So, it's been a long time since I've written for my blog (rightly almost six months!). I'm now in the home stretch of Fall Quarter, and almost a third through my second year of College. I've come to realize a lot of things. Here's a few of them:
I won't be done with college in the standard 4 years. Because I'm going to finish out the Autism Spectrum Navigators program at Bellevue College, I'll be there through 2017. At least I can then take some of the classes I'd like to there, after the transfer stuff's out of the way.
A good lunch out on a Friday, makes up for mostly crummy lunch options throughout the week at the Cafeteria. The only things that they entice me with, is Country Fried Steak, and the Baked Potato. Otherwise I'll skip lunch, unless that little voice inside the mind, tells me to get a slider sandwich and a Nutrigrain bar.
Writers are Procrastinators: We are. We always find ways to kill time. Just look at Richard Castle from ABC's hit show "Castle". Need I say more?
Traditional tech classes don't work for me. Because of how I arrange my time for classes, and how they're laid out for Winter Quarter, I couldn't make a traditional tech class work to save my life, unless I want to come home at 9 or 10 PM, or get up at 5 AM. I've got some alternatives, so I just need to break the news to Pops now.
I've got to build my dream model railroad one day. The people in my life are on my case again (you know who you are), about me and my model train collecting. To that I say:
And finally, at the end of the day...
Frankly, I'll take Will Roger's stance on dogs: "I love a dog. They do nothing for Political reasons." Now if you have to have that one spelled out for you, refer to the previous picture,
These thoughts are what are pulling me through, now that sunset's in the 5 o'clock hour. I wish I had more intelligent things to say, but I think I'll save them for next time.
For my Birthday weekend, I had a bit of fun, by going to my favorite train shop (The Electric Train Shop in "beautiful downtown Burien, Washington" as the proprietor, Scott says.), then out for dinner at Red Robbin, all with my Mom on Saturday (it's the usual day to get her out of the house, due to her back issues, and Burien is the farthest she's driven in a long time). Then Sunday night, Mom, Pops and I, all went to see Disney's "Tomorrowland," which contrary to the half negative press, is really a good movie. The flow of the film, and the story itself, speaks to a larger point, "how can we change the future- for the better?" Also, who wouldn't want to ride a rocket, built by Jules Vern, Gustave Eiffel, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla, to another dimension... THAT LAUNCHES OUT OF THE EIFFEL TOWER?!
Today though (my actual birthday), I slept in (we saw the last showing, and got home really late), and have been enjoying my day off. I understand today is also "Memorial Day," but a few more birthday wishes would have been most welcomed. Birthdays aren't about cakes, parties, and making a big deal, they're a marking of the passage of time, and believe me, time passes faster and faster with each passing year. The realization of how old you are, makes you wonder how you have spent your life, and where your life is going. On the other hand, it also makes you wonder who your friends are, and who really aren't. I know most everybody is busy with Memorial day, but you know what I mean...
So, considering it's 2015, and this is the year Marty McFly went to in "Back to the Future: Part II," and we don't have the jet-packs so prominently featured in "Tomorrowland," (but we have the Solowheels, which are made by a company in Washington State, which also were there!), here's some good news:
Yes, that is a hoverboard, and yes it is certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as "the longest flight on a hoverboard." And finally, we have a use for "drone technology" that's actually good!
In closing, my Birthday was good, Tomorrowland was GREAT (go see it if you haven't yet), and happy Memorial Day (Thought I forgot about the vets didn't you? No, no I did not!).
If there is anything I have learned from being a television viewer, it's this: I can't get enough of light-hearted detective shows. I guess it started with "Monk," then progressed to reruns of "Murder, She Wrote," then 2008 Writer's Strike victim "Pushing Daises," then I fell hard for 2009's mid-season replacement "Castle." (Sorry Trya Banks, but you couldn't bank against Nathan and Stana!)
Now, I have been hooked on other mystery shows too, like "Eureka," "Warehouse 13," and if you want to count it, "Matlock." Even the Brits got me hooked with "Death in Paradise"! The Brits!!! I honestly think I have a problem, especially with "Forever," just getting canned, but then again, do I really want help... Nah!
That's my "Thought of the Day," thanks for reading. Bye!
