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 |  "Putting on the Game Face" |
  This blog is a doorway into the mind of Percy Goodfellow. Don't be shocked at the lost boys of Namby-Pamby Land and the women they cavort with. Watch as his caricatures blunder about the space between audacious hope and the wake-up calls of tomorrow. Behold their scrawl on the CRT, like graffitti on a subway wall. Examine it through your own lens...Step up my friends, and separate the pepper from the rat poop. Welcome to my abode...the armpit of yesterday, the blinking of an eye and a plank to the edge of Eternity. Note: This blog is my journal. I've no interest in persuading anyone to adopt my views. What I write is whatever happens to interest me when I start pounding the keys. |
| Many Citizens these days, particularly the younger ones don't really appreciate the difference between a legal and a moral standard. Today we see Hillary Clinton declaring proudly, "I didn't break any law!" Can you believe it? Bragging that she didn't break the law. Does she not understand that there is nothing sacred about the law. The law is the minimum standard that society will suffer a citizen to perform before imposing sanctions on their behavior. Laws tend to be framed in negative terms because they are difficult to define in positive terms. A person can be an absolutely "scumbag" and still keep from breaking the law. It is important that we appreciate the difference between the Honor Standard and the Legal Standard. The framers of our Constitution understood, at the viseral level, what Honor is. In the Declaration of Independence our founding fathers pledged their lives, treasure and "Sacred Honor" to a struggle that would make the United States a free and independent nation. We all know and understand what a law is but what does the Honor Standard mean? To get this a person has to understand a bit about how the upper classes were educated back in the 1800s. Sure there was some Engineering being taught at the Military Academys in this country, however a big chunk of a higher education was devoted to the Liberal Arts which included Greek and Latin. Plato, a famous Greek thinker, and teacher, wrote The Republic, a political philosophy all those old timers were familiar with. In The Republic, there were three types of citizens described, bronze, silver and gold. The bronze citizen was seen as the workers, skilled craftsmen and merchants. The silver citizens were those who's duty was to protect the people and the state. The Gold citizens were the superstars who were picked to govern the people. The Bronze citizens were bound by the law. The silver citizens were bound by the law and a code of Honor. The golden citizens were bound by the law, an honor code and and elevated to "Moses" status. Silver citizens were seen as Military Leaders, Educators, Politicians Judges and Religious Leaders. They were expected to protect the weak, champion justice, venerate womanhood, and insure the National Defense. Since it was near impossible to define all these lofty principles, silver citizens were often referred to as "Gentlemen." At the Military Academies a person was defined as "Honor-less" if they Lied, Cheated or Stole. Now this definition didn't really explain what honor is but rather made it possible to quantify someone who was deemed without honor. Hold that thought. Recently a West Point Graduate and one of the Army's all time top generals resigned under a cloud. It came out that he had lied to the FBI, cheated on his wife and stole classified information which was found in the desk drawer of his home. So much for "Honor." Somehow this military Icon managed to shoot himself in the foot on all three of the measures in a sordid affair with a married woman. Now lets be clear that if anyone wants to see some good examples of honorable and selfless guardians of liberty, who exemplify silver citizenship, look no further than the military. It was a sad day for honor and a national disgrace when David Patreus resigned. However, this incident, does point to the low state that many of our public servants have sunk. General Patreus's behavior was below even the low standard of the law, not to mention totally "Honor-less." Now the point to all this is that "Obeying the Law" should be a "given" for any public servant and when they claim, in defense of their actions, that they "Broke no Law" it only shows that their behavior is routinely operating on the margins of criminality. |
| The Democrats are going to lose the election in November. The reason I say this is because the Democratic Party hand picks their candidates and all these caucuses and primaries in various states, where the voters are made to appear as having a choice, is all a hollow facade. When the Democrats changed the rules and set up the "Super Delegate" system it was because the insiders were not able to always get the candidate nominated who was the party choice. These days it matters little who the popular choice is. The Super Delegates will always tip the balance in favor of those pulling the party strings. What this has done is discourage some of the better and more electable Democrats from participating. They know they have no chance at a fair nominations process, since the selection process is institutionally rigged. What this results in, is that the "Fair Haired Child" of the party is selected well in advance and all that remains is to make sure an unelectable foil runs to give some respectability to a process that is ordained years in advance. We all know that Hillary was promised the nomination if she supported President Obama in the