Fam-Fit
A Trio
10 Straight Leg Deadlifts
20 SDLHP
30 Rope Jumps
-5 Rounds
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Rest Day Read Wednesday January 26, 2011
Rest Day Read (SR-72)
Are Americans Wusses or Just Fond of Trash Talk?
by Jeffrey Zaslow in Wall Street Journal
Are Americans Wusses or Just Fond of Trash Talk?
by Jeffrey Zaslow in Wall Street Journal
[Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell belittled the NFL for postponing an Eagles-Vikings football game because of a snowstorm. "We've become a nation of wusses," he said.]
[Gov. Rendell says he was stunned by the interest in his comments, but on reflection, he now understands why his words stung. “Our country was founded by incredible risk-takers," he says. They were an army of farmers and shopkeepers, and they fought knowing that if they lost, they'd be hung. We seem to have lost our boldness."]
[The United States defined itself by its pioneer spirit. "We were the brash Paul Bunyan nation with a don't-tread-on-us culture," says John Strausbaugh, author of the 2008 book SISSY NATION.]
["We're now a culture focused more on safety than freedom," says Steve Olson, a 41-year-old IT manager in Savage, Minn. He dates the change in America to sometime between 1984, when "baby-on-board" signs were first seen on minivans, and 1988, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts.]
[Ms. (Lisa) DeNoia was bothered by coverage of Gov. Rendell's remarks. In a letter to him, she wrote: "We're not a nation of wusses. We're a nation of fearless, bumbling morons in pickup trucks who like to drink beer, go shirtless in the freezing cold for football, and drive in blizzards." She argued that true leaders are mature enough to make unpopular decisions to protect the public's safety.]
[Gov. Rendell says he was stunned by the interest in his comments, but on reflection, he now understands why his words stung. “Our country was founded by incredible risk-takers," he says. They were an army of farmers and shopkeepers, and they fought knowing that if they lost, they'd be hung. We seem to have lost our boldness."]
[The United States defined itself by its pioneer spirit. "We were the brash Paul Bunyan nation with a don't-tread-on-us culture," says John Strausbaugh, author of the 2008 book SISSY NATION.]
["We're now a culture focused more on safety than freedom," says Steve Olson, a 41-year-old IT manager in Savage, Minn. He dates the change in America to sometime between 1984, when "baby-on-board" signs were first seen on minivans, and 1988, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts.]
[Ms. (Lisa) DeNoia was bothered by coverage of Gov. Rendell's remarks. In a letter to him, she wrote: "We're not a nation of wusses. We're a nation of fearless, bumbling morons in pickup trucks who like to drink beer, go shirtless in the freezing cold for football, and drive in blizzards." She argued that true leaders are mature enough to make unpopular decisions to protect the public's safety.]
"Did you just call me a wuss? Meet me back here then in 20 minutes, I need to get my gloves, my mouthpiece, headguard, my inflatable body suit and my Chuck Norris SAFELY KICKING ASS, THE WALKER TEXAS RANGER WAY manual. You are getting a good old fashioned butt whipping today, my friend!"
Have we gone too far in America? Have we swung too far to the side of trying to make everything as safe as humanly possible that we actually have become weaker? Safety is good, don't get me wrong, but have we taken it to the point where we are worried more about complete prevention from bad things rather than preparation for bad things. We work to completely prevent the bump on the head, the cut on the arm or being bullied in school but we do not work to prepare ourselves and those we love to deal with these things.
We will fail, we will lose, we will get hurt. These things are all part of life and part of living in a great free society as we do. We need to be prepared to deal with these things so that we may learn and move forward as better individuals and society.
If we give everyone a trophy, we basically give no one a trophy.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Rest Day Read Friday January 21, 2011
Rest Day Read (SR-71)
Pancakes, Well Done. by Mike Hays
We decided to have breakfast for dinner. Frick and Frack had things to do so we needed to get it on the table quickly. Frick made potato pancakes, Frack sausage and scrambled eggs, the Mom pancakes. All was good in the world. The table was set and the Mom put the last four dollops of batter on the griddle. Being in a hurry, we sat down, said grace and ate. Stories from the day were told, with jokes and laughter sprinkled in between. Also around the table, brown dog and black dog begging for food. It was the usual Hays family dinner.
About 25 minutes into dinner, Frack gets up to leave for his event. He walks into the kitchen and says, "Umm, I think we forgot the pancakes on the griddle." We turn to see smoke billowing from the griddle on the stove. The Mom ran into the kitchen and pulled the griddle from the burner. Those pancakes were burnt, burnt, burnt black. The Mom, with a few choice words, took the griddle outside and dumped the pancakes onto the back porch.
She returned and sat down at the table wondering why none of us noticed the pancakes burning. Dead silence pervades the table. I looked to Frick, no comment. I looked to Frack, no comment. I looked to black dog on my right hip, I looked to brown dog on my left hip and say the only thing that pops into my head,
"Nice job of warning us of eminent danger, dogs! Maybe you two need to watch a little more Lassie."
Laughter takes over.
Four things I learned from this incident:
1. Pancakes may be an effective and cheap insulating material to protect the space shuttle on re-entry.
2. I LOVE breakfast for dinner, especially when potato pancakes are involved.
3. Dogs, especially ones not possessing Lassie-like rescue skills, will eat anything. Even very crispy, blackened pancakes.
4. NOTHING beats laughing and talking around the dinner table with your wife and kids. Well worth being engaged to the point where pancakes are forgotten and subsequently burn on the griddle.
Pancakes, Well Done. by Mike Hays
We decided to have breakfast for dinner. Frick and Frack had things to do so we needed to get it on the table quickly. Frick made potato pancakes, Frack sausage and scrambled eggs, the Mom pancakes. All was good in the world. The table was set and the Mom put the last four dollops of batter on the griddle. Being in a hurry, we sat down, said grace and ate. Stories from the day were told, with jokes and laughter sprinkled in between. Also around the table, brown dog and black dog begging for food. It was the usual Hays family dinner.
About 25 minutes into dinner, Frack gets up to leave for his event. He walks into the kitchen and says, "Umm, I think we forgot the pancakes on the griddle." We turn to see smoke billowing from the griddle on the stove. The Mom ran into the kitchen and pulled the griddle from the burner. Those pancakes were burnt, burnt, burnt black. The Mom, with a few choice words, took the griddle outside and dumped the pancakes onto the back porch.
She returned and sat down at the table wondering why none of us noticed the pancakes burning. Dead silence pervades the table. I looked to Frick, no comment. I looked to Frack, no comment. I looked to black dog on my right hip, I looked to brown dog on my left hip and say the only thing that pops into my head,
"Nice job of warning us of eminent danger, dogs! Maybe you two need to watch a little more Lassie."
Laughter takes over.
Four things I learned from this incident:
1. Pancakes may be an effective and cheap insulating material to protect the space shuttle on re-entry.
2. I LOVE breakfast for dinner, especially when potato pancakes are involved.
3. Dogs, especially ones not possessing Lassie-like rescue skills, will eat anything. Even very crispy, blackened pancakes.
4. NOTHING beats laughing and talking around the dinner table with your wife and kids. Well worth being engaged to the point where pancakes are forgotten and subsequently burn on the griddle.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Wednesday January 19, 2011
Fam-Fit
Was going to Move One Mile
But ended up moving a whole lot of snow.
I like moving snow.
