Note: The following is a story based on real youth experience of the author.
Names, and story ending, are fictional. If you enjoy it please give it a positive rating, thanks!
No one remembered who had injected the ‘brain-wave’ into the usual excited chatter that noon hour… perhaps it was divine intervention.?
The day began normally enough. Terry’s customized English Morris Minor convertible squirted around the neighborhood picking up buddies. Their raucous 10 minute ride to school ended in a gravel-flying slide beside the shop teacher’s new Buick.
There was just enough time to jostle with the rest of the gang, while other students condemned world pollution. By the time the warning buzzer sounded a dozen cigarette butts lay crushed on school steps.
Classes dragged on even more than usual that morning. Dry school curriculum simply couldn’t compete with hypnotic shafts of autumn sunshine spotlighted pine desktops as it filtered down classroom aisles.
Acting like isolated prisoners, the youthful gang members only glimpsed each other between periods as they shuffled along crowded, green, locker lined halls to their next classes.
The student body was a multi-racial collage of shapes and sizes. Male recognition of passing friends resulted in heartily punched shoulders, while girls merely snickered and waved multi-ringed fingers.
As another long-awaited lunch hour reunion approached, final seconds were counted off. Finally the noon hour buzzer echoed through the neighborhood like amplified killer bees – it was a bugle call to freedom for the cafe crowd!
Exploding from school exits with miraculous renewed energy, some of the students foot-raced three full city blocks in order to claim scarce booth seats at the Roses’ café… (just outside school jurisdiction).
Time was of the essence, late comers and junior wanabees would be relegated to socially inferior counter stools.
A gray and grizzled waitress/owner braced herself as the first sweaty teenagers came charging in. Dusty venetian door blinds banged loudly against a steamy glass door. Moments later, all four plain wooden booths were filled…. only a few spaces were saved for less athletic but attractive females who would eventually make their entrance.
As brown-bagging students, like me, retrieved flattened peanut butter sandwiches from under shirts and sweaters, others competed for the harried waitresses’ attention by all shouting their orders at once.
Her body language quickly re-establish authority, with narrowed puffy eyes and flashes of nicotine stained teeth. The gang correctly interpreted this as the ‘cease and desist if you want to eat’ signal. It quieted them temporarily.
Brad Gawdin carefully timed his arrival to coincide with freshly delivered ‘tatter dogs and Pepsi’s to customers. His prized cherry red and chrome ex-police Harley skidded across boulevard and sidewalk, stopping just inches from the large greasy front window, (low on gas as usual).
Some of the gang acknowledged Brad with a subdued, but friendly, cheer as he made his grinning entrance, pleased to be re-united with his former school chums. Even a flicker of recognition from the scowling waitress’ didn’t go unnoticed. He quickly combed his lengthy black ‘duck tail’ hair while squeezing into the central booth.
Brad really hoped to forget his fruitless days of job hunting since quitting school at mid-term. For the moment, reconnecting by school friends, while mooching a few bites from their lunches, was comforting.
His lean semi-adult six-foot frame perfectly matched the prized Harley. He rode it with sublime confidence, hair flying up from under a vizard ‘Marlin Brando’ motorcycle cap. But away from his bike, a boy-man personality emerged with slouching posture, gaunt acne spotted cheeks; and deep dimpled chin.
His well-worn black leather jacket and sunglasses portrayed a motorcycle gang persona, but his friends knew him better.
“Good ‘old B.G.!” cried freckle faced Ron Andrews as self appointed spokesman.
Someone else chimed in;
“No books; no exams; no hassles; you’ve got it made Brad!!”
“Yeah, just call me Marlin, he said, slightly self- conscious of his noticeably deeper voice…
“Who’s got all the cig’s?”
Brad certainly wasn’t above taking advantage of the temporary adulation, besides, bumming cigarette’s served to temper the attention overload he was now feeling.
Soon a free-for-all conversation flowed quickly through familiar topics, including ‘schoolteacher dictatorships’; ‘bikes versus cars’; and of course ‘dating’. It was then that something truly unique came up…
Brad was expertly striking a huge wooden kitchen match with his thumbnail while maintaining a firm grip around Josey Scotts’ pink sweater with his left hand, as ever-grinning Gary Philips took advantage of a break in the general din of noise to ask;
“Hey, do you guys realize this is Halloween and no one’s got any plans yet?”
