Monthly Archive July 2019

Cumulative BLIMPS

10 PAX showed up on an extra hot and muggy day for my 2nd Q at The Arsenal. My Wienke turned out to be a pretty nasty beat down that I think everyone is glad that they didn’t fartsack.

Warmup

Mosey behind the school for a warmup. It was the first time I noticed the basketball courts. Does anybody use those for anything? Probably not because there were no lights and it was pitch black. Maybe I’ll check it out in the future, but back to the warmup.

  • Side Straddle Hop x 20 IC
  • Seal Clap x 10 IC
  • Mountain Climber x 20 IC
  • Potato Picker x 10 IC

The Thang

Mosey to the playground for BLIMPS with a lap between each exercise. The kicker – the BLIMPS are cumulative.

  • 1 lap, 5 burpees
  • 1 lap, 5 burpees, 10 lunges
  • … continue until
  • 1 lap, 5 burpees, 10 lunges, 15 imperial walkers, 20 merkins, 25 plank jacks, 30 squats

This brings us to a grand total of 6 laps (a little less than ¾ of a mile), 30 burpees, 50 lunges, 60 IW’s, 60 merkins, 50 plank jacks, and 30 squats in about 20-25 minutes. I just noticed the pyramid the numbers make; I like it even more now.

Next, I planned on taking us to the large student lot behind the football field but read my watch wrong, thought we were running low on time, and audibled to take us back toward launch to climb the wall in front of the school. Over the wall’s zigs and zags, with a burpee on each landing. It wasn’t until the end of this that I realized we actually had plenty more time, about 20 minutes!

Well, maybe I can get this back on track. There are nicely spaced no parking signs that we’ve used before, not quite as large spaces as the student lot’s planters but will do in a pinch.

PAX partnered up, there was one group of 3 that I was in, but that really didn’t matter because the distance was short enough to keep everyone together. While partner 1 runs to each no parking sign, partner 2 performs an exercise, AMRAP.

  • First sign, Mike Tysons
  • Second sign, high jump knee to chest
  • Third sign, Peter Parkers
  • Fourth sign, Parker Peters

At this point we had about 7 minutes left and were already by launch, so we finished the mosey to launch and finished with a full round of Mary that every PAX got to call an exercise.

COT & Announcements

A single announcement from Soft Pretzel – Sandbox project was moved to August 3 from 9 – 12ish. Sounds like a really great opportunity to help a family in need of it.

Moleskine

  • I took some inspiration from my recent post at Baywatch in Wilmington, we just don’t have a surf to dive in to. Maybe someone should consider taking PAX to Sugar Creek or the Catawba to make up for this.
  • I have un-enthusiastic disclaimer delivery, but truthfully, I was just trying to remember everything.
  • Jumping over walls and doing exercises laying down on each side isn’t a great idea. 10 ft of wall allows for about 3 PAX to comfortably go over at once. If they then lay down to do an exercise like a burpee with 7 other PAX trying to get over without being able to see them, disaster can ensue. Thanks Fire Hazard for your experience and making this apparent to everyone before even the first wall. To thank you, I kicked you on a burpee.
  • I was sure I wasn’t going to get through my whole Wienke and when I read my watch wrong, it really screwed me up. Luckily, we were able to recover and still deliver a solid beat down, we just had a little more Mary than I had planned.
  • It was really hot. I think it was Atlas or Happy Meal wringing out their shirts and head bands and it sounded like a bucket of water was being tossed.
  • Cumulative BLIMPS were a big success. The format was simple and strong, and they left you feeling ready for a mosey to recover.
  • During the final no parking sign runs I didn’t make it clear that the exercise was changing each round, so after the first round the first runners started to take off again and I shouted for them to wait because the next exercise was different. This was a mistake because I broke their flow and I could have just told the group that was now doing the 2nd exercise and it would have been apparent when the running group returned that the exercise had changed. Good lesson for future Q’s.
  • Based on a few of these observations I’ll be attending Q school later this month. I’m hoping to get some good tips and tricks and things to look out for in future Q’s

Everyone Loves Donkey Kicks

Well it was another soggy Humid morning and 18 men decided on join me for todays workout. So lets do this thang.

