I used to work out in the garage at our old house. The garage was a two car garage that I don't think we ever got two cars in. Front facing and a big double door - I don't know how to say that but had one door for the entire two car garage door opening.
I had my weight bench and my cement weights that I had grown up with out there. I had my Muscle and Fitness magazine subscription and I would go out there and I would study the exercises and read about the supplements that I couldn't afford to buy and when I would try the supplements they would upset my stomach or make my bowel movement smell so bad that I would stop using them. I had a radio out there. And I would go outside and work out.
That's the way I did it when I was growing up. As a teenager my parents got me a weight set. I set it up out the garage and worked out. We lived out in the woods so there wasn't anybody across the street to see me because there was no street. We lived a ways away from the road and so I could hear the traffic but I couldn't see it. And nobody was watching me.
That was not the case as an adult in our first house. Across the street in the little subdivision that we lived in Anthony and his wife lived. They were an older couple. And they liked to sit out on the front porch all day long. So anytime I would go out to work out Anthony would be watching. It drove me crazy!
I'd make a move and see him turn his head and watch. Change weights and he would watch me do that. Whether he was watching or not I don't know but because he was sitting facing my house and my garage directly across the street from me I felt like I was being watched all the time.
This was not fun for me, though I would do it anyways. I had a dartboard out there and I would throw darts at the dartboard between sets. But Anthony was always watching.
I remember one day I had to get up on the roof to paint the top part of the chimney or something. My ladder was tall enough to get me to where I could get up on the roof but I had to dangle my feet in order to find the ladder and get down. On that day I was not able to find the ladder. Then when I did find it I kicked the ladder and the ladder fell down and I was stuck on the roof. It was a one-story house and so it wasn't real high. And Anthony had been watching the entire time. And Anthony yelled as I kicked the ladder over accidentally that he could help.
Remember that I said Anthony and his wife were older? Anthony used a cane and was at least in his 70s. He did not move fast at all. It seemed like it pained him to walk. And so when he's yelling that he could come and help me all I could think was that I was stuck on the roof for another 30 minutes or so. And that he wasn't going to really be able to either get the latter into a position where I could get my feet on it or bring a different ladder anytime soon. So as he shuffled for his front door and turned around and looked back I jumped off of my roof and down into my front yard. I did a quick roll and tumble and landed safely. I checked that I hadn't broken anything, and then got up and waved and said thanks anyways, kicked my ladder where it laid, and put everything away.
In our current house my weights are in the basement. Nobody can see me down there. They're even around the corner to where if somebody comes down the stairs they can't see me until they come into the back area were my work desk and all of my messy tools and boxing bag and speed bag and weights and all that stuff are located. It's a nice area but it's dark and quiet. That was very important years ago when the house was full, but now with most of the house quiet that's not quite as alluring as it was before.
I share this because I'm enjoying watching our neighbors' kids work out in their garage. My front porch does not face their house. I cannot see them directly unless I go out in my front yard and turn and make a point to watch them. But I still see them when I pull into my driveway in the afternoon and evening and I hear them when I'm out in my garage and doing things in my yard. It's kind of fun to know that they're working out in the garage just like I did. And I hope that they develop a love for being muscular and staying as fit as long as they can. I still work out, though not the same way as I did. And not as often as I did. And I tend to do it with much lighter weights than I used to.
But it's fun to see those kids working out in their garage.
Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Thursday, December 23, 2021
Rocks on the path ~
I'm in a stage of life where I like a smooth path. I like to know what's coming, what I can expect around the curve, and that where I'm going is going to be prepared for me.
It doesn't always turn out that way. Sometimes I'm not sure where I'm going and so I have to just go on faith. Luckily our society is one that is prepared to provide almost anything. At a cost, of course, but if I need a place to stay in the middle of the night I can almost always find it.
With GPS and an Internet connection I can see the weather, know where it's raining and where it's not, know what to expect when I go somewhere, and go precisely to a place on the map without ever having to talk to anybody personally.
And then there's the past. We have a network of asphalt that runs coast to coast on our continent. Much of it is smooth and easily driven some of it is rough and still easily driven but bumpy. There are fewer and fewer dirt roads, but even those are pretty easily driven.
And then there are the hazards. The accidents were other people run into each other or have vehicle issues. The construction and the rocks.
Rocks are the unexpected bumps the either are pleased on the path or to the path or sometimes crawl onto the path. Sometimes they fall from above, like the son of an Indian chief that I tell a story about. Sometimes there placed by an enemy or by someone that is not as structured as I might be and they put it there so that they can remember and pick it up later but forget and it becomes an obstacle for me.
Sometimes the rock is big and unavoidable. Sometimes the rock is small and easily avoidable or even easily run over.
Sometimes the rock is alive. Turtle, possum, and armadillo, or a human being with things and doing things and tripping on things as they walk on the path that I'm trying to navigate.
I used to get mad at the rock. Irritated that it was in my way. I expected something laying there to know what I was trying to do and work with me in trying to accomplish it. Foolish, I know, but that was how I felt and still do often.
I had a rock drop into my path this past week. Someone trying to clean up their own mess ended up creating a mess for me when they were supposedly trying to help. Trying to give me a break. But giving in to that would've meant giving up something that I've done for six or seven years and really don't want to give it up to somebody.
Life is so interesting, especially as I get older. The way that I deal with things. Remembering how I dealt with them in the past and feeling shame and embarrassment and sometimes glorying in how easily I rolled through things before.
Now that I'm older I slow down a little more and enjoy the scenery a lot more and look around a lot more. Not necessarily at the scenery but at the people on the path with me and the people creating their own path and all the other things happening along the way.
Life is good, even with rocks on the path.
It doesn't always turn out that way. Sometimes I'm not sure where I'm going and so I have to just go on faith. Luckily our society is one that is prepared to provide almost anything. At a cost, of course, but if I need a place to stay in the middle of the night I can almost always find it.
With GPS and an Internet connection I can see the weather, know where it's raining and where it's not, know what to expect when I go somewhere, and go precisely to a place on the map without ever having to talk to anybody personally.
And then there's the past. We have a network of asphalt that runs coast to coast on our continent. Much of it is smooth and easily driven some of it is rough and still easily driven but bumpy. There are fewer and fewer dirt roads, but even those are pretty easily driven.
And then there are the hazards. The accidents were other people run into each other or have vehicle issues. The construction and the rocks.
Rocks are the unexpected bumps the either are pleased on the path or to the path or sometimes crawl onto the path. Sometimes they fall from above, like the son of an Indian chief that I tell a story about. Sometimes there placed by an enemy or by someone that is not as structured as I might be and they put it there so that they can remember and pick it up later but forget and it becomes an obstacle for me.
Sometimes the rock is big and unavoidable. Sometimes the rock is small and easily avoidable or even easily run over.
Sometimes the rock is alive. Turtle, possum, and armadillo, or a human being with things and doing things and tripping on things as they walk on the path that I'm trying to navigate.
I used to get mad at the rock. Irritated that it was in my way. I expected something laying there to know what I was trying to do and work with me in trying to accomplish it. Foolish, I know, but that was how I felt and still do often.
I had a rock drop into my path this past week. Someone trying to clean up their own mess ended up creating a mess for me when they were supposedly trying to help. Trying to give me a break. But giving in to that would've meant giving up something that I've done for six or seven years and really don't want to give it up to somebody.
Life is so interesting, especially as I get older. The way that I deal with things. Remembering how I dealt with them in the past and feeling shame and embarrassment and sometimes glorying in how easily I rolled through things before.
Now that I'm older I slow down a little more and enjoy the scenery a lot more and look around a lot more. Not necessarily at the scenery but at the people on the path with me and the people creating their own path and all the other things happening along the way.
Life is good, even with rocks on the path.
Friday, December 17, 2021
Raspberry Pi computers ~
I remember thinking when the raspberry pie computers came out and people were so excited that this small credit card sized computer had been developed so that Third World countries would be able to have computers inexpensive computers to teach their children and young adults how to use a computer and how to program that having people like that thrown into the Internet and the World Wide Web of both information and opportunity was exciting and scary all at the same time. I remember journaling that I was concerned because those people don't have the same morals as others and that they might take advantage of the easy and cheap access to computing power to steal and commit fraud.
I think the same thing about all the US government freebies that are being given at future taxpayer expense. The people that want an equitable outcome don't explain that equitable to them means everyone ends up with the same capabilities in the same resources in the same living experience has other people even though they come from very different beginnings. The Marxism that is infecting so many now will eventually infect the Internet to the point that we may not be allowed to have more information than anybody else and so your searches will be limited while theirs will be allowed. The average of the people around you didn't post very much and so you're not going to be allowed to post very much today either so that we all end up with the same outcome.
God, I hope I'm wrong!
I think the same thing about all the US government freebies that are being given at future taxpayer expense. The people that want an equitable outcome don't explain that equitable to them means everyone ends up with the same capabilities in the same resources in the same living experience has other people even though they come from very different beginnings. The Marxism that is infecting so many now will eventually infect the Internet to the point that we may not be allowed to have more information than anybody else and so your searches will be limited while theirs will be allowed. The average of the people around you didn't post very much and so you're not going to be allowed to post very much today either so that we all end up with the same outcome.
God, I hope I'm wrong!
Saturday, December 11, 2021
Some revolution ~
I thought this was a revolution!
In 2020 they made such a big deal about haircuts being dangerous because of the fear that you would contract COVID-19 coronavirus by interacting with hairstylists I stopped getting haircuts. I have not had a haircut for more than 18 months. I've gotten to where I like to pull it back into a short ponytail and I've gotten used to the derisive comments from coworkers and others.
During the 1960s longer hair on a guy was a sign of rebellion against the system of presenting yourself. The Beatles brought it in when they came over with the British revolution in music. Hippies and others grew their hair out long and shaggy and different styles came into being. It was a sign of being "with it" and agreeing with or at least supporting the people pushing change. Change from the oppressive clothing and hairstyles and ways of speaking so that you could be understood.
But now all that has changed. The people that were so rebellious in the 1960s are leading our current "revolution" from positions of power. Instead of fighting against the man they are the man. Or the person in charge if you want to be more politically correct. At least they think they are.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote an editorial on the subject recently that resonated with me. You should check it out at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/victor-davis-hanson/victor-davis-hanson-this-isnt-your-fathers-left-wing-revolution-2377129/amp/
I'm not sure when I'm going to get a haircut, but I'm ready. I've told people that it's COVID hair. I've told people that I won't get it cut until the COVID-19 coronavirus national emergency is over. I've told people that I'm like Samson and the longer my hair is the more I can stay strong against the virus. I've told people that I identify as a rock star :-) I've also told people that I wear my hair long because it's a free country and I can do that.
Viva la revolution!
In 2020 they made such a big deal about haircuts being dangerous because of the fear that you would contract COVID-19 coronavirus by interacting with hairstylists I stopped getting haircuts. I have not had a haircut for more than 18 months. I've gotten to where I like to pull it back into a short ponytail and I've gotten used to the derisive comments from coworkers and others.
During the 1960s longer hair on a guy was a sign of rebellion against the system of presenting yourself. The Beatles brought it in when they came over with the British revolution in music. Hippies and others grew their hair out long and shaggy and different styles came into being. It was a sign of being "with it" and agreeing with or at least supporting the people pushing change. Change from the oppressive clothing and hairstyles and ways of speaking so that you could be understood.
But now all that has changed. The people that were so rebellious in the 1960s are leading our current "revolution" from positions of power. Instead of fighting against the man they are the man. Or the person in charge if you want to be more politically correct. At least they think they are.
Victor Davis Hanson wrote an editorial on the subject recently that resonated with me. You should check it out at https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.reviewjournal.com/opinion/opinion-columns/victor-davis-hanson/victor-davis-hanson-this-isnt-your-fathers-left-wing-revolution-2377129/amp/
I'm not sure when I'm going to get a haircut, but I'm ready. I've told people that it's COVID hair. I've told people that I won't get it cut until the COVID-19 coronavirus national emergency is over. I've told people that I'm like Samson and the longer my hair is the more I can stay strong against the virus. I've told people that I identify as a rock star :-) I've also told people that I wear my hair long because it's a free country and I can do that.
Viva la revolution!
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Anything to separate us ~
One of the phrases that I keep hearing lately is "trust the science". And I'll comment to my wife and others that while I trust the science on many things science is always changing.
For example, the "save the planet" people weep over species that become extinct. And then act surprised when one of them walks out of the forest 20 or 30 years later. Trust the science; it said that they were extinct. But if there's another one and there's a whole group of them and there's a whole bunch of them that nobody had seen. "Extinct" means gone forever. It doesn't mean we just can't find them, it means gone forever never to come back. Words mean things. And so this sort of event undermines my trust in science.
I read an article recently that talked about at the quantum level atoms repel each other. And based on that scientists have concluded that we as humans can never really touch each other or objects because our atoms are repelling the other atoms. The article intrigued me because in quantum physics and that whole realm of science new things are being discovered all the time and nobody really understands it and there's all sorts of theories about. This makes it exciting to read about. And so this was cool and interesting at an intellectual level.
But then it struck me that if nothing can ever really touch then I can never really connect with another person. I stand alone and am separate from everything. I repel everything around me. And the whole undertone of the article shifted for me from a quantum physics intrigue feeling to I'm being separated from the herd and being singled out so that I no longer believe in God or in connection with others or any of that sort of stuff that makes our belief system stand tall.
It's scary! Because the devil will use anything to separate us from God. Even science! You're just a ball of energy. Science says that. Science also says that you're really only about 10% human and the rest of you is made up of bacteria and viruses and you're just a nasty vile thing. But God teaches that he loves us and desires us and created us in his image. We're wanted by him!
I guess that's why in the New Testament Paul talked about testing things that you ingest. We have to be careful what we let in our heads and then once they're in we have to be careful what we let them do and how they percolate, ferment, orhowever you ruminate on things.
The devil will do anything to separate us from God and from each other. Because divided we fall. Be careful!
For example, the "save the planet" people weep over species that become extinct. And then act surprised when one of them walks out of the forest 20 or 30 years later. Trust the science; it said that they were extinct. But if there's another one and there's a whole group of them and there's a whole bunch of them that nobody had seen. "Extinct" means gone forever. It doesn't mean we just can't find them, it means gone forever never to come back. Words mean things. And so this sort of event undermines my trust in science.
I read an article recently that talked about at the quantum level atoms repel each other. And based on that scientists have concluded that we as humans can never really touch each other or objects because our atoms are repelling the other atoms. The article intrigued me because in quantum physics and that whole realm of science new things are being discovered all the time and nobody really understands it and there's all sorts of theories about. This makes it exciting to read about. And so this was cool and interesting at an intellectual level.
But then it struck me that if nothing can ever really touch then I can never really connect with another person. I stand alone and am separate from everything. I repel everything around me. And the whole undertone of the article shifted for me from a quantum physics intrigue feeling to I'm being separated from the herd and being singled out so that I no longer believe in God or in connection with others or any of that sort of stuff that makes our belief system stand tall.
It's scary! Because the devil will use anything to separate us from God. Even science! You're just a ball of energy. Science says that. Science also says that you're really only about 10% human and the rest of you is made up of bacteria and viruses and you're just a nasty vile thing. But God teaches that he loves us and desires us and created us in his image. We're wanted by him!
I guess that's why in the New Testament Paul talked about testing things that you ingest. We have to be careful what we let in our heads and then once they're in we have to be careful what we let them do and how they percolate, ferment, orhowever you ruminate on things.
The devil will do anything to separate us from God and from each other. Because divided we fall. Be careful!
Monday, November 29, 2021
RSVP definition changed ~
Respond s'il vous plaît is French for respond please. When someone sets up a party or a meeting or something and asks you to RSVP it used to mean please let me know if you can make it or not so that I can prepare accordingly.
That meant that if he could make it I'll have a seat at the table or meeting or whatever for you. And if you can't make it you let me know that so that I don't have to look for you or prepare. Preparations tend to cost something, either in time and effort or money. When someone is having a wedding reception they are estimating how much food to have and if they put RSVP on their it used to mean please let me know so that I can tell the caterer to have food to cover what you will be.