It was really only intended as a checkup, to make sure he wasn’t being left out of anything, but the immediate loud response surprised him.
“Yeah, that’s right!”
There was an immediate chorus of voices from all booths – each sex having a completely different agenda in mind.
“Last Halloween, me ‘n Bill laid a dummy on the Renfrew Street Hill and tied fishing line to it… we hid behind a bush”,
Gary continued between heavy bites on his tatter dog, while checking to see if he was getting sufficient attention.
“Along comes this guy in a pickup truck, screeching to a stop just before running over it.”
Gary began his very infectious chuckling…
“…so this old guy jumps out to check on the body, an’ just when he bends over to get a closer look, Bill yanks it across the street! The guy was so mad he chased us for two blocks!”
Rose cafe now exploded with unrestrained teenage cackling. The waitress could only shrug and sigh, conceding yet another noon hour without ‘legitimate’ paying customers.
Several more Halloween pranks were next recounted, some real and some imagined. Each sounded more daring than the last. Fiendish new pranks were quickly hatched with brain storming group input. Finally, as their fateful noon hour was running out, a proverbial fuse was lit…
“Hey Brad, why don’t you call the office and tell ’em there’s a bomb planted in the school, so we can all get the afternoon off!”
The source of the challenge was long debated afterwards. Now Unusual quiet suddenly fell over the cafe gang crowd, as if waiting for a mandatory response to a fight. Attention once again focused on Brad as his social instincts told him that ignoring the question might increase the growing distance with his former school peers. On the other hand he sensed an opportunity to improve his rebel image.
Brad took a deep drag on his unfiltered Player’s cigarette, dramatically allowing twin streams of thick blue smoke to flow, mouth to nose, allowing tension to build.
Then he said flatly;
“I would if I had a dime.”
A wry grin flickered at the corners of his mouth as he inwardly congratulated himself on his politically correct, non-committal, answer.
But before his attentive audience could even react, a shiny dime seemed to literally materialize right out of the smoke filled air and came spinning to a stop on the initial-carved table, right in front of Brad!
Regardless of the dime’s secret launch-site, it was More than enough reason for delighted teenage howls of laughter. It seemed to bring noon hour festivities to a natural conclusion.
In fact within minutes the whole conversation was mostly forgotten by the cafe gang. Reluctantly paying bills, they headed back to their ‘love to hate salt mines’ just in time for afternoon classes.
None had even noticed Brad scraping up the dime and stuffing it into his worn jeans’ watch pocket.
Some of his former school friends watched admiringly as Brad expertly kicked the Harley to life and roared away down the street in a cloud of smoke and dust.
It was just over one hour later as fourth period class neared the end, when the Principal’s personal secretary disrupted classes with an urgent public address summoning the principal to the main office.
Only one of the gang suspected what was coming.
But when their portly white haired Principal, himself, came on the p.a. and ordered immediate evacuation of all 2200 students – followed by nerve-jangling fire bells – many of the cafe gang began to suspect that good old B.G. had indeed answered his Halloween challenge!
Strictly controlled by teachers, students quickly filed out of the school complex. They lined up on sidewalks and school playing fields, looking like military recruits. Most believed it was just another fire drill. With no opportunity to retrieve coats, shivering students and teachers complained.
Minutes dragged by as only the cafe gang crowd realized what was afoot, and they dared not break their code of silence!
Finally, instructions were passed along outdoors: “school is closed for the rest of the day – students are dismissed”. Only teachers willing to volunteer for unspecified duties were allowed to re-enter the building at all.
Finally, any remaining doubts in the minds of the cafe gang disappeared as a police ‘bomb squad’ truck arrived, escorted by several police cars, sirens wailing!
Forty minutes later wide-eyed fellow teenage conspirators tried to burn off excess adrenaline by dancing to the beat of ‘blue suede shoes’. They had rendezvoused at their favorite after school hangout, latch-key Ron Brown’s musty basement rec room.
Now they anxiously awaited their hero.
When Brad did arrive, after cautiously phoning first to make sure it was safe, it was clear he too was surprised and a little shocked by the dramatic reception to his telephone call to the school office.
Joining his back-slapping friends, his fearless motorcycle hands now trembled slightly. Pleased as he was to receive accolades from his contemporaries for his bold telephone booth performance, small seeds of doubt nibbled at his conscience. Still it was another good excuse to collect more cigarettes from his admirers.
