Thunk!
Dead center-Again!
Third one in a row.

Big Jim, the only real dart player in the room, raised an eyebrow at me. For him, that was fall-out-of-your-chair surprise.
I gave him a small smile and a slight nod. As if I knew myself what the hell was happening and had planned it all along.
You know-the old hustler trick of appearing to be the hapless pool player but when real money is on the line he runs the table and takes all your money?
Around me were Americans and Japanese in various stages of inebriation. No one else was paying the slightest attention.






Samuria Darts
It was spring 2004, downtown Nara.
As training manager for the United States, I had escorted 4 new employees to Japan for two weeks of intensive technical training. Big Jim being one of them. How we came to be in the middle of a darts tournament in a third floor British pub in the middle of the first imperial capital of Japan is a story in itself.

The short explanation is that it was the tail end of a dinner/party celebrating a successful two weeks of training. More would be a long and convoluted story.

I had started this series of tournaments a couple of hours earlier as I had expected. Most times at least hitting the board-but not always. Once the dart left my hand it was anybody’s guess where it would land.

But now, in this game, I not only knew where it was going to land I was “telling” it where to land. The was an invisible but clearly tangible line between me and the center of the target. I was simply sliding those darts down that line. It was like the tone a fighter pilot gets when his targeting radar locks onto an enemy plane. For once in my life I relaxed into the experience and did not immediately go about analyzing it and losing it.

Maybe the two glasses of straight up Macallan scotch had contributed-maybe not.

I have had this type of experience before.

And so have you
I will wager that whatever happened you have explained it away as:
A) You imagined it-It didn’t really happen.
B) It was an anomaly that will never happen again.
C) God briefly touched your unworthy self with his infinite power.
D) Fill in the blank_______

Right up at the top of this blog, right under the title is what is called the tag line.

Go ahead take a look-I’ll wait.

What does it say?

What? Sorry I couldn’t hear you.

I think you are mumbling.

Here, I will help you.

You are more
What? Me you say?
You must be mistaken.
I can barely cope with my life. Everything is on the verge of being out of control.
I hate my job, but I am looking at 8+ years of college tuition for my kids.
I have gained thirty pounds over the last 15 years.
I don’t remember the last time husband/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/stranger looked at me with lust. Let alone had any meaningful sex.
If it wasn’t for my double shot espresso latte every morning I could not face the day.

Well my friend, in the inimitable style of that paragon of sensitivity and restraint-Real life Marine Staff Sergeant and actor R.Lee Ermey,

Wake up and smell the gunpowder you namby-pamby cry baby.
(I love the commercial where he plays a psychiatrist and ends up throwing a box of tissues at his weepy male patient.
Insensitive of me? Yes.
Do I think that all of us need help and support at different times in our lives. Yes.
Have I ever found myself being overly emotional (crying) while discussing a difficult time in my life. Yes.
I like it anyway.)

It just ain’t fair!
We all live (whether we admit it or not) under the erroneous supposition that there should be some fairness to life.
Fairness is a human invention. And yes, it is an essential concept in how we should interact with each other.
But we have created a micro system within the larger ecosystem of life. There is no such equivalent in the natural world that we inhabit.

Is it fair that a herd of cape buffalo will trample to death any young lion cubs they can get to?
Is it fair that a mosquito will hunt you down and drink your blood.
Is it fair that should you decide to jump off of a forty story building you will end up a big stain on the street below?

You are right-in these situations fairness does not apply.
And it does not apply in the vast majority of our life.

So we are adrift in a sea of uncertainty and uncontrollable situations?

No!

Why?

Because?

We are More!
You, me, your children, the guy in the car next to you. We are all more.

I live under the assumption that everything I experience I have brought it into my life.

How?

We each create our life nanosecond by nanosecond. The decisions we make, the actions we take or don’t take, even the thoughts we think and project onto the world with there own energy and power, shape our life moment by moment.

I can hear your objections and your outrage. What about the newborn afflicted with AIDS? Did he do that to himself?
What about the beautiful young mother that was killed by a drunk driver?

This is simply a way to live. If there truly are things we cannot influence then so be it. But, I would hazard a guess that the vast majority of what we experience is our own doing.

How to begin?

Move!!
Find a way to be active-workout, play a sport, walk. If at all possible do something. If you are truly, physically unable to move then indeed your way is more difficult. But I would challenge you to find some way to exercise no matter how limited.

This I would say is the single most important thing you can do to reshape you life. The confidence it instills is invaluable. Not to mention the countless beneficial chemicals it causes your body to produce and release.

Find something challenging AND/OR meaningful to do.
Research and write a historical novel.
Coach a youth sports team.
Learn to play an instrument.
Volunteer as a reading instructor.
Start a blog.

Add meaning to your life-Live your life for cryin’ out loud.

