Month: October 2011

Goodbye, Zoe

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

Zoe came into our lives one Labor Day weekend.

We had 2 older cats that we knew weren’t long for the world, so we wanted to get a couple of kittens to bring into the house before the older cats were too old to accept others, ultimately to ease the transition for the children.

So down to the Town Lake Animal Shelter we went. We fell in love with 2 cats, Estella and Zoe. We couldn’t take them home due to them needing to be spayed beforehand, and since it was Labor Day weekend there wouldn’t be any medical work until Tuesday. But they were ours, and the shelter folks put the two of them together in one larger cage area. The two bonded instantly… the kids refer to them as “sisters”, and while they really aren’t, they sure act that way. Quite well bonded to each other.

We’re not 100% sure of Zoe’s age, but we figure she was probably 6 months or so when we adopted her.

That was 7 years ago.

We didn’t think we’d be saying good-bye so soon.

About a week ago we noticed she wasn’t looking right. Zoe was always a secluded and aloof cat, so it’s not easy to notice if something is wrong… especially when it happens so slowly, so gradually. We don’t know how it happened, but in short, liver failure. Once we noticed we took her to the vet. We’ve had her on various medications, I’ve been force feeding her multiple times a day, all sorts of things. But alas, her body had enough and was spent… it just couldn’t go any more. This evening we took her to the emergency vet clinic, they examined, we discussed, and had Zoe put to sleep. 😦

We all took it hard, especially Daughter. Zoe was her cat; they had a bond that no one else had. She worked hard at helping me with Zoe this past week, spent as much time as she could just being with Zoe, sitting with her in the sunlight, or whatever she could do. Daughter was brave until the end, seeing Zoe all the way to the Rainbow Bridge.

Zoe was cool because she wasn’t a typical cat. She did her own thing, she didn’t need you, but yet she did. Her meow wasn’t a typical cat meow either; there’s no way I can describe it, but they were soft and quiet yet expressive. I remember how she jumped up onto things… the way she cleared things made her look like she just effortlessly glided up there; it was so cool to watch. Of course, there was the time she decided to jump onto the railing around the landing at the top of the stairs… then decided to take the flying leap of the railing, down to the tile floor some 15′ down! (she was fine, and of course never did it again).  I’ll remember her most tho for being one of the most obsessive cats I’ve ever known… constantly needing to lick and clean things, especially Estella. She was also rather obsessive about being on things, especially cardboard and boxes (see the picture. There’s a box! I must sit on it!!!). You couldn’t leave a piece of paper on the floor without her deciding she had to be on top of it. I know all cats do that sort of thing, but she took it to a whole new level. 🙂

Yo-yo… we’re going to miss you. Thank you for being a part of our lives.

I’m confused by the apparent inconsistency

/ hsoi

Rolling Stone had a slideshow on the 10 Worst Songs from the 1980’s. Coming in at #4, Wham’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”.

There was a blurb in the article that stood out to me:

What’s with the “Choose Life” shirts in the video? I always thought it was a pro-life message, but it turns out the shirt’s designer is pro-choice and it relates to respecting life by shunning violence and war.

If you choose life, wouldn’t that mean you’d also want to choose to respect the life of that yet-to-be-born baby?

The Pinewood Derby

/ hsoi

In the world of Cub Scouting, is there anything bigger than Pinewood Derby? I think not!

Browsing around The Art of Manliness website (cool site, BTW), I saw their post on “How To Build a Pinewood Derby Car“. It brought up memories, both old and recent.

As a Kid

When I was a Cub Scout, Pinewood Derby was THE event of the year. I remember working with my Dad, building the car, but the performance was horrible. So the next year we tried again. Now we did note that we never got the built-weight up to the 5.0 ounce limit, so they were always taping pennies onto our car… which blew the way it looked and it still didn’t perform all that well.

Little did I know how much Dad was paying attention.

My third year at it my Dad got serious. We made a different design, putting more weight into the car and towards the back. The wood block was cut in a wedge design with very little wood up front (in front of the “drivers slot”). Then I recall we dug around in the junk buckets in at the workbench to find weight that would work, such as a large nut. We drilled out holes in the bottom of the car and puttied the weights in there. One thing I was particularly proud of at the time was while Dad was at work I was digging for more weights and found this dome-shaped hunk of metal. I took the hacksaw to the post it was on, stuck it into the “drivers slot” and then painted it. It looked just like a driver with his helmet and goggles all hunkered down behind the wheel. I thought that was so cool (I wish I still had the car and could show a picture here). I just remember thinking how cool and clever I was, because it was functional but also artistic. 🙂

We worked hard to make that great racer and I remember coming in third place. I also remember that I actually came in first place, but the Dad’s manning the finish line didn’t get things right and the one Dad that recovered my car didn’t speak up so I just got shoved into 3rd place. Oh well, it didn’t bother me much because in the end I was just happy to have made a car that worked well — and did it with my Dad.

