Today, someone flew a small plane into a building on the north side of town.
Details are still coming together. But at this point it seems that a man was greatly troubled, many problems with the IRS (amongst other things). He burned down his own house (apparently while wife and daughter were still inside). Then flew a single engine plane into a building that held IRS offices. All in all, a very sad situation in every way for everyone involved.
I do hope everything gets sorted out and things resolved as best they can at this point.
I also hope that knee-jerk reactions don’t happen as result of this. This was a lone incident of “crazy” and folks, you can’t stop crazy. Actually I’d say this is more “sad”, but the point remains that this was an isolated incident. I don’t want to see my city get all tied up in this, calling for increased security measures, or changing FAA rules, or whatever. That’s not going to stop anything and will only serve to further degrade the lives of the citizenry… which in a way, is what this guy was rallying against. You’d only be feeding the beast by doing such things.
Last night I took the family to see opening night.
I’ve seen many Cirque shows on TV; Bravo or A&E, I forget which would play the shows and many times run marathons. Wife and I always enjoyed watching them. Of the shows, Alegría was always a favorite. So that it came to town and we could see it live? Awesome.
The kids have never been to any sort of circus, or experienced anything quite like this. We played some promo videos we found online. Daughter of course was excited about it. Youngest wasn’t too sure but did think it’d be neat. Oldest? He made up his mind that he was going to hate it, of course. 🙂 In the weeks since the ticket purchase and leading up to last night, everyone’s respective sentiments towards the show only strengthened. I just encouraged Oldest to go in with an open mind and let it be what it will be; even if he ends up not liking it, he’ll have the experience. I was taken to many events as a child that didn’t appeal to me at the onset and afterwards I knew I’d never do again. However I know my life is a bit richer for the experience. Besides, I’d remind him of all the times he knew he’d hate something and ended up liking it in the end.
And so we went. We decided to have dinner out, and since it was Ash Wednesday seafood was on the menu. I found this little place in Cedar Park called CR Surf & Turf (Yelp listing). Seemed to be decently reviewed and sure enough, the place lived up to the review. It’s a little place, but business was steady and the place was generally 75-90% full the entire time we were there. Service wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t great (e.g. no one ever refilled Wife’s water, or even came by after the food was delivered to ask how things were). Still, the folks were friendly and if you needed anything it was easy enough to ask. The place isn’t too fancy either, but who cares. What’s important is the food and my my my my my…. it was good. We started with a fried calamari. We expected it to be like everyone else does it: little bits of squid, battered and deep fried to a brown, served up in a mound on a plate with cocktail sauce. It was far from that. A light golden batter, meaty cuts of squid, and a fantastic addition of sautéed onions and other things including some sliced fresh jalapeno (sorry, I can’t remember it all). But my my it was delicious, and so different from the norm. Just fantastic. Everyone had their different plates of food and it was all done very well. The fish was delicious, cooked just right. Even scallops, which are so easy to screw up, were done right. Anything fried (e.g. Oldest had a plate of fried stuff) was a very light batter, crunchy, and didn’t feel heavy. I had grilled asparagus as a side, and it was cooked just right… nothing overdone or underdone. And everything came to our table hot… like freshly cooked hot. Just awesome. I’m telling you folks… this was some really good stuff. If the place wasn’t so far of a drive away I think it’d be a regular place for us. Highly recommended. But anyway…. this isn’t a food blog, but the place was so good I had to give them some credit.
So we get to the Cedar Park Center, find our seats. I always try to get good seats for things and this was no exception. Section 122, row C. It gave us a great view of the entire stage, and comfortable viewing as well (no craning your neck to see everything). One thing I’ll repeat about the Cedar Park Center is the place is tiny and the seats are cramped, but there really aren’t any “bad seats”… even the cheap nosebleeds aren’t going to be terrible. I’d say the only “bad seats” would be the ones directly to the left and right of the stage, since you’d be obscured at times (e.g. the large net at the end for the Aerial High Bar performance).
What can I say about the show other than it was well-executed. I’ve seen the show numerous times on TV, but seeing it live was wonderful. The talent, the skill, the ability of the performers is amazing to watch. The kids were certainly wow’d by a lot of things. Of course, I think for them the best part was watching the clowns. I can’t say I blame them… the clown act was updated a bit and was hilarious, especially the use of some running gags. I know Oldest liked the Fire-Knife Dance too.
