The move pt. 3

Well, moving day is fast approaching. We get the keys today, and will start moving the boxes in. We have been fortunate in that my father, mother-in-law and a member of our church congregation are willing to help us out with all of this.

My dad came over last night with the van. It is amazing just how much stuff can be packed into what is so ironically called a mini-van. Dad was able to get almost all of the boxes into it. He took out the rear seats at home, and just started jamming them in. Several times, I thought he was done. Nope, each time we came back up and got a few more boxes.

By the time the movers get here on Saturday, there won't be too much left to move. Which was the idea of course. The plan is to have them only hauling the heavy furniture. It is too expensive to have them moving boxes and bags that we can take ourselves over the course of the week.

It is convenient that our apartment is in the basement and faces the street. We will be able to unload the boxes from the van and just pass them through the dining area window, stacking them against the back wall. At least the new apartment has the space for all of this stuff without having to trip over it. Our current home is so small, we were having to go outside just to change our minds.

The pension people are ready to give us the full allowance for the move. We just have to keep all of the receipts. If we don't use the whole benefit, I was told to buy all of those little necessities for the apartment to pad out the bill. I guess it's the government way of keeping the paperwork simple. It beats paying for it all now and then waiting on them to reimburse us.

I'm so excited, I got up almost two hours early this morning. Now I'm just going to wait on the coffee, and relax before my mother-in-law gets here.

Global Warming, trusting the numbers

There was an article not too long ago on the MSN homepage about how scientists have been using the wrong numbers when calculating the rate of global warming. Those who deny global warming exists say that this is vindication of their point of view. Humans can't be having a very large effect on the environment.
Wake up and smell the Maxwell House!
I don't trust the "official" numbers about anything. One group or another is always going to inflate or deflate the numbers for their own benefit. The way to make decisions about your behaviour is to look at the over all picture. In this case, I would ask myself if I really need to use the car so much. Do I really need to have the air conditioner cranked so high? The numbers don't really mean anything, they are just a barometer, to get a feel for the impact our decisions have.
Imagine, if you will, that all moral decisions were based on the numbers. By that reckoning, a person who causes an accident, through no fault of his own, that kills six people is more guilty than a man who intentionally shoots his wife. Five more people are dead, aren't they? Should he not be punished more harshly? Needless to say, that is a ludicrous argument. Sheer numbers cannot justify action.
What I can act on is what I perceive to be my impact on the environment. I can measure how much I personally throw into the landfill site. I can see the amount of exhaust my car produces to go to the corner store. Which isn't to say that I have the right to feel superior if I recycle more than my neighbour. It just means that I can be confident that I'm doing my part to make the world a better place.
I think the best barometer of how well we each take care of the environment is to imagine the following scenario.
Suppose you lived out somewhere remote. Supplies come in to you by air drop, and recyclables are removed the same way. The air drop is by a means that does minimal harm to the environment. How long is the area around your home going to remain pollution-free? How long will the water and land be clean enough to sustain life at a comfortable level? Think on that one for a while.
Consider the native communities in the Canadian far north. This is the situation they live with all of their lives. They have to be conscious of waste, because getting anything is costly and difficult. Maybe if we could learn to set those towns up right, we could get it right elsewhere.

The move pt. 2

Time for an update about the move.
I have to go into the doctor's office today. In order to maintain our status for affordable housing, they need a note from my doctor, explaining why I cannot share a bed with my wife. Now, this may seem a little personal, but a couple is only permitted a one bedroom apartment without a valid medical reason.
I gave them just such a note two years ago when we started looking for a place.
What is it with the government and lost paperwork? It's like the place where documents go to die, or the place that socks go missing out of the dryer.
We will be moving boxes soon, and that is going to take a little doing. I sometimes wonder how it is we manage to collect so much stuff, when our ancestors had so little. Of course, they wondered the same thing while packing up plates, cups and all manner of fragile items.
I was reading a book the other day. In it, the main character's family is moving house from Missouri to Denver. His mother had to wrap plates in newspaper, then pack them in straw in barrels, no less. Everything, including her children, were going by wagon train in 1862. Back then, the trip took the best part of two weeks. Moving anything was a costly and hazardous venture.
It does kind of put things into perspective for me. A move doesn't imply the hardship that it used to. That may be why so many of us are willing to do it so often these days. Now our biggest worry is hiring a large enough truck to handle the furniture. We aren't crossing rivers in carts to get where we are going.
More to follow as things get going.

