Exploring Mike

  Today, I participated in the Gears for Goldens charity bike ride.  This ride included 62, 38, and 18 mile routes.  This is another annual event where I donate my time, truck, and radio skills to provide support for riders. Today, I was able to assist a rider who had an accident.  At about mile 9 of the 62 mile route, the rider hit a fairly significant pot hole in the road, and he and the bike took a spill.  The bike was fine... the rider's head protected it.  When I came up to the incident, I found 7 or 8 riders stopped to help the downed rider, who was on the ground.  He had a nasty but on his forehead, and his helmet had been broken in half.  Fortunately, the man never lost conciousness, was lucid, and the other riders were able to assist him with basic first aide.  After about 20 minutes, during which time noone came in response to the 911 call, the rider decided he was well enough to go to the emerency clinic on his own recognacance....

Tropical Storm Helene is headed north over the Florida Panhandle, and looks like it will be going through the states west of the seaboard.  Even if the storm intensifies to Hurricane status, it won't be hitting my vicinity, but it does serve as a reminder that we should always remain prepared. I don't expect any unusual heavy winds, but the fact that the storm will be pumping water into the atmosphere upwind of me tells me that I can expect heavier than normal rain.  Since this September has already had a fair amount of rainfall, this will undoubtedly result in local area flooding. What kind of preparations should one make if they are potentially in the path of a Hurricane?  Part of this depend on location.  If right on the coast, be prepared to evacuate.  Boarding up windows never hurts.  Having supplies of food and water is a good idea anywhere.  Depending on the temperatures in the area, you may want backup heat and electricity.  A car's gas ta...

  The Carolina Hurricanes' home arena just changed sponsors.  For the last decade or so, this place was called the PNC Arena.  This past Thursday, the name changed to the Lenovo Center.  The arena will retain this name for the next 10 years, when it is subject to change again.  For the big reveal, Lenovo invited all of the local staff to come to the opening.  This included the opportunity to watch the 'Canes practice for a while.  Then, we had the opportunity to have a light lunch.  There were games and opportunities for socializing.  There were several thousand people in attendance. One thing that I do object to is the sound level of several thousand people talking.  I attended a Hurricanes game earlier in the year, and the noise level during the game was excessive.  I should have remembered this for this event, and brought along some hearing protection.  Ear muffs (shooting gear) are probably overkill, but foam ear plugs are ...

  The 2024 Election is upon us.  Yes, its still 5 or 6 weeks away, but we are innundated with commercials in any media format that we follow.  Most people have already made their decision.  This post is not an endorsement of either side, nor is is a demand that the reader should get out and vote.  Instead, I'd like to ponder the subject of Fairness. What is fairness?  It is making sure that every person who wishes to participate in the election process is able to do so.  This may require voter registration, IDs, and other restrictions, but there is no reason why any of these things would block a potential voter. I have worked as an election official for Wake County (NC) for about 15 years.  After serving as an assistant and help desk offical for several years, the Wake Count Board of Elections decided that I was worthy of being the Chief Judge of my precinct.  I expect that I will remain the Chief Judge there until I get tired of it.  Ma...

  Everyone must notice that as we get older, life speeds up.  As children, there is usually plenty of time to get things done... play, sleep, school and so forth.  As we get older, the pace of life increases, with harder school, maybe a first job, and dating.  Then we become adults, and it just speeds up more, with work, family, and other activities. That frantic pace becomes more hectic as we get older.  In addition to work and family, we adopt interests and join various communities or organizations.  Sure, I am typical.   Although I am nearing retirement, I am still working a full time job.  Family is  not quite as central to my life, since the kids have moved on to their own lives, and it is now just my wife and me:  we take care of each other as needed.  I am a member of two Toastmasters clubs, in addition to serving in various roles outside the club.  I am a member of the local Amature Radio organization, although I o...

  Monday at lunch, I ate something that didn't agree with me.  I spent much of the afternoon and evening being really sick.  Even yesterday I wasn't back to 100%, although I was well enough to work (from home).  The number of times I get sick during a year usually can be counted on one hand.  Not this time... I suspect it was food poisoning. This brings up the concept of problems in the food production cycle.  There are reports of vegetables (lettuce) with pathogentic organisms or meat that might carry Mad Hampster desease.  Food recalls for one reason or another are almost a daily occurance.  Don't get me started on the wonders of processed foods...  they are almost unavoidable in this age. As I get older, I am becoming ever more health concious.  Diet is important, and the more natural a food is, the better:  real butter rather than margarine.  Whole wheat bread instead of bleach white bread.  Fresh cooked meats and vegg...

  Tomorrow is the annual Summer Speech Spectacular, hosted by my Toastmasters  club.  This event provides an opportunity for Toastmasters from any club to come and present a speech.  Four sessions and four rooms, and three speeches per session adds up to 64 speeches in one day.  In addition, there will be opportunities for people to take a role as Toastmaster, Evaluator, and Timer (one each per session). But this post isn't about my Toastmasters event, except perhaps perifially.  Instead, I'd like to mention that folks bring goodies for participants to browse on.  It has become somewhat of a tradition over the last 8 - 10 years that I bring a loaf or two of fresh baked bread.  In the thumbnail, you can see the two loaves that came out of the oven (about an hour ago).  I have to let them cool for a bit more, and then I have some very nice paper loaf bags to put them in. I picked up the skill of baking bread back in 2005 or 2006, while I was be...

I grew up in a large family.  My mother had 6 children.  But that was at the end of the boomer cycle.  Today, large families are unusual.  Case in point:  I have one son.  He is almost 40 years younger than I am.   At this time, my son works as a department manager at a local grocery store.  He opted to spend some time in the Marines, after which he decided that collage was not for him.  He's smart enough that he could have followed my career path in Engineering or Computers, but he figured that piling up $100K in student loan debt didn't make any sense. Last Friday, I celebrated my 66th birthday with dinner at a local resteraunt.  I was fortunately that my son agreed to come to dinner, and even better, he finally introduced his girl friend to us (he had only told us her name a couple of months ago).  Yes, they, my wife and I had a good time at dinner, but the important thing is that we got to meet his girl friend.  Hallel...