I'm about half way through my Nuclear Operator Certification course. Should be done in April 2012.

I'm also have quite a time of it, but still getting by. I'm not really distressed about not making it through, as there are other opportunities available, but I would like to finish what I've started. During this past week, I heard that one of the course instructors will be leaving by the end of the year. He has quite a bit of expertise, so it will be a significant loss. I then heard that one of the other instructors who had a stroke a year or so ago is still having problems. This means the group will be two certified  instructors short by year's end. Since it takes at least 18 months to grow a new one, and the industry as a whole is short-handed for these people, that's a problem.  I was speaking with one of the staff about it, saying that they might have to recruit one of the qualified licensed operators to come to training. He replied that they, too, are short-handed, so that would be unlikely.

Hmmm .... so that means my value to the organization is improving!  I shared the above with a couple of my classmates, saying that it might not matter if I'm borderline successful or not - they're going to be motivated to get me through the course just for the sake of having another body!  One of them quipped:

"Sounds like they're going to remove the filter from the path ahead of you and change it to a pump!" 

We had a good laugh about that, speculating what sorts of things I'd have to be "pumped through" if I struggle with the rest of the course. 

In other news ...

I turn 50 next week. Hooray!  I'm excited about that. 

I've had good fun with Angry Birds on Google+.  Haven't decided quite what to make of that social network, but I like the "circles" of friends better than everyone-can-see-you Facebook concept, and the Angry Birds is fun.

Recently, @JoyousWind said she was telling workmates about our conversation regarding what would happen if the earth suddenly acquired a second moon. You can read it here: Conversation with Dad

She later told me that her workmates thought we had the most interesting conversations. A few others are: 

• Religious perspectives on scripture (What does "inspired" mean?)
• Female biology (and why guys should NEVER presume PMS)
• Relationships (work - and why you should avoid romantic office relationships; why everybody wants to see a single person hitched, etc)
• Science and religion  (uh ... yeah, that list is endless)
• Life goals  (and why going forward in any direction is better than doing nothing)
• Books and movies (from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings to The Fifth Element and Contact, with a dash of Amelie and Cowboys and Aliens thrown in)

Not that I'd thought about it previously, but it made me wonder:

What DO you talk about with your father or daughter?

Life's been pretty routine of late, so I don't have much new to post. 

Just so as I don't forget my Xanga password, I thought I'd post a little about my garden.

First is an overview shot. You can see brown-eyed susans behind what looks to be a green bumper crop of asters. I'll expect the latter to bloom in just a few weeks. Marigolds are peeking out low. 2 year old grape vines are clinging to the posts.

After losing my first giant pumpkin sprouts to a less than giant sized rabbit, I protected the next sprouts. The winning plant is now creeping out of the garden. I'd expect to see a melon starting in a couple of weeks. I'm sure @SaintVi will have a contest on its size before pick'n. 

I have one thriving blackberry bush in the midst of the raspberries. They are just now becoming ripe. There won't be enough to pick for anything than a sweet snack while I'm enjoying the garden. But that's good 'nuff for me.

My first attempt at vegetables include a 'burpless' cucumber and a tomato plant. The cucumber is lov'n it. It's climbed the grating and is headed for the cherry tree. The tomato and unpictured cherry-tomato plants are more more reluctant, but have been growing more in the past week or so.

The impatiens have been lovely all season. They tend to thrive well underneath the plum tree and on the north side of the shed. They get enough sun to be happy without being scorched.

Lastly on this mini-tour is the plum tree. It's been growing for a few years and has produced some not-quite-ripe fruit in the  past couple of years. This year, it looks like it may be on the verge of actual ripe plums. We'll see. 

"Aren't two sparrows sold for only a penny? But not one of them falls to the ground without your Father knowing it." Matt 10:29

We've had two cockatiels as pets for almost 4 years now. Hardly seems that long. Pearl, the mother of Bailey, died suddenly last night (20 July 2011). It was particularly unexpected, as Bailey has been ill (probably egg binding) for a few weeks and we still aren't sure she will make it much longer. Although we did expect a bird's death, Pearl's loss surprised us. While not as emotionally devastating as the loss of our beloved dog, Tia, in 2006, it seems fitting to share a short memoriam in Pearl's behalf.

