Tag Archives: life

Let Me Explain, Please

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I’m not sure if this is relevant, but it was my first instinct when I encountered the prompt. Either way, I hope you’ll be understanding of my response.

I was a L/Col (E3) sitting in a class on radar, the second-to-last phase of a 16-week electronics course. The class consisted of 25 students. There were 4 of us Marines, one from the Coast Guard, and the rest were sailors. One of the sailors was a woman, fairly attractive, and also something of a firecracker.

As I mentioned, I was simply absorbing every word the instructor shared. For reasons I couldn’t explain, he suddenly paused and studied me intently. Then he commented on my ears. It was nothing unusual. Had I possessed the financial means, I might have considered cosmetic surgery for my ears and nose. I had grown accustomed to such remarks.

It’s what happened next that made me want to disappear into a foxhole. Suddenly, in response to the instructor’s remark, the woman said, “Don’t knock my necking partner.”

I understood the remark, and so did the instructor. The room erupted in laughter, and everyone’s eyes turned toward me. Their faces all posed the same unspoken question. It was one of those moments best left unexplained. Any attempt to clarify would only have made things worse. To this day, I’d wager most of the class still has no idea why that remark landed the way it did.

So, please let me explain. For some unknown reason, I was paired with her as a lab partner. The awkwardness was that we frequently needed to look at a 5 inch scope and examine the trace across it. At first we were both careful not to put our heads too close together. As time passed, we became more careless.

As the instructor circulated around the room, he timed it perfectly to see us closely examining the small scope, and, of necessarily close to each other. In humor, he asked what was going on. He knew. We knew he knew. Then the woman said, “Don’t you know, he’s my necking partner?”

If that had been all, the matter would have ended there. Then the instructor asked about my ears.

I’ve always suspected she might have felt more deeply about me. I may have even asked her out once or twice. But the timing and circumstances weren’t right. In a few weeks, our paths would diverge. Still, I think of her from time to time, wondering how she’s doing. Perhaps I should have suggested we stay in touch by mail. It’s one of those questions I’ll never have answered.

Daily writing prompt
What’s the funniest misunderstanding you’ve ever been part of?
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3 Year Electric Vehicle Report

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It has now been three years since I purchased my electric Nissan. I’ve experienced one flat tire and replaced the bumper once. I also had two recalls addressed through software updates.

In a way, I am hardly an example for one as I only have 8000 miles on it. Nonetheless, here are a few remarks.

On three separate occasions, I discovered all my windows completely down—twice during heavy rain—despite being certain I had left them up. I don’t have any suggestions to offer, but I felt this was worth mentioning.

Surprisingly, they engineered the car to default to fresh air intake, despite my location in the humid South. To make matters worse, selecting recirculation mode disabled the automatic temperature control. Frequently, I have had to fight the controls to get it the way wanted.

I’ve learned to park in the shade whenever possible during hot summer days. Cooling the cabin takes considerable time, and it places a significant strain on the battery—especially for short trips. Pre-cooling the cabin with ambient air about ten minutes before driving on hot days would be ideal. It would put far less demand on the battery to cool the car from 90 degrees rather than from 130. These days, leaving windows down isn’t a practical option, even without rain concerns.

I do suspect it’s more common to have the screen horizontal, but I prefer vertical, especially while using GPS. I’m more interested in what’s directly ahead of me rather than what’s to the sides.

I would much prefer physical buttons on the dashboard instead of touch-sensitive controls. In bright sunlight, they become invisible, which creates a dangerous distraction while driving.

The outside mirrors fold back automatically when the car is locked—a non-optional feature that I find unnecessary. Returning them to their extended position sometimes requires readjustment, which I find frustrating and counterproductive.

What I found most frustrating was the lack of a standard charging interface. While the charging speed is impressive, it’s only useful when you can locate a charging station. This limitation effectively restricted my trips to about 80 miles—40 miles out and 40 miles back—with minimal buffer.

The cruise control defaults to off. When I purchased the car, I hoped to become comfortable with its controls, but I still find myself struggling with them.

One thing that frustrated me was the absence of a spare tire and jack on a $45,000 vehicle. I discovered this unfortunate oversight only when I experienced a flat tire. That was fun.

Finally, while the car does offer some remote operations, they’re largely unnecessary in practice. The FOB is quite basic.

The car is excellent, and I’m pleased with my purchase. Overall, I genuinely enjoy it. That said, there are a few areas where the design seems incomplete—it makes me wonder if their conventional vehicles have similar issues. If I’d chosen a different model, would a spare tire and jack have been included, or would they even be available as options?

I’m unlikely to purchase another new car at this stage of my life. Even if I did, I wouldn’t consider a Nissan. Sometimes it’s the small details that accumulate and become frustrating. It makes me wonder whether the engineer who designed the car actually drove it.

