but my anxiety is worse than ever (as I knew it may be)

I had the same, I was like a cat on a hot tin roof with shaky hands for a couple of days.

I’ve had a kind of compulsion to try and ‘improve’ myself/life and have now read God knows how many self help books and listen to a lot of podcasts on health and wellbeing etc. Result is I seem to be continually setting myself targets for exercise amounts or trying to build habits or routines which end up being impossible to stick to (can anyone fit in healthy eating, meditation, cold water treatment, yoga, breathing techniques, journaling, getting up at 5 am etc etc into their lives alongside a busy job and family life??).

I’m now beginning to think that all these attempts to improve myself are actually the opposite of what I need to be doing.

Hello, I’m well known around these parts for being a classic overthinker and wound a bit too tight :)

I too did all of the above and have quite a self help library.  I deliberately took on a stressful job recently at 52.

The self help books didn’t calm me down, and I too couldn’t understand why.  It was only when I stopped reading / buying them out of frustration and had a break for a while that it became clear; reading them with the expectation that things would change at the end of the book was incorrect, but owning a collection of reference hints and tips I can dip in and out of is invaluable – I often now remember something, dip into a paragraph, find a good idea and use it without expectation.    The collection and reading of them was just an initial awareness.

That and realising that you can’t control everything in life so why bother worry / argue / opinionate outside  of your needs for work, just relax and have a break for yourself – create a space, time or whatever just for you.   Watch a movie alone with a beer, sit in the park and have your lunch for an hour – whatever changes the pace for you.

Obviously, far better for anxiety and depression once you are over the initial getting used to it.

I don’t feel my 50mg has made any difference tbh, now 6 months in.

I went up to 100 before it worked

Oh…. I’d better spend the next week trying to book a review appointment for about six weeks time then…

Varifocals always gave me a headache, so I stick to contacts for daily mid/long vision with reading glasses when I need them.

For the trail / away from home “should I need them” instances I have emergency Thinoptics fold up reading lenses on my key ring, £19 from Amazon

Well, the 5kx above doesn’t move around at all no matter how hard I shake my wrist, bear in mind you can do up an MN strap pretty tight and it’s still comfortable due to the elasticity, and that same elasticy is pulling the Watch to sit very flush on your wrist anyway.

The material is also basically a loop a la NATO, and the friction of it – even under the caseback – stops it rotating.    When the new ones arrive I’ll stick one on the Panerai for the acid test and report back.  :)

Buy a cheap one from eBay/amazon and give it a go.

Blimey £470 and they put Sapphire in it.  They finally listened.   That’s quite compelling, if I hadn’t just put the above 5kx/ strap combo together I was thinking of selling the 5kx, and I’d replace it with that if I didn’t have the King Sam & slim turtle & Arnie already lol.

I’d be quite compelled by that as a beater / holiday watch TBH.

Edit: available as backorder with 10% off at Firstclasswatches.

Talking of cheap fun, whilst bored at home with man flu I rediscovered MN straps:

Bloody hell how did I forget the comfort and infinite adjustability!   Just ordered a couple more, £12 amazon recommendations, most notably a dark grey / light grey stripe for the Slim Turtle.

I did yes although I’m not buying currently. I like that Ti diver also, but if I had to buy one it’d be the GMT Diver with a QR bracelet – a whole lot of watch for effectively sub £200.   Jnr is 16 in Jan and im thinking that could be a good gift, especially as he likes to travel.

I have the Galibier Izoerd(?), another positive vote here and runs true to chest size.

And as if by confidence on the same day Timex launch a quartz dive gmt at half the price.

yes quartz, but still sapphire and 200m.

https://timex.co.uk/pages/search-results?q=Deepeater

Did you ever get any decent answer out of your coach(es) as to where they thought you were at with fatigue?

Yep, we can spot all the signs now and manage my plan for prevention.  F’rinstance I have a bad cold now, and will be at away trade show for three days next week.   Hence, all my training has been postponed until we review again next Friday so I can have a restful/recovery week and see this cold through.    If I can I’ll do some stretching and bodyweight exercises in my hotel room mid week, but thats it.   This is to avoid triggering the EBV and avoid chronic fatigue.

