Tag: Figaro

Deck of Awesomeness

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WARMUP:
Mosey to FM Church of God…SSH, Low slow squats, seal jacks and Moroccan nightclubs. Mosey to FM Baptist rear parking lot.

THE THANG:
Deck of cards: Hearts = Merkin. Spades = BBSU. Diamonds = Lunge. Clubs = Crab cakes. Joker = 15 burpees. 2s = Lap around parking lot. PAX made it through 90% of the deck before DOAH decided to “help” by selecting new cards for the remainder of the WO. As punishment for DOAH’s “help,” we pivoted to 7’s on the Withers St hill. Jump Squats at the bottom and merkins at the top.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Many options for community leadership coming up in the next few months.

COT:

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#Serving at Thanksgiving with Many Thanks

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With great apologies for the delay in this backblast, here is a followup to our Thanksgiving meal drive. The PAX were truly inspiring in reaching out. We are all called to serve, and can do so in many different ways.

Immediate thanks to Figaro for the turkey donations, along with the 20 men who did not hesitate and within 3 days quickly donated to the cause… and whom most have chosen to remain anonymous. Special thanks to Cable Guy, Frat Boy and Crab Cakes for helping with delivery. More details further below. And additional thanks to Crab Cakes and M Kara for followup support to one of our families!

Many of us don’t truly realize the experiences of the poor and needy  until we are able to observe in real life. Most of stay in our one station in life, but it can be a privilege to experience others’ stations. (see next full story, try to get through it all)

One of the most meaningful and deep scenes in a movie I have watched comes from one of the silliest movies. In the movie “Overboard” with Goldie Hahn and Kurt Russell, Hahn’s female character (Joanna) plays a very stuck up, rich woman who falls overboard at night from her yacht while near WA (state). She gets amnesia. She is ‘claimed’ by Russell’s carpenter character (Dean) to ‘compensate’ for her refusal to pay him for his services performed by him in the days before.

Joanna ends up living a poor life with Russell and his 4 boys for about a month. She experiences things she would never had in her rich world.  She learns humility living a life with little money. Eventually her memory returns and she returns to her yacht.  But she no longer acts like the ‘debutante’ who her mother and privileged husband so want. They think something is wrong with her.

Later on board the yacht, Joanna has an interaction with her servant butler (Andrew) who has been taking care of her his whole life with no thanks for his efforts:

  • Andrew: (Andrew hands Joanna her earrings after they’ve drank tequila shots below decks with the crew) You best not lose these again, madam.
  • Joanna: (perplexed) Again?
  • Andrew: You will forgive me, madam. (clearly mocking her) “Andrew! I seem to have lost my ruby earrings somewhere between 64th and 68th street, find them.”
  • Joanna: (genuinely contrite) I’ve behaved so badly. (Andrew raises his eyebrows)
  • Joanna: You’ve done all these wonderful things for me and I never even once said thank you. I’m sorry.
  • Andrew: (embarrassed) Apology accepted, ma’am. (he turns away and to the sink)
  • Joanna: (following him) Everyone on this boat thinks I’m crazy. Do you think they’re right?
  • Andrew: (turning around to face her) Oh no, madam. Oh no. You… most of us go through life with blinders on. Knowing only that little station to which we were born. But you madam, have had the… rare privilege of escaping your bonds for just a spell. To see life from an entirely new perspective. How you choose to use that information is entirely up to you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlHlKi2dATw

The movie ends up with a happy ending with Joanna returning to Dean and the boys.

It is up to all of us to decide how we use information we have at hand. If you are called to serve, how are you actually serving? Are you truly seeking to serve? Are you open to learning about others less fortunate than you? Even more so, are you willing to put yourself in an uncomfortable environment to learn firsthand?

