Flashlights

Flashlights are handy, but why the name?

It’s a cool name, but they don’t flash anymore than other lights.
You can make any light flash if you turn it off and on again real fast.
You can piss off a lot of people doing this as well!

Portable Light Beam describes it better, and doesn’t confuse people with all this flashing business.

I remember flashing my car headlights to let other drivers know there was radar up ahead. I was a good citizen.

If you really want to mess with your head, try playing pool while a strobe light flashes.
I get sick just thinking about it. It makes for a long game of pool as well.
My friend tried to compensate for the strobe light by blinking in unison with it, but he lost the game anyway.

I guess he just wasn’t a good “strobe light pool player”.

note: I bet flashlight battery sales went way up after the Star Wars movies started coming out.

Saving Money

There are a lot of good ideas about how to save money: pay yourself first, have money taken off your paycheck and deposited into another account, or use methods described in books like Rich Dad Poor Dad or Your Money or Your Life.

I keep a graph of how much money I make and spend a month. I always have.

I have a table as well that I can compare various expenses on a monthly basis.

Does it help me save money?

Not really, but it keeps me aware of where my money goes.

The graph is on a piece of paper pinned on a corkboard. I know I could do it on the computer, but I like to physically write in the numbers and draw the lines.

The following is not my graph, but a reasonable interpretation of my financial status:

Surfing with the Aliens

When I was 15 years old, a man in my hometown vanished.

When he disappeared, he left the following note for his parents:

“Dear Mother and Father. I have gone away to walk aboard an alien spaceship, as re-occurring dreams assured a 42-month interstellar voyage to explore the vast universe, then return. I am leaving behind all my possessions to you as I will no longer require the use of any. Please use the instructions in my will as a guide to help.Love, Granger”

He was a mechanical genius: restored a steam engine, built a replica Kitty Hawk war plane, and fixed the unfixable.
He was also intrigued with UFOs and built a flying saucer shell on his parents’ property.
As far as I’ve heard, he was a friendly eccentric character.

I was fascinated with his disappearance.

42 months later, he didn’t return. I was really hoping he would come back with amazing stories to tell.

Years later some hiker’s found his remains behind one of the local mountains. He’d blown himself up in his truck trying to reach the stars. (dynamite is not good rocket fuel)

I still like to think he really did go away with the aliens, and he’s out there somewhere surfing with them now.

Some mysteries shouldn’t be solved.

note: for more info on his disappearance check out these links:
http://www.ufobc.ca/Reports/Collection/collection18mar85.htm
http://www.tranquileye.com/truth/casebook/granger_taylors_flying_saucer.html

Van Pod

My van is 15 years old.

It’s a reliable beast, but cutting edge technology it ain’t.

Roll up windows, arm-strong steering, and no sounds or lights to let me know when a door is open or I’m not wearing a seatbelt.
It is also equipped with a cassette tape player.

I have about 50 cassettes, nothing more recent than 1998. I rock out to Def Leppard, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Spin Doctors, Eddie Money, …

My friends laugh at me, ask me if I watch video discs and play Atari 2600 as well.

Recently a friend loaned me an adapter that plugs into the tape player, so I can listen to my i-pod now.

It’s great!

What music is on my i-pod?

Def Leppard, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Spin Doctors, Eddie Money, …