Random Thoughts – Page 48 – The ramblings of an addled mind.

Poking the Muse with a Saturday Joy Ride

Long ago, Dear Reader, in an economy far, far away… Marie and I made a habit of going out for long drives in the country on Sundays after church. It was one of those simple pleasures in life that we enjoy so much. We would stop off somewhere and pick up sandwiches and drinks and head out on the highways and byways. Mostly the byways. And quite a few back roads, and even a goat path or two.

We loved getting out and seeing what is here and where they keep it. We would generally spend the rest of the day on these joyrides. But things have gotten tight lately and this practice has been pretty much mothballed. Pretty much, but not entirely.

Hwy 25E, clinch mountain, tennessee — Hwy 25E on Clinch Mountain

We recently decided to take a Saturday and drive up to the new Highway 25E overlook on Clinch Mountain, near Tazwell Tennessee. It was a beautiful fall day; the sky was clear and azure. Trees were starting to turn color, proudly decked out in the deep red of red oaks, the gold-orange of white oaks, hickories and poplar, the bright red of dogwoods and the vivid orange of maple, creating a tapestry of color draped over the mountains like a quilt against the chilly air. The higher we got the cooler the air became and the more color there was. Clinch Mountain reaches an elevation of 4,000 feet. We didn’t get quite that high, but it was pretty chilly when we got out of the truck just the same. Continue reading “Poking the Muse with a Saturday Joy Ride”

To Have and To Hold, In Sickness and In Health

My wife, Marie, and I have had many wonderful times together. We’ve taken trips and gone to concerts and watched movies and just sat on the sofa holding hands. We work in the yard and on the house together. We truly enjoy one another’s company, so we don’t necessarily have to have “entertainment” to be happy together. This is what we’ve always considered “to have and to hold” to mean. And we’ve enjoyed many happy, healthy years.

Marie recently went through a life-threatening trauma. She’d been sick all day, in the evening she asked me to take her to the hospital Emergency Room. Upon arrival they took some basic information – mostly about how they were going to get paid – and sent her to the triage room. Above the nurse’s desk here is a big sign reading, “Patients are NOT seen in the order of arrival. Patients are seen in the order of severity of their injury or illness.” The triage nurse took Marie’s vitals and gave her a very brief once-over then said, “OK, let’s go.” and rushed her right into a bed in the ER. Continue reading “To Have and To Hold, In Sickness and In Health”

The Scavenger Hunt

labyrinth, scavenger hunt — Credit: Alice-In-Wonderland.net

He wanders the labyrinth with list in hand, gazing at the thousands of calls to action; some printed on card stock or plastic, some in the form of small video panels. Some say, “choose me for a life of ease and comfort!” some, “choose me for eternal health.” others, “I am your best value on something you need desperately.” He checks his scavenger hunt list often as he wanders, gazing at the multicolored panels, peering into bins, occasionally opening a semi-transparent door to see inside better. So many temptations, but where are the items he seeks?

Occasionally something new tries to seduce him, “pick me,” it purrs, “and I’ll give you infinite pleasure.” He checks the list, “No, you’re not on the list.” He twists free of its grasp. “I must return with everything on the list and nothing that is not on the list.” The List is sacrosanct. The List must be obeyed.

He encounters a few others wandering the labyrinth, mostly women. Some seem quite confident of navigating the maze and winning their prize. Occasionally he stands gazing about, clutching his list his eyes pleading for advice – rules say it is forbidden to ask for help, but help may be accepted if offered freely. Most ignore him, a few smirk knowingly, no one offers. He plods on.

The things he seeks seem to elude him, things he must not choose sing their sultry songs to him. His head spins with the enormity of the task: “Why oh why did my wife sent ME to the grocery store?” Continue reading “The Scavenger Hunt”

Night Shift

full service gas station, service station — Credit: http://www.champlinsinclair.com/

I like working nights, especially here at the service station. At least in the summer. In summer the nights are cool and calm, the work is steady but slow. On day shift the attendants have to help the mechanic with light-duty stuff like plugging tires and changing oil; things they can do between customers on the drive.

At night we rarely have those things to do. We clean, mostly. We wait with anticipation for the ding-ding of the driveway bell, calling us to action. Then we put on a cheery smile and trot out to the car on the drive, “Good evening, how may I help you?” Continue reading “Night Shift”

Dried Beans a Twist on an Old Favorite

My wife and I like making soups and stews with dried beans. Prior to putting in our own garden, we bought bags and bags of various dried beans and bean soup kits (assorted beans and seasoning in one bag). Black beans have always been a favorite of ours, so when I started gardening, I was sure to put in some black bean plants.