Here is a quick synopsis of this year’s turkey meals donation.  We had done turkey drives before, but some of the feedback we got was, not that it wasn’t appreciated, but that it was too much of a ‘giveaway.’ Best teach a man to fish, so to speak. But we’ve been in the Paradise community over 1 1/2 years now and we didn’t want to let Thanksgiving pass without some involvement. A plan was put together on Monday, announced to the PAX on Tuesday, enough donations received by Thursday, food bought on Friday and delivered on Saturday.

Thanks were in abundance from those receiving the meals. We had a few crying in appreciation. The names of the 10 neediest families were given to us by Kim Vinisette of SON Ministries who has been working in the community for years. F3 has a strong relationship with Kim. As we shared with the families, we asked them to also share to any others that could use food for the holiday.

We gave each family a nice presentation basket of initial food along with their turkey, an F3 flyer, a holiday card from F3 and a gift certificate of varying amounts (depending on family size) to buy additional food, ie. fresh food, dessert.

We arrived at the park Saturday afternoon and the PAX helped deliver.

Lessons learned include…planning to spend more on each family roughly in the $100 range, buying all the food necessary for a full meal, starting much earlier, getting other groups involved to help support the cause. Maybe next year we can increase the # of families.

I have some pictures but not at the ready. Will get posted here shortly. I want to get this BB out.

*** An additional good experience came from this endeavor. One of the families, a single mom with 3 girls, had next to no furniture in their apartment.  Crab Cakes and his M Kara came through as we identified their needs and their rooms went from having nothing to being filled!  Awesome job!  We are now working on another similar situation. Will post that info soon!

Great thanks once again to the PAX.

Aye! Bolt

 

 

 

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Support Thanksgiving Food Efforts in Paradise

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***** Update Thursday 9:00 pm *****
Great thanks to the PAX who have donated, and in just one day 1/2, we reached our goal!  Please, no more donations, but, if you were considering, let Bolt know in case we want to add additional families to receive food.
If you would like to volunteer to help deliver (no 2.0’s on delivery, please) to the families, please let Bolt know ASAP. Delivery is being planned for Saturday from 1-3:00 pm (before the G-Fit workout). If needed we will deliver later Saturday, or on Sunday.
For this saturday….1-3:00 pm – food delivery…followed by G-Fit with the kids at 3:00 pm  please join us and bring the 2.0’s to g-fit!!!!

I will be purchasing food tomorrow.  Today, I was able to get 10 large baskets with Thanksgiving themed ‘liners’ (for a nicer food presentation) at a near-donation price from the Humane Society thrift shop. They have supported us previously, and offered to continue to give us sports balls which we use and distribute to the kids in Paradise. We will also be getting a supply of corn, beans and yams which we will not have to purchase. This means we will be able to give the families a larger gift certificate to the grocery store to purchase any additional food items that may want outside of our basic food items (ie. dessert, etc).

Thank you! bolt *****

 

Thanksgiving is nearly upon us,  and Bolt and Deacon are seeking PAX support (quickly) in a small effort to provide full Thanksgiving meals to families in Paradise.

F3 has had a presence in Paradise for over a year and half now. In past years we have had a community turkey drive. We are changing it up this year to provide (at least) 10 full meals to specific high priority families in need. We are working with Kim at SON Ministries to identify these families. But we must move quickly in our efforts with a target delivery of this weekend 11/17-11/18 and an absolute deadline of Tuesday 11/20.

<See also below schedule of events in Paradise over the Thanksgiving holiday>

Each meal will consist of a turkey and all side dishes (list below) needed for a full meal. THANK YOU TO FIGARO (Montrio Belton) who will purchase all of our needed turkeys! This means we just need the side dish item package.

