The playhouse project part five

So I didn't go to my Wednesday Level One class because of my bum foot. I decided to work on the playhouse after work yesterday. This is the north facing side all fixed up and ready to be painted sometime soon. Puuuurdy!

The window looks a little uneven but that is because I made a rough cut and have not finished my trim cutting. All in time....all in time

This little piggy went... "OH F@#k"

[POST for Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 posted on Thursday, Feb. 26th]

K, so I fractured my wrist back in October. It was broken by one of the female students, now an instructor getting too aggressive and not following instructions. Its ok, she is female and is allowed to do that. It's just the males that are not allowed too. Or so I thought.

So here we are, doing a groin kick defense. Simple.... attacker give a groin kick and defender does the block (with slight redirect). My partner didn't understand "I'm gonna kick you and you do the defend". I went to kick and well.....heh....so did he. I tend to pull back my kicks since this is class... my partner did not. I took the brunt of the kick right in my toes.

For pretty much the entire class my right foot was numb. The last 15 minutes it started throbbing in pain. Let's also add in that my healing fractured wrist was twisted in a choke break practice while right in front of both the owner and the head instructor. Both know my wrist was fractured and both didn't even flinch.

Meh....just venting. I sense that my self-control "issue" is more subjectively evaluated rather than objectively.

ANYWHO! Yeah, my toe is hurting. I going to take tonight off from practice and see if it gets better by Friday.

Stabbed

[POST for Wednesday, February 18, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

I got stabbed last night... over and over and over....and I enjoyed every minute of it. Last night was our last night of knife class at the Krav studio. The lady (meets my policy standard) kicked my butt and stabbed me with the training knife several dozen times. Today I have little black and blue marks all over my abdomen.

Still, I did very well and I know that I would be "above average" in a knife fight. I might want to look into getting a training knife for the house. Would be nice to practice there too.

Elitism

[POST for Tuesday, February 17, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Last night was Monday's level one class. If you have been following the drama then you know this is bitter sweet...more on the bitter side. I think my friends are getting a sense of what is going on and asked the owner if they could form a separate group and practice just among level two students. He ok'ed it! This irked the A.I. but.....who cares.

The four of us went outside and practiced everything on the test. We got a feeling of just how far behind we are. Still it was good as we got a feel of our knowledge on the techniques names as well as the associated techniques. Practice makes perfect!

By the way, I started running recently. Well......ok. walking BUT walking quickly. One half mile under my belt

The playhouse project part four

[POST for Monday, February 16, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Busy day at the office....good thing I worked from home today. Nothing of interest other than another short update on the playhouse project. I managed to get the front finished and still had time to paint it between work and going of the Krav class.

Puuuurdy

The playhouse project part three dot one

[POST for Sunday, February 15, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Lazy day.... painted a little.

Valentines Day challenged

[POST for Saturday, February 14, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 17th]

BLAAAARG

I stayed up waaaaaaaay to late (about 3am) playing Warhammer with my video game friends. I missed Krav Maga class, which normally would upset me, but because of recent events I am not really upset about. Meh, moving on.

I screwed Valentines up! For some reason I was under the impression that it was not a big deal. Maybe that's a guy thing or something but I was wrong, totally wrong. Nothing says shame like being one of the twenty guys in the card isle at the grocery store on Valentines day. I would like to note there were 15 women as well so its not totally a gender thing.

For our valentines dinner we went to the ever classy Chili's. We came home and watched 12 monkeys and went to bed before 10pm like old people do.

BTW, 12 monkey's was a terrible movie. I remember it being better but g-d was it awful. So there you go....I am Valentines Day challenged.

Policy is working nicely

[POST for Friday, February 13, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 17th]

I recently wrote how I will not train with the female gender in the level one class at my Krav Maga Studio. In Wednesday class I deliberately picked a male level one student. This student, I feel, is determined enough to learn correctly and shows aptitude for learning.

We went slow so no one got hurt and he likes the style in which I train in. In the past he has sought me out since I am able give him 1 on 1 instruction that is constantly validated from the licensed instructors.

