Laughing Wolf
Friday, August 31, 2007
Embed Preparations: Physical Training, Pt. 1
Well, I know I’ve been promising to blog, but life has been a touch hectic of late. That said, I want to start recording some of what is going on as I prepare, from activities to thoughts. Given that I oft self-describe as a fat old cripple, one thing that may be of interest (or not) is my preparing physically. There is nothing I can do about age, and it would be better to say that I live in a well used [abused—author’s body] form that has done things from climbing up mountains to jumping out of planes. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I felt some of that use some days, but I can, do, and will get around.
Regular readers know that I started working out again in May, as while I can’t do anything about age and prior use, I can do something about the fat and general condition. I missed working out more than I realized, found a facility and staff on par with (or even better in some respects) than the facility in Huntsville, and have enjoyed it.
That said, a very dear friend said that I needed something more—and they were right. So, I didn’t fight when they hired a personal trainer to work with me. Goals being not just to get ready, but to work on core, flexibility and other issues. I’ve got the feeling that the trainer may have a different idea about “other issues” than do I, as well as potential problem areas.
The initial session has taken place, and it is/was pure assessment. That is, figuring out what type shape I am in and what needs improvement the most. There was expected news and there were some very pleasant surprises. In the unexpected, my percentage of body fat was higher than it should be. One look at my gut told that tale, but… Sitting flexibility wasn’t quite as good as hoped (right around average), but my resting heart rate was well above average, proving that the exercise done before has been paying off.
Being one who has had some interesting things happen to his own body, the trainer modified the pushup portion a bit because I had a bone spur removed from my shoulder several years ago. He quizzed me a bit about the surgery, doctor’s orders, and what therapy had been done afterwards. While he is far too professional to say so, I have the feeling he is not impressed with what (little) was done in the way of therapy. Well, I cleaned up on the modified pushups, almost maxing the scale. I was average on curlups/crunches, and we got a surprise on VO2.
VO2 is a fitness measure developed by a Swedish scientist and is done on a special stationary bicycle. I felt good about it and so did the trainer, who noted I was in the top three of those he tested. We were both surprised, however, when the score was much lower than anticipated. I didn’t expect to match Lance Armstrong’s score on the test, but we did figure out why it was lower than anticipated. Part me, part the way the test progressed. Next time…
There were some other things done, mostly measurements of me and getting an idea of range of motion, fitness of specific areas, and where to start. There is no way at my age that I can match a 20-something fresh out of training, but we are going to try and see how close I can get in the time I have left before I leave.
From the smile on the trainer’s face, send Tiger Balm. I think I may need it… To a special friend I don’t deserve, thanks. I think.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Into The Light: T
I just have learned that a dear and wonderful lady and friend, T, has passed very unexpectedly away. She was having some scheduled surgery when something went horribly wrong. She was a true delight, with quick mind, a very good sense of humor and a love for animals that knew few bounds. Her Scottish brogue was charming, and she thought the world of Jenny. She was a good lady, and I am honored to have known her and glad that I had the opportunity to share some of her far too short a time on this Earth. May the light enfold and embrace you, warm you with love, and welcome you home. May all the four-legged people who preceeded you be there as well.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Free Ice Cream Shortage Continues!
This time courtesy of spammers, who so charmingly resulted in my awaking to find more than 2100 e-mails in one of the inboxes this morning.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
A Food Morning?
I awoke much earlier than desired this morning, and while trying vainly to grab a few more minutes of precious sleep, it hit me. A craving for a pecan waffle, with side of eggs and cheese, covered and smothered, and bacon. Not exactly haut cuisine, but then again every now and then I just have the desire to go eat at a Waffle House. None up here. Bleh.
Had the feeling that something else was missing this morning, not sure what. Just now, eating my breakfast kibble cereal, I reached for my coffee and realized what was missing. Now brewing, think I’m really going to need it today…
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Just One More Reason I Will Not Fly American Airlines
There are many. I may even post a list of links, but this finishes them. Multiple people made the same promise, and not one of them kept it. It is more than them breaking faith and oath to customers, it is American Airlines from the CEO on down showing that their word is not worth the breath behind it; it is showing that from the CEO on down, they don’t care in the least about their passengers, the ones who keep them in business; and, it is showing from the CEO on down that they don’t deserve my business or to be in business. Not only will I not fly on them, I am going to be encouraging others not to fly on them as well.
Welcome Henry Adam Ellis
Welcome to the world young man. May your life be filled with health, happiness, prosperity, and love.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Winning The Information War
In the comments to this post, chiropetra noted:
Yet clearly we have to respond. We are losing this battle and with it we are likely to lose the war. Someone has to stand up and fight back for America. The military can’t fight on this battlefield. The government is hamstrung. Who’s left?
There is an answer to that: Michael Yon, Michael Totten, Matt Sanchez, and—most of all—YOU!
It is you who make them possible, through your continuing financial support. Your support makes possible their long-term presence there.
