Category Archives: Random Musings

“Wandering Feelings” by Boyko Ovcharov: A Glimpse into the World of Those Driven by Emotion

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Much of the prose in this story was poetic and beautifully rendered, such that it did an excellent job of capturing feelings, which can be elusive and difficult to describe with words. The descriptions of various places provide excellent imagery and added to the dreamy, flowing nature of the story. The style is definitely unique and doesn’t conform to formula writing. There is no plot in the usual sense most readers expect and the characters are nameless. In other words, it breaks plenty of rules, yet in its own way, as a chronolog of feelings, it “works.”

As an astrologer, this story struck me as a great example of getting inside the head of someone driven by emotion, such as those born under a Water Sign (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces). If you’re not a deeply emotional person, you’re likely to see the characters in this book as illogical and possibly even dysfunctional in their inability to dismiss their unloving, materialistic upbringing and get on with their lives. However, for someone ruled by emotion, this is not easily done.

And for those driven by logic, not easily understood.  In fact, this latter group will probably be unable to understand the emotions expressed in this story. They may feel uncomfortable and perhaps even disgusted with the characters, who simply can’t seem to “get over it.” This is something that can cause great divides in relationships when people can’t understand how others are programmed. We’re all egocentric to some degree, especially when we’re younger, and think everyone sees the world as we do, or at least should.

Thus, if you fully relate to this book and become blissfully immersed in its beautiful prose and deeply felt emotions, you’re probably an emotional person yourself. Those who roll their eyes, keep waiting for something to happen worth noting or for the characters to get a grip and quit whining are probably logical by nature.

The richest part of life is often that which is felt. Those who have never fallen deeply in love, felt overwhelming joy or even its antithesis of debilitating emotional pain, are missing something. I believe this book is most important for those who don’t understand how deeply emotions can operate because it introduces them to a world with which they are entirely unfamiliar. Emotions are not always positive, e.g. love, but can be viciously destructive as well. Understanding that brings new insights into human nature, of which no one can ever have too much.

Rather than dismissing or criticizing the book or the characters, learn from it. Yes, there are people out there who are that tied to their emotions. If you’re not one of them, this is an example of what you’re missing, for good or ill.

You can find it on Amazon here.

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times

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Forgive me for borrowing the title from Dickens. As you may have guessed, the context, however, is entirely different. I’m talking about publishing.

Truly it’s the best of times for those of us who burned out trying to find a commercial publisher. I remember how excited I was when I found out you could publish your book on Kindle and even more excited when Create Space came along so you could actually hold your book in your hands. Long ago I discovered that, like so many other parts of life, finding an agent, much less a publisher, was quite political. I’m sure you’ve encountered books that were commercially published that sucked worse than a day-old calf. Just the memory of a few I remember is enough to make me shudder. So bringing the DIY world to self-publishing without the thousands of dollars required for a vanity press was like a gift from Heaven.

However, there was definitely a downside. First of all, there’s the competition. In the days when books were only available in, well, bookstores, there was limited shelf space. Thus, most books had a shelf life of about six weeks with a print run of a few thousand copies. Then they were remaindered, i.e. sent back to the publisher, sold to the highest bidder or perhaps the covers ripped off and tossed. Bookstores could only hold so many books and your chance at fame were thus limited.

Now, thanks to e-books as well as print on demand (POD) publishing, books are available ad infinitum, both in time and number. This is a good thing because it gives you all the time in the world to hawk your book. It’s a bad thing, because now there are literally millions of books competing with yours.

Of course when a market is saturated, that also drives down the price. It’s never been easy to make a living as an author and it’s even more difficult now. Readers have come to expect their books to be free, maybe 99c for an author they love. Even if they pay more, especially if it’s someone who prefers print books, selling a print book via Create Space’s “expanded distribution” usually earns you something in the neighborhood of $0.18.

Yeah.

And if the book is used, the author won’t even get that. Bear that in mind the next time you buy one.

