BYBS: Podcasts

The Blue Panther Experience is host for Blog Your Blessings. Click this link, grab the blogroll code, add the code to your blog, leave a comment on Blue Panther Experience and post your blessing. Quick and easy! One thing that brightens my morning is listening to podcasts. Scientific American, NPR, and The Onion Radio News are a few of questionable sources for my listening pleasure. Podcasts have a number of advantages over the radio, but my favorites include mostly things that I do not have to listen to:

1. NPR fund raisers
2. those annoying 2min "musical interludes" that NPR puts in between stories
3. "and now to a pointless, annoying story that you don't care about."

Alright, I admit that most of my pet peeves have to do with NPR, but it just really adds insult to injury that a) I'm either heading to or coming from my crappy job when listening and b) I can't find anything else to listen to. One thing that membership drives do underline, however, is not that NPR does such a good job, as how bad everything else is (hey, this is some good ranting material!). Podcasts, by comparison, present a placid and serene break where, even though the story may piss me off, at least I do not have hosts talking about some stupid "challenge drive." If I'm already crying because of the day I had at work, I can skip to The Onion and hear something completely off the wall. Thanks to the wonders of technology (having worked in the computer field for longer than I care to admit, some of the advances I've seen frighten even me), I can have many hours of crap on my iPod: there is bound to be something there that I can at least listen to. So if, like me, you've been living under a rock for the past several years and never really "got" the whole podcast thing, give it a try: look what it's done for me! OK, maybe I should choose a better example...

BYBS: Research

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Research is what keeps me from creating even more outlandish postings than I normally would. While it's annoying as hell to have to scrap a posting that I've spent a hour coming up with because of silly things like the research not backing up one of my ideas, I think that it is, on the whole, a good thing. I should clarify that there are two types of research that I'm talking about here. There is scholarly research: like the type described in one of my fine posts, and then there is the tedious work that I try to go through to check that there is something, somewhere, that supports the blather that I have created for a posting. I love the scholarly type, at least when it is done with more rigor than I have shown, because it is a clear affirmation of the human condition. Usually, no one was bombed or oppressed in order to obtain the results, and it allows humanity to move that much closer to achieving some worthwhile goal like curing a disease. It also represents our willingness to be honest with ourselves by creating procedures specifically designed to avoid bias. On a more personal level, I like checking my own ideas for correctness, or at least support, because it forces me to learn. I have to say that I do not enjoying being wrong, nor do I like going over my own work. The former involves lots of meticulous work and a certain general feeling of annoyance and despair when I learn that I am wrong...again! But doing this reinforces my ability to strive and grow. It makes me feel that, though I may be misguided and inept, at least I'm honest. If there's one thing that's more annoying to me than being wrong, it's some other person who refuses to consider information that may contradict what they believe. If I can recognize a mistake that I've made, then I can fix it and move on. If I refuse to even consider something that contradicts when I believe, then my mistake will only grow. I would have a much harder time recognizing my mistakes if it were not for research. Being able to use someone else's work on my own multiplies my own ability to learn.

BYBS: Second Chances

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I'm grateful that I can leave this blog for one reason or another and come back to it later. I can stomp off, vowing never to post again, in a manner not unlike Scarlet O'Hare in "Gone with the Wind," and still come slithering back to litter the blog-o-sphere with my vacuous thoughts. While I did not, as a point of fact, make such a vow, the concept is still the same. More or less.

It's nice that when I come back, the files are still there, and somebody has been keeping the servers up and whatnot. It makes it easy to just take up where I left off and start posting again, instead of using such issues as an excuse not to. I was going to title the post "BYBS: Blogspot" but the site is now referred to as Blogger, and I want to stay with the cool kids.

For those inquiring minds that want to know why I've been absent for the last couple of months, here's more. Things have been very disheartening for me on a personal level. That and general laziness has prevented me from posting, despite the benefits to doing BYBS posts.

