Month: September 2023

Cavemen technology was like rocket science back then

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I have always been fascinated by the process of evolution.  Its amazing how technology has advanced through inventions and discoveries.

The first systems of writing can be traced back to 3400 BC but this was not a unique occurrence.

Over the next two thousand years, at least three other full writing systems were invented independently in different parts of the world.  Inventions can also be traced back to multiple origins.

The blast furnace was invented independently in Africa, China and Europe.  Magnetism was discovered independently in Greece, China and India. 

In the field of chemistry, oxygen was discovered by multiple independent scientists across the globe. Its hard to swallow that all these multiple discoveries and inventions were just coincidental examples of serendipity.  

I wonder if humans are destined to evolve from cavemen to rocket scientists and beyond in a pre-programmed way. Perhaps is there something coded in our DNA which precipitates discoveries and inventions when we are presented with the right combinations of data and physical elements. Whoever manages to crack that code will discover the meaning of life.

We look back in history and deem our ancestors to be primitive but they were all at the peak of groundbreaking technology for their time.  We will seem equally primitive today by those who will look back on us thousands of years from now.  

Recently I saw a rocket launched from the Wallops space center. I was in awe for a few moments but soon after returned to my daily tasks as if I had just seen something routine.  Rocket science is not rocket science if you are a rocket scientist.  

Live your life with meaning……….SLOWLY

Ian Hunter1 Comment

sometimes we move way too fast

running from home to the gym

racing from the gym to the office

not taking a break at work

dashing to the store

grabbing a bite in a restaurant

drinking a quick nightcap at a bar

then home to sleep before doing it all over again

no time to pause or reflect

not stopping to smell the roses

but when you do slow down

it all becomes so much clearer

time slows down too

you realize that you are blessed to have

-eyes for seeing

-a mouth for tasting

-a voice for talking

-ears for listening

-hands for feeling

-lips for kissing

-a heart for falling in love

-feet for walking

-a mind for pondering

memories to cherish

suddenly…..

the roses smell incredible

sunsets look so spectacular

home cooked meals taste delicious

voices sound so sweet

music makes you dance

you can take a walk

while holding hands

and being in love

that kiss under moonlight

makes everlasting memories

you can still dream big

get all your work done

and live your life with meaning

But…………………..slowly

Unsubscribe is my new mantra

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My emails are out of control

Around 100 new emails  arrive every day

Mostly unsolicited marketing stuff

I only open emails I recognize as important

The unopened ones pile up

Its too much effort to delete them all

I recently decided to purge all my incoming emails

Opening every email daily and hunting for the unsubscribe option

Its always in fine print hidden away

Often it takes you to a second page to confirm 

After a couple of weeks the flow is starting to subside

New ones still pop up uninvited

My name must be on mailing lists that are being passed around

I will have to make the unsubscribe a daily ritual

Perhaps I can extend it to other parts of my life

When those annoying commercials come on TV

It would be great to have an unsubscribe button on the TV remote

The commercial instantly stops broadcasting and will never repeat

When you answer a robo call on your phone

It would be nice if you could just say unsubscribe

The caller hangs up and never calls again

When at a bar and some really boring guy in the next seat keeps chatting to you

You ask the bartender to unsubscribe you from him

He instantly stops bugging you

When somebody is tailgating you on the freeway

You hit the unsubscribe button on your rear view mirror

Their car is made to slowdown and back off

When you get a pile of junk snailmail

Toss it all into your smart unsubscribe trash can

Where it scans the senders and deletes you from their mailing lists

If your bills are getting to be too expensive for your budget

Hit the unsubscribe option to stop getting them

Unwanted callers ringing your smart front doorbell

Unsubscribe to have them teleported away

Tired of your partner in that bad relationship

Hit unsubscribe and they instantly vanish forever

If you are really old and sick with no quality of life

Hit unsubscribe and go straight to heaven

Unicorn in an Aloft Hotel

Ian Hunter1 Comment

In the lobby of an Aloft hotel

Images streaming on a TV screen

A unicorn strutting around

Walking by a building

He goes up an escalator

Sees a mirror

Lays down

A spaceship arrives

Hovers over the unicorn

Beams him up in a bubble

The top of the spaceship is a building

The unicorn appears in a room

Still inside a bubble

He floats higher

The side of the building opens up

To reveal a Starbucks coffee shop

The door opens into the restrooms

The unicorn appears with rockets on his sides

He flies away

I saw all this back in 2019

I am still trying to figure out what its all about

candle lit in prayer

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Sick friend

Candle lit

Prayers said

Candle flickers

More prayers

Candle flickers

Hope eternal

Candle flickers

Praying harder

Candle flickers

Thoughts wander

Candle flickers

Memories flash

Candle flickers

Years back

Candle flickers

Friend laughing

Candle flickers

Treasured memories

Candle flickers

Back now

Friend smiles

Candle flickers

Friend fighting

Candle flickers

No surrender

Candle flickers

killing no birds with just a few words

Ian Hunter1 Comment

We often find birds on the deck near our sliding windows

Occasionally they are alive and winded

Hyperventilating and desperately trying to recover

Before a predator snaps them up

I stand guard over the winded ones until they fly away

Sadly we find most of them already expired

I looked up ways to prevent these unintended bird collisions

The first suggestion was to put blue tape on the windows

Start with tape from corner to corner making a big X

Then tape a vertical cross to make a big star symbol

The sort of thing people do in pending hurricanes

As if the howling wind is somehow repelled by blue markings

I am not sure if it works for either case but I will not be trying it

The next suggestion was to cover the glass with soapy water

The theory being that all those bubbles will make the surface more visible to birds

