Gearing Up For The Journey Ahead

I. Clearing The Mental Fog
The cathartic release provided through these online musings has been nothing short of a saving grace. How cleansing it has been to finally purge my mind of so many of the myriad of thoughts that seem to be forever tornadically spinning about in my mind. Already my writing--and my general state of mind--is moving to a more eager and anticipatory tone rather than the silent pensive, and mostly worrisome, one. Finally, to borrow a quote from Cool Hand Luke, I seem to be "getting my mind right."

I haven't had such eagerness to train, I think, since my days at Ohio University. Training was so much easier to find the time for then. 3 classes a week--no problem. Need a break from studying? Head to the rec center and train. Hell, I'd even go to club on Friday nights while my roomate and a good friend were out on the town hitting Happy Hour at The Nick. The 10-cent beers would wait until after training, where--as you might suspect--I would all too often make up for lost time.

Now, though, it's up to me to make the time, which is an entirely different endeavor. If I can just sustain this motivation and avoid the devilish lure of a comfy couch and a warm blanket, I believe I'll find myself in a very good position come December. There was even a new song bouncing about in my head on the way home from training to take the place of that damned rainbow song:

"I'm not giving in to security under pressure
I'm not missing out on the promise of adventure
I'm not giving up on implausible dreams
Experience to extremes
Experience to extremes"

Thank you, Neil Peart.

I still have yet to state for certain that I do intend to test this year to my instructors, but I feel that time is nearing---just so long as I'm confident that I'll carry through with the necessary self training. Given the hours and money spent prepping the basement, I damn well better.


II. The Nightmare Continues
Work in the basement has continued, with the Dojo Kun and Niju Kun taking their proper place beneath the photo of Gichin Funakoshi and beside my makiwara. And, with the unplanned addition of a gas heater in the basement, I won't have to train in the cold much longer. It wasn't one of my wisest expenses, but the prospect of taking the chill out of the basement air and a 50% off sale at Lowe's was simply too much to pass up. Bear in mind, however, that installing this new piece of equipment falls under the realm of Mohr Family Remodeling Nightmare projects, and is therefore doomed to be immeasurably more difficult than it appears it ever should be. Already I've had to do some prep work on the old chimney face that I hope to mount it to and already I've run into trouble. In order to hit the required clearance overhead, I'll have to cut off flush with the brick the old cleanout cap that is too well sealed to remove, tuck in another smaller cap inside the remnants and find some type of bond to seal and secure the new cap. It's just another day at the Mohr Family Remodeling Nightmare...

Days to Dan PreTest #1: 51