I Choked Up Again

Today being Sunday, we attended worship services as usual. This time, I knew that I was selected to give the congregational prayer just before the sermon. Let me explain my issues with being in front of people.

Some years ago, my first event of speaking before our congregation ended up being a disaster. Well, sort of. Everyone said I did a good job, but they don’t know the horror I felt being up in front of 300 plus people and trying to get everyone’s minds on having a meaningful worship service.

I walked up to the podium on that day with some dread, sort of like simply saying, “I just don’t really want to do this.” I laid out my bible, open to the verses I wanted to read, laid out my outline of what I wanted to say, and then looked up. Suddenly, an overwhelming fear overtook me, an experience which I had never felt before. Jo even commented later that she watched the color literally drain out of my face.

As many times since that I have been before the same congregation, I still have very serious reservations about being up there, with every eye and every ear trained on what I do and say. The only time that I don’t feel that sense of some fear is when I am praying.

During those times, I am thankfully looking down with a bowed head and focusing my thoughts on speaking to God. I don’t concern myself with the 300 plus people in the audience. At those times, I am completely comfortable, just as I would be with any other friend.

However, today was different in that I once again choked up. I was just fine until I got to the part where I prayed for God’s presence to be with our serving military and their families. In thinking of that very thin line of defense that our country has (see yesterday’s blog entry), it was enough that my voice caught, I hesitated for several seconds (felt like hours to me), and tears welled up and began to glisten in my eyes.

I was finally able to continue, but it was without the steady voice with which I normally pray. The catch in my voice continued for yet a couple of minutes until I finished. While I spent some time afterwards singing with the congregation and getting my composure back, it was still a bit before I felt comfortable to speak.

The times that I find it the hardest to continue with speaking is when I think of family members suffering, or when I really consider the sacrifices of Jesus for our sakes. Now, it looks like I will need to be concerned with my feelings toward our military, police, firefighters, and others that serve the common good.

Our military deserve special recognitions because they do their jobs in some of the world’s worse sinkholes of civilization. Oklahoma’s 45^th Division National Guard has about 3000 or so of our citizens deployed into Afghanistan right now. Sadly, we have lost some of them to the evils of terrorism, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other Muslim extremists.

I pray that God will be with them and their families in their hours and days and months of sorrow. Fortunately, the United States is a nation of grateful people who have done an excellent job of showing their gratitude and embracing both the survivor’s and the victim’s families.

My heart swells with the stories of the Patriot Guard, those motorcyclists who serve as honor guards for the funeral processions and who quietly place themselves so that the grieving families do not have to see those that protest at the funerals.

I hope that we as a nation will never forget that thin line of defenders and their families, and that we will strive to thank those in uniform, regardless of branch, or whether military or civilian, such as our police and firefighters and other emergency personnel.

Thank you all, and may God bless you with courage and strength.

EZE-Kleen Sewer System

In the past, I remember reading the blog of another RV’er that spoke of going on during the winter of one year to find their stinky slinky with an area of solid ice in side. The water collects in the crevices of the hose and freezes. Then, as more water comes it tends to build up. This would especially be disastrous if one decided to leave a faucet dripping in winter and left the gray valve open so as not to fill the gray tank.

We recently ordered an EZE-Kleen Sewer System for our Mobile Suites. It is a system of PVC parts that have either two 90 degree elbows or three 90 degree elbows joined together to give one the ability to turn the plumbing in just about any direction. Then it also has two or three “expanding” lengths of PVC that allows one to shorten or lengthen one’s plumbing to reach the sewer inlet. To start with, here is a link to the EZE-Kleen Sewer website, which includes a nice video that describes just how it works:

http://www.ezekleensystem.com/

If one has a motorhome, the two 90 degree right angle piece is what is needed because the RV’s sewer outlet points down. On an RV that has a sewer outlet that comes out parallel with the ground, the three 90 degree right angle part is needed. The systems come with either three 24” expanding pipes or two 42” expanding pipes. The two 42” pipes actually allow the system to reach one foot further than the three 24” pipes.

