Blog from SUUSI
Here I am at SUUSI. I need to come up with ideas for a song in a workshop that I am taking. I gave my stories of the sky workshop yesterday. Today is the halfway point of SUUSI, and am going on a nature hike today. A high point was listening to Relative Viewpoint, the group who sings a different Pledge. I met a woman who has ahd misexperiences like I have had, including of course Planeattack (9/11). Basically I am here to recenter my life, as are many other people here in Blacksburg.
A Journey through Blogrealm
Blogtrek
Blogtrek
2002/07/24
2002/07/19
Moon in Clouds
Tonight I went to a star presentation near the center of my home city where we show the public the stars. It was a muggy night with occasional storms, and I could see flashes in the distance from a distant thunderstorm. The only good objects out tonight were the Moon and Venus. So I showed the public both of these objects. But what intrigued me the most was the pattern of clouds in front of the moon. At times the Moon would light the back clouds, while being covered by a front cloud. That looked like a real glory. In fact, it looked very much like some astronomical objects, such as the Lagoon Nebula. I will remember this night as the night of the Moonglow.
Tonight I went to a star presentation near the center of my home city where we show the public the stars. It was a muggy night with occasional storms, and I could see flashes in the distance from a distant thunderstorm. The only good objects out tonight were the Moon and Venus. So I showed the public both of these objects. But what intrigued me the most was the pattern of clouds in front of the moon. At times the Moon would light the back clouds, while being covered by a front cloud. That looked like a real glory. In fact, it looked very much like some astronomical objects, such as the Lagoon Nebula. I will remember this night as the night of the Moonglow.
2002/07/17
Send the robots (or rabbits) after them!
Today an unusual thing happened when I tried to call home at lunchtime from work. I got a message saying that the number I called had Call Intercept and that I had to say my name after the beep. Then my wife at home had to press a number to get me. This is my Call Intercept service, which I got to block calls that come from things like "unavailable" and "private". The vast majority of these are telemarketers and junk callers, which is the reason I got the service.
What happened is my workplace changed its phone system so instead of coming up with a trunk number when I call home, it comes up "unavailable". That set off my Call Intercept. Why my workplace would want to identify or confound itself with telemarketers beats me. If I did not have Call Intercept, the call would come up as "unavailable" and the answerer at home would assume it was a telemarketer and not answer. Fortunately, the service comes with a password. I enter it and instead I come up as "priority caller". It still blocks telemarketers, so I am going to keep it.
I have a similar problem with web pages. When I access a web page, sometimes I get pop-up windows. So I obtain Analog-X's Pow! and Pow! those windows out of existence. However, I find that sometimes sites I want to see get Powed too so I have to turn it off. Email is an eternal problem, with its flood of spam. So I get a robot to handle that. That robot is the Rules Wizard of Outlook. I tell Outlook, for example, to delete messages whose subject contains "million", "anyone", "viagra", "credit", and so forth; I did an analysis which shows these words appear much more frequently in the subject of spam than in the subject of legitimate mail. Once in a while legitimate mail gets hit by the Wizard, so I go into "Deleted Items" and rescue those messages.
A woman who I met tonight, who I shall call L, came up with the best solution of all. Send a virtual rabbit after the spam, to nibble on the spam and gobble it up before it hits my mailbox.
Today an unusual thing happened when I tried to call home at lunchtime from work. I got a message saying that the number I called had Call Intercept and that I had to say my name after the beep. Then my wife at home had to press a number to get me. This is my Call Intercept service, which I got to block calls that come from things like "unavailable" and "private". The vast majority of these are telemarketers and junk callers, which is the reason I got the service.
What happened is my workplace changed its phone system so instead of coming up with a trunk number when I call home, it comes up "unavailable". That set off my Call Intercept. Why my workplace would want to identify or confound itself with telemarketers beats me. If I did not have Call Intercept, the call would come up as "unavailable" and the answerer at home would assume it was a telemarketer and not answer. Fortunately, the service comes with a password. I enter it and instead I come up as "priority caller". It still blocks telemarketers, so I am going to keep it.
I have a similar problem with web pages. When I access a web page, sometimes I get pop-up windows. So I obtain Analog-X's Pow! and Pow! those windows out of existence. However, I find that sometimes sites I want to see get Powed too so I have to turn it off. Email is an eternal problem, with its flood of spam. So I get a robot to handle that. That robot is the Rules Wizard of Outlook. I tell Outlook, for example, to delete messages whose subject contains "million", "anyone", "viagra", "credit", and so forth; I did an analysis which shows these words appear much more frequently in the subject of spam than in the subject of legitimate mail. Once in a while legitimate mail gets hit by the Wizard, so I go into "Deleted Items" and rescue those messages.
A woman who I met tonight, who I shall call L, came up with the best solution of all. Send a virtual rabbit after the spam, to nibble on the spam and gobble it up before it hits my mailbox.
2002/07/16
The New World Trade Center
Today six designs for a new World Trade Center were publicized. I looked at them, and they seem similar to each other, but I do have definite preferences among them. I suppose half the bloggers in the world will be commenting on the new designs, so here is my opinion of them, along with the one that is my favorite:
1. Plaza. I like the tall building in this design. We need a tall building of some sort to inspire us. There are four other moderately tall buildings which give a sense of mass. The design could have made better use of the blank space near the tower footprints, and the big tower seems separated from the others. I would give this design three stars (on a scale of 0-4).
2. Square. This one has a large open space, a huge trapezoidal courtyard, and a cylindrical 80-story tower. I don't like this one as well because of the cylindrical tower - it reminds me of some industrial building instead. I give this one two stars.
3. Triangle. This builds a building where the North Tower was. I hope this will be a memorial and museum! The tallest building is unusual, as though one put a Pez box on top of the tower. I find this design wanting in some respects, so I give it two stars.