When I think of dried beans, this is the sort of thing I think of. But recently I stumbled across a twist on the dried beans idea: dehydrated green beans. We dehydrate a lot of things: fruit slices, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and a wide variety of herbs, but green beans?

My green beans are doing quite well this year and I have bunches of them blanched and frozen or canned for later use. And still they come in. So I decided to try drying a batch and see how that works out. Continue reading “Dried Beans a Twist on an Old Favorite”

Why We Aren’t On Mars (Yet)

I wonder if we’ll ever be able to grow black beans on Mars.

This afternoon – during the girls (and Cochise’s) nap time I shelled a basket of black beans. The yield was about a half of a zip-lock sandwich baggie of dried beans. A little disappointing, but under the weather conditions we’ve had… eh, better than nothing at all, and there are many more bean plants to harvest yet. I’ll probably get a jar full to tuck away for winter soup making. While shelling these I watched a YouTube video called Mars Underground.

I was hoping it was a Sci-Fi movie. It started off like a sci-fi movie, then turned documentary. Then it started sounding like one of those conspiracy flicks and I expected them to say “We don’t need to go to Mars, Martians are already here and in control of our Government.” And I was prepared to believe it because that’s one of the better excuses for the US government’s insane behavior. Continue reading “Why We Aren’t On Mars (Yet)”

A Rainy Day in the Mountains

Tis a rainy day here in the mountains, but that’s a good thing because it’s month end and I have much to do. So I thought I’d start this rainy day indoors with a little creative procrastination. (shrug)

If your browser won’t play the video, [View it on Flickr]

I hope you enjoyed this brief diversion. Have a Happy Wednesday!

Ant Apocalypse

Today I was moving a lumber stack. Moving from an informal stack of old barn wood. Very untidy. Not at all like my stacks of furniture grade lumber.

ant running I was working steadily and pulled up a board to find, laying in the gap between two boards below the one I had in my hands, a fair sized copper head. I tossed the board I held aside and looked around for weaponry. Fortunately it was quite early in the morning; cool, and the snake had not yet had its coffee. I dispatched it easily and with little fuss. Had it been later in the morning, things might not have gone so well.

After what seemed like eight hours of pulling sodden boards out of the pile, sweeping off the fungus and mildew and beetle larvae, then carrying the boards to the other end of the lumber yard, around a tree and up a hill to the new stack (although in reality it was probably only an hour and a half) I encountered another snake.

A King Snake this time. Just a small one. It had crawled in to feed on an enormous ant colony that had set up housekeeping between the layers of this lumber stack.

Continue reading “Ant Apocalypse”

Ice Cream Sunday

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90 percent of the nation’s population. In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to observe these events with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.” With this in mind I thought I’d talk just a bit about ice cream and its history.

Did you know…

ice cream, making,family Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially produced frozen dairy products.

The Northern Central states have the highest per capita consumption of ice cream at 41.7 quarts.

More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week.

Ice cream and related frozen desserts are consumed by more than 90 percent of households in the United States. Continue reading “Ice Cream Sunday”

Robots of the Not Too Distant Future

In part 2 of this series we looked at robots and robotic devices that are available today. Some, like the robotic training aids in use to teach people CPR, medical diagnostics, dentistry and even child birth are fairly sophisticated. The Geminoid line of robots are incredibly life-like.

If you’re wondering whether this was in fact a real robot, or actually a person pretending to be a robot; it is not a fake. This is the latest iteration of the Geminoid series of ultra-realistic androids from Japanese firm Kokoro and Osaka University mad scientist roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. Specifically, this is Geminoid DK, which was constructed to look exactly like associate professor Henrik Scharfe of Aalborg University in Denmark.

Prof. Scharfe confirmed: “No, it is not a hoax,” adding that he and colleagues in Denmark and Japan have been working on the project since 2010. His Geminoid, which cost some US $200,000, is going to be used for studying human-robot interaction, in particular people’s emotional responses when they face an android representing another person. Prof. Scharfe wants to find out if the robot can transmit a person’s “presence” to a remote location and whether cultural differences in people’s acceptance of robots make a difference^.[1]

Have you seen the movie Surrogates? Continue reading “Robots of the Not Too Distant Future”