My Comments posted on f a t c a t Politics - revisited

I'm blogging this here in an attempt to stimulate dialog.

Yesterday Evening at 9:15pm or so clicked on a link and found myself on the Liberal blog site f a t c a t Politics and read a blog sarcastically entitled Thankfulness, contributed by "Dark Wraith" under the title Thankfulness for Bush.

After digesting his drivel it became apparent his Nom de plume should be "Dim Wraith".

I posted the following comment to the afore mentioned drivel.

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It must be so personally empowering for you to sit “anonymous and faceless” in you’re ivory tower and cast dispersions and criticize all manner of political and military effort in the guise of Liberalism while basking in the freedoms you fervently claim and were purchased with the Blood of fallen Americans throughout our history.

Are we the only people who deserve such freedoms?

Should we just dismiss the cries for freedom from the oppressed and dying just because they’re Muslims and called Iraqis or Afghanis or Kuwaitis or Lebanese?

Have we no obligation to our fellow man, to Protect and defend those who can not themselves throw off their oppressors; be it a Dictator, or Corrupted Government, or Terrorist Network?

Should we just ignore the vocal religious zealots proselytizing their young and disenfranchised with perverted contortions of their Prophet’s Holy Words, to leverage their faith to the last measure in order to be bring about not only the murderous destruction of their faithful, but the annihilation of an entire culture and the very real and life loving people who fundamentally share the same faith?

Should we have not "gotten involved" when Continental Europeans were being slaughtered for nothing other than occupying a country within range of the Nazi's war machine?

What’s the Magic Number when "Their internal Problem" becomes worthy of our intervention? 100? 1000? 100,000? 1,000,000? 10,000,000?

What will it take for you personally to get involved in a way other than that which keeps you in your comfort zone; arming yourself with something other than your keyboard to defend the very lives of those who can not?

And while your dismissing my inquiries with curt answers from you obviously talented pen; just consider the possibility that your opinions, while valid and expressed virtually unopposed here under the Freedoms we enjoy; would cost you your very life and in all probability, the lives of your loved ones as well had you been born in and still lived in one of countries of which we now converse.

Serious questions for serious people I believe.

One last thing; Freedom has never been Free. Just ask any Soldier!

Dave Dragon
U.S. Veteran
http://davedragon.blogspot.com

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I would really love to have your comments on this; lets discuss.

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After more than 48 hours and no retort to my above inquiries, I posted the follow comment.

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I must admit, I find the taciturnity in these comments abstruse.
The norm in this forum is to brusquely castigate those who don’t share your opinions, political affiliations and atavistic attitudes.
Is their not among your numbers anyone willing to simply share their answers to my sincere inquiries detailed above?

Dave Dragon
http://davedragon.blogspot.com

Link to my comment on their site.

---

Later

Burning the candle at both ends

I've been at work since Sunday, guiding my IT Engineering Teams through the Disaster Recover process as a result of a major production SAN failure.

Here's the fun part; we are under going our twice a year SOX audits this week, so the Auditors from D&T have had a front row seat in my back pocket for the last 96 hours.

The all but statistically impossible happened causing this DR.

Two high-end Hitachi Disk Drives of the same Raid-5 group failed within minuets of each other precluding the raid redundancy features from having enough Parity Data to rebuild the array, loosing the root file systems of key Production Servers, as well as the Oracle Root Directories for two production databases critical to the Month-End processing which was only hours away from starting.

We had already procured new SAN hardware and had it installed and burned in in preparation for a controlled migration of all data in storage on the now failed SAN.

Backups had been completed two days earlier and sent off-sit to our secure archive vault, however the transaction logs accumulate on SAN storage between backups and several were damaged as a result of the sub-systems failure.

As the DR & Crisis Manager of our IT Department the recovery from this cascading failure rests squarely on my shoulders and loved every minute of it.

This, as you may imagine is a worst case scenario, and all that entails for a major publicly held Corporation; not to mention one under SOX audit at the time.

While the panic sets in the upper management offices, My Teams of UNIX, SAN and Database Engineers calmly and methodically Analyze, Evaluate, Plan, Test and Execute the path back to fully functioning and available production processing.

Communications and Leadership are my contributions as well as managing the expectations of upper management and my customers, the Users.

Add to the mix, SOX Auditors and every meeting and in the Data Centers observing and documenting what they witness as well as attaining artifacts from the process along the way and at every step.

Today at 10:00am we reopened the systems for Sr. Management Reports generation and at 12:00 noon Eastern everyone was back to where they were just milliseconds before the crash, and with ZERO data loss as a result of properly engineered systems, processes and procedures.

Our SAN vendor has asked us to allow the creation of a White Paper detailing the steps we made on the way from Disaster to Recovery, from soup to nuts, to include Root Cause Analysis by the vendor of the SAN.

I have been awake now for 56 hours, and sit here blogging the details waiting for rush-hour traffic to subside before heading to the Casa. My Engineers are all at home by now and starting their personal recoveries.

I'm so proud of My Teams accomplishments as a result of their Team Work, Planning, Analysis and Execution, not to forget Professional, Git It Done attitude.

The Silver Lining; our IT Department's DR Test scheduled for next month has been canceled as "unnecessary" as the D&T SOX Auditors accepted My Teams Real-World, Not Staged DR Performance and Results with a 100% Compliant Score; Rare in the IT Industry.

I'm looking forward to climbing on my LT for the commute home to see Sue, Eat a bite, Hot Shower and Comma!

Later

Commuting in Flatland - 28 Nov

I was here at the Office until after 10:30pm last evening guiding my staff of Engineers through the remediation of a major system failure that we have been on since Saturday, around the clock.

The ride home at that time of night is a dream, of no traffic and green lights all the way to the Casa.

This morning commute began at 08:30am instead of 06:30 as usual, and again the commute was dream. Well flowing traffic and behaved drivers made the ride a truly pleasant experience.

70+ degrees at 08:30am and just a hint of rain for about three miles that added that touch of environmental immersion for my senses to bring out the joy I feel when on the road.

Alas, the wanderlust again wells up inside me. I feel a road trip coming on!

Later

My Comments posted on f a t c a t Politics

I'm blogging this here in an attempt to stimulate dialog.

Yesterday Evening at 9:15pm or so clicked on a link and found myself on the Liberal blog site f a t c a t Politics and read a blog sarcastically entitled Thankfulness, contributed by "Dark Wraith" under the title Thankfulness for Bush.

After digesting his drivel it became apparent his Nom de plume should be "Dim Wraith".

I posted the following comment to the afore mentioned drivel.

---

It must be so personally empowering for you to sit “anonymous and faceless” in you’re ivory tower and cast dispersions and criticize all manner of political and military effort in the guise of Liberalism while basking in the freedoms you fervently claim and were purchased with the Blood of fallen Americans throughout our history.

Are we the only people who deserve such freedoms?

Should we just dismiss the cries for freedom from the oppressed and dying just because they’re Muslims and called Iraqis or Afghanis or Kuwaitis or Lebanese?

Have we no obligation to our fellow man, to Protect and defend those who can not themselves throw off their oppressors; be it a Dictator, or Corrupted Government, or Terrorist Network?

Should we just ignore the vocal religious zealots proselytizing their young and disenfranchised with perverted contortions of their Prophet’s Holy Words, to leverage their faith to the last measure in order to be bring about not only the murderous destruction of their faithful, but the annihilation of an entire culture and the very real and life loving people who fundamentally share the same faith?

Should we have not "gotten involved" when Continental Europeans were being slaughtered for nothing other than occupying a country within range of the Nazi's war machine?