One can mix and match. In our case, we ordered the two 42” pipe system and also purchased an additional pipe that is 24”. We also ordered one extra support stand. So, as I describe things here and show pictures, remember that a normal system comes with only two support stands. According to the company, two support stands should be sufficient to support 21 feet. However, I am known as the “KING OF OVERKILL” and wanted one extra support

As the “KING OF OVERKILL,” I am very pleased with this system so far, with only one little disappointment. That one disappointment will be mentioned later as I describe this system. For some people, it could be a problem, depending on what they like on their sewer system.

To start with, here are a few images of the system from EZE-Kleen’s website.

This image shows the steps to help one in ordering the system. Motorhomes do need to have an extension that allows the system to extend down from the discharge pipe to under the coach before hooking up the 90-degree elbows system.

This image shows the two 90-degree system with the three 24” pipes.

This one is the three 90-degree system with the three 24” pipes.

The next two images show two different RV’s (one motorhome and one fifth wheel) showing that their owners installed “hangers” to hold the system in place for travel without having to break down the system and store in tubs or wherever.

Fifth Wheel

Motorhome

Now, I did have a problem or two, both of which are related to the length of the connectors that goes into the discharge pipe of the RV. Note in this photo the length sticking out past the locking lugs with the extra O-ring.

That extra length prevented it from being hooked up to the clear plastic short piece of sewer I had that lets me see the sewage flowing and insuring that something isn’t backing up. Mine looks like this one with the garden hose hookup for rinsing. If you notice the inside flange of that is not deep enough to allow the length of the PVC with the O-ring.

Also, the flange area on our Mobile Suite’s discharge pipe had burrs on the inside of that flange. You can see the flange area in this photo and if you look at the bottom, you can see where the burrs went up to the inside edge of the flange.

That large burr was removed using a combination rasp/file that I have. (I think it is called a shoe rasp.) It has one side rounded with coarse rasp and finer file and the other side is flat with coarse rasp and finer file.

I also used that rasp/file to create a small beveled area around the inside of the discharge pipe. That was suggested by the EZE-Kleen folks so that it would be easier to insert that O-ring on the extension into the flanged area of the discharge pipe.

Our system came with two tools. One is a plastic spanner wrench that engages the locking lugs, making it easier to turn the pipe to lock on the lug pins on the previous pipe/discharge pipe. There is also the metal pliers that are really helpful to hold the second pipe as the spanner wrench is used to twist in the opposite direction.

Here is the entire three 90-degree elbow system.

Here are the support stands with one being the extra we ordered. Also, the two base pieces that are at right angles will turn to be in line with the rest of the base for easier storage.

And, here is the right-angle discharge adapter for going into the sewer inlet.

And, here are photos of the finished system. The larger PVC running along next to the tires is the system of fresh water supply hose, flush hose, foam insulation tubes, heat tape and insulation all placed into that 4” PVC running back to the underground faucets. The crappy looking cardboard box back there will be replaced with a nice looking wooden box to add protection for the underground faucets.

One final note to make is that the whole system with tax cost us a little over $330.  But, it certainly seems to be a good quality system, even though I haven’t even dumped the tanks once yet.  The company informed me that people that had bought their systems back when the company first started are still using the system.

Veteran’s Day 2011

What is the percentage of Americans that have served in the U.S. armed forces? It kind of depends on the numbers portrayed in the statistics. One answer that I heard was that there were about 1.7 million to 2 million individuals in active service and the National Guards. As such, with roughly a population of 300,000,000 in the United States, that works out to roughly ½ to 1 percent of the current population.

Others have pointed out that in addition to the current active military and guard, there are roughly 23.5 to 25 million who have served over the years and thus the number is closer to 8 percent of the population. The problem with that number is that it does not take into account all of the population of America over all of those years when those 20-some millions served.

Many of the briefings that our serving military personnel receive brings up the fact that they make up roughly the 1% of the population. 

