Just realized that some of this tall tales stuff is posted here, under articles, and some prior stuff is under Stories - Sorry - too much trouble to move, because of stats, etc.
Anyway, here is the next installment on what I'm calling Book 2 ... hope you find something of interest.
i also hope that something herein will cause you to take the time to go read the other Authors stuff!
5 T - B 2 - P 3
© - Tom Hyland -
02-26-09 to 03-03-09
RE: My - SIGNALS -
2/26/2009
Mr. Ed
Have you ever thought about the fact that you have been so pre-conditioned, for so many years, that by sheer habit - you TRUST them with your life?
We are quite foolish, aren't we! And besides traffic signals, we have railroad crossing signals and barrier gates. I once sat very impatiently at a railroad crossing, and when that gate finally lifted, I gunned it, and I barely made it across before a train almost nailed me going the opposite direction. I guess there was a malfunction on that train's track. Now, when that gate goes up, I sit, and I very cautiously look both ways - no matter how many impatient people are waiting and honking behind me. Ed.
ED - great point! Railroad Signals ...
I thunk it - but then, forgot to include - which now reminds me of airplanes and other transportation signals!
Remember the movie - "Pushing Tin" - with John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton? SCARY!
Years ago, as the General services Manager at a local Consulting Engineering firm, I was in charge of the Technical Engineering Library, and read a National Highway Transportation Board Report on a devastating PILE-UP on a Bridge down in Tennessee somewhere. FOG was always the culprit, caused by a near-by chemical plant exhausting fumes from its stacks - many people had died through many years, but the Engineering EX-SPURTS had no clue what to do!
After spending hours pondering the dilemma, I came up with a sensible, low-cost solution to the problem which would have saved lives! And, included rough hand drawings - But, the Partner of our firm in charge of the Transportation Department just dismissed it with a wave of his hand - I was but a mere layman - what could i know?
I did send a copy to the Secretary of Transportation of the State of Tennessee - never heard a word - not even an acknowledgement, thank you, or By-Your-Leave - or Kiss my What-a-call-it!
"What Fools these mortals be!"
PAL - Tom.
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2/26/2009
Flying Fox Ted L Glines
Rock on, Tom!!!!!!! Gotta love the part about the politician. Ain't it the truth!!!
You know, we grow so dependant upon the signals always being there. Then, one day, something changes. And the change kills us. We coulda shoulda woulda paid attention ...
Ted
TED -
shoulda - coulda - woulda - indeed !
TK
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2/26/2009
John Martin
Well put together. Then again, Tom, there's difference between the politician and a bucket of .... The difference of course is the bucket.
JOHN - now, now ... be Civil !!!
You know that those poor miscreants just can't help themselves!
Born with a veritable silver spoon in their mouths - edju-macated at an Ivy League college like Princeton or Yale, then on to Harvard Law School - raised with the best of everything that a Bootlegger Father can provide - have 'arranged' marriages with rich debutantes, whose Daddies own huge Fruit businesses, like maybe Dole Pineapples, or Heinz 57 Varities - constantly drilled with practicing how to get your hand out of the cookie jar without getting caught!
They are co-erced into crooked politics at a young age in a big city, like maybe Chicago - Never have any provable transactions with crime boss figures - groomed into learning about back door deals, lobbying, ear-marking, all by the established pros already in office - taught how to raise money for campaigns by arm-twisting and mud-slinging -
Ultimately becoming glib-tongued Masters at Gooble-De-Gook Bull-S**t -
Yes, John, it is almost a Shame! If they weren't such despicable liars, one might actually feel sorry for them - almost - not quite!
"There, but for the Grace of God, go I" -
to paraphrase John Denver -
thank god i'm not a politician !!!
PAL = Peace - Abundance - Love ... Tom.
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2/26/2009
Jnia Fowler
Yes. Love it when you spew your pearls. LOL Here are several others. Fear...alerts us to danger. Red flags...alert us to danger. Grey hairs...alert us to the passing of time. I enjoyed this but then that isn't new. Hugs, J'nia
J'NIA - WOW! More good signals - thank yew!
Can't think of the new movie title where the guy gets Younger - but - think that's happening to me!
WHY? Altho' plenty of grey hairs on head and face, am just starting to get some adult black hairs on arms, legs, and chest -
Could it be a Second Poo-berty?
Or - just I'm drinking more H2O ???
PAL - Tom.
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RE: Randall Barfield’s Blog - REWIND -
RANDY - some good points - BUT ...
When I was a young teenager, my older sister and her three kids moved back in with Mom & Dad & me.
5 of us in one big bedroom - no privacy - plenty of bitchin' & moanin' - no picnic - trust me!
been there - done that!
And, while "We The People" are being so Noble -
Just what in GOD's Holy Name are all the politicians doing?
They don't have a noble bone in their bodies!
NOR do the: Bankers, Wall St. Crooks, Mortgage Investment Crooks, CEO's, Detroit BIG 3, and ALL the friggin' LAWYERS in America!
