There is a reason why I was never chosen to be an astronaut.

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Tourist info for South East Michigan and my travels elsewhere.

It used to be that I would convince myself that something ‘wasn’t for me’ without having tried it. I convinced myself that ‘guys like me’ stayed home and read books - a LOT of books. That was an excuse to cover the fact that I couldn’t have gotten a date if my life depended on it.

I haven’t quite become a ‘bon vivant’ (yet), but I am listening to live music, seeing sights that I never believed I would and just tasting life more fully than before. I invite you to join me in this new phase of my life, one of exploration. My wife (things changed!) and I have been taking as many of our friends along as we could … we’d like it if you’d join us, too.

Currents Within, Winds Without — religion in a turbulent world.

With the possible exception of orphans cast ashore on desert islands and raised by sand crabs, everyone, whether they realize it or not, has some level of religious education and some opinion regarding the nature and value of worship. Even where there is no level of acceptance, there is a definite level of rejection. One way or the other, we end up making a stand for our beliefs.

In this blog, I give consideration to some of the issues that humans, particularly those who do believe in God, face. Some are peculiar to one perspective or another, some are universal. Unbelievers and others are free to discuss (calmly and peaceably) why I might be wrong.

We won’t always agree (nor should we) … but we can always make our best argument for a viewpoint and listen as others make theirs.

General observations about life in the > 55 lane.

To be honest, this is my first time growing old. I’m still not certain how to do it with any sort of grace. I’m not certain that is how I want to do it. Is there some sort of award for growing old with grace and dignity or is it okay to come sliding into home plate in a cloud of dust with your cleats high and yelling ‘yeee hawwwwww’?

Come along with me as I plow old ground for the first, and final, time in my life. Along the way, I’ll take a look at life as I see it. Maybe, by looking through my eyes, you’ll get a fresh perspective.

General Technology … geek stuff I’m not certain I understood the first time around.

Technology does not come to life and see use in a vacuum. It impacts lives or it has no value at all.
I discuss what each piece of technology means in terms of how we experience life and the world we live in.

RFID’s are a pretty good technology for keeping people from shoplifting nail polish, chainsaws and suppositories. Yawn … that is so yesterday.But implantable RFID’s … now that’s relevant to tomorrow. It lets an individual be tracked in a crowd, targeted and dispatched remotely.

Crowd control using microwave radiation is getting final testing right now. In tests, the dosages are supposedly kept below lethal. But the knob for for cranking it up is there, and if it exists at all, it is meant to be used. Apparently, the microwaves will burn out the RFID’s. So all is not lost.

That is the sort of technology that grabs my attention. I intend to talk about it while I am still able.

In the past 20 years or so, the world has gotten measurably better and demonstrably worse. Technology is the fuel for both. If you’ve got a minute, let’s talk.

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Often a link is just too long for a posting … particularly in the center column of this page, email and Usenet posts. Since I use Firefox as my browser of choice, it was a simple matter to install what they call ‘an extension’ that permits me to use a service in the United Kingdom that takes a long URL, writes it to a database and then passes back a shortened version of that URL.

You can then click on the shortened link just as you would a regular URL. That will send your request back to their database where it will be translated back into its long form and sped on its merry way to go fetch the page for you.

It is mostly just a visual convenience, but it does limit the problems of having a long URL word-wrap at the end of a line and end up badly copied and useless.  That is a non-trivial aggravation. Moreover, since it can simply be clicked on like a normal link, it will often eliminate the steps of cutting and pasting a URL completely.

My best guess is that the WAP URL guys count the clicks coming from here to there and sell that information to anyone willing to buy it … most likely the folks on the receiving end of the clicks who want to know what is generating their traffic. ALL clicks on the internet, by default, carry information about what operating system and browser you are using, which IP address you are using and the time of the click. It does not pass along your name. However, anyone with deep pockets can learn that via ordinary subpoena. Then the courts will instruct your internet service provider to spill the beans about who you are and they will do it. Even the s0-called ‘anonymizer’ services are ‘iffy’ because there is no way to be certain who is operating them.

You’ll find the budding geniuses at Firefox have a whole slew of gadgets for prop-heads and ordinary folks, too. Take a gander over at :

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The other new link, called “Key Navigation Links” will ferry you around to the rest of the site including the shopping cart (I make some really nice stuff -pens, bowls, key chains and so on - from wood) and the (as yet, empty) photo gallery, all nicely arranged so you can see what interest you and avoid what does not. Getting them arranged (there are several hundred!) is what has delayed their posting thus far.

I’m old enough to have strong opinions based on experience. I am also old enough to have grown thick skin to withstand contrary viewpoints - so feel free to post thoughtful comments whether you agree with my viewpoints or not. In fact, if you disagree I may learn something useful that I had overlooked.

One note of caution, though: I am also old enough to not worry about hurting someones feelings by deleting off-topic / flame posts.

I have a cuss-box. I you use profanity, hateful or vulgar speech on any of my web space, you can have your privilege of posting back for a cash donation of $7.00 per word, which I will donate to any charitable organization I feel like.

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What I have planned begun is a series of interlinked blogs, a photo gallery and an e-commerce catalog … whose entry-point will change based on what you had previously been reading.Of course, once you’ve entered the gallery (or the e-commerce site), you may browse to the rest of it, and each blog will have its own Links page, letting you get around to the rest of the blogs.

Check the heading (near the top of the page) for the LINKS page to get around the rest of the site.

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