My wife and I were on a bike trip in central CA in 2003. We stepped 9ff the bike to take a brake near Priest Valley.
Dang near stepped on a rattlesnake.
No gun, so I sprayed it with mace.
Holeeeey cow, I've never seen a critter move that fast.
Yea, I've been sprayed. Taint fun.
?Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. "