Sly Comments

It's been a really great run, but it's now time to say 'adieu'

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 10:45:59 GMT

And so it ends... this is the final blog in a series that started last Feb. 7. There were a few half-hearted attempts before then, but Feb. 7th marked the first of my seven-days-each-week blogs, a series that lasted until May 11, when the powers-that-be figured my time could be spent more productively in some other activity. But even then, the blogs continued, three times each week except during vacations. But now, after some 77,000 words on this blog, it’s time to hang up the old green lampshade, clean out the desk drawers, turn off the computer and say farewell to a vocation that has served me well and faithfully for some 36 years.
              I’m going to miss being able to “surf” the newswires and read the news a full day before it comes out in the newspaper. I’ll also miss being able to read the comic strips a day or two in advance of almost everyone else. I’ll miss the excitement and buzz in the newsroom as a fast-breaking story stirs up a hornet’s nest of reporters and photographers, eager to report on all the action. I’ll miss the camaraderie of all my friends here in the newsroom, and I’ll certainly miss the occasional prank that gets played on one of our number.
              I’ll miss the rumble and roar of that monstrous printing press as it cranks up to print the news for tens of thousands of Marion Countians, and I’ll miss the excitement of picking up the ringing telephone, never knowing what news may wait at the other end of the line. I’ll miss the technology as the newspaper industry re-invents itself... again... as it moves ever more solidly onto the Internet with its potential of world-wide, instant distribution. I’ll miss the pressure of deadlines and that feeling of smug satisfaction that comes with knowing that yet “another bullet” has been successfully dodged. But most of all, I’m betting that I’ll be missing you, faithful readers of this blog.
              It’s been great! See you in the funny papers!
                     —————30—————

Christmas past, with a wary eye on the future

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:57:27 GMT

Well, that was quite a Christmas yesterday, wasn’t it? I was pretty sure I didn’t wind up on Santa’s Good Little Boys and Girls List this time around, so I really wasn’t expecting much. The past few years, my wife and I seem to be getting and giving our presents to each other at some point before Christmas, so when the big day actually rolls around, it’s kind of anticlimactic. However, yesterday’s bounty proved me wrong in my prognostications once again.
              The four of us in our immediate family got together, unwrapped a few gifts, talked a little, laughed a lot, had a pleasant meal, visited a bit more, then kind of melted away to our individual domiciles, content and happy. All things considered, it was a most pleasant experience. I wish all holidays could go this well. That in itself, would make for a pretty decent Christmas present.
               And as I report to work later this morning, I will only have three days left before punching that old timeclock for the very last time. That, in itself, is another pretty big Christmas present this year.
               I should have a pretty active retirement. There are plenty of things I’ve never done, due to lack of time, or lack of money, or sometimes just plain old lack of initiative. I’ve never seen many of the natural wonders in this great nation of ours, or the man-made ones either, that millions of Americans have experienced firsthand. I’ve never taken a ride on a hot-air balloon, or on a paddle-wheeler, either. There are dozens of books I still need to read, and I’d like to write a few books, too.
               And now, all that stands between those activities are three workdays, a mere 24 more hours of work. Gee... that’s almost scary, y’know?

One facet of Christmas shopping always seems to get left out of planning

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:58:15 GMT

Tomorrow’s the big day, only one more full day of shopping until Christmas! I’m getting ready to make my annual raid on the stores to stock up on the presents I’ve got on my to-buy list. Hope there’s still some stuff left on the shelves. I usually wait till late in the season before I start looking for presents anyway, it’s more of a challenge then.
            One of those tasks I generally overlook and one that just never seems to get onto my list of things to do is the wrapping of the gifts I buy. It’s not that I don’t ever wrap presents, it’s just that I never even think about that facet of the holiday happenings, what with being consumed with the idea of buying the correct present for the correct person at the last possible moment.
             When I arrive home with my armful of goodies and head for the Christmas tree, it’s generally about that time that the thought hits me: Hey, I’ve still got to wrap all this stuff! And waiting until late in the game to go shopping as I usually do makes the wrapping part particularly difficult. The time I need to do the wrapping has to be subtracted from my sleeping time. And that’s NOT a good thing! It also explains why I like to take a nap early on a Christmas afternoon.
             Perhaps one of these days, I’ll finally remember to include sufficient time in my schedule for taking care of the little details like wrapping presents, instead of just concentrating on acquiring the gifts. Hmmm... that might make a pretty decent resolution for the new year, y’think? Well, I could make the resolution, but I seldom follow them so it’d probably just be a big waste of time.