last two elections...that she would be rewarded when her "turn" came with the nomination. The party could credibly make such a promise once the Super Delegate component was added to the process. When the Democratic Party nudged Bernie Sanders into the race they never dreamed he would be as competitive as it has turned out. The reason a Socialist has done better than anyone expected is because Hillary is such a lousy candidate. Many mainstream Democrats find her antics impossible to swallow any longer. It isn't that the Democrats suddenly find themselves enamored with Bernie and his socialist views but rather that they find Ms. Clinton's record so repugnant than even many liberals can no longer look the other way. Bernie has had every opportunity to call Ms. Clinton to account. She is not without a record and much of it is open to criticism. "Why not?" you ask. The answer should be self evident.. It is because his handlers in the Party got him to promise from the outset not to go too hard on her. Can you imagine that if one of the Republican candidates faced the possibility of an inditement over miss-handling classified information or possible corruption charges... that any of the other Republican candidates would have refrained from going too hard? There is another aspect of the Democratic Party's weakness that surfaced this week in South Carolina. This was Crossover Voters. To understand this ask yourself why a Democrat would cross over to vote Republican? Again the answer is pretty self evident. A Democratic voter could either vote for Hillary or Bernie. What if they could't bring themselves to vote for either one. What if they see Ms Clinton as someone who isn't trustworthy and Mr. Sanders as somebody who loves to visit Socialist countries and honeymooned in Russia. If they could't bear to vote for either, why not vote for a Republican instead? This is what happened. Over thirty-five percent of the Democratic voters crossed over. Consider the implications for November. The Republicans are benefiting from the weak candidates the Democrats are putting forth. However, Instead of realizing the Super Delegate aspect is flawed, they see it as a good thing. Republicans would love to have a Super Delegate component of their own and are certain to come up something similar after the election. Trump is extremely likely to win the nomination and Cruz has come too close for comfort. Both of these candidates are despised by the Good old Boys and Girls. They can be counted on to try making sure this never happens again. One thing is certain and the voters are finally fed up with the establishment in Washington and all that remains is seeing if anything can be done about it. The mood in the country is outrage over the performance and behavior of insiders controlled by lobbies special interests and Super Pac money. The Republicans are as bad as the Democrats and neither party gives a hoot about the electorate once they get elected. A new aristocracy is raising its head that resembles more how the Soviet Union operates than the framers of the Constitution intended. Its a club for the Political Elitists who see Washington as a chance to..." strut and fret their hour upon the stage," and a cash grab opportunity that will set them up for life. If they aren't corrupt when they get to office it doesn't take long for the corrosive influences of power to erode their idealism and forget where they came from. |
| Today Al, Ron and I went to an RC Model Airplane swap meet at Shawano WI. I know, I know... nobody out there really gives a Rat's Pettoti where I go on Sunday morning at 0530 hrs. That was what time we got up and it was an hour and a half drive up there. The swap meet last year in Shawano was hardly worth attending and this years event was even less worthwhile. "So why did I go," you ask?... "If you knew it was bad why did you put yourself through another unsatisfying ordeal?" The answer I reply, "is because I'm stupid." Have you ever gone to a party that you didn't want to attend and it turned out just as unrewarding as you anticipated?" Of course you have... and have you ever gone to a party that you dreaded and it turned out much better than you anticipated? I see you nodding your head. Well possibility number two is why I went and possibility number one is what I experienced. And people wonder why I never go to the casino. Not so fast! Sometimes I go to the casino but it is only to eat dinner and not to gamble. I don't feel I owe the Native Americans anything. What my ancestors did or failed to do is not my circus and not somewhere I take my monkey. Its the same thing with the blacks. I don't make a color distinction. They're the same as me and i have worked with plenty who were smarter and plenty who were dumber. i can say the same for whites and yellows, not to mention Native Americans. I turn a deaf ear to arguments that somehow I'm responsible that many were brought here on slave ships and forced to work on plantations. At least they didn't starve to death in the Irish potato famine, and how about all those Europeans who died in Nazi slave labor camps. Not to mention the Jews in the concentration camps. What about the Syrians, who can't escape the Middle East fast enough? In my view we have enough guilt to deal with in the "Here and Now" without the guilt of what happened two hundred years ago. Get over it..... get a job.... study in school, join the MIlitary. Just don't tell me how hard it is being down and out in the United States. If you can't make it in the USA you aren't going to make it anywhere. For those who like Socialism, move to one of the European