Trying to keep sane.

I have been contemplating for a few days about writing a post about an email I received. It was from a black bass player who sells lessons on line. I am sure they are worth it. This email, however, was about how anyone who did not speak out against the killing of blacks recently were complicit in their deaths. I was going to ask, "Just who is being silent? Everyone and his brother has spoken out against the killing of George Floyd." As for the other cases he mentioned, not all of the significant information has gotten as much play as as the news of the killings so waiting for all the information to be released may justify the silence.

I have been hesitant to write that post because, frankly, I am burned out. Today I was going to buckle down and write that post. However, I could not find the email.

Reprieved!

So I thought I would write about a couple of things I have been doing to keep my mind occupied.





Sometimes I like to play detective and look up people I used to know. One such person was someone I knew in the radio equipment business in Seattle. I didn't know him that well but you might call us friendly casual acquaintances. I knew he used to be a Seattle police officer. It turns out that he wrote a book about it.

The book came in the mail yesterday. I finished it today. It is a great book. It is funny, it is sad. It is not the usual police anecdote book, although I do love them. The author worked during the transitory period from the old way of doing things and the new way of doing things. If you can your hands on a a copy I recommend it highly.

It is interesting when you know the author of a book. It helps give you a bit of insight between the lines. In this latest case, I can see how his experiences made him the way he is as well as helping to see the person in the book as well.




I have a US ham radio license. I have not done anything with it for years but my son has expressed interest in ham radio as well. That got the interest flowing in me again.

I have been mighty suspicious that, as a resident of Canada,I could not use my US license up here. US visitors can, but I was able to confirm that residents had to have a Canadian license.

So I have been studying up. While it is not required anymore, I want to brush up on my Morse Code. I am hoping that, after study, I will have a better understanding of the technical stuff. I bought two study guides, one for each class of license. The publisher also has some sample test questions on line so we'll see how that goes when I am done after each book.




I seem to recall a quote about how it is good to live in interesting times. I just wish they weren't that interesting.