What’s the Magic Number when "Their internal Problem" becomes worthy of our intervention? 100? 1000? 100,000? 1,000,000? 10,000,000?

What will it take for you personally to get involved in a way other than that which keeps you in your comfort zone; arming yourself with something other than your keyboard to defend the very lives of those who can not?

And while your dismissing my inquiries with curt answers from you obviously talented pen; just consider the possibility that your opinions, while valid and expressed virtually unopposed here under the Freedoms we enjoy; would cost you your very life and in all probability, the lives of your loved ones as well had you been born in and still lived in one of countries of which we now converse.

Serious questions for serious people I believe.

One last thing; Freedom has never been Free. Just ask any Soldier!

Dave Dragon
U.S. Veteran
http://davedragon.blogspot.com

---

I would really love to have your comments on this; lets discuss.

Received a wonderful review on my Blog today!

Joe Blog's Blog! has a new gratis service for Bloggers!

He reviews Blogs and will post the review on his blog, warts & all, just for the asking.

This is a link to his review of this Blog.

Shoot him an email, found in his profile or post a comment asking for it.

Be careful what we ask for, we may just get it!

Later

Venezuelan Gas Prices causing Environmental Disaster

According to NPR (so take it with a Left-Leaning Grain of salt), Gas prices in Venezuela are in the range of $0.10 to $0.17 per gallon. Thats Ten to Seventeen Cents Per Gallon as a result of the annual multi-billion dollar Venezuelan government gasoline subsidies.

Yet another poorly thought out Hugo Chávez debacle.

He road into power on the riots and public outcry of the first Venezuelan Governments Economic Reforms and obviously will do nothing to upset his apple cart.

Now since the gas is so cheep, the roads are clogged with every manner of Gas Guzzling vehicles from Giant SUVs to poorly tuned horribly ineffeciant older V8 engine equiped cars, trucks and busses.

The New as well as Used car market is booming however, where there used to be a morning and afternoon rush in Caracas, the capitol , now the traffic is a street clogging night mare approaching an round-the-clock presence thats created heavy air polution and looks to only be getting worse.

"You can fill up a 20 gallon tank for less than the price of a bottle of imported water"
-Juan Forero; Listen to his NPR report here.

"Chávez's reforms have evoked exceptional controversy in Venezuela and abroad, receiving both criticism and praise. Venezuelans are split between those who say he has empowered the poor and stimulated economic growth, and those who say he is autocratic and has mismanaged the economy. Some foreign governments view Chávez as a threat to global oil prices and regional stability, while others welcome his bilateral trade and reciprocal aid agreements."
- Wikipedia

Later

Spring Training Camp for Riders - 2007

As one of the coming years Spring Training Camp for Riders organizers I have to say we're looking forward to another great event in April, 2007.

The coming STC will bring not one, not two but three Police Trainer Motor-Cops to provide the Motor Officers Slow Speed Handling Training once again to the Western North Carolina Mountains.

Three Professional Traffic Riders that not only Talk the Talk, they all Walk the Walk as it were as they are all three Patrolling MortorCops.

I took the class the first year, 2005, and have enjoyed the benefits of much better slow speed handling technique that has saved my tail in stop & go traffic more times than I can count.

If you've taken the MSF Experienced Rider Course then your ready to really start learning to handle your motorcycle.

We'll be updating the website soon so stay tuned for updates.

Later

The Ironic & Preposterous

I just love the following example of Irony:

June, 2005, the State of Virginia Employment Agency, which handles unemployment compensation, announced that they would lay off 400 employees for lack of work because unemployment is so low in the state.

Paraphrased from this Source.

This is the first in a new series; hope you enjoy!

Later

Card-Carrying Christians

I posted this as a comment on another's blog and thought I should blog it here, the beauty of it is in its truth, as I see it anyway.

I had been preparing some ribs for the smoker one morning and had blood from the meat on my hands when the Card-Carrying Christians again came knocking on my door.

These aren't like other Christians I know, love and cherish as Family & Friends and whom I respect and they me.

The Card-Carrying Christians I'm making reference to are the ones who travel in packs moving door to door through a neighborhood handing out tracts like illegal aliens hand out hooker advertisements on the Las Vegas Strip, and who pridefully display their Leather bound Gold Leaf Embossed Red Letter Edition Bibles containing only a select few of the original books and as if their status among their peers were based on the extravagance of their Customized Religious History Books.

I could see the mob through the front window of the house standing on the porch so I thought it was time to alter my standard approach of questioning them exhaustively on the finer points of Christian History and its roots, with counterpoints to any of their overly-pressed points of supposed fact until they give up and move on.

I opened the door with my hands still wet with the blood and simply stated "I'm in the middle of a Sacrifice at the moment, please come back in an hour and be prepared to talk!"

Curious, I've not seen them since.

Later

Sunset in Flatland 11/25/2006

This is six of a large set of photos of Sunset over the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks, 11/25/06

These were taken with a Casio Exilim EX-Z1000 10.1 Mega Pixel

View the entire set here.


Later

My Dreams - Perficio

Last evenings sleep was uninterrupted and void of dreams.

It seems the linked series of Lucid Dreams ended on the 22nd after four dreams; all lucid and linked by the common thread or subject matter of my conversations with Charon, the Ferryman.

These dreams were an amazing amalgamation of Greek Mythology, conversations that drifted between English & Latin and References found in the writings of Homer, Vanini, Empedocles, Hesiod and others

The dreams also explored the ancient concept of Elysium as a final resting place for the mortal relatives of the king of the gods. They were transported there without tasting death, to enjoy an immortality of bliss.

I always liked that one as it was probably the source of the Christian concept of Heaven, but for the nasty bit about having to die first.

There was a time in my youth where I truly felt immortal because of the very "Special" training I had received and that had been battle tested and proven repeatedly.

I no longer feel the sense of immortality and haven't in many years. Amazing what hot lead poisoning can do to dispel such delusions.

In the dreams Charon kept attempting to pass to me an Amulet, that when I was able to actually see it, was an old 9mm round I took in the leg years ago and that I carry in my pocket all the time.

I have thought of making a necklace or tie tack out of it but have yet to bring myself to alter it in any way.

This series also found me detailing my Nocturnal behavior of Patrolling or "Shadow Stalking" as I also call it.

I would love to hear your opinions on the meanings of the symbols and images I have detailed in this series. While I have my own opinions on them, there must be professionals out there who can break them down to their psychological roots.

Well I guess I've beaten this dead horse long enough.

Later

Motorcycles from the far side

Came across these photos today out in blog world of a Worlds Record Motorcycle.

A BMW Boxer Engine, tranny and rearend; and a healthy does of imagination and welding has produced a Bike built for 15.

How would you like to ride this with 14 of your closest friends through Deal's Gap?

Take note of the missing foot rests for anyone other than the driver.
Interesting none the less.

Later

And the AssHat of the Week goes to!

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin

President of the Russian Federation

For the Poisioning and susequent Death of Russian ex-spy and vocal critic of Putin's, Alexander Litvinenko.

His death has been linked to a "major dose" of radioactive polonium-210 in his body.

Radioactive traces were found at a London hotel and sushi bar he visited on 1 November.

Read Mr. Litvinenko's full statement Here.

Audio Entertainment while riding

Besides the daily commuting on my motorcycles, I tend to ride relatively long distances just to get where I like to be to when riding for the sake of riding.

I really enjoy the North Georgia, North Carolina, East Tennessee, North Alabama and North Western South Carolina areas.

The LT came with a 6 disk CD player in the right side case, cassette tape deck in the console with the intercom controls and AM/FM Radio. I've added XM Radio for the immense variety it offers and the fact that I can get the programming I want anywhere in North America as well as Canada now.