4. Garden. Very high tower is a plus for this design. The footprints are left bare, and the buildings are connected together. Although I prefer box or Art Deco style buildings to pyramids, this one appeals to me a lot and I give it three and a half stars.
5. Park. There are interesting concepts in this design. An obelisk in the courtyard marks the memorial to those who died here. The four tall buildings are attractive and give a sense of protective warmth to those in the memorial area. The really tall building is thin, so not impressive looking from the east or west, and it seems to be hidden away from the rest, as though protecting it from some scourge from the water west of the city. I still like the design and give it three stars.
6. Promenade. I find this really attractive, with its sidewalks, four pillar buildings with give the area a feeling of structure and strength, and there are twin towers within them. The towers could have been higher and wider, but the other aspects of this design, including a small memorial building within the structure, and the excellent use of space in an area made hard to design in by the desire to keep the footprints clear, make this my favorite design and I give it four stars.
There you have it - I vote for design number 6, World Trade Center Memorial Promenade. It will add to the beauty of the New York skyline. However, I also like designs 4 and 5. We will see what they decide.
Today six designs for a new World Trade Center were publicized. I looked at them, and they seem similar to each other, but I do have definite preferences among them. I suppose half the bloggers in the world will be commenting on the new designs, so here is my opinion of them, along with the one that is my favorite:
1. Plaza. I like the tall building in this design. We need a tall building of some sort to inspire us. There are four other moderately tall buildings which give a sense of mass. The design could have made better use of the blank space near the tower footprints, and the big tower seems separated from the others. I would give this design three stars (on a scale of 0-4).
2. Square. This one has a large open space, a huge trapezoidal courtyard, and a cylindrical 80-story tower. I don't like this one as well because of the cylindrical tower - it reminds me of some industrial building instead. I give this one two stars.
3. Triangle. This builds a building where the North Tower was. I hope this will be a memorial and museum! The tallest building is unusual, as though one put a Pez box on top of the tower. I find this design wanting in some respects, so I give it two stars.
4. Garden. Very high tower is a plus for this design. The footprints are left bare, and the buildings are connected together. Although I prefer box or Art Deco style buildings to pyramids, this one appeals to me a lot and I give it three and a half stars.
5. Park. There are interesting concepts in this design. An obelisk in the courtyard marks the memorial to those who died here. The four tall buildings are attractive and give a sense of protective warmth to those in the memorial area. The really tall building is thin, so not impressive looking from the east or west, and it seems to be hidden away from the rest, as though protecting it from some scourge from the water west of the city. I still like the design and give it three stars.
6. Promenade. I find this really attractive, with its sidewalks, four pillar buildings with give the area a feeling of structure and strength, and there are twin towers within them. The towers could have been higher and wider, but the other aspects of this design, including a small memorial building within the structure, and the excellent use of space in an area made hard to design in by the desire to keep the footprints clear, make this my favorite design and I give it four stars.
There you have it - I vote for design number 6, World Trade Center Memorial Promenade. It will add to the beauty of the New York skyline. However, I also like designs 4 and 5. We will see what they decide.
2002/07/14
Packrats and pastburners
First, a few short snippets. I heard a media maven say that the airlines are all in the same boat. How can airlines be in a boat? They fly planes. The maven meant that the airlines were all in the same plane. I find that there are so many conniptions to using Microsoft Access that I feel it is an Access of Evil. We just had an incident in Iraq; maybe it was a case of "you zero us in, we zero you out."
Now the feature blogentation: One thing I find hard to do is to get rid of all the stuff I have accumulated in my lifetime, much of it junk. I.e., I tend to be a packrat at home. My attic is crammed with papers, and it takes time to sort through them all. But every once in a while, a record is needed somewhere, and I can find out what I was doing with it in 1983 or something. I would not have it if I had been throwing out all my stuff all along. It seems to me that a pattern like that should have a name; i.e., packrat should have an opposite. So let me invent one: pastburner. That will be my latest non-word of the week.
A pastburner is a person who continually throws out all or most past stuff and lives with only the present records. People who live in the here and now, mainly perceiving (P) types, tend to be pastburners. But I am a pastburner at work, for one good reason. During the last 12 years, there have been many reductions in force, moves, remodelings, and reorganizations and it seems that many of these put me in surroundings more cramped than before. This forces me to throw out stuff, and yes, it has hurt at times not to have the old records. Then again, what good are the old records? And what good are the present ones? The future often is different from both. Maybe we should question those who would want these records - other people, or perhaps, even ourselves.
First, a few short snippets. I heard a media maven say that the airlines are all in the same boat. How can airlines be in a boat? They fly planes. The maven meant that the airlines were all in the same plane. I find that there are so many conniptions to using Microsoft Access that I feel it is an Access of Evil. We just had an incident in Iraq; maybe it was a case of "you zero us in, we zero you out."
Now the feature blogentation: One thing I find hard to do is to get rid of all the stuff I have accumulated in my lifetime, much of it junk. I.e., I tend to be a packrat at home. My attic is crammed with papers, and it takes time to sort through them all. But every once in a while, a record is needed somewhere, and I can find out what I was doing with it in 1983 or something. I would not have it if I had been throwing out all my stuff all along. It seems to me that a pattern like that should have a name; i.e., packrat should have an opposite. So let me invent one: pastburner. That will be my latest non-word of the week.
A pastburner is a person who continually throws out all or most past stuff and lives with only the present records. People who live in the here and now, mainly perceiving (P) types, tend to be pastburners. But I am a pastburner at work, for one good reason. During the last 12 years, there have been many reductions in force, moves, remodelings, and reorganizations and it seems that many of these put me in surroundings more cramped than before. This forces me to throw out stuff, and yes, it has hurt at times not to have the old records. Then again, what good are the old records? And what good are the present ones? The future often is different from both. Maybe we should question those who would want these records - other people, or perhaps, even ourselves.
