Saturday, June 05, 2010
Friday, June 04, 2010
Looking For A Word
I have looked at the words "fate," "providence," "coincidence," "serendipity," and even "nemesis" trying to find just the right one to describe so much that happens to me. Serendipity is just plain goofy, nemesis has a negative connotation, and I have said that I do not believe in coincidences. I still do not. Maybe I am just seeing the connections. More than one person has told me that I think too much.
Here is a recent example:
I understand the operation of the gasoline powered internal combusion engine, and had heard of Nicholas Otto. But when I asked guys about diesel engines I could not get a clear explanation of diesel compression ignition from anyone, so started learning for myself.
Found this cool video on youtube: Perkins Diesel Engine Animation, I suggest turning down the sound after the video starts if you would like to watch it, the music is awful.
When I first found the video, however it had this music with it:
Otto's Daughter - Mars which to be honest made it great fun to watch over and over, and which I thought was very clever to match to an engine video. But probably some copyright/ip thing happened and the good music was removed and replaced with ick.
So since I missed the music I bought a copy in iTunes and loaded it onto my iPod.
Most evenings after work I go to the pond and feed the fish, listen to tunes and unwind the day.
One day last week I was there feeding the fish, listening to "Mars." I looked out across the pond and saw that the water at the far shore seemed to be boiling. Huge bubble were rising and bursting. I thought, "That is weird. How can a pond boil?" Then it seemed that the boiling area was growing and spreading toward the center of the pond. At that moment the refrain started playing which includes the line: "It's coming closer, closer, closer." Finally as the bubbles kept coming closer to where I was standing I could see that it was caused by very large dispersed rain drops hitting the water at high velocity. And she kept singing "closer, closer, closer."
About then I realized that I was going to get soaked on the walk back to the house, but didn't mind too much because my mind had already gone back over all that had gone into making that event happen just the way it did. Who knew that because no man would intelligently discuss compression ignition with me I would end up with my own personal sound track to a natural event?
Yep, I think too much and I think the word I want is "connections."
Here is a recent example:
I understand the operation of the gasoline powered internal combusion engine, and had heard of Nicholas Otto. But when I asked guys about diesel engines I could not get a clear explanation of diesel compression ignition from anyone, so started learning for myself.
Found this cool video on youtube: Perkins Diesel Engine Animation, I suggest turning down the sound after the video starts if you would like to watch it, the music is awful.
When I first found the video, however it had this music with it:
Otto's Daughter - Mars which to be honest made it great fun to watch over and over, and which I thought was very clever to match to an engine video. But probably some copyright/ip thing happened and the good music was removed and replaced with ick.
So since I missed the music I bought a copy in iTunes and loaded it onto my iPod.
Most evenings after work I go to the pond and feed the fish, listen to tunes and unwind the day.
One day last week I was there feeding the fish, listening to "Mars." I looked out across the pond and saw that the water at the far shore seemed to be boiling. Huge bubble were rising and bursting. I thought, "That is weird. How can a pond boil?" Then it seemed that the boiling area was growing and spreading toward the center of the pond. At that moment the refrain started playing which includes the line: "It's coming closer, closer, closer." Finally as the bubbles kept coming closer to where I was standing I could see that it was caused by very large dispersed rain drops hitting the water at high velocity. And she kept singing "closer, closer, closer."
About then I realized that I was going to get soaked on the walk back to the house, but didn't mind too much because my mind had already gone back over all that had gone into making that event happen just the way it did. Who knew that because no man would intelligently discuss compression ignition with me I would end up with my own personal sound track to a natural event?
Yep, I think too much and I think the word I want is "connections."
Try Again
Rehearsal last night because we are going to try to present our tornado-interrupted concert again on Saturday night. We keep joking that if the weather is at all bad, they may never ask us to sing there in the future! lol. However due to the amount of damage from the trip to the cellar on April 30 I have to buy new shoes and hose before the concert, and should have had my skirt dry-cleaned, so will probably had to buy a new black skirt also. I really do not like shopping on a time deadline.
Hiding In Plain Sight
"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem." Milton Friedman
Had a service call in Salem yesterday. It was interesting. As people prepare for what is coming, the manner in which they do it is as varied as they are.
Sometimes it is good to see what others are doing, and how it sounds when they try to explain the why and what. Just a note, we are all staying registered active voters. We vote, we read about the candidates, we are engaged citizens, and we will continue to be until the rules change to deliberately exclude us.
