Japanese Eye Witness Account

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), ReBlog Tags: , 2 Comments

GP's avatarPacific Paratrooper

Captain Mitsuo Fuschida Captain Mitsuo Fuschida

Capt. Mitsuo Fuschida, Imperial Japanese Navy, pilot

Fuchida was the first pilot to fly over Pearl Harbor when the attack of 7 December occurred – here he describes his view of the Battle of Midway from the deck of the IJN Akagi;

“The first enemy [U.S.] carrier planes to attack were 15 torpedo bombers.  When first spotted by our screening ships and combat air patrol, they were still not visible from the carriers, but they soon appeared as tiny dark specks in the blue sky, a little above the horizon, on Akagi’s starboard bow.  The distant wings flashed in the sun.  Occasionally one of the specks burst into a spark of flame and trailed black smoke as it fell into the water.  Our fighters were on the job and the enemy again seemed to be without fighter protection.

IJN Akagi IJN Akagi

“Presently a report came in from a Zero…

View original post 795 more words

Speed Kills

mikemjensen Football, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Vanity, Writing Tags: , , , Leave a comment
Speed Kills

#21 Cliff Branch

Hey Kids,

Speed Kills.

So stated a banner that I remember hanging in the Oakland Coliseum as I watch football games with my dad back in the 70’s and early 80’s. I knew what it meant. Everyone knew what it meant. Number 21, Cliff Branch, was on the field and if you blinked, he’d be catching the ball behind you.

Cliff Branch was quieter than many of the other players on the team. But at any time, he could be heard. With lighting speed, he could go from in front of the defense to the back of the end zone. Let your guard down for a second and he’d be gone, with the ball, scoring 6 on you. He was always that deep threat; on any down, at any point of the game, and at any yard marker.

Speed Kills. That slogan and banner will forever be stuck in my mind. Possibly the plague of every Raider fan.

Today I listened to a presentation given to studying entrepreneurs. At the end of the talk, the professor of the class asked the people in the room to repeat the one biggest thing they took from their guest speaker, Gary Vaynerchuk (Jets fan). Before anyone said a word, the words “Speed Kills” echoed in my head.

One of “Gary V’s” points during his chat with these student included that moving forward, moving quickly, is what gives him the advantage. Businesses become slow as they grow, they become careful, cautious, and methodical. Exploit it and be the sleek, speedy predator that you can be (my words). That concept resonated with me. I alone control my pace. I’m in charge of my rate of work. It can be my advantage, should I decide to take advantage of it.

I understand that speed is not everything by itself; you do have to catch the ball. Likewise skill and quality also count. But anyone can attain those attributes if they’re slow and careful enough.

But Speed Kills.

It is time to pick it up.

 

 

Day 16

A Ticket By Any Other Name

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Vanity Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hey Kids,

I saw today that Nevada is considering a speed limit change on some of their more remote highways. They are proposing an increase to a posted 85MPH.

I like Nevada and don’t find the landscape as god-awful as many others will decry, but I do think the faster one can move from one point to another in the long stretches of the high mountain desert, the better. It’s always best to leave people wanting more. However, I do feel slighted by this change.

Back in 1984, I received a ticket for going 68 in the posted 55 outside of Elko. There are some who still feel that 55 is the right speed limit, but those people have never traveled I-80 form Salt Lake to Reno. The fact that I could contain my speed to 68 is actually amazing. I say ticket, but in reality it was a citation. A non-moving citation. Let me explain.

The state of Nevada knew that 55MPH was a mistake, maybe borderline cruel. Everyone knew it. Unfortunately, Nevada also knew that if they did not adhere and enforce the Federal mandated inane speed limit, they would cease to receive highway money. So someone, either the Nevada Highway Patrol or maybe state elected officials, created another option.

Instead of issuing tickets for every offender, tickets that could be costly and added points onto the driver’s record, NHP officers could, under certain guidelines, issue a Waste of Fuel Citation. It meant that they were enforcing the speed limit as mandated but without the heavy handed penalties. If one really wanted to, you could rack a few of these up and go a little faster. My citation cost me $15. Had I been going 70, I would’ve got a ticket.

