A new day, everyday

Today is the start of something,,,

Sometimes when things don't go as planned - It's Ok to reset and start over...

It's Ok to say hey - things changed.

Startin' up a brand new day...

Sting sure said it right. That is exactly how we need to think sometimes.

The past is past, it's a ... new day...

A day to be the best you can be. To reset everything and reboot.

Same old me? Same old you? Yep, our operating systems are still the same, but that doesn't mean we can't do some -- reprogramming for the better.

I will tell you a way to start.

Find a quiet space in life. I will tell you a secret about me. I have a quiet space, a place I ride my bicycle too. In fact once I get on my bike it starts in my mind.

I ride it around a series of retention ponds and then there is a parking lot with twin trees and a quiet corner that nobody goes to, near the pond. That is where I do my T'ai Chi movements, stretches and such -- and then I will jog a little around the lot, often late at night. Nobody see's me except the man in the moon. I pray a lot (of thanks) too.

Find a quiet space. Start a brand new day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-pEOUbr9yo&feature=related

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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

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Five Step Peace plan for Afghanistan

I have deliberated on the Iraq and Afghanistan situation and have come to a plan for a graceful exit. President Obama should simply declare Peace. How to declare Peace in a time of War?

First, we put Afghans on notice that we are only there on a temporary basis.

Second, during this time, our forces will co-opt with the Afghan government and locals to build schools and help the infrastructure.

Third, Since Iraq and Afghanistan are linked by time, region and karma - a portion of Iraq's oil money will pay for helping their neighbor. The money will come from Iraq.

Fourth, anybody who tries to forcefully stop this peace plan will be dealt with by due process. What is due process? It depends but - due process is justice.

Fifth, any al quada that fight it, will get due process ..

Of course, enforcing due process requires an appropriate Defense force and that should come from continued training of the Afghans to stand up on their own and a US , NATO and UN transition force.

Then put a time limit on our help and after that - they are on their own.

That's peace.

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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

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A good day...

It was a pretty good October day. Good day ? Actually it was a perfect Indian summer. I hope you enjoyed the gift and said thanks, I did.
Now here is somethin' about Indian summer. It gives us a chance to recapture some of the stuff , overlooked or planned to do more of - but did not get to. Me ? I may have mentioned, I am starting anew, a running program. Sheesh, I do need to lose some lbs and get more healthy. I used to have a saying train like a boxer but don't fight (unless you ever really have to).

Well now, I like to do some T'ai Chi for meditation and keeping harmony and balance. back when I was in much better shape, I would run 5 miles a day . Then I got in a rough period where I was on the road a lot. I had a business where I needed to be in DC a lot. Once I got sandwiched between two tractor trailers at 70 miles per hour.

One of the tractor trailer was carrying a merry go round and was a double trailer. It cut me off on I95 and put me into another tractor trailer on my left. The one on my left crashed into my driver side door and window but somehow I gunned my jeep at the exact moment and I popped out in front of both, just barely avoiding getting crushed by the tractor pulling the merry go round.

I must be a cat. I was able to escape what was almost certain death. My angel was with me that day.. My car got smashed up but I was still able to ride it to my meeting, only delayed about a half hour as the cop took the info and said let's get the heck off this road now - as cars sped by ! It's funny that I felt like the luckiest guy in the world that day. Just got sandwitched by two giant trucks at 70 and not a scratch.

Well now, every good day involves giving some thanks to the one above us all. Then it goes into learning something new everyday and finding some harmony. Starting something anew, the simpler the better that helps you is a good thing.

Last Sunday was almost a perfect day. I did all of that. Including a nice jog and a bike ride. I have an above ground pool, 33 feet long. Much to everyone's question's, I keep it open into October. I have not used the pool this summer as much as I wanted but the kids got some swim time. Now that the water is in the 60's, people don't want to go in it. I did. Once you get used to it, it's Ok. My kids say no way. I say hey when I was a kid if it was 70 outside, we were looking to go swimming. So I showed them.

Then I cook some salmon and potatoes on the barbi in the moonlight and have a beer.

That was a good day- actually about perfect. Now I can close the pool.

Everyday is a second chance to get it right.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYrAYfxVmVo&feature=related

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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

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This site is JUST for FUN .
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Thread the needle ...

Back in the day, I was a surfer. Positioning oneself in front of a swell and stroking to the top at just the right place so you can slip over the edge - and then glide across the face of wave is like no other feeling you will ever have. It is as close to flying as I have ever come. Sometimes, you shoot back over the top before it closes out on you. Sometimes you ride the white water to shore. A real nice ride, the ultimate - you can shoot the curl, where you actually get tubed and come out the other side into the light.. as it crashes behind. That is like threading the needle.