FOOTNOTE: Today, on National Public Radio, they EMPHASIZED that EXXON made more money last year than any company in the history of MONEY !!!
NOBLE ? SCHMOBEL !!!
Peace - Tom.
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RE: my - Mobile AUTOS -
2/27/2009
Jnia Fowler
This is very interesting and informative. Reminds me reading about autos which did not include planned obsolescence. Have you seen the video/documentary "Whatever Happened to the Electric Car?" Well worth seeing. Hugs, J'nia
J'NIA - Thanks!
YEP - watched it over a year ago & recommended it to all I know!
It was "WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR" !!!
Have hated GMC ever since! Those lying creep ceo's knew exactly what they were doing!
Have believed that Detroit was in bed with petroleum since
Day one!
Hope they all go 'belly up' -
PEACE - Tom.
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RE: Mr. ED’s - Foreclosed Pets - what a STINKO MESS!
ED - makes me think of WARREN BUFFET & all the BILLIONS he gave to BILL GATES - for what? to my knowledge, most of the $ is helping African people out ?
What ever happened to 'Charity begins at home?"
How about all those CEO's donating some of the millions they've been sockin' away for years?
Or maybe a letter to good ole EXXON - biggest annual intake since the dawn of history & money!
May God protect the poor abandoned animals - because man won't!
Tom.
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RE: My - GREEN Education -
2/27/2009
Mr. Ed
First, those gas-guzzling, fossil fuel burning, toxic air polluting buses. When I was a kid, back in good old Chi-Town, many, many moons ago - we all rode Electric Trolley Buses - to get around the city. They didn't burp or belch out one tiny toxic fume, although every once in awhile, the long pole atop the bus would come loose from the wire above the street, and the driver would have to get out, and re-attach it. We could have stuck it out with those; imagine how much cleaner our air would be today, especially if wind turbines now produced that electricity.
As for attending college at home, I think your wish here is gonna come true for future generations. But what an abysmal polluted world it will be - humans of the future may do most everything inside concrete walls - on their home computers - shop, attend class and church - and yet, sadly wonder - why their forefathers allowed the air to get so bad outside - that no one ever ventures outdoors anymore.
Glad I'll be long gone by then.
EDJU - down here they were called trackless trolleys - and they still had the big bells like their predecessors that went - "Clang, clang, clang went the trolley! "
Just watched a really scary paid ad on TV this morning - DR. Mike Evans - pushing his new book - "Jimmy Carter & the Liberal Left & Chaos" -
all about why & how - islamo-fascism started and why USA must support Israel ...
CONCRETE BUNKERS - not far off!
PAL - Tom.
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2/27/2009
John Martin
It's coming Tom.. actually well on it's way. The virtual classroom is being perfected and of course there are on-line schools and programs. However, there is something terribly wrong with curriculum being taught our schools for the last forty years. Just look at what our congress and corporate Ivy leaguers have done to this country. I think their mothers should contact the colleges and get their money back, cause them people didn't learn nothin.
Dear John: ?- Oh My! What an infamous salutation! Got one of them thar letters while in Basic Training down in Fort Knox, Kentucky back in ’60.
You are SO right, young man - both the curricula and the curriculum leave much to be desired! Somehow, they cause a misplaced sense of Truth, when those SUCKERS we call politicians (morticians would be a Better Label - my Apology to Honest Morticians) make up their Curriculum Vitae to be submitted prior to being elected. I have often wondered if perhaps the solitary paramount Course that they engage in might be LIAR’S POKER!
Oh, no - my good fellow - Au Contraire - their silver-spoon brandishing Mommies and Daddies got their investments back One-Hundred-Fold - what with their ‘kiddies’ Larnin’ income-producing stuff like: Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Graft Reception, Lobbying Pocketing, How to Sneak in Earmarks, Pork-Barreling, Gerrymandering, Mud-slinging, How to Plead the Fifth Amendment, and so on, and so forth! GEE - what a Surprise!
Somehow, I seem to have gotten just a tad CYNICAL in my old age!
Peace - Tom.
2/27/2009
Jnia Fowler
I have heard my husband refer to the recent notion of having electronic classrooms in the valley where we live. He has two objections to this proposal.
One, his courses and the setting of exams take approximately 100 hours to write. The course cannot be copy writed so in theory, they could be taught all over the world and he receives no monetary benefit for all his hard work, not to mention the years it took him to earn his doctorate so that he would have enough knowledge with which to teach it in the first place.
Secondly, the spontaneous interaction between students and their instructor would not be available. His suggestion and I think it's a pretty good one, is to have all University courses held in the evenings and perhaps in the wee hours of the night in the elementary and senior high schools which are already there and sitting empty. The old university buildings could be used for housing and the land around them for garden plots where people who live in apartments could go a plant their own crops. That won't eliminate the school bus problem tho and your suggestion of the use of jitnies is great. I think electric cars are the way to go. Great write with lots to ponder. Hugs, J'nia
Dear J’nia - thank you for such a lengthy and informative response!