Was going to Move One Mile
But ended up moving a whole lot of snow.
I like moving snow.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Rest Day Read Sunday January 16, 2011
Rest Day Read (SR-70)
"I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr
“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”
"I have a dream" speech by Martin Luther King, Jr
“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”
I know we have all heard and seen excerpts from this great speech many times, but we must continue to listen to the message. We must remember, so that we may never forget.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Saturday January 15, 2011
Fam-Fit
Uphill Both Ways
-15 minutes on treadmill
-Max incline, as fast as you can go.
Uphill Both Ways
-15 minutes on treadmill
-Max incline, as fast as you can go.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Wednesday January 12, 2011
Fam-Fit
Ski Machine Intervals with Push-Up/Air Squats
10 Rounds
0.1 Km ski machine sprint
Air Squat (10 reps round 1, 9 reps round 2 ...1 rep round 10)
Push-Up (1 rep round 1, 2 reps round 2 ... 10 reps round 10)
Ski Machine Intervals with Push-Up/Air Squats
10 Rounds
0.1 Km ski machine sprint
Air Squat (10 reps round 1, 9 reps round 2 ...1 rep round 10)
Push-Up (1 rep round 1, 2 reps round 2 ... 10 reps round 10)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Rest Day Read Tuesday January 11, 2011
Rest Day Read (SR-69)
Coach Lane's Creations: Ball-On-A-Stick
Back when I was coaching football, if we coaches needed something, Coach Paul Lane would always find a way to take care of us. Always. The admins gave us a budget and support that could generously be described as nada. But Coach Lane made the most of every penny, quite a few which were his own.
If I said, "Coach Lane, I could sure use a measuring stick to check offensive lineman splits on the fly during practice.", lo and behold, a 5 foot long "T" PVC pipe Split-O-Meter would appear with a "T" piece our standard split length of 3 foot. Plus he added a feature of a painted black region in the middle of the PVC pipe for measuring our shorter split of 2 foot. Amazing!
If I said, "Coach Lane, I could sure use some pull-up bars that connect to the steel roof supports of the wrestling room." Presto! I would show up Monday morning and there are half a dozen pull-up stations, made of iron pipe securely connected into the supports. Remarkable!
When I needed some way to hang homemade gymnastics rings from those same supports, the chains disappeared from the Lane home's porch swing and found themselves placed into action. (Poor Mrs. Coach Lane's beautiful porch swing was temporarily out of commission. Sorry Mrs. Lane.)
But, one of the greatest Coach Paul Lane's feats of engineering was the Ball-On-A-Stick.
Ball-On-A-Stick. A ball, on a stick, that we used to simulate football snaps for defensive line drills. We wanted our d-line to react to ball movement cues and not verbal or sound cues from the opposing QBs, so we used the Ball-On-A-Stick in our drills.
A few weeks ago, one of the last remaining players that I coached stopped by the house one evening just as I was arriving home from work. He stopped his truck right in the middle of the street and got out smiling ear to ear. He opened his toolbox and pulled out the Ball-On-A-Stick. I was so happy I was virtually moved to tears. I thought it would be long forgotten and discarded.
"I saved it, Coach. Out of the trash" he said. "Thought you might want to have it back." (Can you see why I loved coaching these kids?)
Well, ole' Ball-On-A-Stick has seen better days. Coach Lane made a beautiful marvel of football technology with the fresh-off-the-showroom version. New and shiny NERF football silicone sealed to a brand spanking new broomstick (Sorry, again Mrs. Lane), a real work of art.
The ball is held onto the stick with athletic tape now. Why you ask? Because a certain young center who will remain nameless, once thought of the Ball-On-A-Stick as a golf club. But, #58's golf skills were lacking, his golf stoke similar to a rusty gate and he duffed his attempted swing across the ground breaking the silicone seal and sending the NERF ball fluttering to ground 20 yards away. To say I was mad, well...
The Ball-On-A-Stick has been tossed, slammed, fought over and trashed. The poor handle was even bent one practice during a Coach Hays temper tantrum incident.
But it survives. The Ball-On-A-Stick now sits next to my desk. It is a reminder of how much fun we had. It is a reminder of how well Coach Paul Lane treated us, the coaches, the players and the entire Tiger Football Program.
Now, if we could just locate that Split-O-Meter...
Coach Lane's Creations: Ball-On-A-Stick
Back when I was coaching football, if we coaches needed something, Coach Paul Lane would always find a way to take care of us. Always. The admins gave us a budget and support that could generously be described as nada. But Coach Lane made the most of every penny, quite a few which were his own.
If I said, "Coach Lane, I could sure use a measuring stick to check offensive lineman splits on the fly during practice.", lo and behold, a 5 foot long "T" PVC pipe Split-O-Meter would appear with a "T" piece our standard split length of 3 foot. Plus he added a feature of a painted black region in the middle of the PVC pipe for measuring our shorter split of 2 foot. Amazing!
If I said, "Coach Lane, I could sure use some pull-up bars that connect to the steel roof supports of the wrestling room." Presto! I would show up Monday morning and there are half a dozen pull-up stations, made of iron pipe securely connected into the supports. Remarkable!
When I needed some way to hang homemade gymnastics rings from those same supports, the chains disappeared from the Lane home's porch swing and found themselves placed into action. (Poor Mrs. Coach Lane's beautiful porch swing was temporarily out of commission. Sorry Mrs. Lane.)
But, one of the greatest Coach Paul Lane's feats of engineering was the Ball-On-A-Stick.
A few weeks ago, one of the last remaining players that I coached stopped by the house one evening just as I was arriving home from work. He stopped his truck right in the middle of the street and got out smiling ear to ear. He opened his toolbox and pulled out the Ball-On-A-Stick. I was so happy I was virtually moved to tears. I thought it would be long forgotten and discarded.
"I saved it, Coach. Out of the trash" he said. "Thought you might want to have it back." (Can you see why I loved coaching these kids?)
The ball is held onto the stick with athletic tape now. Why you ask? Because a certain young center who will remain nameless, once thought of the Ball-On-A-Stick as a golf club. But, #58's golf skills were lacking, his golf stoke similar to a rusty gate and he duffed his attempted swing across the ground breaking the silicone seal and sending the NERF ball fluttering to ground 20 yards away. To say I was mad, well...
The Ball-On-A-Stick has been tossed, slammed, fought over and trashed. The poor handle was even bent one practice during a Coach Hays temper tantrum incident.
Now, if we could just locate that Split-O-Meter...
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday January 9, 2011
Fam-Fit
Pressing Issues
Standing Press
Push Press
Push Jerk
4,3,2,1 reps/round
Pressing Issues
Standing Press
Push Press
Push Jerk
4,3,2,1 reps/round
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Rest Day Read Thursday January 6, 2011
Rest Day Read (SR-68)
Josh Hamilton's The List Cover
from ESPN the Magazine The List Issue, September 20, 2010
As we start the new year and re-evaluate ourselves, I thought the photo of Josh Hamilton's arm tatoo, modified with his list of life priorities, is an excellent place to start.
Josh Hamilton's The List Cover
from ESPN the Magazine The List Issue, September 20, 2010
As we start the new year and re-evaluate ourselves, I thought the photo of Josh Hamilton's arm tatoo, modified with his list of life priorities, is an excellent place to start.