Adopt a pet

I wanted to take a little time today and discuss adopting a pet.
As you may know, we got our youngest cat from the local animal shelter. We went in one day and took a look around at the kittens sitting in their cages. It wasn't a question of whether or not we were going to get one. It was how we were supposed to choose from the wide variety of cats. In the end, we took our darling little Isabelle (at that time a cat with no name, just a number) and brought her home.
I don't know how it works at the shelter nearest you, but here, there is an adoption fee of almost a hundred dollars. That may sound like a lot, but you have to consider that your new pet has seen a vet and been given her first shots. Also, at that cost, she has been spayed already. In the event that she hasn't been in the shelter long enough, they cut back the fee, but give you a voucher to take her to the vet.
You have to know what you are looking for in a pet before going into the shelter. Consider the make-up of your family. Do you have kids, and what ages are they? There is no point getting a pet that either will be neglected or mauled every second of the day. Little kids often have trouble learning to deal with pets. You have to prepare them, because the animals have often been abandoned or abused in previous homes. A cat that was tormented by a toddler is not going to be a cuddler.
Do you have a lot of space and free time? In that case, you might consider a puppy or older dog. Dogs are a little bit more needy than cats as a rule. They need attention, walking and taking them out to do their business. Also, you have to consider breed more with dogs. How big will he get? Is she from an aggressive breed? If you cannot devote several hours per day to a dog, don't even go into the shelter looking for one.
Look into the history of pets from your local shelter too. Some are run better than others, usually based on funding. If they can't look after the animals properly, your new family member might not adjust as quickly as you might like. This is your responsibility too. It is the public that supports the shelters, and we have to make sure it is just that, a shelter from abuse and neglect.
Remember, adopting a pet is for life. Returning it is not really an option. Would you try taking your child back to the hospital? Only go in to get a pet when you are positive you are ready for the commitment.
By the way, when getting a cat, you might consider getting two. Litter mates if possible. They can be company for each other when you can't be there. It isn't that much more expensive, and it makes for happier pets.
We lucked out in how well our cats get along. Taffy came from a litter of barn cats my wife's uncle had. She was an only pet for three or four years before we got Isabelle. Introducing a new pet into the family dynamics isn't easy if there is already one there. Take your time, supervise them, but let them work it out. If it gets too violent, it just might not work, but give it time.
There are a lot of unwanted cats and dogs out there. Choose one that has been abandoned or forgotten. Spay or neuter your friend. Be a good pet owner, and maybe the shelters won't be quite so full.

The move

Well, the move is coming up really soon now. We get the keys to the new apartment next week. Which means we can finally get these boxes out of here. We have been staring at Mount Boxmore for over a week now. It takes up a good quarter of the living room. The cats are getting a little anxious about all of the stuff they are familiar with being packed away. My wife isn't too much better off.

At the new place, we can at least put the boxes in the dining area, since we don't have the table from my mother-in-law's yet. That way we can go through them a lot easier, putting stuff where it belongs. That, and the movers can put the furniture in place without tripping over all kinds of stuff.

I've moved a few people, and have learned a few tricks along the way.

The first rule of moving is that you cannot have too much paper. If something can get broken, count on it, and wrap it like crazy. Use a whole newspaper for one plate if you have to. Even if you don't think it can break, wrap it! Paper can always be recycled. Here we are lucky enough to get a weekly publication that usually goes straight to the recycling box. Only three or four people in the building actually read it.

Another good rule of thumb is to pack up as much as is possible long before the move. Anyone you hire is going to charge by the hour to haul your stuff, whether it's across town or across the country. Don't pay them to do something you can do a lot better.

Having made the mistake this time, I should warn you. Do NOT pack away all of your books and videos at the first. At the very least, keep those boxes marked and handy. There have been nights when there was nothing on TV, and I would have loved to have put in a tape.

Lastly for today, I recommend a clear path through the boxes. If at all possible, always have them stacked in a corner of a room where people can pretty much ignore them. Like I said, the movers have to be able to deal with the furniture without having to trip over stuff.

More updates as the move progresses.

More on education

Yesterday, I discussed how education could be made a little easier for both students and parents to endure. What I failed to think about was the nature of the average teenager/parent relationship, how the school system works (or doesn't), and how that all ties into the end result. Maybe today I'll try and tackle that group of issues.
The problem is, I've only ever been on the one side of the teenager/parent relationship. My wife and I can't have kids. Being an uncle is close, but I don't have to try to get the girls up in the morning. I can relate the experiences my best friend has had, but it still isn't the same. The point being, take anything I say in this post with a grain of salt.
I think communicating with a teenager these days is pretty close to what talking with an alien life form will be like. They might understand the words in general, but can't put them into context. We speak from experience, and they assume we know nothing. As I recall, at that age, I thought I had a good bead on things too. When was the last time you had a teenager actually come to you and tell you something about how they feel?
I think what we need to do is find some kind of common language. Neither the parent or child should use slang when talking to each other, except for sayings that they hold in common. I wish I had a nickle for every time my nieces have looked at me and shook their heads over something I've said that just sounded too weird. So, when speaking with your teenager, speak plain English, and expect the same from them.
Now that you and your child are speaking the same language, you can figure out what the kid expects from his/her education, and they know what you expect from them.
This road goes both ways though. You have to understand where they want to go, and be willing to support that. Don't expect stellar grades in biology if your child wants to write music, or be an auto mechanic. If she's happier with a wrench than a paint brush, let her run with it. Kids don't always make the choices that we would have them make, and at some point, we have to live with that. Anything else just pushes them away, and you lose communication.
Dealing with your child is going to be a lot easier than dealing with the school system these days. I have heard some real horror stories.
I think the biggest problem is that the system now has more rules and regulations governing it than it can handle. In the local Catholic system, kids are not allowed to play football or baseball at recess anymore. Someone might fall and hurt themselves, and the school be held liable. Most of the problems at school these days stem from the likelihood that the board will be sued. This is our fault, we handed them the kids, let's give them the ability to do something with them.
The other problem with education is funding. What we expect the kids to learn quickly outstrips the resources for teaching. Textbooks are out of date within two years. Some schools have to make do with books twenty or more years old. There has to be a better way of providing up to date material. I still like the idea of computer disc based texts. Lighter for students to carry, and much easier to replace when obsolete.
Okay, so let's put these thoughts together. What we have is a school system trying to get by with fewer resources and hobbled by the regulations they have to use just to keep out of the courts. At the other end, we have kids that have been raised by the mass media because the parents have to work so hard to make ends meet. The adult and child are speaking two different forms of the same language, and so do not communicate effectively. Where does all of this put education?
It may just be my opinion, but it seems to me that it leaves the kids hanging onto a thin rope and falling into whatever life they can carve out for themselves.

