Hobby and special projects…
Here are a few examples of craft projects and other items I’ve done.
This is a license plate I machined using MasterCam to generate the program. It’s machined from 6061 aluminum and and painted glossy black. The machined logo (Mensa) was masked off to preserve the machining tool path marks. The plate now adorns the front of my Audi Quattro A4. 🙂
A few years ago I was just sitting around, kind of bored. The thought occurred to me that I should build a combination bookshelf/wine rack to house some of my antiquarian books, and my small collection of wines. This shelf combination was the result.
After completing the shelf, it looked unfinished… something was missing. I needed something to adorn the top… I sketched out a rough idea of what I wanted to sculpt and then made a wire frame to form the foundation of the piece.
Finished piece.
Sometimes it’s just fun to create totally useless stuff. Here’s a hotdog roller for my BBQ grill.
My latest project (October 2017) is a plague doctor masque. Not quite finished but close…
Now the mask is completed!
How Some Fellow Mensans View Mentioning IQ…
Obviously I’m not alone in my ongoing dilemma as to when, if at all, to mention my membership in Mensa. It always felt a bit awkward, and maybe I dreaded the possibility, that someone would think me pretentious or an arrogant ass for even mentioning the fact. When is it OK to let it be known? Should you even put it on your resume? If so, does that put you in ‘bad light’ in the eyes of a potential employer? If you don’t reference it on your resume, could you possibly be sabotaging your chances of securing a job that requires logical reasoning and high intelligence? Just where do you draw the line? And, if you were to put it on your resume, or bring it up during the interview process, just how would you do so?
Try looking at it from a different perspective. Let’s say you’re applying for a job that receives numerous applicants for the same type of job. Your degree is probably no different from dozens of others being considered. What sets your resume apart from all the others? The fact that you may have a Masters instead of Bachelors? Or, a Doctorate instead of a Masters? What about if your degree is from a prestigious university and not a local community or state college? As an applicant, wouldn’t you want to stress where you were educated and the level of your education? And maybe, if you are just entering the job market, you’d want to point out your GPA or making the Dean’s List? Aren’t these the things a potential employer would want to know? I mean, if I’m looking to hire the best qualified applicants for a position, wouldn’t I then want the most ‘bang’ for my buck, so to speak? The answer should be obvious, right?
Why is it considered ‘bad form’ to mention your IQ? Are professional athletes ridiculed for being good at what they do? When was the last time someone said “Hey, you don’t have to excel at so-and-so! Show-off!” to an MLB, NFL, NBA player or other professional athlete? Athletes are highly regarded in their particular sport… so why aren’t highly intelligent people viewed in a similar light?
Below are a few comments gleaned from a recent discussion among fellow Mensans on a private FaceBook thread. Even among ourselves, we struggle with answering this question. The question asked was “Is a Mensa membership something to be proud of?”
Response #1: The profoundly stupid can do things we can not do… This guy I work with amazes me with his stupidity every day… But he should be ashamed in the same way I am proud … But he is way too stupid to realize he is stupid.
Response #2: It’s something I’m proud about – not to an obscene level, but I am proud of my brains just as much as I am proud of my good singing voice. It’s no better or worse than other people are proud of their good looks or ability to play sports well (neither of which I can claim).
Response #3: We have a right to be proud of whatever it is we are good at doing – be it something physical, mental, whatever. There is nothing wrong with that.
Response #4: It just sucks because saying you’re proud of doing a sport is cool but once you bring up intelligence you’re immediately seen has being condescending
Response #5: Perhaps – but that’s their problem. Someone feeling that I am condescending by mentioning I am proud and happy to be a Mensan makes me sad. I don’t feel it’s condescending when someone tells me they are a great dancer just because I have two left feet and dance like a drunken hippo.
Response #6: The question was – is Mensa Membership something to be proud about. And I think someone can be as proud of their innate intelligence as someone can be about any other innate ability. Sure – not every Mensa member lives up to their complete potential. I know I don’t. But I think that being smart enough to qualify is something that I can be proud about.
Response #7: I disagree that qualifying for Mensa is innate. If Usain Bolt never left his couch and ate Big Macs nine times a day, his potential would be the same but his actual time in the 100 meters would be sometime next Tuesday. Standardized tests show a significant training effect and a love of reading and learning is a common trait among our cohort. So, yes, most of us worked to get this smart, and could be proud of it. However, it is often more politic not to be too loud about our memberships because no one likes a smarty pants.
Response #8: I remember that my best test was my GREs, where I scored 2200+. I showed my scores to all my profs, and the first words out of my chemistry professor was, “I didn’t think you were that smart.”
Response #9 (my personal favorite): People will judge you negatively for being intelligent.
Mostly, I think, because they feel threatened.
Because intelligence is not immediately obvious–the way other characteristics can be.
Virtually no one will feel bad about not being a professional athlete. So they can laud that ability in others without feeling personally inferior.
No one, in my experience, thinks they aren’t smart. Until the person they least expect turns out to be demonstrably more intelligent than they are. They don’t expect it, and thus feel threatened. So, to mitigate that feeling, they react negatively.
