Walking

Early fall days, when there is a bit of chill in the air, a slight breeze and leaves raining down from the bronze and golden trees.  When the sun is playing peek-a-boo with the clouds and V shaped formations flying overhead are headed south.  That is the best time for walking.  Squirrels  run about nervously seeking more winter provisions, never satisfied with what they have already hidden away.  The fly, the bee, the wasp, and the ant; all the pests of summer have found shelter against the approaching winter and do not bother me any more.  That is the best time for walking.  The flowers in their glorious colors have all faded but so too has their contribution to my allergies, so the air is clean and pure.  The sun’s light is neither so bright that it hurts the eyes, nor is it lost in a gloomy fog.  It casts weak thin shadows that play along my path.  That is the best time for walking.  

 

-Dan.

 

P.S.  Our old has is sold!  Payday coming soon!

 

Blog Spam

<<< Deep Thoughts >>> I've been spamed! Someone is posting spam in our blog sites! Who could be so uncooth? So rude? So thoughtless! I really really detest the constant invasive sales presure created by the advertisers. They have polluted radio, television, the internet, most sports, clutered up the landscapes and made city streets ugly. They waste thousands of trees through paper products to print thier pitches in news papers, magazines and mailers. They plug up my mailbox and even leave unwanted messages on my answering machine. Now they are pitching their junk in my blog too! This madness has got to stop. It is time for citizens everywhere to demand legal limitations be put on advertisers. advertisments need to be where you can find them if you want them, such as a phone book or internet web site. They should not be in your face and forcing their wears down your throught. No more phone calls. No more mailers. No more spam. And no more blog spam! Maybe what we all need is an e-gun. That way we could virtualy shoot the spamsters and kill thier computers operating system. Now there is a thought!

The wife and kids enjoying an afternoon swim. The back yard is coming togeather! Nuestro casa, de atras. Pilar y las nin'as esta escapando el calor!

Here is my office. Note the great color scheme!

Wow, I still have a lot of unpacking to do. Note all the books. Is it any wonder that I had to build book cases?

Granny's Family Bible

Upon the death of my Grandmother Davis, I inherited her family Bible.  While there is nothing remarkable about this particular copy (she did have more than one) in it there is a record of the generations.  So for all those who might have been curious about this stuff here is the data as it is recorded in her Bible.

 

"

 

This is to Certify that

 

Arthur A. Davis

Place of Birth: Blackgum, Oklahoma

Date of Birth: June 9, 1911

 

And

 

Edna Jewel Blevins

Place of Birth: Braggs, Oklahoma

Date of Birth: September 24, 1909

 

Were joined together in the bonds of

Holy Matrimony

At: Vian, Oklahoma on the 29 day of June

In the year of our Lord 1929

Rev. Butler Clergyman

Witnesses: Estel Davis, Marion Davis

 

'Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.

What therefore God hath joined together, let not

Man put asunder.'  Matthew 19:6

 

(Page 2)

 

Children

Billy Doyle Davis, Oklahoma, April 3, 1930

Married to Norma F. Davis at Reno, Nev. Dec., 1950

Names of Grandchildren

Arthur Brandon 1/17/52

Billy David 4/12/53

Evonda Lynn 7/16/54

Allen Lyslie 8/  /55

Stephen Lee 11/6/56

 

Hazel Jo Davis, Oklahoma, Oct. 6, 1932

Married to Richard O. Reneau at Marysville, Cal. June 20, 1949

Names of Grandchildren

Judy Diane 4/1/50

Debra Gail 5/12/51

Jimmy Dale 7/25/52

Laura Jane 9/2/53

Rickey Wayne 4/8/57

 

Patsy Lovan Davis, Oklahoma, Aug. 7, 1943

Married to Carl Edward Willey at Rio Del, Cal. Dec. 20, 1958

Names of Grandchildren

Dathenia Leavon Willey 2/4/61

Daniel Lee Willey 3/25/63

 

Dewey Lee Davis, Oklahoma, May 25, 1939

Married to Meta Miess, San Antonio, Texas 1/1/69

Names of Grandchildren

Jonathan Lee 9/15/70

Paul Anthony 12/29/72

 

(Page 3)

 

"

 