Back to school

With the new school year coming, I thought I would drop a few hints that might make it a little more survivable for both students and parents. Think of it as passing on what I learned the hard way. Your choice is whether or not to take advantage of that experience.
The first thing that needs to be said is that an education doesn't have to be a chore. Each time we learn a new skill, we get that much closer to being independent, to doing what we want. For a kid, that means that learning to work with numbers means that you can learn to handle your own money. Learning about the stuff taught in social studies means you can make your own decisions about how to deal with other people.
So if education means freedom for kids, what do parents get out of the deal? Well, for one thing, they get kids that can cope on their own. That is the goal of parenthood, isn't it? Besides, as your child learns, so do you. When we stop learning, we aren't living.
Now, about making learning a little easier on everyone concerned, that is tricky.
Organization is the key, most especially as you get to the more advanced grades. If you cannot find your notes, you can't study.
Try this, for each subject, keep one small binder. (A very durable, one inch binder is best.) In that binder, you keep the notes for the unit currently being studied, and about ten fresh sheets of paper. That is the book you take to class. As each unit if finished, staple those sheets together, and store them for future study. Carrying around more than you really need just drags a student down.
Parents and students should try to study together. I realize that this isn't always possible, after all, adults have to work, and kids have social lives and sports. All I can say is that the benefit of working together is greater than the effort. Sometimes, a student needs the benefit of experience to help them find the path. In other words, don't do the work for them. Just talk around problems.
Finally, try to apply what has been learned as soon as possible. The biggest problem many kids have with learning is seeing how it is relevant. If you can see the reason for knowing something, you will remember it. It isn't easy making a kid care about the knowledge that the school system tries to ram into his or her skull. Parents have to be aware of what their kids are learning each day, and then try to help them see what it means to their lives.
I hope this helps. If something else occurs to me, I will update this post.

That day

It's my birthday today. I'm a grand total of thirty-seven years old. It was a question of just how long I'd be around, as my childhood went.
I was a kind of sickly little guy. I got the usual childhood maladies, chicken pox, measles, you know. I also spent a lot of time with ear infections. They must have affected my balance, because I also spent a large portion of my time falling, most notably down stairs. I like to think that, with all of this, I must have a team of guardian angels looking after me. How can one kid spend so much time sick and injured, and still make it to adulthood?
It actually got so that my parents were getting strange looks whenever they would take me to the hospital.
My family is the greatest though. I don't think there is anything they would not do or give up for me. A lot of people complain about how their parents neglected their feelings, or were always butting in where they weren't wanted. My folks may have had to work hard, but they were always there when I needed the calm voice of reason. Granted, I wasn't the surly teenager that you see these days, but I wasn't the easiest kid to raise either.
School wasn't that big a deal for me. I did fine in class and all, but I never really fit in with people my own age. Being small, I got teased a lot, with one particular fool pushing harder than others at any given time.
It takes a lot to get me angry, so when I hit back, let's just say there isn't a whole lot of sympathy to be had for the bully.
University life was pretty much wasted on me. I couldn't find a way to really get involved in anything. It kind of made me feel like an ant in a very large colony, to be honest with you. Using the tunnels to get from place to place on campus sort of highlighted that aspect of things. I had to spend a lot of time working to try and keep the bills paid, and that really got in the way of figuring out what I was going to do with my life.
I have written before about some of the work that I have done in my time. There have been jobs that would be a postscript on most anyone else's resume. Those are the jobs that I am most proud to have done. Why is it that the simplest things mean so much to me? I think if I were still physically able, I would still be doing small, menial jobs that I enjoy.
This I haven't written about before, and likely won't again. Almost six year ago, I got sick. When the weakness wouldn't go away, I went to see my doctor. I have been given a diagnosis of Muscular Dystrophy, a slow progressing variety. (There is still some question as to what kind.) So far all the symptoms have meant is that I cannot do much in the line of manual work. I'm not confined to a wheelchair or anything. A cane and a walker keep me able to get around.
The upside of my condition has been meeting my wife. She moved into the building that I had to move into. We began playing cards together, became friends, and eventually fell in love. (Even if she would have the ace and both jacks and not call it!) She is also disabled, but we seem to manage well enough. She looks after me through my spells of fatigue and muscle twitches, and I massage her back when she is sore. I would rather be disabled with her than to have any able-bodied woman I've ever known.
That wasn't very articulate, but you get the idea.
The point here, and yes, there is one, is that I've had a pretty good life so far. Thirty-seven years of it. I look forward to discovering the future. Why don't you come along and discover it with me?

Computer time

I've been at the computer a fair bit these days. My typing has gotten pretty good, even if my fingers don't always do what I tell them to. I think I may be up past sixty words per minute now.
All of this time at the keyboard has given me lot of insight into the type of computer that would work best for my wife and I. Currently, we use a Toshiba laptop that I purchased four years ago, when my disability claim came through. It serves us well, but is definitely obsolete now. Nor does it meet the optimum conditions for my wife.
If I had the money, I would like to purchase a good desktop computer for her. It would have a 19" LCD monitor, at least one gig of ram and a four gig processor. She very much prefers the standard keyboard layout to the one on the laptop. As well, it would be nice if she could have a newer scanner, something that works quickly and easily.
Of course, that would mean a new desk. An Ikea student desk isn't really ideal for a serious computer user.
For myself, I would as soon have another laptop, but this time, I think it would be a tablet pc. I like the idea of being able to write in my own hand. Also, I am a compulsive doodler, and thousands of trees would be saved if I could do away with paper completely. The ability to just draw and erase is a great feature. Two computers would give us a little bit more of an opportunity to do some things together. She likes to game on Pogo.com (that should cover our memberships for a while), and would like me to be able to play with her now and then.

