Well, I officially turn OLD today! Yes, it's my dreaded 40th birthday. When I was born, the Apollo moon flights were getting underway. Woodstock had just taken place, and the Vietnam war was in full swing. It's funny - I am at an age where I look older, but still feel like I'm 25. Many have said that this will be the best decade of my life. I cirtainly hope so. My kids are graduated from high school now, and it's mainly just me and my wife at home. The boys still come and go, but we don't see them much.
I have a great civil service job that I enjoy, and it pays well for this part of the country. I just bought a house a few years ago that I really enjoy. I have resumed my boyhood hobby of coin collecting, except now my collection is a bit more expensive, but I enjoy it immensely. I have virtually everything I ever wanted. So in that sense, I suppose my life has been successful. I'm not wealthy, but I am happy. I consider myself very lucky to be where I am today.
I have no plans for any big party or anything like that. Just a peaceful meal of steak and lobster with my family this evening. That sounds like a perfect birthday to me. I just wish I didn't have to work today. :)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Wow, it's been a while!
I haven't updated in quite some time, so I thought I would get back into the Blog again.
Quite a bit has happened over the last 18 months. Both my boys graduated from high school, I almost got divorced, my wife's grandmother passed away, and my 14 year old super genius nephew committed suicide...
My nephew is what I really want to talk about today because of the reasons he decided to take his own life. At first it wasn't real clear why he committed suicide. Jacob was a true super genius, with an IQ of 174! To put that into perspective, Albert Einstein had an IQ of 160 or so. Initial thoughts were that he felt deeply rejected by his ex-girlfriend that broke up with him. Then, my sister (his mother) started finding little clues here and there on the Internet - on MySpace, and other blog sites. He felt rejected by his step father to a large extent, and that was probably a part of the reason. But I think the larger reason was that he was bisexual and agnostic. That is a pretty heavy load for a 14 year old to bear, although I know his mother would not love him any less because of this.
I had spoken to him the previous summer a little bit about theology, evolution, and physics.
He and I thought a LOT alike, but he was far ahead of me in the sense that I didn't have the thoughts he was having until I was in my mid 20's. He was ahead of me by a decade.
I have no doubt that had he lifed out his life, he would have soon been athiest in regard to the Judeo-Christian diety, and was pretty much on par with myself on the paranormal as well.
I don't think this sat well with his mother, but she doesn't judge me too harshly for my views and I don't believe she would have treated her son any differently.
It is a fact that a large majority of people with high IQ's are agnostic or atheist. I think this is a natural thing because people with high IQ's are naturally inquisitive and prone to be free thinkers, and not just accept things because that's what they are told.
It is a shame that he felt there was no other way to handle the situation. I believe he could have been the next Stephen Hawking. His passing is a loss to the whole world. It's just that nobody is aware of it because he didn't have his chance to make the difference that he had the potential for. I will miss him dearly...
Quite a bit has happened over the last 18 months. Both my boys graduated from high school, I almost got divorced, my wife's grandmother passed away, and my 14 year old super genius nephew committed suicide...
My nephew is what I really want to talk about today because of the reasons he decided to take his own life. At first it wasn't real clear why he committed suicide. Jacob was a true super genius, with an IQ of 174! To put that into perspective, Albert Einstein had an IQ of 160 or so. Initial thoughts were that he felt deeply rejected by his ex-girlfriend that broke up with him. Then, my sister (his mother) started finding little clues here and there on the Internet - on MySpace, and other blog sites. He felt rejected by his step father to a large extent, and that was probably a part of the reason. But I think the larger reason was that he was bisexual and agnostic. That is a pretty heavy load for a 14 year old to bear, although I know his mother would not love him any less because of this.
I had spoken to him the previous summer a little bit about theology, evolution, and physics.
He and I thought a LOT alike, but he was far ahead of me in the sense that I didn't have the thoughts he was having until I was in my mid 20's. He was ahead of me by a decade.
I have no doubt that had he lifed out his life, he would have soon been athiest in regard to the Judeo-Christian diety, and was pretty much on par with myself on the paranormal as well.
I don't think this sat well with his mother, but she doesn't judge me too harshly for my views and I don't believe she would have treated her son any differently.