Department of Defense figures are sometimes hard to glean from the aggregate of a report. However, this link will take you to an enlightening read about the Department of Defense and what makes up our military. It is not a short read, but is filled with a lot of interesting information.

http://www.defense.gov/about/dod101.aspx

This was one of those little tidbits that many don’t even consider:

“We Hire the Best

The Department of Defense mission is accomplished seeking out our nation’s best and brightest. Ninety-five percent of our employees have high school diplomas versus seventy-nine percent of the national work force; five-point-six percent of our troops have master’s degrees versus four-point-nine percent of the national work force.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau website. Work Force data is based on the total population fifteen years of age and older.”

The 95% includes the “grunts” with the guts to charge into a firefight when the normal human instinct is to run from it. It was one of the things that many learned during Vietnam because the enemy expected our soldiers to run back, thus moving right into a trap of an ambush. Charging into the firefight took the enemy by surprise and hampered their abilities.

It has been said that during the Vietnam War, we lost no battles of any significance, but we lost the war because of the surrender of the media and the politicians. While American and its military personnel have fought many wars resulting in freedom for millions and millions of citizens of other countries, Vietnam was the one “black eye” on the record of the valiant efforts of our beliefs in freedom and our willingness to bring freedom to others.

In spite of that “black eye,” America and its volunteer soldiers have again stepped up to help free another 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet, it will be the politicians who are more concerned about their images, social programs, and votes for re-election that will again withdraw a steadying force of Americans. The result is very likely to end with the fall of freedom in some of those countries.

America and its military made up of roughly 1% of the population have done great work over the years and highly deserve praise and a hearty “Thank you for your service.” Jo and I try to do that when we see military personnel, our police and firefighters, and our first responders in the form of EMT’s and others. More than once we have purchased the meals of those people when we see them in restaurants, and we always do it anonymously.

While I would prefer to have a face-to-face greeting and a hearty handshake with our serving citizens and offer thanks, with this blog posting I can only offer words. Those words of thanks must necessarily also go to the families of those who serve.

Thank you all for your service and your support. May God bless you all with courage and great blessings in your endeavors and lives.  To those that have served in the past, you are my brothers and sisters in arms.  Thank you for your services as well.

While I have no way of inserting YouTube videos into my blog, I will just have to insert a link to YouTube for a tribute of our military personnel, which includes a song by Toby Keith. To my great pleasure, Toby Keith is a fellow Okie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctVI5baftFo&feature=related

Norman Rockwell’s “Homecoming Marine.”  By the way, for you Marines, “Happy Birthday” on the 10th of this month.  From a U.S. Army veteran, “Well done, Devil Dogs.”

What is the Value of Dumb?

I had initially intended to post something today in regards to some dumb comments by the debate moderators at the GOP debate in Michigan yesterday. After hearing the questions from two journalists who are employed at CNBC, one of whom is a host of a financial program, I had the feeling that their parents ought to be asking for their money back for any college expenses they had incurred for their children.

Then this evening, I logged onto AOL to check my e-mails and to scan through the headlines of their news features. (Note, I said “scan” as it is ridiculous to call the Huffington Post drivel “news.”) In scanning the primary headlines, I usually look quickly at the three headlines that are under the primary headline for that “page.”

What I saw was a headline talking about the record price for a photograph sold at Christy’s in New York. Suffice it to say, being the “serious, amateur photographer” that I am, I just had to check that story out with the hopes of seeing a stunning photograph with lots of interest or contrast or special effects.

But, instead, I found a perfect example of a REALLY dumb person who was willing to spend $4.3 Million for a single photograph. To my surprise, part of the story spoke of earlier photos that sold in the millions and in looking at the story I found links to each of the photos.

Sorry, folks. I was not impressed with any of them. I have seen photographs by any number of individuals on the various RV forums and blogs that have better photos than what I saw that brought millions of dollars.

Needless to say, I’d like to find the dumb person who paid such an outlandish price for such an unimpressive photo. I’ve taken photos by accident that seemed more artistic than these, which someone supposedly took on purpose.

Sadly, the story refers to two different photographers, both of whom have sold photos for millions. I just don’t understand it. I know of painters, two of whom that are participants on the RV Dreams forums, whose work far exceeds the quality of these photos. If the works of those forum participants in their paintings and photographs were to sell for even remotely close to what these photos brought, the artists and photographers could really enjoy the RV life.

