Picklez’s blog

In my last numbered post (#334), I talked about how things were starting to get better.  Well, I think I might have counted my chickens before I put eggs in the incubator.  The wheels haven't completely come off the wagon, but I certainly have a hitch in my git-a-long.

Not getting my mail

I have to go see the postmaster today because for some reason I'm not getting my mail.  It's weird.  I'll get it and then not get it.  Right now my address has a "Vacant" status.  I don't know why.  I found a "New Resident" card in my mailbox 2 weeks ago, so I filled it out.  I was then getting my mail.  Now, I'm getting nothing.  It's pissing me off.  Big time.

Alone Time

I have to go to a party this weekend.  I had a date originally, but now I have to go by myself.  Not looking forward to that...

I also had plans for Thanksgiving and now those are shot, too.  Looks like I'll be spending Thanksgiving alone in my house.  Everyone I know is apparently going out of town for the holiday.  Not to worry, though.  I plan on eating spam, rice, and eggs every day as well as drinking a whole lot.  It might not be so bad.

Working is costing me money

Our VP of Admin and Finance announced a change in the cost of our medical benefits that basically eats up the big 2% raise I got this year.  Furthermore, it is now costing me an extra $10 per paycheck for my medical insurance.  So basically, it cost me over $250 per year to work here.  Not too bad, I guess...

One bright spot

With all this not so good news, there has to be a bright spot.  Yes, there is.  This is the end of the post.

END OF LINE

Current Standings

Picklez  97  (tied for 2nd place, 7 points behind the leader)

BabySteps  90 (8th place)

LG  92 (7th place)

Hangtime  83 (dead last)

Tiny Tanks 97 (tied for 2nd place)

Overall, there is a 3 way tie for second and the leader is 7 points ahead.  I don't have much hope of winning the group, but I seem to be holding my commanding lead of the Vox group.  (Tiny Tanks doesn't count as he doesn't have a blog.)  At first, I thought I would have my first sub .500 week, but luckily, I ended up getting 9 right.  Poor Hangtime.  Let's say that he had made his picks for week three and gotten 12 right.  He'd still be 2 points behind me...

Week Eleven Picks

I've made a few revelations this week.  First, no matter how much I despise them, CIN is for real.  Second, Bilichek isn't as smart as I thought he was (4th and 2 at their own 28 with the lead and only 2 minutes to go?).  Third, ATL is woefully inconsistent and may be out to screw me.  Fourth, KC is better than OAK.

MIA @ CAR - Upset #1.  CAR has a habit of losing whenever they are favored to win.  Also, I think they are out to screw me.  On paper, CAR is better and they seem to have taken a turn for the better, but their inconsistency will be their undoing (I hope).  Picklez Pick:  MIA

WAS @ DAL - Overconfidence is a problem that DAL suffers.  Because of that, this could be an upset, but I think that last weeks loss to GB will be a wake up call for the C-boys.  Picklez Pick:  DAL

CLE @ DET - So many reasons NOT to pick the Browns.  First, they suck.  Second, Mangini sucks.  Third, they lost on Mon night.  It's painful, but I have to go with the suckiest sucks that ever sucked.  Sterquilius will find a new initiate in this game.  Picklez Pick:  DET

SF @ GB - GB really surprised me last week against DAL.  Here I thought they had given up the ghost, but now there are signs of new life.  SF on the other hand seems to be struggling despite their win against the awful CHI.  Picklez Pick:  GB

PIT @ KC - PIT's at home loss against CIN isn't a big deal because I've made the realization that CIN (despite my hatred) is a decent team this year.  They should have no trouble with Kansas Shitty though.  Picklez Pick:  PIT

SEA @ MIN - Favre and the Vikings should be able to easily roll over the Suckhawks.  Picklez Pick:  MIN

ATL @ NYG - I've gone back and forth on this one.  NYG haven't played well this year and seem to be in a bit of a slump since their loss to NO.  ATL is woefully inconsistent and the offense doesn't seem to perform well against quality teams.  Especially on the road.  Eli will be able to tear apart the ATL secondary, too.  Picklez Pick:  NYG

BUF @ JAC - What was up with that JAC running back?  Apologizing to the Fantasy owners?  This is why JAC sucks.  BUF sucks worse though and with the exit of their head coach...  Picklez Pick:  JAC

IND @ BAL - Upset #2.  Poor coaching for NE won the day for IND.  That and the power of Manning! which is running strong in Peypey these days.  I don't think that the ailing BAL Murder Birds will be able to mount much of a defense or offense against the Indiana Powerhouse.  Picklez Pick:  IND

ARI @ STL - So Kurt Warner returns to Suck Louis on the opposite side of the ball.  Let's make drama where none exists!  Picklez Pick:  ARI

SD @ DEN - Upset #3.  The sugar coating on the turd that is DEN has finally been worn away.  SD has been on quite a roll.  Picklez Pick:  SD

CIN @ OAK - Losing to Kansas Shitty doesn't do much for morale.  Also, CIN is kind of good.  Picklez Pick:  CIN

TEN @ HOU - Wow!  If this was last season, this might have been a half-way decent game to watch.  It's not last season though.  Picklez Pick:  HOU

AM I THE ONLY ONE WITH THE URGE TO MUTE THE TV WHEN THE NBC FOOTBALL INTRO COMES ON?  FAITH HILL IS DELICIOUS, BUT THAT SONG IS ATROCIOUS.

For the first time in a while, I feel like my life is taking a turn for the better.  Maybe it's because the pressure of GM coming is gone, but I think it is a lot of other things, too.

