12 minutes of great entertainment!

While @SaintVI and I were on vacation visiting in-laws, we worshiped with her sister, Teri, at St. Paul United Methodist Church. The associate pastor was filling in and gave a nice sermon on "The Sacrament of Failure."  

I won't recount the sermon. Instead, I want to reinforce the point: we learn from failure, failure is an essential part of our lives, and there is something to be said for failure being a sacrament: a Christian rite that is believed to have been ordained by Christ and that is held to be a means of divine grace or to be a sign or symbol of a spiritual reality.

I am often inspired by quotes from wise people. Here are a few regarding "failure."

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. 

Winston Churchill 

My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. 

Abraham Lincoln 

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. 

Michael Jordan 

In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure. 

Bill Cosby 

 ... and many others.

And so it is with this in mind that I share my own most recent "failure."

Most of you are aware that I've been pursuing a challenging course at work (the most challenging the nuclear industry has to offer) in order to receive my Senior Reactor Operator Certification in order to teach control room operators. I've been at it for almost two years. Most of the class has run an average score of about 93%.  Mine has been about 87%, but slipped into the low 80s as I came to the final weeks. My final exam required that I score 70% or better on the last 25 questions of the 5 hour, 100 question exam, and 80% overall.  I studied like the dickens (and have been throughout, to the point of affecting my physical health). In the end, I scored 80% on the last 25 questions, but 79% overall.  

I failed by 1 point.  One question. One incorrect answer too many.

Needless to say, I was disappointed to return home that Friday night. In my mind, I would pass the exam with around an 88% and start a 2 week vacation. Instead, I stewed over my shortcoming throughout the weekend, but knew that an exam review of the questions might toss a bad one and I'd pass.

Which is what happened. Another student who failed (second time for him to take the whole course) and I contested a couple of the high-failure rate questions, and they were tossed.

I passed.

It's not a pretty way to end the race, but it is a finish. Also, I'll now be teaching those who are much more familiar with the plant than am I. This requires a different sort of teaching skill, which I do possess, but such a marginal score does create a credibility issue that I will now need to overcome - another obstacle.

And such is life. One obstacle overcome, another to battle.

Christ knew this. Most people know this. Successful people embrace this. 

Failure is an immersion into the fire of our shortcomings. Success is coming out of that fire tempered. Like baptism, we are renewed so that we might overcome the next obstacle, and in so doing we are able to achieve something greater.

I close by encouraging and exhorting you to face a mirror, look yourself in the eye and say "I failed at ________ ."  

Think of it as a baptism of fire and truth.

Then, when you've confessed it all to yourself (and your God, if you are a person of faith), acknowledge that failing at something does not a failure make.

You are strong. You are intelligent. You are worthy. You are beautiful. You are loved.

Now:

"Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it."

Oprah Winfrey 

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Five .....  years on Xanga!!

I just had to see the baker fall, again.

Will blog about REAL stuff soon!!

(And, "Yes" Mom,  I had a great time in Arkansas with family and friends.)

I love Colonial Era History. This is a nice article about how things have changed over the years, and another tribute to the men who framed a constitution that could be changed to accommodate a changing nation.

What Life Was Like in 1776

By THOMAS FLEMING

Almost every American knows the traditional story of July Fourth—the soaring idealism of the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress's grim pledge to defy the world's most powerful nation with their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. But what else about revolutionary America might help us feel closer to those founders in their tricornered hats, fancy waistcoats and tight knee-breeches?

Those Americans, it turns out, had the highest per capita income in the civilized world of their time. They also paid the lowest taxes—and they were determined to keep it that way.

By 1776, the 13 American colonies had been in existence for over 150 years—more than enough time for the talented and ambitious to acquire money and land. At the top of the South's earners were large planters such as George Washington. In the North their incomes were more than matched by merchants such as John Hancock and Robert Morris. Next came lawyers such as John Adams, followed by tavern keepers, who often cleared 1,000 pounds a year, or about $100,000 in modern money. Doctors were paid comparatively little. Ditto for dentists, who were almost nonexistent.

