Still a Chump/Getting Choked Out/Cat Relocation in New Beginnings

I asked my realty about the price disparity between my condo and all the other condos that were for sale. They sent me a list of what all the other condos were actually selling for in my area. Apparently, some were actually going for $20,000 less than their list prices. I still think I could have gotten an extra $5,000 if I had listed it as such, but missing out on five grand is a much easier pill to swallow than twenty five grand. I think I’ll just let it go, so as not to burn any bridges. After all, I won’t be in this house forever, so I best stay on everyone’s good side.

My father’s estate sale is this coming weekend, and I’ll drive down for it. My sister cleaned up Dad’s house and put price tags on everything. We’ll just open the front door, and let people come in and purchase what they like. Someone else is going to operate the cash register. I’m just going to walk around, answer questions, and generally be present so people don’t steal anything. I also have to get the cats.

I bought some cat traps, and I tried to catch them a couple of weeks ago when I was last down there, but I had no such success. Even with the good, wet food in the trap, they wouldn’t go in them. My uncle offered to keep feeding them. He had the good idea to leave the traps up with the doors locked open, and keep putting their food in them. Hopefully, they’d get used to going in them, and I can trap them this weekend.

Even if his plan works, I’m still a little nervous. I’ve heard cats are more attached to places then people, so I’m afraid that even if I do get them up here, they’ll wander off. They know me enough to let me pet them, even after I’ve been away for months upon months, so I like to think that just being at a place where they know I live would help them stay put. I’d feed them and freshen their water every day, and my back yard is fenced in, so they should feel secure, all of which should be enough to make them stay close. I just don’t want them to wander off, then see their remains lying on the side of the road.

I’m due for a jiu jitsu update. I started sparring a couple of weeks ago. Now, at my level, sparring translates to getting tapped out over and over and over again. After all, almost everyone else in the sparring class has more experience. When I roll with a blue belt, I can sometimes make it to the very end of our match before I get submitted. When I roll with a purple belt, I do well by not getting tapped within the first two minutes. Heck, I even rolled with a thee stripe white belt, who had about 8 sparring classes behind him, and he submitted me at least three times before we switched partners. This beginning is very humbling, but I make a point to have realistic goals. I don’t have to tap anyone out, but if I can execute one technique against a resisting opponent, I consider that a personal victory. Last Friday, I was able to pull off the headlock variation of the trap and roll escape multiple times against multiple opponents, some of whom were colored belts. I even almost trapped my white belt opponent in a triangle choke. What I’m most proud of though, is that I was able to get top mount from side control on a purple belt and a brown belt. Granted, the brown belt probably wasn’t resisting me as much as he could, and I have much more leg flexibility than almost anyone else in that class, especially at my level, but I was still able to do it against two advanced practitioners who were at least partially resisting me.

It’s humbling, but it’s fun, and everyone is really nice and encouraging. They’ll show me what I did wrong after they submit me, and they’ll teach me what I need to do next time. One of my opponents quipped to my next partner, “don’t worry, Rob’s clearly out of shape.” He said so facetiously, implying that my stamina was very impressive. That compliment made me feel really good. I’m going to do jiu jitsu until I die.