I was recently asked if I was an engineer. So my outfit when I drive
for my wife has tended to be one of my button down shirts, like a blue
one or blue stripes or the green or blue checks, but it's like I used
to wear to work. And typically I wear khakis, although sometimes I
wear jeans, and then I wear some form of tennis shoe, although I don't
do the white tennis shoes anymore. When dressed like this in the past
I've been called professor. I've had college students ask me if I
could unlock the lab for them. I usually wear a baseball cap just to
add to the image and the comfort.
Recently I was at dinner and I was in tavern-style place restaurant.
It was an okay place. Friday night, early-ish, like five to six p.m.
A lot of older gentlemen with their wives were there. I also saw
families out before they were going to go see a movie.
I had a glass of wine, some water, and hummus. The waitress really
thought I was gonna have more.
But I spent most of my time writing on index cards. My thoughts and
ideas and things were bubbling in my head while I was doing that I had
my meditation going on in my ears so I could be progressing on my
lessons while I waited for my wife to finish her assignment.
The waitress was nice and checked in often. She finally toward the end
just before I left asked me are you an engineer. My index cards all
have grids on them and she thought I was solving the puzzles of an
engineer. I was solving puzzles but it was more emotional and taking
notes and expressing gratitude and a couple of program ideas and
stuff. But I think it's funny how in my age and outfit choices I get
called engineer or professor and not "retiree" so far.
I've come a long way from what I used to be called in high school and
college and even at work early in my career. Woohoo!
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
When The Air Hits Your Brain ~
I recently finished an audiobook called When the Air Hits Your Brain
by Frank Vartosik, Jr., M .D. It took me a while to get through this
audiobook just because I started it when I was running, and then when
I stopped running, I set it aside and didn't really listen to
audiobooks very much.
It was also a tough listen because doctors, as they're going through their medical school and their training and learning surgery and all that, go through a lot. And listening to what this guy went through to become a neurosurgeon along with the telling of the stories of the patients that he highlights along his path was tough.
Coming from a career in a very demanding field that's known as high stress, I listened to stories about how surgeons act and react and feel like I relate to it sometimes. You get to a certain point in your training and your experience where you just don't want to put up with an aptitude and the lack of knowledge in someone, and you just want to push them out of the way and do it or push them out of the way and get somebody in there that can help you.
This guy sounds like he kept his humanity a little bit more than some from what I've read and from the way shows depict surgeons. There's so many good doctors and surgeons out there that the bad ones always stand out and that's sad.
And there's so many stories on the human side of the suffering and the things that happen to someone that just don't make any sense and how a doctor and a surgeon step in and like magic these people are back to the way they were or at least back to a healthy place where they can live out their lives without the suffering associated with whatever disease or wrongness that was going on before.
I have a lot of respect for doctors they put up with. people like me and worse. I have a lot of respect for surgeons, although I've only had one surgery that was in a hospital. I've had a few outpatient surgeries to remove skin cancer.
Those people are always checking and monitoring and caring and hoping that things go right. They do things a certain way and whatever it is they do, they do it really well. If you want to learn more about what somebody you know might be going through as they go through medical school, be it general practitioner, surgeon, or even just as a REACH veterinary school because that's a whole world that a lot of people don't think about,
When the air hits your brain was a good listen via audiobook.
Check it out: https://a.co/d/9iw2XSJ
#book
It was also a tough listen because doctors, as they're going through their medical school and their training and learning surgery and all that, go through a lot. And listening to what this guy went through to become a neurosurgeon along with the telling of the stories of the patients that he highlights along his path was tough.
Coming from a career in a very demanding field that's known as high stress, I listened to stories about how surgeons act and react and feel like I relate to it sometimes. You get to a certain point in your training and your experience where you just don't want to put up with an aptitude and the lack of knowledge in someone, and you just want to push them out of the way and do it or push them out of the way and get somebody in there that can help you.
This guy sounds like he kept his humanity a little bit more than some from what I've read and from the way shows depict surgeons. There's so many good doctors and surgeons out there that the bad ones always stand out and that's sad.
And there's so many stories on the human side of the suffering and the things that happen to someone that just don't make any sense and how a doctor and a surgeon step in and like magic these people are back to the way they were or at least back to a healthy place where they can live out their lives without the suffering associated with whatever disease or wrongness that was going on before.
I have a lot of respect for doctors they put up with. people like me and worse. I have a lot of respect for surgeons, although I've only had one surgery that was in a hospital. I've had a few outpatient surgeries to remove skin cancer.
