Bless your heart Jim.

The picture shows Tigger looking West.
Jim Pyle has gone West. Jim has been a big part in my recent life. I met Jim at when we flew out together to the Oshkosh EAA airshow supreme. Jim and I stayed at the same house so every night I would tell him of my adventure of the day and he would comment and advise. Jim pointed me toward the Sonex which I later built, flew and crashed I owe a lot to Jim's unlimited advice and guidance. Bless your heart Jim.
Last night as a tribute to Jim it rained all night. The cats stayed inside and Tigger discovered that the bed inside is more comfortable than sleeping outside in the rain. The response of my body to the Parkinson's continues to fascinate me. Primarily it affects my right arm and hand. One result is that when I type the letters u,i,o,p,and l and randomly others frequently get skipped. That's due to the weakness or independence of my left pinkie. It turns out script that even the spell check doesn't help much. But that challenge is better than the alternative.
Alternatives are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

A radiant sunrise.

A beautiful morning! Peeking thorough the trees was a radiant sunrise. Shaded by the local foliage, I couldn't see it very well but what I could see was a great start to the day. The walk seemed longer than usual. I got about half way around the route and I was dragging. Then I thought... WWDD (see this blog 9/22/08) and decided to finish the entire walk. Good for me.
It turns out that one of the basic maneuvers of a quantum computer is the use of Fourier transforms. At last! Some thing I understand (in principle at least). I understand what the authors of books on quantum mechanics that our brains are not wired to understand the subject intuitively. I really knew it all along.
Since the heavy rains last week the cats have turned absolutely sociable. They sat together with me in my recliner and this morning Tigger was there at my feet to wake me up. A first for her.
Fourier transforms are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

The notorious Santa Ana winds.

Today is laundry day so I skipped my walk. But it is a beautiful morning . Yesterday's winds have subsided and the sky is clear and the temperature moderate. What more and a guy (or gal) ask for.
Yesterday we were blessed with the notorious Santa Ana winds. These pesky zephyrs blow with unusual force and from the reverse of normal direction. Like most similar winds around the world, these winds are reported to cause all sorts of mental deviation. I've never knowingly been affected by them but as with a full moon the myth lives on.
This morning I started the second read on a book about quantum computers and finally the fog is clearing and understanding is shining through.
Forceful Santa Ana winds are proof that we're all on this flight together

Dick

For a reason unspecified...

The weather is overcast but not depressingly so. The temperature has cooled down slightly to the high 50's (Fahrenheit of course). For a reason unspecified I left early on my walk. It was still dark but the sun peeked over the horizon about half way through the walk. Not surprisingly , n one was up yet so the walk was quiet with space to contemplate the world but didn't draw any conclusions. So what's new?
I've finished the book on evolution and remain convinced of its realty. How could it be different? In all it was a welcome break from quantum stuff. But now it's time to get back to reality.
Or not!

Dick

San Pedro cactus and me.

San Pedro cactus and me. On the left is the San Pedros I planted when I moved in. The buds are obvious. The photo on the right was taken Saturday late afternoon. On the right is a photo was taken early Sunday morning. Most of the buds have glorified into blossoms. I have another pic of a bee doing its thing on a blossom. Maybe I'll include it someday. The prolific blossoms are probably a result of the heavy rain over the last several days. Or maybe it's the full moon last night.
San Pedro cactus blooming under a full moon are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

You can tune a piano but you can't tune a fish.

Two random thoughts:
I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
You can tune a piano but you can't tune a fish. (You don't need evolution to prove that).
A disappointment:
There's no morning bluegrass in the air! This is an outrage. A different program with nary a word about why. Maybe it's just this week and next week everything will be back to normal. I hope.
An anti-war sentiment:
We all know that war is good for business. Sometimes in time of was even the populace benefits. More often the populace pays the cost and the corporations (read wealthy elite) reap the benefits. Now we have a state of perpetual warfare which benefits the corporations while the citizenry pay the cost in both dollars and lives. In addition to the Vietnam style wars in Iraq and Afghanistan we have (or have had) several on-going wars to support the corporations. Prohibition started the trend followed by the War on Drugs and today we waste the inheritance of our children with the useless War on Terrorism. In each case the wealth of our Nation is systematically transferred to the wealthiest among us from those least able to afford it. War is good for business.
Peace can be profitable.
Or not.
Corporate bankruptcy of our Nation is not proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's overcast

It's overcast and I'm having trouble typing so this will be short.
Hang nails are prooof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It's raining .... again.

