Reunion

I'm going to.. actually, I just returned from the first event of ,,my last High School Reunion.

Fifty years. FIFTY!

I remember when my mother was planning to attend her 50 year High School Reunion. I thought: "Why? They're all so old, they probably don't ever remember anybody!"

That was several decades ago. Today, I have a somewhat different perspective.

I'm old.

Damn! That's a hard one to get past.

I can do this.  I was a little excited,  a little dubious.  And  a lot apprehensive.  I was, in high-school, not a popular boy.  Got good grades, scored high in my Scholastic Achievement Tests.  (They now call them "SAT" and I suspect they're a lot different.)   But I've always been lazy, and I sure was in high school.

Reunions are a SOCIAL event, and SATs don't do a good job of measuring that.  I was so skinny that my friends use to call me "Zipper".  As in:  "Hey, Zipper!  You're standing sideways to the sun; turn around so I can see you!"  I was never popular with the girls, even though I liked them just fine.

The last time I went to a high school reunion, many of my contemporaries were fat;  I wasn't.  Not revenge, but it was sweet when the ex-cheerleaders came up to ask me how many miles I ran a day.  Yes, I did run regularly, but my body type was protecting me from criticism, not my work-out regimine.

I weighed 170# then; now I weigh over 200#.  Life happens, as well as retirement, age, change in life style.  Some of us, it just takes longer to catch up with us.

Not that I'm worried any more about what people think about me.  You've been reading this blog before?  You may have noticed that I Have An Opinion.  It's a double-bladed sword, Opinion.  When my own matters more than others, does it become "An Issue"?

I don't think so, I'm no longer concerned if my opinion doesn't agree with that of others; but I've had a lot of decades to evaluate myself based on experience ... a factor which was sorely lacking in high school.

Today, I'm not really worried about economic level, body fat index, or other "image" issues.

What I'm worried about is my classmates.

One of whom (JO)  has been doing a terrific job keeping track of her classmates.  She sent group notices (it's something of an "E-List") when something significant happens to a classmate, or their family.  This has been going on for about the past five years, so we kind of are still getting caught up.  She posted a list of classmates who have died .. I was appalled at the decimation of our class!  In the past six months, there have been another half dozen fatalities, mostly due to debilitating disease (heart disease, cancer .. you know the litany of "old people" diseases.  Mostly, the friends and acquaintances who are dying now are the victims of chronic illness.    Very few die due to accident, or violence.  Are we becoming more sedentary, more cautious in our lifestyle?  Or are we just becoming more mundane?

I guess the thing which pulls me back to my high-school classmates is, more than anything, curiosity.  We have been exchanging emails via the E-List for a couple of years.  One of the more creative suggestions was that we contribute a thumb-nail digest of our life . That happened a couple of years ago, and when I posted my bio I was surprised at the way my life had turned.

War, devastating illnesses lost of family and close friends and other loved ones.  Marriage, divorce, jobs won and lost, you name it.  My high school class is a window into the American Experience.

People who wouldn't talk to me in school, are now so mature that our status differences (then) have nothing to do  with today.  Old girl friends, people who were leaders and are now "just people" .. time is the great leveler.   Everybody knew who we were "then"; today, we have no idea, except .. we are survivors.

I have to say, I have a lot more respect for the people we are NOW, than I did when we were "THEN".   Myself included.  The things which were important, seem to be "not so much" now.

Physical Attraction (we're all a lot older, perhaps wiser?)  Who we associate with.  What we do?  

 Our priorities are different.  We're no longer concerned so much about status, as we are about family.  Actually, even being able to participate in this artificial group activity confers an amount of status.   To my great surprise, everyone who met everyone (even though we usually had to consult our name tags to be sure who w e are/were) were delighted to see each other again!  Funny ... the characteristics we demonstrated in high school were a reasonable indicator of who we are today.  Maybe we can talk about "The Formative Years" with a little more authority now, but we are far to polite to say so.

No, that's not quite it.  Subject to future reconsideration, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that --- we were freakin' KIDS then!  Now we still feel like kids, but everyone i met tonite had obviously Learned Something.


Yesterday and Today: two different things!
For the first few reunions, it was all about what college we attended.  Then it was .. what job we were doing, and how much money we earned.  Then we quit bragging about jobs, and money, and the cars we drove.  We started bragging about our kids.  That's when I quit going to reunions, because my children were more important to me than my friends ... my "so-called" friends.