It is you who can make much more possible: Wesley Morgan, Joe Talley, Bill Ardolino, David Tate, the Blackfive JSOTF-P embed, and myself. Shorter visits, but specific targets and a larger area can be covered. Each of us can only be at one place at any given time, so the more that are there, the more that can be covered.
To support this information war surge, Public Multimedia Inc. is attempting to raise $20,000 in the next three weeks. If you want to support a particular embed, simply note that it is for that person; or, you can note that it is for the Blackfive embeds. Personally, I would like to see the $20,000 not just raised, but exceeded so that other embeds can get out there as quickly as possible.
Tankerbrosbrat nailed it:
“Who’s left?”
Why, the bloggers of course..Just Sayin’...
We are stepping forward, because it is time and past time for this surge to take place. But, we can’t do it without your help.
OldSoldier54 correctly points out:
I also believe the counter battery fire from the Milblogs and others like Mike Yon, Bill Roggio, Iraq the Model, etc has been increasing in density. And folks are starting to notice.
People are starting to notice, for good and for ill. The shape of the information battlefield is changing, and you can see from some of the trolls here and elsewhere that an effort to push back is underway. Yet, the pushback is because such efforts are being successful. Detailed, honest coverage is there, and it is getting notice. We just need more.
What happens now is up to you. Please, please, please continue to donate to those doing excellent long-term coverage. And, I ask you to step up and help us mount the surge. Donate right now to the PMI fundraising effort The right boots on the ground are important to much more than COIN. Help us get more informational boots on the ground.
Also, take the time to make a donation to Soldier’s Angels. The Team Blackfive embeds are honored to represent this wonderful organization on our travels. Their support for our troops, and our embeds, can’t be overstated. Help them to help others.
On a side note, I plan to start writing soon about preparing for my embed at my site. The mundane, the humorous, the serious—even training via bison calf sprints—will be there. Also, if you made a donation directly to me at my site, my thanks to each of you once again. If you did not get a personal thank you, drop me a line as it means your donation did not reach me for some reason. If you donated directly to PMI, I don’t have your contact information, but you do have my sincere thanks.
Who’s left? You are. Your support is essential to keeping people in the field, and to our surge. With continued support, we can do more: more people, more trips, more coverage.
Please step forward. What happens now really is up to you.
In The Completely Frelling Ridiculous Department
I’ve not been blogging on the fact that I’ve had to file a lawsuit against someone for work not done to contract. It has been an expense, a pain, and more. I may change that after today, however. An insurance company representing one of the parties being sued made an offer to settle part of the suit. Said offer is not great, but is at least a bit better than a sharp stick in the eye; however, it came with an attachement. Not only was I to drop their party from the suit, but they wanted me to agree to defend them if anyone else sued them/their client in regards this matter. I’ve asked for a clarification on that, because if that is the case—not so rich me to pay to defend an insurance company against any and all out of my pocket—then it is the most fucking ridiculous thing I think I’ve ever heard.
This Weekend
Yes, I know I have been slack with the free ice cream of late, but working on the embed has taken up a lot of time. More on that soon.
Meantime, I thought I would share a bit of what passes for life and humor in my life. Last Friday, I had one of my big toe’s adjusted a bit. Twelve or so years ago, I had a podiatrist down in Huntsville take out ingrown toenails on both big toes. I was assured that it was permanent, and I would never be bothered with them again. Fast forward to the last year or so, when one big toe started doing funny again.
To my eye, it looked like it was once again ingrown. Sure felt like it. I even did a minor amount of barber surgery to deal with it, but when it persisted, I asked my doctor for her recommendation for a podiatrist up here. After all, I am not a fan of barber surgery—the mode I used years ago (and did once this spring) was to take sterilized nail clippers, run them straight down the nail as far as I could, then grab and yank with hemo, pliers, or some such. Works, but is a temporary fix.
So, Friday was the long scheduled day, since dealing with it has been in the works for months now. Went in, had the procedure done, even though it technically wasn’t a true ingrown because of the previous surgery, just an odd way of growing that did a good imitation of same. All was good, so I left for my next appointment, over at the mall with my eye doctor. I also just happened to get there early, and walked around the mall a bit doing some shopping. Met the doc, ordered new glasses, ate lunch, and went to work. Worked the rest of the day. Felt really good that I probably only walked a couple of miles after the surgery (keeping it light), and had no pain or obvious bleeding.
Saturday, I took sort of easy, but did do Howl Night, a Wolf Park After Hours, and spent the day working a community-wide yard sale.
Sunday was interesting. I worked out at Wolf Park and probably put in a mile or two during the day. That evening, I helped attempt to herd/wrangle a bison calf. It is great exercise, especially as I ended up trying to out-sprint it a few times. Have to admit, I was a little stiff the next day… Have to say, an hour or two of that is good cardio.
We then had one of those special visitors show up. A person who tries to bypass the closed gate, behaves strangely, and isn’t on staff. Someone who, just from watching from a distance, causes me to change plans and drive down to the scene—and to just happen to block the road with my vehicle. Someone that I end up following at a distance to be sure they leave, and ultimately to see where they go. Not too close, so as not to be provacative; but, not so far back that they can’t see that we care or that I lose sight of them for long.