But I still feel a little empty since I look at all the women in the class and see "high risk" above their heads. Not a single one of them know this but what can I do? I'll get past it but discriminating because of race, gender, and such just doesn't sit well with me. If I can't get past it then I just might seek another studio.

Meh...then again I just still might be all emo about this. What do you guys think?

More Krav Maga drama

[POST for Thursday, February 12, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 17th]

In my last post I wrote about an event at my Krav Maga studio that I felt all sides failed on. Regardless of who is right and wrong I still strongly believe in the message of that studio, self-defense and secondarily the self-defense for woman against [or past victims] rape and domestic abuse.

I know I played part in a scenario in which two woman felt unsafe learning Krav Maga. Regardless of my part or portion of blame, I am part of that scenario and I felt it was my obligation to express my apologizes to these two woman.

I did so and they were happy to accept it.

The owner has still not apologized to me

The assisant instructor has not apologized to me. In fact the A.I. is trying to go back to our jovial relationship.

I also get the sense that I am being watched closer than the rest of the students preparting for this belt test.

Taking it on the chin

As a premise, I am training for my orange belt (aka level two test). I attend level one/two class as I work towards perfecting my level one techniques as I also become proficient at my level two techniques. Last Wednesday my training partner for the night and I teamed up with two ladies for a 2 vs 1 drill.

I decided to go first on the drill. Keep in mind that both attackers are holding a big kick shield(one of the ladies is standing off to the side since we have an odd number) .I made a side kick to the lady on my right and turned to drive my knee in the other attacker (my training partner). I then looked over my shoulder and saw the other attacker approaching so I delivered a back kick. I then drove two knee strikes into my training partner and performed an awesome leg sweep. I looked behind me and noticed that both of the ladies were on the group. At that point I stopped and helped the ladies to their feet and we switched out potions. That is how it is suppose to work.

However, the assistant instructor [A.I.]for our level one class that night walked up laughing and tells me to only use level one techniques. I explained that the Main Instructor for our class told us to "use what we know" but I can tone it down to just level one techniques. [A.I.] responded by saying "Yeah, just use level one" and walked off laughing. The rest of the evening was uneventful.

Fast Forward to last night, almost a week later. I get called into the owners office. He proceeds to tell me that I didn't just screw up but I "f*%ked up big time". He tells me that the ladies got hurt, are scared, and explained that I lost control and was a wild man. I was characterized as the same type of abusive husband that one of the ladies had. Then he chews me out and claims I'll never be able to pass my belt test if I can't get in control of my skills.

I was stunned....I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I have been specifically approach time and time again, for over a year, by woman, specifically cause I treat them equally. Not once have I had a problem with anyone male or female with my control....for over a year. Yet there I was being accused of going into a level one class and trying to show off and trying to be a "bad ass".

First off, I need to state that I am not blaming the women in this event. I know we train a lot of abused and formally abused women in the studio I go to. Its one of the things that make me proud to be a student there. I have trained a great deal of women. However, the two in question are what I call "going at their own pace". They've been at the studio for a loooong time and have yet to progress to level two. All totally fine, some people progress at a pace that they are comfortable with. When speaking from a technical position they are not ready to train with level two students. I would even hesitate to let them train with level one students as they can sometimes hurt someone on accident. What makes it worse is that level one students trip, lose balance, etc and can put themselves in harms way. Being that I am working to become and instructor that should have clicked in my head. I should have recognized that and opted for another group or sit out. Hindsight right?

Now I am frustrated with the owner for not even asking me what happened. I feel that I was inaccurately characterized. I feel that word got back to him somehow (he says they came to him) and he got emotional and made a quick decision to chew me out rather than talk to me. I feel that he went with one persons point of view and used that to categorize me. In just two minutes time I went from being one of the top level two students to the black sheep.

My prospects of becoming an instructor at that studio are pretty much shot. The only course I can see for myself is seeking another studio and petition them to instruct there.

