Passing Time

It seems like only yesterday that I was writing my post of seven months ago when we had just suffered our final Winter storm of the season, yet here I am about to have my studded winter tires fitted to the Volvo's 18" wheels. In the average year, it would have already snowed some time during late October. But to date, there is none forecast in the foreseeable future - which in my case is about 12 days. Good. I hope that we are in for a mild Winter for a change. However, it is still a wise precaution to have the tires changed (and anyway, Liz insists!).

April 1st, 2017

I make no apology for writing once again about Time as I am well aware that I am slowly running out of it. I have certainly tried to make the best of that which was allocated to me. Along my passage, I have made plenty of mistakes, and there are many times when I wish that I could travel back forty-something years. However, I know that that is not possible just yet. Maybe when scientists have learned how to play with quantum mechanics someday in the future, it will be. Not for me though - unless that quantum world includes Life after Death (which has been suggested by some, by the way). Time has taken its toll on my body, in particular, my spine and my knees. I have had major spine surgery twice - once to screw a plate across C6 and C7, and once for a laminectomy L2 to S1. The former does not bother me at all, but the latter has me taking painkillers each morning. I had my annual medical last week and it looks as if I may still be around for another 10 years or so.

There are plenty of things that I would like to have accomplished during my Time on Earth. I would love to have visited the islands in the Carribean - especially some of the French-speaking ones like Guadeloupe and Saint Martin. However, to offset that disappointment I did once spend a few weeks vacationing on Isle Maurice in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius for those that are not aware of it). As Maurice is largely French-speaking I was very happy and felt "at home". I even get to speak the language here in the Northern Kingdom from time to time, as we are less than 100-km from Quebec Province and get many French Canadian tourists visiting the region.

Fall in New England

Another Halloween has come and gone, and last Saturday evening Liz and I got to spend some very valuable Time with family - this time with Julie, Jake and the Grandkids around the firepit toasting marshmallows. A couple of weeks back we drove down to Massachusetts to spend the Saturday night with Liz's side of the family, Dena, Andrew and family. Fall has really hit hard - just a month ago the leaves were starting their annual change to the brilliant colors of the New England Autumn. Today, the trees are almost bare and the ground beneath them covered with their shed colors.

My message to my readers is this. Time is the only asset that is given to you for free. It is up to you to make the best of it for you do not have any idea how much of it remains in your account. Whereas you may believe that you have plenty of it left - in reality, what is remaining can be taken away from you in a flash, and there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it. I recall in my youth wondering whether I would still be around to see the turn of the Century - well I guess I am lucky for I am now 17 years past it.

The Passing of Time

It's been a while since I last (metaphorically) put pen to paper - mea culpa! Time flies past so quickly these days. I have been busy putting together a new website for a veterinary clinic in the Northeast Kingdom (for those of you who are not familiar with where that is, it is in northern Vermont next to the border with Canada).

The passage of time is perceived differently by every individual. It has been theorized that the brain compares the passage of a fixed length of time with the total length of time it has experienced since birth. Thus an hour for a three year old is an eternity, whereas for an old-timer like me it passes in the mere blink of an eyelid. The older you get, the faster time appears to pass by.

I have been reading some interesting things about time of late. Mostly in the context of space-time and Quantum theory. Time, of course, is your most valuable asset - more valuable than money. No matter who you are, you should make the best possible use of the time that you have been given, for you never know when it is going to be taken away from you. You can never guarantee how much time you have remaining. Eventually each of us will run out of time - that's guaranteed. I recall vividly from many years ago the time when I was on a dummy strike mission in a navy jet when, during a dummy dive bombing attack, we were hit by a second aircraft. In this particular case both aircraft landed safely, but I worked out from the size and position of the dent on my aircraft and its speed at the time that I had come within one hundredth of a second of a very untimely death.