Meditate
This may be the second most important thing you can do for yourself.
I will have to add that I am horrible at this. I cannot seem to sit and meditate. I compensate by using Iaido as a form of moving mediation and early morning guitar practice to change the wavelength of my brain. But make no mistake- real meditation for as little as 15 minutes a day is invaluable.
I notice a huge difference when I do it. This is one of my challenges.

As we talked about earlier, your thoughts have there own power. Meditation is a powerful tool in the process of shaping your thinking.

That’s it?
Yep, That’s it. Everything else will flow from these three activities.
Well, actually there are two other things you need to incorporate into your life.

Mindfulness
and
Surrender

At first glance these seem to be mutually exclusive terms.
Mindfulness is thinking about what you are doing and why.
Surrender is just that-Surrendering to an experience without thought or analysis.

There is a time and place for both. Had I stopped to analyze the mechanics of the dart game I would have lost it. Later was the time to think about the experience and analyze what may have brought it on and how to recreate it consciously.
Of the two, surrender is by far the most difficult.
So, practice your scales with diligence and thought. But when it comes time to play. Forget the notes on the page- you are the music.

And never forget

You are more!

As you start down this path you will discover and remember more of yourself.

If you are open and persistent, maybe, just maybe you will find yourself in an English pub in Japan throwing thirteen consecutive bulls eyes.

Ya’ never know-It can happen.

High Expectations
Fifteen years ago I returned to college to get an engineering degree. I was whining at my chemistry professor about the difficulty of the course. He patiently listened while I laid out my case.

He waited a couple of seconds before he said. “Dan, we cannot make engineers out of everybody. If you cannot learn what we already know and then add to it-Quit. We will be fine without you.” He then turned and left.

WHAT?
How about a “Do your best”or “You get A for effort” or even “At least you gave it your all”

Do it or not Dan-We will be fine without you.
I suspect becoming an advanced life form is more difficult than chemistry.

Back to our model

Earlier, in this post, I said we are going to make some assumptions so as to not get bogged down in useless and never ending debate.
Remember-Isaac Newton accepted that gravity existed as a force but made no effect to define it?

Good thing too. It is now some 300 years later and we still don’t really know what gravity is all about. He ignored this 800 pound gorilla in the room and went on to create the basis for all of modern science.  Smart move don’t ya think.

We also talked about building a working life model.  It is no more absolutely correct than the Greek and Roman Mythos. Hopefully though it is farther up the ladder just as the electron cloud model is farther up the ladder than the Bohr’s model of the atom.

So some of our basic assumptions are that:

1) Man has a soul
An undefined part of each human that can survive beyond physical death.

2) A soul allows us to connect with the larger whole of existence.
This connection is not automatic and must be developed and nurtured like any other skill.
All of us have biceps but they will atrophy without regular exercise.
Nobody can play the violin well without regular study and practice.

3) Modern Humans acquired this soul about 50,000 years ago
For more on this see Welcome to Soulbuilders.
The how and why of it is a mystery.
I have even written a story about how it could have happened.
But it is mythology the same as the Greek gods and the Judeo-Christian story of Adam and Eve.
However it happened we became creators.
Most importantly we developed imagination.
Our entire existence hinges on our imagination.
With it we can become transcendent

Or

We can snuff ourselves out for all eternity-Our choice.

And finally

4) Religion has hijacked the idea of a soul for behavior modification purposes.
But, within religion or any journey taken with mindfulness there lies within the tools for Soulbuilding.
It is totally up to you how to use the tools available.
The barbell on the floor does not transform your bicep.

These are all basic assumptions that could be endlessly debated.
But to what end? I love a good debate. It is a verbal fencing match that can be both exhilarating and informative.
There is much to be learned from discussing these ideas. But can they be definitively answered and will the discussion help form our model.

Not really.
So, like Newton we will take these assumptions as facts and build on them. As more information becomes available we will update and modify our model.

And

This is my model. It fits the available information that I have and makes sense to me. It forms a basis for my life and gives me a framework to help make sense of the Chaos of Life that surrounds us.
I share this with you so you also can maybe take note of the life that surrounds you and think out of the box a bit.

I have no intention of creating more dogma. There is already more than enough to go around.

So what are the benefits of building our soul?

You remember-Reward and punishment-Right.

The immediate benefit is the advancement of all humanity.

What??? Little ole me?

Yep, not so little ole you.

All advancements have come about because of the imagination and creativity of individuals and groups of individuals.
A stronger connection to the energy of life feeds imagination and creativity.

Imagination and creativity are the basis of who we are.

More long term?

Read assumption Number 1 again.

Do you really think (from Part Two)

If we do:

Acknowledge one supreme God
Pay homage to him once a week
Give our due to our parents

And we don’t:
Lust after our neighbors property and wife
Take his cows
Have sex with his wife when ours is not looking
Lie to them(wife and neighbor) when they ask about it (cows and sex)
Kill them when they get really annoying.

That we will spend all eternity in absolute bliss and happiness?