Why I quit making New Year's Resolutions many years ago...

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:59:06 GMT

It’s that time of the year when we should start considering what resolutions we might make for the New Year of 2008. I generally don’t bother with the practice anymore. I’ve disappointed myself so many times in the past when I’ve failed to follow through on a goal for the new year, that I’ve gotten lazy and now generally take that infamous Path of Least Resistance, which in my case, is just not to make any resolutions at all. Over the years, I’ve thrown the proverbial towel into the ring on at least a few occasions; and when it came to New Year’s Resolutions, that particular towel was the easiest one I’ve ever thrown.
            Hopefully, those of you who may be reading this are built of sturdier stuff than I am, because the underlying logic of resolutions for the new year, is quite sound. A new year represents a new beginning, a fresh start, a time when the slate is wiped clean, and everyone more or less starts off from the same metaphorical starting line. It’s a great time to tackle that smoking habit that’s been bugging you, or to resolve to give up milk shakes, pizza and french fries in an effort to shed a few pounds from around the waist. It’s also a great time to start reading that book you’ve been meaning to get around to for the past five years. Do it before the pages turn into dust. It’s also a great time to start writing that book you’ve always thought you’d get around to someday. You’re not going to live forever, you know! Or maybe undertake that daily one-mile walk you’ve been thinking about for the past 10 years or so.
            But perhaps one of the best resolutions that any of us could make is to spend a little more time outdoors, to give up some of that precious (but mostly wasted) time spent watching TV in a kind of intellectual stupor that accepts whatever is paraded across the screen without any real thinking or analysis going on behind those bleary eyes. If all the hundreds of hours we all waste watching TV could be put to good use, we’d probably advance our civilization 10 times quicker than we do now.
            There’s a lot of good programming on TV but let’s face it, most of the prime-time stuff is just chewing gum for the mind. That time could be better spent in any number of pursuits. Hmmm... maybe I WILL make a resolution for the coming year. Less TV, more book-reading. I’ve been getting pretty tired of all those inane commercials anyway.

Frosty mornings trigger memories of even frostier mornings of long ago

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:43:20 GMT

Monday morning marked the first really cool morning we’ve had so far this season. It was a chilly 36° when I awoke at 5:30 a.m., then the temperature continued to slowly go down to 32.8° before it stopped then began its slow climb back up to more comfortable numbers. I’m sure the air conditioners in Florida appreciate the break and the chance to quit running 24/7 for a day or two at least. I’ve often thought that it’s surely a good thing that air conditioners don’t have labor unions. If they did, Florida would only have about a third of its present population.
              When we first moved up here from Miami back in 1971, we weren’t all that accustomed to such temperatures, although my wife and I had certainly experienced much worse in the past. She’s a Pennsylvania farm girl, and temperatures up in northern Pennsylvania do get a bit chilly at times. While in the Army, I had spent four years in Bavaria, a state in southern Germany. I’d been told several times that southern Germany gets considerably colder than northern Germany (due to the differences in altitude), and while I can’t say much about the cold in northern Germany, I certainly can attest to the fact that southern Germany DEFINITELY got pretty doggoned cold.
              I was in the Motor Pool one particularly cold day, washing a Jeep, and watched the water literally freeze before it could run off the fender. And the Army tanks we had would freeze to the concrete pads where they were parked. The quickest way to get them loose was to start up every tank in the battalion (an hourly procedure during the coldest nights), find one that wasn’t frozen into place and use it to deliberately collide with another tank, freeing it from its icy grasp. Then those two would free two more which would then join in the effort. There used to be a lot of clanging and banging back then, but all 72 tanks in the battalion would be free to rumble within minutes using that brute force technique.
               Fortunately, it doesn’t get quite that cold here, and we should all be thankful for that blessing, however, one morning back in the 1970s, it got down to a frosty 8° on our front porch in the Florida Highlands in the south end of the county. I took my camera outside and took a photo to record that event for posterity. I used to have a print from that negative, but somewhere in the intervening years, it’s gotten lost. That’s probably a good thing, too. I wouldn’t want to be reminded of the fact that it can, at times, get pretty miserably cold even here in Beautiful Marion County!