Some of the group actually shared his telephone conversation experience vicariously. Other’s now proudly suggested they had a role in dreaming up the idea at the cafe.
But somehow, both the originator of the idea, and the fateful contributor of the dime remained anonymous.
However, unknown to the gang, major events were unfolding even as they reveled in their imagined triumph over authority.
In fact memories were being deeply etched in the minds of school volunteers. Fearful, anxious, men and women, police and teachers, searched courageously through storage rooms; boiler rooms; classrooms; and student lockers.
And after finding the carefully wrapped package containing 13 sticks of dynamite, breathlessly defused by the bomb squad with its simple but deadly timer; none of them could possibly know that teenage school drop-out, Brad Gaudin, was, really, a ‘true hero’.
– the end –
(editors note: kids involved eventually faced youth court charges.)
There exists a symbiotic relationship between humans and animals. We only need to hear heartfelt, passionate, experiences of pet owners to confirm this truth! That we share genetics, perhaps even physical features in some cases, with other living creatures on earth is undeniable.* And who has not been humored by similarities, even resemblances to human characteristics in many plants and animals, including marine animals? (Bird of Paradise; Orchid Owl; and many more are not a fake pictures)
Humorous similarities in nature may contribute to belief in evolution. But is such reasoning the ‘only’ logical conclusion possible? I invite you to consider an alternative line of reasoning.
Consider famous artists, like Van Gogh, Michelangelo, or Leonardo Da Vinci. It doesn’t even take an expert to identify their particular works of art. Experts, or even qualified laymen can readily identify their distinctive style, subject matter, canvass, brush strokes, techniques and more!
I submit for your consideration, that, similarly, all life on earth is likewise a perfectly identifiable product of a single creative Artist! His distinctive style, brush strokes, and ‘living subjects’, being easily recognizable throughout the earth.
In fact, DNA of ALL life, greatly adds to the credibility of this line of reasoning! More and more it has been revealed that genetic building blocks of DNA are, not only common, but ‘nearly identical’ to all other life forms. Amazingly, all life on earth is based on the very same DNA constructs!
This is far different from the concept each individual life form is an accidental result of some unknown force of necessity. It is not an over-simplification to say that, to the extent that geneticists have been so far able to analyze DNA/RNA, only minor differences account for all the diversity of life on earth!
Yes we all share a very common basic makeup, from man to plants and animals! Simple comparisons might be an auto assembly line producing many different models of cars using the very same construction methods, or Lego blocks used to build an unlimited number of designs. Of course the building DNA strands of life are immeasurably more complex than those simple examples! *
The point is, just as works produced by famous artists clearly identify those creative geniuses, fundamental makeup of all life forms on earth provides a major identifying mark for a singular, incomparable, Artist-Creator! For more detailed DNA information go to my post: Evolution vs Creation.
With all that said, there are distinct differences between humans and all other forms of life on earth. As the ultimate Artist-Sculptor he’s made mankind the ‘apex production’ of his earthly works, how? By generously granting humans qualities in his very own likeness!You might say we are, spiritually, his self-portrait in love, wisdom, justice, and power!
Clearly every form of life has unique features, abilities, and appearances to it alone. Yet we need to acknowledge human capabilities exceed all other life forms on earth. For example; ‘conscience; and free will’!
While those exceptional and unique characteristics have been suppressed and eroded by the many adverse conditions today, there is no denying they do exist from the day we are born. And when properly trained they provide a supreme separation from the animal kingdom granted by our Artist-Creator.
In conclusion I want to emphasize the known common fundamental makeup of all life on earth provides strong evidence of an awesome ‘Artistic Creator‘ **. One who not only designed endless forms of life using genetic programming only beginning to be understood by mankind, but described by scriptural inspiration literally thousand of years before modern discovery! ** At the same time he’s granted humans superior attributes in His very own likeness, plus a free will to develop them!
Contributed comment:
“It is interesting that in some basic ways all animal creation follows a closely designed formula with overlapping characteristics. Eat, drink, eliminate, cohabit, bring forth offspring, etc., yet humans are several notches above… and consciously worship, design, plan, innovate, improve, etc. Is life on earth designed? Only the uninformed would say no! What about our future,… only the uninformed would say it has been left to chance in the hands of problematic human creations that seem to not recognize limits…”
* e.g. a mere teaspoon of DNA has a nearly ‘infinite’ data storage capacity!