If so

What the hell are you thinking?????
(Uh oh-another black mark)

Anything worthwhile is gained by study, practice and diligence. Why would moving to a higher plain of existence be any different?

The twin concepts of heaven and hell are simplified constructs that play to our reward and punishment motivations.
They are no different than the promise of toys for all good little boys and girls from Santa Claus.
When Santa Claus was no longer real for me I was not sad. I was proud that I had moved into the big peoples world and was privy to a secret only they knew. Good behavior was no less important than before-I just didn’t need the promise/threat that the idea of Santa Claus embodied.

Time to move beyond Heaven and Hell.

Religion is a complex issue
But by and large it has done much to advance the cause of the human race. For every crackpot zealot, there are millions of people doing their best to follow the spirit of their faith. Striving to make life better for themselves and those around them. They live their faith daily giving more than they take and enriching all that they touch.

A society without compassion and cooperation implodes on itself. If each individual takes more than he gives soon there is nothing left to take.

Everyone dies

But if each of us strive to give more than we take-even just a little.

Everyone lives

You can be either Predator or Shepherd.

Choose!

So what’s my beef with religion?
I was livid! How could he? It was all the reasons I stayed away summed up in that one phrase uttered by the minister on the pulpit.

“None of you deserve God’s love.”

It was the same constant message.

“You are not worthy”.
“You are just a lowly sinner”.
“Only God can save you from eternal damnation”.
“You Are Nothing!!!!!!!”

My beef with religion is limits. Limits on us as human beings and limits on what God may be. In the end there where too many things I could not accept and still call myself  religious.

The Minister on the pulpit was almost right however.

None of us have to deserve God’s love.
Call it what you will God’s love, God’s grace, Enlightenment, Chi, Prana, Cosmic Energy, The Force, Life.

It is available to all without judgment. It is simply there. Like electricity waiting to illuminate the dark.

You do however, have to know how to turn on the switch.

A story for  another time.

The Santa Clause

You know- the concept that somebody is watching you 24 hours a day. That they see not only what you do but are privy to all your thoughts as well.

I remember to this day Sister Mary Ellen describing to us second graders how our soul was like a white circle and every time we committed  a sin a black mark was placed in that pristine white circle. Mortal sins (really bad stuff) were big black marks, venial sins were smaller marks but black marks none the less.

If you died and and the circle had more black than white well- You know. Add to it that one mortal sin mark by itself was the same as an all black circle and you can readily see the cause of a lot of Catholic angst.

Holy Shit!

I did not really say shit because I was not sure how big a mark that would give me. Nevertheless I was in deep doo-doo. Later I learned about the big eraser called confession and things were right with the  world again. But confession brought on its own set of problems. At about the fourth grade, every kid in school went to confession every Friday morning after mass.  I would recite the usual sins for the week, I had dishonored my parents, I had lied (pretty much a standard item) and such. But sometimes I did not have much to report (surprisingly) so I made stuff up.  That raised the thorny question of did I have to report the lie I had told in the confessional the week before?  I knew the answer but I could not bring myself as the liar to tell the truth to the lie-ee. And just maybe, the penance I was assigned for the sins I did not commit would transfer to the sin that I did.

I constantly struggled with where my balance of white and black might be. Couldn’t we have a graph or something? And where exactly was the line between mortal and venial sin. Even the US justice system has well defined demarcations between felony and misdemeanor offenses. You would think that an all powerful God could be more specific.

All seriousness aside

I make light of all this but the truth is the “The Santa Clause” is incredibly effective at modifying behavior. It is also not a bad thing for even a young child to think about and struggle with the concepts of right and wrong. Misguided methods and all.

Reward and punishment.

All of our behavior can be traced back to this concept.  We can have all the altruistic motives in the world but without reward and punishment there is little motivation.  I understand the good my tax money does. I am fully supportive of the idea that I should help support the workings of our society. But if my federal, state and local governments said “here is the fair share we need for you to pay if you want. If not, well that’s okay too.
Um, Okay but don’t hold your breath waiting on my check.

Religion’s core tenets of compassion, honesty, charity are absolutely essential for the building of a cohesive, cooperative and productive society. So, I am not advocating tossing religion out the window. Sure, there are many that hijack the power of religion to actually go against its basic ideals. But that is simply a matter of execution by the people involved and not a condemnation of the ideals themselves.

Seeing beyond the pale

Many years ago I read James Clavell’s book Shogun. John Blackthorne, an English ships pilot, meets a Japanese Catholic priest. Years earlier the priest had made the arduous journey to Rome. It was a culmination of a lifelong dream.

Blackthorne asked him what he found in Rome. The priest said he found deep piety and recommitment to his mission. Blackthorne, a Protestant, was surprised by this answer. He proceeded to regale the priest with stories of sin and decadence in the Vatican.

The priest raised his hand to stop him and said.”It is all true what you say. I found Cardinals with mistresses and young boys in their beds. I found opulent lifestyles and concern only for individual riches and power. Yes, you are right I found every sort of decadence and vile behavior imaginable.”

