It's Monday 11:30PM, almost Tues. I trained legs today and bowled so I'm a little tired. I 'm deciding on what I'm going to write today. I think I'll go with one I've been working on for a few days now. This story is one of the major turning points in my life. It starts in the summer of 1982. I had just finished college and had the summer free. I had retired from competitive gymnastics and was living in Manhattan alone for the first time. It was to be the summer of fun and freedom.The direction this story takes mirrors the concepts I was about to learn. #1-(Force and direction, transfer of momentum.)#2(Every movement in life is bipedal) This all begins with a friend named Kurt Sulkala. He was the greatest influence I had for perceiving and understanding movement. As fate would have it we arrived simultaneously for the same job. Actually he was there a little before me. I knew him from camp as an instructor. He understood tumbling better than anyone I had ever met before. Ironically no one paid any attention to him. He wasn't much to look at, but he could tumble amazingly. If were to describe him physically I would say he looked like a chubby David Bowie without the flash.I had never heard of him or seen him in any gymnastics competition. He wasn't famous for coaching. In fact he was pretty easy to ignore as he strayed away from popularity. My college roommate Bobby Piehler introduced me to Kurt when I got my first camp job. They were good friends from another camp. We began to hang out at work. After work we would train together and then go drink. This boy could drink, I had trouble keeping up with him. The fact that I could concerned many people. He was a notorious drunk. This served me just fine, for it took the attention off of my drinking. He was also famous for having dropped out of the same college 6 times. This laid the ground work for our early days together. We were to meet again in a few years. I had a job teaching gymnastics in Brooklyn at a place called Brooklyn Gymnastics Academy on Bath ave. near to L.I.U.(Long Island University). I received a phonecall from Bobby saying he had a weekend job for me in Long Island that paid really well for just a few hours work. I asked "What is it?" He said "You're going to love it. It's a walk in the park. We go out to this womans' gymnastics school and just pick a group of kids we think have talent. She's trying to put a competitive team together. Plus we can stay at Dougs' place."Doug Day was our assistant coach when we were freshman.The 3 of us had some very wild times in college. Doug was just a few years older than us. He was more like a teammate and a friend than a coach. He was also the one that got me the job at U.S.G.T.C.(United States Gymnastics Training Camp) where I met Kurt. He later moved to Long Island to start his own gymnastics school. It was doing really well. He had several girls on National team. To have an idea of what he looks like just picture "Radar" from the T.V. show M.A.S.H.. I said "Sure that sounds great.Are you sure Dougie said it was o.k.?" Bobby replied " Sure, he can't wait to see us and catch up. It'll be great. You know how much fun Doug is." The night before I was to go with Bobby, I got a call at midnight. It was from this woman who said she was with Bobby at an uptown bar where Billy Joel used to hang out. She then demanded"So get your ass up here the drinks are on me." I was a little bored and decided to meet them. I arrived and this crazy blond girl throws her arms around me and says "Hi, Tee Hee!! I'm Diane, I'm the one you're working for tomorrow. I hired you to go out to my gym and pick my new gymnastics team." There is a 10 year old girl there hanging on to hem of her mini-skirt. I give Bobby a look that says " What the hell have you gotten yourself into, and why would you drag me along as well?" Diane jumps between us and says " Don't blame little Bobby here, I put him up to it. He was talking so highly of you I just had to see you tonight and Oh boy! just look at you. He wasn't kidding!" Smiling brief and politely,I step back and say very clearly to her "Let me have a moment in private with dear sweet little Bobby here please." She says in a pouting childs voice " Only if you do shots of kamakazis with me" Shoving one in my hand, she sloshes half of hers on me and slurs "Cheers, bozums up cutie, hic tee hee!" Wiping myself off, I down my drink, put the glass upside down on the bar and pull my friend aside saying "What's with the kid? Is it hers?" Bobby sheepishly replies " No, Wendy is one of her gymnasts. Her mother leaves her either alone or with Diane" I stare directly into his right eye and say" Just exactly what did you tell Psycho Barbie here about me? Please, feel free to tell me everything." Defensively Bobby raises his hands and says" Woah! Chill Dude! All I said was 'You were a living breathing god at Ms. Pacman' You could maybe show the kid here how to play, there 's a game in the back." I continue to glare at him and say "That's it? You sure? That's all you said? Returning to his sheepish posture his voice raises an octave and says" Well, Maybe I might have mentioned you broke up with your girlfriend." Rolling my hand in attempt to exact the whole story out of him, I say "And?" He finally slumps and confesses "Shit jody! She's a maneater and I didn't want to be left alone to be her next meal. You know I'm shy. That schizophrenic valley girl says she has plans for me tonight! Come on help me out . You don't think she's even a little bit hot?" Shaking my head smiling, I said " Even if I did numbnuts, she's our boss for the next 3 days." End part 1 Good night Part 2 will be posted tomorrow.
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