These are all "what if's" though. Dreaming can be fun, but it doesn't pay for the coffee.

Paperless society?

Why is it that when a person gets into a civil service job, the first thing they do is call around asking for information they already have? This morning I got a call from the guy who is in charge of tenant relations asking me to get a note from my doctor, explaining the medical needs of myself and my wife. That note was submitted to them three years ago when we first applied for an apartment together.
I think it's the way files are handled. In this age of computers, it would probably be a lot easier if every single document was scanned the instant it came into an office and placed in the appropriate folder. The hard copy could then be put someplace safe and out of sight. Some guy would have to sit in an office somewhere waiting on the call to go find it, but at least it would definitely be in one place.
I've often thought the same thing about doctor's files. My own medical file must be close to three inches thick. The back wall of the receptionist's area doesn't need to be insulated. No draft could get through that much paper. Bank tellers should have to stand behind medical files. Think of the time that could be saved if a doctor could just call up your history on her PDA over a wi-fi system. How about prescriptions printed neatly from a list of drugs, and then the doctor just signs the bottom?
We were told ages ago that we would become a paperless society with the advances of the computer. Now it seems like we have more forms to fill out than ever. The ironic one is the five page form that allows an organization to keep a computer file of your data.

Tools of all trades

My family went together and got me a set of knives for my birthday. It was a very expensive set, and they should not have gone to so much expense. I would have been thrilled just to get the chef's knife, the one that I use most.
My parents and siblings knew to get me that sort of thing though, because they know that I enjoy cooking, and have always wanted some quality tools to do it with.
That's what I want to talk about today. No matter what the job you want to do, it always pays to buy the best tools that you can afford. Then take care of them, a tool is only a good as the way you maintain it. In the case of the knives, that means keeping them clean and properly sharpened. When it comes to the tools we have, it means having a good, dry place to store them and keeping the moving parts oiled.
My wife inherited a set of good, well used and cared for hand tools. They will last a lifetime, if only we take good care of them and use them properly. The correct tool for the job. Would that we had a proper workshop where the wrenches could be hung up, and the screwdrivers sorted by type and size. It would be so easy to do those small repairs if we knew exactly what we had and where it was.
For me, the obsession with good tools goes right down to the kind of pen I use when I'm writing. It has to be a fine line, in black ink. I'm left handed, and that sometimes means messy writing. I also have a tendency to write small, hence the need for a very fine line pen. This seems like a stupid thing to most people. A pen is a pen. For me, it's a question of feel, and without the right one, everything creative goes out the window.
It isn't easy to get quality tools today. We live in a society of do-it-yourself convenience. You buy a cheap tool every time you want to do a job, then throw it away. It shows in the final product, which also tends to be something we "throw away". I like to buy my father tools that he needs, and that will last him until the end of time. When he uses that tool and feels the quality, he will think of that, and put the same care and attention into what he is building.
At one time, people did a lot of work on their own homes. They didn't just buy a house that was in the right location for the time. People got married and set down roots in a community. The house was built to last, and sometimes went from generation to generation. Now we buy houses just for the sake of getting it inexpensively, reside there for a few years, and then hope to make a profit and move up to something better.
This post has moved from the subject of quality of tools to something about the values we hold. It seems like a natural progression. If you want to know what a person feels is important, take a good close look at the things that they use everyday. It is the tools of our lives that tell who we are, and how we approach the things we have to do.

Thinking too hard hurts

I was going to write a piece about the nature of reality. I didn't get more than two paragraphs before I had a major case of brain freeze. My mind hit a wall, and at forty miles an hour.

The question I asked you to consider was no less than, "Is the world around us real?"

I realized that there are some questions that just shouldn't be asked. That particular one doesn't have a proper answer. There are too many ways of seeing the nature of reality, most of them explored at one time or another in works of science fiction, "The Matrix" being one of the most famous.

I now understand how a young lad I use to tutor might have felt when hit with something for the first time. He would look at me as if I had demanded that he prove the special theory of relativity. It was something that I just couldn't quite get my head around.

I like to think of myself as something of a philosopher. The whole point of having a mind, is to be able to contemplate these deeper questions. Religion, art and science are the expressions of that thought. The problem comes when you try to discuss these things. How do you even write a paper proposing the subjectivity of reality without sounding nuts? The closest you can really get is a science fiction story.

Maybe it isn't so much the questions that I am having a problem with. Maybe it's about my own answers, and how inadequate they seem. Just because I believe something to be true, I don't see how I could ever prove it. I know in my own mind that there is a God (in a manner of speaking), but there is no way I could ever prove it in a definitive way.

Just because thinking is difficult, though, doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. It's not unlike exercise. Your muscles will ache, but when the ache is gone, you are stronger for it. As we stretch our minds a little bit, we may get a little confused, but often we come out a little bit wiser for the effort. There is truth in the old saying that the brain is the strongest muscle in the human body.

Just don't ask me to prove it.