** “Your eyes even saw me as an embryo; All its parts were written in your book Regarding the days when they were formed, Before any of them existed.” (Psalm 139:16)
Ergo: “For his invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.” (Romans 1:20)
Please visit JW.org for more encouraging scriptural information!
The popular concept that Christmas is based on the birth of the most significant human to have ever lived is actually an ‘anti-Christian belief… how can this be so?
There’s no better explanation than that the principal religions of Christendom have themselves been party to the misinformation guiding their flocks into this amazing dilution. Why this was undertaken could be summed up in one word; politics.
Whether we agree or disagree about the reasons, shortly after the last of the faithful followers of Christ died, there was a major secular movement to incorporate pagan religion into the actual teaching of Christ, and it has been highly successful.
Indeed, the majority of Church-goers today are taught the outrageous untruth that Christmas is based on the birth of Christ. How sad that is!
Please note: the following information is only for truth seekers!
A Historical Timeline of Christmas celebration;
1513 BCE – 60 CE (1600 years of recorded Bible History)
Period of inspired Biblical writings and prophecies, many concerning Jesus Christ. No mention of his date of birth; nor its being celebrated by his 12 apostles.
No mention of Christmas. No mention of any holy person celebrating a birthday – only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod). (Gen. 40:20; Matt. 14:6; Mark 6:21-28; John 18:36)
2269-2030 B.C.E.
History of Sun worship. Began in ancient Babylonia by worshiping the sun god Shamash & Nimrod – parallels exist between Babylonian New Years & Christmas celebrations. (historian Pimlott in ‘The Englishman’s Christmas‘).
500 BCE Celtic Druids used mistletoe winter solstice celebrations due to it being viewed as magical, mysterious, and sacred.
150 BCE Romans began celebrating Saturnalia (where many Christmas traditions find their origin)
45 BCE
Julius Caesar introduced the Julian Calendar making December 25 (not today’s 21 or 22) the date of the winter solstice (shortest day of the year).
33 CE Jesus was Killed. The Apostle Paul warned Timothy that “wicked men & impostors” would slip into the congregation and mislead many. (2 Timothy 3:1
Josephus popular 1st Century Jewish Historian reported that Jews did not celebrate birthdays, 1st century Christians (former Jews) continued the tradition of NOT celebrating them.
The foretold apostasy began after the death of the apostles (Acts 20:29, 30) A period where Mithraism (syncratic Hellenistic mystery religion) was practiced in the Roman Empire. Mithras was a Roman soldiers god whose legendary birth (as some stories go) resembles the birth of Christ (being born of a virgin in the presence of shepherds). Devotees of Mithra (says the Catholic Encyclopedia) celebrated the birthday of the invincible sun (dies natalis Solis Invicti) on December 25. L.M. Wright, author of “Christianity, Astrology, And Myth” 2002; suggests that the early Christian Church was influenced by much of the myth and symbolism of Mithraism. The cult of Sol Invictius was the Roman Empire’s leading official cult of the fourth century – (Wikipedia)
4th Century Christmas began being celebrated as Christ’s Birthday. Early Catholic Church Fathers banned the use of Mistletoe in Christmas celebrations due to their pagan origin. Origen & Tertullian Catholic ecclesiastical writers of the 2nd & 3rd centuries spoke against Birthday celebrations. Tertullian made no mention of Christmas in his thorough lists of celebrations.
218 – 222 Roman Emperor Elagabalus introduced the holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, “birthday of the unconquered sun” was to be celebrated on Dec. 25 (where many Christmas traditions find their origin), and promoted it empire-wide when it reached its height in popularity.
Pope Gregory I wrote to Mellitus, his missionary in England, telling him “not to stop such ancient pagan festivities, but to adapt them to the rites of the Church, only changing the reason of them from a heathen to a Christian impulse.” Thus reports Arthur Weigall, who once was inspector general of antiquities for the Egyptian government.
313 All religions, even Christianity were legalized in Roman territory.
325
In the 1st counsel of Nicaea, Roman Emperor Constantine standardized Christian beliefs. According to the Catholic Church, Catholics began adopting pagan customs into Christianity. By the end of the century, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.
336 CE 1st historical record of December 25 as the assigned date of Jesus Birth
All Religions (including formerly persecuted Christianity) in Roman territory were legalized. It took nearly the entire 4th century for the Roman empire to transition State Religion from pagan cults to Christianity. The Merging of cultic tradition with Christianity greatly assisted in this transition.