I've made some improvements to my finances.  They aren't earth shattering, but I seem to be doing a little better now.  In about 3 years or so, I should be free of some major credit card debt.  Boo Yah!  I just need to stay smart and stay frugal.  Also, I've had word that the housing market is starting to recover a little bit and by this time next year, I should be able to re-fi without much difficulty.  I'm doing research into seeing if I can get it done now (while interest rates are lower), but everyone I've talked to says that I'll have to pay for an appraisal and because the market is crap, I won't qualify...  At any rate, I'm feeling more secure about my fiscal security.

This weekend I got to act as a DM for a 4th ed. D&D game.  I had a lot of fun.  The person I played with had fun, too.  I learned a lot and I know that I will have to be better prepared to manage the combat encounters.  Mainly, having 3x5 index cards with vital monster stats rather than having to flip around in the Monster Manual.  I think I understand the basic gameplay rules much better now too.

I'm excited about this because I am going to re-use some of the encounters/quests I'm creating to DM a game for my sister and brother-in-law at our "Family Reunion" in December.  Who knows, maybe my brother and sister-in-law and maybe even Pinky and PopPop will play along too.  If I can get my mom to play, then that's saying something.  She was caught up in the anti-D&D hype of the late 80's.  I think she saw Tom Hanks in Mazes and Monsters and freaked out.

The big thing about it was that it was nice to escape to a fantasy world.  It was also fun to roll dice without having money on the line.  As the DM you get to roll alot of attacks.  I found out that I liked hitting the players and NPCs some of the time, but I still felt elation when they hit the monsters.  It was the excitement of playing the game without having to wait my turn.  It was like it was always my turn to go.  Pretty cool.  I'd love to DM on a regular basis with a regular group.

Injury Update

My knee is feeling much better.  I am no longer wearing the knee brace.  I can go up stairs pretty much nomally and I can go down stairs with a very minimal amount of discomfort.  I even jogged a little today!  I still can't kneel down and seiza is out of the question.  I can almost throw a hiza without wanting to howl like a banshee.

My goal is to start running again by next week.  I've really packed on some pounds over the last few months after the full contact tournament.  I need to get back into shape!

Campus Controversy

Apparently, the Equestrian Club on campus is circulating a petition to get funds from the student activities committee and the SGA.  The issue is that many of the EC members don't know how to ride so they need significant funding for lessons.  They have fulfilled all the other requirements of a campus club (i.e. faculty advisement, community service, administrative hoop jumping).  The SGA apparently disapproved the money for the lessons as "frivolous".  The entire campus is sort of split on the issue.

I don't really care either way, but I don't think I'll be signing the petition.  I see both sides of the issue.  The EC has done what it's supposed to do, but they aren't getting funded like the other clubs.  On the flip side, riding lessons are pretty damn expensive.  Riding lessons for 10+ people are even more expensive.  Their main arguement is that they need the lessons for certification so that they can attend/compete in horse shows, etc.  I don't believe that our collegiate athletic conference has an equestrian component, so they are SOL if they want to compete and truly represent the college. Their second major arguement is that there is a paintball club.  They claim that paintball is a frivolous and pointless activity.  You could say that is true, but the paintball club isn't asking for over 5K in funding.

The EC also argues that the purpose of all the clubs on campus is to introduce students to new activities/hobbies.  I argue that the EC can still do that without participating and competing in shows.  If they want to do that, then they should have to pay for their own lessons.  No one said they couldn't do fundraisers.  The powers that be are just saying that the SGA and the college as a whole won't give them the money for the lessons.  If they want money for little trips to pay for horse rental etc, I'm sure they'd get it, but to pay big $$$ to teach people how to ride horses for competition is asking a bit too much in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong.  Paying an expert a one time fee to give a seminar is one thing, but ongoing lessons leading toward certification are another.  I've given this matter a lot of thought because I've been approached many times to start a martial arts club or be the faculty advisor for one.  I've put together proposals and sent them to the VP of Student Affairs, but I think that it keeps getting shot down because the college is essentially paying for the students' lessons.  I've offered to teach for free, but they don't like the idea of students representing the college in an unrecognized athletic competition nor do they like the idea of students getting free certification/education on the college's dime.  After all, if a student gets a black belt through the karate club, they get absolutely 0 benefit from it in a financial sense.

All that being said, I'm still surprised at how polarized the campus is on the issue.  It's sort of come across as this:  a group of misfit girls is complaining because they aren't getting funded like the popular kids.  Again, my arguement is that the popular kids aren't asking for big money.  Something else that is hurting these ladies is that they keep belittling the "usefulness" of the other clubs on campus.  Paintball seems to be their biggest nemesis, but they are even tooling on the innocuous clubs like the Anime club (which is just a bunch of nerds going to an occasional convention).  You're certainly not going to win any friends with those sort of tactics.  Besides, they aren't asking for money to learn basic riding skills.  They are asking for money for a very specific set of skills.  Skills that I would say are completely useless in today's society.  I, mean, I would be teaching people how to defend themselves and giving lessons in morality and building character and I'm not even approved to start a club.  They're wanting to learn how to jump thoroughbred horses over fake hedges.

What needs to be said to these folks is that the issue is all about money and precedent.  First of all, these other clubs aren't asking for the same amount of funding that the EC is requesting.  Secondly, if the college says, "Fine, here's the money for your lessons."  There are going to be a lot of other clubs springing up using them as precedent.  For example, someone could start a NASCAR racing club.  Now, the club needs a car so that it can compete and represent the college.  The staff and driver are the club members, but now they need over $400K to get a car so that they can compete. 

Don't like that one.  Here's another one.  Someone wants to start an agricultural club.  They want to use some of the college's land to have a small farm.  Now they need livestock, seed, farm equipment, an irrigation system, etc.  This is far more useful than any other club.  People are learning basic agricultural skills.  Also, there needs to be a full time attendant to take care of the farm when the student's aren't here.  This person can also act as the primary teacher of all the various skills.  Is the college going to pay for that?  Hellz no!

