Countdown

I am a product of the age of Space and Rocketry exploration.
Before there was a Gemini or Mercury program.

Buck Rodgers and Rocky Jones were the fill of my idle hours.
So, with the start of the Mercury program,
I got to watch many of the unmanned rocket test shots!

5,4,3,2,1, Ignition! Blastoff!
Usually followed by an Earth shattering BLAST!
Yeah, rocket launches were nothing if not unpredictable.

And the rockets were so small,
Until you walked amongst their smoddering remains!

Apollo 13 was the first f the modern age of rockets I was able to view up close,

My Great-Uncle Leonard had a vibratating chair.
Nestled next to if was huge shortwave radio.
I used to hop into the chair and turn on the news, so as to hear the  rocket laungh.
5. 4. 3. 2. 1 Ignition
(start the vibrating chair!
BLASTOFF!!!!!

It was such great fun!

:^)

Elton John

I am not muchon making comments about others, well only if they warrant it.
Certainly, Elton John has got some comments due him, but he plays nothing in my life at this time.
This was not always so .......

Now, there was a time when I was living in Colorado, outside of Colorado Springs.
I worked on a new type of computer development with IBM.
Well, that was six days a week.
That left me one day for my passion, as well as weeknights, rock collecting.
And Colorado does have rocks!

I was reading a piece on the scarcity of tungsten, and its worldwide demand.
Prior to the 1920's, Colorado had the the top producer of tungsten.
So, what happened?

South Africa was opened up for mineral development.
Well, if the price of tungsten was going to go up,
Why not see about getting a few of those Colorado mines working again?

Oh, I located a good property, plenty of potential.
But, it seems I kept crossing paths with this Elton John dude!
No he was not looking  for minerals, but a Colorado retreat.
In fact, a working mine was the last thing he wanted to see happen.
Interestingly, the county had zero interest in that either!

So, Elton locked up the entire Caribou area.
Dozed anything to do with the mines on that property,
Dozed the mine dumps,
Flattened the townsite,
and then posted the property!
Problem was, he bought it on a silver claim.
Mining properties are supposed to remain just that.
You can't lock down a mining claim and convert it to vacation playlland!

Unless you are rich, world famous and officials are corrupt enough!

So I was a pain in his backside and visa-versa.

To me he was just another famous cocaine addict.
Wasn't going to live long.
In the meantime, I would get my tungsten rights secured.

Four decades later,
I am looking for something to watch and there is this movie about his life.
Now, no one under 21 needs to see this movie,
Probably those over 21 do not need to either.
But it is interesting to see if you knew him or had to deal with him!

It does lay out his problems, bad homelife and drugs.
It does define why he became the way he was.
Sad part was that God was allowed no place to play a role in his life.

And Caribou did not even exist in this movie!
Of course a lot of other things in Elton's life where either brushed over or ignored as well.

As for me,
I found my father's "dead" family in Switzerland,
And thus began the very quiet and fragile work at seeking them out.
Family is far more important to me than rocks .....

Sister Freaking Out!

Sommer, needed a break and took off to Iowa two weeks ago.
Her idea of Heaven: bratwursts, antiques and craft beers!
I could see a day off that, but TWO weeks?

So I get a panicked text from her.
She just got home and the neighborhood is on fire.
Thousands are rioting,
And the governor has called for the national guard ...

Yeah, she lives in Minneapolis.
In fact only a block from where the cops managed to kill yet another black man.
They had not fully recovered from the last time this happened!

So, she is freaked out.
Even thinking of finally leaving this Hell-hole for good!
Yeah, any place with Minneapolis' weather is what I equate to a Hell-hole,
Baking sunshine with droughts.
Freezing long winters, with power outages.
Heavy rains in fall, with flooding.
Rains with flooding in spring.

Heck yeah, sounds like a must live in to me!

So, I told her again to come out here.
"Heck no! Don't you remember 40 years ago?"

Oh course I do.
One does not forget 35 hours fleeing a volcanic blast!
Nor the week of blindness I suffered through.
Not to mention all of the eye rinses to get the ground mountain out of my eyes!
Never have worn my contacts since!

Hmmmmm.
Rioting or volcano?
I think I would prefer brats in Iowa ......
Prosit Sommer!

Answer For

I get involved in the strangest conversations sometimes!