567 The Council of Tours “proclaimed the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany as a sacred and festive season.”—The Catholic Encyclopedia for School and Home.
10th Century
Christmas, along with Christianity, spread to Russia, where it became fused with the winter celebration of the ancient Slavs, honoring the spirits of the ancestors. (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia)
16th Century
Christmas traditions spread to branches of Protestants during the Protestant Reformation.
1644 In England, Parliament discouraged Christmas feasting due to its heathen origin
1652 Parliament banned Christmas by law
1659 – 1681 In North America, Massachusetts Bay Colony banned Christmas n which violators were subject to fine.
1772 The Baptist Church of Newport [Rhode Island] observed Christmas for the first time. This was about 130 years after the founding of the first Baptist church in New England.
1836 Alabama became 1st U.S. state to legalize Christmas
1843 Commercialism revived Christmas, Charles Dickens wrote “A Christmas Carol” and Christmas Cards originated in London.
1907 Oklahoma became the last U.S. state to legalize Christmas.
1927 Jehovah’s Witnesses abandoned Christmas celebrations after learning of its pagan origins.
Summary:
An overwhelming majority of sources agree that Christmas was almost entirely influenced by pre-Christian pagan celebrations.
There was no mention of Christmas nor any celebration of Christ’s birthday for hundreds of years after Jesus & his apostles died. The book Sacred Origins of Profound Things states: “For two centuries after Christ’s birth, no one knew, and few people cared, exactly when he was born.” Thus birthday celebrations, even of gods and leaders, were condemned as far as the late third century even by Roman Catholic leaders.
I left rather late in one afternoon and flew directly from Victoria airport over Georgia Straight and coastal mountains to the 108 airstrip. It was (is?) an excellent paved strip capable of handling larger airplanes as intended. However as the sun set I was amazed at the total absence of anyone in the vicinity, including a nearby store and golf course!? In fact even while I spent the night under the stars in a sleeping bag right on the golf course, yet I never saw a single person! To this day that is puzzling.
It was intended only as a quick educational trip to 108 ranch resort 300 miles from Vancouver B.C. Block Bros. Realty a well known Vancouver real estate firm beginning in 1960’s Vancouver, had sponsored, and financed this recreation retreat. In spite of considerable investment and promotion it never succeeded as hoped for several reasons. For more information on this project go here: http://108 Ranch Resort by Block Bros. Realty
Despite the reasons for its eventual failure, including driving distance from Vancouver, Henry Block * had developed notable features, 18-hole PGA golf course, clubhouse, swimming pool, restaurant and lounge, and a 20-room lodge, which were completed by 1972, to encourage investors.
I was very intrigued by it as a youthful Realtor in Vancouver. So sometime after acquiring my pilot’s license, and airplane, I decided to take a quick trip from my Victoria base to take a look at it.
In any case the next day, perhaps because of some disappointment at the 108, I decided to fly South before returning home. As I did I noticed a small airstrip next to Green Lake and decided to land and have a look. It was a very dry dusty landing, but just across the road there was a ‘dude ranch’* where a family from the lower mainland was vacationing that welcomed me! Somewhat overwhelmed by their hospitality, I ended up joining an evening around open camp fire, but not before a trail ride that was an experience of a lifetime in the afternoon! See this great video on the Flying U Ranch!: * * * Flying U dude ranch
With very limited ‘horse sense’, I was invited to join the family galloping (and I do mean full speed) through a forested area you could hardly call a trail! I hung on for dear life as small trees and bush brushed my legs and threatened to rip me off my steed, it really was the experience of a lifetime!
Afterward we drank some beers around a large and hospitable camp fire under a starry night. I could not believe how fortunate I was, and only wish I had my own family with me there. Once again I slept in my sleeping bag out in the open under an awesome Caribou sky as can only be fully seen far away from city lights.
The next morning I took off early in a huge cloud of fine dust from the short dirt airstrip, and after doing a low pass or two over the ranch, headed South to Vernon. At an airstrip shop there I found partners who had sold me a Mooney airplane previously. As fellow pilots, typically, they gave me the keys to a vehicle in order to briefly spend a few sunny moments on a lakeside beach! However, it was past time to head home and I did so that afternoon.
Only less than a two day experience, but as memorable as ever can be for me!
Tonight there was CBC news about the ‘demise’ of bowling alleys.
