the id, the ego, & the single misfiring brain cell

I see I am very late to this party but your friends OBVIOUSLY missed the whole point of the story:

The point of the story was he did things because he *thought* they would be easier and each time he “moved up” he realized afterward it was NOT easier. THAT WAS THE POINT. ;)

Still, he kept moving up trying to find an easier life. After he got exactly what he wanted he found that being a PBY pilot was the hardest job he ever had! So he invented the autopilot which lead to even longer hours and more desk work. (and if you know your history autopilot work drove computer development – Spaceships are not flown with stick and throttle)

After a lifetime of success and making the world a better place all driven by attempts to make his own life easier he ultimately reached his goal only in retirement.

I don’t know what story Hinermind read either. Lamb was never a coward and in his search for an easier life, he created an entirely new technology and an entirely new industry that is ubiquitous in aviation today and will soon be coming to road vehicles.

Hmmm, Watson. The game is afoot!

Diana,

Huh. I guess I’m not as computer savvy as I thought.

Anyway, what I tried to say was that I believe the idea that hands & feet are the first parts to separate from a submerged corpse. Also, if you look at the major ocean currents along the West Coast you can imagine that a lot of bodies from the Pacific Northwest, California, and even Baja California could end up in the Vancouver & Seattle area. Take a look at the map here:

(Link isn’t being accepted - Google “Nike Trainers and Rubber Ducks - SEOS” and look for a link to seos-project.eu.)

The North Equatorial Current, the current that moves north past Hawaii, and the North Pacific Current are responsible for the mild winters and rainy climate of the Pac NW because they drive warm water from the tropics right into Vancouver and Seattle. So why not debris and body parts?

When I was a Boy Scout I saw a magazine article about a troop that lived near Vancouver and camped on the coast a lot. They regularly found Japanese glass fishing floats washed up on the beach, having floated from fishing grounds in the western Pacific. Glass floats fell out of use 20 or 30 years ago but people still find one in that area now and then.

It’s possible many of those feet belong to victims of foul play, but they could just as easily come from California or Mexico as from Canada. (Even though Vancouver has a reputation for having a lot of organized crime, much of it from the Far East.)

Dave

This is the first one I’ve seen on this post, Dave. (?)

d

Diana,

I could have sworn I left a comment lying around here somewhere. Have you seen it?

Dave

Thanks, Peachy! I may do more than that. I could take a drive to Iowa to get some advice in person. :)

d

PS…or, Nebraska. I forget. :/

Gratz on the retirement btw. Wish I could’ve made it to the party. Retirement can be a bear to handle. Hell, I should know; I’ve been dealing with it for just over seven years now. If you ever get to the point where you need a sounding board on handling it, give me a holler.

Wow. I would love that, Dave! I’ll check with the friend we’re visiting. :)

I know we’re making a short trip to Baltimore on Thursday. (She wants to do an introductory pilot flight.) I’ll ask her!

d

Diana,

It’ll take time, but you’ll get used to the new normal. One morning you’ll wake up about 9:30 AM and not feel guilty, and you’ll have arrived.

You mentioned going to Pennsylvania. I don’t suppose you’ll be within a few hours drive of Rochester NY? If so, and if you’re available and willing, I’d make the time to have coffee with you.

Dave

Dave,

I think I have two “problems” right now: (1) There is so much that’s been waiting for me to have time and energy and motivation all at once, and (2) yes…it still just feels like I’m on leave. :)

Thank you so much for the compliment. I do plan to write, but I need to clean the house and unclutter my brain first.

When I interviewed for a teaching position at the Academy back in ‘05, Dr. Lemp (one of the permanent civilian professors) asked me, “If you had world enough and time, what would you do?” My initial response was, “Then my coyness would be no crime” (which, I think, cemented our mutual respect and friendship). Then I said, “I would read and write. Probably travel.”

Travel is in the works now. That and cleaning up our rathole one tiny bit at a time.

Thanks for the guitar lesson recommendation! I’ll check it out! :)

d

Diana,

For all your planned sloth, you’ll never slow down until you cultivate the ability to say, “it can wait.” Remember, tomorrow is the greatest labor-saving device of today.

