It was Tuesday, April 6 in the year two thousand and twenty one at 0530. YHC peeled into the parking lot at the Bojangles on 64 next to the Toyota dealership. I was almost late. Rounding the corner, most of my peers were still outside getting ready to breach the doors of the restaurant. I knew a handful would get in line to grab coffee and a biscuit while the rest of the gentlemen waited until after our meeting. Alas, it is what is it. 1st F Q’s gotta eat.
What happened over the next hour is important, thus why I’m writing about it. I am Your Humble Scribe, and I bring you the minutes to the 4/6/21 SLT meeting.
Attendance:
Nant’an: Shut-In
1st F Q’s: Disco Duck; Red Ryder; Hermes (Rookie)
2nd F Q’s: Repeato (Absent: Riptide, Liverpool, Hola Gato)
3rd F Q’s: Hi-Liter; Intimidator (Rookie); Callahan (3rd F Q Emeritus; Retired)
COMZ: The Commish; YHS(cribe)
FNG Q: Parker
Weasel Shaker: Banjo
Absent: Riptide; Liverpool; Hello Kitty (don’t remember his role within Carpex per se, I just remember he gets real feisty if we don’t call him “Kahuna”)
Topic #1: 1st F
Convo kicked off with remarks about the newest addition to the 1st F Q crew, Hermes.
Have y’all seen his face lately? I mean, it’s freaking magical. Peep that jawline the next time you see him. And make sure he sees you checking him out. He loves it.
DYK: In December 2018, Hermes’ weight topped out at 237 lbs. That’s a whole lotta Hermes. As of Tuesday morning on April 6, 2021, Hermes weighs a paltry 186 lbs. Boy is withering away.
I’m serious, tell him how great his face looks and watch his reaction. It’s perfection.
Discussion shifts to new OAs, most notably one starting this very morning at Apex Elementary dubbed…Cougartown.
The 3rd F Q’s were appalled.
1st F Q’s chuckled their evil chuckles.
Group moved on to discuss Site Q’s and, specifically, turnover of Site Q’s.
Just so ya know, Site Q’s are expected to stick in that role anywhere from 12-24 months. After that, picked a couple able-bodied and willing men to pass those responsibilities to. F3 is about building leaders (among other things), so make sure either, a) you’re passing along the chance to lead, or b) you’re stepping up to fill a void.
Discussion winds its way to a serious argument over “High Tempo Boot camps”. What exactly does “high tempo” mean, really? Is it about minimum mileage for the runners? Or is it about keeping the heart rate elevated? Who’s to decide? What’s the meaning of it all?!?
It’s at this point that YHS notices the absolute banger playing over the lobby speakers. An instrumental version of Phil Collins’ “You’ll Be In My Heart”. Not the edgiest song in ol’ Phil’s repertoire - it’s a song about him holding his newborn child and dedicating his life to protecting and loving it - but don’t think I didn’t catch Jamie Vance Roseborough nodding along to it and eventually shedding a single tear. Because, you see, he has a newborn presently and likely hasn’t slept in nearly 90 hours, if I had to guess. The man is running on caffeine and F3. But he looks good!!
Discussion then moved to whether or not we ought to offer a “High Tempo Boot Camp Q School” wherein the leader of said Q School would educate attending PAX about what exactly a High Tempo workout is, and ostensibly, isn’t.
This led to the quote of the day from our brand new FNG Q, Parker: “So basically, it’s like…Eff the six.”
He actually said “eff” and not the word that “eff” implies, for the record. Parker is a decent(ish) human being. Whatever the case, I was dead.
The day’s second best quote came moments later when Shut-In put his size-10 (narrow) foot down and cried out “We need to do this because our High Tempo Boot Camps are SOFT!!!!”
At this, Hi-Liter and I shot glances at each other simply aghast, mouths agape. We’ve seen Angry Shutty in the gloom, but never before in a well-lit establishment like a Bojangles Lobby.
His face did in fact get slightly red, just like the emoji.
God bless that man.
It’s at this point that the instrumental version of All 4 One’s “I Can Love You Like That” poured through the speakers in the Bojangles dining room sending YHS into a full-scale nostalgia coma thinking about Junior year Prom in high school. What a special night.
Topic #2: 2nd F
- What to do about 2nd Fs? Such a tough question in the midst of a pandemic, but there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel!
- Unofficial 2nd F events (meaning, pretty much all things that are not the pig pickin’ or holiday party) are going strong. Need for fellowship is high! AAZ the gold standard for 2nd F events occurring outside the gloom, but we need more across Carpex!