24 July 2011 Update:

I was about to clean the birdcage when I noticed Bailey laying on the bottom without strength in her legs. When I picked her up, I could tell she was laboring with the last breaths of life. I dutifully cleaned her cage, holding her in my hand during most of that time. At one point, I felt her rapid breathing struggle for two larger breaths, then stop. Krysten and I lay her down on a washcloth and kept watch for any sign of life, but none followed. Within a week of each other, both birds have died. Bailey's death was certainly from egg binding. Pearl, we suspect, may have been from stress-grief of watching Bailey's final days - but only the Lord knows.

24 July 2011

Remembering Bailey

Bailey was a fierce and reclusive bird. When we first brought her home, she was but a few months old. Her tail feathers had yet to reach full size. She was in a small cardboard box and gave us the posture that would characterize her life with us. She crouched with her crown swept back, her beak pointed upward and open saying: "Don't you DARE put a finger close to me!"

I had many beak bites from Bailey, most of which drew a speck of blood. But truth be told, she didn't hang on; she would nip fiercely to let me know she preferred not to be handled. 

Bailey also did two things Pearl did not. Bailey could fly with strength and often did so while I was cleaning the birdcage. This is eventually how I got her used to being handled. I would ensure she was exhausted from flying, then pick her up and attempt to pet her. Unlike Pearl, who loved a good head-scratching, Bailey would only tolerate having her beak caressed, and only then with it open and threatening to bite. 

Bailey was also a prolific egg-layer. I tried several methods to break her of this behavior, knowing it might well be the end of her one day, but true to her stubborn nature, she would have none of it. In the end, it was the cause of her demise. 

20 July 2011 

Remembering Pearl

Pearl was a vibrant and very friendly bird. Despite having a wing damaged by a particularly mean cage-mate before we got her, Pearl's disposition was always gentle. She enjoyed being out of the cage whenever possible and would gladly sit on a finger or shoulder.

Pearl was particularly fond of mirrors and Santana. Recently, she even put up a fuss when SaintVi turned OFF a Santana series of songs!

Pearl enjoyed having her head scratched. Like many animals who enjoy a particular petting, there was never TOO much scratching that could be given. 

Pearl was also a very vocal bird. She made it clearly known when the day was either Sunday or Thursday. Those were the "cage cleaning" days. I would let both Pearl and Bailey out for a while in the bathroom, while I cleaned the cage and renewed their seed and water.  She also liked to greet me with great squawking whenever I returned home. She usually wouldn't stop until I came into the living room so that she could see me. 

From my daily journal:

10-8-11: The gal who has the cockatiels called back and would like to give them to us for good. So - we'll probably look for a cage on Thursday

10-11-07:  When Melinda woke and got ready, we went to the pet supply store and purchased a cockatiel cage and a couple of toys. Later, the lady with the birds called, so we went out to pick them up. Brought home "mom" - Pearl ~5 years old with her daughter - no decisive name, but going with "Opal" as it was another she (the owner) mentioned and it fits "Pearl" well. Birds are quiet and tired. Me too.

10-12-07: Looks like Pearl's been pecked at and has then been pecking herself under her right wing (most of the feather were plucked when we rescued her). Hope it improves in a calmer home.

Epilogue

Eventually, Pearl did recover very nicely, although her wing was so damaged that she couldn't fly well. And, "Opal" soon became "Bailey."

Pearl - you were a sweetheart of a pet. Bailey - you were always the fighter; you serve as an inspiration to all who live in a cage. Now that cage is quiet and put away, and the living room is a bit emptier for it.

I pray you both a perfect peace in your Creator's presence.Perhaps we'll meet again. 

