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A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and does what he wants to do. - Dylan Cool JPG |
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Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. - Einstein |
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Surviving the ReFi Game (just barely) Life is not easy if you live in an (alleged) flood zone. When I bought my home on the Potomac River, the developer assured me that the structure was intentionally built a foot above the "hundred year flood plane." Back when Isabel hit, there were some nervous moments, but unlike some of my neighbors, my house was high and dry. So when I opted to refinance to a low 15 year mortgage, I thought it would be a breeze -- worst thing being that one has to shell out closing costs and fees to everyone and his brother and sign/initial your name about a 1/2 million times on closing day. Well, this time around my new lender insisted I was in a "Class A Flood Plane" i. e. the worst kind in terms of risk and cost. I called and emailed the county planning department, giving them all that weird nonclementure that describes exactly where one's property lies. The county was most helpful and concluded that I was not in the Class A Zone, as my developer so claimed, but they could not offer any "proof." I would have to get a Flood Elevation Cert. So I call my insurance agent and ask him how much this flood insurance is going to cost. "It depends, you'll have to get a Flood Elevation Cert." "The rate depends on the elevation." Meanwhile two weeks has slipped by and my "lock" on the low interest rate will soon expire. I call every surveyor in the phone book. They all can do it, but not for a few weeks. I beg the most sympathetic one to bump me up a week and Fed-Ex them a check for $600 from Clearwater. I wait a week and finally get the call: Congratulations, you are not in the Class A Zone. By then it's Thanksgiving and I'm home to check on the house. So I pick up the signed & sealed flood cert and Fed-Ex it to the lender. Finally I have proof telling me what the county and my developer knew all along! "Not so fast," says the lender, "you now need to fill out and submit the MT-EZ form for FEMA and in about 8 weeks the map will be changed." I feel totally beaten. At least I can get a quote on the flood insurance. So another two weeks slide by and the quote comes in at $21 a month. All this frustration for $21 a month. I Fed-EX a check to my insurance agent, sign one more document stating that I now have flood insurance and FINALLY today have closed on the loan! So in the rare event that a hurricane makes its way up the Potomac River again in my lifetime, I'm covered! ~~~ |
Piney Point on the Potomac - December 31, 2004 What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?
Mahatma Gandhi
December 19, 2004 Sleeping & Dreaming
That was me, throughout most of school Speaking of dreams, on a recent trip I picked up a Time Magazine (December 20) at the airport for some reading on a return flight. The cover caught my attention: The New Science of Sleep. This has always been a subject of great interest to me as I was never too good at it. I'm fine, if I don't have to conform to my client's hours (that is, normal business hours). During periods of free time, I naturally seem to drift into a pattern of retiring at 2 or 3 in the morning -- when my brain sort of turns off all by itself. I sleep just fine as long as I don't have to wake to annoying alarm clock -- which is normally the case. So here's a few highlights of the article: "Yet despite its clear necessity and lots of investigation, scientists still don't know precisely what sleep is for." "Is it to refresh the body? Not really. Researchers have yet to find any vital biological function that sleep restores. As far as anyone can tell, muscles don't need sleep, just intermittent periods of relaxation. The rest of the body chugs along seemingly unaware of whether the brain is asleep or awake." "Is it to refresh the mind? That's closer to the mark. The brain benefits from a good night's sleep. But there is no agreement among sleep researchers about what form that benefit takes. One theory is that sleep allows the brain to review and consolidate all the streams of information it gathered while awake. Another suggests that we sleep in order to allow the brain to stock up on fuel and flush out wastes. A third, which has been gaining currency, is that sleep operates in some mysterious way to help you master various skills, such as how to play the piano and ride a bike." Here we are in the 21st and no one really knows why we sleep! How about dreams? "But despite all the mythology that surrounds dream imagery, scientists who have searched for the hidden purpose in dreams haven't had much luck. The consensus among sleep researchers today is that dreams are nothing more than random recycling of bits and pieces of the previous day's events." That still doesn't explain how Lisa showed up in my dream 15 years since I last saw her! Here's an interesting nugget: "Researchers found was that your ability to recognize certain patterns on a computer screen is directly tied to the amount of REM sleep you get. Such skills depend on something called procedural memory, which is needed for any task that requires repetition and practice. Remembering a fact, like the name of the first U.S. President, is an example of declarative memory, a different kind of capability that apparently is not affected by REM sleep." That explains why I'm so poor at following procedures! All-in-all the research continues -- I'll be sure to let you know once they discover why we actually sleep (aside from the fact most of us are dead tired by day's end). ~~~ One of the good things about working in the aerospace industry is that things really slow down around the holidays. Historically the PRIMES (Boeing, Northrop and Lockheed) shut down between the 25th and the 1st, which gives 1st and 2nd Tier suppliers the opportunity to do the same (if they're not behind on deliveries). I think it has a lot to do with getting the money to flow from the new government fiscal year (October 1). Comes January, the annual boom begins and 2005 will be a big boom: defense spending is way up and three new commercial aircraft are under development (7E7, A380 and the nemesis to the 7E7 - the newly announced A350). I am naturally one to take full advantage of the lull before the storm. I'll be taking some time off, visiting family and working on that reinventing "thing" over on the right column. I've set aside a whole week just to finally redesign the web page and develop some new meaningful content. I might actually be in a position to show you some of the new products in development. So, see you in January. Until then, don't get too stressed over the holidays, enjoy, over indulge a bit and come up with your own means to reinvent yourself, if you feel the need. December 12, 2004
California Dreamin' Interesting (and weird) dream, long and colorful, and rich in remembered detail: I'm driving down Pacific Coast Highway through Malibu (my all-time favorite highway). I must be in a rental car and I pull into a parking lot on the side of the bluff. I get out and walk a bit up the steep rugged bluff. When I turn to take in the ocean view, the car disappears! I ration in the dream that it's a remote rental car return lot, and seem unconcerned as I continue up the tree shaded winding path to the top. Reaching the top, I come upon a stately and massive structure, the old Getty Museum I think, but in the dream it is much larger seemingly goes on as far as I can see. It is an institution teaming with students -- thousands of them. It's no longer a museum, but a learning institution.