Sadly I've watched "RSVP" turn into a couple of things. Most people don't realize that they should respond in the negative if they're not able to make it. It's embarrassing to say no. It would be rude to tell them no I'm not coming to your wedding reception. So instead of telling you so you can plan accordingly people tend to just not respond and it will be a mystery to you even though I have no intention of coming.
Worse now is the lack of commitment most people give to anything. So many people are afraid to commit to anything. They don't want to tie their hands because they might miss out on something else that comes up at the last minute. RSVP to them means I can tell you the day of or I don't even have to tell you because I don't want to tie myself up and commit to being at your thing in case something else better comes along. So many people don't respond to text messages and then respond at the last minute yeah I'll meet you and for me that tends to be too late and I've already moved on since you didn't respond. And usually next time I don't invite you or include you in the communication because you're not completing the circle.
What circle you may ask? The circle of communication. The circle of communication has someone transmitting, it getting to the person being transmitted to, that person receiving it, thinking about it, and then responding and then the person they're responding to receives the response. Only then is the circle complete. We play this game in air traffic control every day and lives are put at risk when either a pilot or a controller doesn't complete that communication circle effectively.
So when someone sends me an RSVP I tend to respond because I grew up understanding that it meant let me know either way so I can plan effectively. I don't know if that's just not being taught or if society is such that nobody wants to commit to anything. Or something else entirely. But I do know that in the Bible Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no. He didn't really say let your yes be yes but I'm let everybody wonder whether it's a no. But that's a different subject and could get me tangled up in all sorts of weird discussions.
Here's a request:
If somebody sends you a communication and ends it with RSVP please respond either way.
Rant over. Thanks :-)
That meant that if he could make it I'll have a seat at the table or meeting or whatever for you. And if you can't make it you let me know that so that I don't have to look for you or prepare. Preparations tend to cost something, either in time and effort or money. When someone is having a wedding reception they are estimating how much food to have and if they put RSVP on their it used to mean please let me know so that I can tell the caterer to have food to cover what you will be.
Sadly I've watched "RSVP" turn into a couple of things. Most people don't realize that they should respond in the negative if they're not able to make it. It's embarrassing to say no. It would be rude to tell them no I'm not coming to your wedding reception. So instead of telling you so you can plan accordingly people tend to just not respond and it will be a mystery to you even though I have no intention of coming.
Worse now is the lack of commitment most people give to anything. So many people are afraid to commit to anything. They don't want to tie their hands because they might miss out on something else that comes up at the last minute. RSVP to them means I can tell you the day of or I don't even have to tell you because I don't want to tie myself up and commit to being at your thing in case something else better comes along. So many people don't respond to text messages and then respond at the last minute yeah I'll meet you and for me that tends to be too late and I've already moved on since you didn't respond. And usually next time I don't invite you or include you in the communication because you're not completing the circle.
What circle you may ask? The circle of communication. The circle of communication has someone transmitting, it getting to the person being transmitted to, that person receiving it, thinking about it, and then responding and then the person they're responding to receives the response. Only then is the circle complete. We play this game in air traffic control every day and lives are put at risk when either a pilot or a controller doesn't complete that communication circle effectively.
So when someone sends me an RSVP I tend to respond because I grew up understanding that it meant let me know either way so I can plan effectively. I don't know if that's just not being taught or if society is such that nobody wants to commit to anything. Or something else entirely. But I do know that in the Bible Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no. He didn't really say let your yes be yes but I'm let everybody wonder whether it's a no. But that's a different subject and could get me tangled up in all sorts of weird discussions.
Here's a request:
If somebody sends you a communication and ends it with RSVP please respond either way.
Rant over. Thanks :-)
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Wild at Heart chapter 8 ~
In the book Wild at Heart by John Eldridge he talks about how men need men in their lives and they need challenges to overcome. It's an interesting book because in today's environment the wording and the thoughts caused me to look around and make sure nobody else could hear them because they were out of line with the equality and equity/equitable results from different beginnings rhetoric that is so prevalent today.
There was one chapter, though, that really caught my attention. In chapter 8 he talks about the battle that we are in with the ruler of this world. As Christians we are taught that God is ruler of everything and can do everything and is everywhere and knows everything. But there's a lesson the either is minimized or I didn't quite catch it at this level about Satan. Satan is not equal to God by any means. He is the ruler of this world that we live in and that's hard for me to grasp. It's hard for me to ask because if God is omnipotent and omnipresent then how can somebody else rule what he created. That's a question for theologians to argue about.
The thing that caught my eye in this chapter was him talking about the birth of Jesus being an invasion. And how so much more was going on in the background than just Joseph and Mary going to pay their taxes and a baby being born in a manger instead of in a house with a midwife and all those things.
It casts a different light on the angelic host that sang to the shepherds. For me it turns them into a battalion of protectors that were there in case something started to go wrong with the birth of Jesus. If Satan had gotten to where he was about to kill Jesus because he was trying really hard. But the invasion and injection of God in the form of man into this world was successful and we learn all about the great things that are the good news of Jesus and we are led to make a choice.
But those battles that are present but not seen with our eyes are still happening. I catch glimpses of them in my life is and it doesn't make sense. I see teaching on illness actually being caused by spiritual issues instead of physical issues and scoff initially after reading a little bit more and then listening to this chapter in this book it makes me wonder if I was wrong to scoff.
As we live in our enlightenment so many things that were commonly accepted before and during the Age of Enlightenment as it is called are being torn down and discarded. They're being scoffed at and treated as foolishness. The idea that God can help you if you just pray and the idea that you can be saved is laughed at.
And Satan uses entertainment undermine so much of what's in the Bible. Zombie movies and shows are so popular, but zombies are dead people that are reanimated through some weird thing that makes them zombies. Jesus was no zombie but he was resurrected after he had died for us.
The chapter specifically and the rest of the book was energizing for me has a guy. I don't know if the girl identifying as a guy would get the same thing out of it. But it's worth a tumble if you get a chance. Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08BYZBC8C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1635366486&sr=8-1
There was one chapter, though, that really caught my attention. In chapter 8 he talks about the battle that we are in with the ruler of this world. As Christians we are taught that God is ruler of everything and can do everything and is everywhere and knows everything. But there's a lesson the either is minimized or I didn't quite catch it at this level about Satan. Satan is not equal to God by any means. He is the ruler of this world that we live in and that's hard for me to grasp. It's hard for me to ask because if God is omnipotent and omnipresent then how can somebody else rule what he created. That's a question for theologians to argue about.
The thing that caught my eye in this chapter was him talking about the birth of Jesus being an invasion. And how so much more was going on in the background than just Joseph and Mary going to pay their taxes and a baby being born in a manger instead of in a house with a midwife and all those things.
It casts a different light on the angelic host that sang to the shepherds. For me it turns them into a battalion of protectors that were there in case something started to go wrong with the birth of Jesus. If Satan had gotten to where he was about to kill Jesus because he was trying really hard. But the invasion and injection of God in the form of man into this world was successful and we learn all about the great things that are the good news of Jesus and we are led to make a choice.
But those battles that are present but not seen with our eyes are still happening. I catch glimpses of them in my life is and it doesn't make sense. I see teaching on illness actually being caused by spiritual issues instead of physical issues and scoff initially after reading a little bit more and then listening to this chapter in this book it makes me wonder if I was wrong to scoff.
As we live in our enlightenment so many things that were commonly accepted before and during the Age of Enlightenment as it is called are being torn down and discarded. They're being scoffed at and treated as foolishness. The idea that God can help you if you just pray and the idea that you can be saved is laughed at.
And Satan uses entertainment undermine so much of what's in the Bible. Zombie movies and shows are so popular, but zombies are dead people that are reanimated through some weird thing that makes them zombies. Jesus was no zombie but he was resurrected after he had died for us.
The chapter specifically and the rest of the book was energizing for me has a guy. I don't know if the girl identifying as a guy would get the same thing out of it. But it's worth a tumble if you get a chance. Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08BYZBC8C/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1635366486&sr=8-1
Wednesday, November 17, 2021
Published author ~
One of the most interesting aspects of the Internet is that as soon as I publish any sort of blog posts on a page where people can get to it from anywhere in the solar system I become a published author.
I have been publishing posts to the Internet for several years. In 2020 I posted at least once a week on average to one of my blogs. Which makes me a consistent published author.
And I continue to share my story and my history with the world via the Internet.
The coolest part is that anyone can do this! All you need is a computer which is a phone or some sort of device that accesses the Internet where you can give input to it. You need to access some sort of blog software. I prefer logger but a lot of people are going with other things as the Internet shifts and changes. And you need your voice and ideas and thoughts and experiences.
I got to where I use a system where I record audio files on my phone which are then transcribed via software and saved as text files. I then tag and edit those text files to prepare them for publishing. And then they are queued up in a folder and automatically published without me doing anything else. I really like my system of publishing my thoughts and ideas worldwide. I hope that others can do something similar.
But I hope that people will realize that the book companies hold no sway over what we can do ourselves. And if your desire is to be famous you gotta have a base to build on.
I have been publishing posts to the Internet for several years. In 2020 I posted at least once a week on average to one of my blogs. Which makes me a consistent published author.
And I continue to share my story and my history with the world via the Internet.
The coolest part is that anyone can do this! All you need is a computer which is a phone or some sort of device that accesses the Internet where you can give input to it. You need to access some sort of blog software. I prefer logger but a lot of people are going with other things as the Internet shifts and changes. And you need your voice and ideas and thoughts and experiences.
I got to where I use a system where I record audio files on my phone which are then transcribed via software and saved as text files. I then tag and edit those text files to prepare them for publishing. And then they are queued up in a folder and automatically published without me doing anything else. I really like my system of publishing my thoughts and ideas worldwide. I hope that others can do something similar.
But I hope that people will realize that the book companies hold no sway over what we can do ourselves. And if your desire is to be famous you gotta have a base to build on.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Glaring hyperbole ~
One of the challenging aspects of life today is glaring hyperbole. Statements of "this is the most important discovery" and "this is the only best way to do something". Headlines scream at us minute by minute demanding our attention.
All of this glaring wording of attention grabbing headlines and statements to shock and impress seems to be training so many people ignore things. To ignore most things.
The emotionally stunted among us get into it. Their attention goes from glaring headlines into the blaring notification to whatever comes up in their attention next and they give their attention to it. Some run to it and beg for more, overstimulating their glands so that more dopamine than our brain would see in a lifetime is squirted into our circulatory systems during a videogame session.
All of this is having an effect on the public discourse that our modern society requires. Discussions quickly descend into name-calling sessions and insult-infused pieces telling people where they can go right from the beginning. Some people's ability to stab someone harshly with their words into something to brag about and they practice it hourly or even more
Shocking is what all of this becomes. "Your attention, please" is a statement ignored by almost everyone in an airport or some other public venue. Because our attention is focused on something else that preys upon it.
I struggle against this myself. I've had to change my tastes and input preferences so that my brain is not so overstimulated. It still is over stimulated, my life right now is such that I can't turn that off.
So many people look at pictures or listen to self-help guides and wish that they could go and sit Zen-like in a quiet place. People pay lots of money to go and sit in silence and then get very upset when someone else's phone disrupts that silence.
Choose where you focus your attention wisely. You train yourself to focus on certain things and that training goes on for a long long time.
Please be careful.
All of this glaring wording of attention grabbing headlines and statements to shock and impress seems to be training so many people ignore things. To ignore most things.
The emotionally stunted among us get into it. Their attention goes from glaring headlines into the blaring notification to whatever comes up in their attention next and they give their attention to it. Some run to it and beg for more, overstimulating their glands so that more dopamine than our brain would see in a lifetime is squirted into our circulatory systems during a videogame session.
All of this is having an effect on the public discourse that our modern society requires. Discussions quickly descend into name-calling sessions and insult-infused pieces telling people where they can go right from the beginning. Some people's ability to stab someone harshly with their words into something to brag about and they practice it hourly or even more
Shocking is what all of this becomes. "Your attention, please" is a statement ignored by almost everyone in an airport or some other public venue. Because our attention is focused on something else that preys upon it.
I struggle against this myself. I've had to change my tastes and input preferences so that my brain is not so overstimulated. It still is over stimulated, my life right now is such that I can't turn that off.
So many people look at pictures or listen to self-help guides and wish that they could go and sit Zen-like in a quiet place. People pay lots of money to go and sit in silence and then get very upset when someone else's phone disrupts that silence.
Choose where you focus your attention wisely. You train yourself to focus on certain things and that training goes on for a long long time.
Please be careful.
Friday, November 5, 2021
Done a lot with computers ~
I've been doing computer things for a long time.
I remember when my brother received a Commodore 64 computer for his birthday one year. He was so excited because it came with a cassette tape drive and we would spend 30 minutes loading the Blue Max space shuttle trench run game so that he could play it and I could watch and that I could play it sometimes. It was a fun game, but it was limited in what you could do and the boss at the end was very hard to defeat! We had spent many hours playing on our original Atari game system. Space invaders was my favorite because I had become so time-synced with the space invaders that I could sit and play it indefinitely on my joystick and big console TV at home.
After I got my own Commodore 64 in college I remember using a heat transfer printer to print my essay for a college class. I had typed up, saved, edited, and printed my college class essay using the GeoWorks software which was early "what you see is what you get" document editing. I remember arguing with my professor of the class that double-spaced and 14 point font on heat transfer paper was the same as doublespaced on a typewriter. And I remember another professor at University of Central Florida bragging about how she had gotten a 1 MB hard drive and how it was soooo big and how excited she was.
I carry 2 TB of storage in my pocket last time I counted.
I remember using America Online dial-up. I remember using CompuServe. I remember dialing into servers using the telephone line and downloading software that was pirated from other sources.
What brought all of this up? I received a T-shirt on my birthday that had the Commodore 64 logo on it it brought back a lot of memories. Good memories! But a lot of them.
I remember being my apartment in Orlando while attending University of Central Florida and calling my girlfriend (eventually my wife) and my mother in law and playing for them the three voice harmony that I had programmed using peek and poke commands in my Commodore 64. It was an amazing achievement on my part but probably didn't rank very high in other people's eyes. They laughed and were encouraging. And my wife has continued to be encouraging ever since then.
Now I tinker on my phone and make it do cool things. I tried to convince my iPad and my Apple iPhone from work to do cool things and often I succeed but sometimes I'm blocked by my employers security.
I love tinkering with computers! They're so much fun.
I remember when my brother received a Commodore 64 computer for his birthday one year. He was so excited because it came with a cassette tape drive and we would spend 30 minutes loading the Blue Max space shuttle trench run game so that he could play it and I could watch and that I could play it sometimes. It was a fun game, but it was limited in what you could do and the boss at the end was very hard to defeat! We had spent many hours playing on our original Atari game system. Space invaders was my favorite because I had become so time-synced with the space invaders that I could sit and play it indefinitely on my joystick and big console TV at home.
After I got my own Commodore 64 in college I remember using a heat transfer printer to print my essay for a college class. I had typed up, saved, edited, and printed my college class essay using the GeoWorks software which was early "what you see is what you get" document editing. I remember arguing with my professor of the class that double-spaced and 14 point font on heat transfer paper was the same as doublespaced on a typewriter. And I remember another professor at University of Central Florida bragging about how she had gotten a 1 MB hard drive and how it was soooo big and how excited she was.
I carry 2 TB of storage in my pocket last time I counted.
I remember using America Online dial-up. I remember using CompuServe. I remember dialing into servers using the telephone line and downloading software that was pirated from other sources.
What brought all of this up? I received a T-shirt on my birthday that had the Commodore 64 logo on it it brought back a lot of memories. Good memories! But a lot of them.
I remember being my apartment in Orlando while attending University of Central Florida and calling my girlfriend (eventually my wife) and my mother in law and playing for them the three voice harmony that I had programmed using peek and poke commands in my Commodore 64. It was an amazing achievement on my part but probably didn't rank very high in other people's eyes. They laughed and were encouraging. And my wife has continued to be encouraging ever since then.
Now I tinker on my phone and make it do cool things. I tried to convince my iPad and my Apple iPhone from work to do cool things and often I succeed but sometimes I'm blocked by my employers security.
I love tinkering with computers! They're so much fun.
Saturday, October 30, 2021
Proverbs speaks of slaves ~
In Proverbs chapter 17 Solomon says the wise servant takes control of the children and is honored as part of the family. Here's the link:https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PRO.17.MSG
I don't think Solomon was talking about a hired person. I think he was talking about a slave. And so in today's environment of peace for people known as oppressors does that mean that the Jewish people were oppressors?
