Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Still spinning ~

Holy David Post

When I was in training as an Air Traffic Control Specialist the training was mentally draining. We were learning things about air traffic control and the rules that we had to use to keep airplanes separated from each other. Under many many different situations.

I remember being nervous as I thought through the daily puzzles that were presented to me. I understood that if I didn't figure it out and pass them I would lose my job. And so I was pretty motivated to figure things out.

The nervousness came out in different ways though. I got quiet. I studied a lot. Although I didn't really understand what I was studying I still studied the rules and made index cards with identifiers and flipped through them. Beat myself up for not knowing things faster.

I remember being in the non-radar lab and doing a puzzle. Old retired controllers were usually the trainers. And so all these older guys that came up in the 1950s and 1960s were in there teaching us non-radar rules of separating aircraft. As I puzzled through each problem part of the challenge was to do strip marking correctly. Each aircraft has a flight strip with an identifier, the type of aircraft that it is with its airspeed and ground speed, which are different, altitude, fix posting along his route to tell me where we were thinking about where he was, his route of flight, and other information. As we controlled airplanes we were supposed to mark on the strips that we had communication with the pilot, when he had passed certain points in the sky, and write down the clearance that we had given him and whether he had reached it or not. Especially altitude.

My nervousness in the lab would come out with the pencil that we had to use. We used double-ended pencils - one end was black and one end was red. Black was used for things that actually had happened and were real, red were things that were planned or warnings or things that we had not done yet.

Once I started figuring things out I would sit there during the problem and fidget. I didn't know what to do because there was time in the problem before the disasters that were presented to us as puzzles came up. So I would review my flight plans and make sure that I had done all the things that I need to do. And as I reviewed this information and puzzle through things I would hold my double-ended pencil in my right hand and spin it around inside my fingers. Not like you see in Top Gun where Iceman is making his pen go through his fingers like a magician with a coin. I would make a hoop with my fingers and thumb and  and hold the pencil there in the circle and spin it around like it was inside a hoop.

One instructor just thought that was hilarious! He would laugh and say "I can tell that you're thinking too hard because you're spinning your pencil." And then he would laugh and joke with the other instructors that he had never seen anybody else in his life do something like that with their pencil or pen.

What I find interesting is over 30 years later I still do that. If I have a pen or a pen shaped device in my hand and I am not actively using it I will catch myself spinning it around in my fingers and thumb while I think and ponder.

I guess that means I'm consistent! Pretty funny...

Friday, August 26, 2022

Digging cactus ~

Another good memory I have of being a kid in central Florida was digging cactus.

My brother and I wanted to earn money to buy some toys and comic books but there wasn't a lot of opportunity were we lived. We lived 5 miles away from the nearest Jiffy store and the road was such that our parents would not let us ride all the way there and all the way back on our own.

We lived next door to our grandparents. And they own the big field that had a lake in it. My dad mentioned our desire to earn some money to my grandfather and he said that he needed cactus dug up in the field and put us to work digging prickly pear cactus for three dollars a bucket. 

My brother and I thought we were going to be rich! We were so excited to be able to go out in the field and do this. But we know it was going to be hard work!

We suited up with the our silly looking bucket hats. They were light blue and were supposed to protect us from the sun. They did, just not anything except the top of our heads.

We would go over to grandma and grandpa's house and get our buckets and our hoes and head out into the field. We didn't go out early because there was so much dew and the grass was so tall that we didn't want to be soaked. But then we didn't want to be out there in the middle of the day and get baked by the sun. So we went around 10 o'clock and worked until 12:30pm or when we got thirsty we would go back to the house and get something to drink. I had my transistor radio tuned to some music station. I remember hearing the song Baker Street over and over and over! And then the news would come on and I would try to change the radio to a different station to get some music.

We dug the prickly pair cactus up with the hoes. I got more needles in my hands and legs than I ever want to get again in my life. We saw gopher turtles and snakes. We saw birds and bugs. We got chiggers.

When we were done digging for the day we had to go back to the house and get grandpa to come out and inspect our buckets. He made sure we were filling them up and not trying to cheat him out of three dollars. And then he would pour the prickly pear cactus on the sheet of tin so that they would die in the sun

I wish I had counted how many buckets of prickly pear cactus we dug but I didn't. I was too focused on the payoff. I only remember doing that for one summer, maybe two. I remember my brother sweating profusely and me being concerned that he was getting too hot. He is six years younger than me so I was responsible for him even though he was usually doing something that would get me into trouble.

But we never got in trouble digging cactus. And then later we got accused of planting cactus out there, but that's a whole different story. Every time I hear the song Baker Street I think about being out in the field in the of summer digging of prickly pear cactus.

Good stuff!

Dead Sea experience ~

My wife and I went with a group to Israel. It was a wonderful experience but as with any great endeavor there are always a few spots that are not quite as wonderful.

I loved being in the Galilee, I loved Jerusalem, I enjoyed the food and hearing the languages and seeing the people and all of the rich history from the Bible and more.

One of the things that I was most looking forward to was floating in the Dead Sea. I had heard about it and read about it. I had heard people talk about how cool it was and how hard it was to stand and how wonderful the sensation was. So I planned for that experience.

