I don't know; tha't a good question

Some of you will think that this “It’s Saturday” is just a cock-an’-bull story!  And I can understand why you would think that. It is confusing even to me. Our minds are stimulated by all kinds of events and activity; some we can’t even control (e.g. some folks’ brains insist on counting the steps every time they walk up a flight of stairs; there is something about their mind that always wants to keep counting). Why can’t some folks get information (e.g. numbers) out of their mind?  I don’t know; that’s a good question. Soooo continue reading with caution--My kid sister told me this week that I'm an old fuddy-duddy! Take that into consideration.

In our hyper-competitive business and professional world, we would all like to be the one to discover the latest and greatest innovation, the idea we often see products in stores labeled “New and Improved.” Would it not be good to be able to say the same about ourselves and the work we do that no one has thought of before, that would put us on the fast track to success.  A basically conservative friend said to me recently--The liberals are smart folks tooooo; maybe they are right and I am wrong.  Or maybe the conservatives are right and the liberals are wrong.  The liberals and the conservatives are all smart folks (i.e. at least some of them).  How do we know?  I don’t know; that’s a good question my friend.

A friend told me recently that her father recently got a smart phone and now can text his grand kids.  He does it every day giving them advice.  The grand kids sorta kinda laugh about it but they always return his texts.  Do you think grand kids are basically interested in advice from grand dad?  I don’t know; that’s a good question.  Another grand dad told me that he text all his grand kids and told them that he is not going to give them any more money if you can’t say thank you.  He said he got thank yous from all of them right away.  Is the money talking or did they see the point?  I don’t know; that’s a good question.

A missionary/friend wrote this in his weekly article—"We are living in a world today where there are a lot of questions and a lot of different roads which people are choosing to walk down.  Different ideas are floating around and being declared and this is causing a lot of confusion at times.  Which way do I go?  What do I do?  Why is this happening to me right now?  Please help me because I don't understand." Well folks, I don’t know, those are good questions.  One thing I say to folks when they ask me how we are doing is—we are ok, we have options.  We have a lot of options it seems in the culture we live in but not everyone has the same options.  And as a decease friend, Paul, would say--Our decisions have consequences. And guess who gets to make those decisions.  Bingo!

Almost all advertising says—You deserve it!  Do it; you deserve it.  You don’t deserve it folks.  Settle down! Do you really know what you want (e.g. to be a billionaire).  Onesmartperson who works with a heart doctor told me that they see a lot of kids from very rich families that are all screwed up (i.e. they have no heart problems at all).  They are stressed and wacko!  The doctor tells them that they need to get off the couch, eat three meals a day, go to school and exercise—their response is:  I can’t do that! SenorJane says—I don’t need to take illegal drugs to fell crazy; all I have to do is stand up fast!

I read this while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it—"Every time I fly over a large body of water, I imagine opening the window of the jet and pouring out my coffee into the immense body of water below. I imagine the time that I spend on this earth compared to eternity is no more than that cup of coffee. The incredible size of the ocean compared to one small cup of coffee is what our life is like compared to eternity. Why then do we invest so much in temporal pursuits when we know that our investment here can have so much impact on our eternity? It is the great paradox of human behavior, especially for Christians.” I don’t know, that’s a good question.  Maybe folks really don’t believe it or maybe just partly believe (i.e. don’t totally buy into it)!  Must be or wouldn’t we act differently?  JoeBlow says—I have always been a guy to do just enough to get by! “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ― George Bernard Shaw

ItchieBitchie (i,e. a real pilot car) says--But there’s a catch! Are some truths toooo heavy to bare? I don’t know; that is a good question.  If you knew the truth behind the scenes, maybe we would say—Some truths are toooo heavy to bare.  Sooooo we are not told the truth.  LuckieEddie says—I don’t know about that erv!  I tell you what LuckieEddie, you don’t know the truth soooo you will never know what the truth is soooooo you don’t have to worry about it (i.e. maybe our culture doesn’t want you do know the truth—you are much easier to handle and manipulate when the culture just fools you).  Think about that! LuckieEddie, you are soooo easy to fool; the easiest of the easy! Boom, bang, done!