Speaking of Oldest… at intermission he comes up to me:
“Dad… I’m going to have to eat my words.” And he gives a slight smile.
Yeah I know, Son. I heard you laughing. I saw you hold your breath during some of those death-defying feats. I saw your attention totally captured. It’s all good. 🙂
…last month, when Mr. Obama convened Congressional Democratic leaders at the White House for a marathon negotiating session, another priority intervened.
His 11-year-old daughter, Malia, had a band recital.
Thus did the president of the United States ditch his own health care talks — temporarily, at least — to slip off to Sidwell Friends School for a few hours to listen to Malia play the flute. When the recital was over, he returned to the White House, and everybody went back to work.
I think that’s most commendable of him. He refuses to miss things important to his children. Because while to you and me he’s Mr. President, to Malia he’s Dad.
The article continues:
…He knocks off work at 6 p.m. each evening to have dinner with his family, and has given his schedulers strict instructions that, if he must have night-time activities, they are to take place after 8 p.m. That includes matters of war; in November, as the commander in chief wrestled with sending more troops to Afghanistan, he called an 8 p.m. meeting of his national security team, in deference to his role as father in chief.
He has dinner with his family each night, and then no doubt some time to help his children with schoolwork or just read them a bedtime story and tuck them into bed and kiss them goodnight. Good Daddy.
Of course, some people have a problem with this:
“People elect you not to be a good family man, they elect you to fix their problems, and that’s the cold-hearted reality of it,” said John Feehery, a Republican political strategist. “And all those folks on the Hill, they’ve left all their families at home; they don’t have the luxury of skipping back home in the middle of the meeting to catch their daughter’s recital.”…
John Feehery… go fuck yourself. No we didn’t elect him to be a good family man, but for all the talk of how the President should a good role model why are you and others giving him grief for trying to be a good husband and father? Barack Obama is obviously a man unwilling to sacrifice his family, and let me tell you his job is one that could easily destroy his family. He holds his family in high regard and wants to be there for his wife and children. All those folks on the Hill that left their families at home? They have the choice as to where to spend their time, and they’re choosing to not spend it with their family. That’s their problem and their mistake to make. That’s their loss that they’ll never get back.
You see… this hits home for me, very personally. What I’m about to say some people will probably wish I didn’t air so publicly, but it’s the way things were and you can’t escape it. Better to learn and grow from the mistake so as to not repeat it.
My father has been involved in politics the majority of his life and almost the whole of mine. During my growing-up years my father was a member of the US House of Representatives. He was doing a job he wanted and loved. My father was good at it and one of the few politicians I consider a true public servant. Trouble was, the nature of the job coupled with my father’s passion for it left me mostly without a father while I grew up. Much of the year he had to be back in his home district to do work. When he was in town, many days he’d be up and out the door before I woke up and wouldn’t be home until after I had gone to bed. I didn’t get to see my Dad much while growing up. This isn’t to say he didn’t want to spend time with me or the rest of the family. We would make efforts to do things, for example, I’ll never forget those 3 weeks touring Europe when I was 16 years old; but usually they were big things like trips. While those were nice, it’s those little day to day things that end and add up to mattering more.
I recall being in grade school, probably 4th or 5th grade. It was a special week at school because parents were invited to come have lunch with their children at school. Each class or grade rotated as to the day for the parents to come, and my older sister’s day was the day before mine. I was sitting at the lunch table with my friends when my parents came over to the table. Obviously they had just finished having lunch with my older sister and were coming to say hello to me. When my friends caught sight of my Dad they erupted in hails of “Hi Mr. Daub!” “Hey, Mr. Daub!”… just a chorus of my friends acknowledging my Dad. It was such a proud moment for me, to see my friends regarding MY Dad in such esteem. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow when they’d have lunch with me. Earlier that week I had made placemats as part of the class project, and I was all ready to go.
Then tomorrow came. I got my lunch and sat at the table. I put one placemat to my left and one to my right. And I waited for Mom and Dad to arrive. And I waited. And I waited. Other parents were coming in and the chairs were filling up. I remember one Mother asking if the seat next to me was taken. It broke my heart to say “no” and let her take the seat instead of my parent. Lunch ended, and my parents never showed. I was devastated.
Dad was up on The Hill.
It may seem like a small thing, but it’s those little things that add up to a child. Then next thing you know, your child is an adult and living their own life. That whole “cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon” thing.