No, I'm understating it.  Simple longevity counts more than we would ever have expected, "THEN".

Interestingly, of the people I use to hang out with in high-school, very few of them have 'publicly' suggested that they will be attending the reunion.  But the information I have is based on this select set of people who have made their email address known, so maybe it's meaningless data.

That's why I was looking forward to the reunion.  I want to see who shows up.  My college roomie .. yeah, I thought he'd be there.  He wasn't tonite  One of my other roomies didn't attend the same school.  One of them was married to a classmate .. he's dead now.

Yesterday I went out to the garage and pulled the box with my high-school and college yearbooks.  I don't have them all, but I wanted to put the names together with the faces.  Curiously, I didn't open a single yearbook;  I just packed them into a cardboard box from a liquor store and set it aside to take with me.  In case anyone is interested in matching faces "THEN" with faces now.   When I packed my car this morning, I didn't put that box in there.  It's not really about "THEN".

It's probably not important to me who the were "THEN".  I'm more interested in who they are "NOW".  It's not that I didn't like them, in high school.  It's that .. I suspect we are not the same people.  Photos are only interesting in retrospect;  they don't even begin to meter "potential".

There are a scant half-dozen people I'm really anxious to meet again (for the first time).  The rest are total strangers who shared only a small number of important experiences.  I met most of them tonite, and I was absolutely delighted to find them warm and welcoming. Some of them even actually knew me!  Well, not until they read the name tag.  In these events, it's a disadvantage to be TALL:  Short People can read the names without being obvious about it;  they don't have to stoop to identify.

------------


Oh, well.    This is pretty much a trip down memory lane, so far.  I'm looking forward to going back.  (Even though according to Thomas Wolfe we "can never go home" .. because home isn't there, any more.)

TOMORROW, the first event is a mile walk down main street, followed by a general meeting at "The Rainbow" (apparently a cafe ... I haven't spent an hour in this town for the past 20 years and it has changed considerably!).  Most of the people at the First-Night Get-Together ( I certainly didn't get my $15 worth of wine .. but it wasn't what I was there for) generally agreed, in whispered private conversations, that "Eight AM and I've got to walk for a mile down Main Street?  No way!  I'll see you for breakfast."

Damn!  

They're not only older , but they're smarter too!

Suicide

Sheriff: Ex-NASCAR driver Dick Trickle dead at 71 | Comcast:

CONCORD, N.C. (AP) — There is that lasting image of Dick Trickle in the Winston 500 lighting up a cigarette while driving his stock car with his knees during a caution lap. He places the cigarette through a hole he carved in his helmet for a quick toke and exhales. The green flag hits and out the window goes the cigarette butt and back to racing goes Trickle. ``Dick always had a cigarette lighter in his car,'' said fellow NASCAR driver Geoff Bodine. 

Trickle was a unique driver with a unique name who found cult-like status before his death Thursday. 

Trickle, whose larger-than-life personality and penchant for fun won him legions of fans despite a lack of success beyond the nation's small tracks, died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. He was 71. 

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office said authorities received a call believed to be from Trickle, who said ``there would be a dead body and it would be his.'' Authorities tried to call the number back, but no one answered. 

Trickle's body was found near his pickup truck at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Boger City, N.C., about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte. Sheriff's Lieutenant Tim Johnson said foul play was not suspected.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  I hate suicides!

Not just the act: the people who commit it.

Suicide is the most selfish, uncaring act one person can commit.  It goes directly against the people who care about the person.  In a way, it's worst than rape, treason, murder --- because the suicide cannot be punished more than he punishes himself .. and his victims.

Suicide. "Self Murder", to be precise, supposes that the suicide is the only victim.  That's not true.  Anyone who cared, even tangentially,  is affected.  I've known people who killed themselves, and I've see the effect on family and friends, and friends of family, and families of friends ... oh, it's too much like the "six degrees of separation" to define.

It's complicated.

I do understand that sometimes a suicide is a person who has learned that they have contracted an inoperable disease leading to a painful and ignominious end.  I get that.  And I also know what it's like to watch a loved one die slowly; that person, at the end, has nothing left at all, not even dignity.

Nothing, except integrity.