As a young teen I worked as a ‘pin setter’ in a Vancouver East side Kingsway Bowling Alley on weekends. It was possible to earn a fair wage, for a teen, if you were called upon. You had to patiently wait in a lounge area until business dictated the need, I think that’s where I began smoking cigarettes unfortunately. Of course this was in the 50’s, well before automated setting machines came into use.
Eventually, with experience, I was able to quickly reset ‘two’ lanes of 10 pins at once, competing with other pin-setters when there was intense bowling team competitions, no easy feat, I had just enough hand-span to pickup four pins per time! Of course 5 pins were much easier. It was actually quite dangerous sitting feet up between two lanes of flying pins which sometimes struck you. But the rewards seemed to make it worth the risk.
One night a couple of late gambling bowlers just wouldn’t quit, the only ones bowling. I was their pinsetter and exhausted. My older brother Jim came by since it was getting late. When he saw my situation he demanded an end, but Wally the manager, wouldn’t interrupt paying customers. Anyway I survived. Overall the pin-setting experience was, perhaps, a worthwhile youth learning lesson of some kind. Maybe my grandchildren can learn from that experience.?
As said in my intro page; I will try to be honest about revealing my experiences both good and bad. So here is a shameful one.
Around 9 years old I admitted a few local kids into my secret summer place; namely the attic of our family garage. I had constructed a wall ladder to gain access to an ‘inviting’ trap door I’d spotted. Of course it was a very dirty, dusty space, but definitely my secret place when dad took his dodge to work.
Determining we needed to celebrate but having no money to do so, I shamefully set out a plan to ‘steal’ a cake from a very small family store on Fraser Street a couple of blocks away that only sold bakery products, probably made in house.
Indeed there was splendid cake located on a table close to the door. So one or two of the ‘gang’ were instructed to distract the owner at the rear counter. It was a highly ‘successful’ operation, possibly because of our perceived innocence!
Back at the secret place we more or less gorged ourselves, hand to mouth, having no cutlery. Yes it was shameful, no doubt about it. And I did pay a price! While building a dam along side the road in front of our house, an extremely irate European immigrant single parent approached me with her daughter in hand, one of the ‘gang’ no less!
Her daughter had confessed her sin, and her mother, rightly, acted like I was the evil boy responsible for this stain. She had actually gone and compensated the store owner beforehand.
After her tongue lashing my conscience did kick in. So I knocked on her door and apologized Only reluctantly did she accept, ordering me to have no contact with her (cherished) daughter. It was a good lesson I’ve never forgotten.
It won’t please recruiters, but I cannot recommend joining the Royal Canadian Navy. As a 5 year recruit from Vancouver it had seemed like a good escape from teenage reality. Although I had held down a couple of jobs in Vancouver, the future just wasn’t bright. So at 17 I joined the RCN and travelled to their Cornwallis Nova Scotia boot camp
Boot camp did challenge my youthful spirit, and a subsequent posting to the navy frigate Lauzon was exciting. However my ‘Oiler’ designation was not.
So going through the necessary command structure I requested a change to ‘Radar Plotter’. It required a several week course ashore, which I topped. Then followed a 20 month draft assignment to HMCS Athabascan, a so-called ‘greyhound of the fleet’ veteran of the Korean war, followed by a similar period on the Quinte, a coastal Mine Sweeper.
Although there were some highlights, viewing amazing stars at sea is beyond imagination, a sea full of porpoises from horizon to horizon, and sweeping instant storms. For me there were some personal benefits, such as learning and accepting discipline, and visiting a few ports in Europe and the East Coast of the US. And of course I was singularly fortunate not to have been involved in wartime conditions during all 5 years.
However negatives included fending off homosexual predators, and vicious street gangs, at many, if not all, ports I visited, and that was in the 70’s. So I can only imagine today’s conditions.
Based on my own experience, all I can say is I believe there are much better paths for a youth to take than joining the RCN, please choose wisely!
It was 1982 I think. We were living in a modernized log cabin in Rock Creek. Located halfway across B.C. close to the US border crossing at Midway. It was an 8+ acre property backing on the Kettle river, last pristine one in BC some said.
I had little or no experience as a farming type but was hoping to become self-reliant, much like the hippy movement preceding that time. So when my acreage grew a fairly profitable crop of hay, I hired a neighbor with a machine to bail it for a shared percentage. Then, with the help of a visiting friend, we stacked the hay in anticipation of sales.
