Krav Maga was really painful tonight. We did blocks where we were supposed to meet the strikes wrist-to-wrist, sooooo my wrists and forearms are pretty much on fire. My right arm is worst; I just iced both, and now they’re totally tight and feel like clubs or something.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t kinda like it, though, because I feel like I’m actually learning things and not just doing lame katas or something.

I’m still going to enjoy my two week vacation from KM, since between some remodeling at the gym and the wedding/honeymoon stuff, I can’t go back until 8/15. :-P

Well, let’s see… It clearly requires no skill, so I already have a one-up on this AP writer…

Major Spokane fire starts with fuel truck explosion

Associated Press - July 23, 2007 11:35 PM ET

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - Firefighters have the upper-hand on a massive fire that started this afternoon at a fuel company.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams says the fire at the Whitley Fuel Company started with a fuel container of biodiesel. It spread to a truck with two tank trailers, each carrying 5,500 gallons of fuel. There were multiple explosions and the surrounding block has been evacuated.

At its peak, the fire had flames soaring higher than the tree and witnesses say they could feel the heat two blocks away.

Some surrounding businesses suffered damage. Jim McGranahan, owner of a wheelchair company adjacent the fuel company, says his business lost three or 4 of its vans.

Williams says there appear to be no injuries.

…The tree, huh? And the frame of reference for those of us unfamiliar with The One True Tree would be…?

ETA, thanks to Lance: Correct AP style for numbers is a complete spelling-out of numbers one through nine, but numerals for 10 and up. There is no excuse for saying “three or 4″ - that’s just retarded!

You know, y’all can make fun of me as much as you want for having a Chihuahua, but little Joey and I both know full well he has some badass capabilities. It appears a cousin of his has illustrated that fact:

Hero Chihuahua Saves Toddler From Rattlesnake

MASONVILLE, Colo. — Zoey is a Chihuahua, but when a rattlesnake lunged at her owners’ 1-year-old grandson, she was a real bulldog.
Booker West was splashing his hands in a birdbath in his grandparents’ northern Colorado back yard when the snake slithered up to the toddler, rattled and struck. Five-pound Zoey jumped in the way and took the bites.
“She got in between Booker and the snake, and that’s when I heard her yipe,” said Monty Long, the boy’s grandfather.
The dog required treatment and for a time it appeared she might not survive. Now she prances about.
“These little bitty dogs, they just don’t really get credit,” Booker’s grandma Denise Long told the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald.

Am I the only one on the planet who doesn’t have this book on pre-order or plans to camp out in front of the local bookstore until they put a copy in my hot little hands?

(I haven’t read any HP since like… book four, so my non-obtainment of HPDH is 100% voluntary.)

I know the 1/2 Hour News Hour is kind of like The Daily Show’s slow little brother, but they hit the nail on the head with this one:

As always, I invite anybody opposed to gun violence to post a big sign that says “THERE ARE NO GUNS IN THIS HOME!” on their front door. That way, those of us with guns won’t have to go shooting any criminals, ’cause the criminals will know exactly which houses to break into. Thanks!

Soooo I logged in over at theknot.com to start playing with seating arrangements, and it kindly reminded me that my wedding is in 19 days.

Thus, added to the list of “Things That Make Me Hyperventilate” - a sub-20-day wedding countdown.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to disable hotlinking of my images. I’ve tried doing it at the server level, editing, creating and deleting a myriad of .htaccess files, and no luck with any of it. If anybody has any ideas, help please!

Apparently Friday the 13th is actually backwards day? Down the rabbit hole day?

I’m watching O’Reilly (hosted today by John Kasich), and Kasich and a Fox News contributor (forget his name) are speaking in opposition to the war in Iraq… But the guest on from the San Fransisco Chronicle is talking about staying the course and listening to the boots on the ground.

…WTF?

This is what I look like after rocking out at Krav Maga:

I mostly had to post that because, after I took it, I realized it shows off our dry-fire practice target, and I LOLed a bit. :)

I’m adding emphasis to my favorite part. :)

DECATUR, Georgia — A former Marine, already irritated about the disappearance of $100 from his bank account, tackled a suspected robber who came into the bank wielding a fire extinguisher and demanding cash.

Timothy Armstead was waiting at the Washington Mutual Bank branch on Tuesday to discuss the missing money when the man came in and told bank employees he had a bomb. The man gave them five minutes to get $2,000 in $50 bills, DeKalb County police said.

As the employees went to the vault to comply, the unidentified man began loudly counting down the minutes, which attracted Armstead’s attention, police spokesman Michael Payne said.

When the man then tried to walk out with the money, Armstead, 27, knocked him to the ground. He held the man down — lecturing him on his poor decision — until authorities arrived.

“I just told him it was a very stupid decision and now you get to spend 20 years of your life just for taking some money,” Armstead told WSB-TV.

The man was taken to the DeKalb County Jail on suspicion of armed robbery. Jail officials declined to comment on his case Friday. A call to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s office was not immediately returned.