Part of my plan was to pack my things needed for a beach. I had an extra large baggie from the steering wheel cover that I had purchased. I stuffed that baggie full of my bathing suit, a longsleeved shirt to protect my arms and body from the sun, sandals, and a beach towel. And I packed all those things two weeks before our trip to Israel and kept it in a safe place so that I would remember to pack it in my suitcase.

I packed that baggie in my suitcase and put everything else around it. It made it to Israel just fine and I made sure that it was ready for that one day deep in the trip.

The day came. I grabbed the big baggie of Dead Sea things and put it in my day pack. We went through the whole day and everything was like every other day, rush rush rush to see and learn as much as we could throughout the day. Of course with so many things packed in the day and traffic and everything the Dead Sea float was at the end of the day just before dinner. So when we got to the Dead Sea we had already been hearing "hurry hurry hurry" for most of the afternoon.

The guide told us where the changing rooms were and said we needed to meet up at a certain time. The time he mentioned was not very long after we got off the bus. The people in our group all rushed to go and change into their bathing suits. Being considerate and having been considerate to the others in my group of the rest of the trip I was considerate again and lagged behind as I tend to do. The men were in the restrooms for quite a long time. I went from the restroom that was full of people not of our group as well as the men from our group and went to find one of the changing stalls near the water. Of course that was full also and I was patiently waiting outside of one. When the person that was in there came out one of the people in my group went in even though I was standing right there waiting to go in to change my clothes. So I went to the bathroom again to see if the stalls were empty and I could change into my bathing clothes and of course the stalls were full of other people now. And as our limited amount of time at the Dead Sea dwindled I began to get upset

I stopped myself and let the last couple of guys that were in our group go ahead of me. And then I did something that was a luxury on this trip, I went in after everybody was done and I got to sit on the toilet for a few minutes. I played a little game on my phone and enjoyed the rest while using the toilet and then cleaned up and wash my hands and went out and sat on a bench with my baggie full of Dead Sea bathing clothes that I had carried with me to Israel.

I was stunned and angry and hurt and upset. I really wanted to shout and cuss and make a scene. But I did not.

And I watched people walk by. I listened to the people in the water and watched them all rush out to change back into their regular clothes. The guide was busy telling everybody to "hurry hurry hurry" because the next stop was dinner and we needed to get there so that we could get our dinner before the restaurant closed. And I started to feel very peaceful about my choice.

In situations like this I can begin to blame people and things for me not getting what I wanted. Too many people were in my way. Too many people took advantage of my consideration. I got cut off.

But this time I came up with a phrase that helped me accept what had happened. I had made lots of plans and had everything lined up for my Dead Sea float to be a wonderful experience that I'd be able to tell people about for years.

My plans didn't work out

That phrase has started to save me a lot of pain and suffering. When I tell myself that "my plans didn't work out" I'm not blaming anybody and I'm not angry. I can look at it objectively and see where I could have planned better and maybe done something a little bit different. Or sometimes there's just no way that the long-term plans that were laid out worked and it just didn't happen.

So I feel more healthy now. I feel like I have a strategy that can help me not only deal with not getting the float in the Dead Sea during our trip to Israel but can help me deal with many other things that happen along the way that are not in line with my.

For someone who plans a lot and predicts and forecasts and adjusts to make things happen according to the plan it's very difficult to say "my plans didn't work out". But it helps me accept the reality of what happens.

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Being less judgemental ~

One of the fascinating aspects of being in community with others is a search for something to be offended about. So many people walk into a room or go to a place of business or entertainment and see things through judgment: and they look for things that are considered wrong by them that they should be upset about or even offended about.

I get that way sometimes. I want things a certain way. I even joked that I get along with everybody as long as we do things my way. But I don't know that I'd go in looking to be offended by something.

If I did it would be very easy. As a Christian the entertainment industry majority seems to have it out for me and my God. They make me and my fellow believers out to be evildoers that just want to control everybody else. A limp noodle people that are easily swayed and controlled by others. Which is kind of funny because they portray Christians as both extremes which one is it?

But even having been involved in scouting and raising three Eagle Scouts I could easily be offended. The Boy Scout motto is be prepared. But in the movie the Lion King the people driving that story and bringing that entertainment to the market threw a song in there where the bad guy was telling all his henchmen "be prepared" for when I overthrow the king. And they repeated it over and over-be prepared, be prepared.

Even after all these years of seeing that movie I still think of that and think how that could so easily undermine the great message that scouting has.

Luckily it didn't! I continue to be prepared for so many different things. My mother jokes about my backpack and how after raising our kids I still can be asked hey do you have this and I can reach into my bag of wonders and usually pull something out that's very close to what somebody's looking for. I don't want to get caught flat-footed.

But I do. And when I do I handle it and move on. And then I added to my bag of tricks.

I wish the entertainment industry moguls would just produce fun entertainment and leave the messaging happy and easy. Happy and easy is different for everybody and mine may not match up with their happy and easy. Such is life!

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Adapting to no change ~

I was recently in New York City with my wife. We were celebrating an anniversary and having a good time!

