Heroes

At least once in our lifetimes, we encounter a person that can be considered a hero. Through action or accomplishment, this person goes out and helps others. Maybe they perform a feat of bravery that makes the world a better place. Perhaps they show uncommon kindness and compassion.
I first met Jarrett Crippen while at a convention. The short intro piece I read in his brochure raised an eyebrow with me. His claim to fame at that point was his alter ego, the Defuser on a reality show called, 'Who wants to be a super hero?'

A thoughtful pose?

As a rule, I don't watch reality shows. My life has more than enough drama as it is. It seemed to me at the time this guy was trying to grab his 15 minutes of fame. So naturally I felt cynical about meeting him. Looking back, I regret my behavior by blowing him off so quickly.
I discovered he was an officer with the Austin Police Department.

What a lovely couple

That alone puts him into the hero column. My respect for law enforcement has deep roots. Much of my family have careers as firefighters, EMT's, nurses, doctors, and police officers.
Through the magic of Facebook, I began getting newsletters and updates on what Mr. Crippen is up to. The Defuser was becoming less and less important as the man. Jarrett made his way around the convention circuit emceeing events all over the United States.

Words fail him

Jarrett, as I've come to find out, is a heck of a nice guy. His natural charisma has made him a favorite with many geeks and nerds. On a personal note: I am in awe of his relation with Stan Lee and a tad envious when he gets mobbed by some sexy girls in costumes. Wow, Mrs. Crippen must be very  understanding!

The man, the legend

Eyes up Mr. Crippen

Over the years I've gotten tidbits about Jarrett's pet project, Scare for a cure.
He's built a haunted house type park (dare I call it a ghost town?) I actually found myself trying to get out of work so I could drive up to Austin and help with a barn raising.
To put things in perspective, The Scare for a cure site got flooded by all the rain and storms we've been getting lately. Ever the serious goof-ball, Jarrett began updating his status while stranded in a barn surrounded by water.
'Only six cases of soda and four pop tarts left...'
Yeah, the guy cracks me up.
So let's review: he gets to travel all over the country and wear some matching ties and shoes. Meet famous people and sexy girls. Scare for a cure is his personal way of fighting against breast cancer. On top of that, he works for the Austin police department.
He might disagree with me, but it seems like a charmed life. More and more often, I find myself thinking of all that Jarrett Crippen does and call him 'hero'.
 

Things that make you go, hmmm...

Last post I touched base on people who are not in their chosen field of study/ interest.

• Mr. Yitang Zhang, the guy with a PhD. in mathematics who was working at Subway. Update: he got a job at a college teaching mathematics.

• My brother in law has a degree in chemical engineering, but works at a paper company.
• My sister has a degree in mortuary science, but works as a hair dresser.
• A friend of mine has a degree in political science, but he works with troubled youths.
• My wife is a few credits shy of her masters in library science, but can only find work as a substitute teacher.
• Heck, my old manager is an optometrist working as a retail store manager.

Those are specific cases. I've worked alongside countless others who have college degrees and are waiting tables. It used to be you worked the crappy job while going to school. You got an education that enabled you to get a job in a field you liked.
When I encounter a person, say a guy with a degree in electrical engineering, and he's tending bar. (true story by the way.) The question comes to mind: 'What the hell are you doing here?'  

The reasons are varied. In my sister's case, she makes more as a hairdresser. She would have to take a pay cut in order to do the things she went to school for. In other cases, I think the reason is money, but it's the opposite end of the spectrum.
No jobs available in a given field, but there is this restaurant down the street that needs a waiter. The sad truth is we need food and shelter. Most people will take a lesser paying job simply because it is paying. You can't eat that degree on your wall. (Well you could, but the nutritional value is next to nothing.) 
Are we settling? Is it really that bad that we have to accept less than what we are worth? True, my paycheck puts food on the table and pays the bills... more or less. My point is a lot of people are living hand to mouth for years, decades even, and that's no way to live. You're just surviving, not thriving.
Do I have the solution? Not exactly. I've cut out a lot of the things that people enjoy. My family is very understanding in our predicament. Every day it seems we are being forced to choose between what we want and what we need. Wanting to be a writer and needing to feed my family.
Sucks doesn't it?