Without further ado, allow me to first introduce you to one by Cindy Sherman, entitled “Untitled #153 which at some time in the past sold for roughly $2.7 Million. If something like a crime scene photo has such value, we should have photos worth billions of dollars where I work.

Next, is another by Cindy Sherman, who apparently can’t think of titles for her photos, is entitled “Untitled #96. When it sold for a record price, it went for $3.89 Million. (What is it with taking pictures of reclining people from above?)

Now, for the final one, the record $4.3 Million photo, we turn to a photographer by the name of Andreas Gursky. This one at least has a title. It is simply called “Rhein II.” If I remember right, I also saw one of his photos entitled “Ocean II”, so he must also have some issues with titles. I would have simply called it “Boring II.”

If you are interested in more, follow this link to AOL’s Huffington Post report.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/09/new-the-most-expensive-ph_n_1085159.html?icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl11%7Csec3_lnk3%7C111636

So, to contrast the above high-dollar photographs, I guess I should post one of my “accidents.”  Maybe I can someday get a few bucks for something like this one.  Look low and towards the trees on the left and just above the surface of the water to see what makes this photo an accident.  I barely noticed the bird, which I think is a grey Heron, in the viewfinder of my camera.  I snapped quickly without even composing and got this image.

Blog Comments Follow Up

Since my last posting about earthquakes and tornados, I received a couple of interesting comments to that post. One is advising me to NOT go to New Jersey and the other is inviting me to go to New Madrid (Missouri, I presume.) One doesn’t want me to suffer more and the other apparently wants me to go with them when the “BIG ONE” hits.

I guess I should talk about the BIG ONE a bit, especially since I kind of have a connection to one of those. One that didn’t happen and I’ve wondered since whether it should have. Let me explain.

Back in the 1960’s, I was stationed with the U.S. Army Security Agency in a small Army post near Petaluma, California. The first time was immediately after finishing AIT and prior to shipping over to Pakistan for my overseas tour. While there the first time, I took a lot of interest and enjoyed the heck out of Northern California. Enough so, that when I returned from Pakistan to the states, I requested that same small post as my final duty post while in the Army.

For the second time to Northern California, I brought along my brand new, and forever beautiful, new bride. We got to enjoy traveling and sightseeing along the coast highway, the Armstrong Redwood Forest (a small grove near Guerneville, CA), the wine country, and San Francisco. We took a liking to San Francisco for the beautiful gardens, the bay area scenery, and the attitudes of those living there. THOSE were the good old days.

The year was 1969 and someone had predicted that there was going to be a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault, the one which if it were bad enough, would drop a lot of California off into the sea. Well, at least that is what they were saying at the time.

What made it great was that the hippies, who had “infected” the city, decided to skedaddle out of town and head for Boulder, Colorado. As for the native San Franciscans, they took the occasion to rent a drive-in theatre and rent the movie, Earthquake, and show up there on the predicted day of calamity. They were dressed in their gowns and tuxedos as well as other garb and celebrated at 5:00am, the appointed hour of the “demise” of San Francisco.

The inhabitants of San Francisco at that time knew how to “throw it in the faces” of the cowards that left the city. As for us near Petaluma, we watched with some awe at the cheekiness of those “earlier-day” Californians. We felt we were safe since the San Andreas Fault was actually west of the Petaluma area, although it might have been closer to the base where I was stationed. Check out this link and you can see the track of the San Andreas Fault. Look for Petaluma up near the top of the line…..

http://geology.com/san-andreas-fault/

Since then, it seems that the early-day San Franciscans have been replaced with more liberal citizens. Enough so, that Jo made the comment that if an earthquake fault line were to fail in this area of Oklahoma, we wouldn’t know for sure which part of the country we would want to be a part of for the future. We’ve pretty much decided that both coasts are out of the question since both seem to be a lot more liberal than the center, that which is referred to as “Fly-Over Country.”

So, I’m now in a quandary. New Jersey is out as it is on the East coast. New Madrid is pretty much out because if there is a “crack” in the fault line there, it looks like the Mississippi will fill up that crack and I don’t like swimming all that well.

