High Comedy!

I had a post card once that something to the effect of "It is possible that the whole purpose of my life is to server as an example to others." If today is any indication, this might be true.

First, I was driving home from VA Beach and I stopped at a Starbucks in Newport News. I know, I know, Starbucks. But whatever. I ran into the curb on the way out of the parking lot. It made a terrible noise, but I run over the curb a lot so whatever. I drive 2 miles down the road and stop to get gas. Some guy at the station points out that my rear tire is low on air.

Low. Hah. Try totally flat.

So I put my 50 cents in to the air machine (WTF? I have to pay for air now?!). I put air in, and out the air comes from a little tear in my tire. Crap.

So I drive 2 miles back up the road to CostCo where I can get a new tire. I stand in line for 45 minutes. I then go out to figure out what kind of tire I need and there is a fist sized hole where the little tear once was.

Nice.

2 hours and $430 later, I have 4 new tires and have missed class.

Then I go a local discount furniture store. I look around, find a couple tings, and am approach by a salesman who proceeds to hit on my non stop for the next 45 minutes while trying to sell me $400 sleeper loveseats. I finally pick out a nice little sage green loveseat that's only $187. I pay. Creepy clerk asks me out. Ick.

I deflect. I agree to call him once I have settled in. Like that's going to happen.

Then I make my way up the road to my new apartment complex to sign the lease. This goes much better. I get all the paper work done, get my keys, and start chatting with another woman about my age who is also signing a lease to move in tomorrow. Turns out, we went to high school together. (!!!) I did not go to a very large high school. And I went to high school 3000 miles away from here. What are the odds?

I then have to try out 5 different keys to find one that works on the storage room.

At 3:45 I finally get lunch.

Ugh. I've called in sick to work tonight. Too much excitement for one day, and I am still not home.

Considering that I am moving in the morning with an indeterminate amount of loading and unloading help, my tire exploded, and I am afraid to go pick up my new loveseat for fear of being hit on by creepy sales guy again, I am freakishly calm. I love my new apartment. It's small, but it's cute, and I think I will be happy there. Plus, I already know one of my neighbors!

Is Kendo hard?

I was asked in the comments from my last post if kendo is hard, and I figured this was worthy of a whole post, not just a reply to the comment...so here goes.

There are different kinds of Kendo. There is sports Kendo, which works a lot like western style fencing with touches and points and so on, and then there is a more traditional, non-sport Kendo. I practice this later, martial arts style Kendo. We spend a lot of time in class talking about zhan-shin and the spirit of the sword and our ki energy. About being good Samurai, warriors, and defending something we care about. We've had a very accomplished sports Kendo black belt from Japan visiting us the last month or so, and from watching her, ours is a pretty grueling practice.

Each practice, you reach a physical limit and keep going. You get blisters on your feet and hands, then the blisters get blisters. You sweat like a pig, you are dead on your feet, and you keep going. You stand up straight when Sensei or one of our Sempai is talking, you do not twitch or mess with your gi (which is hanging all over the place by this point), you do not wipe the sweat from your eyes and only push your glasses back up your nose if it's dire.

And yet you are never expected to do something that you physically cannot handle. We have a number of students with different physical limitations, and they all practice and push and sweat and yell and keep going when they feel like they are about to collapse. You just modify the techniques a little if you cannot sit in a crouch because of a knee or hip or back injury or whatever else.

Kendo is hard. It's not like Aikido, where you are throwing yourself at the ground and getting bruises to show off later, it's not physically hard in that way. The techniques are relatively simple, but the mental and physical focus you have to maintain is a huge challenge. But that's what makes it all worthwhile. I know I can survive anything after a particularly good (i.e. challenging) Kendo workout.

So can you do it? Yes. Would it be too hard? Not physically (though it is very physically challenging), but you must be prepared for a mental and, later on, spiritual, challenge. This is a martial art after all, we are training ourselves to fight, kill and die if we must.

And yes, there will be pictures. Eventually, once I've figured out how to get into hakama without tying my feet together and unpack my camera anyway. :)

Nice...

5 and a half rejections last night, and that's just from employers.

I can't even seem to conclusively dumped.

sigh.

In somewhat better news, I get to wear hakama now in Kendo. This is a kind of significant thing. Now I just have to figure how to put this thing on in an organized manner, and not trip over it.

A new record!

I got 5 rejection letters yesterday. The old record was 3 in one day.

For those of you who don't remeber, as of last count I have sent out more than 169 resumes in one form or another. We're up to 6 interviews. 2 of which have told me to go away so far, 3 I have not heard back from, and 1 will take place on Friday.

p.s. I think I got the RSS feed thing fixed. Leave a comment if it's still not working.

p.p.s I like this quote. It works well for today.

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.
- Voltaire

So this is 30

I've spent the entire day alone. Except for a couple of hours when I was getting a massage. The only people I have had any real interaction with, I've had to pay.

Somehow, part of me still hopes for more, but I know I'm not going to get it.