As an Adult

So then my sons do Cub Scouts. Pinewood Derby in our Pack was different. They opted to do away with “first, second, third” place finishing and so on. Why? Because it had gotten out of hand. Apparently the year before I joined the Pack, they had some incident where some Dad was outside yelling at the Pack leaders, threatening to sue, and just generally going stupid about the whole thing. As volunteers, the leadership didn’t need nor want the grief, so they just did away with it — it was no longer a competition, it was an “exhibition” race. Part of me did not like that because it just reeked of the wussification of America, because well… learning how to deal with loss and learning how to be a gracious and humble winner is very much a part of life and character building to become a well-adjusted adult. But by the same token, I could totally understand not wanting all the hell and hassle. And as one leader pointed out to me, it didn’t really matter. In the end, the kids all know who has the fastest car, who has the coolest car, they’ll still cry if their car doesn’t do well, you’ll still have one kid that needs to learn what “gracious winner” is, and so on. So in the end, the dynamics really remain.

Plus, it got rid of the micromanagement of rules, and I think it also encouraged more “let the boy do the work”. Since Dad didn’t have to go nuts trying to over-engineer the car, we didn’t sweat things too much. Sure we encouraged everyone to follow the rules, to mind some level of guidelines so things didn’t get stupid, but hey, if someone wanted to go full-stupid they could, but to what gain or end? I think in the end it generally worked out better for the boys.

Because….

In reading that Art of Manliness article, the article itself was pretty straightforward and had reasonable tips. Back before the Internet, you had to learn these things and pass these coveted secrets down. But now, just a Google search away. Then as I read some of the comments, it just bothered me the level to which some of these Dads went with things. But then, that’s them, that’s not me, and in the end that’s OK.

I couldn’t comment on the article since it’s old and comments were closed, but after reading through it all I could only think of one thing:

What do you want to teach your son?

If you want to teach him about engineering, friction, physics, and so on? Sure, over-engineer the daylights out of it! In fact, if you’re in to Scouts for the long haul, plan the lesson over the course of his entire Cub Scout career, letting the first year perhaps be a loser year, then doing it better each year so he can see first-hand how it all works and goes. That’s a lot of long-term planning, but could be a bigger and better life lesson.

Do you want to teach them about winning and losing? About competition? About sportsmanship? About wood working?

In the end, you have to remember: this is for him, not you (and yes, suggestions of having a “Dad’s Race” or “Open Class” are good ways for leaders, siblings, and over-achieving Dads to have THEIR fun). Figure out what you want him to get out of it, then pursue that goal. Scouting is about building character, developing leaders. Work to help your son towards that end.

Thanx, Dad. 🙂

Bass-ackwards

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Homeowner arrested after suspected burglar shot in the leg

The householder in his 60s, named locally as Malcolm White, is believed to have fired on one of two raiders who tried to break into his home in Whitbourne, Hertfordshire.

[…]

Family friend Barbara McKenzie said Mr White and his wife Josie were watching TV when they heard someone breaking their living room window on Wednesday evening.

‘Malcolm got his shotgun and apparently fired at one of the burglars.

‘Everyone here supports Malcolm completely,’ she added.

Yes… this is in the country formerly known as “Great” Britain.

Of course, we don’t know the full story, maybe there’s more to it, but in Britain? Unlikely…. because there, criminals now have more rights than law-abiding citizens. Two hoodlums break into the elderly man’s home, the man defends himself and his wife, and for that he gets charged with attempted murder and arrested.

Can someone explain to me how this man is a criminal, and not a hero?

Bass-ackwards.

2011-10-07 workout

/ hsoi

“Week 4” deload

  • Deload – Deadlift (working max: 275#)
    • 2x5x110
    • 2x5x140
    • 2x5x165
  • Asst. #1 – Hyperextensions
    • 5 x 10 x BW
  • Asst. #2 – Hanging leg curl raises whatever I call them
    • 5 x 7 x WT
  • Metcon – jump rope
    • 1 Tabata set – all single hop

Again, it’s deload week, so there’s nothing much to write home about.

On the next cycle I’m going to switch from hyperextensions to Good Mornings. Start slow and almost no weight, ensuring back and legs are straight and as “right angle” as possible. See where it goes.

The leg curl/raises I’m getting better at, almost no swing, more curl up of the knees up to the shoulders, and noticing a lot more full-body activity in bringing my legs up (e.g. my back and arms are getting into it some). This is all good, as it’s not an isolation exercise. I’m feeling alright doing 5×7 across, so I’m going to bump to 5×8 and see how that goes, and just keep building from there.