Mosey around parking lot twice for a circle up. Instead of doing a couple of exercises, I decided to stretch out the legs a little. Jimmie Duggan avoiding the clap. Left, Right, and Middle and then a calf stretch. We are off

Mosey to the front of the Middle School. 20 hands free flutters, 20 American Hammers, and 20 Heels to Heaven with a speed lap around the lot in between. Gazelles catch the six when done.

Mosey Nope!! Grab some wall for a Squat kick web. 1 Low slow squat then 4 donkey kicks. add 1 squat and 4 donkey kicks until we hit 10 and 40.

Mosey Nope!! This time 20 Incline Merkins, 20 Dips, and 20 Decline Merkins with a speed lap in between. Gazelles catch the six when done.

Mosey Nope!! Back to the Wall!! I think everyone was a little surprised on this one. Sit up position with toes touching the wall. 1 Big Boy Sit up and 4 air jabs. Adding 1 sit up and 4 air jabs till we hit 10 and 40.

Ok lets Mosey over to the school bus awning area and grab some wall WHAT?!?!?!?!? 20 seated air presses then a lap while bearcrawling the awning. Then back 30 air presses and bearcrawl. One more lap of 40 air presses with a bear crawl.

Mosey back to COT but before we end we broke into teams of 3 for some sprints. 2 pax held plank position while the other sprinted down to tag the pax team member. We did this non stop for the last 5 minutes. What a great way to end a workout right!!

Announcements

F3 dads at Dogwood Park 9am Fuse is leading. Bring water guns of any size. Not sure where he is getting water but I am sure he thought of that.

Site Q school with Posse this saturday. Link is already on the playhouse.

I gave an update on my work situation and things are looking good.

Old McDonald-Thanks for taking us out.

I will be at the beach for the next two weeks. So thanks for letting me lead and I will see everyone when I return.

TGI “muggy” F

Just a classic summer boot camp. I had to get myself psyched up for this Q knowing it’s been tougher to get up lately. That being said, I pulled into Covenant Day with a few minutes to spare and catch up with a few PAX before we began. A thorough disclaimer and off we went.

A quick stroll around campus to the basketball court which is now visible from the road since they cut down all the trees for some stupid reason. SSH and IW x20 Merkins x15 and Mtn Climbers x20 for a nice warm up to get the froth started.

Mosey’d off-campus across 51 for 7s up and down Reid Hall; Monkey Humpers at the bottom, Merkins at the top. Back across 51 to the rock pile. Overhead Press, Curls, Tricep Extensions x20 with a run down Pleasant Hill Dr. in between. All that through two cycles.

And with a few minutes to spare, we ventured back to the main church lot for a dash across the parking lots to the top of the hill then back with LBC x20 in between. We got two passes through before the mutiny began. So back to launch and done.

Again, nothing new and creative, old school bootcamp. Turkey Leg shared we got in 3.5 miles approx., not bad. It was hot and sticky. Thanks to Horsehead for the takout prayer. And thoughts and prayers to Orange Whip as he works out some health issues.

Long time, no see

8 pax posted at Death Valley yesterday in the soupy gloom. Methinks they were there to see if I knew where the AO was, but they were kind enough to stick around for the workout.

Warm-up:

Mosey around the parking lot with a little carioca. This was a spur-of-the-moment call that almost backfired when YHC’s feet got tangled up. That would have been a record early Q fail.

Circle up at the start point for the usual:

  • SSH x 20 IC
  • IW x 15 IC
  • Low, slow merkins x 10
  • Low, slow squats x 10

The Thang:

Mosey to Davie Park and plank it up for the six. Lo and behold, Spackler and his merry band of Anvil pax show up as well. [If you want a more interesting backblast, head over to his Anvil post here.]

