Showing Restraint

My oldest daughter pushed the right buttons this week that caused the higher thinking portion of my brain to kick into full gear. It was one of those requests that you know will cause horrible consequences if you make the wrong call. I became very angry when the request was made which didn’t help but the manner in which the request was made added to the response. Dropping something big and pushing for an answer is like putting out the fire with gasoline. She has a good friend in Michigan from an extremely dysfunctional single parent family that asked her to spend the night Friday for a birthday party. They talk on line all the time and on the cell on weekends. My daughter’s friend is one of 4 children by 4 fathers but only one marriage. It is a household where the telephone is disconnected every other month for non-payment and the mother actions give the appearance of being irresponsible. Of course, I hear it from the daughter’s point of view but the mother has demonstrated that I cannot trust her so it is not all one sided.

My big quandary was that the party was going to be attended by several teenage boys who live in the area. My daughter knows them and also talks to them via the computer. Attending the birthday party was not the problem but spending the night in a house where I question the responsibility of everyone who lives there is/was the issue. Who knows if the boys would try to spend the night? I trust my daughter to make the right decisions but teenage boys do not use their brains to make decisions. It is more impulse response than thought and it is them plus the lack of a responsible adult that I am concerned about.

So here I am being pushed to say yes or no to the question and I chose not to answer. I had some time to make the decision and I knew what I wasn’t going to allow. I spent the next day thinking of what I would allow and went from there. Now this is a three hour round trip with gas at $3.00 a gallon. My wife was going to Michigan on business that morning so she could drop her off. I was not going to let her spend the night but offered to pick her up at 11:00, after the party. She could invite her friend to spend the weekend at our house instead of the other way around. After some wrangling, this option was agreed upon. Now, let’s fast forward to the day before the party and the conversation between my wife and the friend’s mother. The birthday party was cancelled because her daughter was being disrespectful and she did not want to reward that kind of behavior. In the background of the phone call was a demonstration of the type of discussion that would have caused me to strip my child of any privileges. Of course respect is a two way street. You are the parent but you should show the same respect for any person, regardless of relationship. Easier said than done.

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Cobb

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is one of those plants you either love or hate. It makes great pies especially when combined with strawberries. It is a delicious jam, tart and flavorful. Rhubarb is one of those plants from my childhood that I remember vividly. Our neighbor across the alley had a patch growing behind his shed. We would always pull up a stalk and chew on it when it was young and tender. It was usually very sour but also refreshing at the same time. Normally you never finished the entire stalk but it would have gone to waste anyway as the neighbor was an elderly man who was letting his house go.

Now two things interested me about rhubarb. The first is that it is a vegetable and not a fruit. If you make jelly and pies with it then it must be a fruit. Well you have the same difference with the tomato which should be a vegetable but is actually a fruit. Rhubarb is related to sorrel, which is a green leaf vegetable that resembles spinach. Rhubarb is a perennial which means that it come up year after year without having to be replanted. The other interesting thing is that while the stalks are edible and rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber, the leaves are poisonous. They contain oxalic acid which causes the throat and tongue to swell and prevent breathing.

Rhubarb is originally from China and Tibet and migrated to Europe. It is now a staple in America and grows quite well here in the colonies. It was originally grown for medicinal purposes but in the 1800’s transitioned from medicine to food. Being rich in vitamin C, it was probably a poor man’s way to prevent scurvy. One of the things I remember about rhubarb sauce is that it left your teeth feeling funky. That is a by-product of the oxalic acid combining with the calcium in your saliva to leave coating on your teeth. It is not harmful if you consume the rhubarb in normal quantities. Then again, who is going to eat a couple pounds of it? It also makes a great laxative. And on that note….

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Cobb

Give Peace A Chance

As Vietnam protest songs go, this one is obvious. Former Beatle, John Lennon, wrote this song and was joined by a host of musicians from 1969. The song repeats the phrase, “All we are saying, is give peace a chance” followed by a kind of chant rap stream of conscious string of cool, hip words. You could almost credit John Lennon for one of the first rap songs. He was a great artist and song writer and his murder was a tragedy to the music world. His politics were horribly naïve but it was the era and the anti-war movement that clouded his post Beatle creativity. But it is the phrase that they keep singing that needs to be looked at. “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

So, here we are in 2006, 37 years after the song was released. The Vietnam War ended in a disgraced US effort. The Soviet Union is no more. The Cold War is over. The US has been in a few skirmishes since Vietnam; Grenada, Panama, the first Gulf War, and bombing Libya but nothing more that stopping petty dictators from killing innocent people. We have given peace a chance. How long must you wait for peace to grab a hold and become the norm? Do you stand around and continue to let terrorists kill American citizens and still expect peace? America gave peace more than 30 years to take hold before (as Rush calls them) Islamifacists attacked us at home. We tried to give peace a chance but were provoked to take action to prevent further attacks. We went after the source in Afghanistan first and then went after the major sponsor of terrorism, Iraq. Unfortunately, there was more than one instigator.

