Still on the road

The Alberta Prairies are beginning to rub off on me.  I rolled over the top of the hill and looked over the gorge of layered rock known as Drumheller.  Yup, still here in the land of the Dinosaurs and am really liking the region.  I am really feeling the distance from the Kwoon however.  Kind of like getting unplugged, or cut off from the Kung Fu mothership.

I have been trying to keep up with what I can control, including my pushups and situps and repetitions.  I am glad I have chosen the nunchuks to learn as it is doable in the hotel room, although a little cramped.  Swinging a spear or sword around the place would just get costly.  I have cut back on training somewhat, as it comes down to what is more important, food and sleep for health, or running and Kung Fu practice.  Keeping up with work, the associated paperwork, equipment cleaning and maintenance and training, and eating properly without a means to prepare your own food, is always challenging.

I did get home for a day or two and got a class in.  I also took the chance to take my son fishing.  Two things  that did me well.  In any case, I hope to get back to the Kwoon sometime.  Until then....

Vince.

Father's Day Top Gun style

If you are looking for some thought provoking blog this week, better move to the next one.  Today I write with no real reason but to enjoy the act of writing.

Two - Four - Foxtrot - Tango - Niner, requesting clearance for takeoff - over.

 

This is flight control, you are cleared for takeoff - over.

 

I Roll on to the collective and feel the ground affect.  The rotor wash is blowing papers all over the place. 

THIS IS NOT A TOY –pppppfffft! How can something this much fun not be a toy?

The skids get light and she begins to hover.  Now I am getting a bird’s eye view of the house.  It seems so tiny at this altitude as I am now easily THOUSANDS of millimeters off the ground.

I was seventeen when I flew the first time in an A-Star helicopter to a remote location in the mountains.  I have never forgotten the experience, and have flown in many helicopters since as a requirement of my job. 

I pilot this baby into a fairly uneasy hover, kinda wobbly at best as the winds are high today, mostly as the result of the open window...or maybe the air conditioning.  My flight suit is a little warm for a day like today, but it looks cool with my shades.  I get strange looks, but they are just jealous because they have never felt G-Force in the range of 0.2.

The best flight was west of Nordegg where we hovered over Klein Glacier and dropped the nose into a dive off the mountain cliff, my guts flew to my throat and I was hooked.

Alright, it is time to see what this baby can do.  I have at least three minutes of fuel with Veteran status of nearly 30 minutes of flying experience.  I roll onto the collective and pitch the aircraft to gain some airspeed and lift.  My Kung Fu reflexes are poised; I pull back on the stick and get ready to throw this aircraft into a hammerhead.

Every time I fly it makes me giddy.  There is nothing like it. Should a person chase a passion at all costs?

Something is dreadfully wrong.  The helicopter is rolling, and I panic, overcompensate on the yaw, the aircraft is out of control.  Mayday! Mayday! Flight control we are headed for a collision.....with the lamp.....or maybe the TV......Nope straight into the pilot.  I throw up my arm in a Kung Fu palm sweeping block just the moment before impact.  The rotor slices my finger tip in two and the spinning blades make a scene as gory as a Friday the Thirteenth horror film. My life flashes before my eyes and one thing is event; the box was right THIS IS NOT A TOY.

I need band aids.  Lots of them.  And maybe some gauze.  And maybe a stitch or two.

After showing her my fourteen band aid index finger, I wonder if she regrets buying me a remote control helicopter for father’s day?  What a strange, but extremely thoughtful gift.  I get a real kick out of this thing, probably because I am such a kid at heart, but also because of the brain power and dexterity it requires to fly.  This takes some Kung Fu like focus. Just goes to show you challenges can come in the smallest and deadliest of packages.

Two - Four - Foxtrot - Tango – Niner over and out.

Captain Vince “Splitfinger” Krebs.

Looking for T-Rex

Drumheller.  Home of the dinosaurs.  There is much to see here so I started on a run with my goal being the suspension bridge at a park on the far side of town.  The run was flat, paved, and boring.  Like a magpie to a chrome bumper my attention wandered to the hills. 

Stacked layers of sediment carved into coulees and gorges and home of snakes, cacti and lava rock.  The running is hard and requires great focus to avoid injuries.  Slips, cuts, and hills would be broken in short interlude by small sections that were nothing short of shear running bliss.