Partner up by AO. Partner 1 heads to the playground for 5 pull-ups, 10 merkins, and 20 split squats (10 per leg) while partner 2 runs to the fence, stopping at each light post (on the way out and back) for 5 merkins (35 per round). Flapjack and repeato until each partner does both parts of the workout 3 times.

We then moseyed up to the lush soccer field (it’s so nice I’m going to have to say it’s better than the Charge) for Four Corners with 15 heels to heaven at each corner.

We bid adieu to the Anvil pax and moseyed back to SCMS. Plank for the 6 at Strawberry and 51 and again at the launch. We might have done some Mary, but I can’t remember at this point.

COT – thank you for the take-out, Smokey.

Announcements:

  • Sign up for the pool party on 7/27 or Mighty Mite will beat you up. Link is here.
  • BRR is coming up in less than 2 months. If you like running or hanging out in a van with sweaty, smelly pax, raise your hand as an alternate. Injuries always come up between now and race day. On second thought, if you like hanging out in a van with sweaty, smelly pax, you probably have deeper issues.

Moley-moley:

  • Thanks to Dollywood for reaching out about the Q. Wednesdays tend to be a lazy day for me. I’ve been trying to get better about posting, but it doesn’t always work out. When I do, it’s usually to Donut Run for some miles (see BRR comment above). It was good to get out to a site I haven’t been to in a while. The last DV workout I remember was Q’d by Stagecoach, which tells you how long ago it was.
  • Thanks to Spackler for agreeing to team up at Davie Park. It was good to get together with some familiar faces from Anvil and it saved me from having to try to be witty in my backblast.
  • Thanks to the pax for coming out and pushing hard on an unpleasantly humid morning.

Thursdays with Lemmy

Summer is running season in Area 51, so any opportunity to swing bells instead of grind miles is welcome. Nine PAX gathered in humidity that made the air as viscous as chicken pot pie to get some strength and conditioning work in. The Amazon Basics bluetooth speaker was fired up to serenade us with a carefully curated 45 minute long playlist of some of Motorhead’s finest work, striking a playful balance between original songs and covers.

Warmup: 20 swings, 20 SSH (one refusenik, on jumping jacks…Gummy’s influence is spreading like the plauge), 20 swings, 20 IW, 20 swings, 20 mountain climbers, 20 swings, 20 LBC

Swing & Merkin Pairs: Sets of 25, 20, 15, 10, 5

Goblet Squat & Freddie Mercury Pairs: Sets of 25, 20, 15, 10, 5

Sumo High Pull & Russian Twist Pairs: Sets of 25, 20, 15, 10, 5

Two rounds of 20 swings, 10 clean & press, and 5 goblet squats

Two rounds of 10 snatches and 10 deadlifts

Finish up with 100 swings and a sprinkling of Mary

Moleskine: A Thursday post is a rarity for YHC since it is the M’s day to work out, and a Thursday Q for YHC happens about as often as the Hornets make a sensible roster move. Sometimes the stars align however. The family is down in Florida for the week leaving a quiet house with a lot of hours to fill. On Tuesday Voodoo reached out and asked if I could fill a just vacated spot this week. Also on Tuesday, I met Hoover and Voodoo after work for the Wooden Robot brewery run. After a three mile jaunt trying our best not to melt into the pavement of the Rail Trail, we had post run beers (Hoover drinks on a 2:1 ratio to normal sized humans) then walked over to some hip millennial oriented ramen restaurant that I would misspell if I tried to type its name. To my pleasant surprise, this establishment played hard rock, both classic and contemporary instead of adhering to the modern convention of playing teenage girl oriented pop rubbish. When going out for a nice meal, I just don’t understand why establishments, especially upscale establishments, insist on assaulting their patrons’ ears with Rihanna and Katy Perry. There is simply no good reason to play any “artist” with “DJ” or “Lil” in his or her name in that setting (or any setting truthfully). Anyway, while discussing plans for Thursday’s Meathead workout, we noticed that the serving staff were all wearing black t-shirts with the name of the eatery emblazoned on them, but in font/color combinations that closely resembled famous rock bands. When a server in a t-shirt styled after the font and iron eagle design of Motorhead brought out bowls of noodles, we had our theme and playlist. As an aside though somewhat on topic, a childhood friend of YHC lives in Los Angeles and works in the music industry. When asked if it was true that Lemmy (rest his soul) used to spend his non-touring days sitting at the Rainbow drinking Jack Daniel’s, my friend chuckled and explained that yes it was true. Apparently you could go to the Rainbow bar & grill on the Sunset Strip anytime during operating hours and find Lemmy sitting alone at the end of the bar on the patio with a Jack and Coke in hand. I don’t know why, but this nugget of knowledge makes me really happy. Mumblechatter was low this morning, which was disappointing in some respects, but will be taken as a complement as to the difficulty of the workout. It was good to see the regulars and irregulars of Meathead, and I hope to make it back out there before year end.