It Starts With Dirt

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In this day and age we get so wrapped up with stuff that we forget the importance of dirt. I suppose you can look it up, there is a limited amount of land. Throughout history, man has had his strife, envy, fights and, yes, even war over dirt. In a way, it is ironic. Dirt has always been wasted with cheap and of little worth.

Of course, as has been repeated many times, location has much to do with it. However, there are two unmistakable facts. There is a set amount of land. For the most part, we will not gain any real significant amount. The second fact is that the number of people in existence on planet earth, keeps on increasing. The conclusion we must draw is that the value of dirt keeps on going up. Moreover, as this happens, the struggle to gain a little of this land is increasing subtly.

In just a little over a couple hundred years, we have gone from a nation with limitless availability of land to a place where we must pay to have a place to camp, commercial & government run camp grounds.

However, even now, dirt has little respect by most of mankind. Yet there are those that know. They have seen the future and they realize that dirt plays a very significant part in that future.

Some have invested their huge wealth in land, knowing that the value of dirt cannot ever continue to decrease. It can only go up as the the population grows.

The hitch in this logic is, can they continue to hold onto their treasure? In one case a after the other, there have been uprisings, revolts by those without land against those who do.

Can it happen here. I don’t know. However, it did happen in Russia, China, and a few other smaller countries. When the communists took over, one of the first things they did was to seize the lands and kill owners.

And in doing so, secure absolute power and control within those countries.

The Meaning of Freedom

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It might sound strange, but perhaps my first and best encounter with the true meaning of freedom comes from a film perhaps as old as me about the Berlin Airlift. A woman in Berlin asked an American airman about an article in a newspaper criticizing the US. The airman replied with a question: Would you find such an article in a Soviet paper? The answer is obviously no. The Soviets, the Chinese, and similar regimes would shoot people for putting their government in a bad light.

I was again reminded of the scene in the movie during this sudden onslaught of political correctness lately, especially under the former president. To me, it matters not who silences someone such as a reporter from any organization, or even a private citizen. A threat to silence the press is a serious threat to freedom. If I cannot write as I am now, I have no freedom, nor does anyone else.

And I might note that some of the most horrible communist leaders know the the meaning of freedom. Joseph Stalin said that those who count the ballots determine the outcome of an election while so many value their freedom so little that they cannot be bothered to vote, let alone do the research to see through simple deceit by those who want to take our freedom us.

Daily writing prompt
What does freedom mean to you?
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Some Will Never Figure Out the Simple Stuff

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My brother was got up early one Saturday morning to make his regular weekend drill for Marine reserves at Seal Beach California. Next thing he knew, he was on a C-130 going he knew not where. He knew it was serious though. He had all his gear and rifle. Moreover, if it were a regular training outing, they usually say something beforehand. In this case, everyone was tight lipped. If anyone knew where they were going, they weren’t saying.

As it was, it was big, more so than he imagined. I hesitate to call it a false alarm but it wasn’t. The situation was resolved and they turned the planes back home. The Cuban missile crisis was all averted and not one shot was fired.

Of course, as it turned out, my brother’s unit wasn’t needed. However, when the order was given, President Kennedy didn’t know that. I don’t know what exactly happened in the day, but I am pretty certain that the president would not have wanted to wait a minute if he did need them. It’s called being ready just in case. It’s called planning ahead. It might have been nothing more than a bluff. Any good leader knows what it’s about. Just because you want the troops in place doesn’t mean you plan on using them. However, it is a good practice to have them in place just in case.

If you were able to ask an old gun slinger why he always has a gun strapped to his hip, the would likely say, “I might need it. If I do, it’s entirely to late to get one if I do.” By the way, if he has a reputation, having the gun might mean not having to use it. To be sure, it is a bad practice to attack those who are able and willing to provide a strong defense.

If I heard the question once, I heard it a dozen times. When it was determined that ground troops were on the way to the Middle East, they wanted to know if there were plans to put boots on the ground. First, it is bad practice to Telegraph your punches, be it you’re a boxer or a president. Best to keep them guessing. Better to keep the opponent from knowing our plans. If at at all possible, it would normally be best if no one knows about the troops en route. That way, you can maintain the element of surprise.

It’s dumb to ask the question. Even dumber to expect an answer. Then of course, some never have a clue.

What Are They Doing Down There?

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I understand it. Really I do. Mexico boasts an incredible array of attractions, from vibrant cities to stunning landscapes, offering travelers diverse experiences and breathtaking scenery. While occasional tropical storms can interrupt the generally pleasant climate, the country’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty continue to captivate visitors from around the world.

