Sin - save yourself first?

There is a wise maxim about not taking refuge in absolutes, and one of the reasons to follow this occurred to me today.

I seem to see a lot of people getting very worked up about things they regard as sin. Gay marriage seems to be the current fashion but there is no shortage of other issues it seems.

Next time someone appears on your TV telling you something they don’t approve of is sinful, stop and have a good look at that person. Two of the “Seven Deadly Sins” are Sloth and Gluttony. These are things that knowingly hurt other people either by action or omission, so qualify as genuine sins by most reasonable definitions. Does this moral crusader look like they eat way more than they actually need? Do they look like they could change this behaviour, but can’t be bothered? There is probably a big chunk of self-pride thrown in there too, which is another sin we are told. If they are so passionate against sin, why are they so tolerant of their own?

Why are you listening to protestations about another’s alleged sinning from someone who makes no efforts to deal with their own actual sinful behaviour? It is something to think about when you have a spare minute.

If gay is wrong should nuns be allowed to be fat?

 

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Handy Light

            I have been known to follow my own advice occasionally, so yesterday I went looking for a new external hard drive. I have a couple of 320GB examples, but since my laptop is 1000GB a bigger model seemed a sensible investment. It would also give me a chance to rearrange the files in both my main computer and back-up drives so it would be easier to find things.

While I was paying for my selection I noticed a rack of torches and this model caught my eye.

            It may not be apparent from the photo but this model has a subtle “coke-bottle waist” styling that was very attractive. I also promised to provide a secure grip. The base of the torch had a rubber press button switch, allowing it to be easily turned on and off without fiddling with a twist bevel, as is often the case with torches this size. I like easy one hand operation. It was time for the acid test. I closed my hand on it and it disappeared. Too short, even for the girlfriend’s hands! Just 20mm longer and it would have been a very nice item.

            I notice they have another budget aluminium torch. It looks a shade longer and costs less.  I may have to investigate that.

 

 

 

 

Swings and Uppercuts

            Just before I started this blog I spent a couple of weeks reading through around 340 books on martial arts and self-defence. While that number sounds improbable you have to understand that many of these books are very similar. I have become rather good at picking out the duplicated information and concentrating on the more unique.

            One technique that stays in mind was a sequence on “How to defend against the Hook punch”.  According to this book you use your hand to block the puncher’s upper arm. The main problem was this is that the photos were clearly not showing a hook punch. As I detail in my book, a hook punch has elements of a wheel. The upper arm is the spoke and the forearm and fist lie along the imaginary rim. It also tends to be used at very close range because of this. You would need very long and probably very thin arms to reach past that fist and push on the biceps to stop that punch.
            The punch that was actually being thrown was a swing, and a pretty wide one. The swing is one of those techniques real boxers are told never to use since it leaves you wide open. A caught a few seconds of the Women’s boxing in the Olympics and there were a couple of swings being traded. That is not a criticism of women boxing by the way, just a criticism of how far some combat sports have strayed from viable techniques.           Yesterday I came across this technique, which I am sure will give anyone remotely familiar with boxing a good chuckle. This guy is supposed to be attacking with an uppercut. A good upper cut tends to come straight upwards vertically and only travel about six inches of distance. The attacker will be virtually touching you before he sends an uppercut up like a rocket. Even if this attack is a shovel hook the interval between fighters would be much smaller and probably need alternate defensive strategies.

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Backups

            The other day I found in my files a Japanese cartoon I had started downloading ages ago and yesterday I finally got around to starting to watch it. I was enjoying the first episode when an idea struck me. Feeling a bit achy. I could run a bath and watch the second episode while having a soak.  I place the computer on the opposite side of the bathroom where I have a good view. Episode one finished just as the bath was ready, so I clicked on episode two and got in the bath. The program freezes up during the first minute of credits. I get out of the bath, restart the program, get back in the water. I then notice the theme song is in Japanese, whereas the first episode had been in English, including the theme. Get out the bath and try to pull up the language track settings to ensure the dialogue will be in English. The screen dies and everything goes blank. The computer has a battery that is way past its best, so I look out in the hall to where I had plugged the power supply in. Yep, I had forgot to switch on the wall socket, problem solved, back into the bathroom and fire up the computer again. Mains power light is on. Hit the start button, the other light comes on, stay on for a second and then goes out. This happens every time I try it, and all the other lights that represent  the harddrive etc stay dark. My laptop is dead.

            Earlier that day I had spent about an hour writing several new sections for the next book. I had not yet transferred a duplicate to my flash drive, intending to do it later on that night. Loads of other useful stuff I don’t think I have backed up to my external hard drive recently. What’s more, money is tight at the moment so computer repairs or even a replacement machine are an expense I can do without. It is possible that despite my care some water has gotten into the machine. Several times during that evening I try the machine again. Light goes on, light goes out.

            This morning I pack my machine into a rucksac and bring it into work. I’ll ask the computer tech here for advice on anything I can do with it or where to take it for repairs. I finish my morning coffee and decide to give it one last check. It works! Apparently it needed the night to dry out, needed shaking up in the rucksac, wanted some fresh air or just fancied a ride on the tube train. I don’t know.

            Why am I telling you this story? Well, I like to pass on information and lessons that might be useful, not just in the field of self-defence. Half a lifetime ago I had the task of trying to teach medical students about science. They had to design experiments, research an idea and then present their results. Every year I would hear the same thing- “I left my results on the bus!”; “Hassan has the results and he is not in, he was supposed to be!”; “My disc has a virus!” etc, etc.

            I always used to say “Where were you backups? Why didn’t you make duplicates?” and since I believe in learning from the mistakes of others, have a number of backup systems for data I consider important. However, this experience has reminded me I should be backing up more frequently, so today’s lesson is …

Always have a backup or two.

Backups are no good unless they are maintained.

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