Something meaningful and something less meaningful

I put this picture in my wallet sometime in the 1960"s. I carried the wallet for a few years but the part that has the pictures in it has survived. The picture is of my Dad. I don't know how old he was in the picture but he probably was somewhere between 28 and 32 would be my guess. I will send this to VJ and see if she remembers? Zack is going to try to patch up the pictures lines, folds and tears with photo shop so if anyone wants a copy of that when it is done you will need to send me an email and then I will send it.
*
I don't know if posting an old picture of my Dad is what might be expected for the day after Thanksgiving or for that matter the day before my Sisters birthday but then that is what I have done. I thought a little about what to post and was reminded of our project last Monday night and again yesterday of listing something we were thankful for for each letter of the alphabet. I actually made a list today of the people in my life that I am thankful for and it was a pretty long list. The real challenge would be to drop them all a note and tell them that. Then of course it would be better to call them or go see them but even sending a personalized note would be a big step. I say a big step because even emails are a little uncommon anymore. Most of the folks younger than me are on facebook. I have a facebook account and likewise a LinkedIn account. LinkedIn claims to be a "professional network", the worlds largest with 100 million members. Just a small group when you think of facebook which claims to have over 800 million members. Since I admitted being on both of these sites with my own page I also will admit that I don't log on and look very often. Maybe once every 90 days. I do get notifications all the time but seldom get one that indicates anyone really tried to say something directly to me. Good thing probably since why would I want to talk to someone in front of every one on their list and mine? I guess I could post a note saying "got up this morning and when the sun beamed down upon me and I felt good and then I had........................

"a momentary impression that might be thought of as an epiphany

and then as I paused I thought it over for a moment and realized that

I was wrong about it being an epiphany and that in fact it was just the

warm sun on my face, but then it was still a good day".

*

If I had of posted this thought it really wouldn't be much different than most of the thoughts I see posted when I occasionally log in . Not to imply that this is a not a good day. Maybe it is?

T Day and little girls

T-Day........................................................

Thanksgiving Day. Good day to remember my sister, Trudy. Course her birthday is the 26th and that is a couple of days away. She was a cute little girl. Little girls are cute of course and I would have loved to have known KJ when she was a little girl. Makes you wonder if when I was 5 or 10 years old if KJ would have liked me? I am pretty sure I would have liked her. I do like her a lot...................

2 turkeys crossed the road, to get to the other side or to help out with dinner I suppose

Looking forward to two days off and to a nice dinner. Today is a good day. Most days are good days. The weather is good, that helps. I have a spot picked out for the treadmill. That is good. A short nap is coming up soon and that is good. Speaking of good I was just reading a little quote to my left as I type and it says.........................

"Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid"

I like this quote. It goes to faith. Folks with faith have a lot of reasons to be happy. It might also go to stress management. Putting things in the Lord's hands can be less stressful.........if you have some faith.

New Flash 20 mark up ahead or maybe we just passed it

This blog is called

"Random Specific Thoughts", and I do have some. We do take the New York Times on the weekends for example. Actually I probably should go read it rather than just doing this blog. I thought of putting a picture of our house on the blog because I just came in from a walk. (wish it was from a run but mostly they are walks these days) and I stopped out front to visit with a couple of ladies from the ward walking by . In our area that is not a common thing to happen by the way. I mentioned that one of them lived in so and so's house who had of course sold it to them. She mentioned it was their house and she was determined to change it enough to have it be so. Most folks after moving a few times in their lives don't need this explained to them. On the other hand once you have finally bought a brand new house, like the one not shown in the picture, you don't ever have anyone tell you "O you live in so and so's house". That may be pretty obvious but then speaking of what seems obvious to me, I suppose I should document somewhere that I have lost a noticeable amount of weight. I could tell you that I weigh close to the same as I did in this picture above but then in that picture I was probably at the 20 mile mark in that race. Sometimes I think I might be at the 20 mile mark right now. Just to add some clarity if your in a marathon 26 mile race sometimes at about 20 miles you hit the wall. Lots of non random very specific thoughts go through your head. I remember thinking being dead might be good, for example. If in fact a marathon was just a metaphor for life whatever then where one might ask is the 20 mile mark? The on the other hand, losing weight is good and actually not all that hard. The formula is pretty simple. To do it I have given up a lot of sugar, trans fats, fats, sodium is way down (one exception is above in next to the guy running, and for that matter one of the few things I haven't given up) and then of course red meat ( no hamburgers, steak or hot dogs) , white bread, mayonnaise course I hate mayonnaise, most things with white flour, butter, most baked goods, and anything that comes to mind when you think of something good. Shredded wheat and oatmeal are fine. Bananas are good. Fresca is a treat.

A Bridge to the Past

Way back then, in the 50's, I lived in that house in the picture on the last blog below, but then I told that story in part with that picture. In front of the house to the right of where I was standing is a bridge. Today the bridge actually is one of the only things that has not changed much. When you crossbridge to the East you will still see the "Substation". Growing up across the river from a Substation where my Dad worked was interesting. Just being across the river from where he worked itself was a treat. I always wondered what the purpose of this plant was for Idaho Power. He told me often, explaining that Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse. Electric power flows through several substations between the generating plant, which was near the Dam in American Falls, and could make for another blog entry, and to the consumer. Voltage changes in several steps along the way. The Substation increases it or decreases it. The mystery is still not complete because that was before the days when power was part of a grid.
*

My Dad had a desk inside of this building. I spent many hours in the building especially in the summer and became very familiar with the gauges and all the interesting things. My Dog Skipper spent a lot of time there with me. One summer day the mailman came in with the mail right on schedule. He stopped to talk to my Dad right on schedule. Skipper came up behind him and turned and lifted his leg and wet on the back of his leg. I decided not to laugh. My Dad for some reason decided not to say anything but just sort of made up an excuse so that the conversation would end and the mailman who had not felt a thing "yet" just left the building. Never did hear how he felt later that day.......................................... guess I am still laughing.