All I can do is laugh

The first words my friend said to me when she recieved the book she ordered: "It's huge!"
"Well," I said. "It's 500 pages."
"I don't mean thick," she said. "It's the size of a phone book with large print."
Now I was puzzled.
The next day in the break room, my friend (and customer!) slapped this tome the size of a photo album in front of me.
"Look at this thing!"
Remembering my promise, I got out a pen and signed it. I had no idea it would be this big. When playing around with the Create space program, this was the smallest I could get. Well... it was the one that I could get to work. Seems I have to go back to the drawing board on this one. Trying to salvage the situation as best I could, I said, "You know this is a collectors item now. I know of at least one typo and of course, the size of this thing."
My friend smirked in this cute but embarrassing way. Perhaps I was the one who should be embarrassed... At least chagrined.

Below it is a real suitcase

Here it is in all it's overblown glory. my hand is there for comparison. After I finish this entry, I'm going back to that self publishing site and fix this. 

Learning

I consider myself a better carpenter than a mechanic. On the same note; I'm a better mechanic than an electrician. Before we start assigning  numerical values to my ineptitude, consider this.
I've installed ceiling fans successfully. Saturday, I changed the brake pads and rotors and I've completely overhauled the bathrooms plus too many DIY fixes than I care to remember. Oh yeah, I built some funny looking statues too.
 When I went to work Sunday, I noticed something. There's a distinctive 'clunk' when I make a sharp left turn. Now I put everything back where it's supposed to go, and things went on as tight as they could go. I'm fairly certain the wheel isn't about to come flying off. What I am going to do is consult a friend who restores cars. We can talk shop and perhaps I can get some advice on how to make this better.
Upon reading the above paragraph, I considered deleting it, but then decided to let things stand. Besides I liked the analogy. Taking things apart to put them back together again may not be the best way to spend an afternoon, but it will be the only way I'm going to learn what is making that #@#$% noise. When I told him what happened, my mechanic friend didn't have a clue as to what it could be. His exact words were, "That's not supposed to happen." No crap. Back to the drawing board...
Last week I got one of those out of the blue questions. It was about how long it takes to write a book. There's no right way to answer that. King suggests it should take no more than a year, or a season, as he put it. Realistically it varies depending on the time you have to invest in it. 'So where's your book now?' my curious friend asked.
In response I typed up the title in Amazon to show him where the paperback can be published. Another writing friend, (I want to be a writer, too.) immediately punched up the page and bought the book. Yeah! First paperback sale! Bless her heart. She got the book Sunday night and will post her review of it by Friday. What are my thoughts on this? Flattered? Amazed. Scared. This is almost a second degree of separation. We are barely co workers because we  don't work alongside each other, but I want to say we're associates. This is how it starts. She promised to post her review on Facebook, that's how it gets around: word of mouth.

The deal

Last night I got a tentative agreement to be hired at Amazon. The pay is a three bucks an hour less than what I'm making now, but if you take a look at my take home pay minus the liens and deductions with Lowe's (car and health insurance IRA), I'm only making 5.65 an hour. I guess it's all in how you look at it. The main problem I'm having, (besides losing about 300.00 every paycheck to liens.) is the mandatory IRA everyone had to sign up for. Three of my friends and co-workers had heart attacks, two of them fatal. I'm under no delusion that I'm going to live to see a retirement. So why not let me have that money right now, it's not like I'm getting out of here alive anyway.
Still need to iron out the details with Amazon. The shift they mentioned for me isn't a perfect fit. I'd have to cut some hours at my first job to accommodate the second, still, if I work it out I might come out ahead in this... might.
I just got the parts to fix my truck. My trolley jack sprung a leak. Looks like I'll have to borrow somebody else's jack.
Sorry for the personal revelation, but I didn't find anything blogworthy over the last couple of days.
My garden needs weeding, I need to work on my truck, there are a hundred different chores that need to be done and I have to go into work on Sunday because retail workers have no life. But I do so happily because I like to have a paycheck, small as it is, and try and keep a roof over my family's head. Universe, if you can hear me, I need some good news. Not money, although that would be put to good use, but I need something positive to come my way.
There, that's as close as I get to prayer.

Barter makes the world go round

Universal truths.
When we hear them it's like getting hit with a hammer of realization. A great epiphany of Wow!
Other times it can be more subtle. This little quote came my way a few weeks back.
"Everyone you meet knows something you don't.' -Bill Nye
That can be taken in many ways. 

• There is always something to learn
• Nobody knows it all
• Each one of us is an expert, if only on one thing.

My friends and I tried to set up a services trade off deal. I'd put in that toilet and bathroom tile in if you'll help me fix my car. In theory that sounds great, but time and finances play a part in that. 