What about a piloting club?  People want to learn how to fly planes and helicopters.  Now the college needs to pay for the people's flying lessons as well as for vehicle rental, fuel, etc.  That's a useful skill, isn't it?  They can represent the school in air races. 

These are all extremes, but I'm just saying that I know that their resolution won't get passed no matter how many signatures are on the petition.  Besides, the students of the EC haven't even attempted a compromise!  They want all the money and aren't willing to try and say, "The students pay half and the college pays half."  Shenanigans.  I'm praying that no one asks me to sign the petition because they are going to get an earful from me.  Mainly along the lines of "The college just informed me that my medical insurance premiums are going up by about $20 per paycheck.  My raise for this year was about $10 per paycheck.  So basically, my pay got cut by $10 and you want me to sign a petition so you get free equestrian lessons?  I'll tell you what, why don't you all start a petition to have the college pay the staff (not the faculty) better so that they can make a living and then I'll sign your petition for you to ride your little horsies and jump them over fences."  Yeah.  I keeps it real like that.

END OF LINE

Avid readers of this blog know that I suffered a knee injury at the Dothan Tournament while fighting Big Red.  This got me thinking about some of the injuries I've received over the years (including non-karate related ones), and I've come to the realization that I'm a fast healer.  I say that in the sense that I don't experience "major" pain for a long period of time.  In other words, if it takes 4 weeks to recover from an injury, then I stop being affected in a significant way after 1 week.  I'm not completely cured, but I don't suffer terribly for long periods of time.  This might be a result of a higher pain tolerance, but I think that I actually heal more quickly from the onset.  I'll use my last 3 injuries as an example.

Separated Ribs

After about 1 week I could move and breathe normally without any pain.  The injury was tender to the touch, but only hurt if I tried to bend or stretch beyond a normal range of motion.  Laughing only hurt if I really laughed hard.

The first 4 days was pretty rough.  I couldn't sleep well and I couldn't move my right arm freely.  On the 5th day, the constant pain ceased and I had 70% mobility in my arm.

Sprained Foot

I sprained my foot about 1 week after the full contact tournament.  For about 2 days, I could only put 30% of my weight on my foot.  On the third day I could move normally.  It was about 3 more weeks before I could sit in seiza without significant pain.

Sprained Knee

It hurt like hell that evening and I could only put about 30% of my weight on my leg.  That first night, I barely slept.  After the 2nd day and night, I could put 50% of my weight on my leg.  I still couldn't go up or down stairs without difficulty.  On the 3rd day, I could put 70% of my weight on my leg and go up stairs with minor discomfort.  I slept normally that night.

Right now, I'm at the point where I can put 100% of my weight on my leg, but I only have about 80% mobility.  I can go up stairs with no pain, and I can go down stairs with slight discomfort if I do so quickly.  I still can't bend my knee to go into iaidachi or seiza.  I think it will be about 2 more weeks for iaidachi and about 4 more weeks for seiza.  I'm hoping that I can recover sooner than that.

Don't want it 'til you can't have it

It's weird but I have a really strong urge to practice karate now.  I guess it's because I get into class and I can't do it.  Also, I'm beginning to realize how difficult it is to teach without being able to demonstrate.  From a student perspective, a teacher unable to demonstrate has always been something that I've sort of ignored (if I liked/respected the teacher).  Being on the other side of it, I find it absolutely maddening.

Take Master C for example.  I can't tell you how many times he has taught me a karate lesson and has said, "Well, I can't do this right now," or "I wish I could show you".  Most of the time, it was an issue with his knee.  Most recently, he told me that he couldn't do a shotei (palm heel) because of arthritis.  When he does a palm heel, it's like a palm down nukite.

Now, in my mind, I completely understand the concepts he is trying to convey; however, if he were talking to a newer student, they may not understand.  The solution is to actually position the student's appropriate body part.  Again, since I know Master C, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but what if I didn't know him?  One of the things that infuriates me is when someone tries to tell me how to do something when they have know idea what they're talking about.

Don't get me wrong.  I remain as humble as possible especially with something that is new to me, but if I have any experience at all then I'm going to be extremely intolerant of someone's BS.  That being said, I generally avoid teaching things that I'm not very good at performing.  For example, spinning back hook kicks.  I suck at these.  I understand the concept, the mechanics, and how it can be integrated into combinations, but I absolutely suck at performing them.  I'll even go so far as to say that I'm somewhat reluctant to correct someone's technique on that particular move because I can't properly demonstrate how it should be done.

For those kinds of kicks I look to the PFCs and the Hangtimes of the world to instruct them.  Now a spinning back kick?  Yeah, I rock on those!

END OF LINE..."I'm the best at what I do.  And what I do isn't very nice, bub."

A lot happened.  Now that it is all over I have two things to say: 1) I am exhausted.  2) Mission Accomplished!  Everyone had fun and everything worked out in the end [more details to come].

Friday, Nov. 6, 2009

10:00 - I picked up the rental van.  Originally, BabySteps was going to follow me, but he wasn't feeling too good that morning.  I think he is pregnant, but he won't admit it.  Anyway, that process went pretty smoothly.  I removed the back seat to make room for their luggage, but I wasn't sure if it was all going to fit.  We were expecting 9 people and 11 bags.  I ended up arriving at the airport at about 10:45.  GM's plane was scheduled to arrive at 12:15.

12:30 - BabySteps arrives at airport.  He was feeling better but still not 100%.  His role was to help transport extra baggage. 

13:00 - GM, Shihan Tsu, and 7 others arrive.  We then go to baggage claim.  One of the bags is missing.  We talk to the skycap and he tells us that the bag is still in Dothan.  BabySteps makes arrangements to have the bag delivered to HQ once the bag arrives from Dothan.

