Category: Random Thoughts

The Good Delay

I resign myself to major disruptions.

Minor inconveniences, on the other hand, irritate me to the point I become unbearable to other people.

tire pressure warning lightFor example, Thursday I was driving to a meeting 45 minutes away when a low tire pressure light came on. Now, I despise car warning lights. Like Click and Clack (the Tappet Brothers), I’m always tempted to just stick black tape over the light and ignore it. The last time this light came on, I had a screw in my tire just this close to my tire wall.

Never mind I found a tire plug set and fixed my own tire in a matter of minutes.

The exasperation of taking an unexpected hour and a half out of my day to find and fix the problem threw me off and made me paranoid of every little bump for the next . . .

. . . well, I guess I’m still paranoid.

nitrogen tire valve capsSo, the light came on and – since K and two other passengers were with me – I stopped at the next service station. Seeing nothing in the tire, I filled the low tire, checked the other tires, and filled them as well. Turns out every tire was low. All told I was now behind about 5 minutes.

Fifteen miles down the road and one mile from our destination, I witnessed a one-car accident. A truck to the right of us lost a tire. I did not say he blew a tire; no, the entire tire assembly broke off the axle and rolled into the gutter.

Have I mentioned at any point that it had been raining the last nine hours?

No?

Well, it had. No joke.

tire broke off axleThis is not his truck. I thought it would be in bad taste to take picture of his dilemma.

Remember: his tire assembly broke off completely and lay in a ditch full of rainwater.

Honestly, it was horrendous.

Thankfully, the motorist made it safely to the side of the road without flipping his truck or hitting another traveler.

My destination was on the opposite side of a divided highway; it just so happened I needed the next available turn-around. So I turned around, dropped off my passengers, and went back to check on the driver.

He was OK, but couldn’t get up with anyone for help. Turns out he was from out of state, in town to do some contracting work, and was due to leave the next day. None of his buddies were answering their phones. I was able to give him a ride back to his hotel where he could meet up with his crew. Traveling home several hours later, his truck was still there.

What would have happened if I hadn’t been delayed?

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have seen the accident.

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have known to turn around.

If I hadn’t been delayed, I would not have been able to help.

If I hadn’t been delayed, how long would that motorist have had to wait?

Call it coincidence or providence or whatever you will.

Everything worked out in the end.

I’ll try to remember that next time something hinders my plans.

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Riddles in the Dark Redux

[inspired by ellarend on jumbleskine]

question-marks

Gollum was disappointed once more; and now he was 
angry, and also tired of the game. It had made him 
very hungry indeed. This time he did not go back 
to the boat. He sat down in the dark by Bilbo. That 
made the hobbit most dreadfully uncomfortable and 
scattered his wits.

. . . 

Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he 
gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his 
pocket with his other hand. There he found the 
ring he had picked up in the passage and 
forgotten about.

"What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. 
He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought 
it was a riddle, and he was frightfully upset.

I doubt that riddle would work today.

[Nearly] everyone has a phone in their pocket.

A better brain teaser might be:

What apps have I got on my smartphone?

 

In addition to those pesky factory-installed apps that Apple refuses to let me remove,

Apps 1Facebook allows me to stalk live vicariously through keep up with friends who no longer live in my general vicinity.

Sometimes they make me laugh.

Sometimes they make me cry.

Sometimes they make me want to kill someone.

It’s like they’re actually in my living room!

Twitter condenses thoughts to 140 characters.

Sometimes that’s 140 characters too many.

Instagram lets me share and view pictures without the commentary of Facebook.

I also use to it to share quotes created on my next app . . .

Apps 2

InstaQuote contains a variety of fonts and backgrounds suitable for sharing quotes I find interesting.

On Tuesdays I share quotes from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels [#TerryPratchettTuesday].

On Fridays I share philosophy quotes [#PhilosophyFriday].

Manual is my preferred camera of choice.

Afterlight is my preferred photo editing app.

podcast icon

Podcasts keep me sane.

The Christian Humanist

Three Christians, teachers, and intellectuals gather digitally to hold forth on literature, theology, philosophy, and other things human beings do well. Taking the question at hand utterly seriously and ourselves not at all, the Christian Humanists attempt to record weekly during the school year and take on some interesting questions.