countries and see how you like living there. Or better yet move to the Soviet Union and send me a postcard. I spent my whole life fighting Communism and its red headed stepchild....putting myself and family at risk to stop it's spread and suddenly we have Bernie Sanders proclaiming its virtues as he runs for president. The sad part is that I would vote for him before Hillary Clinton. I used to be a Democrat and voting Republican leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The Republicans promised that if we delivered the House and Senate they were going to repeal the "Affordable" Health Care act. What a joke that turned out to be. The only one who tried to live up to his campaign promises was Ted Cruz. The Republicans hate him because they're ashamed when he rubs their noses in it. Then there's Donald Trump. He reminds me of a petulant rich kid who never grew up. He didn't even know that the "Triad" was and I don't think he really understands the significance of the "Mandate" to Obama Care. So what is a voter supposed to do? There aren't many choices out there and they're all bad. I do know this.... Power corrupts. How is it that someone elected to a $150,000 a year job, moves to Washington DC and in a few short years winds up a multi-millioniare? |
| Yesterday was busy. Linda and I got up and went to exercise class (Rehab in my case, otherwise the same thing), did some shopping and last night I went to Indoor flying. I am so glad Linda decided to join me in the exercise class. I am not an avid conversationalist and do a lot of self-conversing in my mind. As a result I'm not as social as I could be and our relationship suffers as a consequence. After fifty years of marriage I tend to run out of things to talk about and If I don't force myself to generate activities we can do together, and make myself talk out loud, things don't always go as smoothly as they should. Conversation is the lubricant of a relationship and without it the relationship begins to wear out. I certainly don't want this to happen since I love my wife as much as I ever did . So, I make a conscious effort to show it, by forcing myself to talk more and come up with activities where we can do things together. Anyway, Linda has a wonderful smile and radiates in the presence of others. It beams in the class and I love to see it. It makes my heart go pitter-pat, pitter pat. |
| Yesterday morning I had breakfast with the RC guys in Wisconsin Rapids. A friend gave me a couple of "Wing Bags" for a model he sold me. This friend, I'll call him Joe, is generous on the one hand and irritating on the other. At a recent swap meet I bought from him the above model for $50. It had no motor but the servos were in it and it was a good buy. My table was next to Joe and I moved the purchase from his table to mine. About an hour later someone came by and offered me $125 for it. (note: The servos and hardware alone were worth $150 because Joe puts nothing but the best on his models.) I told the potential customer (PC) I would not take less than $150. Joe piped up and said, "WELL....He only paid me $50." Now I don't give a Rat's Petotti if I make a sale at those swap meets or not. I go to them looking for stuff that gives me "A sense of wonder." This is wonder at the craftsmanship, value and the appeal that some models have. Still the "sour grapes" expressed by my friend was annoying, not so much that the PC moved on, but that the comment was "Mean Spirited" and "Petty." On the other hand Joe gives me the wreckage of all the models he crashes some of which are repairable and quite expensive. The point is that when tempted to put a friendship at risk, pause and give the matter some thought... for the right reasons as well as the wrong. After breakfast Linda and I went to Rehab in Steven's Point. While doing the weights one of the facilitator/monitors asked the "Question of the Day." "Why is bacon not always a good food choice?" (The text book answer is salt.) I blurted out, "Trichinosis." She gave me an uncomprehending look and I doubled down. "For the same reason that Polar Bear is." I can't tell you how many times my "smart assed" mouth has said things indicative of what a total jerk I am. I resolved for the one-millionth time to reflect more before I speak and not be such an "A-hole." Last night my wife and I went to Second Harvest Food Bank and handed out food to the needy. As I saw many of the nation's "Downtrodden" file past, I gave some quiet thanks and prayed that the Lord grant me a little of Ben Carson's grace with a small dab of gratefulness, sprinkled on top. |
| An RC model airplane is commonly made of balsa or styrofoam. As a more traditional builder I prefer the balsa, which is a plank on frame construction covered either by a plastic film or fabric. As I progress to larger flying models the fabric covering is becoming more and more my covering of choice. I use a process where the fabric is applied to the wings and fuselage with an adhesive called Poly Tac. Once the fabric is in place it is shrunk with a heating iron that makes the covering shrink around the wings or fuselage. Next a red filler is applied called Poly Brush. This solution fills the weave of the fabric. Next a grey filler (Poly Spray) is sprayed over the fabric which reduces the "Opacity" so one can no longer see through the fabric. Once the opacity is taken care of, the final step is to spray on the color which comes in cans of various colors called Poly Tone. As described in earlier blogs I"m getting better at using a spray gun. If somebody were to make a video of me at work I'm sure the process would resemble a circus clown juggling tennis balls, bowling pins and hula hoops. There is also plenty of muttering, cursing and self recrimination taking place. All these gyrations just to spray some paint. |
