Category: Alcatraz

Raining Pain at Alcatraz

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Before we kicked off the workout, we could hear the incoming storm pouring down rain through the trees.  Big storm approaching the, not much cover at Alcatraz.  We didn’t take cover in our cars, we marched on with the workout.

Lutefisk delivers disclaimer and heads for cover from the rain under the trees, which proved to be worthless. Knocked out SSH, Merkins, and some random shoulder work. Using the trail, partner up. One partner stays and does reps, other runs to another spot up the trail for other reps. Flapjack for 9 different exercises and a little song to transition (something about a skipper catching lutefisk and bringing it to Tyson foods for processing into the next Q Fishstix)
Second half began with a slow mosey around the park, down the big hill to the Marina. We formed a line, planked, and each pax performed two merkins facing pax (two rounds). Next we ran up the hill, found a wall for a brief wall sit and three rounds of calf raises. Back to the base of the Big Hill, set of 20 Carolina Dry Docks, up to the top for LBCs and Box cutters, both in cadence.
Back to COT.
Great job men!

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AKA Invergence

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This is happening!!!

Invergence following the
AKA culminating convergence
on Saturday 4/30

Topic: Shield Locks
Panelists: Pusher, Cake Boss, Fogerty, and Maximus
Location: WEP Ampitheater
When: 4/30 post-COT, circa 7:45-8:15
Coffee: Yes! Thanks Uhaul, 2nd F guru!
Detail: bring a chair, and maybe a clean shirt because you sweat a lot

Read More on Shield Lock from Q Source

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Miles, Merkins, and Bear Crawls

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Warmup: 55 SSH (IC) (While we had a visit from the boys in blue)

The Thang:

Merkin Mile part 1. Runde to Marina parking lot.

Run .25 miles – 25 Merkins

Run .25 miles-25 HR Merkins

Run .25 miles – 25 Merkins

Run .25 miles – 25 HR Merkins.

We ended up by the Marina Parking Lot for stage 2 of the workout.

10 Minute EMOM

5 Diamond Merkins

10 LBC’s

15 2-ct Flutters

5 Diamond Merkins

I scaled this portion up as we went a long and we ended on

7 Diamond Merkins

15 LBC’s

15 2-ct Flutters

7 Diamond Merkins

To cool down from the EMOM we did 20 SSH (IC) and 10 Michael Phelps.

Merkin Mile Part 2. Marina to Runde Parking lot.

25 Merkins

Run.25 Miles (we bearcrawled a portion of this up “the hill” to keep everyone together)

Run .25 Miles – 25 HR Merkins

Run .25 Miles – 25 Regular Merkins

Run.25 Miles – 25 HR Merkins

All Told we finished 2 miles with 100 regular Merkins, 100 HR Merkins and 100(and change) of Diamond Merkins.

After some LBC’s IC and just about 20 minutes to go in the WO. I asked the PAX to choose between option 1 and option 2.

Of course Option 3 was selected. As a result I called (partially inspired by JWOW’s Q the previous day) to do a Bearcrawl Webb. For this one, and since it’s BAPOPS, I called a burpee bear Crawl Webb.

1Burpee-4 Bear Crawl Steps. We did it all in the Runde parking lot and got all the way up to 10-40.

With just a handful of minutes left we got down to the Basketball court where I planned a “tempo” cool down.

12 Low Slow Squats IC

12 Tempo Merkins IC

12 Big Boy Sit-ups IC

12 American Hammers IC

Then went to

10 Low Slow Squats

And….before I could call the Merkins Uber distracted us all with a Huge Osprey flying overhead. It was effective in that it got the PAX out of the Tempo Merkins..it was in-effective in that since we only had 60 seconds left it gave me the opportunity to call 10 Burpees OYO.

This was a great morning and great time to spend with the men. Thanks to all who posted and Skipper for the Opportunity!

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Prison Yard Beatdown

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10  Pax converged at the rock on a cool Saturday morning 0630 for a full body beatdown led by Sasquatch and YHC.

