Do you TRULY communicate?

Communication between individuals is one of the first things, we as humans, learn to do after we are born, and maybe after conception. Communication is done through SO many avenues. Speaking, emailing, text, writing, quacking, barking, tweeting, buzzing, hissing, and any other form of feelings expressed, as long as you get your message across to whom either your directing it to. Yes, every creature does communicate to us or other creatures. But, it is how you communicate that matters.

When you speak, your facial features say so much more to that person (or animal) than the words you speak. Your tone of voice and emphasis on certain words gives your words a whole different meaning and context. Even dogs know the meaning as your facial features change. They recognize your feeling pretty quick and respond to that. Like humans, dogs and cats recognize when you are sad, angry, happy etc.

Some people have a hard time TRULY communicating to friends and loved ones for fear of opening up too much to their inner self, or maybe offending someone, so they either don't speak or smooth it over in the conversation. Eyes tell a lot.

When dealing with a spouse, friend, relative, co-worker, employee, boss, or just an acquaintance, the way we get our point over to them is crucial to remember to choose your words carefully, be aware of your facial movements, and also the emphasis on certain words. This is extremely important interviews for jobs, relationships, friendships, and so many other scenarios. Much like everyday life.

As we've traveled to different countries in the world, I found that different languages have different emphasises on words we don't have. On the other side, we may have and they don't. So if I say something in English, it may not mean the same thing in their language and could offend them, or make you look foolish. Also our words in English may have many different meanings in their language. Just an up swing, or down swing in the tone or word can mean something totally different. It is kinda like talking to "Yoda" from Star Wars. "He walked on the road, he did." As Yoda would say.

Deaf people have their own way of communicating with 'signing'. They too can put emphasis on certain words and with facial features.

Since English is commonly known as the Universal Language, I believe that eventually that will change to Spanish because the Spanish population is increasing fast and the English speaking population is decreasing.

Communication is an essential and important part of our everyday lives. We have to be aware of what and how we communicate to others, no matter who or what they are. Speaking with truth and honesty is good, but speaking so that no one gets hurt and still be honest is even better. 

With all that, I hope you will communicate with me by commenting and please follow all of (or some of my out-there thoughts) our travels and experiences.

Next Sunday's edition may be delayed during us going camping and communicating with friends and nature. Take care and stay safe.

Our Disposable Culture

We are human, and most of us grew up in the USA, better off than other countries. So things came easier, and we have more possessions and spendable funds. Most of us do better than our parents did at our age. Ok, so that's not a bad thing, but we also dispose of things faster than our parents and grandparents did. I remember my mother saving aluminum foil so she could use it again. My father would never just throw a fan away when it broke, he'd repair it, or at least try to. My grandparents would never throw food away, they fed it to their pigs, or they compost it for the garden. When I work on a car or truck, before I throw away a bolt or nut, I check it to see if it is reusable. That is recycling.

I am going to repeat what you may hear on the news, we are killing our world with pollution. Whether it be chemicals, plastics, carbon monoxide, construction trash or space junk. Yes, space junk.

In 1956 when the first satellite, 'Sputnik' was launched, it had the whole sky all to itself. Today there millions of pieces of debris and satellites zooming around coming close to other orbiting objects. Do you remember the short lived 1979 (if you are older like me) TV series "Savage 1" starring the late Andy Griffith? He and his team went into space and captured space junk to sell it for scrape. Well, they are trying to do that again. Go figure. I wonder where they got that idea.

One thing that burns my backside is someone tossing a cigarette butt out the car window, or gum, or take-out food and drink containers. I have even seen people empty their ashtray at a stop light.  Can they not do that at home? Billions of dollars are spent annually collecting and disposing of trash and garbage.

To make things worse, if your TV, camera, radio, refrigerator breaks, it may be more expensive to get it repaired than to buy a new one.When our daughter was buying appliances to replace the old ones, she ask the salesperson, "I want one that will last for 20 years like my Mom's did." Car manufacturers rate their cars to last for 7 years before owners trade or sell them. Why? Because the one you bought 7 years ago is broken and it may cost more the repair than to buy a newer one, which gives you piece of mind. And at a shop rate of $175 an hour, that does not take long.