It's been a while since I've done Another Page post and I have some time this evening. So we'll see how far I get before I either bore myself or my fingers get tired of typing.

WORK

My work at the nuclear plant has eased up from a really intense study period. So much so, in fact, that I had a couple of weeks where I was drifting from day to day. The reason is that although I'm with the group who is working toward receiving a Reactor Operator License, I'm only getting a "certification." It means I've been through the course, but not performed all the tasks. It's kind of like auditing a college class. After the very intense and often frustrating "Systems Module," we are rotating between work in plant (which I don't do) and Control Simulator and Classroom time (which I do). During the last "in plant" rotation, I was able to teach an Instructor Training course, which is really more up my alley. I enjoyed that. I did go into the plant as a Human Performance Observer for a few days, so I did get to see some of the work that goes on in there. Trust me - being a reactor operator is no bag of laughs. I'm glad I'm only getting the certification. I'd rather be in training. I do have an exam at the end of this week, so I hope I do okay on that.

I've been working independently on a research paper on how to apply and measure human performance improvement in an industrial setting. I finished that in June. I think my next goal with that is to publish some tools and training information. The paper alone won't really interest too many people. At 110 pages or so, it's more a book than a guide. In our ADD society, Twitter Style information is in greater demand than Encyclopedia Britannica. (Anyone remember those? How about World Books?  Ah ... the good old day of pre-Wikipedia.) 

PETS

We have two pet cockatiels, Pearl (the nice one) and Bailey (the obnoxious one).  Bailey has been the stronger and meaner and the prolific egg layer of the two. In recent weeks, however, she seems to be ill. About two weeks ago, I figured she'd be dead in a day or so, but she's rallied. She remains too weak to fly, appears to be feverish, and even her voice is odd. Not real sure what's causing the problem. I thought she might be egg-bound, but if so, that should've done her in a long time ago. If it were a virus, I'd think Pearl would've caught it. So - I'm left thinking it may be a genetic related illness/cancer. We'll see.

Our dog "Boo" has improved in manner quite a bit in recent months. We still have some issues with him, but after almost 3 years, he seems to coming 'round to a mellower disposition. He even leaves some food in his dish vice wolfing it down.

While not "pets," the chipmunks are back in our yard. So far, I've trapped and released three of them. A fourth one died in the trap. Kind of weird, that. Two critters were in there at the same time, which is unusual. It's a small trap. The one was in good shape, so I'm guessing anxiety got the best of the other. Probably a life lesson in that.  "Be anxious for nothing ...."

MINISTRY

Some interesting changes going on there. 

First, we'd been practicing for a public concert in St. Joseph. The Brown Bag Concerts are held Wednesday afternoons between June and August that are presented outside on the bluff overlooking the St. Joseph River. Our guitarist, Chuck, has been pushing Donna and me to perform outside of assisted living residences and churches for a while. He knew some people, so we were hooked up for the season opener on June 15.  It's not something Donna and I really relish, as we have a strong spiritual focus in our presentations, but Chuck has been very dedicated, so we set aside a LOT of rehearsal time to do this. When the day came, it was cold, wet and windy. By all rights, it should've been cancelled, but we pushed for the alternate location in a sheltered pavilion across the street from the bandshell. Mainly - it's because we don't do a series of concerts and we had put a LOT of time and equipment and energy into this.  In the end, we had three family members, a young couple, two people from the City of St. Joseph who host the event, and maybe five others who wandered in and out. Mercy. 

So ... we thought we'd give it another try at our 3rd of July celebration at our home. Long backstory, but the end result was a beautiful day to offer the music. Interestingly, we had perhaps the fewest number of guests at our house that we've ever had, and The 'Duh blocked our street further down that they ever had, so we had much less traffic going past. Ce la vie.  

Conversely - when we went back to the assisted living residences, we've had larger turnouts and both residents and staff have greatly delighted in our presentations. Don't know what Chuck will make of all of it ... but Donna and I know where our ministry belongs.