I offered all my friends to come and help me put my garden in. I wanted to make it a communal sort of thing. If a neighbor helped me pull weeds, we'd share the tomatoes when they come in. Incidentally, there is currently some zucchini beginning to flower in my garden. I should harvest the oregano and parsley this weekend for drying.

We don't know when opportunity will drop stuff into your lap. I happened to come across some wood flooring that was going to be thrown away. It was close enough color-wise to match the stuff in the rest of the house. I'm a big fan of re-purposing things. Curbs into fireplaces, pallets into paneling. Of course, how much effort and what the results will be should always be in mind. I saw a person take some pallets and put them in as wood flooring. All the nails they had to pull out. Running each piece through a planer to get it the right shape. Then there is the question of how good the wood is? Does it break easily? Is there dry rot? Seems to me like you'd go through a lot of work to get the results you want.

If money were no object (Ha!) we'd buy everything off the shelf. There has to be a middle ground. Taking bricks and building a wall. Building a porch or deck using wood scraps. I love going down to Habitat for Humanity and see what they have there. Often times I won't find what I'm looking for, but most of the time I don't know what that certain something is. That window may need to be replaced, but that porch isn't going to build itself. We must choose our projects wisely.

 

higher and higher

Starting this while the laundry is being done. What can I say? I'm sort of a multitasker. One of the things I like about my wife is the stimulating conversations we have. It's not all, 'What do you want to do?' or 'Will you please take out the garbage?'
This morning I came across this:


My wife did her quiet chuckle while shaking her head slightly.
"I'm surprised you're not offended by that." I replied.
A look of momentary reflection crossed her face. "Yes, and no," she explained.
"Both of us are spiritual,  but not religious."
I nodded in agreement. The universe is far more wondrous than we know. My wife and I agree that we humans are not on the highest rung of the evolutionary ladder. While I personally think no one religion is 100% correct, I think we should take bits a pieces from every aspect.
My wise dearest wife put it this way: 'The higher power is not sitting in judgement. Sending people to heaven or hell depending on circumstances. Instead, we have freewill. The superior being is sitting back and watching what we will do with the power of choice.'

What a smart girl. Did I luck out when I married her or what?

 For my part, life has aspects of heaven or hell. It's our outlook that determines if our time on earth is a cake walk or a living punishment.
We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. -Native American saying.
To that end, I choose to recycle, live within our means, Vote with my wallet, conserve resources. Elect officials who reflect my values.
In a perfect world, I would bike to work. I'd still like to make that happen, despite the fact that can't ride a bike. At least not very far, fast or efficiently.

But back to my lack of religion.


Or you can listen to Carlin's take on things.


My personal ten commandments:

1. Be true to yourself. Lying to yourself only sets you up for disaster.
2. No person is your better. No person is your inferior.
3. Be humble because you are a human on this earth. Be noble because you are a human on this earth.
4. When you work, give 100%, but give yourself a break every now and then.
5. Call your parents. Keep in touch with friends old and new.
6. Don't kill, cheat, steal or lie. Be tough, but be fair.
7. Family is important. Show your love for them in what you do in life.
8. Don't think in terms of your possessions. Some things money can't buy.
9. Be the kind of neighbor you want to live next door to. 
10. Your rights as a person end where another persons' begin.

A kiss is just a kiss

Finally found a blogworthy subject. It's one thing to say you're in support of gay marriage, but when two men kiss each other on national television...
I'm talking about this.
George Takai says it so much more eloquently than I could have. After reading his blog, I have to agree. America is going to have to get used to things like this happening.
I didn't see it when the incident occurred, but there were enough videos and talking heads chatting about it to make me take notice. 
Strangely, more people are upset about two men kissing, rather than two women kissing. Hmm, double standard much?
You are either open to the idea or against it. Much like being a little bit pregnant. You are or you're not. It's that simple.
You know what raised an eyebrow with me? When a male character in Doctor Who kissed the Doctor a few years back. It made me do a double take. I didn't hate it. I couldn't believe they got away with that.
This doesn't mean I am leaving my wife of 23 years. This does not mean I'm about to buy floral prints and any of the other stereotypical tropes you can imagine. So Micheal Sam found somebody who rocks his world. Good for him. This all ties together. Sam's happiness doesn't take anything away from mine. My rights end where his begins. So he's excited about being drafted by the Rams. Actually, it would be a bigger deal if he was signed to the Steelers or Cowboys.
People were upset by the open display of affection. Others expressed their bigotry over the fact a gay man was playing the 'manly' sport of football. Maybe I missed it, but nobody got upset over a black dude and a white guy kissing?
Years ago, being gay on television was a punchline. (Three's Company, Will and Grace, Modern Family) But that's all sanitized. Couples in love hold hands, kiss, and yes, have sex. My three daughters didn't just zap into existence one day.
When two people fall in love, it's almost magical. In a world of 7 billion people, you find the one who completes you. In my humble opinion, it would be a crime to deny anyone the joy I've felt for nearly the last quarter century.
So when I say I'm an ally of same sex marriage, I actually mean it. Friends are hard to come by and as time wears on, there is no room in my heart for hate and prejudice.
Do what makes you happy, Micheal Sam.   