Animation

I am about to reveal a little bit about myself here. If you promise not to laugh that is. I wouldn't want to be responsible for injuries suffered on the Internet, you know.
I love Disney cartoons.
There, I said it.
As my friends know, we don't have children in the house. I don't babysit, and my nieces have long since grown up. Still, we have at least a dozen Disney tapes on our shelves. Some of them are starting to wear out they have been played so much. My wife loves them as much as I do. At what point do you outgrow these things?
I think my all time favourite has to be Lilo and Stitch. The music is perfect, and the story is just downright adorable. The setting lent itself to the colourful style of animation that they really perfected.
My only question is, where on God's green Earth did Lilo get the impression that Elvis Presley was a "model citizen"? Watching Stitch put his hair up and wear the spangled jumpsuit was just hilarious. No Elvis is not dead, he reincarnated as a koala-like alien and lives on a small island in Hawaii. The scene on the beach always throws me into hysterics.
Sandra, on the other hand, is big Winnie the Pooh fan. For Easter one year, I bought her a baseball shirt with Tigger on it. She wears a pair of Pooh Bear socks so much that I've had to repair a hole in the toes. We went to the Disney store in Ottawa, where she got a Grumpy sweater and a stuffed Bambi toy.
To this day, I'm a little ticked at myself for not getting the stuffed Stitch doll dressed in that jumpsuit holding his ukulele! That's just the sort of thing you've got to have. It's like one of those singing fish that rednecks keep in the bathroom.
I was just so excited when Disney bought out Pixar, the people who produced Shrek. Now they have the option of doing a lot more computer animated stuff. Between that and the traditional animation, I think Disney could be accused of having a monopoly.
My other little guilty pleasure is old Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons. There is nothing quite so refreshing as sitting down with a bowl of cereal and laughing your arse off at that silly coyote. Sometimes I wish I owned the Acme company, just to find ways to mess with his head.
Like I said, I may be revealing a bit more about myself than I really should. Go ahead and laugh now, just be careful about it. After all, even when you aren't watching them, cartoons should bring a smile to your face.

New military cargo planes

There was a large news story recently about the delivery of the first of four new jets for the Canadian Air Force. When it arrived in Trenton, the first thing they did was show it off to the media, saying what it will mean to the Canadian Armed Services. The behemoth can be configured to carry hundreds of troops, a few heavy vehicles, or be used as an airborne hospital. It has been touted as a very versatile craft.

The complaint made by some is that we were better off renting such heavy lifting equipment. Whenever we need to get Canadian Personnel anywhere, we have always had to rent large aircraft from the United States, or another ally. Some people apparently think that is the way to spend tax dollars, with the billions for the latest planes going on smaller ordinance.

I personally think that we should have ordered two more of the Starlifters. My reasoning is as follows.

Canada has made a habit of going into countries far out there to pull everyone else's chestnuts out of the fire. In an environmental disaster, we are often the first on the ground actually doing something. By having to rent the planes to get us there, we are at the mercy of the prices that the United States feels like charging us.

What happens on that day when we feel the obligation to help those from nations that our allies find objectionable? We aren't in a position to get aid or military personnel anywhere in a hurry. Renting is only a bargain when you aren't constantly in need of the equipment. Would you rent a refrigerator? If the world expects us to be there when political or natural disaster strikes, we have to be able to move a lot of stuff fast, and at our discretion.

In response to those who feel the money would have been better spent on smaller planes, I would simply say that the large cargo planes fulfill more of the missions Canada does best. Flexibility is a key in the world these days. We don't know where we are going to have to put people and equipment. Let's invest in the means of getting the most in one place as quickly as possible. Manpower will trump air power in the long run anyway.

I said that we needed to order two more planes. History shows that the reconstruction and peace keeping work that Canadians do is long term. It would be best of we could keep four planes air ready at any given time, with two undergoing regular maintenance. If you're going to do the job, do it right.

I think even those opposed to the purchase of the planes are going to wake up one day and realize just how important the mobility of the Canadian Armed Forces truly is. All it will take is for one natural disaster to hit on our own soil and one of these planes to handle the evacuation.

Massage and adaptation

My wife suffers from a bad back. When she was a child, she had multiple surgeries in an attempt to correct the problem. They were successful for the most part, but the surgeon advised her parents that she would have back trouble in the future.
The future has come a little sooner than she thought.
In the process of moving, Sandra has discovered that there are many things she could do five years ago (when she last moved) that she cannot do now. While cleaning cupboards and reaching for items, she has gotten aches in places she has never had them before.
I am trying to do my best to look after her, as depressed as she is by the whole situation.
The most effective thing I can do for her is massage. It's a skill I picked up as a teenager, given a mother prone to migraine headaches.
The trick to a really good massage is to find the spot that is the source of the pain. Sometimes that isn't as easy as it sounds. For example, an ache in the legs is most often the result of tension on either end. Massage could be required in the feet, or at the small of the back. Sometimes I think a little study of the Chinese art of acupressure would be of benefit in the attempt at pain relief.
The other thing about giving a massage is a good sense of touch. Quite often what is under your fingers will tell you a lot about what is going on under the skin. Heavily calloused hands will never be capable of a proper massage. You have to feel the muscles responding to your touch, otherwise, you could just do more damage.
Some people make the mistake of trying to manipulate the spine or other bones. That is ALWAYS a no-no. Messing with a person's skeletal structure is just asking to put them in traction for a month. Unless you are trained, don't even try.
Which brings us to the amount of pressure that should be used. That varies, depending on the location of the pain (both relative to where you are massaging and to sensitive organs), how severe the pain is and how deeply into the tissue you want to massage. A relaxing massage requires surprisingly little pressure. It's more about applying warmth than anything else. Use just enough pressure to feel the muscle layers under the skin, and keep the fingers moving at all times. When dealing with major arthritis pain, it may be necessary to rub a particular spot harder. Especially if the joint in question is deep in. Again, avoid using so much pressure that you run the risk of actually hurting internal organs.
In the case of my wife, massage is really only a stop-gap measure, at least at the level that I am capable of. If I were rich, I'd send her to a spa and let the professionals do the job. The best that I can hope for is that I can relieve the more severe aches, and that the doctor can give her some medication that will work to keep her quality of life as high as possible.
We have to learn to accept that as we get along in life, there are some things that we just won't be able to do. As I learn these thing, my goal is to find a way around them. As Grissom once said on CSI, "If the world won't adapt to you, you adapt to the world."