I know that that probably could be called anti-Semitism. That on drawing down the anger of generations of leaders and pulling into a multi-century and even multi-millennial battle between different people from the same part of the planet. But I have to ask the question! Jewish people were slaveholders. Egyptian people were slaveholders. African people were slaveholders. Chinese people were slaveholders. In fact, if you look at history there have been slaves in every age.
So why am I being singled out? As a white male I am hated for what I am and what race I am considered to be a part of. People don't ask what my background is. People don't look into my family tree or history to see the indentured servitude, another form of slavery.
People assume based on my skin color and my success level that I am an oppressive Caucasian that needs to be shouted down at every opportunity and shut out of the new society being built.
Enjoy your new society! Just like the last several downturns in the economy, just like the several downturns in other things, just like all of the stuff that I don't buy into, I will not be participating in your new society. At least not unless I have to.
I am required to pay taxes. Sadly those taxes will be used to lift unsuccessful people to a supposed level of success that is equal to mine. And while they puff on the hookah and sit with their thumbs firmly placed I will laugh at what they call their redefinition of success.
Hope you're happy! Your campaign of hatred is working. I feel very hated.
I don't think Solomon was talking about a hired person. I think he was talking about a slave. And so in today's environment of peace for people known as oppressors does that mean that the Jewish people were oppressors?
I know that that probably could be called anti-Semitism. That on drawing down the anger of generations of leaders and pulling into a multi-century and even multi-millennial battle between different people from the same part of the planet. But I have to ask the question! Jewish people were slaveholders. Egyptian people were slaveholders. African people were slaveholders. Chinese people were slaveholders. In fact, if you look at history there have been slaves in every age.
So why am I being singled out? As a white male I am hated for what I am and what race I am considered to be a part of. People don't ask what my background is. People don't look into my family tree or history to see the indentured servitude, another form of slavery.
People assume based on my skin color and my success level that I am an oppressive Caucasian that needs to be shouted down at every opportunity and shut out of the new society being built.
Enjoy your new society! Just like the last several downturns in the economy, just like the several downturns in other things, just like all of the stuff that I don't buy into, I will not be participating in your new society. At least not unless I have to.
I am required to pay taxes. Sadly those taxes will be used to lift unsuccessful people to a supposed level of success that is equal to mine. And while they puff on the hookah and sit with their thumbs firmly placed I will laugh at what they call their redefinition of success.
Hope you're happy! Your campaign of hatred is working. I feel very hated.
Sunday, October 24, 2021
Different way of thinking ~
As I scrolled through some search results on Instagram I stumbled across a post that asked "how do people wake up, work 40 hours a week, a nine hour shift every day, and think yes, this is the way of life without questioning how absurd capitalism is?".
The question is a good one because it gets to the root of the difference between the people who just want to be taken care of and people who want to take care of themselves. The socialist minded vs. the liberty minded.
People who would question this as a way of life tend to think that the government can print money and issue them a universal basic income sufficient to provide them with all of their needs and some of their wants and desires if they play the system correctly or give up on certain things to save up toward a goal. Capitalism within a socialist environment.
I have yet to encounter a fully raw capitalist system. But my understanding from studying capitalism is that each player or entity in the capitalist system is looking for buyers for whatever it is that they are selling. Once you develop a market for whatever it is that you want to sell then you create demand and supply and make trades to gain some sort of income. I have computer skills and you have a need for some work done on the computers to bring your stuff into view of buyers. And so you pay me to use my computer skills to make your product available and visible and the buyers buy that product demand. If your supply goes down and more people want your product you can raise prices to equalize supply and demand and get a continuous stream of income flowing as they do the same thing on their side and everybody makes money along the way. Money chases money throughout the capitalist system. In the socialist ways money drains and money gets created through artificial means driving up inflation and making products that actually have to be produced at a cost go up because it takes more money to pay people to produce the products and then to sell them..
I have traded 40+ hours a week to an agency now for over 30 years. In that trade I have been compensated tremendously for my time and have enjoyed the benefits of the fuel for my life engine that money became.
So many people who look at socialism and see so many cool looking people relaxing and doing whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it say "that's what I want to be when I grow up tomorrow" don't realize the cost that those people become on the system. And that they have spent years practicing learning an artificial system that allows them to jump from step to step and gain advantage over others in the giveaway system so that they can embrace the lifestyle they are pursuing. That woman sitting on the park bench drinking her free coffee for the fifth day in a row may have six illegitimate children at home taking care of each other while she applies for the next government check.
I hate thinking of it that way, but I was raised to think that you work for your money and then you enjoy your money and what it can bring you. I have worked and given up life with my children and family at times in order to get that fuel and make more money. I have pursued goals that brought more income but denied me more time out and about doing what I wanted to do. But at the same time I got to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do them within the framework that I had set up within that system.
We all have to figure out where we fit in what we can and can't do. We have to look at and evaluate the situation and choose the path that we want to go on. And if you want to give up your freedom and liberty in order to sit and sip a latte have at it.
I prefer the dangerous world with a veneer of civility and I'll take care of the rest. My liberty makes me very dangerous and that's what scares so many people. Because I, like so many others, could throw off that veneer quickly and become what they fear.
The other part of the socialism vs. communism discussion is one that nobody really likes to take on. I acknowledge that socialism would be awesome if it could actually be done. I have yet to encounter a group of people that are unselfish enough to make socialism or a socialist economy work. Because within that framework selfishness takes hold and people will withhold resources and hoard resources that the group needs and watch others not survive while they and their family survives to the fullest and more.
I enjoy capitalism. I despise socialism and communism.
The question is a good one because it gets to the root of the difference between the people who just want to be taken care of and people who want to take care of themselves. The socialist minded vs. the liberty minded.
People who would question this as a way of life tend to think that the government can print money and issue them a universal basic income sufficient to provide them with all of their needs and some of their wants and desires if they play the system correctly or give up on certain things to save up toward a goal. Capitalism within a socialist environment.
I have yet to encounter a fully raw capitalist system. But my understanding from studying capitalism is that each player or entity in the capitalist system is looking for buyers for whatever it is that they are selling. Once you develop a market for whatever it is that you want to sell then you create demand and supply and make trades to gain some sort of income. I have computer skills and you have a need for some work done on the computers to bring your stuff into view of buyers. And so you pay me to use my computer skills to make your product available and visible and the buyers buy that product demand. If your supply goes down and more people want your product you can raise prices to equalize supply and demand and get a continuous stream of income flowing as they do the same thing on their side and everybody makes money along the way. Money chases money throughout the capitalist system. In the socialist ways money drains and money gets created through artificial means driving up inflation and making products that actually have to be produced at a cost go up because it takes more money to pay people to produce the products and then to sell them..
I have traded 40+ hours a week to an agency now for over 30 years. In that trade I have been compensated tremendously for my time and have enjoyed the benefits of the fuel for my life engine that money became.
So many people who look at socialism and see so many cool looking people relaxing and doing whatever they want to do whenever they want to do it say "that's what I want to be when I grow up tomorrow" don't realize the cost that those people become on the system. And that they have spent years practicing learning an artificial system that allows them to jump from step to step and gain advantage over others in the giveaway system so that they can embrace the lifestyle they are pursuing. That woman sitting on the park bench drinking her free coffee for the fifth day in a row may have six illegitimate children at home taking care of each other while she applies for the next government check.
I hate thinking of it that way, but I was raised to think that you work for your money and then you enjoy your money and what it can bring you. I have worked and given up life with my children and family at times in order to get that fuel and make more money. I have pursued goals that brought more income but denied me more time out and about doing what I wanted to do. But at the same time I got to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do them within the framework that I had set up within that system.
We all have to figure out where we fit in what we can and can't do. We have to look at and evaluate the situation and choose the path that we want to go on. And if you want to give up your freedom and liberty in order to sit and sip a latte have at it.
I prefer the dangerous world with a veneer of civility and I'll take care of the rest. My liberty makes me very dangerous and that's what scares so many people. Because I, like so many others, could throw off that veneer quickly and become what they fear.
The other part of the socialism vs. communism discussion is one that nobody really likes to take on. I acknowledge that socialism would be awesome if it could actually be done. I have yet to encounter a group of people that are unselfish enough to make socialism or a socialist economy work. Because within that framework selfishness takes hold and people will withhold resources and hoard resources that the group needs and watch others not survive while they and their family survives to the fullest and more.
I enjoy capitalism. I despise socialism and communism.
Monday, October 18, 2021
Proverbs each day ~
One of the things that I do on a regular basis is read a chapter of Proverbs a day. My friend Brandon encouraged it and I took him up on it and I have done this now for almost 2 years.
When I say read it's more like listen to. Text-to-speech technology reads me a chapter of Proverbs every day. Whatever day of the month it is that is the chapter that I read it in Proverbs. If it's the 10th of the month that I read chapter 10. If it's the 19th of the month I read chapter 19.
As I go through it I pick up tidbits here and there that I didn't hear last time.
One of the interesting tidbits that I picked up this month is that wisdom was there as God created the earth. I think it was in chapter 8 where it says that wisdom was there and was before the oceans were formed. It's a fascinating thought because the way I was taught there was nothing and then there was stuff as God created. Sure, evolution and all that too cold and things evolved over time. But the initial creation was not a big bang as I was taught. Or it was a big bang that was spoken into existence by God.
But it's interesting to think about wisdom being there before anything was created. It's comforting because Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It's a poetic book and so that means it's hard to understand. But the nuggets that you glean as you go through it over and over and over far outweigh the difficulty of getting them.
Money, foolishness, preparing for things before they actually happen, a loving wife, although cool things that Solomon talks about in his poetic book of wisdom just help me throughout each and every day. I enjoy listening to it and I enjoy taking it in a chapter at a time. As I go along and realize that I've heard it over and over and over I start to meditate on it and wonder about how it plugs into real life and what it means and how I can apply it and how I can help others with the advice of Solomon instead of just the advice of David.
I encourage you to read today's chapter of Proverbs. And read a chapter a day. It will truly change your perspective on life. Go for it!
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PRO.1.MSG
When I say read it's more like listen to. Text-to-speech technology reads me a chapter of Proverbs every day. Whatever day of the month it is that is the chapter that I read it in Proverbs. If it's the 10th of the month that I read chapter 10. If it's the 19th of the month I read chapter 19.
As I go through it I pick up tidbits here and there that I didn't hear last time.
One of the interesting tidbits that I picked up this month is that wisdom was there as God created the earth. I think it was in chapter 8 where it says that wisdom was there and was before the oceans were formed. It's a fascinating thought because the way I was taught there was nothing and then there was stuff as God created. Sure, evolution and all that too cold and things evolved over time. But the initial creation was not a big bang as I was taught. Or it was a big bang that was spoken into existence by God.
But it's interesting to think about wisdom being there before anything was created. It's comforting because Proverbs is a book of wisdom. It's a poetic book and so that means it's hard to understand. But the nuggets that you glean as you go through it over and over and over far outweigh the difficulty of getting them.
Money, foolishness, preparing for things before they actually happen, a loving wife, although cool things that Solomon talks about in his poetic book of wisdom just help me throughout each and every day. I enjoy listening to it and I enjoy taking it in a chapter at a time. As I go along and realize that I've heard it over and over and over I start to meditate on it and wonder about how it plugs into real life and what it means and how I can apply it and how I can help others with the advice of Solomon instead of just the advice of David.
I encourage you to read today's chapter of Proverbs. And read a chapter a day. It will truly change your perspective on life. Go for it!
https://www.bible.com/bible/116/PRO.1.MSG
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
Not a name-dropper ~
I have never been a name dropper. I just don't think that way. I don't think about trying to gain an advantage by using connections or perceived connections to get preferential treatment.
But I'm surrounded by name-droppers. My wife does it. Other relatives do it. Many people drop the names of television personalities in order to give their words more weight.
Even devotionals meant for us to center our minds on God do this. They quote authors and pastors of big churches. And then they encourage us to drop the name of God on people and we want to gain a little bit better access to things or gain some control over someone that's not the way they freeze it, but that's the result that they are looking for.
In a time when so many people are wailing against preferential treatment I always find it funny to see people use the fraternity or sorority affiliation to get jobs and to get discounts.
My father even did it! My father joined the Freemasons later in life. When he would travel he would slip on his Freemasonry ring and then he would wave it in front of the waitress or waiter in an effort to get a discount. He didn't do it around me, but I was told by plenty of people that he did that on numerous occasions.
I prefer to live my life with an approach on a level playing field. Or as level as it can be given the circumstances. That way when we do things we all get along. We all enjoy the possibility of similar outcomes.
But then I see people glory and me having to pay more than them because I'm not as well-connected. I see people take glee in abusing the system and then saying that they didn't say I couldn't.
I think the world would be a better place if we all approached it equally. Sadly, many people would prefer to cheat and lie and steal in their effort to avoid doing the work required to get an outcome similar to what I've got. Right now they're calling that equitable, but I'm calling it cheating and lying and stealing because so many people are doing just that.
But I'm surrounded by name-droppers. My wife does it. Other relatives do it. Many people drop the names of television personalities in order to give their words more weight.
Even devotionals meant for us to center our minds on God do this. They quote authors and pastors of big churches. And then they encourage us to drop the name of God on people and we want to gain a little bit better access to things or gain some control over someone that's not the way they freeze it, but that's the result that they are looking for.
In a time when so many people are wailing against preferential treatment I always find it funny to see people use the fraternity or sorority affiliation to get jobs and to get discounts.
My father even did it! My father joined the Freemasons later in life. When he would travel he would slip on his Freemasonry ring and then he would wave it in front of the waitress or waiter in an effort to get a discount. He didn't do it around me, but I was told by plenty of people that he did that on numerous occasions.
I prefer to live my life with an approach on a level playing field. Or as level as it can be given the circumstances. That way when we do things we all get along. We all enjoy the possibility of similar outcomes.
But then I see people glory and me having to pay more than them because I'm not as well-connected. I see people take glee in abusing the system and then saying that they didn't say I couldn't.
I think the world would be a better place if we all approached it equally. Sadly, many people would prefer to cheat and lie and steal in their effort to avoid doing the work required to get an outcome similar to what I've got. Right now they're calling that equitable, but I'm calling it cheating and lying and stealing because so many people are doing just that.
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Lack of respect ~
We're in a strange time right now where the lack of respect for others has grown into an ugly malignancy that threatens our society.
It started a long time ago. The struggle has always been there. Little lyrics looped into songs to push the agenda talk about the gentle curve of something without ever saying it. As the edge got pushed further out they got worse. A very popular rock song that I remember that really pushed hard on the edge was If You See Kay. I forget who sang it but it was a hot song on the radio is because it pushed that image and got the F word out there on the radio. Openly.
Wrappers push that edge hard, then bend and break it over and over and over. The repeated use of the N-word with the defense that "I'm black so I can say this" is saddening as much as it's maddening. Songs that say the word shutting within an "I" instead of the "u" and then the smiling smirk when they get interviewed about it shock people and make it more more acceptable.
Social media doesn't help. "Oh my God" got shortened to OMG. To put more emphasis on it it became OMFG. I've only seen JFC a couple times but it is out there. And the things that people put in comments are just incredibly disrespectful. I remember one that I saw where somebody commenting on somebody else's opinion and it was obvious that they did not know each other but this person had stumbled across them online talk about the author's mother's vagina. Where is any shred of respect in that?
Books have come out in the past few years like "Shit my father said" that got turned into a TV show if I remember right. F the world. Shut the F up. The Art of not giving an F.
The F bomb is one of the most prevalent edge pushers out there. It's used in conversations and kids say it to try and feel more adult like. I have used the word way too often and have worked hard to reduce and minimize that use. One of the most beautiful acts between a man and a woman reduced to a comment meant to wound and shock becomes more and more minimized the more easy it is used.
Now headlines on prominent news websites use F*** openly.
All of this seems to bow down to the general low level of respect and self-control being exercised by people. The use of all these things in the pushing of the edge and obliterating of the line in the name of freedom of expression fit right in with the neo-barbarian view of the world and what I call the new American slogan: don't get in my way.