We still have two of the three Axis of Evil parading around like proud peacocks, causing trouble. When you have petty dictators holding their nation’s population under tyrannical rule, it creates pockets of hatred. Hitler was a master at turning the Germans into Jew haters. It is easy when you control the media and schools to teach any poison you want. The only cure is freedom. It is what America is good at. It is the source of peace. So if you truly want to give peace a chance, let freedom ring. It is only after a nation is free to choose their destiny will John Lennon’s wish become a reality. All we are saying is give freedom a chance.

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Cobb

Political Silence

I was at a picnic last weekend for Gleaner Life Insurance Society. They are a non-profit company that sells life insurance and annuities and channels the profit into charitable branches to help the community. They establish local chapters that are called Arbors that perform community service and look for opportunities to help those in need. There is a close relationship with the 4H, an Arbor Day celebration, and even a national biannual convention to elect officers. Each Arbor member also summarizes their individual acts of charity such as coaching little league, teaching Sunday school or taking meals to shut-ins. It is a great way to give back to the community. The President of the company, and the board of directors all attend this picnic, serve the chicken, meet and greet all of the attendees, and basically make all of their certificate holders feel special. It is an amazing thing.

One of the many things the Arbors do is present scholarships for students that are working toward a degree after high school. At this picnic, the scholarship recipients attended and were given the award. One of the students was majoring in political science but as the president of Gleaner announced their name, he called it political silence. The crowd got a chuckle and I realized that it actually makes sense. America would be a much better place if we had political silence. If we could eliminate the attempts by our elected officials to bad mouth everyone they dislike or stop trying to cast their opponents in a bad light, it would be a more enjoyable existence. We all know that it will not happen.

Now I wanted to do more than make a political commentary. I can actually tie this into one of the topics I wanted to review, The Dark Ages. The term the Dark Ages refers to the period in European History after the last Emperor of the Roman Empire 476AD and the year 1000AD. The term comes from the historian Petrarch, around the year 1450. He thought the period was dark, which in Christian terms means evil or bad. He was referring to the lack of a solid central government and felt that the Roman Empire would once again rise to provide the shining light of solid governmental order. I, like Petrarch, are waiting for a government that is looking out for their citizens but as a realist, I know that it does not exist. My ideal government would be one of political silence. Men and women joined in minimizing governmental interference and promoting a solid moral presence. Yea right, that’s going to happen. Oh for the days of yore when you could look back on what you thought was good and just and want it again. I for one am not in favor of resurrecting the Roman Empire. I could be wrong.

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Cobb

Bubonic Plague

You’ve got to love Wikipedia. It is a one stop shopping on the information super highway. I looked up the bubonic plague and got a whole list of connections. So let’s start learning. The bubonic plague is caused by a bacterium called Pestis Bubonica (sounds like a Latin adult web site). Its primary method of transmission is from flea infested rodents. It is the fleas that actually carry the bacteria. The method of infection is wild. The bacteria multiply in the flea and form a plug that blocks the flea’s stomach. The flea becomes hungry because nutrients are not reaching the intestines for absorption, so the flea gorges itself. The food has nowhere to go and eventually gets vomited up. The vomit mixed with the flea’s blood (tainted with the bacteria) is spewed into the open wound the flea is eating from and the infection is passed on. The flea eventually dies of starvation. Once the rodent population is depleted, the fleas start to look for alternative sources of food and the disease spreads beyond the rodent population.

You start showing signs of Bubonic plague 3 – 7 days after you are infected. The initial symptoms are chills, fever, diarrhea, headaches and swollen lymph nodes. If left untreated, the disease has a 30% - 70% fatality rate. It can be treated with antibiotics and if discovered in time is normally cured.

Our greatest exposure to the bubonic plague was during the middle ages. During the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, the bubonic plague swept through Europe and Asia killing an estimated 75 million people. It was called the Black Death during that time because no one could find the cause of the illness. The first recorded instance of what is thought to be the plague is 541 -542 AD in Constantinople. The city had grown so large that it was importing grain from Egypt and holding it in granaries. It is presumed that the rats thriving on the grain along with their fleas infested fur resulted in the death of up to 5000 citizens per day and 40% mortality in the cities population. Modern outbreaks of the disease occur in remote areas of the world but pandemics are not likely now that the transmission method is known and antibiotics are common place. Got to love modern medicine. Is this where fleabitis (phlebitis) comes from? Probably not, that is varicose veins.