*pre-pull-ups were completed by Skipper, Maximus, Sasquatch and YHC. All of them.

Sasquatch kicked the sesh off with a brief disclaimer and  a unique and effective warm-up that included:

SSH

5+ minute plank with upward dog, downward dog (with multiple variations)

Peter Parker

Parker Peter

Plank jacks

Merkins

Wide-arm merkins

Now that the upper body and core were fired up we moseyed over to the playground where we completed:

3 sets of 5 pullups

5 toes to bar

10 partner clap pushups

wheelbarrow ~20 yards

2 sets of 5 curb merkins

5 curb burpees

5 curb sit-up-getups

1 set of 5 windmill merkins

YHC took over right at 0700 and brought the PAX back to the parking lot where we split into two groups, first group (A)  runs lap around park, stopping at all park benches to complete a number of exercises, return to parking lot and switch with group (B) who is completing exercises in cadence with good form (AMRAP):

1st lap, Group B- Deep squats (AMRAP), Group A – Runs with 10 dips each bench (20 total)

2nd Lap, Burpees (AMRAP) and Step-ups (20 total)

3rd lap, Monkey Humpers (AMRAP) and Derkins (total)

After much grumbling and some counting methods no better than our last few elections we switched it up and moved to front of parking lot for some more partner work.

First partner sprints to far end of parking lot, 2nd partner holds plank. We did 3 or 4 rounds

Finally we did some Mary for 3 minutes, flutter kicks in cadence and american hammers to get us to 0730 and COT.

Thanks for the opportunity Skipper!

 

 

 

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F3 AMRAP 4 AUTISM

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F3 AMRAP 4 AUTISM

B.L.U.F.

Saturday April 2nd there will be a #BEATDOWN of epic proportions (AMRAP style) at Alcatraz.  This #SNOTWOGGLER is being delivered in order to support families with autism (like mine) get the resources they need.  The average cost for ABA therapy is $60,000 per year and can be much higher depending on the severity and need.  Autism Strong Foundation is a local non-profit that is “Founded on faith and led by inclusion, our mission is to provide the strongest support, community and hope for those touched by autism. All funds raised by Autism Strong are mindfully donated to our community in the way that will make the greatest impact; connecting families and children to the resources they desperately need.” Give HERE if you feel so lead.

THE WHY:

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord…” Jeremiah 29:11

My son Noah was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder in June of last year.  The verse from Jeremiah is a truth that my M and I have hung on to ever since that day.  Admittedly there have been many days where we have doubted, more than I’d like to admit, as we’ve worked to learn and navigate this new world we were thrusted in to.  When we do doubt, Noah is quick to bring a smile to our face with his infectious laugh or just his sweet demeanor – reminding us that while this world may be new to us, he has been here all along and we must only try to see things from the perspective God has gifted Noah with.

Through our journey we have found an amazing community and organization with a local nonprofit called Autism Strong Foundation.  The foundation was started to help families that cannot afford to help their children get the care they need for autism.  My M and I know firsthand, after battling with insurance for coverage, how difficult it can be to carry this burden on top of everything else.  We know many families are losing that fight or just cannot afford to help their children with the extremely high cost of therapy.  Some families must make a choice between paying the power bill or therapy for their special needs child, could you imagine that decision?

 

THE WHAT

  • F3 AMRAP 4 AUTISM is taking over Alcatraz on Saturday April 02.
  • 0630 launch with brief warmup and explanation of the day’s event
  • 0650 Event Start. AMRAP below workout for 32 minutes (Partner or OYO)
    • 54 shoulder to overhead with coupon
    • 54 yard walking lunge with coupon
    • 54 KB swings to eye level
    • 54 squat cleans with coupon
    • Run 1 lap around the park
  • 0722 Clock Stops
  • 0730 COT & Winners Announced
  • 0745 Coffeteria

 

 Other Details

  • Workout is open to ALL MEN – regardless of if you donate. #CorePrinciple and all…
  • We will be gathering as many coupons as we can. If you have a sandbag, kettlebell or cinderblock please bring it.  Recommend no more than 50 lbs.
  • AMRAP 4 AUTISM is an annual event started by Autism Strong Foundation in 2013.  April 30 is the “official” event.  It will be at Matthews Sports Plex and is going to be a TON OF FUN.  Check it out HERE and register or just plan to come hang out and enjoy this awesome community event!  The workout is the same as above and they will have sandbags for all participants.