This person did finally pull back out, but ended up turning around less than a mile away. Long story short, I ended up parked in front of a staff member’s house observing them and even talking with them. For they not only turned around, they turned down the crossroad I had taken, went past me, came back, and then parked about fifty yards ahead of me. The problem with their behavior was that it could just be a random-variety interesting person, or it was behavior designed to test and fitting of some rather interesting profiles. Yes, I did have plans and was prepared for about anything. Especially after that person made as to approach the staff member’s house. I was also on the cell phone relaying location and information even as I talked with them; and, a few minutes later the local and county LE had a few words with them as they were tresspassing on yet more private property. Me, I was observing from a secure and not terribly visible location. Rather than arrest, LE decided to escort the person from the area and suggested they not return.
That was my weekend, how was yours?
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Humor For The Morning
Roger has up a good post on kid’s view of marriage. I’ve actually been tempted to do what Craig suggests, and will simply note the last two are great. Go enjoy, more here soon.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Embed II: An Unexpected Honor And Opportunity
Crossposted from Blackfive
I doubt there is a regular reader here who is not familiar with the outstanding group that is Soldier’s Angels. For those new to the site, milblogs, or otherwise unfamiliar with them, there is almost nothing that Soldier’s Angels does not do for our troops.
They meet the wounded as they arrive in Europe and America on their way home, seeing to their needs and comfort. The story of Project Valour-IT is one you truly should know. They meet the non-wounded and offer welcome and thanks. Soldier’s Angels provides blankets, yes; and, they also provide kevlar blankets to units that need them, cooling scarves to those in the heat, and a host of other items and services to those that serve and to their families. There is literally not enough good that can be said about this organization and the awe-inspiring people that are a part of it.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that the Blackfive embeds will be representing Soldier’s Angels in our travels. The least that will be done is that we will be serving as eyes-on-the-ground for them, finding out from individuals and from command what additional things are needed to help our troops as they are deployed. As for what else we will be doing, well, you will just have to wait and see. There is more to come.
Please support our embed program by making donations to PMI. You can support my embed by marking your donation For LW Embed and you can support our first embed effort by noting that it is for JSOTF-P. Anything raised above and beyond the needs of these two efforts will go to supporting PMI and future embeds. Please give today, as we have a ways to go on each. Please see this previous post for more details.
Also, don’t forget to make Soldier’s Angels a regular stop for donations either. The money given to them brings so much to our troops and their families.
LW
A Quick Grubmle
Time is short this morning, but a thought to those who make products used for a purpose, from cell phones to exercise equipment.
If you can’t turn a feature off, it is a bug, not a feature
When it comes to excercise equipment that incorporates electronics, I want it to read out critical information, not feel-good messages. I want to be able to see time, distance, heart rate, and other without having to guess what is going on because you want to encourage me, or spend thirty seconds telling me that I’m X percent done, etc. Since they can’t be turned off, they are a bug; and, even if they could be, they still are not a good feature for someone who is doing a serious workout.
Grumble.
LW
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Thank You
To all who have donated here, offered support and encouragement, and even a small thanks to those who have asked “Are you out of your mind?!?” Thanks to the generosity and support offered, my boots are ordered and on the way, along with some other items. I hope to order pack and sack next week, both after some things clear and after I get some feedback on selections from some who would know. Meantime, I’m pulling together the gear I already have that will work, starting to locate and purchase clothing, and otherwise get ready. Thank you all for helping make this possible.
LW
Saturday, August 04, 2007
A PayPal Ooops
I want to thank everyone for the public and private words of encouragement. You have no idea how much they mean, help, and are appreciated!
I also want to thank everyone who has been donating here or at PMI. We are off to a good start, and it gives me hope that we might be able to raise the money fairly quickly.
Unfortunately, I have to report that the inevitable bug in the system has been found. Actually, the bug may have been a factor for a couple of years now. Apparently, a couple of years ago, a change in the system created a pathway to nowhere for my PayPal button. After getting some comments and e-mail indicating people were donating but not seeing any activity, I began checking and got PayPal to start some checking. I quickly created a brand new button and installed it which does work, and thanks to JanB for the successful test. Glad I didn’t wait, as PayPal didn’t bother to suggest this obvious idea until this morning…
The problem is with the donations that went we know not where.
If you have made a donation anywhere over the last two years and up until about 3 p.m. Eastern yesterday that I have not acknowledged, please hold/halt/cancel that donation and resubmit using the current button. I apologize for this, and appreciate your donations and your time very much. Thank You!
May this be the worst glitch that I have to deal with in regards this embed!
LW
Friday, August 03, 2007
More To Come
From surreal dreams to some posts to some more work on the old blogroll. There will be weeding, pruning, and some new additions. May be a day or three, as things are a touch frenetic right now…
Constructive comments and suggestions on the site are needed and welcomed!
LW
Content copyright C. Blake Powers and the individual authors. Comments become the property of C. Blake Powers and may be altered, edited, deleted, and used by C. Blake Powers or the individual authors without restriction or recompense.
