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

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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Heat

August 17, 2023 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #759 August 19, 2023 The world wide heat wave has me concerned. Land temperatures under a Spanish heat dome are as high as 140°. Ocean temperatures in Florida exceed 100°.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdxh2tvh9Y8   20,000 people die from heat in Europe on average every year, yet 62,000 died from the effects of heat in Europe last year. Recently US deaths due to heat hit a yearly average of 700 people. Not surprisingly, Death Valley, CA, Big Bend, TX, and Grand Canyon, AZ are responsible for half the deaths in National Parks, because of the heat. Heat is the deadliest type...
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Skydiving road trip – part 6

August 8, 2023 Uncategorized 8 Comments
Episode #758 August 12, 2023 The sixth part of a 6 part series, 2023 skydiving road trip.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imNRmIujsPk Last week's episode (part 5) of this travelogue left us parked for the night behind Skydive Northstar, Minnesota after a Tuesday skydive. It is the next morning (Wednesday). We have only South Dakota left to jump on this trip. I have tried to get in touch with the Hot Springs, SD drop zone for weeks, with no luck. We worry that we will be unable to complete our quest. My iPhone rings, waking me from my rememberings. Skydive Hot Springs is...
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Skydiving road trip – part 5

August 3, 2023 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #757 August 5, 2023 The fifth part of a 6 part series, 2023 skydiving road trip.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5pcOMKtkI0 In part 4 of this travelogue we have just finished visiting Mary and Bob at Skydive Wissota in Wisconsin. We wake to a beautiful Tuesday morning. We are traveling to North Dakota from Wisconsin. Fargo, North Dakota, is our next skydiving stop. Our plan is to stop in Minneapolis for a couple of days while we wait for Skydive Fargo to open on Saturday. We get a text from Mary Bauer suggesting that we take a scenic route on our way...
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