As if that’s not bad enough, it costs money to be an author. Having a computer and word processor software is assumed in today’s world. But unless you can do everything yourself, there’s a matter of line editors, content editors, copy editors, book interior designers, and cover designers, perhaps even voice actors. Then there’s the expense of maintaining a website and a presence on social media, which seem to be spawning new platforms like mushrooms after a spring rain. There are book promoters, book fairs, and marketing classes, plus, to maintain your sanity, you may need to hire a personal assistant to keep up with it all. The bad news is that everyone makes money but you. The good news is that it’s a good tax deduction. Just don’t ever make the mistake by referring to it as a hobby with the IRS.

blackboard_writer2So why on Earth do we write? Because we have to. It’s something inside us that needs to come out. It’s that creative spark of self-expression that makes us feel alive. If we can share it with others, all the better. But the fact is, it’s something we’re born with and can’t deny.

Yes, it’s the best of times and the worst of times.There’s a whole lot to bitch about. But when all is said and done, being able to hold your book in your hand is priceless. The only thing better is finding a five-star review.

Too Much of a Good Thing

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Lake Buchanan in Central Texas looks like the Mississippi River the past few days due to the excessive inflow resulting from the torrential rains we’ve been getting the past few days. Yesterday’s lake report indicated over 22,000 cubic feet per second were pouring in. The Highland Lakes dams, managed by the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority), are operating 24/7 to control the flow the best they can, but there’s still too much water headed downstream for some areas and flooding is inevitable.

A few years ago this area was in a drought of record and the lake was at around 32% capacity at the worst of it. The buoy in the picture above was high and dry with the lake still hundreds of yards beyond it, as you can see below.

The picture below was taken in 2011 from the edge of the water looking back; the houses you see are supposed to be on the waterfront. In contrast, the picture above was taken from next to the two story structure just left of center, showing how far the lake has finally come up.

Droughts do, indeed, end and usually with a flood. That has certainly been the case here.

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“Lenses of Perception” by Doug Marman: An Interesting Summer Read for Science Aficionados

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Let me start out by saying that this book has 359 references that comprise eleven pages of endnotes. If you’re not impressed by that, then this is probably not the book for you. However, if you love science and appreciate revolutionary ideas supported by considerable research that relate to an enigma no one, including Einstein, Feynman or Hawking, has been able to solve, then you would probably enjoy this book.

As a physicist and science fiction writer myself, I was fascinated by the book’s precepts. When I really get into such a tome, I become a librarian’s worst nightmare: highlighting key passages, scribbling notes in the margin and, heaven forbid, dog-earing pages. For what it’s worth, my copy sports 46 pages in that condition as well as more marginal notes and highlights than I care to count.

The premise of this fascinating book has been touched on ever since the double-slit experiment suggested some mysterious interaction existed between consciousness and physical matter. Rather than argue this, the author makes an a priori assumption that such a relationship exists. That in and of itself is not particularly remarkable, since it has been the stance of various other authors for decades. Marman, however, does not stop there. It’s not simply a matter of human consciousness influencing subatomic particles. He systematically builds a credible case for the tiniest subatomic particles possessing consciousness as well.

The author is an engineer and inventor who holds various patents and is thus experienced on the technical side, but is not a PhD physicist. This is a good thing. Stepping beyond the bounds of conventional science tends to be a career-limiting experience. Some have referred to scientific progression as occurring only via funerals, e.g., German physicist, Max Planck, who stated, “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”

Marman’s theory is imaginative to the point of resembling one of Einstein’s thought experiments. While he doesn’t do the math, it goes beyond philosophizing, conjecture or excursions of fantasy. As indicated in the first sentence of this review, this book is well documented. The author states his theory then backs it up with existing scientific research.

The concept that there’s a link between quantum mechanics and consciousness has been argued by many. “The Tao of Physics”, published in 1976 by Fritjof Capra, took on this challenge, opening with Werner Heisenberg’s statement, “It is probably true quite generally that in the history of human thinking the most fruitful developments frequently take place at those points where two different lines of thought meet.  These lines may have their roots in quite different parts of human culture, in different times or different cultural environments or different religious traditions: hence if they actually meet, that is, if they are at least so much related to each other that a real interaction can take place, then one may hope that new and interesting developments may follow.”

In this case, Marman has synthesized his theory using particle physics, biology, evolution, psychology and various other disciplines. Typically, research in any of these areas is conducted strictly within the bounds of that discipline’s accepted facts, limiting the conclusions. Allowing these areas to overlap brings new possibilities as they’re viewed with, as the title suggests, new “lenses of perception.”