WorldClassLarry says—Ask questions; be engaged.  My Daddy, Chester, always told me to ask questions; it’s one of the best ways to learn; ask questions and then listen.  When in CO I noticed that our daughter had several little notebooks in which she wrote different things down.  I like to do that as well.  What was interesting to me, I noticed Erin, who just completed 5^th grade, also does that too.  Crazy. I wonder where she learned that.  Her Daddy, James, came home from a meeting and gave both of the kids a notebook and two pens.  Interesting. Here is an assignment that I did; it was actually harder than I thought.  I hope you try it.  It is a 38 second video about writing out "what's the best year of your life."   https://www.youtube.com/embed/L2KLfMtIzT4?rel=0

Heather asked me last Thursday when in CO what I wanted to eat that evening (i.e. that was a good question that I knew the answer).  She said--Dad, pick out something you haven’t had for a long time but you really enjoy.  Was that nice or what.  I picked salmon.  James grilled it perfectly.  We also had a greens salad and gourmet mushroom risotto (i.e. I didn’t pick that out; I never heard of that before—very good).  That along with some Earth Pinot Noir wine and some home-made rhubarb/strawberry cobbler alamode.  They really treat me like a king; way better than I deserve.  Although, they did give me a pretty hard time in saying I drank more than my share of wine! Such is life.

When in CO, I gave Erin the opportunity to frame this picture of Arlene when she was teaching many years ago.  I put it on my desk as a reminder of how Arlene was and not as she is now. It was given to us recently by a former student that they found in his sister’s belongings.  Arlene wrote her a note, way back then, encouraging her.  She kept it all those years.  The picture was also in her possession.  It’s also good for Erin to see her grandma in a different way (i.e. a little bit, maybe; my opinion). 

When I was at the Woodworths in CO, I felt just a little bit, maybe, paranoid that they were looking and listening to me. Alexa was listening to my phone conversations and they have a door bell that takes videos of me coming and going.  I didn’t see any hidden cameras and didn’t find any bugs but who knows.  Oh, that modern technology.  I couldn’t get by with nuttin.  Sooooo what is your philosophical truth? What is your virtual reality? Philosophical truth goes back many years, to Socrates and Plato.  They even didn’t agree.  Virtual reality is a more modern term spurred on by technology.  I find both quite interesting to think about. 

Returning home, I am back to my reality, not my virtual reality. Maybe my respite in CO was more a virtual reality.  It is what it is folks.  AverageJoe says—Some folks live in a constant virtual reality but not in a real reality.  That could be AverageJoe.  ANYWAY, I read an article in the Denver Post about reality of San Francisco.  The reality is that it has/is really changing basically all because of wealth of the people who can afford to live there in a city that has been transformed by innovation.  Here are some facts according to the paper—a median single family home is $1.6 million—it’s home to more billionaires per capita than anywhere on Earth, one out of every 11,500—7,500 homeless—lowest per cent of children under 18 of 13.4% of any major city—just about as many dogs as children—it’s urban blight by excess; an elitist city.  Hey folks, money changes things; don’t kid yourself.  Technology changes things; don’t kid yourself. The article said that many think it’s capitalism out of control a.k.a. run amuck. Ouchy ouchy! But others think it’s just good capitalism (i.e. it has always been this way) and some think the article is written by some liberal who promotes socialism. Maybe it depends which side of the fence a person is on.  Now that could be. I don’t know, that’s a good question. I had breakfast with friends who grew up in Butler Co but now live in a suburb of San Francisco (i.e. 38 miles from San Francisco). I asked them to read the article which they did.  I asked them if it is accurate—pretty much but embellished.  erv, you got to remember that this is going on all over the United States and all over the world; it’s not nothing new.  They are probably right; I agree.