In addition, I've spending some time abusing the English language (i.e., writing short stories). I'll probably inflict them on the site just to show that if I'm not going to be able to write decently, I may as dissuade other people from writing as well.

If anyone is out there that likes to edit crappy science fiction short stories, please post a comment or send me an email.

Have a nice BYBS.

Avoid gnomes.

The Sun

Sometimes I curse the morning, other times I welcome it, and most times I'm indifferent. Regardless of my feelings, comes the dawn. And with it the Sun. In a very real way, the Sun is the source of all life on Earth. Through it, plants absorb energy and pass it on directly to us or through animals. At times cruel, the light beats down on me and burns my skin. Its heat making things overwhelming. Sometimes it brings warmth and respite from the cold. Sometimes the Sun brings welcome relief to me from fears that are much easier to believe in the darkness. I don't know why it is that things close in on me the way they do during the night, but the Sun often times gives me a perspective that I miss during the dark hours. Most times, the Sun is a symbol of joy to me. Sitting there, brighter than bright in the cobalt blue sky, fearlessly shining on the world. Seeing it somehow gives me courage to trudge on through another day. Technorati: The Sun

BYBS: Babylon 5

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Another BYBS about a good thing in my life that's fairly mundane: the TV show Babylon 5! This was a quirky bit of programming that ran from around 1993 to 1998 about a space station called Babylon 5. There were a lot of cool things about the show, but one of the aspects I loved was how they would address social issues couched in a different form.

This particular posting is about an episode called "Infection" that concerns some berserk gizmo that a bunch of Martians programmed to defend their world from invaders. The interesting bit is that the standard the guardians used to figure out who was an alien was so extreme that members of their own race were judged to be impure.

In true sci-fi form, the machines stop the invaders and then go on and wipe out the native population as well: after all, they're not "pure" enough.

There's a speech (more of a bit of dialog as one character is being chased around the station by one of the berserk gizmos):

They killed anything that was different. Alien. But we're all aliens to one another.

Flawed, impure, different!

Too tall, too short, too dark, too light! Imperfect!

B5 was not the first show to do this sort of thing; plenty of shows were made and continue to be made with this sort of plot. Furthermore, they had issues with incredibly fake looking props, some hokey acting, etc. For whatever reason, however, B5 managed to carry it off a lot better than the other shows of its time.

So if you're looking for something to watch for a few hours and don't want to feel like you've completely wasted your time, give B5 a try. As they say: "we've always been here." :-)

Technorati: BYBS, B5, Infection, Babylon 5.

BYBS: The One

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"The One" = "The One and Only." Other titles include "who my heart goes out to," "she that does the laundry" and "she who must be obeyed." I might also say "the one who makes life worthwhile," or "the one who has put up with my crap far longer than any sane person would."

People who know me have told her:

• You really took a bullet for the team!
• You know, divorce doesn't have the stigma it used to.
• With him? Eeeeew.

Never the less, she has stayed with me.

Yes, I realize that I've blogged about her before, but it never hurts to say it again.

Tags: bybs, the one, questionable advice.

BYBS: Planescape

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This BYBS is about a computer game (yes, a computer game) called "Planescape: Torment." It is a unique experience that will not only take up some time, but will also cause you to contemplate the bigger questions in life.

The story is one of discovery and spirituality. Discovery because the player takes on the role of an immortal who cannot remember how he came to be; or even what his name is. Appropriately enough, the character is called "The Nameless One."

Hard to believe it, but yes, Planescape is what I would consider a spiritual game. I suppose one could call it "intellectual," but an experience which causes me to think about things like "good," "evil," "regret" and "what can change the nature of a man?" transcend the intellectual and cross into the spiritual realm.

The setting itself is what you might call "the after-life." Events take place in a sort of meta-physical world call Sigil, the city of doors. The idea is that one can get to all sorts of different world and places from Sigil, and the city serves as a sort of cross roads for the universe.