GOD
HUMILITY
FAMILY
SOBRIETY
BASEBALL
If you don't know Josh Hamilton's story, he went from teenage phenom baseball prospect, to drug addict, to recovery, to determination-fueled comeback, to MLB MVP. Quite an inspiring story.
Stay humble and don't allow yourself to get too high. Never give up when you get too low. ALWAYS trust in God.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday December 28, 2010
Fam-Fit
10-10-10 (on Treadmill)
10 Min. Speed Walk
10 Min. Power Walk (Incline Max)
10 Min. Speed Walk (2 lb. DBs in hand)
Saturday, December 25, 2010
God loves us, so that we may become people who love...
December 24, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-67)
“God anticipates us again and again in unexpected ways. He does not cease to search for us, to raise us up as often as we might need. He does not abandon the lost sheep in the wilderness into which it had strayed. God does not allow himself to be confounded by our sin.
Again and again he begins afresh with us. But he is still waiting for us to join him in love. He loves us, so that we too may become people who love, so that there may be peace on earth. Saint Luke does not say that the angels sang. He states quite soberly: the heavenly host praised God and said: "Glory to God in the highest" (Lk 2:13f.).
But men have always known that the speech of angels is different from human speech, and that above all on this night of joyful proclamation it was in song that they extolled God's heavenly glory. So this angelic song has been recognized from the earliest days as music proceeding from God, indeed, as an invitation to join in the singing with hearts filled with joy at the fact that we are loved by God. Cantare amantis est, says Saint Augustine: singing belongs to one who loves.
Thus, down the centuries, the angels' song has again and again become a song of love and joy, a song of those who love. At this hour, full of thankfulness, we join in the singing of all the centuries, singing that unites heaven and earth, angels and men. Yes, indeed, we praise you for your glory. We praise you for your love. Grant that we may join with you in love more and more and thus become people of peace. Amen.”
Merry Christmas to all!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Thursday December 23, 2010
Fam-Fit
Wii Mii
30 minutes in on Wii Fit Island running, biking, hula-hooping, etc.
Wii Mii
30 minutes in on Wii Fit Island running, biking, hula-hooping, etc.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Tuesday December 21, 2010
Fam-Fit
Uuuuugggghhhh!!
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Uuuuugggghhhh!!
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Run 400m
25 Swings
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Rest Day Read Monday December 20, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-66)
Not a read today, but a funny rest day video from The Mrs. Coach Hays. A little humor is always good for the winter solstice.
Not a read today, but a funny rest day video from The Mrs. Coach Hays. A little humor is always good for the winter solstice.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Saturday December 18, 2010
Fam-Fit
Snatch Hops
-Light weight snatch, hold in bottom position and drive/jump up to box.
-3,3,3,3,3
Snatch Hops
-Light weight snatch, hold in bottom position and drive/jump up to box.
-3,3,3,3,3
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Rest Day Read Wednesday December 15, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-65)
Cold Enough To Start Your Leg On Fire
by Mike Hays
Back in my football coaching days, we had a group of kids who were, to put it mildly, a bit deviant. One mid-season Monday when we show up for JV game/varsity practice, one of these young men has an injury and is not able to participate. He has a fairly severe burn that ran just below his knee all the way down to the high ankle. When asked how this happened, the young man said he was jumping over a camp fire the past weekend. He guessed he just did not jump far enough. It was a nasty burn. He said he did not go to the hospital because his dad's girlfriend was a nurse. She wrapped it up and would take care of it. Needless to say, he missed some action, but came back no worse for wear a couple weeks later.
Flash forward to the last week of the season. We have practice and it is friggin cold, with a north wind blowing about 40+ MPH. Probably the coldest practice we ever had. Colder than the 2002 practice where we had the entire sidelines of 20 or so substitute players hunkered down in an incrementally lower squat position on the south side of a 6'2" 275 lb. lineman. (Dang that was funny, wish I had a picture of that.). Well, the kids are complaining about the cold. Over and over and over complaining. I just keep telling them it is not even cold yet. Burnt-leg boy keeps saying he's not cold at all. Then it starts drizzling! Misery squared!
Burnt leg boy finally lets go, "!@#$, Coach! How !@#$-ing cold is it out here?"
In one of my greatest stupid-funny lines ever, I answer, "Son, I believe it's cold enough to start your leg on fire."
Cold Enough To Start Your Leg On Fire
by Mike Hays
Back in my football coaching days, we had a group of kids who were, to put it mildly, a bit deviant. One mid-season Monday when we show up for JV game/varsity practice, one of these young men has an injury and is not able to participate. He has a fairly severe burn that ran just below his knee all the way down to the high ankle. When asked how this happened, the young man said he was jumping over a camp fire the past weekend. He guessed he just did not jump far enough. It was a nasty burn. He said he did not go to the hospital because his dad's girlfriend was a nurse. She wrapped it up and would take care of it. Needless to say, he missed some action, but came back no worse for wear a couple weeks later.
Flash forward to the last week of the season. We have practice and it is friggin cold, with a north wind blowing about 40+ MPH. Probably the coldest practice we ever had. Colder than the 2002 practice where we had the entire sidelines of 20 or so substitute players hunkered down in an incrementally lower squat position on the south side of a 6'2" 275 lb. lineman. (Dang that was funny, wish I had a picture of that.). Well, the kids are complaining about the cold. Over and over and over complaining. I just keep telling them it is not even cold yet. Burnt-leg boy keeps saying he's not cold at all. Then it starts drizzling! Misery squared!
Burnt leg boy finally lets go, "!@#$, Coach! How !@#$-ing cold is it out here?"
In one of my greatest stupid-funny lines ever, I answer, "Son, I believe it's cold enough to start your leg on fire."
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Rest Day Read Friday December 10, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-64)
2010 Nobel Peace Prize Award Presentation to China's Liu Xiaobo
-acceptance speech given by Thorbjorn Jagland of the Nobel Committee on 12-10-201 because of Liu Xiaobo's political imprisonment in China.
"We regret that the Laureate is not present here today. He is in isolation in a prison in north-east China. Nor can the Laureate’s wife Liu Xia or his closest relatives be here with us. No medal or diploma will therefore be presented here today. This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate. We congratulate Liu Xiaobo on this year’s Peace Prize."
2010 Nobel Peace Prize Award Presentation to China's Liu Xiaobo
-acceptance speech given by Thorbjorn Jagland of the Nobel Committee on 12-10-201 because of Liu Xiaobo's political imprisonment in China.
"We regret that the Laureate is not present here today. He is in isolation in a prison in north-east China. Nor can the Laureate’s wife Liu Xia or his closest relatives be here with us. No medal or diploma will therefore be presented here today. This fact alone shows that the award was necessary and appropriate. We congratulate Liu Xiaobo on this year’s Peace Prize."
"Liu has said that "The greatness of non-violent resistance is that even as man is faced with forceful tyranny and the resulting suffering, the victim responds to hate with love, to prejudice with tolerance, to arrogance with humility, to humiliation with dignity, and to violence with reason."
"Liu Xiaobo is an optimist, despite his many years in prison. In his closing appeal to the court on the 23rd of December 2009, he said: "I, filled with optimism, look forward to the advent of a future free China. For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom, and China will in the end become a nation ruled by law, where human rights reign supreme."