I used to hold it against my Dad for the fact he was never around when I was growing up. Of course I no longer do. As an adult with a job and family and responsibilities and so on, I know how it can be and understand. Nevertheless, we are ultimately the ones in control of how we spend our time and lives, and we must realize what is most important to us because time will march on and moments will pass that we’ll never get back. Malia doesn’t really care about health care talks, but she does care that her Dad was there to see and hear her play her flute. To her, that matters more than anything. Mr. Obama knows this, and he’s obviously unwilling to let his daughter down.
My father will never get back the lost time with me as a child. I will never get back the lost time with my father. It’s why when I became a father myself I decided to not repeat my father’s mistake. I swore I’d do all I could for my children, to be there, to teach them, to have experiences with them, and just enjoy life with them. Doesn’t matter if it’s some big fancy trip somewhere or just spending 2 hours at the auto-shop with Oldest waiting to get a flat tire patched up (which we did yesterday). It’s still precious time together. It’s one reason I chose to work from home, because it puts me around my wife and my children all day every day. I don’t get to miss a moment of my wife or kids, and I’m always around for them.
I may be critical of our President in many areas, but here I can only give him praise.
Mr. Obama, you’ve earned some high respect in my book. Even if you fail as a President, I sincerely hope you continue to be a success as a father.
Time-Warner Cable went on the fritz. No TV. No Internet. Nothing.
And with this level of reliability, they wonder why I keep turning them down for their Digital Phone service.
But lack of Internet was good this afternoon. It forced me to do some things that needed to be done, such as giving my Savage bolt-action rifle a long-overdue cleaning. As long as I was cleaning rifles, I spent a good deal of time detail cleaning the Bushmaster hunting AR. I repeat, I don’t like carbine-length gas systems and won’t buy one ever again.
Kids also had to deal with no TV and Internet. We had gone to Hobby Lobby last night and picked up some Sculpey clay. Neat stuff. They’ve been making all sorts of little things this afternoon. Neat stuff. I love watching my kids run with their imaginations.
Of course, now Internet is back, thus I did some work I had to do for my other job. But the kids? Still playing. 🙂
Shit. It’s 40º out. Damn weatherman said it’d be in the 50’s. Oh well. Doesn’t matter. I’m going anyway.
Don my coat, get the keys, and into the garage. A small feeling of guilt comes over me because I haven’t taken her out in months. Will she fire up? That Battery Tender, Jr. was a good investment. Open the petcock. Put in the key and turn her on. There goes the fuel pump, hungrily pumping gas into the carburetor bowls. Choke on full. Press the starter. Starts right up. Drop the choke to half and let her idle for a bit to warm up. While she warms up let’s check on things. Lights working. Brakes and brake lights working. Signals are fine. Shocks good. Visual once-over. Looking and sounding good. Kill the engine. Hrm…. tires need some air… pull the pump out of the saddlebags and let it run. Bike seems in good shape. I vow to never again let this much time pass between rides.
Go back in the house to suit up. Full leathers and some extra insulation. 40º air temps and 65 MPH winds make it feel like 20º or less. Where’s my helmet’s air damn? Ah… left it in the saddlebags. Go fetch. Install. That will keep the chill out of the helmet. Take off my XD. Slip the snub in the jacket pocket. Rearrange the wallet and iPhone for easier access. Kiss Wife and Kids good-bye.
Back to the garage. Climb on. Out of the garage and fire her up. Man, those Roadhouse Classic pipes sound great; I’m so happy I bought them and installed them myself. Make a gut check… it’s been too long since I’ve been on. Pull out of the driveway and it feels good to be on 2-wheels again. Damn cold air. Sure the Pinlocks are great for the helmet visor not fogging, but my damn glasses still fog up. *sigh* Crack the visor open until things even out.
Getting my legs back under me. On the way out of the subdivision practice a few emergency braking techniques. Remind myself it’s Super Bowl Sunday and there’s likely to be more people on the road on a Sunday morning due to the need to prep for parties. That also means they’re going to be distracted and not paying attention. Keep your guard up.
Get gas. Man, I’m so glad I use Seafoam as I’m sure that’s what kept the fuel in the tank happy.
OK, let’s head out to the highway.
Man, this feels good.
Hrm. Lots of scenery has changed since I last did this run. All that SH-130 construction I guess. Man, can’t wait until they finish that.
