M. Short's Blog, page 3

Life Lesson #42

The Mole & his Mother

A little Mole once said to his Mother:

“Why, Mother, you said I was blind! But I am sure I can see!”

Mother Mole saw she would have to get such conceit out of his head. So she put a bit of frankincense before him and asked him to tell what it was.

The little Mole peered at it.

“Why, that’s a pebble!”

“Well, my son, that proves you’ve lost your sense of smell as well as being blind.”

The Moral of the Story: Boast of one thing and you will be found lacking in that and a few other things as well. Humility is a gift that should be shared with everyone.

I’m OK, You’re Not OK!

What is anger? Is It an emotion or an uncontrolled response to a situation you can see coming from a mile away? When I was studying management in college, just after the stone age, we studied emotional responses to internal and external influences. These would manifest itself in what they described as I’m OK Your Ok management style.

The idea was to enable the manager to recognize personalities and how to deal with them. There are those called, I’m ok, you’re not ok. This is a person who is never wrong in their minds therefore you must be wrong. The, I’m ok, you’re ok person who can reasonably respond to constructive criticism. Then there’s, I’m not ok, you’re ok. This would be a more timid or introverted person who cannot take constructive criticism.

Anger for the person in the category of, I’m ok you’re not ok is a conditioned response to anyone who evens asks a question. This is referred to as a parental response. “Do It, because I said so.”

This parental response should response be addressed with an adult response. “It is another way to approach the problem. How would it improve the method we already use?”

If the parental response is met with another parental response, the possibility of a violent situation could exist. Be the adult in the room.

The ones identified as, I’m not ok you’re ok will need to be more mentoring than the others and needs more one-on-one time to help build confidence and for them to see you want to help and not stuff them back in their old high school locker.

I’m ok you’re ok person is the ideal for an employee or a friend. I’m not ok you’re ok can be a lot of work, but is usually one on the most loyal friends or employees if you have the time and patience.

I’m ok you’re not ok person is going to be an uphill battle. They will remain argumentative and head strong. It will be their way or the highway. You make the call on that one.

The Moral of the Story: Chose carefully your responses to other people. You always want to be the adult in the conversation. What category of, I’m ok, you’re ok are you in?

Excerpts from Cry Havoc Chapter 4

After the Commanders left the ready room, Futu headed to the Bridge.

As Futu entered, “Sit Rep, Bridge.”

 “Sir, we were about to call you.” said Bridge.

       “Is something wrong?”

Bridge at the long-range scanner motioned Futu over, “Sir, the scanners show not one but three Hangar Ships.

      “What?”

      “Yes, sir. Three Hangar Ships. The good news is they’ve pissed in their oatmeal.”

 “They what?”

      “The first ship has increased speed to close the gap created by Pound 1 and the trajectory of the asteroid. The second and third Hangar Ships I believe are from different Clans than the first. One Clan sending three Hangar Ships two hours apart is not a great tactic. The second and third Hangar Ship won’t be a factor.”

Futu broke out in laughter, “I see what you mean, Bridge. We will make sure it leaves a nasty taste in their mouth.”

 “There is one thing, we’ll not arrive ten to fifteen minutes before the first Hangar Ship as we originally thought. Because of the first ship increased speed, we’ll have less than two minutes before they arrive at the asteroid.”

“You make that sound as if it was a bad thing, Bridge.”

Bridge looked at Futu, puzzled.

 “This should raise the Commanders and Pilots’ spirits. They were afraid they’d miss a good battle.”

Futu turned from the scanner toward Bridge. “Have we heard from Pound 2?”

 “No, sir, but we just picked them up on long range scans. They are not letting any moss grow underneath their feet.”

 “I guess that means they’re making good time?”

 “Yes, sir. They should beat their ETA by 15 minutes. They must have put 200-proof whiskey in those hyperdrive engines.”