It's raining .... again. It's too hard for my morning walk so it will be more TV today. I'm not going out in that stuff. Even some thunder but couldn't see the lightning.
Poor Budda got caught in the downpour yesterday and came in dripping wet. He'll never learn. But he stayed in last night. Meanwhile Tigger has staked out a place next to the door so she can scoot out at the first sign of danger.
Dawkin's book on evolution has me convinced even though I'm only half through the book. The evidence is overwhelming. I've never gotten so involved with evolution before.. I just accepted it as being true. And it appears to be so. I try to imagine that evolution is not true and just can't believe otherwise. It is very interesting but less so than quantum physics and the like.
Galapagos turtles and finches are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven ... again.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven ... again. Well almost anyway. It's reallly more like a heavy mist. The sidewalks were dry when I left but that changed as soon as I passed the point of no return. Then it came down fairly hard. Right now I've finished my chores for the day and it's really coming down. Oh well, we need the rain. And the car needed washing too.
Or not.
A hard rain is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It dropppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven.

It dropppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven. Hell it IS rain gentle though it may be, so the walk is off for the while. My mother used to question whether I was so sweet that I might melt in the rain. Not today anyway. It's raining just enough to justify putting off the walk so I stay dry. I did go out to get the Sunday paper and a donut and I'll do some shopping for groceries later so I'll move about later.
Or not.
Sedentarianism is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

Is Rand Paul really Andy Dick in disguise?

Is Rand Paul, the congressional candidate from Kentucky, really comedian Andy Dick in disguise? If not the family resemblance is amazing.
The spectre of two dimensions of time raises its head each Saturday morning. It is obvious to me that time, as measured when I was twenty was much slower than the time I measure at seventy seven. Surely that must be an effect of the second dimension of time.
Or not.
Trading dimensions of space for dimensions of time is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Some days there's just nothing to say.

OK OK So I missed a day again. Some days there's just nothing to say. Today however....
The morning is overcast but how can you be down when accompanied on your daily walk by Joan Baez? Arlo Guthrie, Robert Earl Keene and U. Utah Phillips The Golden Voice of the Great Southwest. Especially U. Utah singing No Round Trip Ticket about the last run of the Wabash Cannon Ball. All outstanding performers but when combined with music that transcends even them... Nirvana. Guitars, fiddles, mandolins and Dobros. Put them together with a voice that just flows over the music and you've got Country music. Nashville songwriter once defined Country music as "Three chords and the truth". How can you not feel good when Arlo sings "Alice's Restaurant" with his tale of his exploits with the draft board?
I could go on and on but then I'd only get emotional. But the music was good this morning and appreciated more than most days for some reason.
Secular music from Heaven is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

So it's Wednesday October 13.

The aircraft on the right is NOT the craft that flew over me this morning.
So it's Wednesday October 13. October is the Halloween month and the 13th would be unlucky except it isn't Friday. What to make of that? I could Google it but haven't got the ambition today. It was dark when I left for my walk this morning. There was a heavy overcast which added to the darkness. (Where's the Prince?).
On my way out there was a helicopter went over just above tree top level. I think he was following Commonwealth (one block over) on his way to the airport. Then later I barely saw an airplane through the haze. He's the kind of pilot one reads about in the paper the next day. He was off course and below VFR limits. If he was on instruments he was too low. Oh boy! Another stupido piloto. I hope he has enough gas. But then the Lord takes care of drunks and the stupid.
Or not.
Pilots in a haze are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

A new direction.

