(no subject)
I'm so rarely online anymore that it's just weird. I hardly miss it, mostly thanks to the fact that I can get LJ on my phone, but sometimes I stare at the blue glowy thing under my desk and wonder why. It should hardly be a wonder though; I love my girl and I would rather just chill with her than do anything else.
Not that all my time lately has been spent idly. I didn't get the job I had applied for (for those of you out of the loop; I applied for a job. I didn't get it. That is all.), but I now have a friend in the department and a better shot at the next time the position becomes available. I'll also be breaking in a new boss next month, which will make #8 in the last 4 years. That should prove interesting. I will be pleased if it's someone with only a mild tolerance for the idiocy that seems to be more and more pronounced lately. We have a number of issues with our staff, none of which I am in any position to correct. If only violence were an option here, but Mike keeps telling me that it makes the policemen all stern and suspicious.
Speaking of violence, I'm feeling pretty good about the steps between my recent promotion and my next rank. I have a few more tangible goals this time, regardless of whether those things will appear on the test or not. I am certain that Hsing-I will not, but I am enjoying that aspect of my training completely. I have the forms for Pi-Chuan and Bong-Chuan ("Splitting Fist" and "Crushing Fist", respectively) and the challenge now is in doing them with the right energy, something I have become a LOT more sensitive to lately. I'm learning to relax more, something I sorely need to do, especially against multiple opponents, anmd I'm finding that the payoff is more than just flexibility and strength. I really can feel the energy of someone moving or striking in that splity second between when I touch them and when I must decide what to do with that contact, and I can use what I'm feeling a good portion of the time. I knocked someone over a couple times the other night and I'm sure I made it look easy. The fact is that they were off balance internally to begin with and recognizing that was the real trick. Still, it was good that I felt it and acted correctly. Now to just do that more often.
I had a grand plan for next fall, which has now been squashed. See, dad is working for a company that's doing a lot of rebuilding down in Mississippi and Louisiana, a task that is several times more difficult that you're probably thinking that it would be. Not only is the work a mere step or two away from being impossible (One of the first jobs was to retrieve a floating casino that had been relocated to a mile or two away from the river. It was all they could do to simply demolish it with no chance of salvage.), butt he conditions are like nothing that he has seen in this country. More like Nigeria or Panama or even Laos, all of which he's done work in previously. Anyway, one nice side effect of all of this was that they requisiitoned him a car and they were going to let him keep it at the end of the year. And by car, I mean a monster truck, commercially known as a Hummer H3. I was going to get to drive it home afterward, but that won't be happening now, since it was trashed within a week of him arriving in New Orleans. He stopped somewhere for lunch and in 45 minutes, someone (or a gang of someones) had smashed all the windows, stolen everything not bolted to the inside and several things that were, and made off with lights, electronics, and made a valiant attempt at taking the wheels and/or hubcaps off. Such a thing is impossible with this kind of vehicle, but with their attempt to do so, the whole wheelbase was rendered unusable. And, of course, there's noone anywhere nearby who can repair it. So he's going to see what he can do with a more standard vehicle, one that's less conspicuious. Which is really too bad, because I had plans that involved crushing things with a Hummer that will now have to be put on hold for a while. If any of you have yard gnomes or lawn cows, they are safe. For now.
And now, sice I've been at this for an hour or so, I am needing the sleep. I have more to update, but it can wait. Zai jian.
Not that all my time lately has been spent idly. I didn't get the job I had applied for (for those of you out of the loop; I applied for a job. I didn't get it. That is all.), but I now have a friend in the department and a better shot at the next time the position becomes available. I'll also be breaking in a new boss next month, which will make #8 in the last 4 years. That should prove interesting. I will be pleased if it's someone with only a mild tolerance for the idiocy that seems to be more and more pronounced lately. We have a number of issues with our staff, none of which I am in any position to correct. If only violence were an option here, but Mike keeps telling me that it makes the policemen all stern and suspicious.
Speaking of violence, I'm feeling pretty good about the steps between my recent promotion and my next rank. I have a few more tangible goals this time, regardless of whether those things will appear on the test or not. I am certain that Hsing-I will not, but I am enjoying that aspect of my training completely. I have the forms for Pi-Chuan and Bong-Chuan ("Splitting Fist" and "Crushing Fist", respectively) and the challenge now is in doing them with the right energy, something I have become a LOT more sensitive to lately. I'm learning to relax more, something I sorely need to do, especially against multiple opponents, anmd I'm finding that the payoff is more than just flexibility and strength. I really can feel the energy of someone moving or striking in that splity second between when I touch them and when I must decide what to do with that contact, and I can use what I'm feeling a good portion of the time. I knocked someone over a couple times the other night and I'm sure I made it look easy. The fact is that they were off balance internally to begin with and recognizing that was the real trick. Still, it was good that I felt it and acted correctly. Now to just do that more often.
I had a grand plan for next fall, which has now been squashed. See, dad is working for a company that's doing a lot of rebuilding down in Mississippi and Louisiana, a task that is several times more difficult that you're probably thinking that it would be. Not only is the work a mere step or two away from being impossible (One of the first jobs was to retrieve a floating casino that had been relocated to a mile or two away from the river. It was all they could do to simply demolish it with no chance of salvage.), butt he conditions are like nothing that he has seen in this country. More like Nigeria or Panama or even Laos, all of which he's done work in previously. Anyway, one nice side effect of all of this was that they requisiitoned him a car and they were going to let him keep it at the end of the year. And by car, I mean a monster truck, commercially known as a Hummer H3. I was going to get to drive it home afterward, but that won't be happening now, since it was trashed within a week of him arriving in New Orleans. He stopped somewhere for lunch and in 45 minutes, someone (or a gang of someones) had smashed all the windows, stolen everything not bolted to the inside and several things that were, and made off with lights, electronics, and made a valiant attempt at taking the wheels and/or hubcaps off. Such a thing is impossible with this kind of vehicle, but with their attempt to do so, the whole wheelbase was rendered unusable. And, of course, there's noone anywhere nearby who can repair it. So he's going to see what he can do with a more standard vehicle, one that's less conspicuious. Which is really too bad, because I had plans that involved crushing things with a Hummer that will now have to be put on hold for a while. If any of you have yard gnomes or lawn cows, they are safe. For now.
And now, sice I've been at this for an hour or so, I am needing the sleep. I have more to update, but it can wait. Zai jian.