In my dream, the Getty looked more like this - in Malibu! As I enter on the very end of the building, I ask a student what this place is? "This is the place they send us if we fail in all other things", a young Hispanic boy tells me. "This is our last hope." I recall thinking, what a great place to be sent as one's "last hope." To my amazement, they are all studying to work in the old trade professions, not the arts, as one would think such a majestic palace would be used for. As I make my way through the maze of crowded halls, maneuvering around buzzing students, I pass the various departments: auto mechanics, carpenters, French maids (it's a dream), ice cream makers and seamstresses sewing colorful fabrics. At one point, I opt to turn further into the maze of halls and I am stopped by a petite Asian security guard who asks for my ID. Of course I have none to show her. She looks familiar, but does not recognize me. So she tells me she must escort me out, but reassures me that past the school for the chefs, there is a public place where I can eat -- sample the food of the students learning their trade. As we walk and talk, I realize that the guard is my old friend Lisa. I tell her who I am and her eyes light up in joy. We reach the restaurant and sit. Oddly, we are served cheeseburgers and fries! She introduces me to a man, someone in a position of authority at the institution. I tell them my story, about how my car disappeared in the parking lot way below the bluff. They laugh and tell me not to worry, all cars are removed from that lot and moved to another one. Simply take another path, and you will find your car again. Lisa takes me outside and shows me the path. The sun is starting to set over the Pacific Ocean. She must return to her duties, she says. But I don't wish to make the trip down alone and beg her to go with me. "Don't worry" she says, "there is one thing you can do before you leave, and then you won't worry about traveling down the path alone." She leads me back to the restaurant and points to a large tub full of steaming water. "Soak in this tub for five minutes and your fears will be washed away!" I find myself in the tub, not certain if I'm still clothed. Lisa's friends had joined her sitting at the very table where we ate. They are laughing and pointing at me. But I feel comfortable in that big old tub full to the brim of hot steamy water. One of the student chefs brings a few pots from the kitchen and asks me to wash them while I'm in the tub (yes that's weird). I go ahead and do so (that's even weirder). Finally she allows me to get out and gives me some dry clothes. "OK, time to go!" After the tub ordeal, I have no reluctance about making the trip down the rugged path alone. We step outside and look out over the ocean. A bank of clouds is rushing in toward the shore - not slowly, but hyper-fast like in a video that was speeded up in fast motion. The cloud bank hits us and there is cool mist everywhere. Oddly, or as planned, Lisa gave me a hooded sweatshirt. She pulls up the hood over my head and tells me to leave before it gets dark, as there are no lights on the path. She returns to the institution, waving and shouting one last time before disappearing into the building. I pull the strings tight on the hood, and begin the trip down the path with just enough light and visibility to proceed with confidence. I feel the rocks firmly with each step, but feel sure in spite of the grey mist and moisture all around. I wake up. I think, it was 15 years since I last saw Lisa. What the heck is she doing in my dreams?
© 2000-2004 Michael Milauskas - Composites-By-Design Corporation |
The Art of Reinvention I'm thinking it may be time to reinvent myself, or, at least. segments of myself. I seem in a rut. I should not be complaining, as I have a pretty cool means of earning an income. Sure, my clients can dump me at whim and sure, all the really good paying assignments are outside the Green Zone of Baghdad (none of which I'm even remotely considering - yet). For me, when an assignment ends, a thirty to sixty day vacation begins -- and the creative juices start to flow in mass. I always seem to be longing for that day. I can't imagine how people get by on two or three weeks of annual vacation. But then again most people can't bear the thought of the uncertainty that I endure. The issue: how does one really reinvent one's self? There are 9,370 search results on the phrase "Reinvent Myself" on Google and many more on "Reinvent Yourself." I'd bet about as many books written on the subject over the years! It seems, mostly artists and creative types seem to have that need. I bet, for example, Michael Jackson is thinking about reinvention. I wonder if most people even think about such things, aside from a desire to eliminate a bad habit or two. More coming . . . I'm pausing for a reinventive moment! ~~~ Well, I searched many of those Google sites and it seems most did indeed want to help in the process -- all for a fee for either the book, the seminars or the personal service. So I guess I'm on my own. I guess I'll start with a list - yes lists are good. I expect I'll have a whole new section comes the new year, on the inventive process -- all for free! Meanwhile I did find an interesting starting point -- a bit lofty for most but check it out, then pick and choose where to start: ~~~
I was right all along! ~~~ Better late than never? I still feel a need to comment of my recent rereads of my favorite Herman Hesse works. AND Leigh Stevens -- alive and well -- but where did his web page go? All works in progress. ~~~
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