Family History
	HUSBAND	WIFE
Father	Charley Davis	William D. Blevins
Place of Birth	Tennessee	Arkansas
Date of Birth	Oct. 1885	April 12, 1886
Date of Death		Oct. 14, 1970
Place of Burial	Box, Ok.	Box, Ok.
Mother	Lulu Ann McForland	Mary Perry
Place of Birth	Arkansas	Arkansas
Date of Birth		Sept. 23, 1886
Date of Death	Oct. 10, 1943	Oct. 14, 1965
Place of Burial	Box, Ok.	Box, Ok.
Brothers & Sisters	Lowell, Marrion, Cecil,	Lester Blevins,
	Lester, Austin, Benson,	Earl Blevins,
	Wylie, Buster, Albert,	Ruby Blevins.
	Raymond, Jack.
	Madge, Melvin,
	Mary, Lois
	(2 names are missing?)
Grandparents
Father's Father	Thomas Davis	Edward Blevins
Father's Mother	Mary Ellen Cook	Nancy Jane Skinner
Mother's Father	Bill McForland	Pierce Perry
Mother's Mother	Easter Brigley	Ellen Blevins

 

* All underlined entries were handwritten.

 

I hope some of you find this as interesting as I do.

 

 

 

 

Dan Willey

 

The Lords Supper

 

The practice of taking the Lord's supper is one of few rituals found in the Christian church.  Although generally agreed upon by the many denominations, there are still two basic forms in which it can take.  In most protestant denominations the bread and wine are served separately.  The bread tends to be a salt free cracker about the size of a small green pee, and the 'wine' is actually just grape juice.  Some churches use red grape juice, others fear the stains that can leave in the carpets so they use white grape juice instead.  These two basic elements are served as Jesus did, separately.  The bread you can pick up with you fingers, and the juice is poured into thimble sized cups.

 

Other churches, such as the Catholics have found a more convenient method.  They eliminate the need for hundreds of tiny cups by having the saints dip the bread into a cup of 'wine' and eat the two together.  Personally I have reservations about performing or taking the communion this way.  Here is why.

 

Leviticus 17:10-14  "And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, I will cut him off from among his people.  For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the alter to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.  Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.'  Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the life of all flesh, its blood sustains its life.  Therefore I said to the children of Israel, 'You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood.  Whoever eats it shall be cut off.'

 

Also see Deut. 12:16, 15:23 and I Sam. 14:32-35.

 

I think we have forgotten this principle, about the blood representing the life of the creature.  Certainly, when our Lord represented his flesh and his blood separately, he was clearly illustrating that he must die. His blood had to be spilt to make atonement for us all, and by having a cup of juice, we are asked to reflect upon this fact.  Then we see the bread, which represents his body.  Jesus broke the bread to represent how his own body would be broken for us so that we might receive healing.

 

The Israelites were very clear on this point.  You did not eat meat that still had the blood in it.  God forbade that practice.  So why do some churches dip the bread into the wine?  Isn't that like putting the blood back into the flesh and then eating it?  Isn't that what these things symbolize? What would that mean?  If Jesus did not shed his blood, then he did not atone for our sins and can not save us from the penalty of sin.  Or are we making him alive again by putting his life force back into his body and eating the Christ like some sort of cannibal? Either way, isn't this something like blasphemy? Think about it!  Pray about it!

 

Perhaps dealing with a lot of tiny cups isn't such a bad thing.

 

-Dan.

 

 

 

This is all of us from last Christmas.

Part Two of the Church Today.

Hmm, no comments yet from my last entry.  So here is some help to get your thoughts going.

I'm not saying that I have the perfect answer.  However, which one of the afore mentioned organizations brings us Faith, Hope or Love?  Which one of them draws us to the Holy Spirit?  Which one of them is Salt and Light to the world?  What might that mean?

 

<Yes this is meant to make you think>

 

On a personal note:  Pilar bought me some lumber yesterday.  I'm building bookcases with it today and I'll be putting my office back together today.  Now that the walls are finished, and I have the wiring in the walls the way I want it, I can organize the rest of the room.  I already have my desk assembled.  I had to drill holes through it to pass cables through.  I built this desk back in 1987.  It has seen a lot of use and some abuse since then.  I built it modular so it could be moved easily and rearranged to fit different spaces.  I think this is its final resting place however because it is showing its age.

