Dec 21, 2012

If you haven't heard about this date, you're probably normal. It's the end of the Mayan calendar. The Mayans were an ancient culture from south America. They seemed to have advanced knowledge about the earth revolving around the sun and the fact that we're part of a giant galaxy with a super-massive black hole in the center. They seemed to think something was going to happen on or near this date. I hope there is a rip in space and another dimension meshes with ours and there are strange creatures coming through holes in the space-time continuim. That would give me a chance to do some shooting. Whatever happens, I guess we'll all find out in about three years. I hope we can still have our computers and a coke in the morning and maybe some macadamia nuts. (I love those)

Spring is almost here!

What the hell is so nice about spring? The grass starts to grow...you have to mow it. The weeds start to grow....you have to spray or pull them. Everything seems to start moving faster. It seems like it's hectic in the spring and summer. Summer...there's another great season. It gets so hot you can't even breathe. I think I'll stick with winter. I can't wait until November gets here. I would even take mid-September. Goodbye winter...I'm going to miss you.

What's happening?

The U.S. government has spent more money in the last two months than all the money combined since the founding of the nation? We have been through the "Great depression"  Two world wars, and countless periods of "crisis". This is a scary time. The people of the United States are going to have to fight to get our freedom back. We have lost it. I hope it does not get as ugly as I think it will. We are going to end up eating vegetables we grow in our gardens, eating sheep and cows we raise and drinking goats milk. You can get a good goat on the KSL classifieds for about $60 by the way. That's my thought of the day.

Age of the internet

Why do all people not have internet access? If we don't kill ourselves as a race, we will be the last generation that can say "I know people who don't have internet access" I know we are all busy but this world wide information center we call the internet is becoming a necessity. I know why people resist it. It is overwhelming. There is so much information you could never see a millionth of it. I understand why people don't even want to start but what's better, laying on a couch watching TV or learning something new? The net will keep evolving and will be a lot different in ten years or twenty years but we are living in an amazing time. The explosion of the internet. It will probably be the way we get out education some day soon. It will change almost everything. It's as big or bigger that the industrial revolution that happened in the 20th century. I hope this revolution brings as much prosperity as the last one.

What are we doing here?

If you think about it, the universe is a huge place. So big we can't even comprehend it. We have vivid imaginations as humans, yet this thing we call the universe is incomprehensible to us. That is saying something. How did it form? Has it always been here? Thank goodness for people lke Albert Einstien who has given us a "human" way to look at this unimaginable place. We read books and watch movies about far away lands and magical places and beings. The most far away and magical place is above our heads. Even looking up is magical. If you look up, a person on the other side of the earth would have to look down to be looking the same direction. We are on a big ball moving through space with a strange force called gravity pulling us toward the center of the ball and holding the atmosphere in place so we can live. There are probably billions of other planets hurling through space somewhere doing the same thing. I see why people don't like to think about this stuff. It makes us feel small. We are small but having consciousness makes us significant. 

So what the hell are we doing here? Who knows. Is it a fluke? I doubt it. Is someone telling you THEY know the answers to these questions? Don't believe them. They don't. That's my thought of the day.

Elephants and dreams

I don't know what significance elephants have for me but I keep having dreams about elephants. What the hell is going on with that? I told a co-worker about one of those dreams and now he constantly teases me about it. I have these dreams about elephants messing with me as we walk down a dirt road. There are two elephants and they keep putting their trunks on my shoulder. I walk faster to get away from that elephant and another starts with the same thing! What the hell kind of dream is that? Last night I had that one and a dream in which me and 2 or 3 other guys walked into a village and shot a bunch of cats and birds. Then we took off on our motorcycles. One of the injured cats and one of the injured birds were following us so I slowed to help them. I fell behind the others guys so I left the injured animals behind. I started going so fast that when I hit a small bump, I jumped into the air and started flying (on the motorcycle) I never landed. Just kept flying. Dreams have to serve some purpose. I sure wish I knew what it was and what the elephants mean. I am always flying in my dreams too. Write your dreams down. They are fun to look at later. That's my thought of the day.

More on idiots.....

Here's what we should do. Give everybody an IQ test before they apply for a job. If you score 146.....you shouldn't be asked to work amongst idiots. 68% of people have IQs within 15 points of 100. They should be our workforce. Those below 85...we can find some ditches for them to dig. Those above 115 can be the managers of our companies. Those with IQs above about 130 can join "think tanks" to decide what the other people should do. I think everything should be decided by your IQ score. The people with high IQs should not be asked to mingle with other people. This way we would have fewer people go insane. People with high IQs should just be shut-ins who shop at Wal-Mart at 2:00 A.M. on Sunday morning and never talk to anyone (except the "think tank" and their families) and should not have to work! (except at the "think tank") That's my thought of the day.

