Month: June 2012

What are the chances I’ll need a gun?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Here goes that Tom Givens character again, citing facts and drawing logical conclusions.

In reply to the following statement: ‘The statistical likelihood of a defensive gun use, shots fired or not, is small compared to the likelihood of an injury [from a] car wreck’, he said:

“I would disagree with this. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 2,250,808 motor vehicle accident related deaths and/or injuries. According to the same source, in 2009 there were 2,621,100 murders, rapes, armed robberies and aggravated assaults. Every one of those violent crimes was a potential DGU, IF the victim simply had enough sense to be armed.

This rant … is directed at the people I constantly hear telling me that ‘the odds of needing my gun are one in a million.’ They are not.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics victimization survey, the violent crimes reported to police don’t even come close to the true number. For 2007, the BJS estimates there were over 5.6 million violent crimes (murder, rape, armed robbery, aggravated assault). That is one for every 54 people in the country. Again, every one of those would be a legitimate cause for a DGU, if the victim were armed.”

From Claude Werner’s Facebook page.

 

thinking

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

“The third-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the majority. The second-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking with the minority. The first-rate mind is only happy when it is thinking.”

-A.A. Milne

Tony Blauer on Street Survival

/ hsoi

Tony Blauer has written his 10 Commandments of Street Survival.

It’s a pretty good piece, and really works to present and create a warrior mindset. And in some ways, it’s a mindset that’s good for life in general; I could see folks wanting to apply it as self-help strategies or ways to succeed in business. It’s all good stuff towards helping you create a solid mindset and attitude.

Thing is, I had this bookmarked for a couple of weeks, intending to eventually write about it. As I reread it this morning, it stood in contrast to something else I wrote about a few days ago, Claude Werner’s piece on “how much training do you need?”.

Tony’s piece sounds like you must dedicate your life to being a warrior, eating, sleeping, breathing, and living 24/7/365 this way in order to have a chance of defending yourself. Claude’s piece says that lots of people defend themselves every day without much of any formal training, and are we Trainers perhaps constructing a bigger boogeyman to justify training?

It’s a bunch to think about… lots swirling in my head regarding both pieces individually and the compare/contrast of them.

I’m not sure the two are in complete opposition to each other; in parts yes, but I think in others they are orthogonal or even complementary.

What do you think?

Write once, run everywhere…. suboptimally

/ hsoi

Being a graybeard, I’ve seen all sorts of computing fads come and go.

Unfortunately, after so many have come and gone, people still chase this notion of “write once, run everywhere”. That they can write the piece of software once, and it’ll (magically) run everywhere. It’ll run on Windows, it’ll run on Mac. And these days, it’ll run on iOS and run on Android, and run on the web, and on desktop computers and mobile devices, and the list goes on.

Alas, this never really works out. There’s always a shortcoming somewhere, and what usually comes up short is the quality of the software, and then the user satisfaction.

A most recent example is Facebook’s app for iOS devices…. Read more.

There are no safe places

/ hsoi

Some guy is going on a robbery spree in South Austin.

AUSTIN (KXAN) – Austin police are looking for a man who has robbed three GameStops and one Subway restaurant — all in the past four days.

The suspect started his robbery spree at a Subway in the 2200 block of W. Ben White Boulevard on Monday.

Over the next few days, he robbed the following GameStops:

Tuesday – GameStop, 4477 South Lamar Boulevard

Wednesday – GameStop, 5601 Brodie Lane #990 (in Sunset Valley)

Thursday – GameStop 13000 N IH 35

In all four cases, the suspect entered the business, showed the cashier a weapon and demanded money. It does not appear that the suspect stole any games or equipment from the GameStop’s.

The suspect is described as:

Hispanic male
Light skinned
Early to mid-20’s
5’8″ in height
160-170 lbs.
Short black hair
Scruffy beard
The suspect was last seen wearing a white t-shirt with lettering on the front and dark jeans.

If you notice the man in the picture, you are asked to call the Robbery tip line at (512) 974-5092, Crime Stoppers at (512) 472-TIPS or text “Tip 103” + your message to CRIMES. You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your tip leads to an arrest or charges being filed.

The one security camera picture of him? If the time/date is correct, it looks like the Lamar GameStop was robbed at 1:53 PM.

Many people have a belief that crime happens only in particular areas, in particular places, at particular times of day. True, statistically speaking there are areas, places, times of day that are more crime-filled than others. But no place is crime-free. All these places are in good neighborhoods, in “upscale” shopping centers, middle of the day, people around. Ask most people and most would consider it unthinkable for crime to happen here.

But it happens.

I say this not to scare folks, but to give folks reality. No place is truly safe, no place is crime-free. You have to be mindful always.

And if you have any information about these robberies or can identify the criminal, please notify the proper authorities.