This typically creates an uproar from those violated by the unwelcome intrusion into their supposed domain. I’m reminded of the Alvarez Theory from back in the 80s, when it was first proposed that an asteroid collision caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. The paleontologists protested, claiming they’d died off from diseases incident to migration. Then NASA found the crater in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing paleontologists to accept it, like it or not. Professional jealousy is especially fierce when someone outside a specific field of study figures something out the oldtimers have been battling for years. Is this the case with Marman’s work? Time, as always, will tell.

The bulk of his ideas are expressed using analogies. Analogies are effective teaching tools employed by the world’s greatest teachers and philosophers. Using something a student understands as a basis, the concept can be expanded to facilitate comprehension of something new. The author leverages this approach by employing grammatical principles of first, second and third person viewpoints. For example, first person is “I”; second person brings in a relationship with another person, “you”; and third person adds others at a slightly less personal level, “they.” There are concepts individuals grasp which are expanded upon when shared with another, then ultimately coalesce when a group shares a link that binds several beings together.

A subatomic particle is assumed to have a level of consciousness which is defined as first person. It’s aware of itself and its existence. Stepping it up to the second person involves quantum entanglement, a phenomenon that’s been demonstrated, but not fully understood. In a nutshell:

  • Two subatomic particles interact and become linked through an unknown process.
  • When you measure one particle it instantaneously determines what behavior to expect in the other particle.
  • Quantum state of partner particle will be identical.
  • Whatever you impose on one partner particle the other will do the opposite.
  • Theoretically, they can be separated by billions of light years but when you dictate spin of one it will instantaneously affect the other.

If you’ve ever had a psychic connection with someone, you should understand this concept. Research by various scientists, including Dean Radin, PhD, who specializes in psychic phenomena, has indicated that these connections are instantaneous, defying the speed of light as the supposed limit of information transfer.

Getting into the third person, he discusses the relationships between groups that can be related to molecular bonding and steps into the life sciences speaking of “all for one” bonds, where certain entities will self-sacrifice for the good or even the life of the system. A plethora of explanations, examples and extrapolations build from these concepts, backed up by various references.

Marman concludes the book with an addendum that tackles the five unsolved problems of physics as they relate to his theory. I must admit that at this point I got a little lost. I only have a bachelor’s degree in physics, which was insufficient to fully grasp all the implications of some of his conclusions. By this point my brain was fried, anyway, due to the vast array of information provided on so many different levels. There was so much to absorb that it took me far longer than usual to finish reading. At times it was laborious, even painful. Perhaps if you have a PhD in physics you could blow through this book in a few days, but that was definitely not the case for me. With so many topics under discussion to establish their relationship, brevity is difficult to achieve.

This book provides interesting fodder to those with an open mind who are seeking new ideas and insights to the mystery presented by quantum mechanics. It’s unconventional, potentially groundbreaking, and defies many existing speculations. It proposes a paradigm shift to discover answers, which have so far been elusive. Just because a theory is popular doesn’t mean it’s correct. Many fade quietly into the past, unannounced. Even Einstein wasn’t correct all the time. What’s popular one year could be debunked the next. If it’s wrong, it will simply fade away, save any tidbits hanging on in old, out-dated textbooks.

Conversely, as German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer suggested, “All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed.  Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as self evident.”

The author explores history, philosophy, physics (of course), biology and various other subjects. If you’re into metaphysics, there are connections there as well. Expect to see a few things differently than you did before. If you’re a science aficionado like myself, it would make an interesting summer read. Take your time. Digest each new idea on its own merits. The title says it all. Be prepared to see the world through an entirely different lens than you did before.

You can pick up your copy on Amazon here.

[I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.]

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For those of you who love this topic as much as I do, here are some of my favorite quotes related to physics, consciousness and the unknown:

“One is unlikely to discover what one is certain cannot possibly exist…. Whatever the field of inquiry, attempting to access a phenomenon with a methodology that is based on the firm underlying assumption that the phenomenon does not exist has proved itself to be a singularly inadequate strategy, at once self-fulfilling and self-limiting.”

–Richard Tarnas in “Cosmos & Psyche” (p. 108)

“Probing inside the atom and investigating its structure, science transcended the limits of our sensory imagination.  From this point on, it could no longer rely with absolute certainty of logic and common sense…Like the mystics, physicists were now dealing with a non-sensory experience of reality…”

–Fritjof Capra in “The Tao of Physics”

“Physics tends to be dictated by fad and fashion. There are the gurus who dictate the direction in which new ideas grow.”

