Tag: personalities

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Faith family focus health Life life styles

Stores

Batman Says:

Click and “poof” whatever you want is delivered to your home, you don’t ever have to leave again. Some call it convenient, I call it the slow death of “Stores”.

Remember going to the store? It was a trip, a journey where you met people, said hello and actually conversed. It was a time away from the house, sometimes it wasn’t convenient to have to go, others it was just fun. I remember during the summers when I was young (again, none ya business when that was) we would sometimes ride our bicycles the 5 miles down our barren county road to the wooden country store in the middle of the ‘tater’ fields just to get a NeHi soda and sometimes even candy. We sometimes played the worn out pinball machine, sat in the shade and talked to the “old guys” that hung around and we just had fun. Then we rode back home down that lonesome road.

As we got older the trips were made in trucks and we somehow didn’t have time to sit around and talk. And the trips to the “store” became less important. We found more “important” things to do I suppose. Shame, I kinda miss it now that I’m “growed up” supposedly.

I think somewhere along the way from childhood to adulthood we lose a special part of ourselves that if we kept, we would never not want to always see, hear, and visit places and things, and “stores”. Now with modern tech, it’s all too simple to become a hermit and just have anything you wish, dropped outside your front door. I, for one think it’s sad, I’m not saying I don’t use these options here and there, I’m saying we should never stop totally, taking the trip to the store. Giving up the chance to see an old friend, or make a new one, is not worth missing just for convenience.

Take it from Batman, you’re never too old to make new friends and renew old friendships, chances are better for both if you’re out and about as opposed to being a hermit.

“No Peach this does not mean I go to town every time you do”

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bible Faith family Fear focus health Life life styles Music Procrastination

Letting go

Batman Says:

Ever get one of those things you did or didn’t do stuck in your head? You know what I mean, the annoying kind, the should have done differently or completed or that was stupid kinda thing.

We all have them, we all hang onto them way longer than we should. I think it’s human nature to dwell on the coulda woulda shoulda’s (funny, I thought I was making those words up but apparently not) and sometimes we can’t help but do it. We let the things get in our head and we have a hard time getting them out.

I stopped doing it, hanging on to them like I used to. Once we did or didn’t do a thing, it’s over, it’s gone and we cannot change it, so there’s no sense letting it effect whatever we are doing now or are going to do. If it’s something you can redo better then by all means go for it, but if it’s unchangeable, then chuck it in the bucket and move on. I’ve come to the conclusion that wasting my time worrying over what might have been or what I didn’t do correctly, is just that, a waste of time. We are all only given so much time, so we should spend every moment living the life we were given, not dwelling on mistakes or misfortune.

Since I came to this conclusion, I have actually felt better and been less of a grumpy guss (technical term for pain in the a**), not that I am often but I did have more moments of grumpiness than normal. I like me better this way and it makes the job I do more tolerable. I prefer this way cause Peach deserves a not so grumpy me hehe and cast iron skillets hurt (just kidding good grief y’all don’t read nothin into it, joke, humor, funny).

There’s a verse that I found (stumbled on watching a youtube music video featuring Mercy Me singing “Bring the Rain”) that seemed to fit with this letting go problem, because if we are honest we don’t let go because we are silly and apparently like to suffer and stew over things we cannot control.

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” Romans 8:18 KJV

If you read this verse with your mind and heart open, these silly things we feel we must hang on to, reveal themselves to be of no consequence and therefore they are easy to let go.

Anywho, that’s how I see it, and I’m happier for it.

“Thanks for watching the video with me for the millionth time Peach”

Categories
focus health Life life styles

Essence of Cool

Batman says:

We all, at one time or another think we are “Cool”. Usually it’s when we are out and about the town or at a party or get-together. For the most part, 40% of us who think we are “Cool” are, actually cool. 59% fall miserably short of being “Cool”, but then there was Steve McQueen the 1%, the essence of “Cool”. There was only one of him, there have been many who tried to be him, but none came close.

Here’s to you Mr Steve McQueen, “The Essence of Cool”

Categories
life styles

Ham (again)

Batman says:

Sooo again on the subject of ham radio operators, which Peach and I both are. Last time I posted about this was about how some hams have no (or little) in the way of manners when it comes to usage. Let me see if I can expound a bit but first let me explain who can do what on a ham radio.

There are three ‘classes’ of operators (the novice class for the most part doesn’t exist anymore)

The hierarchy goes like this from highest to lowest (in the range of frequencies you can legally use)

Amateur Extra

General

Technician

Now Peach and I are Technician class operators (studying to move to General) and as such we are extremely limited on what frequencies we can talk on (although there are proposals to open more up to technicians). We spend 98% of the time on what it known as 2 meter, sometimes we are on ‘simplex’ but it’s mainly line-of-sight so it’s use is limited.

2 meter however, if used through a repeater, can be used to talk all over town and to some extent, neighboring towns. Repeaters, basically take your signal and rebroadcast it so it can be heard farther (in a nutshell) I’m sure the technical geeks will pitch a fit and say it’s more complicated than that…don’t care really…it’s a signal booster, basically. Repeaters are put up by amateur radio clubs mainly, and sometimes by individuals, to be used freely by all (in most areas), and here lies the ‘rub’ so to speak.

Members, not all mind you, but certain few, seem to always be on the repeater, and when I say always, I’m talking pretty much 24/7. If they are not talking to each other, when they hear someone talking they find it necessary to get in on the conversation. Hams are generally social, so at most times this isn’t an issue, but when it’s obviously two family members conversing, the urge to butt in should probably be suppressed. It takes time for some hams to feel comfortable with their new skill set and they are mostly comfortable conversing with close friends or family, not strangers (in my line of work I speak on a radio all the time and for years it was able to be heard on scanners so myself it doesn’t bother).

We as hams are always trying to get more people to become hams, and join the thousands of others around the world. But here lately, the rudeness, the ‘taking over of the repeaters, has tainted some from wanting to participate. This type of usage is not what was intended I’m sure, and I hope for the sake of good radio it doesn’t last.

This type of behavior on basically the only frequency Peach and I can use is to be honest, the only reason we are trying to upgrade to General class. There we have many more ‘bands’ and frequencies to choose from if we need to do more than say ‘hello and I Love’ you to each other.

Now this sounds like I’m unsociable, and that’s not the case at all. I do like talking to others on the radio, I listen to the higher bands I’m not allowed to transmit on all the time, wishing I could talk to that guy in New Zealand or lady in Europe. But there are times I would like to say hi to Peach, see if she needs anything from town while I’m there, without being interrupted by the repeater hogs with hellos and who are you’s, don’t think I’ve ever heard you on here before and such, and if you are an unfamiliar female voice, it’s 50 times worse. Have some decency and radio etiquette at times and met some new voices talk to who they are comfortable with, and eventually they will expand their pool of contacts to maybe include even you.

Anyways, rant over, one day soon we will upgrade and be able to find a frequency where we can talk about the grocery list in peace…. I hope anyways