good-bye Kelly

in memory of Michel ARCHANGEL "KELLY" FANELLI.
A great father-in-law, a great friend, a great human...
the light you gave to me will shine for eternity

Missed again

Missteps, miss construed, miss judged, miss informed, miss guided, miss understood, misstated , miss led, missed out! This is an apology that no one will see so I guess it misses the mark!

TOMMY! Where did we blow it?

While watching Tommy again, I was forced to ask myself if we have gotten lost as if we were deaf, dumb and blind? The way seemed so clear all those years ago. Change for the greater good was our purpose! We thought we could, but we have not it seems. Some jumped on the bandwagon then jumped off quickly when they saw the effort it would take. Those that stayed were soon in the minority. Steering, or driving the bus, is a difficult task with every ones help let alone with most going different ways. The destinations may be varied but the road that takes us there goes only two ways. Foward and back. The purpose of a road is to make it easier to get to where you are going and return. Some how we have left the road. Even good people get lost if they leave the road. For sure some find their way, but many do not. I guess what I'm trying to say is we must know where we want to go first, then we pick the road. If we do not know where we want to go we may go down the wrong road. We must be aware of the bumps but not abandon the road because of them. Listening to you I get the story.

scolarly discusion of the word "scholar"

A gentleman and a scholar took me under his wing to improve my knowledge of the subject at hand. His mastery of the subject was breathtaking. He could discern more about a machine with a few light taps of his machinist's hammer and his nose than the designer. Although he was in possession of a great intellect, it was his knowledge that made him great. This was the direct result of many years of work and observation. One of the proudest moments of my life was his agreeing to teach me some of the "secrets" he had learned. He was considered by all that knew him or knew of him to be the "grand wizard of machines." After awhile in his company, those that knew me would tell me how lucky I was that he was willing to share his knowledge with me, When I told him what they said, all he said to me was that he liked the way I only added my two cents when they were needed. He was not above learning, in fact he never stopped. He was truly a gentleman and a scholar. He had been asked to speak at many universities about many things that did not involve machines. He would teach me of these things too. The biggest secret he gave me was no secret at all. He had never studied at a collage or university. He would say" A scholar need not have a degree, but it helps." What a guy. He died when he was about 70 and I was 24. I will never forget him or what he taught me. When one looks up the word "scholar" there is more than one definition. Maybe they should add his name.

law

I was reading of the plan to cut funding to many nursing homes as much as $700,000 a year. we spend 4 billion a month in Iraq. I guess oil is worth way more than American's, or any human's life. Profit is primary, life is secondary today. I know energy is an important part of today's economy , but is there any economy without people? Should we spend our lives making a few people wealthy and be left out in the cold when we can no longer contribute to their wealth? What a system!

i think it's gonna be a long long time!

it's been over 40 years and no sign of touch down for me! i was always a little off. more than half a bubble off by most accounts. lol. it was not that i didn't see what others did, i just seemed to see more. i read constantly. usually SF, but not much was beyond my interest. i made it through school without most of my textbooks though. they were placed in a safe place and forgotten until i had to turn them in at the end of the year. i was more interested in Poe, Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury among many others. it was very evident to my parents, teachers and friends that Bob was not from around here. i took this in stride since it seemed i had no choice.
in the 60's i set about designing underground habitats to survive a nuclear war. this meant learning about generating power, hydroponics, bringing sunlight underground by using Lucite fibers hidden above, testing the underground water as we got it so we could send the water out with the same characteristics and avoid detection. ( does the name Morloc ring a bell?) because of this obsession many had plans to break in to the local gun shop, take what they wanted, then force me to go with them. we were going to kidnap time. luckily the bombs did not come.
i also learned to work in 11 number bases that included the binary system. this meant machine code. we had such plans for the emerging computer. my dad worked for Grumman Aircraft at the time they were building the LEM and i would help him with the NEW MATH. as a result of going to school in an experimental district, i was in 6th grade and could do complex algebra and trig but could not write out a long division problem.
i will continue later.

me

just got the camera. finally figured it out. not a good pic of me!

Dr. Who?

many years ago i learned this from Dr. Joyce Brothers on one of her many stints on the "TONIGHT SHOW".
Suppose while sailing your boat hits a reef. the 5 humans aboard swim to safety but 3 make it to an island some distance from the other 2. A,B and C are on one and D and E the other.
A starts collecting the parts from the wreck and tries to build a radio so they can call for help. B starts pressuring C for sex but her mate is D and can see the other shore. she refuses but B persists. E just wants to survive and be rescued so he agrees to help D build a boat. D wants the boat so he can get to C and block B's advances. After a long while C decides D will not succeed and she can no longer resist B's insisting and gives in to him.
E and D finish the boat and get to the first island at the same time A finishes the radio. D is now mad at C for giving in to B. D joins A and E to complete the call for help.

rate A,B,C,D and E by any criteria you wish as to their importance in this story.












meaning of people
A= INTELLIGENCE
B= POWER
C= SEX
D= MORALITY
E= SECURITY

my rating of the cast in comments.
one uses someones ratings to get a good idea of what is valuable to them and a clue into their behavior. some may try to manipulate the results but when they are alone and honest the truth will out.