It is a fact that a large majority of people with high IQ's are agnostic or atheist. I think this is a natural thing because people with high IQ's are naturally inquisitive and prone to be free thinkers, and not just accept things because that's what they are told.
It is a shame that he felt there was no other way to handle the situation. I believe he could have been the next Stephen Hawking. His passing is a loss to the whole world. It's just that nobody is aware of it because he didn't have his chance to make the difference that he had the potential for. I will miss him dearly...
Monday, June 23, 2008
George Carlin
George Carlin left this Earth on Sunday, June 22 2008. George was by far my favorite comedian, and one of the few who challenged and downright made fun of religion. There are few people who can really make you think about life and laugh about it at the same time. He was truly a great human being, and many including myself will miss him intesely. If I live to be in my 70's, I hope I can be half as cool as he was. What else can I say but that the world will be a bit less enjoyable without George. We will miss you man!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Friday!
It may be an old cliche' but I live for the weekend! It's been a pretty bad few weeks these past 2 or 3 weeks, but I think things are getting better. Sometimes life just throws you a curve ball or two and you just have to deal with it and move on. I dont' like a lot of drama in my life and really value my peaceful time alone or with my wife just sitting out on the back patio in the evenings watching the birds or all the wonderful trees and plants that adorn my back yard. Nearly everything is edible. We have plum, peach, pear, apple and pecan trees. Grapes, blueberries, and mint. I love our new house and that back yard is one of the reasons! It's so relaxing to just sit out there away from all the technology that engulfs the rest of my life. It's like a small forrest without computers, pagers, cell phones, TV's or anything like that. I work in the IT field so for me it's a welcome escape.
Many people enjoy getting out of the house on the weekend to go out to eat, go to clubs, or to go shopping or whatever. Not me. I look forward to staying at home away from everything and everyone. Maybe I'm a bit of a hermit, but that's OK. I'm a happy hermit and I love the weekends at home! :)
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
April has been a crazy month
Just 9 days ago, my son totaled his car but was not injured. Two days later, one of my best friends totaled her car driving to work but wasn't injured aside from some bruises.
Yesterday my mother was driving home from work and totaled her car but only has very minor injuries. This has been a very bad month for wrecks. Fortunately nobody was hurt badly that I knew. But there have also been an unusual number of car crashes and deaths it seems over the past few months, as well as people I know getting hurt in odd ways.
I sure hope things improve. This is all getting a bit depressing.
Yesterday my mother was driving home from work and totaled her car but only has very minor injuries. This has been a very bad month for wrecks. Fortunately nobody was hurt badly that I knew. But there have also been an unusual number of car crashes and deaths it seems over the past few months, as well as people I know getting hurt in odd ways.
I sure hope things improve. This is all getting a bit depressing.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
New atheist movement in America
Not too long ago, I watched "Root of all Evil?" by Richard Dawkins, and he spoke of a phenomena that he has noticed. He says that there are far more "closet atheists" in American than the general public realizes, but since he is a public authority an semi-celebrity in the atheist community, that he has seen it first hand.
He goes on to say that he isn't quite sure what has brought about this phenomenon, but speculates that the Bush tendency to wriggle toward a theocratic government has likely polarized Americans, which is why we see a rise in Evangelistic Christianity. But since many atheists tend to keep their lack of belief a private matter, the real number of atheists is not apparent.
However, recently he has noticed a growing number of those "closet atheists" coming out and making their views known. Dawkins thinks this is in response to the rise in evangelical Christians, because they are well known for pushing political agendas and non-theists and even some moderate christians do not agree with these agendas.
I think Dawkins is on the right track in his thinking, and I can definitely confirm that there are FAR for atheists and agnostics in America than the public is aware of. This is especially true in the 30 year old and under crowd. The younger generations are increasingly non-theistic, but I think this age group is that way not because of political reasons so much, but because this is the age of information. The availability of the Internet, and a host of communication devices, satellite TV, etc. have made information and knowledge freely available. People are now able to educate themselves on the facts of theology, history, mythology, science, etc. and this is often lethal to "Faith" because the evidence does not favor religion and exposes them as the myths that they are.
It's really no surpise that we are seeing a new atheist movement in America. Many people are tired of religious dogmas, and the evagelists that force these views on the public. So, many are coming out to finally stand their ground and to tell the religious majority "Enough is enough! We will no longer pretend to respect your idiocy!"