At times I just really enjoy a good book so I get the book I want on Audio Disk and load the CD player up and just let her rip while on the road.

This really alters the experience of riding for me and stimulates different areas of my brain by feeding it the books content instead of the music that takes on a more of a background effect, while the audio books stay in the foreground of my minds processing.

Sue & I both enjoy the books and it completely removes the boredom that occurs during long distance riding.

I've enjoyed titles such as, The Bear and the Dragon, The Guts to try, An Innocent Man, Clear and Present Danger, Of Mice and Men, and numerous others.

I tend to purchase the Audio Books, but they can be rented at any of the Thousands of Cracker Barrel restaurants along America's Roadways and enjoyed along the ride. Then just turn them in at the next Cracker Barrel and get another one.

Most National Chain Truck stops have Audio Books for sale; Libraries also have them to loan.

When doing long cross country rides boredom can lead to attention loss on the the main task at hand which is always riding a safe ride.

Just a tip!

Later

My Dreams - Part 5

This is a continuation of a multi-part series on My Dreams and the fragments of meaning or interpretation I able to uncover along the way.

Last evenings Dreams were not Lucid and has no correlating aspects to the Four previous nights Dreams, other than the fact I have been in all five dreams.

First a little background on the events leading up to last nights sleep that presented this dream.

I exhibit a behavior or set of behaviors under certain circumstances that I call "Patrolling" or "Shadow Stalking". This happens only at night and only after I have fallen asleep and I'm awoken by a sound of something in the house that is anachronistic or if I sense a presence in my environment that could be indicative of a threat.

The Patrolling as I call it begins as soon as I hear or sense anything out of place. I open my eyes, instantly awake, and come up from my bed silently having grasped my Fillet Blade from it's hide and start systematically moving silently throughout the house searching out the sound or presence I've detected. Once the inside of the house is cleared, I slip outside and clear the perimeter.

This "behavior" finds it's roots in a past life where survival depended on it and I have never really tried to stop doing it as it has served me well in the past. It does cause me concern however in that if I did find someone in my environment that I was not aware of when I went to sleep, it could prove fatal. Guest in our home should always be known to me. Sue is aware of this as are my friends and family that visit.

I've killed many an Armadillo and wild hog rooting around in the yard as well as a few cats and one Pit Bull that came at in my own yard late in the night. I just feed the carcases to the Gators in the pond.

When I return to bed it's after all is cleared and I usually return to sleep in short order.

Last night I patrolled inside & out, finding nothing out of place and returned to bed but could not return to sleep until the Sun had starting lighting the eastern sky. This is when last nights/this mornings dreams occurred.

As I indicated above, the dreams were not lucid, I was just moving through the dream scape interacting with others.

The Dream started with me in the Lobby of an unnamed hotel in Sydney Australia. I walk out of the hotel and turn left and go exploring as I always do when I visit a city strange to me. I hate being a tourist and prefer to be a visitor and engage locals in conversation and talk about anything with just about anyone. This has always been my approach when touring, be it on a Motorcycle or Aircraft.

In the dream I'm walking down small narrow streets and alleyways, crossing small fields/play grounds, down foot paths through neighborhoods and through the back yards or Gardens of homes. It all felt perfectly normal and right and all along the journey I talk with and interact with actors in the dream who are all very cordial and friendly and have no issue with my exploration.

While strolling down an unpaved alleyway where tire tracks have worn away the grass in parallel tracks leaving a grass stripe between, I come to a parking area behind a Pub that has the back door propped open and a man is standing next to a BMW Motorcycle revving up loudly as I approach. He turns the key to the off position and the motor falls silent.

He turns and walks in the back door of the Pub and I follow him in. We walk around the bar and stand leaning on the high bar and order a Pint. I ask the bartender if she took US dollars and she smiled and nodded the affirmative as she sat a Black & Tan in front of me. I handed her a fiver and said "Thanks", she walked away. I downed the Pint and headed out the front door of the Pub back into the sunlight and continued along my journey of exploration.

After walking through more neighborhoods via paths and garden walks as well as cobblestone streets I come upon another Pub and walk in the front door where I'm immediately accosted by a Cop who grabs me by both shoulders, looks me dead in the eyes and ask "You got any drugs on you Mate?" to which I replied No Sir, where upon he released his grasp and walked past me and I continued up to the crowded Bar.

I stood there looking around the smoke filled Pub noticing all the patrons and their activities. Some where just drinking and smoking at their tables, other standing and conversing about Football while others still threw darts. I didn't order a drink or engage in conversation and headed out the back door of the pub which emptied onto a sandy parking lot with many bicycles and scooters and a few cars.

I continue the journey and find myself walking along a heavily shaded lane of Tropical Trees of all types with large plants all around. The path is just wide enough for one car to pass and is paved in well worn bricks. The Sun is peaking through the the tall palms that shade the lane and I again encounter the guy that was revving the BMW Motorcycle.

This time I can see his facial characteristics clearly and notice he has no hair and is clean shaven. He's wearing a dress suit and has the body language and inquisitive nature of a Detective that comes across very strongly to me. We walk along the lane discussing motorcycles and I share with him that I too ride BMW's but they are back in the States.

We walk together chatting about this and that and he asked me where I'm heading and at that point I realize I have no clue as to where we are, other than in or around Sydney, AUS.

He ask where I'm staying and I can't name the hotel but I produce a simple tourist map with little detail and no clues as where I'm staying. We stop at a stone wall and I lay the map on top of the Wall and look around to find clues as to which way is North so I can orient the map for reference.

I turn the map to what I think is the right orientation and look at the guys face for clues and only see him grin and shake is head indicating I got it wrong. At this point I realize I have no idea as to the Cardinal Directions and this bothers me a little as I always know where North is instinctively.

I produce a Compass from my front pocket of my Jeans and lay it on the map, then align the map to North and this time he says "Thats it Mate!" and I gather the compass back to my pocket, pickup the map and continue walking along the lane never again looking at the map.

We happened upon a small drink stand and the woman behind the counter was cooking sausages on a grill. A young Blondie bushy haired boy asked me If I'd front him lunch and I responded "Sure!"

The woman handed him a sausage on a roll and cut her eyes toward me as I handed her a Five Dollar Bill. She turned away and I quietly asked the Cop if I should Tip her to which he just shook his head indicating no and we walked away.

At the end of the Lane was a small alleyway that formed a T with the lane, I went Right and he went Left and he was not seen again in the dream.

Walking along the alleyway I come to the back door of a Youth Hostel thats blocked open with a beaded curtain hanging in the doorway. I pass through the beads and turn right heading down the hallway of small rooms on each side of the hall and out the open front door and across the street onto another foot path that eventually leads to a garden gate.

I lady opens the gate and I step into the garden as she walks away to a swimming pool where others are enjoying the water. I raise my hand and wave to the crowd and as they wave back I turn Right and head out the front garden gate.

This time I turn Left and walk up a small hill on a small brick road and over a walking bridge with a lot of low hanging tropical palm fronds and notice a sign next to the bridge rail on the right that stated "Rock Wallarbys 4 sale, great pets"

I make note of the misspelling and that there is no telephone number or contact info, just a sign on a bridge. As I cross the bridge I found myself looking down a hill toward the Hotel where I started the walkabout.

As I approach the Hotel I awaken from the dream and it's 11:30am. I grab the pen and pad I keep handy and detail the Nouns and Verbs of the dream and other points as well.

Like I said above this was not a lucid dream as I could not manipulate a thing in the dream.