2002/07/11
Inconceivable disk drive
In my mathematics page, I describe several levels of numbers. In particular, literary numbers are numbers written with between one hundred and twenty billion zeroes after a 1. I call them literary because literary works can be thought of as big numbers, if you assign a value to the digits and use place notation. Literary numbers are also the numbers of disk drives. If a computer's disk drive has 340 MB of storage, then the number of possible configurations of that disk drive is about 10 to the billionth power, a 1 followed by a billion zeros. It would fill 8 encyclopedias. My current disk drive has 80 GB of storage. That is really huge! There is no way I will know everything about this computer. The number of configurations of that drive is about 1 followed by 34 billion zeroes. That exceeds the limit of 20 billion zeroes that literary numbers have. This number is inconceivable instead. Just think of it. I am typing this on an inconceivable computer, a computer with an inconceivable number of configurations. We have yet to see an inconceivable tornado, but we are seeing inconceivable computers. There is no way I will know everything on this computer. Computers have come to the place where they have taken an independent existence, above and beyond what our minds can conceive. It's a little scary. Could a world controlled by computers be around the corner?
In my mathematics page, I describe several levels of numbers. In particular, literary numbers are numbers written with between one hundred and twenty billion zeroes after a 1. I call them literary because literary works can be thought of as big numbers, if you assign a value to the digits and use place notation. Literary numbers are also the numbers of disk drives. If a computer's disk drive has 340 MB of storage, then the number of possible configurations of that disk drive is about 10 to the billionth power, a 1 followed by a billion zeros. It would fill 8 encyclopedias. My current disk drive has 80 GB of storage. That is really huge! There is no way I will know everything about this computer. The number of configurations of that drive is about 1 followed by 34 billion zeroes. That exceeds the limit of 20 billion zeroes that literary numbers have. This number is inconceivable instead. Just think of it. I am typing this on an inconceivable computer, a computer with an inconceivable number of configurations. We have yet to see an inconceivable tornado, but we are seeing inconceivable computers. There is no way I will know everything on this computer. Computers have come to the place where they have taken an independent existence, above and beyond what our minds can conceive. It's a little scary. Could a world controlled by computers be around the corner?
Wild Ride
The stock market took a wild ride today, down, and then up. Kodak said it would have better than expected earnings, but the market went right on down anyway. People are getting too ebearient about the market, more so than economic conditions warrant. It did recover nicely, however. The Dow was up 4 points just two minutes before the closing bell, but in those last two minutes it lost 16 points! Now because of that I will hear violins instead of trumpets on Marketplace tomorrow morning. Well, at least I won't hear pianos.
The stock market took a wild ride today, down, and then up. Kodak said it would have better than expected earnings, but the market went right on down anyway. People are getting too ebearient about the market, more so than economic conditions warrant. It did recover nicely, however. The Dow was up 4 points just two minutes before the closing bell, but in those last two minutes it lost 16 points! Now because of that I will hear violins instead of trumpets on Marketplace tomorrow morning. Well, at least I won't hear pianos.
2002/07/10
Tie Games
I didn't watch the Baseball All-Star game as I was doing other things last night, such as preparing my workshops for SUUSI. But I had been a long-time fan of baseball, more so than for other team sports; in general, I could care less about televised sports events, except running and some Olympic events. I have been an old-time fan of the Rochester Red Wings and consequently the Baltimore Orioles. But one reason I have been disinterested is because I don't like rooting for a team; I get depressed when that team loses. And there is one thing about a baseball game: it is structured so that always one team wins and the other loses. It is a win-lose game. If the game is a tie, extra inning after extra inning after extra inning is played until one team wins.
So I got a bit of a surprise this morning when I found out that the All-Star game ended in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings. Like many things in the 21st Century, this game was weird. It was arbitrarily ended, with the score a tie. There was no winning or losing team. And the fans could not take it. They complained that they were cheated because a team did not win. It almost seems that they would prefer their favorite team lose than have the game be a tie. They wanted their money back. Sorry, fellas. The ball team and its owners promised you 9 innings when you bought the ticket, and these two teams gave you 11 innings. I say you got more than your money's worth. There is such a big desire for winning in our society that people can't tolerate a tie game. When they get one, they complain about it, although admittedly the abrupt ending of the game because they "ran out of pitchers" seems a little strange; past teams have played up to 15 innings in All-Star games. There wasn't even a Most Valuable Player. Come on. There should be some player who was most responsible for helping his team to tie.
But the main thing is that people were disappointed by a tie game. I like a tie game. Both sides can come out as winners. Both played well, and the other team could not defeat them. That's ideal. A tie is win-win, and should make all the fans happy. There are ties in other games. A chess game need not end in a win. Many games played by grandmasters end in draws.
To me this passion for winning is potentially harmful, since if there is a winner, then there is a loser, and the losers are made to feel bad. Activities are the best when everyone is a winner. If people acted as though making everyone a winner was a top priority for every person on the globe, there would be no international conflicts or wars. What a world that would be.
I didn't watch the Baseball All-Star game as I was doing other things last night, such as preparing my workshops for SUUSI. But I had been a long-time fan of baseball, more so than for other team sports; in general, I could care less about televised sports events, except running and some Olympic events. I have been an old-time fan of the Rochester Red Wings and consequently the Baltimore Orioles. But one reason I have been disinterested is because I don't like rooting for a team; I get depressed when that team loses. And there is one thing about a baseball game: it is structured so that always one team wins and the other loses. It is a win-lose game. If the game is a tie, extra inning after extra inning after extra inning is played until one team wins.
