Year End RicCap/Newer Year, Newer Ric

Hello my dear friends and welcome to the year of our Lord 2024. As you know my first blog of the 2023 season was giving my goals and resolutions, and I’m not creative enough to come up with something new, so we’re just gonna do that again. However, before we do, we have to grade our last year.

How did I do last year?

1. Shave my head every week for a year

For the majority of the year I would say I went every other week. I look best on about Day 6-7 hair-wise, so I think I’m going to try that in the new year. I’m going to plan all of my events seven days after a haircut. 

Grade: B

2. Mustache for a year

The mustache was like a mood ring for my mental health. If you saw me with the ‘stache, you knew I was good. Full beard, sad little Eric. For Halloween I had to abandon all hair (facial and head) and kind of went no-hair for the last two months of the year. I think for 2024 we’re going to try to replicate that Jason Statham, permanent five o’clock shadow look at all times.

Grade: B

3. Lose 35 pounds

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember what I weighed in January of 2023, but I know what I was at my fattest during the year. And I also know that in December I weighed 15 pounds less than that. We can’t give me an A grade because I didn’t accomplish the goal, but we are taking the proper steps in the right direction.

Grade: B

4. Be a worse person

I don’t know about worse, but I was equally bad for most of the year, and I even became somewhat better of a person towards the end. (puke emoji)

Grade: D

5. Drink more water

I got really good at this toward the end of the year; I’ve pretty much eliminated all liquids from the diet that aren’t water, coffee, or the occasional Coors Light with a pickle.

Grade: A

6. Drink more coffee

I bet there were only, like, ten days that I didn’t drink coffee this year. Good job, Eric. You set a goal, and you accomplished it.

Grade: A

7. One blog a month 

By my count, we’re at 6 blogs, 12 months: the math isn’t math-ing. However, a Christmas card counts as a blog, so that brings us up to 7. Also, I started writing one but figured it would go better in the New Year. So really we’re up to 8. And I started writing a short story that I want to make into a Hallmark movie — basically 9. 9/12 is 75%. If we’re talking shooting percentage, I’m the greatest basketball player of all time. 

Grade: C

8. Stop giving to nonprofits 

Out of the three nonprofits I (used to) support, I think I only got bullied into giving to one nonprofit!

Grade: C

Overall Grade:  3.0 

Thanks to weighted averages, you get to keep your scholarship for next year, Ric.  However, we’re onto a new year.  As you know, I’m a little slut for New Years’ resolutions so here they are my new goals for our new year! (A month late)

New Goals:

1. Get into wine

I had an identity crisis last year. I’ve kind of fallen into the stereotypical construction worker routine. And don’t get me wrong, I love being blue collar; however, I want to be a cultured blue collar man. I want to be a jack of all trades, and so far I only have three trades:  two are blue collar and one is cultured, so we need to add more culture. What is more cultured than wine? I’m gonna drink wine once a month, 12 different kinds, and find what I like and don’t like. 

2. Gallon of water a day

I don’t have to drink a gallon every day, but I have to try. Mainly, I want to drink at least a half a liter before every meal. 

3. Do one thing a week

I don’t do enough. I need to get out there, try new things, and hang out with my friends. So we’re doing one thing a week, getting out of our comfort zone, and being a more well-rounded person. If you want to help me out and need a person to go to an event or try the newest downtown Sioux Falls night club, hit me up. One thing a week!

4. 250

Mystery number item for the next blog

5. Run a mile a day every day that it’s over 45 degrees outside

Former NBA All-Star Rip Hamilton would always run a mile after practice and was, like, the most in shape NBA player. So if I want to be the most in-shape electrician, I have to be like Rip. (Future Eric here: thanks to global warming it’s already 45 outside, and I haven’t run yet. So we’re gonna modify this and have it be 45 outside and no snow on the ground.)

6. Read one book a month

And uncomfortably force the fact that I read a book into every conversation.

Hopefully we keep up that 3.0 and our scholarship. We have some big things planned for bteamballer.com and hope you stay with us along the journey!