We've come a long way since that artist put a Christian cross in a jar of urine and called it "Piss Christ". I'm almost afraid of what the neo-Puritans will do when the pendulum swings the other way.
We'll see...
It started a long time ago. The struggle has always been there. Little lyrics looped into songs to push the agenda talk about the gentle curve of something without ever saying it. As the edge got pushed further out they got worse. A very popular rock song that I remember that really pushed hard on the edge was If You See Kay. I forget who sang it but it was a hot song on the radio is because it pushed that image and got the F word out there on the radio. Openly.
Wrappers push that edge hard, then bend and break it over and over and over. The repeated use of the N-word with the defense that "I'm black so I can say this" is saddening as much as it's maddening. Songs that say the word shutting within an "I" instead of the "u" and then the smiling smirk when they get interviewed about it shock people and make it more more acceptable.
Social media doesn't help. "Oh my God" got shortened to OMG. To put more emphasis on it it became OMFG. I've only seen JFC a couple times but it is out there. And the things that people put in comments are just incredibly disrespectful. I remember one that I saw where somebody commenting on somebody else's opinion and it was obvious that they did not know each other but this person had stumbled across them online talk about the author's mother's vagina. Where is any shred of respect in that?
Books have come out in the past few years like "Shit my father said" that got turned into a TV show if I remember right. F the world. Shut the F up. The Art of not giving an F.
The F bomb is one of the most prevalent edge pushers out there. It's used in conversations and kids say it to try and feel more adult like. I have used the word way too often and have worked hard to reduce and minimize that use. One of the most beautiful acts between a man and a woman reduced to a comment meant to wound and shock becomes more and more minimized the more easy it is used.
Now headlines on prominent news websites use F*** openly.
All of this seems to bow down to the general low level of respect and self-control being exercised by people. The use of all these things in the pushing of the edge and obliterating of the line in the name of freedom of expression fit right in with the neo-barbarian view of the world and what I call the new American slogan: don't get in my way.
We've come a long way since that artist put a Christian cross in a jar of urine and called it "Piss Christ". I'm almost afraid of what the neo-Puritans will do when the pendulum swings the other way.
We'll see...
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Keychain pocket knife ~
One of the things that I carried as a father of young children was a Victorinox keychain pocketknife with the mini scissors. I used them to cut my children's straws so that they were better sized for the children's cups that they got at the fast food restaurants that we frequented. I used them for various other things that came up.
It was nice to have a pocketknife connected to my keychain. I could easily cut things and use the little scissors to cut paper and straws and other small items to custom fit them to whatever I was doing.
Recently my adult daughter commented to her husband that "yeah, my dad has scissors on the knife on his keychain". And I was embarrassed that I did not have one of those connected to my keychain at the time. All of my children are adults and I figured I did not need to keep one on my keychain anymore. But I did keep one in the vehicle that was parked in my garage at my house over a thousand miles away. It was rather frustrating and disappointing. As I cleaned out the vehicle in y driveway recently I found the small pocketknife and reattached it to my keychain.
I look forward to giving my adult children pocket knives with scissors to attach to their keychains so that they can do the things that I did as I raising them. We'll see what they do with them...
It was nice to have a pocketknife connected to my keychain. I could easily cut things and use the little scissors to cut paper and straws and other small items to custom fit them to whatever I was doing.
Recently my adult daughter commented to her husband that "yeah, my dad has scissors on the knife on his keychain". And I was embarrassed that I did not have one of those connected to my keychain at the time. All of my children are adults and I figured I did not need to keep one on my keychain anymore. But I did keep one in the vehicle that was parked in my garage at my house over a thousand miles away. It was rather frustrating and disappointing. As I cleaned out the vehicle in y driveway recently I found the small pocketknife and reattached it to my keychain.
I look forward to giving my adult children pocket knives with scissors to attach to their keychains so that they can do the things that I did as I raising them. We'll see what they do with them...
Friday, September 24, 2021
High school reunions ~
I graduated high school in 1982. In 2012 I enjoyed being a part of the group that brought a 30 year high school reunion into the world. We got a big ballroom at the Hilton hotel in town and put on a good show.
But there were side parties and other things with the clicks (cliques?) from high school that I was not invited to nor included in even though I was part of the organizing team of the reunion. I was the treasurer, and all payments for the big party came through me.
So as we drew close to the 40 year anniversary of our graduation from high school I was asked by the leading members of our class about participating in this anniversary.
In high school I was a nerd. I carried all my books with me. I was shy, stayed on the edge, was a wallflower. At the 30-year reunion I made a big deal about how someone can come from being a wallflower to being a leader of the effort to bring us together. It was awesome!
But because none of those people really reached out to me over the past nine or so years and there really hasn't been a relationship with them (except as social media friends) I feel no affiliation there. I have no need to reunite with the people that made fun of me and denigrated me and created such angst in me that I struggled as an adult.
So when I was asked if I would help with the 40 year reunion I said no. I feel some guilt over that, but for the most part I am fine with my decision. I told them that I would be happy to attend but I would not be taking a leadership position in the reading.
It will be interesting to see what they come up with and if I even participate.
But there were side parties and other things with the clicks (cliques?) from high school that I was not invited to nor included in even though I was part of the organizing team of the reunion. I was the treasurer, and all payments for the big party came through me.
So as we drew close to the 40 year anniversary of our graduation from high school I was asked by the leading members of our class about participating in this anniversary.
In high school I was a nerd. I carried all my books with me. I was shy, stayed on the edge, was a wallflower. At the 30-year reunion I made a big deal about how someone can come from being a wallflower to being a leader of the effort to bring us together. It was awesome!
But because none of those people really reached out to me over the past nine or so years and there really hasn't been a relationship with them (except as social media friends) I feel no affiliation there. I have no need to reunite with the people that made fun of me and denigrated me and created such angst in me that I struggled as an adult.
So when I was asked if I would help with the 40 year reunion I said no. I feel some guilt over that, but for the most part I am fine with my decision. I told them that I would be happy to attend but I would not be taking a leadership position in the reading.
It will be interesting to see what they come up with and if I even participate.
Saturday, September 18, 2021
A Peanuts thought ~
When I was growing up I enjoyed reading the comics in the newspaper. I thought the pictures were fine and the stories telling jokes and making fun of things always made me laugh when I understood them and made me smile when I didn't understand.
One of my favorite comic strips was peanuts by Charles Schultz. Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy and Woodstock, and all the rest made me smile and wonder that some of the things that they said and what it all meant.
I would buy books of Peanuts cartoons when we went to the bookstore at the mall. I had a collection of several Peanuts books and I would read them over and over.
Each holiday I would enjoy watching the Peanuts special on TV whenever it would come on and we were at home. As I got older I would check the TV listing in the Sunday newspaper guide to what was coming on television that week and I would see when it was gonna be and I would actually look forward to that day so that we could eat dinner and be done in I would be there early so that we could see the special. The Great Pumpkin, the little sad looking Christmas tree, all made me feel good and gave me enjoyment.
I recently learned from a Paul Harvey "the rest of the story" episode that Charles Schulz, the artist who created and drew the Peanuts cartoons that I loved so much, suffered from shaking hands to where when he drew with pencil the lines would be irregular. He would go back over everything with a pen over and over to make the line solid and not look squiggly and haphazard.
Charles Schulz also suffered from some sort of thing in his brain that made him feel like a dark cloud was over him at all times and he was depressed and sad often. The feeling of having a dark cloud following him went on for all of his life Paul Harvey said. Just like his father suffered from.
As I heard that story I thought of all the times that life was so good for me and my family and yet I felt as if there was a dark cloud over me and I was afraid that things would fall apart and go to crap. I remember telling people when I was a teenager and older that a dark cloud followed me. I remember trying to draw strength from that dark cloud and only getting angry and frustrated and upset.
In today's litigious woke time the thought crossed my mind that I should file a lawsuit and sue for damages to my psyche. But I realize that I chose to read those comic strips. I ran to them and embraced them and absorbed them and made them part of me. To the point that as I finally woke up and realized that I didn't have to accept that feeling and that I wasn't Charlie Brown and that I had a great life and that I have a great life and that that dark cloud doesn't drive me all it does is drag me down. I realized and accepted that I had made choices and that it was my responsibility.
I am so very grateful that God woke me up and helped me accept who I am in him and how awesome my life has been, is, and will be.
After I woke up from all of that before and learned to love the way things are I now turn away when I see Charlie Brown and the gang. I chuckle and fondly remember the enjoyment that I had but I don't want to get infected with that thinking again.
If you ever wonder and want to learn more ask me and I'll share with you what I learned and how I got out from under that dark cloud.
One of my favorite comic strips was peanuts by Charles Schultz. Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Snoopy and Woodstock, and all the rest made me smile and wonder that some of the things that they said and what it all meant.
I would buy books of Peanuts cartoons when we went to the bookstore at the mall. I had a collection of several Peanuts books and I would read them over and over.
Each holiday I would enjoy watching the Peanuts special on TV whenever it would come on and we were at home. As I got older I would check the TV listing in the Sunday newspaper guide to what was coming on television that week and I would see when it was gonna be and I would actually look forward to that day so that we could eat dinner and be done in I would be there early so that we could see the special. The Great Pumpkin, the little sad looking Christmas tree, all made me feel good and gave me enjoyment.
I recently learned from a Paul Harvey "the rest of the story" episode that Charles Schulz, the artist who created and drew the Peanuts cartoons that I loved so much, suffered from shaking hands to where when he drew with pencil the lines would be irregular. He would go back over everything with a pen over and over to make the line solid and not look squiggly and haphazard.
Charles Schulz also suffered from some sort of thing in his brain that made him feel like a dark cloud was over him at all times and he was depressed and sad often. The feeling of having a dark cloud following him went on for all of his life Paul Harvey said. Just like his father suffered from.
As I heard that story I thought of all the times that life was so good for me and my family and yet I felt as if there was a dark cloud over me and I was afraid that things would fall apart and go to crap. I remember telling people when I was a teenager and older that a dark cloud followed me. I remember trying to draw strength from that dark cloud and only getting angry and frustrated and upset.
In today's litigious woke time the thought crossed my mind that I should file a lawsuit and sue for damages to my psyche. But I realize that I chose to read those comic strips. I ran to them and embraced them and absorbed them and made them part of me. To the point that as I finally woke up and realized that I didn't have to accept that feeling and that I wasn't Charlie Brown and that I had a great life and that I have a great life and that that dark cloud doesn't drive me all it does is drag me down. I realized and accepted that I had made choices and that it was my responsibility.
I am so very grateful that God woke me up and helped me accept who I am in him and how awesome my life has been, is, and will be.
After I woke up from all of that before and learned to love the way things are I now turn away when I see Charlie Brown and the gang. I chuckle and fondly remember the enjoyment that I had but I don't want to get infected with that thinking again.
If you ever wonder and want to learn more ask me and I'll share with you what I learned and how I got out from under that dark cloud.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Hated ~
I have been hated for a long time.
When I was growing up I was a nerd. I watched Star Trek (the original series). I watched it so much that I could tell you which episode it was just based on the first couple of seconds of the show started on the television.
My mother told me that if you carry a book around you'll never be bored, so I took that advice and for a long time I almost always had a paperback book with me. I read Star Trek books. I read Charlie Brown books. I read Alan Dean Foster books and other science fiction books. One of my favorite books of all time was "The Past Through Tomorrow" by Robert Heinlein ( https://www.amazon.com/Past-Through-Tomorrow-History-Stories/dp/0441653049). Nerd! Now I carry a library on my hip in my phone. Of purchased e-books, of course!
As an employee of McDonald's I arrived on time. I stayed late. I got into the grease. I moved and kept moving and did things I wasn't asked to do and got stuff done.
As an air traffic controller I was the quiet nerdy guy that didn't really hang out with everybody else that were talking about their strip clubs and parties and stuff. I was married and stayed married. I didn't go to places after work with those guys because I didn't fit in. I tried to fit in and all and I was accepted for who I was. It was just weird.
Entertainment shows like Family Ties demeaned me and my kind. As a male the entertainment industry has made me out to be a buffoon and an indecisive but aggressive abuser of people and things.
My parents loved me but they always asked and even today my mother will ask "how in the hell did we raise a conservative when we were Democrats?"
As someone who is committed to what I decide to commit to, dedicated to the people that I'm given charge of or get an opportunity to help, I am told to back off. I'm looked at in strange ways. My input is specifically ignored. Unless it's useful to the people and then they take it and run with it.
Now there are forces turning my own society against me and my kind. Based on my income, skin color, marital status, sexual preference, and other factors.
Through the years I've learned to endure. I recently saw a meme with the face of the Joker on it that said damaged people are dangerous because they know they can survive. I continue to survive and thrive in hostile environments.
What I tell people so that they don't get too scared is that I continue to achieve all of my objectives. And I do!
And yet I still feel hated by society. Especially because I am successful.
But I also know that I am loved. Take that!
When I was growing up I was a nerd. I watched Star Trek (the original series). I watched it so much that I could tell you which episode it was just based on the first couple of seconds of the show started on the television.
My mother told me that if you carry a book around you'll never be bored, so I took that advice and for a long time I almost always had a paperback book with me. I read Star Trek books. I read Charlie Brown books. I read Alan Dean Foster books and other science fiction books. One of my favorite books of all time was "The Past Through Tomorrow" by Robert Heinlein ( https://www.amazon.com/Past-Through-Tomorrow-History-Stories/dp/0441653049). Nerd! Now I carry a library on my hip in my phone. Of purchased e-books, of course!
As an employee of McDonald's I arrived on time. I stayed late. I got into the grease. I moved and kept moving and did things I wasn't asked to do and got stuff done.
As an air traffic controller I was the quiet nerdy guy that didn't really hang out with everybody else that were talking about their strip clubs and parties and stuff. I was married and stayed married. I didn't go to places after work with those guys because I didn't fit in. I tried to fit in and all and I was accepted for who I was. It was just weird.
Entertainment shows like Family Ties demeaned me and my kind. As a male the entertainment industry has made me out to be a buffoon and an indecisive but aggressive abuser of people and things.
My parents loved me but they always asked and even today my mother will ask "how in the hell did we raise a conservative when we were Democrats?"
As someone who is committed to what I decide to commit to, dedicated to the people that I'm given charge of or get an opportunity to help, I am told to back off. I'm looked at in strange ways. My input is specifically ignored. Unless it's useful to the people and then they take it and run with it.
Now there are forces turning my own society against me and my kind. Based on my income, skin color, marital status, sexual preference, and other factors.
Through the years I've learned to endure. I recently saw a meme with the face of the Joker on it that said damaged people are dangerous because they know they can survive. I continue to survive and thrive in hostile environments.
What I tell people so that they don't get too scared is that I continue to achieve all of my objectives. And I do!
And yet I still feel hated by society. Especially because I am successful.
But I also know that I am loved. Take that!
Monday, September 6, 2021
Had a house demolished ~
I had a house demolished. I inherited some of my family's land and an almost 100-year-old house that my grandparents had lived in. It was the house where my father grew up.
It was a good house. I had several good memories there. My grandmother and grandfather would do their little decorations for Christmas. Grandma made a big deal about having the family get-together when we could for Christmas gift exchange. It was one of the only times in the year that I got to see my aunt and her side of the family. They lived in town and we didn't really cross paths with them. And so it was a special occasion when we got to see them.
My fondest memories of that house were of those Christmas celebrations out on the screen porch. But there are other memories. I remember when I was growing up my brother and I slept on the front screen porch. It was closed in with jalousie windows. Grandma and Grandpa did not have air conditioning out there and so summer nights were hot and those jalousie windows were open wide with screens keeping most of the bugs out. One of those summer nights we were sleeping and both of us woke up. We heard the sound of something walking outside of one of the windows. It sounded just like a person walking slowly and carefully. My brother and I got scared and finally got up enough courage to run into the kitchen and tell Dad and Grandpa. Grandpa just chuckled and said it's probably an armadillo and explained that armadillos sound like a person when they're walking in the leaves. My brother and I went back out and lay down and then we listened to the armadillo do his thing until we fell asleep.
I remember the blue bedroom was where we slept when we moved next door to my grandparents. That was when my Mom and Dad were having our house built on an acre property. The blue bedroom had an air conditioner installed in the window. Grandma would turn that thing on around seven at night and by the time I went to bed at 9pm or 10pm it was freezing in that room. Midsummer nights and I had to have two blankets on top of me to stay warm. It was amazing!
