iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Today I got to put on a ice rescue suit and submerge in some openings in the Lake Nepessing ice. Everything went pretty well until my suit sprung a leak, and filled up with very cold water. I had to make a tactical retreat to the lakeshore. Still, it was a valuable experience, and useful training!

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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

I just want to live in a country where the leader can’t enrich themselves with our tax dollars, the government does what the people want, and the wealthy have to follow the laws. You know, like a democracy.

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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Personally, I think it’s bad that a wildly corrupt pedophile with dementia is President of the United States and is trying to make himself dictator for life.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Burger King makes something called an ‘Ultimate Steakhouse Whopper.’ It has a hamburger, mushrooms, cheese, bacon, onion rings, and some secret sauce. It is probably the most unhealthy yet delicious thing I’ve ever eaten.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

The Mass Effect Legendary Edition is on the PlayStation shop for $8.99 until the end of the month, so of course I downloaded it - but I don't really think I want to play through all three games again. The story was great, the inventory and upgrade system was not. Also, planet scans and the MAKO.

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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

I can't think of anything less patriotic than allowing a corrupt pedophile to suspend the constitution so he can murder citizens, enrich himself, and imprison journalists.

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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

The federal government is executing American citizens in the middle of the street for exercising their constitutional right to freedom of speech. This is tyranny. No free people can accept this kind of government. We need to bring an end to the Trump regime.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

All I feel I can do is vote, help in my community, run my business, and contact my representative in congress. Ultimately the people who have the power to do something about the incompetency and lawlessness of this president need to step up and show come courage and do it.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I'm going to be 48 in a couple of weeks. In May, I'm going to be taking a written and practical skills test to get my Firefighter I & II certifications for the state of Michigan. Don't ever let anyone, including yourself, tell you you're too old to do new things. #volunteer #firefighter

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ACLU @aclu.org · 08/01/2026

We condemn ICE's killing of a Minneapolis woman today and call on federal agents to withdraw from Minnesota immediately. This tragedy is further proof that ICE is out of control, endangering our communities, and must end its lawless operations before anyone else is brutally hurt or killed.

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Max Berger @maxberger.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

The Trump regime’s internal security enforcers murdered an American citizen in broad daylight. The regime is illegally blocking the release of evidence of Trump’s extensive collaboration with Epstein. They’re agitating for war with France and Germany. It’s completely insane anyone supports them.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I have a Facebook account once again. Primarily to use for advertising and marketing my small business. I used ChatGPT to generate some ideas and create a framework, and this is part of that. Not really there for the 'social" part - no politics, no memes, etc. Just a tool.

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Pete Buttigieg @petebuttigieg.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad. The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

First residential structure fire last night. Helped with PPE and SCBA for other firefighters, retrieved tools, rolled hose. Typical proby stuff. No one was home, and most of the pets were saved. House was damaged, but not a total loss. #volunteer #firefighter

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

This season was in doubt when we lost to Minnesota earlier. It was solidified when we struggled to beat the Giants in OT. Now we have a good chance of missing the playoffs entirely. This is not the same team as last season, even though we have a lot of the same talent. Time to shake it up. #lions

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

This is why my play through as a half-elf bard has been my favorite so far. And yes, I spared those poor Absolute dummies who fought the owlbear with me. Just a couple of mixed-up kids. #BaldursGate3 #LarianStudios

A half-elf bard character performs in front of a group of goblins and cultists in Baldur's Gate 3.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 25/10/2025

I've finally gotten close to the end of Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3, and I am starting to really getting emotionally invested in these characters. Great writing and voice acting. Really agonizing over some of my dialog choices too! Definitely in my top 5 games all time. #baldursgate3 #larianstudios

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

I sort of forgot how brutal and unforgiving combat is in the early game of Ghost of Tsushima, so I'm not sure why I was expecting any different in Ghost of Yotei. Not getting my parry timing right yet, and have to get used to picking up and throwing weapons instead of kunai. #ghostofyotei #PS5

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Ghost of Tsushima is one of my favorite games of all time, nearly got a platinum trophy on it. So far, Ghost of Yotei is a fantastic successor to that game. Some major "Kill Bill" vibes. The lead who plays Atsu is fantastic. The gameplay is super fun. #ghostofyotei #PS5

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

I'm a Dungeons and Dragons nerd, so now that I've finally gotten around to playing Baldur's Gate III, I can understand why the game gets so much praise. I've managed to punch way above my weight in some of these encounters by just... thinking like a clever D&D player. Huge fan of these games.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

The constant bullshit coming out of this administration is exhausting.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Started 'fire school' this week. I think I'm in the acceptance phase of my new clean-shaven look, and the CrossFit classes 3x a week have improved my middle-age jowls. Still, it's going to be some wild stuff. Running around in full turnouts with SCBA gear, ladder carries, ropes...I think I'm ready!

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Firing, cancelling, or suspending late-night talk show hosts or anyone else because of things they say or jokes they make that are critical of this administration, or recent events, is literally 'cancel culture'. This is cowardice fueled by greed and fear.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

I listen to the soundtrack for Skyrim frequently. It's just such a beautiful score. There's probably some kind of emotional attachment too - I did spend hundreds of hours immersed in the game. Might be time to start a new playthrough...No, no, no. I've barely even explored Baldur's Gate III!

