Milt Reynolds: Thinking Out Loud

Photo by Mishaal Zahed on Unsplash - unsplash.com/photos How did "toast" come to mean two apparently disparate things: lightly burnt bread, and a cup raised to the health and honor of a person? Short version: The Roman habit was to put a bit of blanckened bread in their cup of wine to remove bad flavors from poorly made wines. The Latin word for "browning with heat" was tostare , and the result was tostus . "Toasting" became honorable, and became a way to express honor for another. The longer version: At some point, wine clarified and improved by a bit of toast became figurative language for a "beautiful or popular woman whose health is proposed and drunk to". - https://www.etymonline.com/word/toast Raising a cup of wine in honor of a woman, and expressing respect and resolve for good things, all seem to make toasting a worthy ritual. But inevitably, over-drinking and over-politicizing becomes boistrous at best, ribald or even rebe...

A “moment” used to be an actual measure of time and corresponded to roughly 90 seconds. It was used during the Medieval era and was derived from the solar hour (the hour on the sundial’s face was divided into 40 “moments”). - https://www.howtogeek.com/ This pleases me. I don't know why. I'll probably need to spend some more time in counseling and silence and solitude. But, it pleases me to know the actual approximate duration of "a moment". When I was in elementary school I became obsessed with specifying the precise duration of time required when I said something like, "I'll be back in a sec", or "Just a minute." It didn't feel right to be so casual and offhand about time. Instead of "I'll be back in a sec", I would say, with a bit of time spent calculating, "I'll be back in 45 seconds." I know. It's pitiful. But, I'm also an introvert. It kind of makes sense.

A Psalm a Day: DOY = d + 30m + g I enjoy beginning my days by singing through a Psalm, one each day, in order from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150. With 365 days in a year (usually) I will have sung through the entire Book of Psalms twice, with third time through the first 65 Psalms! (On Day 119 I must take some creative license and break the 22 sections into thirds!) I’m not used to keeping track of each day of the year. There are computer applications and internet sites that can do that for me, but I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way: mathematics. Here’s my formula: DOY (Day Of Year) = d + 30m + g Where, d = day of the month 30m = number of completed months, multiplied by 30 g = net days gained This formula takes into account the fluctuation from month to month of 30 days or 31 days, and the four-year variance in February from 28 to 29 days. For example: Today’s day of the month, plus (30 x completed months) plus gain = equals the day of the year. December 9 = 9 + 330 ...

I am convinced that my rants and sobs of distress, claiming that "these are the worst days that our republic has ever seen" are caused my my ignorance of history! thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

Facebook Makes A Terrible News Source! Right now, with staffing troubles and ineffective AI, it's easy to create fake news ads, submit them to Facebook, pay for the advertising fee, and have them approved for publishing...despite the ads violating Facebook guidelines and commonsense ethics. https://www.consumerreports.org/social-media/facebook-approved-ads-with-coronavirus-misinformation/

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get—only with what you are expecting to give. - Katharine Hepburn

Fallen Officers From the COVID-19 Pandemic ODMP - https://www.odmp.org/search/incident/covid-19 As of June 22, 2020

The 3.5% Rule ...It Only Takes A Spark, To Get A Fire Going I'm a fan of bushcraft and camping how-to articles and videos. In all that I've seen and read, there is one basic skill that is repeatedly taught: how to make fire. Fire is life-giving and life-sustaining. It need not be seen as a metaphor for destruction and loss. It may be better seen as a metaphor for change...change for the better. But, this is true only when the "fire" is carefully tended, controlled and guarded. A reckless disregard for vulnerable, tinder-dry materials nearby can make the life-giving "fire" quickly become a catastrophic storm of violence and destruction. Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change. *Look deeper: www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

COVID-19 is not "just the flu" In May 2020, nineteen law enforcement officers died in the line of duty nationwide. Of those nineteen deaths, more than half were due to duty-related illnesses: nine were the result of COVID-19, one was the result of 9/11-related duty illness. Five were the result of gunfire (four felonious, one inadvertent), two officers were struck by vehicles, one died in an aircraft accident, and one died as the result of a heart attack. At the end of May 2020, a total of 93 officers have died in the line of duty in the U.S. - a significant 48% increase over the same time last year. This increase is largely due to the 40 COVID deaths that have occurred in the last two months. http://blog.odmp.org/2020/06/end-of-watch-may-2020.html?m=1