We rode around the city in one of the double-decker open top buses, which was a lot of fun!

One day when we were riding around the city we decided to hop off of the bus and walk for a little while. Which was fine, even though it was a hot day.

We saw the food cart on a corner and we stopped to get some water. Of course the water was way more than it should've been, but in the city and it was a hot day and we needed water we paid the price. Four dollars each for two bottles of water came to e-books so I gave the guy to fives.

The guy who was not a native English speaker look through his money in the cart and told me that he didn't have any change and asked if I wanted something else. I was puzzled but instead of getting worked up I just went with it and asked him how much or what I could get for two dollars. It took us about a minute to understand each other but he finally got it and he dug in the back of the cold space in his heart and came up with a ginger ale that was ice cold. He said to dollar and I said okay and my wife and I enjoyed in ice cold ginger ale as we walked down the streets of Manhattan. And then we drink our water to.

I thought that was really adaptive of the guy. And I was kind of glad I just went with it which is something I tend to do more and more now. If I run into something that I really don't want to do I just don't do it. Which is a big change from the way I used to be.

I love progress! And I love adapting to the situation. Period.

Monday, August 8, 2022

Age of Aquarius ~

A few weeks ago I heard the song age of Aquarius from the 1970s playing. It made me laugh at the catchy tune and the lyrics that I remember from when I was growing up.

It also made me laugh to think about how hopeful the hippies were when they sing that song. So excited about the dawning of a new age and how great it was going to be! It was enough to get me to go on look up some information about the age of Aquarius. I went to Wikipedia, the Internet-based encyclopedia that lots of people laugh and joke about but they still use it. The entry about the age of Aquarius is a fun read. It talks about astrological signs which I put no stock and even though my grandmother religiously read her horoscope every day. It talks about how and age in astrological terms is 2160 years. And it talks about how the different ages are defined by where the vernal equinox falls in the zodiac symbols made by the stars in the sky.

That made me laugh even more because that meant the hippies were all singing about our planet tilting a little bit further from one side to another and I knew age was dawning.

When you read deeper into the Wikipedia article talks about how believers in medieval astrology.

The funniest thing about the Wikipedia entry on the Age of Aquarius is about the middle of it and says that the Aquarian age will be a rule world ruled by secretive power-hungry elites seeking absolute power over others and that knowledge of the Aquarian age will only be valued for its ability to win wars, that science will be abused, and that the Aquarian age will be a dark age in which religion is considered offensive. Reading that made me think about how so many today fit right into that picture!

Anyways, the whole astrology thing is kind of silly to me. My grandmother believed in it and would read that thing every day. I read it when I was growing up but once I got into my teens I thought it was kind of stupid to live few words in the newspaper tell me how I was supposed to live my life. And how I was supposed to feel. I much prefer putting my faith into Jesus Christ and following him and his teachings in the Bible over the random writings of somebody in a dark room publishing in a newspaper or whatever.

But that's a different discussion!

 Wikipedia entry about Age of Aquarius: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius

 

Tuesday, August 2, 2022

Parking ~

I love to drive! Driving is one of those freedoms that I thoroughly enjoy even as the gas prices get higher and higher. Traffic used to bother me but I've reached an age and an experience level to where it doesn't bother me as much. I don't jump from lane to lane trying to get ahead of people, I just want to get somewhere the easy easiest way possible.

I love driving a pickup truck now . It's fun to be full-sized again! When I park I tend to pull through parking spaces so that I don't have to backup on my way out. That means I tend to park far away from the door of whatever building I'm trying to get into. Which drives my wife crazy at times.

Parking has not always been a fun experience for me. I remember one time when the my wife and I were dating that we were going to something in another town. It was at a college. We got there and there was nowhere to park of course. We drove around and then we saw somebody pulling out of a parking space and I rushed up there and cut somebody off to get into the parking space. I felt guilty about it and I thought I was going to end up in a fight but luckily I didn't.

I remember another time when I was younger I was in my first car at the grocery store and rushed into to the store to buy whatever it was I was trying to buy. I came rushing out because I was in a big hurry to go and see my girlfriend (who became my wife eventually). I hopped in my car and made sure my sunglasses were on right and that the appropriate music was blaring from my speakers. I was in a parking space with nobody in front of me. I looked around, put the car in drive, pulled forward to go through and go straight out the other side of the parking spaces. There was a huge thump and clunk from the front end of the vehicle! I was like "what just happened" and I realized there were curb things in the parking spaces to keep people from doing what I was doing. But I was already over it and scraping the bottom of my car that I was in. It was horrible! I thought I was going to rip up my car's transmission and screw it up and then thump thump over the next one on the other side for the other parking space and just decided I had to keep going. After two more thump thump's I was free and as I pulled away from the parking spaces I looked behind me to see if I was trailing any mechanical stuff or any liquids. Luckily I was not.

That was the worst parking experience that I've had in all of driving career. Very embarrassing! Very nerve-racking because ever since I'm always looking for those stupid curb things in between parking spaces. Luckily they don't put those things out very often now.

Be careful parking out there. Dangerous!