Die Gedanken Sind Frei

Was going though some old songs recently and came across this one. Leave it to Pete to knock me off my feet with a short, simple song.

Something I never want to hear again.

Call 911!

There's a car in the picture. There's a full size truck in there too. A refrigerator and freezer. Various toys. Woodworking equipment. ...what you'd find in the typical garage and more.

A couple Saturday's ago, we were going about our normal Saturday putzing in the yard, working on the house when we heard the frantic shout from two house away.
"Call 911!"

It only took a glance on the way to the phone to know what was wrong. A column of black smoke rising from Pat's garage. Pat is also known as Rocket Man.
Rocket Man is headquarters for the Peoria Area Rocketry Society. These guys don't just assemble model rocket kits. They build full scale replicas and original designs from the gorund up. Even making their own engines. This could be real bad.
While on the phone to 911, all I wanted to do was get off the phone and run. The call probably took all of 30 seconds and the operator let me go. I could give you the play by play but I won't. Let's just say we had a tense moment or two (who's in the house, locked door, where's Pat, where's the hose outlet, not going to fight it directly, spot fire across the street, too damn hot outside, ...) and that everyone is okay. Despite what a stupid cop said, nothing left the confines of the garage but for the smoke and ash. No big booms beyond aerasol paint and gas/diesel cans. Even the truck and car just burned up. No big fiery gas tank explosions.
The cabinet with the rocket engine fuel components was in the only corner still standing above six feet. You don't see it in the picture because it was moved away. Despite what the deputy fire chief commented to the newspaper (a good friend of ours by the way) rocket fuel had nothing to do with the fire. Or it's intensity.
But Pat's garage is gone.
Ember said it seemed like two Saturdays. The one that happened before the fire, and the one that happened after. Two long days in 18 hours.
We saw more traffic that evening than we'd see in a year's time. Our one block street has four houses on it. The only reason people were driving down it was to gawk. We thought "we ought to charge admission".
The girls thought, "we ought to do something for Pat and Karen."
So they put out a gate of sorts. Anybody going down the block would have to pass two sweet, smiling girls with a sign and a basket. That evening went well enough, they were up and out before Diane and I got out of bed Sunday. A very respectable sum was collected.

The girls are looking forward to building rockets with Pat in his new garage when it eventually gets replaced.

Moving Up the ranks (Learning along the way.

Two part post here - Ember Rocks and the Program slumps.

Ember is now officially part of the Shuri-Ryu system having earned her Yellow belt. At that level they don't consider you a dabbler any more. She takes the whole thing seriously and practices every day. She had the skills but it took a couple weeks for somebody to officially advance her.

Which relates to point two. Gary and Diane had a little "discussion" with the head of the school. Just a misunderstanding of where we can get necessary equipment. Shihan referenced a non-existant part of the contract. So sorry for him that we know how to read and enforce contracts. So we believe he purposely overlooked her, despite Ember doing exactly what he said to advance, and repeated inquiries by her. We found a way around that to - go ask another black belt that has the right frame of mind.
As much as we love the sport, and as much as Ember is enjoying things, it's hard to complain about karate. It's really the head of the school we have the problem with. He's no longer a black belt or instructor or leader. He's a business man. Everything he offers has a dollar sign attached. You can't earn a patch or belt without paying a fee. Even the in school tournament had a regional level type fee AND spectator charge. It's frustrating us but we're learning to take in stride.