We ALL love our conveniences and working possessions, but we hate trash and garbage, so just toss out with the garbage truck, right? Yes it is more work to recycle, and compost, and walk instead of drive, and keep a litter bag in your cars etc. But it helps.

Nancy and I resolute in conserving our part of the earth. We recycle almost everything we would trash, we collect rain water for plant instead of using groundwater, we are looking at electric vehicles in the near future (I am planning to build one), Nancy composts yard trash and food scraps for her garden, and I even recycle fluids from cars I work on. Our entire garbage consist of one 30 gallon garbage bag a month. Everything else is recycled. Our home is 60-70% solar powered. We have no grass to mow and all of our home lighting is LED. Not bragging, just doing our part.

Next time you think about not conserving, look around at all the trash laying on the streets and highways and reconsider. Do you part for the earth. Take care and stay safe with a vaccination.

Are we getting lazy? Or dumber?

 OK, I may be in that category too ...lazy that is. According to recent research, Americans and many other countries are overweight and less active. I blame much of that on modern day technology and convenience. Of course in the most recent times, we were told to stay home because of Covid. Which was good advice, but bad for our bellies. 

Today you really don't have to go out at all. You can order meals and have them delivered. Someone will shop for your groceries and deliver them. We have a mobile mechanics that will come and fix your car, even tho it is just sitting in our driveway. We can work from home on our computers, and kids can go to school classes from home. All of this is because of a small thing called a 'transistor'. 

Today we have smartphones, smart TVs, smart cars, smart speakers, smart switches in smart houses, and even smart sunglasses. OMG! They ALL have one or many transistors in them along with other electronic components. All most everything you touch has some technology in it, except maybe a book, but that too can be read electronically. I hope we never have a major solar flare because everything will come to a stop. No more binging on reruns and confronted advertisement overload, or how do I get my McDonalds for lunch, because not even your car will run.

I know, I know, "Harrold, it's the year 2021 we are an advanced culture, and all this things make our lives easier and simpler."  Do they really? Yeah, I love having a remote controlled TV so I don't have to get up to change channels and a smartphone so I can talk to anyone as I am channel surfing and skipping commercials. Honestly, I don't know where to channel buttons are on my smart TV ... Oh yeah, right above the 8 HDMI slots.

My point is, technology is everywhere, and we depend on it daily, and we take it for grant. BUT, some of us (and I mean some of the USA population) have not noticed is we are still in a epidemic, and MANY people are dying because the information they have heard from the highest office in government (LAST YEAR) that we don't need to be vaccinated. It is FREE and it will not kill you like the Delta Variant will. Some employers are finally saying to their employees, you have to be vaccinated or don't come to work.  Masking in public is coming back. We are going backwards. Listen to the science, and listen to what a dying Las Vegas father of 5 texted just before he died. "I should have gotten the damn vaccine." I believe his kids will always remember what he said, via technology.

Technology is great, I agree, but don't be dumb, get vaccinated if you have not already. And stay active, even if it's walking a mile or two. Get out and enjoy the outdoors.

Take care and stay safe. And follow me with comments too.

Epidemic vs Pandemic

 We are in a Pandemic, but also an Epidemic. A Pandemic affects multiple countries and continents, where as an Epidemic affects a large number of people within a community or region. We all know the pain of the Covid Pandemic, but the Opioid Epidemic is maybe not as in front of the cameras as Covid, but it is REAL.

We are prescribed Opioids for pain, like I got when I had my left knee rebuilt. I, like some, did not like the effect it had on my brain so I did not take them.  Some people like that 'spaced-out' feeling and become addicted by continuing to take them even after the pain is gone.

Opioids have been around for centuries and started in Asia for altitude sickness and other ailments too. When the western pharmaceutical companies got a hold of it, they found it could help relief pain after surgeries, knowing it could be addictive. 

Just recently, pharmaceutical companies were forced to pay out billions in law suits to families and patients who were 'hooked' on opioids and succumb to a lifetime of problems or death. The money settled by the courts was the second largest payout only to be beat out by the tobacco settlements in past years. Was it the pharmaceutical companies fault or the patients? Or the prescribing doctors? I put most of the blame on the patients, and partly on the prescribing doctors. Some doctors (not all) deal out pills to anyone who asks. Patients take them because the doctors says you should, no questions asked. Some patients go to multiple doctors to get those drugs and also buy them from dealers who buy prescription drugs from everyday people who don't use them, or just want to make a buck. This is an EPIDEMIC and our country is in it heavily.