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

It's not just that we have a bad leader. Or that there are incompetent people in charge of important things. It's that so many people in this country seemed to think voting for this was a good idea. That's what is really disappointing. We should be better than this, but we're not.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

I recently picked up the revised Player's Handbook (2024) for Dungeons and Dragons. I then went ahead and got the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual. I also just primed some minis and painted up a couple of Reaper tieflings miniatures (love tieflings!) Next step: get a group together...

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

To all those coaches in high school who never gave me a chance in team sports - well, I found CrossFit in my late forties, and I just set a 245 lb. PR on my back squat tonight. Yeah, I'm an ATHLETE now, lol. #crossfit #gymgoals

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

Went to the Michigan Renaissance Festival today for the first time in several years. The theme was Highland Fling, so it felt appropriate to wear the Renwick tartan today. It was a nice time with my sister, but missed some of the old “faire magic.” #renfest #MichRenFest

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Started collecting baseball cards again! Started with 2025 Topps Series 1 & Series 2, and picked up a couple of Topps Chrome boxes tonight, and I’m super happy with what I pulled! #baseballcards #toppschrome

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Chris ❤️‍🔥🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ 🏴 @brutumfulmen.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

I AM SHRIEKING 💀🤣 Forget the statue at City Hall, this guy is the *real* Spirit of Detroit. 🫡

A review for a Little Caesar’s somewhere by Kevin S:

Stopped into this Little Caesars just trying to get a $6 pizza and ended up in a full on action movie. Just as I grabbed my order, this furious dude barges in yelling about how I cut him off in traffic earlier.
Before I can even respond, he throws a punch but then out of nowhere the guy behind the counter jumps over it like he's been waiting for this moment his whole life and just beats the living hell out of the guy. The guy ran off and the cashier just dusted himself off. I said "are you ok man" and he looked me dead in the eye and said "B*tch, this is Little Caesars. We always hot and ready."
Five stars. Will absolutely return.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Got some practice time in at the range this weekend. Started at 20 yards, still figuring out stance and sighting down range.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

A lot of people who make their identity about one thing (politics, fitness, hobbies) just aren't very interesting people. However, having a multi-faceted identity can make it hard to "fit in" with groups. Or even to make friends!

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

Looking into tattoo removal or cover up. I only have one, but it's a terrible tribal armband I got during college in the 90s. Not sure if spending thousands of dollars for something that cost me maybe a hundred bucks is really worth it.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

I took my folks to the Tigers game today, and I can’t believe how lucky we were to not only watch the Tigers win, but also that we were able to watch Tarik Skubal get the shutout with an incredible game. Go Tigers!

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Doing prep workouts for #Murph coming up in a week, and I finally ran (most) of a mile today! I couldn't believe it. Now if I could just do more pushups and maybe one pull-up.... #crossfit

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

I’m feeling nostalgic for a time that hasn’t happened yet.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

I've been a Warhammer enthusiast for almost 20 years now. You never seem to be able to quite give it up as a hobby once you get hooked, there's always some exciting army project in your head, building, painting, playing the game, making terrain and tables. The lore too. #40K

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

I don't really care what the "political consequences" are of fighting for the proposition that *everyone* is entitled to due process before they are removed from the United States and sent to a Salvadoran prison. It's not really a principle if you only adhere to it when it's politically expedient.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Doing CrossFit gets you fit. I've been going for several months, and in addition to changing my diet, I feel more physically fit than I have in years. I'm 47 and scale a lot, and I keep to a semi-strict nutritarian inspired diet (lots of salad greens and fruit!), but I feel really great. #crossfit

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Sarah Longwell @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

He’s threatening media companies who are critical of him. He’s talking about sending Americans to foreign prisons. He’s signing executive orders to investigate former staff members who spoke out against him. He’s defying the Supreme Court. Don’t you see what’s happening here?

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ACLU @aclu.org · 11/04/2025

The government acknowledges that it ripped our client Mahmoud Khalil from his home and his family solely because of his political beliefs and expression. Ideas aren’t illegal. Mahmoud must be released.

apnews.com

Pressed for evidence against Mahmoud Khalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs

The U.S. government has submitted a two-page memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio as its main evidence in its deportation case against Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil.

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

If this is the effect of walking back some of his economic program, just imagine the prosperity he could unleash if he abandoned all of it!

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David Pakman @davidpakman.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

Stocks dropped 14.5% from their highs since Trump’s tariff announcement They’ve now recovered 9.4%, and are still down 6.4% from their high. Trump is calling this a victory, despite nothing being “fixed” about trade and despite countries giving Trump nothing. What exactly is the victory?

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Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

It's not a bad idea to go to the local Walmart or big box retailer and buy lots of consumables now. From toothpaste to soap, anything you can find storage space for, buy before they have to replenish inventory. Even if it's made in the USA , they will jack up the price and blame it on tariffs.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

We've somehow made gross incompetence acceptable. There was once an idea of "American exceptionalism" - we don't live up to that anymore. We don't innovate, don't take risks, and we reward vapid, performative populism. America needs to find its soul again. It's in our people, our towns, our cities.

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Phil Walters @philjwalters.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

I took an 8 hour USCCA concealed pistol license course today, which is required in the state of Michigan to carry a concealed firearm. Next step is applying at the county clerk's office for my actual CPL. Am I going to carry a gun everywhere? No. Glad I took the course though.

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Clint Smith @clintsmithiii.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

They are arresting people on the streets, terminating their visas, and disappearing them for writing things they disagree with. This is where we are. Two months in. Right now. If you think they won’t begin coming after citizens soon, you are mistaken.

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