A new little toy for the technological cognoscenti

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:56:12 GMT

I recently purchased a neat little device named Neo. It’s made by a company named AlphaSmart. The business was started by a couple of ex-Apple Computer employees, but they sold out their interest in the company awhile back. The “neat little device” I referred to is a simple little gadget that is absolutely ideal for writers. It’s a keyboard with an LCD screen. It has a mini-word processor inside and a calculator. It also has a built-in dictionary and thesaurus – and that’s pretty much it. Some people might think it’s pretty meager, but I find it’s ideal for just writing, punching in those random thoughts that won’t last long enough to commit them to paper, and all those other really neat ideas that occur to you for various stories, columns, essays, whatever. It’s small enough to lug around easily, and you don’t have to worry about AC power.
It operates on three penlight batteries, and if you use alkaline AA’s, they’re reportedly good for about 700 hours of use, which is just about a full month, running 24/7. The built-in software offers both QWERTY and Dvorak layouts, so it’s suitable for a wide range of users. I understand this little gem is also popular in some schools because apparently it can be used by teachers to administer tests and do a number of other chores teachers are often called upon to do. It comes with a robust case and supposedly can stand up to rough handling. No, it can’t connect to the Internet. It’s a writing machine only, and a stripped-down one at that. But that is the beauty of the device, you can’t go wandering off exploring the Internet when you should be writing instead. The cost, with case, is $219 plus shipping, but for a certain type of user, it’s a real bargain.
I plan to use mine a lot after I retire a couple of weeks from now. It doesn’t write files to a disk, but has enough built-in memory to hold a 100,000-word book. You don’t even have to remember to save your files, each keystroke is automatically saved as you type it. Oh, you also get an USB cable with the device which allows you to upload your text files to either a PC or a Macintosh, for more sophisticated editing, formatting, storage and printing. If you’d like to know a little more about this outstanding little writing tool, go to www.alphasmart.com.

One of nature's true wonders slowly being restored to former glory

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:57:32 GMT

My wife and I went over to Dunnellon last Saturday, to Rainbow Springs where they were having the park’s annual Santa Over the Rainbow event. The park was ablaze with color as bright colorful Christmas lights, arranged in and amongst the branches of the park’s copious shrubs and trees and bedecking the buildings all evoked a peaceful Christmas spirit.
          Rainbow Springs State Park is one of those delightfully beautiful areas, that alas, has been allowed to deteriorate greatly over the past three decades. A valiant band of volunteers is slowly, but surely resurrecting at least a taste of the park’s glory days. The pathways are uneven and take extra care to negotiate these days. There is no longer a big aviary filled with exotic birds. No longer is a skyride carrying tourists over the glorious Rainbow River, over the waterfalls, and into the interior of that long-ago aviary. No longer do submarine boats where passengers sit below the level of the water’s surface and look out into the crystal clear waters, ply those magnificent lucid depths. Houses now encroach on the property up to the very entranceway leading back off U.S. 41 to the park where once only rolling green pastures, neatly manicured and trimmed, surrounded the entrance.
           Since the state has taken possession of the property, a lot of improvements to the long-neglected property have been made, and it’s slowly coming back to at least a hint of its former beauty, but a full recovery is a long ways off. But those valiant volunteers struggle against the odds in redeeming the park’s beauty and they do it daily, with little recognition and no pay. They do it for the beauty of the place, and for the lovely Rainbow River. They do it for the visitors who want to catch a glimpse of one of the prettiest little getaways in all of Marion County.
           If you’d like to take a look, you can find the park just north of Dunnellon about 2-3 miles on U.S. 41. Admission is $1 per person, and it’s the biggest bargain in the entire county!

Don't like your life? Then change it!