Wow, things really have changed. I wonder what this will look like once the highway is in. Yeah sure there’s still some fields and farms and cows and such to see, but all this construction and stripping of the earth will just be concrete eventually. Certainly not as pretty. But well… todays’ run is all business. It’s too cold to stay out for hours and take the backroads.
Sure enough, even with all my layers, the cold is creeping in. Dang. I should have put that balaclava on my neck. Fingers getting the worst of it as usual. Need to ask Larry about those deflectors again.
Ah, Lockhart. Black’s BBQ. They always treat me right. Let’s see… I’ll get the family pack, brisket of course but throw in a couple sausage links for Oldest. Mac & cheese (for Daughter), pinto beans (Wife), and potato salad. Oh heck… get a pint of banana pudding too.
“Can you guys wrap it all up in foil and plastic bags so it doesn’t get all in my saddle bags?”
“Yes sir, not a problem.”
Oh yeah… don’t forget to grab plasticware. It’s nice to just have the meal with zero cleanup.
BBQ into the saddlebags. Helmet and gloves back on. Let’s head back out. No more leisure riding, gotta get home before the meat gets cold.
Man… why is seeing all of this construction bothering me so? Loss of the pretty scenery I guess. Oh well, need to crank it home.
OK, onto the FM road to get over to I-35. This guy’s going too slow, dashed yellow line, open that throttle and pass. Man, I love opening the throttle. Getting pressed back into the backrest from all that torque is wonderful.
Settle into a groove, speed limit dropping as we come through this one area…. bank to the left… and holy shit this asshole is passing me on the curve! Double yellow lines, cars coming at him, and he’s passing me like this? Holy fucking shit you asshole! I don’t care if you Darwin yourself, but damnit don’t put my life in danger like that. But let it go. Don’t flip him off… does no good. Yeah he’s a asshole, but don’t let it ruin the ride. Just let it go.
Back to the highway… damn I hate being around 18-wheelers when I don’t have the protective cage around me. No matter. Just ride on.
Stop light. Damn. Didn’t realize how cold my toes had gotten. Fingers certainly stiff and cold now too. Light’s going to change soon so no chance to warm them by the heat of the engine. Almost home. Home… warm home.
Into the garage. Kill the engine. Sit there a moment and savor it.
God, I needed that.
Riding is my therapy. I need lots of therapy right now. V-twin therapy.
Of course, Duct Tape Man was foiled in his attempt because people didn’t put up with his shenanigans.
Notice, though, that when the public is armed and empowered, that criminals don’t stand a chance. I believe that we as martial artists should be the vanguard of an armed populace ready to defend society.
One can debate if it’s our job and duty to defend society, but as Heinlein wrote, “an armed society is a polite society.”
I’m working on an effort where every day I teach my kids something useful. Doesn’t really matter the topic, just a little something every day.
I only just started a few days ago and so far we covered things like stopping bleeding, RICE, different hammers and how to use them, and today we started on knots. I’ll probably stick with the knot thing for a while, because hey… I like knots. All that Boy Scouts growing up.
I wanted to share an excellent website that teaches knots, called Animated Knots by Grog. Covers all your major knots from things like rescue knots, household knots (including tying a tie), Scouting knots, fishing knots, whipping and coiling, and even fun stuff like the monkey fist. Yes, we’re going to tie one of those eventually.
This coming weekend (Feb. 5-7, 2010) Cabela’s is having a special promotion for NRA Members: 10% off all purchases. If you don’t have a Cabela’s nearby, I believe you can use the same promotion via their website. (Correction: seems the only thing you get online is free shipping, not the 10% discount. Bummer). All you have to do is obtain the coupon in your latest issue of your official NRA magazine (whichever you get) and you’re good to go. Being an (Endowment) Life Member of the NRA, I figure this is a good weekend to finally get some things I’ve been needing… and perhaps wanting.
On the need side, I’m out of some reloading components, most notably .38 Special bullets. So might as well pick them up this weekend with the 10% discount.
If you’re a regular reader, you also know I’ve been throwing around the idea of getting a new folder knife. Last time I checked, Cabela’s didn’t have anything that tickled my interest, but no harm in looking again as I know my criteria has changed since I last looked in their knife case.
I’ve had a minor itch to get a Hi-Point Carbine, just because it’d be fun.
I’ve also been wanting to get a 1911-style handgun, but given I’m really leaning towards an STI and Cabela’s doesn’t sell them that’s unlikely to happen this weekend.
Ah who knows. Just dreaming right now… and thankful that I can dream.
Stuff From Hsoi 