Burpees & Broga

13 Men decided it was a good idea to run around Downtown Waxhaw, knowing some Burpees and Broga would be on the Weinke due to some creative marketing yesterday by Zinfandel and Deadwood. Seeing the video of a dude break the World Record by doing 4,600 Burpees in 12 hours was inspiring, so Burpees needed to be done today. Deadwood also requested some Yoga, but was a no-show at the start. It had been a while since YHC led at The 87th Best Site in all of Western Union County, but it’s always fun to explore our great little downtown.

The customary playlist was created while preparing the Weinke (for those who are new(er)…music is heard at every one of YHC’s Q’s), but didn’t realize the timing of the songs would work out so perfectly. More to come…

Warmup lap around the Co-Op building, back to the Church area for:

  • (20) x SSH (IC)
  • (20) x IW (IC)
  • (20) x Low Slow Squat (IC)
  • (20) x Peter Parkers (IC)

Hold a plank after PP’s, explain that we would do some basic Yoga/Fluid Stretching moves in honor of no-show Deadwood! Here is what we did:

  • Upward Dog…quick pushup into…
  • Downward Dog…calf stretch, Flap Jack
  • Right Leg up…swing through to Runners Pose
  • Prayer Twist from Runners Pose…back to Plank
  • Repeat sequence on other side…Done!
  • You’re welcome, fellas. We all need stretching!

The THANG:

Mosey over to the Bike Depot wall for a new (to YHC) move simply called “Donkey Derkins”. Pretty self-explanatory, but a 3-part move starting in plank. Part 1 is Donkey Kick…hold in “Balls to the Wall” fashion, Part 2 is the Derkin, Part 3 is the “Reset” back to Plank. YHC had planned to do (20) of these, but after about 4 or 5, it was apparent these were tougher than expected (required some coordination, but in time I think it can be a good move).

Mosey over to Dream Chasers Brewery under the tree. Partner up with someone of opposite strength/speed…at least that was the plan. Everyone in attendance was strong and fast so it quickly turned into the normal partner workout, with 3 different “Ups” on the menu. Here is what we did:

  • P1 (150) Knee-ups / P2 runs to stop sign and back
  • P1 (100) Step-ups / P2 runs to stop sign and back
  • P1 (50) “Get-ups” (standing, then drop down, back rolls on the ground, back to standing position, jump like final step of a Burpee) / P2 runs to stop sign and back.

At about the point of the Step-up portion, in rolls a black pick-up truck (another “Up”), and out jumps Deadwood. Huh? Well…he wasn’t wearing his Yoga Pants so maybe that was the plan all along? Either way, it was good to see him and he joined YHC and Carb Load as the 3-legged stool.

Mosey over to the stop sign next to Dream Chasers and quick direction on what was next. Partners stay together as a team and complete (5) Burpees at each street light for the ~.50 mile run down to the next stop sign. 11 Lights in total or (55) Total Burpees. At the Stop sign, Mary until the Six is in. On the way back, we did (10) Merkins per light for 11 lights total or (110) Merkins total. We will all admit, the humidity was so brutal that we were all gassed during this out and back. Nice work pushing through, fellas!