The Great Bus Adventure I apologize for such a grandiose title. More, I need to warn you that this post is woefully banal. I thoroughly enjoyed my day, and I want to share my joy with others, but I know that it will be disappointingly trivial for many of you. So, in an attempt to avoid needlessly wasting your time, or worse, provoking you to disdain, please consider this warning: IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS ARE TRUE FOR YOU, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER, ELSE YOU RISK PERMANENT LOSS OF VALUABLE TIME AND NEEDLESS EXPENSE OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS! 1. You have lived in a city big enough to support a public transit system AND you have been daring enough to patronize said public transit system. 2. You know how to interpret bus schedules. 3. You know the difference between "downtown" and "uptown". AGAIN, IF ANY OF THE PRECEEDING STATEMENTS ARE TRUE FOR YOU, YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST. Ok. I'm glad that's been settled. H...

Getting Up Early Seven months have passed since my last post. Seven months ago my wife and I were managing a self-storage business, living on-site, in a small town in eastern Oregon. The work was interesting (for awhile), frustrating (often), but it provided for our living. Sharing the work with my wife allowed me several days off each week. I connected with a fishing buddy, learned to fish for salmon and sturgeon. I caught two salmon, a couple bass, and one huge monster of a sturgeon (a 7-foot long sturgeon is a monster in my book). We had deep connections there with family and friends, but felt cut off from our grown children and our one grandchild, who all lived in southwestern Idaho. Many applications for work in Idaho returned unanswered, but we decided in early May to buy a camp trailer, move to our daughter's farmhouse in Meridian, Idaho, and see what might develop. We submitted our resignation from the self-storage business, began packing and saying our goodbyes. ...

Tumbleweeds "You youngsters have it so easy!" The old tumbler shook his head sadly and spat into his soda can. I laughed silently at his grumpy whine, and I got ready for him to settle into his typical reminiscing rant about the "good old days". I liked the old guy, but I'd heard his stories now for years, and they never changed. "Ever' house has a fence a some sort, and yer tumbleweeds jest nat'rally get caught. You don't haf to no more'n step out yer front door and you got a dozen fresh tumbleweeds in nothin' flat. Hell's fire! A six-year old boy can grab more'n two or three by hisself an' still have time to play Nintendo all afternoon!" He made another deposit into his can. I peeked around at the faces of the folks gathered round the campfire. A couple were rolling their eyes, but most were smiling and encouraging the old geezer to continue his song and dance. I didn't mind it myself. He might be exagger...

Tolerance: The Definition Has Changed The New Oxford American Dictionary has not caught up with the change, but the modern, popular definition of "tolerance" is radically different (I believe, dangerously perverted) from the "old" meaning. Oxford defines TOLERATE as "allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of (something that one does not necessarily like or agree with) without interference". The word originated in the early 16th century from "tolerare", Latin for "enduring pain". TOLERANCE is the ability or willingness to tolerate something, to "endure the pain" of the existence of something. What is the new definition? According to D. A. Carson , "tolerance" has changed from accepting that lots of people have different views, some of which are wrong, to agreeing that all views are equally true. What difference does this make? A diametric difference! Mark Driscoll recently wrote an essay about...

New Door Here's some pix of a new door I installed in our new home: I mounted a bipass track on the living room side of the opening, hung a 32-inch hollow-core door, and concealed the track with a 1x6 piece of hemlock. Applied a thick coat of oil with a rag, let it set for about 10 minutes, then buffed it smooth with another clean rag. The next day I did the same to add a second coat. Being impatient and pushed for time, I installed it. It feels smooth and dry, kind of a satin finish. The instructions on the tung oil container said to add daily coats to get a glossier finish. My next project is a kitty litter cabinet. We want to conceal our kitty litter box in the house. We've seen several examples: https://www.google.com/search? q=conceal+kitty+litter+box+in+ cabinet&num=20&newwindow=1& tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa= X&ei=cNTiUc7dCoK3iwKP_YA4&ved= 0CGMQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=785 We bought a 24-inch bathroom vanity cab...