You should be proud of your intelligence. No one should be made to feel bad about themselves because they’re a few standard deviations above normal.
______________________________________________________________
So, let me ask a question. Should it be considered bad form to mention your membership in an high IQ society?
If you’re currently employed and happy in your job, how do you think your boss would react to finding out you were a Mensan? Do you think that could be a roadblock to your advancing within the company? Would your boss and fellow co-workers likely feel threatened?
Machinist training
Where to start? This is such a broad subject matter and no one answer will truly fit all situations.
I’ve been in the San Diego area for over 17 years. In that time, I’ve encountered very few machinists who have had formal training of any kind. And yes, taking a course or two at a local community college, memorizing a few G codes and M codes, isn’t considered formal training in my book. Yet, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve come across those guys and who will call themselves ‘machinists’. It’s quite disheartening. The guys with whom I have come into contact with, and whom have had a formal machining education, can be counted on one hand.
Most shops employ guys who have learned the trade ‘on the job’, so to speak. There’s nothing wrong with learning the trade in that manner, if they’re employed in a small shop setting. The problem with an informal training readily becomes apparent in a larger production setting. Why? The reason is simple… A machinist with formal training approaches a job in a logical way. They start with ‘A’, followed by ‘B’, and so on. An informally trained machinist will tend to set up a job the way he was taught by another informally trained machinist. There’s no consistency or rigid method in which to follow, resulting in questionable setups and longer setup times. A machinist worth his salt, will want to tear down a setup that he has no confidence in, and start over the process.
Formal training usually includes learning the basics of manual machining before ‘stepping up’ into CNC machining. The ‘basics’ can include using dividing heads, machining gears on a horizontal mill, and making your own custom tooling for a job. A machinist, in a trade school setting, will learn how to approach a job in terms of planning the sequences of operation. These skills are considered fundamental to a well-rounded machinist. After mastering these basic skills, a machinist is better able to understand the techniques and planned sequence of events that go into a successful setup.
I’m an avid believer that a competent and successful shop is staffed by formally trained machinists.
How life on Earth started…
This is a wonderfully informative and well done video explaining the formation of Earth and how life here began. Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/SYOarZKipnU
Our universe is amazing!
Everyday things we tend to take for granted… the warmth of the sun, our own moon, and even the jewelry we wear. All of these things are the result of physics that started billions of years ago and is continuing on today. From the Big Bang to the collapse of stars… our universe is constantly changing and creating new stars, solar systems, and worlds.
From the death of stars, the potential for life is born. Stars are in a constant tug-of-war battle. The exploding fusion reaction of a star is in a delicate balancing act against the immense gravity crushing down on the star’s core. Eventually, gravity wins out in this epic struggle. The death of a star occurs when gravity keeps compressing and creating heavier and heavier elements within its core. Once a star creates the element iron at it’s core, the death of the star has begun. Iron stops the fusion reaction occurring within the star. In a matter of seconds, the star goes super-nova, gravity finally overtakes the fusion reaction and the star collapses. This collapse happens so suddenly, the inner core literally turns inside out, changing places with the outer perimeter of the star. As the star explodes, spewing matter hundreds of millions of miles into space, heavier elements are created… among these are silver, gold, and platinum. The light emitted from the super-nova briefly outshines an entire galaxy. This burst of radiation can send exploding material at a velocity about one-tenth the speed of light. The mass that’s left after the collapse of a super-nova is called a neutron star. They are the smallest and densest stars known in the universe.
So, as you go about your daily routines… take a moment to reflect upon all that is around you. The sun, waging a constant war against gravity… will one day die. Life on Earth, made possible with water molecules emitted from stars and carried to Earth via comets… our moon, the result of a long ago collision of Theia with Earth… gave us tides which helps in the cycles of life on our planet. Life, our world, and the jewelry we wear… all came about from the death of stars.
Always thinking…
It seems, even if my outward life is quite stable and consistent, my thoughts are always evolving. They’re constantly in flux. Why I believe the things I do and how I view my world are reevaluated on a regular basis. Recently, that reevaluation has preoccupied a good portion of my ‘quiet hours’… time that I take for myself after the responsibilities of the day are done.
I’ve always been amazed about the physical world around me. Learning leads to questions, and the subsequent answers, to ever more questions. It’s a vicious cycle. The complexities of our world and the makeup of our universe, in all of its awe-inspiring variations, are truly a wonder to behold. It’s easy to assign these wonders to an all powerful entity… God. But, is it… really? I mean, is there a God?
I believe in what is scientifically provable… what is logical. For me, in order for God to exist, God would have to be able to defy all the laws of physics during and after the Big Bang, more than 13 billion years ago. Also, it is estimated that there are 10 trillion galaxies in the universe… Why then, have we humans of Earth, been singled out by any God for ‘salvation’? And why humans? Why not another species? We’re just the latest in a long line of animals to exist on Earth. Were it not for the death of dinosaurs, humankind most likely would never have had the opportunity to rise up to become the dominant species currently at the top of the evolutionary food chain.