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Cobb

Skewed Toward Black

I am afraid I have not been of a quizzical mind lately. (Wouldn’t that make a great triple word score?) With all that is going on in the world and the constant hammering of the blame game played out in the daily media, it has been tough to see the world with less cynical eyes. I know how moods can become darkened and that some people simply get by day to day when things get too difficult. They shut down and stop everything but the basic responsibilities. An old friend of mine who started me on the path of blogging recently dropped out for a month and I started to think something was seriously wrong. I would faithfully go to his site http://ragarambler.blogspot.com/ to see if he had a new post. I finally called a mutual friend and found out that he was all right. The telephone call along with the outpouring from his on-line friends brought him back from the brink and he has once again started updating his page, intermittently. At least he knows that there people who care about him and are keeping him in their prayers.

I really need to get back to what my original intent was for creating this blog . I had planned to look up things that interested me and write a quick blurb on them. I wrote about quartz and nonagons early on and recently about Shakespeare and the Beatles. The internet has made information such a commodity that it is tough to find that special interesting nugget to create around. Nothing seems to thrill my gorilla. Maybe it is the summer heat. I spend most of my time in air conditioning, so that can’t be it. Maybe I am finally going through my mid-life crisis. I am not thinking about young women and fast cars so that can’t be it. I just think that I am distracted and not focusing on this. Could there be other things pulling me from being as creative as I think I am? Well, of course. Welcome to Life 101 and all the complications that go with it.

Just sitting here I have thought of several areas I would like to research. The bubonic plague, the Dark Ages, the Peloponnesian War, and the history of rhubarb are all of interest to me. When it comes time to put the words to paper, I hope to be inspired by some aspect of each topic to create an interesting and engaging entry. If not, you’ll get a semi-articulate meandering and the same bored expression I get from my kids. Did you know what Queen’s drummer Roger Taylor’s mother’s maiden name was? Meadows. On their early albums he was introduced Roger Meadows-Taylor. More useless information but hey did you know it.

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Cobb

The Waiting Game

Several years ago, I was fortunate to go through some training at work that provided a solid process for dealing with people. It was a weekly class that gave out homework and you were expected to practice each step to reinforce and strengthen the skill set being taught. One of the major tenants of the program was to always address the problem, not the person. If you tell someone that the behavior they are exhibiting is causing a problem, it is easier to keep their attention. If you tell someone to quit messing up, it is a personal affront and you have lost your audience. The course stressed that issues should be addressed immediately as they occur and not as a footnote the next week. Always praise in public and council in private. I firmly believe that this is a sound and Christian way to deal with people. That statement assumes that the people you are dealing with are rational and not megalomaniacs (both of these seem to be requirements to run a country). Unfortunately, some of our elected officials are more concerned about the ceremony of the event, than dealing with the issue.

I am unclear what Democrats think the act of diplomacy/discussion/negotiation accomplishes. I have heard that almost anything can be negotiated if both sides have an interest in the process. It is important to note that both sides have to come to the table with clear objectives, have a desire to work out a compromise and are willing to give up some ground to attain the outcome they seek. It seems that the liberals think that any major world issue, if negotiated “long enough” can be fixed. What they fail to see is that they may come to the table willing to give it their best, while the other party uses the talks as a stalling tactic. They want to see how far they can push before they call off the talks. If you look at the Middle East, the Palestinians have been doing it for years, Iran is in the middle of that process and North Korea has been practicing it since Bush 1. And yet, the Democrat party still believes that we can talk our way through this. If only one side is willing to negotiate, it is not a negotiation.

America took action in Iraq. We had a dictator that had been pulling our chain for years and had followed through on his threats despite all the diplomacy we could muster. When it really mattered, American’s have stepped up and taken action, unfortunately it mostly occurred too late. It took an attack on America to get us into WW II. We tried negotiating with Hitler until the very end. Of course the French, British and Russians all did the same thing and see where that got them. Hitler did not come to talk. His objective was to stall. He stalled so well, it almost tipped the world into a Nazi paradise. On the flip side, when we negotiated nuclear disarmament with the Soviet Union, both sides came prepared to make concessions. Both sides allowed verification. It was a small step but significant to the world in that the superpowers were smart enough to back away from total nuclear destruction.
Diplomacy will work but only if both sides come to the table prepared to make concessions. If only one side is prepared to negotiate, listen for the rattle and be prepared to move quickly to avoid the venomous fangs. American’s should relish in the words of Teddy Roosevelt, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” I love a good leader.