A dangerous place

I was wandering through the blog pages yesterday. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that came up on the screen. There may be a large market for Internet pornography, but in a blog space? A couple of the blogs automatically sent me to the associated sites.
Being an adult, and relatively mature, I was able to simply shake my head and navigate away from those sites.
What I could not escape was all of the ad ware that was hidden in those sites. I had to run two scans on my computer. A quick scan came up with over thirty items hidden in the bowels of my computer. Later that night, I ran a deep scan. It managed to find forty. I shudder to think of what these little buggers of a hackers dreams are doing to my processing ability. For that matter, what kind of data could be pulled from my computer before I find these things.
The Internet hasn't been a very safe place these days. If you don't have an antivirus program installed, for God's sake don't even think about connecting! There was a piece on the news one night about the consequences of not protecting your computer. If it becomes infected and passes enough viruses along, your ISP will disconnect you. then you will spend well over two hundred dollars getting the crap taken off of your hard drive.
The point though, is that it can be hard knowing which sites to trust. I promise that I will not run ads on this blog. I will not link you to anything that I have not personally used safely. File that away with the other promises that I've made when starting to blog. You have my hand on it.

Shuttle program

The NASA shuttle program is due to be shut down in a little over a decade. There has been a lot of work by several design companies to come up with a replacement. The current idea is to send people and supplies on separate flights. The crew vehicle can be smaller and lighter, eliminating the need for so much fuel, and consequently avoiding the whole foam damage issue.
The hope is that the new system can lay the groundwork for finally getting the International Space Station completed, a new mission to the moon and eventually a manned mission to Mars.
The problem with doing anything in space is the cost of getting anything into a solid orbit. At over twenty thousand dollars per kilo (or ten thousand per pound for those of you who refuse to get with the metric system), transport is the prohibitive factor. Shuttles have brought the cost down considerably, being reusable. If personnel needed a new vehicle for every single trip, it just wouldn't work.
I sometimes wonder what the effect would be if we could ever get the cost of shipping stuff reliably into space below the five thousand dollar per tonne mark. What if putting stuff into orbit or onto the moon were no more expensive than shipping a bunch of cars from Japan to North America? How long would it be before somebody got the idea of moving all of our messiest manufacturing off of the planet? You want steel, Mars is practically made up of iron ore.
The second, and by far the most difficult problem to get past is human nature. Once we can send people off of the planet easily and cheaply, somebody is going to exploit that. Where the Chinese Snakeheads now smuggle people into North America to work in sweat shops and brothels, they would now send them to places so far, that the law would not be able to find them. The factories on Mars that I spoke of would be staffed by slave labour conscripted from the poor and vulnerable.
Still, I like the idea of proper space exploration. Enough experimenting to see how people react to weightlessness. We know that already. One third of us lose our lunch. We can create large enough vessels to generate spin for artificial gravity anyway.
We should concentrate on bringing the cost of getting people and supplies down to that magic number. Then we can rebuild the Space Station as an orbiting construction yard for space probes and vessels for deep space exploration. By the time we finally have the infrastructure ready, maybe we will be ready as a people to get out and see what the universe has to offer.

Insomnia

Does anyone out there have a really good cure for insomnia? Aside from pharmaceuticals that is. My wife and I already have medications for anxiety and muscle twitches that are SUPPOSED to make us drowsy enough to sleep. What we need is an alternative for those nights when sleep just won't come.
The biggest problem is that I am a natural night-owl. I have been since the time that I was a child. I can easily spend the hours from eleven at night until three in the morning immersed in a good book. Late night television doesn't really have much to offer, with the exception of the occasional old movie.
I have a theory that the time that you were born has a lot to do with your circadian rhythm. For example, I was born at two in the morning, give or take a few minutes. All of that activity at the start of my life might have hardwired into my brain that the wee hours of the morning are the best time to be active.
I didn't say it was the most solid theory in the world.
I've heard all of the old home remedies for insomnia. The problem is, most of them just don't do a thing for me. Warm milk just makes me want to throw up. Who can sleep after a large turkey meal.
Okay, we all want to sleep after Turkey Day, but that's just a nap. Anything heavy on the stomach is not conducive to a good nights sleep. Especially if you are prone to heartburn in the first place. Besides, think of the weight gain after just a few sleepless nights.
I do know a few things that are supposed to help.
You're not supposed to read or watch television when you get into bed. Experts say that sends your body mixed signals. The bedroom is supposed to be exclusively for sleeping.
Well, and one other activity.
If you do choose to fall asleep to television or movies, black and white movies that are slow paced are recommended. Supposedly, the monochromatic light has a hypnotic effect. I can't say as I've ever tried that one out myself. I do wish I had kept a few old westerns that my mother lent me at one time.
If you find that you can't sleep after more than an hour, give it up. Get up and do something boring. If you aren't sleeping, I figure you might as well be doing something productive. Who knows, maybe you could get tapes of your old high school teachers. Some of them were the ultimate cure for insomnia.