The family understands, the family eventually accepts, and the family has this last slender thread to help them eventually accept:  "He went down fighting, right to the end."  Or "... he never gave up."   Or "... anyone can live, anyone can die when it's easy; he showed us what courage is all about".

I had an uncle, the meanest man in the world, who never gave a damn for anyone else.  He was a bully, a brute, an abusive husband and father.  A drunkard, a liar, and a cheat.  He would say anything to anyone, and laugh loudest when his crude remarks hurt his victim the most.

But when he was diagnosed with Cancer, he went through the thirty months without a complain.  No, he was not cheerful; he was no less abusive, or unkind, or cruel.  But he never whined. He could have ended his life easily, but he refused to take the "easy out".

I won't call him a man, but I will give him credit for having the backbone to die as he lived; he fought often, he didn't win all or even most of his fights, but he never gave up.

I watched my father die.  I watched my lover die.  Often confused, usually in pain, and it hurt like hell when they died.  We all, family and friends, breathed a private sigh when they finally died.  Nobody said anything of the sort, but we knew that it was a blessing that they didn't have to suffer any more.

And we had respect for them. Our love for them remains untarnished by any last minute of ignominy.

You  can live a life of perfect harmony, and blow it in the last second.

I'm no a Catholic, and I do not agree with many of the tenets of that religion.  But I understand that the Catholic church does not countenance suicide, to the point that they will not allow a suicide to be buried on sacred ground.  I think I understand that. (Am I wrong?  Has the Catholic church changed its policy?  If so, I think it was/would have been a wrong move.  Suicide is Murder.)

There's  also another version of  "suicide".   When, for example, a soldier gives up his life to save his companions.  (I said it was complicated!)  Selfless actions may be 'suicidal', but noble at the same time.   We all recognize this, and know the difference.

One is noble, one is craven.  Even a suicidal person knows the difference.  The difference is in caring more for others than for oneself.

Animals don't suicide; they fight for life unto the very end   Suicides are less than animals.

Lotto Mania in "The State of Fruits and Nuts"

California fuels $550 million Powerball jackpot | General Headlines | Comcast:

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The numbers sum up the frenzy that has taken over the Golden State since it became the newest in the nation to join the madness over Powerball, which saw its jackpot soar Thursday to $550 million.

California has sold $83 million worth of Powerball tickets since it started selling them in April and overall has accounted for 11 percent of the game's sales in the country, fueling such fast-growing mega-jackpots like the latest one that has the potential to be a record-breaker.

The state expects to generate well above the originally estimated $50 million for public education, California lottery director Robert O'Neill told The Associated Press.

 There are only two things one can say about this:

1. This is what happens when too many people consider the State Lottery as "My Pension Play";
2. Note the odds of winning are approximately the same if you don't play.

... and that's all I have need to say about it.

It's an I-Pad World. Not!

The Paperless Future - "Emma":

A TV spot from France takes up the debate between 'all digital' and the die-hard defenders of paper.




"The job isn't over until the paper work's done."

(Thanks, & a hat-top to The G-Man)

Why I cancelled my subscription to Time Magazine 25 years ago

A Time for Impassioned Politics - TIME:

    (By Joe Klein Monday, May 13, 2013 ... I know, it's now Saturday, May 11, 2013, but that's the dateline.  Chalk it up to the fact that Time can't even tell the truth about the date, let alone about the TIME)

During the chaotic week of the Boston bomb attacks, Barack Obama finally did something a lot of people had been waiting for: He got angry. In public. In the Rose Garden. It happened after the Senate had shamefully failed to pass a bill, favored by the overwhelming majority of Americans, requiring background checks for gun purchasers. "The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill," he said. "They claimed that it would create some sort of Big Brother gun registry even though the bill did the opposite ... Those lies upset an intense minority of gun owners, and that in turn intimidated a lot of Senators." 

Assorted Republicans were put off by Obama's passion. The conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer falsely claimed that the President had falsely claimed that the background-checks bill would have prevented the Newtown massacre. Krauthammer also said that helping the victims' families lobby for the law was "emotional blackmail." The conservative pundit and former Bush functionary Pete Wehner--who occasionally professes a desire for moderation but just can't help himself when it comes to the President--called Obama's behavior "demagoguery" and described it as a "Lear-like" rage.