The 5-minute warning went off so it was time to hustle back to the start. The plan was to do another round of partner work using the Foot Bridge, but it’s not a bad thing to run out of time especially when you’re spent and struggling. Circle back up at the Church, and break out the “Cube of Pain” (a rubber cube my kids bought me from the Dollar Store that has many different exercises on it…roll it and see what happens). We did:

  • (20) Merkins (didn’t we do enough Merkins already?)
  • (15) Jump Lunges
  • 30-second rest…Nope…roll again
  • Water Break…Nope…roll again
  • (20) Burpees…well, nobody was buying what the Q was selling…Time was up!

Moleskin:

Great work by the 12 guys who allowed me the privilege of leading today. Thank you to Zinfandel and Deadwood for leading this site and asking me to Q. 3 years into F3, I don’t Q as often as I once did, and I normally run Pursuit in my neighborhood on Thursdays when I can. It was fun today, fellas.

A shout out to Shake & Bake for his encouragement today. Twinkle Toes is relatively new to F3 and called out the fact that Shake really helped him through today’s beating with his encouragement. That’s what it’s all about, fellas. We all need to be built up and supported at F3, and in life, so let’s not forget our Bigger Purpose here. Many of us have been the Sad Clown before (some may have been blessed to never be one) and even though we think our brother is OK, he may not be. Pride is something men struggle with and we know it comes from insecurity. Don’t be afraid to reach out to a brother if you need support, or just ask a brother, “How are you doing?”. The “Whetstone” is real, and we all need to sharpen each other.

Whetstone: (Iron Sharpens Iron!)

On a personal note, I’ve done some soul-searching and introspection lately. F3 has been an incredible organization and part of my life the past 3 years, and it truly has changed my life in many ways. Not only me, but my family.

F3 in Waxhaw has seen TREMENDOUS growth, and it got somewhat overwhelming to me with all the changes and new blood infusing new energy into the group (and new Craziness too…you know who you are!). It was easier for me to fight the change and not fully embrace the Craziness of the Playhouse and GroupMe, and the banter, call-outs, etc. Some time away while working through a hip issue, business with coaching 2 teams from Feb-May, and a trip to Italy for 10 days gave me a lot of time to re-evaluate. I shared this with our brother, Mad Dog, recently when we got together in Raleigh for dinner and an F3 workout the next morning, and he helped me see some things I had not seen.

I’m closer to 50 than I am 30, and it is apparent to me that as a leader I need to embrace the ways and mindsets of “my younger brothers” at F3. Maybe you’re not all “Millenials”, but close to it! At least most of the Pax don’t act like the Millenials we hear about. Most!!! Mad Dog said something that really stuck with me…“You need to meet them where they are” as a leader. Dang! Right between the eyes. He was right, which is why I consider him one of my most trusted brothers in my life right now. He opened my heart and mind up and now I am more at peace with the Craziness of F3 WUC.

I may not engage in all the Playhouse fun as much as others, but I believe our growth happened in spite of guys like me not initially embracing the changes. We still need to keep the core principles of F3 in tact, but what works for other Regions may not work for WUC, and vice-versa. I’m honored to be part of F3, this Region, and to lead however God and the F3 Pax calls me to lead. We all have our individual strengths, and we need to embrace those. Thanks for making me a better leader and man, and for allowing me to share this stuff. I’m a pretty transparent guy, and my hope is that others will share some things with others when it’s on their heart.

Announcements:

  • Site Q School on 7/13/19 at 530am at Cuthberston Middle
  • Q School on 7/20/19 at 530am at Cuthbertson Middle
  • Clyent Dinner tonight with Centerfold on Q
  • F3 Dads on 7/13/19 at Dogwood Park (great job Fuse and Gerber for leading this)
  • Twinkle Toes stepped up and took us out in prayer!