Now, really confused ,the pilot asked how he could continue to serve.

The priest replied that deep in the chambers, in a small bare room he found a lowly monk praying. There was such a sincere out pouring of love and faith emanating from this one man that he fell to his knees and felt the presence of God within himself. From that point on he had no doubts.

Therein lies the paradox. Was not the message the same for all? Did not all the priests, monsignors, monks, bishops, cardinals and even the Pope  practice the same rituals and say the same words?

Could it be that the message and rituals HAVE NO POWER IN THEMSELVES? That their true value is only in how we allow them to affect us our not? That all the power lies within each of us?

Well of course!

Okay, so we got a little deep here. But we have established religion’s potential value to human kind. That it can be an incredibly effective tool at modifying behaviour across large populations. We are aware that it can be a tool for instigating mass mayhem. But that is the fault of the hand that wields it, not of the tool itself.

We are also aware that religion has very little to do with the soul.

What?? You say. The soul is the whole point of religion. Without it the soul would be lost, dragged down into the dark depths for an eternity of hopelessness abject misery and unrelenting pain.

The movie Ghost scared the willies out of me.  For some reason I did not ever see it until this past year.  The movie with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg is a cult classic. I just never saw it. Partly because I don’t watch a lot of movies.  In the movie, when a bad guy died, his soul would pop out, take few looks around and then some very creepy black ghouls swarmed him and drug him kicking and screaming to hell.

Whoa Baby!

No negotiation, no defending his life choices just BAM! Condemned to hell for all eternity.
As I said our early conditioning never leaves us and despite the fact that I think I know better it disturbed me for over a week.

Sigh-I digress.

So according to the Judeo-Christian ethos

If we do:

Acknowledge one supreme God
Pay homage to him once a week
Give our due to our parents

And we don’t:
Lust after our neighbors property and wife
Take his cows
Have sex with his wife when ours is not looking
Lie to them(wife and neighbor) when they ask about it (cows and sex)
Kill them when they get really annoying.

We are then good to go?

Pretty low expectations don’t you think?

Stay tuned for part 3

One more-I promise.

Soulbuilders is not about religion.

I am not here to tell you about your faith. But, I think it is imperative that we take a look at religion and how it affects our lives.

Before we start you need to know my bias. We all have a bias. We cannot avoid it. There is no such thing as a completely neutral stance. The things that shaped out thinking early on are with us always.  We are not necessarily slaves to our early conditioning but nether can we completely escape it.

I grew up in an Irish-Catholic household. I spent the first 8 years of my schooling in Catholic schools. I changed to public schools when we moved to Texas in the 8th grade. But, I continued to attend CCD (Catholic Christian Doctrine) classes through high school. Also during this time in both Catholic and public schools I was very active in the Boy Scout program. There can be no doubt that the strict environment of the Catholic schools and the guiding principles of the scouting program shaped me in profound ways.

This is not to say that I was a model child.

As an alter boy, there was the incident with the wine before Mass for instance. As well as the time I fell through the ceiling of the scout hall.

Also during these formative years I was reading huge amounts of books on a wide variety of subjects.
It was here, at the juncture of strict Catholic dogma and freely accessible alternative viewpoints, that conflict raised its  beautiful/ugly head. In High school I had many a heated discussion with the priest who taught CCD.

Two things set me down the path of a heretic:

1) Greek Mythology
and
2) Polio

Included with our set of Colliers encyclopedias were bonus books. One was simply labeled “Mythology”. This book stayed on my headboard and I read it over and over before sleeping. I was a shy kid and like many shy people the world over I craved attention (still do in fact). If  I could have the great powers of the mythological gods like Thor than everybody (girls) would be so impressed with me I would be famous.

But also in these stories were everyday people and children who believed whole heartedly in these “gods”. Being of superior knowledge and intellect of course I dismissed these people as ignorant and ill informed. After all, how could anybody with any intelligence believe in a group of gods living on the top of a mountain that played games with the people of the world-Ludicrous. I mean what evidence did they have that could possibly support this idea. They simply believed it because they did not know any better and people they loved, respected and trusted told them it was so.

Not like my religion were I believed it because————because——–because———–

People I loved, respected and trusted told me it was so.

Now, obviously it was not  that clear cut and objective but you get the picture.

Okay, maybe you can see the transition taking place in the above narrative.

But Polio?????

As a child in the 1950′s  polio was still an active problem. An older cousin was crippled for life with it and children I knew were afflicted with varying degrees of severity. I remember adults discussing it. They wondered why God would visit such a terrible thing on small children. In the same breath they would say of course it must all be part of God’s plan and who are we to question it.

Then as history tells it, Jonas Salk came up with a vaccine in 1955 and Sabin an oral vaccine in 1962. Because polio cannot exist out of a  human these two vaccines have virtually eliminated the virus.