 

What remains to be done is to line one wall with bookcases and fill them with all our books.  I think I have too many books already.  It will look a bit like a library up here.  Then I have about a ton of junk and trash and important bits & pieces mixed in with important papers.  I will need to sort through all that mess and figure out what needs to be tossed out and what needs to be filed away.  I just keep telling myself this; if I get all this stuff organized, then I can keep it clean.  It will not get trashed again if I have a maintainable system in which to file away the important paperwork and a trashcan for all the rest.  Just working through a file drawer and sorting out things we no longer need to keep is a monumental chore for me.  I hate paperwork.  I'd much rather be building those bookcases and un-boxing all my books onto them.  At least it looks like you have done something when your finished!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   ^-^              The wise

  (*v*)              Ol' Owl

  ()   ()

--"---"----         Dan Willey

 

Today's Church

What is the role of the church in our modern society?  I have been asking my friend this question for a while now.  It is not such an easy question to answer, when you take in to count the various other groups and organizations that are out there.  What is it that makes the church unique, special or even vital? 

 

Is the church a huge social club?  If all a church provides is a sense of belonging or community, then it is just another social club and could be compared to joining the Moose Lodge, a bowling league or something like that.

 

Is the church an organization of higher learning?  We have 'Sunday School' and we teach people about the Bible, but then don't colleges and universities do so also?  In fact they offer degrees to their students and prepare them for various career fields.  However, the academic community and the scientific community both share a belief that the Bible is more myth than fact and more out of date than modern.  So if the church is to be in the business of teaching, it has become rather irrelevant in this capacity.

 

Is the church a place of guidance and counseling?  It is true that there are a lot of fundamental and practical teachings to be learned from scripture, however; if the church is to act in this capacity it must compete with clinical psychologists.  In some states, you must be licensed in order to provide counseling services.  This area too seems to be one in which the church has fallen behind.

 

Is the church a place of healing and restoration?  The scriptures talk about miraculous healings at the hands of the believers, and some still proclaim this ability.  However modern medicine has made inroads in this area, and almost everyone thinks of visiting the doctor when they become sick.  We don’t jump in an ambulance and get rushed to the church.  So this too has been taken away from us for the most part.

 

Is the church a place we go to sing?  While singing is part of worship, don't people do this in bars, clubs and concerts?  Some bands can drop in and play some music and make huge bucks for doing it live on stage.  The church has live bands on stage every Sunday but no one knows their name or pays to listen to them play.  With few exceptions, such as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

 

As for charity, the church has taken a back seat to government welfare, the Red Cross and Salvation Army. 

 

In politics, the church has minded it's own business for fear of losing their tax exempt status.

 

In law, the church has become a non-player because we don't legislate morality.

 

So I ask you… just what IS the role of the church in our modern day society?   I want to hear from you.  What do you think its role is?

 

 

Dan

 

No Rapture

For as long as I can remember, the church has talked about the rapture.  I grew interested in this teaching back when I was still a youth.  My digging through the scriptures lead me to believe some things differently than what I was being told.  For one thing, I do not find any reason to believe in a rapture.  On the contrary, I find every reason to believe it a modern myth.

 

The reasons for this are many.  For one thing, look at the way God created man kind.  If it is true that this was his plan A, and would like to return us all to something along those lines, then this earth must be returned to Garden of Eden like conditions and a purified man kind will live there.  Considering this idea, take note of how Revelations ends.  At the End of this age, God brings down a new Heaven and a new Earth to us here.  That might mean that He will re-create the "Like New" condition here on earth for us.  Something to think about.

 

A second point is that the term Rapture never appears in the Bible.  Oddly enough, nor does any mention of the saints going to heaven.  There is no passage, verse or phrase that says or means "the saints go to heaven."  There are about four such passages that say the meek will inherit the earth.  That is another thing to think about.

 

But the most convincing point is something that the Holy Spirit reveled to me many years ago.  I call it the five signs.  In order to approach this concept let me first ask you to consider the chances of two singular events having the same basic features.  When I shop for new glasses, I go in to a store and tell the clerk that I am only interested in those glasses which have cable arms and a mono piece bridge.  By specify only two features, I have at times eliminated every design in the store.  With luck, I might be left with two or three pairs from which to choose.

 

So it is with great interest that I noticed one day that the passages in Mathew 24:29-31 and I Thessalonians 4:15-18 had five features which are the same.  The author of the series "Left Behind" considers these two passages and says that they describe separate events.  How can they?  They both talk about a time when God comes back to earth, they both have the sign of the clouds.  When Jesus ascended it was foretold that he would return in the clouds, just like he left.  Both passages have the sign of the angels who appear with him.  Both passages have the sign of the trumpet sounding.  And the fifth sign is that upon his return the saints are collected and brought to Him.  This gathering of the Saints is what some take to be the Rapture, but how can that make any sense at all when the passage in Matthew that describes the exact same event with the exact same five historic features… does so starting with these words, "Immediately after the tribulation…"?  Now that is really something to think about!

