Life

The Will to Prevail

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

KR Training Assistant Instructor and Houston Police Officer, Justin Galindo, posted the following videos and comments to his Facebook page:

Says Justin:

Interesting dramatized ad for body armor, but actually this a better ad for carrying a backup pistol. Watch the whole thing and you’ll see what I mean.

Then Justin posted this video:

Justin’s comment for the above video:

Contrast the difference between that last video and this one. Body armor is great, but I’d rather have a determined will to prevail and to win.

A good compare and contrast. In the former, she survived through equipment and luck. In the latter, he survived because of equipment, the will to live, the determination to fight and win.

Interesting coincidence. Prior to seeing Justin’s posts I was flipping channels on TV and “American Gladiators” was on. It was the woman’s Eliminator. Both contestants started about the same time, but one clearly was taking the lead and the other was struggling to keep up. The woman in the lead got to near the end where there’s that uphill reverse conveyor belt, and she tried, and tried, but kept failing to get over the top. Despite a huge gap between the two competitors, the other woman managed to catch up and go on to cross the finish line first — she wanted it more, she was determined to finish. Yes the first woman appeared to have physically run out of gas, but you could see in her eyes that she had just given up. Both women were physically spent, but the one that won had the will to prevail and win.

Condolences

/ hsoi

Matt Billingsley, owner of the Lone Star Gun Range, passed away today. From the LSGR Facebook page:

FOR THOSE WHO KNEW AND LOVED MATT BILLINGSLEY OWNER OF THE RANGE……HE PASSED AWAY TODAY IN A HEAVY EQUIPMENT ACCIDENT. WE WILL HAVE FUNERAL INFORMATION POSTED SOON. HE WILL BE MISSED SO MUCH.

Terrible news. I used to go out to LSGR in its earlier days, and I really liked how things worked there, especially the 25 yard range close to the office where you could shoot, move, use carbines and handguns to work on movement, transitions, etc.. It was pretty nice. I did stop going because some time ago Matt had to put a policy in place where you couldn’t collect brass — I understand why he did it tho, because it was just after Obama came into office, components were in short supply, so some people were picking up every piece of brass they could find instead of just picking up their own, which cut into the range’s ability to harvest brass to resell to help keep range costs lower. I didn’t blame Matt and probably would have done something similar if I was in his shoes. But between that and the fact the range was growing in popularity so I couldn’t practice there the way I liked to (i.e. I needed a range to myself so I could shoot and move, etc.) well… I stopped going. Never was an issue on Matt’s part tho. He always came across as a good, stand-up guy, working hard to build a business, a successful range, and by all indicators he was doing a heck of a job. He was always nice to my kids when we were out there too. Nothing but respect for the guy.

My condolences to his family, friends, and associates.

Mental Toughness

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

An article by Jackson Yee on Mental Toughness.

Fear is a needed quality to develop mental strength. By facing fear, you learn courage. Being fearless is a misconceived trait. As admirable as being fearless can be, it isn’t realistic nor does it provide any benefit to being a mentally tough beast. Being threatened by fear is the catalyst for you to strike! Confronting fear with brave actions is how you get tough.

Fear is an emotional response. At times, fear is irrational and blown out of perspective. It is not easy getting over any shattering experiences, but with guts and determination, you can get over any painful ordeal. Life is full of disappointments and letdowns. When we don’t get what we want, the consolation is that we gain experience. This doesn’t seem like a worthwhile prize, but see how the adversity can enlighten you. If may not be obvious, but look hard at any opportunity for personal growth. Take in the life lesson and move on.

A lot of wisdom in the article, applicable no matter what the context in life.

Jury Duty

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

A couple months ago I was summoned for jury duty and today was my day to appear.

I headed down to Austin municipal court, went to the room, signed in, sat down, read a book, and then was sent home. There were 21 cases, and all decided against trial by jury (plead no contest, plea bargain, whatever). So, no one was needed and after about 2 hours total I was home.

Interesting that all of my jury duty experiences have been the same in that regard.

I will say, upon entrance to the courthouse there’s a full screening process, like at the airport only without the abject humiliation. I was surprised it was handled by a private security firm and not Austin Police Department. I of course set off the metal detector. I was wearing a pair of 5.11 covert pants, so more zippers than normal; belt with buckle; steel shanks in the soles of my cowboy boots, and I figure all that just was too much for the detector. Wand me down, off I went. Oh and once again, the spare battery for my MacBook Pro confounds the x-ray operator; happens quite frequently.

Here’s the thing.

I had to fully disarm to go to the courthouse: no gun, no knives, no Leatherman, no nothing. Something felt wrong about being forced to do a civic duty while being stripped of my basic rights.

EDC blades

/ hsoi / 14 Comments

Inspired by this post over at The Packing Rat, here are my EDC (Every Day Carry) blades:

The leftmost is a Leatherman Wave which is certainly the most action-packed of the EDC blades… because it’s more than just a blade. In fact, I use it more for the non-blade tools than the blade. But certainly if I want a saw or a serrated edge, that’s what I go for.

The other two are Spyderco Delica‘s. Yes, I carry two of them, one in each front pant pocket, both tip-up. This is a training artifact from an Insights Training Center Defensive Folding Knife class. You don’t think you need two knives until you can’t get to the one you need….  I like plain blades because it gets the job done just fine, and honestly it makes the knife less scary to grass-eaters. I also like the simplicity of the Delica… small enough in the hand so it’s not something to fumble or difficult to manipulate, but big enough to handle most chores. The large thumbhole is very easy to operate, even under pressure. It’s very sturdy. Holds a good edge. And if it gets lost or breaks, it’s not too expensive to cry over and easy enough to replace. The only trouble I keep having is the clips keep catching on various things that I brush up against so I’m always having to fix the clip (#6 torx bit is your friend). At least the clips are metal so it’s easy to bend back into shape with even a little overbend for better holding power.