I did notice the temperature, breeze, smells, the taste of the Guinness, the smell of the sausages cooking, the smell of Tropical plants, the sound of my shoes as I walked, the smell of cigarette smoke in the Pub and a pungent odor of a cheap musk cologne on the cop.

I really enjoyed the dream and finally getting some sleep after a night of Patrolling.

Later

My K1200LT loves the cooler weather

-

The recent cold snap here in Flatland had the temps in the 40s & 50s during my Morning commutes as well as the in the evenings.

The LT responds so well to the colder more dense air charge and its as if shes able to breath better.

I regularly us Lucas Upper Cylinder Lubricant in the tank when I fill up and I have been using Lucas Octane Booster with the last three tank fulls.

With 98,500 Miles on the clock she needs a little sip of the good stuff every now and then, for medicinal purposes only.

Back when she was a young'un I installed a Rhine West Performance Chip & Remus Exhaust system to put a little pep in her step and let her sing with a beautiful note.

During my commutes I travel on two main arteries of traffic and can get up to cruising speed for relatively long distances considering the traffic around the bay.

When flying low as do sometimes, the exhaust note reminds me of the drone of a WWII fighter like the Ju87 or ME109; she is German ya know!

I actually visualize flying a P51 as the exhaust note of the LT as it is now reminds me of the roar of the P51's Rolls Royce Merlin.

I have all but stopped using the truck for anything, and can't remember the last time I even cranked the engine. I've been riding the LT exclusively since getting back from my Iron Butt rides the first week of July.

I have so much fun riding the bike, and couldn't make it through the day without thinking or day dreaming about riding.

Keep the shiny side up!

Later

My Dreams - Part 4

This is a continuation of a multi-part series on My Dreams and the fragments of meaning or interpretation I able to uncover along the way.

Yet again last nights dreams were Lucid and in amazing detail, rich with colors and textures and for the first time that I can recall, smells!

The Characters were Charon and Me; Cerberus was not in last nights dream as he has been throughout these recent dreams.

This dream began with Me in the circle of fire standing in front of Charon. The dream scape was dark past the fire to the horizon and smelled of Burning Sulfur (Brimstone).

As I arrive in the Dream Scape Charon again demands "Scio qui te mitteret?"; to which I again answer "Sua Sponte".

He strikes the Rod he holds in his Left Hand on the ground with authority and power and before the booming sound of the strike had faded the flames of the Fire that surrounds us and forms the circle begins growing taller and hotter and this time I feel the intense heat of the flames as well as hear their roar.

Charon stands there silently watching me watch the flames grow larger and begin to lick at my flesh and for the first time in all of these dreams I feel I must change or alter the dream to protect myself. I began pushing the flames outward increasing the diameter of the circle but I found it impossible to keep the fire away from me.

I verbally command the fire away from me and nothing happens, it continues to burn me. Charon extends his Right hand toward me and opens his hand reveling the "Amuletum" as he called it before. This time I reached out with my Right hand and took it from his open palm.

As I felt the Amulet in my closed fist the flames exploded outward away from us as if it were a wild fire moving away to the horizon in all directions at a very high speed.

I felt a sense of relief at this development and slowly opened my hand to examine the Amulet and as I revealed it the Flames came back toward us at the same high rate of speed they had moved away. I quickly closed my fist tightly around the amulet and the flame went away from us again.

As I stood there in amazement of the relationship between how I held the amulet and the motion of the fire, Charon again strikes the rod smartly and then He and I were standing on the Elysian Plain and Charon stands silently as I look at the distant horizon all the way around us I see the plain has nothing on it, just dirt to as far as I can see.

I'm still clinching the amulet in my fist and once again I open my palm to look at it and I notice it has a chain large enough to make it a necklace, so I just instinctively open the chain and hang the amulet around my neck.

After standing and surveying the scenery I reach down and grasp a handful of the dirt and it's warm to the touch and smells of peat. I make note of the absence of ash anywhere to be seen. The transformation from the wild fire burned dream scape to this was as if the last strike of Charon's rod had only illuminated the dream scape, not transformed it.

I tell Charon that this doesn't feel like Elysium to which he simply replies "is abeo vobis".

I think of my mental image of Elysium and the dream scape transforms instantly to gently rolling hills covered in brightly colored wild flowers and knee high fields of growing wheat synchronously swaying in the gentle breeze. I immediately detect the sweet perfumes of Jasmin and Honeysuckle.

Charon turns all the way around surveying the scenery and utters perficio. If you flatten out the image above in this blog its pretty close to what the dream scape transformed into.

While I now felt we were in Elysium and a feeling of warmth and comfort as well as joy had come over me; I noticed the sky was uninterrupted blue from horizon to horizon and the light was brightly illuminating everything, there was no source for the light. The Sun was not there but it's light and warmth was.

I walked away from Charon and looked closely at everything I could see. The flowers were real as was the grass and wheat. I felt the breeze on my face and warmth of the light and it all felt really good to me although I did feel as if something was missing.

I asked Charon if this was all there is to Elysium; to which he replied "haud." I asked what was missing? He replied "nihilum".

I then asked Who was missing; to which he replied "totus tamen vos".


Enough for now, more to follow.



Later

Perfectio Propter Imperfectionem

Or as I like to state it "I must be perfect because I'm damaged".

Obviously not the literal translation (perfection depends on incompleteness) but if it opens the door to introducing the Paradoxes of perfection when I hear the use of the word "Perfect" applied to someone or some thing that at least superficially, has no detectable flaws.

I truly despise the marketing spin-doctors that openly and very deliberately impose their corporate norms and social standards of perfection on the unwitting who seek it out and scour the Rags for Beauty Tips or Fashion Guidance portrayed by these corporate harbingers of psychological destruction, by the use of the Waifish and the Stylishly Emaciated.

These collective Bastard's cause immeasurable and often irreversible damage to the still developing young with their proselytization of them to worship the False Idols of Perfection portrayed throughout the "Fashion" industry; and by so doing, destroying the physical and mental health of our young who fall victim to these wholly irresponsible marketing engines with only their financial profit in mind.

Why can't happiness and inner beauty be held up as the attainable standard of perfection? Because theres no money in it!

So here's my First FOAD posts; sincerely directed at the "Fashion" industry who are clearly Perfect Assholes!

Later

I'm Thankful

I'm thankful for my Sue. She is truly my soul mate, best friend and partner in life. I had always been incomplete, she made me whole. ILYB!

I'm thankful for my Brother and lifelong friend James, A friend to be a friend, my partner in Motorcycling and Exploration of the everything we know as "The Road".

I'm thankful for my Children and Grandchildren and don't differentiate between Mine & Hers.

I'm thankful for the untold numbers and unknown names of my American Heroes, unselfishly serving both now and in eternity at the tip of the spear and willingly giving all, up to last measure for what is right and good.

I'm thankful for my parents, both long passed to the other side. May they find the peace and serenity in eternity that neither enjoyed in life.

I'm thankful for my sibling Sisters and their families; even my Sister who no longer acknowledges her siblings.

I'm thankful for those who have chosen Teaching as their life's work and approach it with a burning passion.

I'm thankful for having had the opportunity to serve my country in uniform and other ways yet undisclosed.

I'm thankful for those I call Friends, the joy they bring to my life and their tolerance of the collection of eccentricities that are me.

I'm thankful for my new Son-In-Law Andrew and his family that has so made welcomed my Daughter and Granddaughter Lily.

I'm thankful for the music of my youth and in my heart that provides a unique and interesting soundtrack for the memories that are the images of my life.

I'm thankful for the intellect that enabled me to learn so many diverse and interesting things throughout my life although I never really leveraged it to its maximum benefit for so many reasons.

