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

Wild Animals

September 28, 2023 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode #765 September 30,2023 San Diego Zoo Safari Park (formerly known as San Diego Wild Animal Park) is located in Escondido, California in San Diego County.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xKLBne1CoI The park is 3 square miles of mountain chaparral. The natural landscape is composed of Chamise, Manzanita, Red Shank, various brush, an infinite mix of wildflower ground cover and boulders. Below the park is a fertile valley and the sprawling suburbs of Escondido. Safari Park is divided in half with the eastern side being natural savannas and plains. The western half is composed of walking trails in a more traditional zoo setting....
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Ass-u-me

September 21, 2023 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #764 September 23, 2023 My first job was at Foster’s Freeze. I was hired to clean up. Being raised in the 60’s I was never really taught to clean. My mother was a stay-at-home mom. Cleaning was her job. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lk2KHajp4Y I was taught to always seek clarity when performing a task.  I plagued my new boss with questions. “What should I clean?” “Everything.” “Where is the broom?” “In the broom closet.” “Where is the mop?” “In the broom closet with everything else for cleaning.” “What cleaning products should I use on the floor? On the counters? On the ice...
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Falling

September 13, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #763 September 16, 2023 We are always in a state of freefall.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVPrCdChOAk Walking and running is the act of continually falling and catching one’s self. When walking we shift our body mass to the leading foot, falling forward. The leading foot catches our fall allowing us to pivot and swing the trailing foot forward. And so it goes, falling forward onto the right, then left, then right foot again and again. Running exaggerates the walking fall. Higher speed, greater impact requires better balance and spontaneity, but it is falling all the same.  We fall horizontally in our...
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Captain Candles

September 6, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #762 September 9, 2023 Captain Candles would slop the paint on. He trawled on the mud, threw on the gravel, glass or mirror shards.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtAra24ybKo The Captain sculpted with a broom. When he painted, he slapped the surface with a masonry brush loaded and dripping with white paint. He threw glitter at some of the wet white paint. The Captain never painted inside the lines. “That’s some technique!” I said to Captain Candles. “It looks like shit from close up, don’t it?” he replied. A little sheepishly I whispered, “Yea…” “Take a dozen steps back. Over there, kid.”...
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Step Back

September 1, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #761 September 2, 2023 I find myself focused on the minutiae.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FTj1Ocmrs What are the individual steps of a project? What did she mean with that comment? Who is representing my political party in this election? Sometimes it is best that I step back and look at the bigger picture. Then I ask big picture questions. What is the point and purpose of this project? What will the project look like when it is complete? There will be time to list the steps of the project once it is well conceived. She only made that comment in response...
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Time Travel

August 25, 2023 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #760 August 26, 2023 My first Time Machine was a VCR. It was an alien machine born of the technology of the time.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYX52BP2Sk The face of the VCR flashed 12:00 - 12:00 - 12:00 - 12:00 - 12:00 - 12:00… The technology was so new that I did not know how to stop the message. My niece Mary Lynne, who was 10 years old at the time, said to me: “Uncle Rick, your VCR flashes 12:00.” “Yes it does Mary Lynne,” I replied. “Can you fix that for me?” She dashed back to the living room. There...
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