Had a service call in Salem yesterday. It was interesting. As people prepare for what is coming, the manner in which they do it is as varied as they are.
Sometimes it is good to see what others are doing, and how it sounds when they try to explain the why and what. Just a note, we are all staying registered active voters. We vote, we read about the candidates, we are engaged citizens, and we will continue to be until the rules change to deliberately exclude us.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Privacy Thought
Some people are terribly worried about having their cellphone numbers showing on facebook. I put mine on my account over a year ago and have never received a "weird" phone call. Of course I do get lots of wrong numbers looking for "Jenny" or "Tanya." But I suspect that has more to do with the fact that my business card is all over the county, and probably by now the surrounding locations.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Survival Plans
Awhile ago I wrote about a plan to eat from the garden and hunting. It sounds like such a good idea, but what people tend to forget is the fact that very few people each just plain vegetables and fruit. Most people add at least salt and pepper to food. These are easy staples to stock up on and store, but what about the other stuff you add to veggies? Most people around here would never serve green beans without bacon grease in them. Or don't you usually put butter on potatoes? Even most of the fruit that I see has been cooked with sugar. While the plain produce is very good for you, it is the stuff that you add to it that makes it so good to eat. The problem here is foods like butter are hard and time consuming to make and will not last long without refrigeration. Shortening which can be stored longer at a warmer temperature is also beyond the ability of most people to produce at home, let alone in a survival situation.
In most lives today we just eat whatever suits our fancy at the moment. I do indeed go to the store every other day to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and even in this tiny rural location always have a large and varied selection from which to choose. If I were depending totally on what I was growing I would be eating according to the season and weather. And lettuces and greens are lovely, when they are in full production the weather is still usually cold and no amount of that vegetation will satisfy hunger born of cold wind. And so in the height of summer around here the gardens are hibernating or only turning out tomatoes. The work of skinning, gutting and butchering even a small deer in the heat of summer could induce heat stroke. And no one is going to have a cold drink in the frig or cooler to offer relief.
All this could sound pessimistic but it is not. It is part of a well thought out plan, because the more that is at stake the more careful and detailed the planning must be.
In most lives today we just eat whatever suits our fancy at the moment. I do indeed go to the store every other day to buy fresh fruit and vegetables and even in this tiny rural location always have a large and varied selection from which to choose. If I were depending totally on what I was growing I would be eating according to the season and weather. And lettuces and greens are lovely, when they are in full production the weather is still usually cold and no amount of that vegetation will satisfy hunger born of cold wind. And so in the height of summer around here the gardens are hibernating or only turning out tomatoes. The work of skinning, gutting and butchering even a small deer in the heat of summer could induce heat stroke. And no one is going to have a cold drink in the frig or cooler to offer relief.
All this could sound pessimistic but it is not. It is part of a well thought out plan, because the more that is at stake the more careful and detailed the planning must be.
Email Account
Found an old email account that I had forgotten about and it was still active! Cool, logged in and sent out a test message. Now I can check 8 different email accounts each day. :)
Wrong Message
"Do as I say, not as I do."
I got behind a truck yesterday that was wearing a large sticker proclaiming using a particular version of the Bible as a guide for life. In the few miles I was behind it the driver ran two stop signs, failed to use direction signals at all, crossed the double yellow line, and failed to observe the speed limit. Makes you wonder.
I got behind a truck yesterday that was wearing a large sticker proclaiming using a particular version of the Bible as a guide for life. In the few miles I was behind it the driver ran two stop signs, failed to use direction signals at all, crossed the double yellow line, and failed to observe the speed limit. Makes you wonder.
Fun
Test drove a 2010 Dodge Challenger SE yesterday. And it was fun. The drivetrain is clearly 21st century, the completely electronic entry and ignition system was impressive. The speedometer registers up to 140 mph and I do believe it is capable of that speed easily. But the truly funny thing was the fact that the vehicle handled exactly like my 1993 Dodge Dakota. lol. I guess a Dodge is a Dodge.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Things My Father Taught Me 2.