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Cobb

Eat The Rich

I love the phrase, “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” I think I understand the real meaning but am not quite sure others understand that it is not just the division between the classes that liberals love to perpetuate. We all assume that having money is the key to attaining power and the way to keep the money and make more is to be in power. Laws are passed that provide loopholes for those who have amassed wealth. It allows them to shelter it from taxation or reduce the amount they are forced to give back to support programs they would not readily support (unless they are bleeding heart liberals who are entrenched in the class warfare mentality). If rich liberals actually believed that wealth should be spread out, they themselves should distribute all that they have. This would ensure that each person gets their “deserved” share. I don’t see that happening. They have become too entrenched in their lifestyles to make due with anything less. So much for practicing what you preach. It is amazing that anyone still buys into the class warfare thought process when those who are supposedly fighting to eliminate it do so much to maintain it.

The phrase is also very reflective of how those who have found Christ feel as they grow in the faith. It is Christ’s commandment that we should “Love one another as I have loved you.” By doing so you are sharing your wealth and at the same time becoming richer. Christians that understand and actually follow those words of Christ are not chained by the way people look or are dressed. Christ did some amazing things in his short life. He spent time with prostitutes, lepers, the dregs of society and even tax collectors (imagine having to spend time with an IRS auditor). It would be no different than today. As a society, we tend to look at those who, in our opinion have failed to live up to their potential, as if they were less than worthy of our love and attention. That is not what Christ did and that is why his words, “love one another as I have loved you” let us know that all are worthy of love and that God loves all of us, even lawyers.

So as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, it matters what kind of riches you are seeking. Are you looking for that coveted green back to make you happy or are you looking past your own comfort to those who Christ commanded us to love. Will the new house, car, boat, or other material addition to your life, along with the status it provides, lead you to that level of happiness that you so badly want? Or will devoting your resources to helping those in need be the catalyst that expands your happiness? I am not saying that having money is bad, but its power to warp your priorities from Christ path makes me happy that I am rich and getting richer for the right reasons.

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Cobb

Lest We Forget

I admire those men and women that stand for their convictions. Whether I believe in their cause does not really change my admiration. The quote attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” in some ways mirrors how I feel. I cannot say that I am impressed with any of the current crop of leaders and their ability to stand by what they believe.

The last American who I believe truly stood for their convictions was Martin Luther King. I am not a fan of how his legacy is treated. Naming bridges and roads after him, replacing other prominent local names rubs me the wrong way. Giving him a national holiday and replacing Presidents Day was an honor but I feel that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln also played a more prominent role in our nations past and also deserve the honor. Martin Luther King played the leading role in providing the path for all American minorities to attain equal rights. He stood up for American blacks that had experienced centuries of oppression in our land of milk and honey. He stood up to hate groups and governments and laws that attempted to halt all forward progress of his movement. And although he was murdered by one of those who hated him, his legacy and momentum carried the march for equal rights forward to victory.

Some want to take his fight a step further and tear down any division between differences. That would mean no gender, capability, handicap, or any difference would matter and we all know that Tiny Tim will never play in the NBA. Taking the equal rights to its illogical conclusion allows Tiny Tim to sue his way into the power forward position for the LA Lakers due to discrimination. That spits in the face of market forces driving decisions and we all know that money will talk, most of the time. Everyone has a talent or skill that makes them unique. Some of these skills are marketable like musicians or athletes. Some are more whimsical like chicken clucking or watermelon spitting. Each of us contributes to the whole, some more than others. What we could really use right now is someone passionate enough, cemented in their convictions, and charismatic enough to lead us. That is the way to unite people into one camp or another. I just hope I don’t have to quote Voltaire at my camp site.

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Cobb

The Price of Freedom

I have become sickened by the rhetoric and finger pointing by our nations elected leaders. I understand that it is all posturing and that the ones who “look” the best are the winners in the next election. Unfortunately, that is all it comes down to; the next election. This topic has been covered by a myriad of people and will continue to be fodder for the cannon for years to come but I am so disgusted that I it has finally made my hit list. What is even more pathetic is that we continue to re-elect people that vote against our interests in hopes that we will get a different outcome. Somewhere in there is the definition of schizophrenia. This is one of the big issues with a constitutional republic; it allows people who are good for nothing except campaigning for election and looking good to govern our country. What is wrong with this picture?

We are no longer looking for people to lead our nation. We are spending our time choosing people that give the appearance that they are providing handouts, using other people’s money, to people they believe are more needy. What we find is that they (our elected officials) continue to enrich themselves, (their pension plan, medical plan, not attached to social security, and on and on and on) at the expense of the nation they are elected to serve. For the Washington elected, it is a matter of how much they can steal from American citizens before we get fed up. So far, they have managed to keep us on the path to Hell and make us relish the trip. Fortunately, not all of us are fooled by that warm feeling. We know that is similar to the illusion of warmth you get after you pee our pants. It is a short lived experience followed by a feeling of wet cold chaffing. Not that I know from experience. I had on a wet bathing suit yesterday and got a taste of that feeling.