I'm thankful for having learned the real and personal value of charity and Service toward others.

I'm thankful for my God who is the source of Love, Honor, Charity and Service, and is never unduly judgmental, vindictive or destructive, and who is my teacher and guide through life.

I'm thankful for all those who serve on thin blue line and the sacrifices they make in applying order to our chaotic daily lives.

I'm thankful for the wanderlust that was encoded in my DNA and makes me seek other horizons from the saddle of Motorcycles.

I'm thankful for my sense of humor that at times, I felt was my only ally in my life's struggles. I was so wrong.

And I'm thankful for you taking up your valuable time by reading this. I appreciate you more than I'm capable of expressing.

Peace be with you.

"Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep".

"Before I get too deep."

This line from the song titled What I Am, recorded by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians back in the day, resonates within me as I detail the "Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" of my journey through self realization brought on by the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of Bipolar Disorder.

The quote above from Shakespeare's Hamlet 3/1, circa 1603 seems quite appropriate in the context of Bipolar Disorder and it's horrific affects on ones sense of self.

The lyrics quoted from What I Am act as emergency brake for me during times of Crisis and serves me as a Reality Check, less I lose my sense of humor and ability to see the ridiculous for what it is.

In my minds eye the outcry of "Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep." is a plea to my sub-conscience mind to yank me back to reality before I go off the deep end of this underwater precipice concealed by the tormented waters of Manic-Depression.

I've always seen Death as the "end game" and never sought or feared its arrival and this position served me well in my past life.

I'm not attempting to infer or project an image of myself as completely fearless in the face of a situation where my demise is/was imminent or where the odds were heavily weighted toward death as apposed to surviving the encounter.

I am instead acknowledging that under said circumstances my focus was squarely on completing the mission and acting as opposed to reacting and through employing determination, confidence and training; successfully surviving the encounter intact, physically intact anyway!

While I can't state with absolute certainty that I will never off myself, I can state that I have a wealth of history and precedent on my side to draw from in my bag of tricks to enable me to stand my ground, defending my position. My position being alive and fighting for my own survival.

So "Choke me in the shallow water before I get too deep".

Me to you!

Later

PsyOps - Or Fun & Games at work

I've left this book on my desk at the office, knowing that many of the IT Management Team come to my desk throughout the day seeking my input on all manner of subjects/topics that must be dealt with in order to "Keep the trains running".

This characterization of my contribution to our successful operation and growth has been used repeatedly in reference to Me by the Corporate Officers that have in the recent past sung my accolades during our monthly IT Departmental meetings.

The Wheel is still in Spin as far as My continuation in this position goes.

In a moment of enlightened self-interest I decided to employ PsyOps strategies & techniques to bring pressure to bare on the situation(s) that prompted my LOR.

I'll let you know how it pans out, as apparently I can't keep anything to myself these days as it pretty much all ends up here in these pages.

I have found "Opening the Kimono" a wonderfully cathartic process.

Later

My Dreams - Part 3

This is a continuation of a multi-part series on My Dreams and the fragments of meaning or interpretation I able to uncover along the way.

The Dreams last night were again Lucid and interestingly detailed as these milliseconds long burst of synaptic energy transfer are getting better than an EE Ticket Ride.

The Characters were Charon, Cerberus and Me although there has been no real interaction with the Cerberus to this point, this character is prominent in the Dreams up to a point, and in these dreams the Cerberus continues stalking around silently just outside the circle in which I stand with Charon.

This time the Lucid Dream state was achieved with my conscience efforts and again I employed Reality Testing and Cohesion to verify that I am in fact dreaming.

A new twist in the entrainment portion of the Dream happened last evening as I started the dream before actually falling to sleep. As I lay there on my back I started visualizing the dream scape with the Rising Waterfall of Fire instead of the Circle of Fire and eventually went into the Lucid Dreaming state with full immersion at the point of the Waterfall of Fire having completed its transformation or Cohesion instead of entering the dream at what had been previously the beginning.

Since I had discovered/Realized that The Fire changing from its initial state of a well defined circle into the flaming waterfall flowing upward was of my doing and a product of my Reality Testing and Cohesion I consciously "Fast-Forwarded" the Dream Time-line to a point past the transformation and to where Charon extends his Right hand to me with his palm turned upward.

Again the fires purpose in the dream seems to remain in keeping the Cerberus and I physically separated, at least that's how it feels in the dream. As mentioned previously there is no sense of Fear in me at all throughout the dreams.

Charon & I were standing in the descending circle below the Phlegethon, the river of fire; the symbology of descending into Hell was now more of a realization that we were "Just passing through" and not arriving at the destination.

Once we stopped descending, the landscape beyond the wall of the waterfall of fire I could see all around us for what appeared to be miles to the horizons in all directions. The Cerberus was no longer insight and It became apparent to me that Charon and I were standing on the Elysian Plain.

Again, my manipulation of the Fire provided a very strong feeling or sense of empowerment within the dream and Charon once again acknowledges this power during our conversation while we are descending and his reaction to the transformation again came across as a Mentor expressing pride in his "supplicant".

The use of the word "supplicant" as an adjective was by Charon, not me; and I find this point enlightening as it helps to add detail to the construct of our relationship within the Dream.

In this dream when Charon reaches toward me with his Right Hand outstretched, palm up as if requesting his payment, I realize he's not in fact seeking payment but attempting to hand me the small object in the palm of his hand that I don't initially recognize.

Once the Dream Scape had transformed into the Elysian Plain he again extended his Right hand toward me and this time I scrutinized what he was showing me and I recognize the object this time.

Without my asking, Charon called the object by the name "Amuletum"; the Latin root word for Amulet.

This photo is of the actual REAL object he's offering me in the dreams. Again the symbology in play here is heavy with meaning both obvious and obfuscated.

BTW, this is not the only Latin Charon uses in our dialog. As previously mentioned he expressed a "Mentor's Pride" in my ability to change the ring of fire into the waterfall of fire. The words he uses as he watches the transformation is "perfectio" and/or "perfectus" as feed back to me during the transformations and when it's complete he utters "perficio".

As I arrive in the Dream Scape Charon states "Scio qui te mitteret"; to which I answer "Sua Sponte". He looks at me as if looking through me for what seems like an eternity of examination and finally strikes the Rod he holds in his Left Hand on the ground with the resonance and authority of a Judge striking his gavel.

His conversations with me have him speaking in the third person initially, but at some point the dialog changes to first person familiar and our dialog is of a tone one might encounter during a cordial elevator ride between floors at work.

While inside the Ring previously, I heard only Charon and myself as well as the soft but roaring sounds of the Fire; when projected as an observer outside the circle I could hear the Cerberus' breathing as well as the steady drone of a Coxswain's drum as one would of heard while rowing a slave galley.

Again I have deliberately avoided providing too much detail of the dialog between Charon and myself for fear I may alter it's "natural" progression during the dreams, and I'm keeping copious notes on the conversations and will share them when the time is right.

The first thing I do as I awaken from these dreams is take inventory of the Nouns and Verbs of the dreams details. Then when I have the opportunity I write them down and some of them are doozies and not always in English.

Enough for now, more to follow.

Later

Purchased a new Digital Camera

I have been using a Casio Exilim EX-S100 3.2 Mega-Pixel Camera for all my photography needs for the past year or so and have really enjoyed the small form factor and rich set built in features.

Through practice I have developed my ability to grab the camera from the bike tank bag, switch it on, take the shot(s), switch it off and return the camera to the tank bag, all with my left hand while safely riding the motorcycle.

The 3.2 mega-pixel density has never posed a problem for me as 99% of my photos end up on the web and there is no appreciable gain having the higher pixel densities exclusively for web use.