One thing I often hear from folks is to not use your “self-defense” knives for anything else. Uh… why not? You should use it for everything. Need to open a letter? Use it. Need to open a box? Use it. Need to cut something? Use it. Or like Derek at TPR, “I’ve cracked open crabs, gutted fish, open beer bottles, cut tinder, start fires, etc.”  It’s a tool, use the tool. The more you use it, the adept you get at manipulating it, drawing it, opening it, and having it feel comfortable and usable in your hands. So the blade gets dull…. sharpen it!

Knives are useful tools. Oldest has a pocket knife but despite my constant prodding for him to carry it he won’t. Daughter adopted my old Leatherman Micra and did carry it around some but lost it. I figure a replacement will come eventually. Youngest, he needs to gain more confidence in using a knife first. But we’ll get there. 🙂  Hrm… maybe a Delica or a smaller Leatherman for Christmas stocking stuffers…. hrm…. 🙂

Do you know Visual Basic and Measurement Studio (or know someone who does)?

/ hsoi / 1 Comment

Do you know Visual Basic and/or Measurement Studio? Or if you don’t do you know someone who does?

There’s a group that needs some work done utilizing those tools, and I’m trying to help them find someone. If you know your way around there, drop me a line and I can fill you in on the details.

Thanx.

Yes, it’s dry out

/ hsoi

Texas is having one of the worst droughts on record.  We really need rain.

Just saw this tweet that said the Austin Fire Department has denied permits for Austin, Pflugerville, Lake Travis, Oak Hill, and Westlake for having fireworks displays on Independence Day. I’m sure other areas will have a similar lack of fireworks.

While I feel for the folks that make their money and living in that business, we really don’t need to risk the loss of homes, property, and lives.

Please… please… please… people. Please don’t think that somehow YOUR fireworks will be above it or immune or that it can’t happen to you. Or that you’ve done it hundreds of times without incident. Or that “you’ll be safe”. All that and an “I’m sorry” is of little comfort to the person that loses home or life because of an ember that gets away or a firework that misfires.

I love fireworks too, it’ll be a bummer to not have them. But please folks. It’s too risky.

I love the Alamo Drafthouse

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

You know why I love the Alamo Drafthouse?

Numerous reasons. Mind you, I’m not the biggest movie go-er, but when I go, the Drafthouse makes for a great experience. The seats are comfortable, not just cushy and wide enough to fit my 6’3″ frame, but also there’s loads of leg room.. .again for my 6’3″ frame. Of course, the fact there’s excellent food and beer is a wonderful thing too. All the various special events are awesome. Family pretty much refuses to see movies anywhere else, and generally that works out because most any movie worth seeing ends up being shown at the Drafthouse.

But the biggest reason is they take their movie-watching seriously…. as this girl found out:

Awesome. One more reason to love the Drafthouse. 🙂

Too much marketing

/ hsoi

I mentioned I’m changing my fitness goals. At first I thought doing the StrongLifts5x5 would be good, but then I changed my mind and I’m going with Rippetoe’s Starting Strength. I mentioned “less hype-y bullshit” and given what came in my inbox I want to expand upon that notion.

In order to get the SL5x5 program you have to give the guy your email address. That’s the first sign of marketing. But, I bite and give it to him. I then get an email with a link to the “Secret 5×5 report”. When I download the report it’s a 211 page PDF. And boy, when you get it, it’s a lot of marketing chaff and not a lot of wheat. Heck, starting on page 66 and going to page 207 is nothing but testimonials. Page 2 to 33 is a lot more marketing hype, which isn’t all crap, but just read how it’s put together and he’s being a total pitch-man as to why this approach — and his approach — are awesome and the be-all-end-all. Do the math there on page count and you can see there’s little wheat amongst lots of marketing chaff.

Each day I’ve been getting an email, and it’s always trying to be a tidbit of information, but then a P.S. with some sort of tease about what’s yet to come. I did wonder where his promised tracker spreadsheet was, and the emails finally started to say “it’s coming”. And so this morning I get the “here’s the spreadsheet” email (which of course has a P.S. about more information still to come, just stay tuned!)

And what happens? You go here and it’s a big survey. Yeah, you can’t get something for nothing… you want his spreadsheet, you need to answer his questions.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The StrongLifts.com website is a decent website with some good information. There are lots of articles, there’s even a forum… but why is the forum closed to new members? Oh I see, because if you want to join you have to give him your email address. Plus, it makes it seem more exclusive and somehow better. Marketing crap. I see nothing wrong with how someone wants to run their business. He’s doing nothing wrong, I just find what he’s doing annoying. This style of marketing bugs me because well… it doesn’t come across as genuine, just as some guy trying to pitch and sell and make money. I see nothing wrong with making money, but there’s an air of “slime” in this approach that just doesn’t sit with me. Front Sight does this as well, and it bugged me there too. USCCA did it too, but I hear they’ve gotten better. Heck, even some of the marketing stuff done by my day job company bugs me. It doesn’t mean the product vended isn’t good, but the way it’s gone about doesn’t sit well with me. It comes across like their priorities in life are backwards, but they’re just backwards from mine.

But that’s me. Here I am writing on my blog about lots of topics, and I’m more than willing to give a lot of good information away for free. Why? I’m more a teacher than a marketer. I’m more out to educate people than to get rich. I don’t feel a need to charge people or that I always have to get something that benefits me before I’ll give you something that benefits you. Some people would probably call me stupid for doing that, but I know what I’ve reaped based upon what I’ve sown and the yield is high.