*** As of 11/14 8:15 am, WE ONLY NEED 5 MORE FULL SIDE ORDERS! Full orders are about $30 unless you want to add few items, ie. dessert) ***

HOW TO SUPPORT

  • Purchase the side items on your own. IF YOU PLAN ON PURCHASING THE FOOD ON YOUR OWN, PLEASE LET BOLT KNOW IMMEDIATELY FOR TRACKING PURPOSES!
  • Partner up with another PAX to purchase the items.
  • Donate any money amount to Bolt via Paypal. Send to: thenewpauko@hotmail.com
  • Pledge: If you want to commit but can’t do PayPal, just let Bolt know ASAP and he will cover your pledge until he sees you next.
  • From there, meet up or schedule pickup with Bolt or deliver to 3728 Leela Palace Way in Waterstone near Tega Cay.
  • Assist in delivery to families in Paradise.

Paradise Schedule of Thanksgiving events

  • Sunday, November 18. Volunteer at “Harvest of Thanks and Poor Man’s Meal”, a community meal held at Jerusalem Baptist Church in the Life Center. It would be great to have F3 support at this community event. More details to come via Twitter.
  • Weekend 11/17-11/18 through Tue 11/20. Help to deliver our holiday meals.
  • Saturday, 3:00 pm,  11/24. Post at G-Fit with a holiday pizza/food party following.

Thank you to everyone for your support on this endeavor and to all PAX that have joined us in Paradise!

Aye! Bolt …….. Always open for suggestions!!!

Food side list –  (You can shop anywhere and you can alter this list as you see fit. Pics below are from Harris Teeter. This link may take you to the shopping cart: https://shop.harristeeter.com/store/C39878905#/cart)

Required:  8-10 lbs potatoes, stuffing @ 12 oz, green beans @ 30 oz, corn @ 30 oz, collard greens @ 30 oz, cranberry sauce @ 14 oz, gravy @ 18 oz, mac and cheese @ 3 boxes 20 oz.  This list includes mostly canned foods because delivery will be days before Thanksgiving.

Possible additional:  celery, onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, rolls/biscuits, DESSERT.

( I don’t think these screenshots have turned out too well. Will try to improve.)

 

 

 

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1+1=Terrible Downpainment

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19 Pax descended on Block Party including 3 for Pathfinder for an old school beatdown by YHC and Mash. Little did YHC know when I suggested to Mash that he co-Q with me that it would be his 50th Birthday at Block Party #Respect.

Mash and I have been friends for many years and I already had tons of respect for him. He is a good Christian, Husband and Father coupled with being a military veteran. Our children are the same age so we have lots in common. More importantly, he has demonstrated being a true #HIM since joining the Fort several years ago.

The Thang

Full Disclaimer

Mash on Q – Mosey out

COP – lots of chatter here…I may have been contributing

SSH

Moroccan Night Clubs

Windmills

Merkins x 15 (YEAH!)

Mosey to gravel lot and partner up

Dora 1,2,3

100 Merkins

200 Flutters

300 SSHs

Pusher on Q – Mosey to hill

Bear crawl up hill – #turrible

Dirty McDeuce powered by Halloween Candy

Side Note: Avg American eats 3.4 pounds of candy on Halloween; Candy has calories (duh!); 1 minute of Burpees equals approximately 10 calories;

All exercises IC x 12; Calories are based on “Fun Size” portions

Starburst (40 cals) – Squats

Skittles (63 cals) – LBCs

M&Ms (73 cals) – Wide Arm

Take a lap

Kit Kat (70 cals) – Jumping Lunge

Snickers (80 cals) – Flutters

Twix (80 cals) – Carolina Dry Docks

Take a lap

Reeses Cup (90 cals) – Bomb Jacks

Baby Ruth ( 85 cals) – Freddy Mercury

Butterfinger ( 85 cals) – Diamond Merkins

Take a lap

York Patty ( 50 cals) – Burpees

Crunch ( 60 cals) – Rosalita

Hershey ( 63 cals) – Burpees

Mosey Home

 

Moleskin:

  • Happy #Respect Birthday to Mash
  • Christmas Party on 12/1/18
  • Pre Christmas Drop In on 11/2/18 with Shady at Armor Artis
  • Be a HIM in your community…lots of examples were shared
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We are one Brotherhood

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15 came out on this mild morning, not knowing what they would be doing.  The point is, they got out of bed and came anyway.  There were no FNG’s (although there was a Kotter – Dog Pound, welcome back!) so I gave the abbreviated disclaimer and off we went.

