Overdue message

What does a stonecutter do when he reaches the end of the stone before the end of the sentence? Work around; adapt; deal with it. Thus it was done, and has served well all these centuries.

This is actually a throwback to almost a month ago. It should be dated Tuesday, June 26 (or rather, that's when I should have written it).

Walking back from a meeting in the heat of the day, I paused to explore the churchyard of an old church in Norfolk. A slab on the ground marks the spot where Alexander Ross was laid to rest, in September 1760, beneath a few details of his lineage that end with this moving thought:

"Praises On Tombs Are Here But Vainly Spent
For Man's Name Is His Best Monument"

If you look carefully, you'll notice that at the end of the line one must read the last word, "spent," just above the word "vainly" (after the equal sign-like thing).

The expedient little adjustment in spacing doesn't diminished the point these three and a half centuries later. A good message is still a good message. REQUIESCAT IN PACE.

Not impossible

Mom always used to tell me I should try something I wasn't entirely sure I would succeed at. I try to do that from time to time, but I also try to make sure nobody's going to suffer in the process.

So when the lawn mower finally just stopped, the first thing we did was invest in a replacement, albeit an economy model. Then (i.e., this weekend) I did it - dismantled the carburetor for a good cleaning.

The Internet's a wonderful thing. Somebody was kind enough to write all about how a novice should carefully pay attention to which wire was supposed to go where, and how to remember how the throttle plate lined up before it was disconnected from the shaft (draw a picture!), and Google helped me find it. I must admit that as a little added insurance, I checked out two books on small engine repair from the local library. Turns out the diagrams were helpful, but not absolutely necessary.

The good news is that I put it all back together again - no extra pieces - and the thing is running again! Total investment? About $5 for a T10 torx head driver, another $4 for a can of carburetor cleaner, and a few hours of my time. The pride of accomplishment was well worth the investment (and all the cleanup efforts, too). It's always surprising how quickly one can get really greasy. And now we've got a backup...

Trust your gut

When something seems like it isn't quite right, it's okay to go ahead and question it. In fact, it's more than okay. You should question it. What's the worst that can happen? You'd confirm that yes, it's a little odd but nonetheless correct. On the other hand, you may uncover a series of cumulative errors that lead you to understand it was more than just a little off - and then you'll be glad you raised the question.

I am; therefore, I write

It became abundantly clear to me on Sunday afternoon as I was cutting the yews out front - the second day of this annual marathon - that I must be a writer. Not only was I standing there on the top step of the ladder (tsk, tsk) pondering the best explanation of why it's sometimes best to not have anyone hold the ladder, I was also thinking about how to best convey the story.

If it were as simple as being an engineer, I would have been thinking only about the physics - centers of gravity (of me, and the hedge trimmer, and the combination of me and the hedge trimmer), gravity, force vectors, actions and reactions. You get the idea. But no, I was choosing words and phrases, forming sentences, rewriting in my head even as I stretched for the top of the ragged bush. Come to think of it, I never did trim this particular shrub last year, whether for lack of ambition, oversight, or pure sloth, I do not recall. But it's on a two-year cycle now, by golly!

(to be continued)

Am I blue?

Kickin' around the Internet ... trying to unwind from a rather intense day ... and came across a quiz to find my inner dragon.

A BLUE Dragon Lies Beneath!

My inner dragon is the Water Elemental dragon. If there ever was a draconic example of a supple attitude, my inner dragon is it. Just sit back and go with the flow. *contented sigh* Click the image to try the Inner Dragon Online Quiz for yourself.

UPDATE (June 6, 2012): Try this link instead -- http://www.quiz.dmbh.org/. (And today I'm red.)

39th Floor

Today we visited a high-rise under construction and saw a most amazing way of finishing the floors. A crew of 4 was applying an engineered gypsum-based cap - from 1/16 to 2-1/2 inches in thickness - to concrete slabs that were poured as much as 8 months ago and left with just a darby finish. In-friggen-credible!

These are just a few of the 80 photos I took. Will post more sometime soon. Just remember the name Levelrock.

Tough week

It's been a tough week. It's always difficult relearning that interpersonal relationships are dynamic, not static, and that it always takes two to play the game. I think we're kind of in training, in this life, learning (hopefully) how to get along, how to share, how to bear each others burdens and graciously accept the help of others when it's offered. And how to humbly turn the other cheek when that's what the situation calls for. Perhaps with practice I'll get better at these things.

The answer is ...

Life is short. Enjoy what you can while you can, and make sure people know how much you appreciate them.

The end.

Grim reality

This is actually about Saturday the 30th. A very insightful guy from FMI told us all about the differences in values and motivation between my generation - the baby boomers - and the Gen Xers, i.e., those born in the U.S. between 1961 and 1981. Okay, that stuff I more or less understood.

But then he went on to describe the Millennials, a.k.a. Generation Y and the Internet Generation, which includes those born between 1981 and 1999, more or less. The differences he described in values and motivational factors were stunning. Suffice it to say I need to revisit that explanation in a good book on the subject. Only then will I be able to determine how to deal with these people.

Okay - maybe this is a start - I found a couple of references online that seem to have some promising explanations. What I'm finding is not very comforting, but at least it's a start at explaining why they seem so out of touch. Turns out maybe I'm the one who's out of touch. Anyway, give 'em a look - the Generation Y blog and an article from 2000 in Hotel Online. Or better yet, start with this PDF from late 2006. Come to think of it, peaceful coexistence with these people could be a lot like my living with my '87-vintage son.

Incidentally, there is an interesting table of the U.S. generations accompanying the Wikipedia entry for Generation_Y.