
Crazy world. Healing. Tough jobs.

DATE: 2025-02-27
AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @DQ
PAX: @Stock boy @Jailbreak @Big Mac @Jolly @Glowstick @Samsonite @Sampler @TBTF @Flubber @Tortuga @Archive @Sparrow
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
WOR:

• Motivators
• Abe Vigodas
• Good mornings
• Runners stretch

Thang 1
Lamp post 16s around the short loop. Curls and single arm rows (both sides). Farmer carry / rifle carry in between lamp posts.

Thang 2
Move to Cooties for spittoons. First we did 400 thrusters. Then we simultaneously did 300 pull ups and 600 dips on the parallel bars.

Thang 3
A little bit of Mary, since we had mostly avoided getting wet up until this point:

• In and outs
• Bicycles forwards
• Bicycles backwards
• Hip rock and raise
• Heels to the heavens

Moleskine:
"Beware the soul sucking power of reasonableness" from The Power of Moments.
When you have the opportunity to make a moment special, put a little extra effort to make it memorable. On our ski trip this weekend, we had planned on going to the waterpark in the early evening. For various reasons, we weren’t able to get to the water park until an hour before it closed. We could have decided not to go at all and we still would have had a fun day overall, but decided to go ahead with paying too much money for an hour at the water park and ended up having a ton of fun. Emilia rode a big kid slide with me for the first time, and went absolutely bananas with adrenaline fueled excitement. It’s a special memory we wouldn’t have had if we were more reasonable and skipped out on the water park.

COT:

• @Glowstick’s friend undergoing surgery for cancer
• @Sampler’s cousin’s daughter whose cancer treatment isn’t working

AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @Stock boy
PAX: @Samsonite @Da Vinci @Glowstick @Jailbreak @Ankles
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6

WOR:
SSHs, copperhead squats, Michael Phelps, tin soldiers

The Thang:
In the parking lot, there are 8 cones listing a rep count and exercise. The PAX complete the exercises with a coupon at the first cone. Then, moving counter-clockwise, they do exercises at the other cones, making a loop until reaching the original cone. Then they rifle carry the coupon to the next cone, doing that cone’s exercises with the coupon. The exercises are:

1. 45 Calf raises
2. 40 Good mornings/Romanian deadlifts
3. 35 Squats
4. 30 BBSUs
5. 25 Merkins/derkins
6. 20 American hammers
7. 15 Jump squats/thrusters
8. 10 Burpees/blockees

Moleskine:
Remember things you’ve committed to, and take them seriously, like being the site Q who’s supposed to make sure the Q slots are all filled.

COT:
@Manhole’s dad @Mr Roboto’s mom, @SAGA’s father-in-law, @Crack’s friend’s dad

DATE: 2025-02-25
AO: #ao_tar_pit
Q: @DQ
PAX: @Tortuga @Big Mac @Panhandle @NATTY
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
WOR:

• SSH
• Goofballs
• Good mornings
• Abe Vigodas

The Thang:
Partner up and mosey around the lake. One partner has 2 coupons, one partner has a sandbag.

Partner 1 has the sandbag. He walks 20 steps, performs an exercise, repeato. The exercise alternated between 10 squats and 10 side to side shoulder press.

Partner 2 has the coupons. He completes 10 reps (1-is-1) of each of the following exercises:

• Burpees
• Overhead press
• Merkins (the uneven kind)
• Bonnie blairs
• Swimmers press

Once Partner 2 completes all exercises, he farmer carries to the partner with the sandbag and the partners switch. We repeated this almost all the way around the lake, and carried the objects back to the flag where we finished with flutter kicks.

Moleskine:
Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard.
Choose your hard.

Obesity is hard. Being fit is hard.
Choose your hard.

Being in debt is hard. Being financially disciplined is hard.
Choose your hard.

Communication is hard. Not communicating is hard.
Choose your hard.

Life will never be easy. It will always be hard. But we can choose our hard.

COT:

• Panhandle’s niece finishing the school year strong

AO: #ao_mastodon
Q: @Stock boy
PAX: @Falsetto @TBTF @Bloomer @The wet burrito
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5

WOR:
Motivators, copperhead squats, tin soldiers, bat wings

The Thang:
Paula Abduls (2 steps forward, 1 step back) potluck: PAX in rotation call out 10 reps which are performed at the current lamppost, then PAX run 2 lampposts down and perform the same exercise for 10 reps, then Bernie back to the previous lamppost where the next PAX continues the rotation.

Moleskine:
Have patience and extend grace to others; think about when you’re driving and someone does something that impedes you and you’re tempted to start ranting.

COT:
@Falsetto and the upcoming musical at his school, @The wet burrito’s daughter performing at that musical, safety for @TBTF on his upcoming trip, and sanity for his M as she manages the house on her own.