14:00 - We arrive at HQ.  Because of his injured foot, GM decides to sleep in the living room.  The young boys (6 total) sleep in the foyer.  Meg sleeps upstairs in her own room as does Shihan Tsu.  On a side note, I suggested letting GM's grandson have his own room, but Tsu denied the request because he felt that the young man might abuse himself.  I assume he was joking.  Later we go over the schedule.  Saturday, GM wants me to take the kids to ride Go-Karts.  Sunday is supposed to be a wash day.  Monday is the clinic.  He also wanted me to take the group to my college karate class.  Tuesday, they go home.

Dinner was scheduled for 18:30 so GM put a moritorium on snacking and eating.

15:00 - I take Meg and Tsu to the grocery store to pick up supplies.

15:30 - I get a nerf football and play outside with the boys.  They all seemed to have a good time.

17:30 - We start cooking dinner.  We season and stack the steaks and get the baked potatoes started.  The only problem was that we didn't have the oven high enough for the taters.  Blarg!

19:00 - We start eating.  Some of those kids sort of surprised me as to how much they can eat!  The littlest one had an entire steak (approx. 12 oz) and entire potato plus salad.  Oof.

Some of the highlights of the evening were when Sweet Tooth came over and wanted too much of the special steak sauce GM brought to give to the Admiral.  The three adult Japanese tried Guinness 250.  Only Meg liked it.  She also liked the Lienenkugel Berry Weiss.

Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009

11:00 - Whirly Ball.  The previous evening, I priced out a trip to Andretti's Speedway for go-karts.  It was basically going to be a $30 charge for a 10 minute experience.  I called Whirly Ball Atlanta and looked into pricing.  It came out to be about $20 for an hour of fun.  Mr. Ba joined us as a translator of the rules and rounded out team to 5 people per side.  Everyone had a fun time.  I'll have to say that our referee (Emily) was pretty cute.

If you've never played Whirly Ball, here's how it works.  You have 5 people on each team.  The games are 13 minutes long.  Each person is seated in a bumper car and is issued a plastic scooper.  The object of the game is to go to your team's goal (indicated by color) and hit a sensor with the ball.  Once that happens, your team scores a goal and the other team gets the ball.  I was on the Red Team.

In the first two games, the Yellow team defeated the Red.  I don't really know how because no goals were scored.  In the last two games, the Red defeated the Yellow.  BabySteps told me later that the extra non-goal oriented points were from penalties.  Mainly, hitting the other team's scoop.  Whoops!

12:30 - I took the crew to Mother Fuddruckers.  They requested "Giant Hamburgers" so I figured this would be alright.  The majority of them got the 1/3 lb. burger which I found unusual since they wanted "giant" burgers.  Everything was tasty and delicious (as it should have been).

13:30 - We made a trip to North Point mall.  While at the mall I got a call from BabySteps stating that GM was very concerned with the missing bag.  I called Master C and asked if someone could go to the Dothan airport to see if the bag was still there.  Mrs. C went to go check, but it wasn't there.

16:00 - We made it back to HQ.  GM was a little upset because he thought we were coming back at 15:00.  Once there, Mr. Ba translated all that had transpired with the bag.  BabySteps was then assigned the task of recreating the certificates that had been lost.  I took a list of all the missing items.

18:00 - Dinner consisted of rice, chicken, and green beans.  Pretty tasty.

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009

10:00 - We set out for Stone Mountain.  While we were there, we took pictures of the mountain and then went to the gift shop.  We didn't go to the top like we usually do.  The only thing of note that happened was that the Admiral and Meg got hit on by a bunch of European tourists.

12:00 - We made it to the World of Coke.  I parked in a garage that only gave me about 3" clearance.  I kept ducking my head as we went through the garage.  Once at the Coke Museum, we settled in and took the tour.  It was the same as the last time.  Secret Formula = 4 U's.  Unforgettable taste; Uniform Quality; Universal Availability; and [whispering] YOU!  Lame.

I need to make mention that there was one little kid in our group who was sort of giving me grief the whole time.  He's a cute kid, funny, and has a real upbeat personality, but he sort of has a smart mouth and a penchant for mischief.  Everyone in the the group labelled him as being "perverted".  He kept denying it, but everytime he did he would sort of smile and wink at me.  Weird.

Anyway, when we got outside the World of Coke and everyone wanted a picture so I asked an attactive lady to take our photo.  Once she walked away, the kid started pointing at me and saying I was also a "pervert".  I laughed and half-heartedly chased after him.  After that point, anytime I looked at a good looking female, he would point at me and say "pervert".

14:00 - The group was sort of hungry so we stopped at the Varsity for lunch.  I think they enjoyed themselves.

15:00 - We ended up back at the mall.  On the way there, I noticed a few of the kids didn't have their seatbelts on.  To make matters worse, they were sort of screwing around.  I told them to put on their seatbelts and then Shihan Tsu went ballistic on them.  Once we got to the mall, the Admiral got to see the rigors of Japanese discipline.

Tsu lined all the kids up and slapped them across the face.  The ones who had their seatbelts on he didn't slap as hard, but the ones who had been screwing around got big pimp sized slaps.  Listening to Tsu, I picked up that he slapped all the kids because the ones who knew about the seatbeltless ones should have said something.  Also, none of them wanted GM to find out so slapping everybody made sure that no one would tease each other about it and get into more trouble.

At first I didn't know what was going on.  I got out of the van and headed toward the mall and I heard some Japanese yelling and heard "SKLAPP!!"  After one or two more seconds, "SKLAPP!"  I turned around and saw a look of stunned surprise on the Admiral's face.  It was priceless really.

17:30 - After a short trip to Target (in which GM's grandson gave me grief - he said, "Oh target.  Just like Picklez Sensei.  He targets women!"), we went over to the Golden Corale.  It was as good as to be expected.  BabySteps and Hangtime met us there as well.