| I bought this old model airplane to use as a test bed for learning to spray paint. This spray painting is a complex process that requires many different things to be operating together for the results to be acceptable. Like most of the things I learn, I learn by doing and in recent years find that U-Tube provides many good instructional videos. The problem with these is that they eat up the monthly allotment of gigs provided by my network provider, who slows me down when I reach my allotted threshold. I can read much more and it doesn't take up as much gigs, if I read hardcopy instead of watching U-tube, however, there is much truth in the adage that a picture (motion) is worth a thousand words. The hard part for me to learn is how to get the air/paint mixture correct. My compressor provides me about fifty pounds of tank pressure. There is a gage at the inlet to the gun that shows input pressure. I can set this to forty. Then, I need to control the flow of material (Paint) through the gun. This is done with the trigger. If you pull the trigger a little you get a flow of air pressure through the nozzle. The more you pull the trigger back the more material begins to flow through the nozzle. My compressor is one of those pancake types that operates a nailer or stapler. With this piece of equipment I also run the risk of outrunning the air pressure the compressor can provide. Further if I don't manage everything correctly, given my lack of experience and poor technique, I get goops, blotches and runs instead of a nice application of spray paint. In addition I have an air supply I wear, when breathing inside, that brings fresh air in from outdoors. The straps that hold my mask on are incredibly difficult to adjust and I wind up holding the sprayer with one hand and the mask on with the other. Most of the instructions on the net are provided by experienced users who have forgotten how to explain the basics and use terms like you have to "practice" and "fiddle around" with the process until you figure out how it works. I find this type of advice and instruction common to all aspects of the RC model hobby, particularly when it comes to flying. I'm not blaming those who try and explain things but rather point out that experts tend to be the worst at explaining and a novice is often better off, listening to those who have newly acquired their technical skills. The newly initiated tend to remember much more clearly what a novice learner needs to know. What this means is that I often write my own instructions even after I have learned something to reinforce the learning process and refer back to my notes as I gain experience and begin to "institutionalize" the learning that slowly sinks into my brain. For many, I know this makes absolutely no sense, but to me it is abundantly clear. The process for learning is not the same for everyone as I learned so painfully in school and on the playgrounds of life. |
| Today Linda and I went to Madison. It was sort of Valentine's day a day early. We wanted to eat at The Red Lobster and knew if we waited until tomorrow (Sunday) we would never get a seat. While we were there I went to the Hobby Lobby, a shop where they sell radio controlled stuff. The store is going out of business. The internet killed it or so the owner claimed. I find that a bit hard to believe even though more and more hobby shops are closing their doors. I think the real reason is that owners are getting older and finding it difficult to compete in a modern business environment. We came home and I went out and spray painted a model I am working on. I am getting better at it but still have plenty of room for improvement. Tonight they had a Republican debate on CBS. The moderators set the candidates to going for the throat with one another which is what one might expect with this network. In the last Debate NBC refused to let Carly on the stage. Why the Republican National Committee allows these biased media outlets play a role in determining their slate and allowing some of these nasty leading questions is a mystery. Maybe somebody smarter than me can explain it. The only person that didn't get involved in the mud slinging was Ben Carson. Anyway the meal was great as it alway is. Linda had the grilled shrimp with wild rice and broccoli and I had the broiled flounder, and french fries. Then we went to Barnes and Noble and walked around the mall. It was a good day. |
| In the past few days quite a few potential blog entries have come to mind but being consumed with other matters didn't grab them by the shirt tails as they flitted through my awareness and as a consequence they passed into the ozone of forgotten ideas. Some of these had to do with Politics and I'm sure my army of readers will breath a sigh of relief that such was the case.... unless of course you agree with my political views. This morning, on the treadmill at Cardiac Rehabilitation a patient walked in who I'd overheard talking to somebody else, earlier in the week. In the conversation he commented, with a note of pride, that he had been able to retire early because of some shrewd investments. He had gone on to say that his broker told him to get out of the market because of the volatility and convert to cash. The idea was that if the market went bust, he would be able to buy low during the next market cycle and get in on the ground floor. I remember thinking what happened in Russia during the past year when the Rupel