Those people are always checking and monitoring and caring and hoping that things go right. They do things a certain way and whatever it is they do, they do it really well. If you want to learn more about what somebody you know might be going through as they go through medical school, be it general practitioner, surgeon, or even just as a REACH veterinary school because that's a whole world that a lot of people don't think about,
When the air hits your brain was a good listen via audiobook.
Check it out: https://a.co/d/9iw2XSJ
#book
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Ease of lying ~
I had a friend recently exclaim how shocked he was at how easily
people lie nowadays. His wife had been taken in by a scam and he was
just shocked that these people that she got tangled up in lied so
easily and roped her in.
I've noticed this coming. We had an exchange student from China and he would lie on any web-based form just to get access to the website. I even asked him, why do you lie that way? And he goes, it's what they require. And so I give them the information they want and they give me what I want.
I remember listening to an audio book about an American that drove through China and most of his stories involved Chinese people lying openly and easily to get him the rental car, get him able to drive wherever he wanted, get him supplies, and that sort of thing.
On the home front, we had been training for many years to have our children lie to get access to whatever web content they want while porn sites meet the requirements of the law and require somebody to be age 18.
I don't know of any teenage person that has honestly said, no, I'm not 18, I better not enter this. And even simple white lies that come up, people just let them roll off their tongue and then explain it away.
When I was raising my children, I told them, I can support you through almost anything but if you lie to me, I can't support you at all and I won't defend you.
our politicians lie as a matter of life we've elected a bunch of lawyers whose job it is to lie professionally and make it convincing and then make it legal no matter what it what it was that somebody did or said or stole we've reached a point not aware lies have become way too easy.
It makes me sad.
#personal
I've noticed this coming. We had an exchange student from China and he would lie on any web-based form just to get access to the website. I even asked him, why do you lie that way? And he goes, it's what they require. And so I give them the information they want and they give me what I want.
I remember listening to an audio book about an American that drove through China and most of his stories involved Chinese people lying openly and easily to get him the rental car, get him able to drive wherever he wanted, get him supplies, and that sort of thing.
On the home front, we had been training for many years to have our children lie to get access to whatever web content they want while porn sites meet the requirements of the law and require somebody to be age 18.
I don't know of any teenage person that has honestly said, no, I'm not 18, I better not enter this. And even simple white lies that come up, people just let them roll off their tongue and then explain it away.
When I was raising my children, I told them, I can support you through almost anything but if you lie to me, I can't support you at all and I won't defend you.
our politicians lie as a matter of life we've elected a bunch of lawyers whose job it is to lie professionally and make it convincing and then make it legal no matter what it what it was that somebody did or said or stole we've reached a point not aware lies have become way too easy.
It makes me sad.
#personal
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Like in some Psalms ~
Christians nowadays are taught that God is a God of love and just
wants to be with us. And I accept that as what the Bible teaches. But
there are other things in the Bible modern Christians seem to gloss
over.
In many of the Psalms King David and others express anger at their enemies and ask God to do terrible things to them. They write prayers asking God to break arms, strike jaws, break teeth, and even to slay the Psalmists' enemies. Wow!
So I find it fascinating when I express anger and my wishes for bad things to be done to someone who has wronged me many times (my enemy) that the reaction is one of shock, outrage, and reminders that we are to "love our enemies".
And I do, even while I wish them the bad things I think up. Recently I saw an ad for an AirBnB/short term rental house near where I used to work. The house was owned by a guy I used to work with, a guy that repeatedly mistreated me and my people. I worked many extra evening shifts and missed many of my children's school shows and performances because this guy controlled the schedule and gave himself all day shifts over and over and over.
So when I told my wife about what I had seen I shared what I thought of him and what I would like to do to his property if I even rented it. I know that I will never rent his property and even if I did once I get it out of my head I wouldn't do that stuff because I'm a nice guy.
After her shock and head-shaking I of course prayed for the guy and left it with God. Just like David and the others did in the Psalms.
Pretty funny to me!
#personal
In many of the Psalms King David and others express anger at their enemies and ask God to do terrible things to them. They write prayers asking God to break arms, strike jaws, break teeth, and even to slay the Psalmists' enemies. Wow!
So I find it fascinating when I express anger and my wishes for bad things to be done to someone who has wronged me many times (my enemy) that the reaction is one of shock, outrage, and reminders that we are to "love our enemies".