So I got a bit of a surprise this morning when I found out that the All-Star game ended in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings. Like many things in the 21st Century, this game was weird. It was arbitrarily ended, with the score a tie. There was no winning or losing team. And the fans could not take it. They complained that they were cheated because a team did not win. It almost seems that they would prefer their favorite team lose than have the game be a tie. They wanted their money back. Sorry, fellas. The ball team and its owners promised you 9 innings when you bought the ticket, and these two teams gave you 11 innings. I say you got more than your money's worth. There is such a big desire for winning in our society that people can't tolerate a tie game. When they get one, they complain about it, although admittedly the abrupt ending of the game because they "ran out of pitchers" seems a little strange; past teams have played up to 15 innings in All-Star games. There wasn't even a Most Valuable Player. Come on. There should be some player who was most responsible for helping his team to tie.
But the main thing is that people were disappointed by a tie game. I like a tie game. Both sides can come out as winners. Both played well, and the other team could not defeat them. That's ideal. A tie is win-win, and should make all the fans happy. There are ties in other games. A chess game need not end in a win. Many games played by grandmasters end in draws.
To me this passion for winning is potentially harmful, since if there is a winner, then there is a loser, and the losers are made to feel bad. Activities are the best when everyone is a winner. If people acted as though making everyone a winner was a top priority for every person on the globe, there would be no international conflicts or wars. What a world that would be.
2002/07/09
Nonwords and gobbledygook
But all wasn't bad. I came up with a possible name for the replacement for the World Trade Center: call it Ground One.
I certainly got my fill of non-words and hifalutin language today. I do have a non-word web page, but I recognize there are useful nonwords that increase meaning and understanding and non-useful ones that don't. Among the latter is stockage, meaning the inventory you have on hand. Microsoft Word kept redlining it as though it were misspelled. I thought at first that stockage" was a useful non-word, until I realized that there was a word stock which means the same thing. Why do people have to add the -age? It's meaningless, like foundationment or activitization. Another one is resourcing, the present participle of the verb resource. Generally I don't mind nouns used as verbs meaning "to provide with a", such as hatting, but this one is too general. What resource is being provided? The one I found really unusual was unvaulable. This is evidently a misspelling, but of what? The non-word unvaluable, which means worthless? Or did the author mean the word unavailable?
But all wasn't bad. I came up with a possible name for the replacement for the World Trade Center: call it Ground One.
2002/07/08
Quote of the Day
I heard "I could have danced all night" on TV tonight. To me this symbolizes the mood you get into when you get really excited about someone or something (it doesn't have to be dancing or a partner of the opposite sex) so much that you can keep going and going on with it, while other people keep saying you got to stop or you'll wear yourself out. In the song the housekeeper keeps warning Eliza, "Don't you think you should be in bed?" But she's not in that mood. She keeps singing, "I could have danced all night." This may help you discover the passion in your life. If you can keep going on and on with it and not get tired, that is what you should be doing for a living.
Sometimes I like to quote particularly interesting things I have heard. I call this the "quote of the day". Today's quote of the day is from Jody Brown, a cattle rancher, and goes "If animals weren't meant to be eaten, then why are they made out of meat?" To which I would reply, "Then what are you made of?"
I heard "I could have danced all night" on TV tonight. To me this symbolizes the mood you get into when you get really excited about someone or something (it doesn't have to be dancing or a partner of the opposite sex) so much that you can keep going and going on with it, while other people keep saying you got to stop or you'll wear yourself out. In the song the housekeeper keeps warning Eliza, "Don't you think you should be in bed?" But she's not in that mood. She keeps singing, "I could have danced all night." This may help you discover the passion in your life. If you can keep going on and on with it and not get tired, that is what you should be doing for a living.
2002/07/06
Success from Life Stages
I continue to plug along in setting up my SUUSI workshops - I came up with a plan for giving this year's Stories of the Sky. Yesterday I completed a similar presentation for SUUSImatics, which will consist of seven "vignettes", some of which will be highly interactive. I also reviewed over my Toastmastersaccomplishments and found that I have given 100 speeches to or for Toastmasters clubs since I joined Toastmasters in 1986. I need 4 speeches for another Competent Toastmaster and two speeches about clubs for a Competent Leader award. I need two speeches for Advanced Toastmaster Bronze, but they could be two important ones. One calls for me to sell something (myself?), and the other calls for me to give a motivational success speech, like Zig Ziglar or Dr. Phil.
To me most success seminars sound alike, so I don't care to hear them. There are a few good ones around, such as Steven Covey, Steve Andreas, and Charles Faulkner (the last two are authors of "Neurolinguistic Programming"). But if I were to give one, how would it go? It would contain bits of wisdom from the most successful moments of my life. I divide my life into eight "acts", so I found a success principle from each. The list I got was:
Toddlerhood, Investigate it - it might be interesting
Childhood, Seek rewards
Adolescence, Consider all possibilities
Young adult, Take all possible actions
Settling down, Blaze your own path
Getting a promotion, Find a good group of people
Freedom Forties, Do what you like doing the best
Middle Age, Do it!
and the slogan I came up with just this past year: Just add one. I now need to make this into a 15-20 minute speech, which I will do sometime later this year.
I continue to plug along in setting up my SUUSI workshops - I came up with a plan for giving this year's Stories of the Sky. Yesterday I completed a similar presentation for SUUSImatics, which will consist of seven "vignettes", some of which will be highly interactive. I also reviewed over my Toastmastersaccomplishments and found that I have given 100 speeches to or for Toastmasters clubs since I joined Toastmasters in 1986. I need 4 speeches for another Competent Toastmaster and two speeches about clubs for a Competent Leader award. I need two speeches for Advanced Toastmaster Bronze, but they could be two important ones. One calls for me to sell something (myself?), and the other calls for me to give a motivational success speech, like Zig Ziglar or Dr. Phil.