lost fifty percent of its value. I wondered what he'd think of that advice if the same thing happened here and he woke up in the morning to find the dollar was worth only half of what it was the night before? Still, I kept my mouth shut, after all I know so little about the Stock Market that my investment strategy has been reduced to having collectable US gold coins. As a matter of fact the reason I went to this strategy was because the "experts" managing my mutual fund were dumber than I was and last quarter my funds made "zero" in gains. They are either inept or crooks and I'm in no position to speculate on either of the two possibilities. Its like separating pepper from Rat Poop. It seems that "Investment" experts get too much in the good years (when a monkey could make 7%) and pay themselves just as generously in the bad times, blaming fluctuations in the Stock Market. What I like about gold coins is that they sit in my safe deposit box, don't require a financial manager are immune from the Bernie Madoffs and the fiscal policies of the US government. If gold tanks I have nobody to blame but myself. |
| On Sunday my wife Linda and I were in Wausau and went to Zingers and Flingers, which is a new shooting facility for bow and arrows, rifles and handguns. The purpose of our visit was to get a Concealed Carry Permit. We live in a rural area and as we get older are more and more vulnerable to intruders showing up making threats or... or worse. Often we are outside and don't want to make the neighbors nervous when they see us carrying a handgun. "I know I know," you're thinking, "Aren't we getting a little paranoid in our old ages? We do have a cell phones, after all, and could call 911 if someone showed up, looking or acting suspicious." This is certainly true and a cell phone is an important part of our emergency management plan. The problem with the cell phone alone is that if the sheriff dropped everything and raced over here immediately (highly unlikely) it would take twenty minutes. Therein, lies the rub. We feel it's important to stay alive from the time the threat appears until help arrives... that every citizen is responsible for their own security in the early going of a life threatening situation. Is that paranoia? I don't care if the chances of getting shot by an intruder out here are 300 times less than getting shot by a deer hunter. When hunting season starts and the crazies from out of State start blazing away around our property, we can go inside and minimize that possibility. It was an all day course and had a shooting component which is required in many states that share reciprocity agreements with Wisconsin. If another Democratic administration is elected the problem is certain to get worse and there are certain to be many more constraints on our 2nd Amendment Rights. The gun store owners love President Obama. When he gets on the gun control bandwagon, sales skyrocket. Anyway, it was a good class and it gave my wife and I something to do together. Linda watches those crime shows on TV and didn't need any convincing. There are bad people out there and the Liberal mood of many in this country wants to give the criminals a free pass, while building a higher fence around their gated communities. Even if it isn't likely, my experiences is that being prepared keeps bad things from happening. |
| In my last blog, "Levels of Thought" the idea of thinking on different planes seemed self evident, however, some of my students have difficulty understanding what I'm trying to express. Is this Ozone thinking or is it to others as self evident as it is to me? |
| Writers often think at three different levels. These are tactical, operational and strategic. For example when thinking "Tactically" an author is focused on writing a short piece, like a short story, vignette or chapter. Operational Thinking in writing a novel is how the chapters will be strung together to form a coherent manuscript. Strategic thinking deals with those overarching considerations in writing a novel like, what tense will it be written in or things like should I kill my Central character off or leave her fate hanging for a subsequent novel? I mention this because it is not possible for my brain to think at all these levels at the same time. They are all important but to entertain them as a writer I must be wearing my tactical, operational or strategic hat when I do. In developing The Exploratory Writing Workshop , the Program of Instruction focused on getting the student to deal with all three. The vignettes were to practice tactical writing, stringing them into chapters was the operational part and the strategic dimension was in getting the student to think about where the story was going, how it would be written and how to get the whole thing where you wanted it to go. I hope you are beginning to realize that writing a novel has enough complexity that a writer can't just start pushing the pencil or pounding the keys and expect the whole thing to just fall together in the end as if by some magical coincidence. |