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:09:50 GMT

The Christmas holiday season, for some reason I’ve never quite been able to understand, brings out moods of depression among some people. I’ve seen a few news stories that claim the suicide rate always seems to spike around Christmas day, a time when most people seem exuberantly happy. I suppose if circumstances are such that you’re lonely, depressed, without a friend in the world, then ending it all might seem like a viable option.
     But life is just too great to do something like that. Loneliness can be cured. If you can’t seem to keep friends, ask yourself why. Do a little soul-searching and then change whatever needs to be changed in your character, and soon you’ll begin having friends, dear friends, too. If you’re depressed, go outside and take a long walk, preferably through the woods and commune for awhile with Mother Nature. That always lifts my spirits dramatically.
     And if you’re lonely, then start going to places where they are people around – there are lots of those: Church groups, service clubs, sporting events. There’s no need whatsoever to be lonely in this crowded old world of ours. Of course, you might need to get into some of that personal introspection again, to determine if your loneliness is self-created.
     A wise man once said something like: If you don’t like your life, then CHANGE it! The power to change our own lives rests deep within each of us. It can be done, all you have to do is make up your mind you’re going to do it!
     You can resolve to make 2008 the best year you’ve ever had. It may take a bit of preparation, but there’s nothing stopping you from starting right this very moment, is there? If there is, it’s only because you allow it to be so!

A day without coffee is like a day without sunshine

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 10:56:16 GMT

Almost every day at work, I fix myself a mug of instant coffee, and as my career slowly fades into the sunset, so the contents of that big jar of Folger’s Instant are slowly fading away, too.
           I started drinking coffee at my desk several years ago, when the coffee vending machine in our company snack room was removed.
           This, as I recall, is the third jar of instant coffee I’ve bought since the machine was removed. I’m a coffee lover from way back, having imbibed the stuff since I was a child of 8 or 10 or so. Back then, I used to drink it with cream and sugar – maybe I should say cream and LOTS of sugar – but I abandoned the cream and sugar decades ago and now just drink it black.
           Coffee is supposed to be a stimulant, but it just doesn’t seem to work that way on my body, for some odd reason. Actually, I wish it did, because sitting in front of a computer monitor all day long makes the old eyelids start feeling pretty heavy at times. When I feel like I need a little boost to keep me awake, I prepare a mug of coffee. It rarely has the effect I wish it did. I have told others many times that I could drink an entire pot of coffee, then lay down and sleep like a baby. And it’s true, I can.
           I remember telling someone that story years ago, only to be told that if I ever switched to decaf for awhile, then went back on the high octane stuff, then I would notice a difference for sure. So, as it turned out, at one point I actually did switch over to decaf for about a two-year period before giving up on it, and returning to real coffee. When I did, the thought that old conversation had planted into my mind rose to the surface, and I wondered if real coffee would now act as a stimulant for me.
          After several weeks, I came to the conclusion that it did not. It was no more a stimulant than it had ever been. ‘Tis a pity, we all could use a bit of a boost from time to time.
         Well, looking at the bright side of the story, I suppose coffee is a lot cheaper, as well as a lot healthier for me than sleeping pills would be!

Pondering a somewhat different direction in life for the new year

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:47:19 GMT

I’ve been giving some serious thought to writing a book lately. I know a lot of people, at some point in their lives, claim they’re going to write one; but very few of them ever actually get around to doing it. I read one time that only several people out of every thousand will ever write a book; and further, that of those who do, only several of every thousand written will ever get published.
            But computers and the Internet have changed many of those old harsh realities.
            There are many more opportunities to get published today than they were in the past. The Internet and the home computer have served to open up the entire field to anyone who yearns to see their name in print. I’ve written a couple of small books in the past, nothing big. They were both non-fiction and aimed at a very narrow segment of readers. I also tried selling them through mail order, but about the only thing that happened was that I wound up enriching the coffers of several magazines that ran advertising for the books. These were of the publish-them-yourself variety. There was no big-time publisher with buckets of $100 bills to throw around in promoting the books.
             Most of my life, I’ve eschewed fiction works. I’ve read literally hundreds of books since reaching adulthood, and very few of them have been fiction. I guess I got my fill of fictional stories when I was still a teenager.
             But now, late in life I’ve suddenly developed a new respect for the field, to the point that I think it would be interesting to at least give it a shot. I have a few threads of possible story ideas darting through my synapses. Sometimes I awaken in the middle of the night with yet another idea that would meld smoothly enough into one of the storylines to be seriously considered. I’ve been reading several books on the craft and feel I’m developing a firm enough foundation to actually generate some traction someday.
              After the end of the year, I’ll have lots of time to devote to perhaps a new chapter (in more ways than one) in my life.