I also remember before they got central heat and air installed in the house they used little electric heaters in the bedrooms to warm them up just a little bit during the winters. But they had a big propane furnace in the kitchen. It looked like a wood-burning furnace but it used propane and the tank was outside. It would be 35° outside and Dad would take me over to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and they would have the heater going so hot it was 90° in that room. And of course the doors to the rest of the house were closed to keep the heat in, so the rest of the house was freezing but that room was 90°.
After grandma died and when the house was given to me by my Dad nobody had lived in it for almost 10 years. Dad didn't have anything to do with it because he felt emotional every time he would go over there. Grandpa had died in the house. All of Dad's good memories of Grandma were gone with grandma's death. And Dad just didn't want to deal with the sadness and the ghosts.
A couple of years ago my wife and I were talking about it and we decided that we would never live in that house. It was too old and it didn't really fit what we wanted as a lifestyle. And it would take way too much money to fix it up and repair it. Just before that decision the house had developed a leak in the roof that got so bad that it was going into one of the bedrooms and the screen porch. A new roof would've cost more money than we were willing to spend. And the house had developed foundation problems and walls are cracking in the middle of the house. Comparing the costs to repair it to the cost to have it demolished we decided to go ahead and have it torn down. For us that was a better decision than letting it stay standing and then possibly having kids or drug users or squatters or whatever get in there and do things they shouldn't be doing in property that they didn't own that could incur liability in our lives.
My son offered to set things up to have it demolished and he did a good job coordinating that. Once the decision was made and a budget was laid out he got estimates, picked the company to work with, coordinated the disconnection of electricity, etc. And then he went down and oversaw the actual demolition of the house. He did a good job! And I'm very appreciative that he took this project on.
I feel strange about the whole thing. I feel like it was the right thing to do but find myself second-guessing, wondering, and all that sort of thing. But the decision was made and the action was taken. Now we are past it and we get to forge ahead into the bright new future.
It still feels weird to have had a house demolished.
It was a good house. I had several good memories there. My grandmother and grandfather would do their little decorations for Christmas. Grandma made a big deal about having the family get-together when we could for Christmas gift exchange. It was one of the only times in the year that I got to see my aunt and her side of the family. They lived in town and we didn't really cross paths with them. And so it was a special occasion when we got to see them.
My fondest memories of that house were of those Christmas celebrations out on the screen porch. But there are other memories. I remember when I was growing up my brother and I slept on the front screen porch. It was closed in with jalousie windows. Grandma and Grandpa did not have air conditioning out there and so summer nights were hot and those jalousie windows were open wide with screens keeping most of the bugs out. One of those summer nights we were sleeping and both of us woke up. We heard the sound of something walking outside of one of the windows. It sounded just like a person walking slowly and carefully. My brother and I got scared and finally got up enough courage to run into the kitchen and tell Dad and Grandpa. Grandpa just chuckled and said it's probably an armadillo and explained that armadillos sound like a person when they're walking in the leaves. My brother and I went back out and lay down and then we listened to the armadillo do his thing until we fell asleep.
I remember the blue bedroom was where we slept when we moved next door to my grandparents. That was when my Mom and Dad were having our house built on an acre property. The blue bedroom had an air conditioner installed in the window. Grandma would turn that thing on around seven at night and by the time I went to bed at 9pm or 10pm it was freezing in that room. Midsummer nights and I had to have two blankets on top of me to stay warm. It was amazing!
I also remember before they got central heat and air installed in the house they used little electric heaters in the bedrooms to warm them up just a little bit during the winters. But they had a big propane furnace in the kitchen. It looked like a wood-burning furnace but it used propane and the tank was outside. It would be 35° outside and Dad would take me over to visit with Grandma and Grandpa and they would have the heater going so hot it was 90° in that room. And of course the doors to the rest of the house were closed to keep the heat in, so the rest of the house was freezing but that room was 90°.
After grandma died and when the house was given to me by my Dad nobody had lived in it for almost 10 years. Dad didn't have anything to do with it because he felt emotional every time he would go over there. Grandpa had died in the house. All of Dad's good memories of Grandma were gone with grandma's death. And Dad just didn't want to deal with the sadness and the ghosts.
A couple of years ago my wife and I were talking about it and we decided that we would never live in that house. It was too old and it didn't really fit what we wanted as a lifestyle. And it would take way too much money to fix it up and repair it. Just before that decision the house had developed a leak in the roof that got so bad that it was going into one of the bedrooms and the screen porch. A new roof would've cost more money than we were willing to spend. And the house had developed foundation problems and walls are cracking in the middle of the house. Comparing the costs to repair it to the cost to have it demolished we decided to go ahead and have it torn down. For us that was a better decision than letting it stay standing and then possibly having kids or drug users or squatters or whatever get in there and do things they shouldn't be doing in property that they didn't own that could incur liability in our lives.
My son offered to set things up to have it demolished and he did a good job coordinating that. Once the decision was made and a budget was laid out he got estimates, picked the company to work with, coordinated the disconnection of electricity, etc. And then he went down and oversaw the actual demolition of the house. He did a good job! And I'm very appreciative that he took this project on.
I feel strange about the whole thing. I feel like it was the right thing to do but find myself second-guessing, wondering, and all that sort of thing. But the decision was made and the action was taken. Now we are past it and we get to forge ahead into the bright new future.
It still feels weird to have had a house demolished.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
About how a town got it's name ~
My wife and I were driving on vacation recently. We drove through the Smoky Mountains and got to see lots of little towns along the interstate. We would stop and eat lunch or dinner and stayed in a couple of hotels along the way. The way people do when they travel by car.
On one of the days I started seeing signs for a town. A flashback of memory made me start telling her about an imaginary guy named Howard. How I remembered that this town was where Howard was always stressed out. And that the people in the town tried to help him calm down. They never could get Howard to relax.
In my story a visitor came to town, an old Indian chief from up in the mountains. He watched and listened for a few days and then he spoke with the mayor of the town. He said this Howard is a very important man in your city but because of his stress many people were spending a lot of effort trying to relax. Then the great chief suggested to the mayor of this town that he rename his town. And that renaming the town would help Howard relax. Because then everybody, not just the people in town but everybody passing through would say this town's name it would be a reminder for Howard to relax.
That's how Chilhouie, Virginia got its name. (It's pronounced chill-howie :-)
Oh, by the way, the name of Indian chief was Chief Smoke In The Face. Someone who I have fond memories for from the past, a great Indian chief my father told my children all about when they were growing up. But that's another story...
On one of the days I started seeing signs for a town. A flashback of memory made me start telling her about an imaginary guy named Howard. How I remembered that this town was where Howard was always stressed out. And that the people in the town tried to help him calm down. They never could get Howard to relax.
In my story a visitor came to town, an old Indian chief from up in the mountains. He watched and listened for a few days and then he spoke with the mayor of the town. He said this Howard is a very important man in your city but because of his stress many people were spending a lot of effort trying to relax. Then the great chief suggested to the mayor of this town that he rename his town. And that renaming the town would help Howard relax. Because then everybody, not just the people in town but everybody passing through would say this town's name it would be a reminder for Howard to relax.
That's how Chilhouie, Virginia got its name. (It's pronounced chill-howie :-)
Oh, by the way, the name of Indian chief was Chief Smoke In The Face. Someone who I have fond memories for from the past, a great Indian chief my father told my children all about when they were growing up. But that's another story...
Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Gave up seat ~
Last year my youngest son was the lead in a play based around the clue boardgame. He was the narrator and host. And he had the most speaking in a speaking part.
He did a great job! I was shocked. He's so calm and he's so good at what he does.
A group from our church came to see the play. I thought they had come to see my son. But they had come to see one of the othe4 players that was an up-and-coming teen un the youth crowd. One of the popular families in the church and in the youth group. On stage live. Shy and anxiety ridden but up on stage and doing her thing. I always love when people that are on stage and in a public position say that they suffer from anxiety attacks and that they don't know that they can handle the struggle. Get the hell off the stage if you have anxiety. Otherwise shut up do what you're supposed to do.
But I digress. The group was there to see her and not my son. They were surprised that my son had such a big part even though he was such a big player in the youth group.
I had a great seat down close where I could get great pictures. My wife had us move back behind the group from church so that we could be part of the group. And so my video and pictures were not as good as I had hoped because we were further back with empty seats in front of us and our group was cheering when the girl was speaking.
Very disappointing. Very frustrating experience! Very telling about my wife. She would prefer to be with the crowd rather than up there in a good spot. Hmmm
He did a great job! I was shocked. He's so calm and he's so good at what he does.
A group from our church came to see the play. I thought they had come to see my son. But they had come to see one of the othe4 players that was an up-and-coming teen un the youth crowd. One of the popular families in the church and in the youth group. On stage live. Shy and anxiety ridden but up on stage and doing her thing. I always love when people that are on stage and in a public position say that they suffer from anxiety attacks and that they don't know that they can handle the struggle. Get the hell off the stage if you have anxiety. Otherwise shut up do what you're supposed to do.
But I digress. The group was there to see her and not my son. They were surprised that my son had such a big part even though he was such a big player in the youth group.
I had a great seat down close where I could get great pictures. My wife had us move back behind the group from church so that we could be part of the group. And so my video and pictures were not as good as I had hoped because we were further back with empty seats in front of us and our group was cheering when the girl was speaking.
Very disappointing. Very frustrating experience! Very telling about my wife. She would prefer to be with the crowd rather than up there in a good spot. Hmmm
Thursday, August 19, 2021
A piece of trash ~
One of the things that I read and hear from gurus online is that to help with your own happiness you should try to do a random act of kindness every day. They give examples about people buying somebody else's coffee in the Starbucks drive through or buying somebody's meal in the fast food drive through and those are great! I tend to drift toward things that nobody will really notice or remember just because I don't want to brag or get some sort of return on what I'm doing. At least not from other people.
I don't do it always but I try to pick up a piece of trash every day. I see it as helping keep things nice and clean throughout the day. Of helping somebody who may have missed the garbage can when they were throwing something away. And helping make the janitor's life a little bit easier having the garbage all in one place instead of having to clean up after people.
I have to be careful about it though. I don't want to become judgmental of others but it would be easy to. My wife and I went to an amusement park recently and we enjoyed the rides and seeing all the people out and about without masks and back to normal life before coded 19 rocked our world.
Around 6:30 in the evening we started looking for the expensive food that we could eat for dinner. Terrible fast food that was way overpriced is what you get in an amusement park and this was the same. I remember looking for a table to sit at while my wife was buying the food. I found many of the tables in the covered picnic area heaped with trash. They were trash cans all around the picnic area and they were not full. But people had chosen to eat and then just leave their trash on the table instead of cleaning up after themselves. I found that very sad and at first thought of it as inconsiderate but had to back off of that judgment and leave it outside.
I watched so many people walk through garbage literally, stepping gingerly so that they don't get any of it on them and going the long way around something to get to the door so that they don't have to even get close to it. Instead of just picking it up and putting it in the garbage can.
In Scouting one of the things they teach is "leave no trace". It's a mindset when you are out and about, especially out in natural areas or the woods, to do your thing and have fun but when done try to leave no trace of ever having been there. I took that to heart and have tried to do that in my daily life. It goes along with emptying myself so that God can fill me with his presence, but that's a different subject.
I know that in the end nobody will really know what I did. I gravitate towards those sorts of activities. And I hope that I leave the world a little bit better so the next person can take it and run with it.
I don't do it always but I try to pick up a piece of trash every day. I see it as helping keep things nice and clean throughout the day. Of helping somebody who may have missed the garbage can when they were throwing something away. And helping make the janitor's life a little bit easier having the garbage all in one place instead of having to clean up after people.
I have to be careful about it though. I don't want to become judgmental of others but it would be easy to. My wife and I went to an amusement park recently and we enjoyed the rides and seeing all the people out and about without masks and back to normal life before coded 19 rocked our world.
Around 6:30 in the evening we started looking for the expensive food that we could eat for dinner. Terrible fast food that was way overpriced is what you get in an amusement park and this was the same. I remember looking for a table to sit at while my wife was buying the food. I found many of the tables in the covered picnic area heaped with trash. They were trash cans all around the picnic area and they were not full. But people had chosen to eat and then just leave their trash on the table instead of cleaning up after themselves. I found that very sad and at first thought of it as inconsiderate but had to back off of that judgment and leave it outside.
I watched so many people walk through garbage literally, stepping gingerly so that they don't get any of it on them and going the long way around something to get to the door so that they don't have to even get close to it. Instead of just picking it up and putting it in the garbage can.
In Scouting one of the things they teach is "leave no trace". It's a mindset when you are out and about, especially out in natural areas or the woods, to do your thing and have fun but when done try to leave no trace of ever having been there. I took that to heart and have tried to do that in my daily life. It goes along with emptying myself so that God can fill me with his presence, but that's a different subject.
I know that in the end nobody will really know what I did. I gravitate towards those sorts of activities. And I hope that I leave the world a little bit better so the next person can take it and run with it.
Friday, August 13, 2021
Comments about me feel weird ~
A couple of years ago I did my best to dress like I was a character in Miami Vice. I wore a tank top that was cut low on my chest. I wore an open Oxford kindness shirts made out of cotton. I wore chinos. I wore shoes without socks.
My wife was driven crazy by the hair on my chest! She was so excited to see the hair on my chest and she touched and then commented on and then pointed it out to people. It was hilarious!
I even had some some of my friends commented that I was GQ and the showing of my manliness. They thought it was cool but also seem to be intimidated by my stylish manliness.
It was weird! To have people looking at my body and commenting on my sexiness good or bad was weird. It made me uncomfortable!
It reminded me of a time when I had just started wearing sandals on a regular basis. I went into an elevator in a hospital with my mother and a couple of other women that were strangers to me. One of the women commented on my bare toes. The other woman that was a stranger to me said that I had attractive toes and well-kept nails. And my mother commented that I had good-looking feet. It was all very odd!
It was one of those uncomfortable moments where I felt cool but I also felt uncomfortable. I didn't know if I should be embarrassed or if I should be proud or if I needed to push my jeans down a little bit further so they covered my toes. These older women were eyeing me is if they thought I was a piece of meat or something. It was all very odd.
I still enjoy wearing sandals and baring my toes for all to see. But I am conscious of who is looking at my feet. And I try to keep them looking good in case somebody looks at them and thinks something of them.
My wife was driven crazy by the hair on my chest! She was so excited to see the hair on my chest and she touched and then commented on and then pointed it out to people. It was hilarious!
I even had some some of my friends commented that I was GQ and the showing of my manliness. They thought it was cool but also seem to be intimidated by my stylish manliness.
It was weird! To have people looking at my body and commenting on my sexiness good or bad was weird. It made me uncomfortable!
It reminded me of a time when I had just started wearing sandals on a regular basis. I went into an elevator in a hospital with my mother and a couple of other women that were strangers to me. One of the women commented on my bare toes. The other woman that was a stranger to me said that I had attractive toes and well-kept nails. And my mother commented that I had good-looking feet. It was all very odd!
It was one of those uncomfortable moments where I felt cool but I also felt uncomfortable. I didn't know if I should be embarrassed or if I should be proud or if I needed to push my jeans down a little bit further so they covered my toes. These older women were eyeing me is if they thought I was a piece of meat or something. It was all very odd.
I still enjoy wearing sandals and baring my toes for all to see. But I am conscious of who is looking at my feet. And I try to keep them looking good in case somebody looks at them and thinks something of them.
Saturday, August 7, 2021
Good to hear him again ~
So I wrote about finding and downloading a Paul Harvey archive a while back (http://whollydavid.blogspot.com/2021/02/paul-harvey-archive.html). It was wonderful but it's been sitting on my hard drive taking up space and I haven't been able to do anything with it.
I had this vision of being able to use recordings like this in a podcast for myself so that I could listen to things that I want to fill my head with and be able to pause and resume them easily and have them automatically uploaded and updated every day. But for a while I had no solution to that dream.