To me most success seminars sound alike, so I don't care to hear them. There are a few good ones around, such as Steven Covey, Steve Andreas, and Charles Faulkner (the last two are authors of "Neurolinguistic Programming"). But if I were to give one, how would it go? It would contain bits of wisdom from the most successful moments of my life. I divide my life into eight "acts", so I found a success principle from each. The list I got was:
Toddlerhood, Investigate it - it might be interesting
Childhood, Seek rewards
Adolescence, Consider all possibilities
Young adult, Take all possible actions
Settling down, Blaze your own path
Getting a promotion, Find a good group of people
Freedom Forties, Do what you like doing the best
Middle Age, Do it!
and the slogan I came up with just this past year: Just add one. I now need to make this into a 15-20 minute speech, which I will do sometime later this year.
2002/07/05
True Patriotism on April 15
We have just passed July 4, the most patriotic holiday of the year, with flags, bands, fireworks, and holiday travel. All of this was enjoyable, while we preached the virtues of duties and blessings of this country. I feel, however, that if you want a real test of patriotism among Americans, which will force us not just to talk the talk but to also walk the walk, I think Independence Day should be celebrated on April 15. That would be the real test. The real test would also occur if the tax year were moved a quarter and July 4 made the day our 1040's had to go into the IRS.
We have just passed July 4, the most patriotic holiday of the year, with flags, bands, fireworks, and holiday travel. All of this was enjoyable, while we preached the virtues of duties and blessings of this country. I feel, however, that if you want a real test of patriotism among Americans, which will force us not just to talk the talk but to also walk the walk, I think Independence Day should be celebrated on April 15. That would be the real test. The real test would also occur if the tax year were moved a quarter and July 4 made the day our 1040's had to go into the IRS.
2002/07/04
Fourth of July Run
One of the most characteristic icons of Independence Day is the firework. This holiday, and New Year's Day are the two holidays in the year when we launch fireworks displays. My father would take us all to places to see fireworks, but usually I saw them in the distance from the car. I found this a little disappointing. He did take us down to Conesus Lake once to see fireworks, and I could see them closer then. Since then, I have tended to shun fireworks displays on Independence Day because of the huge traffic jams that result afterwards.
I had thought of bicycling to fireworks displays, but I found that running and walking are just as good. I run and swim for exercise, and last year for the first time, I ran after dark to hunt for all the fireworks displays in the neighborhood. Now I know that maybe these displays, created by people that live in the neighborhood, may be both illegal and dangerous (indeed, I did see one firework intended to go up in the air tonight instead go sideways), but still they are there and if I go out and run and walk at night I will find them. Last year I saw an impressive display that included rockets that exploded high in the air like public fireworks shows do.
I ran this year but it was not as productive, but I still found a crowd of people around a cul-de-sac in my neighborhood. They were launching firecrackers, Roman candles, and an occasional rocket. Further, I saw people walking back and forth. Evidently others want to go out to see these neighborhood displays. After these displays petered out, I ran around the neighborhood trying to find more displays but when I approached some cracking it would go quiet, only to pick up again as I run away from the place. It was an enjoyable run, good for keeping in shape and losing weight, and I get to see real fireworks (instead of the television variety) without having to drive into a traffic jam.
My next night run in the neighborhood will be what I call the "Yuletide fantasy run", when I run around to see all the displays of colored lights in the neighborhood.
One of the most characteristic icons of Independence Day is the firework. This holiday, and New Year's Day are the two holidays in the year when we launch fireworks displays. My father would take us all to places to see fireworks, but usually I saw them in the distance from the car. I found this a little disappointing. He did take us down to Conesus Lake once to see fireworks, and I could see them closer then. Since then, I have tended to shun fireworks displays on Independence Day because of the huge traffic jams that result afterwards.
I had thought of bicycling to fireworks displays, but I found that running and walking are just as good. I run and swim for exercise, and last year for the first time, I ran after dark to hunt for all the fireworks displays in the neighborhood. Now I know that maybe these displays, created by people that live in the neighborhood, may be both illegal and dangerous (indeed, I did see one firework intended to go up in the air tonight instead go sideways), but still they are there and if I go out and run and walk at night I will find them. Last year I saw an impressive display that included rockets that exploded high in the air like public fireworks shows do.
I ran this year but it was not as productive, but I still found a crowd of people around a cul-de-sac in my neighborhood. They were launching firecrackers, Roman candles, and an occasional rocket. Further, I saw people walking back and forth. Evidently others want to go out to see these neighborhood displays. After these displays petered out, I ran around the neighborhood trying to find more displays but when I approached some cracking it would go quiet, only to pick up again as I run away from the place. It was an enjoyable run, good for keeping in shape and losing weight, and I get to see real fireworks (instead of the television variety) without having to drive into a traffic jam.
My next night run in the neighborhood will be what I call the "Yuletide fantasy run", when I run around to see all the displays of colored lights in the neighborhood.
Fourth of July
This is the first Fourth after 9/11, so in a sense one can describe this day as (0-)1-4-9-11. As it turns out, these integers have an interesting property. If you put these measurements on a ruler and only these, you can still draw or measure a line of any integer length up to 11 except 6. For example, 7 is 11 - 4, and 3 is 4 - 1. Such a ruler is called a Golomb ruler, and it is an interesting problem to find the minimum Golumb rulers of given lengths.
This is the first Fourth after 9/11, so in a sense one can describe this day as (0-)1-4-9-11. As it turns out, these integers have an interesting property. If you put these measurements on a ruler and only these, you can still draw or measure a line of any integer length up to 11 except 6. For example, 7 is 11 - 4, and 3 is 4 - 1. Such a ruler is called a Golomb ruler, and it is an interesting problem to find the minimum Golumb rulers of given lengths.
2002/07/02
Wasp Nest
Today we called out the insect specialist and had them remove an enormous wasp nest in our yard. We discovered it a number of weeks ago and knew it was huge. When the experts came to take it away, they said it was the largest wasp nest they had found this year. It was about 10 inches across, about the size of a soccer ball (or football, for non-US readers). They let us keep some of it and we may want to give it to the local zoo so they can display it or use it for classes for children. If it's that large, could it have made the news? I am glad no one fell in it.
