Tag Archives: life

We aren’t all sixth-graders

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Honest, I don’t remember exactly when it was, but it seems it was before I went into the Marines that I heard on the TV that commercials are designed for six-graders. Most people don’t like more complex things explained to them. So, if you hope to sell your product, you make sure the commercials are simple and don’t require a PhD to understand, even if your target sales is for PhDs.

I guess, in a way, we as commercial watchers are lazy. We really don’t want our minds taxed after working hard all day. On the other hand, maybe the PhDs are too smart too buy products they don’t need, especially the overpriced ones.

I suppose it does have one other side effect. It might actually make it so the commercials aren’t as expensive. After all, isn’t it all about that important bottom line?

I have taken writing tests before. I don’t know if they still have them, but according to the tests, I write at about sixth grade level. Now isn’t that convenient. My readers do not need to strain their brains in order to understand what I have to say. I guess I could say that it is convenient to be less intelligent.

Thing is, (Shouldn’t use those words so much. I’ve been trying to break myself of that.) I was considering what I heard way back then and associated it with something I heard yesterday. If it works better to write commercials for 6th graders, maybe it is good to write political ads for 6th graders.

I got to thinking, is this a good thing. Do we really want the politicians to talk to us as if we are all sixth graders? Yet it would appear It’s common practice. Reagan was known as the great communicator. Maybe it was because his ads didn’t require so much thought. As the guy said, “Keep it simple stupid.”

Just so there are no misunderstandings. it’s not my words. I did not mean to imply that my readers are stupid. However, the saying has been altered to a short abbreviation, KISS.

It is something of a disadvantage for Republicans. The dems make a simple statement that sounds good and it takes hours for us Republicans to explain why the statement isn’t true. For instance, the dems say how nice it is to tax the rich and provide for the poor. Sounds good. Doesn’t work. Never did. And yet we spend hours and hours explaining why and the general public still can’t understand it.

The same thing can be said of many things the dems try to tell us is good, open borders, weak military, and de-funding the police. (Hint: Since de-funding police, crime has sky rocketed. Since the border was opened, fentanyl has gone from about 50 thousand deaths a year to about 150 thousand a year. Tell me how that worked out, but it sounded good didn’t it. In a way, that is perhaps one of the most expensive decisions Old Joe made. It cost us more lives than Vietnam, both sides. It is why I don’t call him president. He will answer to God for all those deaths.)

It is why I don’t like what the dems are doing. It is especially why I don’t like the methods and the means of Old Joe.

At one time, Democrats and Republicans tried to maintained a closed border, a strong defense and strong law enforcement. Since Obama, not so much. Since Old Joe, even worse.

Then again, if they can successfully treat their followers as 6th graders, what can we expect.

May I Suggest College for All

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Carpenters, plumbers, and welders have no need of a 4 year degree. Professional baseball, football and basketball players have no need to go to college.

Even those in the field of computers don’t need a sheepskin, though it certainly helps.

However, no matter what line of work you go into, that sheepskin will come in very handy.

Let me explain. If I say a thing is so and someone with a PhD says it is not so, he is automatically right, even if he is wrong.

It is the nature of the American royal hierarchy. We do not have kings or dukes. We do, however have college grads, especially those who have graduated from one of those of special higher recognition.

10 say one thing, one person with a degree from Harvard says the other, the 10 are automatically wrong. There is no room for discussion. It is set in concrete.

Those of us without degrees stand no chance. Regardless, right or wrong, we will convince no one. We, none of us, know anything unless we have that sheepskin…or someone with a degree agrees

So, even though you become a millionaire, you know nothing until you go to college and get that sheepskin. So, if you want what you say to be respected, get the degree. Until then, the American royal hierarchy will consider you nothing more than rich and ignorant.

I am not saying it’s right. It is just the way it is. As far as I know, into the foreseeable future, that is the way it will be here in the US.

How-some-ever, God does not look on us that way. He has turned peasants into kings and kings into beggars. When you die and meet Him face-to-face, you show him that fantastic diploma, He won’t care.

When He asks, “Did you accept Jesus as your savior?”

If your reply is no, you will realize you overlooked the most important decision of your life. You will also realize you waited too long. There will be many in Hell that will have their degrees and their wonderful awards. They will provide no comfort.

Nonetheless, while we remain here on earth, we need the degrees for just a little while. If nothing else, the degrees just might help us convince others that they are overlooking the most important thing in their life.

In a Small Sense, I guess

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I know that light I’m aproaching will turn red before I get there. It’s difficult to deny years of experiece. You know. When that big 4×4 pickup next to me starts begins forcing his way in front of me, it never surprises me.

When I was in the Marines and a bad rumor circulates, I know it is true. On the other hand, I was never surprised when the good rumors never came true.

As far as believing in fate or destiny as a thing or force, nope. There is certainly no destiny that has a face or persnality. To be sure, when a certain set of cercumstances fall in place, it would only stand to reason something generally follows.

I have a saying, when I drop something, I am apt to say, gravity worked again. It would certainly surprise me if the object remained in mid-air.