Although I have not exhausted the numerous books on string theory and quantum mechanics, I've decided it's time for a rest. Yesterday I stopped in at the local bookstore to see what was available. I found Richard Dawkins new book about evolution. I accept the reality of evolution like I accept my own name. The book is a tour de force covering evolution from start to finish. The only problem is that iconic atheist Dawkins is English which makes reading his books like translating from a different language. I have no problem with his atheism and admit that all the words he uses are the same ones I would use, I find it difficult to follow his thinking. And the major change in topics could be causing the problem. But slog on I will. After all evolution is as inclusive as string theory. But it's not as sexy as string theory.
The gardener left the back gate open while he did what he does. Budda, with complete disregard for propriety sallied forth into the great beyond (to him). I found him when I nearly stepped on him as he slept in front of the front door. I scared him when I came out so he ran off and hid under my car. No amount of cajoling would tempt him out as I called. He knew that I knew where he was but refused to join me. So I went inside and left the door open. No sooner had I gotten comfortable than Budda came strolling inside through he open door as if this were an every day occurrence. Bless his heart. So the world is complete again.
Completeness is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

It creepeth over the fence.

The beauty of nature creepeth over the fence. I passed this one on my morning walk flowing over the fence. The weather today is CAVU, another beautiful day in Paradise.
It turns out that there is a physicist at UCLA who has been working on a second dimension of time for nearly a decade he believes there are four dimensions of space and two of time. Dr. Itzak Bars calls it 2T Physics. It will take some study on my part before I can understand it so stand by. He uses a symmetry (here we go again) between velocity and momentum.
Physics I don't understand is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Yesterday was a week day and tomorrow the funnies will be in color.

So it must be Saturday. And indeed there is music in the air. Alive and Picking is alive and picking. It was great to sit back and let the music flow. Bluegrass rules the airwaves.
Tigger elected to stay outside at bed time last night but chose to come in when I called to her about midnight when I got up for old man's reasons. She must get cold out there after the Sun goes down but trying it get her in is like herding cats, not possible. She is the very definition of independence.
The weather is another day in Paradise. The temperature is expected to reach the middle eighties. Just a little too warm. But I ain't complaining.
I'm not getting anywhere with the second dimension of time so for the time being it's on the back burner.
Alive and Picking is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

Times 2 and me.

The photo on the right is of the tops of my boisterous San Pedro cactus. They now top ten feet tall. The puffs sometimes turn into large cornet type blossoms. And sometimes the don't I can't tell what they'll do until they bloom or fall off. Another of life's mysteries.
I recently promised some conjecture on the physical consequences of living in a universe with two time dimensions. I'll let the reader ponder the effects for a few more days while I try to make sense of it in my own mind. Two time dimensions? It just doesn't make any sense..... yet.
On another topic, the weather seems to have calmed down. For the foreseeable future it seems the rain and thunderstorms are a thing of the past. Both cats elected to spend the night indoors although I closed the door when they came in for dinner. Neither of them complained so I left them in and only allowed them out the next day after lunch when the sun chased away the overcast. It appears that Summer is gone.
Having a single season is proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

A few thoughts on the nature of Nature.

The 21st Ig Nobel ceremony was recently held. The awards are run by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research. They are supposed to "first make people laugh, and then make them think". First prize went to Alessandro Pluchino (Italy) and colleagues for demonstrating mathematically that organisations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random. I knew that all along.

The conjecture that there are extra dimensions curled up around each point of space is pretty well accepted in the scientific community. The commonly accepted form is of nine spatial dimensions and one dimension of time. It is assumed that six of the dimensions are rolled up too small for us to see or touch anything. Our environment seems to be three spatial dimensions and one of time.

We are all familiar with that dimension of time. The time of science and poetry. We feel it every instant of every day and intuit that it is the only dimension of time. However, we all know that within quantum mechanical restraints that time is constant. It flows unceasingly as a stream does to the ocean. But at the same time as there are eddies in a river, we all recognize that time seems to move at different rates under different circumstances. The flight of time when touching a lover or a hot stove for instance.
But suppose that there are two dimensions, one of time and five curled up spatial dimensions. What might the world be like with two dimensions of time?
A few thoughts on that tomorrow.
Dual temporal dimensions would be proof that we’re all on this flight together.

Dick

Maybe it's the weather.

