Cancer sucks

[schmalts]

Even more so with kids. So I was working the Milwaukee sports show all this week to get my work hours in for the conservation club I belong to. We have a pellet gun range (posted pics last year) and it is such a big draw that the event gives us free space and even funds the $ 2000 in prize money for the shoot off on the last day for the 15 finalists with the best scores. I like taking the bench with the short stocked rifle because i like working with the real little kids that come in and we turn none away even if they are so small we have to "point" the rifle down range and have them pull the trigger. 5 shots for a buck, the club gets some good funds out the 5 day show and kids and adults love it (hot chicks too). So today I get this guy come and he has his 2 little boys with him. One is probably around 6 and one was real little, my guess is maybe 4. The bigger kid goes first, and needs a lot of help ( BTW, little girls kick boys asses in shooting by far!) but I get him dialed in after I see he was left handed right eye dominant and get the shooting glasses with the one side taped up on him to get him looking down the sights proper. Now it is the real little guys turn and the Dad tells me I should not have as much work with this one with a smile on his face . He is one of those kids you look at and just fall in love with by nature. He has little thick lensed prescription glasses on, hearing aids in both ears, and a smile from ear to ear. I put him on a boat cushion to get him up high enough, remove all but one of the sand bags and instruct him about putting the safety back on after every shot so I can take the gun from him and reload it (every kid gets this lecture no matter what). Then carefully slipped some safety glasses over his glasses and around his hearing aids. Got the gun put up and explained about how to look through the peep site, find the front sight ring and put the bullseye in the middle of it all. The little guy commences to shred the bullseye out the target with 5 shots without me having to help aim! As I knelt behind him i noticed his hair was kind of downy thin and a zipper scar going up the back of his head. After he got done shooting his 5 shots (all in the black, i shit you not) I complemented Dad about how great his son shot. I had to ask... What was the scar from? He said he has just gone through brain cancer surgery, including eye surgery, and the usual chemo. My heart felt like someone ripped it out and stuck a fork in it. I am sorry to be long winded on this and cancer sucks for everyone as I know it from my own past but this shit should NEVER, EVER happen to kids. It really bothered me.
Daisey donates a dozen Red Ryders to us every year to give away and we look for 2 families a night that we feel are the best candidate for them. I told the guy running the booth that he might consider this family for sure! Well the father had enough class to tell us truthfully he had 2 BB guns already and he would rather see them go to a family without. That was pretty classy IMO.
Anyway... This kid gave me some more inspiration to do that Trek100 charity bike ride this June again. The Trek100 is for CHILDHOOD cancer research and this little guy inspired me to do the full 100 miles this year instead of the 100K. I don't care if my taint blows out from going that distance that early in the biking season but i am going to get it done. I know the economy is in the shitter, and times will be tough, but if you guys want to pledge something I will be putting a link here later this spring. I want to thank again all the ones who did last year from here. I think I got over $400 from hunt talk guys alone, and ZERO from Monster Muleys. That says a lot about us here.
With the economy in the crapper I know I wont come close to the amount I raised last year but my goal will be half that.
Later

 

[JASON LEE]

you had me right up to your taint part...

Your good people schmalts

 

[schmalts]

you had me right up to your taint part...

Your good people schmalts

No I aint... The guys who pledged for me last year are

 

[Big Fin]

Schmalts:

Good job on you and your guys. Hope that young kid goes on to a full recovery. No family should have to go through that with a kid. Bad enough for adults, but when its a kid, there is nothing worse,

When the time comes for your charity ride, make sure and put the link up.

 

[jabber]

Good story and keep up the good work.

You can count me in when you get your link up.

 

[TLC]

Schmalts, can count on something from me as it was cancer(age 7) that started the step daughter on her way to a way to early death.(age 19) as usual, when reading stuff like this, brought the tears to my eyes. BIG thumbs up to you and your group.

and for those that want to do somethng for kids with cancer, there is no better way than to donate to St Judes. stepping off soapbox......

 

[Spitz]

Thanks for sharing Schmalts. It's nice to be reminded about the things that really matter.

 

[----]

I'm sure almost every one of us has had to deal with how devastating cancer can be. Really hits home with a little guy like that though.

 

[AZmagnum]

Count me in for a pledge this year. I will keep an eye out for that link. Thanks for doing this for all the kids out there, shows extreme class

 

[LILIDAHO]

I will be in for some $ for your cause!! LIL

 

[noharleyyet]

OK, but only because you're so congenial schmalts.

 

[FLIPPER]

schmalts...proud of you man!!!!

Anyone who uses their time to increase the quality of life for a child, sick or with a disease or healthy deserves respect. And you have mine!

Great job!

Send me the info I need to help you guys out.

 

[schmalts]

Thanks guys, but you all would have felt the same way and wanted to do the same thing after seeing this little guy. I almost had to walk away after his Dad told me what he had gone through. I was really pissed, and my attitude is that it just should never happen to these little kids. They are not standing on street corners smoking and shooting up or doing anything that would affect or promote this kind of disease to happen. I know I have said it in the past, and it is just my opinion but before anyone would donate anything to something like AIDS they should visit a children's cancer ward at a hospital. I know Aids is bad, and some innocent kids get it through birth but in the grand scheme of things it is preventable 100%. AIDS for the most part is caused by bad people doing bad things, and bad people doing bad things to good people, Good people making real irresponsible choices, and a very few isolated incidents to good folks doing their job. But in the end, all could have been prevented in some way, shape or form. Childhood cancer is not caused by any of these and no prevention will do much. Sad thing is how much maybe could be done if the Hollywood tards would promote as much attention to that instead of aids.
Not saying Aids donations are a bad thing, it is just my opinion money could be spent on those deserving it more with childhood cancer.

