My granddaughter saw the engagement ring this weekend, and exactly as I predicted, said, "Oh, that's so cute!"
Um, yeah. Sure. Glad you liked it. I guess. Now excuse me a minute while I go dig that squeal out of my ear so I can hear again.
It occurs to me, from this and from another conversation we had, that she's lacking in ideas for what to say to people at various times. While I'm not energetic enough to try to cover all situations, I'd like to offer up ideas for what to say when a compliment is expected. It could be about anything: hair, jewelry, a piece of artwork, somebody's ugly new baby. "Cute" in a high-pitched squeal just doesn't do the job.
Trust me.
I could have used a list like this many years ago, during my most embarrassing moment ever. A compliment was expected, deserved, in fact, but by the time it was my turn, all the good ones had been used. And I just had to, had to say something unique. (Think of it as a disease.) What came out was an insult, and no, I'm still too embarrassed about it all these years later to say just what it was. It was, however, definitely unique. And those people don't speak to me still, though they had plenty to say at the time.
So, whether you like something or not, try some of these next time:
Oh, that's beautiful!
Wow!
That's just so you!
Wow, that's so unique: I never would have thought of it.
Impressive!
That must have been so much work!
However did you find it?
Boy, that sure makes a statement!
It's good that you're so sensible.
You get such interesting ideas!
I could never get away with wearing that.
Those colors work so well on you.
You're so lucky to have straight/curly/red/blonde/thick/whatever hair like that.
You certainly have a flair/talent/eye for these things.
Leave it to you to come up with something so imaginative.
You're just so creative.
You're just so brave.
Wow, is she tiny!
He sure can sleep soundly!
Wow, what a good set of lungs!
Look how she's grown!
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Glen Beck Miracle
Glen Beck promised all his followers a miracle on Saturday at his march on Washington, or whatever he called it. (I can't stand to listen to him for very long.) In all the commentary following the event, I heard a lot of head-scratching about just what the so-called miracle was.
I think I figured it out.
Those well-versed in Christianity will understand the reference if I call it a "loaves-and-fishes" kind of miracle. And hey, if you don't, look it up, if for no other reason than it being a cultural reference, if not for being (your) religious one.
How it works is this. The aerial photos and neutral observers/counters put the crowd at about 87,000. Impressive actually. However, the miracle was that he expanded that number to 750,000 when talking about it this morning on his radio show!
I think I figured it out.
Those well-versed in Christianity will understand the reference if I call it a "loaves-and-fishes" kind of miracle. And hey, if you don't, look it up, if for no other reason than it being a cultural reference, if not for being (your) religious one.
How it works is this. The aerial photos and neutral observers/counters put the crowd at about 87,000. Impressive actually. However, the miracle was that he expanded that number to 750,000 when talking about it this morning on his radio show!
The Campaign Ad
Our city newsletter is allowing all candidates for city office to put in a half-page ad to encourage votes. Here's mine:
I am dedicated to this city. I've lived in Shafer since '91, currently in a 3-generation household, and my fiance' has agreed that we will continue living here. When a developer left improvements undone in our neighborhood, meaning we all got assessed to finish the job, I ran for council to help insure future development was done right. During the 12 years I was first council member, then 2-term mayor, we developed standards and enforced rigorous development agreements that made sure development was a boon to all and not a hardship. I fought to keep taxes as low as possible in a time of rapid growth, make sure our ordinances met our changing needs, and were enforced fairly without favoritism. I've worked with the leaders of our neighboring communities to bring a new modern library to the area, and develop a joint long-range-plan for our growth. As mayor, I maintained strong working ties with city staff, both in-house and professional.
I strongly believe that all that experience matters in guiding the city forward as our economy changes and growth resumes. I also believe that listening to all sides of an issue and making sure the council has complete information before making a decision is vital. I bring the communication skills and temperament to facilitate all sides being heard in a calm manner regardless of how heated the issues become. My vision of the job of mayor is a lot of hard work, responsibility, and loyalty to what's best for the city as a whole. It takes both an eye on the details as well as on the big picture. I am very much looking forward to serving you again as mayor, and hope for your vote this fall
I am dedicated to this city. I've lived in Shafer since '91, currently in a 3-generation household, and my fiance' has agreed that we will continue living here. When a developer left improvements undone in our neighborhood, meaning we all got assessed to finish the job, I ran for council to help insure future development was done right. During the 12 years I was first council member, then 2-term mayor, we developed standards and enforced rigorous development agreements that made sure development was a boon to all and not a hardship. I fought to keep taxes as low as possible in a time of rapid growth, make sure our ordinances met our changing needs, and were enforced fairly without favoritism. I've worked with the leaders of our neighboring communities to bring a new modern library to the area, and develop a joint long-range-plan for our growth. As mayor, I maintained strong working ties with city staff, both in-house and professional.