Thank you, Liu Xiaobo for exhibiting the courage to stand up for what is right. The great people of China deserve the freedoms promised in their constitution. Each citizen deserves to enjoy a life blessed with the fundamental human rights. They deserve to express themselves in thought, word and action. China is a great country. The Chinese people a great people. Liu Xiaobo is considered a dangerous dissident of the highest level by the Chinese government for the simple belief in freedom. I hope in my lifetime, I am able to witness Xiaobo's China, a free China, a great China. His story, his non-violent resistance and his love and patience should be an inspiration to us all. Thank you, Liu Xiaobo, for standing up for what is right and for the ideals you embrace.
"For there is no force that can put an end to the human quest for freedom"
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Thursday December 9, 2010
Fam-Fit
Wii Are The Champions!
I. Wii Fit Run
II. Wii Sports Boxing Match
-4 Rounds
Wii Are The Champions!
I. Wii Fit Run
II. Wii Sports Boxing Match
-4 Rounds
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Rest Day Read Sunday December 5, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-63)
Gospel of Matthew 3:1-12
1 In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea,2 'Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.'3 This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said: A voice of one that cries in the desert, 'Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.'
4 This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him,6 and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, 'Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution?8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,9 and do not presume to tell yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father," because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones.10 Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.11 I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.12 His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.'
This is a scene from Matthew I wish was captured on video. Can you imagine? Picture the Pharisees and Sadducees faces when they get called out by John. They'd heard the rumors and the mumblings about the madman in the desert, preaching, baptizing in the Jordan and proclaiming the coming of the King. They sensed the drumbeats of a revolution, they sensed a HUGE threat to their status quo religious establishment and they crawled their way out to spy on what was really happening. They weaseled their way into the crowd to bear witness of wrongdoing by the preacher in a camel hair garment who ate honey and locusts. But John had guts, John was powered by the Spirit and laid into the Pharisees and Sadducees with a verbal attack the likes they had never been exposed to before. I love it! The holier-than-now Pharisees and Sadducees probably tucked their red faces between their tails and squirmed like snakes back to the comfort of their homes. John the Baptist! I think him and me would have got along very well.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Saturday December 4, 2010
Fam-Fit
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
20 Row Machine Strokes
-count # of rounds in 20 continuous minutes
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
20 Row Machine Strokes
-count # of rounds in 20 continuous minutes
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Rest Day Read Tuesday November 30, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-62)
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator
by Karina Fabian
By the 2040s, the shambling dead have become and international problem. While governments and special interest groups vie for the most environmentally-friendly way to rid the world of zombies, a new breed of exterminator has risen: The Zombie Exterminator. When zombie exterminator Neeta Lyffe gets sued because a zombie she set afire stumbles onto a lawyer's back porch, she needs money, fast. So she agrees to train apprentice exterminators in a reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a game of tag. But that's nothing compared to having to deal with crazy directors, bickering contestants and paparazzi. Can she keep her ratings up, her bills paid and her apprentices alive and still keep her sanity?
Doesn't this one sound like fun? Zombie Exterminators reality TV? This is going to be a very entertaining one to read. Release date is December 1, 2010. You can get the ebook for mere pennies at the Damnation Books web site. I am going to dig in and read this ASAP. And how can you pass on cover art like this..
Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator
by Karina Fabian
By the 2040s, the shambling dead have become and international problem. While governments and special interest groups vie for the most environmentally-friendly way to rid the world of zombies, a new breed of exterminator has risen: The Zombie Exterminator. When zombie exterminator Neeta Lyffe gets sued because a zombie she set afire stumbles onto a lawyer's back porch, she needs money, fast. So she agrees to train apprentice exterminators in a reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a game of tag. But that's nothing compared to having to deal with crazy directors, bickering contestants and paparazzi. Can she keep her ratings up, her bills paid and her apprentices alive and still keep her sanity?
Doesn't this one sound like fun? Zombie Exterminators reality TV? This is going to be a very entertaining one to read. Release date is December 1, 2010. You can get the ebook for mere pennies at the Damnation Books web site. I am going to dig in and read this ASAP. And how can you pass on cover art like this..
Re-Kill or Be Killed!
Monday November 29, 2010
Fam-Fit
MB Mania
Leg Swings
20 Goblet Squat
20 Right Side Throw
20 Left Side Throw
20 OH Squat
20 Underhand Squat and Throw
20 Chest Pass
Leg Swings
MB Mania
Leg Swings
20 Goblet Squat
20 Right Side Throw
20 Left Side Throw
20 OH Squat
20 Underhand Squat and Throw
20 Chest Pass
Leg Swings
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday November 28, 2010
Fam-Fit
Time Trial
5.0 miles Stationary Bike
Note: After I hose the dust off stationary bike, it will return from its exile in the Man-Garage to its rightful place in the basement Man-Corner, the new location of the room formerly known as Man-Room.
Time Trial
5.0 miles Stationary Bike
Note: After I hose the dust off stationary bike, it will return from its exile in the Man-Garage to its rightful place in the basement Man-Corner, the new location of the room formerly known as Man-Room.
Saturday November 27, 2010
Fam-Fit
30 Minutes of Movement
Power Walk to look at Christmas lights.
First all family Fam-Fit in quite a while.
Very nice.
30 Minutes of Movement
Power Walk to look at Christmas lights.
First all family Fam-Fit in quite a while.
Very nice.
Friday November 26, 2010
Fam-Fit
Combo Combo
Deadlift-3 reps @ heavy weight
Bike Ride- 4 block square
-4 rounds
Combo Combo
Deadlift-3 reps @ heavy weight
Bike Ride- 4 block square
-4 rounds
Rest Day Read Thursday November 25, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-61)
Toughskins: The Official Kid Coach Hays Outfitter
by Mike Hays
Looking back, I was a difficult child. I had issues. Shy, stubborn, quiet and stocky. But I think clothing and associated issues were, and still, are some of the great issues of me. Clothes shopping is the most painful of activities. Hated it. Did not like looking through racks, did not like trying clothes on in the fitting rooms and absolutely despised the clerk and mother asking questions concerned over the status of the fit in the crotch. Horrific! Always a difficult activity that shopping for clothing, plus when I was a kid in the 1970's, fashion leaned a bit to the embarrassing as a general rule. But as I have said on several occasions, I was a lineman, a Bubba, from day one, and finding clothes was always a difficult task.
I also had trouble with a shirt tuck. Seriously. Still do at age 46. One of my favorite pictures from childhood is what could be an Easter Day photo of my older brothers, my sister, and me, all dressed to the hilt. Pat, Tim and Kathy stand as perfect kids of fashion, worthy of any Madison Avenue ad campaign, cherubs sent down from ,heaven. Then on the left side of the photo is me. Dress pants, clip-on tie, scowl on face and hands balled up tight at my side. Not bad, except the right half of my shirt's completely un-tucked. In this photo of youthful fashion perfection, I stand out like a flashing red light. Pathetic.
But with all those negative incidents, there was a pillar of apparel hope. Toughskin Jeans from Sears. Look at the photo. Appreciate the high tech design features. The tri-blended material Toughskins, the HUSKY variety in my case, were the jeans for me. I had gone through a pair of Levis by the end of first recess, scoffed at the durability claims of Wrangler and the blue-light special jeans of K-Mart, forget it. Only one jean could handle the abuse of the Kid Coach Hays, Husky Toughskins.
