How about another crazy story? (Have I met my quota yet? I enjoy telling stories. Feel free to tell me to pipe down and go do something productive)
When I was a lot younger, I studied taekwondo with a guy named Jae Ho Sim. (probably misspelled) Jae Ho was a bit like Master Yoda: Unassuming, funny, humble, one of the kindest and most generous guys you're ever likely to meet...who could also kick your butt about three different ways without exerting himself. I never learned the exact extent of his expertise, but I know he had been a member of the first U.S. Olympic taekwondo team, and he had high-degree black belts in at least three different martial arts. At some point before this story happened, one of the advanced students had asked Jae Ho what he'd do if someone could knock him down, and he had jokingly replied that he'd give them a black belt. It was kind of a running joke around the dojong.
Anyway, there was a big group of us that always worked out together, and we all got to be pretty good friends. One halloween there was a costume party at the informal part of the dojong. We weren't doing taekwondo, just having a party. Jae Ho was dressed like a clown, drinking a cup of punch and cracking jokes with a few other people, when one of the red belts decided to take the dare. His name was Dan if I remember correctly, a really talented fighter who was about to test for his black belt anyway. He snuck up behind Jae Ho and grabbed him by the shoulders. In about as much time as it takes to sniff, Jae Ho dropped into a crouch, flipped Dan over his shoulder and slammed him to the mat, dropped a knee on his chest, and cocked a fist back ready to drop a punch. He was laughing.
And he didn't spill his drink.
As far as I know, nobody ever tried that again.
I have read that possums will completely rid your yard of ticks. They eat them like candy. Somehow, this does not diminish my discomfort with them. ha ha We don't have them here. You can keep 'em.
We have 3 outdoor dogs and we didn't find a single tick all summer!