| I was in France for the second grade and we had music. I don't remember the teachers face but she taught us these french songs and even translated Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Sometimes these old songs and others I learned in music classes throughout my early eduction come unsolicited to mind and begin to recycle in my awareness. For example on had the line... "Oh hoo hoo, avec mais chapeaux." and other "Sont le pulenie Rougier. " I know I probably misspelled these french words but its been a long time. Then when my father was transferred to Norfolk Virginia, I attended Meadowbrook Elementary. There we had music and I remember all manner of the song and dance we were taught. For example there was Square Dancing where you were actually encouraged to touch a girl." Two songs that come to mind were "Do you ken John Peal" and "Sweet Betsy from Pike." Then there were the fights on the playground and after school. These were not so pleasant and the ones on the playground were not as bad because they were over quickly while those after school required you wait several hours and required dealing with the dread of anticipation. However, I must admit these experiences prepared me for the violence of being a soldier. Last week my wife and I went and saw 13 hours. I recommend it. It is pretty non-political... to the extent that the producers refrained from showing Susan Rice lying about ".... a demonstration that got out of hand, and where President Obama and Secretary Clinton were hanging out when all this was happening and why the military didn't make a decision to act, rather than wringing their hands like a bunch of numbskulls. What the movie showed was the events that took place in Bengazi. What the key political players were up to when wall this was going down remained noticeably absent. To this day we don't know what "The President was disengaged" means and why key people in the Pentagon were required to sign non-disclosure statements and polygraphed monthly to make sure they kept their mouths shut. It was a low point for the Administration, State Department and Department of Defense. Well, soon the Country will be rid of Obama. This is not to say that everything he did was necessarily bad but at best his ineptitude, unwillingness to work with others, and dogmatic political and social views really hurt his presidency. His legacy will put him on a rung even lower than President Carter which is too bad because in my view his contributions to Healthcare and the Iran deal had merit. As a Commander in Chief his performance fell well below expectations. Soon we will have the Primaries in New Hampshire and Iowa. For the Republicans it should narrow the field to Trump, Cruz and Rubio. The problem the Republicans have is that in the last election they promised to do something about the new Healthcare law and except for Cruz did nothing once they got elected except for Cruz who rubbed their noses in it. That is why his fellow Republicans hate him. For the Democrats the outcome is even more portentious. If Clinton does not do well, it could be she gets thrown under the bus. All promises could be off if she is deemed unelectable. Right now she is viewed as "Untrustworthy" and her ratings keep slipping. Further if the FBI forwards a recommendation to DOJ that she be charged, for disclosures resulting from the email fiasco, that could be endgame for Hillary. If that happens it could be that she drops out. |
| My mind amazes me at times with how well it sometimes works. Dyslexia for all its frustrations is a dark cloud with an ofttimes silver lining. For me negative logic is all but impossible to grasp. While I like to write computer programs, the algorithms do not like my bio-processor. I have to get an IT guy to write them. I provide the inputs, the test data, and the expected outputs and let someone with an aptitude for that sort of thing write the formulas. If I have to write one I often resort to juggling the variables until it finally works. This can take a long time and is frustrating beyond belief. The ease with which someone with an aptitude for math can write one makes me want to scream! My daughter Chris is a math geek, believe it or not. Despite a half of me being mixed into her DNA she has the gift that was denied me. It doesn't hurt that her mother is smart. Sometimes I read back on something I've written and say "My goodness, I really like the way I said that." At other times I think, did I really write that? Surely this is too good for something I've written. Maybe it's a sort of plagiarism in reverse, and I stole the thought, idea or words from something my muse dropped off as she passed through my imagination. Then there is the question regarding wether the stuff we write comes from inside our minds or we have a mechanism in our imaginations for latching onto those thoughts and ideas that flit and flirt through our awareness, from somewhere beyond our brain. Maybe our muse lives in one of those pipes from a dimension those physicists keep telling us about. Then there are dreams. What is that all about? Parts of them are tied to recollections but other parts are so twisted and embellished from the reality of what happened... that I'm left to wonder, which way is up? Some of it has a germ of truth but other parts are so divorced from what actually happened, that they don't qualify as a pure recollection but rather as a distortion that flows coherently but has a spin that is malevolently contrived, giving what I clearly and honestly recall, a totally mistaken narrative. It is like something is messing with my mind and trying to cast my past actions in the worst possible light. I know, I know, my readers think. Bob needs to be taking his PSD meds and start getting a good night's sleep. Maybe I should, but dreams are an aspect of life and rather than trying to medicate them away, maybe I need to pay them more attention and see what I can take from the nightmares, . Whoever created us had a plan and time line for how our days on earth were supposed to play out. We were, according to the script, supposed to be born, mature, come to the peak of our physical and intellectual prowess and then slowly (or abruptly) fade