A rainy day

It is early morning and I am thinking which sometimes is not a very good idea.

My 60th year is coming to a close. In a couple of months I will start another one and upon attaining my next birthday I will be absolutely astonished.

This will run alongside the miracle of loaves and fishes as far as I am concerned. I must have scored a few genes from my mother's side of the family which is both good and bad.

My mother's side of the family the people tend to live a little longer, but they go out horribly. On my dad's they simply stop living. It's far more dignified.

Still, when you couple the gene situation with the fact that I have not chosen a safe path to follow in my life the fact that I am here typing is nothing short of a miracle.

You do not spend long periods of your life messing around with boats, airplanes, chasing fish and doing things that push the limits of sanity without coming out unscathed, yet I think that is what seems to have happened to me.

I am nothing less than a fugitive from the law of averages.

Over the years I have heard people tell me that what I am planning on doing is not safe. Generally speaking I have listened to the advice, thought it out and done what I set out to do anyway. Sometimes when I have been warned, though I have rethought doing what I had planned and maybe made a change here and there to at least reduce the adds a bit.

One of the things I consider important to developing myself into who I am today is when I bought a sailboat and taught myself to sail by bringing the boat up to Kodiak from Washington state. It was a learning experience I will never forget and every time I set sail in her I was truly captain of my own ship and master of my own destiny.

I've done a lot of things my way.

While I can say that I have not done everything my way, I have done a lot. One of the exceptions is my career, most of which is spent following orders. Everyone's career generally winds up that way and that is simply the way it is. You go where they send you and do what you are told. It is a part of life.

Still, careerwise, I have made my choice to follow this line of work and it has been good to me.

Recently I went into ham radio and it has been interesting. I am very much doing it my way.

While I have a basic 100 watt transceiver sitting on my desk, it isn't used nearly as much as the little surplus manpack rig I snagged against all advice.

A number of people pointed out that the rigs were underpowered and impossible to get repaired if they coink out and on and on.

I suppose they are right. If the rig craps out either I figure out how to fix it myself or I consign it to the scrap heap.

Still, it is what I wanted to do and the direction I chose to go into ham radio and I am doing it. I like it that way. Every contact I make on the little rig means something to me.

It has also already had its moments. I'll post this one later.

I guess that is a big part of the story of my life.

You can't be out and out foolish, though. You do have to think and do your best to put the odds on your side. When I was sailing I did my best to avoid stormy weather. Of course, I wasn't always successful and I have a few storms under my belt but at least I wasn't foolhardy enough to set sail when bad weather was in the offing.

The naysayers often say, "What if something happens?"

Well, something IS going to happen and it is my job to either control it or deal with it. That's the way it is, no matter what the something is.

One ot the things that I saw hanging up on someone's desk one day said the following:

"You have to sail the wind you have, not the wind you want or the wind you once had. At times you may not have any control, but it is your duty to try your best to have an effective response."

It's true.

Then again, there have been times I have opted to sit something out or maybe approach something from a different angle. Sitting something out sometimes isn't a bad idea. There is no point in being totally foolhardy.

The object is to come out of it alive and learn something from it.

In a couple of months if/when I celebrate my next birthday I think I am going to sit down and shake my head and marvel at my good fortune.




my other blog is: http://officerpiccolo.blogspot.com/ http://piccolosbutler.blogspot.com/