So, did these vaccines disrupt God’s plan? If so how could anything disrupts God’s plan? After all was he not all powerful?

I am sure that many of you have had similar experiences. I am not going to recount the long process of my movement away from organized religion, but you can see, to some extent, where my bias lies.

However, there can be no question the value that religion can bring to the human experience. Religion as we know it began in what has been called the axial age (900-200 BCE). It is called the Axial age because it was a pivotal time in our history where there was  a great spiritual, philosophical and intellectual awakening. It was during this time that the great traditions of the world arose. Confucianism and Daoism in China, Hinduism and Buddhism in India, Philosophical Rationalism in Greece and Monotheism in Israel.

In part,these came about in response to the incredible violence that was taking place at the time.  It was ,in fact, a rejection of the idea that might makes right.  Advances in weapon technology and the advent of the horse and chariot had brought about very efficient killing societies.
Because of this, strong groups could live by taking from others. That as long as they and their immediate “tribe” benefited, it mattered little what violence they visited on “outsiders”. It was the time, more so than others, of the predators and anyone was fair game. This behavior has been a part of human existence for eons and remains with us still. But it was particularly violent during this era.

Kill or be eaten

In the world of the African lion, the male or a pair of males constantly patrol their territory fending of other males. If you are a particularly strong individual or pair you may hold your ground for 3-4 years. But in the end younger, stronger, males will depose you, brutally kill and maybe eat all of your young children and have sex with your women.

This may work to evolve stronger, smarter lions but there is not much here to recommend it for building a cohesive, cooperative society.

All across much of the world Intellectuals, philosophers, mystics and yes, downright crackpots stood up and said :

“NO! THIS IS NOT RIGHT!.”

Islam, Judaism and Christianity are all Monotheistic religions. They espouse the idea that there is only one, all powerful God for all people. However, Christianity with its confusing idea of the Holy Trinity (I never understood it) is walking a fine line in the One God world.

They are all also Abrahamic religions. That is, they trace their  beginnings back to a figure known as Abraham. According to accounts in the Qur’an, Torah and Bible, he was the first to put forth the idea of “One God”.

But it was not always so.

. At the time, the people living in the Fertile Crescent believed in a whole pantheon of gods.
Yahweh was more  or less a god of war and conquest but other gods had their duties. Bael for example was the god of harvest and growth. Apparently Yahweh won out but it was not a smooth transition. After all, maybe he could fight a good battle but could he put bread on the table and wine in a cup?

Plus, later different gods were for different peoples. Yahweh became the God for the early Israelites. Dagon was the God for the Philistines. It was important to have a tough warlike God on your side. It didn’t matter how strong you were, if your God could not defeat your enemy’s God- you where simply out of luck.

God help me!

This is the basic concepts of many peoples toward God or gods. It is the gods job to help us when we cannot. Many things are out of our control but somebody or something must be in control. If we can just maintain he, she, its favor than our life will be much easier and more importantly, we will be favored with a heavenly existence after we die.

How do we maintain this favor? By following all the rules set forth by our “God”.

I call this the Santa “Clause”.

Hang on for part 2

I Took a Break.
After six months of Joomla, WordPress, HTML, CSS, blog posts, Facebook, Twitter, web hosting, auto responders, online forums, etc. etc. I stopped-Cold turkey and made something real.

Brain Dead
There is a valid argument that words and media on a computer screen are real creations-You will get no argument from me. But in my own personal physiological make up, creating something that is not three dimensional can be less than satisfying.
Plus, sitting and staring at a screen with only my brain working is exhausting.

Motivation
The excuse to stop was my wife’s birthday. She wanted to host a true Russian style party with a sit down meal for all our friends and family around a big table.
The only drawback was the big table part. Sure we could but some smaller tables together, cover them and it would be just fine.
But as I said, I needed to make something Dammit! and I had most of the material on hand-Cypress and Douglas Fir.

So I set up shop under the roof of what will be our outdoor kitchen and went to work in the Texas heat.
God it was great. Hot, sweaty, dusty and all.

As I worked more of “me” returned.  I realized this was “home” for me.  For sure the virtual world has it attractions. But real materials, outside air, physical labor-this is the world in which I thrive.

Realization
But as I worked I also realized that my aversion to social media is, shall we say, misguided.  Social media need not be a replacement for personal contact. It can be a tool to stay personal. It is our choice.

In the end the table was finished and it turned out quite nice if I do say so myself. But on the day of the party the rich wood grain, the carefully crafted joints and the painstakingly applied finish were covered with a table cloth and set with food and drink.

I think that it is important that everyday objects be beautiful. But it is their functionality that makes them valuable. So, as it turns out, I created my own social media platform, but it was the close interaction of our friends and family that gave it value.
As for me, I found a place. A spot between the solitary craftsman and the exposed and social.

Added Benefits
The light shining from my wife’s eyes wasn’t so bad either.

