Long, Slow Burn

Ron Paul sits down on the CNN American Morning show.  Click here to view that video.

Dr. Paul is able to describe the problems that we’re in, just the same was as Carl Sagan was able to describe space and science to us all.  With plain talk, backed up with knowledge and passion.  Dr. Paul is able to describe some of the solutions in the same manner.

Does Ron Paul have all of the perfect solutions: no.  But we’d be far better off with him at the helm than the pretenders that are running for president now.  All three of them are awful.

Ron Paul for President!

The kids two weeks previous asked if we could shoot at balloons for practice, just to change things up. I was game. Anything to keep the kids involved. They really need to work on focus and discipline too, so that got me thinking. So I came up with a game called “Viking Archery”.

Tournaments typically come in two types: target/field tournaments and 3D tournaments. With field tournaments, the contestants come up to the line, two at a time, and shoot at targets. At the field tournaments, they get six arrows to shoot and are judged before pulling arrows. There’s whistles that tell when the next contestants should come to the line (two whistles) and when they are available to shoot (one whistle). At 3D tournaments, it’s a bit different. Contestants are typically moving through the woods along a trail, and you get one shot at a foam version of an animal, and you then count up a score.

So, how do I throw in a balloon into the mix, and to have the kids have fun, and keep the line moving?

Here are the rules for Viking Archery:

• There are two traditional targets, 10 meters from the line.
• The first target just has a small sticker that the kids are shooting at to get practice.
• The second target has a balloon pinned to the center of the target.
• At the double whistle, the first child comes to the line, takes one arrow.
• At the single whistle, this first child shoots at the practice target.
• At the double whistle, the first child moves to the balloon target. Another child from the line (queue) comes to the line to shoot at the practice target.
• At the single whistle, the first child shoots at the balloon.
• The child that pops or deflates the balloon, gets to wear the Norse Viking Helmet and becomes the King (Queen?) of the archery range and there is much jubilation.
• When there is a new Viking, we pull arrows. Or if we run out of arrows, we pull arrows.

Goals and benefits:

• This type of small tournament, gets the kids used to the sound of the whistles used in field tournaments.
• This puts a small amount of pressure on the kids. Pressure that they will feel in full tournaments.
• By each child getting one practice shot, and one balloon shot, they understand the importance of each shot.
• This format still allows us plenty of coaching opportunities per child as they grow with their archery skills.
• The line moves quickly so the kids don’t get board.
• Lots of fun, not only in popping the balloons, but also in the pride in receiving the Viking helmet.

We did have lots of fun. We’ll have to do it again in a couple of months or so.

Yesterday was a beautiful Georgia day. Highs in the 70s, light breeze, mostly sunny. I bundled the entire family into the car and head out to the Gainesville Archery Club 3D shoot. We arrived right around 10am, plunked down $20 for the admission for myself, and my two sons. My wife, Kim, doesn’t have a bow yet that fits her so she was just going to be our official score keeper.

We got started and we were having a great time. Griffin was on pace to blow past his previous best as he has a new loaner bow, with a sight and he’s really dialing it in. Logan was doing really well too. Me, I was hitting most of the targets and I didn’t lose any of the arrows that I was missing on. I did destroy one arrow on an overshoot. It hit a tree behind the target and we found the arrow, minus all of the fletchings, and the nock. It looked naked.

On the fourteenth target (out of twenty targets), the boys hit the target, and I overshot the target. My arrow, hit a tree, and then another, and other and the last I saw it, it was heading off at approximately a right angle of where I shot it. I told Kim that we shouldn’t look for it off of this target, but we might find it by looking in the woods after the 15^th target.

Kim and I retrieved the boys arrows. The boys were in front of me going down the hill, then it was me, and Kim was pulling up the rear. The mountain was pretty steep here and the next group was already waiting for us to clear out. I was about half way back to the trail, and I heard Kim cry out behind me. Before I could really turn out, she cried out again. I knew something was really wrong at this point.

I ran back to her and she was sitting on the ground, crying out, holding her left elbow. It was either dislocated, or broken. Her elbow was not in the right place.

Other archers gathered around and were asking what they could do. I really had no clue at that moment. I knew that we needed help to get out of the woods. Kim said that she felt like she was going to black out. After a few moments of confusion, Kim felt as if she could walk back to the trail.

I picked her up by lifting from underneath her arms trying to be protective of her hurt arm. We slowly made it back to the trail. Other archers were saying that they had called 911, and that the 4 wheeler was on it’s way. We pulled up our archery stool and had Kim sit down for a bit. I got her a drink of water. By this time, the 4 wheeler had arrived. Let me say that the trail isn’t a gentle, groomed trail. It’s rough and definitely not smooth. We opted to walk out. The 4 wheeler tool all of our stuff out.

By the time we had walked out, the fire department was pulling into the parking lot. Several archers were flagging them towards us. They were professional and caring at the same time. They got the information, got her sat down, started taking vitals. Just a minute after the firemen, was the paramedics in the ambulance. The transfer of information was smooth.