We are just normal people who believe in, and respect the views of our founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
He goes on to say that he isn't quite sure what has brought about this phenomenon, but speculates that the Bush tendency to wriggle toward a theocratic government has likely polarized Americans, which is why we see a rise in Evangelistic Christianity. But since many atheists tend to keep their lack of belief a private matter, the real number of atheists is not apparent.
However, recently he has noticed a growing number of those "closet atheists" coming out and making their views known. Dawkins thinks this is in response to the rise in evangelical Christians, because they are well known for pushing political agendas and non-theists and even some moderate christians do not agree with these agendas.
I think Dawkins is on the right track in his thinking, and I can definitely confirm that there are FAR for atheists and agnostics in America than the public is aware of. This is especially true in the 30 year old and under crowd. The younger generations are increasingly non-theistic, but I think this age group is that way not because of political reasons so much, but because this is the age of information. The availability of the Internet, and a host of communication devices, satellite TV, etc. have made information and knowledge freely available. People are now able to educate themselves on the facts of theology, history, mythology, science, etc. and this is often lethal to "Faith" because the evidence does not favor religion and exposes them as the myths that they are.
It's really no surpise that we are seeing a new atheist movement in America. Many people are tired of religious dogmas, and the evagelists that force these views on the public. So, many are coming out to finally stand their ground and to tell the religious majority "Enough is enough! We will no longer pretend to respect your idiocy!"
We are just normal people who believe in, and respect the views of our founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Kids
I have two sons, one is mine from a previous marriage and the other is my wifes son from a previous marriage. My son will be 17 next month and hers turned 17 in January. I love them both dearly. For the most part, they are good kids. Both of them just recently started driving, which has been a really stressful ordeal. Any parent with kids eventually goes through this stage.
Both of them had vehicles given to them, and all we asked is that they pay the insurance.
Anyway, my son has turned out to be possibly the worst driver ever. On the third day he was driving, he had an accident in which he was behind a new Chrysler 300C and accidently hit the gas instead of the brake and rear-ended the car - $800 damage to the 300C. On the 2nd week, he got a ticket for having his brake lights out, but got it dismissed after replacing a blown fuse. On the third week, he was driving to school and a truck in front of him had a blowout, he swirved to avoid the debris and collided with another car. Fortunately it was another young driver and no claims were made on insurance.
He did OK for about a month, then got a speeding ticket for going 9MPH over the limit in a school zone - $240.
He was repeatedly told NOT to have any friends riding with him, and he had a curfew of 11:00PM. I explained to him that with his increasingly bad driving record, that having passengers was a BAD idea because we could be liable for them if he were to have an accident, etc. Well, he goes to visit his mother in a town about 30 miles away every other weekend and I guess he assumed my rules didn't apply when he was visiting his mom...
Last Sunday morning, I got a call from his mother at 2:30AM. She tells me that he has crashed and totaled his car. Not only that, he also had 3 friends with him and they were out at 2AM when the crash happened. WHAT THE F**K???
Oh, and that's not all...
He had fishtailed, overcorrected, and again hit the accelerator instead of the brake and demolished a Southwestern Bell telephone switch box, and part of a fence as well! The car ended up on top of the telephone switch box, and nearly flipped over. I think he may have done less damage had he run into a Corvette! His car was totaled and he was cited for wreckless driving. It was a 1989 Firebird, and I still owe over $2000 on it. He had liability only so Im still stuck with the bill for the next few years.
His mother and I took them all to the Emergency room at the local hospital, and fortunately nobody was seriously injured. Only small cuts from broken glass and perhaps a few bruises.
This was possibly THE most stressful night of my entire life.
Total damage and cost:
Car- $2,400
Driving citations- $400
Fence- $300 approx
Phone switch- $18,000
Towing- $150
Hospital bills- $3,000 approx
----------------------------
Total $24,250
Not to mention the amount my insurance premium will probably increase...
The only good that came from it all is knowing that the kid won't be driving again any time soon.
I hope he learned some valuable lessons from this. He had been driving for only 3 months, and lost his car and driving privalages for a long, long time, But at least he and his friends walked away from this accident with their lives and minimal injuries.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