 It turned into an addiction.  I continued through the coulees unfamiliar to me to find that perfect ridge that seemed to be crafted just for humans to run.  Before I knew it, the trap had been sprung.  I was drawn into the hills and ambushed by a rainstorm of epic proportions.  Slopes of good traction, turned into a stew of grease, marbles, ice, Bill Clinton, banana peels or whatever else you can think of that is slippery.  

What was sharp or prickly....Stayed sharp and prickly.

Now I know why the dinosaurs went extinct.

Scratch One Personal Goal

Being away from home the past while has been a tough problem on the Kung Fu front.  There has been some relief however.  I knocked off one of my personal goals (well almost).  The death race is approaching and a website promoting the team run is up and running (www.deathraceforcp.com) there is my shameless plug.

 

This year, my running regime is dismal at best, but I am strangely comfortable with it. What I’ve learned is that the Death Race is oddly a great deal of fun. This year is going to be more epic than any other because I get to run with friends and family.  I can't wait to share their experiences, see how they adapt to situations, and hopefully share in their accomplishments.  This year my focus more than anything will be to run in the moment.  To understand why I am there and what I am doing, and hopefully tally more than take a few random acts of kindness along the trail.

Vince Krebs

Whatever happened to the strap?

Hitting the ground at terminal velocity is a very good reason to wear a parachute.  Consequences are the driving force behind all of human behavior.  If I don't work, I don't eat.  If I speed, I crash.  If I steal, I go to jail.  Remove consequences and the system falls apart.  So why does the Edmonton school system see it necessary to remove consequence?   

In a recent interview, the CBC addressed an Edmonton teacher that was allegedly suspended for going against the system and holding kids accountable for their missed assignments.

Being married to an educator, I hear firsthand what is going on in the classroom.  Students are permitted to attend as much, or as little of the classes as they feel suited.  If they miss a test day, they can rewrite at a later date of their choosing, and in some schools will be assigned a mark from another assignment if they choose not to write.

I almost seem a bit old fashioned.  I did have my birthday today, and perhaps it’s catching up with me.  This infuriates me to see something as critical as education reward behaviour that is even below mediocrity.

If only we could bottle Kung Fu values and sell them as energy drinks.  We would have less insubordination, more accountability, punctuality, and discipline.  As it sits right now, we are hucking the kids out the Cessna door, with nothing more than a knapsack and telling them the landing will be a breeze.

Live from Room Two Zero Five

Here I sit at the complimentary free breakfast.  I over pour the milk and it slops over the ozone killing Styrofoam bowl.  The bran flakes are busted up into dust, and with the addition of milk it turns into a form of brown sludge.  I gnaw away at a stale bagel and top it off with a lukewarm yogurt.  The smell of chlorine is in the air, and fills my lungs from the room where countless bodies have basted in the hot tub.  The light fixtures on the roof show evidence of a few fly’s that went to meet their maker. The water tastes like it’s been filtered through a gym sock.  Life in a hotel.

Bleak; maybe, but now incorporate an attitude that revolves around what is important to me.  My faith, my family, and Kung Fu.

I get out of bed on stable legs and feel strong.  I pull back the blinds of the hotel and the early sun greets me with warmth in my face.  I see the creation outside.  Birds in the air and green lush grass from the previous rain.  I drop down and pound out some push-ups.  Although not tasty the morning breakfast was healthy and my body feels energized.  I move forward stepping into a bow stance and lightly flick the light on with my foot.  Sweet! Good control, I guess I won’t have to replace the switch fixture like last time.  I check my phone and I get a morning text from Stephanie and kids with a picture of the boys hunkered down and reading.  I thank God for them and the gift of the day.  It’s off to work I go.

What more is there to say about attitude and perspective? 

Vince Krebs.

Time Ticks On

I have knocked off one of my personal goals today.  The accomplishment feels good but it is overshadowed by the fact that time ticks on, and there is a great deal to get accomplished.  I am taking things in stride as of late, completing what I can and trying to move forward.  Keeping myself healthy is one of my main goals, focusing on eating, and sleeping is sometimes a challenge in itself.