A 75 year old man tackles and stops the 29 year old 6’1″ 230# “man” that just tried to steal his laptop. Lessons to learn:
More from Xavier: A Dog’s 10 Commandments. I prefer to say “pets” because this could very well apply to cats too.
Yeah, I’m a cat person but I know a dog’s in our future. Two of our cats are old. Ig is about 16 years old. She’s become rather frail in the past couple years. Very thin, these days pretty much skin and bones. We removed her collar because her fur had worn off under it (slowly growing back). When she meows, often nothing comes out (her meow is broken). On her left rear leg around the “knee” there’s been something… it was small, now it’s rather large. Vet doesn’t know exactly what it is, could just be something like calcification accumulation or it could be a tumor. He could do all sorts of expensive tests to determine what it is, but in the end the results would be the same. She’s just too old to operate, or to amputate… likely wouldn’t survive any surgeries at her age and state. So in the end, there’s nothing we can do. We just watch it grow. We watch her limp (it’s not bad, but it’s there). We watch her having a rough time sitting… she has to adjust how she sits which shifts her balance and sometimes you see her fall over. She can’t jump as high as she used to. But she can still run up the stairs after me… at least, when she’s not sleeping (she sleeps a lot these days). I’ve said that once she’s not running up the stairs after me, that’s going to be a hard day for me.
I’ve had Ig since she was a kitten. Got her in college. I recall my roommate and I going and picking her out, bringing her home. When my roommate left for Texas, Ig stayed with me. When I made my move to Texas, she came with me, locked in her carrier cage the whole 2000 mile trip, on the seat next to me in the cab of the U-Haul truck. Leaving all her kitty nose prints on the front window of my apartment in Bryan as she watched and waited for me to come home from my day of grad school whatever. And now, being here with me…. being her crotchity self but growing very warmly attached to my oldest child.
And like all living things, she grows old. So in reading the post from Xavier, #9 is what we’re doing. We just take care of her. She’s overall ok tho. Still a happy and loving cat. Just obvious that age is taking hold, and there’s no telling how much longer she’ll be with us. So we just love her while we’ve got her, spoil her while we can. And when it’s time for #10, it’s going to be one of the hardest things I’ll ever have to do in my life.
Via Xavier, I read about this “rare act of sportsmanship“. Yeah… you’ll want some tissue.
The story itself was wonderful. But is this a rare act of sportsmanship? I don’t think so. I think it’s just an act of sportsmanship (and in this case, a very awesome act of sportsmanship). What might make it rare is that we don’t hear about such things all the time. Look at the news. What do we hear about? It’s all negative, ugly, hateful, shitty things that are going on in the world. You hear it over and over, you start to think it’s the way things are. The thing is, it’s only a small slice of what’s going on in a day. Most of what goes on in a day are good things. And they’re little things, but they add up.
For example, yesterday at my black belt testing I’m walking from the parking lot to the building. I see also coming to the door at the same time are a couple people carrying a large tub of something (probably equipment) and they’re rather burdened down, no way they’ll navigate the door themselves. So I hustle up and hold the door open for them. Then as I’m holding the door, I offer to let other people in as well, but they stop and insist instead that they hold the door for me and I go first. Sure it’s a small thing — certainly not some newsworthy event — but it’s those small things, those small acts of kindness that matter.
Just because you hear it on the news over and over doesn’t mean the world is a horrible ugly place. The media makes their money off being ugly, perhaps relegating 30 seconds at the end of a broadcast to some “feel good” story… and so your balance and outlook gets skewed. The world is mostly filled with good people doing good things in a day. Turn off the fucking TV, and get out and look at the world around you. Stop letting TV and other media shape your worldview: go shape your own based on getting out and immersing yourself in a life of your own. Force yourself to have a more positive filter and outlook on life. You might just discover good things aren’t so rare.
Tomorrow I head to Houston for the day. I’ll be participating in my first test towards my 2nd degree black belt.
In Kuk Sool, testing for black belt ranks is a lengthy process. It is comprised of multiple tests, each test taken once every 3 months. I will probably undergo 6-8 tests before promotion, but promotion isn’t based soley upon number of tests taken as there are other factors (e.g. instructor recommendation/approval). But I went ahead and marked my calender for the next 2 years as there’s no reason not to.
My biggest hope for tomorrow is my ankle making it through. My left ankle has been injured a couple times and doesn’t always cooperate. I’ve been on a diet of Aleve all week to ensure the inflammation is minimized. Depending how my ankle feels it can hamper my ability to kick, both kicking with that foot (and the impact it receives) but moreso using that foot as the planted foot and rotating (e.g. 360º spin kicks). Things that torque the ankle aggravate it the most (yes, I have an expensive brace that I’ll be wearing, but it only does so much good). What makes it worse is the association rents out a volleyball facility for such mass testing, and so the floor is some sort of urethane-coated wood, which doesn’t always play well with bare feet. Granted I don’t want to be slipping everywhere but I also don’t need loads of friction keeping my foot planted and dragging while I try to move. If my ankle can make it through tomorrow, I’ll be alright.
More later….
As a software engineer, I’m fortunate that my job lends to telecommuting. I’ve been doing so in a formal capacity for almost 9 years and dealing with telecommuting in some manner or other for my entire professional career.
Often when people hear I telecommute I get two responses: 1. Wow that’s so cool, I wish I could do that, 2. But I couldn’t do that because of distractions. Do you want to know what I’ve found to be the keys to successful work at home?