Riding a wave is like no other feeling. Another way to fly is to get on a roller coaster and let it take you to the top of a second climb. At the top, you will kind of leave your seat a little as you look out, it will feel like you are on top of the world and for that moment in time - you are flying!




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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

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If interested in more, scroll down.

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This site is JUST for FUN .
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Enjoy the present.

The present is a present. Live in the now.

Too many people are living in the past or future.

Investors put something away for the future. That is not what I am speaking of.

I am speaking of people that are always looking for something that is not there. Instead of the gifts before us.

I have discovered that many people live in the past and the future, but what of today? The moon is there for everyone.

carpe diem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t85UpHTV1Ww

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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

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If interested in more, scroll down.

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This site is JUST for FUN .
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BOLT - How to install a car starter motor

I am a simple man. I am not an easy man. Nothing comes easy to me. I had to work for everything - maybe too hard.

Two weeks ago on Sunday - I went to Church.

Well, I own a few cars and a Honda shadow too. One of my cars is an old Mercury wagon with a LOT of miles. Well on this Sunday as I was driving - it started raining and then pouring and then "the buckets" . You know, flash flood kind of rain.

As I get a few blocks away, I am driving on river road and in 6 inches of flowing water - Car stops dead with buckets of rain still falling and - me in the middle of the road.

I get out in the pourin' rain - and push it about 50 yards onto dry road. So I am waiting there all soaked in my car - and say to myself- what the hey- may as well walk to church, already soaked whats the diff? Yeah, I talk to myself.

So I walk in at 10:10 to 10:00 mass. People look up and see me walkin' down the aisle with shoes squeakin' and water drippin' off my brow. They think I am just "late".

Yeah, I'm late alright. Drove thru a flood, pushed my car 50 yards- walked thru a storm and I am sittin' in church. I just look up at the cross and wonder - was it baptism - or just bad luck ? This debate runs in my mind - as the priest does the mass..

On the way out- the rain stops and the sun shines and I am thinkin' by the time I walk back - my car will dry out and I'll be on my way...

nope - not so easy there son.

So after a while of playing with the wires - I call the 3A and we're headed home on the truck. Plunk- it's dropped off in my front yard. Now I could have just let him take it to the auto shop. But nope- not this time. "I'm gonna fix it myself."

So "in theory" - the starter motor is an easy fix. There are just two heavy bolts to be wrenched out and a few electrical connections. But here's the catch - ya first gotta get to it. And then when ya do - the bolts can be locked up or frozen on. That's where you have to figure out how to use wrenches and the right combination of socket set, extenders and maybe a pipe to extend your socket to get leverage. Then the bolt heads? If they are stripped? double trouble.

So this starter motor has two bolts that gotta come off. I jack up the car and put the jack stands and proper rocks behind the wheels, etc-- it's 98 degrees and the bugs are bitin'. So I crawl under the car - It is really tight under there. But after awhile, I manage one of the bolts out. They use 14 MM- 6 sided sockets.

Now the bolt in the front -- is stripped with rounded edges. Perhaps until you try- you cannot know how frustrating it is to be fighting a locked bolt under a tight car that is hard to get to. It becomes a battle between man and machine. Many men would give up -not me, not today. I am gonna beat this thing or it is gonna beat me. mano or machine - who will win?

I tried prying and every tool I had from vise grips to hooly gigs. I was at home depot 3 X's buying different sockets and pipes to use as leverage. And it was HOT under that car. Why is that the horse flies know you are wrapped up under a car to find your legs and bite with no mercy? Those things are smarter than people know.

So I take a trip to Sears and find a socket set that is made for round- edged stripped bolts. After another round of battle the new socket catches just right and twists - I got IT! The motor drops and I unhook the electrical connections. I hold it up over my head and dance like Rocky after running up the steps in Philadelphia. I have sweat and grime all over me, my face and arms- and I am dancing and yipping like a happy dog. My family and neighbors ? forget it Rosy - nobody understands it.

So a few days later - I ride my shadow to my favorite junk yard. I wanted a better bolt. (This particular bolt is "special" - you can't buy one like it)

So here in the yard- there is a path you take where they have an open- ended trailer that you walk through - like a tunnel into the yard. It opens up into a panorama of forgotten history. On your first step - it is like a surreal quiet walk with relics of the past. There are car shells from the 1940's, old boats, even a train! and then the sections of fords, Chevy's, whatnot... If you listen quietly you may hear the spirits that once enjoyed it all as shimmering promise of better days. Why oh why do I feel so at home and at peace in a junkyard?

(incidentally, they have grown sensitive these days. They don't call themselves junkyards anymore- Now they are "automotive recycling centers".)

Each car tells a story - if only they could talk. Some still hold items saying that they were quickly discarded and just left for junk with clothes of their former owner still in the back seat. It's eerie. Then you look at some cars and wonder why are they here? A closer exam may show why.