 

[BigHornRam]

Very neat story schmalts....

 

[elk_hunter]

On a more serious note...hey, Captain Taint ...how does biking compare to jogging as it relates to improving your fitness level (for hunting, let's say)? Is biking easier on the body? Do you get more/less/the same out of biking than jogging? I'd assume you have to bike longer than you'd jog to get the same benefits since you're using a mechanical device with gear switching and whatnot, yes? I hate jogging and was thinking about maybe getting into biking to replace, but would like to hear comments from Taint and others.

 

[schmalts]

On a more serious note...hey, Captain Taint ...how does biking compare to jogging as it relates to improving your fitness level (for hunting, let's say)? Is biking easier on the body? Do you get more/less/the same out of biking than jogging? I'd assume you have to bike longer than you'd jog to get the same benefits since you're using a mechanical device with gear switching and whatnot, yes? I hate jogging and was thinking about maybe getting into biking to replace, but would like to hear comments from Taint and others.

Biking is great for me at least. As far as more of less out of training in the same time goes, it all depends on how you push yourself on a bike. If you try and maintain say a 19MPH average in mixed terrain you will get the same workout as running but if you let your gearing work for you, you don't. I keep track of my average and try to gain speed all summer until fall when i kick back a little more. Not only is it better on your joints mainly your knees, you can go somewhere faster so it is better for commuting to work if you can (i do sometimes, 34 mile RT). I can't jog, my knees wont allow it. But as far as cardio it is probably not a whole lot different as running since you do the same thing as running by elevating your heart level for a long period of time. I just like biking as I can get out in the country and put some miles on while seeing deer, turkey, and even do some scouting locally. Plus the faster speed get air flowing on you and keeps you cooler if you are a heavy sweater like me.
The organized rides are great for looking at chicks in tights, although I live in Wisconsin and many (the majority) are nothing to look at. But because I live in Wisconsin the odds of seeing "fit" women are higher when you do go on these rides. You see some of the "tri" chicks training and those are always worth a look for sure.

 

[smalls]

The organized rides are great for looking at chicks in tights, although I live in Wisconsin and many (the majority) are nothing to look at. But because I live in Wisconsin the odds of seeing "fit" women are higher when you do go on these rides. You see some of the "tri" chicks training and those are always worth a look for sure.

I don't know where you reside in Sconi, schmalts, but as I remember you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a hot chick on State Street, Madcity. I also have some fond (fuzzy) memories of a group of Physical Therapy grad students during the Sweet16/Elite8 round of b-ball a few years ago in Minneapolis.

I realize my evidence is anecdotal and that none of the bars we patronized had the seemingly standard issue "Olde Style" lighted sign over the front door.

Good on you and the family of your story schmalts. It was devastating for my family when my mother passed away from cancer in 2002. Now as a father, I don't how the parents of cancer-stricken kids maintain any day-to-day sanity. My heart goes out to all those families who go through the pain and agony of cancer.

 

[cjcj]

Thats Awesome of you Schmalts... keep up the great work

 

[elk_hunter]

Biking is great for me at least. As far as more of less out of training in the same time goes, it all depends on how you push yourself on a bike. If you try and maintain say a 19MPH average in mixed terrain you will get the same workout as running but if you let your gearing work for you, you don't. I keep track of my average and try to gain speed all summer until fall when i kick back a little more. Not only is it better on your joints mainly your knees, you can go somewhere faster so it is better for commuting to work if you can (i do sometimes, 34 mile RT). I can't jog, my knees wont allow it. But as far as cardio it is probably not a whole lot different as running since you do the same thing as running by elevating your heart level for a long period of time. I just like biking as I can get out in the country and put some miles on while seeing deer, turkey, and even do some scouting locally. Plus the faster speed get air flowing on you and keeps you cooler if you are a heavy sweater like me.
The organized rides are great for looking at chicks in tights, although I live in Wisconsin and many (the majority) are nothing to look at. But because I live in Wisconsin the odds of seeing "fit" women are higher when you do go on these rides. You see some of the "tri" chicks training and those are always worth a look for sure.

Very cool; BTW, are there any issues for guys being on those pointy bike seats for too long? Is there such a thing as riding a bike 'too long'? Prostate issues? Sterility?

 

[schmalts]

Very cool; BTW, are there any issues for guys being on those pointy bike seats for too long? Is there such a thing as riding a bike 'too long'? Prostate issues? Sterility?

Yes, yes, yes, and yes, if you are not properly fitted on your bike and have not selected a proper seat. Trust me, been through it late last fall if you had not read. I was on a bike that was far too large framed and was stretching out too far to reach the shifters. This causes a person to slide forward and tend to put a lot more pressure on the "taint" instead of the sit bones where the pressure is supposed to be. There are people and places who do bike fitting and charge anywhere from 75-150 bucks most places and it is worth it once you see what they all do and measure. Things like proper leg bend angle and seat for and aft position are key starting points and then they move to the front of the bike to find out what length stem you need to adjust reach to the bars. See that is what I did wrong, i tried to slide the seat for and aft to make reaching the bars more comfortable instead of changing stems (thing that connects bars to fork). As I slowly get more into the biking thing as usual you learn more from reading and talking to others and the seat issue is a big one. I am on my 4th seat, and most say they will try 4-5 before they find the one that makes them feel just right. I just bought one from this company, although I spent a lot of money, it is worth it I guess.
http://www.sellesmp.com/en/evolution.htm