Almost time for annual shopping spree to begin

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:10:59 GMT

Time is sure rushing by for some reason. Here we are only 20 days out from Christmas already! Pretty soon, I’m going to have to start giving some serious thought to what I can buy for Christmas for the family and friends. Holidays can be quite a drudgery at times. That’s why I generally wait until Christmas Eve before I start my Christmas shopping. Not only does it keep me from obsessing on what to buy and for whom for several weeks, but it keeps me out of the crowded aisles, too.
          When you shop on Christmas Eve, sure, you have to contend with crowded aisles, but by limiting your purchase season to that one evening, you at least minimize your exposure to crowds. Some people go back to the stores during the busiest time of the year over and over, repeatedly exposing themselves to the pressures, tensions and travails that afflict typical Christmas shoppers. Sorry, but that’s just not my cup of tea! I’d just as soon do it all in one shot.
           Waiting until the last possible moment to buy your gifts also opens up the possibility that you may be able to snag some last-minute Christmas sales from merchants eager to move their remaining inventory. Prices on Christmas Eve can sometimes be quite reasonable! But sometimes they’re not, either. It’s kind of like rolling dice. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose!
           But regardless of which technique you choose to use for Christmas shopping, we can all agree that Christmas comes but once a year, and thank our lucky stars for that! :-)

Looking forward to major changes in my lifestyle

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:54:04 GMT

Well, here we are well into December, winding up yet another year. This year will be a bit different though, at least for me. I’ll be retiring at the end of the month, so December will be a month I’ve both looked forward to, and dreaded, for perhaps much of my adult life. I’m looking forward to not having to get up at 5:30 each morning, although a little furry critter who shares our household may not approve of that enough to actually let it occur. He seems to be hard-wired into a 5:30 a.m. feeding of fresh food, so putting victuals out the night before doesn’t work, doggone it!
          Making doctors’ appointments will be much easier, no longer must I insist future appointments be on Monday or Tuesday, preferably late in the day. And unless I just feel the need to drive around aimlessly, I guess my gasoline purchases will be more modest, at least during most weeks. Fewer fast food meals will probably help the bulging problem around my waist, too. And no more enforced bedtimes. I’ll be able to stay up as late as I want, even all night if that’s what I choose to do.
          Won’t have to take clothes to the dry cleaners anymore, either. And I can quit shining my shoes so often as well.
          Watch more TV, take more naps, explore the Internet for hours at a time – sounds like a pretty good way to enjoy life to me!

Will Christmas shopping season turn out to be a boom – or a bust?

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:05:05 GMT

Perhaps it’s a cynicism that comes with old age, but I frequently am afflicted with that old deja vu feeling when confronting the everyday world I live in.
         Take for example, the Christmas shopping season, which started off with a bang the morning after Thanksgiving. Many shoppers, all across the country, got up in the middle of the night to take advantage of special pricing sales in many mainline retail establishments. Almost everyone in the retail game offered deep discounts, two-for-one pricing, and all types of extra incentives to entice shoppers to plunge wholeheartedly into their first shopping forays of the holiday season. And it worked. Malls and stores were filled with milling throngs eager to snare whatever bargains they could pounce upon.
         But as the buying season progresses, I can’t help but ponder if the sales reports, at first glowing with optimism, will slowly diminish into eventually disappointing results at the cash register, in a repeat performance of past years. It seems to me that Black Friday always erupts with great promise, then as we draw nearer to Christmas, the buoyant hopes for a record sales season slowly sink back into the gloom of yet another missed sales record as merchants sadly report the “dismal” outcome on their bottom lines.
         Could it be a situation where the big-time merchants are just drawing out those customers a bit earlier, the very same customers who without incentives would have wound up in their stores anyway? And with such marketing tactics, is it possible that the sales industry itself is ultimately responsible for unrealistic expectations of vastly increased sales, by intentionally or not, distorting normal shopping patterns?
         I believe the various divisions of the world’s largest retailer customarily take in the far greater part of a billion dollars a day – routinely – throughout the year!
         A billion bucks is a thousand millions! Each DAY! At this rate of sales and consumption, how realistic can it be to continually expect ever higher sales and profits. When is enough money enough? Even Bill Gates and Microsoft don’t pull in the green on this scale. I know the little Mom and Pop businesses of the world don’t see all these stunning sales figures in their own ledger sheets, but even so, most of them seem to be doing OK. If they’re not, then perhaps they should consider a more rewarding profession.