So what do we do to rectify this illusion that our government is there for our protection? A government that had a vested interest in American interest would address issues as they come up and fix or attempt to fix them. That seemed to be the nature of things in the late 60’s and early 70’s. We had Lyndon Johnson guiding the nation and attempting to fix social problems through government sponsored programs. We have found that these programs did not fix the problems. It band aided them and gave the appearance of help but did nothing to get to the heart of the problem. There is still hunger and poverty in the US but at least an attempt was made (although it creates bigger issues in its monumental failure). Now we have expensive programs that need to be revamped and anyone attempting to fix them is branded as someone who wants to keep the poor and down trodden down. Unfortunately, there are still people in office in Washington that assisted in putting those programs in place. Talk about embedded in the problem. We need a solution to our nation’s legacy of electing those who are pleasing and get back to electing those who want to lead. You end up with people who give the appearance of leadership by their words but have forgotten that actions are what truly matter.

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Cobb

Out Of The Park

We have a new minister at our church and it has been an interesting change from the last three years. I know I have written about our previous minister in a not so favorable light. He tended to be less biblically oriented and more concerned with what "now" was going on. He made continuous references to television and pop culture but provided very little in the way of spiritual nourishment. There were occasional forays into the world of Christianity but those were more the exception than the rule. I truly liked our last minister. He was a very spiritual man who loved God and understood the power of prayer; he was not the direction our congregation was looking to go. That has definitely changed.

We have had three Sundays with our new pastor and I must say that I am looking forward to Sunday worship. His message is firmly grounded in the scripture and he takes you on a full circle through the sermon, dropping you back off at the starting point. It is like a thrill ride at Cedar Point. I spent last Sunday doing running the sound board for all three services and our second service has been sparsely attended since I started doing sound. Last Sunday, it was about 3/4 full for that service. The congregation for all three services was fully engaged and the music and the message made the day one worth remembering.

I knew that things were going well when my wife said she was looking forward to church next Sunday. She has been a no show for most of the services over the last year. I continued to attend because of the nourishing nature of the congregation and out of a sense of spiritual want. There is no longer that want, it is a need and I too am looking forward to next Sunday. What amazes me is so are my children. My oldest daughter has come alive in Jesus through the messages over the last three weeks. I love the ways of God. He always provides and sometimes it is so much unexpected.

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Cobb

Tough Time

I wrote a post yesterday that after re-reading, I decided not to publish. I don't know what I was thinking at the time but it was an awful premise and went more nowhere than usual. We are doing our semi-annual physical inventory at work and I have been prepping all week. It has been hot and humid and organizing and counting parts is back breaking. I am glad it is coming to a finish. I am burned out and ready for a weekend.

My son lost this second round tournament game last night. They gave it a great run and lost 8-6. My son hit a triple and knocked in two runs before scoring himself. Now we have an all star tournament for 10 year olds that starts soon. It is only a weekend double elimination set. Fortunately it is right across the street from our house so it will be a breeze.

I have run the hopper dry today. I hope this weekend will recharge my batteries and I will come back Monday ready to dance with the bull. Ole!

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Cobb

Winning In The Rain

Last night was a soaking success. My son’s baseball team is doing tournaments. They had a dismal season primarily due to inconsistent pitching. They lost to some very bad teams due to walking in batters that just stood at the plate, expecting a walk. It was painful and heart breaking to watch these kids play their hearts out and come out with nothing to show for it. They did have a good time playing and toward the end of the season, which almost always happens, they started playing as a team. Last night, in the pouring rain, they won their first game in tournaments.

The game started out with a light drizzle. It pretty much dried before it hit the cement. Then it stopped. We were ahead 6 -1 at that time. Then the rain hit. No thunder, just a constant drain. It was not enough to call the game but enough to get the ball wet and cause the players to become distracted. By the end of the 5th inning, we started to walk in a few of their players and we had scored a few runs. The score going into the last inning was a 10-10 tie. It was another lead that slipped through their gloves. We were the visitors so we batted first. Our last at bats we scored one run. The game became a knuckle biter.

Their last at bat we walked one, struck one out, caught a fly ball, and then walked two. It was bases loaded, two outs, full count and the batter hit the ball up the first base line. With the flick of a glove and step on the bag, the runner was out and they had won the game. All game long, it continued to rain. I was soaked to the bone but it was worth it. My son’s team, nicknamed the Dirtclods, with their dismal season, advance to the second round in the tournament. Their next game is against the number one team. Miracles do happen.