12 lb of pain

The Thang …

DiCCS provided, let’s mosey, no wait, we never moved from our circle …

1 min Lunges, 1 min Box cutters, 1 min Curls = 3 min, repeat 3x = 9 min.

1 min Burpees

1 min Squats/Pulse Squats, 1 min Rosalitas, 1 min Merkins = 3 min repeat 3x = 9 min

1 min Mountain Climbers

1 min Glute Bridge, 1 min Flutters, 1 min Carolina Dry Docks = 3 min repeat 3x = 9 min

1 min Speed Skaters

1 min Partner/Wall Sits, 1 min LBC’s/Big Boys, 1 min Mike Tysons = 3 min repeat 3x = 9 min

Moleskin ….

The goal was to work Legs, Core and Upper body in small intense periods using the 12lb barbells, rinse and repeat until exhausted. Everyone pushed hard, seen a few tap outs, but mostly heard a lot of groaning and pushing thru the pain. Honored as always to lead this group. Great work guys.

Announcements …

Fusebox announced F3 Dads. Contact Gerber if interested in helping out.

Fusebox – Thank you for taking us out!

Fine Farewell

Well, the long goodbye has come to a close. Took a job 2 months ago that would ultimately take us away. That day came for me on Monday, July 8th. Thanks to Rockwell and Gator Cub for giving me a chance at a last hurrah.

DiCCS issued (Disclaimer/Cell/CPR/Safety) – Bottlecap in Pineapple Chapstick in the off chance he gets to apply his CPR certification.

Warm up mosey as Jingles settles into the circle at 5:29:55. Two slow laps (I got calf problems and braces to prove it!)

SSH x 20 // Merkins OMD x 20 // Jimmy Dugans // Enough

Head towards Trail that leads to Rudy’s other Golden Dome, the hole formerly known as Transporter’s Shed.

Thang:

Lots of Burpees was the idea. Two months of calf issues and hotel living don’t often equate to peak physical conditioning. I figured a healthy dose of burpees with running interludes might keep the group relatively close.

The first burpee station was to be just short of the first little access road on the trail. Run there and do 10. Then run to end and do 10, Return to mid-station 10, up until 100. After the first 30 YHC completed, it was clear 100 wasn’t happening. Quick audible/gasp to the lead group. Make it 50 and pick up the six. Gather and mosey on.

Mosey to the bus loop. 9 months out of the year this area is the Chernobyl of the Cuthbertson Middle/High complex. 30 buses idling for 1 hour pumping into the lungs whilst running hills or doing push-ups ain’t exactly a selling point to the site, amirite!?

No buses idling meant we could do a little handslapping. Partner up. Partner one runs up the hill and around the top of the bus loop. Partner 2 runs opposite. Meet in the middle and exchange 10 hand slap merkins. Do twice.

Mosey to steps. Partner 1 does 20 single count American Hammers while partner 2 does squats at the top of the steps. 300 squats as a team.

Mosey to front of school to benches. 200 dips and a mini hot lap as a team.

Mosey back to parking area for the UC famous MB closer…the suicide. Down/back/down/back/down/back and we’re done.

Circle up.

Moleskin:

I typed a lot two months ago when I took the job. It’s still not real to me. To have so many men stand around me and lay hands on me and pray for me and my family on Monday meant the world. I needed a couple days to digest all of it. It took all I had not to break down Monday with all of you around. I cry easy so I mean…it took a lot to hold it together.

Here’s the last of my emotional pleas: Don’t take this for granted. Don’t waste your time showing up and not trying your best to show out. Push yourself to be a better man, husband, father, sibling, family member, citizen, employee, friend. Maybe consider using F3 for what I learned to use it for. Use it to develop life-long bonds. It is with unbelievable excitement and expectation we head off to Johnson City. I’ll have a new set of brothers. Most likely they’ll have more interesting hair cuts and fewer teeth, but at least their accents will sound like home! My commitment to you is I’ll do my best to represent us in a manner that would make each and every one of you proud. I may be joining a new area, but I’ll always be a Playhouse offending, #slacksux evangelizing, sign-hanging, Floater boat captaining, streak perpetuating, Lawson loving sort of guy. You guys, and by extension F3, made my time in Charlotte worth every single minute.