I do hope you’ll make time to read, because I know how much you’ve been looking forward to it. But I’m looking forward to when you start writing. The snippets you’ve posted here over the past decade-plus have been amazing. I want to see what it looks like when you put your back into it.

I hope your guitar isn’t too much worse for wear. I’ve started trying to learn to play (again) and seem to be making more headway than in previous attempts. A gent in England, Justin Sandercoe, has a web site and a huge collection of instructional videos that are making the difference. (He has endorsements from Brian May, Mark Knopfler, and Steve Wozniak.)

I’m glad you’re enjoying your retirement. Don’t forget, this is your life now, not just leave. You don’t have to do it all in two weeks. (grin)

Dave

Thanks passed along. :)

I’m kinda surprised at how easily I go down a rabbit hole when I’m speaking publicly without forgetting what my main point was, myself. So…that’s two of us who are kinda amazed at my weird ability to do that.

And better “genuineness” than “genuinity.”

d

Diana,

I did notice you occasionally insert a footnote into your thread, just like you do in your blog posts, without losing your train of thought. I’m a little jealous of your ability to do that. Once I’m off the rails I have no idea where I’ll end up, and by the time I get there I’ve forgotten what the original idea was anyway.

Being consistent is a good thing IMO. That’s part of genuineness. (I didn’t think that was a word, but Chrome seems to think it is. I’ll go with it.) People who act very differently in different social contexts make me nervous sometimes. I nearly walked out of a company Christmas party once when the “entertainment” was a troupe of actors mingling with us, supposedly investigating a murder.

Please give Michelle my thanks for recording and posting your speech.

Dave

Dave,

:)

I talk like I write and vice versa. According to Michelle, that’s how I am all the time, in front of people or in private. I’m consistent, apparently.

And thank you!

d

Diana,

At last a voice to go with the words! I can see why you collect such fine friends. You come across as genuine, allowing people to see the real you. I find that attracts other genuine people. The kind you want to have as friends.

Dave

I felt the same way about both of them, Dave.

d

Diana,

Dad did 20 years in the Navy and retired as a Chief Petty Officer. I think he would have liked to stay longer, but Mom would have none of it. He ended up teaching drafting afterwards, and loved it.

I’ve heard a lot of people complain that Time Enough for Love was “too much Heinlein.” Lazarus Long certainly made an excellent mouthpiece for Bob’s views, but he had some entertaining adventures along the way. Stranger felt a bit too much like message fiction to me, although I can’t really explain why. Not enough spaceships maybe.

Dave

I’ve read Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love, which is worth reading, and Stranger in a Strange Land, which I didn’t care much for.

d

I’ve thought for years that I need to reread the Foundation series (it’s more than a trilogy now–maybe it was then?). I think I’d get a lot more out of it now.

I don’t recall that your dad was in the Navy. I have no doubt you’ve mentioned it at some point.

The cool thing about modern technology is that you can get any book anywhere, pretty much–online. I love it!

d

Diana,

You’re in good company when it comes to confusing plant seeds. In Cosmos Carl Sagan’s “spaceship of the imagination” was modeled on a milkweed puff, although he called it a dandelion seed.

It sounds like you’re keeping busy, which is a good way to stave off the nerves for a while. When I moved to New York from Ohio I was too busy making arrangements to get the family moved. I had plenty of panic, but I can’t say I was all that nervous.

Dad got me into SF by loaning me his Lensman series, then Heinlein’s Have Space Suit, Will Travel. I was pretty thoroughly hooked by then. I was about 10 or 11 at the time. Our little one-horse town didn’t have a lot of current SF in the library; it was mostly stuff from the 1940s through the mid 60s. (And they had the wonderfully convenient habit of shelving Andre Norton in the YA fiction where I could find it.) When Dad left the Navy and was home all the time he started requesting new materials there, and they built up a pretty decent selection by the time I moved out. Somewhere along the way someone gave me a hardcover with the Foundation trilogy in one volume. I spent most of the summer reading that. (It was 1976 and I had discovered girls, so my attention was divided.) Once I knew who Asimov was I started hunting down his stuff, and that’s how I found the humor book.

Dave