In the northern colonies, according to historical research, the top 10% of the population owned about 45% of the wealth. In some parts of the South, 10% owned 75% of the wealth. But unlike most other countries, America in 1776 had a thriving middle class. Well-to-do farmers shipped tons of corn and wheat and rice to the West Indies and Europe, using the profits to send their children to private schools and buy their wives expensive gowns and carriages. Artisans—tailors, carpenters and other skilled workmen—also prospered, as did shop owners who dealt in a variety of goods. Benjamin Franklin credited his shrewd wife, Deborah, with laying the foundation of their wealth with her tradeswoman's skills.

Several hundred miles inland was the "back country," and at the time of the Revolution, not many people went there by choice. Most were poor and landless—younger sons, for example, whose older brothers had inherited the family's property. Life on the outskirts of civilization was hard and often violent. Morals on the Western frontier were often much more relaxed than they were in the civilized East.

America in 1776 was also a diverse nation. The first census, taken in 1790, revealed that only about 60% of the people came from England. The rest were German, Irish, Dutch, Scottish, Swedish and African.

Men wore clothes that were as colorful as the ladies' garb. One male fashion plate in New York ordered a suit of "superfine scarlet plush and a vest of light blue plush." Among the ladies, the beauty business was already a major force in the economy. "Fashion dolls" wearing the latest styles circulated through the city and the country. Women regularly spent a half day getting their hair "permanented" for a ball. Ladies seeking to preserve the sheen of youth spent a fortune on "paints" from China and lip salves from India.

Molly Tilghman of Chestertown, Md., summed up the prevailing opinion when she told her cousin Polly Pearce: "Wisdom says beauty is a fading flower but it attracts more admiration than wit, goodness or anything else in this world."

Another American tradition beginning to take root was female independence. The wife of Sueton Grant ran her husband's shipping business in Newport, R.I., for more than 30 years after his death in 1744. As a teenager, Eliza Lucas began experimenting with various plants on her father's Wappoo Creek Plantation, near Charleston, S.C. Soon she was raising indigo, which became one of the most profitable crops in the South.

Philadelphia's Lydia Darragh, America's first female undertaker, operated her business for almost a decade before the Revolutionary War began. During the war she was one of George Washington's most successful spies.

"Domestic felicity" was considered vital to everyone's peace of mind, and although divorce was legal, it was also rare. Although money played a part in marriages among the more affluent, family life was often full of affection. The love letters Col. Thomas Jones of Virginia wrote to his wife began "My Dearest Life."

Not everyone achieved this level of bliss. One notoriously unhappy marriage involved Col. John Custis of Arlington, Va., and his wife, Frances Parke. According to local accounts, they would go for weeks without speaking. One day, on a carriage ride, Mrs. Custis realized he was driving their "equipage" straight into Chesapeake Bay.

"Where are you going, Mr. Custis?" she asked. "To hell, Madam," the colonel replied. "Drive on," she said. "Any place is better than Arlington."

The colonel—or his horses—apparently changed their minds.

By 1776, the Atlantic Ocean had become what one historian has called "an information highway" across which poured books, magazines, newspapers and copies of the debates in Parliament. The latter were read by John Adams, George Washington, Robert Morris and other politically minded men. They concluded that the British were planning to tax the Americans into the kind of humiliation that Great Britain had inflicted on Ireland.

As eight years of war engulfed the continent, not a few of the rebels saw that the Revolution was a spiritual enterprise that would never really end. Dr. Benjamin Rush, a Pennsylvanian who signed the Declaration of Independence, wrote that the war was only the first step in the Revolution's destiny to transform America and the world.

History confirmed his intuition. In the next hundred years, other nations and peoples would issue 200 similar declarations.

Mr. Fleming is a former president of the Society of American Historians. This article was adapted from his e-book, "What America Was Really Like in 1776," recently published by New Word City.