as the effects of aging, and bad life style choices took their toll on our bodies. Suddenly medical science comes on the scene and the programmed exit to this life is no longer as predictable as it once was. Take for example the three stints I just had to unplug the blockages to my heart arteries. I was slowing down, according to the grand biological protocol in the sky, and was on my way to "endgame" with a heart attack or stroke. .. "When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a Cardiac Doctor and a room full of garbed assistants." And what do you supposed happened next? You got it! my occlusions were flushed out like one of those old "Draino" commercials and once more blood is flowing like in the good old days. Not to all the places it once did mind you, but with enough volume to once more impart vitality to the bio-machine I drive around. As an added benefit the experience also yielded some lifestyle changes like diet and exercise and I feel better than I have in a long time. So you might say I cheated the paradigm and was granted an extension commonly referred to as "A New Lease on Life. How cool is that? |
| When we look out at the stars at night we see the universe. When we look into a microscope we see something quite different. I read somewhere that scientists using electron microscopes, have claimed to have seen molecules. That is a pretty high level of resolution and if they can see that perhaps one day we will see an atom. Actually atoms look to me like solar systems. In the center is a nucleus surrounded by orbiting protons, neutrons and electrons. It occurred to me once maybe looking out into the sky or down into a microscope might be opposite ends of the same thread. Then what do I know? David Hawkings talked about and some science suggests that dimensions exist beyond those that we can relate to like length, width and height. Somewhere I read that envisioning such a dimension is like visualizing a pipe that has its own world inside it. If something lived inside the pipe it would have a frame of reference of the cylinder that surrounds it and be unaware of the sun moon and stars, and perhaps know a great deal about things that exist on a smaller scale. Can you imagine a world where chemistry is used to create things rather than the tools and materials we are so familiar with. For example if they wanted a container or vessel they would make it by getting strands of bacteria to form a framework covered by a living membrane. How cool is that? I had vivid dreams last night. Sometimes when I get on my "High Horse" and complain about the way others behave I have dreams that remind me of how my own behavior has at time fallen short of what I wished it had been. I hate these dreams because they portray me as a self righteous hypocrite. It is irritating to be reminded of some of the thoughtless things I've done. Even worse is to have my soapbox kicked out from underneath. In these dreams I find myself being called to account, evidenced by my own past actions for riling on the actions and behaviors of others. |
| Now that i've written a Stage Play and Novel, I'm thinking about writing a "How to Book." I like to work on Radio Controlled (RC) model aircraft and in the club I belong to members bring me their crashed planes. One member in particular has brought me four crashed, Giant Big Sticks. Some are not damaged that severely and could have been repaired. This member, call him Joe, has the belief, shared by others, that once a model is crashed it is never the same again. I suppose it is similar to the state of mind that surrounds fidelity in marriage. Once they label it in their mind a "Damaged Good" they want to get rid of it and go buy a new one. Anyway I am the beneficiary of this form of convoluted thinking and I am given so many of these models that my garage is full of them. For the sake of objectivity, my belief is, that a damaged model can be restored to "Good as New" status if the repair is light and straight. So that is what I do. I fix them straight and weight the same as when they came out of the box. Another way I get my airplanes is when the builder dies, becomes ill or simply loses interest. I recently bought a Super Giant Bigs stick at a swap meet, complete with engine and paint for $300 that cost new $1300. I know this sounds like my wife coming out of Koles and bragging how much money she saved on her shopping. I suppose these are opposite ends of the same thing one being a "Girl" and the other being a "Boy" thing. The way I really got into this was, several years ago, I bought a Quarter Scale gull winged model (100 inches) of a PLZ 1. I flew it and crashed severely. Rather than consigning it to the outdoor wood stove, I made it whole again. I really liked the way the original builder made the wing and these days when I do an overhaul the wing gets "Gulled." If it works for a bird, my thinking goes, it should work on a model airplane. "'nest pas?" (A french term I've forgotten how to spell. It's supposed to mean "Is that not so?" Sometimes when a repairable plane is crashed the fuselage is destroyed and sometimes the wing. Usually one or the other can be fixed and what I like to do is wonder what wing X would look like on fuselage Y. If you walked into my messy workshop you would see the walls filled with wings and fuselages. I envision my book as showing the process I go through to complete the rehabilitation. |
