Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Mortality
I sit here in my chair as I often find myself. Outside the sun is shining, and maybe I should go out and walk around. Or saw something. I have too much stuff in my house. I have a couple table tops, a couple bean bags, some bamboo plywood, a large coffee table without a top, a bunch of lumber, some thick slabs of black plastic, a mirror-with-pegs for hanging on the wall--the type you hang a small quilt or decorative cute objects, there is a scroll saw, several computers, parts, and printers, a lawn chair, a bike, and a partially disassembled rolly-chair. Also a few odds and ends, like a strainer for boiling a turkey in oil, a flat basket, and a long glass jar with layers of dry corn and beans. a big shiney pot without a lid has coils of foam sitting on it. I also have an exercise mat. That all is in the dining room. Obviously, no one is going to be dining any time soon.
Saturday I went out to Lake Afton and got my plane looked over by the experts, mainly Bob. Then, after we were satisfied that it ran right, Bob took it off. It was pretty exciting to see this piece of wood and plastic take to the sky. Suddenly it changed from being a collection of materials to actually an airplane. I had messed with it, and fixed stuff on it, and now it could fly. After Bob got it a couple mistakes high and had run through what I was going to do, he handed me the controls and instructed me, "Right a little, up, left, Left, No, your other left! up a bit.." and I flew it a round in swirling arcs, handing it back frequently when I felt out of control. We made a couple flights that day, but the engine was acting up. There was an old hand there who helped to make it run. It was interesting to see the contrast between Bob's careful, methodical, well thought out actions versus Mike's wealth of experience and understanding of planes and engines. He's standing over the prop, smoking a cigar and adjusting the mixture. Or sucking dirt out of the carb and spitting it out. Seemed to have all the right things in his pockets. Gets it running, runs it across the field and into the air, and soon hands me the controller, giving instructions in jargon that I don't understand. Just a different way of looking at planes, and looking at him he seems to have done fine, missing no fingers or large pieces of his face. The day was a success, seeing how I came home with a whole plane of the proper proportions and configuration.
Sunday afternoon saw me and some kids from church playing frisbee in the wind. Our team had some good catchers, but no throwers, and yet we lost 9-10 and we were down one person. It was a trifle cool, but not when you run until you can't. I got somewhat competitive---i.e. emotionally involved in the game--toward the end when we had a chance at winning. But it was fun, and a good dose of exercise for the week.
There is a guy at work who was expecting his first child--well his wife was, and Sunday they had a baby boy. They named him: Tobias. Now, it could be that they just always wanted to name a kid that, and did despite some clown at work already using the name. But, I like to think that they got the idea from me (not that I had a hand in choosing my name). That makes two people whom I knew who have named their kid Tobias. Maybe I will finally meet someone with my name.
This evening I talked to aduma and spork using skype, off and on for a couple hours. We also called my house phone and Bubble's phone using the recently-free skype-to-regular phone function. I am thinking that maybe I should get rid of my house phone and just use skype---people can call me from regular phones if I pay $36 a year.
Saturday I went out to Lake Afton and got my plane looked over by the experts, mainly Bob. Then, after we were satisfied that it ran right, Bob took it off. It was pretty exciting to see this piece of wood and plastic take to the sky. Suddenly it changed from being a collection of materials to actually an airplane. I had messed with it, and fixed stuff on it, and now it could fly. After Bob got it a couple mistakes high and had run through what I was going to do, he handed me the controls and instructed me, "Right a little, up, left, Left, No, your other left! up a bit.." and I flew it a round in swirling arcs, handing it back frequently when I felt out of control. We made a couple flights that day, but the engine was acting up. There was an old hand there who helped to make it run. It was interesting to see the contrast between Bob's careful, methodical, well thought out actions versus Mike's wealth of experience and understanding of planes and engines. He's standing over the prop, smoking a cigar and adjusting the mixture. Or sucking dirt out of the carb and spitting it out. Seemed to have all the right things in his pockets. Gets it running, runs it across the field and into the air, and soon hands me the controller, giving instructions in jargon that I don't understand. Just a different way of looking at planes, and looking at him he seems to have done fine, missing no fingers or large pieces of his face. The day was a success, seeing how I came home with a whole plane of the proper proportions and configuration.
Sunday afternoon saw me and some kids from church playing frisbee in the wind. Our team had some good catchers, but no throwers, and yet we lost 9-10 and we were down one person. It was a trifle cool, but not when you run until you can't. I got somewhat competitive---i.e. emotionally involved in the game--toward the end when we had a chance at winning. But it was fun, and a good dose of exercise for the week.
There is a guy at work who was expecting his first child--well his wife was, and Sunday they had a baby boy. They named him: Tobias. Now, it could be that they just always wanted to name a kid that, and did despite some clown at work already using the name. But, I like to think that they got the idea from me (not that I had a hand in choosing my name). That makes two people whom I knew who have named their kid Tobias. Maybe I will finally meet someone with my name.
This evening I talked to aduma and spork using skype, off and on for a couple hours. We also called my house phone and Bubble's phone using the recently-free skype-to-regular phone function. I am thinking that maybe I should get rid of my house phone and just use skype---people can call me from regular phones if I pay $36 a year.