- Post-beatdown parking lot coffeeteria is undefeated. Big shouts to Oofta for introducing the idea years ago. Shouts to all the Site Q’s learning from that example and bringing the 2nd F to the 1st F. Awesome work by all!
- Convergences…are those still a thing? Of course! Sort of.
- With Memorial Day and 4th of July coming up, and with the rules, regs, and restrictions concerning COVID-19 in the state of North Carolina starting to adjust a little, the idea of a full-scale convergence has certainly crept into the minds of many a PAX. Just know that this is forefront in the minds of our capable (and veritably handsome) 1st and 2nd F Q’s and more official-sounding announcements will be made in the coming months.
- As far as the family stuff is concerned, i.e. the pig pickin’ and the holiday party, the 2nd F Q’s are aiming for something later in 2021 once things really start opening up in our state.
Topic #3: 3rd F
- Naturally, there are 4 minutes left in the meeting. Typical.
- Adopt-a-highway effort by Bagels has been a massive success - we, meaning F3 Carpex, have adopted a 2.6 miles swath of highway 64 from the Jenks Rd. area to Highway 55. Eventually we will be getting an official sponsorship sign, but don’t hold your breath. The State seems to have more pressing matters to deal with. Or so I’m told. Regardless, massive props to Bagels for taking an idea and running with it! Exactly what we mean by “freed to lead”.
- TCP Sawgrass is BACK and in full swing. VOL. UN. TEER!!! It’s 45 minutes of yard work (maybe) every other week on a Sunday afternoon. See the #3rdf-carying-place-tcp slack channel for details and to submit your HC. The Carying Place does awesome work in our community, the least we can do is to offer some sweat to help their cause and to have an impact in our own community.
- Parker is leading an effort to provide a ramp for the Western Wake Ministries food pantry to assist in food distribution. If you happen to be handy with a hammer and are interested in getting involved in building something, reach out to Parker and he’ll steer you in the right direction.
- Operation Feed Burt/Feed Pet Sounds have been successful. Really though, it’s just a fantastic testament to the character and love of the PAX in F3 Carpex. I’m proud to call you all brothers. Always PUT6.
Topic #4: FNGs
- Wait, what? We have an FNG Q? What the heck is that?
- Well, his name is Parker, and he’s fantastic.
- The idea here is to have a PAX lead the effort to help new and newish guys get connected into this thang we all know and love called F3 Carpex.
- Frankly, F3 Carpex is unique. We’ve got such an awesome culture here and we really want to get guys in our community plugged in. Who better to lead that effort than the handsomest, amiablest, handiest, tallest PAX in Carpex?
- Funny story - we told Parker, “Hey, you’re our FNG Q!”. He said, “Huh?” We said, “Right? You’ll figure it out.” And he did.
- Never a doubt.
- If you’re interested in helping Parker with this very important task, step up and offer your help! Also, if you bring a guy out, make sure to get him on slack and send a quick DM to Parker.
Topic #5: Weasel Shaking
- Banjo is watching. Never forget.
- Summer 2021 gunna be lit.
Action Items:
Hermes: update Site Q Responsibility sheet
Shut-In: reach out to unnamed PAX to help coordinate F3 Dads whilst How How is on the mend!
1st & 2nd F Q’s/COMZ: start communicating plan around Memorial Day/July 4th potential convergences
Shut-In: Get Capt Jack involved in SLT meetings
- Did y’all know Capt Jack has taken over the Newsletter communications? Dude has been crushing it!! If you haven’t read the latest update, go take a look. Clear, concise, useful information. Much unlike this ramblefest of a backblast.
1st F Q’s/COMZ: Write up/Add description of different workout types (i.e. “high tempo”. “limited run”, “kettle bell”, “standard boot camp”, etc.) to the website.
YHS: Type up and send out meeting minutes in the form of a backblasts (because backblasts are still important and I don’t care if any of you disagree).
TL;DR
Basically, the SLT understands that we’re at an inflection point with F3Carpex. We’ve seen incredible growth over the past 18 months or so, and keeping our unique culture intact means we need to find ways to better communicate what that culture is and how we can continue to bring it to more men in our community. Nearly every topic we talked about today came down to figuring out better ways to communicate best practices to the PAX of F3 Carpex, no matter which “F” we were talking about. This leadership team is stacked with truly great men who know the challenges and will do everything in their power to overcome them. F3 Carpex is in great hands!
As always, if you (dearest PAX) have questions, comments, or concerns, please bring it up to one our your SLT members, listed in the attendance section above.
We’re In This Love Together.
A song by Al Jarreau. That was the song playing in the lobby at Bojangles as our meeting adjourned and we all headed for the doors. It was appropriate.
See you in the gloom
-YHS, Sam Gapinski, 34, Callahan.