2 Great Deals In One Day

I started today by hitting a yard sale on the way home from work. Check out this awesome USA-made Fish Skinner. I am not sure how it works but it looks like the fish is smashed into the device and you pull on it and the skin comes off. Weird but worth a try!

Later on I hit the Reading Gun Show and found this Force Protector FOR 65 Deployment Bag. Two weeks ago I had never heard of this company. I was on a United flight with about 20 USAF Security Police troops. I looked out the window as their gear was being loaded into the cargo hold. I saw their bags and noticed that they had shoulder straps, carrying handle and wheels. What a concept!

I actually could read the tag and Googled their website. The bag costs $465.  Today I got a brand new one in USMC coyote color - $150. I am greatly looking forward to trying it.





Karma

I don't believe in Karma but if I did, there would be special rewards for people who pick nails out of parking lots and roads. We all know where this one would eventually end up.

"BREATHE" from Paul Schneider on Vimeo.

Memorial Day Murph Solano California

American Ingenuity

Redneck Ice Cream Maker. On a wagon. Rockin'!!

The Burpees Continue

Today is Day 42 of the Royal Burpee Challenge. Things are going well and I was back to normal after a pretty stiff/sore day yesterday.  Here are two pics of me banging out my daily burpees while in Missouri for St Patrick's Day.

Obviously that is the arch and the 2nd picture is at the edge of the Mississippi

Shamrock Shake

I have one shamrock shake each year. I do not really like the taste. Or the texture. Or even the ultra-fake green color. I just do it because it is a sign of my favorite holiday, St Patrick's Day.

Today after the WOD I realized I did not have one this year. It has been at least 15 years since I have missed a year.

So, I lopped off the cherry, dumped the whipped cream in the trash and sucked it down. 

Tradition continued.

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

Anyone who has read these posts can quickly see my interest in the Operation Red Wing story and the tie-in between Michael Murphy and Crossfit.

I thought I knew the story fairly well. I was wrong.

This is one of the best books I have ever read.  It exceeded every recommendation every past reader has ever told me.  It caused me to cry more times than once.

Marcus Luttrell's telling of the now-famous battle in 2005 is superbly done (with the help of a talented co-writer).  His SEAL team exhibited more courage and sacrifice than any human could ever be expected to endure.  You have no heart if you do not tear-up as he describes the severity of his teammates wounds - even while they keep driving on with the mission and fighting a very aggressive enemy. Or the pain and suffering he went through in his desperate attempt to return alive to friendly forces.

I can not recommend this book enough. Every American should read it.  It will give you insight into the courage of our armed forces, the faith of the SEALs who fought and died on that mountain and the sheer hatred that our enemies harbor for us.

It's been out awhile now so you paperback copies are plentiful. Buy it. Read it. There is no way you will finish it without being thankful for more things than you were when you opened it.


I finished this book on a flight back to Baltimore and exited the aircraft making a personal vow to myself that I would improve my life, actions and fitness as a tribute to all of the brave men who died on that day in June 2005. How could I not?

Burpee Challenge

Today is Day 32 of the 115 day Burpee Challenge.  At 30 I realized that this is going to hard primarily because the 'burpee muscles' will never get a chance to rest for almost four straight months.

I was also thinking of all the events that will happen inside the 115 day window. This includes the Army PT test. 

My goal is to never miss a single day and of course to complete the entire challenge.

Aging

This week two elderly male friends of ours started hospice care. I think that going into a hospice to enter palliative care would be just about the hardest thing that a person could ever do in their life.  You know that when  you pass through those doors there is just about no chance you will leave alive.  In many cases you will never again even go outside.

A few weeks ago I snapped this photo.  The bright, shiny truck is carrying home the worn-out old truck.

In some ways this is how life is.  We end our lives old and usually with a young(er) person taking care of us.

Sunday

At one of the high points of our drive on the state forest roads we saw many hawks flying overhead. Migrating?

Returning to the hard road we came upon an Amish church service. I wonder why some of the kids were allowed to hang outside when almost everyone else was inside. These boys are next to the wagon that brings the benches and supplies to whoever's home is hosting the service that week.

Wild Wedding Dress

Downtown Reading, PA.  Wedding shop. The bride who wears this one is sure to create a buzz when she walks down the aisle.





What Was He Thinking?

This insurance salesman has appeared in ads in the Ephrata area for years. Sometimes his hair looks very 80s and stands straight up. We once nicknamed him "Pencil Eraser Head" because it was shaped exactly like a pencil eraser.

Now I see him in this ad on a school shelter.  If I was an insurance guy and had to be in a public ad there is no way I would be in a toy firetruck for the world to see. Just seems weird.

Crossfit Hero WOD - "Jack"

Today I did my first official "Hero WOD" . These are named Crossfit workouts that serve as lasting memorials to fallen heroes. Today's was "JACK".  The story behind the WOD wasn't explained but I looked it up just before we got started.  I hope to slog through them all.