Time - gravity - space

Time is a man-made way to keep track of changes that happen around us. Time is an illusion. It sure seems real but time passes differently for all people. Why is it that in 2009 we do not understand time?

Space seems to have a close relationship with time. It's easy to understand. If you are on the earth looking at a distant star, you are seeing a different point in that star's life than someone on another planet light years from here looking at the same star because of the "time" it takes for the light to travel to your observation point. That's the easy part....I think we can all understand that. It gets complicated from there. Why does time pass differently on the surface of the earth than on a satellite orbiting the earth? It must be gravity, which is another thing we don't understand. It is amazing to me to know how little human kind knows. These are fundamental laws of the universe, which is another thing we don't understand. 

We (humans) have a lot to learn. With all this technology we think we know it all. We don't know a damn thing.

Tax thought

I find myself thinking about the idiots in Washington since it's tax season. If we all had to write a check at this time of year, there would be more people that cared about this issue. Instead, most of us have our taxes taken out of our checks each pay period and we have learned to live with it. There was a reason the founders of our country put in the constitution something about the government not being able to collect tax by withholding. It dumbs us down and they can take more money and get too big. They have become too big and they are out of control! The government should be there to provide money for local police, fire departments, roads, bridges, and schools. That's just the STATE government. The federal government should be there to make sure we are not invaded and that's about it. If these idiots keep spending money like they are....there will be revolts. Try stopping withholding, saving your money all year and write a check next April 15th to the federal government for the tax you owe and see if I'm wrong. 

With the economy the way it is, the federal government is about to SPEND one trillion or more of your money. Common sense tells me this is not right. This will mean higher tax forever or until people put an end to this madness. We are turning into France. The people in Washington need to ask themselves what any socialist country has ever contributed to the world. The problem is they don't care as long as they have power. If you take all the people's money by taxing them....you leave them no incentive to invent. We are moving the wrong way too fast.

People...

I have noticed that about 80% of people are stupid. Why is this? Were they not breast fed when they were babies? Did they all touch lead paint when they were kids? Do they all just not care? I don't think so. I think common sense is a gift like being able to play music. Most people don't have common sense. This is a concern. How are we supposed to keep progressing as a society with so many stupid people. 

Common sense tells you not to elect a guy as President of the U.S. who goes to a church where they teach that the U.S. sucks. It does not matter what else he does. That one thing is enough. To think that America is populated with one hundred million people (at least) who think this is okay is disturbing. There is something wrong in the brains of these people!

Look around at the people you interact with at work or school or church and tell me they are smart, normal people. About 15-20% that's about all you'll find. The more people you are around, the more pronounced the stupidity. If I was in charge, everybody would have to take an I.Q. test to even leave their houses.

Joys of living alone.....

Living Alone

As of 2000, the most common household type in the U.S. is people living alone. 27 million American households consist of a person living alone, compared to 25 million households with a husband, wife, and child.
- Hobbs, Frank. "Examining American Household Composition: 1990 and 2000." U.S. Census Bureau, 2005.

More than one in four American households consist of an adult living alone (25.8%).
- Hobbs, Frank. "Examining American Household Composition: 1990 and 2000." U.S. Census Bureau, 2005.

These are some stats for people's living arrangements. They don't surprise me at all. I am not the "norm" here where I live. Apparently, there are a lot of like minded people throughout the U.S. I can't even imagine having to live with someone else after about 12 years of living alone. It's great! You can walk naked from the shower to the bedroom to get dressed. (for that matter you can dance around naked on the way, not that I would, but you could) You can get up at 2 A.M. and turn up the radio....the list goes on and on. The only down side I can see is you could possibly choke to death on a piece of meat. I am willing to take that risk. I can see why a lot of people like to live this way. That is my thought of the day.

My theory of the universe

I think mankind on the earth is like a small colony of ants on the middle of the desert. They have never seen other life. (except some crazy ants that say they were out looking for food and saw a small lizard and all of the other ants make fun of them) We think we may be the only life that exists. Actually the earth is full of life. The ants just don't have the ability to travel hundreds of miles. The ants live their whole lives never knowing the true nature of the universe. They would never understand if you told them the earth was a sphere and they could walk forever and never get to the end. There is no end. I think the universe is like a reverse sphere. Very few (if any) people would be able to understand the universe even if they knew the truth. There are probably things out there like a guy on a four-wheeler blazing through the desert one day and running right over the ant colony. I hope (in a way) that I'm here to see the "guy on a four-wheeler" when he rolls over the earth. We know nothing!