Some hay did sell, but a fair amount remained unsold. Noticing a large old International 4×4 pickup truck for sale along the highway one day, I offered to swap hay for the truck, partly because hay was difficult to keep. Surprisingly we made a trade; the beginning of another real life adventure for me.
My oldest daughter had secured a job eight miles away in Midway, so it occurred to me I should trade that unused behemoth for something she could use for transportation to work.
So one cold clear winter day I struck out on a back road, (Highway 33 Kelowna to Rock Creek *) and soon realized that heavy old beast, likely with age-hardened tires, was completely unstable on that icy winter road! While transiting an elevated section at slow speed, it began to spin uncontrollably! With no way to stop it, I bailed out and helplessly watched, spell bound, as it slid off the road, almost in slow motion, thundered down a 25′ bank and came to a stop with a loud bang, slamming onto a large bolder!
That was just the beginning! First I tried to restart, but ironically the ignition key broke off! At that point I thought this was definitely not my day and the truck would be a write off. Not to mention traffic on that back road was few and far between in those days. Also day’s were short with temperatures below zero at that time of year. But surprisingly a tanker truck came by before long. Driver seeing the situation stopped, gratefully I related my plight including the broken key. (This is where the story becomes truly miraculous! )
Without a word of a lie, that tanker truck driver handed me a ring full of keys he said he had no more use for, and astonishing, one of the keys on that ring worked in my vehicle’s ignition, which started right up! However being wedged up on that large rock it would not move. The driver had waited, so I climbed aboard, only slightly optimistically of finding more help somewhere down the road.
Now several miles further along there was a rare off-road dwelling came into view, so I riskily offloaded in hopes of obtaining ‘any’ help. To my utter amazement the self-reliant owner offered exactly what I needed, namely a heavy solid steel pole not less than 6′ long and 2″ diameter! (I have no idea what its intended purpose was.)
Almost as miraculous as the ignition I soon thumbed a ride back to the truck with that large steel pole in a small, convertible Triumph sports car, with the top down! Indeed the top had to be down to accommodate that large steel pole. The driver was disregarding low temperatures, while enjoying a crystal blue daylight winter sky.
Returning to the crash site, I was soon able to leverage that old bullet proof truck off the bolder with the steel pole,* * started it up, and crawled parallel to the road until able to climb back onto it! I know this all must sound unbelievable, but I swear it is the truth. And there’s even more to this story!
To return the steel pole, I drove the several miles and pulled off in the lenders driveway. At that very moment there was a loud bang under the hood! Battery damage when the truck hit the rock cracked it open and caused it to explode, spraying battery acid all over the engine compartment! It instantly occurred to me that if that battery had exploded earlier, I would once again have been stranded!
At that point I thought my good fortune must surely have run its course, but wait.. On hearing my plight the generous homesteader told my to ‘go down to his basement and take any one of his spare batteries being kept on chargers’!!
Needless to say I was dumbfounded by all this unexpected help. In conclusion; I made it to Kelowna right at sundown and stayed overnight in a motel. The very next day I was able to substitute that old beast of a truck for a reliable old Mazda! (In fact that is yet another surprising story!) That car served my daughter well for transportation to her job in Midway.
* Hwy 33, Rock Creek to Kelowna, is now ‘greatly improved’ road.
** “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
Through a variety of tests on Earth and throughout the universe, physicists have measured no changes in time or space for any of the fundamental constants of nature.
There are 28 numbers that completely determine all the physics of the known universe. In many experiments, nobody has ever observed any variation in the fundamental constants. While physicists continue to search for a new theory to replace the incompatible Standard Model and general relativity, it appears that the constants we know and love are here to stay.
Please Note; the following excerpts arecredited to a post by Ryan F. Mandelbaum, (and someadded comments from this blogger)
Mr Mandelbaum is a science communicator specializing in quantum computing and birds:
There is a realm the laws of physics forbid us from accessing, below the resolving power of our most powerful microscopes and beyond the reach of our most sensitive telescopes. There’s no telling what might exist there.
Since the beginning of human inquiry, there have been limits to our observing abilities. Quantum mechanics and the Standard Model of Particle Physics have worked wonders at clarifying what goes on inside of atoms. However, with each of these successful theories comes hard-and-fast limits to our observing abilities. Today, these limits seem to define true boundaries to our knowledge.