Today we called out the insect specialist and had them remove an enormous wasp nest in our yard. We discovered it a number of weeks ago and knew it was huge. When the experts came to take it away, they said it was the largest wasp nest they had found this year. It was about 10 inches across, about the size of a soccer ball (or football, for non-US readers). They let us keep some of it and we may want to give it to the local zoo so they can display it or use it for classes for children. If it's that large, could it have made the news? I am glad no one fell in it.
2002/07/01
Trust
This has become an important topic for me. I feel that I have been let down by people and society all my life. When I was a child, I was promised a future of endless energy because of the discovery of nuclear power. Later on, I was betrayed over and over again by auto repair places who said they repaired my vehicle and then something goes wrong with it again. This built up such a lack of trust in me for car repair places and dealerships that I never voted for anyone who was associated with a car dealership. Nowadays, cellular phone companies are the same way. The promise of being able to call from anywhere is broken; half the time on trips I get cut off, because of lack of a tower. Cellular phones are complicated to use and there is no uniformity in them. You can't trust your phone.
There is also a lack of trust in society, in our corporations, our political leaders, and in our religious leaders. See The Corrosion of Public Trust by Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post for a good article on trust. It may be one of the reasons why the stock market is not rising like it should upon recovery from a recession. Who's going to be the next Worldcom? According to Strauss and Howe, authors of "The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy", a lack of trust in public institutions characterizes an Unraveling (Third Turning) and leads ultimately to a Crisis (Fourth Turning). According to them a Fourth Turning will come soon, around 2005. They seem to be on the mark.
This has become an important topic for me. I feel that I have been let down by people and society all my life. When I was a child, I was promised a future of endless energy because of the discovery of nuclear power. Later on, I was betrayed over and over again by auto repair places who said they repaired my vehicle and then something goes wrong with it again. This built up such a lack of trust in me for car repair places and dealerships that I never voted for anyone who was associated with a car dealership. Nowadays, cellular phone companies are the same way. The promise of being able to call from anywhere is broken; half the time on trips I get cut off, because of lack of a tower. Cellular phones are complicated to use and there is no uniformity in them. You can't trust your phone.
There is also a lack of trust in society, in our corporations, our political leaders, and in our religious leaders. See The Corrosion of Public Trust by Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post for a good article on trust. It may be one of the reasons why the stock market is not rising like it should upon recovery from a recession. Who's going to be the next Worldcom? According to Strauss and Howe, authors of "The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy", a lack of trust in public institutions characterizes an Unraveling (Third Turning) and leads ultimately to a Crisis (Fourth Turning). According to them a Fourth Turning will come soon, around 2005. They seem to be on the mark.
2002/06/30
A Cat is always a Cat
I thought of a mind experiment today. I imagine that one of my cats is sitting nearby, in its usual cat pose. I pick up one of his feet and move it a bit. The cat moves the foot back. It looks the same as before. I push the cat over. It gets up, and sits up facing another direction. The cat is now in a different situation, and it sees much different things, because of my actions. But it is the same cat as before. This shows that if we go through a lot of changes in our lives, then we may wind up in a different lifestyle or scene, but we will be the same person.
I continued to prepare for SUUSI by doing some work on part of SUUSImatics. I went to church and heard an inspiring talk by an ACLU lawyer on the separation of church and state. It is amazing. The people of my congregation are almost unanimous, spiritual and humanist both, in deleting "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, but other people are almost unanimous in wanting to keep it in. It's a sharp divide, and it is not the only sharp divide in our nation now.
I thought of a mind experiment today. I imagine that one of my cats is sitting nearby, in its usual cat pose. I pick up one of his feet and move it a bit. The cat moves the foot back. It looks the same as before. I push the cat over. It gets up, and sits up facing another direction. The cat is now in a different situation, and it sees much different things, because of my actions. But it is the same cat as before. This shows that if we go through a lot of changes in our lives, then we may wind up in a different lifestyle or scene, but we will be the same person.
I continued to prepare for SUUSI by doing some work on part of SUUSImatics. I went to church and heard an inspiring talk by an ACLU lawyer on the separation of church and state. It is amazing. The people of my congregation are almost unanimous, spiritual and humanist both, in deleting "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance, but other people are almost unanimous in wanting to keep it in. It's a sharp divide, and it is not the only sharp divide in our nation now.
2002/06/28
Pledge SUUSI
SUUSI is approaching; it is coming at the end of July. I am a veteran of 11 SUUSIs so I was thinking this would be just another SUUSI. The Pledge of Allegiance ruling changed all that. The 9th Appellate Court ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance could not be recited in public schools because it contained the words "under God". Right away, the entire government of this country condemned the rating. This includes many other judges, the entire Senate, and all but three members of the House, and the President. So I find it comforting when I hear that the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association welcomes the ruling, and members of my congregation support it. I am glad to hear of people wanting to keep church and state separate.
This could not come at a better time for SUUSI. A group called Relative Viewpoint will be performing at SUUSI. To me they are the musicians who play "I Pledge Allegiance", where they pledge allegiance to the world we live in and to peace. I would like to hear the Pledge without "under God". Maybe I will at SUUSI. But for sure, I believe that I am going to hear Relative Viewpoint's Pledge, probably several times, and it may become a de facto theme for SUUSI. This pledge is especially inspiring when it is played to music. Pledge SUUSI. And now I am getting psyched up about going to this annual summer wonderland where anything can happen, and has, and will.
SUUSI is approaching; it is coming at the end of July. I am a veteran of 11 SUUSIs so I was thinking this would be just another SUUSI. The Pledge of Allegiance ruling changed all that. The 9th Appellate Court ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance could not be recited in public schools because it contained the words "under God". Right away, the entire government of this country condemned the rating. This includes many other judges, the entire Senate, and all but three members of the House, and the President. So I find it comforting when I hear that the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association welcomes the ruling, and members of my congregation support it. I am glad to hear of people wanting to keep church and state separate.