The issue is that they have many violent individuals in that location. They have people who make their fortune selling drugs. And you know what? They do not allow guns. Let me rephrase that. They permit the bad guys to have guns, fully automatic weapons. I’m not sure they permit the good guys to carry BB guns or bows and arrows. Well, they might allow the ones with little suction cups, with nothing sharp permitted.

Americans actually pay money to go down there. I felt safer in Vietnam, but I had an M-16. I was surrounded by men who had M-16s, and every one of them knew how to use them.

Those American tourists went down to Mexico unarmed amid people who kill for enjoyment. How does that make sense? What are they doing there? That does not make sense.

My idea is simple. When they want me to visit, they will make it safe. Till then they can forget making money off this tourist. I don’t even go into Memphis these days unless I have to. And I used to really like Memphis. Now it’s dangerous. I try not to go there. Why would I want to go anywhere in Mexico without a tank.

And as I watch the news, I am confused. Why are Americans down there and why are they surprised when the bad guys start shooting…at American tourists? Maybe it’s time to require disclaimers to notify that visits in Mexico might result in injury or death. At this point it should be obvious but apparently not.

What Would They Do?

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Medicare Part C marketing has become an overwhelming daily intrusion, bombarding me with persistent phone calls and repetitive television advertisements. The sheer volume of solicitations—ranging from 10 to 20 daily calls urging me to switch plans—has reached a point of saturation. Television commercial breaks are now dominated by identical Medicare Advantage pitches, sometimes airing the same advertisement consecutively. This relentless marketing barrage has me pondering the potential industry landscape if these Part C options suddenly vanished.

Right away, it would put countless telemarketers out of work. I mean, that is obvious. However, there are many other things it would affect. I figure it would drop at least ten percent of the voice traffic on the phone networks. That one has me especially confused. Would that be a problem or a benefit for the phone companies? It would decrease the load on their equipment but would also greatly decrease their customer base.

TV stations would be in search of replacement revenue sources. Not only would many of their advertisers evaporate, but the advertising rates would also take a serious nosedive. I mean, it does follow the supply and demand principle. Less demand causes lower prices.

It is simply a wishful thought. I mean, why shouldn’t I get a break from answering the phone constantly from sunrise to sunset? I suppose it acts as a confidence test. If I don’t get a call every fifteen minutes, I might start suspecting some kind of malfunction.

Regardless, there is no way that Part C will be dropped just to allow me an afternoon nap. No, they are not even going to do it to stop all the annoying calls for those using their phones for commercial use. It does make me wonder what banks and lawyers do.

I doubt anyone cares about any suggestions from me. I have learned eons ago that no one listens to my suggestions. Of course, if a bunch of us got together, I bet they would listen then. If we all raised our voices in complaints, they would listen then. They would permit no more than one commercial a day for each station. Well, we could compromise. I could tolerate two, maybe three. But putting up with it a thousand times a day is far too much, and I think I hear it ten thousand times.

One phone call a day, I could deal with. Five calls would be bad, but I could tolerate it. Maybe they could reserve a prefix for telemarketers. If I look and see that prefix on my phone, I could just hang up. It would be akin to me seeing a salesman approaching and being able to tell him, “Forget it. Not interested.”

The thing is, they will not listen to me. It is only if we act in concert that they will listen. Even then, they will try to put their fingers in their ears, wear their earmuffs, and resist.

Now, why will they resist? Because it will hit them right in their pocketbooks. At this point, they laugh at the no-call list. When was the last time you registered a complaint? I started one. After spending five minutes, I gave up. If I did this twenty times a day, there would not be time for anything else.

I guess there are other approaches. Just never answer the phone. I have, in essence about reached that point. I think it works.

Memories

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The familiar route home, a path I’d traversed countless times, suddenly felt alien under the night’s dark canopy. As I navigated the shadowy road, a disorienting moment seized me—I was lost, despite knowing every curve and landmark. My speed dropped instinctively, and my eyes darted frantically across the landscape, searching for a recognizable silhouette or landmark. Seconds stretched like minutes until, mercifully, the terrain’s contours realigned in my mind, and recognition washed over me like a wave of relief. The sudden return of spatial awareness was profoundly comforting, a reminder of how our minds can momentarily disconnect from the most well-trodden paths.

As I approach my late seventies, the subtle signs of cognitive decline become increasingly apparent. Memory lapses emerge more frequently, compelling me to develop small strategies to navigate daily challenges. I find myself repeating tasks, correcting initial missteps, and occasionally experiencing moments of genuine concern. These subtle shifts can be overwhelming, transforming even simple routines into complex navigations that test my patience and resilience.

More than twenty years ago, despite having a sharp memory, I still occasionally forgot things. After breaking my ankle and relying on crutches, I quickly learned that navigating stairs was a challenging skill. Like many others who have used crutches, I initially went to great lengths to avoid stairs finding alternative routes whenever possible.