 

 

   ^-^              The wise

  (*v*)              Ol' Owl

  ()   ()

--"---"----         Dan Willey

 

Harry Potter - A review

 

 

 

I just finished reading the 6’th Harry Potter book.  I had had no interest in these books until I started receiving e-mails about how evil and satanic they were.  I was familiar with the tone of these messages.  They were being generated by alarmists.  Curious about what the books did contain I took it upon myself to read the first in the series.  Since I was working in a school at the time I already knew these books to be very popular among the students and an asset to our reading program.

 

I found the first book to be very entertaining, exciting, mysterious and adventurous.  Harry Potter’s life, according to the book, was larger than life.  Coming from a British writer, I found it strange that she would use so much exaggeration when the British are usually the kings of understatement.  Then in retrospect I realized that there were some disturbing elements in the book.  Three times in the first book, Harry openly breaks the rules, and instead of being punished, he is lavishly rewarded.  In fact, the one time that he goes out of his way to help someone, he is caught and punished.  As far as life lessons go, these are not the lessons you teach young children who are still sorting out right and wrong, or the difference between real and fiction.  As such this is not a good book for children.

 

Having read the series, and just finished the latest addition, I maintain this position.  J.K. Rowling’s books are well written, adventurous and mysterious.  They are entertaining and they are most definitely not for children.  In the series so far we have had the visual imagery of Harry’s mom being mercilessly murdered, demonic like creatures sucking the soul out of a man, Giant spiders and so on.  Just about anything that might cause nightmares has been covered.  In book 6 we find Harry in a dark cave, surrounded by a dark underground lake, standing on a very small island in the center of the lake and being ambushed by zombie like dead people who are trying to drag him off to the water and drowned him. This is not good imagery for children!

 

Now if you have read the book, or if you don’t ever care to anyway, read on.  If you are going to read it and do not want me to spoil it for you stop here & read no further!

 

At the end of book 6, Dumbledore is dead.  Or is he?  I submit to you the possibility of a huge plot twist to come in the next book, that being the reappearance of Dumbledore.  The clues that I’m following are these.  First, Dumbledore spent some time talking to Malfoy about his ‘options’.  The suggestion here was that his death could be faked and thus he would be hidden & safe from Voldermort.  What if this is what Dumbledore has done?  What if he has faked his own death?  Consider that Dumbledore has been spending a lot of time shaking off both the Death Eaters and the Ministry of Magic.  By faking his death he has freed himself to move around and do what he needs to do without their interferences.  Second, He has absolute trust in the double-agent, Snape.  Is it any wonder then that Snape would be the one to ‘pretend’ to kill him?  This could have been pre-arranged.  Dumbledore only had to worry about someone else doing it before Snape could arrive, and that is why he kept dialoging Malfoy.  Then there is the question of why Dumbledore would stun Harry at that moment to prevent him from doing anything… Harry would have been a lose cannon and if he were faking his own death, he did not need Harry’s heroics to mess it up.  And the final clue is Dumbledors blackened hand.  This served as a reminder to him that he is not as young and invincible as he once thought himself to be.  This is why he has chosen to fake his death.  Because he knows that his life is on the line here and that only one thought to be dead would be safe to move around and collect the information that he needs to collect.  Oh, and one last hint, why bury him on the school grounds?  Because it is the one place that Voldermort can not go to discover the deception.  As for the true allegiance of Snape… consider the following, while on the run out of the school grounds, it was Snape who not only told the Death Eaters to leave Harry alive, but actually stunned one of them that was attacking Harry.  Now we know he enjoys taunting Harry, but also note that he only deflected Harry’s attacks he never did anything to hurt Harry back.

 

These are the main reasons I’m thinking that Dumbledore will return in book 7. 

 

Please take this to heart.  These are adult books.  Do not give them to children under 16 years of age.  They are too dark in places for kids under that age.  I might be persuaded to drop the line to 13 years olds in some cases, but they would have to be mature 13 year olds.  Take it on a case by case basis.  I do not recommend that anyone under 16 be given these books!

 

 

Painting.

 

From: brdavis
Sent: Friday, July 22, 2005 6:37 PM

...geez: three good posts and then nothin'.

