Kat’s Den

I read an article today about how the south was losing it’s unique character due to the influx of people relocating from other regions. It said that fewer and fewer people living in the southern states identified themselves as “southerners”, and touched on some of the stereotypes that color the region.

Living within an hour of Atlanta, I’ve definately seen an influx of people from other regions of country. Having lived in Georgia all of my life, I’ve seen some of the stereotypes. But do I still identify myself as a southerner?

Well, some of the stereotypes are a bit off. I’d say the south was probably a bit more religous than some other regions, if protestantism is your thing. I’ve met plenty of ignorant inbreds around here, but far more intelligent and self-sufficient people. Racism? Exists here, the same as it does everywhere else; and there are far more rabid racists in the north and west. One stereotype that does stick, I think, is that southerners are a lot more polite that folks I’ve met from other regions.

I can’t claim to be a farm boy from the country; the town I grew up in, while in the northwest Georgia mountains, was hardly Lil’ Abner territory. I went to a private school. I don’t have much of a southern accent- raised by television, as it were. I don’t listen to country music. But… I don’t want to live in a big city. I miss the mountains. I often find myself wishing I could find a plot of land near the Tennessee border in the Smokies that I could build my house on- that is, if it hasn’t been turned into subdivisions yet. I’m nostalgic for a rustic, laid-back southern small town that probably never existed outside of fiction.

Yup, I still consider myself a southerner, even if I don’t have a rebel flag painted on my orange Dodge Charger.

Oh, hey, and happy Turkey Day. The parents are headed to Sparta Tennessee to visit with my mom’s family; I’m staying here. I’ll probaby go down for Christmas.

Yeah, last post I said I was looking forward to getting back to work. Whuff. I hadn’t been in the office for 30 minutes before the phone started ringing off the hook and things started piling up. I’ll probably end up with a good bit of overtime on this check. On the plus side, things weren’t as screwed up by my absence as I feared they might be. (Though I’m glad it’s friday, because I just faxed off a stack of class applications and filed them away, only to find out I hadn’t signed any of them and have to re-submit. Ooops.)

I had three areas on the motorcycle I wanted to improve: Touring (Givi hard bags, gel seat, heated vest), Performance (aftermarket exhaust, jet kit, K&N pod filters, progressive fork springs), and Bling (integrated LED taillight/turn signals, LED engine accent lights). So of course I first went the cheapest and most useless route- the Bling. It’s all arrived from Clear Alternatives and Custom Dynamics, and I’ll probably spend this weekend putting it together.

Well, I can see that image inserts from Coppermine needs a little work… looks like it put it at the very bottom of the post.

I survived DTIT, although to add a little bit more misery, the work Explorer’s battery was dead Friday morning. Didn’t charge during the trip back from Forsyth, either, so it went to Fleet for a new one. I’ve spent the weekend doing… aboslutely nothing, once again. Aaaaaaaah. Sold the truck last weekend, paid off the credit cards, and the money’s already burning a hole in my pocket.

I’m sorta looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow, and sorta not looking forward to the big pile of stuff I’m sure has accumulated. Well, twelve hours from now it’ll be moot.

I think the pic says it all…

dtit2

Ouch ouch owie ouch. Day 4 of 10 for the Defensive Tactics Instructor class, and I don’t think I’ve ever hurt this much in this many parts of my body at one time. The class will certify us to teach OC, expandable baton, and general defensive tactics classes (handcuffing, ground fighting, joint locks, takedowns, punches, strikes and kicks, weapons retention, edged weapons, etc) which means we’ve got to be proficient in all of them- which means we get beat on, punched, kicked, etc. etc. We’ve covered handcuffing, takedowns, some grappling and strikes, and expandable baton; and every day a new muscle group is sore and/or bruised. Well… only six more days to go.

Unfortunately, my being out of town for two weeks is hard on Kublai. He got over his 24-hour vomiting spell and has been fine; but anytime he gets nervous, or I change his food, he gets diarrhea. And he’s been nervous because I’ve been gone. Well… I’ll apologize to Ian and Patty when I get back.