Last week I looked again at podcast apps and discovered one that could help me make my dream a reality. Podcast Addict https://podcastaddict.com/app is an app for iOS and Android that will treat a folder on the device as a virtual podcast. That means that whenever you put files in that folder it will present them in a playlist is a podcast for that folder and track which ones you listen to and which ones you have not listened to. I could set it to automatically delete them after listen to them, but I'm not quite there yet. But it also allows you to drop other files in the folder and it automatically updates the podcast feed that it creates and then let you play it.
Me being the tech oriented person that I am I automatically created a folder on my device and synchronized it with dropbox. Then in the dropbox folder of set up a way to drop audio files in that folder and then it synchronizes in the middle of the night every night with my device. And voilà ! A personal podcast that I want to dwell on throughout the day is now available to me.
One of the first things that I did after figuring out how to make it all work was drop a couple of the rest of the story files from Paul Harvey's archive. When I listened to that first set of recordings as if it was random and just dropped in my folder I actually teared up a little bit! I remember listening to Paul Harvey for so long and I enjoy his storytelling technique for so much. So when I heard him telling a story about Andrew Jackson and his parents I got a little emotional.
I love it when my technology touches me. Now I have to read up on legalities and see if I can offer Paul Harvey to more than just me. Because that would just be awesome!
I had this vision of being able to use recordings like this in a podcast for myself so that I could listen to things that I want to fill my head with and be able to pause and resume them easily and have them automatically uploaded and updated every day. But for a while I had no solution to that dream.
Last week I looked again at podcast apps and discovered one that could help me make my dream a reality. Podcast Addict https://podcastaddict.com/app is an app for iOS and Android that will treat a folder on the device as a virtual podcast. That means that whenever you put files in that folder it will present them in a playlist is a podcast for that folder and track which ones you listen to and which ones you have not listened to. I could set it to automatically delete them after listen to them, but I'm not quite there yet. But it also allows you to drop other files in the folder and it automatically updates the podcast feed that it creates and then let you play it.
Me being the tech oriented person that I am I automatically created a folder on my device and synchronized it with dropbox. Then in the dropbox folder of set up a way to drop audio files in that folder and then it synchronizes in the middle of the night every night with my device. And voilà ! A personal podcast that I want to dwell on throughout the day is now available to me.
One of the first things that I did after figuring out how to make it all work was drop a couple of the rest of the story files from Paul Harvey's archive. When I listened to that first set of recordings as if it was random and just dropped in my folder I actually teared up a little bit! I remember listening to Paul Harvey for so long and I enjoy his storytelling technique for so much. So when I heard him telling a story about Andrew Jackson and his parents I got a little emotional.
I love it when my technology touches me. Now I have to read up on legalities and see if I can offer Paul Harvey to more than just me. Because that would just be awesome!
Sunday, August 1, 2021
God as a father figure ~
My wife and I had a time of talking about the Bible and what God is saying to us lately. I talked to her about God as a father figure and how that works for me.
I told her it was probably easier for her since her father died when she was 10 years old. She wants that five father figure and so she can easily transfer that feeling to God and get that out of the Scripture.
I on the other hand had a father until well into my adult life. I knew who my father was and lived with him until I was an adult and moved out to go to college and then move further out when I got married and started my career. So for me it's more of a challenge to approach God as a father figure because I am an adult male in the United States of America and I've been taught that I need to stand on my own 2 feet and make my way through the universe one way or another.
It wasn't harsh, but my father taught me many things about being a man. He taught me to be honest. To share. That it's okay to cry. To love. To stay calm when you're angry, something I still struggle with but I've gotten better. He loved John Wayne and Western movies so that sort of rugged individualism permeated what he talked about. While being a Christian he fell out of going to church after some interesting experiences in organized churches and then began to talk about how God could be seen in nature and things that were created by God. But he got back into a church toward the end of his life.
But because of the American way and the thinking of making it on our own I tend to struggle with approaching God as a father.
But when I read about Jesus going off to be alone with his father and to meditate with his father and how he pleaded with his father at the end but ended up doing his father's will I can see it and I try. It's hard to let go and let God take something when I feel like I need to drive and make it happen through force of will or eking out a finish over the goal line or whatever.
One of my takes on God as a father figure is different than I've heard from other people. When I read the book of Job I know that so many people get wrapped up in the troubles that Job had. Troubles that were caused by the devil, not by God. But I don't want to get into those.
What I see when I read Job is God bragging about his guy. The devil went to accuse God. Before he even got to that point when the devil God pointed Job out and said have you seen my man Job? God bragged about Job.
Let me say that again: God bragged about Job! I remember in a Bible study with other adults that the church that we were going to we were studying Job. And I shared that thought with the group and I pointed to one of the guys and I said can you imagine if God said have you considered my man so-and-so! And he immediately started waving his hands and said no no no I don't want God even pointinh me out or knowing who I am.
That reaction has stuck with me for many years. This idea that we all need to lay low and creep through without being noticed doesn't sit well with me. While I don't like to walk around spending money like crazy and drawing all the attention to me with flashy clothes I do like to do my thing and be comfortable doing it and not be worried about people noticing me or not. I like it when people brag about me to their friends or family. I love the idea of God bragging about me, although I would hate it if anything were to happen to my family and friends.
I share this because as a father I love to talk about my adult children. When they were growing up I loved talking about the different things that they had done, sharing pictures and videos with my parents and my wife's mother. I loved recording journal entries about them and bragging about how great they were and when I got the chance I would immediately tell people about the funniest thing that one of my children it done lately. Even as an adult with adult children I love to tell people about what my kids are doing, including my son-in-law. Once you're part of my family you are part of my family.
Next time you read Job take a little bit longer at the beginning of the book and notice what God says about his guy. You can read it at https://www.bible.com/bible/97/JOB.1.MSG
I told her it was probably easier for her since her father died when she was 10 years old. She wants that five father figure and so she can easily transfer that feeling to God and get that out of the Scripture.
I on the other hand had a father until well into my adult life. I knew who my father was and lived with him until I was an adult and moved out to go to college and then move further out when I got married and started my career. So for me it's more of a challenge to approach God as a father figure because I am an adult male in the United States of America and I've been taught that I need to stand on my own 2 feet and make my way through the universe one way or another.
It wasn't harsh, but my father taught me many things about being a man. He taught me to be honest. To share. That it's okay to cry. To love. To stay calm when you're angry, something I still struggle with but I've gotten better. He loved John Wayne and Western movies so that sort of rugged individualism permeated what he talked about. While being a Christian he fell out of going to church after some interesting experiences in organized churches and then began to talk about how God could be seen in nature and things that were created by God. But he got back into a church toward the end of his life.
But because of the American way and the thinking of making it on our own I tend to struggle with approaching God as a father.
But when I read about Jesus going off to be alone with his father and to meditate with his father and how he pleaded with his father at the end but ended up doing his father's will I can see it and I try. It's hard to let go and let God take something when I feel like I need to drive and make it happen through force of will or eking out a finish over the goal line or whatever.
One of my takes on God as a father figure is different than I've heard from other people. When I read the book of Job I know that so many people get wrapped up in the troubles that Job had. Troubles that were caused by the devil, not by God. But I don't want to get into those.
What I see when I read Job is God bragging about his guy. The devil went to accuse God. Before he even got to that point when the devil God pointed Job out and said have you seen my man Job? God bragged about Job.
Let me say that again: God bragged about Job! I remember in a Bible study with other adults that the church that we were going to we were studying Job. And I shared that thought with the group and I pointed to one of the guys and I said can you imagine if God said have you considered my man so-and-so! And he immediately started waving his hands and said no no no I don't want God even pointinh me out or knowing who I am.
That reaction has stuck with me for many years. This idea that we all need to lay low and creep through without being noticed doesn't sit well with me. While I don't like to walk around spending money like crazy and drawing all the attention to me with flashy clothes I do like to do my thing and be comfortable doing it and not be worried about people noticing me or not. I like it when people brag about me to their friends or family. I love the idea of God bragging about me, although I would hate it if anything were to happen to my family and friends.
I share this because as a father I love to talk about my adult children. When they were growing up I loved talking about the different things that they had done, sharing pictures and videos with my parents and my wife's mother. I loved recording journal entries about them and bragging about how great they were and when I got the chance I would immediately tell people about the funniest thing that one of my children it done lately. Even as an adult with adult children I love to tell people about what my kids are doing, including my son-in-law. Once you're part of my family you are part of my family.
Next time you read Job take a little bit longer at the beginning of the book and notice what God says about his guy. You can read it at https://www.bible.com/bible/97/JOB.1.MSG
Monday, July 26, 2021
Editing the Passion ~
In each of the churches that I have been involved in as an adult I've tried to be a helper in the technology area. I've done sound, I've edited recordings, have made tapes and DVDs of messages. And of edited video for services.
A few years ago when Windows was finally catching up to the Mac movie editing abilities the pastor of the church we were going to at the time asked me if I could make a video to play in the background while he and his daughter sang a duet. It was for a Sunday leading up to Easter or for Easter, I can't remember. But he wanted clips from the movie the Passion of the Christ synchronized with a song about the blood of Jesus flowing down the cross.
The movie had been a big success and had come out on DVD and people were watching it at home and crying about the amount of torture that was depicted in the movie. The brutal nature of what was done to Jesus brought to life on the screen. When I saw the movie it was extremely moving because as a Christian I could envision what had happened but to see it depicted with blood and flecks of flesh and agony and everything that that movie showed was hard. And extremely moving.
The song was about 3 1/2 minutes long. It was very touching and had a male and female voice and was a good fit for both my pastor and his daughter's voices. What he wanted was to have the different views of Jesus on the cross interspersed with the chorus of the song about the blood running down the cross. He wanted video of blood running down the cross during the chorus. But he wasn't very specific in his guidance about which scenes to use.
Because he wasn't very specific I had to spend hours watching the movie the Passion of the Christ. I had to watch over and over and try to get the right scene and try to make it fit with the words without having to distort the speed of the video too much. And this is all in Windows movie maker, which while capable as a program was not the best experience when using.
All in all I spent over 10 hours watching and editing the movie the Passion of the Christ to boil it down to a 3 1/2 minute background video for their duet. It was horrifying and satisfying all at the same time. Now when I see in the story about the movie the Passion of the Christ I quickly move along because I really don't want to read it. I have learned enough about Jesus and have a good relationship with him and I understand the pain and agony as much as I can. But after sitting there for several evenings while my kids played downstairs and went to bed I really just don't want to see that again.
I'm only an amateur but of all the videos that I've edited that was the most challenging in my life.
A few years ago when Windows was finally catching up to the Mac movie editing abilities the pastor of the church we were going to at the time asked me if I could make a video to play in the background while he and his daughter sang a duet. It was for a Sunday leading up to Easter or for Easter, I can't remember. But he wanted clips from the movie the Passion of the Christ synchronized with a song about the blood of Jesus flowing down the cross.
The movie had been a big success and had come out on DVD and people were watching it at home and crying about the amount of torture that was depicted in the movie. The brutal nature of what was done to Jesus brought to life on the screen. When I saw the movie it was extremely moving because as a Christian I could envision what had happened but to see it depicted with blood and flecks of flesh and agony and everything that that movie showed was hard. And extremely moving.
The song was about 3 1/2 minutes long. It was very touching and had a male and female voice and was a good fit for both my pastor and his daughter's voices. What he wanted was to have the different views of Jesus on the cross interspersed with the chorus of the song about the blood running down the cross. He wanted video of blood running down the cross during the chorus. But he wasn't very specific in his guidance about which scenes to use.
Because he wasn't very specific I had to spend hours watching the movie the Passion of the Christ. I had to watch over and over and try to get the right scene and try to make it fit with the words without having to distort the speed of the video too much. And this is all in Windows movie maker, which while capable as a program was not the best experience when using.
All in all I spent over 10 hours watching and editing the movie the Passion of the Christ to boil it down to a 3 1/2 minute background video for their duet. It was horrifying and satisfying all at the same time. Now when I see in the story about the movie the Passion of the Christ I quickly move along because I really don't want to read it. I have learned enough about Jesus and have a good relationship with him and I understand the pain and agony as much as I can. But after sitting there for several evenings while my kids played downstairs and went to bed I really just don't want to see that again.
I'm only an amateur but of all the videos that I've edited that was the most challenging in my life.
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Through the Bible podcast ~
When I was younger entertainment options were not as varied as they are today. You had AM/FM radio, you had the 3 to 5 channels on TV and maybe more if you are near a big city. You had tape of some kind, 8-track or cassette. And AM radio was still big.
But AM radio was dying. It was more and more commercials. It was staticy and not as clear as FM. Reception was not always very good, especially between cities.
But as a Christian AM radio was the place to go because that's where the Bible teaching shows were. We had preachers and teachers going through things and talking about the Bible. You heard sermons and teaching on a theme. One of my favorites that I would listen to on AM radio was J Vernon McGee.
J Vernon McGee founded the Through the Bible ministry. Basically he would go chapter by chapter and verse by verse and talk about the Bible on a radio program. And it was all sequential. And he would stop and tell stories and interpret an explain and help apply what the Bible said no matter which part of the Bible he was in at that time. It was great when he was in the New Testament. It was still awesome but not quite the same when he was in the prophets. The Old Testament was fun because he would give insights that I had never heard. But despite his dry southern voice and humor that often sounded hokey I learned a lot from J Vernon McGee.
I remember when I ordered his commentary books via mail. The five book set of Through the Bible commentary was where they had transcribed his teachings and put them in books. My mother-in-law was so excited that she had to borrow one of him and kept it for years because she loved reading the Bible and she loved J Vernon McGee. He was one of those great big personalities from Christian radio.
Recently I was missing hearing his voice and that kind of teaching, verse by verse through the Bible. So I went to my podcast out and searched for Through the Bible and came up with multiple podcasts playing J Vernon McGee himself and the radio shows that he had put out but commercial free. So I subscribed. It's awesome! Now I get to listen to Bible teaching that I got many years ago and can refresh and renew and gain new insights from. Read along with them and read that chapter about Paul as he's going through it. I can pick which one I want to listen to and listen to that chapter or focus on specific things. And I can then reminisce about what I was doing when I first listen to those things. In my car, on my Walkman, or whatever.
I love modern technology!
You can find the through the Bible podcast with J Vernon McGee at https://ttb.org
But AM radio was dying. It was more and more commercials. It was staticy and not as clear as FM. Reception was not always very good, especially between cities.
But as a Christian AM radio was the place to go because that's where the Bible teaching shows were. We had preachers and teachers going through things and talking about the Bible. You heard sermons and teaching on a theme. One of my favorites that I would listen to on AM radio was J Vernon McGee.
J Vernon McGee founded the Through the Bible ministry. Basically he would go chapter by chapter and verse by verse and talk about the Bible on a radio program. And it was all sequential. And he would stop and tell stories and interpret an explain and help apply what the Bible said no matter which part of the Bible he was in at that time. It was great when he was in the New Testament. It was still awesome but not quite the same when he was in the prophets. The Old Testament was fun because he would give insights that I had never heard. But despite his dry southern voice and humor that often sounded hokey I learned a lot from J Vernon McGee.
I remember when I ordered his commentary books via mail. The five book set of Through the Bible commentary was where they had transcribed his teachings and put them in books. My mother-in-law was so excited that she had to borrow one of him and kept it for years because she loved reading the Bible and she loved J Vernon McGee. He was one of those great big personalities from Christian radio.
Recently I was missing hearing his voice and that kind of teaching, verse by verse through the Bible. So I went to my podcast out and searched for Through the Bible and came up with multiple podcasts playing J Vernon McGee himself and the radio shows that he had put out but commercial free. So I subscribed. It's awesome! Now I get to listen to Bible teaching that I got many years ago and can refresh and renew and gain new insights from. Read along with them and read that chapter about Paul as he's going through it. I can pick which one I want to listen to and listen to that chapter or focus on specific things. And I can then reminisce about what I was doing when I first listen to those things. In my car, on my Walkman, or whatever.
I love modern technology!
You can find the through the Bible podcast with J Vernon McGee at https://ttb.org
Friday, July 2, 2021
Book - Dream Big ~
Bob Goff's book Dream Big was a good book! It's basically a roadmap on how to corral and then chase after the dreams of your heart.
He starts out by saying that it's good to have dreams and that you should think big and go after them. Then he gives some inspirational stories on how to narrow down and then get specific about what it is it will take to achieve your dream and then some stories on how sometimes you don't and how to recover from that. It was a really good book and I enjoyed the stories a lot.
