I got jealous of a dog

Tonight my brother’s fiancee, Becky, brought her dog over. Now bearing mind that she and my brother, Jon, refer to this dog as their “child” or “kid”. My parents call it their grandchild. That weirds me out enough. But my family has Beau, who is 13 years old and has always been grouchy, something age hasn’t helped with. When he first me Kalie (Becky & Jon’s dog) he sniffed, then growled, then sniffed, and more growling. He’s fickle, that’s how he is. So when they weren’t holding the leashes of either dog and just letting them hang out I expressed my concern. Sure enough a few moments later the dogs went at it.

What upset me was when our dog, Beau, in his own house was put in his room, punished, and Kalie was set free to roam about the house as she pleased, a luxury which Beau himself does not enjoy. It made me feel like my dog was being replaced. It made me angry.

I guess thinking about it, I kind of felt that way about myself this Thanksgiving. We had two dinners at Becky’s family place, and the majority of the free time we had in between was spent addressing Jon’s car problems and shopping for a new car (he was hit by another person and the truck sustained heavy damage, but will not be totaled). I had hoped to talk to my parents about getting their aid in my endeavor to grow RCF, but somehow the timing just didn’t seem right.

Dancin With The Anne

To escape from home just for a night I went to lafayette to hang out with AnneR. She was free and I was hoping I could catch Harry Potter with her,but alas she had seen it ealier today. So instead we went to the Neon Cactus. I really enjoy goingto the cactus with her because she enjoys the piano bar (though not the same way Nads did), and can laugh when some crazy drunk woman starts feeling her up. I also like how Bruce the piano man recognizes her. You’ll have to ask Anne why that is though *wink*. I like how we can go out on the dance floor, do fencing movesin time with the music and laugh at ourselves. I like how she smiles at all my goofy dance moves. I like how she smiles when dances too. I like how we always joke afterwards about how we can’t hear anything. I like that she gives me a hug when I say good bye.

When!?!

On my way up to Purdue Friday night I got to looking at my trip odometer. Over the previous three days I had been averaging 170 miles a day on my car. Then I was like “holy crap! That’s 3+ hours in the car alone!!!” And so I ran the numbers. 24 hours in a day, minus the 8 hours of sleep I try to get (it’s somewhere between 9 and 7) = 16 hours. 9 hours at work, means there’s a mere 7 hours left. Subtract out the 3.5 for driving, and the 2 hours I spend fencing or rock climbing and that gives me a whopping 1.5 hours each day to eat, shower, get dressed, etc and then get ready for bed and somehow take care of my apartment and car, and do laundry.

So when I was eating dinner with my parents on Sunday and they asked me if I had made any new friends or spent any more time looking for a girlfriend I responded with “When!?!”. No wonder I keep making friends with people I see on the weekends when I travel, it’s the only time I have to do so.

Speaking of which. I made it home safely last night, though not until 12:30 am. After dinner I made it about 40 miles s before pulling over to sleep. An hour later I made it another 10 miles before taking a two hour nap. After that I was ready to rock all the way home. I was up at Purdue for the Purdue Fencing Open and Griffin Grapple to be a referee. Both events went well especially since there was a surplus of directors (omg too many directors!!!! there is a heaven!). I stayed with AnneR and she was a kick ass host as always with fine cookies and spacious floor. After the first day of fencing we all retired to buffalo Wild Wings where I got to talk fencing politics and philosophy with Paul and some of the older people there. I think the best part is being back in Indiana fencing where everybody knows my name.

My Coke Says

“Give Live Love”. I guess that’s the phrase of the holiday. Not a bad one if you ask me. Though it only has the lame polar bears on it. I like the old styled images of Santa better.

The spammer found my Yahoo! email address somehow. F***ers!

Two nights ago I had a crazy dream where I was in a purple suit running and dancing all over the place, lip syncing to Tom Jones’s “It’s Not Unusual”. It was a cross between a commercial shoot and something out of a 70’s dance club. The only problem was that I was drooling uncontrollably, and shaking my head while singing and dancing made slobber go everywhere. So I’m trying to look like I’m singing while covering my mouth. Strangely the ladies didn’t seem to mind. When ya got it ya got it.

157 miles ago…

I was still in bed. It was 6:15 and my alarm clock was just going off. 34 miles later I was pulling into work. I realized I enjoy driving alone in the morning and being able to think. I sat at work, working, and thinking about my pending trip to New York, Buffalo, and Boston in a few weeks to pursue other fencing club operations. Three o’clock rolled around soon enough (leaving early to go coach fencing at UCC) and I was off. Another 34 miles later I found myself at my apartment complex picking up my guitar since FedEx dropped it off at the office. Then right back on the road to fencing. 48 miles later I’m teaching people how to fence while being interviewed for the school paper. It seems someone got the idea in their head that I have something to do with the success of the UCC fencing club. While they are not wrong, I’m not the only factor at play there. But I did reveal that I make special arrangements at work and drive an hour and a half to get there, all of a sudden people started asking me how they could repay me, to which my only reply was “Keep fencing so I can keep coaching.”

I should have known then. 157 miles ago if you had asked me if I would move to Lafayette for sure within the year or if I might stay in Cinci I would have told you only one person could keep me here. I should have known then that the real love of my life, fencing, had designs of her own.

I had told Kyle last night at Xavier that I was going to go to Salle Du Lion tonight and that he should come too. So after a long practice at UCC, back in the car. it was probably a good 26 miles later that I found myself at Salle Du Lion where people were heading home for the night. It was indeed a sad moment, but Karay was asking me how I’d been and what coach’s college was like over the summer. She mentioned that there had been a mutiny and that she was running things. I was a little surprised, but Lloyd had said he was trying to step down the fencing so it wasn’t so big of a surprise that my brain couldn’t handle it.