The game contains elements like a place where players can go to banter philosophy or word play with others. In true form, the location is called the "brothel for slaking intellectual lusts." The simple notion of such a thing: a place where one could go to indulge in a range of intellectual activities, is so original that it sets the place apart from all other fictional environments I know of.

Now many computer games out there are trash; plain and simple. They do, however, provide an experience that is distinctly different from say, reading a book or watching a movie. This particular game capitalizes on that fact and adds in plot elements and situations that would be original in any medium.

Given my outlook on life, I consider things that make me think to be blessings. Something like Planescape, that makes me think about the bigger aspects of life, fits in nicely with BYBS.

Technorati: BYBS, Planescape, Planescape: Torment.

Notes:

• You can try to find a copy of this game in the "bargain bin" of local computer stores. If you cannot and are still interested, then you can try the following links or perhaps some other sites that specialize in adbandonware.
• Planescape: Torment on the "Home of the Underdogs" site.
• The Abandonware web ring.
• Planescape: Torment was developed by Black Isle Studios. I assume that it is copyright or trademarked or some yaddie-yadda by them.

BYBS: Um...er...I'm Blogging...

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This just in: moron blogger accidentally turns off comments!

I don't know how I managed to do this, but I accidentally turned off comments for this posting. MsDemmie of "Life at the Edge" was kind enough to point this out (and even reframed from using the word moron while doing so!). Big thanks to MsDemmie!

Now back to our regular program... -------

This was a difficult one to write: I'm not really feeling blessed at the moment, but here goes:

• Shay of the S Spot (warning, sexual content) Not everyone's cup of tea I know, but to me this is a person working diligently, in their own way, on a very important topic. I don't think our society will ever be at peace until we accept and understand ourselves. This is an attempt.
• BYBS - as usual, it has managed to lift my eyes from the aspects of my life that are bad and miserable, up towards what is good about being alive. To look at the things that I am blessed with instead of the things I don't like.
• The Blue Panther for organizing and administering the whole BYBS thing. He has also been the impetus for many interesting thoughts thanks to his posts.
• The Garden Gnome - despite being a gnome (silly, inside WOW joke), she reminded me that today is Mothers day, which I had completely forgotten. All things aside, I still love my parents and, for no explicable reason, they seem to love me. That sort of thing is very hard to find in this world.
• My friends. Despite some rather extreme professional disagreements, they're still my friends. In their own ways, they love me and I love them. That's one of the best blessings in life.

There, now I feel better :-) Another big-honkin-blessing is any actually reading my posts - thanks for stopping by.

Technorati: BYBS

BYBS: Weekends

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True to my style of blogging about the mundane, it seemed to me that it was about time I talked about weekends :-) I like weekends because:

• It gives me a break from the grind of work.
• I can spend time with the One.
• I actually have enough time to write blog entries!
• I can actually read blog entries.
• I can sleep late.

These days I'm really appreciating a break from work because, for the last 6 months or so, it's been quite stressful. And this is from a person who expects stress at work. I appreciate the break now much more than I did before.

Spending time with the One is something I could always use more of: I don't appreciate her enough.

For the last 3 months or so, I've been working on a crappy software project™ in my spare time. This has sadly taken time away from blogging; though I've actually received fan mail telling me that this is a good thing :-S I often find reading other sites to be as rewarding as writing them, however, and I can't seem to find time to do that either. The weekend gives me time to look around.

I have a strange relationship with sleep. Scientists tell us that human beans have a "Circadian Rhythm" that controls when we sleep, but mine seems to be more like a gremlin (see previous post). My guess is that the gremlins are actually in league with the gnomes, who are trying to take over my lawn, but that's a whole other post right there.

Suffice it to say that I consider getting more sleep a very good thing™ and find it another thing to appreciate about weekends.

All in all, Sunday is the downside to the weekend, but then, that's also the day I blog, so I guess it all balances out.

Technorati: BYBS, Weekends, Sleep, Gnomes, Gremlins

***

[1] Circadian Rhythms are sometimes confused with Canadian Rhythms, which is something else entirely. At any rate, you can find references all over the place from Google, but wikipedia has a nice article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm_sleep_disorder.