Stones in the treads will damage your tires. There is a blade on your pocketknife that will remove them. Use it.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Today's Stuff
I am uneasy, just feeling unsettled. Today was very quiet and ordinary. Worked for a few hours nicely uninterrupted and rather productive. Seems I qualified for a PELL Grant for the Fall Semester. Got in a couple of miles in at the track and got my hair cut. Rachel did a great job again! Spent a few minutes hanging out with the girl who cleans at work, just a mellow sort of day. And yet my sense of "something wrong" has been growing since mid-day. I know I had a dream, but can't remember it now. I wish I knew where to look for what is wrong, keep waiting for the phone to ring, or something to show up on a news site. Of course, nothing might happened today. The last time it took almost three weeks to manifest. The warning I got before the tornado in 2008 was about two weeks, so today might just be the forerunner of the event. Guess we will see when we see.
Work Thoughts
If you buy and use a computer without reinstall media of some kind it is like buying and operating a vehicle with no registration and insurance. You will get by for a while, maybe even long enough to wear it out and replace it, but you risk losing everything if there is an accident.
A Bad Thing
A smug self-righteous attitude on the part of a person who attends a church is a detestable thing. They think because they are sitting in a church pew on Sunday morning that they are better than someone who isn't.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
In My World
"Einstein argued that [...] God is not capricious or arbitrary. No such faith comforts the software engineer." ~ Brooks
A funny and true story that illustrates how things go in my life. First for those who do not know, I cannot eat meat, that includes seafood, pork, beef, any of those fine foods that add so much to life.
A few years ago we went to Blanchard Springs with some of my family that was visiting. We took the long walk through the caverns and were back in the park ready for lunch. As we were making sandwiches and getting food ready at the picnic table I was making a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I had just spread peanut butter on a slice of bread when there was a noise above the table in a tree. The next thing we saw was a beautiful bright green cicada leg drop directly onto the bread and stick in the peanut butter. My Uncle Woods could not stop laughing, and I just sat there and stared at it, trying to comprehend what was contaminating my lunch. As my mother said, things like that only happened to me. I believe she has a long list of such events since infancy and I can only say that in the face of such life-long adversity it is a wonder sometimes that I get up in the morning. Truly my life is built of the moments of which you must say, "You have to laugh, because if you don't you would cry."
And so with Einstein's quote in mind, since these events are not capricious or arbitrary, into what am I being forged?
A funny and true story that illustrates how things go in my life. First for those who do not know, I cannot eat meat, that includes seafood, pork, beef, any of those fine foods that add so much to life.
A few years ago we went to Blanchard Springs with some of my family that was visiting. We took the long walk through the caverns and were back in the park ready for lunch. As we were making sandwiches and getting food ready at the picnic table I was making a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I had just spread peanut butter on a slice of bread when there was a noise above the table in a tree. The next thing we saw was a beautiful bright green cicada leg drop directly onto the bread and stick in the peanut butter. My Uncle Woods could not stop laughing, and I just sat there and stared at it, trying to comprehend what was contaminating my lunch. As my mother said, things like that only happened to me. I believe she has a long list of such events since infancy and I can only say that in the face of such life-long adversity it is a wonder sometimes that I get up in the morning. Truly my life is built of the moments of which you must say, "You have to laugh, because if you don't you would cry."
And so with Einstein's quote in mind, since these events are not capricious or arbitrary, into what am I being forged?
Today
Had another one of those experiences today where I did something I normally would not do, but listened to the quiet voice and obeyed. Within less than an hour it became clear what I had done was the right thing. I had no idea who I would meet where but someone I did not expect showed up and I was prepared.
Days like this keep me from doubting what I do, even the things seem odd to other people.
Days like this keep me from doubting what I do, even the things seem odd to other people.
Typical Day at Work
A customer calls and says, "My computer/laptop/CPU/modem won't turn on/turn off/do anything." When I arrive on location or they bring the unit to me, the reason for the problem usually becomes clear. And these units come from houses that are clean. The problem lies in the nature of electrical current. The entire inside of a computer is seething with electrons going about to allow the user to make calculations, view videos, sent messages, et c. The air in houses is filled with dust, hair, pollen, cat fuzz, carpet fuzz, smoke, and all other pollutants which are drawn into the computer's main body through the fans. Once near the loose electrons everything airborne sticks to the surfaces. Pretty soon, heat builds up, gears clog, thermal grease melts (as in the picture), and general failure is the result.
It always happens this way...
I spent six hours yesterday detailing the Buick and the Dodge. It rained last night.
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