It still irks me that on a stretch of highway now posted for 80 and possibly 85 soon, I had to pay $15 for speeding. I was making a teenager wage of $4.25; it was not chump change for me at the time. Afterwards, I kept the speedometer in the 1977 Camaro 64 or under and avoided any additional legal entanglements.

Maybe I was safer for it. Maybe I saved fuel. Maybe I wrecked the planet a little less that day. But it made for a long drive back to California.

 

I Can't Drive 55

I Can’t Drive 55

Day 15

Staying Grounded

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

imagesHey Kids,

Today was the first real day with Daylight’s Savings time in play. It’s so shocking how long the afternoon and evening stretch that first day against a regular week day schedule.

I remember those days when I was a kid. They always got me into trouble. As kids, we learned to use the afternoon against the decreasing sunlight to judge when to get within range of our parents calling us home for dinner from the front porch. Every year, on that first Monday, my light sensors would be out of calibration against the new time settings, enough to leave me out just a little too long, miss the call for dinner, and wind up grounded for the rest of the week.

So today what did I do? Unlike years long gone, I was part of the dinner making process and therefore could not be called in late for it. So, as the other worker bees filed out of their work hives and the freeways filled with their cars buzzing home for their own dinner calls, we went mini-golfing late into the extended afternoon.

We had BLT’s when we got home and no grounding was necessary.

 

Day 14

 

Today’s Escape

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

untitled (3)Hey Kids,

Movies are an escape well worth the price of a ticket.

On this Sunday afternoon, it seemed to be a good idea to take advantage of such an escape.

We laughed and enjoyed a fun continuation of a story from a previous movie. (A sequel). And the best nugget came in the last words of the movie.

“Time is the best Present”

Or something close to that.

I seem to keep hearing this theme:

Do it. Do it now. Take advantage of now. The past is gone. The future may never be. Live today.

Working on it.

 

 

Day 13

 

Fair Play

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

Hey Kids,

First weekend in March. What we do is dependent on the weather.

On the eastern side of this country this year- well, it’s damn cold and snow bound. You’re going to have to wait. That’s a shame but not tragic.

Here in the western part, at least the Intermountain area, we are warm and dry. We had some snow recently and the mountains are still under 8 feet of it; but today, here in the lower valley, we’re looking at 50’s to 60’s and sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine.

Sometimes it’s the opposite and we’re the cold ones. In fact, next week it could all turn around. And then again on the following week, it could all be different again.

It’s springtime. It’s how it works. No whining allowed. Everybody gets some, sometime. Just wait your turn.

Spring brings out the motorcycles.

Today they have been rumbling and winding up and down the streets and highways. Many out for their first time this spring.

They’ll be bragging about their “great rides” and how “what a wonderful day it was to ride” and some will even be mocking those who did not get their bikes ready or still felt it too chilly to ride.

Oh bragging rights will be claimed. Other riders will be shamed. And a false sense of heroism might be expressed.

I have just a few words for those whose “First Flight” this weekend makes them think they have entered the Early Bird Club of Motorcycling. Six words to be exact.

“Where were you in January, bitches?”

 IMG_20150106_090731_971-1

 

 

Day 12

 

Electric Motorcycles

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

Hey kids,

Are electric motorcycles really the future? I watched a video on a new electric motorcycle that looks like it might be.

The motorcycle, the Lightning LS-218, is a head turner. It owns a land speed record and won the Pikes Peak Hill Climber over all the other gas manufacturers.ls-218-specs-graphic2

There are questions of range on electric vehicles and this bike has not answered them yet. Here in the desert, best case scenario of 150 miles is not a long range. The need to charge and go still needs to be addressed.

Electricity is not free either. Power comes from hydro electric dams (deemed bad for the environment), coal burning electric plants (deemed evil), power lines (unsightly), solar panels (geographically impossible to have enough), wind turbines (death for raptures and unsightly), geothermal (never mentioned anymore), etc. Are emissions out of the tail pipe better than those emitted out of factory stacks out of sight?

But if performances of the electric bikes begins to out shine the gas engines, if their purchase price makes them affordable to the masses, and if the range issues are answered; and I imagine these all will happen, electric powered bikes and cars will happen.