Take one from from Friday ...

Now I am just happy to talk with ANYONE these days.
Yeah, my friends have all gone home and disappeared!
I Don't get it it.
Many of them seem to just disappear, if they are not working!
And I know they are home and NOT working!
So, what are they doiing?
No idea.

Now, I was thinking about stepmother, Gwen.
I really miss her!
And I was in a discussion with someone concerning the excesses of the Roman Catholic Church..

Gwen suffered at the hands of teachers she had in parochial school.
And I relayed some of her tales of the abuses she suffered at the hands of those whom NEVER should have been allowed near a vision impaired child!
Of course, it did not help that the condition came and went.
I saw her on days where she could not find the floor,
Then on others when she could spot a spaghetti sauce stain on my tie at forty feet!
(Totally freaked me out the first that happened!)

And the person I was talking with commented,
That those people had a great deal to answer for .....

But in reality,
If I read my Bible correctly,
All any of us get to answer for is:
"Did you submit, in faith, to Jesus' Lordship in your life"

Pretty simple yes or no condition!

Yet we muck it up continually with what is our pet peeve.
Method of baptism,
Or just baptism, period!
Tithing
Anything to do with the Holy Spirit.
etc, etc, etc!

Sure glad Jesus gets to sort it all out at the end!
Nobody wants me deciding their fate based on my take on their life!
I have enough problems keeping myself straight with me!

Well, just something to think on while the BBQ warms up.

Covid Central

Greetings from the current American leader in all things COVID, except for deaths!

I am so sick of this house arrest I live under,
Sure lots of people a violating the containment and will survive.
But I was identified as a "strategic resource" and told that I have a "condition" which puts me on a watch list.
Yeah, I met six out of six conditions.
To guarantee death if I get it!
And apparently someone wants me alive.
sigh

Hence, I get daily checks for any symptoms,
It is fine with me,
Just over-kill.
Probably once every two weeks would be just as good.
Given the state of what we know.
Which is not much.

Swede is also under watch orders and he spends days every week in testing!
But then, he is showing something is wrong with him.
All teasing aside!
We are waiting for permission for him to visit on Thursday.
I hope he can, I have not seen him since he took me to ER in December!

And since he is my closest friend these past five years,
Yeah, I miss having someone to talk with.
Long days of boredom,
Punctuated with doctors and nurses for several hours everyday.
sigh

Church still has NO plans for meeting again.
All of the art classes and shows through summer are cancelled.
All coin shows are cancelled.

Computer Crash!

Down from a computer crash!

Still down......

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to me!

Yes the inevitable as occurred again!
I have lived to see my 65th birthday, but not by much!

Celebration was dinner out to Red Lobster.
I was a mite concerned, what with Snow-mageddon and all!
Of course, it turned out the was NO snow between Seattle and Federal way, a distance that covers most of the south Seattle landscape!
So I am clueless as to where all this disaster area is - even up at Swede's there was only 3 inches!
Lord, Washitonians have grown into a group of whiny butts!
Years ago, if there was 1.5 feet of snow, we would roll over and thank God for a day off!
Not today!
No, we need FEMA to tells us not to drive on icy roads!

REALLY??????

Of course all of these transplant to the west have come from nanny-states where people have assigned the task of thinking to the state!  All you have to do is do your drugs and remember not to OD!  Oh yeah, and expect the public at large to provide all the NARCON you will need to stay alive!  Let's face it, we have become an irresponsible culture and society, all in the name of tolerance!

Okay, that is my birthday rant.
Backing off of my soapbox.
:^)

Snow

Let it snow,
Let it Snow,
Let it snow!
Ho-Ho,Ho,HO!

Yes it is that marvelous time of year when we get  annual allotment of big fluffy frozen rain flakes!

So beautiful, so calming.

I can remember sitting as a child in the inn in Basel, a big mug of steaming cocoa.  My window seat was sort of an alcove, quietly nestled off to the side, a 180 degree view of the street.  My sister found her Archies comic books more interesting than watching snowflakes, people slipping and sliding and dumping their roasted chestnuts all ove the street!

I stayed here so often, the service staff all knYeah, good times,
Warm memories.

I wonder If I got some cocoa mix?