Mechanical work, technical details

For a long time now, I've noticed one or two problems with the site. Every so often the font color of the post changes on me. There be Gremlins in the code. One day, it will be easy to read. Other days it's like, 'What the hell is that?' I've tried digging around in the guts of this program. I've even tried to alter the HTML code by hand, but that didn't work. When I did find the proper button/ lever/ setting, Blogger insists that the font is white, (As I look at it now, the font is a black scribble.) One of the things I did fix was the comments section. Now anyone can post. So gripe away folks...
I've got a shelf to build and a bathroom to clean today. Along the way I wanted to get some writing done. Some people have spring cleaning, this is the fall purge.
The way things are going, I may not have time to write until November. No, I'm not happy about that. Here's how I look at it: All I learned from working retail was that hard work and minimum wage will get you... minimum wage. One of my old store managers was a fully trained optometrist. Now here he is working retail. Why? Maybe he needs the money. Hey, remember the math genius I wrote about who worked at Subway to pay the bills?
So I write the stories because after I'm dead and gone, what's left? No one is going to miss that funny looking deaf guy who worked so hard. If I stay this present course, my name won't come up in a Google search. My stories will stick around because people who've read them, told me they were good. When the day is done, I can point to a chapter in the latest book I'm working on and say; 'This is what I did.' Other people have responded to me by saying, 'Well, I got the high score on my favorite game.', or 'We pulled in thousands of dollars for the company.'
But when that game is turned off, I'll bet you that high score ceases to exist. Think they will remember the little guy while the C.E.O's and stockholders count their portfolio's? What I write is tangible... measurable. While this may seem like a crappy attitude to have, I'm just trying to be realistic.
So I'm terribly sorry if I don't get the house 100 percent clean, Martha Stewart approved. I'm trying to find a happy medium. The lawn may not be mowed, but I'm going to have a few chapters to show for my clutter.
I might want to remind everyone: Tom Clancy was an insurance agent before he began writing. His first story wasn't an instant hit. The Hunt for Red October probably wasn't his first attempt at a novel. My first story sucked so bad, I never tried to finish it. I've finished three novels so far and I'm halfway through the fourth. Each story I've written has gotten better. I'm honing the craft, working on my game. Heck, J.K. Rowling was on unemployment and Stephen King was a teacher. What do these people have in common? They kept working on their writing skills until the big breakthrough happened. They wrote a story that caught people's attention and fired the imagination.
Now, if you will all excuse me, I have to get back to honing my storytelling skills.

Humbled and amazed

Here's a recap of stuff going on.
Malala Yousafzai did an interview with John Stewart of the Daily Show. This is the girl who was shot by the Taliban for going to school and speaking out for women's rights. She's the youngest person to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I think she's a shoo-in.
There are thousand of causes to support. If any cause is worthy of support, it is this one. In taking a page from John Kennedy, I tend to think globally and act locally. Here's a link to Malala's page. Think of it as fighting evil in the world. You'll feel better about yourself, I promise.

Scott Carpenter, one of the Mercury 7 astronauts passed away today. Let's all take a moment to remember his heroism and accomplishments.

Even with the government shutdown, science rolls on! The Juno spacecraft did a slingshot around Earth and is bang on target for Jupiter. 

And since we're on the subject of the shutdown... Here's a nifty little piece about congressional approval rating.
Really guys, 5%? I thought they shoot people when it gets that low. Do I need to come over there and start knocking some heads? 
If things keep going the way their going, people are going to get hurt. I predict 535 casualties.
Hey Senator Headupyourass, get back to work.
 