Only YOU know your body and your pain levels. I will endure a some pain instead of taking pills that dull my reaction time, general thinking, balance and or consciousness. We all must take charge of our own wellbeing. But when it gets to be too much, of course you should ask for help and take the prescribed doses of your medicine/s. I have responded to many calls and saw the results of opioids and other meds that caused real problems. So TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR HEALTH.

As for the Covid Pandemic, I will say this again and again ... GET THE SHOT to save yourself and others. Very few people have had any side effects or died from it. 98% protection is a good average in my mind. All I had was a very small pain at the site of the shot for maybe a hour. No worse than a flu shot. 

I hope you all are well and starting to get out and have fun. Nancy will fly out tomorrow with our youngest grandson, Grady, to Yellowstone National Park for week for his 10 year old trip, like all the other grandkids have.

Again, I ask you to follow the blog and please comment on my posts. I invite that. Take care and stay safe.

What did the Pandemic bring us?

 I know what you may say. "I was stuck inside. I could not get together with friends and family, or I worked from home in my sweats ... I HATED IT!"  But Jeff Bezos (founder and former owner of Amazon) made billions off of the pandemic. Peoples binge buying of items they could not go to the store to buy, (I won't go into the whole toilet paper thing.) or were too afraid to go to stores to buy. We could not buy laptops or desktop computers because needed them for virtual schooling, and parents needed them for working at home.

But Amazon was not the only corporation that profited from the pandemic, how about eBay, Grubhub and Uber for delivering the fast food. Grocery stores started delivering our groceries like Kroger, Fry's (which is Kroger), Walmart, Target and so many more.

Besides the buying of goods, there was another source we used A LOT and that was phones to talk to friends and relatives we had not seen and hugged for such a long time. What would we have done without Facebook and Google Portal and 'face timing', watch another movie? Communications with friends and relatives was SO essential for our survival during those dark times of the pandemic, as the media called it.

Nancy and I did the same things you did, except maybe the delivery of food. We pushed through it all and went to the grocery with masks and wiping down the shopping cart, and probably bought too many cookies for snacks. Nancy and I would rise right after the Sun would creep over the mountain. She would gather her hiking poles and water backpack and hit the trail. After I got my coffee, I'd go out to my shop and crawl under a car or truck. 

The pandemic changed our lives in the way our daily operations work. from shopping, communications, electronics, to home delivery. Nancy tells me, "When the UPS truck stops coming, your car will probably be done." Well, I don't think that delivery truck will ever stop coming now. We have gotten too use to having things delivered, so we can dress in baggy clothes, chat on the phone, watch more TV show reruns. Yes the drivers will still delivery car parts to me, and quilting material to Nancy, but we want to go places, experience new cultures, eat different foods and meet people from all over the world. We love learning their thoughts about the world and the USA. We love trying their native foods from African crocodile to Peruvian guinea pig, and from Chinese dumplings to Greek stuffed grape leaves, and from Haggis to Guzzo. Traveling expands your views of the world and its people, and sometimes may change your thought about them too.

The world can be a very cruel place but it is also a very beautiful and educational world if you are open minded enough to accept it. The pandemic opened our eyes to how the world is pretty much the same, and their people no matter where in the world you travel. We are ALL human, no matter what we look like or our believes. And no matter where we go, we always see a UPS or Amazon truck. Interesting. Those were and still are heros too.

I started this blog to share our travels around the world and in the states. As the Covid became the focal point of daily news, we could not travel like we did before. But, WE WILL RESUME SOON. We have not decided where, but we will. I promise that.

So, follow this blog and please leave your comments. I promise I will respond. Take care and stay safe.

We ALL have been touched.

 Yes, all of us ... have been touched by a disease of one kind or many. Whether it be a family member, a friend, a co-worker, or someone famous. As a retired firefighter, I have seen many co-workers past due to cancer and/or heart disease, which are the most common causes of firefighter deaths. Those two diseases are the most common in the World, but there are many others like A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig disease), MD (Muscular Dystrophy), Diabetes, Leukemia, and other variances of Cancer.

I am no doctor, and no longer a first responder, but I know one thing, I hate them all. Personally, I watched both of my parents slowly pass due to different forms of Cancer. It was not only painful for them, but for my family. I too was hit with cancer a couple times, but was lucky, and blessed, to catch it early. 

Whether we get a disease through your line of work, or family genes, or your way of life, or just a freak of nature, we should all support the affected parties, both the patient and the family. And, they should be honored for their time on this earth.

Recently there has been great success in finding many promising drugs that either slow or reduce your risk of getting these diseases. But the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) really slows the release of these promising drugs to the public because of testing for safety. I get that, but if you're dying anyway, shouldn't the FDA allow those dying folks to try the drugs to see if it helps? Months or even weeks of extended living is cherished by them and their families. I hate to use the term "Human Guinea Pig", but more like "Human Trial Patient". If I am in that spot, I would do it, and I believe most people in that situation would too. Life is precious, and to get precious extra time with family members and with yourself is a gift and chance worth taking. I believe it is every humans right to beat or at least extend their life, no matter how little, when fighting a deadly disease. And when the time comes at the end, we should cherish their lives and honor them with others. You are more than welcome to comment on this. Maybe it is time for us to call our representatives and ask them to put pressure on the FDA to let dying people take that chance.

A friend of mine recently lost her husband to Cancer. I can not imagine how much hurt, pain and grief she is going through, and I cry with her and know she can only be strong through her family and friends. The one saving grace is he is at rest now without suffering. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family Linda. Take care.

My belief is we ALL have basic human rights. To live free (but obey the laws), access to a job, food, shelter, to a loyal mate, to our own belief in religion, to be loved by some or many, good medical care, a government that is for all people's rights, and to be honored when your time comes. Many cultures have dedicated days they honor the dead. They tell stories, they break bread close to the deceased's grave, they clean the headstone and dust off the leaves.

We all say, "He/she was too young to die." Yes they were. Let's push for more research, more federal funding, quicker trails for promising drugs and easier access to those drugs. Maybe then we can live longer and healthier with family and friends ... and the grumpy neighbor who lives  across the street.  Take care all.

Be sure to subscribe to my blog (I get no money for that), and all comments are welcome.

245th anniversary of the 4th of July

 Happy 4th everyone. I hope you have a great one with friends and relatives celebrating our country's independence from British rule 245 years ago. It was a HUGE step taken by our Founding Fathers and debated heavily between them how it was going to happen. And when the Declaration was declared, the Brits responded with a war. Many brave men and women fought and died to keep us free, and still do. 

The Constitution came later, actually signed on the 2th of July, stated the rights of the people and sworn those rights would be upheld as long as this country exist. Yes, there have been additions and some changes, but they are still our "law of the land". Of course the interpretation of those laws are finally settled by the Supreme Court. But even those interpretations are seen differently by different segments of people and political parties. But the point is, today is a celebratory day in the United States. Did you get that? UNITED STATES, not divided states. Today we should come together to celebrate our freedom and blessing to be a citizen of this great country.

My 5 times great father (Arnold) fought in the Revolutionary War, after immigrating here from Scotland in 1750. If fact, except for one, every male in my father's blood line (Schell/Shell) served in the military, up to, and including myself. I am VERY proud of that. Them, and so many ours who served are my heroes. One other hero I have is my divorced single mother who raised me.

To me, the 4th is a time to remember, celebrate our freedom and spend quality time with friends and relatives over good food and laughter. Today we will spend with our youngest grandson who was born 10 years ago. He is my 'fire cracker'. He asked Nancy for a chocolate cake (of course), and her Mexican Chili for his birthday dinner. Nothing like chili and cake on your birthday.

When I think of the 4th, I think back to my childhood which could mean, watermelon, homemade ice cream, sparklers and fireworks at night, parades, corn on the cob, grilling hamburgers and hot dogs etc. The best was eating a cold slice of watermelon and spitting the seeds at my cousins. Sorry if I hit some of you.

What memories do you have of your childhood 4th of July?

Even tho we are free from oppression, we still have laws and moral obligations to keep this United States. UNITED and free for all people, no matter your color, race or religion. 

Let's all celebrate the UNITED STATES and the privilege we have to live here.

Please subscribe to follow and leave comments. Happy 4th everyone!