The problem I now have of course is that I have greater breaks for illness / more interruptions to training than the average person.  Watching my CTL & TSS build up to a decent level but then watching it shrink again before it meets its pick is a bit disheartening, alluding to the through I’m wasting my time anyway.

It’s good to see you looking for a way forward to get satisfaction

I thinks its been forced upon me by “life” TBH.   I remember being distraught many years ago when I had to stop Rugby which is extra hard because you don’t just leave the game, you leave a whole community behind and it can be very lonely – luckily this is not quite the same scenario.

Agree with Kilo’s summary, I’m on the list for a Farer World Timer now, I don’t see a reason to step off for an Erebus!

No comments re the launch of the Erebus GMT?     It’s ok, but there are a gazillion and cheaper – you need to account for import tax – nh34 GMT’s out there.   E.g. there’s some Sumo GMTs for sale for £350, San Martin UK have explorer 2 homages for £120 and Baltany for £200.

Thanks for all the tips and experiences, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in the racing and ignore the rest.    Going long isn’t a bad idea and is my forte actually, I’ve never been full of power but am good at endurance.   This might also limit me to 2 or 3 events a year, as I’m long past travelling for half of a long weekend just to race.

Actually right now I’m just thinking I’ll ride as back of pack Indy whenever Jnr races MTB, bearing in mind that’s infrequent and mainly May-July and I’ll be at the event anyway.   So my 2025 may look like a weekend road or MTB ride, with a couple of trainer road sessions mid week (I’m not one for constant surfing) as and when my work schedule allows – all of that being flexible/as and when I feel I want to to pop out e.g. a summer evening ride with a pub at the end may occur….

Man Flu uuurgh.

I thought Bartlett would never have entertained him…

I know things aren’t currently nuclear,

We aren’t that far away worryingly, and the timeline of the film was a matter of weeks before conventional diplomacy turned into nuclear willy waving contest.

Stevious second para is exactly where I saw my immediate future, I too need a reason to get off the couch, so yeah maybe the odd non-competitive race punctuated with club rides and social ride plus a bit of Trainer road during the week where it all fits with work & Jnr – much reduced from my current efforts and not having the pressure of “needing” to train may be the way to go.

We’ve chatted about this before I think

Yes at 24/12 – I much enjoyed this with Jnr in 6hr pairs and despite the fact next year I might not be “trained” next year this maybe exactly the thing I need to bear on mind – a fun weekend away for the two of us with space for a few beers and a hot dog.

There’s currently a USAF Super Hercules sitting a couple of thousand feet above the NOAA P-3, I’m wondering if it’s there on a just-in- case basis…

Just in case the Russians have a wave of Bombers (the planes not the Forks) hidden in the eye of the storm?

end up going cycling with triathletes.

Ha Ha – I already do, as I have to take him to Regional Tri training, I take my bike and ride with the Group as a “responsible adult” volunteer to help the kids.

It’s not an irreversible decision. If, in a year’s time, if you feel you really want to race again,

This is a good point actually.  A year out would certainly put my head into a different space.

Is there anything wrong with just riding your bike for fun?

Of course not!

Definitely grim, by today’s standards though it’s depressing for sure, but I can imagine in 1984 it would make pretty shocking viewing.   My paranoia though did feed into the Middle East / Russia / US parallels of today, and together with the in-movie “government is ahead of the public behind the scenes “ narrative I did start to think, why is this stuff on TV right at this particular moment….

I made the mistake of telling my work peer group about it, and despite my warnings they’ve all committed to watching it.

Which means I will also gulp, going by the comments above I can’t wait for the faces on tomorrow’s early morning group teams meeting.

I’d take it now; there’s a lot of speculation

IMHO that’s bad advice.  If the pension taxation rules change radically they’ll be a timescale to allow for adjustment in people’s lifestyles and direction, at least until April 2025 more likely longer.  I’d wait until October 30th then reevaluate in November.

it’s just that, speculation.  You never know you maybe better off with the new incoming rules, it’d be foolish to make an uneducated move right now.

I listened to snippets of Nick Ferraris interview with him, and would only be repeating Binners posts if I summarised, and he adds criticism of the current government.   He even denies the Parties in no 10 still.