 

How you can help

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Insider baseball

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Kaiser took the lead and started us off with the warmup.

We then proceeded to bear crawl together across the field. No one could pass the Q, and we stopped at regular intervals for some pain.

Next up was some Dora. Partnering up, one partner ran down the field and back, while the other worked on Merkins, squats, and LBCs. After LBCs for the 6, Kaiser passed the torch to Battle Bot.

Starting with reps of 10, we hit 10 burpees in the field and worked our way counter clockwise around the path. Pain stations were as follows in the map below

Lap 2 was 15 reps of each.

Some quick Mary, followed by COT, then coffeeteria at Tega Cay Deli

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No Arrival

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40-some pax posted to the region’s Ground Zero at WEP for a smorgasbord of pain, from 6@6 to Millkshake to a tried and true BC beatdown.  A very explicit and thorough Disclaimer was pronounced by Dark Helmet for the benefit of our FNG, and then the pax blasted off.

The Thang

The recitation of the 5 Core Principles quickly failed to meet DOAH’s standard, leading to some burpees.

Mosey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers and knee lifts mixed in, with the pax following onto the bandshell stage.

COP proceeded including more core principles along with some Merkins and DOAH’s proclamation that maybe the FNG’s fitness surpassed that of many of the pax present.  {Yes, he’s good at stirring the pot whether he’s poking at the Q or Qing himself.}

More mosey and more warm up exercises until the pax reach the far side of the WEP.

Enter stage left — the BAOPS boys via Clown Car — Trucker, Smuggler, Change Order & Longshanks, who just couldn’t stand the thought  of missing out on the best 1st, 2nd & 3rd F in The Fort on this given Saturday.  {Pro move by whoever made that call!}

Partner up for wheel barrow…to the playground…Yes…to the playground!…where the fun really starts.  {Fishsticks promptly cruised 85% of the way there to prove to his FNG that no matter what DOAH says, the FNG’s fitness had room for improvement.}

At the playground, each partner does 50 (yes, Five-O!) pull ups.  {Jiffy cranked out 30 in rapid fire.}

Some core work followed including LBCs and Rosalitas among others.

Handoff to Double D

Run to the bottom of the hill

Jacob’s Ladder with Donkey Kicks at the bottom and Sumo Squats at the top.  Traverse to the top via Bear Crawl and run to the bottom.

Mosey back to the parking lot with some Mary led by Jekyll

Climb the Stairway to Heaven via lunge walks, pausing for Carolina Dry Docks at each lamp post, starting with 5 reps and adding 5 more at each successive post.

Mosey down to the monuments with some Mary led by Longshanks

Circle up for an FNG introduction to Jack Webb by Change Order

Run home for final 2 mins of Mary by Longshanks

COT

NMM

A spirited pax at The Fort on this pleasant late winter morning!   Back to back weeks with a convergence at The Fort — thanks to the Alcatraz boys for adding their zeal to the day!

Maximus delivered the tailgate coffeeteria in the parking lot afterward and our FNG (EHed by Fishsticks) hung around long enough to learn the backstory of his name (Roy Kent) and to fill his rolodex with roofing customer prospects.

Welcome to Roy Kent!  Barry Manilow was quite vocal about the quality of the name and the importance of RK living up to it.  Well, if he doesn’t meet the mark, we can always default to what RK thought we named him — Rockette!

It was great to have Car Bomb among the pax today, fresh off his return trip from New Zealand, prior to his resettlement in another adventure.