I strongly believe that all that experience matters in guiding the city forward as our economy changes and growth resumes. I also believe that listening to all sides of an issue and making sure the council has complete information before making a decision is vital. I bring the communication skills and temperament to facilitate all sides being heard in a calm manner regardless of how heated the issues become. My vision of the job of mayor is a lot of hard work, responsibility, and loyalty to what's best for the city as a whole. It takes both an eye on the details as well as on the big picture. I am very much looking forward to serving you again as mayor, and hope for your vote this fall
Saturday, August 28, 2010
An Unpleasant Task, Finished
There's a reason I hate the annual trust filing. Actually, this year there were several.
Start with locating all the paperwork. Now normally that's only fairly odious. All the bank statements that come in are put into the filing box, even though they're only filed about twice a year, those being tax time and trust filing time. At least they don't get lost, although there have been years where they wind up in the wrong file folder, generally the one holding my personal bank statements. Then the receipts are put back in the checkbook at the time purchases are made, so they're easy to keep track of. And since the checks are in the carbon-copy form, it's easy to go through and see that the reason #xxxx is missing is that it was voided.
Finally there are the proofs of checks being properly cashed. This means I go online to the credit union and print out the copy they provide of each check that's gone through. It had previously been explained to me that only an official printout of both front and back of each check would do for the filing. In the early years there was a fee for this. After the account became accessible online, I could access the info and print my own for free. This year I was closing out the account, so I made sure to do that before closing, after all the checks had cleared.
That's where I noticed the first problem.
Two of the checks were written to Target. Target made a change in how they clear checks. They now clear them electronically, from the store. No hard copy of the check goes to the credit union. Their only record is the store name, amount, and "electronically cleared." Since Target doesn't do this at the cash register at the time of purchase, no hard copy of the check gets returned to me, either.
Oops.
Well, I have no alternative but sending along a copy of both the receipt and the carbon of the check, with an explanation, and hope it serves.
That points out the second locating-paperwork problem. I keep that little green checkbook in one of two places. The first is a place it's kept whole not in use. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. The second is in my pocketbook when I need to use it. It wasn't in either spot.
It wasn't in the file box either. Or mixed in with the stacks of paperwork on the dining room table. Or the lamp table by my chair. Paul hadn't seen it. It wasn't in any of the places adjacent to its usual holding spot where I might have absent-mindedly put it. I checked my memory of where I'd last seen it, which was easy: I'd written the last check to Jordan for the cash balance of the account minus the final administrative fee for the trust filing. I hadn't even needed to take it along to the credit union to close the account, using the most recent statement and my ID to accomplish that.
Oh dear, next problem: I also didn't have the certified check I'd had them make out for that fee, or that last statement either. I distinctly recall putting those in a "safe spot". But which one?
Since I hadn't yet gone through every scrap of paper and every file folder in the files box, I decided to do that first: find out just exactly the scope of the problem. Along the way about 5 pounds of paper made it into the recycle bin. I decided, for example, that I no longer need the last five years of insurance policies for the house and car and the statements attached to them. The result is everything is now neatly filed for tax time, all of the trust bank statements were accounted for, and the certified check for the filing fee was located. I had everything I needed but that checkbook.
There was only one place I'd overlooked, because it couldn't possible be there. So of course, it was.
Whew!
OK, first, check out those two Target checks. Yep, carbon copies in the book. Yep, receipts in the book.
However...
The receipt from the purchase nearly a year ago had faded so badly about the only legible thing on it was the bullseye logo for Target. And that's as good as it's ever going to get.
Dang!
