Prattlings – Page 12 – Random Thoughts

Brain Rot and Getting Old

Neurons brain old — Neurons firing in the brain

OK, I admit that I passed the half-century mark in age quite some time ago, but I do not consider myself old, although the term “old” does seem to have taken on some fluidity over the years. When I was a kid, 35 seemed ancient, when I got to be 35, 65 was old. Now that I’m pushing 60, old is somewhere above 80. And I most certainly do not consider myself to be the least bit senile, although… I have caught myself having what some would call a “senior moment” now and again.

Just the other day, it was a Saturday, the day I always fix a nice breakfast for my sweetie (omelets are my specialty, but I can do other things too) I found myself standing in the kitchen, with an array of delicious food stuffs neatly arranged on the counter, but could not for the life of me remember what I had planned to cook. I stood there for several moments, inventorying the items I’d laid out hoping for a clue. Finally it came to me and I forged ahead again. But it was embarrassing, even though the dog and I were the only ones who knew about it.

It wasn’t the first time, either. I can’t even count the times I’ve gone into another room to get or do something only to wonder, “Why did I come in here?” That is disconcerting. I do find that telling the dog what I’m going to go do helps me remember. I suppose you don’t actually need a dog, but if you forget and do this while someone is visiting you don’t look quite so crazy to them. Continue reading “Brain Rot and Getting Old”

April Fooling

In the 12 years I have lived here in East Tennessee, the latest snow or frost that we have had was April 2. That was the year we were trying to put in a house for my mom on the lower end of our property, and the snow and mud stopped construction for a few days. April Fool!

2014 sets a new record (at least in my personal experience) with snow and a frost on Tuesday night, April 15. Much of my garden is in, the fruit trees have blossomed, most of Marie’s flowers are up … this was not a welcomed gag.

It rained Monday night, but the temperatures had been up in the 60s and 70s for the past week. So the soil was warm and the rain started out warm. The rain continued on Tuesday, but the temperature was falling off, Monday’s low temperature of 52° F would be Tuesday’s high, heading for a predicted overnight low of 26° F. Rain turned to sleet then to snow, but with no accumulation.

Early in the evening the precipitation stopped. Temps were in the mid 30s now. We scrambled around to cover as much of what we could cover to protect it from the coming frost.

Can You Have Too Much Knowledge?

I have Mitch Mitchell of ImJustSharing and his comments on a Wayback Whensday post to thank for the inspiration for this post. We were discussing caffeine in beverages. He asked a question about where caffeine comes from. It was a perfectly legitimate question and related to the topic of discussion, so I answered it. Before posting, I (like any responsible journalist would) checked my stated facts for accuracy and turned up an additional historical tid-bit or two, so I worked those in as well.

Mitch’s response to my reply indicated pleasure, and perhaps some surprise, with the quality of my answer. And I wondered why. What made this comment so different from dozens of others Mitch and I have exchanged in the past? After all, I’m a well-read, educated fellow. My head is crammed full of useful knowledge – and a fair bit of useless fluff that sneaks in. Why would he be surprised to receive a well-considered response from me? I pondered that for a while. When I awoke, I realized it’s because it has not been the type of response I’ve been posting. For that I blame Chuck… at least in part. Continue reading “Can You Have Too Much Knowledge?”

Pride and Prejudice in Family Communications

This, Dear Reader is a tale of disaster averted. I will use an episode in my relationship with my wife to illustrate how a little consideration before communication can avert an extended stay in the dog house. The Old Saying for this week: “Make sure the brain is in gear before engaging the mouth.”

Gender Bias

Gender symbols communication Even in our “enlightened” times where traditional roles and expectations for males and females are being rewritten, we often find that certain things are – generally speaking – reserved as hallowed ground for one gender or the other. For instance; household roles of lawn mowing, auto mechanics and operation of a large barbeque grill are almost always reserved for the family member with the highest levels of testosterone coursing through their veins, and that is usually – not always, but usually – the alpha male, Big Daddy, The Man. This is especially true if this alpha male has a long history with the particular task in question.

Frictions can arise in situations where the non-dominant gender in any arena should challenge the dominant gender of that arena. For instance, should the alpha male attempt to enlighten the pack’s females on the proper fitting of a brassiere, without being an underwear engineer with a PHD in lingerie construction, hackles will rise and fur will fly.

