F3 Knoxville

Tag: Switchgrass

You Are More Than Your Job

THE SCENE: Windy, temps in low 60s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Plank Jacks, 10 Cherry Pickers, 20 Side-Straddle Hops, 10 Windmills, Sitting knee stretches 10 count right, forward and left.
THA-THANG:
Mosey up Dragon Tail to Haslam Rock.  Stop on roadway to do 20 Box Cutters.

Mosey to Coliseum Courtyard Area.  We will run counterclockwise around the sidewalk loop.  We will do the following exercises around the circle:

  • First loop:  20 Bench Dips at Coliseum and Admin Bldg steps and 20 Merkins at the two sides of loop.
  • Second loop:  20 Box Jumps on Steps and 20 Carolina Dry Cocks at sides of loop.
  • Third loop:  20 Calf Raises on Steps and 20 Diamond Merkins at side of loop.
  • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to roadway area close to Haslam Rock.  We will do 20 Hello Dollies.

Mosey on Perimeter Trail to area at bottom of Mt. Everest.  We will split into teams of two and do Doras.  One partner runs to the construction fence going south on the perimeter trail, touches the fence and runs back.  The other partner works on the listed exercises and then partners switch.  As a team, the partners will do the following exercises:

  • 150 Freddie Mercuries (4 ct)
  • 150 Jump Squats
  • 150 Baby Crunches
  • 150 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)

Mosey to AO.

MARY:
Abdominals
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
21 men with one FNG:  Robert Kelly whom we dubbed Kung Blue.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
I know that some men in our brotherhood and some M’s of our brothers have struggled with the jobs they are in and the vocational decisions they are attempting to make. It is difficult to have a job that just doesn’t seem right for you.  It can be bewildering to wonder what direction your professional life should take. It can feel oppressive to go to a job you just don’t like and wonder when the right job will come along.  I look back to my own vocational struggles when I was in my 20’s and early 30’s. I can say that during some of those struggles I was clinically depressed.

As a 66-year-old who has been in the job market for quite some time, let me offer some words to you that may help be of benefit to those of you who have struggled vocationally or who have loved ones who have struggled:

  1. You are more than your job.  I know of people who feel they have never found the “right job.”  But some of them are amongst the finest people I know.  Yes, at parties we may introduce ourselves to others and answer the questions about what we do for a living.  But that isn’t our identity.  There is so much more:  our worship, our families, our friends, our activities outside of work, how we listen to others, how we treat others, how we lead others.
  2. If you are dissatisfied with your job, keep looking.  That doesn’t mean quit your current job.  But network with others, talk to your brothers, let them know you are looking for something new.  Also, when you interview for jobs, that in itself can be a learning process.  I am proud of my son, Bennett, for his growth through networking and interviewing in the past year.  He had a good job but wanted something different.  He thought he wanted to get into the banking industry but he wasn’t sure in what area or what direction to take.  He gradually found out a job that is fitting his desires by networking and interviewing for jobs that weren’t quite the fit.
  3. As our brother High-Heels said in a recent Q, even if you aren’t thrilled with your job, it’s a blessing to have it.  You are getting paid.  Your job is putting food on the table.  There are many people who are jobless and hungry.  Don’t forget that.
  4. You have an opportunity to serve others, no matter what your job.  You can smile at your customers, try to make their lives better, and enhance the lives of your fellow employees with a kind and eager spirit.  And, no matter what your job, whether physician or trash collector, that work is probably contributing to what makes our world spin.

I will sum up the last point with some of the words from a song we sometimes sing at my church called “Day by Day.”

Server, you remind us of our Savior's bowl and towel.
Teacher, you are raising up a child to be kind.
Lawyer, give us hope that justice one day will surround us.
May God's kingdom come, on earth His will be done.

Farmer, you are working for a table full of bounty.
Painter, with each color you are teaching us to see.
Nurse, yours are the healing hands that touch the poor and broken.
May God's kingdom come, on earth His will be done.

Lord, be close to us.  Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, please put Your hand on us day by day.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Jinxy and his family after the death of Jinxy’s father.  The funeral was today.  Prayers of praise for Operation as his wife is over six weeks pregnant after she and Operation went through such a lengthy time with issues of infertility.  Operation is going to be a great father!!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Hot Toddy Triple Q at the Asylum on Saturday morning, January 28 at the Asylum!  Pusher will have his Birthday Q with Lumpia likely in February!

The Stubborn Ounces Of My Weight

THE SCENE: REAL gloom in the Fake Gloom.  Misty, steamy, not too cold, not too warm.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER

Performed adequately.