How could that one over there be restored? Some people are like that. They feel like life events or others have placed them into the junkyard. Some just give up. They are not aware. Everyone can be restored. That is what the Prince of peace told us ...

Then there are people that although striking out many times - they never give up, no matter what. They just find a new way. They are like the junkyard dog that protects "the greens". A junkyard dog survives. If it storms, you can bet that ol' dog will just find shelter in a forgotten shell and come out just happy "to be" when the sun shines. They survive and when they have to - they fight . They take each day as it comes and don't worry . The junkyard dag type know that God takes care of the birds and they will be fine too. They have belief. They are happy to live in - the now. Here's somethin' - if you know a junkyard dag type -- never, never under estimate that one. They are some powerful people - in an understated way. Here is somethin' more - they make it by belief in God and themselves. The ones without - belief- they got nothin' over a junkyard dag.

So, it's 95 degrees again - I am wrestlin' in that yard with another bolt -and it's near closing time. Forget it! - I'll just reuse the lousy bolt and that's my decision!

Well - I installed the new motor - after jury rigging the switch connector. Turn the key: "cachig , cachig " , it says .... then the ol' wagon turns over and the engine seems to purr "thank you, sir".... Yep, it's back in action. Two weeks later.

So a few questions:

Was I punished for not going to church in awhile and that's why the rain came as some kind of a message from above ? If so, was it penance reached under that car in the heat?

Why was I so happy after pulling out that old starter motor? am I just a simple- minded fool to take pleasure in victory over machine ? With 188,000 miles- it can only be a battle won. The victory is to ride again.
The victory is - one less junker, still alive! The victory is accomplishment.

But why was I so happy to hold that old motor over my head and dance - sweated up with grease marks on my face, hands and arms?

Now here is a nagging question. Suppose I had not spent the time and effort to change that motor? What would I have been doing otherwise ? Yes, maybe having "fun" or maybe finding trouble? My town has a LOT of opportunity for that. What if God knew that I needed a diversion? what if instead of working under that car or wrestling a bolt in a junkyard - I had been walking in a parking lot and got caught between the cross fire of rival gangs?

You can see my post below about time travel. Maybe we all have a purpose and God works in mysterious ways to alter what would have been for the blessed people he wants to protect?

Well, these are questions that keep a junkyard dag wonderin' and maybe a little happy, even when it rains. Like I said- I am a simple man. Why? cause that's the way I like it.
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maybe someday you may feel like you are almost beaten and are "walking the line" kind of like this ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6VBdu_ur48&feature=related

If so, remember belief - in God and yourself - will keep you strong and you can look "the man", any man - in the eye - from quiet strength. Remember the prince of peace who walked the line for everyone...
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Here's a neat story from one of the greats - JT. I like the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qosZP1Rb900&feature=related






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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

If interested in more, scroll down.

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This site is JUST for FUN .
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Time Travel is not possible - (or is it ?) .

I know you want to ask me : Is time travel possible? Well, Einstein said it all has to do with travel at the speed of light. But what about some other possible doorway to the future?



Well, who wants to go into the future or past anyway ?

Oh- if we could go back ? that would be different. maybe we could change past mistakes? maybe we could warn ourselves about them .

But we can't be in two places at once can we?

Well, here is why time travel is not possible.

Because if were , wouldn't we already be seeing people of the future coming back and warning us about this n' that ? (see the time machine advocates answer to this below in the link)

But would they?

Once we get smart 'nuff to figure out time travel- we probably would also figure out that we can't interfere or we mess up the whole time/ space continuum.

Some people think the flying saucers are people from the future, just playing with us.

Now remember when President Kennedy boldly stepped up and said its time to put a man on the moon? and we did.

Can you imagine what people would do if President Obama boldly steps up and pronounced...

" Today my fellow Americans....

Some people ask - Why and I say - "why not"?

It is time to embark America on a new mission.. By the end of this decade....

I proclaim --- We are going into "THE FUTURE ..."

I now announce a NEW TIME machine PROGRAM ! "

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Yeah sure - that would be the day...

( The world would collectively laugh President Barack off the podium!)

But hey now -- what is more realistic?

How about energy independence for America?

Or at least less dependence ?


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But time travel? There are real people workin' on it... They think that only until they develop the machine , from that point forward - can we at least communicate with the people of the future- but we can't go back until the machine is developed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRWwI61so5Q

Can you imagine all those people of the future butting in and saying hey you! don't do this n' that -- or else this 'n that will happen - Oh nooo...! But then what about people from alternative futures? It all gets very complicated very fast -- too much for me... and how did I get wrapped around this axle anyway ?


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Well, stay tuned. tomorrow I may post about something else.

If interested in more, scroll down.

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This site is JUST for FUN .
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