I would say that my choice of destination would definitely be Colorado……

…….but do you remember what I said about the hippies going to Boulder?

(Damn! We just had another tremor or two at roughly 8:49pm, lasting for roughly 5 to 8 seconds. Speaking of the tremors in Oklahoma, check out this link:

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US2/35.37.-98.-96_eqs.php

That one will take you to a listing of the history of the local seismic activity in this area for the last few days. While Oklahoma tends to have a number of seismic events throughout the year, this year is supposedly about double of what our normal activity is.)

So, getting back on track, I would be inclined to go to New Madrid if it came to it. At least we would be among fellow “Fly-Over Country” citizens. If you have a desire to read the comments for the last blog posting, they are at this link:

http://ignoringthebarkingdogs.blogspot.com/2011/11/this-just-isnt-natural.html

Whatever I do and wherever I go, you can bet I will be prepared. I am equipped with all kinds of weapons for self-defense, hunting, game-dressing, and the like. Now, if I could just figure out this new Smartphone, it would help. Jo spent some time with it this evening and downloaded free apps for a compass and a flashlight.

Yep. You read right. A smart phone can be a flashlight. Just don’t figure on the battery lasting long enough to get many places. And, speaking of the Smartphone, how is this for irony? Below is a picture of my previous phone, known as a “feature phone”, on the left with its owner’s manual and the Smartphone on the right being my new Motorola Droid X2 with its manual. Notice how much thinner the manual is for the Smartphone?

It just goes to show, you have to be smart BEFORE buying a Smartphone.

This Just Isn’t Natural

Well, that title applies to two things that occurred today in the Oklahoma City area.

Throughout most of my adult life, I’ve not really NEEDED a mobile phone. In fact, the main reason I have one is so Jo can get in touch with me. In the past, as long as it was a basic phone, I was happy with it as I didn’t really need much else. We have had the experience of what is commonly referred to as “butt-dialing” wherein one’s phone just dials out because a button was pushed in some way, even if it was in a pouch or pocket.

When folks went on and on about their smartphones, I simply smiled and carried on with a basic phone that I could dial myself, or on occasion when I forgot a family member’s phone number, I used the memory dialing.

Jo has been using a Blackberry so it will be compatible with the systems at work and she can get her work e-mail. However, she’s decided that she no longer needs the hassle of the Blackberry and wanted to go to a phone with the Android operating system. As such, we discussed the various apps and the fact that the Androids seem to have the most free ones.

In discussing those, I came to a realization. I suddenly decided that I actually had more interest in the apps than I did in a phone for phone purposes. So, a trip to Verizon was made today and Jo ordered the new Razor phone. In talking with the salesman, I brought up the occasional need for a map program and that I would really like to have a compass. Did the Androids have an app for a compass?

Now, who would believe that a compass app would sell a phone?

The other thing is one that is really ironic. I have spent a wee bit of time in California in my life, and most of my life has been in Oklahoma. Today, there have been some earthquakes here in the Oklahoma City area, with them being located roughly 45 miles east of the city itself.

Last night at roughly 2:00am to 2:30am, I was sitting on the commode when I felt the fifth wheel shaking. Since the wind was blowing pretty well, I decided that I probably needed to verify the condition of level with the coach and make sure the Level-Up cylinders were engaged enough to provide stability. (Hey, did you know there is a “level” app for a smartphone?)

I received an e-mail today asking me if I had felt the earthquake last night. I hadn’t even realized that it was, presuming it was the wind. I checked the news and sure enough; about that time last night there was an earthquake out East.

Well, this evening at roughly 10:53pm, there was another earthquake east of Oklahoma City. This one I definitely felt as it lasted for 20 to 30 seconds. (I’m only guessing on the amount of time, as I wasn’t looking at my watch.) It was actually long enough that I began to feel slightly nauseous from the shaking.

What is ironic about the whole thing is that with all the years I’ve lived in Oklahoma, I’ve now felt an earthquake of some magnitude, but I’ve never seen a tornado other than on television.

So, now where do I consider moving to in order to avoid natural disasters?