Get writin', Dan!

--

 

Sorry, I have been painting.  The new house we bought (moved in back in March) came with what they called a bonus room.  With our floor plan, the bonus room was an unfinished room that is situated up over the garage.  I am using this for my office and library.  It is about 10’ X 20’ and has those 45 degree angled ceilings that remind me somewhat of a barn.  I’ll have to figure out how to put some pictures online for you.  Anyway, neither the room nor the stairs up to it, were finished past basic sheet rock and tape.  I had to finish the taping, primer coat, texture and then paint.  I had already laid carpet and two walls got wall paper.  The colors I’ve picked out are somewhat unusual too.  The walls are about the color of a clay pot (terra cotta) and the ceiling is Arctic Sky (blue).  The two together are very cool and calming, just the ticket for when I am studying for finals.  I’m going for a Mediterranean Beach theme.

 

I have two more ideas for up & coming posts. One will have to do with why the Rapture is Christian Myth & the second.. I should do it right now come to think of it.  It will be about the Harry Potter books. 

 

-Dan

 

Leaven of the Pharisees

 

Jesus cautioned us to beware the leaven of the Pharisees.  I have often wondered exactly what He meant by that remark.  We know leaven as yeast.  It is used in the making of bread.  You put a little bit of yeast in your dough and let it stand for a few hours in a warm place and it will cause the dough to rise or get puffed up.  Yeast is like a cancer, it feeds off of the dough and spreads through it.  Once the dough is infected with it, it will infect any dough it comes in contact with.  The culture grows and spreads all by itself.

 

The leaven of the Pharisees is a lot like yeast.  It is an attitude that can be found in religious circles.  Those infected with it, will infect others they come into contact with.  It causes the infected ones to become puffed up (with pride).  Like a cancer it too is a sort of culture that grows and spreads all by itself while it feeds off of the religion.

 

No denomination, church or organization is safe from it!

 

So what exactly is this 'leaven of the Pharisees'? 

 

The Leaven that spoils so many lives comes to us from the last, and often least observed, of the Ten Commandments.  "Thou shalt not covet…"   We are told not to covet what other people have.  This subtle sin can take many forms.  Some people desire Fame, others Fortune, others might pursue Power or Glory or … well whatever.  Anything that you see in another person that you decide is something you want for yourself can become something that you covet. 

 

In religious circles there is more to be desired than fame and fortune.  In fact those two things might appear very low on a list of things to be valued.  Love, Peace, Joy, Understanding… now those are things that we should all desire to have. On top of these are the gifts that God gives us, the gift of tongues, of healing, of prophesy and so on.   Then there are the positions of influence such as Pastor, Prophet, Apostle, Teacher and so forth.  These positions all come with various degrees of power and influence.

 

As a believer, I want to do whatever God has for me to do.  I'm not concerned with any sort of political correctness or public relations image.  But those who are infected with this Leaven of the Pharisees are.  They are more concerned with their public image than they are with their divine relationship.  To them, religion is all about public influence and image by being perceived as a Godly man or woman.  Positions of power and prestige are coveted by them and rated by the size of their sphere of influence.

 

These people have forgotten about lifting up praises to God unless it can be done in a way that makes others lift up praises to them and talk about what a great person they are.  This is the cancer that infects all religions.  When good people forsake the fundamentals and begin practicing a form of the faith that is phony, plastic and self-serving.  We all know them as hypocrites.  It all starts when someone stops desiring good things from God and begins coveting the good things God gave to someone else.  After all,  we do not draw closer to God by breaking one of his ten fundamental rules!

 

So if you have been practicing your faith for the purpose of receiving accolades from your peers, stop.  In fact, bow out.  Start attending church somewhere where no one knows who you are, and sit in the back seats.  Tell God about how you lost your focus and broke his rules and how you need to get back on track.  Then wait for Him to open doors for you.

 

-Dan.