I can safely say, that I am no more morally superior than any other soul. I can safely say, that my mistakes are my own responsibility. I am myself, and I am a follower of the Christian lifestyle. I am not perfect, I don't claim that I am. I speak softly my words from experience, and say nothing when I carry out my actions of faith. I speak the words of Christ- The King of Kings, The Messiah, The Son of God, without uttering a single word most times. Ye who are pious fools, proclaiming God's glory, but are angered by a new child of God, taking your usual seat in the pews, you're a worse sinner than Judas. At least his sin served a purpose. Your stink-eye only serves Satin to keep people from the love that is God. If "true" Christianity is a dead religion, than it died to become a lifestyle. Eating a ham sandwich on a Tuesday night can be a religion; re- repetitive; legion- pledging loyalty. Lifestyle- practicing what you believe and preach. All I can say in closing from my Soapbox, is that I know what I am, what I believe, what I follow, and if the lifestyle I believe in dies, then come what may, I shall become, I shall be its fossil, its relic, its living ghost... In Jesus' name, amen.
People are surprised to learn I am on the Autism Spectrum. I don't look it. I don't act it. Frankly, I see my Autism as nothing special, just something I have to learn to live with. I have learned to live with my Autism pretty well. However, I can't say that's the case for many young adults today. There are way too many philosophies on how to go about it. I can't stand it. I know who I am, and what I'm capable of. Everything functions, just on the brain front, a tad differently than most.
There's arguments that it's a disease, a disability, that people with mental disabilities should be "taken out into the woods." There's even arguments for such as that it's a great mystery. Call me crazy, but how about this idea: "Just a different way the brain is wired, and it's up to the individual to have the desire to patch up the wiring, to make it work period." That's how I did it, and I'm still patching up wiring. The "software" is there, it's just the "hardware" that needs the bugs sorted out.
Cadillac's computer system for it wasn't the greatest. What do you expect from 1980's computers in cars. The system couldn't keep up with all the various driving conditions. Today, the variable displacement systems can keep up, but none were as sophisticated. For once Caddy did something genius, rather than be a dumb lump of iron. Sure it didn't work, but what inventions and innovations do the FIRST time they're tried en mass.
So where does a failed car engine play in to being like Autism? The far past (the Enger V-12), was like the early days. The Caddy blunder, can be akin to the first mass research and understandings from the 1980's through the mid 2000's (huge shortcomings there!), and the wide range use, the better yet somewhat hazy understanding of Autism we have.
For me, my Autism isn't who I am, it is part of what makes me me. I don't let it rule my life, it's just there, the wiring of my brain, part of the operating system. Patches both in Software and Hardware have to be made, but at the end of the day, Autism isn't me entirely, just a part. Comparing myself to neuro-typical society, I pass like anybody else really. Comparing myself to other Autistic people, I'm not too sever as other cases I've seen (and I've seen my share, believe me.). If you were to compare me to cars, think a Packard from 1955 or 1956 (even count show cars if you'd like). Way more advanced than the contemporary Lincolns and Cadillacs. Compare me to a computer, think somewhere in the Windows department, adapted to a 1960's style Super Computer, when most are Apples or such.
At the end of the day, we're all human though. We eat the same (in through the mouth), put our shorts/trunks/panties on the same (one leg at a time), our blood is the same color (last time I checked, it was red), and we all share the same world (which some are trying to destroy to be "green"; see my last two blog posts before this one!), which was not Men for Mars, or Women for Venus, but good o'l Planet Earth, Third Planet, Sol System, the Milky Way Galaxy! I've got class soon, so here, to anybody that thinks Autistic, or any other type of person are not so great, here's some food for thought:
And for those who doubt my take on all of this... I'll just head the other way, and this is all you'll see:
The 2013 Kent, Washington Tesla Fire: Metal ruptured the battery platform/underpinnings of the car, and the lithium went up (not too unlike the Boeing 787 Lithium battery problems around the same time.
Also, how does a 5-star crash test rated vehicle, end up like this:
July 2014, West Hollywood, California: The Tesla engineering, did not account for this at all!
Electric Cars- they're all the rage; what goes around, comes around. The idea of the end of the internal (or infernal) combustion engine, is an alluring dream. However, there are huge holes in this dream, ones that harm the planet we think we're saving by driving a Tesla, or some other "EV." EV's have a practical use in Urban settings, but outside urban settings, they're less than ideal. Sure they're trying to build "Electric Highways," but what about the technology behind it? The Battery?