I do believe God does exist and that He does take a personal interest in all of us, in me and this world. He is not fate or destiny. However, from the formation of the earth, He knew me. He knew every decision I would ever make. Whenever and wherever He chooses, He intervenes.

For instance, in the case of that obiect I drop, He knew I would drop it. If He chose he could stop me from droping it. Generally, He does not interfere with gravity but he can. In fact He has.

From time to time, I wish He would intervene in that man’s plans to pull over in my lane. On the other hand He just might have a lesson for me. It still gives my wife a fright when he tries to make his big pickup occupy the same space as my car.

If such a thing happened, it would be bad driving, not fate, not destiny.

As a side note, I do like the musical, “Kismet” which is, I think Arab for fate. Just cause I like the show, doesn’t mean I believe in it. Mostly I like the music. I did from the first I heard it. I especially enjoy the song Stranger in Paradise. I’ll never tire of it.

Daily writing prompt
Do you believe in fate/destiny?
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The Door

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In my book, “The Secret of the Ring, ” I write about how amazing doors are. Few ever think about them. We build walls about us to keep us safe.

Then, of course, the simplest way to get through the wall is by going through a door. I think life would be more difficult if we had walls and no doors.

And so it is that we build walls for shelter from animals, thieves and weather. However, without the doors, we might not be able to enter or exit.

I am not an expert on doors, but I know outside doors should have some basic requirements. We should be able to secure, or lock it. Depending on the neighborhood, we may want it to be strong and difficult to enter without the key. We might even want bars on it.

Oddly some folks like windows in the door. That sort of confuses me. After all, glass is easily broken. Also, it doesn’t provide much privacy.

When younger, I was told to remember to close the door. In some cases it was to keep the flies and insects out. In other cases, it was to keep the warmth in. In still other cases, we left the doors wide open to let fresh air in.

Much is said about doors and windows in literature. Certainly, most of us have heard that when God closes a door, then, somewhere He opens a window.

I suppose in a way, it implies that we can go in and out windows too. That would be particularly true when escaping fire.

However, homes are not the only thing to have doors. Barns, storage sheds, planes all have doors. So do ships but when I was in the Marines, I was encouraged to call them hatches. In many cases, such doors are designed more for keeping things in.

To be sure, life would be more difficult without doors…or gates.

One piece of advice, especially about car doors. I was trying to close the car door for my wife as she pulled it firmly closed. That hurt.

Apparently, that is one thing those engineers got right. As much pain as it caused, there was no permanent problem.

Word to the wise. Don’t get your fingers between the door and the car. It was close to half an hour before the feeling returned to my fingers.

Would you believe she had the nerve to laugh about it.

Watch out for those doors or hatches, or windows or whatever you call them.

As an aside. The warning given to Scott in my my book…”Never open a door until you know who is on the other side.”

It’s a Walk in the Park

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Well, sort of. Sometimes I walk, sometimes I drive especially in the fall. Actually, that’s a two for. Any time I’m driving, then I am also listening to my radio or my music.

I might be listening to talk radio. Sometimes, in vein, I talk back. I might be listening to my 50s and 60s music. If alone I sing along. If my wife is with me, I don’t put her through the torture.

I really miss taking the dogs with me. I really enjoyed watching them enjoy it. No more. The dogs are gone and, given my age, I don’t want to orphan new ones.

Sometimes, in the spring, I will stop and watch a Little League game. I find them more entertaining than the major league games. It reminds me of the days my son played. In HS, he played pitcher and 3rd.

Now let me see. Is that 3 or 4. Let’s just say 2. Don’t want to be accused of cheating.

I like to draw and paint: pencil, pastels and water color. Used to like photography. It’s all so different now. Every now and then I still snap a picture, maybe while walking through the park. Sometimes, I will paint something I took a photo of. Those sunsets always look better painted. Besides, I always leave out the ugly power lines.

As an aside, you ever notice they always put those things in the middle of the most picturesque sites. I often wonder if I took an ocean cruise, they would have them in the middle of a beautiful pic out there. How do they do that?

Used to enjoy writing programs for my computer. I can code in Algol, Pascal, BASIC and to a lesser degree, C. I actually wrote a few useful programs as I have posted a year or two ago. The problem is that MS took my tools from me. I have several compilers and none are any good on the later versions of Windows.

I am sure I could get more compilers but it’s just almost completely different. Really let the air out of my balloon.

I still write books, but my mind is slowing down. Envariably, I find myself rewriting and I am having more difficulty with keeping things flowing right. Mostly, I occasionally get my old books out and try to improve them.

Then of course, in the meantime, I do battle with 5 ft. weeds. It’s not that I like to. If I don’t, they will simply take overtake everything.

It does make me think ahead. Don’t think there will be any weeds in heaven. That, in itself will will go a long way to make it heavenly. I think I will like that. Think of it. Flowers and no weeds. Come to think of it, I strongly expect there’ll likely be no power lines either.

I suspect I have not yet finished but my eyelids are getting heavy. I need a nap.