Now the real fun begins. Head to the computer, pull up last year's filing, change dates, change numbers, keep the template, save as new. Of course it's never that simple. Never has been. There's always a math error. It never balances to the penny. Assets on hand last year, plus interest, minus administrative expenses, minus distributions to beneficiaries, need to compare exactly to current assets on hand. Luckily this year, that's zero, making at least that little bit simpler.
Part of the fun is that the trust year is not the same as the bank statement dates, so they need to be combed through to figure out which figures go in this report and which are for the previous or future year. Year-to-date figures will be wrong. Each entry needs to be tallied. I always make at least one mistake by the time the first balance is taken. Sometimes more.
That's even more aggravating. There's nothing quite like finding an error, thinking you've solved the problem, and finding out there's yet another one.
This year I finally decided to put everything on a spreadsheet, at least for the interest. There was interest on the savings account and on each of the 4 CDs which were held for some part of the year. Each of those, further, needed to be noted in another part of the trust for the exact amount of interest earned and a justification entered for why it didn't earn at least 2%.
Have you tried to get 2% this last year on any secure short-term investment? Just saying.
This year, after all the figures were accounted for, additions and subtractions made, and everything was balanced, the result was...
A penny off!
NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH.
Go back and recheck every figure, making sure it was entered correctly. Re-add all the columns, twice. There's a whole lot of paper shuffling, a whole lot of where-exactly-did-I-get-that-number? involved in that process. It has to be done in the morning, since that's when my math brain is at its most functional. (Don't ask me to do math at night! Ever!) After all that is done, I finally come to the last set of figures, the administrative expenses. Only four numbers, two ending in zeros, and I can see instantly on the form that 5 + 2 do not equal 8. All that double-checking was unnecessary, had I just looked there first. But, hey, at least I know there aren't any other mistakes.
All that's left now is making copies of what needs sending, getting my signature notarized Monday morning, and taking the whole thing to the post office after that.
And waiting. Waiting to find out the consequences of inadequate proof of expenses. Waiting through whatever number of years until I can make 4" more space in my file box after throwing out all the paperwork.
Oh yeah, and waiting to see those pictures from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
And, hey, anybody out there thinking of setting up a trust and making me the trustee? Go find somebody else!
Start with locating all the paperwork. Now normally that's only fairly odious. All the bank statements that come in are put into the filing box, even though they're only filed about twice a year, those being tax time and trust filing time. At least they don't get lost, although there have been years where they wind up in the wrong file folder, generally the one holding my personal bank statements. Then the receipts are put back in the checkbook at the time purchases are made, so they're easy to keep track of. And since the checks are in the carbon-copy form, it's easy to go through and see that the reason #xxxx is missing is that it was voided.
Finally there are the proofs of checks being properly cashed. This means I go online to the credit union and print out the copy they provide of each check that's gone through. It had previously been explained to me that only an official printout of both front and back of each check would do for the filing. In the early years there was a fee for this. After the account became accessible online, I could access the info and print my own for free. This year I was closing out the account, so I made sure to do that before closing, after all the checks had cleared.
That's where I noticed the first problem.
Two of the checks were written to Target. Target made a change in how they clear checks. They now clear them electronically, from the store. No hard copy of the check goes to the credit union. Their only record is the store name, amount, and "electronically cleared." Since Target doesn't do this at the cash register at the time of purchase, no hard copy of the check gets returned to me, either.
Oops.
Well, I have no alternative but sending along a copy of both the receipt and the carbon of the check, with an explanation, and hope it serves.
That points out the second locating-paperwork problem. I keep that little green checkbook in one of two places. The first is a place it's kept whole not in use. No, I'm not going to tell you what it is. The second is in my pocketbook when I need to use it. It wasn't in either spot.
It wasn't in the file box either. Or mixed in with the stacks of paperwork on the dining room table. Or the lamp table by my chair. Paul hadn't seen it. It wasn't in any of the places adjacent to its usual holding spot where I might have absent-mindedly put it. I checked my memory of where I'd last seen it, which was easy: I'd written the last check to Jordan for the cash balance of the account minus the final administrative fee for the trust filing. I hadn't even needed to take it along to the credit union to close the account, using the most recent statement and my ID to accomplish that.
Oh dear, next problem: I also didn't have the certified check I'd had them make out for that fee, or that last statement either. I distinctly recall putting those in a "safe spot". But which one?
