Medically Diagnosed with a Well Developed Appearance

[Allentown]

The root cause of the problem is supposedly some depression, which I am trying to be sympathetic to while also not actually understanding much about. I was raised to just pray about that stuff, not talk about it, so my family isn't great at handling mental health issues.

I would suggest, albeit knowing only what you describe here on the Internets, that the best thing you can do without driving yourself too crazy is try to get your parents to be open to your brother getting real mental health help (i.e., not from a religious counselor but from a therapist who will work with an actual psychiatrist) and getting on some meds to treat his depression to just start to address his problems. There's a ridiculous amount of misconceptions about this sort of thing, particularly among religious families.

By practical I might mean asshole, I'm not sure.

Boundaries are important. Especially when getting tangled up in someone else's downward trajectory is unlikely to actually help that person and highly likely to harm you and your wife/kid. Sorry you're dealing with this.

I told them they needed to look into that stuff a few months ago, they said they would. Then Tuesday night I told them again while they were at the hospital and they said they picked up some information. My mom told my wife that my brother's been "going to see some shrink a few times" so perhaps the process is finally getting started.

We told them that we would try and go to at least one group/family session if they find one within an hour of us. That's already getting into "4 hours of babysitting" territory.

[unruhschuh]

... By practical I might mean asshole, I'm not sure.

Sometimes helping someone means not letting them pull you down so that you can be there when they are willing to accept your help. Good to hear that he's seeing a shrink.

[Allentown]

CoC Oct 5
#1: 11x9, 4, 4before the fleshy bits of my hands hurt too much to complete a set. They are so red. I think I need a few days off grippers to let them harden/heal up. I lied, I did another set. Hurt though. I lied, I did two more sets. Hurts worse. Ok, last one, I promise.

Later: out in the garage to put air in my car tires, so...
BB curls
45x60

[hector]

CoC Oct 5
#1: 11x7 before the fleshy bits of my hands hurt too much to complete a set. They are so red. I think I need a few days off grippers to let them harden/heal up. I lied, I did another set. Hurt though.

Right on!

[fishwife]

It's nice to see the strikethrough mod I requested coming in handy.

[Allentown]

It's nice to see the strikethrough mod I requested coming in handy.

I tried for about 12 posts in my old log at the other place to get it to work. It ended up taking over the next 40 posts while people wrote the code in.

Right on!

It's miserable.

[hector]

It's miserable.

Sets on the #1.5 and #2 are no better.

[Allentown]

It's miserable.

Sets on the #1.5 and #2 are no better.

Its not the grippy bits that hurt, it's just my hands themselves that hurt. I am holding out hope my entire hand will turn into one big callous by the time I get to high volume work with the 1.5

[fishwife]

It's not just calluses that make your hand tougher. Something happens in the meat and bone of the hand as well. I honestly don't know if any documentation has been done on this scientifically, but know this from my MA training, where hands definitely "toughen up" in ways that don't involve calluses. Although calluses are also part of it if there's concentrated friction in a specific area. But that "my hands are hamburger meat" feeling eventually goes away, although whatever the mechanism is for that is not related to thickened epidermal skin. I imagine people who use robust tools a lot also undergo these changes.

[Allentown]

But that "my hands are hamburger meat" feeling eventually goes away, although whatever the mechanism is for that is not related to thickened epidermal skin.

Man I hope so.

[fishwife]

Just give it time and don't overwhelm your ability to adapt. It is adaptation, after all, like everything else.

[Chebass88]

Allen, sorry to hear about the situation. You are right to keep your own family safe in the meantime. I hope your brother is able to get some help.

[Allentown]

Just give it time and don't overwhelm your ability to adapt. It is adaptation, after all, like everything else.

"Hamburger" is a good way to describe it. I think the new plan- HML- will be a little better in terms of letting the hamburger bits shape into beautiful marble.

Allen, sorry to hear about the situation. You are right to keep your own family safe in the meantime. I hope your brother is able to get some help.

I don't think my family is in any actual danger, unless we find ourselves driving in SE MI while he is driving around with a .38 BAC.

I hope he is willing to get help as well. But I'm not going to put my life on hold to fight him over it.

[Allentown]

CoC Oct 6
T: 5x3

ExpYoHa
Blue x 8x3

Legit had to masking tape my left hamburger to get through the CoC. Will need to buy some bulk athletic tape. I'll sharpie a checker pattern on them and pretend I'm back in HS and super into ska music again.

Later
Conditioning
20min
Prowler
90x40y
Farmer
90x40y

We had 3 people, so there was a walk between rounds. Not too bad, actually.

Post workout: Clown Shoes Blaecorn Unidragon. My favorite stout.

[cwd]

It's not just calluses that make your hand tougher. Something happens in the meat and bone of the hand as well.

Agree. My father worked as a carpenter all the time I was growing up, and his hands were always fat and meaty.

When I worked with him as a teenager, my hands puffed up. Then I stopped and my hands were thin and bony again.

I've been using CoC grippers lately and my hands are puffing up nicely.

[damufunman]

It's not just calluses that make your hand tougher. Something happens in the meat and bone of the hand as well.

Agree. My father worked as a carpenter all the time I was growing up, and his hands were always fat and meaty.

When I worked with him as a teenager, my hands puffed up. Then I stopped and my hands were thin and bony again.

I've been using CoC grippers lately and my hands are puffing up nicely.

Da hand pump!

[broseph]

When I was teenager I wondered when I would really become a man and have thick meaty paws. No joke.

When I finished our basement from scratch concrete my hands got thicker and meatier, and eventually deflated back to boy hands when I was done. Electrical work is especially useful for beating up your hands.

There should probably be badges for each trade craft, and by default you would qualify for a meaty paws badge by participating in any of them. You could also get the paws badge for CoC work alone if you opted out of a trade. Thoughts?

[fishwife]

When I was training MA regularly, strangers I'd just met used to exclaim about how hard my hands felt. They just feel like normal hands now.

We used to hit gravel and shit to condition our hands.

[Allentown]

When I was training MA regularly, strangers I'd just met used to exclaim about how hard my hands felt. They just feel like normal hands now.

We used to hit gravel and shit to condition our hands.

I want to get comments about my hands. I don't want to hit shit though.

[EricK]

I want to get comments about my hands. I don't want to hit shit though.

You have been deducted 10 manliness merit badge points.