–Michael Duff, Physicist (University of Michigan)

Some scientists (Stephen Hawking and the late Carl Sagan come to mind) insist that a “theory of everything” is just around the corner, and then we’ll essentially know it all—any day now.  It hasn’t happened and it won’t happen.  The reason is not for lack of effort or intelligence.  It’s that the very underlying worldview is flawed…We have ignored a critical component of the cosmos, shunted it out of the way because we didn’t know what to do with it.  This component is consciousness.

Robert Lanza, M.D. in “Biocentricism” (pp 8 – 9)

“You ask whether parapsychology lies within the bounds of physical law.  My feeling is that to some extent it does, but physical law itself may have to be redefined.  It may be that some effects in parapsychology are ordered-state effects of a kind not yet encompassed by physical theory.”

–Brian Josephson, Physicist, Nobel Laureate

“Space and time exist only as constructs of the mind, as tools of perception.  Experiments in which the observer influences the outcome are easily explainable by the inter-relatedness of consciousness and the physical universe.”

–Robert Lanza, M.D. in “Biocentrism” (p. 159)

“…psi may require an explicit bridge between the physical and the psychological worlds. This is why an adequate theory of psi will be … cross-disciplinary…”

–Dean Radin, PhD

“In psychology, physiology, and medicine, wherever a debate between the mystics and the scientifics has been once for all decided, it is the mystics who have usually proved to be right about the facts, while the scientifics had the better of it in respect to the theories.”

— William James in “The Roots of Consciousness: Science, Evaluating Psi Research”

Half-Acre Challenge Update: Encroachment

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My lot is on the corner, which has a few advantages. For example, I have a back gate that works well for the propane truck or when I want to unload something directly into my shed. If I ever wanted to build another house or sell it as a building lot, there’s no problem with road access. It also makes my little piece of Texas look bigger, though sometimes that can be intimidating.

Not so advantageous is having a dirt road skirt half your lot’s perimeter. That means dust kicked up by every passing vehicle, particularly garbage trucks and all those massive pickups that are so popular here in Texas. Furthermore, they all tend to cut the corner, such that over the years the encroachment resulted in the corner of my lot actually being in the middle of what has now become the road. Obviously, the beneficiaries are my neighbors, across the street, where the road’s supposed to be.

Most of this happened before I owned the place, but when I saw the land survey I decided that was crazy and it wasn’t going to continue on my watch. First step was a chainlink fence. No, we didn’t take it all the way to the middle of the road, but we definitely pushed it out there enough to send a message.

To top it off, my favorite contractor gathered some rocks, which are plentiful in this area, so I could build a rock garden, but it wasn’t until this spring that I finally got around to doing so. Until a week or so ago, the rocks were overgrown with weeds. Not anymore! I’m happy to report that 500 lbs of dirt and a fair amount of sweat later, that my message to encroachers is complete. It’s populated with a desperado sage, golden sword yucca and mountain laurel, all of which will grow to be 5 – 10 feet tall, can tolerate winter temperatures down in the teens as well as summer heat and droughts. And a few vincas for color, of course.  My rational in using native plants was that once they’re established they’ll do fine on their own so I don’t have to drag a hundred foot hose down there to water them.

Of course building a rock garden can easily be associated with another situation, when people encroach upon your personal space. In that case, the solution is much the same. Building a stone wall and setting boundaries are your best bet, but it doesn’t have to be ugly. Sometimes it may have to be, but in most cases setting the boundaries, albeit doing so with a smile and kind but assertive words, will cause less resistance. I shudder to think what my neighbors would have done had I placed my fence, much less my little rock garden, out in the middle of the road, even though my lot reaches that far legally. The main point is to defend your right to privacy and what is yours.

Remember, what you allow will continue.

Half-Acre Challenge Update: Armadillogeddon

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This morning I went outside and found a massive array of holes around the base of my biggest oak tree. The last time I saw such a mess was a few years ago in which case the perpetrators were a bunch of wild hogs. Now I have a chainlink fence, far too high for hogs to scale, and all the gates were closed. So, the only logical conclusion was that it was a massive party held by armadillos rooting for whatever it is they eat. There must be a couple dozen holes with several a foot deep! In some cases, rocks the size of baseballs had been removed! Needless to say, I’ll need to fill them in before the next time I mow.