Mosey down to the lot in front of Empire Pizza and circled up for the following warmup:

  • SSH’s
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • and Windmills

We moseyed a short distance to the lot in front of the Indian restaurant for the Thang…and what do you know, there was a white board with a bunch of things written on it.

I had called out on Twitter that this would be a moderate workout, and to some it was, yet to others it required a little more effort.  Either way, we were here, and this is what we were doing!

First thing we partnered up.  Each partner was to do the full amount of the exercises, but they were to hold each other accountable and drive to the end together.  If your group finished, you went to another group that was still going and joined in wherever they are.  Then when that group finished you joined up with another…and so on until we all finished together!  Here were the exercises done:

  • 50 Bombjacks (Single Count)
  • 50 Carolina Dry Docks (in cadence)
  • 50 LBC’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Monkey Humpers (in cadence)
  • 50 Squats (in cadence)
  • 50 Merkins (in cadence)
  • 50 Calf Raises (in cadence)
  • 50 SSH’s (in cadence)
  • 50 Reverse Crunches (in cadence)

So, as we wrapped up, everyone had completed a minimum of 850 reps of these various exercises, and those that finished earlier than others kept adding to those totals.

We finished up with a bit of Broga, and a slow mosey back up to COT where we shared a couple stories on what IMPACT we saw this past week.

Was this moderate?  You tell me.  Was it hard, absolutely (evident by all the complaining).  The point is that if we were doing this on our own, we most likely would have quit or cut corners at some point throughout the workout.  But we weren’t alone, we had our partner holding us accountable.  Take that same concept and apply it to Whetstone.  That is EXACTLY what we are doing when we commit to having a Whetstone partner (in my case, Destiny).  We hold each other accountable for day in and day out mundane tasks…we encourage each other when things go sideways…but…we do all this TOGETHER!

If you do not currently have a Whetstone partner, I seriously urge you to pray about it, and consider joining up for the program!

At a minimum, check in with a Brother throughout the week to see how they are doing, and be willing to be transparent and honest if someone reaches out to you!  Remember, WE are not worthy to judge others…but WE are called to lift each other up!

Smithers….Out

 

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Hat trick at Slowburn

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Quick disclaimer for this BB: after 3 Q’s in as many days, some details are a little fuzzy.

After a quick disclaimer we moseyed down the hill to the far side of the building on the right. After we completed your standard warmup, we got right down to business.

The first order of business was a little thing called triple check. We divided up into groups of 3 and up against the building, P1 held an air squat, P2 held a plank and P3 ran down around the island and back. P3 goes to P1, P1 to P2, and P2 runs. Did this little number 3x in keeping with the theme of 3s .

Next we moseyed down to the long side of Lowe’s and found a piece of wall and held a wall sit while the person on one end did 3 burpees and ran down to the other end and found a new piece of wall to hold up. After every person completed this, we did it again. If YHC didn’t have another trick up his sleeve we would have repeated .

We then made our way down to the front of Empire Pizza to find a nice stale beer smell to complete our last of 3s. We completed a little thing called triple nickel. We did 5 merkins on one end of the parking lot, ran to the far end and did 5 WW2 situps. We completed 5 rounds of this. Moseyed back to COT for some Mary and tried to avoid the early morning Chick-fil-A cravings .

Thank you to Smithers for the invite to lead!

Wegmans

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Smithers VQ at Footloose – Stairway to Heaven

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Smithers VQ

The weather was wonderful this fine fall October Morning…it felt just about as thick as ever and I was sweating even before I got out of bed!  Perfect day for my VQ!