Now the person I am furious with is the Assistant Instructor (A.I.) that witness the event. The A.I. watched the entire event and came up laughing. The A.I. told me to only use level one techniques (remember its a level one/level two class). The A.I. was informed that the expectations were set to level one AND level two. The A.I. heard what I had to say and got my commitment to use level one. The A.I. walked off laughing. Yet the A.I. transferred the blame on to me stating that the A.I. was pissed at what I did and it was all my fault! Really??!?! Oh really...then why didn't the A.I. split us up if I was a "maniac"? Why didn't the A.I. chew me out during or after class? Why did the A.I. walk off laughing is the A.I. was pissed. The A.I. excuse for what happened is bullshit ladies and gentlemen and I apologize for the language.

At this point I will not train with ANYONE I feel is not proficient enough in Krav Maga to train safely. That includes a few of the level two students! not less then 30 minutes after I got chew out one of the ladies (level two students) kick me in the groin cause she lost her temper (I have a cup, its ok). Further more, it is now clear to me that I will be judged on the past history of the female students. I only know of any past abuse if a student tells me. As such any level one female student runs a high risk of ending my chances to train at that studio. My new policy is going to have to be not to train with level one student females.

Unfortunatly it is a sexist policy but I am left with no other options other than to leave the studio which I don't want to do. Its a really sad period in my Krav Maga career. One of the things I loved to do was to train the ladies in self defense. I can't do that anymore....

I am still debating if I should leave just that studio or what.... I know this for sure. I have a belt test coming up and nothing is getting in the way of that. After the test I'll have to explore my options if I so choose.

The playhouse project part three

[POST for Thursday, February 10, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Not a big update. Been busy with training for my belt test. Finished the south facing wall and almost all the slouching is gone. I even tried to shake the playhouse and it is rock solid!

We also got it setup on a semi-permanent foundation. It help as it lets me work on the trim work without fighting for space. Not a huge update but here is a pic for you to ignore

OH! Almost forgot! We got the roof off. I decided that it is to far gone for repair. AND we spent waaaaaay too much money on the sheathing to justify buying high dollar wood singles. I have several packs of asphalt singles I got free from Craig's list. So I am going to build the roof from plywood and those singles. Much cheaper and will make a stronger playhouse in the end.

The playhouse project part two

[POST for Thursday, February 9, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Two new pics for you.

Running slightly behind on this project as the boards I bought are super long and I cannot cut them on the miter saw with the limited space in the shed. I worked around it by putting the miter saw on the shed floor and sticking the sheets of wood outside the shed. It takes longer but gets the job done.

Ethan and I managed to get all the remaining wood off the playhouse (minus the roof) without damage to the remaining sub-structure. A major win since if it had been damaged it would require major rework. Basically taking the entire playhouse down and starting from scratch.

We got started on the back and immediately you can tell it provided a great deal of support. Some of the slouching I mentioned earlier started to ease up.

In addition we got this stain/paint in barn door red. I think it looks nice and the kids seem to like it.

Texas clouds

[POST for Thursday, February 8, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

Some days you wonder what its like in other parts of the country. Then there are days that Texas lets you know where home is...


yeah things are a bit jittery in this pic but the clouds and the light are almost dot on.

The playhouse project part one

[POST for Thursday, February 7, 2009 posted on Tuesday, Feb. 24th]

When we first moved into El Rancho de Braco there was this sad looking playhouse on the empty lot next door. It was neglected and missing its siding from a random poacher helping him or herself. Weather took what wasn't stolen and by the time we moved in it was mostly a skeleton with a half present roof.

Well my neighbor Robert moved in. Part of the cleaning of his property was to burn this playhouse. Now the kids play in this playhouse all the time and I just couldn't let him burn it. So I asked him if we could have it instead of him burning it. Obviously he was happy to give it to me if it would make the kids happy.

So it sat on the back of the property for about 6 months. Over time it started to lean and I made several attempts to level it. No use, it just keep slouching. To make matters worse more stuff fell off. Clear sign that collapse is eminent.

So we saved some money and thus begins a new project... The Playhouse Project. I took some photo's with my new cell phone, which it turns out takes awesome pictures. Here is a few pics after I got everything leveled to 0 degrees and I started some work before it occurred to me to take some shots before I got to far along.

All that is left is the 1 x 2 's, some of the wood shingles, and a quarter of the tongue and groove boards on one side.

Phelps

This kid just got suspended for three months for smoking pot?!?! Who the flip cares? If he wasn't out in public with his pants around his ankles with a 14 year old in one hand and a crack pipe in the other then his personal business is just that. PERSONAL!