Something to ponder…
It’s kinda funny, really…
It should come as no surprise to my closest friends and family… I’m a far right leaning conservative. I’m laughing as I write. Why? Because I strongly believe in the Constitution and what the Founding Fathers intended when the United States gained its freedom from our English masters. And, by the standards of many today, that’s considered ‘far right’. The general public has no idea about the basics concerning our country or Constitution. Their ignorance is pitiful.
Here are a few items commonly not known by most Americans.
1. There isn’t a separation of church and state written into our Constitution. There is a clause that restricts the government out of religion, but it isn’t a two way clause.
2. The Constitution is a rigid document, not a ‘living’ document that could be interpreted differently over time. If it were a ‘living’ document, there wouldn’t be a need for the amendment process.
3. The three branches of government are not all equal. Our Constitution only grants the Supreme Court two powers; original jurisdiction and the setting up of lesser courts.
4. The Supreme Court (SCOTUS) does not have the power to judge any law unconstitutional. In the decision of Marbury v Madison (1803), the SCOTUS grabbed the power of ‘judicial review’. Since that time, the SCOTUS has abused their illegally gotten power to create law and rule on the constitutionality of laws.
5. The amendment process allows for the changing of our Constitution. The 2nd amendment cannot be changed. Why? Because it contains the language ‘shall not be infringed’. But that hasn’t stopped laws from being created that restrict, deny, and limit who can or cannot own/possess firearms.
6. The common misconception is that the Civil War was over slavery. Simply not true. http://www.history.com/news/5-things-you-may-not-know-about-lincoln-slavery-and-emancipation
My friend, Earl June Green Jr.
It has been more than 7 years since the passing of my friend, Earl. I found myself thinking of him earlier today. He was such a nice guy… a great friend… it still hurts knowing I won’t see him again.
I first came to know Earl during my freshman year at Lee High School in Huntsville, Alabama. He was a year ahead of me and we were both in R.O.T.C. together. He was an integral part of a close knit and small group of cadets during our time at Lee. Tall, always smiling, and wearing his heart on his sleeve… he was always a good friend to me. During the summers, we would keep in touch with one another and maybe take in a movie or just hang out.
Our group was close but drifted apart after high school. The comedian of our group was Alvie East. After graduation, he became a mortician and I never saw him again. Raphael Beckman, feisty but loyal, stayed local and has kept in touch over the years. Brett Chafin ended up in Tennessee and now works in the music industry. Earl went off and joined the Army Rangers and would visit when his leave time allowed.
Brett contacted me when Earl passed away. I was devastated. I couldn’t believe the news. Not Earl! Why? What happened? He was only 39 years old! The details of his passing aren’t important. A great loss is not lessened by knowing the details. I was saddened to know his wife and children had lost their husband/father… his parents lost their child… and his siblings had lost their brother.
I called Earl’s folks. I spoke with his father for quite a while. I know my voice broke several times during the conversation. If it was that hard for me, I couldn’t imagine the pain his family must’ve felt. I shared a few stories with his father, Earl Sr., but none seemed to capture the depth his friendship had meant to me over the years. Some friendships are just that way… words simply cannot do it justice.
Earl June Green, Jr. 28 August 1968 – 7 May 2008
I miss my friend.
Dreams
I’ve always had the ability to remain calm and collected during times of great stress. The world, in a manner of speaking, could be on fire… and I would pause, assess my situation, and cautiously plan my next several moves. In such times, my dreams would roughly parallel reality. The dreams would be very lucid, almost tangible, and would leave me thinking about them long after waking.
One particular dream seems to reoccur periodically. The dream would pick up about where it left off previously but would then loop around and begin again… much like a skipping record. In the dream, I would be crouched on a narrow wall, looking inward, as best I could… into a small square-shaped, but very dark courtyard and, with what little light was available, a shadowy vapor-like mass could be seen lurking… wandering about. It moved much like a living organism and behaved as if it were intelligent. From time to time, I’d have to re position myself along the top of the wall trying to avoid the shadow below. It appeared to me that it was seeking me out but it didn’t know quite where I was. My periodic movements would attract its attention… and it would just be a matter of time before I’d have to move again, to avoid being caught.
The shadow had the air about it of malevolence and harshness. It filled me with a sense of dread and impending doom. From my vantage point along the wall, I could faintly make out that the ground below was slowly rising. As it rose, I could see the mist getting closer to reaching me. Moving away quickly and quietly as I could, I snuck along the wall to escape its reach. To my amazement, the wall must’ve been on an incline, because I could see that I was putting more height between myself and the following mist. The ground kept rising… I crept along… the mist kept coming…
Inevitably I’d awake with an uneasy feeling… with the dream fresh upon my mind. I’ve thought at length about the underlying meanings of this dream. I could feel my angst reflected perfectly in the dream. I’m the type of person who avoids conflict if at all possible. The mist symbolized the stressful situation at that point in my life. Moving along the wall just out of reach, and trying to not attract the attention of the mist, was my way of distancing myself from an unpleasant event. The ground rising up, to me, symbolized unresolved issues coming back to haunt me. The inclined wall was my temporary escape route.
Would the courtyard ground ever stop rising? Would the wall level off and allow the mist to reach me? Would I finally have to confront the mist?