It’s not goodbye. It’s farewell. I’ll see you all soon. Until then, thank you.

Announcements:

F3 Dads- Gerber leads. Don’t plan on a real workout unless you have insane alpha children who call out burpees on the 2nd warm up exercise. (sorry about that Gerber)

Get Over The Hump

Alright time to get things started again from traveling away from F3 for a week. As I planed the Winke I soon realized the food and beverage consumption was a bad idea on top of Shakes Q from Watchtower. I hesitated to plan to early as I did not know which muscles would be sore. But as it came time to plan it did not matter they all were. With around a 20 Pax average how can we keep everyone engaged and together, yep bring on the partner work.

As 530 rolled around 20 Pax joined me in the gloom to get things done. DICCS were given and we were off.

WARMUP

  1. Mosey ½ way around the lot
  2. 20 SSH
  3. 20 Merkins
  4. 20 Imperial Walker
  5. 20 Mountain Climbers

THE THANG

  • Mosey to the north east corner of the parking lot
    • Partner 1 grab a rock or boulder, while partner 2 completes Burpees till they return.
    • While partner 1 runs to the top completes a Burpee and back the other Pax works to complete
      • 100 Curls
      • 100 Triceps
  • Mosey to parking lot past the globe.
    • Partner 1 runs to the speed bump (longer than I thought sorry about that) the other partner works to complete
      • 150 American Hammers
      • 200 LBC
  • Mosey to Middle School Entrance
    • Partner 1 runs ½ lap while other works to complete
      • 100 Derkins
      • 200 Squats
  • Back to the rocks which were not returned,
    • Partner 1 runs to the top for a Burpee while the other completes
      • 100 Overhead Presses (time called before we could get to Supines)

Had a great time leading the Pax around the campus this morning, thank you to all that attended. A special thanks to Hollywood for grabbing a boulder. We almost had a decapitation but that was quickly averted with the help of Dancing Bear and Zinfandel.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • Sight Q School this Saturday 7/13 Cuthbertson Middle 530am contact Posse
  • Q School Saturday 7/20 Cuthbertson Middle Contact Posse
  • Continue to collect the soaps while traveling for Dancing Bear
  • September 14 Prostate Cancer 5K contact Swimmers putting Speed for Need together, pushers needed
  • Crane Relay last weekend in July, need about 3 more people Friday 9am to Saturday 6am.

Goodfella took us out

“Kid” Ritchie

It was 9pm on a Tuesday and this middle aged, close head shaven Croat was still a bit tired following Puddin’s beatdown earlier at HawksNest. Told Puddin I seriously almost fainted I was so dizzy during name-o-rama. Then again, the same thing happened this morning so who knows? I blame it on the lack of Pamplemousse. I digress. So at 9pm, the plan was to take the crew over to Five Knolls and crush any small talk, (of which there was little today to speak of anyway) however I got a text from Voodoo wanting to join armies over at Davie. Sold. Nighty night.

Arrive at the AO to the normal meet n greet, circle jerk kind of thing and Tag-a-long says he swore he saw Mermaid stop and pick up a little boy at the entrance to Calvary. Here goes the weird looks and “what exactly do you mean by little boy” talk. Couldn’t be Mermaid. Please God no. I mean he probably gives that warning message all the time at Providence High. But after asking for the secret word (that Mermaid somehow got right) the kid willingly hops into Mermaids car and he drops him to his vehicle with the blown out tire on the other side of the parking lot. Sound sketchy? Stay with me.