Listen, these jeans were so tough they didn't need a sappy name variation, like Tuf' Skins or any of that sort of marketing mumbo jumbo. (Look at the models in the ad, those are no nonsense kids, ready for action! And the jacket! Holy jumping jehosephat! That is the height of big lapel 70's greatness.) The Toughskins were so bad-ass, so tough-as-nails that Sears, confident in their invention, put a guarantee on Toughskins. If you wore through the 3/4 inch, highly fortified knee of the pant, they would trade you out a new pair. And thanks to a certain young boy, a decision which almost took the company down in the mid-1970's.
I never fancied myself any sort of fashion expert. As my wife points out, I often wear black shoes with brown belts. But, I have to tell you, I became sort of a celebrity at the 38th Street Sears store in KCK. As previously mentioned, I was tough, tough, tough on clothes. I still rip through clothes, especially my fashion foundation of blue jeans. I've gone through knees, ripped out belt loops, ripped gashes front and back. Heck, one time, I even caught the cuff on the heel of my shoe and walked/tore the hem right off the pants. So naturally, a mother, with six lovely children and limited budget, would eventually throw up the white flag and to insure the financial solvency of the Hays family, put destructo-boy in the new technology out of Sears Research and Development. But, it was not that mother believed any of the Sears durability claims, she liked the guarantee.
Long story short, I became somewhat of a celebrity at our Sears store. I would go through the indestructable Toughskin jean in a matter of months. Right before the guarantee would expire, I would do something else and have to go switch out for a replacement pair. Mostly the quadruple fortified knee would crumble under the pressure of recess on a parking lot. Falls, dives, rolls, tackles took down many a pair of Toughskins. I would walk into the Sears store with mother and after a few moments for my ears to adjust to the ever-present high pitch squeal of our Sears store, the clerks would call out my name. I felt like a Hollywood celebrity strolling into a premiere, flash bulbs popping, fans waving.
"Hello, Master Hays. New jeans, sir?"
"New pair of Toughskins. Husky, not regular." I felt like 007 in a exotic Russian nightclub.
"And may we interest you in the new forest green color, or the goldenrod, or perhaps the corduroys?"
"Not today, just the usual blue will do."
The new pair would be traded out with the old pair. I always like to believe they were sent by armored courier to Sears-Roebuck Home Base in Chicago for additional research and study. The clerks would step off to the side in private conversation with mother, with an occasional point to me standing in the aisle. She never cared, mother loved the fact that she outfitted me in one purchase of Toughskin jeans for several years. I went through them so fast, the growth spurts played little effect.
It was the perfect, accidental plan.
Toughskins: The Official Kid Coach Hays Outfitter
by Mike Hays
Looking back, I was a difficult child. I had issues. Shy, stubborn, quiet and stocky. But I think clothing and associated issues were, and still, are some of the great issues of me. Clothes shopping is the most painful of activities. Hated it. Did not like looking through racks, did not like trying clothes on in the fitting rooms and absolutely despised the clerk and mother asking questions concerned over the status of the fit in the crotch. Horrific! Always a difficult activity that shopping for clothing, plus when I was a kid in the 1970's, fashion leaned a bit to the embarrassing as a general rule. But as I have said on several occasions, I was a lineman, a Bubba, from day one, and finding clothes was always a difficult task.
I also had trouble with a shirt tuck. Seriously. Still do at age 46. One of my favorite pictures from childhood is what could be an Easter Day photo of my older brothers, my sister, and me, all dressed to the hilt. Pat, Tim and Kathy stand as perfect kids of fashion, worthy of any Madison Avenue ad campaign, cherubs sent down from ,heaven. Then on the left side of the photo is me. Dress pants, clip-on tie, scowl on face and hands balled up tight at my side. Not bad, except the right half of my shirt's completely un-tucked. In this photo of youthful fashion perfection, I stand out like a flashing red light. Pathetic.
But with all those negative incidents, there was a pillar of apparel hope. Toughskin Jeans from Sears. Look at the photo. Appreciate the high tech design features. The tri-blended material Toughskins, the HUSKY variety in my case, were the jeans for me. I had gone through a pair of Levis by the end of first recess, scoffed at the durability claims of Wrangler and the blue-light special jeans of K-Mart, forget it. Only one jean could handle the abuse of the Kid Coach Hays, Husky Toughskins.
Listen, these jeans were so tough they didn't need a sappy name variation, like Tuf' Skins or any of that sort of marketing mumbo jumbo. (Look at the models in the ad, those are no nonsense kids, ready for action! And the jacket! Holy jumping jehosephat! That is the height of big lapel 70's greatness.) The Toughskins were so bad-ass, so tough-as-nails that Sears, confident in their invention, put a guarantee on Toughskins. If you wore through the 3/4 inch, highly fortified knee of the pant, they would trade you out a new pair. And thanks to a certain young boy, a decision which almost took the company down in the mid-1970's.
I never fancied myself any sort of fashion expert. As my wife points out, I often wear black shoes with brown belts. But, I have to tell you, I became sort of a celebrity at the 38th Street Sears store in KCK. As previously mentioned, I was tough, tough, tough on clothes. I still rip through clothes, especially my fashion foundation of blue jeans. I've gone through knees, ripped out belt loops, ripped gashes front and back. Heck, one time, I even caught the cuff on the heel of my shoe and walked/tore the hem right off the pants. So naturally, a mother, with six lovely children and limited budget, would eventually throw up the white flag and to insure the financial solvency of the Hays family, put destructo-boy in the new technology out of Sears Research and Development. But, it was not that mother believed any of the Sears durability claims, she liked the guarantee.
Long story short, I became somewhat of a celebrity at our Sears store. I would go through the indestructable Toughskin jean in a matter of months. Right before the guarantee would expire, I would do something else and have to go switch out for a replacement pair. Mostly the quadruple fortified knee would crumble under the pressure of recess on a parking lot. Falls, dives, rolls, tackles took down many a pair of Toughskins. I would walk into the Sears store with mother and after a few moments for my ears to adjust to the ever-present high pitch squeal of our Sears store, the clerks would call out my name. I felt like a Hollywood celebrity strolling into a premiere, flash bulbs popping, fans waving.
"Hello, Master Hays. New jeans, sir?"
"New pair of Toughskins. Husky, not regular." I felt like 007 in a exotic Russian nightclub.
"And may we interest you in the new forest green color, or the goldenrod, or perhaps the corduroys?"
"Not today, just the usual blue will do."
The new pair would be traded out with the old pair. I always like to believe they were sent by armored courier to Sears-Roebuck Home Base in Chicago for additional research and study. The clerks would step off to the side in private conversation with mother, with an occasional point to me standing in the aisle. She never cared, mother loved the fact that she outfitted me in one purchase of Toughskin jeans for several years. I went through them so fast, the growth spurts played little effect.
It was the perfect, accidental plan.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Wednesday November 24, 2010
Fam-Fit
Circuit Circus
10 Swings
20 Air Squats
30 Rows or SDLHP
40 Rope Jumps
50 Towel Shakes
-4 Rounds
Circuit Circus
10 Swings
20 Air Squats
30 Rows or SDLHP
40 Rope Jumps
50 Towel Shakes
-4 Rounds
Monday, November 22, 2010
Sunday November 21, 2010
Fam-Fit
Pull-Up Ladder
Do 1 pull-up in first minute, 2 pull-ups in second minute, 3 pull-ups in third minute, 4 pull-ups in fourth minute and so on and so on, until you can't complete the prescribed number of pull-ups in the one minute window.
