How we are messing up the youth of today....

Not sure how many people know, but I am a Black belt in Tang Soo Do and Tae Kwon Do. This past Saturday we had a test. During this test you are supposed to "show off", "Do your best". The test consists of various things you learn in karate, forms, basic techniques, sparring, etc....

Well during sparring I got paired up with a 17 year old boy, to me the 17 year old would have an advantage over an "old man" so I thought it fair to go all out. So I did, first I landed a back hook kick to the side of his head, pretty good for an old man(at least I think so), then I landed a roundhouse kick in his gut and knocked the wind out of him. Respectfully, I turned my back and knelt, as I have always been taught to, while he caught his breath. After he caught his breath we continued, but then one of the Grandmasters reprimanded me and told me to take it easy. Ok, I will take it easy, and I did. After the fight was over I apologized, i do have a very strong low roundhouse and maybe the adrenaline got to me, so I apologized.

Then we rotated partners, and I figured OK I will take it easy on this one too since he is about the same age as the other guy I fought. But then I got reprimanded for not attacking enough...WHAT? Which is it, does anyone else see my confusion?

But this story isn't really about my confusion, it's about the fact that this is a karate class and a test at which we are supposed to do our best. And part of karate is sparring so guess what you are going to get hit from time to time, believe me I have been hit my fair share of times. I have come home with knots the size of baseballs on my shins from getting hit there, I have had a sore back from getting kicked in the back , accidentally of course, heck I have even had the family jewels tested a few times. The point is I didn't complain because it is all part of karate. These bumps and bruises are necessary, so you know what it feels like to get hit and so you are able to take that hit.

But it isn't just Karate, it's everywhere. Kids aren't allowed to ride without helmets, they aren't allowed to keep score at certain games, they aren't allowed to call each other names, boys aren't allowed to chase girls or vice versa, heck in some classes you can't even correct or even administer tests. Kids are going to grow up not knowing what life is about or how to handle it when it does finally hit you.

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a bully, I was the quiet kid in class that never spoke. But the above are things kids need to learn early in life so later in life they are prepared.

We are raising kids, that won't know how good a bruise can feel, or how sweet revenge can be, or even know what it's like to score the winning goal(run, touchdown,etc..) What is the point of being a kid any more. How are they supposed to learn from their mistakes if they aren't allowed to make any. How are they supposed to recover from heart breaks, not getting what they want or failure if they don't know what those things are? The great part about being a kid is that when you screw up or get hurt or don't win you have a support system called parents there to help you understand it and recover from it. But if you experience these things til you, yourself are an adult that support system isn't going to be there at least as readily as it once was.

My point is this we are raising a bunch of wimps who won't know how to handle rough times when they come and as much as parents try to protect their kids these tough times will happen. But won't you rather it happen while you were there to help them through these times, not after they "don't need you any more"?

Oh what set me off was that someone complained that I hit them too hard sparring last night, come on people it's karate, not ballet. Learn from it and get better! I don't recall hitting anyone hard last night so I don't understand. If the person I kicked too hard reads this, I apologize for kicking you too hard(it truly was not intentional), but try blocking next time.

Strep strickes again.....

Around Christmas time I got a sore throat and at first avoided the doctor figuring it was just a cold or something. So after about 5 days of a sore throat and not being able to swallow with out cursing, i decided to see the doctor. He thought it was my normal sinus infection, but after he looked in my throat he said nope this looks like strep. So they did a test and it was strep. They gave me a prescription for penicillin and i took it like a good boy. The strep went away and i started feeling better about 2 days after I started taking the medicine.

Then 2 weeks later I felt the same way again. I didn't wait as long to go to the doctors and again he confirmed it was strep, but this time added a case of mono to go along with the diagnosis. I also got tested to see if I was a carrier of strep and apparently i am. But anyway this time they gave me augmentum, a penicillin and some other drug concoction. Again I took my medicine and all was well.

Then about a month after that my wife starts to get a sore throat. I tell her to go to the Dr. and she does and of course she now has strep throat. So she takes her medicine and she gets better.

A week goes by with everyone healthy, next thing you know I pick up Mackenzie from and notice she feels warm and is very tired. Which is odd for Mack, she could give the energizer bunny a run for his money. So we take her to the doctors office and wouldn't you know it she has strep, but she wants to one up us. She also has a double ear infection, that's right, she has strep and an ear infection in each ear. So she takes her medicine, also Augmentum, and she gets better.

Well this week I started getting another sore throat and decided to visit the doctor again. Yup, he believes I again have strep throat. Apparently this is the year of the strep throat. And it SUCKS!

Sticks and stones ay break my bones but.........

Being inspired by Rich's posting of the Chili Cookoff joke, my favorite joke in the whole wide world, I decided to eat some chili for lunch yesterday. So I went next door to KClingers, I was told it is spelled that way because the 2 owners have the same last name, but spelled differently(Klinger and Clinger), but I could be wrong. Anyway so I ordered Chili and some hot wings, seemed like a good combo to me.

My chili arrives and I start digging in. Well half way through my chili I get a bite of something rather hard. I spit it out into my hand to see what the heck I just bit on. I turns out it was a rock. That's right I had a rock in my chili. Now people who know me might think I would raise a stink or something, but I kept my calm and kindly flagged the waitress down. When she came over I showed her the rock and told her it was in my chili. Her response "Oh that's from the beans". She then takes the rock and leaves as if this is common place. Now I am not sure where they get their beans, but if it is common for you to get rocks in your chili you should either post a warning "Eat With Caution Rocks in Chili" or maybe get your beans from somewhere else.

I then got my wings and was surprised to learn there were no rocks, sticks or any other wierd substances in my wings.

The waitress took the chili off of my bill, how kind of her, so I was maybe not the happiest camper but at least I didn't have to argue with her about the chili.

The blame game....

My deepest thoughts go out to the students at VA Tech. It is a very sad event without any doubt. However, I am tired of people always looking for a scape goat or someone to blame. Last night after watching the news it appears eveyone is trying to blame the school for the shooting. it was.......They didn't do this right, they didn't do that right.

I have an idea.....i know it may be far fetched, but I will put it out there anyway. How about we blame the person who pulled the trigger, you know the guy who actually shot the people. I am sick and tired of people always looking to blame everyone, but the person who actually committed the crime.

Sure the school could have done this or that, but it is not really a situation people prepare for nor do i think they should prepare for. What are they going to do put metal detectors in front of every entrance? Frisk people as they walk around on campus?

I can relate to what the people at VA Tech are going through, albeit on a smaller scale. When I was at Penn State there was a shooting on campus. A student named Jillian Robbins decided she was going to sit under a tree and just pick people off in the HUB lawn. It was a tragic event, but not one the school could have prevented.

If people want their freedom and I assume they do, then this type of stuff will happen. It is sad that it does happen, but that is part of the price of freedom. Unless you want to walk around in a military state this type of stuff will continue to happen. It is very sad, but that is the way it is.

Don't blame the school, when it happened at Penn State we weren't even sent an email. I only found out because of the media. Blame the person who shot the people.

The French have invaded.......

....Hanover? I went to Ryan's Steak and Bakery yesterday for lunch when who should walk in? About 30 French College Students. I assume they where French because they were speaking French, all the men looked gay and they gave up on the buffet rather easily. And let me tell you they actually didn't stink. I was always under the assumption that French people stunk, my bad.

Also on a side note if you remember back a little bit ago I was complaining about the 12 mpg I was getting in my explorer on my daily commute to Hanover. Well I have been driving the corolla and boy what an improvement. In the corolla I get 30-32mpg. Much better than the 12mpg I was getting in the explorer.