Since I hadn't yet gone through every scrap of paper and every file folder in the files box, I decided to do that first: find out just exactly the scope of the problem. Along the way about 5 pounds of paper made it into the recycle bin. I decided, for example, that I no longer need the last five years of insurance policies for the house and car and the statements attached to them. The result is everything is now neatly filed for tax time, all of the trust bank statements were accounted for, and the certified check for the filing fee was located. I had everything I needed but that checkbook.
There was only one place I'd overlooked, because it couldn't possible be there. So of course, it was.
Whew!
OK, first, check out those two Target checks. Yep, carbon copies in the book. Yep, receipts in the book.
However...
The receipt from the purchase nearly a year ago had faded so badly about the only legible thing on it was the bullseye logo for Target. And that's as good as it's ever going to get.
Dang!
Now the real fun begins. Head to the computer, pull up last year's filing, change dates, change numbers, keep the template, save as new. Of course it's never that simple. Never has been. There's always a math error. It never balances to the penny. Assets on hand last year, plus interest, minus administrative expenses, minus distributions to beneficiaries, need to compare exactly to current assets on hand. Luckily this year, that's zero, making at least that little bit simpler.
Part of the fun is that the trust year is not the same as the bank statement dates, so they need to be combed through to figure out which figures go in this report and which are for the previous or future year. Year-to-date figures will be wrong. Each entry needs to be tallied. I always make at least one mistake by the time the first balance is taken. Sometimes more.
That's even more aggravating. There's nothing quite like finding an error, thinking you've solved the problem, and finding out there's yet another one.
This year I finally decided to put everything on a spreadsheet, at least for the interest. There was interest on the savings account and on each of the 4 CDs which were held for some part of the year. Each of those, further, needed to be noted in another part of the trust for the exact amount of interest earned and a justification entered for why it didn't earn at least 2%.
Have you tried to get 2% this last year on any secure short-term investment? Just saying.
This year, after all the figures were accounted for, additions and subtractions made, and everything was balanced, the result was...
A penny off!
NOT. GOOD. ENOUGH.
Go back and recheck every figure, making sure it was entered correctly. Re-add all the columns, twice. There's a whole lot of paper shuffling, a whole lot of where-exactly-did-I-get-that-number? involved in that process. It has to be done in the morning, since that's when my math brain is at its most functional. (Don't ask me to do math at night! Ever!) After all that is done, I finally come to the last set of figures, the administrative expenses. Only four numbers, two ending in zeros, and I can see instantly on the form that 5 + 2 do not equal 8. All that double-checking was unnecessary, had I just looked there first. But, hey, at least I know there aren't any other mistakes.
All that's left now is making copies of what needs sending, getting my signature notarized Monday morning, and taking the whole thing to the post office after that.
And waiting. Waiting to find out the consequences of inadequate proof of expenses. Waiting through whatever number of years until I can make 4" more space in my file box after throwing out all the paperwork.
Oh yeah, and waiting to see those pictures from Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.
And, hey, anybody out there thinking of setting up a trust and making me the trustee? Go find somebody else!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
A Chat With the Granddaughter
I took Jordan out to dinner last Friday so we could catch up on each other's news. She's looking well after being gone to SE Asia for over 5 weeks.
First, when I informed her about the engagement, she squealed, "Oh, that's so cute!" Yeah. We geezers aren't supposed to do things like that, I guess, so when we do, it's just so cute. Well, it's better than several years ago when she saw me kissing him and the reaction was "Yecchhh!"
Yep, definite improvement.
However, I informed her that if she was going to be a bridesmaid and stand there during the ceremony going "That's just so cute," I was going to throw her out of the church. Or wherever.
We hadn't talked since before she left for music camp at St. Olaf in late June. Her mom had told me in a phone call over the lost luggage that she (Jordan) found the girls at camp too snooty and changed her mind about wanting to be a music teacher when she finished college. Jordan confirmed that her mom had gotten it mostly right - for a change - but that she still wanted to go to St. Olaf for college. She just didn't know what for, exactly. But music required lots more instruction starting much earlier in her life.
So, if I've got this right, she wants to go to a very expensive college with no idea how it'll work with her undecided-upon major with all those rich snooty girls who'll be many of the same ones or have the same attitudes as the ones from music camp? Interesting choice.