Army Staff Sgt. Jack M. Martin III

Died September 29, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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26, of Bethany, Okla.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Sept. 29 in Jolo Island, Philippines, from the detonation of an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. 1st Class Christopher D. Shaw.

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Wanted to work in schools
The Associated Press
Jack M. Martin III dreamed of working as an educator or finding another way to help people when his time in the military ended, his family said.
The 26-year-old from Bethany, Okla., was helping to resupply a school construction project in the Philippines when he was killed Sept. 29 by a bomb buried beneath a road on Jolo Island. Military officials said he was part of a task force deployed to help quell militants there.
Martin, the youngest of five children, was born in Iowa and grew up there and in Oklahoma. He played football and was an honors student at Bethany High School, graduating in 2001.
He started out in the Army Reserve before studying at the University of Central Oklahoma, said his father, Jack Martin Jr., adding that his son was in basic training during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The younger Martin had volunteered to go to Iraq, and when that deployment was canceled, he met with a recruiter looking for special forces volunteers and became a Green Beret. He was assigned to Fort Lewis.
“He was a very kind and loving person that was very intelligent with numbers,” his father said.
Martin’s survivors include his wife, Ashley.

Well Said

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.

Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.

Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.”

~ Chief Tecumseh (Poem from Act of Valor )

Skydiving

The t-shirt proclaimed, "I jumped with the Bear!" and several of my friends proudly wore theirs. The year was so long ago that I really couldn't give you a date if I absolutely had to.

One Saturday a bunch of my friends went skydiving at Maytown, PA and 'earned' their shirts. I can't remember why I did not go although I know for certain it wasn't because of a lack of interest. Like many things in life it was something I declared I would soon get to.

It has been DECADES and I still have not gone skydiving.  My THINGS TO DO IN THIS LIFETIME BOOK now has 681 entries and "Go Skydiving" is #003. That means it was entered around 1998 (which was probably 10 yrs after they jumped with the Bear - whoever he was).

When the Google Offers included a $129 tandem jump (the Bear had them do a static line jump) I decided I would finally get around to it. 

A tandem is not my ideal first jump but the 1hr instruction was appealing vs the 6-8 for a solo dive.

Surprisingly, almost everyone in my family believes I am going to splatter myself on the ground. I hope that doesn't happen and I really am not worried about it.

The skydiving center opens in two weeks.  I will give them a few days to work through any chutes that may have dry-rotted over the winter and then I will be there. And I can check off one of the oldest goals in my Life Book.

Tea, Glorious Tea

Dietary changes and more PT have caused 10 pounds to be removed from my body. I have given up most sweets and Dr Pepper (haven't had a Coke or Pepsi in 10+ years). 

Tea is a different story. I will never stop drinking hot tea and the Dandelion tea I now enjoy is nothing but healthful.  "Convenience" teas are a different story.

Primarily I cling to Snapple and my new found Sweet Leaf.  After seeing a graphic the other day about the grotesque amount of sugar in Snapple I thought I would compare the two.

Snapple costs $1.59 for 16oz bottle. Thats 10c an ounce.

Sweet Leaf: $1.19/ 15.5oz can = 7c an ounce

Snapple & SL both use real cane sugar. Snapple is made from "the best stuff on Earth". SL is organic

 

Snapple has 39g of sugar while SL sweet tea has 32g.  The peach tea may have less.

 

So, for now I guess I will reduce the convenience teas in general and cut out Snapple all together.

Act of Valor

Act of Valor was almost universally panned by movie critics while receiving very high ratings by the moviegoers themselves. 

This movie has the support of the US Navy and has some incredible combat footage. Many of the actors are real-world operators (allegedly who were ordered to be in the film) and most of the families are their own.

Tonight I saw this movie in a packed theater.  It was almost as if the people were yearning for a film where the United States is wholeheartedly the good guy. This is a good, old-fashioned action film.
This is a must-see movie if for no other reason than to be reminded of the  special forces troops who are out there every single day doing seemingly unimaginable things on our behalf.

My favorite scene by far was the water-borne extraction powered by GE. It was like Apocalypse Now on steroids. Holy moly.

At the end of the movie the names of all the Navy SEALs who have died since 911 scroll across the screen. There are many.  One of those is Lt Michael Murphy.  Again, a reinforcer that doing the Murph WOD is the right thing.

Go see this movie while it is still in the theaters. It will be good on TV at home but it is amazing in Dolby surround sound.

First Body Armor (BA) Run

Time to start the running part of my MURPH training. The Large BA fits pretty well  - a little jiggle when moving but not bad.

Mile run with a slight hill.  9:33

I was happy with how the vest felt and with that time for a starter.

Three months and counting!