SWCAMBORNE

“The way to get good ideas is to get lots of ideas, and throw the bad ones away.”

Linus Pauling

Nurit and I went walking in Sierra Madre last Saturday morning and were able to watch the finish of the Mt Wilson Trail Race. The fastest time was an hour and two minutes. Not bad for sixish miles on dirt in the mountains.

the finish line

For a few years I entertained fantasies of running in this race. But it was not to be.   When I was young and healthy enough I didn’t have the time. Now my knees are not very good for running. But I can walk so I’m still working toward climbing Mt Whitney.  It reminds me of a Bob Hope golf joke: “Someday I hope to shoot my age… of course I’ll have to live to be 120.”

Third Place

Did I mention that they are running in the mountains. See the picture above. This is the area that burned in the Sierra Madre fire in April and then had torrential rain in May. All of the weather caused the race to be rescheduled but not canceled.

I’m going to start this story with a disclaimer. I am estimating all of these facts. They are probably not correct. But as Rabbi Gil Kollin once said: “Something doesn’t have to be a fact to be a truth.”

Here is the outrageous claim: The largest increase in available commercial office space in the last five years came not from the building industry but from the electronics industry. A decade ago every desk had a CRT on it taking up about 3 sq ft of space now all of the CRTs are being replaced by flat LCD displays that take up about 1 sq ft. A gain of 2 sq ft of office space on 40 million desks means that the electronics industry has created about 80 Million sq ft of office space. With construction costs of about $200 sq ft it is the equivalent of buildings valued at 16 Billion Dollars. And they use 75% less energy.

This is an example of an improvement in our society that has gone unmeasured and unrecognized. Things get better but in subtle unmeasurable ways. Another example is cell phones. During the last decade the media has been reporting economic doom and gloom; high gasoline prices, a housing crisis and people who can’t afford health insurance. What they don’t report is that during that same period 250 million Americans have been able to buy cell phones. What a great country!

I liked Michelle “My Shell” so much that I named my new garden art using alliteration. I couldn’t get the double meaning thing to work.

The heron sculpture is now Harold the Heron. Note his new location. See the old location

We are going to try a few other locations and it may be that he will be a migratory bird. He might look good in the front yard for a few months.  I would have to bolt him down out there since the little metal dog we had near the front door vanished.

Last week when I was on the East Coast I took an evening and drove across New York to look up my old friend Kai U.

Kai and Bonnie

Kai and I were best friend during Junior High School. Even though he went to Portville and I went to  Olean.  We went to the same church and belonged to the same scout troop (troop 74). Our dads worked for the same company and in both families there were four sons of similar ages. Later my parents had Matt.

Kai and his beautiful wife Bonnie now live in SW Connecticut. They both work in education and are still active in the music. Kai gave me a beautiful walnut cutting board that he hand carved. They have a son, two dogs and a very good life.

We reconnected through Larry H who lives in Phoenix. Larry had stayed in touch with Margaret M who in turn knew how to find Kai. The tangle of people that connect us is worth an episode on Six Degrees of Separation.

I was late, Kai and Bonnie were extremely gracious and then Kai cooked an outstanding baked fish.

His brother Tom lives in San Diego and I’m going to try to look him up also.

Life is good!

Last year Rebecca helped Jessie, another Swarthmore engineering student, build this thin wall plastic shell. It was Jessie’s senior project and is still on display behind the engineering building.

Its name is Michelle (“my shell” get it).

To test the concept they first made this smaller shell named Jeremy:

Jeremy (he doesn’t have the double meaning thing like Michelle, so stop trying) moved with Rebecca to Budd Lake and now is living in the Village Green.

Jeremy has been replaced as a TV stand. He may become a plant stand.

“When the facts change, I change my mind — what

do you do, sir?”

John Maynard Keynes

Keynes said this in 1938 to a reporter who accused him of “flip flopping.” 

I helped Rebecca move last week which was pretty easy.  She did all of the packing.  We had a disagreement about whether she had enough boxes to pack all of her stuff.  Her comment was: “don’t worry I’ll put it all in bags.”  To me this sounded like the recipe for a disaster.  Everyone knows that when you move you pack your stuff into boxes.

Well it turns out that using plastic grocery bags and Target bags are a much better way to pack for a move.  They are flexible, so you can crowd thing into every cranny in the car.  They are strong enough, none of the bags broke on this move.  They give you much less stuff to clean up after the move.  Grocery bags  are inexpensive and they are not to heavy.

Bag Moving is a very creative idea.  I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t experienced it myself.  Thanks Rebecca.

Is the title of quite funny book by Robert Harris.  I got the book from Rebecca as a reward for helping her move.  I mostly just read books on my Amazon Kindle now but when I’m flying I need some printed material because they won’t let you turn on electronic devices during take off and taxiing.  At Newark the line to take off is sometimes an hour long so you need a book.  Opportunity for Amazon get the airlines to exempt Kindle from the devices restrictions.

101 Things NOT to Do Before You Die is a list book with each suggestion on one or two pages.  It is at various points clever, funny and thought provoking.  In fact it is the kind of book I would write if I could write.

Exerpt: #93 Don’t let the pessimists get you down: “History shows that things get better not worse over time.”  This could be the Maxim of the Week on my blog.

Robert Harris has a web site that is worth visiting.

Last Sunday, June 1st, 2008, Rebecca graduated from Swarthmore with a BA in History and a BS in Engineering. It was a wonderful day and I am extremely proud.

Life is Good!

Click here for an album of graduation pictures with pithy comments.