Happy Birthday Love

Many people think that since I make blades in a traditional manner and advocate working by hand in general that I have an aversion to technology.

Let me set the record straight-I love Technology

No, let me be more specific-I love good tools.

For some reason though the IPhone never captured my attention. I was quite happy with my Blackberry.
But slowly the Droid marketing started working on me.
It is an interesting lesson on what can capture our attention.

First-The look

IPhone
Unremarkable styling
Soft bland contours
Bland silver color
Slick feel no texture
Probably there is one with a pink cover in every Gucci bag in the Sex and the City Movie

Please-no nasty comments from all you manly Iphone users
This is my emotional buying trip-Okay

Droid
Robust styling
Edgy contours
Manly black color-Reminds me of the Stealth Fighter
Matte Texture
Probably Rambo would carry a Droid while blowing away several million or so bad guys.

Second-The Name

IPhone
No emotional connection

Droid
Mobile phone on Steroids
or maybe
It can transform into a flying, mobile, fighting platform.

Third-The functional comparison
No idea (Not exactly true but close)

The rest of my company is on Verizon maybe it is time to switch from AT&T
After all Verizon has the best network in the country-Right
Store personnel checked coverage at my house in the country-no problem sir

Let’s do this thing!

Received Droid Incredible late Tuesday afternoon.

1)     I am in  a Verizon dead spot-Of  Course
2)    Tuesday night researched signal boosters and Verizon’s Internet based VoIP solution
3)    Decided on Signal booster
4)    Wednesday while working in Dallas bought Signal Booster
5)    Spent Wednesday evening on roof temporarily installing antenna (Really hot on a steel roof after a June day in Texas)
8′ 2×4 too short to clear peak-Catfoot back across roof for another one

6)    Everything checked out perfectly
7)    No signal on phone
8)    Called company first thing Thursday morning
9)    They suggested more powerful directional antenna-$175 additional cost-Maybe it will work-Maybe not
10)    F*** that!!-Best Buy will take it back
11)    Talked to Scott about the Verizon solution he uses
12)    Got a call from Distibuter. Had to make a run to Houston to complete Rotary table install that was held up lat week.
13)    In Houston went to Verizon store. Picked up Network Extender  and activated phone
14)    Used the phone on the way home. Great clarity on both ends.
15)    Got home at 9:00PM
16)    Installed network extender in about 20 minutes
17)    All lights are good
18)    4 bars on phone-WooHooo! Success!!!
19)    Made a call-I can hear perfectly
20)    Nobody can hear me-WTF
21)    Ate dinner fuming-Bad for digestion
22)    More checking
23)    Result      Satellite Internet-Download speed 400Kbps/1.3Mbps Upload Speed-43/300Kbps-not enough upload speed to transmit voice. System needs at least 380Kbps upload constant.
24)    Friday Morning-Called new internet company Sara uses on the other side of town.
25)    As of 2 months ago, they cover my area with broadband.
26)    Speeds 3Mbps download   1.5Mbps upload-Same price as Satellite
27)    They will install Monday morning.
28)    Meanwhile commandeered Nastia’s AT&T phone to make calls while in home office.

At least this pushed me to find an alternative to my S***A** Satellite Internet.

Have a nice day

What about you? Tell us about your gotta have it take no prisoners purchase.

In ancient times, men who worked with fire and anvil to form shapes from semi-molten metal, were held to be on the verge of the supernatural. After all, they combined the five elements, earth(iron), air(blast from the bellows), fire(the forge), wood(charcoal), and water(the quench), to create objects always useful and sometimes deadly. Having worked for many years as a bladesmith, I can tell you that most of this “magic” is primarily having the skill and knowledge to manipulate the properties of these various elements.

However, there are times when the rhythm is right, the hammer falls exactly and the fire burns hot and steady. At such times, I can almost feel myself flow into the red hot metal and form it more by thought than by hammer. So, with that idea in mind I will tell you of the DragonSong.

Ancient Methods
I work in the tradition of the Japanese swordsmiths. Little has changed in the thousand or so years since the Katana-Kagi developed their own style of forging blades. The forge is little more than a long narrow trench in the ground with a pipe entering from the side of the trench. The bellows is a rectangular box-shaped affair with two chambers, a rectangular piston and a system of four wooden valves that allows air to be driven into the forge both on the push and the pull stroke. In view of its cleanliness (chemically speaking) and it’s hot burning characteristics, pine charcoal is the fuel of choice for the forge.

Getting the Details Right
Air flow through the fire is critical. If the air blast cannot penetrate deeply into the fire, the nearly white hot temperature, needed to make the countless welds to form the thousands of layers of that are inherent to a Japanese sword, cannot be attained. This is another reason pine charcoal is superior to hardwood charcoal. Hardwood charcoal burns into small pieces, restricting the air flow. In addition hardwood charcoal burns relatively cool. These last two sentences were easily said but they were not learned until I had burned nearly a half a ton (yes, one-thousand pounds) of hardwood charcoal without getting a single good weld. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Pine charcoal, on the other hand,burns fast and hot leaving only a fine ash which is blown away by the air blast.