As for the trip, she mostly loved it. The first week, the one with the elephants, the primary reason she went in the first place, was a big disappointment. First, when they relocated the program from Thailand to Laos due to civil unrest, they settled for a lesser quality program. She got only about two hours a day with the elephants, and the rest touring temples and playing tourist. Second, she spend much of her time upset about the lost suitcase, distracting from her enjoyment.
Her next two weeks were island hopping and diving on the Thailand coast, and that was great fun. That's good, since there was no bonus of community service hours from that particular piece of the trip. They started with four students and ended with two. Both boys got sent home a couple days into the trip for stealing! They were just very lucky that they avoided being arrested there. Jordan thought that part was because the local cops were corrupt and just wanted money to look the other way. I asked Jordan if having half the student load meant now getting twice the attention. She said it didn't work that way. The staff got twice the time off.
The week with the orphans in Cambodia was mostly helping with the outlying facilities of the newly-build orphanage, and I gather not so much working with the orphans themselves, as the trip had actually been advertised. The last week as well struck me as the experience not quite matching the advertising, though the exact details got lost in the overall hearing of the experience.
We discussed how she compared her Rustic Pathways trip this year with the People To People trip a couple years before. Rustic Pathways seems to be much less organized, and much less supervised. I'm thinking she was lucky that there weren't more problems than there were, and also lucky that she'd had the better trip first with all the advance training and knew how to behave, how to deal with setbacks, how to travel to a foreign land.
But she's home, and safe, and has a couple of amazing experiences to remember the rest of her life.
First, when I informed her about the engagement, she squealed, "Oh, that's so cute!" Yeah. We geezers aren't supposed to do things like that, I guess, so when we do, it's just so cute. Well, it's better than several years ago when she saw me kissing him and the reaction was "Yecchhh!"
Yep, definite improvement.
However, I informed her that if she was going to be a bridesmaid and stand there during the ceremony going "That's just so cute," I was going to throw her out of the church. Or wherever.
We hadn't talked since before she left for music camp at St. Olaf in late June. Her mom had told me in a phone call over the lost luggage that she (Jordan) found the girls at camp too snooty and changed her mind about wanting to be a music teacher when she finished college. Jordan confirmed that her mom had gotten it mostly right - for a change - but that she still wanted to go to St. Olaf for college. She just didn't know what for, exactly. But music required lots more instruction starting much earlier in her life.
So, if I've got this right, she wants to go to a very expensive college with no idea how it'll work with her undecided-upon major with all those rich snooty girls who'll be many of the same ones or have the same attitudes as the ones from music camp? Interesting choice.
As for the trip, she mostly loved it. The first week, the one with the elephants, the primary reason she went in the first place, was a big disappointment. First, when they relocated the program from Thailand to Laos due to civil unrest, they settled for a lesser quality program. She got only about two hours a day with the elephants, and the rest touring temples and playing tourist. Second, she spend much of her time upset about the lost suitcase, distracting from her enjoyment.
Her next two weeks were island hopping and diving on the Thailand coast, and that was great fun. That's good, since there was no bonus of community service hours from that particular piece of the trip. They started with four students and ended with two. Both boys got sent home a couple days into the trip for stealing! They were just very lucky that they avoided being arrested there. Jordan thought that part was because the local cops were corrupt and just wanted money to look the other way. I asked Jordan if having half the student load meant now getting twice the attention. She said it didn't work that way. The staff got twice the time off.
The week with the orphans in Cambodia was mostly helping with the outlying facilities of the newly-build orphanage, and I gather not so much working with the orphans themselves, as the trip had actually been advertised. The last week as well struck me as the experience not quite matching the advertising, though the exact details got lost in the overall hearing of the experience.
We discussed how she compared her Rustic Pathways trip this year with the People To People trip a couple years before. Rustic Pathways seems to be much less organized, and much less supervised. I'm thinking she was lucky that there weren't more problems than there were, and also lucky that she'd had the better trip first with all the advance training and knew how to behave, how to deal with setbacks, how to travel to a foreign land.
But she's home, and safe, and has a couple of amazing experiences to remember the rest of her life.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
I Won!
No, not the lottery. Yet....