Second - the small UCC church Donna had served at for the past 5 years finally called a new pastor. I've been helping her with Bible Studies, music once a month and occasionally filling the pulpit when the interim pastor was away. (John and Carol, his wife, have since become good friends.) The new pastor apparently wanted a whole new (old) look to things (robes, organ, etc) and made things difficult for Donna. She gave two weeks notice which would've given them her musical services through Easter. He accepted the resignation immediately, and apparently had someone to replace her even prior to the Palm Sunday service. We've since heard some things from John and Carol that were working in the background.  Church politicking really sucks. This is big reason why I invest so much more time in our independent assisted living/nursing home ministry. No politics and a lot of blessings and appreciation for our work.

Third - Donna has started a silent worship service in the manner of Quakers. She holds it early on Sunday mornings at Buffalo Books and White Birch Art Gallery. Really interesting place to hold the service. Quakers are very big on silence, so most of the time is spent in quiet prayer and meditation. It's just starting to get attention from others. We had a tourist from England join us one week. A local teacher is making it a regular part of her Sunday and thinks she knows others who will be interested. I'll be curious to see what comes of that.  Interestingly - the bookstore is right across the street from her old church.  God does have a sense of humor, or at least irony. 

Finally - I was asked to be the pastor's sidekick at our church a couple of weeks ago. I forget the formal title, but it's kind of like "worship leader" but in the more formal setting. "Liturgist" yeah ... that's the ticket. First time I've been asked to do anything in that 200+ congregation, so that was fun. We've been quietly attending for about 3 or 4 years now, but there was no question people were surprised that I am capable of speaking in front of a large group of people. That was a nice redemption from my old church situation and even the more recent one with Donna's church. When her resignation was "accepted immediately" I was defacto part of that casting out. The timing of our pastor asking me to be liturgist within just a few weeks of that exclusion was great. (He knew nothing of that part of my story.)

GARDEN

LOTS of rain in June, and rather cool. July is making up for it. But - the wet June has made for a bumper crop of raspberries @SaintVi has a lot more info on that. My perennials are returning and looking good. New plants include a couple of climbing roses and three grape vines. The roses have been gorgeous. Two of the grape vines have finally rooted deep enough to really take off. The third looks like it may need another year or so before it gets serious about growing. I planted my giant pumpkin, but a giant brown bunny halted that project fairly promptly by eating the leaves as soon as it got out of the ground. So - I put up a small fence and planted more seeds. They've just sprouted and look promising. 

I expanded a garden plot around the two cherry trees I planted last year. I'm not real sure where I'll go with it in the long run, but thought a few vegetable plants might be nice. So I'm doing a trial run with a cucumber, a tomato and a cherry tomato plant. Depending on how they fare will determine what I try next year. 

MISCELLANIA

- Harry Potter the FINAL edition is coming out this week. @joyouswind will be attending the midnight showing. @saintvi and I will be waiting for a better middle-aged time - probably Sunday afternoon.

- Been loving grilling. Cooking on the grill with a beer in my hand rocks.

- We did enjoy the 3rd of July party. Saw some friends we haven't seen in a while and had good ones return. @murisopsis and @olddogsparky were two of our fun Xanga and Geocaching friends. @HereliesNelsontheGreat was also there - you can not help but love having him around! He's a blast!

- Found a REALLY hard geocache today. "Ammo box" yeah, right. Think "matchbox" size and you can guess how easy that was to find on a steep, brushy hillside.

- Concerned about my mother-in-law, Nita. She's dealing with Alzheimer's and what appears to be a house sale and transition. Concurrently, her oldest daughter, Teri, @bigsister502 who manages a lot of her financial and medical needs is having do deal with some serious medical conditions of her own. Lots of prayer and help needed in Arkansas.

- Had a nice, long conversation with my mom. That's been a while. I enjoyed that.

- I'll pass the AWEsome FIVE-0 mile marker in August! Every decade has been better than the previous for me. I look forward to my 50's. If everything works out, I'd like to be at Christ Church in Philadelphia on my birthday. I have a love for colonial and religious history. That church has seen a lot of both. I think that makes it a great site to celebrate my half-century mark.

