Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

The Chase.

As a freshman in high school I failed the New York State Regents Exam in Earth Science with a 59. I passed the course and earned credit toward my science requirements for my graduation, but it was a “local” credit, not a Regents credit. I opted to not take the exam again the following August, once was enough. I ultimately graduated high school with a New York State Regents Diploma. I don’t know if that carries any weight in the world.

One of the reasons that I didn’t do that well in Earth Science was because I remembered it to be quite boring. We would be sitting in class talking about rocks and the position of the sun and seawater while a thunderstorm was coming in off of Lake Ontario, battering the windows with driving rain and impressive wind. We’d have four feet of snow on the ground, all new since the previous day, but the teacher would just ramble on according to his preplanned lessons for the day.

I wanted to be out in the science, not sitting around talking about it.

I have always been interested in weather. If I wasn’t spending my money on foolish things I’d set another webcam up in the back yard and start recording weather events in this area. Over the past couple of days I’ve done some storm chasing. We had a cluster of storms pass through on Saturday that Earl and I chased around a bit. On Sunday I spent much of the day reading and looking for better data sources of weather. Last night I chased again, driving into a thunderstorm that lacked some punch but brought us some much needed rain.

Three photos taken within two seconds:

Part of the reason I enjoy chasing storms is the adrenaline rush. I suppose it’s an earthbound extension of one of the reasons I’m a private pilot, because it’s something I can do and I think it’s an awesome thing to do. But a better reason for watching, chasing and experiencing storms is because Mother Earth never ceases to impress me. Last night while standing in a field I could see the full moon to the East and an impressive lightning show to the West simultaneously. It would be nearly an hour before the full moon would be obscured by cloud cover, only to reappear in the sky a mere 30 minutes later.

Science is awesome!

Since renewing my interest in weather, storms and the like, I’ve been taking online classes on observing weather patterns, how storms form, how to make an accurate assessment and subsequent report of a storm and how to safely witness impressive weather events. A lot of this compliments what I learned to become a private pilot. I’m looking forward to doing further study this winter so I feel prepared to do some serious storm chasing next spring.

17 August 2016 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Innovation.

One of the frustrating things about the current age of technology is the number of devices we have. When I travel I carry my iPhone, my iPad and my laptop, though lately I have been trying to leave the laptop at home and work solely off my iPad. This arrange works rather well but not in what I would call an “awesome” way. To use my iPad as my primary computer while on the road requires a lot of fidgeting, finagling and pre-planning. I often feel limited, mainly because of Apple’s restrictions on what can and can not be done on the iPad. Apple wants me to bring along multiple devices because, of course, Apple sells hardware. Lots of hardware.

In an ideal world I would like to carry only a phone that is capable of doing everything. Let’s face it, the computing power is already there. I could sit down at a coffee shop and dock it with a mouse and keyboard if I so desired. If I wanted to take a phone call I could just talk on some sort of Bluetooth gadget in my ear. We should be able to do standard, everyday computing off of one device.

Enter the Kickstarter campaign for the Superbook. The Superbook is a shell of a standard laptop: decent sized display, a full-sized keyboard and a multi-touch touchpad, that plugs into your Android phone, using the computing power of your phone to run the “laptop”. All the data, all the apps, everyone on your Android device is compatible with the attached laptop-like accessory. And best yet, the laptop-like attachment charges your phone while you’re working on it.

This is the type of arrangement that comes close to what I would like to have! The problem is, and I assume it’s due to the walled garden that Apple loves to build, the Superbook works only with Android devices, there is no iOS compatibility.

I can’t wait to see one of these Superbooks in action. If it impresses me as much as the marketing says it will, I may have to jump ship to the other side and get onboard with an Android phone to power a Superbook.

The Past.

Random photo from the Internet.

It was winter of 1984 when the intercom speaker in the ceiling chimed, signaling the beginning of sixth period Biology class. It was my sophomore year of high school. The teacher stationed himself behind the ever-lit overhead projector, looked at me and asked in a loud voice, “Mr. Wing, do you know what a homosexual is?”

Laughs from around the room probably garnered the attention the teacher was looking for. The girl to my right, always wracked with drama, ceased her ever-present tears long enough to admit a giggle. The girl behind me simply said “wow”. The girl to my left, my lab table partner said under her breath, “asshole”.

The teacher then quickly said, “uh, I mean homo SAPIEN, do you know what a homo sapien is?”