Feeling the Heat
The piston or box bellows has a long T-handle that I push back and forth to create the air blast that fuels the fire. When I push, one set of two valves opens to allow air to be forced into the forge while simultaneously filling the chamber behind the piston. As I reverse the stroke and pull, the two open valves slam shut with a sharp clack and the other two valves open, basically inhaling and exhaling at once. As I stand at the fire pushing and pulling on the bellows handle a cadence is set up as the valves open and slam shut, wood against wood. As the air rushes into the forge the fire leaps up with a deep-throated roar. Tongues of blue and yellow flame envelope the steel heating it to the color and appearance of just-about-to-melt butter. These same tongues of flame travel along the steel handle towards my hand looking for easier prey than the intractable steel lying in its heart.

Set the Rhythm
Add to this the peculiar syncopation of hammer on anvil and the DragonSong is born. With each heat the music grows stronger, encompassing me and flowing deep into the work at hand. I have no thought as to where to place my blows, but rather, I hold the image of the form I want. Hand and hammer, seeming to work independently of any conscious thought of mine, create the shape I see. When the piece is finished it is like looking into a mirror. For as I look at it I see myself looking back. And is usual when I look at myself, I first see the flaws that I created and vow to do better next time. Then the piece moves on to a new owner. I own very little of my own handiwork for the joy is not in possessing the music, but in the making.

One Voice
Now, it seems, the Dragonsong walks with me away from the forge. At times faint strains come to me then are gone. Other times it is a crashing crescendo, with different lyrics but the same melody. It would seem that there are others who know this song and sing it in their own voice.

One of these days we-you and I- will hear the full harmony.

What is your Song? How do you sing it? Sing it to me for I would like to hear it and to feel it.

1) Approach your project with joy and anticipation.

2) Study the situation carefully

3) Have someone  show you the possibilities

4) Get a feel for the situation

5) Be cautious with any first attempts

6) Anticipate a successful outcome

7) Take any temporary setbacks in stride

Retire to your office to rethink the project

9) Ask a trusted friend to help you look at it from a different angle

10) Consider bringing in a consultant

11) Invest in hands on training

12) Make sure all systems are working properly

13) Double check-Make a detailed inspection

14) Take pride in any initial successes

15) Bring the project to a successful completion

16) Keep a careful eye out for your competition

Thank you for your attention

There can be no discussion of foundations without talking about the ultimate foundation-The Earth we live on.
I am a proponent of the Rare Earth Hypothesis. Basically it states that complex life in our galaxy is very, very rare. In a word-US
Don’t get me wrong I love the idea of alien races and space travel. When I was younger I read a lot of science fiction. I still read it from time to time.

Imagination is Paramount
My main fascination with it, along with the fantasy genre (Lord of the Rings and such) is the sheer imagination of it.There are few constraints placed on the author. As long as he builds a realistic world and the reasons behind it, I am hooked.

We must reach for the stars
And I fully support the space program and efforts to go to other planets. This acquisition of knowledge can only help us in the future.

Astronomy, astrophysics, big bang theory, string theory, M theory all of it is very fascinating to me and each one has its place in unlocking the secrets of our existence. To all of you out there doing this kind of work-Bravo

But lets face the facts. Here is what it takes for our type of complex life to even survive.

Correct distance from the center of the galaxy
As you get closer to the center of the galaxy the stars are packed tighter and tighter together. The sheer amount of cosmic radiation precludes any chance of life.

Proper distance from a star
There is not much room for error here. Vary 5-15 % and the water on earth would either freeze over or boil away.

A star with just the right amount of mass
If our star was more massive it would emit more ultraviolet light making life impossible. If it was smaller earth would have to be closer to be in the temperature sweet spot. However, this would probably cause tidal locking. Where the same side always faces the sun. Like our moon. One side would get too hot the other side too cold. This scenario cannot support an atmosphere. It would escape into space.

A planet with the proper mass.
Too small and again it cannot hold onto an atmosphere. Too big and it becomes an asteroid magnet.

Constant and the correct energy output from its star.
Same idea as distance. All the water either freezes or boils away.

Oceans
Seems pretty obvious. But even too much water and not enough land would skew the results.

Magnetic field

This is a big one. The earths molten iron core creates a protective force field around the earth. It shields us from a huge amount of the Sun’s harmful particles. Outside of the earth’s protective field the chances of harming the cells of a developing embryo is almost 100%. Think about that for moment.

A nearby Jupiter like planet
Jupiter is kind of like a big brother. It huge mass and gravity takes the majority of the hits meant for us.

A large nearby Moon.
Earth’s moon is atypically large and close. Among other things it keeps the earths tilt just right. This creates the seasons and a basically stable climate. There is a consensus that the earths ice ages were causes by “wobbles” in the tilt. Without the moon these wobbles would instead be wild swings.