Of course suddenly having your time taken away from you can happen at any time and to anyone. It can happen crossing the road or in your sleep, in an earthquake or a thunderstorm, Only the very old, the very sick or those who have decided that they want no more time are aware of its impending demise. My message is - while you still have it, make the best of the time you have been given.

Central Heating in the Frozen North

Well, it's almost the end of February and still the snow is lying on the ground. Except for a brief period of two or three days when the daytime temperature hit the 40's (that's Fahrenheit by the way) we have been well below freezing since we moved in in mid-November - more than 3 months. Sometimes I wonder whether I've bitten off more than I can chew!

In this climate one of the essential jobs around the house is to keep the driveway clear of snow. If you don't, it builds up and builds up, freezing next to the ground and soon becoming impassible and unusable to all but 4-wheel drives with high ground clearance. During the first few weeks we accomplished this with a snow shovel - not a good idea when you are suffering from chronic spinal issues such as I have. We were having to supplement our shoveling with a snowplow company, but they were charging $60 a visit - $90 when they also laid down grit. Anyway Liz and I decided that it would be a wise investment to get a snow blower, since our driveway is about 900 square feet. With the amount of snow we have had here this winter the snow blower has already paid for itself several times over.

One thing that I have had to necessarily become educated in after my 42 years in southern Africa are the basis of central heating. There is no central heating in that part of the World, but it is an absolute necessity up here in the frozen north - we are about 60 miles further north than Toronto in Canada. This morning we awoke to a cold house, the temperature ten degrees down from its usual 70˚F. The reason - at some time during the night the furnace had stopped because we had run out of #2 Oil. Then came another Quantum event. Liz and I were discussing the situation when my cell phone rang. It was my daughter asking how our oil was doing. As we are getting a big delivery in a couple of days, she came over and we were able to pick up a few gallons from town - enough to tide us over till Monday. The moral of this - always make sure you have at least a quarter tank of oil.

Quantum Entangled Scrambled Eggs

I'm always making note of when I can see some sort of proof of the Quantum Entanglement theory working, and this morning added to the many examples that I have documented when skyping Liz from a distance of 5,000 miles. Today though we were much closer. I was seated at the dining room table with a fresh cup of black coffee, and thinking to myself that in all the time I had been over here, we had not once had scrambled eggs for breakfast. As I was about to take another sip of my hot coffee, Liz said "I think I'd like to make scrambled eggs for a change". Now if that is not QE then I'd like to know what it is, and whether any of my readers have had similar experiences.

For the uninitiated let me explain. Quantum Entanglement is a branch of Quantum Physics, which in turn is the science of physics at a sub-atomic level. You are probably unaware that billions of dollars are spent every year in Quantum research. One of the results of this research is that quantum physicists have shown that many of the phenomena known as paranormal can be explained quite logically at the subatomic level. Consciousness itself has been theorized as being a quantum event that happens in the brain - which would account for this morning's breakfast treat. Included in the paranormal phenomena that can be explained are extra sensory perception, ghosts, deja vu, UFOs, telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance and near death experience. Even the afterlife can be explained in terms of quantum physics.

By the way - the scrambled eggs were delicious!

Musings before relocation

Many of my regular readers will have come to realize that I have a deep interest in the Quantum Theory – indeed the greater part of my present beliefs and thoughts regarding consciousness, paranormal phenomena, ESP, and other closely related subjects, are based on such related subjects as Quantum Entanglement. My interest was recently given a boost when researching a series of articles I had been commissioned to write. These included such subjects as Positive Thinking, Goal Setting  and Law of Attraction. It was only recently that I came across the Science of Noetics, the study of how thought can influence happenings.

Quantum Mechanics has many skeptics – but then I am very skeptical about religion, and will never accept the dogma associated with it. That does not mean to say that I am not spiritual, for I am. But my beliefs are fashioned by science and in particular by the Quantum Theory. Yes, I believe in prayer, but in the sense that consciousness and positive thinking can and does influence events. All of those leadership courses, goal setting, team-building and so on are merely, in my mind, another manifestation or expansion of the theory.