 Monday, Nov. 9, 2009

We all pretty much took it easy during the day.  After breakfast, I made a round of calls for GM.  I checked on the status of the lost bag, arranged for them to sit together on the flight over to Japan, and arranged for GM to have a wheelchair in the Atlanta airport and in the Narita airport.  Not too shabby for a morning's work.

14:00 - We loaded up in the van and headed to the college for my karate class there.  I made a short stop at my house to change clothes.  I didn't invite them inside because it is a huge mess.

16:00 - I introduced them to the President, my director, and my manager.  We then taught the class.  Before class started, the lil' pervert was going around toe kicking people in the anus.  He would then make great efforts to run away from the victim.  Unfortunately, his attention span wasn't so good so the victims would eventually sneak up behind him and slap him upside the head and say, "We're even!"

The class itself went pretty well.  Meg and Tsu were asking me if there were any blonde haired girls in the class.  I answered in the affirmative and they told me that GM's grandson only wanted to work with blonde haired girls.  I laughed.  During the class, I had all the guests try and coach the Americans.  The lil' pervert took a shining to one of the red haired girls in the class.  Later, I asked him if he had made a new girlfriend.  He said, "No!"  But then he glanced around to make sure no one was looking and made a crude gesture.  I pointed at him and called him a pervert and he laughed and ran away.

18:15 - We lined up for the clinic.  The original plan was to start around 18:45 and then have GM arrive at 19:30, watch a little bit, sign things, and then be off on our merry way.  GM changed the plans and arrived at 19:00 or so.  He watched for a while and then started signing at 19:30. 

I was pretty pleased with the clinic overall.  GM complimented the class' basics.  Once he got settled in he told me to sit down next to him and watch the class.  I would sort of shout out corrections, but he said, "You teach all time.  Japanese people coach.  People big happy!"  I think that was his way of telling me to sit down and shut up!  Hahaha!

I don't think he was too impressed with the black belts though.  I'm sure this will all come back to me as "I don't do enough of their training in class", but my answer to them is that I've NEVER done much black belt training in class.  That's what road trips and camps are for.  If they were smart, they would offer me a nice fee to do a black belt only clinic.  I'm pretty sure that the reason they don't do that is because they feel they're "owed" free instruction because they work for me (sporadically at best) during the week.  I think I need to explain to them that assisting with class is their duty as black belts and there is no compensation for it.

Anyway, Meg did Bassai sai and she was unbelievable.  To say she was "good" would be a huge understatement.  Also, anyone who saw her perform and thought, "I'm nearly that good" is an egotistical jack ass.  She has the perfect blend of natural ability, genetics (grandfather is an 8th deg, father is a 5th deg), and a hell of alot of practice.

21:00 - GM wanted to eat at a Chinese Buffet for dinner.  Unfortunately, we only had 2 choices.  A nearby place that sucked or a pretty good place that was over 10 minutes away.  We went for the latter.  Dinner went pretty smoothly.  My knee was killing me though.  I got out of the van kind of funny right before the clinic and it started hurting in the middle of it.

The other off putting thing was there were two overweight yet roided up rednecks wearing MMA stuff talking loudly about their fighting ability in a table near us.  I decided not to deal with them.  Sweet Tooth had a conversation with them, but I don't know what it was about.  They looked like a couple of cockasses to me, plain and simple.

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009

08:00 - We left for the Atlanta airport.  The weather was less than accomodating.  There was a heavy rain.  Traffic was pretty bad too.  Before we left, we checked and the flight was delayed by 45 minutes.

09:15 - We made it to the airport.  As we checked into the flight, we put each bag on the scale and everyone "oohed" and "ahhed" as the total came up.  The lady checking us in was pretty amused by that.  We had all the claim paper work filled out for the little boy that lost his bag and BabySteps decided to check one more time.  They found the bag so I helped the boy get it checked onto the plane.

10:00 - GM was able to link up with Rita and her mom.  They then went off to the security area.  BabySteps and I beat feet to the parking garage so that I could return the rental van.

11:30 - As a treat we went to lunch at CIP.  I only did it as a "thank you" to BabySteps for all his hard work over the weekend.

13:00 - We got back to the house and I promptly fell asleep while he worked.  I woke up at about 17:00 and prepared to go to class.

Final reflections

Now that it's all over and I've had a day or two to decompress, I'll have to admit that it was a pretty fun and exciting visit.  The rental van was pretty easy to drive.  It was much easier than the mini bus a few years ago.  It had a really "marshmallowy" response time, but I got used to it.  When I finally got back to driving my car, I realized how responsive my little Fit actually is.

On the morning before they left, I was eating breakfast with him and he looked at me and said, "Soon you maybe shihan, yes?"  I just looked up from my bowl of noodles and shrugged my shoulders and said, "I don't know, sensei.  Maybe."

Kaicho usually gives little gifts to me, BabySteps, and the Admiral.  This year he gave me a carton of Plum Wine and some cloth (which was supposed to be for the Boss).  When he found out that we were in the process of getting a divorce he told me to keep the wine but to still give her the cloth.  He gave the Admiral a carton of Plum wine too and a bottle of Japanese steak sauce (tasty!) and he gave BabySteps a Y* shirt.  Apparently, only black belts can wear that shirt.  It is purple, long sleeved, and has the Y* kanji on the back left shoulder (sort of the opposite of the blue shirts).  Also, if I understood him correctly, he will be sending me and the Admiral shirts as well. 

In addition to the shirts, he mentioned sending us the same warm-up jackets that the Japan people wear when they come to the US.  That would be pretty cool.  They are heavier than my pull over W Org windbreaker but lighter than my TA coat.  Nice.