Let me address your Hubby’s Second objection first - they say that “Great minds think alike!” - I have often thought similar ideas of a more efficient use of empty buildings, such as Schools: - to house the Homeless - to house Veterans and their Families (when the vet has abandoned them because of PTSD, or such) - to house poor old decrepit, broke Senior citizens instead of their meager SSA funds being confiscated by the State!
And his concept of using the huge acreages of College and university campuses is tremendous - especially for the practical use of communal crop growing!
I worked for seven years at the Homewood Campus of Johns Hopkins University, here in Downtown Baltimore - and what a magnificent treasure it is! Original old buildings from the late 1800’s, newer matching facades from the 1900’s, and more modern, but matching ALL BRICK buildings from the 2000’s - all with expensive SLATE roofs, and multiple Dormers, and Cupolas galore! A Landscaping and Lawn Maintenance Staff and Equipment par excellence - every blade of grass maintained immaculately! Colorful trees and shrubs, all bedecked with Bronze Nameplates! The President’s Residence, nestled in trees, with a small pond and water fountain adorning the front main entrance, along with a private separate rear entrance, for Dignitaries to arrive!
AH - YES - MONEY does not just speak - it SHOUTS OUT LOUD! The downtown Broadway Campus has never been without Construction Cranes hovering high amidst the skyline - for years, and years, and years! Expansion! Growth! Billions of dollars! All to an entity that enjoys a tax exempt non-profit status!
JHU is only second to the state of Maryland, as largest employer in this state! MD = about 65,000 employees, and JHU about 45,000 - its sister non-profit, Johns Hopkins Hospital, has been the Citadel of medicine for the world, for many, many years - rich foreigners constantly bringing their sick to our shores require the use of a large interpreter staff!
Sprawling over-taking of the local neighborhood has been occurring for many years also! Back in the late sixties, when Medicare was but an infant - anyone with money, like: doctors, professors, assistant professors, associate professors, could purchase an abandoned three-story row-home (now called townhouses) for a mere pittance of One Dollar - with the pre-requisite of putting a mere Twenty-Five Thousand into Renovation! AAAH - the Good Old Days!
As to Hubby’s First objection - while I can sympathize with his feelings about Copy-Right Infringement, I can not empathize, because I’ve never made a plugged nickel yet!
While I do agree with the principle involved, I don’t have any perfect answer. Mayhaps some kind of new law could be passed which might somehow guarantee some form of payment of Royalties?
Just like the current battle being waged on the internet about MUSIC PIRATING - at just what point does anything become PUBLIC DOMAIN?
When one thinks long and hard about the topic of Writing, and Authorship in general - what is Communication, if not the use of Language, by reading that which was printed and/or published in the past, garnering an idea from someone else’s wit, massaging it a tad, and then - VOILA! Someone else has a Best Seller, via the use of paraphrase, or simile, or metaphor, obtained from the building blocks of others, who have gone before!
Like I said in my little treatise - some kinks would need to be worked out by the: ex-spurts - egg-heads - and rocket scientists - and, by George, they are certainly qualified with Grey-Matter to do so!
Peace - Abundance - Love = PAL … Tom.
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RE: Matlack’s - Virgin White -
RUFIE & ED - be careful out there! I went out and cleaned my car off at 9:00 am, took 1/2 hour - even with gloves on, my finger tips were almost frozen - with wind chill, about 9 degrees!
Drove out of park, over bridge, only about 1 mile - hazardous. got cigs at Royal Farm, then crossed Back River Bridge, slid sideways even with front wheel drive - almost smacked into curb - made a u-turn and came back home.
Called work and told them not coming in unless they have EMERGENCY delivery. Eastern Avenue is a main thoroughfare, and had NOT been salted. All main side streets in Essex - NOT DONE - how can you deliver prescriptions to sick people if you can't reach their homes? Same thing every storm - they NEVER do side streets, which remain hazardous for 2-3-4 days!
Called the full-time driver who did go in - said terrible out there - he is trying to do a couple - then going back home - this was about 9:30 a.m.
Wrecking your car will not help future needed deliveries for the rest of the week!
Peace - Tom.
FOOTNOTE: 4 hours later, after allowing the salt trucks and snow-plows time to catch up with the storm’s second phase - went out to ‘test the waters’ so to speak - Eastern Ave clear as a bell - Mace Ave - ditto - when I walked into work, everyone was surprised to see me. Loaded up bags for six different nursing homes and did my duty. Returned and picked up a second run’s work, and finally finished around 6 p.m. and 90 miles traveled.
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RE: Matlack’s - Winters Storm on The Bay -
ED - BRAVO! This is absolutely one of your finest writes!
The first verse in itself is superb!
5-5-3-5 ... the creative use of Repetition ...
A good rhyming scheme - along with a truthful moral - WOW!
TK ...
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