Lately, I've decided to start playing my drums regularly again. Way before I picked up anything with strings, I was a drummer; I've been playing for 27 years now! Since my old band broke up way back in 2006, I've been more focused on playing stringed things, and my drums have been more or less neglected. Also, since my band broke up, I've gained a significant amount of weight; I was in the best shape of my life while in the band and once that went away, the pounds packed on easily. So, what's that have to do with drumming?
I'm looking at playing drums AS EXERCISE.
Seriously, check this article out: https://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-health-use-drums-for-workout-story.html
My wife recently started swimming to exercise (she loves it, and used to be on the swim team in school), so I might as well do something I like too, right? 
After playing for a week every day after work, I realized that my 24 year old Yamaha Stage Custom kit needed some maintenance. Other than the snare, I haven't changed the batter heads on the toms since 2006. That's 13 years ago! They felt and sounded awful, so I ordered up some fresh Remo heads. Over the years, I've gone back and forth between Remo and Aquarian heads, and although I like Aquarian heads a lot, they are harder to find in the sizes I need. When I bought my kit back in 1995, I got some weird tom sizes: 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15 (not 16). The 15" suspended tom is always the hard one to get heads for, as it's an uncommon size. But I HAD to have two suspended floor toms back then.
After committing to Remo, I did some research on what to buy. My default Remo tom heads have always been Pinstripes, but this time I switched it up and went with some Emperor Clear 2-ply heads after watching some videos. I got them in the mail yesterday and put them on, along with a set of head mutes from Amazon.


Yeah, much better! I spent the time tuning them properly, and they finally have the right mix of tone and "thud" that I've been searching for. I should have used these years ago! They seriously sound great now, and play even better.
Next up: saving up for some replacement cymbals, and fixing the right side DW 5000 bass pedal. I have three cracked cymbals on the kit, the worst being my poor 18" Sabian AAX Chinese. And if you look closely, I have my old backup DW 7000 right side pedal because the 5000's heel pad's screws stripped out.
Feels good to be playing again!