I replied to the affirmative and class went on, but I never forgot that moment of humiliation. It reinforced the rare but ever-present taunts from fellow students that I was different and that made me less in some ways. I’ve never admitted this before today but later that year, when I was working in the computer lab on a Friday after school, I wrote a program that printed one line on the green and white barred dot matrix paper. I printed it out and slipped it under his locked door when no one was looking. It simply said, “You are ugly on the inside and out. And you need a shave.” The latter part of my message referred to his awful looking scraggly mess of a beard (that part of me hasn’t changed much). Looking back, this was clearly not the best way to handle the situation, however, I had mentally prepared myself to deal with the consequences of this note the following week of school, figuring it would give me the opportunity to voice to someone how I felt when asked his “humorous” question earlier in the year. Nothing ever came of it.

Life went on.

I bring this up because, like many Americans, I keep hearing that we need to make “America Great Again”. Folks rally around screeching about how they’re not going to be politically correct anymore. They are going to take back this country. They are going to take back speech. We were safer “back then”. We were great back then.

I must have been read a different script along the way.

Movies like “The Day After” reminded us of what would happen if the nuclear codes were ever used, a threat always present during the Cold War.

Inflation was driving prices up to the point that Hamburger Helper was everywhere, even on our school lunch menu.

We were still driving 55 MPH on roads designed for 80 because we had to save gas due to the energy shortage.

In my little corner of the world, in a school of nearly 1,300, we had one African-American girl that was two years younger than me. Apparently no other minority families dared enter the village borders. There was a sigh of relief when her younger sister entered school because things were then in balance. I’m sure the argument of “See! We have two black children in our school!” justified the racial imbalance for many. No one spoke Spanish as their native language. There were several churches in town and all were some sort of Christian derivative. We took a field trip to a synagogue so we could exposed to a “different” religion. The few taunts that I endured during high school usually came from those that left school early on Monday afternoons to go to “Religious Education” classes. God help the woman that wore anything that resembled some sort of “native garb”. I can’t help to think what would have happened to any man that might have had a Middle Eastern accent. A few years later a small grocery store was purchased by folks from somewhere in Asia. They shut it down in less than a year because apparently the locals felt it had been infested with terrorists and subsequently no one patronized their business. They were just trying to make a living.

The point of all this is that we learn from our past to make a brighter future. Life is meant to be lived with a forward momentum. We are not suppose to repeat our mistakes. We live, we learn, we grow.

Do we want to live in a country where the nuclear codes can be used at whim? Do we really want the sand to glow? Do we want to live in a country so full of aggression that people are chanting racial slurs or denouncing the very existence of people that are “different”? Do we want to live in a country where minorities are treated differently, under a different set of rules, simply because they don’t fill a prescribed notion of what an American is?

I know I don’t.

I believe that America is already great. No, our country is not perfect, but we can expand upon our experiences, learn from our mistakes and continue to be the country we have always aspired to be. We trumpet the fact that we are world leaders but many desire to keep everything close and inside our borders. Ultimately, it’s the people that choose to be fully part of the world that will lead the world. Not a country that closes off its borders and bitches from their little corner, yelling cheap shots from the cheap seats.

Let’s do what we can to keep our momentum moving forward.

Author’s Note: I made some changes to some of the descriptive language in the 11th and 14th paragraphs. I should really learn the concept of “drafts” and “final copy”.

8 August 2016 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 1

30.

Earl and I went to my 30 year high school reunion last night. The festivities were held in a remodeled, yet empty, bar/restaurant space along the main street of my hometown. There were 98 of us in the graduating class, 37 graduates attended the festivities. Earl and I had planned to go for an hour or two, we ended up staying nearly six hours and didn’t get home until midnight.

We had a hell of a lot of fun.

It was kind of cool being able to casually chat with members of the other school cliques without fear of being chastised in the cafeteria for stepping out of the assumed school hierarchy. There was only one classmates that I didn’t recognize. Several teachers and administrators joined us, as well as some folks from adjacent classes. As I said, we had a hell of a lot of fun. I made quite a few Facebook connections today.

As the class of 1986 grows older it’s good to know that we’re doing alright in the world. We’ve lost a few of our classmates along the way (may they rest in peace) but on the whole we’re not doing half bad.

I look forward to seeing them again; rumor has it that I’m helping organizing the 35th year reunion.

The class photo from 1986, on the steps of the courthouse.

All of us on the same steps in the same relative spot in the photo last night. I couldn’t kneel down like I did in ’86 because of shrubbery improvements.

7 August 2016 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 1

15.

My blog turned 15 years old this weekend. My first post was written on August 4, 2001. I talked about flying, the field days in my hometown and how I was going to maintain an “online journal”. I hadn’t discovered the term “blog” yet.