Father's Day

Heard from all of the kids, most of the grandkids, many of my extended family as well!
Very humbling.
All of these people messaging and texting me,
And most of them, I do not know!
Amnesia is frustrating!

Oldest Daughter hosted a small party,
Which was very fun,
And exhausting!
Were my heart stronger,
I might not have fallen asleep 25 times playing hangman!
According to Oldest Grand-Daughter!

Yeah, took a couple of nitro's to keep the ticker ticking!

For my part:
My father is dead
Of the Men whom raised me:
Leonard Larsen, my Danish Dairyman great uncle, dead.
Richard Huston, my mining partner, dead.
Paul Edgar, dying.

So, I sent a card to Paul.
Then see about visiting him.
When I visited, no one was home.
sjgh

Clarification

Okay, so there is no mistake:

I have long known many Mormons.
Few as personal friends.
A few were as broken as I so we relied heavily on one another.
Some were good Mormans,
Some were good Christians, but poor Mormons.


I have long held that,
If Christians behaved more like the Mormon Church,
There would be far fewer problems for Christians!
The LDS Church supports their communities in good times and bad.
Not so the Christians!

With massive flooding throughout America's heartland,
Where is the Christian Church?
Not on site being helpful feeding, clothing and sheltering the victims!
Yeah, the LDS Church does ....

To our shame!

So, I am not horrified she has joined a group which is opposed to Jesus' message.
Cause  I know if she will follow those whom do know Jesus,
She will follow eventually as well!

So, Kris is not anti-Mormon,
Kris is pro-Jesus,
And has been for many decades!


So, mother desiring to be a Mormon does not horrify me.
I know a few in that

Stepping Carefully

So, crazy mother called up on Friday to invite me to a Baptism service being held for her at the local Mormon Ward.

I told her to tell me the place and time, and I would be there .....

My mother's family has a long history with the Latter Day Saints.  Stretching back to the its expansion into Wales 1849 and Scotland 1852!
Those families migrated to America and then walked to Salt Lake City.
With hand trucks filled with all their earthly goods.
Many died:
Struck by lightening
Drown in floods
Killed by falling trees

Yeah, America was a dangerous place for the naive.

Mother, once she graduated from college, was to foster a hate-hate relation with the Mormons.

My great grandmother Spencer was a missionary to the Umatilla Indian Tribe, outside of Le Grande, Oregon for 40 years!

So, although I was raised an atheist, I was well schooled in Mormon thought!

And now mother is willing to bury  her demons and join them?

Huhmmmmmmmm ..... Okay .....

On the one hand mother is 82 and quite lonely.
The Church members have been visiting her regularly.

Mother's trailer needs real work.
The young men have been helping her rebuild it.

Mother wants to belong to a church.
They pick her up, take her to the various functions.

So, she has joined them!
(what ever!)

I always said she was a Southern Baptist, not a Christian - same  as most Baptist's I have known!
So, she is still not a Christian, sigh ...

The baptism went well.
Certainly she is one of the oldest members of the church!
Afterwards, I hosted a luncheon for her at the local Mexican place.
I have to admit the ones I met are probably not the good Mormons,
As their views were very reformation based.
But, once the Book of Mormon was brought up, it was company line the whole way!

I really liked one of the guys,
I dare say we will be friends,
If he can live with a non-believer around him!

Father Brown

I was switching channels last night and ran across Father Brown
I do not generally watch this show.
Acting is challenged.
Dialogue is flat.
Story lines are really bad!

Yeah, not too impressed!

But, the phone ran an I was unable to turn it off.
And it was intriguing.
If for nothing more than to see what will they do to condemn a woman serial killer?
And they totally went sideways from standard Hollywood  fare.

What set this episode apart is that they actually confronted the serial killer!
And did a gospel presentation!

Yeah, they really covered all of the bases there!

It was simply amazing and so unexpected!

My oh my Father Brown, you were downright evangelical!
And you know that there are standards of behavior and referenced the show!

WOW!

In Passing

I am WAY behind in my reading!
I tell you, go and sort of die, and it is hard to catch up with ANY aspect of your new life!
So, as of last night, I am caught up with November 2018!
sigh

So, unknown to me at the time in November,
Dick Dale died!
Whom you say?

Dick Dale was the creator of the surf guitar sound of the early 1960's.
He was also documented as the fastest note picker ever on a guitar!
Hundreds of notes a minute!
Lord only knows how his tendons survived that one!