Pull-Up Ladder
Do 1 pull-up in first minute, 2 pull-ups in second minute, 3 pull-ups in third minute, 4 pull-ups in fourth minute and so on and so on, until you can't complete the prescribed number of pull-ups in the one minute window.
Rest Day Read Saturday November 20, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-60)
Educator in the Real Time World by Kevin Honeycutt
"A good QB throws the ball where the receiver is going to be, not where they are when the ball is snapped. A good educator throws an education where kids are going to be. We have to know that.
I want you to know there are thousands of educators worldwide who get this, who are connected to an EDU-VERSE of other ideas and people on BEHALF of their kids, and their kids DESERVE this."
Watch, listen and learn. Parents, teachers, coaches, grandparents, uncles, aunts, everyone watch, listen and learn. This is good, no, it's great stuff. Get out there people, take the plunge into the digital age. Learn from the kids, learn with the kids. Take it from me, it is a great experience to learn Facebook, Twitter or blogging from your kids. It is a very rewarding experience and a whole new world for us old farts.
Play in the digital playground!
Educator in the Real Time World by Kevin Honeycutt
"A good QB throws the ball where the receiver is going to be, not where they are when the ball is snapped. A good educator throws an education where kids are going to be. We have to know that.
I want you to know there are thousands of educators worldwide who get this, who are connected to an EDU-VERSE of other ideas and people on BEHALF of their kids, and their kids DESERVE this."
Watch, listen and learn. Parents, teachers, coaches, grandparents, uncles, aunts, everyone watch, listen and learn. This is good, no, it's great stuff. Get out there people, take the plunge into the digital age. Learn from the kids, learn with the kids. Take it from me, it is a great experience to learn Facebook, Twitter or blogging from your kids. It is a very rewarding experience and a whole new world for us old farts.
Play in the digital playground!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday November 16, 2010
Fam-Fit
UUUGGGHHHH!!!!
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
UUUGGGHHHH!!!!
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Run 400m
20 Weight Swings
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Rest Day Read Monday November 15, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-59)
by David H. Freedman from Discover Magazine, July-August 2010
"Many, and possibly most, scientists spend their careers looking for answers where the light is better rather than where the truth is more likely to lie. They don’t always have much choice. It is often extremely difficult or even impossible to cleanly measure what is really important, so scientists instead cleanly measure what they can, hoping it turns out to be relevant. After all, we expect scientists to quantify their observations precisely. As Lord Kelvin put it more than a century ago, “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.” There is just one little problem. While these surrogate measurements yield clean numbers, they frequently throw off the results, sometimes dramatically so. This “streetlight effect,” as I call it in my new book, Wrong (Little, Brown), turns up in every field of science, filling research journals with experiments and studies that directly contradict previously published work."
"The results? We get heavily hyped drugs like Avastin, which shrank tumors without adding significant time to cancer patients’ lives (and increased the incidence of heart failure and blood clots to boot); Avandia, which lowered blood sugar in diabetics but raised the average risk of heart attack by 43 percent; torcetrapib, which raised both good cholesterol and death rates; and Flurizan, which reduced brain plaque but failed to slow the cognitive ravages of Alzheimer’s disease before trials were finally halted in 2008."
This article was hard to read, hard to admit the truth behind it. I can't wait to read Freedman's book, WRONG. But it is true, science has gone a bit off course. When we should be about truth, we have become driven by gain. We have let the truth be molded by what we (or our sources of funding) want to prove rather than the facts. And ladies and gentlemen, that is a slippery slope we tread upon. Dangerous and treacherous to all of us.
Being a scientist, I especially would like to put absolute faith is everything science produces. But more and more, I am afraid we must go with the old adage "Don't believe everything you hear". Ever heard that one? Maybe from your parents, perhaps? Be wary, dig deeper and search for the truth.
Note: If you are looking for some awesome, informative reading to have around your household, why not try a subscription to Discover Magazine? (Non-compensated, non-celebrity endorsement)
by David H. Freedman from Discover Magazine, July-August 2010
"Many, and possibly most, scientists spend their careers looking for answers where the light is better rather than where the truth is more likely to lie. They don’t always have much choice. It is often extremely difficult or even impossible to cleanly measure what is really important, so scientists instead cleanly measure what they can, hoping it turns out to be relevant. After all, we expect scientists to quantify their observations precisely. As Lord Kelvin put it more than a century ago, “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.” There is just one little problem. While these surrogate measurements yield clean numbers, they frequently throw off the results, sometimes dramatically so. This “streetlight effect,” as I call it in my new book, Wrong (Little, Brown), turns up in every field of science, filling research journals with experiments and studies that directly contradict previously published work."
"The results? We get heavily hyped drugs like Avastin, which shrank tumors without adding significant time to cancer patients’ lives (and increased the incidence of heart failure and blood clots to boot); Avandia, which lowered blood sugar in diabetics but raised the average risk of heart attack by 43 percent; torcetrapib, which raised both good cholesterol and death rates; and Flurizan, which reduced brain plaque but failed to slow the cognitive ravages of Alzheimer’s disease before trials were finally halted in 2008."
This article was hard to read, hard to admit the truth behind it. I can't wait to read Freedman's book, WRONG. But it is true, science has gone a bit off course. When we should be about truth, we have become driven by gain. We have let the truth be molded by what we (or our sources of funding) want to prove rather than the facts. And ladies and gentlemen, that is a slippery slope we tread upon. Dangerous and treacherous to all of us.
Being a scientist, I especially would like to put absolute faith is everything science produces. But more and more, I am afraid we must go with the old adage "Don't believe everything you hear". Ever heard that one? Maybe from your parents, perhaps? Be wary, dig deeper and search for the truth.
Note: If you are looking for some awesome, informative reading to have around your household, why not try a subscription to Discover Magazine? (Non-compensated, non-celebrity endorsement)
Monday, November 15, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Rest Day Read Wednesday November 10, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-58)
The Dingo Ate The Bingo by Mike Hays
I was going to link to an intellectually uplifting article for today's RDR, but I have got to relate to you a story about fatherhood. But to warn you, it runs a bit to the smartass/amusing side. In fact it made the Mom expel her lime green jello from mouth to plate during the dinner where the tale was first told. For the record, that hasn't occurred in a LONG time. (Don't say anything to the Mom about the lime green jello incident, though. Some things are better left between us.)
Son, age 16, and father, age 46, went to Salina for a doctor's appointment. While on the hour long drive, son periodically shouts "Bingo" and tallies a count.
Finally, as they hit the I-70 Abilene to Salina stretch, the dad says."Bingo? What the heck is that?"
"You say 'Bingo' when you see a yellow vehicle."
Okay, easy enough. So we travel a few miles ahead, the ultra-observant dad sees a school bus. "Bingo!"
"That doesn't count." says passive-competitive son. "Buses don't count."
Next, the dad sees a Caterpillar bulldozer in a construction zone. As "B..." begins to slip out of dad's mouth.
Teenage son says, "Neither do construction vehicles."
"Are you making the rules up as we go?" dad asks.
In that wonderful teenage tone comes the answer, "No."
So he runs the score up through the city of Salina on the way to the doctor's office. Apparently, not only are yellow buses and construction vehicles not legal fare in this game of Bingo, but about every yellow vehicle the dad points out lies outside the rules. "Too orange-ish", "no delivery vans", "no 1972 Coup de villes", etc., etc. etc...