I was sent the following video:
It appears to be from Morgan Freeman’s appearance on “60 Minutes” in late 2005. Here’s a transcript should the video disappear:
Mike Wallace: Black History Month you find…
Morgan Freeman: …ridiculous.
Mike Wallace: Why?
Morgan Freeman: You’re going to relegate my history to a month?
Mike Wallace: Oh come on…
Morgan Freeman: Well, what do you do with yours? Which month is White History Month?
Mike Wallace: (flustered, stammers)
Morgan Freeman: Well… well… come on… tell me.
Mike Wallace: I’m Jewish.
Morgan Freeman: OK! Which month is Jewish History Month?
Mike Wallace: There isn’t one.
Morgan Freeman: Oh! Oh. Why not? Do you want one?
Mike Wallace: No. No.
Morgan Freeman: No, I… I don’t either. I don’t want a Black History Month. Black History is American History.
Mike Wallace: How are we going to get rid of racism?
Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you “a white man”, and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me “a black man.” I know you as Mike Wallace, you know me as Morgan Freeman.
And when I went looking for the date of the video, I found the accompanying article from CBS. The video clipped off at the end, but according to the CBS article the quote continues: “I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn’t say, ‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.’ You know what I’m sayin’?”
I’ve long felt this is the answer. If you want to stop people caring about race then you need to stop caring about race. Period.
So long as we continue to divide, then well, we’ll be divided. If I’m forced to check a box on a form that says I’m Asian or White or whatever I it is that I am (mutt?), that’s dividing me. If we must hire or promote a certain number of people from some particular group because of some arbitrary quality about that group, then we have to care and divide and delineate and discriminate along that arbitrary quality; that implies that others from other groups may lose out because they don’t have that arbitrary quality when in fact they may possess more of the relevant quality. Is that right? How does such division unify? Maybe it’s that “new math”….
Does this mean we should flat out ignore race? No. We are what we are. My skin is darker than my wife’s skin, and our children have various shades in between. My eyes have more slant, my wife’s more oval. My wife is what she is, I am what I am. Morgan Freeman is what he is. Mike Wallace is what he is. We should not ignore race because it does comprise part of what we are, and it’s impossible to deny what we are. But we need to stop caring about it so much.
On a related note, in watching that video YouTube gave a related suggestion of this video:
It bugs me when people see a “No Soliciting” sign and take it to mean “no selling”. Sorry. Go learn what “solicit” means. If you want my money for your product, my signature for your petition, my soul for your church, or even my time for your troubles, sorry… you’re soliciting.
Go away.
From Dale Gribble:
I’ve taken two oaths in my life: one to the NRA, and the other to Nancy Hicks Gribble, née Nancy Hicks. I stood in front of God and all my friends vowing to be an honorable and truthful man. So I’m not going to lie to you [Sheila]; I have felt a small, insect-like attraction for you. But my wife is the greatest woman there ever was!
Love you, Sug.
I was reading this article and one line in there reminded me of something I saw the other day.
Out with the family, finishing up dinner. I’m waiting for my kiddos to finish up, so I’m doing a bit of people watching in the restaurant. Our table was situated by the main route to the exit doors, so of course I get to watch lots of the people going in and out of the restaurant. One group that struck me was a family, Mom & Dad leading the way, then the kids following up behind… each with their iPod ear buds in, their noses buried down in the iPod’s watching some video, and the kids playing bumper cars with the tables and chairs as they make their way to the door.
I had a Sony Walkman when I was kid. It was a great companion during my morning paper route deliveries, blasting ZZ Top’s Eliminator and throwing the papers up on the porches with an arm circle like Rev. Billy and Dusty Hill did in their videos. Do my kids have iPod’s? Nope. Not just a matter of hearing damage (which I suffer from due to years of loud music and early years of neglecting things like ear plugs), but a matter of being unaware of your surroundings.
I’ve experienced it many times. People walking around with their eyes pointed at the ground or just oblivious to what’s going on around them. Couple that with things that either deaden or overtake your senses (e.g. your vision distracted by a book or a video, your hearing dominated by the music that comes out of the iPod). Furthermore, if you’re listening to music or watching/reading something, you’re mentally engaged in that and not other things. So you can see, there are many layers that add up to a rather unaware state of being.
I realize it’s your business if you choose to tune out the world. But if you do choose to do so, don’t be surprised if you’re viewed as a ripe target for someone willing to take advantage of you… and your first post-situation thought is “they caught me by surprise… I wasn’t aware of them until they were on top of me”. Be pro-active, don’t let it happen to you, stay aware of your situation. And teach your kids the same.
My daugther just came up to my office with some bread in hand. And not just any bread. It’s a recipe she found herself. She made it, baked it, everything. I’m having a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (never had one before, very hoppy), and the taste of that in my mouth, the fresh-baked bread… and it just needs something like apricot or peach preserves. Mmmmm.
If you don’t know how to cook, you should learn. If you do know how to cook, you should teach someone else how to cook. If you know how to cook and have kids, you should teach them how to cook. You don’t have to be a gourmet, just as long as you like and eat what you cook. With kids it teaches so many things: chemistry, safety, following directions, creativity, self-sufficiency. When you cook together, it’s great time spent together. So much goes into worrying about building up a kid’s self-esteem… teach them how to cook, watch that self-esteem grow. Don’t believe me? Try it.
Stuff From Hsoi 