         I just get a little weary of hearing how well things are going in Conspicuous Consumer Land, then as we approach Christmas, being told to forget it, things weren’t really doing nearly as well as had been hoped.
         So pardon me when I barely stifle a yawn the next time I see a story lamenting how “poorly” this Christmas shopping season turned out to be. Such a pity, isn’t it? Kinda makes you want to say, “Bah, humbug!”

A Sunday walk in the woods does a fellow good this time of year

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:00:31 GMT

Last Sunday, I took a little trip over to the Land Bridge Trailhead located on County Road 475-A just a tad over two miles north of County Road 484. There’s a trail through the woods over to the Land Bridge which straddles I-75. In fact there are several trails through the woods there, one for walkers, one for horses and their riders, yet another for bicyclists.
         Sunday was a beautiful day for getting out and enjoying the great outdoor beauty this part of Florida has in such abundance. I’ve been to this particular trailhead and walked to the Land Bridge perhaps dozens of times over the past few years, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen so many others out and about and enjoying Nature’s wonders at the same time. Often in the past, I’ve found I’m the only one on the foot paths, and only occasionally will a few riders, either horses or bikes, whiz by, but this time, there were dozens of bicyclists and tens of horses, as well as a fair number of walkers, too. It was almost like a mini-convention. Each of us was obviously enjoying the opportunity of communing with nature, while out on the Land Bridge itself, we could see below six streams of congested traffic stretched all the way to both horizons as harried drivers made their weary way home following the Thanksgiving holiday.
         One thing I’ve noticed on the trails is that people tend to be much more friendlier when they meet you in the woods, than they might otherwise be in another location. I guess perhaps people feel drawn to a simpler time when neighbors depended on each other in facing life’s difficulties to a greater extent than they do now. A simpler lifestyle promoted more openness among neighbors and strangers both, an element that grows increasingly rare with our modern preoccupation with gadgets, devices and other mechanical objects.
         It’s good to get out in the outside world from time to time. I really need to get back in the habit of making the Trailhead a more regular stop in my weekly agenda.

A fantasy come true might not be so great after all

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:00:47 GMT

One of these days, I’d like to just forget all about the few cares and woes I have, and just float aimlessly down a peaceful, quiet river in a canoe, soaking up the sun, listening to the birds and wildlife along the banks of the river, and the gentle lapping of the water along the length of the canoe. No paddle, no compass, no map, no itinerary, just a peaceful little excursion down the river, letting Nature carry me along with abandon wherever and however it may.
          I’m not really sure why I find such an idea so appealing, but it’s one that I’ve entertained in my fantasies for many years. When you start analyzing that wish though, you quickly discover its flaws. Among its shortcomings: What if an alligator tips the canoe over, and you don’t even have a paddle to fend off the beast? What if you plow into a thicket of cypress roots and punch a hole in the canoe? What happens when you ultimately arrive at wherever it is you wind up? You can’t paddle back against the current without a paddle, swimming that far is certainly far beyond most of our capabilities, and I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of another boater picking up a casual hitch-hiker from a riverbank, so probably the best result you could expect from such an excursion is that you’d have a mighty long walk back to your starting point.
          But perhaps all of our wishes ultimately as just as impractical as my little fantasy floatdown. They seem so appealing when you consider them, but when reality sets in, perhaps it’s a good thing for all of us that there really are no genies, no magic lamps, and no three wishes for whatever we’d like.
          And that’s probably just the way it should be!

