Enter Noise Sensitive People

Enter Noise Sensitive People: Is a wonderful post that a dear friend of mine wrote, touching me in a way that the urge to write this post was born. It is funny how the world works, there is a young attractive woman sitting down at her computer to write a story, and at that same time there is a man half way around the world who is experiencing the words as they pop up on the screen in a swift succession. Her thoughts transported on the world wide web for all to see, but how many will find the right spot so they can hear the words ring true, not in pain, rather in excitement. Even when they talk about the pain of noise.

Noise is painful when all you seek is the peaceful sound of nothingness. How would it be then if you tried to escape the pain of silence. When the time is just right and the only sounds you can hear come from within, noise takes on a whole other meaning. Not the faint sounds of breathing, or the beat of your heart, as it sends the vital fluid through your body, only to be constricted by the vessels in you neck and head, making for a silent pain that has few rivals.

You try and imagine anything that will take your mind off the pain. And when I say imagine anything, it can be as sublime as lying atop a boat on a deep crater lake where the water is cold enough to preserve life. The only light are from the stars on a moonless night, and the red and green lights for port and starboard. The only other light comes from a beacon back at the docks but it is to my back and I am in a most comfortable position to stare at the night sky.

 The use of an anchor is futile in a lake over a thousand fathoms deep. But this lake is in my minds eye so I am kind of like a god in this world. I can make the ship whatever size I want it, or I could just imagine that I was the ship, and I could feel the icy waters below, except it feels good, as if the hull or my skin were like that of a giant mammal that can traverse the seven seas at great speeds, going from warm waters to cold water where your skin gets rejuvenated from the bodies of water that cover two thirds of this planet and is what gives us life as we all know it. But that is all changing at a rapid pace and you can quote me on this.

"Planet Earth is not in danger from global warming, however; the human race is about to cause a real world wide natural disaster that so many fanatics keep hoping for. Well they can stop what ever it is their doing because more than likely it will feed the monster that lies beneath. Every day the trash from all the industrial nations finds its way to the pacific ocean. There is a mass of plastic trash twice the size of the state of Texas, and it's getting bigger by the minute. Then there are the fresh water lakes and streams, you might as well forget any major river in the world as a source for fresh water. So mark my words, the next major crisis will not be over oil, it will be over water, because without water and salt, you will die, and if it's like what people drink in third world nations, then you will have massive disease, and I can just about guarantee this country turning into a split nation, one group grasping onto democracy while the other choses anarchy."

Now if I had that kind of connection I talked about at the beginning of this post I would share the reality of what we're doing to our beautiful home. Also if you're one of those people that thinks God is going to save us from ourselves, I wouldn't count on a personal appearance.  The problem is centuries old and so far we think we've done a great job. Well if that were true, why is it that we have to live against nature instead of with nature.

However, it is not too late to change our ways and learn to live with each other as a human race and work as one to save the whole. It's time we took responsibility for our home. Believe me when I say it can be done, just as a person can find a quiet place to escape pain, one can become one with the architect of this beautiful world we live in. Now is the time for everyone to look at the problem, make lifestyle changes, then make any kind of effort to find solutions. Even if it's finding a closer recycling place, or be really inventive and figure out how to produce energy more efficiently without the dangers of radiation. The answers are there, you just have to turn off your inner voice and wait for the idea to hit you, it's like nothing you've ever experienced before, unless you already have, then you know what I'm saying is true.

As The Seasons Pass, Change Will Come.

It is hard to believe that summer has swung around once again. It seems just like yesterday that I was fighting with the bitter cold, and in dire circumstances with my back and my ability to get a passing grade in a class that I felt for certain I would never be able to grasp its concepts. As it turns out I was able to gain the understanding needed to pass what I would have to say was the most difficult course of study that I have ever taken. It may be considered a class not worthy of something similar that an electrical engineer might take, but it is my whole hearted belief that what our little junior college list as, concepts of DC current is in fact just as hard as what a third year engineering student would learn. I am equally certain that, concepts of AC current are as comprehensive as any four year college class with the same subject matter and lab assignments.

Well I suppose that’s not really what I want to talk about in this post. The thing is, I haven’t been writing and for anyone who either keeps up with me or happens along and wonders why there was such a long period of time where my blog went dry, well now you have an idea of what I’ve been doing. Before I do go on and write a little something that’s on my mind, I would like to acknowledge the recent passing of a great human being. I never met the man personally, though my father knew him from his days as the captain of the UCLA track team and one year as a student coach. If you haven’t guessed who I’m talking about, then let me just say this; coach John Wooden of the UCLA men’s basketball program was much more than a ten times NCAA champion, coach Wooden was and still is one of the most influential people in the world of sports, faith, and a shining example of what it means to be great at all of those and still be as humble as any human could possibly be. I am sure there are people out there that knew him better than I could possibly imagine, and there are much better writers out there that can tell you more about the man and his legacy. What I can tell you is this, for a man that lived to be almost a hundred years old (1910-2010) he probably touched more lives with the power of positive energy, either directly or indirectly, than any mortal man has in a very long time. As I spent this past week watching the women’s World Series of softball, I couldn’t help thinking that the lady Bruin’s had a watchful eye looking over them as they went on to win their eleventh NCAA Championship, while setting new school and softball World Series records, just days after someone they called their mentor, passed away.