If this dumb arse wants to smoke dope then why is the media all over his arse?!?! Cause he is a role model....oh sweet Mary mother and Joseph! If a swimmer is your child's role model then you fail as a parent. Why dad and mom aren't the two greatest people in your son or daughters life shows that you absolutely came short on spending time in front of your off spring and instead replaced yourself with someone that your child can never relate to.

Why people have to pry into Phelps personal life to cause him public humiliation is W-R-O-N-G. It is immoral. You are NOT suppose to do that. And making a judgment as a committee to act on this is ALSO wrong. No one was hurt and it was a personal choice to do something personal. PERSONAL. He is not beating dogs to death for crying out loud.

Most likely he was smoking pot in his room and watching monkey's screw on animal planet.

MEDIA, butt out!

A-Holes

For the record I didn't know who Michael Phelps was until he hit the news today. And no.....I did not watch the olympics. Yes....it means I am anti-social or something. I also don't watch American Idol or Survivor...wanna bust my balls on that too!

1666

[Post for Thursday, February 5, 2009]

Another win for the Wii Fit! I unlocked the island jog on my long distance jog last night. I ran for 1,666 steps ( have a pedometer). The interwebz tells me that 2,000 steps is a mile. DUDE! I almost virtually jogged for a virtual mile! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

I might try to work my way to the real word and like....you know.....go outside. Baby steps folks, baby steps!

Oh! I also lost five pounds since last Wednesday!

Same ol' change

[Post for Wednesday, February 4, 2009]

So like...nooooo waaay! Obama is filling is cabinet with old Washington insiders, and a overwhelming majority of the new new new bailout is going to be spent in Washington D.C., and Obama promised no ear marks but the new new new bailout is loaded with them, and .... aw hell

Change right..... from what? Change from a Republican bloating government, over spending, poor budgeting, and false promises to a Democrat doing it.

Does the government come with a reset button?

More about water

[Post for Tuesday, February 3, 2009]

So I proposed, sort of, a free market solution to water issues. And I know all you granola pounding sun eaters are rolling your eyes. Knowing the true cost of water is right! Paying for a good based on scarcity and use is right! Being aware is Right! However being right is not always right when you share a government with others. The main crux of government is agreed management of specific duties. Now I can scream until I turn red that the specific duties are neither specific or few but the reality is that government is there and we have to work to a mutual goal.

My solution to water

Privatize water companies! Yup! All your public water works go private! All you hippy, yuppy, guppy, and emo folks learn the true cost of water. You also get to develop a sense of what a price index is based on a scarce resource. You'll learn to conserve more, thus saving water for what you truly need and not what is fun.

However, I believe in enlightenment. That knowledge is power and that all citizens should be enlightened. I see one positive role the government can play. Pull back on all the government oversight and agencies and just have one office in the Texas land management agency. Let the role be that of a monthly report on water levels in the regions, water quality in the regions, testing of water quality of all the companies, and a suggested per gallon price. And let that all be reported on the evening news.

That should be enough to keep every dishonest business person on the straight and narrow. And validate all the good business people that being honest is a positive thing. It also reduces collusion between companies to price fix. And lets people know exactly why they are getting charged more/less for water and what an average price they should pay.

Now this is all a loose and simplistic idea on how to solve our water issues down here in Texas. Beats doing the same old thing to the same old problem and expecting something new.

More musings on water

[Post for Monday, February 2, 2009]

So I am a self-identified Libertarian. Used to be a Republican and watch the debauchery there turn my stomach. Agree with the message of the Democrat party but not the method of execution. Left me to turn to a party that is practical in its execution and strong in its morals.

Where does that get me on water? Well I view a lot of our problems as solvable issues if we just stop trying to do the things that don't work as things that do work.

What do I mean? How many of you have public water? 98% of you!I know cause the government told me so. How many of you know how many gallons of water you consumed last month..... 1%. 1% cause my wife reads this blog and she tracks it like a hawk. However 99% of you have no idea. Water is pretty much a subsidized good. Its cheap and plentiful

Problem is that it is neither at the moment. You have an obscured price index, which means you do not know the true cost of having running water. You also have an obscured sense of scarcity of resources, which means you don't know how much darn water there is. You think you can do whatever you want with the water you have without second thought about it. Then you get grumpy when the city tells you to tone it down.