WARM-O-RAMA:

-20 Side Straddle Hops (4-ct), in cadence

– 10 Cherry Pickers (4-ct), in cadence

  • 10 Temp Merkins (4-ct IC)

– 10 Tempo Squats (4-ct), in Cadence

– 10 Moroccan Nightclub (4-Ct) in cadence

– 10 Overhead claps (4-Ct) in cadence

THA-THANG:

MOSEY to Caribbean

CANDY CANE ESCALATORS (addressed questions from Swimmies)

  • Run to first cone. Do exercise then run to second cone, do exercise, run back, etc.  Go to 8 Cones. Exercises are:
    • Cone 1: 5 Burpees
    • Cone 2: 10 Bobby Hurleys
    • Cone 3: 15 Carolina Dry Docks
    • Cone 4: 20 BBSs
    • Cone 5: 25 LBCs
    • Cone 6: 30 iron mikes (single count)
    • Cone 7: 35 Hello dollies (single count)
    • Cone 8 : 40 Imperial Walkers (single count).

MOSEY to bottom of Cardiac (addressed more questions from Swimmies), stopping at Intersection to do some maintenance exercises.  Where’s Switchgrass??

Steam goes back to check, he had a ruck so will meet us later… but where? The plot thickens…

  • CARDIAC WORKOUT PYRAMID (addressed more questions from Swimmies):
    • Do the following exercises at the bottom then Bernie up to first turn and back. Do 5x reps the first time, then 10x, then 15x.
      • Star Jumps
      • Mountain Climbers (2-ct)
      • Froggie Jumps
    • Run back up the entire hill, doing 15 merkins at each turn

Where’s Switchgrass??

  • Mosey to Parking Lot  THERE’S Switchgrass!!!!
    • PARTNER UP. Partner 1 does exercise, Partner 2 goes to far end of parking lot by method indicated, does 5 SSH, and returns the same way.  Partners switch. The exercises and traveling method are as follows ((addressed more questions from Swimmies):
      • CURLS / KARAOKE LEFT
      • AROUND THE WORLDS / KARAOKE RIGHT
      • What did we do here??? / SPRINT

MARY:
About 20 seconds of STS (Stretching with Steam) before time
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
11 Studs!!
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

The holiday season can be awfully exciting… but there can be a weariness that sets in too.  Weariness of parties, shopping, commercials, food/clothing/toy drives, parades and then you can add to that non-holiday related stuff… election cycles, home repairs, what have you.  And there’s also a more general sense of weariness, that despite all of our efforts to do good, sometimes it seems like we’re not making a difference.

Take a deep breath, the long view, and the celebrate the small wins.  We don’t have to save the world.  Small wins sometimes add up to God’s miracles. St. Augustine lived in N. African town of Hyppa.  (Algeria) “Architect of the church”.  Wrote incredible works and classics that have defined Christian faith for generations in a time when the Roman empire was collapsing around him. At the end of his life he was watching barbarians storming his town, knew it would burn to the ground.  Went up to the battlements, and prayed.  One of his prayers, one of his last, was this one: “Lord, my one hope, hear me that weariness may not lesson my will to seek you.” He passed away never giving up to despair.

Ted Loder was a retired Methodist minister who was known for his artistic political activism and passion for social justice.  He was named at one time One of America’s Outstanding Creative Preachers

He wrote about an older woman in one of his congregations. She was nearly blind, bad arthritis, home bound.  Lived on a small teacher’s pension that she mostly gave away to causes she believed in.  She gave to Loder a poem.  “You say the little efforts that I make will do no good. They will never prevail to tip the hovering scale where justice hangs in the balance.  I never thought they would.  But I am prejudiced beyond debate in favor of my right to choose which side shall feel the stubborn ounces of my weight.”  Even on days when it doesn’t seem to matter, where will you put the stubborn ounces of your weight?  Let us not be weary of doing good.

As Paul wrote in Galations 6:9-10 “And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith”.  Don’t give in to weariness this holiday season.  Learn to Rest, Not Quit.

MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Naturbicentennial

THE SCENE: comfortable and clear
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
1 Manmaker, Thai Fighters (B) IC x 10, Tempo MKNS IC x 10, Tempo SQTS IC x 10, Windmills IC x 10, Toy Soldiers IC x 10, Chinooks IC x 10 (B), Nolan Ryans IC x 10 (B), SSH’s x 51
THA-THANG:

Partner Up

Mosey to Bank-  P1 bear crawl around ATM island while P2 runs around bank. Repeat 4 rounds and on 5th you run together then perform 10 manmakers all together

Mosey to Norm Hill:  p1 does BBS while P2 runs to top of hill, completes 5 Bobby Hurley’s and tags partner. Repeat 4 rounds then on 5th complete 10 manmakers then Bernie back up hill and do 5 more Bobby Hurley’s

  • Run to end of street and stop at end…perform 10 Froggy SqTS IC then all doe 10 Manmakers
  • Mosey down hill to Brickyard old coffee house.  P1 does MKNS while P2 runs to carwash and back (3/4 mile) repat x1.  Finish with 10 manmakers
  • Mosey to planters and like 11’s alternate 1 manmaker and tricep dips

MARY:
Supermans x 10 IC, Heel reaching crunchs x 10 IC, Bruce Lees x 10 IC, Gas Pumps x 10 IC, T plank arm circles x 10 IC (B)
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
Natty, Lizzy, Spellcheck, Fast n Easy, Charmin, Belding, Switchgrass, Gmail
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
You have a problem, you are NOT the problem
MOLESKIN:
Insert any personal comments, notes, devotion content, etc.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Insert information about upcoming events, 2nd or 3rd F opportunities, and any other announcements.

Thankful for Friends Like You

THE SCENE: Cloudy, muggy, low 80’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle-Hops, 10 Imperial Walkers, 10 Plank Jacks, 10 Twisties, 10 Rockettes, 7 Little Baby Arm Circles and 3 Pterodactyls forwards and backwards, Little of This and That
THA-THANG:
Mosey to shaded parking lot that is across the street from the parking lot to entry of ball fields.  We will go around the parking lot counterclockwise stopping at each corner to do exercise then move to next corner in the following fashion:

  • Corner 1:  20 Carolina Dry Docks, Bear Crawl to Corner 2
  • Corner 2:  20 Merkins, Bernie Sanders to Corner 3
  • Corner 3:  10 Gas Pumps, Lunge to Corner 4
  • Corner 4:  10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1), Sprint to Corner 1
  • Rinse and Repeat

Mosey to Pavilion.  We will do 20 step ups on benches of picnic tables where both legs = 1

Mosey to bottom of Cardiac.  We will run up cardiac stopping along the follow areas to do the listed exercises:

  • Curve 1:  20 American Hammers
  • Curve 2:  20 Hello Dollies
  • Curve 3:  20 Decline Merkins
  • Curve 4:  20 Bench Dips

Mosey to parking lot by entry of ball fields.  We will go around the parking lot counterclockwise stopping at each corner to do the following exercises and them moving to the next corner in the listed manner:

  • Corner 1:  20 Squat Jumps, Sprint to Corner 2
  • Corner 2:  20 Squats, Bernie to Corner 3
  • Corner 3:  20 Big Boy Sit-ups, Sprint to Corner 4
  • Corner 4:  20 Iron Mikes (both legs = 1), Bernie to Corner 1
  • Rinse and Repeat.

Mosey to bottom of Mini-Cardiac.  We will Bernie Sanders to park sign, then sprint to top.

Mosey on trail going along the roadway, then turn south toward the stop sign at the northeastern corner of the admin bldg.  We will do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Next, we will sprint to start of rail by road, lunge along rail, then sprint along road until it is close to the Bat House.

Next, we will run at own pace to big tree by road that is north of the bat house then run back and go down the steps by the bat house then run back up to AO.

MARY:
Stretches
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
20 men, no FNGs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Thank You Friends

Thessalonians 5:11:  Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Gents, I am so lucky to have brothers like you who encourage me.  When my wife went through treatment for breast cancer right when Covid-19 first hit, you guys were constantly giving my words of encouragement, offering to bring me food, and sending messages to me.  When I had my hip replacement surgery last year, you guys were encouraging me again.  Now, I will be having total shoulder replacement surgery this Thursday.  I know some of you guys have already been praying for me.  It is so good to have strong men, brothers, like you who are keeping my six.  I am going to miss the F3 workouts for the next three months.  Of course, I will be jabbering on Slack as soon as I am out of treatment.  I will be coming to Asylum PM “board meetings” as soon as I am able.  And, when I am able to walk or ride a bike, I will be meandering around the Asylum while you guys are working out.  Praise the Lord for brothers like you.  Thank you God, for the boost in my life that my F3 brothers continually give me.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Crispr’s friend, for Pop-a-Top’s friend’s mother, for Abacus’ mom, for Lilydipper’s surgery, and for the upcoming F6 Dad and Child campout.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Dad and Child Campout coming soon.