The theme for the day was geared around the notion of life being an endless series of mountain climbs, peak after peak, with no arrival to the top in sight — ever.  Depressing, huh?  No, not for the HIMs of F3 and The Fort.  Give us the hard stuff.  We’re playing the long game and we know you can’t play it alone.  So keep posting, stay engaged with your brothers.  Together we’ll keep accelerating.

It was a treat to Q with DOAH for the first time.  We all look at him as just another member of The Fort, which of course he is.  At the same time, he also invests a huge amount of his life leading the 43 feet for the Nation.  Not only is it not easy being Frank {imagine how hard it must be for Traci his wife}, it’s also lonely at the top of any organization {how about leading one with 50,000 type A men?}, and it’s incredibly challenging to serve as the successor to any founder {would you want to try one Dredd’s shoes}.  Despite the small jabs, I say this with all seriousness — DOAH has taken on an extremely difficult challenge, one that he executes well with tremendous energy and virtue and that we all benefit from.  We’re fortunate that he calls The Fort “home” and that we get to take his crap on a regular cadence.  Thank you, DOAH!

Thanks to Grinder for the opportunity!  Always an honor to lead the men of this brotherhood!

SYITG

 

 

 

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Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

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Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Celebrities, Cinder Blocks, Disney…a perfect morning at BAOPS

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The threat of snow did not intimidate as a total of 14 PAX converged on the Rock, er BAOPS, er Alcatraz. In addition to the Nation representation, we were graced with the dulcet(er) tones of Funny Bonz, er…Hello Kitty. Man, if only we had CSPAN, Repeato, Tommy Boy and Bones in attendance, we would’ve had all the Podcasting staff present. Next time.
Right from the jump, the chatter was strong, exactly how it should be. We had snow jokes, road jokes, hugs, rookie jokes, Q-Source jokes, age jokes and a whole bunch of things not made for print. A morning that will live in infamy, or, maybe not.

With the first half of this morning’s installment brought to you by Maximus (3rd person), I (1st person) did give the disclaimer. You could imagine how that went. Something to note, I did advise the PAX who got there early, they should stretch and warm up as necessary ‘cuz ain’t no side straddle hops, imperial walkers or windmills were to be had.

So, we made our way to the top of the park to the pull up bars. Every member of the PAX had to complete 10 pull ups and while you weren’t pulling yourself up, you were completing your best rendition of the American Hammer. Go until completion.
Next, run to the bottom of “the hill”; don’t worry, I scouted for slick roads ahead of time.
At the bottom of the hill, 10 Burpees and 10 Carolina Dry Docks
Run up for 5 more pull ups
Run back to the bottom for 10 Burpees and 20 Merkins.
NUR back to the top for flutter kicks until the 6 rolled in.

To the parking lot and grab a cindy out of my truck bed (or a KB)
10 Overhead Press
20 Staggered Merkins (10ea side)
30 Curls
40sec count while holding legs out at 6″ and cindy overhead

40 Overhead Press
30 Merkins (15ea side)
20 Curls
10sec count as done above

50 Bent over rows
10 Thrusters

My job is done…time for Italian Job

Short mosey to the field for:
11’s from foul pole to foul pole with the exercises consisting of
Mickey Mouse Merkins (Walt Disney World Merkins) at one end and squats at the other.
No doubt at this point, the PAX had a severely confused puppy dog look on their face because IJ was all like, “Ya know, Disney…WDW, Wide-Arm, Diamond, Wide Arm.”
And all of us were like, “Oh yeah…of course”…eye roll.
This my friends, is a sure-fire way to make a statement. It became very clear that unless your name is Italian Job, Senator Tressel, Trucker, Olaf and perhaps Mainframe, your form was garbage come about Disney Merkin #6.

Carry on

Now, run around the entire field then 25 Calf Raises.
Next up, run another lap then 25 Freddy Mercury’s.
Finally, another lap.

