Parallel Universes

Modern quantum physicists believe in parallel universes -- actually an infinite number of them; so anything that could be is.

How can this be?

The simplest explanation that I have read goes like this:

The universe is infinite and expanding. Now imagine a huge gravel pile. In that pile are three rocks all close to each other -- a red one, a white one and a blue one. If the gravel pile is big enough, you can bet that somewhere in the pile there is a set of red,white and blue rocks in the same arrangement as these three.
Now, although the number of atoms in our world is a lot more than three, it is not unreasonable to imagine that somewhere in our infinite universe, there is one or more arrangements of  the atoms of our world in exactly the same order.  Makes your head hurt just to think about it; doesn't it?

Mike's Car

i first saw my best friend Mike's  1955 Buick Special  after school one day. I heard the Beach Boys singing, "After six hours of school, I've had enough of the day. I hit the radio dial and turn it up all the way. I love to Dance.." it was an omen! There was Mike turning the radio up on his 1955 orange and green Buick Special; (he said the title said melon and turquoise, but you or I would call it orange and green). He motioned me over and I dug in my pocket for change. Those were the rules: If you wanted to ride, you helped pay for gas. When the car was full of riders, we'd buy gas for $.22/gallon and cruise Euclid.
The car had other features:
Mike could let the clutch out while he was coasting down hill, reach over and turn the key off and on and it would backfire with a loud bang -- at least until he did that while sneaking up on a junior classman and it also blew the muffler completely off the car.
And finally, it had a hole rusted in the front passenger floorboard, where if you weren't close to a convenienient stopping place, the passenger, male or female, could thereby find some relief, instead of wetting their pants, although occasionally a bystander might say something like,"hey, I think your radiator has a leak." None of these features were listed on the title.
Though long gone, it ranks right up there with Elvis' pink cadillac.

Mushrooms and Blackberries

Just back from breakfast with our church friends at the Rakota (best omelettes in town) and I had the usual -- mushroom and swiss -- and I realize why I love mushrooms. I was born in a little town in Ohio and once a year, my family would go out to the woods and the grownups would gather mushrooms, while we kids would pick blackberries. Then, back to grandma's where the mushrooms were breaded and fried in butter;  and the blackberries were baked into pies -- yum!

Ice Sledding

Wintertime and Farm Island Lake is frozen. Mike, Jack and I take Mike's '55 Buick onto the ice and Mike starts doing cookies (drive ahead as fast as you can then cramp the steering wheel one way or the other) You will spin really fast. Then someone sensible (I like to think it was me said, "This is really crazy; this car is really heavy, and we don't know how thick the ice is."

PLAN B: Mike and I had 60's era sleds and Mike had a sheet of plywood (His dad owned a construction company.) Jack's contribution was a sheet and two bamboo poles (His dad ran a motel.)
 Wrap the edges of the sheet  around the poles and tack them in place with short nails.
Back at the lake, we sit on the sleds with our backs to the wind and slowly raise the sail.We take off slowly but pick up speed faster and faster. The sleds make a clackety clack noise and I notice a black band across the horizon beyond the fishing shacks. The fishermen inside the shacks used what they call tip-upsthat potrude about 5 or 6 inches above the ice when a fish bites. I yell,"That's water up ahead!" As much as we try to turn the sleds, it only skids sideways and we begin to take out the tip ups. We bail off the sleds and hustle back to the car with lures hanging from our coats,each carrying a piece or two of the incredible ice flying machine.







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Karate lessons as I have taught them

I write E=mc2 on the blackboard, "Does anyone recognize this?" Inevitably someone mentions Albert Einstein.  I say:
"Well, he wasn't so smart. Every junior engineer knows E=mv2  Einstein just said that  nothing can go faster than the speed of light (c)- very very fast. So Einstein's equation basically meant you could get a tremendous amount of energy from a teeny tiny amount of mass (like a single atom).
But let's look at the other equation. It says that if you double the mass, you double the energy, but if you double the velocity (of a punch or block), you quadruple the energy. Don't try to hit harder. Try to hit faster. And what gives you speed? your pulling hand. Try an exercise with holding a rope in the pulling hand.


Kicks:
When you first start karate, a kick is just a kick. When you reach black belt a kick is just a kick {I.e., a round kick feels like  a front snap that rotates at the last instant.

