Anger Management Classes...

[tinman]

You need to calm down- shoot a Mathews

Nah...to really calm your nerves, grab your Widow.

[Johnny]

Dang Rob, I bet when that guy saw you running at him at a sprint he was thinking....'oh chit'! You dang coasties are half nuts anyways. Seriously, it takes some major cojones to be on the Bering Sea with 20+ foot waves in 0 degree weather. That's a borderline nightmare.

I've got a lot of stories from my teens to early 20's from growing up in Southwest, Houston. The one that still gets me a little to this day was when I had a mexican guy who was a southwest cholo (illegal..couldn't speak Englis') unload his clip on me (9 millimeter) from 8 feet away while I was in my car. This happened at a gas station on Stella Link behind Meyer Park Theater about 10 @ night. I had bullet holes all along the passenger side of my car. The good thing was....he missed me.

[Audra]

You can't control other people or circumstances, you can only control how you respond in those situations.

[Burnadell]

Johnny I'm glad you came out of that on top. I've seen my share of mishap down Surfside way during the 70s...riot police on horseback comes to mind.

I snapped a couple of times during my early years myself. During my Military days, 22 years old, Alameda California. Walking back to our ship moored at the Naval supply docks after a night out on the town with 2 of my friends. We get about 100 yards from our ship walking through the parking lot and three guys, drinking and raising cane decided to call us a bunch of kitty cats tossing their beer bottles at us. Needless to say the 3 of us snapped and started running dead on toward them as they stood there waiting. I got there first at full stride and aimed my right fist dead onto the biggest guys chin never stopping till we both rammed into the front of his pickup truck in a heap. He goes down out cold and I punched him as he went down one more time and then grabbed his head and banged it off the cement a couple of times for good measure. My other friend Rory, an ex Oklahoma golden gloves boxing champ, punched out the next guy and the third guy ran for his life away from our 3rd. My 3rd friend was a Southern California High School wrestling champ and Joe couldn't run but god forbid if he caught that guy. My ship's quarterdeck Petty Officer watched the entire scene and we were covered from punitive flashback. These 3 guys were from an adjacent Coast Guard Cutter moored up outboard of our ship. The next morning the crew of that ship asked who punched out their bully. My shipmates pointed at me and the other ship's deckforce crew thanked me for doing so. He had a nasty reputation of not playing well with others and his reputation of beating the crap out of others due to anger management issues had him discharged. Big Boy and I eyeballed each other across the deck, ship to ship, and he didn't have a word to say. He stood there with a few bandages strapped around his face with a closed and extremely messed up right eye. They never messed with our ship again and looking back now...I could have literally cracked his skull wide open. Glad I didn't and ignoring them would have been the best medicine.

Age, kids and responsibility have a way of tempering us all. Those that don't please try to....life is too short to snap. There are meds out there to treat those that border on BI POLAR personality. Seek professional help if its too much to control.

Rory Wheeler, by chance?

[AtTheWall]

SoloSlam - yes it runs in the family LMAO!!!


Berandel his name is Rory Cromwell. Back in the day, when our ship patrolled the Alaska coastline, we would hit port and many times the locals would hold a SMOKERS MATCH. The Smokers Match was basically a local boxing competition where a boxing ring was setup and any and all could step in and go 3 rounds with gloves on. A form of frontier entertainment for the locals....satellite TV wasn't around yet...news was 2 weeks old from the lower 48, so local entertainment was live for the locals.

Needless to say our schedule was announced to Valdez Alaska pre-visit and the boxing ring was setup everytime we pulled into port. Rory would go toe to toe with a few of the locals as well as some of the visiting fisherman. We had a few onboard that held their own in the ring, no losses. During our 2-3 month patrols at sea, many of us would work the body bag, jump rope and spar on mats. I got the beginnings of cauliflower ears wrestling with Joe during hard core wrestling matches at sea. Thought I was going to lose an ear a few times

Johnny that was an extremely close call Amigo, way too close.