However, at times I do find myself needing better pixel density for composed shots where the better image sensors deliver their payoff. I have this thing about the Sunrise and Sunsets and enjoy exploring the rich pallet of colors and natural light to be had during these events.

I also wanted a more atomic level of control of the capture by pushing & pulling the f stop and manipulating the aperture as well as a wider ISO speed range that has become the de facto standard in digital cameras.

New models are released almost daily and the oneupmanship of the marketing & development arms of the competing companies/brand manufactures becomes a mind boggling exercise of feature comparisons that will lock the most determined seeker into Analysis-Paralysis.

The Casio Exilim line of Digitals are remarkable among their price point peers for many reasons that are important to me and my photographic applications, the Big Three for me are Image Quality, Usable Feature Set and Form Factor. I quickly learned that when it comes to Motorcycle Photography, at least for my application/technique, the Size equates to usability while riding.

I knew I needed a much higher pixel density for print work and since I'm getting requests to purchase prints from those that enjoy my eye, as well as providing prints to those in my circle who prefer prints to digital viewing I decided to seriously examine my options.

The Casio Exilim line has the Form Factor, Usable Feature Set and Image Quality down pat and the recent price drop in high-line digitals due to the rapid development/product cycle the 10.1 Mega Pixel EX-Z1000 was the perfect choice for me.

I kept an eye on the on-line retailers and when Amazon dropped the price, to just a few dollars more than I paid for the previous model I placed the order.

I chose Amazon as my source due to the Outstanding level of Customer Service I have received from them in the past and this experience includes the Purchase and Return of Digital Cameras that just did not cut the mustard.

Amazon always accommodated my requests and handled everything right, the first time, every time. I'm a loyal Customer when you've earned it and Amazon has.

This is just a simple demonstration of the Macro capabilities of the EX-Z1000. Click the thumbnail for the full size image. Note: While the thumbnail is 9.3kb the full size photo is 2.5MB.

The image detail is amazing at this pixel density.

Not bad at all for $300.00 delivered.


You'll be seeing the inhanced image quality take over the photos on this blog and the next SunSet session should be an order of magnitude improvement over the recent set.

Later

Commuting in Flatland - 21 Nov

Last evenings commute home at 21:00 Eastern was in a brisk 49 degrees F. with strong winds out of the North due to the Low Pressure system sitting off the Eastern Coast of the US.

This mornings commute was even better as it started at 42 degrees F. and had warmed to 46 degrees F. by my arrival at the office.

I pass by a gigantic scale American Flag on my commute thats in the neighborhood of 60 by 30 feet in size and it was flying straight out last evening as well as this morning; a truly glorious sight for this American Veteran.

I got to use my Gerbing Electric Jacket Liner and man, it's worth its weight gold when you need it. The Heated Grips and Seat make an enormous difference in comfort as well.

I wish I'd had my camera with me this morning because the looks I garnered along the way as well as in the Parking Structure were priceless.

People that don't ride or are occasional riders just can't get their heads around the concept of riding every day, no matter the weather.

Their loss I say!

Later

My Dreams - part 2

This is a continuation of a multi-part series on My Dreams and the fragments of meaning or interpretation I able to uncover along the way.

While I'm not inferring I can interpret dreams; I am able to connect the dots and identify Touch Stones in the dreams and correlate them with the thoughts that occupy my mind; good and bad.

The Lucid Dreams continue to occupy my sleep for however long they actually unfold. While they seem to span the entire nights sleep, in reality they are probably mere milliseconds long burst of synaptic energy transfer that repeat over and over.

Once again the featured players in the dreams have been the Mythical Characters Charon and Cerberus and of course me; and in these dreams the Cerberus continues stalking around silently just outside the circle in which I stand with Charon.

Again the Lucid Dream state was achieved without my conscience efforts and again I employed Reality Testing to verify that I am in fact dreaming.

Part of the lucidity is in the form Cohesion as I manipulate the dreams by altering things in the environment, such as the Ring of Fire or things beyond the foreground of the dream scape that appear fixed on the horizon such as cliffs or the ruins of buildings in a plethora of architectural styles.

The Fire changing from its initial state of a well defined circle around us into the flaming waterfall flowing upward was of my doing and a product of my Reality Testing and Cohesion that could only make sense in a dream state, and in so doing it serves as verification to me that I am dreaming.

As I have mentioned previously, the nature of the Fire remained the same in both instantiations; the circle and the upward flowing waterfall. Its purpose in the dream seems to remain in keeping the Cerberus and I physically separated, at least for the time being.

Last evenings dreams presented a different aspect ratio of the Waterfall of Fire, or point of view of the viewer in that I didn't see the transformation from Circle of Fire to Waterfall of Fire rising above me as before; this time I realized that the circle we, Charon & I were standing in was actually descending below the Phlegethon, the river of fire. Or perhaps symbolically descending into Hell.

Again, my manipulation of the Fire gave me a strong feeling of empowerment within the dream.

Charon acknowledges this power during our conversation and I watch him react to the transformation of the Fire with a Mentor's Pride in my ability to affect the change.

In this dream when Charon reaches toward me with his Right Hand outstretched, palm up as if requesting his payment, I realize he's not in fact seeking payment but attempting to hand me the small object in the palm of his hand that I don't recognize.

His conversations with me have him speaking in the third person initially, but at some point in the dialog it changes to first person familiar.

I was able to view the Dream Scape and actors including myself from an external Observers point of view last night. I watched Charon speaking and My Character answering in retort to his inquiries. I also was able to manipulate this Observers point of view to see the Cerberus in great detail, no longer obfuscated by the Fire.

While inside the Ring, I hear only Charon and myself as well as the soft but roaring sounds of the Fire; outside the circle I could hear the Cerberus' breathing as well as what I believe to be the drone of the beat of a very large scale drum. The sound has heavy resonance with a period of about one beat per second, similar to the steady drone of the Coxswain's drum beat during slave galley rowing.

It's apparent that even more Imagery unfolds as I manipulate the dreams and I find it fascinating that my interaction with the other Characters in these dreams continues to develop but has yet to causes me to awaken.

I have deliberately avoided detailing the dialog between Charon and myself for fear I may alter it's "natural" progression. I'm keeping copious notes on the conversations and will share them when the time is right.

Enough for now, more to follow.

Later

My Dreams

In a couple of posts recently I have given some level of detail concerning the Richly Detailed Dreams I have been experiencing.

The other amazing things about these dreams are that I can recall in very atomic detail the dreams content, and that they have all be Lucid Dreams.

The featured players in these dreams have been the Mythical Characters Charon and Cerberus and of course me.

In these dreams Cerberus has stalked around silently just outside the circle in which I stood in the presence of Charon while we discussed my soul in great detail.

While I have yet to decode the imagery, and probably never will truly understand all of it's meanings, I find it amazing that the images and conversations from within the dreams are retained during awakening from the sleep state and up to consciousness and beyond. Of course writing them down helps lock them in long term memory.

This is most unusual for me in that it has been years since I have experienced Lucid Dreaming and retention of the details of the dreams. It's as if an area of my mind has awakened or perhaps I have stopped blocking the dreams.

I have been leaning toward contributing these dreams and their rich depth of Imagery to the medications I take, and while I'm certain that Hypnotics can and do profoundly affect both your conscience as well as sub-conscious thought patterns, the degree of Lucidity is absolutely amazing to me.

See This as well as This posts for background on the dreams.

I have use mnemonic induction to achieve the Lucid state with great success as well as Don Juan's technique from the book Journey to Ixtlan in the past but these dreams have achieved the Lucid state without my conscience efforts. While dreaming I have employed Reality Testing to verify that I am in fact dreaming.

