Weekends are for resting

Stone work is nearing completion. That is, until I tear the whole thing out and make changes. Again. I'm not 100% satisfied with the work. Who knew I would be a perfectionist on this. Did I mention the stones are heavy? Estimates put each "brick" at around 110-125 pounds. I may tear out the right side and redo it again.



I may just add a 3rd row of stone on the right side (starting under the door - which means I need to buy a stone hammer so I can shave down the bricks).

In other news, I started looking at going back to school. Yes, it is stupid, and I didn't really enjoy classes when I was in undergrad, but a Masters in Marketing would probably be beneficial down the road. Of course, my craptastic GPA means I need to do well on the GRE. Who knows, I may wait a couple more years. I don't particularly want to go back. Decisions decisions.

BJJ has been interesting. We did some drills that while not fitting with "my game" (which is being defined so may in fact fit with theoretical game) were challenging. Essentially starting from the "heimlich drop takedown" we went to a scramble drill. At first I waited until the underneath guy got set then tried to play a slower stretching game. That didn't work, because I didn't adapt appropriately. I got a bit frustrated, and used that to eventually start moving better. I'm not explosive (shocking I know), so I tried to be more technical. Until I started being more dynamic Doug was able to move around more. Once I started staying heavy and moving first it worked better. In retrospective I guess I did get something out of the drills. Open rolling Doug had me in some precarious positions, but I managed to defend and escape each time. He went for an arm bar he likes, and I stacked and escaped then grabbed an ankle lock, and tapped him. Not too shabby, but I can't fall back on ankle/foot locks each time. Plus, I think he was being careful of his knee. Still, it was perfectly positioned.

I hope to have at least one if not two Dove hunts coming soon. One in South Texas, and I'm heading out to Midland for a couple days also. Dates aren't firm yet, as I have a BJJ seminar, a BJJ open mat in San Marcos, and a wedding party the same day as the open mat. Idle hands are the Devil's playground, or somethign along those lines. October should have another grappling lab at Travis Tooke's gym again. I will bring my camera, and do a full writeup if/when possible.

Scrreeech! Bang ... Bang!

Alternate title:

My trucks rear bumper > 1987 Buick Centuries front end.

So, there I was on Loop 360, light was green, but traffic was a bit backed up. I stopped, the Buick behind me stopped fairly close, but I thought to myself "Self that F150 is coming pretty fast." Screech, bang into the Buick, which then launched itself into my truck.

We pull off the road, and the F150 is a young guy. He is fine, but sputtering cause of the airbags. Lady in the Buick is actually a Little Old Lady and she is scared. Her Buick just got crunched between two trucks, and she is a little dazed. Young guy and I open her door, but ask her to stay in the car as she said her neck hurt. I call 911 (I was the most coherent of the three - nobody else stopped), I answer a couple questions, and they dispatch a couple fire trucks and EMS.

Fire sweeps everything up (no leaking fluids), she talks to EMS for awhile but refuses treatment. Police arrive, we fill out the correct forms. They help the old lady, as she is a bit confused. Turns out she is 91, and as she says "I've been driving since I was 12, and this is the first time I've had an accident. I don't know what to do." Everyone is cool, nobody is angry.

The young guy is apologizing, and I notice he has burns on his hands from the airbag. I ask if he is ok, when he says "Yeah, I been hit by so many bombs while I was in Iraq this is nothing. I'm just sorry you guys messed up your cars."

All in all, everyone was OK, and everyone drove off. It's interesting the things you learn about people on the side of the road. Everyone shared a little bit. Heck, even the cop volunteered that he was back on the streets after something like 15 years with SWAT & Counter terrorism.

Truck needs a new bumper, but his insurance will pay for it. I'm betting they total out the Buick, probably hose the old lady. Hope she keeps driving though. She was a tough one. Only time she complained was when she realized her icecream was melting.

It has been suggested that I get a bumper like this:



That might be a bit much, but we shall see.