But the results are finally in from the Crex Meadows 2010 Photo Contest, where top two in each category make it into the calendar for the next year.
I thought I'd missed the deadline. It was close. I knew it was just after we'd get back from vacation, and with all the chaos, I just let it go until after we got back. When I remembered to check the date, it had just ended, minutes before.
Dang!
I checked in again a few days later for something else, and they had extended the deadline. Time to get busy! I had one day! They needed an 8x10 and an e-file.
I dug out the laptop - completely untouched all vacation long in its place in the RV with all the electrical issues we'd had and the fact I hadn't actually needed it - and found the picture I'd had in mind. It had been taken years before during a presentation on site. It was a close-up of a horned owl, rather wet because it had been raining. In fact, that had been the hook the presenter used to get our attention: "What does an owl do in the rain?" After we all went out, a whole lot of folks who couldn't kill their flash found out the owl eyes in a flash picture are yellow with red pupils like little winged devils. I got a few of those. But I also killed my flash for a whole bunch of shots, and of those I selected one where the owl's beak is open with its tongue showing. (See it here on my blog.)
I wasn't sure such an "unwild" shot was what the contest sponsors had in mind, but I sent along a note explaining that I thought their sponsored events were as important a part of what they do as letting us drive unsupervised around the place hoping to find something worth shooting. With our cameras, of course, though most of Crex is open to hunters in the proper seasons, and is in fact financially supported by them. On the day I dropped off the picture, I took my dad along for a drive and we had a great time.
The following weekend I took him along when I went up again to vote, and they obligingly sat him right in front of the big hi-def TV they use for a pair of gorgeous videos for his own private viewing. He says he saw a lot of it that way, despite his vision. (At least the sound was good, music, bird calls, etc.) Then we two drove around while I took some more pictures. Never too soon to try for next year's contest, after all.
Most years they post the results right away.
Nothing.
I thought somebody hadn't gotten around to posting it on the website. Maybe they had some kind of glitch? I also figured that since I hadn't heard anything via email, my picture wasn't a winner. After all, it was entry #26 just in the birds category, and I hadn't counted to see just how many entries there were. The competition was fierce. Seeing the pictures alone is a great reason to visit.
Today I checked out their website for something else, and there it was: the winners were finally posted. Some explanation about lots of counting. May as well see who I lost to, eh? And there, on the top line of three pictures, was my owl, in second place. I made the calendar!
Some of you might expect a flat package this year for X-mas. Just so you know.
But the results are finally in from the Crex Meadows 2010 Photo Contest, where top two in each category make it into the calendar for the next year.
I thought I'd missed the deadline. It was close. I knew it was just after we'd get back from vacation, and with all the chaos, I just let it go until after we got back. When I remembered to check the date, it had just ended, minutes before.
Dang!
I checked in again a few days later for something else, and they had extended the deadline. Time to get busy! I had one day! They needed an 8x10 and an e-file.
I dug out the laptop - completely untouched all vacation long in its place in the RV with all the electrical issues we'd had and the fact I hadn't actually needed it - and found the picture I'd had in mind. It had been taken years before during a presentation on site. It was a close-up of a horned owl, rather wet because it had been raining. In fact, that had been the hook the presenter used to get our attention: "What does an owl do in the rain?" After we all went out, a whole lot of folks who couldn't kill their flash found out the owl eyes in a flash picture are yellow with red pupils like little winged devils. I got a few of those. But I also killed my flash for a whole bunch of shots, and of those I selected one where the owl's beak is open with its tongue showing. (See it here on my blog.)
I wasn't sure such an "unwild" shot was what the contest sponsors had in mind, but I sent along a note explaining that I thought their sponsored events were as important a part of what they do as letting us drive unsupervised around the place hoping to find something worth shooting. With our cameras, of course, though most of Crex is open to hunters in the proper seasons, and is in fact financially supported by them. On the day I dropped off the picture, I took my dad along for a drive and we had a great time.
The following weekend I took him along when I went up again to vote, and they obligingly sat him right in front of the big hi-def TV they use for a pair of gorgeous videos for his own private viewing. He says he saw a lot of it that way, despite his vision. (At least the sound was good, music, bird calls, etc.) Then we two drove around while I took some more pictures. Never too soon to try for next year's contest, after all.