Some of the other Touch Stones from the Imagery that are pervasive in these dreams are Fire, Water, Earth, Pain, Faith, Falling, Self Protection, Impending Doom, Threat Realization, Self Awareness and Cohesion. There has been no sense of fear whatsoever.

The Fire changing from a well defined circle to the flaming waterfall was of my doing and a product of my Reality Testing. But the nature of the Fire remained the same in both instantiations as I felt it kept me separated from the character Cerberus for whatever reason yet to be reveled to me.

Phlegethon - the river of fire that burns but never consumes is probable a metaphor but It's meaning could be anything. I'm having fun manipulating it in any event, and the fact that I can manipulate it is empowering within the dream.

The character Charon acknowledges this power in our conversations and I've watched him react to the transformation of the Fire with what I would term as a Mentor's Pride in my ability to affect the change.

The nature of his voice in these dreams is calm and powerful, and our conversations have started with him reaching toward me with his Right Hand outstretched, palm up as if requesting his payment without actually asking for it.

His conversations with me have him speaking in the third person about us initially but at some point in the dialog it changes to first person familiar.

More to follow.

Later

It's all fun & games till you get the diagnosis - Part 8

This topic is getting a lot of airplay in this forum these last few days and rightfully so as it has been a very turbulent time for me personally as well as those who know me and are close to me.

I'm cognizant of the pain and discomfort created by this disorder on those around me and in a very real way find myself powerless to to shield them from it. Those who care about me know the grief I feel in the throws of these crisis' as well as the depression that inevitably follows.

I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy for surely it would be categorized as Torture.

I've been through Water-Boarding a couple of times; in training and in the field as well as Low-Voltage Electrocution and I would whole-Heartedly prefer those to the long term effects of Bipolar Disorder and PTSD.

Those events only hurt me and ultimately provided no usable intelligence to the long dead bastards that applied them to me; however the two disorders hurt everyone I love and come in contact with, depending on my state of crisis.

I mention the above "techniques" only as a point of reference and to provide a personal scale to which the pain of these disorders can be compared.

I had a very long discussion with my Director this morning and he is squarely on my side of the line that was crossed last Thursday evening and Friday morning respectively and has offered me some salient advice on how to cope in this environment.

His recognition that writing the email in response to the email attack which set this all into motion had a real cathartic value to me, and that putting it all down in an email is fine as long as it's not sent was the only constraint he applied to me.

A very rational observation and suggestion I feel, but one that was beyond my reasoning at the time.

To that end, I now have a sign in my cube that reads "Write It, just don't say it or send it NOW!" and it's signed "Me to you" as a reminder to myself the suggestion comes from me during a rational moment of clarity.

Later

It's all fun & games till you get the diagnosis - Part 7

Finally got to sleep last evening around 1:00am after watching The Da Vinci Code; slept comatically again and awoke at 1:10pm just in time to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally win a game by defeating the Washington Red Skins.

More than twelve hours of continuous sleep where again I dreamed of Charon and the a circle of fire where we continued discussing my soul. And again Cerberus stalked around silently just outside the circle.

This time I felt as if the fire acted to keep Cerberus just out of reach, or me out of his.

The Fire changed into more of a circular flaming waterfall around us, but instead of flowing downward, it flowed upward in flames. I guess it is representative of Phlegethon - the river of fire; in any event it's clear I'm dreaming of variations of Hell in mythological contexts.

I read The Divine Comedy years ago and haven't thought about it since, perhaps it's time to read it again. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey was rich with imagery as well and re-reading Achilles In Vietnam recently helped me recall the engravings by Gustave Doré such as the one above.

Perhaps watching The Da Vinci Code last evening after taking my nightly meds (hypnotic) also fueled the fire, as it were, in my dreams.

I've enjoyed a great day at home with Sue, watching the tube and reading, just relaxing with no preprogrammed activities to impose time constraints on me and for the first time in a very long time, no work activities.

Later

Calexico - Great Riding Music

On the Nov 4, 2006 broadcast of Austin City Limits, The Arizona based band Calexico performed and just blew away the audience with some amazing Southwestern Mexicali Rock & Roll.

The rich traditional Mexican trumpet accompanying the traditional Spanish Acoustic Guitar to the hard driving Rock & Roll with a unique Southwester flair; Calexico has found a home in my collection.

Don't miss the opportunity to hear Calexico if you have a chance, you'll be glad you listened.

Later

Healing Music

I find healing in music and seek it out anywhere I can. From the soulful Zulu acappella voices of Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the newly released An Other Cup from Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens).

I just receive my advance copy of An Other Cup and listened to the wonderfully crafted sounds and skillfully word-smithed lyrics of an old familiar friend.

With eleven new songs from Yusuf''s pen and a much softened cover of Don't let me be misunderstood, this reintroduction into the music scene holds great promise of serving his intentions to bridge the chasm between Islam and the west.

With familiar quotes from the Koran interspersed in the lyrics among his own heartfelt pros he makes it very easy to open your mind to the possibility that "One day at a time, we can leave our fears behind."

Peace be with you

It's all fun & games till you get the diagnosis - Part 6 continued

The last 36 hours have been a concofany of Stress, Anger, Frustration, Hostility, Pain, Depression, Anxiety, comatic sleep and Reflection. Writing is the proverbial teeth pulling exercise.

I feel as if I have been under Torquemada's Inquisition and any remnants of my soul have been exercised and drowned in the Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe and finally the Styx.

I have never dreamed of Charon before, but he and I stood in a circle of fire discussing my soul while Cerberus stalked silently the outside of the circle. This dream was intense with sensory stimulation and imagery I would truly love to understand.

I re-read Achilles in Vietnam recently. This is a study of the destruction or undoing of ones character caused by PTSD; as I have been in constant struggle with this since 1979 and two failed marriages later as well as numerous jobs it still has a death grip on my mind.

While I have diligently maintained my medication regiment, and on average have been more stable than in months past, over the last few weeks my intolerance of Bull Shit and Apathy have grown into a sense of hatred for said same that wells up inside of me in the presence of it.

However, I've discovered a very strange stabilizing force that purges the intense stress retuning me very close to my "normal" baseline; Crisis and Chaos.

I'm the Crisis Manager of the IT Department, and when the shit hits the fan in our multi-billion dollar businesses systems, I'm the manager thats leads the IT Team through it and brings the systems back on-line.

This happened Friday Afternoon starting about 5:30pm and over the next several hours we analyzed the data, formed a remediation plan, verified it in a testing environment and have executed the plan successfully averting a catastrophic systems failure that would of had real dollars associated with it.

The initial Chaos associated with the beginnings of these Crisis events actually calms my mind and allows me to focus clearly and communicate efficiently. While almost all others in the environment initially gravitate toward panic I move deliberately and calmly about the business of solving the problems.

By the end of this problem I was in a perfectly calm and relaxed mood and the commute home was great.

Like I mentioned in the opening of this post I slept like in a coma and awoke feeling refreshed and invigorated after some very intense dreams that were probably amplified by the hypnotic meds.

So I guess I just need somebody to throw hand grenades at me in order to keep the demons at bay.

Later

It's all fun & games till you get the diagnosis - Part 6

I'm having as bad a day as I've had in a long while and it's been getting progressively worse through out the day.

The triggering event of this downward spiral was an email I received last evening from a management "peer" in the company that, for at least the next hour or so, I'm employed by.

I manage a Team of fifteen professionals in the disciplines of Database Administration, UNIX Systems Engineering and Storage Area Networking.