Blocks:
Try to make impact close to your opponent's wrist. Use a snap(rotation) at the end. You can execute blocks without your pulling hand; but with the pulling hand, blocks can break bones.
I think that the easiest block is the rising block; just because it is so intuitive. You instintively protect your face
Inside blocks need a pulling hand. Outside blocks work well with a follow up chop to the nose or neck. They also facilitate grabbing the opponents arm or gi to allow a side or back kick.

There is a down block too, but many people incorrectly use it against kicks. Instead use it against mid-level punches. Block kicks with kicks or with an "X" block. (E.g., block a front snap kick by positioning your foot as if you were kicking his shin. He does damage  to himself and you are unharmed. The exception may be for high rounhouse kicks where you can use both arms in outside blocks; then spin low to the floor to sweep his remaining /standing leg with the back of yours.

Pepper and American History.

My son and daughter gave me a Kindle for my birthday a couple years ago. I love it!
One of my 700 books is American Nation, A History by Edward Potts Cheyney. It has like 28 volumes. Volume 1 says that any history of America has to start in Europe in the 1300's. The food was so bad that pepper was literally worth its weight in gold; and pepper only grew on the west coast of  India. Hence the spice routes  -- the camel caravans to Alexandria and the Black Sea. And people like Christopher Columbus started thinking if I took a few ships and headed west, I could bring back a whole shipload of peppercorns. More on this book later -- I'm a history fan..

Sky Diving

During my son's senior year of high school, I was introduced to the sport of sky diving. Although I'm not sure why they call falling a sport; maybe the landing part is the sport.

Regardless a half dozen people in my office, including some girls arranged for a club from Spearfish  to jump in Pierre. Not to be outdone I asked my son if he'd be interested in this "bonding" experience.

He agreed and I signed us up. Their jumpmaster packed the chutes, so training the day before was relatively brief.  Jump out, count to ten; look up and if you don't have a good chute, pull the right ring to cut the main chute, then pull the left ring for the reserve chute. i'm wondering just how bad it would have to be before I'd cut that first chute.

When you land, flare the chute and keep both legs together.

I watch the plane go up, people jump and land and know I'll do the same. Nothing to fear till we circle up about a mile and I'm  reminded of Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares, when they asked him, "How high do you have to be to sky dive?" He answered, "Oh , five or six stiff ones should work for me."

When it's my turn, the jumpmaster opens the door, wind swirls through and my heart jumps to my throat. He says, "Come sit in the door and put your feet on the wheel.  Now grab the struct and walk out to the tape mark with your hands. When we're over the jump zone, I'll signal and you let go."About this time, I notice that the strap to my chute is attached only by a velcro strip, but I realize its only purpose is to pull out a hankercief-size chutethat pulls out the main chute.

I count to ten, look up, see a good chute, say "Hallelujah!" and start singing "The Ballad of the Green Berets" as I flew back and forth in the direction of a big orange arrow that the ground crew used to direct me to the landing spot. When I was five feet off the ground, I pulled both steering rings, the chute flared and it was like stepping off a chair.

Something everyone should do once.

MY BLACK BELT TEST

Karate involves the three K’s: Kihone (the basics of kick, punch, block), Kata (choreographed forms of a pretend fight sequence), and Kumite (or free sparring with headgear, hand and foot pads).

During the morning, I was tested on the first two of the three K’s.

These were a mere warm up since our classes regularly consisted of a hundred kicks, punches and blocks, and often a hundred pushups and sit-ups

After a light lunch, I began the Kumite portion of the test with my eight classmates.

First, I sparred with each individually scoring a single point against each; then four matches of two against one, where I had to score a point against one of them. This was not terribly difficult since I was allowed to throw one into the other.

Finally, I was told that for the last part of the test I would have to defeat my head sensei or instructor, a big bald friendly Midwesterner named “Murph”. As the match started, I leapt across the mat with a shout and a head-level punch that he easily deflected. For a few moments, we exchanged punches, kicks and blocks, till he threw an immense round house kick that I fortunately blocked with both arms, though the momentum knocked us both down. Sitting on the mat, he put his arm around my shoulders and said,” I’ll tell you a secret. You don’t have to beat me to pass this test. In fact, the only way you don’t pass now, is if you walk out.” The tears started running down my cheeks, mostly from the adrenaline burn off.

Later, as I tested my own students, I realized the rationale of such rigorous testing. First, what we achieve too easily, we esteem too lightly and we want every student to remember this test with pride. Secondly, the instructor does not want to be embarrassed by a talented student, so it is better that the student is a little exhausted and perhaps a little slower.