Stuff You Should Know

Join Josh and Chuck as they explore Stuff You Should Know about everything from genes to the Galapagos in this podcast from HowStuffWorks.com

Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me

NPR’s weekly current events quiz. Have a laugh and test your news knowledge while figuring out what’s real and what we’ve made up.

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Join Holly and Tracy as the bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed in History Class in this podcast by HowStuffWorks.com

Science Friday

Science Friday, as heard on PRI, is a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment hosted by Ira Flatow. Ira interviews scientists, authors, and policymakers, and guests can call in and ask questions as well.

Ask Me Another

Ask Me Another blends brainteasers and local pub trivia with comedy and music into a rambunctious hour-long show. Play along as host Ophira Eisenberg invites in-studio guests and listeners alike to stretch their noggins, tickle their funny bones, and enjoy witty banter and guitar riffs from house musician Jonathan Coulton. What you’ll hear resembles the casual intimacy of game night at a friend’s house: one where scores are forgotten in favor of hilarious gaffes.

News from Lake Wobegone

Garrison Keillor’s signature monologue, The News from Lake Wobegone, a staple of the live public radio program A Prairie Home Companion.

pandora icon

Pandora provides the background to my reading and writing. Stations include:

Philip Glass

The Vitamin String Quartet

Bedrich Smetana

Berlin Philharmonic

Richard Wagner

Broadway Showstoppers

apps 3

SoundHound identifies songs I hear on the radio so I can look them up later on iTunes or YouTube.

WordPress helps keep me connected with the blogosphere while on the go.

Goodreads keeps track of my reading progress; it’s also handy for reminding me what page of a book I’m on when I’ve forgotten a bookmark.

BBC News is the only source I trust for news.

Olive Tree Bible Study lets me see parallel versions of the Bible; while my pastor uses the King James, I can see Luther’s translation and the ESV at the same time. Three versions at once isn’t as confusing as it sounds.

LEO is the app of the best online German-English dictionary.

PennyFinder helps guarantee I won’t miss adding a squished penny to my collection.

apps 4

The Weather Channel supposedly tells me what the weather will be. My back and arm do a fairly decent job; it’s interesting to compare the two. So far, I’m winning.

My Verizon lets me keep up with my data usage and pay my bill.

Bank of America tells me how much I can’t afford to go out.

 

 

How many of these would you have guessed?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Blogging 201: Mobile

A question for those of you who view this site on a mobile device:

How’s the view?

Everything clean, neat, and organized?

Or, could it use some work?

Procrastinate!

procrastinate

Why put off until tomorrow what you can avoid all together?

 

 

Things I Should Be Doing

Cleaning for my parents’ visit in a few days’ time

Updating lesson plans for the upcoming school year

Fixing the drain in the shower

Laundry

 

Things I’m Actually Doing

Reading

Watching Netflix

Facebook and Twitter

Writing this list

 

What are you avoiding today?

 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

Blogging 201: Auditing

Today I’m supposed to audit my brand.

Do I even have a brand?

Is Running In My Head a brand?

Do you have certain associations with the name?

I don’t like auditing; I don’t like criticism.

Who does?

That said, I think I’ve been auditing “my brand” for some time.

Tweaking the background and widgets

Promoting my other social media.

What do you think?

Is there anything you think I could do differently or better?

Are you following me on Facebook or Twitter?

If not, why not?

Is it because you didn’t know I had those?

Is is because you find those sites uninteresting?

Is it because you don’t like me?

You know what they say about another pair of eyes . . .

Setting Goals for Blogging U.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be participating in WordPress’ Blogging 201.

In addition to my normal posts, you’ll most likely see a few “extra” posts related to course assignments.

This is the first of those posts.

They say sharing your goals with others helps you achieve them.

By the end of the course I hope to

1. Grow a more connected audience. By that I mean I don’t just want more followers or likes – although to be honest, those are nice. I want to have more people commentating and contributing to a conversation.

2. Grow my social media following. Although I have a Facebook page for my site and encourage others to follow me on Instagram / Twitter, not many do.

3. Finish developing features for each day of the week. Having such a schedule will allow me to work ahead on my posts, make my blog appealing to a wider audience, and may help others develop their own blog.

In my wildest dreams, I would have between twenty and fifty consistent readers who comment on my work and share it with others via their own blogs or other social media.

Thanks for the understanding.
 

 

Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?

Drop a note in the prompt box!

 

Don’t forget to follow me on:

Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.

Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?

Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.

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