This could not come at a better time for SUUSI. A group called Relative Viewpoint will be performing at SUUSI. To me they are the musicians who play "I Pledge Allegiance", where they pledge allegiance to the world we live in and to peace. I would like to hear the Pledge without "under God". Maybe I will at SUUSI. But for sure, I believe that I am going to hear Relative Viewpoint's Pledge, probably several times, and it may become a de facto theme for SUUSI. This pledge is especially inspiring when it is played to music. Pledge SUUSI. And now I am getting psyched up about going to this annual summer wonderland where anything can happen, and has, and will.
2002/06/26
Wow! What a day! A lot happened.
Pledge of Allegiance
Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because it contains the words "under God", thus making it an establishment of state religion.
To me, this is good news. I remember when the words came into the pledge first from a scholastic magazine that I read when I was in 4th grade. Congress passed it in 1954, and this was followed by bombastic words from President Eisenhower. I did not think much of it then, but during the years since I wondered whether those words were a violation of separation of church and state. I felt they were. I do not believe in a Christian God, and when the words "under God" are put into the pledge, to most people that means the Christian God, even if people intend it to mean whatever the person saying it chooses it to mean. So I feel that the court decision was appropriate. Further, I feel that people leading the pledge in government or public places should not say "under God", but I also feel that people reciting it can say what they want, or even say nothing.
But having "under God" stricken out by a court is good news. Now maybe they'll include in the pledge a word that got deleted long ago: "one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty, and justice for all".
The Economy
So Worldcom cooked the books. The stock market took a hit but recovered nicely. I have watched as the averages, such as the Dow, hold steady, then start a steep decline. The market does not go up and keep it up when good news comes, but it goes down when bad news comes. The investor does not have trust in the market right now, and the bookcookers of Enron and Worldcom don't help things much.
The economic signs seem good, however. Interest rates are low and are likely to stay that way. Unemployment is going down. Bonds are holding their own or going up slightly. People are spending more, and gasoline prices are still low. So what seems evident is that a negative bubble is forming. This is like a positive bubble, such as the one hitting the Nasdaq in late 1999 and early 2000, but one forming in a downward direction. The Nasdaq soared, then it collapsed in March of 2000, once people realized that all this gain was illusory. The same holds now, but in the other direction. Much of the loss of the stock market is unwarranted. Once the economy gets going again, and many say it will, then people will find stocks cheap and buy in droves. This will break the bubble and cause the averages to soar. They will eventually correspond to the long-term growth, which is about 5-8% or so for the next few years, at least.
Construction
Today they took out a large part of our kitchen floor. It was damaged by water when a valve under the kitchen sink broke. In two weeks they will install new flooring, but in the meantime we walk on plywood floors and may have to keep our cats in a room upstairs. The end result will be worth waiting for - a new kitchen floor. So it is with much construction in life. If something gets torn down, then when it gets rebuilt it is better than ever. Sometimes we need to tear things down to get out of the rut we are in.
Pledge of Allegiance
Today the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because it contains the words "under God", thus making it an establishment of state religion.
To me, this is good news. I remember when the words came into the pledge first from a scholastic magazine that I read when I was in 4th grade. Congress passed it in 1954, and this was followed by bombastic words from President Eisenhower. I did not think much of it then, but during the years since I wondered whether those words were a violation of separation of church and state. I felt they were. I do not believe in a Christian God, and when the words "under God" are put into the pledge, to most people that means the Christian God, even if people intend it to mean whatever the person saying it chooses it to mean. So I feel that the court decision was appropriate. Further, I feel that people leading the pledge in government or public places should not say "under God", but I also feel that people reciting it can say what they want, or even say nothing.
But having "under God" stricken out by a court is good news. Now maybe they'll include in the pledge a word that got deleted long ago: "one nation, indivisible, with equality, liberty, and justice for all".
The Economy
So Worldcom cooked the books. The stock market took a hit but recovered nicely. I have watched as the averages, such as the Dow, hold steady, then start a steep decline. The market does not go up and keep it up when good news comes, but it goes down when bad news comes. The investor does not have trust in the market right now, and the bookcookers of Enron and Worldcom don't help things much.
The economic signs seem good, however. Interest rates are low and are likely to stay that way. Unemployment is going down. Bonds are holding their own or going up slightly. People are spending more, and gasoline prices are still low. So what seems evident is that a negative bubble is forming. This is like a positive bubble, such as the one hitting the Nasdaq in late 1999 and early 2000, but one forming in a downward direction. The Nasdaq soared, then it collapsed in March of 2000, once people realized that all this gain was illusory. The same holds now, but in the other direction. Much of the loss of the stock market is unwarranted. Once the economy gets going again, and many say it will, then people will find stocks cheap and buy in droves. This will break the bubble and cause the averages to soar. They will eventually correspond to the long-term growth, which is about 5-8% or so for the next few years, at least.
Construction
Today they took out a large part of our kitchen floor. It was damaged by water when a valve under the kitchen sink broke. In two weeks they will install new flooring, but in the meantime we walk on plywood floors and may have to keep our cats in a room upstairs. The end result will be worth waiting for - a new kitchen floor. So it is with much construction in life. If something gets torn down, then when it gets rebuilt it is better than ever. Sometimes we need to tear things down to get out of the rut we are in.
2002/06/24
Worst events in American history
Yesterday I read an editorial by Kathleen Parker in which she says that the worst event in our history ought to have a better name than 9/11. I came up with a name and sent it into her. However, I don't agree with her statement that 9/11 was the worst moment (meaning day) in American history. Except for the war on terror and a recession, things are pretty much the same as in premillennium days. But not so with some of the other events in our history. Here is my ranking:
10. Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 1963. This one event ended "Camelot" and signaled a change of mood in this country (see http://www.fourthturning.com - it was the beginning of a Second Turning).
9. Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, 1865. Undoubtedly the worst event in our history was the Civil War, which took four years. It was Lincoln who brought the North to victory in this war, so it was a sudden jolt when the bullet came flying into his brain scarcely a week after the war ended. The result was endless bickering between a Republican Congress and President Andrew Johnson.
8. Defeat of South Vietnam, 1975. The think tank people thought they could win this one. But the most we could muster is a stalemate, and we questioned our need to be in Vietnam. When we pulled out, the enemy gathered forces and overran South Vietnam in two years.
7. Black Monday, 1929. There have been many stock market crashes, in 1873, 1987, 2000 and other years. But the one in 1929 heralded a long period in which nothing seemed to go right with the US economy as bread lines built, labor unrest increased, and rich people suddenly found themselves begging for dimes.
6. The Terrorist Attacks of 2001 September 11. I feel that the attacks, which killed 3,056 people, fit in the number 6 spot. True, it was a horrifying event, and it came from overseas. But it so far has not caused the kind of pain that wrenches the entire country, the sort that events 1-5 did. Note that this is the worst event of our country for anyone aged 57 or less. Maybe the reason why we think it is the worst in history is that we have not gotten an appreciation for what happened before we were born. So let's go on...
5. D-Day, 1944 June 6. This was a planned event, and it was the start of the turn of World War II in our favor. But it was a horrible event, as anyone who has seen "Saving Private Ryan" can appreciate. Many, many of our loved ones overseas died in those days that we started to reclaim France from the Germans.
4. First Battle of Bull Run, 1861. Three of the top four come from the Civil War, the worst thing that has happened to this country. This battle was noteworthy in that the South won it, and it made the US realize that this war was not going to be easy; it was going to be several brutal years.
3. Pearl Harbor attack, 1941. From out of the blue it came, just as on 2001 September 11, and it killed thousands. Unlike last year's attacks, however, this attack came from a powerful enemy nation. It therefore led to four long years of fighting World War II, with its heavy toll on our people.
2. Battle of Gettysburg, 1863. This was the turning point of the Civil War. But it was one of the bloodiest days in our history. The death toll was in five digits, but at least we won this battle. Not so with number 1:
1. Battle of Antietam, 1862. This is the worst event in our history. Like Gettysburg, it killed five-digit numbers of people. Unlike Gettysburg, it was a win for the Confederates, who were already in Union territory in Maryland. From here they could invade Pennsylvania and turn around and threaten Washington. Although it looked like the Confederates were losing out west, this battle was another reminder that this war was going to be long and bloody.
This is my quick estimation of the worst events in our history. I may have missed something (Korean War?). if so I will revise the list later. Tomorrow I will try to find something happier to talk about.
Yesterday I read an editorial by Kathleen Parker in which she says that the worst event in our history ought to have a better name than 9/11. I came up with a name and sent it into her. However, I don't agree with her statement that 9/11 was the worst moment (meaning day) in American history. Except for the war on terror and a recession, things are pretty much the same as in premillennium days. But not so with some of the other events in our history. Here is my ranking:
10. Assassination of John F. Kennedy, 1963. This one event ended "Camelot" and signaled a change of mood in this country (see http://www.fourthturning.com - it was the beginning of a Second Turning).
9. Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, 1865. Undoubtedly the worst event in our history was the Civil War, which took four years. It was Lincoln who brought the North to victory in this war, so it was a sudden jolt when the bullet came flying into his brain scarcely a week after the war ended. The result was endless bickering between a Republican Congress and President Andrew Johnson.
8. Defeat of South Vietnam, 1975. The think tank people thought they could win this one. But the most we could muster is a stalemate, and we questioned our need to be in Vietnam. When we pulled out, the enemy gathered forces and overran South Vietnam in two years.
7. Black Monday, 1929. There have been many stock market crashes, in 1873, 1987, 2000 and other years. But the one in 1929 heralded a long period in which nothing seemed to go right with the US economy as bread lines built, labor unrest increased, and rich people suddenly found themselves begging for dimes.
6. The Terrorist Attacks of 2001 September 11. I feel that the attacks, which killed 3,056 people, fit in the number 6 spot. True, it was a horrifying event, and it came from overseas. But it so far has not caused the kind of pain that wrenches the entire country, the sort that events 1-5 did. Note that this is the worst event of our country for anyone aged 57 or less. Maybe the reason why we think it is the worst in history is that we have not gotten an appreciation for what happened before we were born. So let's go on...
5. D-Day, 1944 June 6. This was a planned event, and it was the start of the turn of World War II in our favor. But it was a horrible event, as anyone who has seen "Saving Private Ryan" can appreciate. Many, many of our loved ones overseas died in those days that we started to reclaim France from the Germans.
4. First Battle of Bull Run, 1861. Three of the top four come from the Civil War, the worst thing that has happened to this country. This battle was noteworthy in that the South won it, and it made the US realize that this war was not going to be easy; it was going to be several brutal years.
3. Pearl Harbor attack, 1941. From out of the blue it came, just as on 2001 September 11, and it killed thousands. Unlike last year's attacks, however, this attack came from a powerful enemy nation. It therefore led to four long years of fighting World War II, with its heavy toll on our people.
2. Battle of Gettysburg, 1863. This was the turning point of the Civil War. But it was one of the bloodiest days in our history. The death toll was in five digits, but at least we won this battle. Not so with number 1:
1. Battle of Antietam, 1862. This is the worst event in our history. Like Gettysburg, it killed five-digit numbers of people. Unlike Gettysburg, it was a win for the Confederates, who were already in Union territory in Maryland. From here they could invade Pennsylvania and turn around and threaten Washington. Although it looked like the Confederates were losing out west, this battle was another reminder that this war was going to be long and bloody.
This is my quick estimation of the worst events in our history. I may have missed something (Korean War?). if so I will revise the list later. Tomorrow I will try to find something happier to talk about.
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