 “I’d like to call them, but we need to maintain radio silence. Keep those scans short. We don’t want to give away our surprise.”

Futu left the bridge for the hangar deck and his bot.

After Futu left the Bridge room. The Bridge Tech went back to his duties of monitoring the progress of the red alert. He checked the status of the sections and how they were moving along with the shuttering of the Hangar Ship. He also was monitoring the enemy ships and the approach of Pound 2.

After 45 minutes, two sections reported shuttering complete.

Once they analyzed the surface, sites near the P.E.L.B. was selected for Locator Beacon deployment. Locator Beacons crews reported them programmed and ready.

At the 30-minute mark before launch, each section reported shuttering complete.

The Bridge Tech looked at the scanner five minutes before launch confirming rates of closure of the first ship and confirm the other two ships were still maintaining their original speed. Everything remained constant. Bridge walked to his console after he completed and confirmed his checks, then he grabbed the intercom mic to start his announcements.

“Over drop site in 30 seconds.”

“Locator Beacons launched.”

“Locator Beacon signal confirmed,”

“Space Fighters Launch.”

“Bot launch in 5.4.3.2.1, launch.”

Before the launch of the bots, Bridge checked for loss of the Locator Beacon signal. Then verified Space Fighters had launched from their hangar decks.

After the Bridge reviewed his checklist and confirmed it complete, he sat back in his chair, “You-all come back now, ya hear.”

The next Plane of Knowledge

I have been told there are four planes of knowledge. The first plane of knowledge is you don’t know what you don’t know. Some would refer to this first plane as a state of bliss. King Solomon referred to ignorance as bliss. Here there is no responsibility, no lamenting over misdeeds either done to you or by you. A peace felt by a child upon entering the world. Loved, cared for and protected.

The second plane of knowledge is you don’t know what you know. Here one learns about things which they had no previous knowledge. Crawling, walking, and what tastes good. Then as the synapsis in the brain connect, talking and reasoning start. While the person is still learning, they are still unaware of what they know.

The third plane of knowledge is you know what you don’t know. Here the person realizes there is more to life than what they have experienced to date. The mind is now seeking knowledge, to learn more of the world and their surroundings. Questions swirl in the mind. What is life? Why am I here? Why hasn’t someone fixed this problem before? This is the first stage on innovation and ingenuity. Here we discovered the wheel, automobiles, flight, and space travel.

The fourth and final plane of knowledge is you know what you know. This plane by many is considered the highest level of knowledge. On this plane many feel you have reached the pinnacle of your chosen profession. But to me this plane is one of stagnant growth. In 1899 Charles H. Duell the commissioner of the U.S. patent office was attributed with a famous utterance, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” He is not alone. There are those who will say, there is no GOD, ghosts, spirits and demons are baseless, but the one I like the best are those who say In this immense universe we are the only ones in it.

We need to remain inquisitive and continue our search for more knowledge.

The moral of the Story: When your green, you’re growing. When your ripe, you start to rot. Keep growing.

Life nd the Light Bulb

A light blub is a good analogy of how you may view life. Each blub has a life expectancy, no matter if it is for 100 hours or seven years. Our expectations and actions also have a life expectancy and reflects the way we view life at different times in our lives.

The bulb lasting 100 hours burns bright and then suddenly ends. A seven year blub produces a less brilliant light but can sustain their light over many years before extinguishing.

In life we find ourselves like the 100 hours blub, burning bright with no regard for the consequences. Much like I was as a teenager, ten foot tall and bullet proof with no fear of death. As I grew older getting closer to the end of my 100 hours of bulb’s life, now married to a wonderful woman who gave me two beautiful daughters, I saw then perhaps burning bright all the time is not required to make your mark on the world.

My mark on life is my family and how they go forward. Now with grandchildren, my blub burns bright but at a constant light. Mentoring them and telling stories of years long past.

Now as a seven year blub, I can see my grandchildren grow and prosper as I see my mark on the world grow as well through my family.