Of Tao and MsDemmie

This post is in response to a post from MsDemmie in response to a response about another one of her posts that she posted for BYB: Sunday. Got all that? Well this blog is called "Blather and Rants..." I was going to just add this to the comments on her blog, but I realized it was too long. Also I wanted an excuse to use this pic since I think I look vaaary nice on that horse...

First off, thanks for answering the question!!! The idea of reasoned discourse is one of the things that bring me back to the internet: I wish it happened more often.

Second, sorry that it took me so long to respond. I don't really have a good excuse so I will not prattle on with a lame one.

And now some comments: I think that the blessing you described is more of an ideal than the literal truth: I don't think the kind of peace the poem described is the case when a nation is at peace. I strongly disagree that we are raising a generation where violence is the norm: I think human beings are extremely peaceful compared to most critters on the planet.

While I wish it were true that, if a nation is at peace, that there is peace in the cities, neighbors, homes and heart; it just isn't so. I think the situation with the USA and Japan over trade is good example. In many ways, the people of the USA resent the loss of jobs to people overseas. I recall an example where a congressperson took a sledgehammer and smashed a portable stereo to symbolize her feelings about the situation.

This was by no means limited to the citizens of the United States. There were also cases where Japanese workers would do essentially the same thing with goods produced in America. Yet the USA and Japan are at peace. Here is a situation where the nations are clearly at peace, but the people are clearly not at peace in their hearts.

Just because something is something is unattainable, however, does not mean it is not worth striving towards. On the contrary, this is one of the things it means to be human! As a people we will never reach peace, enlightenment, etc, but the process of striving – of trying to better oneself, is the human condition.

I think that many people will agree with your opinion that we as a people are raising a more violent generation or that humans are generally destructive. But I would ask: compared to what? Recall that previous generations have given us World War 1, World War 2, centuries of conflict in Europe, Asia, etc. If a generation wants to be "more violent" than the pervious one, they have a lot of work to do!

Compared to many species, human beings are incredibly cooperative and peaceful. Lions, wolves, etc. will all regularly fight, injure or kill each other. The same is true of many herbivores and sea-dwelling mammals. Conflict and even what one might consider "war" is by no means limited to humanity among primates – even Jane Goodall has observed fatal conflicts among chimpanzees.

[Sorry about the vague references – if anyone actually cares leave me a comment or send me an email and I'll come up with them.]

Now compare this to humanity. We live in incredibly dense, complicated surroundings that requiring intricate cooperation and yet we survive and even flourish. While violence makes the news, consider how much trust is required for a simple traffic intersection to function: there is nothing stopping all the drivers from ramming each other except their willingness to cooperate.

So I think the Tao chant that you mentioned is an idea rather than a goal. Never the less, I think it is an ideal that is worthy and that people should strive towards. I don't think that the generation we are raising is more violent than previous ones – I think human beings in general are peaceful and cooperative.

In closing, given my optimistic outlook and generally amiable disposition, I can't believe I'm writing this. Perhaps this is a sign of future senility, but I do see more hope then despair when I look at us.

Technorati: BYBS, MsDemmie, Tao, Ideal, Human Condition

BYBS: 10 Things I Like About You

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This Sunday, I thought I would put down 10 things that I'm grateful for:

1. The One – why she stays with me is a continual amazement.

2. Blue Panther – nominating me for the "blog thinker" award thingie really made my day.

3. BYBS: writing entries – creating an entry forces me to look at my week and my life in a positive way, as opposed to seeing everything in a negative light.

4. BYBS: reading entries – I always find some thought or some idea that makes reading the entries worthwhile.

5. People in my life who care – I don't know why they bother, but when I'm not sitting around in the pit of despair, I'm grateful that they are in my life.

6. Weekends – just ending this damn week and getting a few days off was a blessing.

7. Caffeine, caffeine, caffeine :-)

8. DVDs – I couldn't exercise without them.

9. My Health – I'm relatively healthy.

10. Omega – The great big final exam.

Thanks for reading.