Keeping up with growth is a never-ending challenge for officials

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 10:50:54 GMT

Last week, I was on vacation, so that’s why there were no blogs written for a period of time. Last Sunday marked the final day of my vacation, but I had to attend to a matter that got inked in on my calendar months ago. I was a guest of the American Jewish Club in the State Road 200 community of On Top of the World where I was invited as a guest speaker. On Top of the World is a gated community, and I recall when the bulldozers first showed up in the area and began toppling trees and ripping out underbrush to make room for the new development.
         My wife and I had moved up here in 1971, and many times we traveled SR 200, then still a lonely two-lane roadway that probably saw more wildlife crossing it than automobiles. But times have certainly changed. Now the area is exploding in growth and new developments fill many an architect’s CAD systems, with much more probably coming in at some period in the not-too-distant future.
         While addressing club members and fielding their questions, I noted a number of different American accents, and not many sounded as though they had any long-standing local ties. The area is rapidly filling up as people retire and seek a warmer climate to spend their declining years, a sort of self-reward that many have been planning for perhaps most of their lives.
          It’s nice to see so many people filling their dreams of moving South, but the strains on our infrastructure, especially on the roadway system and our water resources are going to keep community planners busy for decades seeing if they can figure a competent way to balance demand with supply.
          But we’ve always managed to come up with workable solutions to seemingly intractable problems before, and I’ve no doubt we’ll do so again.

Almost time to start on that long, long list of stuff to do

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 11:05:47 GMT

The old calendar is slowly closing in on the final days of my career. It’s a time I approach with some trepidation, but with a certain amount of joy as well. My list of things to do after I retire is so long I know, realistically, I’ll never even approach getting all the tasks taken care of, but if I stick to the list, then I certainly won’t lack for anything to do.
         And then there’s the matter of travel. There are lots of places in this country I’ve never seen. I do believe I’ve seen more of Europe than I have of the United States. For example, I’ve never seen New York City, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty. My eyes have never swept over the wonders of the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone, or Mount Rushmore. I’ve never been to California, or Chicago, or Las Vegas. Boston, Philadelphia and Tombstone are places I’ve yet to see, and just about everything in-between those sites. It’s a huge country, filled with wonders and vistas that thrill and delight.
         Several times I’ve had the opportunity to travel to some of the places on my “haven’t ever been there” list, but concerns of the moment or a busy workload kept me from going. Hopefully, with a bit of luck, now I’ll get to see many of those places.
         I want to hike the highways and byways of Old Florida while they still retain some flavor of their glorious past. I want to trod barefoot on the shores of the Atlantic with the waves nibbling gently at my feet; and I want to splash through some tidal basin where the salty Pacific brine encroaches. I want to feel, in my lungs, if it’s any more difficult to breathe in mile-high Denver.
         Yes, there’s lots to do, and hopefully the Fates will grant me the opportunity to cross many of those wishes off my list, while I’m yet young enough to enjoy them

There's just something endlessly fascinating about pi

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:35:55 GMT

Lots of numbers are endlessly fascinating, but none more so than π. In speech, it’s pronounced “pie,” but in its written form, it’s pronounced more like “pee.” It is, of course, our old friend from geometry and algebra days, the one that allows us to solve math problems that involve circles.
            Modern computers have figured out the value of π to a trillion places. In 2002, the value of pi was computed to 1,241,100,000,000 places, or if you’re not very facile with numbers, that’s 1 trillion, 241 billion, 100 million! A trillion, for those a little unsure with numbers of this size, is a million millions, or a 1 followed by 12 zeroes or 10^12. However you look at it, it’s a most awesome number.
            The value of Pi, to 30 decimal places is 3.141592653589793238462643383279, which is precise enough to figure out almost any problem you’ll ever come up against, like circles big enough to encompass the entire known universe. Of what use would the value of pi carried out to millions or billions of places be? At that value, it’s merely an academic curiosity, but it does hold relevance for being a benchmark for computer operation, and is frequently used to gauge the speed of computers.
            The Bible set a value of 3 for pi, but later authorities knew that number fell somewhat short, so it was modified, refined, recomputed, reinvented, and now is known to very definite values. I saw a bit about a fellow on TV one time, who had memorized Pi to something like 1,000 decimal places or something like that. I suppose it’s a good workout for your memory cells but there’s not much opportunity to drop a number of that size into a casual conversation. Besides, even if you did, no one listening would know if you were reciting it correctly or not.
            However, I guess that fellow is just another of the ones who are endlessly fascinated by this most remarkable number, just like me!

