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.

GO TO ARCHIVE

Author: Rick Thues

Silicosis

March 16, 2023 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #737 March 18, 2023 I have always tried to think a project through from beginning to end. I almost always do a mental walk through and in-depth research to nail down the details. Failure to do so always has consequences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe_jt8Ad-Ho When Paula and I bought our house there was one unsatisfactory feature of the house. The master bathroom had a tub without a shower. In fact, the tub had not been used in years. When I turned on the tub water it ran brown. A shower could not be added because the tub sat under the low slope...
[Continue Reading...]

Freak of Nature

March 8, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #736 March 11, 2023 I am a freak of nature. Evolution has played funny tricks on me.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsewNuhKupk I was at a dental appointment around the age of fifteen. After X-rays the dentist told my parents: “Ricki was born without the seeds of wisdom teeth.” “Is that bad?” asked my father. “It is fairly common for wisdom teeth not to emerge … stay under the gums for a person’s entire life. It is less common for the wisdom teeth to never develop at all.” “What are the consequences?” asked my mother. “It is actually good news since there...
[Continue Reading...]

Memory Retrieval

March 2, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #735 March 4, 2023 Everyone has their own way of remembering. The older we get, the longer recall takes. In part this is because there is more memory to sift through. Also, older brains are less efficient than younger ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddgN9FlEWgU Young people typically don’t have to wait to remember something. The memory simply occurs to them without effort. It is like a movie clip that spontaneously plays back in the rememberer’s head. Like short term memory, the long term memory of youth is available instantly. Their pile of memories is not deep. There is little time during retrieval...
[Continue Reading...]

Insurance

February 22, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #734 February  25, 2023 I am sitting in Craig’s garage being fitted for my first skydiving video camera helmet. It is a plastic helmet with a sheet metal enclosure for my Sony Hi8 video camera. Mounted to the front will be a Canon EOS Rebel SLR still film camera.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhnrvkptDtM My head is draped with plastic as Craig blows foam between my head and the helmet. The acrid smell is overwhelming. A slight pressure presses against my temples. This helmet will fit snugly and solidly on my head. Back home, I mount the video camera into the...
[Continue Reading...]

Luck

February 15, 2023 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode #733 February 18, 2023 Propitious knew a lot about luck. He was impulsive. Planning on the fly and dead reckoning were his typical modus operandi.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VWJzHpEFf8 One winter day Propitious was playing ice hockey with his friends on the neighborhood lake. They had swept the snow off the ice to create a hockey rink and set traffic cones at both ends as goals. A long, cross-rink pass came skittering toward Propitious. He skated to an intersection, raised his stick and swung, hitting the puck solidly. The puck flew inches above the ice only to be slapped aside and...
[Continue Reading...]

Pointing

February 8, 2023 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #732 February 11, 2023 Ogg, Huff and five of their fellow hunters crouched in the brush at the edge of a clearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8ra4joeJhM Ogg pointed into the clearing at a mammoth. The huge wooly creature shook his head, scattering the birds who were picking parasites from behind its ears. The animal bent its curved tusks toward the ground and began grazing on grass. Huff nodded at Ogg and pointed to the other side of the clearing. He made a circular motion with his finger. Ogg moved to his right, running around the edge of the clearing. Two of the...
[Continue Reading...]