Technorati:BYBS, 10 Things

BYBS: Reprieve

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I had been troubleshooting a problem all this week that had been driving me up the wall. Everything I had tried had failed and I was reaching my wit's end. Finally I caught a break. Not a complete one, but at least something – I was so damn glad to have just gotten that.

I remember a scene from "The Little Prince" that talked about how the prince and the narrator are making their way through a desert and find a well to get some drinking water. The sound the pulleys make as the bucket is hauled up the well is described as a sort of song and the Little Prince remarks that its music would not have been so significant had they not been so thirsty.

I myself was not so much anticipating a drink as fleeing from a situation. The fear of spending yet another week of painstaking trial and error while a bunch of other people waited impatiently for me was not something that I wanted to do. I already know I'm an idiot; I don't need to have the fact pasted around me with letters five feet high.

In the Little Prince, the struggle and anticipation of trying to get some water when the characters were thirsty made something inconsequential, the sound of a squeaky wheel, into music. In my situation, the day was made sweeter because of my escape from a situation. While not the sort of thing that made the sunlight more welcome or made my breakfast taste better than a feast, the resulting day was much, much nicer.

BYBS: Gallows Humor

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So always look on the bright side of death! Just before you draw your terminal breath. Life's a piece of shit, When you look at it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true,

- Life of Brian

Continuing in the thread of being grateful for humor, this post is about humor in the situation where things are really bad. In some situations you have to laugh or cry. Sometimes you cry and that is necessary. It expresses emotion and helps with the healing process.

Sometimes you laugh and I think that is also helpful. Laughing gives you an emotional "break" and also expresses something about the situation. The juxtaposition of humor into a situation that is so serious is part of what makes it funny.

For example, my grandmother was in the hospital, dying of cancer. My aunt visited and wanted to take a picture of the family members present. She was taking so long arranging people that my grandmother remarked "If you don't hurry up with this, I'll be dead before you take your damn picture!"

When Ronald Reagan had been shot and the doctors were about to operate, he asked: "All you guys are Republicans, right?"

My wife had gotten into a car accident and the first words out of her mouth to me were "I spilled my chai!" Later on in the day: "At least I don't have to go to work tomorrow."

I would love to hear about similar experiences that you've had.

Technorati: BYBS, Gallows Humor, Humor

BYBS: Tinfoil Hats!

Image shamelessly lifted from http://www.buffalobeast.com/96/litterbox.lunacy.htm Hopefully, the approve of the use I have put it to.

I thought that a more somber article was in order for this weekend, so here is my treatise on ways to improve your thought processes. I know it's a little late, but THEY tried to stop the public from being notified. Remember…THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE!

Some years ago I had strange ideas that people were trying to control my thoughts and actions. Then I stumbled upon a solution to this using only household materials; principally tinfoil!

At first I was suspicious. Wouldn't those you told others about what was going on put themselves in immediate risk? How did I know that these "deflector beanies" really worked? I started reading testimonials like this one:

A picture recently taken of the leader the gnomish mind-control plot know as GMCP. This is NOT just a cheap image cap from World of Warcraft! Really...mostly...

Fools! Your Aluminum hats are no matching for the raw mind-bending power that we gnomes wield! Soon all your people will bow before us!

And this:

Once again, I am hoping that the folks at http://www.zapatopi.net/afdb/ understand that MiB is playing for keeps: we need to unite!

I was sold.

By making a hat out of this marvelous material I was able to radically reduce the number of strange thoughts that I was being bombarded with every day. Soon, with my clear, mind control free powers of cogitation, I began to unravel the truths behind these nefarious plots, but the most terrifying revelation was yet to come.

Whilst wasting time on one of my favorite activities, I discovered the real, terrifying truth:

Here's to the heroic people at worldofwarcraft.com who have tried to liberate those who are caught in the web of evil mind control rays!