After the appointment, a trip to exchange some clothes at the mall, which feels like sticking pins into the eyes, hit the McD's for a quick lunch and hit the road back toward home.
Son continues Bingo game, every yellow vehicle he points out is acceptable within the rules of the Bingo Society of North America and every yellow-ish vehicle the dad points out gets negated. Back on I-70, the dad has just about had enough of the game of Bingo.
Ahead, as if sent by God himself, the dad sees a tandem Fed-Ex tractor trailer in the westbound lane. "DINGO!" the dad shouts.
Teenage son, 'What are you talking about? Dingo?"
"Yeah, I am playing Dingo. Delivery truck Bingo...Dingo. Get it?" The dad, using superior evasive strategy, completely dumbfounds teenage son.
"Dingo!" he shouts out at a passing Old Dominion trailer.
"Doesn't count."
"What???"
"It's Monday, isn't it?"
"Yeah. So..." he mind is racing trying to figure what is coming next.
The dad chuckles, "Son, Monday is Fed-Ex Dingo Day. I am up by one."
On the east side of Salina, another tandem Fed-Ex trailer. "DINGO! Up 2-Zip"
About a mile or so down the highway we pass a mid-size Fed-Ex delivery van. The son points and just about jumps out of his seat.
"DINGO!" He shouts.
"Sorry." says the dad. "That's a van, not a delivery TRUCK." The laughter from one half of the car is uncontrollable as the car veer slightly in the lane.
(Note: This is where the start of the green jello incident commences on the retelling of the story later that evening.)
"That is NOT funny!" Teenage son is not happy as the tables turn in old papa's direction.
You know sometimes you just can't script real life any more funnier than it turns out. There is truly a God who has a great sense of humor. For just at that moment, as the teenage son turns around and is complaining and pointing at the Fed Ex delivery van that did not count as a legal hit in the game of Dingo, four or five Fed-Ex tandem delivery tractor trailers, a virtual convoy, rise up over the ridge in the opposite lane. As son is still lamenting about his lack of a score, the dad, who is laughing so hard he doesn't really remember if it was actually four or five trucks in the convoy, says, "Dingo, Dingo, Dingo, Dingo and Dingo!"
(Herein lies the actual point that the Mom expelled the lime green jello from her mouth. 3 family members at the dinner table are laughing so hard they can hardly breath, while one stays absolutely silent.)
Teenage son sits in stunned silence. About 30 minutes down the road, he's still silent. The dad sees a yellow trash truck down the road where they are at a stop sign. Just to rub it in, he calmly says, "Bingo."
Teenage son's head snaps up, returns to straight ahead stare position then deadpans, "Nope, that's gold."
The Dingo Ate The Bingo by Mike Hays
I was going to link to an intellectually uplifting article for today's RDR, but I have got to relate to you a story about fatherhood. But to warn you, it runs a bit to the smartass/amusing side. In fact it made the Mom expel her lime green jello from mouth to plate during the dinner where the tale was first told. For the record, that hasn't occurred in a LONG time. (Don't say anything to the Mom about the lime green jello incident, though. Some things are better left between us.)
Son, age 16, and father, age 46, went to Salina for a doctor's appointment. While on the hour long drive, son periodically shouts "Bingo" and tallies a count.
Finally, as they hit the I-70 Abilene to Salina stretch, the dad says."Bingo? What the heck is that?"
"You say 'Bingo' when you see a yellow vehicle."
Okay, easy enough. So we travel a few miles ahead, the ultra-observant dad sees a school bus. "Bingo!"
"That doesn't count." says passive-competitive son. "Buses don't count."
Next, the dad sees a Caterpillar bulldozer in a construction zone. As "B..." begins to slip out of dad's mouth.
Teenage son says, "Neither do construction vehicles."
"Are you making the rules up as we go?" dad asks.
In that wonderful teenage tone comes the answer, "No."
So he runs the score up through the city of Salina on the way to the doctor's office. Apparently, not only are yellow buses and construction vehicles not legal fare in this game of Bingo, but about every yellow vehicle the dad points out lies outside the rules. "Too orange-ish", "no delivery vans", "no 1972 Coup de villes", etc., etc. etc...
After the appointment, a trip to exchange some clothes at the mall, which feels like sticking pins into the eyes, hit the McD's for a quick lunch and hit the road back toward home.
Son continues Bingo game, every yellow vehicle he points out is acceptable within the rules of the Bingo Society of North America and every yellow-ish vehicle the dad points out gets negated. Back on I-70, the dad has just about had enough of the game of Bingo.
Ahead, as if sent by God himself, the dad sees a tandem Fed-Ex tractor trailer in the westbound lane. "DINGO!" the dad shouts.
Teenage son, 'What are you talking about? Dingo?"
"Yeah, I am playing Dingo. Delivery truck Bingo...Dingo. Get it?" The dad, using superior evasive strategy, completely dumbfounds teenage son.
"Dingo!" he shouts out at a passing Old Dominion trailer.
"Doesn't count."
"What???"
"It's Monday, isn't it?"
"Yeah. So..." he mind is racing trying to figure what is coming next.
The dad chuckles, "Son, Monday is Fed-Ex Dingo Day. I am up by one."
On the east side of Salina, another tandem Fed-Ex trailer. "DINGO! Up 2-Zip"
About a mile or so down the highway we pass a mid-size Fed-Ex delivery van. The son points and just about jumps out of his seat.
"DINGO!" He shouts.
"Sorry." says the dad. "That's a van, not a delivery TRUCK." The laughter from one half of the car is uncontrollable as the car veer slightly in the lane.
(Note: This is where the start of the green jello incident commences on the retelling of the story later that evening.)
"That is NOT funny!" Teenage son is not happy as the tables turn in old papa's direction.
You know sometimes you just can't script real life any more funnier than it turns out. There is truly a God who has a great sense of humor. For just at that moment, as the teenage son turns around and is complaining and pointing at the Fed Ex delivery van that did not count as a legal hit in the game of Dingo, four or five Fed-Ex tandem delivery tractor trailers, a virtual convoy, rise up over the ridge in the opposite lane. As son is still lamenting about his lack of a score, the dad, who is laughing so hard he doesn't really remember if it was actually four or five trucks in the convoy, says, "Dingo, Dingo, Dingo, Dingo and Dingo!"
(Herein lies the actual point that the Mom expelled the lime green jello from her mouth. 3 family members at the dinner table are laughing so hard they can hardly breath, while one stays absolutely silent.)
Teenage son sits in stunned silence. About 30 minutes down the road, he's still silent. The dad sees a yellow trash truck down the road where they are at a stop sign. Just to rub it in, he calmly says, "Bingo."
Teenage son's head snaps up, returns to straight ahead stare position then deadpans, "Nope, that's gold."
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Tuesday November 9, 2010
Fam-Fit
Push-Up/Pull-Up/Get-Up
20 Push-Ups
10 Pull-Ups
5 Turkish Get-Ups
-3 Rounds
Push-Up/Pull-Up/Get-Up
20 Push-Ups
10 Pull-Ups
5 Turkish Get-Ups
-3 Rounds
Monday, November 8, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Rest Day Read Friday October 5, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-57)
Physical Space a Coach Hays Rant
The secret to physical preparation lies in the the work. The physical space is a vital component of that work. The outpouring of heart and soul, blood and sweat, time and effort, is key. The pressure applied by the athlete toward themselves over time prepares the body for physical challenge, much like pressure applied to carbon over time results in the formation of a diamond. Hard work, every day, every minute, every second.