Okay, now I'm bored and my hands are tired. Maybe I'll deal with typos and add some photos later. For now, it's time to turn the page! 

My 2000 Dakota is showing her age. She has some rust around the rear wheel-wells. Like wrinkles on a lovely middle-aged lady, I don't mind the appearance. It shows the truck has seen some good years. 

However, it's also a bit of a safety issue, as the rough edges can catch clothing or cut a hand. Replacing the sides would run about $1200 apiece. Mmmm ... hard to buy into that. I still need to get the A/C repaired and new tires before winter.

So ... I went to Ace Hardware. I bought some window sealing putty to provide some structure around the rust spots and a roll of blue water-proof duct tape. Here's what I accomplished:

"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."  - Red Green

I could write a lot, but I'm downloading Queen's Greatest Hits into my iTune play list. It makes me nostalgic for the 70's when I actually heard some of the best rock music EVER coming out for the first time.

Speaking of 70's nostalgia - the movie "Super 8" has it in spades. Set in 1979 (my senior HS year), you see all the technology, advertising, styles and music of that decade while the monster lurks off-screen for most of the movie. Actually, it's really a very good story about losing the ones you love and generally having to deal with the bad/unfair things in life. Rare mix of summer sci-fi blockbuster with a decent storyline. 

In a training lull right now. I'm fine with that, although it does leave me a bit directionless at times. I've used the extra time to finish up a year long research paper on Industrial Human Performance. I'll see if my company is interested in sponsoring it, since it is somewhat related to my job. In any event, I look forward to using it as a basis for peer-contacts and possible articles for trade magazines. Mostly, it's a personal accomplishment - something of a Master's Thesis without the college program.

SaintVi and Joyous Wind made a lovely Father's Day for me. I received good cards, the Queen album, a "UFO's are Demons" book (it appears, anyway), True Grit, and Baoding Balls.  I also got a new grill which I put together yesterday. I initiated it with some chicken this evening.

There's more ... but this is already longer than a mini-update.

Peace to all you friends and fossils out there!

Got a very interesting request a while back by Prolixity-Split to explain a little about using Thorium as a nuclear fuel instead of Uranium.  So here goes my Bookmark-the-Xanga-Guy explanation.

First – we need to realize that fission (splitting an atom) really is a natural process. Big fat atoms like Uranium and Thorium and Plutonium don’t like being big and fat.

Their natural approach to reducing their atomic waistline is to either give off some energy over a long period of time (decay) or go whole-hog and split into two smaller atoms, while tossing out a couple of neutrons and a lot of extra energy (fission). When a bunch of science-guys realized this fission thing was going on they said, “Hey! What happens if we put a whole lot of this stuff close together?” Turns out that when a fat uranium or plutonium atom gets one of those cast off neutrons from another atom, it fissions right away! When a whole lot of them do that at the same time, a whole LOT of energy is released – for good or evil.  Einstein put it this way:

E = MC²

Which is to say – the amount of energy released when matter is converted to energy is equal to its mass times the speed of light squared (roughly 35,000,000,000 miles per second).  To give you an idea of that kind of power: If one pound of matter was completely converted to energy, it would be enough energy to lift 1 billion people off the ground to a height of about 6 feet. Boys being boys, and war being war, the military chose to use that knowledge to blow things up … like Hiroshima and the Bikini Atoll.

But I digress …

Uranium is the more common nuclear reactor fuel. It’s cheaper and more stable than Plutonium. Even so, Uranium is still a finite resource with a bit over 5 billion tons of it known to be in existence  Thorium on the other hand is not well estimated, but some believe it to be easily 3-4 times more abundant than uranium.  Thorium also has a BIG advantage in that 100% of mined Thorium can be used as nuclear fuel. Only 0.7% of mined uranium has that kind of quality. Therefore, Uranium has the added cost of being purified enough to use as a nuclear fuel. These qualities make Thorium a financially attractive nuclear fuel option.