The Moral of the Story: Family will sustain you and bring your light forward many generations after your bulb has reached its life expectancy. Don’t burn out your blub before you have generated more blubs to continue your light.

Brutality or Gentleness

An Aesop Fable from the library of congress

The North Wind & the Sun

The North Wind and the Sun had a quarrel about which of them was the stronger. While they were disputing with much heat and bluster, a Traveler passed along the road wrapped in a cloak.

“Let us agree,” said the Sun, “that he is the stronger who can strip that Traveler of his cloak.”

“Very well,” growled the North Wind, and at once sent a cold, howling blast against the Traveler.

With the first gust of wind the ends of the cloak whipped about the Traveler’s body. But he immediately wrapped it closely around him, and the harder the Wind blew, the tighter he held it to him. The North Wind tore angrily at the cloak, but all his efforts were in vain.

Then the Sun began to shine. At first his beams were gentle, and in the pleasant warmth after the bitter cold of the North Wind, the Traveler unfastened his cloak and let it hang loosely from his shoulders. The Sun’s rays grew warmer and warmer. The man took off his cap and mopped his brow. At last he became so heated that he pulled off his cloak, and, to escape the blazing sunshine, threw himself down in the welcome shade of a tree by the roadside.

The Moral of the Story: Gentleness and kind persuasion win where force and bluster fail.

Cry Havoc Excerpts from Chapter 3

“Dispatch, is Stimpy there?”

“No, sir. I can call him.”

“No, I’ll get with him later.”

“Pound 1, can you give me a sit-rep every 30 minutes?”

No response.

Dispatch called again, “Acknowledge Pound 1.”

No response.

Dispatch called again, “Pound 1. Did you copy last transmission?”

The silence was becoming a grave concern to Dispatch. Dispatch picked up his communicator to call Stimpy as he walked through the door.

Dispatch turned toward Stimpy, “Sir, we have lost communications with Pound 1.”

“Put Pound 2 on red alert and get Pound 1 back on Comms as soon as possible. Try every known frequency. Understood?”

“Yes sir, I am trying every known frequency.”

“Is Hangar 3 ready to launch?”

“Yes, sir. They will be ready in 30 minutes to assume patrols.”

 “I’m beaming up to Pound 2. If you get Pound 1 back on Comms, let me know. Oh, contact Pound 2 and inform them I am on my way. Have them assembled its Commanders in the ready room by the time I arrive.”

“Yes, sir.”

After Stimpy left the room, Dispatch contacted Pound 2.

“Pound 2 Bridge, Dispatch.”

“Dispatch, Pound 2 Bridge. Go ahead.”

“Commander Stimpy is on the way to your location. He wants the Pound 2 Commanders in the ready room upon his arrival to brief them on the current situation.”

“They will be in the ready room when he arrives.”

“He is heading to the beaming facility now.”

“I’ll pass the information along.”

As Stimpy arrived at Pound 2, he went straight to the ready room. Stimpy reaching the head of the table, “Commanders, please take a seat. Dogs, we’ve lost communications with Pound 1. We are unsure if it’s a technical problem, communication being jammed or loss of the Hangar Ship. Dispatch is trying to reestablish communications. If we do not regain communications with Pound 1 in the next 30 minutes, we will launch to finish Pound 1’s mission and recover any survivors.”

The room went silent when Stimpy mentioned the possible destruction of Pound 1 and the start of a recovery mission. Walking Pilots feared that one day they too may need to be recovered. They never spoke the word among their ranks. Now the crew of Pound 2 heard that dreaded word, recovery, regarding their friends and fellow Walking Pilots. The room was silent.

“We will launch in 30 minutes. Questions?”

Boosh stood, “Do we have to take Stone with us?”

The entire room broke out in laughter, even Stone. Tensions eased and set the Commanders in a lighter mood.