Trying to live a "balanced" life

How are we supposed to live a "centered" life? Are we supposed to be good at work, relationships, spirituality, family, community, take care of our bodies and minds and then try to balance all of these things and find a "happy medium".  I can barely find a way to balance one or two of these things and I can't even do that! Is life a cruel test designed to drive us all to madness? Some days I think it may be. We should try to "better ourselves" and "keep learning". I guess that's all we can do. Hopefully some day we can find a way to master life. The problem is....I think it will be over before we know what hit us. Good luck. That's my thought of the day.

Windows XP - Vista - 7

I have been a Windows user for about 10 years. I started with 98 and have used XP (a lot) and now Vista (which I love) and will go to Windows 7 next. I had one issue moving from XP to Vista. A driver issue with Nvidia like everyone else. I LOVE Vista. I understand the people who think it's the worst thing ever but also am pretty sure those people 1. don't like change 2. had out-dated hardware 3. had new hardware and drivers were hard to find or did not exist. I understand the issues somewhat. We all know what our choices are. Windows or Mac. I know there are others out there but they really aren't on the same plane as Windows and Mac. I am not going to pay Apples prices...period. I got my system on sale on line for $350 and got Vista Home Premium 64 bit, 500GB hard drive, 4GB of ram, and an AMD Phenom CPU. You just can't get this kind of system if you want a Mac without forking over the $$. I have no issues with XP, Vista, and doubt I will have any issues with Windows 7. Microsoft will continue to rule the OS world and that's that. If you have extra money and want a Mac....more power to you. I'm sure it's a fine (maybe better) OS. The rest of us will continue with Microsoft so we can get software that runs on our computers and a platform we are familiar with so we can help our friends, families, and co-workers with their computer issues. That's my thought of the day.

Dreams

I had a dream last night in which I was planning to go somewhere with my brother and sister. I woke up late and they had already left. I found when I woke up (in my dream) and they were already gone....I was trapped in a house I didn't recognize. I went from room to room and there were 2 "crazy" people in the house with me. I tried to exit the house and found at each exit there was an animal (I thought it was the devil) waiting for me with a cardboard box. I knew if I exited the house, he would throw the box over me and I would be trapped in darkness. I stayed in the house....trapped with 2 "crazy" people and woke up (for real this time) in a sweat.

I know I am not the only one to have dreams like this but they are interesting.... Why do we have them? What do they mean? Are they good or bad? Do they release tension? There are a lot of questions. I can tell you right now nobody knows. They may tell you they know because they studied this or that but they don't know for sure. It will always be a mystery....just like the existence of god.

Photography

I have been into photography for 25 years. I still don't know anything about it. I go through phases where I get very excited about it, and then it becomes less important then back again. I got a Canon G9 a year ago and have really been into digital photography for almost the whole year. I have learned more in the past year than in all the past years combined. Photography can be very simple and fun. It can also be very complicated. I just tried some RAW (.CR2) photography. My Canon G9 will record in .CR2 RAW files. It was a lot of fun "developing" the RAW files into .JPG files. If you don't know what the hell you're doing...it can be quite a task. You always have that RAW file if you don't get it right or want to change the outcome in any way. I will be shooting more pictures in RAW format. I may need to get a bigger hard drive as the files are about 3X bigger than a 12 megapixel file. Anyway whether you are a point and shooter or an enthusiast...the G9 is a great choice for both types of users. I have found using my G9 has been great....I am not really an artist but it seems to pry art out of me. If you're thinking about getting into (or back into) photography, do it. 

Relationships....

I look around me and wonder...Why do men and women still get married? It is painful to even witness. Do people just need someone to fill their empty lives? Life is too short, why be unhappy day after miserable day? Every married couple I know has big problems. They may put on a show in public but when they are home and nobody is looking it is chaos. Do people need the drama to fill in the emptiness in their lives?. Does it work? It sure doesn't work for me. People put up with a lot to not be alone. Admittedly, I would rather be with someone who loves me and worships the ground I walk on....however, this kind of game is reserved for dating and it goes away quickly. Stay single. Date. Don't let those funny feelings in your gut effect your long term decision making ability. That's my thought of the day.