Most years they post the results right away.
Nothing.
I thought somebody hadn't gotten around to posting it on the website. Maybe they had some kind of glitch? I also figured that since I hadn't heard anything via email, my picture wasn't a winner. After all, it was entry #26 just in the birds category, and I hadn't counted to see just how many entries there were. The competition was fierce. Seeing the pictures alone is a great reason to visit.
Today I checked out their website for something else, and there it was: the winners were finally posted. Some explanation about lots of counting. May as well see who I lost to, eh? And there, on the top line of three pictures, was my owl, in second place. I made the calendar!
Some of you might expect a flat package this year for X-mas. Just so you know.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Entropy Questions
Entropy has always been something of a head-scratcher for me. Perhaps it's denial of the idea that everything is on a downhill slide and will be forever until nothing is left.
Oh, I concede that on a macro scale, some of the points are obvious. A tree dies, the wood rots or is burned, and eventually nothing is left. Iron rusts away. Even plastic in landfills will eventually decompose. Even on a larger scale, I get that the sun will burn through its finite supply of energy/matter and go dark.
However, as much as there is the inevitable down in the cycle, there is also the up. It's not straight line. That tree started as a blossom, got fertilized and changed into a seed, grew and grew, became tall and strong before it died. It's remains feed the next tree to spring from its seeds, which feed the next, etc. And that doesn't even start to take into the account the organisms which feed on it, from bacteria and fungus on up.
It's the big picture that keeps me puzzled. Our sun may go dark, but something will still be there, as will something remain of our planet, solar system, universe. The time scale of those changes is far beyond anything that will affect anything I can even recognize as a descendant, and thus needn't ever become "real" for me. And who can absolutely say that what is left cannot change yet again into something completely new and start some cycle all over again? Entropy's an interesting theory, but how does it stop all the bodies currently in motion and prevent collisions which provide a new influx of energy? Since nobody can explain the Big Bang to my satisfaction, as in where did all that "stuff" come from just before the explosion, how can they pretend to disprove we're not heading for another one? And don't feed me all that stuff about infinity, please, not when we can't disprove curved space and haven't a clue what gravity really is and string theory isn't even as good as the mozarella strings come from. If only one or two people on the planet can claim to understand such theories, who's to say they're not fantasy and the scientific emperor is really wearing no clothes?
For my nickel, it's all still a bunch of questions, not answers. And here are a couple more.
To grossly simplify entropy, the universe is going to hell. And if that's the case, what about Heaven? It that going to Hell also? If so, what's going to happen to Hell?
Oh, I concede that on a macro scale, some of the points are obvious. A tree dies, the wood rots or is burned, and eventually nothing is left. Iron rusts away. Even plastic in landfills will eventually decompose. Even on a larger scale, I get that the sun will burn through its finite supply of energy/matter and go dark.
However, as much as there is the inevitable down in the cycle, there is also the up. It's not straight line. That tree started as a blossom, got fertilized and changed into a seed, grew and grew, became tall and strong before it died. It's remains feed the next tree to spring from its seeds, which feed the next, etc. And that doesn't even start to take into the account the organisms which feed on it, from bacteria and fungus on up.
It's the big picture that keeps me puzzled. Our sun may go dark, but something will still be there, as will something remain of our planet, solar system, universe. The time scale of those changes is far beyond anything that will affect anything I can even recognize as a descendant, and thus needn't ever become "real" for me. And who can absolutely say that what is left cannot change yet again into something completely new and start some cycle all over again? Entropy's an interesting theory, but how does it stop all the bodies currently in motion and prevent collisions which provide a new influx of energy? Since nobody can explain the Big Bang to my satisfaction, as in where did all that "stuff" come from just before the explosion, how can they pretend to disprove we're not heading for another one? And don't feed me all that stuff about infinity, please, not when we can't disprove curved space and haven't a clue what gravity really is and string theory isn't even as good as the mozarella strings come from. If only one or two people on the planet can claim to understand such theories, who's to say they're not fantasy and the scientific emperor is really wearing no clothes?
For my nickel, it's all still a bunch of questions, not answers. And here are a couple more.
To grossly simplify entropy, the universe is going to hell. And if that's the case, what about Heaven? It that going to Hell also? If so, what's going to happen to Hell?
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