The familiar workplace demanded occasional navigation of stairs, a challenge I had grown accustomed to. On this particular day, I maneuvered through the doorway and ascended the steps with practiced precision. Reaching the center of the room, I paused, surveying my surroundings with a contemplative gaze. Supported by my crutches, I lingered in that moment of uncertainty, acutely aware that my memory had once again abandoned me, leaving me adrift in a sea of forgotten intentions.

As I glanced back at the steeps I had just ascended, a weary realization washed over me. My imminent return would inevitably resurrect the very reasons that initially compelled me to this challenging journey. The prospect of climbing these unforgiving steps twice, rather than the single arduous climb I had hoped for, loomed before me like an unavoidable burden.

As I retraced my steps, the purpose of my initial climb suddenly crystallized in my mind. Purposefully, I ascended the stairs once more, this time with clarity. After swiftly completing my intended task, I descended back to the room where I had started, mission accomplished.

That day, I proved something very important. For the remaining time I was on crutches, I never again forgot why I went from one room to another. That is to say, given the proper encouragement, a person can train their brain. I know I did. When something is important enough, one can keep from forgetting it.

Well, I suppose that’s not entirely true. For some reason, I can’t remember the filter size for my furnace. Every time I go to the store and get to where the filters are, I am reminded that I don’t know the size and I never wrote it down. Now my furnace needs two filters badly, and it keeps getting colder outside.

I guess I will have to make a special trip… In the cold.

Honesty & Courage

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As a Marine, I’ve seen leadership from both sides, though more as a follower. Nonetheless, one thing driven into our minds almost day one is that even a private can find himself as a leader. And so we are taught leadership from the beginning. Certainly when I started, I never figured I would be a leader.

They gave us a long list of things a leader needs, and it all seemed logical to me. However, from experience as well as plain logic, honesty and courage seem most important. As for all the rest, they all somewhat hang on these two.

For instance, knowledge is highly important, but it can be acquired. Honesty and courage are things you either have or do not. They can be improved upon, but there must first be a good foundation. While tact can be practiced, it is useless without honesty.

I found it interesting that we considered good leaders by examining which traits they possessed. Two things came to mind as we went through the examples. I simply couldn’t think of any really good leaders who didn’t have courage and honesty.

It brings to mind the statement I heard: if you look behind you and no one is following, then you’re likely not a leader. I guess it says, ultimately, if you can’t get people to follow you, you likely aren’t much of a leader.

Still, the leader who has a willing following is mostly a better leader than those who are followed just because of their stripes or brass. I have noticed this to be true in civilian life as well.

This brings up the question: Do you prefer an honest or a dishonest leader? Would you rather your leader be courageous or a wimp? Is he a person who owns his mistakes or blames others?

What I’m saying is, would you choose a leader who is honest and courageous or one that fibs and is a wimp? I know what my choice would be.

By the way, I did say there were two things I noticed when considering good leaders. The second thing I noticed was that Jesus had all these characteristics. He also has quite a voluntary following.

Daily writing prompt
What makes a good leader?
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Me, Believe the CDC; Why?

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I do have a tendency to believe in patterns, you know. Like everything falls. Every morning, the sun does tend to rise, radiating light and heat on our little planet.

The CDC also has a pattern of telling untruths. To be sure, their lies tend to be as reliable as gravity or the sun. So, when they tell me I should take a flu shot, why should I believe them? When they say I should take a COVID shot, why should I be convinced?

Then too, the TV and radio stations are quick to distribute the falsehoods, as if they expect a reward like a young puppy being trained.

In a way, it reminds me of a well-organized retreat by an army unit. Each time one defensive position falls, they fall back to another. They say the vaccine prevents COVID. Then it doesn’t, and they retreat to “It decreases the spread.”

The only problem is that the spread is just as bad. So they retreat to saying, “It decreases the symptoms and increases survival chances.”

Truth is, you’ve been through it. You have seen the proclamations and have watched them retreat first from one and then the next. In the meantime, guess what? The pharmaceutical companies keep raking in tons of cash.

Then, after years of failure, they still refuse to back down. They continue to recommend the latest booster, still laying claim to its effectiveness.

As I said, I tend to believe patterns. The pattern here is that it does not work. It did not work for me, and there were serious side effects.

Actually, their pattern is not new. They did exactly the same thing with AIDS. At various levels of retreat, they said it was rare. They said it could not be contracted by intercourse. They said it could not be spread through blood or blood products. They said it could not be spread by sweat or saliva. Yeah. They lied back then too.

IT’S A PATTERN! It’s the kind of pattern I have a tendency to believe. So, I hope you’ll pardon me if I don’t believe CDC ever again.