Ricki Thomas Peter

Rick Thues March 7, 2024 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Episode #788 March 9, 2024 I am small for my age. My father hands me a 32” wooden baseball bat.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O143FLOotUM I test the balance, the bat is heavy. Dad tosses me an easy, arching under-hander. I swing so far under the ball that it strikes the top of the bat and dribbles onto the ground. “Choke up,” says Dad. He walks over to me and says, “Like this,” pushing my grip up from the end of the bat. A practice swing is flat and smooth. Dad tosses another one. I swing hard and true. The bat meets...

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Ricki the child

Rick Thues February 28, 2024 Uncategorized 5 Comments

Episode #787 March 2, 2024 The next several blog episodes are a serialized autobiography of the iMentor. Enjoy.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zT4Y-QNdto A woman screams. Nurses rush to her side. “It’s time,” says one. Another squeezes her hand. It is 2am in Long Beach California. Saint Mary’s Hospital is quiet, except for the delivery room. A wailing tone vibrates around me. A pressure pushes on my feet and knees moving me from my black envelope toward a white light. The pin of light rushes around me with a stabbing flood of cold air. I fly into a bright space and hang for...

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Robots

Rick Thues February 22, 2024 Uncategorized 2 Comments

Episode #786 February 24, 2024 Robots, cyborgs and androids are everywhere.       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc6f_2nPSX8 Walk into your kitchen. There is a computer brain in the stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, coffee maker, rice cooker, microwave and most of the electric hand tools. The computer brain helps the appliance be a better appliance. Some of these computer brains are quite smart. Some refrigerators scan the food you put into them and scan what you take out. They can send you an email when it is time to restock. Some refrigerators can even autonomously place an order to grocery delivery services. This kind...

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Hot Time

Rick Thues February 14, 2024 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Episode #785 February 17, 2024 It was a hot time in the old town that night. One year for Thanksgiving my wife Paula challenged me to make a holiday feast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo8lhYVaMHc I am a great fan of Racheal Ray, the TV cooking personality. One of her shows featured a one hour Turkey dinner. Perfect. We invited 12 of our friends and relatives. The invitation read: “You are cordially invited to a Thanksgiving feast. There is, however, a requirement to attend. Everyone will be the cook. Arrive by 3pm. We will eat at 5.” The menu featured boneless turkey breasts. Myself...

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Old

Rick Thues February 7, 2024 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Episode #784 February 10, 2024 When I was a young man, my given name, Ricki, was mocked by my fellow 5th graders. 5th graders are cruel.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7eB7Wns1-M   I shortened Ricki to Rick. As I grew older my best friends used Ricki as a term of endearment. Yet, for 60 years I have worn the name Rick, not having learned from my friends' kindness. Now, 60 years older, I have embraced my name and introduce myself as Ricki. I like my name, I always have. In the tradition of great prose, my end is my beginning. I was Ricki...

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Stuff

Rick Thues January 30, 2024 Uncategorized 3 Comments

Episode #783 February 3, 2024 Like everyone else, I accumulate an excess of stuff.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q_c160jfBY I bought a shed to store garage stuff. We remodeled the bedroom closet to hold more stuff. The back of the SUV has become useless with all the emergency stuff. Even the Christmas stockings have overflow bags hanging off of them for extra stocking stuff. I have always had a twelve month rule for stuff. There are exceptions. If stuff is stored and I do not use it for twelve months I keep it because it is a holiday decoration, memorabilia, a useful...

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