The Extraordinary Salt of the Earth

THE SCENE: Cloudy, high 80s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
20 Side-Straddle Hops, 5 Burpees, 10 Mountain Climbers, 4 Burpees, 10 Windmills, 3 Burpees, 10 Twisties, 2 Burpees, 10 Rockettes, 1 Burpee, Stretching from Plank Position

THA-THANG:

Mosey toward stop sign at southeastern corner of Admin Bldg.  Stop in shade for 20 Hello Dollies..

Mosey to small parking lot that is east of Utilities Bldg.   We will do elevens, starting with 10 Squat Jumps near Utilities Bldg and 1 Merkin at other shaded end of parking lot.

Mosey toward Northshore Gate and then head north on perimeter trail.  We will stop at shaded north side of Utilities Bldg to do 20 Box Cutters.

Mosey to bottom of MT. Everest.  We run up Mt. Everest but stop at three different areas (first tree, second tree, and then grove right before last climb to summit) to do 25 Baby Crunches at each tree.

Run up the remainder of Mt. Everest and go back to the bat cave area.  We will stop to get water.  We will then do 20 Flutter Kicks.

Next, we will divide into groups of three.  One man will be in shade near bat cave.  The next man will be at shade of large tree near roadway northeast of the bat cave.  While one partner runs from one location to the other, the other partners do exercises.  When partner runs to the location, the next partner runs to the other.  Here are the exercises at each location:

  • In shade near bat cave:  Squats
  • In shade near tree:  Squat Jumps

Rinse and repeat with Lunges at bat cave and Iron Mikes at tree.

Money to AO.

MARY:
Stretches.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
13 men, no FNGs.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:

Proverbs 31:26

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”

The news we watch on television is more often than not a reflection of the worst kinds of actions amongst humans:  murder, mass shootings, war, political showboating, disparaging statements amongst politicians and world leaders, angry comments about how the other side is acting, fraud, deceit, and purposeful or negligent actions that lead to the harm or death of others.  By reading or listening to the news, one would think that the world is full of terrible people.  Fortunately, that is not the truth.  There are plenty of good people out there doing things that we never hear about.  These people aren’t famous.  They aren’t boasting and saying, “hey everybody, look at what I have done!”  They are just doing God’s will, being the salt of the earth.

Let me give you an example of a female patient in my psychology practice.  I want to keep her name confidential so for the purpose of talking about her, I will just call her “Sally.”  Sally isn’t a perfect person by any means.  She has been seeing me because she needs help with anxiety.  What does she worry about?  Mostly, her kids.  How many children does she have?  She has two biological children that are fully grown adults.  She also has 24 foster children that are primarily adults now.  You read it correctly, 24!

Some people may claim that she and her husband have done it for the money.  After all, the state does pay for families to provide foster care to children that are under the protection of the Department of Children’s Services or DCS.  However, having got to know Sally, she isn’t in it for the money.  Her husband has always had a full-time job.  She has loved the kids she has fostered.  It isn’t an easy job.  DCS got involved with the kids because they came from families of neglect or emotional, physical or sexual abuse.  Some of the kids had terrible behavioral and emotional issues because of the former environments they were raised in.  Sally and her husband had to be loving but firm with them.  Sally and her husband get close to these children.  They adopted one of them who is now 14 years-old and a straight A student.  They almost adopted three others but the boys were placed back in the care of their biological father before the adoption occurred.  Those boys are now adults.  Two are serving in the United States Armed Forces and the third is applying since he recently graduated from high school.  All three keep in continual touch with Sally.  In fact, most of her foster children do.  None now live with her except the girl she adopted.  At their ages, Sally and her husband have decided to no longer provide foster care.  But they have plenty of “children” to keep up with – their former foster children and the children of those foster children still come to visit Sally and her husband.  And when they do visit, Sally makes sure she has some fine cooking on the table for them.

Sally is a saint, but she isn’t some Renaissance Artist’s depiction of a saint.  In her sessions with me, she is usually wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers.  A woman who likes to stay busy, she now works as a cashier at a convenience store.  The work keeps her mind off her worries.  And, she worries about all those kids she has raised.  When you have been involved in raising 24 children that came to you through DCS, some of them are going to struggle when they are adults.  She keeps in touch even with the ones who have difficulties, who get into trouble.  And, her home is always open to them for a good meal and some loving words.

This is news that I wish we could hear more about on television or read about on our cell phones.  I guess it isn’t “breaking news.”  But it is good news and people like Sally are doing things like this all over our country.  The Lord is working in wonderful ways through what some may call ordinary people.  But when you get to know them, like I have got to know Sally, you find out that they are extraordinary.

MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Abacus’ mother who will need another surgery.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Workday at Cerebral Palsy Center on August 6