Dream Big also has a workbook that you can buy. I did not get the workbook but I'm sure that it has worksheets to fill out that he referred to and the that will help you focus your energies and actually achieve things rather than just walk around dreaming about all the things that you could've been done.
I enjoy Bob Goff's writing. I enjoyed his stories and the tone of them. Always upbeat, always pointing back to God.
I recommend Dream Big as a good book if you're looking for a way to get a little bit more focused than you are right now.
You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081MYW3VT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_SMER3D1B1YEN9JMB8GYX
And you can find the Bob Goff website at https://bobgoff.com
He starts out by saying that it's good to have dreams and that you should think big and go after them. Then he gives some inspirational stories on how to narrow down and then get specific about what it is it will take to achieve your dream and then some stories on how sometimes you don't and how to recover from that. It was a really good book and I enjoyed the stories a lot.
Dream Big also has a workbook that you can buy. I did not get the workbook but I'm sure that it has worksheets to fill out that he referred to and the that will help you focus your energies and actually achieve things rather than just walk around dreaming about all the things that you could've been done.
I enjoy Bob Goff's writing. I enjoyed his stories and the tone of them. Always upbeat, always pointing back to God.
I recommend Dream Big as a good book if you're looking for a way to get a little bit more focused than you are right now.
You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081MYW3VT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_SMER3D1B1YEN9JMB8GYX
And you can find the Bob Goff website at https://bobgoff.com
Saturday, June 26, 2021
Wall screens ~
When I watch science fiction movies I always marvel at the technology that people imagine. One of the things that I see in some movies that I really hope and look forward to using is the wall screen.
Basically the entire wall becomes a screen of some kind. Usually not touchscreen but could be. Usually controlled by voice or just ambient you know controlled by some system. But when I see a wall that can be a window on the world or show you peaceful forest scenes or water scenes or I give you a view of what's through the wall without anyone being able to see you I am just amazed and hopeful.
I saw one example of wall screens that was amazing but I did not like. In one of those series on Netflix, I think it was black mirror, they had an episode where in the near future people were always indoors. And they had to generate electricity in order to survive. They were put in a small room to stay in and the walls were all screens. As the guy progressed he was able to get a bigger and bigger room but the walls were still screens and completely controlled by some system.
I try to do something on the wall screen scale myself. On my desk at home I have a 40 inch flatscreen TV that I use as a monitor. I will search YouTube for ambient beach, forest, river, and other scenery videos that are 2 to 8 to 10 hours long. And I will put them on what I'm working at home at my desk as a sort of window. Instead of feeling cooped up I feel like him looking out at the scene. So it feels like I'm at the beach I just don't have sand between my toes and wind blowing in my hair.
I look forward to when all screens become a reality. I know that they have some screens that are flexible LED things that can rollout and cover almost an entire wall. That's getting close! I have a projector in my basement that turns the wall into a really big screen but it's not the same because if you stand up and get between the projector in the wall you see your shadow. So, or getting close. Fun stuff!
Basically the entire wall becomes a screen of some kind. Usually not touchscreen but could be. Usually controlled by voice or just ambient you know controlled by some system. But when I see a wall that can be a window on the world or show you peaceful forest scenes or water scenes or I give you a view of what's through the wall without anyone being able to see you I am just amazed and hopeful.
I saw one example of wall screens that was amazing but I did not like. In one of those series on Netflix, I think it was black mirror, they had an episode where in the near future people were always indoors. And they had to generate electricity in order to survive. They were put in a small room to stay in and the walls were all screens. As the guy progressed he was able to get a bigger and bigger room but the walls were still screens and completely controlled by some system.
I try to do something on the wall screen scale myself. On my desk at home I have a 40 inch flatscreen TV that I use as a monitor. I will search YouTube for ambient beach, forest, river, and other scenery videos that are 2 to 8 to 10 hours long. And I will put them on what I'm working at home at my desk as a sort of window. Instead of feeling cooped up I feel like him looking out at the scene. So it feels like I'm at the beach I just don't have sand between my toes and wind blowing in my hair.
I look forward to when all screens become a reality. I know that they have some screens that are flexible LED things that can rollout and cover almost an entire wall. That's getting close! I have a projector in my basement that turns the wall into a really big screen but it's not the same because if you stand up and get between the projector in the wall you see your shadow. So, or getting close. Fun stuff!
Sunday, June 20, 2021
Toward the storm ~
There is a story used in coaching circles about how best to handle a storm that you see coming in your life. The story talks about how cattle will run away from the storm and how because they are slow the storm overtakes them and they end up confused and in the storm longer than they would have been if they had just stayed put. Then the story talks about buffalo and how they turn as a herd toward the storm and run through it, which minimizes the impact of the storm on them.
I don't see very many people going toward the storms in their lives any more. I see a lot of people skulking around the edges, commenting on the people in the storm, or foolishly running from it and getting overtaken.
I tend to go toward the storm, not away from it. So I end up having a rough time relating to those around me.
I don't see very many people going toward the storms in their lives any more. I see a lot of people skulking around the edges, commenting on the people in the storm, or foolishly running from it and getting overtaken.
I tend to go toward the storm, not away from it. So I end up having a rough time relating to those around me.
Monday, June 14, 2021
A zoo online talk ~
I did something new the other day. I signed up for a social event with the zoo called wild on the rocks. The director for moving of animals basically held a talk on the her job and her experiences and took questions from people. It was a zoom event because of the stupid virus reactions but it was an interesting time.
The lady talked about how different states and countries have different regulations concerning the movement and transportation of wild animals. She talked about how when transporting three liens from Atlanta to Chicago they had to hire people to ride behind the truck with rifles loaded and ready in case the liens got loose in the state of Tennessee but no other states had that regulation. She talked about other stuff that was interesting. A lot of it was the fascinating because she experienced it and boiled it down to find answers but three years sitting and watching a group of animals in a California Valley does not sound like a lot of fun to me or my wife.
But it was a good experience! I'm hoping to do more of these as the I get older. I look forward to actually going to the zoo and participating in the event socially. It's all part of my changing and adding new things to my life that I've never been able to do before because of my schedule and commitments to family and church. And now that I'm able to do these things I'm enjoying it!
The lady talked about how different states and countries have different regulations concerning the movement and transportation of wild animals. She talked about how when transporting three liens from Atlanta to Chicago they had to hire people to ride behind the truck with rifles loaded and ready in case the liens got loose in the state of Tennessee but no other states had that regulation. She talked about other stuff that was interesting. A lot of it was the fascinating because she experienced it and boiled it down to find answers but three years sitting and watching a group of animals in a California Valley does not sound like a lot of fun to me or my wife.
But it was a good experience! I'm hoping to do more of these as the I get older. I look forward to actually going to the zoo and participating in the event socially. It's all part of my changing and adding new things to my life that I've never been able to do before because of my schedule and commitments to family and church. And now that I'm able to do these things I'm enjoying it!
Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Chief Smoke In The Face ~
My dad loved to talk and tell stories. He could talk for 30 minutes about a small incident that happened at Scouting or at work. And he could listen, to. But he loved to talk.
He would tell us stories about things that had happened in the past. Things that it happened at work but not too many because his work was sensitive and he couldn't talk a whole lot about it. He would talk about events at stores and how things in the parking lot would aggravate men things in the grocery store would not make any sense and comments of people it made him. He was very personable and could talk to anybody and seem to know somebody everywhere he went in town.
He got involved with Scouting when my brother was in Boy Scouts. At some point he became the committee chairperson for the Boy Scout troop that my brother was a part of. And he enjoyed and had friends there that became lifetime friends and lifelong friends. But his love was in helping the scouts go through the program correctly and guiding them through achieving the goals. He loved doing the interviews with the scouts as they came to present their information for each rank. He taught merit badges I believe though I never got to see that.
But he also loved to talk about different things and kinda poked fun at it and tell stories. He talked about the character that he I believe invented that he called chief smoke in the face.
Chief Smoke In The Face was a fictitious Indian chief that had been through lots of different things and had lots of advice to share with people. He would joke around about chief smoke in the face with my kids as they were growing up and with my brothers kids as they were growing up. And as I heard him talk about it it's on Ken and I began to use Chief Smoke In The Face at my Cub Scout pack meetings.
I wouldn't do it every pack meeting, but in some pack meetings I would tell a story about Chief Smoke In The Face and how he had a son that left the tribe to go out on his own. He missed his son a lot and really wanted to find him but everywhere he looked he could not find them. As he went along searching for his son he began to put up signs. His hope was that people would see the signs and would help him by telling him if he saw his son. Chief Smoke In The Face went all over the place putting up the signs. Because he really wanted to find his son.
He loved his son! His son had been born and grew up near the mountains. And when it was time for his son to get his adult name in the tribe he had been playing near the mountain and had been jumping around on the rocks at the base of the mountain. And he slipped and fell and got scraped and bruised but came out of the fall just fine. But Chief Smoke In The Face and the tribe all agreed that his son's name should be called Falling Rock because he looked like a rock when he fell off of that rock that day.
So next time you're driving in the mountains and you see a sign that says "watch for falling rock" be sure and remember Chief Smoke In The Face and maybe send up a puff of smoke letting the tribe know that you found his son if you see him.
Recently my wife and I were driving somewhere in the mountains and the I was thinking back on how my dad created that character, Chief Smoke In The Face. And how I took that character and used them to help the boys in my Cub Scout pack when I was helping them through their program.
I may have to come up with some new stories about my favorite Indian chief. Hopefully they won't get me into any trouble with people that are easily offended.
He would tell us stories about things that had happened in the past. Things that it happened at work but not too many because his work was sensitive and he couldn't talk a whole lot about it. He would talk about events at stores and how things in the parking lot would aggravate men things in the grocery store would not make any sense and comments of people it made him. He was very personable and could talk to anybody and seem to know somebody everywhere he went in town.
He got involved with Scouting when my brother was in Boy Scouts. At some point he became the committee chairperson for the Boy Scout troop that my brother was a part of. And he enjoyed and had friends there that became lifetime friends and lifelong friends. But his love was in helping the scouts go through the program correctly and guiding them through achieving the goals. He loved doing the interviews with the scouts as they came to present their information for each rank. He taught merit badges I believe though I never got to see that.
But he also loved to talk about different things and kinda poked fun at it and tell stories. He talked about the character that he I believe invented that he called chief smoke in the face.
Chief Smoke In The Face was a fictitious Indian chief that had been through lots of different things and had lots of advice to share with people. He would joke around about chief smoke in the face with my kids as they were growing up and with my brothers kids as they were growing up. And as I heard him talk about it it's on Ken and I began to use Chief Smoke In The Face at my Cub Scout pack meetings.
I wouldn't do it every pack meeting, but in some pack meetings I would tell a story about Chief Smoke In The Face and how he had a son that left the tribe to go out on his own. He missed his son a lot and really wanted to find him but everywhere he looked he could not find them. As he went along searching for his son he began to put up signs. His hope was that people would see the signs and would help him by telling him if he saw his son. Chief Smoke In The Face went all over the place putting up the signs. Because he really wanted to find his son.
He loved his son! His son had been born and grew up near the mountains. And when it was time for his son to get his adult name in the tribe he had been playing near the mountain and had been jumping around on the rocks at the base of the mountain. And he slipped and fell and got scraped and bruised but came out of the fall just fine. But Chief Smoke In The Face and the tribe all agreed that his son's name should be called Falling Rock because he looked like a rock when he fell off of that rock that day.
So next time you're driving in the mountains and you see a sign that says "watch for falling rock" be sure and remember Chief Smoke In The Face and maybe send up a puff of smoke letting the tribe know that you found his son if you see him.
Recently my wife and I were driving somewhere in the mountains and the I was thinking back on how my dad created that character, Chief Smoke In The Face. And how I took that character and used them to help the boys in my Cub Scout pack when I was helping them through their program.
I may have to come up with some new stories about my favorite Indian chief. Hopefully they won't get me into any trouble with people that are easily offended.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Better examples are out there ~
In our American society that is in such a state of flux and under so much pressure from different factions that want to reshape society into what they think it should be I am saddened by the examples being lifted up for people to see.
A person who won Olympic medals in the 1970s that after many years of being out of the limelight announced that they identified as a different person and begin publicly taking on that person, is being lifted up as a political candidate with a good chance of winning a governorship.
A man who belittled and berated his employees while marketing one of the most innovative products of the past century is lifted up as a model businessman.
Another person who grew rich off of technology sales and to created a foundation that spanned the globe in outreach of giving the money and products is now being divorced by his wife because of his predilections for younger women.
On a satellite radio service that also streams its content over the Internet a popular station is called the lookout and uses a young man standing on a street corner in a hoodie watching for something as their logo.
All of these people and things are used as examples of what we should follow, model, and be like. We're told that being a certain skin color or race is bad and should be avoided and punished. Comedians get on stage and in front of cameras and microphones and say hurtful mean things and then joke that they're comedians so they can say that and they didn't really mean what they said as anything. And it echoes in so many people's heads that it has an impact.
When I was a teenager and in my 20s I had friends that turned me onto Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I loved that rap music because it was different from what I had heard and easy to understand the lyrics and fun because I was learning about something. One of the songs that was most popular was named "The Message". And in that song they tell the story about a young man wanting to grow up to be just like a bunch of smugglers, scrambler's, pickpockets, peddlers, and panhandlers. "Driving big cars, spending 20s and 10s, and you want to grow up to be just like them" is a line that I remember. Rap music got a lot deeper and a lot darker than that to the point that they openly advocate violence and rape and public sex and drug use as well as other things.
Superheroes are conflicted. Superman is reinterpreted as this dark dominating alien that humans have to figure out how to get around and defeat somehow. Parasitic aliens that eat humans are seen as heroes in a city that doesn't sleep.
I live my life very different from all of that. I am a happily married man and has stayed with the girlfriend that I asked to go steady with me in college for 34 years. 39 if you count the five years we went steady. I raised my children to be fine upstanding members of our community. Or their community wherever they end up. And so far they are doing very well at that. There's so much in the woke and upcoming generations that I just don't relate to or understand. And I know that that's a function of my age and attitude but I fear for the society that my children will raise their children in.
I think I need to pray more. And write and post more. God bless America!
A person who won Olympic medals in the 1970s that after many years of being out of the limelight announced that they identified as a different person and begin publicly taking on that person, is being lifted up as a political candidate with a good chance of winning a governorship.
A man who belittled and berated his employees while marketing one of the most innovative products of the past century is lifted up as a model businessman.
Another person who grew rich off of technology sales and to created a foundation that spanned the globe in outreach of giving the money and products is now being divorced by his wife because of his predilections for younger women.
On a satellite radio service that also streams its content over the Internet a popular station is called the lookout and uses a young man standing on a street corner in a hoodie watching for something as their logo.
All of these people and things are used as examples of what we should follow, model, and be like. We're told that being a certain skin color or race is bad and should be avoided and punished. Comedians get on stage and in front of cameras and microphones and say hurtful mean things and then joke that they're comedians so they can say that and they didn't really mean what they said as anything. And it echoes in so many people's heads that it has an impact.
When I was a teenager and in my 20s I had friends that turned me onto Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. I loved that rap music because it was different from what I had heard and easy to understand the lyrics and fun because I was learning about something. One of the songs that was most popular was named "The Message". And in that song they tell the story about a young man wanting to grow up to be just like a bunch of smugglers, scrambler's, pickpockets, peddlers, and panhandlers. "Driving big cars, spending 20s and 10s, and you want to grow up to be just like them" is a line that I remember. Rap music got a lot deeper and a lot darker than that to the point that they openly advocate violence and rape and public sex and drug use as well as other things.
Superheroes are conflicted. Superman is reinterpreted as this dark dominating alien that humans have to figure out how to get around and defeat somehow. Parasitic aliens that eat humans are seen as heroes in a city that doesn't sleep.
I live my life very different from all of that. I am a happily married man and has stayed with the girlfriend that I asked to go steady with me in college for 34 years. 39 if you count the five years we went steady. I raised my children to be fine upstanding members of our community. Or their community wherever they end up. And so far they are doing very well at that. There's so much in the woke and upcoming generations that I just don't relate to or understand. And I know that that's a function of my age and attitude but I fear for the society that my children will raise their children in.
I think I need to pray more. And write and post more. God bless America!