Bloganuary writing prompt
List five things you do for fun.
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Oddly I Had to Think About This One

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I say oddly because it should have been really obvious. I spent 7 years doing it… teaching. If I didn’t have personal needs, you know. Shelter, food, clothing etc, I would teach without pay.

There is just something about seeing results. It is worth more than salary. Unfortunately, I would never be allowed to teach the complex stuff like is taught in public schools. I was limited to the more simple things like radar.

Nonetheless, I must admit, I did have a job for about 15 years just before I retired. Even more importantly, I worked for a good company and boss. Not many can say they enjoyed their twilight years at work as I did.

I was a computer operator. It was neat for me. While it was a little challenging, I was not a leader. I don’t like being a leader.

I had a difficult time figuring out what my dream job would be because it wasn’t my dream. It was for real. That made it all the better.

Bloganuary writing prompt
What’s your dream job?
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Win Lottery?

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Well. I would be very surprised. I don’t participate in such. My small fortune is far too valuable to my wife and I.

If I may, I will explain what I might do if, as in the “Fidler on the Roof” song, I Were a Rich Man.

I guess the first thing I would do would be to guard it from the dems. I am sure that there are the 100s who would all know all these wonderful places for money. Did you know there are over a million registered charities that would be glad to take small, or larger sum from you. They are all wonderful organizations, I am sure. Only thing is, if I started with a million and gave each a dollar, I’d be penniless.

Some might want to sell me gold. That might be nice to have, but I can’t eat gold. I think I would rather have a year or two of survival food. Moreover, gasoline would be more useful. Did you know gold is very soft. That makes it a pretty sorry material for building. I think steel and aluminum would be far more useful.

A small plot of land seems a good investment. Old Joe and Obama seem to like the idea ocean coast property, despite the threat they keep telling us about. The ocean is about to rise 10 feet you know. Well, I’ll just make sure I’m 20 feet above the current tidal levels.

I think I would really like to start a really good school for teaching people of all ages to read. It would not be expensive. Rent a little space, hire a few teachers and pay the electric bill. If I didn’t have enough for teachers, I would just start teaching. Perhaps, I could find a volunteer or 2, or 3.

Of course, none of this would ever happen. I don’t buy lottery tickets. I have not once been in any of the local casinos. I have no desire.

It is likely because I never could win at gambling as a kid. I learned very young. Gambling, even if you win, is a bad idea. Besides, I do have a good understanding of math. I know my chances. Don’t like giving money away.

Bloganuary writing prompt
What would you do if you won the lottery?
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Grand Canyon

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About 1984, my wife, 2 sons, and I went out to California to visit relatives, about 1800 miles. Being as we were going close by the Grand Canyon, we decided to drop in, figuratively.

The first thing I noticed was that, just south of the canyon land was being advertised…dirt cheap. A hundred dollars an acre. A while later, I discovered the reason was no water. Even the local McDonald’s had to haul water in.

I don’t know for sure what the prices are today, but I do wish I had figured a way to buy 10 acres. I would suspect the prices have gone up a bunch, even though there is not much demand for farmland without water.

At any rate, after a short stop at McDonald’s, we drove to an overlook. There, before us was one of the most majestic scenes and all 3, the wife and kids couldn’t be bothered with it. They wanted to watch the baby squirrels crawl fearlessly up and down the sheer cliff.

I guess they were fascinating but we have squirrels in Desoto County, bunches of them. So much for seeing the Grand Canyon. Better to go to the local park and watch the wild life. Incidentally, much less expensive.

Now, let’s see. Had I bought a few acres, I could have charged the passerbys to see squirrels. Do you suppose it would have worked. I suppose it still will.

Bloganuary writing prompt
Think back on your most memorable road trip.
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Leadership

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When in the Marines, I had to memorize the traits of a good leader. To be sure, they are a good thing to know military or not. However, it is not enough to know them. I did and I was a lousy leader.

I can’t remember all of them anymore, but here are the highlights. I think few will disagree with them. Honesty, integrity, courage, knowledge, humility, example & a few others I can’t think of right now. I am sure you can look them up on the internet. Nonetheless, I knew men who were good leaders who lacked many of the traits. I knew many bad leaders who had most of the traits. There does seem to be the untangable that is difficult to define.

However, I cannot talk on the subject without bringing up one important fact. One man not only had all these characteristics, but in perfection. Jesus Christ the son of the living God. You look up those traits on the internet and you will find He had them all to perfection.

You cannot say this of any other leader.

On the other hand, Old Joe has none of them; certainly not honesty.

Bloganuary writing prompt
What makes a good leader?
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The Theory of Evolution

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The most important fact to remember about the theory of evolution is that it is, sientifically, a theory. After about a hundred years of seeking evidence by thousands of people, both scientists and and die hard believers in evolution, we have virtually no more proof of it today than we did when it was first conceived.

The important thing to remember, a theory without proof is still a theory. My best guess, no one will ever come up with so much as a drop of any substantial proof. And, of course, a theory without substantial proof, is really nothing more than speculation. Indeed, my best guess is that it is faith in a big lie, one born from the lips of Satan. Those who believe in evolution, believe that lie rather than the truth spoken by God.