the iMentor

Hints & rants

This weB-LOG is about the musing of a technical consultant. It is the iMentor's thoughts on technology and the human condition.

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Author: Rick Thues

360 Sunset

May 16, 2026 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #903 May 23, 2026 When I was in high school, I loved visiting my friend’s parents’ house in Cowan Heights, the eastern foothills of the Orange County basin.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j99i6UqQLY&list=RD4j99i6UqQLY&start_radio=1 The sunsets fired up the western sky, blooming up from the ocean and sparking a green flash as the sun touched the water. Brilliant orange and red streaks brushed across the smog and clouds. And as the color faded to a glow, the lights of Orange County blinked on like a starscape across the basin below. There were visits to Cowan Heights, where I dreamed, "I'm going to live...
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Water Well

May 12, 2026 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #902 May 16, 2026 The saga began when we bought our house.  We shared a well with the vacant lot next door.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duxjssSGA9k&list=RDduxjssSGA9k&start_radio=1   The flow of the well was only one and a half gallons per minute. Just to give you some perspective, a showerhead requires 2 1/2 gallons per minute. It didn't take us long to look into drilling a well on our own property.  The owner of the well company, Eric, was a dowser like his father and his grandfather before him. He walked around my property with a bent coat hanger, which occasionally...
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Thought

May 5, 2026 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #901 May 9, 2026 Slowing thought down enough to observe oneself is the path to clarity.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjnlA3wzMGU&list=RDvjnlA3wzMGU&start_radio=1 When thinking becomes reflective, it is like a flawed mirror, too smooth, and nothing appears, too sharp and it shatters. The right texture reveals the truest reflection. I prepare for interviews, examinations, and conversations by rehearsing them in my mind. I play out the encounter, tracing the possible paths a line of thought might take. Like a navigator charting uncertain waters, I consider where the conversation might go and where each branching could lead. During a conversation, I sometimes end...
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Everything Backwards

April 29, 2026 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #900 May 2, 2026 Recently, everything is backwards for me.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSvdgzwGogU&list=RDjSvdgzwGogU&start_radio=1 I had shoulder surgery, which left my right arm in a sling. I have strict instructions from my surgeon not to "activate my shoulder.” This means no lifting, no pulling, no moving the arm outwards, forward, or back. FYI, I am right-handed, but now effectively left-handed. I can't drive, so Paula drives, and I sit in the right seat of the car, weird. The mouse on my computer desk is on the left side now. The left (regular) click is my middle finger, and the right...
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Precision

April 22, 2026 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #899 April 25, 2026 After I ran Precision Cabinet company,  I worked at Walter and Cline architectural mill. In 1983, the Walter and Cline closed.  Everyone lost their jobs.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC1edPPz6q0   Four of my friends and I signed up at the Anaheim Carpenters’ union and waited for an interview. We all got called to Disneyland. The old-time German foreman hired all of us for the Disneyland Fantasyland remodel. Terry would be the draftsman, Roger would do the field dimensions and cabinet work, Bob would be the hand carver, and I was assigned to do the specialty woodwork. When...
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Clothes Line

April 17, 2026 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode #898 April 18, 2026 My wife and I live in a place with an abundance of sunshine.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmtQ6x1c_yo Several years ago, I bought and installed a rotating clothes line. Paula says that hanging clothes outside in the sun is satisfying, ecological, and fun. The hole I dug for the ground sleeve was narrow, but when filled with concrete, it seemed substantial enough. With the clothesline pole inserted, the contraption was stable. It worked well for drying clothing. We also live on a windy ridge. Winds often gust to 30 or 40 miles per hour. One windy day, I...
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