15 December 2013 I was so much older then

Cassi Creek:

 I spent a lot of time in my youth wishing I were older.  I was not alone in that practice.  Nearly everyone I knew was doing the same thing.  We all thought, or seemed to, that adding a few years would solve many of our problems. 

          The passing of a few years left me physically older and mentally ancient.  It was very common to hear troops in VietNam proclaim, “I’m too old for this shit!”  As physically young men, they were most sincere in their resentment of the risks they faced on a daily basis that twisted and tore at them internally until they were mentally centenarians.  The changes could occur over time or in a matter of minutes.  They saw and did things that bled any remaining youth from them. 

          21years ago I got some of those lost years back; in a fashion, and with some help.  Life can screw with us in a manner we never expect.

          Now I find my mind tacking in one direction while my body adds a new set of challenges, forcing me down a different pathway.  See above, life can screw with us…

          Now, instead of muttering,” I’m too old for this shit!” I find myself proclaiming, “I’m too young for this shit!”  Guess Dylan penned”My Back Pages” for more than just himself.

Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rollin’ high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I
Proud ’neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Girls’ faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then

I’m younger than that now

A self-ordained professor’s tongue
Too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty
Is just equality in school
“Equality,” I spoke the word
As if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

In a soldier’s stance, I aimed my hand
At the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I’d become my enemy
In the instant that I preach
My pathway led by confusion boats
Mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

Copyright © 1964 by Warner Bros. Inc.; renewed 1992 by Special Rider Music

          I   

14 December 2013 flags in space guns in school

Cassi Creek: 

China  drops a rover on the moon.  The Chinese intend to have a viable space program rivaling the former programs of the U.S. and the USSR during the Cold War.  There is increasing tension between the U.S. Navy and the People's Liberation Army Navy.  The latest incident seems highly suggestive of the games of Chicken our ships and planes used to engage in with Soviet Forces.

http://us.cnn.com/2013/12/14/world/asia/china-moon-landing/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Iran launches monkey #2  Iran claims to have launched and recovered a second monkey as part of its space program.  This is disturbing since any rocket capable of orbiting a satellite or a capsule containing live animals or humans is capable of delivering military payloads to any place on Earth. 

http://us.cnn.com/2013/12/14/world/meast/iran-monkey-space/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Meanwhile, back at the NRA – Yet another school shooting took place in suburban Denver yesterday.  The shooter was an athlete, achiever, Boy Scout.  Where did he fall on the NRA’s ever-shifting good guy/bad guy scale?

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/13/bill-moyers-the-nras-conscience-is-as-cold-and-dead-as-charleton-hestons-hands/

13 December 2013 The universe has certainties but you won’t like them

Cassi Creek:  The link below leads to a compilation of things learned by repeated observations yielding replicable data.  Thanks to Dr. Ed Uthman for initiating the process, and to the other contributors who both supported Ed’s conclusions and recorded their own.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/ed-uthman/uthmans-laws-rules-and-aphorisms/473877922026

Lenon’s laboratory triad:  Anything submitted for analysis that can be misidentified will be.  Instrumentation breakdowns occur most frequently on the Friday of a four day holiday weekend.   Administrators never understand that non-factory Instrument service contracts will result in longer and more frequent downtimes.

Also, note Lenon’s law of negative expectations:

  If it is good, and someone mentions it, it instantly stops; if it is bad and someone mentions it, it begins immediately.

The morning has been cold and mostly sunny.  Moved wood up to the deck to have it under cover when the forecast rains begin.  The morning hike with Mike was worthwhile exercise.  Nothing of consequence took place.  There was limited conversation but I avoided his comments about things he heard or saw on Fox News.  It was a good day to avoid his 2^nd Amendment/NRA bias.

          The House has recessed and is now spending lobbyist dollars on trips and travel that they can’t afford on their actual salaries.  They won’t work anymore until sometime in January.  The Teavangelists will continue behaving like they have been, unattached to reality.  The chronic unemployed need to camp out in Congressional offices and remind the Congress that they were elected, not sanctified. 

