Wit, Wisdom, and Whimsy. (your mileage may vary)
January 30, 2015
commentary, Personal atheism, internet trolls, lgbtq, religion, Twitter 1 Comment
So that was an odd, out-of-the-blue comment on my Twitter feed recently. It was in response to posts I’d made back in November regarding the LGBT contingent in Porterville’s Veteran’s Day Parade. JewishBoy must have been trolling old commentary looking for ways to spread the good word.
Here’s how the entire conversation went:
December 8, 2014
commentary, geek, Personal don't shoot I'm a scientist, faith, hoodie for science, science, secular Leave a comment
Arrived in today’s mail. Science doesn’t care. Reality is what is real, not what we want to be real.
November 11, 2014
commentary, Personal father, Jim Reeves, relationships, son, Veteran's Day 2 Comments
Jimmie Reeves (Sr.) USAF circa 1957
I was thinking, earlier, about writing an entry for my Alternating Currents blog, about Veterans Day. At first, I was contemplating a short piece about the veteran closest to me, my father, Jim Reeves (Sr.). As I thought about what I might write, and how I might talk about his time in the United States Air Force, it became increasingly difficult to find the “hook” I needed. Dad was in the Air Force for eight years, serving at bases in El Paso, Texas; Atwater, California; Tacoma, Washington; and South Korea. Serving after the Korean “police action”, but before the Vietnam war, the only “action” he saw was paperwork moving across his desk as he worked administrative duties in the Strategic Air Command’s efforts to counter the threat of the Soviet Union. How then to comment on his years of service without diminishing or inflating his contributions, or those of other veterans who sacrificed so much more than he did?
As I stared at this picture of my father, barely 19 years old, I started thinking how little I actually know about him. An ever present part of my life until his death in 2006, I find it remarkable how poorly I know him as a person.
November 7, 2014
commentary, Pictures beefcake, friday fantasy, men, muscles Leave a comment
OH EM GEE
October 13, 2014
commentary, Personal alternating currents, Community Blogs, Visalia Times Delta, Wordpress Leave a comment
I’m building an archive for my blog posts that appear at the Visalia Times Delta’s Community Blogger pages. I’m in the process of copying the existing blogs to this site in order to preserve them. Some have already been lost in “updates” by the VTD and Gannett, so from now on I’ll be posting a copy of each Alternating Currents blog to the new site.
September 30, 2014
commentary, Personal American Challenge, Bible, Facebook, flag, gaytheist, god, guns 1 Comment
Seems there’s a new “Challenge” thing going around Facebook, called the “American Challenge”. You’re supposed to show the world how ‘murican you are by taking a picture with the flag, a gun, and the Bible. Never one to want to miss out on the latest trend, here’s my contribution.
The Flag, of course. This one flew over the United States Capitol on September 5, 2004. The gun? A BB gun I bought at KMart 25 years ago, for $12. Don’t mess with me, I’m pack’n! The Bible was given to me by my maternal grandparents as a Christmas gift in 1968. I was 11 years old. In less than 2 years, I was a confirmed atheist. I don’t think that was my grandparent’s intentions, but there you go. The whole gay thing came later.
Just remember, “American Challenge” takers, this land is my land, too.
September 27, 2014
9-1-1, commentary, Personal 9-1-1, dispatcher stories, murphy's law 3 Comments
Sometimes the universe conspires to bring together a multiplicity of situations, each of which would be a minor problem on it’s own, but when combined create potential for deadly mayhem. Last night I experienced that perfect storm, and it could end badly. Here’s a list of the things that could go wrong, and did: He didn’t call on a 9-1-1 line, and he didn’t speak English. Once a translator was on the line, he didn’t mention the single most important fact of the situation, or the translator failed to properly understand the emergency. He started off asking to speak to a particular officer, but mangled the name so badly that I had no clue who he was referring to, and wasted precious time trying to figure out who he might have meant. After much too much time was wasted on what would turn out to be unimportant details, he got around to explaining the problem. I about fell out of my chair once I understood what he was trying to convey. I was yelling for an ambulance to start, getting deputies responding code 3, and basically cursing him and the translator (to myself, never out loud) for beating around the bush when speed was of the essence.
August 12, 2014
commentary, Personal bakersfield, dreams, ford ranger 1 Comment
I usually don’t remember my dreams, but when I do, they tend to be really odd.
