Only three projects left before I've finished my pile of shame. 63 minis left to go.

So it was around 2016 when I started to feel like I was in a rut when it came to gaming. There was a lot going on with games as service type models, and I just wasn't excited about anything related to gaming.

Anyway, I let my PC lie dormant for a few years, and took up a couple of new hobbies like playing D&D IRL.

Jump ahead five years and I started feeling really nostalgic for some of my old favourites: Dark Souls, Total War, management sims, and RPGs. It was awesome to be able to just pick up where I'd left off with the same PC, the same library of 5-10 year old games, and a renewed sense of interest in a collection I'd forgotten about.

For example, I put nearly 200 hours into Rome II Total War, a game I'd written off not long after it came out, but has been greatly improved by mods since I played it ten years ago. There are also newer titles like Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla, which I'd completely missed when they came out. I've also enjoyed Elden Ring, and I'm thinking about finally trying out Cyberpunk 2077 now that it's had 3 more years of development to fix everything.

The patient gamer mindset is honestly such a great approach for this hobby. I really recommend taking a break from gaming if you feel like you've lost your passion for it. As much as I enjoy gaming, you can burn out on it, and it's a great feeling to rediscover your favourite titles all over again when you return years later.

Just a couple of units left to paint and this project will be done.

2023 has been pretty bad for me injury wise. Between several niggling ankle and knee injuries, I was really starting to feel like I was missing out.

Anyway, I took a three-week break, and now things are looking better. I've got a whole 15-minute warm up and stretch routine figured out, and started off doing shorter distances for a few days.

I'm always amazed how after just a few weeks my fitness levels go way down. I'll hopefully get back to my 'peak' fitness level before the end of the year, but for now I'll be taking it at a slower pace.

I have terrible teeth. The ones at the front are okay, but my molars are a disaster. They've been giving me trouble for about ten years. At this point they're literally falling apart.

About a year ago, I decided to start saving up to get implants. It's a big job, and expensive, but I just don't want to deal with them anymore. Replacing them with fake teeth that will last until I'm dead is a great alternative.

So I went to the dentist to get them removed, and he won't do it. He says they can be repaired and that I just need to book 12 appointments to have a root canal, a bunch of crowns put on, and a filling. I know full well that these god-damn things are going to start falling apart again as soon as he's done.

For some reason he refuses to contemplate removing them. I'm going to have to travel to a different country now to have the work done because the dentist at the end of my road is too much of a fucking pussy to do it.

This one really gets me: commuting by car is such an inefficient way of getting around that every major radio station feels obliged to constantly update their listeners about how gridlocked the roads are.

Not one mention is given to alternative transport options that might actually help reduce traffic. They just treat it like a weather forecast. Nothing can be done to prevent it. It's worth saying that radio is still really popular where I live, so it's a daily reminder for me of how deeply fucking carbrained my culture has become.

Really happy to have checked off this project. I'm doing my best to finally conquer my backlog this year. 77 minis left to go!