I this case you will get the added bonus of cleaning your windows

Sort of like killing two birds with one stone

Or should that be killing no birds with two bubbles

I will not be trying that either because soap bubbles soon slide off glass

It would be much better to capture a few birds

Form a class and teach them all to read

Once they are all good readers

Send them to teacher training classes

Release them so they can teach all the other birds read

Then put up a small sign in the yard

Beware Of Flying Into The Sliding Glass Doors

No more dead birds on the deck

Add an accessory to your bird feeder

Miniature clip on books creating a bird reader

Bird literacy rates will soar

Killing no birds with just a few words

its a Maryland thing

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Picking blue crabs is something very special in Maryland

Its generally a family and friends gathering taking three hours or more

Fresh crabs are steamed with old bay seasoning and dumped whole onto a table covered in paper

Then the fun starts by pulling off the legs, peeling off the back and scraping away the intestines before picking out the sweet crabmeat chunks

A wooden mallet and a knife are the simple tools of the trade

Typically steamed crabs are consumed with fresh corn, hush puppies and fried chicken all washed down with copious amounts of cold beer

Its a summer tradition with local crabs being harvested from April to November

Local restaurants specialize in steamed crab feasts offering all you can eat options

Watermen sell steamed crab by the bushel for home consumption 

Its a real skill to extract the meat from a steamed crab but anybody can do it with practice

Holding up a fingernail size chunk brings admiration from your fellow diners as they pick away at tiny morsels of the sweet white crab meat

Its a hazardous activity as sharp crab edges easily cut fingers open letting that salty old bay spice rub into those open wounds for added pain

But the thrill of the chase and the group banter make it all worthwhile

You can take blue crabs out of Maryland but you can never take the blue crab picking out of a Marylander

Stories matter

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Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

Times are changing

Keep on moving

Don’t stand still

Go with the flow

Times are changing

Adapt and absorb

Swerve and duck

Be totally flexible

Times are changing

Minesweeper running

Stepping carefully

Click bang boom

Times are changing

Limbs are missing

Months of rehab

Learn to walk again

Times are changing

Don’t give up

Keep on moving

Beautiful sunrise 

Times are changing  

Aquire new skills

Guitar lessons

Form a band

Times are changing

Writing hit songs

Performing and touring

Famous and wealthy

Times are changing

Friends lost contact

Surrounded by associates

Who spend your money

Times are changing

Retire from performing

Move to remote place

Stop answering calls

Times are changing

Become a writer

Smell the roses

Stories matter

nosnow n nomow

Ian Hunter2 Comments

Every week these little green men fly down from Mars. They ride around outside our new home on scooters eating up all the grass. Some of them use noisy sticks to chomp up the bits of grass the scooter Martians cannot reach.  Not sure what its all about but it saves me from mowing the lawn.

I hate snow, I hate shoveling snow, I hate it so much that we winter in Florida every year to avoid the mid-Atlantic winter.

nosnow n nomow!

the four R’s in my life

Ian Hunter1 Comment
Photo by Oleksandr P on Pexels.com

Now that I am in Retirement

My days are dedicated to:

Riding my bike

WRiting

Relaxation

I have managed to combine these activities into my daily routine but that all came undone recently when we decided to sell our home and move to another house

The process of preparing a home for listing, vacating for showings, dealing with agents, viewing properties to buy, home inspections, signing contracts, buying, selling, packing and moving became a full time job for an entire summer

There was no time left for Riding, wRiting or Relaxation

Thankfully we managed to survive all the stresses of moving and we are now in our new home albeit surrounded by unpacked boxes

I have started Riding my bike again and its amazing how much fitness you lose after a two month layoff, it will probably take me a good six months of training to get back to my my normal fitness level

Not much time for Relaxation yet but I do hope to get back into my wRiting routine

So here are some of the things we have learned from this housemoving adventure

Its impossible to live a normal life while your house is going through showings

You cannot cook meals and generate cooking smells which might put off potential buyers

All of your normal ‘stuff of life’ has to be removed from every surface so that buyers will not be distracted by clutter

Buyers want everything to be perfect and move-in ready so you have to do that overdue remodeling before listing it for sale

Finding a house to buy is mostly a virtual activity by browsing through listings, looking at photographs and videos to draw up a shortlist of potential purchases

Buyers agents basically just show up at the houses for sale that you found yourself on the internet

Buyers remorse can quickly set in after signing a contract, fortunately there are off-ramps to cancel a contract providing your agent guides you diligently through the process

Packing up for moving is a painful process as you quickly discover all the crap you have accumulated and hidden away for decades.  Then you become emotionally re-attached to stuff you had forgotten about and refuse to part with it. It all gets packed into boxes that sit unopened after the move until you get tired of looking at them so you put them into storage for another decade or so

However much you like your newly purchased home, you will inevitably set about changing it by decorating, remodeling, etc in a subconscious effort to completely eliminate the style of the previous owners

Whatever budget you set for moving and upgrades, it will never be enough so just double it