The mushrooms shown at the right are a variety I have not seen before. The stem is very short leaving the cap just above the height of the grass. The cap is larger than those I've seen before, these being 2 1/2 t0 3 inches across.
Maybe the weather triggered the different species to blossom forth. The visibility was 10 miles and the ceiling added to the gloom although the ceiling was 5500 feet. I am far from being a mycologist but I've never seen this species of mushroom before.
Gold is up again to the new high of $1334 per ounce. Still on the way to $1500.

Some time ago I was corrected when I said the only population of black squirrels was on the Stanford Campus in Palo Alto. From a British newspaper came the following:
The plight of the disappearing red squirrel is being highlighted in events dedicated to the native British species. But its tormenter, the American grey squirrel, is itself being slowly overwhelmed in parts of the country by the little-known black squirrel.... and going after food for the birds,
When Alison Thomas first saw a black squirrel dart in front of her car, she nearly swerved off the road in surprise. That was in July 2003, and as a biologist, she found this strange creature a beguiling research topic - not least to disprove the family joke that she'd imagined it."I decided to start my own investigations and discovered, to my great relief and to the chagrin of my family, that squirrels can indeed sometimes be black and that there is a rapidly expanding population of black squirrels in Cambridgeshire," says Dr Thomas, of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.The black squirrel is of the same species as the grey bushy-tailed creatures familiar from park and woodland walks. Its dark coat is the result of a naturally occurring mutation of the gene that governs fur pigmentation. Other than colour, black squirrels have the same size, behaviour and habitat as greys.

Or not.
Different species of mushrooms are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

October 4.

October 4 is the anniversary of being wedded to my first wife, years ago. I remember that but can't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday.

Grabel's Law: 2 is not equal to 3--not even for large values of 2.

Euler's identity is considered by many to be remarkable for its mathematical beauty. These three basic arithmetic operations occur exactly once each: addition, multiplication, and exponentiation. The identity also links five fundamental mathematical constants.

The sidewalks were wet when left on my morning walk but it wasn't raining. Maybe a heavy dew so I carried my bumpershoot just in case. It was overcast and trying to rain but it never did. No action on the walk.
Spotty memories are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

The photo was taken at the recent Open House at Historic Flabob Airport. There seems to be a nexus between aviators and motorcycle riders. A gorgeous pimped out vehicle
A note of wisdom by an inimitable Charlie Anderson (but different from the Charlie Anderson I knew):
Observe which side resorts to the most vociferous name-calling and you are likely to have identified the side with the weaker argument and they know it.
Charles R. Anderson
Weak arguments are proof that we're all on this flight together.

Dick

And the rain came down.

An interesting statistic: There are more babies born on Oct 5 than any other day of the years. The significance of the date is that it indicates that conception took place on the previous New Years Eve.
Yesterday the weather although not unexpected it was dramatic. The day was sunny and clear. Then shortly before 10 am I could hear thunder in the distance. As the time progressed the storm got closer and closer.. Then the rain started. I haven't seen rain that hard since I was in Australia. The poor cats were confused by the flash and all the noise. Finally through all the rain the time between the flash and the bang was less than one second. Then I lost my electric power. Darkness and pouring rain in the morning. No radio and no TV. so IO st and meditated. After about a half an hour the power came back on for about 15 minutes when the power went out again. Then it was all clear. The cats and the sun came out and the weather went back to normal.
Then the power came back on for good. Listening to the weather report at 9 last night I was told that the power was still off (after 13 hours) in parts of Fullerton and surrounding towns. I was lucky to get my power back so quickly.
Power outages are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

October 1 already!

The photo is of a hot air balloon which appeared at the recent Historic Flabob Airport Open House. It was tethered to the ground which restricted its ascent to 100 feet.. I didn't do it.
October 1 already and the temperature at 7 am was 70 degrees. I should have left in a T-shirt, the turtle neck with long sleeves was too warm... in October! There was one aeroplane I heard but didn't see and the street sweeper was out mimicking my route. That thing surely is noisy. Note the use of the unseemly ly here.
In any case finishing the walk was a real core. I'm certainly feeling my age.

Growing old is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick