By Erik Dolson
Who knows why it was today? Because I wasn’t adequately sad, what with a firm, final goodbye from someone I loved but hurt badly enough they’d finally had enough? Because
the sun was out? Because it was today, it just was?
This was always going to be one of the … Read more…
By Erik Dolson
When I bought the 25 year old boat, I was completely ignorant of electrical systems and the boat had three battery monitors: One in the charger /inverter (charges the main or “house batteries when connected to “shore” power, or takes direct current from the batteries and turns it into alternating current for appliances), one in the master switch panel, and a small round monitor labeled “Balmar” that only retired Balmar Inc. techs remembered and for which Balmar has … Read more…
by Erik Dolson
Well, that happened a lot sooner than I thought it would. Pickup drivers blocking access to charging stations for electric vehicles.
Fighting the future is natural, I suppose, and no one wants to be a dinosaur (did they really become diesel fuel belching from those truck exhausts?) either.
Now, I’m not going to suggest this ill-considered “protest” is the result of efforts by Marathon Oil or Koch … Read more…
by Erik Dolson
Now THAT was a success. Planning the tides, the currents, time of departure, time of arrival … I’ll tell you, I have talent. A special talent, in fact …
Somehow, I got it all exactly wrong.
Not a little bit wrong, not off on the shoulder wrong, … Read more…
by Erik Dolson
This evening I plotted two courses from Friday Harbor to Victoria, B.C. I’ll take the longer one tomorrow, the last day of 2018, and maybe get there sooner.
The route around the southern tip of San Juan Island is 26.2 miles. The route around the north end of the island … Read more…
by Erik Dolson
Marriott Hotels has selected me for a special, low cost vacation. Windham Hotels wants me to view a resort property and tell all my friends (both of you) how great it was. Credit Card Services is giving me a low, 6 percent interest rate on my Visa and Mastercard balances. To top it off, someone is going to give me better health insurance at NO ADDITIONAL COST!
All that by … Read more…
By Erik Dolson
Merry Christmas.
It’s that time to turn away from the scourge of Trump and look for kinder, gentler souls. Recent news gives us many candidates, but we’ve heard enough about foreigners with names like Putin or Erdoğan or Assad.
Fortunately, we can focus much closer to home on Gary R. Heminger, Chairman and CEO of Marathon Oil, and the Koch brothers, David and Charles,
These oligarchs … Read more…
By Erik Dolson
Humor is how we communicate our intelligence.
Humor depends on something being out of context, that does not fit into “its” pattern.
Only a Brain that knows the pattern can tell when something does not fit.
Explaining a joke is not funny. Explaining “why” fits the something into another pattern. Those of similar brains who see similar patterns just “get it.”
Pieces out of context are not … Read more…
By Erik Dolson
There are patterns in the Universe.
The Brain is a pattern-recognition organ.
Universe rewarded genes that produced Brain.
Because Universe has patterns, Universe has Brain. A universe with no patterns, no physics, no gravity, no stars, of Entropy and alone, could have no Brain. A universe without brains could have no patterns. If Brain, then patterns. If patterns, then Brain.
But our Universe has physics. Intelligence is … Read more…
By Erik Dolson
NASA Chief Jim Bridenstine said that Elon Musk smoking pot on a podcast was “not appropriate,” that it “did not inspire confidence,” and may have prompted a safety review of both Musk’s SpaceX and Boeings United Launch Alliance.
The companies are vying to ferry astronauts into space.
Here’s an alternate point of view, just for discussion. Maybe the NASA … Read more…
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