As a youth, I was quite mesmerized by his guitar prowess.
I even wanted to learn how to play the guitar.
Well, my high school sweetie was a musical anomaly,
So, it was logical.
But, Kris has NO musical ability!
(except I could sing quite well, but forget ever learning to read music!)

So, my Kay Concert sits in a box in my closet to this day .... 45 years later!
But back to Dick....

He suffered through numerous surgeries for colon cancer through the last 20 or so years.
And was quite outspoken on the subject.
I have no doubt that he lost his final bout ....

So, a blast from the past.
A little clip that shows not only his talent but his nature as well.
From Back To The Beach, a 1980's beach party satire ...
With Stevie Ray Vaughn, another dead guitarist of immense talent:

Reputation

Reputation ....
One of those words you do not think of,
When you are young.

On my mind has been a young lady,
Let us call her, Bobette.

Bobette is quite a pretty little thing.
Atheist family,
Brought up with NO knowledge of morals
Or God .....

So, did not quite make it out of high school until an older man left her with child.
Not learning a lesson from that one,
She quickly found comfort in another's arms,
And again deserted with another child.
There was no lesson in that one either it seems.
Now at 18, with two children, she crosses paths with one of "my boys".
Too bad his faith at the time was trumped by her sexuality .....

Now with third child on the way,
She decides to marry this one.
Make NO mistake,
This cost her, her family!

You see, see is completely the product of her environment.
No different thasn her mother,
No different than her grandmother,
No different than five generations of her female ancestors!

So, young man and laden young woman set upon making a life for themselves.
Oh those first few years were tough.
They both had a ton of luggage they needed to abandon,
MANY emotional traumas to overcome.
Mind you, it has not been easy on either of them!

But, with time, they developed a rhythm to life,
And it looked like they would succeed.
That is until Satan,
In the form of first baby daddy reappeared on the scene!@

No, she was no longer interested.
And when he figured this out,
Went on the warpath hoping to embarrass her back into bed - (are guys stupid or what!?!?)
And she had the honesty to admit this.

To put it bluntly,
This creep has done so much damage in their community that it has come down to:
Either they disappear,
Or he does!

Since he wants money to disappear,
More than likely to reappear every time his drug stash is low ....
Or, I have a baseball bat that says he does not get a dime!
And, yes, he will disappear ... permanently!

Luckily, relocating the family is far cheaper,
And ugly Kris need not re-appear!
(thank you Lord for sparing me this!)

So, now living many hundreds of miles away,
They are starting life over.
Reputations untarnished.
I am very excited for them.

As for Bobette,
She has learned a series of lessons she never should have had to!
I reallt feel for all of the players here,
For God will hold them accountable!
And yes, she has made her peace with her creator ......
:^)

As for husband,
It sickens him to finally understand exactly the world works;
When you are playing Satan's game,
By his rules,
In his kingdom!
And yes, a very changed man!
(may he stay so!)
:^)

Embarrassment

Embarrassment, the only reaction ANY thinking man could feel for Washington State, King County in particular - and my little burg of Burien!  Apparently the Califoirnification of this place is now complete.

Vashon Island, best known for K-2 Skies and Anderson Windows, apparently has a Greek Orthodox Church!  Who would have suspected!  They keep a mighty low profile.

Well one of their Monks was visiting Burien, when one of our fine transient types attacked him.
Yeah, he walked up to the Monk at the gas station by the bus transit center, asked him what he thought of Trump - and - cold cocked him!

Needless to say, the monk was badly hurt, his hearing perhaps lost!
Having flattened the Monk, he took off.
Photos of the attack identify him as someone with multiple warrants outstanding.
Yeah, the typical pieces of human dregs this place has attracted!

I know this monk and have had numerous discussions with him at the church in Seattle.
Nice guy.
Well meaning.
i am very sorry to hear of this evil befalling him!

With any luck his attacker will be found and committed until he can get the help he needs .... like OFF drugs!

This is just beyond the pale .....

Continuing Conversations

So, I am sitting in Huckleberry's, a local, healthier version of Denny's kind of place.
Lots of old people eat here.
Yeah, I guess somehow I got old.
Not sure how that happened.
Too many birthdays?