NMM (In the words of Italian Job):
“Always a pleasure to share the gloom with you men. A question for you, What’s holding you back? Is it time, energy, money, expertise – all of these? Excuses only sound good to the person making them. Whatever you desire is on the other side of effort. If it was easy, everyone would do it. If you want it, go get it. Dominate the day!”

And like that, we’re out. Until next time…
Italian Job & Maximus

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Dog (Dawg) Years

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A band of 7 met at  Runde for the second Alcatraz workout of 2022.  After a fine disclaimer from Copay,  and a late, ‘comin’ in hot’ arrival by Divac, the workout commenced.  Here is what we did:

The Thang:

Copay on Q:

Form a quick circle for COP:

Do a standing stretch starting from the toes and reaching up to the sky with a calf raise (18 reps in cadence – cool!)  From there we went to side straddle hops at various speeds in cadence up to 80 (160 total)- crowd pleaser.

Mosey to the back of the parking lot near the basketball hoops.  Split into pairs and do the following:

Round 1:

Parter 1 does 42 squats while partner  2 lunge walks the length of the lot.  When the count is reached, partner 1 runs to catch partner 2 and flapjack.   Return to the start with more squats and lunge walks.

Round 2 – same as round 1?

Round 3

Partner 1 does 42 jump squats while partner 2 broad jumps along the parking lot.  When the count is reached, partner 1 runs to catch partner 2 and flapjack.

Circle back up and do 33  Superman back exercises (lie flat on stomach, raise legs and arms)

To finish his half of the workout, Copay gathered us for a Switzer (or maybe a Smart).   He talked more about this season’s Bulldogs and how they improved their fitness through ‘gassing’.  See reference below.  The Pax let out a collective sigh of relief.

Handoff to Senator Tressel

Form a line for an extended indian run along Windward drive.  Run about  2 laps between Tega Cay Drive and the circle at the end of Windward,  and then head back to the baseball fields of Runde.

Circle up for Tabata.  5 rounds:  20 sec work, 10 sec rest, rinse and repeat for 4 minutes per exercise, 20 minutes total.   Do the following exercises:

  1.  Merkins
  2. Freddie Mercury
  3. Carolina dry dock
  4. V-ups
  5. Burpees

End with the body destroyer for 60 sec

COT

NMM:

What a pleasure to share a Q with Copay!  I don’t see him very often, but he’s a good guy to be around – always smiling and positive.  Copay is a HUGE Georgia Bulldogs fan and he was still riding the high from Monday night’s championship win.   His portion of today’s workout was centered around Bulldog stats – years since last championship (42), the score (33-18), others I can’t recall.  Toward the end of his portion, he talked about how the Bulldogs improved their fitness through ‘gassing’.  I could sense the tension mounting with the Pax (YHC included), about what was going to happen next.  He never did tell us exactly what it was, but it didn’t sound pleasant.  Thankfully (or mercifully), Copy said that we were not going to do any gassing today and he handed the lead over to me (whew!)

My half of the workout included one of my favorites – the Tabata.  I learned this from F3 brother Chicken Wing several years ago at a workout.  It’s simple and requires very little planning, but it’s intense and always a tough one – the soreness in my upper body and abs are reminding me of that as I write this.

I was very pleased to see Photobomb and Smuggler out yesterday.  I saw Smuggler at Golden Corral on Tuesday and hope he and Photobomb continue to come back regularly.  We miss you, brothers!  It was a privilege to Q with Copay and lead the group today as always.  Copay’s tribute to the GA Bulldogs provided the perfect opportunity for me to use another Rush song title in my backblast ( huge fan – RIP Neil Peart).

Announcements,/prayers/praises

  1.  Dam to Dam Bar on Jan 29, Yeti coming soon, check your newsletter as always.
  2. Prayers for the Duffy family, Divac friend Sharon recovering from cancer and brain surgery, ST friend Joe with Cancer and co-worker on a ventilator (Covid).

 

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