I can vividly remember writing that entry in Microsoft FrontPage, in a web page specifically formatted for that entry. Such a manual existence on the web at that time. It would be several months before I had blog software and the like.

Heck, it would be several weeks before I discovered the word “blog”.

7 August 2016 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Competition.

Twenty years ago, back when I was the Program Director of a small Top 40 radio station, I used to dread “book months”. These book months were the ratings period for radio, the timeframe when select listeners would write down what radio stations they listened to, how often they listened and for how long they listened. It was during these times that we would formulate promotions that would dazzle listeners, for example, nearly impossible to win $100,000 giveaways, free trips to New York to see “The Rosie O’Donnell Show” and chances to win vacuum cleaners for Mom as a gift for Mother’s Day. We knew how to impress.

The ultimate reason for dazzling the listener was to generate more ratings during book months, which would then in turn make our little radio station more appealing to ad buyers. This, in turn, would give us more commercials to play, causing us to drop more songs per hour but would guarantee we would have enough revenue coming in to paint the studio in gaudy blues and golds, fulfill payroll requirements and allow us to do nifty things like put up billboards to remind folks how great the radio station was.

One of the many things I didn’t like about this process was the sense of competition. We were one of two Top 40 radio stations in the area and I was told to keep the radio station aggressive. Push the limits with music, reach fringe listeners if possible and more importantly tell them how bad the other radio station was. We had to fight, Fight, FIGHT our way to the top for that ad revenue. The trouble was, the other radio station, Kiss 102, had a bunch of great ideas, had a good team for the most part and played the same music we did. Heck, the Program Director of Kiss 102 was a friend of mine. We had worked together at another station. We “grew up” together in radio. But I had to make the Mr. Voice say clever, snarky things about them all in the name of promotion.

Competition. Why?

I can’t help but roll my eyes when people start chanting and screeching and carrying on about the United States of America being the Greatest Nation on Earth. Now, don’t misconstrue what I’m saying here. I believe that as an American citizen that I’ve got it pretty good. The water is clean, the air is breathable, I can get food for myself with the utmost of ease and I feel mostly safe. I can conduct my life as I see fit, for the most part, without interference, censorship or fear of being killed for just being me. And as an American, I believe that the opportunities that I am afforded should be available to anyone in the world that is willing to come here, work hard, be true, be honest and stand shoulder to shoulder with me as an American citizen. Honestly, I don’t care if you’re black, white, brown, yellow, mauve or drink vodka for breakfast.

We just need to humble about it.

A good portion of the American populace gets off on war. We thrive of competition. Video games, movies, television shows, all of it is about strife. Reality shows are about discord. We are adrenaline junkies and we are not happy unless there’s a threat of a zombie attacking us at any moment. Bad guys lurk everywhere, even if we have to remind you that there’s an impossibly small chance that you’re going to have a bad guy come after you at any given moment. We build huge stadiums next to overcrowded high schools that are falling down, just so we can scream and make other noises that our school is the best at (insert sport here). Apps on our little technological wonders of communication (smartphones) match us up against strangers when we do something as simple as take a morning walk. We earn points, likes, stars, hearts, retweets and shares to stoke our ego. You, too, can go viral!

I often wonder what it is like to live somewhere where folks have more security in themselves. Where they don’t need to be told how great they are at every given turn. Where there are no trophies for participation. Where they don’t need to be constantly reminded that they live in the greatest country on the planet. What is that like? Does it still exist?

Last night I watched Donald Trump give his nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. His speech was filled with many buzzwords, a bunch of catch phrases and a whole lot of sound bites that will be perfect for the news burps that are designed for the average American with the attention span of a gnat. His name was projected in outrageously gold letters, his skin had a strikingly similar hue and his words, while plentiful, struck hollow. Apparently there’s a lot he’s going to do as President, right from Day One, but no one has a clue as to how he’s going to accomplish this, what with the three branches of the United States government and whatnot. There was much praise, USUALLY IN CAPS, about how great his speech was, especially because he uttered the letters, L-G-B-T-Q. He is going to keep the gay folks safe. However, if the GOP Platform is realized, we can’t get married, our jobs are always in jeopardy and God forbid we buy a cake in Indiana, but Trump is going to do right by us and be wonderful. WONDERFUL!

Please people, please calm down. And don’t get me started about that damn wall along the southern border.

Can we find our place back to humility? Can we go back to being the greatest country on the planet without constantly beating our chests screeching about it, wearing red, white and blue war paint on our faces and telling the rest of the world they suck? And can we start listening? Has substance given way to sound bites? Is there a chance that common sense will become common again?