As we were standing around talking before everything got kicked off I was amazed by the show of support of all the PAX rolling in one after another, 29 in all.  If only they had known what was coming ;-).

Started off with my first ever disclaimer…then a mosey to the back parking lot at First Baptist for the warmup:

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Low Slow Squats
  • Windmills
  • Walking Calf Raises (aka how Cakeboss walked to school) to the wall
  • Wall sits for each PAX 10 count

Mosey across the street, down the steps, and across the next street to the parking lot next to Fort Mill Church of God…and wait, what was that in the humid glow of the streetlight?  Was that a board of pain?  Oh yes…

The Thang:

Partner up.  One partner starts the exercise while the other runs across the street and runs the snake on the set of steps…then back to take over the exercises for the partner.

  • 50 Bombjacks
  • 150 LBC’s
  • 200 Monkey Humpers
  • 150 Squats
  • 50 Merkins
  • 200 Calf Raises
  • 200 Side Straddle Hops

CONTROL is the word of the month.  We are all men….it’s in our DNA to want to be in control.  What do we need to find control?  In a car you need good tires…in a house you need a solid foundation.  You need a STRONG BASE…so…we worked on ours today.  Our legs (and a little bit of our core) were the focus…to give us a strong base to improve our control!

That said, we have all experienced things that didn’t go according to plan, and in many cases you could not regain that control no matter how hard you tried.  It is not easy to let go…it is not easy to adapt quickly…at least not all the time.  So, even when we ARE feeling in control we know that it is the Sky Q who has allowed that and trusted our leadership, Aye!  You see, the Sky Q uses us daily…sometimes to help others who are down, and pick them up…sometimes we are there to help those looking to help a brother up and we are the ones who are down.  Then there are the days where things just move right along without much resistance.  Those are the days where we should be letting the Sky Q know how much we appreciate His trust in us, and asking for continued strength to make Him proud!

Mosey back to COT for a quick round of Mary (just one set of flutter kicks) to close out our time.

My biggest fear was getting done WAY too early or not coming anywhere CLOSE to finishing the workout.  Sky Q steered me right in all the decisions, and I think for my first Q to finish with less than 2 minutes to spare…well, I’ll take that any day!

So, in closing…

My legs hurt, how about yours?

Smithers Out

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Why you wanna give me a run-around?

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24 PAX gave me a run-around Thursday morning at Footloose.  Tuesday, I made it very clear to both PAX that were listening that Thursday, we would be running … a lot.

I rolled in with 3 minutes to spare, thanks too  … who cares, the Weinke was laminated, and I was loaded for bear.

1 FNG to welcome, a little mumbling, a disclaimer and we were off …

The thang:

Mosey around the main lot, then out to the road, down the hill and a tricky left before the big hill to the big church lot.

Line up for dynamic warm up
Squat walkers
Knee ups
Toy soldier
Windmill walkers
Bear crawl
Patrick Swayze (karaoke L&R, powerskip, backwards run arms out)
Inch Worm
Jonah Hill (3 broad jumps, 3 merkins x 7)

Mosey to the lot across the street, circle-up (ish)
IC: CDDx10, Travoltax10, Squatx10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey up the stairs to the First Baptist back lot, spot #1
IC: LBCsx10, MNCx10, Monkey Humpersx10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey around lot a bit to spot #2
IC: Flutterx10, Bombjackx10, Dying Cockroachx10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey around the lot a bit to spot #3 near grass
IC: Hello Dollyx10 (shout out to Hef), Scorpion DD, KneeTar Jaix10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey out the front to the church lot across form the fire station
IC: Rosalitax10, Merkinx10, Hillbilly Walkerx10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey to small lot across from Hardees
IC: Freddiex10, Mahktar Jaix10, Calf Raisex10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey … Down on Mainstreet … Down on Mainstreeeeeet to the courthouse lot around the corner
IC: Shoulder Tapsx10, Overhead Clapsx60, Imp Walkerx10, 2 burpees OYO
Mosey all the way back to where we started in the large church lot, lots of love and mumble chatter here since we went by what everyone thought was COT, but I saw 6 minutes left …
IC: Russian Twistsx10, Plank Jacksx10, SSHx10, no burpees this time

Back to COT

The skinny on this one was that we kept moving, nothing harsh, I didn’t have to carry Dark Helmet up 40 flights of stairs with a cinder block on each wrist (or whatever he makes you do), 10 counts were walking 10 counts, on your 6, on your feet, in a plank, on your feet. No rest, 45 minutes of exercise.