This article tells the whole story of Lithium. How it's mined, where it's being found, the political issues, and the threatening human cost. Also, it tells of how astronauts who landed on the moon, saw the Salar De Uyuni, a wide and ancient sea bed turned salt-flat in southern Bolivia. That breath-taking land, could soon vanish, into a toxic waste land. Here's a picture of the Salar Mine, just to give you an idea about the toxicity and dangers of this element's extraction from the Earth:
(Source: Wikipedia)
Precious fresh water resources, are used to create these brine pools, that are then filled with chlorine, to cut down (marginally) on toxicity. Then, as the water evaporates, you're left with a yellow sulphide, because Lithium cannot exist in pure form, on it's own, because as any High School Chem. Student can tell you, the first row Alkali's produce spontaneously combustion, upon coming in contact with oxygen. At a time unparalleled in modern history, where water- clean, drinkable water, is one of the most undervalued, yet most important resources the world needs, we're using it to get Lithium to mine. And this isn't rainwater, or any mountain run-off, it's aquifer water, that won't be replenished any time soon! We're condemning regions to becoming arid, when they used to be able to host some life. Does the third world have to suffer, and some of the most breathtaking landscapes sacrificed, for the first world's "Well-to-Do," to be able to drive around and say "Look at Me, I'm Gas Free. I drive with Electricity! I'm saving the Planet." http://www.carsite.co.uk/gallery/videos/id/1016-seasick-steve-tries-to-get-the-fastest-lap-on-the-top-gear-track There's a famous blues artist named "Seasick Steve," and he was on Top Gear (With Clarkson, May and Hammond), a few years ago. Just before the four minuet mark, Clarkson asks him (he was the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car."), about if he caught "the Eco-Bug." Seasick then asked "What's that?" Then Copenhagen came up, and how you have to have a hybrid there. Seasick Steve then said "... My boy told me that I could drive around in my '51 Chevy (station wagon) for all of my life, and the life that I had before, and not cause as much pollution as those new cars cost to make. I'll stick with my '51 Chevy."
To that Mr. Clarkson replied "Good man."
Seasick Steve makes a good point, but I propose taking this philosophy a step further- upgrade a classic with twin-turbos, fuel injection, and (as my own personal idea/addition to the formula) Gear Vendors (TM) gear-splitting Under/Overdrive, and a Methanol-Steam Injector. Benefits are that you most likely will increase your fuel efficiency by Two and One/Third times (at least!). Jay Leno upgraded his Monster Roadster with fuel injection and twin-turbos, and he practically doubled his fuel economy; sure it was from 3 to 6 MPG, but imagine what you can do with an old Ford Falcon or Mustang? A Chevy Camaro or Pontiac Firebird? Or better yet, a Plymouth Road Runner, Fury, or Duster! And what if you threw bio-fuels into the mix? Imagine that, a bio-fueled, powerful, super MPG classic car, that could blow the doors off of EV's and Hybrids!
The "Most Efficient" tank-powered vehicle in the world.
(Even Arnold "Hummer" Schwarzenegger is envious!)
(Source: Popular Mechanics)
So at the end of the day, you're not being "green" like you thought you were. Sure, you're using electricity, but where does it come from? If it's Wind or Hydro-Electric, then you're doing okay-ish, but if it's from a steam plant NOT fueled on bio-waste (like sugar cane husks), but coal or oil, you're really shooting yourself in the foot. Plus, the United States has just found Lithium in Wyoming; do we want to endanger some of America's last continental frontier. We already have issues with coal mines. Do we really want to add Lithium to that mess? Using up precious water resources? Destroying America? What would you rather Drive?
This, with all the fore-mentioned upgrades I propose?
(Source: Own Work - April 20th, 2015 A.D. @ Bellevue College)
You think we'll all be driving Tesla's, but the reality is, that you're going to end up with EV conversions (made from questionable motorcars), or crummy, sub-par machines, like the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, or the Fiat 500e, which the president of FIAT-Chrysler, begged people not to buy, because it will sink the company overall, and if we lose FIAT-Chrysler, we lose FIAT, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Chrysler, MOPAR, AND Maserati, along with the possibility of Ferrari! ( http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/chrsyelr-ceo-evs-idUSL1N0O71MS20140521 ). We can't afford the loss of that many names! Besides, you have the problem of supercharging too (NEWSFLASH: Supercharging kills your battery faster!).
I know what I'd take. Synergy is the answer: Better Bio-Fuels, and EV's for urban environments! Give me the Pony any day (actually, give me my Pops' Javelin!). And with what I proposed, I recon I'd get about 50 to 55 miles per gallon (gas wise, maybe a tiny-bit less with E85) by the improvements I propose (with a fairly sizable V8). 60 if I was to toss an electric air conditioner in it, and toss the old engine driven A/C out! So "kiss my grits" EV's. If I ever drive an EV though... I'll drive one of these:
P.S.: EV's and Hybrids are nothing new. We had them in the last century, along with Steam Cars! In a perfect world, I'd have his Dobles! You logically could burn any combustible liquid fuel, like alcohol, ethanol, bio-diesel, et cetera... And all the torque off of the line, and no shifting! Just man and steam, without the rails (an Iron "Route 66" Horse, if you will). With one of these, with a thousand foot-pounds of torque... Who needs gears?! Or Electric Motors for that matter...