12 December 2013 Drone wars under way

Cassi Creek:  The drone wars have already begun.  They hinge around the ability to collect information from protected spaces by deploying highly capable unmanned aircraft able to mine information by means of multiple sensor platforms.    The U.S. has been in the lead developing these platforms but the technology that enables stealthy flight  is not a secret.  Once anyone builds a stealth platform, the physics have been broadcast to any military or civilian agency that is willing to invest the time and money. 

          These spy platforms are not truly drones.  They are capable of automated linger and look patterns, programmed penetration flights, and human directed and controlled hands-on missions.  The term drone initially referred to an aircraft used for target purposes by manned aircraft. 

          The expense of these programs must be weighed against the cost in lives and hardware that would result if we flew these missions using humans in the cockpit.  The hardware is horribly expensive.  Pilots and aircrew are even more expensive and take longer to replace.  The nature of the control programs that are being used by trained pilots to fly UAVs remotely is approaching the point where UAV controllers may not need to be trained pilots. 

          The current state of technology allows middle-school kids to build or buy small remote-controlled aircraft.  They have limited lift capacity, limited loiter time, limited range, but can easily be equipped with cameras and transmitters.  The potential for neighborhood espionage now must be considered as well as the ongoing data mining taking place by NSA and other agencies targeting Americans and other nationalities.  The potential court cases stemming from shooting down the kid next door’s  camera-laden drone are going to be fascinating as we throw away more and more of our privacy.

U.S. seeks spy edge with stealth drone

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr

It looks like a bat, sweeping, turning. But it’s actually the new super-secret Air Force stealth drone.

CNN has learned this unmanned spy plane is designed to fly for up to 24 hours behind enemy lines in countries like North Korea, Iran, and Syria.

http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/12/u-s-seeks-spy-edge-with-stealth-drone/?hpt=hp_t2

11 December 2013 Strange light in the sky

Cassi Creek:  Clearing skies last night dropped the bottom out of the thermometer.  Woke up to 20 °F temp that  has now rebounded to 34°F.  Made the hike with Mike this morning. Dropped about 5 minutes off the regular time for the round trip.  It was cold, sun not yet topping the eastern valley wall.  Neither of us had much to say this morning.  

10 December 2013 still more cold rain and snow

Cassi Creek:  The rain and mist continue.  The creek is high and loud but not muddy.  That is something to be happy about.  Just now, 1045, large flakes of snow are falling along with the rain.  The NWS was correct in their hazardous weather statement. 

          I’m hoping for a dry period when I can check the lamps in the well filter shack.  I also need a two-three degree temperature drop to activate the thermostatic switch that controls them.

          Normally I don’t worry about it being overcast but the long duration of this series of fronts in combination with the weather related pain that they have caused, are becoming annoying.  I take my pain meds, and try to time tasks and activities to apparent peak levels of the various meds.  For instance, I want to minimize the effects of my tremor when I am cooking or prepping for meals.  I need to be certain of every knife stroke and every pan movement.  I work more slowly now than I have been accustomed to working.  Better to be an intact home cook than to be missing bits and pieces because I was trying to work with my former speed.  I’ve been lucky over the years and all my digits are intact.

          Intact, however, does not include prior grip strength and dexterity.  Those were measured during the neuro-psych exam and reported as decreased.  That is hardly surprising, as those parameters have been markedly decreased since 1998.  At least, I’m consistent.

          It is easy to watch the creek race by as the knotweed in the pit is mostly broken down for the season.  It is amazing how much water flows by us and at what velocity.  The noise of passage is loud enough that even I can hear it rush by and move the larger rocks along the creek bed.

9 December 2013 Algae Algae oxenfree

Cassi Creek:  The deck and steps have taken on a decidedly green layer of color and slickness that require care when walking on them.  The Pathfinder and Tucson have been de-algaenated but will soon be showing a green rebound.  The riding mower and log splitter exhibit the same decoration.

          I’ve never seen this level of airborne algae infestation anywhere but here and in rain forest.  It has been raining rather steadily since Friday.  The creek is high, fast, and becoming higher and faster.  The entrainment of rain along the front hammering the eastern U.S. promises more rain before a possible change to snow on Tuesday or Wednesday. 

          When the rain cells slack off mist and fog remain.  Given the forecast temperature drop, There is not too much risk of freezing rain or ice tonight . 

          We’ll light the wood stove tonight to drive out some of the damp feel that has invaded the house.