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And therein lies the secret, just perhaps, to happiness.
For all the grief, Tom, you have many, many, blessings. Cherish them!
I take my relish in the form of making the occasional random person think a little bit more about the world around them than they otherwise would. It's especially wonderful when they acknowledge it, but that sometimes takes years and sometimes, then, it's too late to say much.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
Of my daughter's two girls aged 11 and 9 the 9year old is found at our house more than she is at her own and the 11 year old less frequent but then she's approaching the teenage years which seem to happen earlier now than when I was a lad. They only live a couple of minutes walk away but she prefers our house. The advantage is that I get to help her with her homework! It is a delight to spend time with her.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
Carl,
Thanks for those kind words. When adversity looms we need to be there for them. One of these days, we won't of course, and that's when reality will hit.
Dennis,
You are blessed to have your grandchildren so close by. We're separated from most of them by the Irish Sea which is somewhat angry most times.....even for aeroplanes.
Tor wrote:
What do you think would have happened if you had been in a situation in which you were simply offered the option of continuing as far in reading and math as fast as you wished, with access to people who could teach further if you asked?
That's hard to say for sure, but I strongly suspect that had that option been offered I might well have gone down a different road. But probably not. Here is an illustrative personal anecdote. In early 1963, when I was half way through the 9th grade, we moved from metropolitan Miami to the backwoods of Jones County Mississippi. The nearest school was in Ellisville, about 20 miles away. All my classes had desk room for me except English. The English teacher had to have another desk brought in, and she had it placed perpendicular to the others and just to the right of her desk beside which was a rack of encyclopedias. At that particular time the class was occupied with poetry, specifically Poe. As usual I was bored so I pulled out one of the encyclopedia volumes and started reading. The teacher saw this, and ignored it for a little while. Then she said, "Tommy" (I hated that name and abandoned it when I joined the Navy), "don't you think you should be paying attention?" Like the little smart ass I was I answered to the effect that I already knew Poe, and was getting more from the encyclopedia than from the class. So she looks at me and says, "Really? Then perhaps you would like to stand and read for us." The Bells was the poem under consideration. I stood up, walked to the center front, and recited it from memory. All of it. Verbatim. Stunned silence followed. So I asked if anyone wanted to hear more and, without waiting for an answer recited The Raven followed by Annabell Lee. From then on I was left alone to read the encyclopedia if I wanted to. Now here is the question: in that time and place where teachers were unquestioned authority figures WHY was I not called out for the outrageous showboating or at least challenged to go further? That was a half century ago and I still wonder about it. However, we were only in Mississippi for eighteen months before re-locating to Easley, South Carolina, where that American History teacher snapped me into reality.
Coulda, woulda shoulda. Who knows?
Ordained Deacon and Ruling Elder, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Finally got back here - for a little bit, at least.
BobM - most recently, at least:) wrote:Coulda, woulda shoulda. Who knows?
Ever the way of things. Can I know with absolute certainty that I wouldn't have done better going to school? Not really, but with two failed schools out of two tried and being in other schools a target for racial bullying (that I still have experienced some of and still must remain somewhat wary of in this area), and the time school would have taken practically certain to have precluded me from developing the skills that make me money today, I am satisfied that for me the chance that school would have been of overall benefit is, for all practical purposes, zero.
human@world# ask_question --recursive "By what legitimate authority?"
I came across this little cartoon that seems to sum up the failures of our educational systems from the most basic levels ( doesn't seem to matter which country you are in ):
our-education-system_e.jpg
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I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
With Spring in the air here and lengthening evenings I at last addressed a different form of rot.
jetty damage1.jpg
After only 13 years the damp climate and rampant encroaching vegetation by our wooden boathouse had done serious mischief to the jetties, the right one in particular. That pretty plant in Pic 2 had displaced the jetty off one of its supports and after dissection I needed to sink a replacement post some 2.4 meters/8 feet into the earth, followed by levelling up and re-boarding, plus a triangular extension on one side to accommodate the bank contours. The eave at that corner had dropped some 3.5 inches and careful use of a hydraulic car jack hoisted it back up again.
Bloathouse & Denim pleated sk..jpg
Jetty repairs1.jpg
The boathouse is a magnet for children (and adults) playing in the garden and now they won't fall through the jetties for the foreseeable.
Tom.
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Great wood-working Tom
I'ld suggest a good all-weather stain/wood
treatment to protect the finished product.
Uncle Al
Kilted Organist/Musician
Grand Musician of the Grand Lodge, I.O.O.F. of Texas 2008-2025
When asked 'Why the Kilt?'
I respond-The why is F.T.H.O.I. (For The H--- Of It)
Yes, the new stuff was obtained from a builders' yard already 'treated', but exactly how effective that'll be in the long term remains to be seen. I'll give it a lick of something extra anyway.
jetty repairs8.jpg
jetty repairs9.jpg
The main thing here is to control the rampant greenery, which, like Triffids, would eat you in your bed, given half a chance!
Boathouse & Heritage of Scotland kilt.jpg
Tom
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Kirbstone wrote:After only 13 years the damp climate and rampant encroaching vegetation by our wooden boathouse had done serious mischief to the jetties, the right one in particular.
Oh, don't I know that one. Even without the "aid" of plants and water features, exposed decks of ordinary borate treated lumber around here will rot to the point of needing replacing in that time - or less. The new work looks nice. Should give you another decade.
human@world# ask_question --recursive "By what legitimate authority?"
Tom -- without a doubt, that is one of the most attractive little boathouses I have ever seen, either in person or in pictures. It's just splendid in design and execution. Kudos!
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