Volunteer emergency personel

I want to get on my soap box for a moment here. There are a lot of people out there who are working at jobs on a volunteer basis that most of us wouldn't do for any amount of pay.
Sometimes when you live in a larger community, you take these people a little for granted. They went to school for this, they trained just for this, it's how they make their living. At that, I think we should spend a little more time thinking about these everyday heroes. Who else goes into a burning building while everyone else is trying to get out?
My uncle and his older sons were all volunteers in a small town. Whenever the sirens would sound, my cousins' wives would gather at my aunt's house and worry until they had come home. In a rural community, there are a lot of fire situations that get out of hand so quickly. Barn fires can be particularly nasty, as bad as factories in their own way.
Back to the soap box though.
I think, when you live in a community, it is really a privilege to serve in some way. There has to be something really good about that feeling when you get back from doing something, when you realize you have made a large difference in the lives of others. To be able to do something that big must be even more amazing. Yet all of the firefighters I know prefer to be humble about that service.
I have been fortunate to never need the services of the men and women in the big red trucks. If the day should come that I do, I just hope that I remember to thank them. Before then, I think I may just have to pay a visit to the station when they are doing their weekly training.

Fantasy lives

I've always been something of a daydreamer. My mind will wander off to great places once in a while. If you ever come across me with a blank expression on my face, just ask where I am.
This can lead to some interesting conversations with my wife. We can be sitting quietly in the car, and all of a sudden, I'll start talking about houses, pets or jobs I'd love to have. She never knows just exactly what to expect when I open my mouth. It has to be the conversational equivalent of being on one of those quiz shows on television.
"For the car, the dishwasher and the cash, what topic am I discussing now?"
I think the ability to drift off into fantasy begins as a defence mechanism. When the mind simply rejects what is happening in the so-called real world, it just makes things up on its own. I was kind of a loner as a child, so a fantasy world was an essential. Books were a launching point, and then my very fertile imagination would take over.
These days, a lot of my daydreams aren't working as well as they used to. Reality has a tendency to come crashing in. As an example, a wife and two cats have no place in the life of a freighter captain on the high sea. A man with an inability to climb stairs has no right being a cop.
You might say that daydreams are childish, and that maybe my subconscious is just telling me to grow up. Maybe, but I prefer to think that it's just that my imagination is having a harder time getting around that stumbling block of reality. Which isn't to say that I don't let it try once in a while. I've heard it said that some good literature has been produced that way.
When you do fantasize, do you ever dream up a whole back story to whatever it is you are thinking about? Sometimes, I have to come up with a whole cast of characters, both major and supporting. I don't even necessarily have to be a part of my own story. It's like a book I'm writing in my head.
At this point, you are probably telling me to get a life. I do have one, and it is a perfectly fine life, but sometimes we all want a little break from the world we live in. Most especially after watching the evening news.
I guess that's why reading will never loose its appeal for me.

The path of extremism

Yesterday I linked you to the site of Scott Adams blog, (http://www.dilbertblog.typepad.com/) because of an interesting debate his readers were having. Today, I link to it again, because now a debate has focus. Someone has written a blog of their own, taking issue with Mr. Adams views on atheism and agnostics.
I'm not going to jump into that debate. I don't fear the fires of hell, I fear the flames of the Internet. On the other hand, it would be a good way to gain readership.
What I want to discuss is what the fierce defence of worldviews can lead to. Here are two grown men debating the nature of God back and forth. Furthermore, each makes judgements about the character of the other based on those points of view. In fact, the argument seems to have become just a coincidental thing.
It might help if these gentlemen spoke the same language. Half of this debate is over semantics. Like most arguments around the concepts of religion.
My point is, if it is so easy for two rational (At least I am assuming these are rational people.) to get into a back and forth flaming fest over discussing religion, how much of a stretch is it for the uneducated to get stuck in a spiral of violence for the same cause. If all of your knowledge is handed down by zealots, you can be talked into strapping on a bomb and walking into a Taco Bell without any trouble.
In the new age of digitally aware people, I can foresee the arguments of Mr. Adams and Mr. Cline inciting violence in certain corners of the world of fanatics. It doesn't take much. Perhaps instead of slamming each other, maybe they could try to work out exactly what each means by the words atheist and agnostic. They still might not agree about the big picture, but at least they will be arguing on the same terms. Apples and apples please people.
I am a fan of the Scott Adams blog, but I think he should leave the bull baiting to drunk idiots out for a drive in the country. As for Mr. Cline, I think he needs to understand that Mr. Adams has his own unique worldview, and accept that he is permitted to share it with his readers.
If we are as intelligent as we would like to believe, I think we can be trusted to make up our own minds what to believe.

Ten year old intelligence

Today I read the Dilbert blog (www.dilbertblog.typepad.com) which was about an e-mail Scott Adams received from a ten year old boy. There was some question as to whether or not it was a hoax. The language used was very precise and intelligent, correctly spelled for the most part, and just not what one would expect of a child.
I fall into the category of those who believe that the letter could have been written by a ten year old boy. I have seen the level of ability displayed by youngsters. So have you. How many of you have seen a kid reading the Harry Potter books? A show of hands please. That is no easy read, and yet there are reports of kids not much more than seven having read it in two nights. Not just reading it, but understanding it.
These kinds of kids are the thing that gives me hope for the future. With any luck, this Bobby kid will avoid having the crap kicked out of him by older, dumber kids. If he goes on to use such a talent and obvious intelligence, maybe he and his peers can pull us out of the dark ages that we seem to have been heading for these last few years.
I like to think that all kids are capable of showing high intelligence. If they have the genetic predisposition, then it's just how we train and encourage. Stress that last word, encourage. Smart kids really just have to be exposed to conditions that let them learn. They have minds like little sponges that soak up any knowledge within reach. History is full of such people. Einstien, Mozzart, Twain, all of them were gifted in different areas, and all of them flunked at something in their education.
You have to be so careful these days who you call an idiot or a nerd. I have this clear picture in my head of some guy that Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs went to school with. They would have picked on them for being electronics geeks. Now those same Neanderthals are pounding away with frustration on keyboards that the two Steves made possible, making minimum wage because they were afraid to learn about something new. That is the true power of ironic revenge, people.
We won't even go into the envy of Bill Gates' former classmates.
I think if we could just encourage a little bit of the genius that exists out there, we could solve half of the world's problems within twenty-five years.