A little bit of magic, please, Maestro!

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 10:52:27 GMT

It’s odd how just a little misdirection and a flair for razzle-dazzle can cause someone else to totally misinterpret what you’re doing to the extent that they are completely baffled. A buddy of mine way back in the fifth grade in grammar school once showed me the secret of a trick he used to do with a rubber band. The effect is this: You show your closed hand, in a fist configuration, to your about-to-be startled spectators. A rubber band is wrapped tightly around the index and ring fingers. Then you quickly open your fist and the rubber band “magically” jumps from the index and middle fingers to the ring and small fingers, apparently “teleporting” itself instantaneously through the first two fingers.
            It’s a very simple trick, one you can probably figure out for yourself if you play around with a rubber band for a few moments, but it’s amazing just how many people have been wowed by that simple little maneuver when I’ve showed it to them over the past 57 years or so! Sometimes, the element of mystery seems to enthrall onlookers and suspend their sense of reality, leaving them almost helpless to figure out logically whatever it is they’ve just witnessed.
            There’s another simple little trick that is accomplished with a couple of dollar bills. Or you use a $1 and $5 to make it a little easier to follow. You place one bill on a table, then place the second bill on top of the first. You then roll them up, still on the table, then unroll them, as the onlooker discovers that the bill formerly on the top is now on the bottom. It’s a little unnoticed maneuver in the presentation that does the “magic,” but it’s quite subtle and difficult to follow unless you know exactly what is happening. I have shown this trick to some people over and over again, and they still don’t seem to catch on to how it’s done. You can also mix it up a bit by not making the bills seem to switch places, in case someone thinks they’re got it all figured out.
            It’s almost embarrassing to realize just how amazing what you do can seem after reading one cheap little book on magic tricks! Give it a try. Kids will love you for it!
                                                     --------------------------------------------------------
            Next week there will be no blogs entered into “Sly Comments.” Next fresh blog entry should be available on Nov. 19.

Thank you very much, but no thanks!

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:01:00 GMT

There are lots of little nit-picking peccadilloes that plague us during our everyday activities. Among the most annoying, at least to me, is whenever I buy some little gee-gaw, the sales clerk always asks if I want a service contract to go with the item. As a marketing tactic, it strikes me that this is not a very sound strategy. It can have a deleterious effect in the mind of the customer. I’m sure this technique adds a lot of additional bucks to the bottom line of the ledger, but most of the experts say service contracts generally aren’t a good idea for the consumer, who winds up paying for repairs that are never made, in most instances.
          Most items bought from reputable sources have at least a 30-day warranty on them, and some even longer. That should be long enough to get the item home, open up the packaging, and take the little gee-gaw for a spin, just to make sure it’s in proper working order. If not, then a trip back to the merchant to return the device should take care of the matter. Or in some cases, the customer is expected to ship the item back to the factory.
          If it works when it comes out of the box, then it’s reasonable to expect the item to perform for quite awhile as long as it’s not abused or put to tasks it was not designed for. When a clerk tries to sell me a service contract on something I’m buying, I immediately start questioning WHY they are recommending a service contract for the item. Do these products break down so frequently that the store considers the service contract a necessity? If so, then I tell the clerk I certainly don’t wish to walk out of their place of business with an item that’s expected to break down shortly after the time I get it home.
           A few pertinent points made along this line, along with a veiled threat of canceling the purchase generally gets them to refrain from making additional suggestions along that line of thought. It always makes me feel somewhat smug knowing I've talked my way out of spending a few unnecessary dollars, but then I'm brought back to reality while walking out the door as I realize that on the next purchase, I'm probably going to have to go through the same routine all over again.