Blizzard, the company that has been for the last few days at least, dedicated towards freeing people from the throes of the alien mind control rays has allowed characters the World of Warcraft to product their characters form this effect. While wearing a hat, your character is completely immune to mind-control effects. These folks are really going out on a limb and deserve every bit of support that can be mustered.

But, why, you make ask, if we have these tin-foil protector beanies, what more needs to be done? Aren't we protected now? Wont the world-wide conspiracy be realized for that it truly is?

Recent, disturbing evidence suggests that this may not be the case. For example, you may recognize the squirrel from the previous testimonial:

I don't know where I got this one, it could have been slipped under my door after I tapped a big "X" on my window or something. The point is we need to take this implied threat the same way we'd take an implied invitation to lunch or dinner...or maybe not.

The forces behind the mind control rays will not easily yield control back to the people this great country! Fortunately, there is an easy way to tell the difference between the thralls and the enlightened: the presence of a tin foil beanie deflector! Those who wear them we can trust, those who do not cannot be trusted! Also, if they're 6 inches tall like these guys, it might also be a hint.

Good luck, and avoid gnomes!!!

P.S. Yes another April 1st has passed us by and, with another year behind me, I have the strength within myself to not act as childish and silly as I would have acted last year. All I can say is that last year would have been really bad.

BYBS: Ice Cream!

And now, a word from our sponsor :-)

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In keeping with talking about the positive aspects of mundane life, one thing that has been good for me is Ice Cream.

OK, so it has also contributed to "expanding my horizons" (e.g., becoming fat), it has also been a very nice thing to eat from time to time. Your body needs energy to keep going, and ice cream (in particular, vanilla, with some hot fudge and whipped cream) is a nice way of getting it.

I have also found ice cream to be an excellent way of winning friends and influencing people. Erstwhile enemies or those that I might not get along with otherwise have been won over by the charming nature of a banana split. Having to deal with me is small potatoes compared to it.

As an example, I remember one time as a wee lad that I had just seen a movie with a bunch of other kids. We stopped along the way back from the theater to get some refreshments. As the picture of moderation in life, I ordered the grand, humongous, super-sized ice cream sundae. As it was delivered to me, all eyes swiveled towards me (or rather the sundae) in obvious envy and hunger. With a smile I said "Would anyone like some?"

The group descended on my poor sundae like a pack of wolves. When they were done, I had a portion roughly the same size as everyone else (at which I was a little miffed). On the other hand, the smile on the other kid's faces was nice, and for someone who tends to see the negative aspects of his past, it's a good memory.

Also, it had fewer calories.

Have a good rest of the Sundae…er…Sunday :-)

Technorati: Banana Split, ice cream, sundae

BYBS: Reflection

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Taking a second to reflect on things, I realize that being able to reflect on things is a blessing.

I'm not talking about the act of thinking about what happened in the past, what I'm referring to is more about being in a frame of mind that is conducive to reflection, having the time to do so, etc. On those rare occasions where such things come together, it is a good moment.

A friend of mine talked about trying to view life as a sort of bead necklace, with good moments making up the individual beads. Certainly for me this is a good metaphor, since it seems like string in between is usually rough, perhaps mixed in with glass. So a moment of reflection is a bead on the string of life for me.

Tags: BYBS, Reflection, Bead, Necklace

BYBS: Cobalt Sky

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So I was sitting in my miserable cube, writing code that would be considered unusually crude if it had been produced by a colony of cherrystone clams when a couple of coworkers mentioned that they were going for a walk and would I like to come. In the interests of helping out one of them, who is about my height and yet over double my weight, I went along.

As we schlepped around under the glare of a strange, fiery orb whose light I was unused to I realized that this was the first time I had been outside in ages. This winter, with its unmelting snow, relentless stress, and stubborn viruses had been draining my soul.

Then I realized something else that was odd: I was staring at the ground. This was partially because some Canadian geese had demonstrated healthy bowel functioning on the sidewalks, but it was also because somehow that's where my eyes were drawn.