END OF LINE

Current Standings

Picklez  88  (tied for 2nd place, 6 points behind the leader)

BabySteps  81 (8th place)

LG  85 (6th place)

Hangtime  76 (dead last)

Tiny Tanks 88 (tied for 2nd place)

LG continues to chip away at my lead.  I've caught up with Tiny Tanks.  BabySteps remains 7 points behind me and Hangtime is bringing up the rear.  All because he forgot one week.  Honestly, though even if he had picked that week I might be tied with him right now, too.

Week Ten Picks

Hoping to get a perfect "10" and wipe out all the competition and hold 2nd place all my own.  Still in the lead for the Vox group though.  A rare week as I went with ALL favorites.

CHI @ SF - Neither team has played well lately.  Gotta go with homefield advantage.  I still feel that SF can have a winning season this year.  Picklez Pick:  SF

BUF @ TEN - TEN is no longer winless.  They aren't the powerhouse they were last season, but they should still be able to beat BUF.  Picklez Pick:  TEN

NO @ STL - I contemplated on making this an upset pick.  STL in the past has been a "Giant Killer".  The Saints are just too awesome.  Picklez Pick:  NO

TB @ MIA - The Suckaneers won the "Battle of the Bays", but they are no match for the Fins.  As a side note, I would like to see MIA go winless at Pheaderation Stadium; however...  Picklez Pick:  MIA

DET @ MIN - A no brainer.  Picklez Pick:  MIN

JAC @ NYJ - The Jets.  They suck so much.  JAC.  They suck so much.  Homefield advantage.  Picklez Pick:  NYJ

CIN @ PIT - There's no way PIT is going to let CIN come into their house, kick their dog, screw their wife, and win a football game.  I hope.  Picklez Pick:  PIT

ATL @ CAR - ATL is solid (if not a little inconsistent).  CAR just plain sucks donkey ballz.  Picklez Pick:  ATL

KC @ OAK - A bitter rivalry for the attention of Sterquilius.  Picklez Pick:  OAK

DAL @ GB - If you lose to Tampa Gay, you don't have much of a chance against a decent team.  Picklez Pick:  DAL

SEA @ ARI - Does Seattle still have a team?  Oh, yeah.  They are the Suckhawks.  Picklez Pick:  ARI

PHI @ SD - SD keeps continuing to surprise me.  I still don't think they are any good though.  The heat of 1000 suns won't allow me to pick an upset.  Picklez Pick:  SD

BAL @ CLE - I wish I could pick the Browns.  I really do.  The unfortunate thing is that if I do, I will lose a point.  Picklez Pick:  BAL

JUST FOR THE RECORD, I DON'T LIKE ERIC "MANGINA" AND I HOPE HE GETS THE BOOT AFTER THIS SEASON.

Had to post this:

Navaronne

The movie would have been so much awesomer if this was the Wizard.

THAT IS ALL

Current Standings

Picklez  79  (4th place, 4 points behind the leader)

BabySteps  72 (8th place)

LG  76 (6th place)

Hangtime  69 (dead last)

Tiny Tanks 80 (3rd place)

LG continues to gain, Tiny Tanks has a horrible week, BabySteps continues to flounder, Hangtime is still struggling from his week of missed picks.

Week Nine Picks

I'm still shooting for the "perfect" week, but I don't see how I can get it with all these damn upsets.

WAS @ ATL - No brainer pick...or is it.  ATL at home, but there's still BabySteps' Monday night loss theory to consider.  WAS has no QB and no head coach.  Hmmm....  Picklez Pick:  ATL

ARI @ CHI - I don't know what happened to ARI last week.  Losing to CAR at home?!  I think they'll tighten up and if we see the same ARI team that played against the NYG, then CHI doesn't stand a chance.  Then again, maybe not.  ARI has been woefully inconsistent and the CHI defense is sort of merciless.  Picklez Pick:  CHI

BAL @ CIN - This was hard to pick.  I hate both teams equally.  Ouchostinko can suck it.  Twitter on that, Chad!   Picklez Pick:  BAL

HOU @ IND - To be honest, IND didn't play well last week.  If the Screwston effect is in, then this could be the end of the regular season winning streak for IND.  I don't think it will be though.  The power of Manning! is undeniable this year.  Picklez Pick:  IND

MIA @ NE - MIA beat the Jets.  No biggie.  There's no way they're going to be able to roll into Foxboro and beat the Patriots at home.   Also, I'm making this announcement since the NYJ have the bye this week.  NYJ sucks.  I'm always hopeful for them at the beginning of the year and then I am sadly disappointed.  As hot as the Flight Crew is, these guys can't seem to put together a winning season.  Sad really.  Picklez Pick:  NE

GB @ TB - Losing to Favre and the Vikings at home was tough, but GB is a much better team than the Suckaneers.  Picklez Pick:  GB

JAC @ KC - Both teams suck.  Who sucks more?  Picklez Pick:  JAC

DET @ SEA - DET let me down by losing to Suck Louis.  They won't do well against the Suckhawks.  Picklez Pick:  SEA

SD @ NYG - Will PeyPey release some of the power of Manning! to Eli for their home game this week against SD?  I hope so.  They need to break the shame spiral they're on right now.  Not just for themselves, but for me.  Picklez Pick:  NYG

TEN @ SF - Vince Young led TEN to a victory against crappy JAC.  Can he turn the whole season around?  No.  Picklez Pick:  SF

DAL @ PHI - I don't want to say outright that PHI is good because I hate them and their pro-dog murdering ways, but I have to admit that they've been playing well lately.  That ends with this upset pick of the week.  Picklez Pick:  DAL

DEN @ PIT - The facade of the DEN horses cracked last week and will continue to split.  Picklez Pick:  PIT

OH WHEN THE SAINTS, GO MARCHING IN, OH WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN...