On the large end, there is a speed limit that caps what we can see. It hampers any hope for us to observe most of our universe first-hand. The speed of light is more than just a speed limit. So we must contend with several horizons beyond which we can’t interact.
Another boundary lives on the other end of the scale called the ‘Planck scale’, the smallest meaningful numbers that quantum mechanics allows us to define. Zoom in between molecules, into the center of atoms, deep into their nuclei and into the quarks that make up their protons and neutrons. It’s a built-in limit to our understanding of the universe.
These fundamental limits, large and small, present clear barriers to our knowledge.
Our theories tell us that we will never directly observe what lies beyond these cosmic horizons or what structures exist smaller than the Planck scale. However, the answers to some of the grandest questions we ask ourselves might exist beyond those very walls. Why and how did the universe begin? What lies beyond our universe? Why do things look and act the way that they do? Why do things exist? Exploring the unanswerable belongs to philosophy or religion.
Walls that stop us from easily answering our deepest questions about the universe… well, they don’t feel very nice to think about. But offering some comfort is the fact that 93 billion light-years is very big, and 10^-35 meters is very small. Between the largest and the smallest is a staggering space full of things we don’t but ‘theoretically can know’.
Through a variety of tests on Earth and throughout the universe, physicists have measured no changes in time or space for any of the fundamental constants of nature.
There are 28 numbers that completely determine all the physics of the known universe. In many experiments, nobody has ever observed any variation in the fundamental constants. While physicists continue to search for a new theory to replace the incompatible Standard Model and general relativity, it appears that the constants we know and love are here to stay.
Indeed, some things may always be beyond human knowledge. For example the Bible teaches:
“By faith we perceive that the systems of things were put in order by God’s word, so that what is seen has come into existence from things that are not visible.” (Hebrews 11:3), also that God exists “from everlasting to everlasting.” (Psalm 90:2) In other words, God had no beginning and will have no end. From a human point of view, “the number of his years is beyond (human) comprehension.” (Job 36:26) and finally “…we will never find out the work that the true God has made from start to finish.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
We were half way across Queen Charlotte sound, between Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii on the beautiful Inside Passage coastal maritime route.
Our B.C. ferry ‘Queen of Prince Rupert’ was enroute from Prince Rupert to its home port at Kelsey Bay on Vancouver Island when a distress call came from a fishing boat. A crewman on the boat was suffering from severe frostbite, owing to the harsh winter conditions at the time.
The captain ordered immediate rendezvous with the fish boat because the speed of our ferry was able to bring him to a help destination much sooner than otherwise. The difficulty was there was very heavy sea condition in Queen Charlotte sound, not unusual and not pleasant to endure!
As we paused to allow the fish boat to approach on the windward side. First officer and crew members, including me, lowered a life boat half way down the ship’s side in order to offload the patient from the lessor vessel. It was a violently windy night with very heavy seas!
I was the bowman in the life boat while the first officer was the coxswain at the stern. As the boat approached it was seriously heaving from side to side, being a much smaller vessel than ours. Over the howling wind I shouted to the first officer; “any chance we will get caught between us?“ To which he shouted back in typical British stiff upper lip fashion; “no I don’t think so!“
Sure enough as that sizeable heaving fish boat closed in, pushed by wind and sea, it literally rolled to its port (left) about 30 degrees and cracked our very stout fiberglass lifeboat against our ship’s side like a hard boiled egg!
As it did so all lifeboat crewmen had no option but to jump, en masse onto the upper deck of the large fish boat, because we were hanging over the water in a broken life boat with no chance to return to the upper deck of our own ship!
Only the first officer was left clinging desperately onto a life line to the davit, (a crane for lowing the lifeboat). Seeing the life-threatening situation some crewmen shouted from the fish boat; “hang on sir!” Meanwhile the boat heaved sharply back the other way, to starboard, leaving his only means of escape to get hoisted back up by those crew on the ferry’s upper deck, which was done!
Somewhat miraculously no one had fallen between the two ships into the boisterous sea, since the chance of survival rate given sea temperature and conditions was slim and none!
The fish boat Captain now wisely maneuvered around to the stern of our ferry, butting up to the car deck. With loading door open it allowed all of us, including the patient, to jump over the bow and return to our ship. It was a decidedly less risky method of transfer than the first attempt, live and learn!
I never learned how the frost bitten fisherman crewman made out, but presumably our urgent response was well worthwhile.