It’s still unimaginable that dillos made such a mess, compared to the usual holes I find that are about an inch or two in diameter and about that deep.  Maybe this was courtesy of ET.  Wish I had the event on video. Either way, it would have been tremendously entertaining!

Geeks Make the World Go-Round

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albertIf you’re a fan of the popular TV show, “The Big Bang Theory” you probably think you know what constitutes a geek. However, like most depictions of stereotypes, they’re often inaccurate. As a physics major, I’m qualified to define geekism. I can relate to what they’re trying to say, but it’s not on my favorites list. We had moments in college that were similar, but in most cases, like they say, you had to be there. True geeks aren’t impressed by “The Big Bang Theory.” They live it. I, personally, think it’s boring. I much rather watch “Ancient Aliens” or something on PBS.

Here’s what being a geek is really like. In college we had rituals at the end of every quarter, like having a pizza party and watching Monty Python’s “Quest for the Holy Grail”. We’d memorized the dialog and would quote key phrases at random times. Now that was funny. Or there was the time when four or five of us were holed up in our niche in the Utah State engineering building studying for finals in the wee hours. We were hungry so ordered pizza. Since we had a large variety of appetites and were all on a budget, we attempted to figure out how much everyone owed based on consumption. And there we were, deep into multi-variable calculus and orbital mechanics, but had a hard time dividing up the tab. And yes, we saw the irony and were laughing pretty hard, perhaps even bordering on hysteria.

sictrustatomWe had a professor who was so nervous lecturing that he not only would be visibly sweating, but he had a nervous habit of clearing his throat, after which he would always say “Pardon me.” This particular prof was a perfect fit for the very intelligent yet introverted nerd. So what did I do one quarter? Kept a tally, day by day, for an entire quarter, of how many times he said “Pardon me”. Then I graphed it by magnitude versus date, then analyzed the data with my fellow students. We discovered the rate went up right after he returned an exam, perhaps anticipating grading arguments. I still have the file labeled “Pardon Me Curves” in my file cabinet. I kid you not. It’s a college memory from the 80s that still makes me laugh.

Yes, I’m a geek. Always was, always will be.

A classic geek activity is astronomy. Not long ago I joined the Austin Astronomical Society, which conducts star parties a few miles from where I live. The vast majority of members live 50 – 90 miles away (in Austin, of course) so it’s a bit of an excursion for them to come up to the observatory, but I’m just a hop, skip and a jump away. While I had several quarters of astronomy and astrophysics classes in college, I never had any hands-on experience with telescopes before. So I’m a newbie with a lot to learn but it’s somehow very satisfying to stand around discussing the theory behind German equatorial mounts (no, they has nothing to do with sex) and remembering to select the solar, lunar or sidereal tracker during observation.

scithrillStar parties typically start while the Sun is still up so, with a proper solar filter, you can look at the Sun and its various sunspots. While it’s still daylight the geeks are pretty quiet, compared to the hobbyists. Unless they know you, they probably won’t say a word, preferring to busy themselves setting up their equipment or perhaps talking to someone they already know. Then it gets dark.

Obviously. It’s pretty hard to see the stars otherwise.

By the time your night vision peaks, they come to life, almost like vampires. It’s the original nightclub, fresh air under the stars and planets. Inhibitions evaporate. In a sense you’re invisible. No one knows who or what you are. They don’t know if you’re old or young, skinny or fat, only that you have the same passion for the night sky. I remember sitting in silence at one star party until it got dark, then finding two fellow physics majors, one around my age, the other a recent graduate, and sitting in the observatory swapping tales of school and work for hours. I hadn’t done so in years and can’t begin to describe how soul-satisfying it was. Like being with close family you’ve been away from for years. If I ran into them in the grocery store I wouldn’t recognize them. But that night we were soul mates, entangled by our love of what makes the world go round. Literally.

scigooutsideWhich brings me to what this blog is really all about. At last night’s star party I met a young woman whom I believe was still in high school. She had her niece with her, a young girl, probably around ten. She’d driven an hour to pick up her niece, then drove another three hours (for a total of four) to come to a star party. Her telescope, which she’d purchased herself with money she’d earned babysitting, was twice the size of the borrowed one I was using. She got it on sale for just under $1000. That’s a lot of babysitting.