And I do, even while I wish them the bad things I think up. Recently I saw an ad for an AirBnB/short term rental house near where I used to work. The house was owned by a guy I used to work with, a guy that repeatedly mistreated me and my people. I worked many extra evening shifts and missed many of my children's school shows and performances because this guy controlled the schedule and gave himself all day shifts over and over and over.
So when I told my wife about what I had seen I shared what I thought of him and what I would like to do to his property if I even rented it. I know that I will never rent his property and even if I did once I get it out of my head I wouldn't do that stuff because I'm a nice guy.
After her shock and head-shaking I of course prayed for the guy and left it with God. Just like David and the others did in the Psalms.
Pretty funny to me!
#personal
Monday, September 9, 2024
Youversion devotionals ~
My wife and I like to do devotionals together, but because we have
different thoughts of what consistency is, we do them using the
Youversion Bible app at https://www.bible.com/. This has been a good
thing for us.
We have done devotionals together for several years now and have enjoyed the things that we have learned together. One of the things that I like, and that a lot of people apparently get off on, is the streak aspect of it.
As of this writing I have a streak of over 880 days straight of using the Bible app. That means I read or listened to the devotional read to me, and I read or listened to the Bible read to me for over 880 days in a row.
I tend to do these devotionals daily just because that is the way I am. My wife tends to do them in spurts, which works, but makes it a little bit asynchronous. I've enjoyed the stuff that we've learned together.
We've gone through Acts and Romans and other New Testament books in the Bible. We've gone through Bible project devotions and right now we're going through a devotion based around The Chosen Season Four and the Bible project information accompanying those episodes.
Check it out at
https://www.bible.com
#bible #devotional
We have done devotionals together for several years now and have enjoyed the things that we have learned together. One of the things that I like, and that a lot of people apparently get off on, is the streak aspect of it.
As of this writing I have a streak of over 880 days straight of using the Bible app. That means I read or listened to the devotional read to me, and I read or listened to the Bible read to me for over 880 days in a row.
I tend to do these devotionals daily just because that is the way I am. My wife tends to do them in spurts, which works, but makes it a little bit asynchronous. I've enjoyed the stuff that we've learned together.
We've gone through Acts and Romans and other New Testament books in the Bible. We've gone through Bible project devotions and right now we're going through a devotion based around The Chosen Season Four and the Bible project information accompanying those episodes.
Check it out at
https://www.bible.com
#bible #devotional
Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Shredding stuff ~
One of my jobs that I've taken on now that I am retired from federal
service is to shred our old records from the basement. That's been
going okay. I bought a good shredder last year and it handles almost
everything that I throw at it.
But one of the interesting aspects of doing this is the memories that come up. As I shredded a pack of bills from 2010, I saw the electric bills that were $400 and $600 and one was $700 for a month. And that reminded me of when we had all four kids in the house and it was mid -summer and the air conditioner was going and all the lights and all the devices were going.
And how I got all hung up about turning lights off and put in motion sensors so that lights would turn off automatically because my wife and my children would leave lights on like the utility room lights and the garage lights would stay on all night.
The outdoor lights would stay on all night for no reason so I put motion sensors on them. It's so funny because my oldest son made a comment recently about, yeah, I bought LED lights and they cost 3 cents a year to run so I don't know why you were so hung up about electricity.
Part of me would love to show him that $700 electric bill and say, this is why. Other bills come up that I'm about to shred and I remember the angst over having to pay it or the money issues that we were having at the time because of other pressures that were on to pay for kids trips and activities and dinners out and church events and Cub Scout and Boy Scout stuff.
So many good memories tied to all these records.
Fun!
#personal #history
But one of the interesting aspects of doing this is the memories that come up. As I shredded a pack of bills from 2010, I saw the electric bills that were $400 and $600 and one was $700 for a month. And that reminded me of when we had all four kids in the house and it was mid -summer and the air conditioner was going and all the lights and all the devices were going.
And how I got all hung up about turning lights off and put in motion sensors so that lights would turn off automatically because my wife and my children would leave lights on like the utility room lights and the garage lights would stay on all night.
The outdoor lights would stay on all night for no reason so I put motion sensors on them. It's so funny because my oldest son made a comment recently about, yeah, I bought LED lights and they cost 3 cents a year to run so I don't know why you were so hung up about electricity.
Part of me would love to show him that $700 electric bill and say, this is why. Other bills come up that I'm about to shred and I remember the angst over having to pay it or the money issues that we were having at the time because of other pressures that were on to pay for kids trips and activities and dinners out and church events and Cub Scout and Boy Scout stuff.
So many good memories tied to all these records.
Fun!
#personal #history
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