I found out that I was the nut.  Some CA trivia about the almond nut that my CA friends told me.  I sorta kinda questioned them soooo I goggled it.  I should not have questioned them, these are some smart folks (i.e. good folks with good hearts; real folks), but it sounded tooooo crazy.  Each almond nut takes 1.1 gallons of water to produce.  The almond nut in CA (i.e. CA raises 82% of the globe’s almonds—70% sold over-seas) is controversial with the water shortage (i.e. very popular because they are sooo good for you).  Sooooo folks, I like almonds and when I buy a two-pound package of almonds, according to goggle, it takes 3,800 gallons of water to produce.  Some time back I researched how almonds are harvested.  I watched a YouTube. Very interesting.  Actually sorta kinda crazy.  Actually sorta kinda funny.  I laughed anyway. But you got to remember, I’m the nut! Such is life.

Ya gotta be from somewhere! And ya going to end up somewhere! Luther, my couz, who grew up in Roseland, goes to the little Roseland Reformed Church cemetery just east of the church each Memorial Day morning; has done it for years.  He always sends me a pic of our parents’ gravestone. His parents, John and Sadie Dykema, our parents and our Dykema grandparents are all buried there along with 7 of the other 11 siblings.  Yep, Gert and Nick had 13 kids; yes, I have a lot of Dykema cousins.  CouzLuther is a good person with a good heart; a real person.  He has done well with his life.  Our grandchildren seem to have a good start in life; but yagottafinish! Our parents who died at age 56 and 57 never got to see their grandchildren or see how their kids did in life. Some of you get to see many of your great grand children grow up.  Is that fair? I don’t know; that’s a good question. The only thing that’s fair is the Butler County Fair and that is in June. Such is life.

MN-EngineerKenThePung, an old golf buddy/friend from MN by way of AZ told me about how his summer is going—No polka practice yet; No practice until a week from monday. Hi from mary. Golf with 4 other guys who all worked at cedar creek golf course here in albertville.once a week is enough. Had both shoulders shot with cordisone when we got back from az. Working well, but hasn't helped my score. Still bohgie golf with a few pars thrown in. And life goes on with whatever life bring even if we like it or not MN-EngineerKenThePung! I asked him what his favorite polka song was--In heaven there is no beer or wooden heart. I am not made of wood and i dont have a wooden heart. IA Hawkeye band plays, In heaven there anin’t no beer that’s why we drink it here, after every home football win.  It’s tradition.  Fun!

My CA friends told me that they live close to the Central Valley (i.e. a valley about 400 miles by 50 miles) which produces most of the agriculture products. I believe all of it is irrigated.  They said the high majority of all the physical work is done by Mexicans (i.e. legal and illegal migrant workers). They have no problem with that; they work hard (i.e. Americans won’t do this work) and are very loyal to their families.  And on Sunday, most go to church and worship God; they have a blind faith; not like most Americans. Huh, interesting.

I went to Le Peep in Littleton for breakfast one morning when in CO. I ate my oatmeal while reading the Denver Post (i.e. I enjoy this).  There were a couple of guys probably about my age at the next table.  They were talking about all their aches and pains and diseases.  Also, they talked about how they can’t do very much anymore and when they do, they need a long recovery time.  It made me want to go home and take a nap, but I went back to the house and changed my clothes and hiked on Mt. Falcon (i.e. one of my favorite hikes) in the cold and wet. Maybe they were in their reality and maybe I was in my virtual reality.  What do you think? I don’t know; that’s a good question. RickieRick says--Use it or lose it.

I’m ending this “It’s Saturday” the same way a friend ended his email to me explaining his opinion on a situation that both of us have an interest.  Ready?  I reserve the right to correct and deny all above statements.....😐just kidding!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says--He who teaches his child to live on small means has left him a fortune,