However, sometimes it is better, when these things come up, to set aside the base instinct reaction and employ a more reasoned response. Continue reading “Pride and Prejudice in Family Communications”

Signs of Spring

Spring time here means rain. Lots and lots of rain. Our mountain retreat will seem more like Seattle for a month or so from late February through most of March. The ground will be soggy, the rivers run full, and we make good use of umbrellas and wide brimmed hats (like my fedora). Not only does it rain often, but some will be very heavy rainfalls, which can lead to the washing out of driveways and roads. Crusher-run gravel comes at a premium price at this time of year as residents scramble to repair damage to their drives and access roads. This year with all the budgets cut, including road maintenance, some of our normally top-notch roads are deteriorating rapidly. One that we normally use as a short-cut into town has become all but impassible because of the pot holes.

Spring Colors

On the brighter side; we also enjoy the brilliant colors of spring; all the fruit trees burst into bloom practically overnight, the pink and white of Dogwood trees and the lavender of Redbud trees, yellow of Forsythia and bright red of Quince. The irises and day lilies have already put up their spiky green leaves and will soon flower into purple, orange and red blossoms. Pansies are already putting on a show, and a multitude of ground covers are popping open in purple, pink, yellow, and white flowers. Continue reading “Signs of Spring”

Spring Rain Repairs

Springtime in the Great Smoky Mountains means… rain. Lots of rain. Some years it rains a little almost every day from mid-February through March, other years it comes in periodic deluges. A deluge that comes after a long period of daily rain is the worst: The ground is saturated and soft and a hard rain will wash much of it away.

This causes much damage in areas that have been settled and heavily adapted for human use. Anywhere we remove the natural armor of fallen leaves and cut into the soil we open scars that will allow heavy rains to move that soil around.

I made the little video below as an example of the kind of rain repair work we do on a regular basis in mountainous areas. I hope you enjoy it.

Installation Failure

There is something seriously wrong with Spring this year.

Installation Failure from Doug Bittinger on Vimeo.

A little humor: God Sends the Best

She hurried to the pharmacy to get medication, got back to her car and found that in her haste she had locked her keys inside. The woman found a coat hanger left on the ground. She looked at it and said, “I don’t know how to use this.” She bowed her head and asked God to send her some help.

Within 5 minutes a noisy motorcycle pulled up, driven by a bearded man who was wearing leathers and a biker skull rag. He got off of his cycle and asked if she needed help.

She said: “Yes, my daughter is sick. I’ve locked my keys in my car. I must get home. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?”

He said, “Sure.”

He walked over to the car, and in less than a minute the car was open.

She hugged the man and through tears said, “Thank You SO Much! You are a very nice man.”

The man replied, “Lady, I am NOT a nice man. I just got out of PRISON yesterday; I was in prison for car theft.”

The woman hugged the man again sobbing, “Oh, thank you, God! You even sent me a Professional!”

(Note: the above story was sent to me via e-mail. I edited it but cannot claim it as my own. Original source is unknown.)

The Great NASCAR Pilgrimage

Since I’m low on ideas for prattlings this week I thought I’d skate along by reprising a post from an old blog about the last time we took a really-truly vacation. That was 2011, when Marie and I went on our NASCAR pilgrimage to Charlotte Motor Speedway. This has been an annual trip for many years, but this year we added a twist.

Normally we just take a long weekend and pop over to North Carolina and back. While there we take in a race, visit some race shops and see some sights. We live just 12 miles from the Tennessee/North Carolina border and the drive to Salisbury (where we stay with relatives) is only about 3 hours – if we drive straight through, which we rarely do.

This time we decided to go to North Carolina by way of Alabama and Georgia so we could visit with my twin-brother-by-another-mother and his wife. We took an entire week (an historic event in itself), took our time and enjoyed the journey. Continue reading “The Great NASCAR Pilgrimage”

Snow Day for Blondie

It snowed yesterday. It snowed last night. It’s snowing again this morning. We currently have 6 or 7 inches of snow on the ground. For New Hampshire, that’s nothing; for Tennessee that’s crippling. The entire region has declared a snow day. Schools closed yesterday. Government offices are closed. Most businesses are closed, those that are open are running on skeleton crews. The road crews are pleading with folks to stay home: stay off the roads so they can get them cleared. Stuck vehicles just slow them down. We’ll just hunker in and make the most of it. The dogs will enjoy this special play day with both of us here.

Continue reading “Snow Day for Blondie”