I chat on Skype with Liz most evenings, except when she is working the morning shift at the other side of the Pond. I am amazed by the number of times that we have witnessed a quantum event. Actually, if truth be told, I used to be amazed but no longer am, for it has become common place for each of us to make the exact same remark and hit the send button simultaneously. So much so that when it happens these days, we immediately each type in ‘qqqqqqqq’ to signify to each other a quantum event. If I were to go back through the history of my messages, I could quote to you some of the instances, but you must just take my word for it.

My maternal grandfather was an engineer, and in 1912 was in charge of the starboard engine room of HMS Thunderer, where he spent 18 months fitting out machinery. He later made a name for himself during WWII as the designer of the 12,000 lb blockbuster bomb, which earned him the title Blockbuster Brooks and an MBE from King George VI to boot. I did not learn about his connection with the Royal Navy until a couple of years ago, but now wonder whether there was some sort of influence from the other side that caused me to commission. I specialized as an Air Warfare Instructor flying off carriers in the Buccaneer strike aircraft. It was only after his passing that I inherited his scrap book, which is full of press cuttings about the brave exploits of RNAS and RFC aviators during WWI. Could this have been yet another quantum event, or was it just a coincidence? If any of my readers are interested I have published jpegs of some of those clippings in a previous post to this.

If all goes according to plan this will be one of my last posts from African soil. I have resided in southern Africa for 41 years, seen the transition and subsequent demise of Zimbabwe under the autocrat Mugabe, witnessed the first signs of failure in South Africa, where education, health care and local government, to name a few, are falling foul of mismanagement, corruption and reverse apartheid. I will shortly be joining my family in cooler climes, where the 32 kbs/sec download speed I am paying through the teeth for will be replaced by one of 12 mbs/sec., where guinea fowl are replaced by wild turkeys, and where the wild animals are bears, elk, whitetail deer and moose. It will be a totally new environment for my writing, and one that I can’t wait to tackle.

Weeping and passing Time

Today we mourn the passing of Madiba, and without any doubt the 1980's song Weeping by Bright Blue will be played many times over, both here in South Africa and in the rest of this world. I was fortunate enough to have met and shaken hands with Mr Mandela on the day that he addressed the school I was then working at. I remember the day as if it were yesterday - 20th June 1997. I was grabbed out of the milling crowd by one of the 'heavies' (complete with dark glasses and hearing aid) and taken to meet the great gentleman. Well, now he has crossed over to meet his ancestors. Like each of us, he was given a certain amount of time, and he stretched it out to last a fruitful 95 years. He has served his time on Earth and used it well. Which brings me to the subject of Time.

Time is the one asset that we are each given for free. Make no mistake, Time is an extremely valuable asset. I remember that many years ago I purchased an expensive German dishwasher. I was separated from my then wife and lived in a flat sans servant. The mere fact that I now used a dishwasher saved me at least an hour every day. But that was some 15 years ago. I am still using that same dishwasher today, and have saved myself over the years about 5,500 hours, hours that I have been able to put to much better use than standing over a kitchen sink. Being in the Autumn of my years I am very conscious of time, and very aware that my remaining years could be snatched away from me with little or no warning. I am not a follower of any of Earth's accepted religions. I have my own beliefs. They are based on Quantum Theory and are spiritual without tying one down to the dogma of the world's currently practiced religions.

My message today is this. Be absolutely sure of making the best of the amount of Time that has been bequeathed to you. Do not waste it, do not procrastinate, use it wisely. Use your talents and do the things you enjoy doing. Read up about the Law of Attraction and take my word for it - it really works. This century will be one of exponential expansion in technology so stay in touch with the latest developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, genetic engineering and anything remotely related to Quantum Physics. Finally, if any of my readers are thinking of investing in Madiba's Eastern Cape, visit this page of my blog.