Such an odious character which only gets lower on the scale every time he surfaces.

Having just read the Wiki summary, I thinks it’s best I don’t watch it.

This thread has me thinking of getting a Sage Bambino.    So, is there lots of faff to it with cleaning etc?  Other than tamping the coffee and wiping the frothier, I’d like it to be as close to the convenience of the Nespresso machine it’d replace.

Manic Monday

Ah, Susannah Hoff…

I’ve ordered a doorstop…..

Our kitchen tap had got “slow”, so I bought a £6 aerator spanner and in the space of 3 mins had removed a pile of grit from the top of the aerator and we have a strong flow again.

As a self confessed Reg Prescott of DIY, thats made my weekend TBH, very satisfying.

Here’s the Adrian Barker look, a grey NATO:

I like that look.  In a couple of more recent other watch reviews he’s mentioned it after it got smashed on a rock and the close ups -even of the repaired watch – show quite a bit of patina, with which makes it suite the nato even more IMHO.

Really not sure if they should do a sequel though (fan made pretend trailers aside), lightning seldom strikes twice, and as a standalone film Prey really worked, seems a shame to ruin it with a potentially less good follow up.

+1 to that, I will wait for it to be on TV.

What’s your wrist size BS?  Mine 16.5cm, the Turtle up there is a 41 but wears smaller.   I get away with big watches with mid-short lug length due to having virtually no “knuckle” on my wrist bone so my watches wear high on my wrist with a larger case shapes filling the awkward gap, hence why the Arnie, Samurai, SMP and Panerai aka 42-44 work for me despite a slender wrist.

I might have to go to the AD then and try the Pelagos, although paying all that for just a brand name to replace the same USP as the Turtle – mine also gets wet, sees shed time etc – seems a bit overbearing.  As on previous pages though I always feel like “Seiko” somehow equates to “not reputable” but that probably just brand ego.

Edit, anyway looking to seeing air vents outcome.

Whilst searching I found there’s a Prey 2 coming this year.

I’ve got the Pelagos FXD MN which has become my daily, it’s a proper tool watch and I don’t mind using it as so, I’ve got much cheaper watches that I baby, the Pely however, I don’t much care if it picks up knocks and bangs.  I wear it most of the time on natos, but trimmed to be through pass.

Im strongly considering a Seiko sell off for this MO, which is the slim turtle for me currently.  Not the FXD, but a mono Pelagos 39 would be the 5th of my six watch keepers.  I’d keep the Arnie for a grab and go beater.

@airvent to the thread ^^^^

If you’re going in the water with it surely a Rubber strap is better?    If the Pelagos was quick release it’d be a slam dunk for me as it comes with both but you need a spring bar tool to change them.     Or go nato, in my case with the extra bits trimmed off, this (for monochromatic colour reference as per the Pelagos) being my weekend watch for some time now:

If I was buying a posh beater now I’d be with you, Tudors seem to be at the “ not too expensive yet luxury” watch level in the main.   I’d also consider longine and Tags new Aquaracer though.    Having said that, the Slim Turtle above was £660 for a pretty much and arguably comparable spec to a steel pelagos* albeit I wouldn’t wear the turtle to office, defo the Tudor on a bracelet though.

* depends how well your 6r runs :)

I’m struck with two luxury beaters on the YouTube circuit currently; Adrian Barkers battered nato shod Explorer two and Andrej’s (brave beaters) mono Pelagos on a dark gray canvas strap.

Oooh.  Prey is excellent, great performance by Amber Midthunder.

So, 4 beers over 5 hours last night.  I feel absolutely shit with a raging hangover, banging headache, dehydrated, slept very badly.    I can’t even look at the empty beer bottles.

As usual, stopping drinking either a) complete ruins the experience for the future or b) is something I might continue with…..

Well el shalimo it’s the same for me, so it’s longer than 32 days apparently!

However tonight marks the end of a break for me, so I’m currently enjoying a cold crisp Morreti Sale di Mare.    Yum, and refreshing ahhhhh

After reading lots of books books on the subject I found acceptance of “it is what it is” with regard to everything less stressful than trying to work out why all the books didn’t work.