 

 

Car Wars

This story comes from my High School days.  In 1980 I was a High School Junior attending a private christian school in Sacramento California.  The senior class at this school had decided that a particular section of the parking lot was for their use only.  They defended this territory by partially dismantling anyone's car who dared (or was forced by a lack of space elsewhere) to park there.  Being a small school we all had the same English teacher, but the seniors had her first.  They would put the dismembered parts of the car in her classroom.  By the time the junior's came into the English classroom, all the 'trophies' from the offending vehicle had already been viewed by most of the school.  This was a practice I took offence to.  I discovered that by inserting a chip of circuit board between the points of a car I could prevent a it from running without doing it any harm.  So the following Friday I arrived late to school, on purpose, with five such chips in hand.  No one was around, so my plan to disable five cars in the senior parking area seemed to working perfectly.  I intended to make a point about their practice of sabotaging cars by waiting until all five car owners were unable to leave school, and then repair the 'fix' to their cars after they had gotten a good taste of their own medicine.  Well that was the plan.  The first problem I encountered was hood locks.  Only one old pickup truck did not have a hood lock and although I did not know to whom it belonged, it was the only one I could disable.  One was better than none, so it would have to do.  The second problem with my plan was that after a full day at school, I had forgotten to wait and see what became of the pickup and it's owner.  After returning to school on Monday morning, I found out.

 

Leman was the senior class president.  He was also the only black in attendance although neither of these facts are material to my motives.  After school on Friday Leman climbed into his fathers old pickup truck, inserted the key into the ignition, turned it, and nada.  It would not start.  This caused him to walk home.  When he arrived he was greeted by a father who was to miss an appointment due to the inoperative vehicle.  On Saturday the football team had practice and were witnesses while Leman and his father worked for a couple of hours attempting to diagnose and fix the problem truck.  When they final popped the distributor cap and looked at the points, Leman's dad just about hit the roof.  The chip was obvious, and so was the fact that someone had sabotaged the truck.  In no time they had it fixed and under way.  Then the school principle got a call from one very upset father.  On Monday morning this irritation spilled over onto the senior class who got a personal visit from said principle.  The era of dismantling cars in the parking lot was over!

 

Well, the point had been made and the goal achieved, but at what cost?  To be sure, Leman was the last person I'd have wanted any of this to happen too.  I doubt, although I do not know, if he ever had anything to do with the car wars in the first place.  He had enough class to ask me if I had done that to his truck.  I had enough guts to admit to it.  But I never had the chance to tell him the rest of the story or apologize for forgetting to stay after school on Friday.  I hope he gets read this. 

 

-Dan.

 

Tact.

Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."   In my experience, people tend to think of tact as an excuse to lie. They think they are just being tactful if they tell you what you want to hear. Some are clever enough to say things that align with the truth, but can still be misinterpreted by the listener to mean what they want to hear. That is still a lie. When you know that the listener is getting the wrong message then you are still lying!   A better definition of tact is "a word fitly spoken." I need to confess that I had to re-read this favorite scripture before writing this because my memory of the verse had become skewed. I seemed to remember it saying something about timing. Timing is a very important point here. A word fitly spoken is a word which is true, spoken in love (kindness) and at the right moment.   An example of this from my own experiences occurred while I was in the Air Force. This is another story from Patrick A.F.B. Working as a 99105 in the Hydroacustic shop for AFTAC, I had to maintain a daily station log as part of my duties. These logs were written on a typewriter and contained information about the status of our equipment and the reason behind any noted changes.   On arrival to work one evening, the dayshift person approached me with a suggestion. He had had an entry close out which had been carried forward from previous days. Our standard operating procedure was to type all these entries in a block at the top of the new days log. The problem, he discovered, was that this left him no room to add any new information about why the entry was being closed after weeks of carrying it forward every day. So his suggestion was simple and made sense, leave one blank line between carried forward entries.   Working the swing shift meant that midnight (Grenache Mean Time) occurred on our shift and we had the duty of starting the new days logs. As suggested I left a space between entries. Even as I did so, I knew it was a departure from the norm and that it would be questioned. I went home thinking about how to respond to anyone who might have a problem with me leaving some blank space on the log. There were no specific regulations about whether or not to leave a blank line, just our standard operating procedure.   The next day, I arrived work and took my position. Our tasks rotated nightly so I was not assigned to the same position. Brett took the post I had had the night before. As soon as the day shift crew was out the door, Brett stormed up to me and shoved the log I had created under my nose. Brett had more rank than I did and had several years more experience in Hydroacustics than I did. He went off on me like a drill sergeant going off on a new recruit. I was in deep trouble.   Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Cluade, our supervisor, was approaching slowly, stealthfully bent over so as to not attract attention. He latter confessed to me that all he was concerned about was the rank and years of experience we had, he was not giving any real thought to the merits of the 'conversation' at all. He was prepared to step in and rule with Brett. Everyone else in the room had stopped working to see how this would all turn out.   Brett finally wound up his tirade over the log with a question like, "so why did you leave spaces?" I had my answer ready. "Brett," I said, "I'm sorry. I don't do designer logs!"   It was the word fitly spoken. Brett's jaw clamped shut as his brain churned for a come-back that would not arrive. Claude turned on his heal and burst out in laughter. Peals of laughter were sounding from around the room. Brett turned around and marched back to his corner. Trouble diverted. After a few days time, day shift had made their argument with others on my shift and leaving a blank line became the new standard operating procedure.   My response to Brett that day is an example of tact because it was a kind word (being neither a defense of my action nor an attack against his) it was well timed, everyone in the room was listening and I had just been given the floor, and because it was true. It was true in the sense that arguing over whether or not to leave a space was very petty. The point of the log was to have the information recorded and anything else of a stylistic concern was like an attempt to produce 'designer logs.'