 [emphasis added]

 THERE WAS A TIME when I subscribe to both TIME and NEWSWEEK magazines.  I was young, and ignorant/naive, and living in an apartment house in Oakland, California.  (Thank goodness the "Three Strikes Law" doesn't apply to non-felons!)  Besides, my neighbors stole my magazines from the mailbox so frequently, I didn't get to read most of the magazines I had paid for.

Eventually, though, even the highly filtered contend I DID read got through to me.  I realized that the things they were saying in their articles were not "factual reporting" but "emotional reporting".  In a word every political article was slanted ... slanted in a way which was directly opposite of my own personal convictions.

Today, I don't even have my television hooked up to cable, and I get the same or more 'content' from the Internet .. as my access to this article demonstrates.

There's a saying that "no cops are Democrats"; and I suspect the same is true of Military, both active and past-service.  This article is a sterling example why those of us who have put our lives on the line for our community, or for our nation, have rejected the Liberal/Progressive/Democratic party line.

Looking back at the article (scroll back, or check the link), you'll notice that I've high-lighted some of the comments in the original article in red.

Okay, here's the point:

I don't have an issue about the President getting angry, or about TIME applauding his lack of perspective.

Okay, maybe I do, but I get angry all the time and I seem to always be able to justify it, at least in my own mind.  I'm not the President of the greatest nation in the free world, though, so maybe I'm a little bit peeved that the President can't control his own emotions, and couch his expressions in a more civilized manner than a guy in a sloppy home-office in Oregon.

I find it disconcerting that our political leader cannot say that he's unhappy that he hasn't universal approval from his subjects the citizen of his nation without accusing them of lying.

Going back to the original quote, when a media source which is internationally recognized for its integrity uses such phrases as ".... the Senate had shamefully failed to pass a bill   ...", that's a sure sign that this media source has renounced its claim not only to impartial reporting, but to integrity itself.

And when the President claims publicly that some of the media constituents " ... willfully lied ... ", that goes beyond the gentile bounds of public discourse.

The TIMES article goes on to throw the phrase "Shamefully" at least once more.  Where's the Civility?  Where's the Impartiality?  Where's the journalistic integrity?

Gone, in sixty seconds,  like a 1971 Mustang Fastback.

I'm not surprised that TIME magazine could throw its integrity under the bus ... and not even all that surprised that the President would do the same thing.   I'm just really disappointed.

Ike wouldn't have done that.  Nor would even Nixen or Carter.  Or Reagan.  Okay, maybe Clinton; maybe even Ford .. we will never know ... but not Truman or ...

Get the picture?  It's not PRESIDENTIAL!  It's Presidential.

I don't like it when I have to evince respect for a President who seemingly makes every effort to undermine my respect for the office.  I've already given up respect for the man, but I'm loath to give up respect for The Office.

What is going on, when I think about meeting the leader of our nation, and I'm appalled by the prospect that I might actually be expected to shake his hand .. and smile?  There was a time when I thought it would be the greatest honor of my life.

I've given up my dream of going to our nation's capital, to visit The Wall and honor my fallen comrades.  The odds are slim, but still possible, that I might actually meet the President.

It's no longer a dream;

It's a nightmare.

I'm sorry for the demagoguery, but I  just can't help (myself) when it comes to the President.


(Thanx to TIME MAGAZINE for the quote.)

Moving Target, controlled remotely

Shooting Wire:

The Target Is Moving (T.I.M.™) line of electronic target systems features a compact, portable target base which features an interlocking cardboard target. The T.I.M. system offers several operating modes with adjustable speeds and can operate in a 360 degree fashion. With the optional remote control users can control a single target or multitude of targets wirelessly. The system runs for hours on rechargeable AA batteries for ease of use and maximum uptime. Because the target surfaces are cardboard the system is safe to operate at indoor ranges as well as outdoor. T.I.M. can also be deployed in the classroom as a dry fire training or instruction tool.

The T.I.M. target looks good for an indoor training aid.  The target system comes with light-weight cardboard targets on a LOOOOOOOONG arm.  I noticed that in their demonstration video  they have an IPSC "Metric" target propped up in the background.  This suggests that the system WILL handle the bulk and weight of the large cardboard target ... but even though it looks like a fun addition to the variety of shooting challenges presented in IPSC matches, I'm unconvinced that such a small unit can be useful in a competitive environment.