It was not a good night for observing, lots of clouds and a Full Moon, with about the only thing visible Jupiter with his Galilean satellites high above our heads on the meridian. So after all that effort, that was all they saw, then turned around and drove back home. Eight hours of driving for a single star party.

If you’re not impressed, you should be.

knowledgegiftI would like to nominate that young woman as “Geek of the Year.” Someone who is enamored with our Universe, so much so, that she spent her hard-earned money on an eight-inch telescope instead of designer clothes or, heaven forbid, tattoos, then shares her passion with a younger family member; I think I was about ten when I discovered the stars. I would have given blood and paid money for an auntie like that. Maybe you find that behavior laughable; I find it admirable. And you know what? The world needs more people like that.

We didn’t talk long enough for me to get her name, much less find out her future plans. But she touched my heart. I hope our paths cross again. I would easily bet dollars to donuts she’s a future astronaut, astrophysicist or rocket scientist. She will obtain a good education, work for a living, and contribute to society.

Hail to geeks. Nerds, too, since I’m not sure of the difference between us. May you be lucky enough to have a geek or nerd or two in your life. They’re the glue that holds what’s left of our society together. Maybe instead of nerds they should be called gluons.

(Get it? Gluons? Never mind. It’s probably something only a geek would understand…)

 

Mothers’ Day Blues

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This picture of me, my daughters, and daughter-in-law was taken at a “Hen Party” I hosted over a decade ago. In fact, I referred to our jaunts as “Foxes in the Hen House.”  Its premise was a break for me and “the girls” with no kids, no men. We’d spend a lazy weekend in a beach house working on our tan while subsisting on chili con queso, brownies and beer. My intent was to promote family bonding and build fond memories.

We all love this picture because we all look happy, almost as if we like each other.  It captures an ideal that we somehow never reached, other than for a few photo ops. It’s a good thing our hen parties were confined to a weekend because by the time we went home we were usually not nearly that cheerful. All my kids are very different, except for having strong personalities. Of course I have no idea where that came from.

Mothers Day 2008-2

Relationships are complicated, especially in families. You can’t choose your family (at least not in this life) so you’re stuck with what you’ve got. Which means you need to work with it the best you can.  As an only child raised with TV shows like “The Brady Bunch” I always wanted a big family, thinking they’d always have each other and thus never feel as alone as I had. That isn’t exactly how it turned out. Some don’t like each other, some don’t even like me.

This picture from 2008 was the last time all my kids were together. It was Mothers’ Day, probably the best one ever, when all of us were together. It hasn’t happened since for numerous reasons, some geographic others not.

Hen Party memories bring a wash of nostalgia for other reasons as well.  That beach house was in Galveston, Texas and destroyed by Hurricane Ike in 2008. We could never go back there for old times sake, even if we wanted to. But the memories live on. Sometimes that’s all you have.

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When storms strike relationships they, too, can be destroyed. But that doesn’t mean they can’t be rebuilt. The trick is to base them on something more substantial than sand. Like love, compassion and understanding.

I never got along with my mother and now that she’s gone I finally understand her. Hopefully someday it will be the same for my kids.

1/2 Acre Challenge Week 2: Operation Iris Rescue

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My poor iris took a beating during the drought the past few years while the cactus survived, then got entirely out of control with this year’s welcome rain. The iris perked up, too, and deserved a new home, which they now have next to my shed.  I also have a garbage can full of cactus ears that probably weighs 300 lbs. ratsass

I’m sure that most of you out there can relate to the picture to the right as far as my efforts to tame my little piece of Texas are concerned. That’s okay. There’s something satisfying about sharing my progress in cyberspace. Somehow it provides a certain level of accountability, too. Just in case ANYONE actually does care, my intent is documented and it will be harder for me to give up and quit, though it’s pretty likely that will happen as the mercury rises into the usual triple digits of a Texas Hill Country summer. Until then, I can at least get as much done as I can, whether or not anyone notices, much less gives a rat’s ass.

Time Marches On

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Digital Clock c. 1995

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Analog Clock c. 1950s

Clearly the digital clock has had an electronic stroke while the analog clock still works just fine. There seems to be a message here.