The secret to success is not a shiny new training space with matching new pieces of equipment. The success lies not in mirrors and color coordinated outfits. The success lies in offering a good physical space which, above all else, is safe and effective. Let me repeat, safe AND effective. A good physical space needs heavy things to lift, move and carry. It needs places to hang from, drag things over and move upon.
The environment has to be welcoming, the athletes should want to go there to work. Athletes should know they are expected to be there. The cultivated physical, mental and emotional environment must make the athlete want to show up and put it out there every session. Everyone gets better, everyday. That is how teams are made. That is how athletes learn to trust each other and become a unit, a team. Players know their teammates are putting it out there. Hard work and trust become contagious. Then the diamonds are formed.
Physical Space a Coach Hays Rant
The secret to physical preparation lies in the the work. The physical space is a vital component of that work. The outpouring of heart and soul, blood and sweat, time and effort, is key. The pressure applied by the athlete toward themselves over time prepares the body for physical challenge, much like pressure applied to carbon over time results in the formation of a diamond. Hard work, every day, every minute, every second.
The secret to success is not a shiny new training space with matching new pieces of equipment. The success lies not in mirrors and color coordinated outfits. The success lies in offering a good physical space which, above all else, is safe and effective. Let me repeat, safe AND effective. A good physical space needs heavy things to lift, move and carry. It needs places to hang from, drag things over and move upon.
The environment has to be welcoming, the athletes should want to go there to work. Athletes should know they are expected to be there. The cultivated physical, mental and emotional environment must make the athlete want to show up and put it out there every session. Everyone gets better, everyday. That is how teams are made. That is how athletes learn to trust each other and become a unit, a team. Players know their teammates are putting it out there. Hard work and trust become contagious. Then the diamonds are formed.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wednesday November 3, 2010
Fam-Fit
Uphill Both Ways
Treadmill on max incline.
As fast as you can go for 15 minutes
Uphill Both Ways
Treadmill on max incline.
As fast as you can go for 15 minutes
Monday, November 1, 2010
Rest Day Read October 31, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-56)
by Mike Hays
Have a safe and happy Halloween. Have some fun, eat some treats (all in moderation) and enjoy a story. Come back November 1 ready to roll with physical preparations for the Holiday season.
Happy Halloween!
The Curse of the Jolly Roger: A Cautionary Taleby Mike Hays
Have a safe and happy Halloween. Have some fun, eat some treats (all in moderation) and enjoy a story. Come back November 1 ready to roll with physical preparations for the Holiday season.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Rest Day Read October 26, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-55)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
“In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveller.”
I read this story every October. I read it from THE BOOK. Used to read it to my kids when they were little to get hyped up for Halloween. It is a magnificent story written by a master. Enough said. Read and enjoy.
Note: Later this week, come back for the spine tingling story of a young boy, his hand-me-down Johnny Roger pirate costume, a wet chilled Halloween and how he came to be despised by his three older siblings. A truly haunting tale.
THE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
“In the dark shadow of the grove, on the margin of the brook, he beheld something huge, misshapen and towering. It stirred not, but seemed gathered up in the gloom, like some gigantic monster ready to spring upon the traveller.”
I read this story every October. I read it from THE BOOK. Used to read it to my kids when they were little to get hyped up for Halloween. It is a magnificent story written by a master. Enough said. Read and enjoy.
Note: Later this week, come back for the spine tingling story of a young boy, his hand-me-down Johnny Roger pirate costume, a wet chilled Halloween and how he came to be despised by his three older siblings. A truly haunting tale.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Sunday October 24, 2010
Fam-Fit
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
I. Gym Work
1. 10 Straight Leg Deadlifts
2. 20 Heavy Bag Punches (10 RRL, 10 LLR)
3. 50 Speed Bag Punches (50 R, 50 L, 50 Alt.)
-5 Rounds
II. Road Work
Wii Fit Island Run
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee
I. Gym Work
1. 10 Straight Leg Deadlifts
2. 20 Heavy Bag Punches (10 RRL, 10 LLR)
3. 50 Speed Bag Punches (50 R, 50 L, 50 Alt.)
-5 Rounds
II. Road Work
Wii Fit Island Run
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Rest Day Read October 20, 2010
Rest Day Read (SR-54)
CHARACTER, Numero Uno.
a Coach Hays rant.
Character, the missing link in the search for humanity in our modern world. It is rapidly disappearing from the American landscape. No, that's wrong, character is there, it is just not being developed. We live in an age of great physical and mental accomplishments. An age where the focus has shifted solely to these attributes (test scores, times, wins, etc.) and away from the development of fine, upstanding citizens. Have we forsaken the development of upstanding character as part of the well-rounded individual? The greatest country on the face of the planet is not threatened by outside forces, it is threatened from within by lack of character in our educational, political, religious, commercial institutions.
As a coach, the development of well rounded athletes of fine character was always the goal. Sometime we succeeded, sometimes we failed, but we always tried. We dealt with virtually every imaginable social ill of teenage boys. We tried to help them through difficult times and decisions. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we failed, but we always tried.
Character is something I used to preach to our kids. Then our school administrators stepped in with an "upgrade" in their drafting and enforcement of behavior policies. One of my biggest mistakes EVER as a coach was defaulting this duty to the "professionals". They tried to enforce behavior without getting involved, without getting their hands dirty and heart wrenched. And, ladies and gentlemen, that does not work. If I regret anything in my last year or so of coaching, it was defaulting that role to the administrators. Should never have quit pounding the development of character. I let those kids down.
Kids are floundering. They have landed in a great age of opportunity, can we sit idly by and allow it to slip through their fingers because we choose to neglect what's important? Because, it is all for naught without the empathy and humanity which comes with outstanding character development.
CHARACTER, Numero Uno.
a Coach Hays rant.
Character, the missing link in the search for humanity in our modern world. It is rapidly disappearing from the American landscape. No, that's wrong, character is there, it is just not being developed. We live in an age of great physical and mental accomplishments. An age where the focus has shifted solely to these attributes (test scores, times, wins, etc.) and away from the development of fine, upstanding citizens. Have we forsaken the development of upstanding character as part of the well-rounded individual? The greatest country on the face of the planet is not threatened by outside forces, it is threatened from within by lack of character in our educational, political, religious, commercial institutions.
As a coach, the development of well rounded athletes of fine character was always the goal. Sometime we succeeded, sometimes we failed, but we always tried. We dealt with virtually every imaginable social ill of teenage boys. We tried to help them through difficult times and decisions. Sometimes we succeeded, sometimes we failed, but we always tried.
Character is something I used to preach to our kids. Then our school administrators stepped in with an "upgrade" in their drafting and enforcement of behavior policies. One of my biggest mistakes EVER as a coach was defaulting this duty to the "professionals". They tried to enforce behavior without getting involved, without getting their hands dirty and heart wrenched. And, ladies and gentlemen, that does not work. If I regret anything in my last year or so of coaching, it was defaulting that role to the administrators. Should never have quit pounding the development of character. I let those kids down.
Kids are floundering. They have landed in a great age of opportunity, can we sit idly by and allow it to slip through their fingers because we choose to neglect what's important? Because, it is all for naught without the empathy and humanity which comes with outstanding character development.
"Nothing you do on the field of play can make up for being a piece of crap off it."
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