Can we just do what we do, as best as we can, without screaming “oh my god look at me I’m awesome!” all the time?

22 July 2016 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings Why. 0

Pure Inspiration.

Occasionally I need to crank up this video early in the morning to find my inspiration. The lyrics, music and beautiful voice of Mama Cass Elliot in “Make Your Own Kind of Music (Yum Club Remix)” inspire me in so many wonderful ways.

21 July 2016 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0

Insert Witty Eye Catching Title Here Because I Don’t Really Care.

I need to just turn off social media today. I need to turn off anything that purports itself as a news station for the foreseeable future. Hell, I need to turn off the television, period.

I have grown so weary of stupid people trying to get themselves into power and stupid people trying to put stupid people into power. Let’s face it, I’m just tired of stupid people, and unfortunately, being stupid is très chic in these here United States.

I am so drained from the sheer idiocy being displayed by “my fellow Americans” that I can’t even begin to figure out how I’m going to make it through the next four months of these stupid dog and pony shows that pass themselves off as the “American Electoral Process”.

Plastic faces. Stolen speeches. Stupid ideas. Hateful words.

I am better than this. We are better than this. Electing the next leader of “The Greatest Country In The World”™ should not parallel the likes of your standard, bottom-feeding, scrub grubbing reality show. And this is exactly what we have, a reality show that caters to the stupidest people in the country.

Look, I get that I’m different. I think differently. I see things in a different light. I don’t have a lot of tolerance and I’m often short on patience. And it’s my observation from this far off the beam that makes me realize I just need to shut down the computer and tune out the sheer lunacy, stupidity and idiocy that has gripped this nation.

Either that or we need to move.

20 July 2016 by J.P. Why. 2

Passion.

I’m a pretty lucky guy. I’ve made it into my late 40s relatively unscathed. I met the love of my life at a fairly young age and we have a good, albeit non-traditional, little family with Jamie. My career is going well and I enjoy my job. I get to work from home. We have a nice home.

When I rediscovered my passion for aviation a few years ago, and subsequently began the path of a pilot, I immediately knew that flying an airplane was meant to be my second love. If I was 10 or 15 years younger, I’d definitely be pursuing a new career as a pilot, or at the very least, an air traffic controller. This is not to diminish what I do as a Software Engineer. I like my job a lot. I don’t dread going to work in any way. This is the best tech gig I’ve ever had.

But it’s not flying.

One of the distractions about working from home (and I’ve mentioned this before) is that we live directly under the approach for the local airport, Griffiss International Airport (KRME). While Griffiss is not a commercial airport in that we don’t have passenger airlines coming in and out all day long, it does get quite a bit of air traffic for the repair facilities on the field. The runway at Griffiss is one of the longest in the Northeastern U.S. (it’s over two miles long) and because of this, military aircraft from the bases (Fort Drum, Stewart AFB, McGuire AFB) visit on a nearly daily basis to do their practice work up here. Long story short, we have a lot of airplanes that fly over the house every day.

As a quick aside, whenever I fly over the house in one of the club airplanes as I make my way to runway 33, I send Earl a text message that says “Beep Beep!”. If it’s at night I’ll flash the landing light at him. He responds with “Toot Toot!”.

I really like going outside to just watch the airplanes and helicopters fly over the house and I really wish I was up there flying those airplanes.

My passion really is aviation. Twenty, thirty, thirty-five years ago I would have called it a “strong interest”. Back in my pre-pilot days, Earl and I spent many afternoons sitting at the end of a runway or in an airport observation area watching airplanes do their thing. In the back of my mind I knew that I would get to fly (non-commercially) at least three, four times a year with my dad as he was a private pilot. It wasn’t until after my dad died, when I was standing in the receiving line at his calling hours, that I realized that I could not leave my feet on the ground for the rest of my life. It was then that my strong interest sparked into a full blown passion, and Earl can attest to the fact that aviation, and more specifically, flying an airplane, has taken over my life.

I am so lucky that I married the man that I did. He refuses to be a ground-based pilot’s spouse and wants to fly with me as much as he can. The man has to be a saint.

With plans to earn more ratings and further my aviation career, I’m finding that there’s no denying that I’ve become a Pilot Obsessed. I have no plans in changing my official, income-generating career, because as I said before, I like what I do.

But I definitely know what my passion is.

19 July 2016 by J.P. Fly. Pilot. 0

Dessert.

14 July 2016 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

The Chase.

Innovation.

The Past.

30.

15.

Competition.

Pure Inspiration.

Insert Witty Eye Catching Title Here Because I Don’t Really Care.

Passion.

Dessert.

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