F3 Knoxville

THE SCENE:   Scattered clouds, 75 degrees, 81% humidity, beautiful sunrise.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
SSH x25, Cherry pickers x15, Little baby arm circles forward/reverse x12, Spiderman crawl 20 yards, Samson lunges 20 yards, 1000 yard mosey to locate 6 stations in Tha-Thang.
THA-THANG:
Hill work at softball field: Sixes 1BBS at bottom, 5 ascents up hill; 2 BBS at bottom, 4 ascents up hill, 3 BBS at bottom, 3 ascents up hill.  (Abbreviated workout to get to the 6 Station Workout.)

• Mosey back to Station 1:  Perform merkins x12, CMU hop x12, Dry docks x12, BBS x12.
• Run 0.2 miles past each station, pick up CMU at Station 1, mosey to Station 2.
• Station 2:  With CMU perform dead lifts x12/arm, bent rows x18, overhead presses x12.
• Run 0.2 miles past each station, pick up CMU at Station 2, mosey to Station 3.
• Station 3:  Perform burpees x6; curb toe touches x48, SSH (4 count) x12.
• Run 0.2 miles past each station, pick up CMU at Station 3, mosey to Station 4.
• Station 4:  With CMU perform squats x18, upright rows x12, swings x12, curls x12.
• Run 0.2 miles past each station, pick up CMU at Station 4, mosey to Station 5.
• Station 5:  Perform merkins x12, CMU hop x12, Dry docks x12, BBS x12, burpees x6; curb toe touches x48, SSH (4 count) x12.
• Run 0.2 miles past each station, pick up CMU at Station 5, mosey to Station 6.
• Station 6:  With CMU perform dead lifts x12/arm, bent rows x18, overhead presses x12, squats x18, upright rows x12, swings x12, curls x12.

Repeat the circuit as time allows

MARY:
Box cutters, flutter kicks, Hello Dolly’s, and back scratchers in cadence for the final 4 minutes.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Total of 14 including FNG – Emeril (Roland Decicco).  Welcome!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Don and I started at Alcoa, Inc in 1974.  Don as a mechanic.  Me as a mechanical engineer.  Our paths didn’t really cross until 18 years later when he was a union member and I was a management member of the contracting out committee.  We made an immediate connection when I found out his nephew, Jason, was a boy that I had couched at Maryville Little League for 2 to 3 years.  Jason was killed in a car accident when he was 18 in 1993 and the connection between Don and I became stronger.  We would often talk about Jason by offering small remembrances.  From our connection we grew to respect each other, to understand each others position as we tried to forge work agreements and paths forward.  In the early 2000’s Don and I again worked together on craft training and apprentice training issues.  The relationship remained strong until my retirement in 2009.

In 2012 I accepted a position with an alliance of Alcoa with Ma’aden in Saudi Arabia, called Ma’aden Aluminium.  My first 6 months found me primarily in an office building in Khobar, KSA in the Eastern Province.  Each day a small, bashful, unassuming man would come into my office around 3:00 pm to get the trash.  Toward the end of the first week I rose from my desk when he entered and offered to shake hands.  He really didn’t know what to do.  I told him my name is “Bob” and I spelled it for him.  I asked him his name.  He softly spoke his name but I had to ask him to say it a little louder.  He did.  Together we spelled “Bishnu.”  I proceeded to write his name on the lower right corner of my 4′ x 8′ dry erase board.  We shook hands again and he left.  Through the next 5-1/2 months Bishnu’s name remained on that board even though much was written and erased as plans and ideas were captured on it.  I also tried to make a point of standing up each time he came in to empty my trash.  We had connected and I wanted to give him recognition – perhaps a little respect.  About midway through my time in the central office Bishnu came in, walked over to the board, pointed and said, “My name!”  Yes, I said, and I will always remember you.  This young man from Bangladesh had obtained a little self worth from some simple gestures I had directed at him but perhaps the most meaningful was seeing his name on my board.  When I vacated that office to spend the balance of my KSA time at the $20 billion work site, I erased everything on that board except the letters B-I-s-h-n-u.  I don’t know what ever happened to him and I doubt I ever will.  I do continue to remember him.

In 2016 and 2017 I performed a little part time work at Alcoa/Arconic and once again found myself connecting with Don.  He was my go to mechanic for questions and information relative to several utilities issues.  Gone was the Union/Management tensions of the past and we talked about that.  We talked of our initial connection and how it grew into a relationship where we could understand each others position and objectives.  We knew that a good friendship had formed over the many years.

How much better would our small piece of this world be if we just put some emphasis on really connecting with one another?  Occasionally, it might be brought up after one of the far too many mass shootings.  (One is far too many).  Lets put our phones up, get off of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. and get serious about connecting so that we can complete the chain to respect and then friendship.  We need to start sometime and there is no better time than now.

There is more to the Don story.  I’m so glad we had the discussion in 2016 and expressed appreciation for the friendship we had formed.  If we hadn’t then, it would be too late today.  A week ago Wednesday, Don was about five houses from home when his car left the road and he ran into a house in his neighborhood.  Don suffered a heart attack and died.  Rest in peace, my friend.  I won’ forget you.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Drifter move is Saturday.