Stimpy trying to keep a straight face, “Yes Boosh, Stone is coming. Dogs, it’s time to hunt. Get to your stations and prepare for launch. I will be in the Bridge room. Dismissed.”

As Stimpy walked to the Bridge room, his thoughts were on Pound 1.

As he entered, Bridge saw him, “Sir, we have Dispatch on Comms. He wants to talk to you.”

“This is Stimpy. What is it, Dispatch?”

       “Sir, we have restored communications with Pound 1 and we have picked up another Hangar Ship a respectful distance behind the first Hangar Ship.”

Stimpy ripped off the headset and turned toward the Bridge Tech, “How soon can we get this thing launched?”

“In 20 minutes, sir.”

Stimpy in an angry tone, “Why 20 minutes Bridge?”

“Sir, we are still tethered to the resupply Transport for water. The procedure to untether takes 20 minutes.”

“Get it done faster.”

Bridge started, “Sir.”

Stimpy interrupted, “Just get it done Bridge.”

Stimpy becoming angry and frustrated turned back to put on his headset, “Dispatch talk to me.”

 “We received a brief transmission from Commander Futu saying their communications were being jammed. They are now on communications Protocol Echo 4. I asked him to hold for you, but he wanted to keep radio chatter to a minimum. According to Protocol Echo 4, communications will be fully restored in 30 minutes.”

“Give me a heads up when they call back and patch me through.”

“Yes, sir.”

Stimpy slammed the headset on the console. As he looked around, he noticed no one was making eye contact with him, “I need a cup of coffee. Where is the damn coffeepot?”

Five techs ran to the coffeepot to get Stimpy a cup of coffee.

Fear!

Once someone said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” What does this person mean to convey with such a statement? Fear is an emotion felt by many if not all of us at one time. If we have nothing to fear but fear, then I could put fear into a whole different context.

What if fear is not an emotion, but a state of mind paralyzing thought and even movement, rendering an individual totally helpless? Fear in this context can be overcome and conquered using your power over your mind. This power is the power to respond to a situation as you wish, not as your mind wishes. A conditioned response to an uncontrolled situation.

Pilots in the military and in commercial aviation are conditioned to respond to emergency situations not in fear, as most people not trained would respond, but in a conditioned response of calm. A pilot acting in fear kills himself and everyone onboard his aircraft.

In an aircraft emergency, there is certainly fear felt by the pilot and the crew. Believe me, I have experienced the fear of burning engines, pieces of my aircraft abruptly leaving and other emergencies many times over in my 18,000 hours of flight time. It is because of my conditioned response to fear, I am writing this blogpost today.

If fear then is controllable. Your affirmation statement should be: I have nothing to fear but fear itself.

La Muerte

Death like taxes is unavoidable, but unlike taxes, people fear death. They try everything imaginable to keep death at bay, but when it comes for them, their loved ones are surprised by their sudden departure.

Death is inevitable. Prepare for death and embrace it as another chapter in the journey of life. Don’t make your life here on Earth miserable trying to avoid death or fearing it. There is nothing to fear.

Do your best at everything you do. Your life lived to the fullest will leave a legacy not soon forgotten. Whether or not you are a person of faith, death will come knocking at your door one day. Upon your death, let those who mourn you say your life was full of joy, happiness and love.

PRIDE, an Aesop Fable

The Fighting Cocks & the Eagle

Once there were two Cocks living in the same farmyard who could not bear the sight of each other. At last one day they flew up to fight it out, beak and claw. They fought until one of them was beaten and crawled off to a corner to hide.

The Cock that had won the battle flew to the top of the hen-house, and, proudly flapping his wings, crowed with all his might to tell the world about his victory. But an Eagle, circling overhead, heard the boasting chanticleer and, swooping down, carried him off to his nest.

His rival saw the deed, and coming out of his corner, took his place as master of the farmyard.

The Moral of the tory: Pride goes before a fall.

Have you stubbled on your pride?