Bring them on. It’s not really the CO2 that I need to have a good ride; it’s life on the road from atop two wheels.

 

Day 11

City Slickers

mikemjensen Utah Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Photo%20of%20SLC%20downtownHey Kids,

I saw a news story today that says that Utah is the most urban state in the union. As in, the highest percentage of the population lives in cites as opposed to rural areas.

As a member of the city dwellers, I am still surprised by this until you really think about it.

One- Whenever you think of percentages, it’s always tricky. With Utah around 3 million, opposed to California with almost 40 million, numbers can be deceiving. 5% of Utah does not equal 5% of California. Or Texas. Or New York. Or 32 other states.

Two- The majority of Utahns live along the Wasatch Mountains, tucked between the quick rise of the mountains and the edge of the western desert. Water is available. Infrastructure is built. The amenities of city life are readily available.

Three- This is awesome. It means that within a short drive, one can leave behind the 2.1 million people of the Wasatch Front and disappear into the wilderness. Much of the land is federal land, national parks, state parks, mountains, lakes, and desert valleys. It’s easy to disappear into a personal adventure.

For a bunch of city slickers, we have quite the playground.

 

 

Day 10

 

Surrounding History

mikemjensen History, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Porter Rockwell Tags: , , , Leave a comment

broadwayHey kids,

Last Sunday we went to the movies, one that I had not been to in some time, Broadway Cinema, downtown Salt Lake City. State Street and Broadway to be more precise. It’s a unique theatre, so much different from the ones built nowadays. Tucked away between buildings, it’s barely noticeable and within the company I escorted, only I knew of it. For me, it holds some nostalgia and some history.

It is where I watched the Return of the Jedi on its original opening run in the early 80’s. I’m not sure what winds your clock, but that’s some history in my neighborhood.

But the site played host to at least one more nugget of historical events that shrouds them all. At least in my book. State Street and Broadway, a time ago, represented the address of the Colorado Stables. Owned by Mr. Porter Rockwell. It is in these stables that Rockwell met the end of his trail, dying on a cot in the back office.IMG_20150304_213936_017-1

I wonder as I look at the surrounds, how many people know that? How many people who would care to know that, know it?

I wonder how many historical ghosts I pass daily unaware.

Is it important to remember the past? I vote yes.

 

Day 9

An Angry Bird

mikemjensen Vanity, Worthless Observations, Writing Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

images (3)Hey Kids,

I’m not exactly angry, but kind of sick of the crap.

I joined Twitter some time ago, several years ago. Long enough that many told me they didn’t “get” Twitter and how weird it was. Since then it has obviously blossomed to incredible numbers of people and incorporated into everyday life.

I did have a motive; I joined Twitter to connect with other writers, publishers, and people in the know of writing. The links and conversations taught me a ton about the publishing world and the world of writing, which are not the same.

I never thought of Twitter as the means to sell tons of books. It was not my advertising scheme. I hoped and still hope to connect with people who might be interested in my work. And I do announce when my work is available or on special but because its part of my life, not as a campaign. People will come along, if it is natural that they do. I’m OK with that. But many people will come along that won’t be “customers”, I’m OK with that too. Bottom line, Twitter was not my personal Buy My Books channel.

google+-logoI slowed and stopped with Twitter and moved more to Google + for similar reasons. But I found it connected me with different groups of people and not so much publishers/editors/writers. I’ve enjoyed it and the people I have met and befriended there.images (2)

I also expanded to Facebook to be more connected to family and family connections.

Today I re-launched, if you will, into Twitter. I saw many people still there that I was happy to see remained. It was like returning home.

I want to connect. I want to meet people who are beyond my normal sphere of influence. Each platform brings a different group and style. I like the different flavors.

Now to what makes me angry- I hate people who see Social Media as their “commercial” time. That because we connected, they are free to unleash their marketing campaign upon me. These people need to be fair warned- the interruption-based ad world is crumbling. We don’t have to put up with anyone. Social media is for us, the people. It’s a wonderful thing and the greatest part about it, is we get to control it.

Marketers need not follow nor apply.

 

Day 8