Coming from behind

Still having no internet, I'm 'borrowing' access from a friend until my monetary difference with AT&T gets resolved.
Friends have asked me if I was nervous or worried about my finances. The answer is 'sort of'. If I had gobs of cash in the bank, I'd throw money at all my problems, but it wouldn't teach me anything. Here I am making the most of what little I have... and I'm making it count. Could you feed a family of 5 on less than  10.00? I do it all the time. Take tonight for example: I made cauliflower pasta and it ran me almost 5.00. I had to make an emergency run to the store, I had less pasta than I thought. Still- I did pretty damn good.

One of my house rules goes something like this:
No one leaves hungry. Even if they have a cracker on their way out the door, the condition is met. I like cooking and feeding my friends. In turn, people enjoy my cooking. We take the basics building blocks for meals and multiply them. Lots and lots of pasta, beans, rice dishes. Casseroles and cheese dishes. There have been a few times where I've eaten lightly, but never truly starved. Okay, okay... more than a few times. But while I do skip meals, I also tend to make the most of what is there.
Take tonight for instance: One head of cauliflower: 2.50. Extra pasta: 3.00 for two bags. In the 10 buck estimate, I include the things that should be in your kitchen no matter what. Olive Oil. Diced garlic. Salt, Pepper. Cheese.
Sauté the cauliflower in the olive oil and garlic. While this is going on, boil some water for the pasta.
When the noodles and cauliflower are done, combine them. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with a bit of Parmesan cheese.
Know why I didn't include measurements? I rarely rely on them. I cook enough pasta to feed whoever is at my house come dinner time. In cooking parlance, I'm known as a 'dumper'. I cook by instinct and imagining what tastes good. More often than not, I succeed. 

So it's not a case of not having enough money, it's making the most of what you have. Pizza tastes great, but for the amount of money spent, I could feed any number of people several times over.

The title of this post says it all: Coming from behind. Making huge strides in fiscal responsibility and while trying not to become overwhelmed.

When one of my ideas come to fruition (writing, games, brewing.) And believe me, one or more will work. Not having enough money to go around will be a thing of the past.

A reminder

Yesterday our neighborhood association organizer stopped by as I was mowing the lawn. She's a nice lady... really. It's only a neighborhood association in the loosest sense of the word. She means well and has gotten things for the neighborhood. Those speed bumps on our street? She had a hand in that. This lady goes around organizing things. Last week, they got a city dumpster and had a special brush/ bulky item collection. An extra opportunity to clean up the neighborhood? I am so on board with that. When they tell you what color you can paint your house or not work on you car in the driveway, that's where I draw the line.

The reason I'm mentioning this? She said very simply, 'You should be very proud of what you've accomplished after all you've gone through.' We've known each other for many years and she knows my back story. Matter of fact, she's had a front row seat just by living next door to my sister. (Did I mention my sister at one time lived 11 doors down the street from me?) She proceeded to praise the job my wife and I have done raising our daughters and dealing with the hand L ife has dealt us. This was a case of not seeing the forest for the trees.  Life may not have turned out the way I planned, I may gripe about the bad stuff, but it felt good having a person remind me of all the good things that my wife and I have accomplished.

Short and sweet

I'll make this a quick one. Last night, immediately after I pulled the covers over my head, my wife burst into the room. She was signing so fast I couldn't make out what she said. Then came the ozone acidic smell of an electrical fire. It seems our family computer caught fire. The plastic case was hot to the touch. First thing I did was unplug everything. Then I pulled the case out from it's cubby in the desk. Disconnecting everything, I cautiously, undid the screws to reveal...
Nothing.
No scorch marks, not slagged wires. My current theory is a dust bunny caught fire. That isn't the be all/ end all. One more thing on my 'to do' list. A little canned air, Some judicial cleaning and we"ll see what happens when I plug it in. It could be anything but I hope it is the power supply. Easily replaced and no harm done. Perhaps I'll get out my multimeter as I test out the individual parts. One more thing I have to take care of this weekend, and I was so looking forward to cleaning out the garage.
Update:
I tried to start it up on my workbench this weekend, but there's no power getting through the power supply. If memory serves, that is the oldest part on the frankencomputer. 13 years or thereabouts.