The ''peer" is self titled Project Manager on the business side of the house where HR feels a damn PM is qualified to make strategic decisions without the input of the Subject Matter Experts we employ.

He attacked me in an email where he impugned my and my Teams Dedication and Qualifications, and did so in a late evening email in which he Blind Copied several Vice Presidents.
I know about the BCC's because I manage the Administrators which have access to the message headers.

He did this in a milimole thinly vialed attempt to lay the ground work to Blame his failures as a Project Manager on others.

When I received the email last evening It sent me into manic orbit and I spent two hours walking/running around my neighborhood in an attempt to burn off the adrenalin that was pulsing through me.

I dissected him and his bullshit in an email response back to all who were originally copied on the email.

I can't at this point post the email as I'm still employed, until Monday afternoon when I have a meeting with my Director to discuss the letter of resignation I submitted after I was called on the carpet for my "Over The Top" response by my Vice President.

He was in agreement with the content of the message, just not the tone.

I put him in a bad spot with his peers and he expects all hell to break loose any moment, and it has already started.

I tendered my resignation sincerely and if I have any clout or capitol in this organization, he should be able to put it to good use.

Later

Commuting in FlatLand - 16 Nov

This mornings commute was the Southern States version of Ice Racing due to the very heavy line of Thunderstorms that swept through the area out of the Gulf of Mexico toward the Atlantic coast.

As you can see from the image the storm cells were plentiful and intense not to mention the winds out of the South-West gusting to over 70mph.

While I truly enjoy being the Only Motorcyclist on the Road, the increased Situational Awareness needed to safely navigate in this sea of Cage Traffic, on road surfaces of freshly floated oils is about as stressful as it gets.

One must be even more vigilant and dogmatic about maintaining you scans, avoiding the oil stripes in the center of all traffic lanes, avoiding road striping and managing the energy applied to the wheels through acceleration, deceleration and braking.

A seemingly clear path before you under these extreme riding conditions can rapidly deteriorate into a gauntlet comparable to the Roman military form of execution if you fail to remain Situational Aware or stop thinking ahead of your path.

I made it safely, warm & dry to the parking structure at work and removed my Riding Gear hanging it to dry before stowing it away.

I just adore the looks and comments I get on days like this, even though I'm sure I've been labeled a "Pudd'nhead" in their collective opinion. Good company none the less!

This affords me the opportunity to state one of my own quotes for the edification of the uninitiated, and expound on the premise of ATGATT;

"There's no such thing as bad riding weather, just bad riding gear!"

Later

Sodexho - Or more aptly named SUX

Sodexho promotes themselves as "the leading food and facilities management services company in North America".

This begs the question to what standard they are comparing themselves. From my personal experience it's not based on Customer Service.

This vendor operates a full service cafeteria on our corporate campus as well as a very popular Coffee/Internet Café.

As the only food service location on our campus they have a default captive customer base on-site and convenience is just about the best reason to use the facility.

For the most part, this vendor's staff are adequately trained and sufficiently skilled for their mission however, there exist a gaping hole in their approach to doing business in today's dynamic and demanding marketplace.

In my not so humble opinion, Customer Service is the missing piece of the puzzle.

I offer the following example from this very morning to illustrate.

09:00, I and a member of my Staff head to the Cafeteria to grab breakfast to go so we can get back to our area in preparation for a very full schedule.

As I'm passing by the Freshly prepared Salad Bar in route to the breakfast bar and I notice everything is out and available and looks as fresh and inviting as I'd ever seen there.

I decide to do the Healthy thing and grab a salad for breakfast instead of the artery spackle served on the breakfast bar. The only thing missing were the salad tongs; so I asked the employee standing behind the Salad Bar if I can get the Salad Tongs and was told in no uncertain terms, "NO, we are closed."

I replied "Excuse me?"; and again was told with a cold, blunt, unsympathetic and condescending tone, "NO, we are closed."

Everything thats normally on the Salad Bar was already out and ready except for the Salad Tongs so instead of engaging the worker in philosophical discourse on Customer Non-Service I sought out the Cafeteria Manager.

He was just as closed minded and dismissive as the worker at the salad bar and he's supposed to be the Standard for their Behavior, and as it turns out, he is!

He stated to me that it's Sodexho's policy not to open other lines until lunch begins at 11:00am.

I asked in a polite and calm tone; "Why in the world would it matter one way or the other since the Salad Bar was fully stocked, Fresh and manned by the worker who was literally just standing there leaning against the make table watching the world go by?"

He reached deep into his vast and extensive background working as a professional service provider to the public and expounded the summation of his wisdom and insight in a terse, one word non-response; POLICY!

What an outrageously marginalizing and dismissive non-customer centric anal orifice!

He said this to my face in front thirty breakfast seekers waiting in line to be "served" and the chatter was immediately replaced with the deafening roar of silence, accept for the noises from the near-by kitchen. Almost everyone in line turned to look at the two of use as he started offering rationalizations and excuses instead of a solution to the issue before him, and it was crystal clear to all present that he had officially screwed the pooch.

I have a meeting with our corporate facilities coordinator to discuss this as well as the other grievances my IT Department Staff have with this Vendor. My intended goal is the institution of Customer Centric Policies & Procedures OR the replacement of SUX as our Cafeteria Operator.

Remember the very popular Coffee/Internet Café I mentioned before? The defining difference between this Café and the Cafeteria is their consistently warm, friendly and accommodating approach to customer service, and I mentioned that directly to the Café Manager and thanked her for consistent high quality customer service.

As with most IT Organizations, we consume enormous quantities of Java and Diet Mt. Dew and there is a fairly steady stream of patrons in & out of the Café throughout the day, which is located outside of the main cafeteria.

I don't know if I'll be successful tilting with this corporate windmill but it wont be as a result of not trying.

Later

The Innocent Man - John Grisham's first work of non-fiction

John Grisham has published his first work of non-fiction; the tragic story of Ron Williamson, a man with bipolar disorder who's sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit.

"Never in my most creative moment could I have come up with a story like this," Grisham says in an interview with NPR's All things considered. You can listen to the interview on the NPR page referenced above..

Mr Williamson was one of two suspects (Dennis Fritz was the other) initially identified by the Police investigating the murder of Debbie Carter, a twenty-one-year-old girl on December 7, 1982.

The Police quickly focused in on Mr Williamson and Mr Fritz completely ruling out other suspects without following even the most basic principals of sound police investigative process.

Arrested, convicted, sentenced to death and miraculously exonerated just days before his execution; Mr Williamson's untreated Bipolar Disorder and the physical & emotional manifestations experienced by him and witnessed by the Jury during his trial sealed his fate, not the evidence.

The subject matter of this book is both enlightening and very disturbing to me personally, as the bipolar community is highly vulnerable to things like this due to the fundamental lack of understanding of Bipolar Disorder among the general public which makes up the Jury Pools as well as the Police, Prosecutors and Judges.

Later

Patriot Guard Riders

The organization known as the Patriot Guard Riders, is a completely volunteer organization made up of a cross section of Americans that are driven by, and share a common element in their character, Respect!

Membership is free, voluntary and open to anyone whether you Ride a Motorcycle or not, A Veteran or not, Male or Female, Political or not.

The one and only driving consideration boils down to an unwavering respect for those who risk their very lives for America’s freedom and security.

That's It!

From the PGR Website:

Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives.

1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families, and their communities.

2. Shield the mourning family and friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.

We accomplish the latter through strictly legal and non-violent means.

Straight forward, open and honest. The way all things should be really but so many aren't.

As an ARMY Veteran and the Son, Grandson and Great Grandson of Veterans I count myself proudly among the roles and consider it an honor to be a member of this fine organization.

Later