While they loaded her up in the ambulance and got an IV in her, I asked another archer to help get all of my stuff into the car so that I could drive behind the ambulance to the hospital. A short ride later, we arrived at the hospital. North Georgia Hospital in Gainesville. They were great too. I was a bit panicked because I couldn’t follow the ambulance to the admission, and after we parked, I couldn’t find Kim. Never leave a loved one unattended in a hospital. One of the golden rules. It was just a few minutes later and I found her already in the emergency room with a nurse getting her admitted. The radiologist came not too long later and took her for x-rays.

My mother arrived from Alpharetta and picked up the boys. She was going to take them out for lunch and then take them home.

The doctor came in and told us that the arm was only dislocated and not broken, which was a plus. He described that we would get her into a private room to give us more room, that they would give her some medicine that would knock her out for a few minutes so that they could manipulate the arm back into place. It took a lot longer than I’m describing but finally we got the room, the administered the drugs, I was asked to leave, and three doctors put her arm back into place. Some more x-rays confirmed that everything was back in place and that there weren’t any hidden breaks. After some more morphine, we were discharged and on the road. North Georgia Hospital treated us great. As well as we could have been treated under the circumstance, that’s what we got. Amazing.

We were driving home and Kim started feeling nauseous. She really hadn’t eaten since breakfast and the morphine was probably making her sick. I stopped by McDonalds to get her some fries and myself a double cheeseburger. The salty fries helped a bit and we got home without further “incident”.

My mother, and Kim’s folks were already at the house. I slipped out to get Kim’s prescription filled. Evidently the nausea really hit while I was gone. Unfortunately it never really gave up through the evening and into the night.

Today, as I’m writing this, she’s feeling much better. The Gainesville Archery Club called tonight to check on her. Evidently, this is the first injury at the facility where an ambulance has needed to be called. Sure, there’s beens sprained ancles, but nothing ever serious.

Our head coach, Jeremy, from our 4-H team has also called to check on Kim several times. Everyone has been so nice and caring.

We’re still early in this process. Kim has an appointment with the orthopedic doctor on Thursday and we’ll know more then. The situation stinks, but it’s going as well as could be expected. We keep saying that this wasn’t an archery accident, it was a hiking accident. This could have happened in our back yard. We’ll be back out at the 3D shoots before you know it. Maybe next time, Kim will have her own bow, and won’t be doing something dangerous like keeping score!

I can’t believe that I haven’t written about my new found sport: archery.  My kids started going to the archery club about 9 months ago.  It sounded fun but I wasn’t able to attend for the first month or so.  Finally, I had an open night and thought I’d go and watch.  Before I knew it, I was on the line, helping the kids stay safe.  Hooked, and that’s before I even took my first shot!

The Georgia 4-H program said that they’d send down two people for the Level 1 training so Mike Johnson and I went down in February.  Very cool.  I passed the test and I am now a Level 1 archery coach for our club.

The boys and I have been going to a couple of 3D tournaments on some weekends.  Basically, this is simulated hunting where there are foam targets placed in stations in the woods.  The targets are in the form of deer, antelope, bear, turkeys, etc.  On some shoots, they’ll even have alligators, poisonous frogs, space aliens, and other fun targets.  I don’t do that well but I’m having fun.

This past weekend, some of the kids from our club went to the Gainsville Archery club and participated in the target shoot.  That was a lot of fun, but also a long day.  Next time, I’ll bring chairs, food, and drinks.

While at the Gainesville target shoot, I was introduced to Jake who is involved in the Georgia Archery association.  What a great guy, and he obviously loves this sport.  We were talking and he let me know that Archery, even though it is a dangerous and potentially lethal sport, has the same injury rate as bowling!  I chalk that up to great parent/child participation and emphasis on safety from the beginning to the end.  Jake also stated that archery is a sport that can be enjoyed from 8 to 80 years of age.  I fully agree.  I like spending time with my boys, and archery is one of the sports that we can all do together.

I’m hoping to shoot some arrows in my back yard later today during my lunch break.

With my day job, I’ve been driving to east Marietta.  For lunch, I often pop out to a Taco Bell that is right down the street.  Mt. Dew, Chalupas, Mexican Pizza.  All for about $5.  Heaven.

Much to my horror, yesterday I drove down to Taco Bell and … it was all boarded up.  The roof has scorch marks.  The parking lot is taped off and is a mess!  My beloved Taco Bell is no more.

Sure, the bathrooms were dirty.  The retro-fitted slide lock barely clung to the door.  Yes, the insides were “worn” with the joy of patronage and it surely could have been renovated years ago.  But it served me delicious fixings and it gave me a place to sit down for lunch.

What more could a geek ask for.  Come back soon Taco Bell!  I’ll be waiting.

Read this article: Judge Says He Can’t Stop Aloha Shutdown
The judge is right in his decision.  Why should government be able to prevent a business from closing down?  The business should be able to do as it pleases as long as it abides by reasonable regulation and that includes shutting it’s doors if it wants to.  Especially if there are other competitors in the market place.

This whole article smacks of events from Atlas Shrugged however.  Business suddenly shutting down, politicians attempting to calm the marketplace, “hoping” the fares won’t increase, promising a bail out of private business.  Is the owner of Aloha airlines going to Colorado after being contacted by John Gault?  No.  Probably not.  Colorado is just a shadow of what is described in Atlas Shrugged.

Something happened to this airline however.  It will be interested to see if us (the public) ever find out what it is.