Winter in Western PA is a bummer. I read somewhere that Western PA has the most amount of overcast days, second only to Seattle, WA. Crazy. That leads to a very high amount of suicides. Even crazier. However, in the clouds I find solace and comfort. In my pain I find the silver lining. There is a quote I like that goes,
"I have discovered that strength is not about a burden a person can remove from themselves. Real strength is uplifting the people who are around you. Giving others the ability to remove their burdens, their barriers to success in their lives." John Anthony
Pretty damn cool. I am healing fast and feel decent. The pain is all but gone, but I feel decent and like I could start lifting a little lower body. I wont though until next Sunday, and even then I am not sure what all I will do. I am able to touch the incision site now without pain and it is itchy as hell so it must be healing ok.
My step-son got a nice sized doe on the last day of deer season. He and and his granddad chopped it up yesterday and he brought the meat down. We got about 40+ pounds of protein out of that thing, lots of nice tender steaks and back straps and 20+ pounds of roast. I cleaned it and packaged it, and threw 2 big pieces in the crock pot. They should be nice and tender today! Venison is nature's perfect food. Not quite as much protein per 3 ounce serving as beef (about 25 grams versus about 31) however it has only 3.5 grams of fat and 66 mgs of cholesterol and 160 total calories versus beef's 10 grams of fat, 92 mgs of cholesterol, and 215 total cals. Also, with beef you are getting all those wonderful chemicals and hormones they inject into them. YUM! I would like to get my big stand-up fridge packed full of it, so when black powder season re-opens, we are going to try to get a few more.
More good news: my step-daughter has expressed a strong interest in powerlifting. She is 16 and strong as a bull. Much stronger then boys her age. I have watched her countless times ball up her older brother. When she was just 12 she picked up my Inch Dumbbell with 2 hands to lockout-that is 170+ pounds! With some good instruction and motivation I think she can be a force in woman's powerlifting within a year. I think I am going to take her to Cullen's this coming Sunday and get started with the basics. I have a feeling she is going to be strong right out of the gate which will give little Trevor a boost. He wont want to be beat by a girl! LOL!
It is good to see the internet is still the internet, and there are still people out there ready and willing to bash, discredit, and otherwise spit in the face of lifters out there just trying to do their thing. I am done with it. I keep thinking things have to get better, somewhere out there, there has to be a forum that is full of people helping one another, people lifting one another up, encouraging each other to be stronger, better, but I can never seem to find it. All strength forums are full of the same shit. It will be this way forever, and moderators just allow it to happen. So I am done. Hell, I only ever posted on the Gripboard, but that place has gone down hill fast. The guys who made that place; Heath, Pat, Big Steve, Steve W., Nick, Greg, Dave M., Tommy, the Vigeant's, etc. have not posted or even been around in forever, and in their places are people I don't really care to be associated with. I am a fairly strong supporter of the board, but I believe this may have to be stopped. I have a very small, very select group of sites online that are worth anything, and none of them have forums. Nick is kicking around the idea of a forum, and I think it can work, but it will have to be POLICED and the trolls and fake named haters who bash on everyone will have to go. I think that will only drag BEYOND STRONG into the gutter with the rest of the garbage that is out there.
I just want to thank Nick for allowing me my own little place in cyberspace where I can go and talk strength, hopefully help some people out, and just be myself. I can't wait for this site to get bigger and better Nick, you are doing a great job bro and the ideas we talked about will only make it better! To those who read this blog I ask this: Did you spend time today bringing others down, or did you help to build someone up?
-Rick
Still toying with the ideas Rick. Fantastic input from you as always. If WE can make it work we will.
Nick
Posted by: Nick McKinless | December 11, 2007 at 06:34 PM