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Cobb

I’m Still Standing

A few posts ago, I talked about taking up running again. A few posts later I talked about taking up in-line skating. Yesterday I jogged one complete trip around the exercise path across the street and walked another. It is about a mile total and although winded and sweaty, it felt good. I stopped after the complete lap because my knees were starting to hurt but today they are fine and I plan to try it again tomorrow. This morning I tried roller blading again. It went much better than the first time. I only did a half a lap but I was winded and sweating and my ankles were on fire. It was fun rolling along the path once you got started and weren’t struggling to keep your balance.

At certain times in my life, I have gotten into excellent condition. When you are young and always on the move, it is easy. Riding your bike or walking everywhere keeps you in shape and ready to go. When I played pee-wee football, the conditioning was intense and I remember being able to run the two miles from school to home without being winded. The Army has an excellent conditioning program called basic training. Between the calisthenics, running, hiking with pack and the punishment pushups, you end up in great shape. If they threw in weight lifting, you would see some rugged, solid men coming out of those 8 weeks of basic. Once you get to your permanent station, they continue the conditioning with something called PT (physical training) where they get you up at 6:30 to go jumping jacks and pushups and then take you for a nice leisurely jog of about two miles. Wahoo!!

So here I am at 43 trying one more time to get this body into shape. I am 60 lbs heavier than when I was in the Army and 20 years older. Between the summer ice cream season, the crappy winter weather, and the constant voice saying just let it go, it is very difficult to stay motivated to keep going. The fact that I cannot put socks on without contorting is a definite sticking point to stopping. The fact that I am reaching maximum fit on my pants lets me know that something has to change. Exercise and diet are two very simple words that are so difficult to keep up. Thought I’d something more to say….


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Cobb

Cranial Rectal Extraction

Almost everyone has experienced someone who does or says stupid things. You just want to shake them and tell them to stop before it goes awry. Some times you are successful but most of the time the situation happens just as predicted and the person end up looking foolish or hurting themselves. Most people would say get your head out of your ass but in this world of political correctness, that seems too harsh. I prefer the more medical sounding cranial rectal extraction. It has all of the effectiveness of the original but provides a more dignified, professional tone.

One of my oldest daughter’s friends (that may be too strong of a word) has been getting into trouble lately. She is 15 and is what I would call pretty. I have heard that she has taken up smoking and has been caught at a party drinking. I would say she is heading down the wrong path and hanging around with the wrong group of friends. My daughter says that her home life is bad. Her parents either ignore her or yell at her and profanity seems to be the only way they know how to effectively communicate. I only have second hand information on this, but this is obviously a case of someone who is in need of a cranial rectal extraction. The question is who needs the procedure performed? If the whole family is dysfunctional, it may require a group rectalopithy.

My daughter’s friend was going to spend last night at our house. My wife and I were not enthused about her spending time with our child but we know that we have created a solid moral center and it may provide an oasis, if only for a while. My wife laid down the law before she said yes. She said that she was welcome in our home anytime but that there were rules and they were to be followed. There is a bed time, there would be no smoking or drinking while she was here. If any of that went on, she would not be welcome back and there would be no further communication with our daughter. My daughter sat there in a shocked silence (an unusual state for her) that her mother would say such a thing. It may have been the first time in her life that she heard words expressing love and discipline. I will pray that she turns her life around. We will try to provide an environment where she can see how families are supposed to act (I think we are relatively functional) and hopefully the cranial rectal extraction can occur without the help of a professional.

Icool

Cobb

What An Idea

One of my favorite sci-fi authors (and probably many others) is Isaac Asimov. His robot mysteries and the Foundation series are classics and his collections of short stories are always entertaining. He had a way of setting up a mystery and leading you to the wrong conclusion over and over. One of the things that intrigued me about reading his short fiction was the stories behind the stories. Several times, he and several other writers were called in and given a premise by the editor. They would be told that this issue of Astounding was on a specific topic, say time travel, and we would like a story about some specific item concerning a point in the future. Each author would have to write a different story using that theme in a limited period of time. Being under the gun seemed to work well for Asimov.

Writing these entries is a lot like that. I try to stay a little ahead in case of emergencies and sometimes have two or three saved. I have been doing this for 10 months and know that I have not scratched the surface of things to talk about but due to the nature of the way things are, you find yourself running over familiar ground in search of fresh ideas. We tend to stay with what we know and see on a daily basis. Our interests are pretty established by the time we turn 30. We may pick up something new like in-line skating but that is more of a new way to kill yourself and not so much a new thing. Although, I have had very few people look at my site, I realize that I am doing this for me. This is my way to get my thoughts in order and vent when things get too absurd.