So Mermaid get’s over to the rest of us at 5:28 and shares a shorter version of above and says Who is leading today? Who is leading today?! Damn it Mermaid. So I’m like yeah I am so I guess we need to go over there and help? Shot a quick text to Voodoo telling him change of plans most likely. Short, flustered disclaimer given which BTW covered nothing about liability for F3, myself, Calvary nor the site Q’s. My apologies gentlemen. We had more important things to get to though. As in being heroes or maybe aiding and abetting? Who knows.

We head over and find this 4 foot tall 16 yr old (no way he was over 12) next to his blown out (and I mean demolished) front right tire. Not to mention is was like a damn yard sale out there. He had taken all the crap he owned out of his trunk and or backseat and it was scattered about all over the parking lot. Furthermore, dude was trying to take the lug nuts off with pliers. Yeah I said it, pliers. Now to be fair, he couldn’t find the tire iron as it was probably still on Mermaids floorboard. So I’m thinking to myself that I hope everybody has some time to get in a work out later in the day bc we are gonna have to help this poor kid out. Not to say he was poor, he was tiny and absolutely clueless though. And he was definitely not 16. Junior at Butler my a**. While my mind was elsewhere I hear Mermaid interrogating the kid about why his parents weren’t answering their phones, where was his license and registration, why he looked like a young “Kid” from Kid n Play or maybe even a real young Lionel Ritchie….. you know all the imperative questions. Not getting any real answers, Mermaid says alright well you hang in there Kid while we get in our workout and we will be back around 6:15. Shocked, but totally 100% agreeable, I led the PAX through a quick warm up and then we darted over to Davie to join Voodoo, albeit a couple minutes late.

The Thang

The workout happened and if you want to read about it then head over to Voodoo’s Death Valley backblast. Too much stuff to share.

Moleskine

So let’s get back to the story. Post workout instructions given to those willing to help to meet over at Kid Ritchie’s car. I’ll be honest as I was driving over I was thinking quite a few things. #1 – Kid was legit, he’s woken his parents and they are over there helping him. #2 – Kid was legit and he has security from Calvary helping him. #3 – Kid was legit and he has left his car to go find help. #4 – Kid was a felon that stole the car, wrecked it and has now ditched the car. But the real answer is #5 – he’s put away his yard sale and is just sitting in his car. Interesting. So I pull up in my Black Tahoe all slowly, you know, I wanted the kid to think I was a cop and put a little fear of God in the boy. Matter of fact, I think I read that in my owners manual of things to do in sketchy situations.

Seriously though, and no thanks to security at Calvary, as evidently they did show up to tell the kid he was on his own. #t-claps Snowflake, Mermaid, Runstopper, Tag-a-long, Lorax and maybe Brushback (?) show up to help and Runstopper immediately steps into action digging through yard sale items trying to find anything to help. Finally there are 3 jacks on the ground and other items needed to accomplish this normally easy task. Easy? Ha. You should have seen Lorax trying to get the lug nuts off. Pretty sure that was as hard, if not harder, than any of the workout. Admirably, because YHC was literally watching the entire time, Runstopper took over the fatherly duty of making sure Kid Ritchie was watching every step so he could do this himself next time. Yeah next time, as in 15 minutes later, when he ignores the warning that a spare shouldn’t go over 45mph. Mermaid, once again as a successful counselor, interrogated Kid over his schedule of classes for 2019 and highly suggests he sign up for the Automotive Class elective, you know where you can learn about all this sh*t. I was thinking more like the Intro to Life Skills 101 class where Chapter 2 explains that nothing good ever happens after 1am immediately followed by Chapter 3 which clearly explains how you should never ask a stranger for a ride. But what do I know. Kid explains they don’t offer that at Butler. All they have are Sowing and Home Economics. To which I heard Runstopper say, “Well you need those too and you can certainly find some women in those classes”.

Last but not least, the kids parents never ‘answered’ their phone as he said his Dad must be really tired. Oh, and nothing like hearing last minute that he had a brother or cousin with him that went walking towards Providence Road (as Kid pointed towards Carmel) to look for help and he wasn’t answering his phone for the last hour either. Something stinks. Tune into WSOC later today for an update.

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