It was a tournament weekend.  It was filled with thrills and spills.  Here's the skinny.

Thursday 10-29-09

I got to Dothan at about 13:00 local time.  I checked into the hotel and rested for a little while.  By rested, I mean that I called one of my credit card companies to get something sorted out and was treated extremely rudely by the service rep.  He said his computer was down and he wanted me to call back in 5 minutes.  I didn't want to go through automated hoops again and have to re-enter all my data to get to another service rep so I asked him to transfer my call to another rep.  He basically insulted my intelligence and told me that I might want to take a class on computers and on how they work.  I told him I wanted to talk to a supervisor so the guy put me on hold and then hung up on me.  I finally got everything sorted out, but I was turbo pissed.

Shortly after I got off the phone, Master C called me.  I went over to his house at 14:15 and we went to teach one of his classes.  This class was taught as an afterschool course at his daughter's school.  The kids were just out of school so they were sort of rambunctious.  Also, they're not used to visitors so they were sort of taken aback by seeing another black belt.  I warmed up the class and then they did their tournament stuff.

After participating in that class, I realize now more than ever why Master C is a true karate master.  He has an incredible amount of patience.  He also has an aura about him (especially around children) that demands respect without being overly intimidating.  This is something that I need to cultivate in myself.  It's little things like calling all the girls "sweetheart" and all the boys "son". 

After class, we went back to the homestead and took a short rest before going to pick GM up at the airport.  It turned out that GM's flight got in a little early and we were a little behind schedule because we forgot to wait for Master T before heading to the airport so we had to wait on him a little while.

We loaded up all the luggage and people and made our way back to the homestead.  After all the packing and unpacking, we had a light dinner of soup and sandwiches.  Some Dothan black belts came by as well as a group of Canadians who are looking to join our organization.  I didn't really interact with them much but from what I saw, they seem like a really good group.

It turned out to be a pretty late night.  I was asked to call at 08:00 the next morning.  I fell asleep very quickly once I got back to my hotel room.

Friday

I woke up at 07:45.  Promptly showered and dressed and then called Master C at 08:00.  He told me to come by the house at 08:30.  When I got there we loaded up into Master C's truck and went to get breakfast.  I had an omelete, some sausage, and a pancake.  After that we had to get some parts to fix the kitchen sink which had exploded the previous night.

We headed back to the house for a short rest before going over to the dojo to load up the mats for the demo and bring the trailer over to the civic center.  We got to the civic center at 13:00.  The trophies had already been unloaded so the trailer unloading process went by pretty quickly.

I was placed in charge of lining off the rings.  I hate this process when it is done on a wooden gym floor.  With the tile, it's easy to mark off and line things up.  With a wooden floor you have to measure very precisely.  It took a while but we got all the outer rings marked off and we were able to mark the center lines.  We left the gym at about 15:45.

We had a "snack" of Krystals, left over soup, and Wendy's chili.  Master C ate and then retired for a nap.  At 17:15 we got into the van and headed for the demo practice.  Before the practice officially started, they did the rank promotions.  A bunch of people got their 1st deg and Overboard got her 3rd deg.  Shihan Bl from LA got his 7th; Mr. El got his 6th; Mrs. McI got her 6th; Mr. Taylor got his 6th; and Mrs. Taylor got her 5th.

Overall, the practice went pretty well.  I was able to weasel out of having to do the kata.  I also got assigned to the announcing during the day.  We didn't get out of the practice until about 20:00 and I had to stay a little later to get all the center lines down.  One funny thing that happened during the practice was that someone was squeaking a chair in the upper deck.  I looked at PFC and he grimaced as he was reminded of the "Squeaky Shoe" debacle.

I went back over to the C homestead when I finished and we then went out for mexican food at La Parrilla.  It was pretty tasty.  I had to work on a list of Shihan's for introduction the next day.  I had to be really careful about the order and whatnot so as not to offend anyone.

After dinner I went back to the hotel and visited with the Medic and PFC.  The Medic opened the door of his hotel room and I was greeted by the sight of his huge white ass.  We chatted for a while and then PFC fell asleep.  We decided to put a picture on his phone, but neither of us was too keen on actually photographing our balls because PFC would kick our asses later.  We took a few very convincing photos of his elbow, though.

Saturday Demo

I got to the civic center at about 08:30.  There were a lot of last minute details to go over such as the final schedule.  As expected a few people who weren't at the practice showed up and wanted to participate.  Instead of telling the people they couldn't participate, we let them go ahead and try.  One young girl in particular didn't even know the kata, but she did the demo anyway.

The demo consisted of the group bo kata; Self-Defense; Fighting; Sword; and Breaking.

Operation

Remember that game Operation?  Well, I got Water on the Knee and the rubber band connecting my knee to my ankle has come loose.  I was kicking with my right leg and Big Red kicked my supporting leg out from under me.  Somehow in the process, I twisted my knee.  It hurt bad.  Real bad.  It still hurts and will continue to hurt for the next few weeks, I assume.

Big Red is officially a bad ass in my book, now.  This is about the 20th time he's whipped my ass.  I'm counting kata, weapons, and overall usefulness.  I don't know when or how he got so good, but he did.  I respect that.

Breaking

As I stood there waiting for the sword demo to finish, I contemplated not attempting to break my bat.  I decided to go through with it anyway.  I did it.  Big Red didn't break his bat, but apparently he separated PFC's shoulder in the attempt.  The Medic bent his aluminum bat with relative ease.

Saturday Tournament

I didn't get to compete because of my knee injury.  I'm not entirely sure I would have wanted to compete anyway.  I would have to compete against two of my students plus about 4 of my friends.  In the kata divisions, I was very happy to see Mr. N. McG compete again.  He competed with us at the Panama City tournament and all I can tell you is that I need to find out what that boy is eating for breakfast.  He went from sloppy to bad ass in a very short amount of time.  Right now, I would place his kata in the top 5 of the entire style.