Another really cool thing about Thorium is that it produces far less long-lived radioactive waste than Uranium. And, it doesn’t create much in the way of Plutonium (weapon fuel) as a byproduct.

 Sounds GREAT!  So what’s the downside?

There are a few technical issues, but the main one is that Thorium needs Uranium to give it a kick in its nuclear pants to start the nuclear reaction.

That means the fuel would need to be a mixture of a small amount of Uranium with a large amount of Thorium.  That’s extra work. And since Uranium is still relatively cheap and can start its nuclear reaction all by itself, most people don’t think that extra work is worth the time right now. Also – thorium reactors are still experimental in design, which is a polite way of saying “small.”  A lot of money still needs to be invested to get a reactor design that is economically profitable.  After Fukushima, I’m going to guess the Fat Cats with lots of cash aren’t going to be investing big money in experimental reactors for a while.

But – keep your eyes on up-and-coming nations like India and China. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take the lead in that field.

Hope you enjoyed the read and that you have a SMASHING good day!

Whew!

Finally finished this 12 week course on nuclear systems. It wasn't pretty - but I did pass and that section (and about 15 - 20 hours a week of studying after work) is behind me. One thing I have been doing is keeping a log of each week, so that I can pass along nuggets of wisdom to others who come along behind me.

Middle age is a pretty good place in life to be able to do that. We're old enough to have some wear on the tires, but not so far along that no one wants to ride with us.

(Can any of you I.D. the car above w/o Googling it?)

Here's my question(s) this week to those of you who are in the middle-mileage of life.

What perspective has changed most for you over the years and why?

Seems there's always some generational differences around here.
Here's a question for the 40 and ups...

How have you changed since you were a young adult?

Mind:

Spirit:

Body:

Priorities:

Update -

Thanks for your answers; they are as insightful as I'd hoped.

Here are my thoughts:

Mind: Certainly much more wise and much better educated than I was in my 20's. (Even a majority of my reading has moved from fiction to non-fiction.) A lot of the black and white became gray with years - and I'm not talking about my hair! I've come to realize there are few (if any) absolutes in the world. The better approach is to look for the BEST answer in a relationship or situation - not the PERFECT answer. Any step in one direction removes other options by definition. Make your best decision and go with it. 

I've also learned that most people don't really like to think hard about complex issues or look at their own shortcomings in a self-critical manner. Avoidance of conflict and complexity is one of the most predominant human (or at least American) characteristics. Ergo - when I want change, I convict MYself of it and expect problems. I don't ever expect help from others. Sometimes I get it, but usually only that which involves the least amount of their effort.

Spirit: As a young adult, I was a moderately-conservative Christian. I had doubts about some things, but they didn't trouble me. Now, I am a moderately-liberal Christian. I like McLaren's term "generous orthodoxy" to describe my outlook on things spiritual. Again, the black and whites have become gray following a lot of study into the evolution of the Christian faith, what we call our scriptures, and the development of the American Christian church. The Bible remains precious to me, but as a walking stick on my life journey to help me and others in the rough spots, not a rod to beat other people for their beliefs or lack thereof.  My personal policy - allow EVERY aspect of my faith be challenged. If it holds up to the heat, all the better. If not, I don't push the "I believe, anyway" button. I search out what the truth must be.

Body: Blessedly, not much has changed. I was 6'1" and about 155# when I joined the Navy in 1982. I run about 168# these days. I'm more careful to put more good food than junk into my body, I make an effort to eat less as my metabolism has slowed, and I make a point to exercise and keep my body active. Honestly, I feel healthier these days than I did as a young adult, apart from obvious age differences. 

Priorities: As a young adult I spent a lot of time fretting and worrying about what I would do or who I would be. In other words, I didn't know WHO I was, so I was looking for someTHING to make that definition. Now, I'm very solid in my personal identity. My priorities now are to encourage those whom I love and love me, as well as those who feel spiritually bereft.