Author: mikemjensen

Aaand they’re Gone

mikemjensen Motorcycles, Utah Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

The First day of spring was a few days ago. Monday actually. It was 73°.

We went on to set a new high temperature of 74°on Tuesday.

My fairer weathered brothers and their motorcycles crawled out of their winter hibernations and we enjoyed the new season’s sun and the warmth. I broke out the lighter jacket and relaxed on the turns, knowing that ice had zero chance of waiting for me on the blind curves.

IMG_20170323_111904096

The Scene leaving the office today.

So today, being Thursday, it snowed.

And again I find myself alone on the road, among the fluffy snowflakes and the temperatures falling back down to 34.

 

Post 3-082

Got Your Ears On?

mikemjensen History, Useless Observations Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Language changes.

I read an article that asked how much of English would I understand even as little as 300 years ago. I would struggle I admit. When I read Shakespeare (written around 400 years ago), it’s a little tough at first to read smoothly but with a little effort it starts to flow.

Even with a reprogramming of my reading comprehensive skills, however, I still run into words and expressions that cause me to rely on the foot notes on the bottom of the page for understanding. The story line I can follow, but unless I lived back then, there’s no way to fully understand the language without someone to explain it.

Today I watched the movie Smokey and the Bandit. Maybe not the most classic movie in cinematic history but it’s a favorite of mine. Only 40 years old, I wonder how anyone not alive and immersed in the 1970’s CB lingo could understand barely anything said.smokey-and-the-bandit-1977-poster

Anyone could follow the simple story line- run from Atlanta to Texarkana, Texas and back, returning with 400 cases of illegal Coors beer at an outlaw’s pace- but the nuances of the conversations would be completely lost. The lunacy and frustration of the nationally mandated 55 mile speed limit has been blurred by time.

I loved and love that movie. It takes me back. As kids, we lived, spoke, and dreamed in the language of the trucks. We knew the difference between a Smokey, a County Mounty and a Local Yokel. We stopped and watched in awe at any Black Trans Am roaring down the road. We argued over which was better, Peterbilt or Kenworth? We 10-4ed, 10-20’d, and occasionally 10-100’d.

The Bandit was our Shakespeare, the CB radio was our language, and the movie is our history.

 

Post 3-081

Me Before Them

mikemjensen cool stuff, Useless Observations, Vanity Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

President Trump signed a bill today, adding manned trips to Mars to the official mission for NASA. In a time when budget hacking are the name of the game, it’s encouraging that space exploration is not dropped to the cutting room floor.

Surrounded by astronauts and law makers at the bill signing, it was suggested that maybe congress could be sent into space. They all laughed and it’s not a thought not too far off from the people’s heart. But why do they get all the fun?

I’d be willing to go to space.Space travel image

I would love to see the blue sky turn black, see the world shrink into a globe, and experience zero gravity. Especially zero gravity. As I mentioned before in a previous post, I create quite the gravitational field and to be free of that would be a godsend to my joints and bones.

And the stars. To see the stars without the haze of the atmosphere and light pollution would be a site I would never forget.

I’m not sure how long it takes for comments such as “shields up” or “engage”, or calling everyone “Number 1” would get old, but I would know by the time I got back.

So if we’re sending anyone to space, sign me up. I can suggest another place for Congress to go.

 

Post 3-081

Balls, On and Off the Court

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Useless Observations, Utah Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I apologize ahead of time for this post. It’s just something that’s been bugging me and I have to get it out.

Along with a national trend, apparently, the University Hospital has been running an advertising campaign leading up to this past week and weekend. “It’s not March Madness; it’s Vas madness!”shamead

This is to encourage all those men who are on the fence about getting a vasectomy to finally do it and it just happens to coincide with the week with the first two rounds of the NCAA college basketball tournament. The encouragement comes in the fact that since you can’t move, walk, or entertain the lady; you might as well sit on the couch and watch basketball. All 48 games in 4 days.

If it so happens that you’re done having kids but haven’t got around to heading the boys off at the pass; it’s the perfect crime but it can only be a one shot deal. I mean if you need personal sterilization to get time off work and a weekend free from yardwork, you will only get away with it once.

Or you can state boldly to both boss and spouse, that you are not going to report to work, cut that lawn, or take out the trash. You stake your claim, express your desires, and hold to your dreams.

But then again if you can’t do that, you might not need the procedure anyway.

 

Post 3-080

Frenchly Done

mikemjensen goals, Life's Truths Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Potential is a French word that means that you’re not worth anything yet.

Motivation is also a French word. It means you haven’t done anything yet.

To reach your potential, skip the motivation and go straight to another French word: Faire.

Faire means to do; to work. Do that and make potential irrelevant.

Some might say life isn’t fair and you get what you get.

I say “faire” makes it right and for all the others, well, c’est la vie.