| Wisconsin is in mourning. I watched the Wildcard Games yesterday. The first was pretty boring but the Greenbay/Arizona game was a roller coaster. Aaron Rogers completed his second "Hail Mary" pass of the season to tie the game but the Packers went on to lose in overtime. Too bad, so sad. The good news is I won't have to waste my time watching any more football this season. It is really cold outside this morning and I have to go out and get the outside wood stove cleaned out and stoked before church. I know this is a horrible thing to admit, but it is a real struggle for me to go to church. Once I get there I'm OK with it, and heavens knows God has been good to me but for some reason I have to wrestle and win with the Devil to get my ass in gear and attend. It's one of those self discipline exercises I talk about in my blogging .... sort of like taking the medicine I know is good for me. |
| I had an idea for a blog yesterday and today it has slipped my mind... not to panic, it will come back to me in its own good time. Right now my passion is writing, restoring old cars and model airplanes. This interest has provided me with a computer and garage full of lessons learned. Of all that I've learned "Persistence" is perhaps the most important. The world is full of talented people who don't see matters through. In my course, at New Horizon's Academy, here at WDC it isn't unusual for me to start out with six students and finish with only one. Sometimes nobody finishes. At first I thought that maybe I was the problem and my workshop had some sort of design or content flaw or maybe the students decided that what I'm asking is just so much BS. As time has gone on however, I think it is a case of expectations that run out of pressure to see them through to completion. I mean how hard is it to write six vignettes and do a couple of outlines in preparation for writing a novel? One of my best students was a thirteen year old girl being home schooled by her mother. Could that young lady ever follow instructions, spell and understand the basics of grammar. The kid was talented but it was her mother I admired most. She was not only home schooling her daughter but teaching the importance of self discipline... of finishing what we start. For those who can manage it home schooling is the best way to educate your children. Ninety percent of the day in public schools is wasted time! Charter schools are better than public schools but for many they are unaffordable. Discipline problems and disruptive classrooms in Public Schools bring chaos to the classrooms and it is a wonder than any learning takes place at all. Administrators are afraid to expel discipline problems and those who disrupt the classroom for fear that it will ruin their lives.....but what about the lives of those who must endure the turmoil of today's public school classroom. If you doubt what I'm saying just go and substitute for a day in a public school. |
| I'm home from getting my heart procedure. They put in two (2) stints. It was no big deal. Now I'm ready for the next twenty years. My wife and dog are glad to see me home. I got a big hug and the dog circled us wanting to get her share of the attention. I went out to the shop and worked on the wing to one of my model airplanes. The model is a Sig Senior and it flies like a dream. The past too years have been hard on it and I'm recovering most of the wing and fuselage surfaces, which were once plastic film, with a fabric covering. Since the wing took a beating on the last flight I redesigned it into a gull shaped wing. It extended the length and really looks neat. Can't wait to try it out come Spring. In covering my quarter scale I used the same process and materials used on a full sized (real) airplane. The technique is to adhere the fabric with glue, fill the weave with filler, apply a base coat and finally spray the color and clear coat. It sounds easy and I suppose it is for those experienced in doing it. For me, however, it is a slow learning experience fraught with lessons learned. I pick up most of my planes at Swap Meets from builders who gave up on their projects. For some it was over ambition, for others health issues and for the rest excuses common to everyone who consigns unfinished projects to the corner of the garage. As a consequence I pick my model planes up inexpensively and carry the projects through to completion. I recently acquired a $1200 model for under $300. I like this approach because if you crash an expensive model it isn't as expensive as it could have been otherwise. |
| Tomorrow I go back to the hospital to receive another STINT, which is a heart procedure designed to open up some partially clogged arteries. It's a first stage intervention to prevent an imminent heart attack. In my case there was little evidence in the Lab Tests to suggest I had some blockages. Even a stress test on the treadmill showed no abnormalities. However, the chemically induced stress test showed otherwise, indicating some significant obstructions. During the procedure it was discovered that I had occlusions in three major heart arteries. The only thing I noticed different was that when cutting and stacking wood I became fatigued earlier and had to stop more often and rest. These symptoms were easily attributed to age. The reason I mention this, is to emphasis the importance of taking a proactive role in your health care and report changes to your doctor. Nobody is going to live forever, but by paying attention to diet and doing moderate exercise, disease can often be diagnosed at an early stage when treatment has a higher likelihood of success. Nobody is immortal and as individuals we are the major stakeholder in the state of our health. |
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Love it! Especially the safety measures for us homo sapiens...