Welcome FNG Popper, EH’ed by a friend in F3 Columbia

Looks like we made it,

Barry Manilow

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Tubthumping at Slowburn

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I was very happy to see 28 PAX report to Slowburn for my VQ! As promised via Twitter the day before, I did my 28 Merkins during a count-o-rama. No FNG’s. Gave the disclosure and we formed 2 lines for an Indian Run to the warmup at Empire.

Warmup

Cherry Pickers x10
Slow Windmills x10
Low Slow Squat x10
SSH x10
Goofballs x10 – Dang, y’all looked goofy!

We counted off by 5’s and the 5 teams did an Indian Run to the far side of Lowes for…

The Thang – 5 Stations

  1. Core
    1. Forearm Plank 10 count IC
    2. Captain Morgans 5 each side IC
  2. Legs
    1. Monkey Humpers x10 IC
    2. Tree Huggers 10 count IC
  3. Pecks
    1. Werkins x10 IC
    2. Derkins x10 IC
  4. Arms – Dumbbells Provided
    1. Left Arm Curls x15 IC
    2. Right Arm Curls x15 IC
  5. Abs
    1. Flutter Kicks x10 IC
    2. Sweat Angels x5 IC

Rinse & Repeat

Teams then moseyed, again Indian Style, to Baxter’s Playhouse for some “Tubthumping”. I had the loudspeaker set up to play Chumbawumba’s Tubthumping.
Lady singing = MNC
Guy singing = SSH
“I get knocked down…” = BURPEES! Did you do all 28 burpees?

OYO mosey back to Empire for some stretching and then a mosey back to Chick-fil-A for COT.

Announcements: 9/11 @ Tomahawk Birdcage is requesting PAX to show up for a special Remembrance Workout, Invergence/Convergence last Friday/Saturday in September, Donate underwear for victims of Hurricane Harvey, SpeedforNeed!

Prayers for our Brothers going to Columbia, M’s and 2.0’s, Weather, and all the unspoken requests.

I had a blast.  It’s an honor working out with you guys!  Big Thanks to Barry Manilow for allowing me this VQ opportunity. 

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80’s/90’s Themed High School Sports

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SSH 15
Mtn Climbers 15
Squats 15
windmill 15
Moroccan night club 25
The Thang:  (football style)
Monkey rolls for 30 secs
butt rolls 30 secs
chop and drop 30 secs
squat thrust 10
Discussed discipline and what that means to the Pax
Turned over to Bonsai for basketball style workout
Moseyed over to First Baptist Church back parking lot
Ran suicide with a twist up the hill
(Start running backward to first line)
– first line 10 merkins
– second line 20 squats
– third line 30 LBCs
– fourth line 40 toe taps
(After completing each exercise return back to start running forward)
10 merkins in cadence
Single leg hop to next row of parking spaces and back
Switch and repeat
Next split up in two groups
Group 1 – work their way through the cones setup with the defensive slide
Group 2 – merkins until the 6 completes the defensive slide
Rinse and Repeat
Group 2 – Bobby Hurley’s until 6 gets back
Move over to the wall for 20 jump wall taps
Mosey back to COT
Anchorman I appreciate the opportunity to lead and it was a great idea to
incorporate High School sports.
In case you can’t figure it out Destiny was the one in high school in the 80’s.  Just saying – All most respectable.
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