Very rarely do we experience anything new and exciting. That is why I love sci-fi, for the chance to experience some strange, new concepts. One of Asimov’s first short stories was called Nightfall. It was about a planet at the peak of its technological advancement. Archeologists are excavating through ruins and finding that there are older civilizations that seem to have been destroyed by fire. It appears to be a cycle of destruction. The odd thing about this planet is that there is never darkness. It has several suns that hang in the sky and one is always shining and providing light. All of the facts come together and by the end of the story we find that every period of fire was preceded by the absence of any sun in the sky. Since it was never dark, this civilization had not experienced it and when faced with the absence of light, create their own and destroy themselves. The survivors fell back to barbarism and the cycle started again. That was a bold, new idea that he eventually expanded into to a novel.

Icool

Cobb

What A Dope

I broke down a bought a pair of rollerblades Wednesday night. I am not sure that I am going to live through learning to use them. First, since my shoe size is 13, I had to call around to find a store that carried a size that big. Most in-line skates only go to size 12 and some are smaller yet. Of the three stores I contacted, one has discontinued carrying rollerblades, and the other two had only one make that fit my foot. So, I took the plunge and picked up a pair. I also got a pair of knee pads that would make a goalie proud.

So, I get all set up this morning and try to get out of the garage. My son parked his bike right where I needed to get through, so I had to gingerly step over his bike in skates and pads. I am grasping the top of my wife’s car for dear life, trying not to fall on my butt. I made it past the first obstacle shaken but not beaten. Next was getting out of the driveway which was almost my undoing. The complete lack of how to operate the skates along with the gentle downward slope of the driveway allowed me to glide, very quickly toward the street. I could see how it was going to end so I swerved onto the grass to stop. From there I walked to the sidewalk. The concrete allowed for slower forward motion but I could not figure out how to propel myself. Everything I tried made me lose my balance. So now I am standing in the middle of the street. It is 5:00AM so there is no traffic. My goal is to make it to the bike path which is 15 feet away. I did the windmill a few times and managed to reach that goal.

Now I am on the bike path and again attempting forward motion with no success. I get half way past the first house on the path, sweat pouring off my brow, my calves on fire and frustrated beyond belief. This is torture and I turned around and headed for home. I made it back to the sidewalk next to the street and realized that I had to cross again. I reach down, unbuckle the skates and take them off. I remove the knee pads and walk home in my socks. The entire episode took about 15 minutes. I wanted a good workout and I may have gotten it but not how I envisioned. I want to take the skates back and forget about this episode but I know that I can master this. Watch the kids and practice your balance before you move to the next level. Americans, we are so impatient. If I have to practice, it must be a waste of time. So, if you see a big goof, early in the morning, looking like he’s losing a log rolling contest, its just me, learning to skate.

Icool

Cobb

Light The Sky

One of the highlights of the July 4th celebration is the fireworks displays that the local cities and towns put on. We were fortunate to be able to see one display from our back yard on the 3rd and we went to Waterville to watch their light show on the 4th. Both displays were spectacular and I believe each year they add more colors and shapes to an already great sky. The tradition of celebrating events with fireworks allows communities to get together and enjoy 20 minutes of colorful, light explosions regardless of who we are or what we believe. For that time, we become just Americans and are not looking to accuse or condemn each other’s beliefs. Fireworks are a chance to become unified as a nation, if only for a brief moment.

Fireworks have been a part of American celebrations even before we were a sovereign nation. John Adams used fireworks in the 1777 Independence Day celebration. So it has been a tradition for 229 years as a celebration of freedom. Of course, fireworks have been around much longer than that. The discovery of fireworks is credited to the Chinese with the invention of gunpowder about 2000 years ago. It progressed from explosions to creating flowery displays that light the sky. From firecrackers to the big sky booms, we have found a way to take out our frustrations and still create something beautiful.



We will have to wait another year to celebrate our nation’s birth again. We should not wait to celebrate how great our nation is. We are the champion of the world, regardless of how some nation’s think. Our goal is to provide one of God’s basic tenets; freedom. Freedom to live a life without tyranny. Freedom to worship as you want. Freedom to become what your life’s potential will allow. That is America. That is what each firework’s display promises. Those 20 glorious minutes of beauty and freedom that light the sky.

Icool

Cobb

Is It Bigger Than A Bread Box?

Does anyone use a bread box any more? What exactly is a bread box? Our old house had this roll top wooden cabinet that sat on the counter that we kept our bread in. I picture (in black and white of course) a child reaching in to some wooden cabinet on a counter top to pull out a loaf of Wonderbread, all white and doughy to make a PB&J. The bread box has fallen out of style as of late probably due to the life style changes over the last 40 years. When a house wife was a profession and not a bad word, men went out and worked and women stayed home and took care of the house, kids, cooked and did social minded things around town. That is a drastic oversimplification but it is the impression we were given about that generation. Women were expected to accept this role as the way things were. Talk about underutilizing a resource. It led to a very sexist society and we have fortunately gotten past the idea that a women’s place is in the home.