Turning point

I'm really having a tough time deciding what today's topic is going to be about.
My quest for a new job goes on. I'm reading a book and trying to learn a new skill. I'm also reading a book for pleasure, because that's the way my mind works, by balancing things.
The study related book is about learning Joombla. What is that besides a word to make spellcheck go all red squiggily on us? It's a way to write web pages. The pleasure reading is Feast of Crows by George RR Martin. It's set slightly ahead of where the series Game of Thrones is currently and I'm okay with that.
It's not that I couldn't decide what to write, but a subject that I find interesting.
There is a group of Computer users that call themselves Anonymous. They are computer literate activists, or in their vernacular, hacktivists.
In the most general sense, they oppose internet control and they target large corporations, governments and organisations. Personally, I first heard of Anonymous when they launched a denial of service attack on the Church of Scientology. While I condone the use of illegal tactics as a means to an end, those mad 'christian' scientists had it coming. The hacktivists and Scientologists went back and forth in 2008. Improving security on their websites and Anonymous using multiple harassment tactics. My personal favorite is sending black faxes in order to make the church waste ink.
Since 2008 Anonymous took on the MPAA and the RIAA, the motion picture association and the recording industry association in response to the actions taken against content sharing sites such as Pirate Bay.
In recent years, 2011 to the present, Anonymous has taken roles in the Arab Spring, confronted the Westboro Baptist Church, and embarrassed Bank of America and the computer security firm HBGary Federal, which led to their CEO, Aaron Barr, to resign under calls for a congressional investigation. They also publicly supported and help coordinate the Occupy Wall street movements.
What crossed my desk earlier this afternoon is this. Looks like Anonymous is going to take on Wal-Mart. So far there has been nothing illegal being done, but more of a public shaming. All publicly available information on the CEO's and their families has been compiled and posted in a couple of high visibility areas.
Highlighting the disparity between the workforce and their corporate CEOs.
Addresses. Phone numbers. Arrest records. This is called Doxxing. People may find this disconcerting and even uncomfortable. Welcome to the information age.
While I agree with a lot of things Anonymous does, there are a few things they did that were counter productive. Case in point: they went after a few child pornography sites. Even after hacking and posting the user lists and credit cards. Authorities can't go after the perverts because the evidence was gathered illegally.
If you want to see what went right and wrong with these episodes of cyber vigilantism, look no further than the Steubenville rape case, brought to world attention through the actions of Anonymous.
Lastly, Anonymous released a proposed update of the U.S. Constitution. No, seriously. It's worth a read.
Weather or not you choose to take this assorted group of web activists seriously or not, this is the face of the world in the 21st century. The internet is a great equalizer. I for one approve of the direction Anonymous is going.

Updates

At first I thought I'd write about the history of Mother's day. Then I read a neat article listing things other countries think are weird about the U.S. I got a chuckle out of it. Then again what I find funny is open to interpretation.
The House of Representatives voted for an increase in the NASA budget. Of course it still has to pass the Senate... Lots of stuff going on there. The Mars rover, Curiosity, is in it's TENTH year of it's 90 day mission. Like that damn energizer bunny, it keeps going...
We're about to crash, err... land a robot on a comet.
Our robotic emissaries are on route to Pluto, Jupiter (more precisely the moons). Get ready to rewrite what we think we know.
Here is an image you may or may not have seen before.

Not photoshopped

 Look at the bottom left corner of the photo. The Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn took this shot of the polar region. Notice anything unusual? If you said that hexagonal shape, you'd be right. And we have no flipping idea what it is or how it came to be.
Proof the universe is stranger than what we believe.
After a week of hair pulling and a doctor visit, we have been given the diagnoses our middle daughter has asthma. We tried a few medications to see what worked. Hopefully, it's sorted out.
Got caught up on a bit of work, a little reading, a little studying, but didn't get started on the home made soda in preparation of family coming to town. I'll put it on the to do list for tomorrow. In the meantime, the Spurs might sweep the Portland Trailblazers and advance to the finals. Get your silver and black on.

Stages

'No battle plan survives contact with the enemy', is a phrase a lot of my military friends use. There should be a corollary to it, and it should go something like this: 'If you have a plan, forget it. Life will intervene proportionally to your need.'