-Dan.

The Rock Story

There I was at Patrick A.F.B. in the mid 80's. As a single airman, I found it to be a challenge to occupy my off-duty time. One of my favorite past-times was to visit the Boat House and rent a canoe. Patrick A.F.B. is situated on a long sandbar that sits just off the east cost of Florida. The Atlantic Ocean is on its eastern coast and the Banana River is on its western coast. It was the Banana River that I would launch out and paddle along. Many well to do people had their own boats or gorgeous back yards situated along the edge of the river. I could spend hours paddling along the river and its many canals.

The trouble started one day as I was attempting to paddle south. The wind off the ocean kept turning the canoe west. Being alone, the bow of the little boat was not sitting in the water. This allowed the canoe to turn easily and made steering a course against the wind almost impossible. I needed some weight to counter balance me and push the bow back into the water. I needed a big rock. That was asking a lot, since as I said, Patrick A.F.B. is built on a sand bar. The only thing you find there is sand. I did find a piece on discarded cement. It was like finding gold! It was just heavy enough to put the bow into the water and it was wedge shaped so it fit the canoe like it was made for it. With the rock in place, I enjoyed the rest of the morning.

At noon I got hungry. The thing to do was to go back to the Boat House. They had a snack bar that sold burgers and all things deep fried. On my way back I began to worry about the rock. While eating lunch, what would happen if a dock hand or some kid were to find it? Visions of it going kersplash into deep water is all I could think of. So I looked around for a safe place to put it. Luckily for me there were these huge beams underneath the Boat House which was built out over the river on stilts. Huge poles like telephone poles were driven into the river bed and formed the foundation for this building. There was just enough space for a small boat like mine to pass under the building, and that was the only way to reach these beams that tied the poles together. So I paddled up to a beam, and skillfully offloaded the rock onto it for safe keeping. Then I paddled over to the dock, went inside and ordered some fish and chips.

So there I was just enjoying some deep fried fish and chips when a guy came in. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said, "this is not a drill. Please evacuate the building immediately." I scooped up my meal and made my way out to the front parking lot along with all the other guests and a few employees. The place had become engulfed with S.P.'s (Security Police) the Air Force's answer to Policeman. They were running around, guiding dogs and there were even a few in a small boat. The Boat House employee that had called us out happened to be right behind me, so I asked him what was going on. He told me that an anonymous caller had seen a suspicious looking individual plating a bomb underneath the Boat House. All they found was my rock, which they took for evidence. I decided to go home and give up canoeing.

I have thought about this miss-adventure often. The lesson of that day was multi pronged. One mans trash is another mans treasure would fit. It could also be pointed out that one should avoid the very appearance of evil. To my defense I had not given any thought to what my actions might appear to be, hence the trouble. But the main point I'd like to make is this. Security is a difficult duty. Those who are employed to provide security, our Police, our Federal Agents and our Military, need to read this story and take note. When faced with a situation, do not panic! Get the facts and evaluate them. If I had planted a bomb, why then did I go inside and sit down to eat a meal right above the bomb? That makes no sense! Why did I plant it in the middle of the day while there were people around to witness the event? And of all the places to hit, why would anyone want to blow up a Boat House? It has no military value or strategic purpose! So the report of a person planting a bomb under the Boat House in the middle of the day should have been responded too with a bit of skepticism. In any case, one officer could have identified the rock as a rock without the assistance of dozen or so other officers. In this post 9/11 era, I think it is good advice to remember that a lot of odd looking things happen for very good and innocent reasons. We don't need to panic.

-Dan.