Stay in Seattle

Stay in Seattle

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One of the reasons I have liked staying in Lynnwood (and working out of their Labor Ready office) is because the Lynnwood Bally Total Fitness Club has a most excellent 'Kwando' class. It is taught by Toya, shown here completing a side kick. When my work doesn't leave me really exhausted, I sometimes attend the exercise classes at Bally (along with showering there which I do everyday whether I am exhausted or not).
However, most of the Bally's 'Kwando' classes are just 'kick boxing' classes you exercise to music and just go through the motions of kicks and punches. The kicks and punches really have no power as there is no focus on doing them correctly, just doing lots and lots of them until your muscles burn. However, Toya had taken Tai Kwan Do for a couple of years before starting her Kwando class and so she really emphasizes form, doing the kicks and punched correctly. Here she is visiting with a student after class.
What I love about the martial arts is that you develop more than just strength and endurance. You also need balance, rhythym, tone, limberness, speed, and agility. Of course developing all those things can't help but improve your self confidence even if you never consider actually using your skills against another person. Anyway, in Toya class you get all those benefits. Here is a short five second video (120K, about forty seconds to download) of Toya practicing a front kick / back kick combination. In order to not distract the class, but also get the angle I wanted, this video is of Toya in the mirror at the front of the class.
On Mondays we have a 'contact' kwando class while on Wednesdays it is just shadow boxing (actually we aim for our images in the mirror at the front of class). Of course the contact kwando class is really just with the punching bags like in the picture at the top with two people usually sharing a bag. However, the contact class does have the advantage of helping you really focus on doing the moves correctly so that you can get all the benefits listed above; just going through the motions sloppily just doesn't give the same benefits. Of course I should mention that I believe you can get the same benefits in a good aerobic dancing class if you really focus on form and correctness, but that takes an exceptional teacher as well. Toya is also the general manager of this Bally and is most enthusiastic about exercise and its benefits.
Here is my friend Brian from the Kwando class. In contact Kwando you share a bag as there aren't as many bags as students. Actually that works better as if you both hit or kick at the same time, it keeps the bag from bouncing around so much (and sometimes even turning over). The bases of the bags are filled with gravel and they don't turn over or move easily.
Brian is in his twenties and is a single dad. He currently has sole custody of his son, Logan, but fears that his ex may change her mind and try to get him back (assuming she ever gets her life back together). Brian is taking the Bally's 30 day challenge in the hope of winning the $25,000 so he can afford the legal fees to get sole custody of Logan. This is a picture of Brian holding Logan just after picking him up at the daycare at Lynnwood Bally. It is just behind where the Kwando classes are (upstairs).
On Wednesday I was sent out to the Aldewood Mall (a large enclosed mall in Lynnwood, WA) at 8AM to meet a truck from E & H Transportation at Eddie Bauer's. The mall didn't open until 10AM so I was happy to meet the truck around the back; Ruth, the driver had gotten there at 5AM. The people who worked at the store (and let us in) didn't arrive until a little after 8AM, but there were two of us and only two pallets to unload. It was some panels and such for new dispaly. We were done by 8:45AM, but Ruth was happy enough to give us the minimum of four hours and let us go on our way.
On Thursday I was supposed to go out to Benkins to try for them with my CDL B, but I found out that I wouldn't be needed for that when I came in. Drats! At about 9:30AM I was about to give up when a work order was transferred from the Lake City office of Labor Ready to help pour concrete. When I arrived at 10AM (they had picked up Raymond at 7AM at the Lake City Labor Ready office) they had already poured the top tier of the retaining walls shown here. Seth was using the Bobcat to push some dirt behind the top retaining wall (but leaving the bottom forms uncovered as they were still in place) when he got too close to the edge. We tried to dig him out, but then he had Mike use the truck (still in the street) to pull it out via a band around the light pole just behind it. Cool.
We pulled off the forms, took nails out of the plywood and 2 by 4's, and scraped the excess concrete off the plywood before stacking it back on the truck. Seth (the owner/boss) and Mike put a thin concrete and sand mixture on the retaining wall to give it the smooth result. They also added a pigment to the finishing cement to make it darker and give the nice color you see. I think the retaining wall was for the townhouses shown here and not necesaarily for the house being built right next to them and shown in the picture above (but who can know). Due to the late start, I only worked six hours.
On Friday Lake City called to have six folks and three cars from Lynnwood head their way. I was sent to Redmond, WA where I worked as a dishwasher in their company cafeteria. They had a very nice little dish room and it reminded me of working in the Ashram dish room; it was much smaller though as there was just me doing all the trays, dishes, pots, pans, etc.. The ashram dish room often would have a dozen people during busy times. However, I could eat whatever they served and they served really excellent food.
Over Labor Day weekend I had a lot of time and decided to start writing a science fiction story. It is in terrible shape right now, hardly more than an outline struggling to be a first draft as I restrain myself from rewriting the portions written until the first draft is done. I also read a lot on the weekend as most libraries were closed so there was very little internet access.
On Tuesday I went back to Medtronics and worked in their dish room. The picture above is from their dish room, but I left the flash on and so the lighting is not as good as it really it (odd, don't you think). Above you can see the four sinks for pre-washing, washing, rinsing, and sterilizing, and draining big pots and pans. In this picture you can see their dish washing machine with pre-wash area (left) and draining area (right). The room itself is triangular with the rest of the room taken up with storage for the dishes, tray, pots, etc..
Here is a picture of the cafeteria showing the grill area in the background. They were very nice people to work with. Also, on Tuesday there wasn't so much food to dispose of at the end of the day as there was work again the next day. I also took food for my lunch and dinner after they closed the line so that there was a little bit less to go to waste. The normal woman in their dish room was due back from vacation the next day, so it was back to Labor Ready on Wednesday.
As I had gotten out on Thursday and Friday through referrals from the Lynnwood Labor Ready office to the one in Lake City (shown here), I decided to try going in to Lake City first and see if things went better. On Wednesday they sent me promptly to a construction site where they had landscaped a whole hill and six of us spread hay over the loose dirt. However, Thursday was quiet and I didn't get out. I spent the day at Seattle Pacific University updating my web pages. We will see what Friday brings.

This page was last updated on June 3, 2005