Here’s a recap of this morning’s random neuron firings.
For some reason, I’m going to Bakersfield to see a person who may have been some kind of University-level instructor or counselor. When I get to Bakersfield, I’m in a crowded downtown area, and having difficulty finding a place to park. I finally locate a vacant spot, and end up having to walk a great distance to find the place I’m supposed to be. When I locate the person I’ve supposedly made an appointment with, he says “that’s next week. I can’t see you know”. We do this in the middle of a large public space, indoors, like a large entry pavilion area. I follow him outside, still trying to figure out why he won’t see me, when some other man makes a comment about More
August 11, 2014
commentary drive thru, pick up window, subway sandwich shop, woman can't find pick up window Leave a comment
I am stunned. Really. I went to my local Subway Sandwich shop for lunch today. As I pulled in, there were several cars in line at the drive thru, so I elected to go inside. That new menu kiosk ordering board throws a lot of people, and I was in a bit of a hurry. There was a woman ahead of me, picking up a sandwich. I couldn’t help but overhear, and what I heard left me feeling like this image of Don Knotts.
She had to come in to pick up the order she placed on that drive thru menu board, because she couldn’t find the pick up window!
She drove right past it, but did not see it. She was even looking for it, according to what she told the woman behind the counter. “That’s happened several times”, said the Subway employee. I really hope she was just trying to make the lady feel a bit less dimwitted. I’d hate to think it was all that common to have people walking among us who can’t find the pick up window in the drive thru while they’re in the drive thru!
I think what scares me even more is the thought that this woman is very likely someone’s mother! If I wasn’t an atheist, I might very well be saying “heaven help us!”
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
Update from my bed. Rated ‘G’
February 7, 2015
Jim Reeves commentary, Personal bed, california king, sealy mattress, sears, waterbed Leave a comment
The new mattress sits nicely in the waterbed frame.
So, after about 40 years of waterbeds, I took the ‘plunge’, so to speak, and bought an actual mattress. Even with the occasional stays in hotels, I wasn’t quite sure whether this idea would float or not. I had really been spoiled by my waterbeds, and wondered if I would find a regular mattress comfortable enough to stick with.
I first acquired a water bed back in the mid 70’s, while I was in high school. My first was a California King, with plush white ‘leather’ padding on the headboard, footboard, and side rails. One of our cats at some point decided to ventilate the headboard by sharpening her claws on it, but fortunately never tried that with the mattress. I had that bed for 15 years or so. I bought the bed you see here next, another California King, and have had it ever since.
Now, I’ve loved my waterbeds through all these years. Soft, warm, and comfortable as anything I’ve ever slept in, it was a huge decision to give it up. The time had finally come, however.
Draining the bed.
I had been thinking about getting a regular mattress for some time, as I had been noticing a tendency to some lower back pain if I stayed in bed too long. As I really love lazing around in bed before getting up to start my day, this was proving to be a problem.
There are some other considerations that factored into the decision as well, but lets just say that waterbeds can sometimes be a challenge in romantic relationships and leave it at that. It seems it was time to make the change.
I did some online searches and found a Sealy California King on sale at Sears, for $1,000 off the ‘suggested’ retail price. A quick online form was filled out, my credit card took a hit, and a delivery was scheduled.
I’ve had the bed for just over a month now, and I think I’m pretty satisfied with it. The biggest problem I experienced with regular beds during hotel stays was keeping warm, but that hasn’t yet proved to be an issue with this bed. While I do miss the gentle rocking of the waterbed, the firmness of the mattress is more comfortable than I expected. Hotel stays, with only one or two exceptions, had seemed like sleeping on boards, or on the floor. I’ve not felt like that with this change.
Empty waterbed frame waiting for the new mattress.
New sheets added to the adventure, and I’m becoming more and more acclimated to my new sleeping arrangements. I still find myself sitting on the edge of the bed, sometimes, and unconsciously trying to adapt to the expected wave motion that is no longer there. Also, rolling over in bed is a new experience, and has taken a bit of adjustment to get used to.
So now waterbeds are a thing of my past, and will probably remain so. I’ve kept the mattress, liner, and heater, though, just in case. You never know when I’ll wax nostalgic, and decide it’s time to get all retro and hipster, and fill that puppy back up. Groovy, man.
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