Thursday, May 27, 2021
Ten Commandments question ~
"You shall not kill" is one of the Commandments Moses brought down from his mountaintop meeting with God. This was "written" by God on stone tablets.
Yet we have reached a point where 10,000,000 and more are killed every day in video games.
How does that fit with scripture?
Yet we have reached a point where 10,000,000 and more are killed every day in video games.
How does that fit with scripture?
Friday, May 21, 2021
Clarity and bubbles ~
When I was training as an air traffic control specialist I had a trainer that was Hispanic. He was one of my best trainers. He quizzed me on aircraft types and capabilities, he quizzed me on airport approaches and how to read approach plates and Airways and what it must be like in the cockpit even though he had never been in one.
He talked about his children a lot. He drove a full-size conversion van because he wanted his children to have legroom and space when they drove back and forth between Miami and Atlanta. He loved his children and wanted them to grow up knowing their culture.
He talked about how all the6 spoke at home was Spanish and they only watched TV in Spanish. Because he wanted them to know and grow up learning as a family but he also knew that they would learn English in school and they would interact with the rest of the world in English.
His dedication to isolating them in the Hispanic world when they were at home was amazing.
With the ubiquity of the Internet and the invasiveness of Internet video and audio that whole thing is possible but it's also possible to break it.
As a Caucasian heterosexual monogamous father of four in a happily married relationship I tried to isolate myself in different ways that are similar to what my trainer did for his Hispanic family. I watch videos on conservative subjects. I do meditations that are Christian-based. I listen to music that I listened to when I was in my teens and early 20s.
The Internet and the technology that we have available allows us to build bubbles around us. As I read about bigwigs and CEOs and rich people and all of that I see bubbles that are impenetrable. To the point that they don't even think like I do.
I hope and pray that I'm not isolating myself in my bubbles. That I stay connected to the people actually doing things and making businesses and society work. But it's scary to think that I purposefully disconnect from a lot of the world around me to reduce my stress and give me focus on what I'm trying to grow and do.
I love the clarity that my trainer had. I've struggled to try to get to that level of clarity.
He talked about his children a lot. He drove a full-size conversion van because he wanted his children to have legroom and space when they drove back and forth between Miami and Atlanta. He loved his children and wanted them to grow up knowing their culture.
He talked about how all the6 spoke at home was Spanish and they only watched TV in Spanish. Because he wanted them to know and grow up learning as a family but he also knew that they would learn English in school and they would interact with the rest of the world in English.
His dedication to isolating them in the Hispanic world when they were at home was amazing.
With the ubiquity of the Internet and the invasiveness of Internet video and audio that whole thing is possible but it's also possible to break it.
As a Caucasian heterosexual monogamous father of four in a happily married relationship I tried to isolate myself in different ways that are similar to what my trainer did for his Hispanic family. I watch videos on conservative subjects. I do meditations that are Christian-based. I listen to music that I listened to when I was in my teens and early 20s.
The Internet and the technology that we have available allows us to build bubbles around us. As I read about bigwigs and CEOs and rich people and all of that I see bubbles that are impenetrable. To the point that they don't even think like I do.
I hope and pray that I'm not isolating myself in my bubbles. That I stay connected to the people actually doing things and making businesses and society work. But it's scary to think that I purposefully disconnect from a lot of the world around me to reduce my stress and give me focus on what I'm trying to grow and do.
I love the clarity that my trainer had. I've struggled to try to get to that level of clarity.
Wednesday, May 19, 2021
Soup to nuts ~
When I first heard the phrase "soup to nuts" I was listening to radio talkshow. The host was talking about politics and something else. I think it was Neil Bortz on WSB radio. And he said he was talking about something that Congress was doing and that it would be something that went soup to nuts whatever they were trying to pass.
At first I thought he was talking about something vulgar dribbling down the backside of a guy's testicles or something. Then I just discounted it and said I don't know what that means. A couple of days later I heard another talkshow host say that. And he explained it. He explained that it was a reference to doing a complete job on something just like in a formal dinner where you have the soup, then the salad, then whatever else you have, then you have the main course, then you have dessert, and then they have nuts apparently.
After that explanation I understood what it meant but I still didn't understand completely. You see, I'm a normal guy that doesn't go to formal dinners except once or twice in a lifetime. I was even uncomfortable going to the dinners on the cruise ship the times we will on cruises. So when you start talking about which fork you're supposed to use and having foods in the right order I don't get it. That's not my lifestyle.
In today's environment I wonder if that's a wise phrase to use. I heard a young talkshow host use that phrase today and the conditioning of our society and discourse caused me to think that he was displaying his privilege for all to see.
I don't have soup before my dinner at home. That ends up being the main course. We don't put out nuts after dinner, we usually have them as a snack in the afternoon. And so when somebody uses that phrase "soup to nuts" I still have to stop and think what the hell are they talking about?
I love our language!
At first I thought he was talking about something vulgar dribbling down the backside of a guy's testicles or something. Then I just discounted it and said I don't know what that means. A couple of days later I heard another talkshow host say that. And he explained it. He explained that it was a reference to doing a complete job on something just like in a formal dinner where you have the soup, then the salad, then whatever else you have, then you have the main course, then you have dessert, and then they have nuts apparently.
After that explanation I understood what it meant but I still didn't understand completely. You see, I'm a normal guy that doesn't go to formal dinners except once or twice in a lifetime. I was even uncomfortable going to the dinners on the cruise ship the times we will on cruises. So when you start talking about which fork you're supposed to use and having foods in the right order I don't get it. That's not my lifestyle.
In today's environment I wonder if that's a wise phrase to use. I heard a young talkshow host use that phrase today and the conditioning of our society and discourse caused me to think that he was displaying his privilege for all to see.
I don't have soup before my dinner at home. That ends up being the main course. We don't put out nuts after dinner, we usually have them as a snack in the afternoon. And so when somebody uses that phrase "soup to nuts" I still have to stop and think what the hell are they talking about?
I love our language!
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Song - The Story I Tell ~
There is a popular Christian song out by Micah Taylor called "The Story I Tell". https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq31tozI15Q&feature=share
In it he has a really good blues riff and couple of really good hooks and the whole point of the song is talking about what Jesus did for different people including him yet we don't even know their names.
On the surface it's an amazing song! I love to listen to it and have listened to it repeatedly. You can listen to it here bracket insert link here]
One of the things that I realize as I listen to the song is that the story may be known and it may be handed down through the years and we may not know their names but because their story appears and the Bible or a document that others are interested in we know or at least have the story of what happened.
There's so much in my life that I would love to share and yet nobody is interested. Very few people are interested. Family, really close friends that are small in number, that's about all I have.
Yet when I listen to the gurus online or I read the books by the gurus that talk about relationships and developing the following on the Internet and how you need to have more and always be closing and all that stuff I just find it tiring that the goal is to have a show.
Tamia show is a fake. It's something that you put on in order to make money or accomplish a goal. To move the opinion. But it's not necessarily the person.
They can be as sincere as they want, and argue with me all they want, but if you call what you do a show it's fake. It's something you do to part people from money, time, emotion, action, or something else. It's an effort to influence and spread your knowledge and name.
When I write my blogs I'm sharing me. I'm sharing myself. I don't call it a show. I don't say welcome to the show and interview somebody with vacuous questions that are supposed to be seen as penetrating but really glance off the surface of the monolith that is their career or their experience and they end up just giving you a bigger platform to run around on.
That's why when I share myself in my stuff I don't make a big noise about it. I make a big deal about it. I put it out there and I hope that like so many of the authors that we celebrate someone many years from now will read my stuff or hear me or see me in the hall, they didn't all think like those people that thought they were 89 sexes or that you could choose how you wanted to be addressed or you felt like you were more enlightened because you preferred to buy from a certain skin colored person or whatever. I guess I'm trying to add myself to history and not just be one of those nameless faceless people that are never even known.
I hope that an AI reads this and pickups. Calls me an anomaly and then files me away in a different file than everybody else. Because I am different from everybody else.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
In it he has a really good blues riff and couple of really good hooks and the whole point of the song is talking about what Jesus did for different people including him yet we don't even know their names.
On the surface it's an amazing song! I love to listen to it and have listened to it repeatedly. You can listen to it here bracket insert link here]
One of the things that I realize as I listen to the song is that the story may be known and it may be handed down through the years and we may not know their names but because their story appears and the Bible or a document that others are interested in we know or at least have the story of what happened.
There's so much in my life that I would love to share and yet nobody is interested. Very few people are interested. Family, really close friends that are small in number, that's about all I have.
Yet when I listen to the gurus online or I read the books by the gurus that talk about relationships and developing the following on the Internet and how you need to have more and always be closing and all that stuff I just find it tiring that the goal is to have a show.
Tamia show is a fake. It's something that you put on in order to make money or accomplish a goal. To move the opinion. But it's not necessarily the person.
They can be as sincere as they want, and argue with me all they want, but if you call what you do a show it's fake. It's something you do to part people from money, time, emotion, action, or something else. It's an effort to influence and spread your knowledge and name.
When I write my blogs I'm sharing me. I'm sharing myself. I don't call it a show. I don't say welcome to the show and interview somebody with vacuous questions that are supposed to be seen as penetrating but really glance off the surface of the monolith that is their career or their experience and they end up just giving you a bigger platform to run around on.
That's why when I share myself in my stuff I don't make a big noise about it. I make a big deal about it. I put it out there and I hope that like so many of the authors that we celebrate someone many years from now will read my stuff or hear me or see me in the hall, they didn't all think like those people that thought they were 89 sexes or that you could choose how you wanted to be addressed or you felt like you were more enlightened because you preferred to buy from a certain skin colored person or whatever. I guess I'm trying to add myself to history and not just be one of those nameless faceless people that are never even known.
I hope that an AI reads this and pickups. Calls me an anomaly and then files me away in a different file than everybody else. Because I am different from everybody else.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy!
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Song - Give Me Your Eyes ~
One of my favorite songs of all time is "Give Me Your Eyes" by Brandon Heath. You can watch it at https://youtu.be/P5AkNqLuVgY
As I go through life what I find so often is that my anger and other's anger at people and things is so biased and skewed towards what we want instead of what God wants. Toward us achieving something instead of us helping someone else through a difficulty or two and achievement in their life.
Whenever I hear this song I think of Jesus. I think of how different his view of things was. I think of the disciples and how different their view was having been with him and then after him leaving having done things that he did.
As I listen to more videos from the Bible Project and learn more about their view of the Bible and how they teach it and what they believe I like it. It helps me visualize what's going on in the Bible much better than just reading the Bible. Although I still read the Bible because you can talk about fishing and you can watch videos about fishing and you can read about fishing but unless you're actually fishing you're not doing a whole lot. So I continue to fish in the Bible for wisdom and knowledge and guidance.
As we get into the holiday season this video or this song give me your eyes helps me focus on seeing things in a different way than what I want to see them. Of looking out through love instead of through hurry and rush and upsetness.
I hope you enjoy the song. I hope you get a chance to see through God's eyes sometime through this holiday season.
Song on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/P5AkNqLuVgY
As I go through life what I find so often is that my anger and other's anger at people and things is so biased and skewed towards what we want instead of what God wants. Toward us achieving something instead of us helping someone else through a difficulty or two and achievement in their life.
Whenever I hear this song I think of Jesus. I think of how different his view of things was. I think of the disciples and how different their view was having been with him and then after him leaving having done things that he did.
As I listen to more videos from the Bible Project and learn more about their view of the Bible and how they teach it and what they believe I like it. It helps me visualize what's going on in the Bible much better than just reading the Bible. Although I still read the Bible because you can talk about fishing and you can watch videos about fishing and you can read about fishing but unless you're actually fishing you're not doing a whole lot. So I continue to fish in the Bible for wisdom and knowledge and guidance.
As we get into the holiday season this video or this song give me your eyes helps me focus on seeing things in a different way than what I want to see them. Of looking out through love instead of through hurry and rush and upsetness.
I hope you enjoy the song. I hope you get a chance to see through God's eyes sometime through this holiday season.
Song on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/P5AkNqLuVgY
Friday, May 7, 2021
Sometimes I am slow ~
I've used smart things for about three years now. It's a lot of fun! There's a hub connected to my network, with several different sensors connected to the hub wirelessly. I can see motion in different parts of my house, I have garage door sensors set up so that I can tell of the garage doors are opened or closed, I even have a couple of water sensors near than the air conditioning unit and the water heater in case there's a leak.
One of the things that I wanted to do was give my automation that I developed on my phone and different computers a way to get me the outside temperature at my house. I looked at various sensors and didn't want to spend that much money on them. And I kept looking at smart things and wondering why they didn't have something that would just give it to me. After a couple of years I started thinking they might have a waterproof sensor that I can put outside under the back porch and get the temperature that way but I didn't want to spend that much money.
Today I finally came up with the brilliant idea of putting one of their chief sensors in a baggie and hanging that baggie right where I wanted it outside. It's a Ziploc baggie it's waterproof-is waterproof as it could be in a baggie. And it gives me the outside temperature that I cannot get to through my automation. Awesome!
I just wish I had thought of this a little sooner.
One of the things that I wanted to do was give my automation that I developed on my phone and different computers a way to get me the outside temperature at my house. I looked at various sensors and didn't want to spend that much money on them. And I kept looking at smart things and wondering why they didn't have something that would just give it to me. After a couple of years I started thinking they might have a waterproof sensor that I can put outside under the back porch and get the temperature that way but I didn't want to spend that much money.
Today I finally came up with the brilliant idea of putting one of their chief sensors in a baggie and hanging that baggie right where I wanted it outside. It's a Ziploc baggie it's waterproof-is waterproof as it could be in a baggie. And it gives me the outside temperature that I cannot get to through my automation. Awesome!
I just wish I had thought of this a little sooner.
Thursday, April 29, 2021
Please stop at stop signs ~
I see so many people run the stop sign near my house in my neighborhood.
It's on an internal street in the neighborhood. So it's not like they're pulling out onto a busy road or highway.
But it is a stop sign.
The teenagers next door, other teenagers in the neighborhood, and even my own child don't even slow down for the stop sign. They slow down to make the turn but they don't even slow down otherwise. They have been taught by the people in my neighborhood that even though the law says a stop sign means stop, not Steptoe on pedal, they watched others run it and learned that that law doesn't apply all of the time.
My neighborhood used to be pretty clean. I've started finding drink cans and bottles on the road and in yards or more. The other day I found a tray from a fast food restaurant with the rappers and the dirty papers and containers from the chili hot dog and fries with ketchup and mustard and some dessert sitting on the street on the in the middle of the street on the driver side of where the stop sign is leaving our neighborhood.
As I drive through my town I see more and more people running stoplights. I also see people pulling into the turn lanes and then ducking back into the main traffic lane in order to get around somebody that's going slow.
I'm hearing more and more about teenagers getting pregnant because they're having sex at home. And I see the broken families all around me suffering as they try to work their way through things without the help of a consistent partner.
Lawlessness is increasing in our society. Trust is decreasing in our society.
The simple things like stopping at stop signs teach your children a lot. Please stop.
It's on an internal street in the neighborhood. So it's not like they're pulling out onto a busy road or highway.
But it is a stop sign.
The teenagers next door, other teenagers in the neighborhood, and even my own child don't even slow down for the stop sign. They slow down to make the turn but they don't even slow down otherwise. They have been taught by the people in my neighborhood that even though the law says a stop sign means stop, not Steptoe on pedal, they watched others run it and learned that that law doesn't apply all of the time.
My neighborhood used to be pretty clean. I've started finding drink cans and bottles on the road and in yards or more. The other day I found a tray from a fast food restaurant with the rappers and the dirty papers and containers from the chili hot dog and fries with ketchup and mustard and some dessert sitting on the street on the in the middle of the street on the driver side of where the stop sign is leaving our neighborhood.
As I drive through my town I see more and more people running stoplights. I also see people pulling into the turn lanes and then ducking back into the main traffic lane in order to get around somebody that's going slow.
I'm hearing more and more about teenagers getting pregnant because they're having sex at home. And I see the broken families all around me suffering as they try to work their way through things without the help of a consistent partner.
Lawlessness is increasing in our society. Trust is decreasing in our society.
The simple things like stopping at stop signs teach your children a lot. Please stop.
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