Reputations earned

A friend and I were out last night, and I mentioned to him that I was able to get our new apartment with pretty much no questions asked. For the most part, I can go anyplace in the immediate area and get treated very well, just on the basis of my reputation. My family's name carries a lot more weight than one might think, not being wealthy or anything like that.
My good name follows me from my days in high school. As a rule, if you meet someone that I went to school with, they tend to have a reasonably high degree of respect for me. I don't know of anyone who has an active dislike for me. There are a few people who weren't quite so nice to me back in high school who will give me a good word.
To be honest, I think I get a lot more respect than I deserve. I haven't done anything of real note for the community. I obey the law, and I do the little things that make life a little better for others, you know, common courtesy.
I think the real source of my reputation is the basics that my parents taught me. When you say something, mean it. If you owe something, pay it. Take a man at his word, until he breaks it. If he does, don't complain about it to everyone. When meeting somebody for the first time, give a firm handshake, look him or her in the eye and smile.
My parents were trained in the old school of human relations. I think it may be time for a refresher course for the next generation.
There are some things I actually think were much better about generations past. In the fifties, a man's handshake was enough of a contract. Every gentleman carried a handkerchief, usually a fine linen one, and a watch. He literally had the time of day for you. A good man could show his feelings, but was not about to let them get in the way of what had to be done. You earned your place back then.
Today, there is an attitude of entitlement. Everything is a right as far as kids are concerned. If you do something wrong, there are no real consequences. Parents have no control over their children anymore. Teachers now have to run circles to make sure they aren't breaking the "new rules" about discipline.
I guess maybe just following the old rules is enough to warrant my reputation.

Electricity deposit

As I mentioned in a previous posting, my wife and I are moving on September 1st.
Yesterday, while doing the groceries, we stopped in to the local utilities office to get a quote of what it will cost to turn on the lights. Given today's prices, I was not so surprised that the bill will average eighty dollars per month, due to electric heating. What got me was the three hundred dollar deposit.
What is the point of that? Okay, sometimes people run out without paying their bills, but three hundred dollars? By that logic, they expect that we are going to disappear and use up three months worth of electricity before we do. I don't think that would even be possible. We could have the heat up to a trillion degrees and turn on every light in the building and not use that much.
More to the point, my wife and I are on a very limited income. She has had an account with this company before and always paid her bill. Is a deposit really a necessity?
Looking at the numbers, I can see why more and more people want to live off of the grid.
For those of you not familiar with the term (where have you been the last four or five years) that means not having any utilities at all coming into your home. You produce your own electricity by means of solar or wind power. Heat is taken care of by hot water or electricity you produce yourself. Wood burning stoves have seen a major resurgence.
Some people have taken this to the other end of the spectrum. They have put up wind farms. For a certain amount of money each year, usually dependent on utility rates, they allow the electric company to harvest power from wind turbines on their property. One medium to largish windmill produces enough power for dozens of homes. Farmers put these things out in the middle of pasture, let the cows graze around them, and then get paid every time the wind blows. Now there is a deal.
If I could do this, I think I would charge a fifteen thousand dollar deposit.

Harry Potter and mixed worlds

Unless you live under a rock in the middle of the Kalahari (in which case you aren't gonna be reading this post) you will have heard about the last Harry Potter book ad nausea. Before you stop reading, I am not going to spoil it for you. This is no about the book.
I've had a thought percolating in my head for a few books now.
There are a lot of similarities between the magical world of Harry Potter and the George Lucas galaxy of Jedi. Don't laugh, think about it. Special people in both worlds are gifted with abilities that have to be mastered. Amongst both wizards and Jedi, there is the danger of dark magic, either in the form of the dark arts, or the dark side. Also, in each series, there is one "Chosen One" that will restore things to their natural order.
Let's carry this thought further. Both Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker have mentors who die, leaving them to carry on alone, to complete tasks that they do not fully understand. Only by defeating the dark versions of themselves can they ever completely come into their own. Harry must either destroy Voldermort or die, and Luke must face his twisted father and come through the darkness within himself. If either character fails, the fate of worlds lies in the balance.
Which brings us to the question that has occupied my mind since Harry started learning about his abilities. What would happen if a Jedi Knight were faced with a dark wizard of Harry Potter's world? Given the difference in their abilities, who would come out the victor in such a conflict? After all, a Jedi has no need of a wand. He doesn't have to speak incantations to have his affect. On the other hand, a wizard can appirate or disappirate, disappearing at his or her convenience. A Jedi's power comes from the life around him, and he knows the source and strength of his abilities. A wizard actually seems to draw most of his power from his wand. If you take that away, he is less than a wizard.
I think, when it comes down to it, there could only be one winner. The victor is the one who can draw the most power to bear for the right cause. In any fictional world, darkness can never be the victor, because it TAKES it's power from others, while light gives power as well using it.