This is a partial list of what it takes for complex life to survive. It says nothing about the chances of the development of intelligent, self-aware life.

Enormous Possibilities
The argument for other earths out there is the sheer number of possibilities.With billions and billions of stars in our galaxy surely the odds are enormous that other earth like planets are out there.

Maybe. And it is fun to think about.

Our Choices
But we are building a model to live by here. For the very long foreseeable future there is no other home for us anywhere. Let me repeat that-There is no other home for us-anywhere.
I am not here to lecture you about what you and I should do to change things. No, as we go about building the framework of this model I thought I would just point out that we all live on a jewel of an island in a desolate, desolate sea.

One of my first manufacturing jobs was in a small shop making precision rifles. We did the whole nine yards. Drilled, reamed and rifled the barrels. Machined the bolt actions and made the gunstocks out of beautiful California Claro walnut.

One of the jobs was grinding angles on the bolt handle before it was welded onto the bolt. These angles were important in that they had to nestle nicely into the action body when the bolt was closed and locked.

The Daily Grind

The grinding was done freehand on a belt sander. A template was provided to check the angles against, but otherwise the only control was the skill of the guy doing the grinding. Now that I have spent a lifetime in manufacturing I can see that it was a poor way to control a process. I did however, start me down the path of understanding the connection between mind and body.

I ruined probably 30 of the first ones I tried to grind. Grind a little bit, test, grind a little bit more, test,grind some more-Crap-throw it away-do it again.

I don’t know at what point when I actually entered the zone. 200 pieces, 500 pieces, a thousand-I don’t know. All I know is that there were 3 angles on the part and I was doing it in 3 moves. Grind, rotate, grind, rotate, grind, drop in bucket. I took you longer to read this than it took me to do it. I didn’t even check them and they always fit beautifully. I did not check them because I could feel that they are right. If one happened to not feel right I would set it aside and more than likely it would need some adjustment.

Peace in the Mess

But more importantly it was how I felt while I was doing it. It was loud, dirty, nasty work and I felt wonderful. I was at peace with all the world. All my attention was focused on my task but another part of was free to drift. It was as if the intense task at hand captured all of my logical brain and my subconscious? was allowed to roam free. It was magic amid the heat, dust and noise.

Fast forward 25 years and I was in the middle of a hay field I had purchased 3 years earlier. I was not ready to build a house yet but I had to do something and a fence to define the house site and a shed for shelter and shade was just the ticket.

I was now no stranger to this sometimes elusive idea of working in the zone.

I had set all the posts (that is another story) and I was attaching the horizontal boards that define the fence itself.
There has been millions of dollars spent I am sure researching the best was to construct a power driven screw. There is nothing more exasperating than having the head of the screw strip out or have the driver jump out of screw head half way into a board. I have settled on using deck screws with a modified Phillips head that seem to work the best.

A Mans Best Friend is His Drill

Except for the heavy bolts for the beams I have used these almost exclusively in my house. Very few nails and about a 100,000 screws so far.
I had no electricity so I purchased an 18V cordless drill and circular saw set by Dewalt. This along with a couple extra batteries and a car charger would keep me going all weekend. They are both still going strong.

As I learned to use the drill I would press very hard on it to keep it from jumping out. After a hundred screws or so I was tired and my hands, arms, shoulders and back hurt. Luckily it was time to quit for the day. Early the next morning I was at it again. As the day wore on it got easier. I had to put less and less pressure on the drill to get it to stay engaged. At one point much to my amazement I had to only squeeze it with thumb and forefinger with no pressure applied by my arm. It was as if the drill was being sucked in with screw.

As I continued to work I realized that I could “feel” when the axis of the drill was perfectly lined up with the axis of the screw and the direction of travel. And it was so pleasurable. I didn’t care about getting the work done I just wanted to stay on this high. This overwhelming narcotic. My body had learned the mechanics of the work though mindful repetition. It hooked up with the command center (my brain) and together they worked as a team sending and receiving the millions of tiny signals and transmitting them into minute muscular adjustments.

No Easy Answers

What an absolute miracle-And I was aware of it all. It seemed as if the whole world flowed through me into those small screws and then into the wood. When at last I came to the sun was low in the sky, there were no more boards and I had a fence. The joy of seeing the fence complete took a back seat to the feeling of loss as whatever had held me faded away. It had not left me completely though. A little piece of it remained. I carry a small piece of everything I have ever made with me and everything I have ever made carries a small piece of me.

I would like to tell you that there is an easy way but I cannot. The key is repetition. Doing it over and over and over again-mindfully. I believe it was Andre Agassi that would practice 1000 backhands a day, then 1000 serves a day.

I don’t care who you are or what you are doing, if you practice mindful repetition you will get better. If you do this I guarantee that the goal of the doing will take a back seat to the doing itself.