A version of this article appeared July 3, 2012, on page A15 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: What Life Was Like in 1776.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303561504577496620544901322.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

After 18 months (closer to 22), I am finished with my nuclear Initial License Training (ILT) Certification course.

I passed my final exam by the slimmest possible margin.  Will blog more later, but for now ...

SUCCESS!!

Thank you, Lord.

The most influential people in my life have always been women. With Christ as cornerstone, they are the foundation and encouragers of my life. 

Tom Stockton was an exception. He was not a perfect man - but he was an influential man. When others met him, they discovered a man who was driven to succeed and who, for the most part, loved enabling others to succeed. He did so with me.

I spent many hours of my late teens and early twenties working with him at his small discount store in Fayetteville, Ar. During that time, I learned what it meant to step out of my teenager's world-view and into one that belongs to a man. I learned what it meant to make a decision and stick with it. I learned what it meant to stand up for what I believe in, even many might oppose me. And I learned, through a frailty of his own (and with the strength of the precious aforementioned women in my life), that relationships are more important than any work achievement. 

Tom died 5 years ago today, but a very solid part of who I am as a man remains because of him, and is reinforced by his middle daughter, Melinda (@SaintVi) whom I married nearly 32 years ago.

Today - I successfully completed my evaluation as a control supervisor. It's one-half of my final evaluation to completing this 18 month certification course. 

I was tasked to supervise an escalation in power from 52% to 80%. They never let us get very far before throwing curve balls at us, so we didn't get very far.

Next, we had a failure of one of our support cooling pumps.

Then, we had a failure of one of our power indicators.

And to get us into our emergency procedures, we had a piping break in the reactor coolant system. 

All in all - the scenario was pretty straight-forward. I've seen a lot of more complicated ones throughout the course.

I haven't had very much time to act as a unit supervisor. Since I'm only getting a certification instead of a true operating license, the practice time has been (rightfully) invested in my peers. So it's no small thing to say I was pleased not only to pass, but to do so competently. It would be akin to being the understudy in a play with almost no time on stage, or the back-up quarterback to Peyton Manning. I've "seen" the moves many times ... but haven't performed many of the moves.

Today - I had the moves!

Next Friday is my final written exam. I pass that, and I'm certified ... or at least, certifiable. 

Another apocalyptic near miss!! 

Well ... 4 billion years, anyway:

Astronomers with NASA have announced that they have predicted “with certainty” that the Milky Way galaxy where we live and the Andromeda galaxy will collide. The astronomers predict that the collision will happen 4 billion years from now. Interestingly, the collision will certainly change our galaxy according to the astronomers, but the earth and our solar system aren’t in danger.

http://www.slashgear.com/milky-way-and-andromeda-galaxies-to-collide-in-4-billion-years-01231182/

I know I'll be resting a little easier this evening.

Facebook is all about smiles and sunshine. Xanga is about real life.  That's my take on it.

Recently, I've read that for the most part, people post all the "good things" in their lives on Facebook. Apparently, this causes people to become more self-conscious of their less-than-perfect life status since everyone else's live is "just great!" Reminds me of Eddie the Computer on Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:

"Guys, I am just pleased as punch to inform you that there are two thermo-nuclear missiles headed this way... if you don't mind, I'm gonna go ahead and take evasive action." 

I gather some young women/teens are also far more conscious of looking good all the time, since they never know when a photo of them will be posted on Facebook and "tagged." This creates a new dimension of anxiety in their lives.

Xanga, on the other hand, has tomes of people dealing with serious life issues, attention deprived people, trolls, and a whole lot of average people who want a place to speak their mind.

Xanga may never be publicly traded as a stock, but it'll always be a good investment for bloggers who are looking for something more than Stepford Wife smiles.

20 years ago today, Tia - our beloved Shepherd-Husky mix became part of our family.

She died in 2006, but our family still misses her.

Amen for the 14 years we had her.