 

Post 3-079

Space Shoes

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Between my work boots, my work out shoes, my casual sneakers, my sandals, my Sunday go-to-meeting shoes, my flip flops and a few more I’ve probably forgotten; I have too many shoes to tell you where they all are at any given moment.

When the season changes, there ensues a major search to find the needed footwear. I think that maybe my life has become too complicated. Or maybe I’m too simpler.nike-space-shoes-cosmic

There is somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 items in orbit around out planet. Pieces of rocket, satellites, pieces of satellite, and other discarded items spinning around our planet every day. And it’s someone’s job to track it all.

I don’t know what that guy gets paid or how well he does, but if he uses some program to help him out, I want to know:

Is there an app for that? I need some help.

 

Post 3-078

Sorry Charlie

mikemjensen Life's Truths, Vanity Tags: , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

The tuna is known to follow ocean currents. They use the flow of the water to help propel them to greater speeds and thus help the survival of the school. On one hand they are better able to chase down prey and on the other hand to outrun predators. One might even argue that they conserve energy in going with the flow, maybe even prolonging their life from just that fact alone.

The salmon swims up the river, against the current. There’s no real advantage; it’s just the way to get to where they need to go. No protection in numbers. No prey to chase. Only a destination and a lot of work to get there. It will mean the end of their life. Period. It’s in-grain, natural, and unable to be altered.

Some people are tuna. Some people are salmon.tunavssalmon__square

Some go with the flow. They enjoy being with others, with the crowd. There’s stability in a group. There’s a more assured return from a joint effort. They may be only as strong as the weakest link, but they’re only as dumb as their smartest thinker.

The others cannot resist the natural drive to fight their own way through. They stand or fall on their own efforts. They stand alone, only as strong and as enduring as their own resources allow. The journey is the reason they move at all.

I am a salmon.

 

Post 3-077

In One’s Own Universe

mikemjensen Internet, star trek, Useless Observations Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Video on demand is today’s reality.

The days of waiting for your seasonal favorites is a thing of the past. You can watch nearly anything at any time. Binge watching is the thing to do. Don’t wait week by week to see your favorite show, wait till the season is over and watch all the episodes in a row. Or the entire series.

I recently discovered that one of my favorite series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is available on Amazon Prime. And I began watching a few episodes, from the beginning. I guarantee I’ll watch them all.deep-space-nine-concept-sheet-1

I do enjoy Star Trek and enjoy discussing warp cores, Enterprise captains, and space-time continuum at length with fellow Trekies. In fact, discussion such as these makes one feel kind of, well, smart.

However, when you start to watch these shows with a Star Trek Gentile, and you spend way too much time explaining Bajoran/Cardassian politics and how it relates to the Federation and the newly found worm hole; you end up feeling a little bit silly.

 

Post 3-076

Understanding Time

mikemjensen History, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Life's Truths, Utah Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

The current fashion trend, as it would seem, is to have ear buds filling your ear holes.

Everyone is not an exaggeration either; it’s everyone. Either for a phone or a music player, the small ear devices are as important to wear when leaving the house as one’s underwear.  I’m not immune either; I plead guilty to the practice, but like most, I can justify my own reasons.

At my desk is where I’m the guiltiest. While staring at an Excel spreadsheet or scanning through my tasks lists, I like to have a little auditory stimulation. My choice, however, is slightly different than most. I listen to documentaries on YouTube.

My interests are all over the place. I like to keep myself educated on new fishing techniques and political news, fake or otherwise. Other popular topics include the latest on climate change, space exploration, or WWII history. I would be dishonest to not admit that a good portion of my time is spent on weird subjects too, such as ghosts, aliens, and Bigfoot.IMG_20150906_125102_968

Recently I’ve delved into a more grounded topic in geology. How was the Grand Canyon formed? How were the Rockies formed? What did the earth used to look like?

Sending time over the past few years, I’ve found myself lost in this subject. To look at the Grand Canyon or Canyonlands National Park, I’ve wondered how they were formed. So I listen and I learn. I learn of Ice ages, inland seas, and tectonic plates. I see the fossils recovered, the rock layers identified, and the erosion process reveled. It all makes good sense except for the time element.

The lengths of time to cause the necessary effects boggles my mind. The millions or billions of years it requires to make significant change seems to be impossible. I mean even just one million years; how long is that really? My head spins and churns trying to imagine it or come up with something with which to give me perspective on how long that could be.

And then I remember the last time I went shopping with my wife, and it all comes into focus.

Post 3-075

Me, me, me.

mikemjensen Utah, Vanity Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I’m selfish at times. I try not to be but when conditions lend themselves to my favor, I find it hard to wish it otherwise.

Today while the country’s midwest and eastern areas have been experiencing blizzards and deep lake-effect snow, I enjoyed a sunny 72° ride home on the Suzuki.summerinwinter

I did not wish the winter weather upon so many of my fellow countrymen, nor did I do anything to induce or deserved my perfect weather today; yet I absolutely loved it!

And I don’t feel bad either.

 

Post 3-074Me