I haz a… that’s life

/ hsoi

First I hadz a sad. Then I hadz a happy.

But now… it iz what it iz.

Had a brief scare yesterday afternoon as Momma Muscovy (Diamond) lost 2 of her ducklings. They are “teenagers” now, and as teenagers do, they wandered off somewhere. This morning on my return from the gym I saw the whole family together again, preening.

But confirmed that Momma Mallard (Vanilla) only has 2 surviving ducklings. I checked the nest, and there are at least 2 dead ducklings, I imagine overcome by the intense heat we’ve had the past few days. But then where the other 2 are? No idea. They may have fallen to the heat as well, but since they are out and wandering around now, who knows where their bodies are and if they got scavenged.

Life is what it is.

I hope the best for the 2 newborns.

2012-06-28 workout – Wendler 5/3/1 program, cycle 11, Deadlift/Press 2

/ hsoi

Today felt really good.

“Week 3”

  • 3 reps – Deadlift (working max: 335#)
    • 1x5x135 (warmup)
    • 1x5x170
    • 1x3x205
    • 1x3x235 (work)
    • 1x3x270
    • 1x7x305
  • 3 Reps – Press (working max: 150#)
    • 2x5x45 (warmup)
    • 1x5x60
    • 1x5x75
    • 1x3x90
    • 1x3x105 (work)
    • 1x3x120
    • 1x7x135
  • Asst. #1 – DB Rows
    • 3 x 10 x 75
  • Asst. #2 – Pulldown Abs
    • 3 x 15 x 60
  • Asst. #3 – Dips
    • 3 x 7 x BW
  • Asst. #4 – DB Hammer Curls
    • 3 x 10 x 30’s

Today just felt damn good. Got a decent night’s sleep. I think my new diet plan is working out. Just felt good.

The deadlifts went well. I again tried reversing my grip, left pronated and right supinated. Felt less weird, but I forgot to do it on all sets, just did it on the last set (since I’m used to double-overhand for all other sets). But it seemed to work well enough, tho again it still feels weaker than the other way. Nevertheless, I was happy with 7 reps @ 305.

Press felt good too. Wearing a very tight belt really helps with things. Helps me get more out of the Valsalva maneuver (natch), which makes my torso a lot more solid and stable. All good.

On assistance work, I opted to start the 1-handed exercises with my left. It’s the weaker side, so let it set the pace. Pulldown abs still are weird, but more reps seems good, tho 15 might be too much because the rope positioning really gets to you. So I’ll try something like 3x12x70 next workout and see how that goes.

Still doing all assistance work as a circuit, maybe 10 seconds of rest between exercises to let my elbows become happy again, and 90 seconds between runs. I swear I’m seeing a little more mass growth from all of this… I blame dips. 🙂

Onward to PR week!

I haz a happy

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

I hadz a sad.

Now I haz a happy.

Just went and checked on the nest. Looks like 5 more ducklings hatched overnight. Yes, one confirmed that didn’t make it, but 5 did. No idea if there are any more to come… hard to see the state of the eggs in the nest (are they shells? whole? in progress? duds? can’t tell right now). I reckon if we check again this evening, whatever we have by then will be the total.

I haz happy.

Travis County Burn Ban in Effect

/ hsoi

There’s now a burn ban in effect in Travis County. Not surprising with the lack of rain, and the intense heat quickly drying everything out.

I know the 4th of July is a week away – and let’s not forget fireworks are illegal to use within the Austin city limits. As much as I love fireworks, as much as you think you’re safe, responsible, and it won’t happen to you, it just takes one errant spark or ember to make a tragedy. Fireworks sometimes are faulty, and YOU can’t control that fact. It’s not worth it.

I haz a sad

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Mother Mallad Duck (Kiddos named her Vanilla since she’s a “pale” mallard) had a nest in a bed across the street.

It’s been some time since the eggs were laid, and on a whim last night I went to go check.

The eggs just started hatching! I saw one duckling, still wet. Another egg had a hole and you could see a chick trying to break out.

Squee!

Later that evening tho I went back to check on progress. I saw a duckling in a heap, head on the ground. I didn’t touch (Momma wouldn’t want me near anyways), but after watching for a little bit it was evident it was dead. I couldn’t tell if any other eggs hatched as Momma was hissing and puffing up and fanning everything out as if to cover things. So it’s likely more hatched, but won’t know until I can visually confirm.

My guess? Temperatures in Austin reached into the 100’s yesterday. According to the thermometer in my truck, it was 108 when I was first checking on them. Momma was panting hard… it was hot hot hot. I’m thinking the little one just succumbed to the heat.

Witih temperatures expected to remain so high the next few days, this doesn’t look good for the little ones.

I haz a sad. 😦

Updated: I haz happy.