A Photographer’s Curse

The advent of the digital camera has brought about both blessings and curses. I began a more serious interest in photography back in 1967 with the purchase of my first 35mm SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera with interchangeable lenses, which was an Asahi Pentax Spotmatic.

My mother liked many of my photos (don’t mothers always?) and wanted an SLR for herself. However, being a person of limited interest in setting the camera manually, she wanted something that would be pretty simple to use. That led me to search and settle on a Minolta XG-1 for her with suggestions for possible telephoto lenses for her.

After several years of good photographs (even when the camera’s setting weren’t right), she had several rolls of film not come out good when on a cruise. She bought a simple point and shoot camera and the next time she saw me, she handed me that Minolta and all the extra lenses. I now had two cameras, which can be a blessing when photographing nature and wildlife.

Then, my sister informed me one Christmas that she was going to sell her Canon T50. I took immediate interest because the T50 had an automatic film advance system where the Spotmatic and XG-1 were strictly manual film advance cameras. Anyone photographing wildlife knows the advantage of speeding up the chance to get a second or even third or more photographs of a moving critter. When I asked her how much she wanted for the camera and lens, she said $50.

So, I was suddenly the owner of three SLR cameras. With that setup, I could have one camera with a set telephoto lens, one with a zoom lens, and the Canon T50 with the standard lens and fast film advance. I thought I was in heaven. Well, except for the cost of buying and then developing all those rolls of film.

With digital cameras, one doesn’t have to be so concerned with film processing, so one can take oodles of pictures and only print those that really deserve printing. I suspect that most photographers are like me in that they take a lot of photos just to get a few really good ones.

With so many photos taken with wild abandon with the shutter button, there comes the day that “the Curse” takes effect. That is that period of time after the trip or vacation when one has to view each one, organize them all, and choose the ones in which one has a real interest.

I am at that stage of reviewing and organizing them. My first experience with the digital cameras on a vacation was in 2002 on a two week vacation to Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, Idaho, and back home through Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

That time, I took over 1700 photos in the two week period. I also DID NOT do any daily organization of photos. So, when we returned home, it must have been almost a month before I got all the photos organized according to the areas of the country and the various features of Yellowstone that I had photographed.

After that, I learned to download each day into folders for each day. I also learned to take a picture of any sign designating an area, such as Old Faithful in Yellowstone, before I even took one photo of the area itself. That way, my first picture would indicate what the area of interest was.

Thus, the 12 day Alaskan Cruise and Land Tour that we took in 2005 was better organized and it didn’t take as long to organize photos after that trip. But, because I took over 4000 pictures on that trip, it took longer to view and choose the better ones for organization into photo presentations.

Over 3200 photos on our two week vacation to the Pagosa Springs area in 2009 were even easier to organize since I was learning the best ways to “organize on the fly” for each day’s photographs.

This year’s trip to the Canon City/Colorado Springs area of Colorado resulted in only just over 2500 photos. But, that was in only a one week period. While they get organized by date each day as I download the photos, they don’t get reviewed quite as fast as I take the photos in the first place.

Thus, “The CURSE” is now upon me. It can be intimidating and frustrating with my photos. I get to see such beauty and photograph it, but the camera doesn’t always give me the result that my mind’s eye captures. A lot of photographs come out darker than I remember. And even though imaging software can better lighten up the photos, they never seem to have the same beauty and lushness of color that I remember after the lightening process is done.

That is usually made up with some really good ones, though. Many of which fall into that “realm” of which Ansel Adams wrote when he stated, “Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter.” Many of those fall into the category of photos that I want to share, but need to be protected as an image for my book.

While in Colorado this year, we visited the Florissant Formation, which is a site with fossilized redwood trees. While there, I stumbled upon a disc set (either CD’s or DVD’s) about the Phantom Canyon Drive. The images on the case showed some beautiful fall colors. Guess where I asked to be taken the next day….

Anyway, here are two photos of that day’s drive into the Phantom Canyon. One of a critter and one of some fall colors. Here’s hoping you enjoy them.

Critter and Pine Cone.

Simply Color….