I ran into a bad situation one night in Alameda California that went into a life or death situation for me and 3 thugs. A bunch of us (my shipmates) were having a bar-b-que on Friday night off the ship. As it was, it was a payday Friday, time to celebrate good times and my task was to round up beverages from the local liquor store, with everyone's money. I rolled alone, it's dark and winter time, and I find a spot to park on the street, across from the liquor store under a street light. On the side of the street I parked on sat a huge public park, which sat on the shores of San Francisco Bay. The park was dark, no lights and expansive. As I stepped out of the car, locking the door and waiting for traffic to cross the street, 3 guys on my side of the street started yelling at me HEY YOU! I knew instantly something was up and my instincts simply peaked "warning." I was wearing a denim jacket with the bottom two buttons buttoned. I wore a 4 inch blade Buck knife on my belt during these days so I reached down slowly hiding my motion, opened the blade up locked and stuck that down behind my belt buckle, hidden behind my jacket. My 3 on one defense tool. These guys closed in quickly and I slowly moved back as they closed. I noticed the guy doing the yelling had his hand in his front right jacket pocket held in a gun concealment hold aimed at me. He was on the right with the other 2 walking in line and step from him on my left beelinging straight at me. I kept moving backwards more and they closed quickly. I knew then there was nowhere to go unless I simply bolt...why I didn't I don't know, but I figured I would get shot if I ran. The mouth then starts telling me I'm going to drive him and his partners to Oakland NOW and move to my car and drive NOW. I told them I couldn't do that, I had about 25 guys waiting on me nearby and if I don't show soon, they will come out to find me (we covered each other living near mean streets). They didn't like that answer and the lead guy moves into my face and tells me if I don't do as he tells me to do he's going to shoot me. Needless to say I let him close in as close as he could so I had an arm's reach to his neck, I slowly moved my left hand out away from my body, as a distractor, and quickly reached down with my right hand grabbing the blade, and stuck it up against Mr. Leaddog's neck and stated "Pull the trigger and your dead cause I'm going to rip this blade through your throat!" He yelled "I'm going to shoot you!" I pressed that blade in so hard at that point it started to draw blood on his skin. He yelled at his homeboys to move in and I simply told them "I'll kill him and kill both of you....bring it!" They realized their scene changed to my scene and someone was going to get killed with Leaddog dropping first. Both of his partners backed up slowly, holding their arms out with open palms saying it was cool we don't want no problem, let him go. Mr. Leaddog then tried to slowly back away from me and he stepped back with little steps trying to not take the blade. I knew if he cleared my blade they would rush so I kept in step moving with the leader eyeball to eyeball pressing the blade as we moved. He then slowly moved his hand out of his pocket and stated "I don't have a gun." In one motion I spun quickly to my right, with my blade clearing freely and continued my spin hitting afterburner clearing them. As I ran I listened for their footsteps, if they gave chase, which I knew might happen in spite of their close call with me. I dove into the park since they blocked my path to my car and the street scene. I knew the park like the back of my hand and the cover of darkness allowed me to use that as an advantage as I beelined toward my friend's home a half a mile away beyond the far side of the park. The park and city streets of Alameda was my world and these guys were certainly from Oakland and not Alameda. I figured if they followed, I could make the house and my shipmates would answer the call. They didn't follow and as I cleared further and further away they yelled "we could have killed you (racial slurs) blah blah blah." It took me awhile to get back to the car. I came in from the opposite side of town, after doubling way around to get there. I figured they might be watching the car and I timed everything to have people in proximity of my car when I had to make my bolt to jump in, fire up. Never spotted them and if they were there, I moved too quickly to do anything about it. I got back to our Friday night gathering way later than they expected and everyone knew the minute I walked into the door...something happened and it wasn't good. They got fired up big time and wanted to Posse up and hunt them down. I just let the crew know it was over out there on the streets, it wasn't worth it.

Back during this period in Alameda, the US Navy had a big base nearby and we all got paid with checks, no direct deposit, and it was normal to cash payday at some spot after work. Many of us walked the streets and it was during these paydays, the thugs from Oakland would come over and roll sailors for their payroll. Some got tore up pretty bad with a few shot and stabbed along the way. We ran in groups for survival on the East side of San Francisco Bay. Several times bodies were found in the Oakland Estuary where my ship moored, full of bullet holes from murder and mayhem on the Oakland shores.

[theluckyhunter]

hunting- its fixes all your problems.


as far as the kid mouthing off to your madre, i woulda gone off

[Clint]

I bet Johnny tore it up back in his day.

I can see it now....Surfside Texas, clean right break rolling in from a distant Eastern Gulf of Mexico tropical system. 4-6ft faces, slightly offshore wind with perfect surf. Johnny starts his paddle...board starts it's slide and suddenly he's cut off by some big fat dude on a longboard running over the nose of his board, cutting him off and slicing a big ding across the top deck TICK TICK TICK......

The better sets would have been at the Pier.

We need to get together sometime and tell 70's Surfside tales.

[Solocam]

I think me, Johnny, ATW, and WCB should hit the streets next Bownanza!

[Artos]

My solution is is totally selfish....

....and irresposible.

I just take off to be alone....pack up & go to the lease. Thank the Lord my wife understands or at least deals with it. If anything is going on, I just make a call / email and tell them something came up & need to cancel.

I think when you're alone, you feel God looking down on you and just makes you feel a little more humble and foolish when reflecting on the situation.

If I stick around when I'm mad, everyone can tell and the little things irk me & it's not fair to the house hold.

Time is the only thing that works for me & being alone seems to fix me faster. Doesn't happen often but it does work for me.

Sigh....wish it was easier.

[Burnadell]

Rob, Rory Wheeler from OK used to be married to my cousin...just wondered if, by chance.

You had some...exciting times; *****!