It was then that she started talking to me about how things there are going to change, add structure, and how the website needed to not suck (Thank you!!!!). Since I had been to coach’s college now and I’ve run my own fencing business she wanted my input on all this stuff. At that point I knew that fencing had split me between Lafayette and Cincinnati. I mentioned my trip to New York and Boston and she wanted to tag along. 157 miles later I’m home, more excited than ever before.

In my brain I tell myself that I can get UCC and SDL to a point where they will be well on their way to new success, and the things I will have learned by then will have me ready to tackle my own challenge of RCF head on. That’s the mentality that will let me sleep tonight instead of grappling with which option is more important/realistic.

Today was mildly crazy…

…for lots of reasons. Like for one, we went to the China Buffet and my fortune cookie says “You need a new environment. Go on vacation.” and I had been making plans to travel around the Western half of the US to get a feel for how good fencing clubs work. I know the statement inside the cookie is vague enough to apply to everyone, but it is just a little crazy.

Then tonight I got home late because of the guys I car pool with and I may have missed a potential room mate. *sigh* So when I got to rock climbing, Kyle and Trent were already climbing. We normally have three so it wasn’t a big deal, but then a Christina comes out of no where and asks me if I want to climb with her.

“Gee, climb with a beautiful, young, successful woman, where I am obligated by the rules of the gym to watch her ass as she climbs the wall, let me think…. ummm, sure.”

So that went well. Though I will admit that she had been climbing for five years and me a mere three months. It really showed, and I felt a bit inadequate. At the end I told her we climb in threes all the time and next time she shows up to just grab one of us. Before you go getting any ideas, she has a fiancee.

AnneR says I should go whole hog on the fencing. By next April when my leases are up, anything could happen.

All my Financial Concerns are going away!

So RCF is making money this month. Well, technically it’ll lose money, but it more than covered rent for the first time since the doors opened in April 2004. It also looks like I’ll be getting a room mate which means that rent and bills will be a few hundred less per month. Hopefully all of this will make it easy to pay off my credit card, pay off my car loan, and start doing some serious saving for any future money holes I decide to climb into (like buying a facility to persue my ideal of fencing full time). The potential room mate stops by tonight after work to see what’s what and hopefully I’ll have someone new in a week.

Cincinnati Is Too Small

Last night I got back from Lafayette and dropping Kyle off at his place around 8:45pm. He had invited me to go with him and Josh (another climbing buddy) to go out drinking. I took a pass and stayed home, watched TV, and went to bed. Lame I know.

This morning I wake up with an IM from Gina. Gina is the woman I met through some internet dating service and went on two dates with. She said “Sorry about the drunk dialing last night..” I realized my phone was still in my pants on the floor and that I hadn’t checked it yet today. Well I had three messages. I instantly thought, “OMG she IS crazy”. Well the first one is Kyle’s voice. He apologized for leaving his phone at home since he had told me to call if i wanted to link up with his crew later that night. Then he told me that he had run into Gina and that he was calling me from her phone. She then got on the phone and talked for a while, fencing was the reason I came up in conversation. Sounded like She and kyle hit it off pretty well, so good for them.

Second message sounded like my number got dialed while her phone was in her purse. It’s like 10 minutes or more of TV/radio and Gina’s voice. I couldn’t understand any of what was going on since no one was really talking to the phone. I skipped that one. And then the third was Kyle calling this morning to apologize for calling last night. Meh, no harm done. The first message was funny enough that I saved it. It’s a shame there’s no way for me to download the sound clip. Otherwise you’d be in for a treat.

Anyway, it boggles my mind that people I know are running into people I know after only being here a mere six months. The world is a crazy, crazy place.

Fencing Train

Maybe I just get too easily excited about fencing. I went to Lafayette today and came back tonight. Kyle came along. The main event was the director’s clinic. AnneR was kind enough to help me out and make sure I hit all the high points. Levy, Mark Brandyberry, and Kyle all took the class. I feel better know that they’ve gone through the class and I hope all three of them will direct next Saturday at the Purdue Open.

Also on the agenda was the exploration of a potential property for RCF to expand to, and to discuss the current status of the club. The church was a bust. Too much unusable space downstairs and too small of a main central area (sanctuary) upstairs. Everyone seemed to think that the price was high for a fencing club. When we all sat down and talked about the club I got two things: 1) we need a full time coach with or without the move, 2) we need some more equipment, and 3) everyone would be glad to have me back in town.

Well, Kyle I like to think would like me to stay in Cinci. I do enjoy spending time with him. He suggested I build a fencing club here in Cinci. I guess I feel that there’s too much competition here: Salle Du Lion, UCC, Xavier, Miami of Ohio, Cincinnati Fencing Club, the list goes on. Though I don’t know of any high school programs which seems to be RCF’s main pull.

Growing RCF back in Lafayette would mean a change in location and lifestyle. I have no idea where I would get the funding for such a change. I don’t know how I’d devote as much attention I want to fencing and get a job. I wouldn’t want to have another job is what it boils down to.

Anyone want to loan me $500,000 to make a dream a reality? I promise to pay you back within 30 years. I can offer my first born or soul as collateral (just kidding).

Maybe I’ve been Oblivious

All these years and I’ve never noticed a waitress take special attention to my meal over another’s. But then a month or two ago when a waiter put in the extra effort to make a “good impression”. I noticed right away. Was it because it made me uncomfortable? Maybe. But it makes me wonder if waitresses or other women have been making subtle passes and I just haven’t noticed because it didn’t set off any “alarms” in my head.