Enter my world: I am on private water. Meaning we pay for the infrastructure and service as well as the water. When the water levels go down, our gallon per use go up. We have a VERY acute sense of water levels on our area. We don't wash the cars every weekend. We water the lawn twice a week and only in the evenings. Baths have a time limit. etc etc.

We have all sorts of groups here in Texas calling for government action to do-this and do-that for water issues. Government, government, and more government.....yet all they [the government] has managed to do is expand their power, collect more money, make commercials, and promises. Yet things are going slower than before and nothing is getting done. Expected? You betchya'

Government vs. Privatization.... free market nerds are going to win this. However winning isn't everything.

... stay tuned for the next post ...

Musings on water

[Post for Sunday, February 2, 2009]

This is Texas, Texas is hot, much like most of the mid-west it's also dry (in some places), water is worth its weight... so to say. We don't get rain like Seattle and such so we rely on rivers mostly. The same rivers that carry water from up north somewhere from a place called "Colorado". Colorado........It ain't Texas so I don't see what the big deal is?

Now we have plenty of natural reservoirs and we have dammed the rivers to create man-made lakes. It provided fresh water for decades. However, as of late it seems that our water levels are dropping very quickly. Our natural reservoirs are having trouble recharging (rain water) and the lake levels are dropping as well. Now, I am happy to provide my empirical opinion on why, first, our supply of water is dropping and , second, why the demand is so high

Supply
To many g-d dang California's are moving to Texas! One is too many but in the last ten years we have seen an exodus of people from California move to Texas. You know its not just California. it seems like East coast as well as West coast have been moving to the mid-west or just mid. I am talking hundreds of thousands of people. This brings a natural population growth waaaaay outside of the normal growth variance you would see from .... well natural growth. So basically the source and destination (in this context) have seen a huge increase in population which from the supply side tells us that more people are consuming water before it can even reach the destination.

Demand
Over consuming! For purely selfish reasons most people in suburbs of Texas love, and I do mean love, to grow grass that is not native to Texas (St. Augustine). If I recall the numbers correctly St. Augustine/Bermuda grass takes about 1,00 gallons of water per square foot to keep green. The average lawn size in Texas, I've seen 1,000 square feet posted several times, needs 92,857 gallons of water need to keep just one yard of St. Augustine/Bermuda alive and green (per year). multiply that by the number of homes with yards and you can see a huge water demand right there. Another factor is that our Summer rain fall is "poor" meaning that the highest demand for watering St. Augustine/Bermuda grass comes at a time when water supply is at an all time low.

There are a ton of other factors; Long showers, inefficient watering devices (shower heads, crappers, etc), washing your car at noon, watering your yard at noon, etc.

my solution to all this mess? Build a wall around California

Credit LESS

[Post for Sunday, February 2, 2009]

From the time I was a little ankle bitter until I met my ex-wife I understood that credit cards were a no-no. It was explained to me that if you wanted something you worked for the money and then bought it. If you wanted it right away then tough cookies, deal with it, and work better at getting the money you need for whatever you wanted.

The basic "delayed gratification" thing but you know...there is something to that. The right-wing bible bangers might be on to something, just one something, when it comes to credit. How often do you find yourself producing plastic on a simple "I'm just looking around" trip to the store? All to often I bet.

As the news so fondly reminds us, this nation is in red alert of financing. Not just the stuff you see with the government bailing CEO's out. I also mean personal credit. Like the thing you have in your wallet or purse. Lines of credit in lieu of purchased goods. The "product-now/future paychecks" method of personal finance.

If you are like me.... and 98% of you are, then credit is eating your lunch and maybe your dinner to (perhaps your kids dinner as well).

Well, as of Friday, I am one credit card less! Yup careful spending and saving money for a "liberation fund" has paid off! Now its time to compound those monthly expense savings into the other credit cards!

EDIT: Yes, my ex had a very high standard of living and we had a very low standard of income. But she is some other dudes problem :P