About 20 feet from me is a couple.
I know, I knew them, but thanks to my stroke - NO clue as to whom they are.
So, I quietly eat and listen to their talk.
And a memory is triggered ,,,,,

If you are a long time reader, I once told the tale of a horridly obese couple trying to convince their normal sized teenage daughter to gain weight!
It seems if she could hit 285 pounds by 18, she would be considered disabled and get social security disability, for life!
Never heard of such a thing!

So, from what I caught of the conversation this time:

Daughter did not make it to 285, she only attained 260.
Had a massive heart attack and died!
They were .... well, death of your only child is a life changing event!

To their credit, they both appear to have lost about half their weight!
Yeah, they still have a ways to go be healthy again.
But they are working on it!
But the poor daughter ... !

*******

At the adjacent  table are 4, twenty something lovelies.
A glass of Rose, one of Red and two Chablis later and the group was not only noisy but also lost their inhibitions!
So, they got off on, "who has the worse OBYGN"?
The leggy blonde won that one hands down.
But not without horrifying all women in earshot!
And she had not even reached the creme de la creme of her tales!

So then, she got down to a tale so bizarre,
That honestly I think she crossed paths with a psychopath!
Yeah, psychopaths worry me because they are very unpredictable, unless you know their motivation!
So, my ears perked up .....

"So, the guy came in to examine me.
I thought he looked really strange, but hey .....
So, we are chatting through the exam and then he suddenly asks me out on a date!
And, well, it has been three years, so I said, Okay."

The other women were a bit aghast, but encouraged her to continue!

"So, we met at (a local bar),
And all he wanted to do was talk about my crouch,
And how wonderful the rest of me must be!"
Lots of murmuring, so I could not hear ...

"Yeah, I excused myself to go to the bathroom.
Yeah, I left my jacket,
Caught a cab and have not been answering my phone or door!
That guy was REALLY creepy!"

A Middle aged woman stood up, approached the table and lectured the bleary eyed crowd on how inappropriate they were for her 14 year old grand-daughter!
Whom was in tears by now!
Quelled by drainiing her mother's hard liquor glass!
Well, while the cat's not watching!

Long legged blonde stumbled off and did not return!
So, the three remaining women, stayed and discussed at how inappropriate that older women was to have lectured them!

Yeay, that was something!!!!!!!!
As for GG, she was on pain meds and heard nothing ...
She might have even not been on this planet ...

*****

And what is a dinner out, without a first date train-wreck in progress?

Yeah, another weird guy trying to impress someone whom had a brain ....

At a certain point she reached quietly into her lap,
Hit a button on her smart phone,
It rang and she pretended to take an "emergency" call.
Very well executed!

So, she excused herself from the table and headed chatting on the phone with her make believe rescuer!
He stayed about 30 minutes more before exiting stage left.
Failing to pay any bill as well!
And he left her coat!

sigh ... people!

Thinking

As I have often mentioned, I like Tony Hillerman's, Navajo mystery books.
So, as I was working by way through the Thurlo offerings in the same vein, I got to thinking ....

The Thurlo's tell the better story,
But Hillerman seems to have a real grasp on human nature and peoples of an animistic belief system!

Seeing forces behind every flickering leaf is unavoidable, when you do not recognize God.
How could one reasonably respond otherwise?
So how does God deal with man, when he is hard to find if you are trapped in blindness?

It is well and good to quote, "No man comes to God apart from me ...."
But, the view means ALL are lost and remain lost.
At least until someone reaches out to them.
Who is that to be in a post-Christian age?

You could say, "you and me".
But in the face of the billions to be reached,
That number of us to reach out is quite small indeed!

No, we need revival!
But, more so, God based evangelists.
And they are scarcer than hens teeth .....
Yes, hens do have something like teeth!

The point is,
We need to be diligently in prayer for the lost to reached.
To general for you?
How about your family members, co-workers, friends, etc ...

We all know many we should be in prayer for.
Of course, the danger is that, we might end up being "the one" to reach out to them!
Good luck.
Be prepared to get vulnerable ...

Superstition

It has always amazed te amount of superstition alive in Western culture.
I see people genuflect all of the time.
Sorry, but making the sign of the "cross", accomplishes nothing!
It is nice that people are traditional enough to cross themselves,
But there is NO blessing or protection which will arise out of it.
God is not somehow going to perform for you.
Sorry, if you think otherwise.