More information about the man, his philosophy, and the legacy left behind can be found here.





So far I have talked about my own troubles with school, and I have given tribute to a man that did more for the sporting world than any other person in modern sports. Now I would like to talk about something that has been on my mind and rather try and hold on to something that might change the way in which we learn things in the future, I have decided to share some of my ideas as best as I can. I guess it all started when I found myself in what appeared to be in a hole that was too deep for me to get out. Now I do owe a great amount of gratitude to my professors that helped me to succeed, by not letting me quit when that seemed like the only way out. By forcing me to face my own daemons, in a matter of speaking, they showed me that even with my disabilities, I was able to overcome them because up until that point, I was getting it and my only real disability to learning was myself.

So once the semester was over and I had regained my confidence, I began to think of other ways in which I might be able to learn. Now this isn’t a new idea, people have been trying for years to accomplish this goal. However, I began to look at it from a different perspective, instead of trying to make things easier to learn, why not make it harder, and while at the same time make it more fun, more challenging? Instead of teaching everyone at the same pace, make learning look and feel more like an interactive video game. Quite honestly I would like to see a Community College like the one I attend, work in conjunction with one or more of the major universities, along with our advisory committee which is made up of local businesses, and especially get the elementarily level schools involved. From kindergarten to high school because that is where public education begins.

I realize I am proposing a radical change in the way people learn, but if something isn’t done then this country, the country that sent men to the moon without calculators, a nation that once lead the world in inventions by such a large margin no one would ever think that would go by the waste side. A country that has been called the melting pot of the world, for its diversity in culture, and now we have become one of the least liked countries in the world, a country that for so long has relied on the ingenuity of its citizens and the industrial might of the leading corporations to make us one of the strongest, diversified, and leading nations in modern history. So when I say that my idea is worth considering, I would think that the really smart people who are looking for change would at least want to know more about it. I certainly hope that it’s still possible to have a dream and have it become reality. Of course I don’t have all the solutions, but that’s exactly why I have put the question out there. More details about my ideas to come in future post.

What makes something simple seem like the world is going to crash in around you?

I have been doing a lot of thinking since the new year. It wasn't until just after the first and my birthday, which is on the fifth of January, that I began to realize that having back surgery could have done more harm than good. Ironically it was on my birthday that I had my first appointment with my surgeon since the procedure. I like the way that sounds, people don't have surgeries anymore, and the last time I heard the word operation was on TV or someone talking about that game, either way, that term seems to have been used so much that it has gone the way of cheap polyester suits.

It makes you wonder why we even call surgeons, surgeons when all they seem to do any more is one procedure after the other. Just as many doctors have become over paid Rn's, or Rn's should be doctors. I think my new word for 2010 is going to be proceedoralist. I am not normally this skeptical of Dr.'s, but mine is either so confident or just doesn't care how tight his schedule is. Please don't get me wrong, my psychiatrist will stay late and make sure everyone of his patients is seen on the day of their appointment. However, if one of his patients needs him, he will make sure that they receive the proper amount of time you need, and his staff is very good about keeping you updated on what's going on. Of course there may be some days you don't need the extra time and he seems to have a real talent for keeping things in balance.

Whereas on the morning of my procedure, my Dr. forgot all about coming into the little room where the Dr. can meet with your family and brief them on how things went, and when and where they can go once you're out of the recovery room. Not only did he just go from working on me, to going on to his next procedure, by the time my family found out what room I would be staying in, I was still in recovery and my side of the room was a mess. I guess the nurses were never informed that I was being admitted. Apparently the patient and his wife that had had that room to themselves didn't know either, which made for an even more awkward situation.

By the time I got settled in and had been listening in on the conversation going on around me, I started to realize I was going to be in for a long night. The man who lay in the bed across from me was battling cancer, and his wife was a real inspiration to humanity. Here she was not taller than five feet, yet she had already had a heart attack, had stints put in her main arteries, broken bones in her hand and her ankle, and even quit smoking after 50 plus years. Now she was taking care of her dieing husband, at the same time she lived on three acres of land, most of which had to be cut with a riding mower. She told us how she started her gas engine blower by putting it in a vice and from underneath, she was able to pull the cord to start the blasted thing.

So when the little things start to take a hold of me, I will think of her and the others like her. The worst of all though, and this is one I have no one to look to for inspiration, and that is when I think of what will my life be like when I'm the one lying in the bed as an adult baby that can no longer do anything for myself. It is bad enough that I could be looking at having permanent damage to my left foot. Or that when it comes to me and finding any kind of meaningful relationship. Then when you try and concentrate on a simple task like making it to your physical therapy on time, and you can't even do that, which is actually quite important, you can't help but see the world crashing in upon you. Yet some how you never stop looking for that silver lining. If not, there would be no point in writing in this blog.