July 23rd, 2020
“Omo yoran!”, or “Good Morning!” in Nauruan (Ekaiairũ Naoero), a Micronesian language spoken in Nauru. . It is Day 126of the California Lock Down with the governor’s attempts to return to normal continue to be rolled back further everyday as the numbers warrant.
A while back, I posted a question in the EDS Alumni forum on FaceBook…. who were the 3 EDS leaders that helped you become an EDS Leader. For me the toughest part was just naming 3. The way Mort, Ross and others set up the company and the culture that they established created leaders who made everyone a steward of their teammates and their customers. Almost all of the leaders I got to work with contributed to my development mostly by example and OJT. EDS had some very good education programs but to really learn the EDS leadership culture you had to “Walk the Talk” every day. Though the difficultly level of my tasking was never slight, the joy and passion for the work and the people that I got to work with, stretched me and molded me I was a fully vested member of every team that I led, was part of and supported. That posting has received a lot of responses. Some of the commenters couldn’t help listing out the names way beyond the 3 called for in the post.
This week I learned some stuff:
• RBG came home from the hospital and is ok, Whew!!!
• Speaking of Facebook… I considered shutting down my FB identity for the umpteenth time (Flash Back! My mom did not like repeating herself when trying to change my brother and I’ behavior, “For the umpteenth time, pick up your clothes or stop bringing lizards home!”). Anyway, I digress. Oh yeah, thinking of quitting FB. It seems that all too frequently people feel the need to post pictures or videos of animals being mistreated by some cretin or another. In my head, I know that there are bad people doing crappy things to animals everyday. But the only thing that saves me from complete depression about it is that I believe those instances to be rare, quickly discovered and corrected. These posts of these images in FB make it impossible for me to escape the contradictions to my coping mechanisms. I didn’t this time but my tolerance is waning.
• July 23rd is the 205th day of the year (because 2020 is a leap year – but there still only 155 days till Christmas!). In 1885, President Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer; The Communist Party of China (CPC) is established at the founding National Congress today in 1921; On this day in 1962, Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite; In 1982, Outside Santa Clarita, California, actor Vic Morrow and two children are killed when a helicopter crashes onto them while shooting a scene from Twilight Zone: The Movie ; On this day in 1999, Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-93, with Eileen Collins becoming the first female space shuttle commander. The shuttle also carried and deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory; In 2015 – NASA announces discovery of earth like planet, Kepler-452b by Kepler; In 1888, Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter was born today; Don Drysdale, American baseball player and sportscaster was born today in 1936; Anthony Kennedy, American lawyer, Associate Supreme Court Justice and author of the majority opinion in Citizens United vs SEC was also born today in 1936; Ronny Cox, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (Lt Bogomil in Beverly Hills Cop and II) was born today in 1938; as was O.J. Simpson, American football player and actor; Charles Harrelson, American murderer and father of actor,Woody Harrelson was born today in 1938 as it happens Woody was born on the same day in 1961; Tony Joe White, American singer-songwriter and guitarist was born today in 1943;Today in 1965, Slash, English-American guitarist, songwriter, and producer was born; Today is also Harry Potters birthday in 1989, Daniel Radcliffe, English actor; Keith Godchaux, American keyboard player and songwriter died today in 1980; Amy Winehouse, English singer-songwriter today in 2011; And finally, Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut passed away on this day in 2012.
Website Update:
This week we made the following changes:
• Last week for the “New” Vocabulary Quiz!!!
• Week 2 for our “New” UJT Musical Trivia Quiz
• This week I created a recipe for Crispy Roasted Pork using the less desirable pork shoulder cut. I got a great deal on this bad boy at the store and created this great crispy roast and all the roasted pork meat I need for Media Noches and Pork Fried Rice 🙂
Writing, Ceramics and Painting Update:
• This week I have attended a couple of Zoom watercolor classes. I started another Stained Glass training project.
• Grandpa Stories is still not re-published.
Weird-Stuff-O-Meter:
• PVC Piping is kicking my butt!! I am beginning to think it is personal! I have tried to replace a sprinkler valve 3 times now and keep messing up the PVC connections and the blow out treating my neighborhood to a impromptu flood. PVC is about the simplest stuff to work with. You have two clean PVC surfaces and you put the magic goop on both of them equally, push them together and hold them for 30 seconds. Which faithful readers I have done on 3 different occasions. Well, I am not fooling around any more. I am bringing some Adult Supervision! I have asked my grandson BJ to help. That’ll teach em!
Music Update:
Another tiptoe though the archives to share some things you might missed or never have heard or at least not heard recently.
This week’s UJT Radio Program:
• Tedeschi Trucks Band — Everybody’s Talkin’ — This cover of Fred Neil song which Harry Nilsson made a number one hit from the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy is just so soulful it like a different song. My friend double D turned me on to this one and another cut from their 2012, “Tedeschi Trucks Band Live “ album.
• Cake — Sinking Ship — My brother Mike introduced me to these guys and I really liked their sound. This is single released in 2018. Thanks Mike!!
• Mark Knopfler — Coyote — As you know I am a HUGE Mark Knopfler fan but my younger bro is even more so. He turned me on this incredible well produced and played song. This comes from his 2002 release, “Ragpickers Dream”.
• Coldplay — ‘Till Kingdom Come — This song was originally written for a special event with Johnny Cash. He and Coldplay were supposed to sing this together on stage, but Johnny died before it could be arranged. It’s a song about Chris Martin’s religious childhood. This song is a deep cut from their album X&Y released in 2005.
• Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson — Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys — For me this is just pure redneck music with a smile. I love their duet and it’s just a great song from their album, “Waylon & Willie” released in 1991.
• Gordon Lightfoot — Carefree Highway — This is like an old friend I haven’t heard in a long time. Back when I teaching myself guitar and mixing sound for a band, I bought the book and learned how to play this one. This comes from his wonderful, “Sundown” released just as I was exiting the Navy in 1974.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; And always remember … The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!