Manual Labor

This entry was posted in Just Life on by .

I decided that I needed a change of scenery and my friend Vincent, in Arvada, Colorado, needed a fence built, so I loaded up the van, along with Trudi, Bill and Bromont and headed out to the mountains. I looked at the weather and it looked like it was going to be perfect fence building temperatures, 50’s, maybe even lower 60’s. I guess I missed the single digits and 4 inches of snow, which started last night and still continues, though it is tapering off.

The snow is going to put a damper on the time frame. The dig safe guy had already came out and marked, but now it is all covered with snow. So, I guess it is waiting game, or maybe a snow shoveling game, shovelling on grass and rock, which isn’t much fun. The lumber guy just called and is delivering the materials in an hour, so I have to scoot to go shovel the driveway at Vincent’s new house.

I brought my road bike and the temperatures still look good after today, so I’m sure the roads will melt pretty quickly and we’ll be able to ride up Lookout Mtn. etc. pretty soon.

It is only January and I “enjoyed” the digging in rock to put in one steel pole so much, I thought a little real manual labor would do me some good. I have a good set of blisters on my right hand already, so I’m going to have to be careful. Ripping calluses off is one of my least favorite things.

Sometimes working through construction allows your mind to mull over bigger issues and everything becomes more clear, even though you’re not specifically thinking about any one issue. I’m hoping that is the case here. I feel a little direction-less right now, but as I wrote above, it is only January. Alright, I need to get moving. My van sucks in the snow.

Just doing the blue sections. Doesn't look so bad on paper, but it isn't as easy as it seems.

Just doing the blue sections. Doesn’t look so bad on paper, but it isn’t as easy as it seems.

Took me two hours to dig this one hole manually. It's barely 20 inches, but in rock.

Took me two hours to dig this one hole manually. It’s barely 20 inches, but in rock.

Not sure this is going to stop the dumping, but it's the best I've got right now.

Not sure this is going to stop the dumping, but it’s the best I’ve got right now.

Finished product.

Finished product.

My hands didn't like it much though.

My hands didn’t like it much though.

Woke to this morning.

Woke to this morning.

Pretty good after today.

Pretty good after today.

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Nice views while working.

Apple Macintosh 30 years Old

This entry was posted in Important Society Issues on by .

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Apple Macintosh computer. It was back in January of 1984 that it originated. Man, how time flies and things change.

I’d say the biggest change in my lifetime is how small the world seems now because of computers, the internet and smart phones. I couldn’t have imagined the direction of it all back during the Olympic games in LA, in 1984.

The information that we have at our finger tips, at all times, is unlimited pretty much. Anytime I need an answer to virtually any question (a question that has a definite answer), I have it. Much of this is because of Apple and its products.

I’ve been an Apple fan for a long time. I don’t come close to using their products as they should be used. I barely tap the fringe. Each one of my Apple products have the ability to do 10,000 X as much as I use them for. That is the beauty of their products, they are very user friendly for pions like me and also for researchers, designers and artists that are on the cutting edge.

I couldn’t even have imagined 10 years ago that any of us could be sitting at home, eating breakfast, watching World Cup Cyclocross from Europe, live on our laptops. Or virtually any other event in the world that has video coverage. It is truly amazing. We can even watch on our phones while on the move. Unbelievable.

I started buying Apple stock a long time ago. I made the decision by making observations during travelling to races. Years ago, when I went into a coffeeshop before a race, there would be maybe one Mac laptop to 10 windows computers. I noticed a very slow, but definite increase of little Apple symbols on the laptops, month by month. I realized that way more students were then using Apple computers than previously. So I bought some stock. This was way before the iPhone.

The iPhone was obviously a game changer for Apple, the company. Nearly all their profits are derived from this one product. It is what defines the company now, the Mac took a back seat to them.

Monday, Apple is going to announce its 4th quarter earnings. They are going to be record earnings most likely. Maybe not record enough to make the institutional investors happy. Apple is not a loved stock by many right at this moment. But, they are hoarding an enormous amount of cash. I saw an article last February that said Apple had enough cash in the bank they could acquire Facebook, Groupon, LinkedIn, Netflix, Pandora, Research In Motion (Blackberry), Yahoo, Yelp, Zillow and Zynga —and have more than $2 billion left to spare. Of course the dynamics of all those companies have changed in a year, but they are still sitting on a huge stockpile of money.

Anyway, it has been an interesting journey for Apple. We’ve all benefited from their innovations and focus. Hopefully they will continue with these things into the future. I can’t come close to imagine what they’ll be doing 30 years from now.

The original Macintosh from 1984.

The original Macintosh from 1984.

A rendition of Apple's futuristic campus.

A rendition of Apple’s futuristic campus.