Michael T. Miyoshi's Blog, page 47

Somebody Is Always Watching

Rockwell with Michael Jackson and George Orwell were right. Somebody (maybe Big Brother) is watching me. Always.

I wonder at computers these days. There are so many things going on behind the scenes. Not only that, there are surely entities watching (maybe even Big Brother). It is creepy.

If you have been reading my blog for very long, you know about our internet woes. It is most likely just that we have too many machines using the internet all the time. Computers, phones, iPad, Roku, AppleT...

Pastor Appreciation Month

October is Pastor Appreciation month, so I want to say a few words to thank the pastors and directors at our church for all they do.

We go to Cascade Community Church in Monroe, Washington and I must say that our pastors do a fantastic job. They preach and teach. They offer comfort and kind words. They officiate at weddings and funerals. They pray. Those are the things that people see, but they do so much more behind the scenes. They make sure there are outreach programs. They help to provid...

Red Lights

I do not know if it is a phenomenon outside of our town, but I see somebody run a red light almost every day.

I drive through the intersection of Main and Highway 2 in Monroe at least twice each day. The times vary slightly, but some car, truck, van, or other vehicle seems to run a red light every day. When I am at the front waiting for my own light to turn green, I look both ways to make sure the coast is clear. Usually, just before the light turns, but I also make sure on the way through....

The Bee Gees? Really?

“Night fever, night fever
We know how to do it.”

I was a teen in the seventies and early eighties. So I know a little about discos and dancing and the music that goes with it. I still like some of that music (but do not tell anybody). Still, I have no idea how Night Fever gets stuck in my head every so often.

I like the Bee Gees as much as the next guy. Okay, probably less than some and more than a lot. Still, I have no idea how Night Fever got stuck in my head. Or at least I did not until I...

On On Writing

Stephen King wrote the book, On Writing, back in 1999. It is listed as an autobiography, but I like it more as it relates to writing. Which is at least part of the point.

I like to read Stephen King’s books. Not necessarily all the horror ones, but I like his stories. One of my favorite books is The Stand. I remember reading it with Steely Dan’s Aja playing on my walkman. (Yes. It was a tape.) So I often get a shiver down my spine when I hear the music of Steely Dan. I like lots of Mr. King’...

Bubble Gum?

Bazooka Gum
By Parka Lewis at English Wikipedia
licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Who thought it was a good idea to make toothpaste taste like bubble gum?

I was surprised when I used the toothpaste that came from the dentist’s office. One of those little tubes that the dentist gives after each visit. I did not read the label. I just tasted a sickeningly sweet taste. It was the unmistakable taste of bubble gum. Yuck.

Now I am not against bubble gum. As a matter of fact, the taste was very reminisce...

What? The Truck?

A funny thing happened in the parking lot at work the other day (actually, it happened last spring). I was driving into the parking lot while Bruce (who teaches in the room next door) was walking into the building. He looked at me, raised his shoulders (his hands were full) and gave me a look of amazement and perhaps confusion. I took it to mean, “What? The truck?”

Now in reality, the punctuation and even spelling of the phrase might have been a little different in Bruce’s mind, but I unders...

Trash Patio

Apparently, I take things to the extreme. While I was making a patio for the trash and recycle to sit on, I dug a trench two feet deep for a possible conduit.

But perhaps I should start at the beginning.

I normally make a project in the summer when I am home from teaching high school students. I was planning on making a shed (hoping to still get there), but ended up making a small patio with left over pavers. (Where those pavers were left over from is another story.) At any rate, I got the i...

Not Quite 100%

Total Eclipse (99%) of the Sun August 21, 2017

So maybe you do need to fly your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun. (Thanks Carly Simon.) Or to wherever the next one will be. Apparenlty, 99% is not 100%.

I thought that the totality thing was just a bunch of hype. I figured 99% is close enough to 100%. I thought wrong.

I did not do the math, but I did do a little thinking after we saw 99% total eclipse of the sun.

Mathematically, light and energy get through an openin...

Total Eclipse of the Sun

Moon before Lunar Eclipse September 2015

You do not need to fly your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun (a la Carly Simon). Just pack up your bags and head down to Grandma’s house to see it in Portland. At least that is what we are going to do.

Seeing a total eclipse of the sun is a pretty fantastic phenomenon. Or at least I imagine it will be.

I remember seeing a partial eclipse when I was in elementary school. Hardly any of the sun was eclipsed by the moon, but our...