Picture sixty or more competitors running through the stage in a few hours in a hot Summer day.  Worse, during rainy weather (and we have enough of them here) will it function even when wet?

I'm ... not sure.  So I answered their "Contact Us" website page and asked for more information on these and other questions.

At $500 per unit (including remote controller), they're going to have to prove that they're reliable AND durable before any club is going to risk the expense ... even though they do have a free "loaner' program for certified instructors.

My best guess?

The mechanism looks pretty good for indoor training ... but who (other than, perhaps, LEO trainers) is going to put up that kind of money for a pretty toy?

Despite my pessimism, it may be that the manufacturers could use this question to advance development of something that IS applicable to competition.

The first thing is .. we build a very strong shield so I can't hit the motor!

Here's the video:

Gun Crime is DOWN? Who knew?

Have you seen this yet?  Posted TODAY (May 7, 2013), from Allahpundit @ HOT AIR:

 Two new studies: Gun crime has dropped dramatically over last 20 years — and most Americans have no idea � Hot Air: Despite national attention to the issue of firearm violence, most Americans are unaware that gun crime is lower today than it was two decades ago. According to a new Pew Research Center survey, today 56% of Americans believe gun crime is higher than 20 years ago and only 12% think it is lower.

 The article goes on to comment:

And yet, per Pew, just 12 percent of the public has any clue about the dramatic decline in gun crime. On the contrary, a clear majority thinks it’s gone up — despite dutiful news reports whenever the FBI releases its crime data, despite endless (and justified) coverage of the “broken windows” theory and NYC’s celebrated turnaround in crime under Giuliani and Bill Bratton

We talked here about the Broken Windows theory, exactly three months ago today; that was mainly in reference to the slaughter of innocents in Chicago.  You and I are obviously not the only ones who are aware of the theory, and how it has been supported by good results upon its application my municipal authorities.

It's not that there aren't answers to Gun Violence; it's just some people would rather compromise our civil and constitutional rights, than to do something that has been shown to work?

Why is this?  Other than that our "leadership" is arrogant and arbitrary?

The answer is that it's a lot easier to pass more laws than it is to do an honest day's work, for some people.

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

Is your life better now than it was in 2008?

Dillon Precision: Reloaders, Reloading Equipment, Bullet Reloading, Bullet Reloaders


We keep hearing that the demand for firearms, ammunition, reloading supplies is due to 'normal' market pressure.

(click on the image to view it full size)

I've never seen anything like this on Dillon's website before, not even in 2008, when Obama was first elected.

Not that it matters much, since we can't get brass, powder, primer or bullets lately ....

An "APP" to help you keep from bumping into stuff while texting

Type n Walk: Type n Walk displays a transparent viewport of what's directly in front of you. This combined with your peripheral vision is just enough visual information to help you avoid obstacles -- like walking face-first into a tree! Despite the name, Type n Walk is useful while you're sitting or standing too. Use it anytime you would like to keep an eye on your surroundings while you type.

 I understand, from something that I heard on the Radio today, that there is an "app": which will help ou recognize that you are texting while walking, and will keep you from bumping into "things" during that process.

I didn't believe it .. it sounds far too bizarre to be true.

Just goes to show that I don't really understand this year's definition of "perfectly understandable" activities.

It's real.

I'm as "old school" as I can get, and still own a cell phone.  This is as .. I don't know.  Unreal?  Useless? Silly?  as can be.  But it's real, it's out there, and somebody expects to make a ton of money from it.

I spent decades working on a university campus.  I admit that there are people who are so lost in own private world (especially while they are texting) that they lose all contact with reality.

I suppose that this "App"  (WTF is that?) could provide good value for enough of the population that they would subscribe to it.

For myself?\

I think that any civilization (.. "community" .. "group of people who are so entirely out-of-touch with the "Situational Awareness")  which NEEDS this, and thinks it's worth buying ... are the "ELOI"  of our times.

   They are so out-of-touch with reality that they serve no higher purpose than to be a food source for the Morlocks!

Am I the only one who thinks that "Facebook Is The Devil"?

So ... does this make this app the Devil Incarnate?

All I know is that I don't trust it.  No .. not "not trust it to keeping my nose from bumping the Lamp Post", but " not trust it because it belittles the State Of Man".