So if you have nothing pressing that you must absolutely do, the world will let you slide. But heaven help you if you want to do one thing...

We're going to do a family together night. The wife and kids want to simply reconnect with each other. No TV, no computer, no phones. We might play cards.

Then the emails come in.

"Hey, do guys wanna..."

"There's a meeting tonight at..."

"Come on down and meet your friends..."
Nope, nah, not gonna happen. I have plans with my family.

And the time was well spent. I learned how my children did on their advanced placement tests. We talked about my oldest going to college. In all likelihood I'm going to have to rent a car or van and drive her up to Colorado in August. Even writing that sentence seems weird. It hasn't hit home yet. Mine were the first hands to touch her. Not the midwife, I brought her into the world. Seems fitting I'll be there to usher her into a new stage of life. Which reminds me, I'm going to have to take the time off from work to take her up there.
I'm not sure of the details, but this is where we are going. Personally, I'm looking forward to it... and all the laughter and tears that will follow. 

it's official

There's been a lot on my mind lately. If you've been tuning in to Cosmos on Fox and National Geographic. The last installment hit home on several levels.
Television should educate, entertain and inform. Most of the time it only accomplishes one of those things. Last Sunday night I got all three, but most of all, the show made me think.
There I sat, frozen to my couch. Eyes glued to the screen as the captions raced under the show. It was a good thing that I have it recorded so I can watch it again.
Neal deGrasse Tyson, the host, tackled climate change. In the past he's taken on creationists, big corporations, and mysticism disguised as science. Sunday he handled climate deniers.
Tyson talked about the previous eras in Earth's history. He even backed it up with facts and examples.
In a previous episode, Tyson discussed Clair Patterson, a geochemist who discovered we were poisoning ourselves with lead back in 1966. His findings led to the end of all products containing lead, including leaded gasoline, which was poisoning our very atmosphere.
So here we are in 2012 and this report lands on President Obama's desk.
The National Climate Assessment is a comprehensive account of climate change from 300 scientists in various fields.
If you don't want to sift through the 1,300 page report, here's a condensed summary.

Bottom line: there is too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere... and we put it there. Because of that, we have this:



There are a lot of graphs in that last link, but these two hit home for me.
One of the things I got out of the last episode was that the Earth was like a rubber band and we are stretching it to the breaking point. The summers of today are not at all like the summers of 20 or 30 years ago. Think back to a summer in your childhood and ask yourself if it was as hot back then.
I already know my next car is going to be a hybrid or an all electric one. If I can manage it, I'm going to get a Tesla. I'm also going to take a look at what it would cost to put a few solar panels up on the roof... Set up a system for power collection.
Now I have friends who are going to argue with me that I'm overstating things and imagining this whole climate change, which I'm not. The evidence is changing my way of thinking. More to the point, it's altering the way I run my life.
For a moment, let's say everybody is wrong. Those scientists, the studies, the evidence and facts. Let's suppose they're completely mistaken and we all go through this for nothing.
Except it's not nothing. If we reduced or turned off the CO2 gases, we'd have a cleaner planet. If we reduced our dependence on gasoline, we'd all breathe a  little easier. What's the downside to that?

Whew!

Four people sitting around my table playing cards. A friend crashing on my all too comfy couch. My oldest recovering from her senior prom. The other two kids joined us after playing with their respective friends.
Bottling day went well yesterday. Laundry got done and the tux rental returned. My Sunday night nerd fix is about to happen.
Life goes on at my house.
Most of all, the Spurs won decisively 96 to 103. Well done gentlemen.
Here is your moment of zen for the week. Enjoy.

The aftermath

If Monday was any indication, the rest of the month is going to be very long for my girls.
Okay. So a boy who isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer brings his parents AK-47, two Glock pistols and a knife to school. The parents and authorities catch him before he can start a killing spree. Police dogs search the school and came up with no traces of ammunition or weapons. There is a continued presence of police officers in case things get out of hand. The FBI is even getting in on the act because of the false threats being posted to Facebook and twitter.
Rumors are running rampant that there was another threat made today. Weather it's serious or not, the authorities have to respond to each and every e-mail, text and tweet.
While I applaud them for stepping up and taking the safety of the students seriously, forbidding backpacks unless they are clear and or mesh seems a bit much. I think that went over the line. What next, Metal detectors?
One of the few good things that is being done is the increased presence of police. This is what is called threat deterrent.
The visibility is a message to would be troublemakers not to pull any crap. They are not terrorists. They are not jihadists on an agenda, let alone anything resembling a plan.
They are simply young adults. Bored, angry, not thinking ahead.
So this is the path I see the authorities taking.
Be calm and patient. Secure the area and perimeter of the school. Communicate with the parents to keep the family's firearms out of reach. Most of all... let cooler heads prevail.