As an aside… my right knee has been odd for a number of years. Just the way things felt, how it would grind (as older knees do), general motion and stability and so on. Plus I noticed that if I knelt down, resting on my kneecap, I could move just the right way and pop my knee(cap). Well, I can’t pop it any more. In fact, my knee is feeling much different. For a couple of months it was feeling bad… even had thoughts that I’d blow it out. I may still. But recently I’ve been feeling more like the knee is improving, getting stronger, more stable. All stands to reason given the deadlifting and squatting. Sure, I do feel like in all the improvements to my body that I also feel some wear and tear on it, but all in all the body feels stronger… we’ll see how the knee feels in another 6 months.

Free Speech – I do not think it means what you think it means

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Four Democrat State Senators in New York think we have too much free speech:

Proponents of a more refined First Amendment argue that this freedom should be treated not as a right but as a privilege — a special entitlement granted by the state on a conditional basis that can be revoked if it is ever abused or maltreated.

Uh…..

I thought Democrats were all about The First Amendment (by GAWD!).

Ah but I see… this is “thinking of the children”, so that makes it all ok. Big Nanny is acceptable in that case, right?

Or perhaps we should just use your own logic against you and revoke your own “privilege” to speak so freely, because you’ve certainly maltreated this privilege by the behavior you’ve exhibited here.

Freedom. You fail at understanding it.

 

Why do you think it’s morally right to reward someone who’s done nothing right?

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

He said, “Do you think it’s morally right to punish someone who’s done nothing wrong?”

And I said, “No.”

He said , “Then why do you think it’s morally right to reward someone who’s done nothing right?”

— Penn Jilette

Full video:

Should you be allowed to carry a gun to church?

/ hsoi

Should you be allowed to carry a gun to church?

Yes.

What about the person sitting next to you?

Yes.

The question before a three-judge panel for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta Thursday is whether Georgia’s prohibition on firearms in places of worship conflicts with the promise of religious freedom in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

GeorgiaCarry.org, which brought the initial lawsuit, believes religious institutions, not Georgia law, should dictate if firearms are allowed inside, and they point to accounts of shootings in churches as examples of why guns are needed even while worshiping.

Full Story. (h/t Fark)

An interesting legal approach by GeorgiaCarry.org, and we’ll see if it pans out. As expected, the opposition doesn’t get it.

But lawyers for the state say the ban makes it possible for “worshipers to focus on spiritual activities” instead of “protective vigilance.”

So perhaps we should ban smartphones as well, because I can tell you for sure they don’t do much to help worshipers focus on spiritual activities, especially when someone forgets to turn off their ringer. If this is about ensuring focus, there’s much else that we should ban to remain consistent. But of course, it’s not about that.

But Jonathan Lowy, director of the Legal Action Project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, a gun control group that is not a participant in the lawsuit, said there is no constitutional right to carry loaded guns in public.

“If you chose to have a loaded gun in your home to protect yourself, that’s your right. It’s a whole different issue when you bring that gun where me and my children and other families are just going about … business.

Let’s play a little bit with the phrasing here:

If you choose to speak freely in your own home to protect yourself, that’s your right. It’s a whole different issue when you start practicing free speech where me and my children and other families are just going about … business.

Is that acceptable?

Why isn’t it a different issue when police bring their gun where you and your children and other families are just going about business?

And it would be even more dangerous, he said, if well-meaning, armed civilians, faced with a dangerous situation, begin shooting in an effort “to save the day.”

“Injecting more guns into more public places and being held by more people causes death and injury much more than it’s saved lives,” Lowy said.

Mr. Lowy, can you please present the data and evidence to back this up? Because we have data and evidence, and it does not support your conclusion; in fact, quite the opposite.

I posted about this just a few days ago. There is much violence in church. You’d like to think if there was anywhere there wouldn’t be it would be in a church, but alas, such is not the case. If we want to talk about the ability for folks to focus on worship well… I’d say allowing someone to go on a violent rampage kinda makes worship a wee bit difficult. If there are ways good people can deter and stop such events, I’d say that helps the ability to focus on worship.

Consider what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say about self-defense.

2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.

Emily gets her gun… well… tries to

/ hsoi

Emily Miller lives in Washington D.C.. She wants a gun to protect herself.

It’s proving to be most difficult to do so, and she’s writing a series about it at the Washington Times.

All you that believe in a woman’s right to choose? That “no means no”? That participate in “slutwalks”? Why are those of this same group so hell-bent on denying her the ability to protect herself in her chosen way? The inconsistency bothers me.