With a conscious effort, I managed to look up and around at the surrounding area and noticed the beautiful day. It was a very clear day and sky was a beautiful cobalt blue. I realized that I had been spending a lot of time like that lately: staring down at the ground and the goose shit instead of being able to see everything else that was going on.

In a short time I was back in my dark cube, doing my usual, boring crap, but the beautiful vision from that walk stayed with me.

Tags: BYBS, geese, cobalt sky

Hindsight

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Last week I did the volunteer thing again. For inquiring minds, this was basically helping serve food to people.

The last time I did this I was a bit dismayed by my lack of feeling while doing this. This time…I also did not feel a whole lot while working there. That was mostly because I was very busy the whole time trying to put green beans onto a try. It turns out that I'm not very good at doing that.

A friend I was there with remarked that it felt better than the last time: the last time he was basically ensuring that people came in a little at a time instead of all at once. He was right in that it certainly felt like I had done more: we were working behind the counter, putting food on trays. It was hot and I was rushed the whole time because it seemed like they were constantly waiting for me. I think this was mostly because I was so damn slow with the green beans.

While I definitely felt like I had done some work, in some ways it was worse than before: I was so busy putting food on trays that I could not look up at the people we were serving. This time, I only knew about them when someone would ask for vegetables only. Fortunately, the supply of green beans held out for the night.

The next day, however, I realized that everyone who had been there had helped so that we could serve more people. Without someone to limit the number of people coming in, we would have been thronged and nobody would have been able to sit down to eat. With someone to hand out trays, we were able to get more people through. And with someone putting green beans on a try, you could get more trays of food to people.

Yes, I was very replaceable in the whole thing: just about anyone can put food on a tray. But I was there and other people were not. If I had not been there, they would have served fewer people.

I remember seeing a video about the marines where the soldiers had been encouraged to relinquish a part of their identity by referring to themselves as "this marine" or "this soldier." At the time I had found the notion a bit disturbing. It sounded a bit too mindless for people who might have to make difficult moral decisions in very unforgiving situations.

The person who had suggested that people perform community service talked about it as "the giving of self." I had thought of this more as me giving time to help out. Giving time is like giving a part of your life. I had not thought of it as giving a part of my identity, but while I was working there, I was pretty much a mindless, green bean serving machine. I later realized that is was more of giving up myself to help with the work, if only for a little while.

Like the people in the video I had seen, to help, I really had to submerge my ego for a time and become part of a whole. I'm not sure if that's what the person who had suggested this meant, but afterwards I felt like I had been part of a community.

Tags: community, serve, ego, group, homeless, giving of self.

Vitamin I

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For those that don't hike, "Vitamin I" is an alias for Ibuprofen: an aspirin substitute. It is especially good at dealing with pain. At the moment I have been immobilized by a nasty, pain inducing cold style of thing. Hence this is a very short, past-due posting. Argh. Tags: Ibuprofen, pain, argh.

BYBS: those that Sacrifice

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Soldiers, police, fire fighters, coast guard, etc. These people do jobs that I cannot or will not do; and part of those jobs involves risking their lives. That's an unbelievable gift for one person to give to another. Then consider that these people may not know or even like the people they are protecting and it becomes even more mind-boggling.

Such people are paid for their work, but it seems to me that whatever compensation they receive for their work, it is not equivalent to the risks they take. Furthermore, I don't always agree to the uses that they are put to: Iraq is a prime example of this for me. Never the less, and especially in the case of soldiers, they are not afforded the luxury of choice. They sacrifice part of their freedom when they choose to serve.

Like any group of human beings, there are some who work against their society. Police scandals, the abuses at Abu Grave, etc. all show that this is not only possible, but happening. It is my belief (nothing on hand to back this up) that these are the minority.

My thanks go out to those that risk their lives on behalf of others: I regard it as a blessing.

Tags: soldiers, police, fire-fighters, bybs, sacrifice.