But, the same goes with:
Not opening an umbrella indoors
Not walking under a ladder
Not letting a black cat cross your path
Throwing salt over your shoulder
Even saying, "Rabbit, rabbit" on the first of the month for luck
etcetera ad nauseam!

I was real bored one fall and wrote a small book of all of the quirky things people do to either bring them luck or "protection" from what-ever.
When I shared it with my friends, it brought gales of laughter!
Because people can be quite humorous in their daily rituals.
And, as one of the group, started reading the list - we could all envision ourselves or others easily doing most of them!
So, through the years, that humorous lesson has not gone unforgotten.

Swede decided to retire officially this week!
In actuality, he retired in June of 2010!
But, he is wealthy and I doubt he needed the money.

So, he walks in yesterday and announced he was committing suicide.
Everyone looked up at him quizzically.
"Yeah, I applied for my retirement....."
"I decided to follow both my grandfather and father to the grave!"
Everyone stared at me as I burst out laughing ....

You see, both Swede's grandfather and father died immediately after retiring.
His father died with his first retirement check in his pocket!
And Swede's retirement should come to a sweet sum:
From his work for NASA
His work for the US military
Plus another 30 years in military aircraft design and certification.

Yeah, he will do well.

Everyone laughed when I explained the joke.
Swede, not so much though.
It troubles him.
But he assured me over dinner, it is just a nagging thought - not superstition!
Then again, we will find out in a few months!

LOL!

Erin Ga Braugh

Yes, Erin ga braugh!
For sure.
Even though Ireland left a distrintly sour taste in my mouth.
Five years of running a computer consulting firm out of Cork,
Well it leaves you a bit jaded!

The people of Ireland are friendly and personable.
But, the work ethic is badly damaged by alcoholism.
And, a socialism government!
It cost me millions.

We planned to gather the entire family for St. Patrick's Day.
But mother, whom was to host, cancelled on Saturday night.
So, no celebration!

I convinced Gaelic Girl to go to Ben Franklin's down in Bonnie Lake after church.
During the 1 hour, 15 minute drive, my mother called to cancel the dinner, again.
And Oldest Daughter called to invite us to lunch.
So we diverted to Orting.

Had a blast with grand-kids!
Then took everyone to Ben Franklin's.
Grand-kids scored on that one!
Just wished we had one or or two of the others with us as well!

So, a night of sadness that there was NO celebration.
First lack of an Irish day, since 1975!
And all of the kids and grand-kids refused even try to say, Erin ga braugh!
sigh ....
Kids are not much fun in this generation of smart phone captivity!

Yuck!

As a student of Newtonian Law,
I adhere solidly to the principal of cause and effect.
If I can see a cause,
then I can know the future effect.
And, visa-versa, for past cause of observed effect.

There has only been one exception that I have observed,
And, that lay in the realm of flat out miracle!
Truly blew my mind!

So, I observe.
Behaviors (causes) and outcomes/difficulties/deaths (effects).
The larger my knowledge base,
The greater my ability to predict effect.
To my great sadness, usually.

I have noted, through the past several decades, the deaths of many people I have liked or took note of.
My taking note of you is not a good thing.
It means, I will use you in a class at some point.
Youth need warned of the folly of this world!

Think on some of them you may have been familiar with:
Jennifer Aniston
Farrah Fawcett
Elton John
Angelina Jolie
Anne Lennox
Lee Majors
Ryan O'Neal
Brad Pitt
And, so many others in the public eye!
And numerous of my friends whom you will not know of ...
And my famous relatives, who will go nameless, though perhaps eluded to in the past.

So, in this single instance, and eluding to no one, is a single science success -
Which leaves one disquieted!

The cause of colon cancer has now been linked to HPV-34.
Wow! A now known cause of another cancer!
The previous one was cervical cancer now linked to HPV as well!

WOW!

(The implications are a bit disgusting to me however ...)

So, people of liberal sexual practice, beware!
And again, in spite of popular belief - latex blocks nothing!
But, it will make you feel safer ..... that is ..... until you die .....

And few will ever listen.
My dead and dying cousins never would.
Preferring to give me the silent treatment.
After-all, I am being judgmental.

It never occurs to them they are loved.
It really hurts to see a loved one die .....