Not A Big Fan Of Sports I'm not a big fan of sports I barely glance at the sports section of the newspaper, and that brief look is only to see if the comics are hidden inside that section. However, I'm not sure that I should publicly reveal this critical moral failure of mine. I have (had, up until this moment?) many friends who are huge fans of sports, all kinds, any weather, any time. I honestly try not to allow my disinterest to appear as dislike of those who enjoy sports. I DON'T dislike you! I just find it extremely hard to share in your joy. But that doesn't mean that I'm not glad that you joy in it. I've heard that there's a big game scheduled this Sunday. I actually attended a Super Bowl party one time. The food was great! By taking a moment here and there to stop crunching on chips and dip I was able to listen intently to the running commentary of the true fans in the room, and I could sort of keep up with who was playing, and whether ...

Ouch! Six out of ten is not so good! I realized that out of this list of 10 Things Your Boss Never Wants to Hear I've violated six of them over the years. It's hard for me to put myself easily in the Boss's shoes. I'm more of an Assistant-to-the-Boss-type of worker. I prefer to do, rather than delegate others to do. So it's hard for me to avoid acting like a jerk , especially hard to avoid being obnoxious in my mind and heart, even while portraying a calm, content appearance on the outside. Good reminder of what's important to my boss, and thus important to me , as an employee! 10 Things Your Boss Never Wants to Hear Business Greg is businesslike by Greg Younger , Creative Commons Licence

Calm and Intelligent Discussion In a single, illuminating moment this image expressed a frustration I've felt many times: It's hard for me to compete in break-room discussions . Typically I find myself on the fringes of the discussion, participating inwardly only, hesitant to jump into the fray, reluctant to appear as hardheadedly opinionated as some of the others, although I know that I actually am hardheadedly opinionated in many ways. I just don't want to look like it. It's extremely difficult for me to respond immediately to controversial issues . I'm unable to recall any of the succinct, brilliant one-lines that can stop bickering and posturing in their tracks. The times that I've yielded to emotion and expressed myself cannot be properly described as "expressing myself". My words are halting, my logic confused, my sources unknown, my knees shaking. Here's how I wish break-room discussions would go: someone sincerely concerned in ...

Unshopping Have you ever heard of "unshopping"? Neither had I! But the notion is intriguing. "Unshopping" can be seen as a way of counteracting the pervasive, persuasive, almost hypnotic effect of aggressive, biased commercials aimed at influencing us toward impulsive, emotional shopping . Here's one list of questions that can help a person "unshop": ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Before buying anything, ask yourself … · Do I really need and want this? Can I get by without it? · Is it made from renewable or nonrenewable resources? · Is it made of recycled materials and is it recyclable? · How long will it last and how will I dispose of it? · Can it be maintained and repaired? · Could I borrow it, rent it, or buy it secondhand? · Is it overpackaged? · Is it worth the time I worked to pay for it and its cost to the environment? Source: envirochangemakers.wordpress.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~...

Justin Holcomb on Sex Trafficking How closely located is our church to active sex trafficking ? Who do we know that is involved in someway to sex trafficking? It may be nearer than we can bring ourselves to consider. Justin Holcomb describes the real-life experience of a young girl caught, and rescued, from this modern form of slavery . I did not realize that the average age of entry into prostitution is between 12 and 14 years. It is probable that at least 2.5 million people are trafficked annually. The U.S. State Department estimates even more: 12.3 million adults and children. Approximately 18,000 women and children are forcibly transported into the U.S., to be exploited for sex or labor. Pimps activily lure women and children into the sex industry. They target those who are lonely, desperate, the runaways, the homeless, those without parents. Justin lists six important ways that every church, including the small and rural churches, can help. The Number One way is to get...

Mountain Goat or True Goat? Now I'm not sure... Armed with two cameras and binoculars, I returned to the wilds of Wallula Gap today to wrest from nature a better photograph of the wiley Mountain goats seen a couple of days ago. Rain lightly spattered on my windshield as I approached the curve in the highway near the locations I'd been at previously. I immediately spotted two goats on the hillside , lower down than before, closer than the two seen earlier. Elated, I readied my equipment and began to walk closer, snapping shots as I went . I'd brought my film SLR camera and a small digital. I love working with the near-obsolete 35mm film camera. I'd spent so much time as a teenager with such a camera. Hours in the darkroom, developing and printing my photographs. Most of my shots today were with the 35mm, but I did snap a few backup shots with the digital. As I got closer, it soon appeared that these were not Mountain goats . No horns, no beard, floppy ears...no...