There are many things that have changed in our society since the bread box was in high style. When was the last time you heard a typewriter clacking away. That staccato hammering at 90 words per minute, having to hit return, and replacing ribbons are a thing of the past. Now we have keyboards and word processing software to handle the same chore and e-mail to send it instead of printing. If the amount of progress in the last 40 years is any indication, we will be discontinuing the keyboard in the next 10 years and hopefully going to spoken transcript processing. Just imagine thinking what you want and it happens. That is not too far fetched.

About 15 years ago, there was this big push a computer generated world. Movies like The Lawnmower Man and even The Matrix provide a glimpse into taking trips inside your mind using computers to generate whatever you like. The technology for that has not been fast to catch up with the expectations of the users. It is difficult for me to imagine wanting to be wired up for participation in computer generated events. What I can see of my children’s generation is that they have much less resistance to being electronically connected as much as possible. The idea that I have no privacy terrifies me. I however, am a fossil and realize that I am slow to accept the opportunities the new technology offers me. So as we progress down the road to faster, smaller, easier, and cheaper, yes it will be smaller than a bread box and will come in more than just white.

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Cobb

Tempo

Life is good as we celebrate 230 years as a nation. Employment is holding steady, the ecomony is growing, Congress is deadlocked as is customary and usual, and my oldest daughter turns 15 today. Yes, I will have a teenager driving on America's highways and byways this time next year. Most parents would be afraid, very afraid. I am not the least bit concerned. Kids have been driving since Ford invented the assembly line and most live to be adults. The chances of success are pretty good. Ah, the freedom of youth, a ribbon of possibilities stretching out to the invisible finish.

Some people want to try to hold back the hands of time and freeze the clock. Once you reach the age that things start to ache a little or that first wrinkle or gray hair shows up, you pine for the freshness of youth. That illusion that we are invincable and can go all night seems to be that magic elixir that drives some to get hair plugs, plastic surgery, and buy new expensive sports cars. That wealth of knowledge we have gained seems to ooze through our ears like pancake patter into a hot skillet. Maybe the desire for youth causes the same stupid acts of youth to be repeated. Our common sense is little more than a shadow on a cloudy day.

The mark of a mature person is that they can accept what life deals them and continue to play the game. Some hands are little more than sharp gravel on the path, a few give that sparkly issusion that we have found something worth keeping, but most of the cards in life are worth cherishing and provide the promise that today is good and tomorrow is better. It is only a promise and the actual happiness is really up to you but it is better than a poke in the eye or a flooded basement. Sorry for the heavy, metaphor laden prose above. What I really wanted to say is happy birthday America, with all of your promise and happy birthday Amanda with all my heart.

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Cobb

The Stars My Destination II

Alfred Bester published The Stars My Destination in 1956. He had won the Hugo Award for best Sci-Fi novel in 1953 for his The Demolished Man. A good book but not as intense or insightful as Stars. It amazes me that a novel as brilliant can be overlooked for awards while a mediocre one is given the highest awards. I guess the judges saw a spark of genius in The Demolished Man and a more deserving book was chosen in 1956. That would have been Double Star from Robert Heinlein. A good book but Stars, I believe has the edge.

So when we were last with Gully, he was on Earth. He was again the bottom class in of society. No job, limited capability, and a horribly tattooed face that makes him stand out in a crowd. He is put in a class that teaches slow people to jaunte and he is a fast learner. He wants to get to Vorga and destroy her. He discovers the location of the ship and finds out too late that he is going after the wrong target. He is captured and psyched by the owner of the fleet of ships of which the Vorga is one, Preston of Preston, and they try to find out why he tried to blow it up.

This sets off a chain of events involving rape, tattoo removal, a circus, bionics, an enemy attack, a blind albino ice princess, the religious practice of skoptsy, telepaths, and finally a man on fire. We find that Gully Foyle, a simple man who just wanted to be rescued, has a deeper secret that even he does not know. Everyone is chasing him because he possesses something that everyone wants but cannot find. He ends up being pushed beyond all possible limits and in the end becomes the salvation of mankind. Bester weaves images of Christ in this still possible future. At times, the book is almost comical with its presentation of the extravagance of wealth and the depravity of man but in this world of instant gratification and internet availability, it is not so far fetched as it was when I first read it.

So, take a trip with Gully Foyle and find your destination.

Gully Foyle is my name
And Terra is my nation
Deep space is my hiding place
The Stars My Destination


Icool

Cobb