I watched a little bit of sparring.  The Admiral fought really well despite the fact that she lost her first fight.  I'll have to admit though that the judging was a little suspect.  The Admiral scored about 5 points before they finally stopped the fight to award her opponent a point.

Hangtime fought well too.  His first fight the guy who beat him got lucky.  The second guy was the idiotic gorilla from PC.  That gorilla guy is a complete dick.  He's like a fat, flying freight train.  Watching him point fight is like watching someone projectile vomit on someone else.  What's coming isn't very pretty but it's pretty much unavoidable.  If I had to fight that guy, my strategy would be to wait until he rushed in with his no control ridgehand and just side or front kick him in the nuts.

Saturday Party

All in all, it was pretty uneventful.  Hangtime, Overboard, BabySteps, the Admiral, Sweet Tooth, Big Red, and I went to eat Thai food after the tournament.  We met in my room and BabySteps got a funny on me.  He said that I was "nuts over" a girl and then said that she was only 3' tall.  Sweet Tooth was pretty amused by that.

After dinner was over, I had trouble getting out of my chair because of my knee injury.  BabySteps suggested that I ride on his shoulders and we could be "Master/Blaster".  I thought Sweet Tooth was going to pee himself he was laughing so hard.

The DJ event went pretty smoothly.  My one regret was that I couldn't dance (because of my knee).  One my younger students (I think she's 6) kept requesting songs.  The funniest one was "Galvanize".  It got to this one part and she danced like a robot and mouthed the words "Push the button".  It was so cute.

Aftermath

This knee injury is by far the worst injury I've suffered in the past 5 years.  The bruised femur bone was bad, but this is almost unbearable.  I feel like it is improving though.  The paramedics looked at it on Saturday and said that as long as it didn't turn colors in the next 24 hours, I probably didn't need to get it x-rayed.  It didn't turn colors, so I'm pretty confident that it's just twisted or sprained and should heal up to at least 70% by the end of this week. 

What I consider to be 70% is not feeling pain getting in and out of the car, walking up and down stairs, and being able to sleep and change positions without waking up.  I understand that I won't be running or sparring for at least 3 weeks.  I just want to be able to perform normal functions like sitting down on the toilet to take a crap without pain or the fear of emminent pain.

I need to be mobile by the end of next week because GM and the Japanese are coming into town.  It's going to suck having to drive them around and take them places and not being able to walk correctly is certainly going to make things much more difficult than they should be.

END OF LINE

Current Standings

Picklez  70  (Tied for 4th place, 4 points behind the leader)

BabySteps  62 (8th place)

LG  68 (6th place)

Hangtime  60 (dead last)

Tiny Tanks 73 (2nd place)

LG is nipping at my heels, but Tiny Tanks has a nearly insurmountable lead.

Week Eight Picks

Here it is midseason, and I'm still getting surprised!  Not good.  My prediction is a NO vs IND SuperBowl.

HOU @ BUF - The real question is:  Can BUF win 3 times in a row?  I don't think so.  HOU is a much better team than CAR.  Of course, NYJ should have beat BUF.  Will the LG "Screwston" theory hold true?  Picklez Pick:  HOU

CLE @ CHI - As much as I hate to say it, CLE is awful.  CHI isn't the pick of the litter either, but I think that they have enough juice to beat CLE at home.  Picklez Pick:  CHI

SEA @ DAL - I'll have to hand it to Tony Homo.  He was firing on all cylinders against ATL last week.  The Suckhawks aren't 4/13ths as good as ATL.   Picklez Pick:  DAL

STL @ DET - Another game honoring Stirquilius, Roman god of Feces.  This is STL last chance to avoid the dreaded 0-16.  Desperation is in the air, but DET wants to double their wins this week at home.  Picklez Pick:  DET

SF @ IND - SF has played horribly the last two games.  Are they merely giant killers?  I'll just say this.  The way PeyPey is over performing and Eli is underperforming, I may have to bring back my theory of the Power of Manning!  I don't think SF has what it takes to beat IND at home.   Picklez Pick:  SF

MIA @ NYJ - This seems like a pretty easy pick, but it isn't.  The Jets haven't been performing well as of late.  MIA had a heck of a game against NO, but they still came up short.  I'm going with NYJ.  By the way, Flight Crew > Dolphins Cheerleaders.  Just sayin'.  Picklez Pick:  NYJ

NYG @ PHI - Upset #1.  I know that PHI won against WAS on Monday night, but WAS sucks.  The Giants lost to the best team in the NFC two weeks ago and the NFC champion last week.  A road win is just what they need to boost their morale.  Picklez Pick:  NYG

DEN @ BAL - DEN sucks.  BAL is solid.  What I'm afraid of is a massive conspiracy to convince everyone that DEN is good.  Picklez Pick:  BAL

JAC @ TEN - TEN needs to win this game.  I really don't understand what's wrong with them.  This is really a 50/50 chance either way.  Picklez Pick:  TEN

OAK @ SD - OAK can surprise you every once in a while.  Same with SD and I don't mean this in a good way.  SD should handily defeat the Gayders.  Picklez Pick:  SD

MIN @ GB - This is the game to watch this week.  There will be copious amounts of hate.  MIN is better though.  Picklez Pick:  MIN

CAR @ ARI - I don't know what happened to CAR this year.  They are just terrible.  ARI isn't really living up to their potential.  They're doing alright, but they should be much better.  Picklez Pick:  ARI

ATL @ NO - The Monday night game is a doozy!  NO will win, but it will be one hell of a ride. Picklez Pick:  NO

Mike Ditka - "THE ONLY THING PREVENT DEFENSE DOES IS PREVENT YOU FROM WINNING."