Zesty Zaphod

[woodsmoke]

lol for those who do not know to what I have been referring lately here is a linky to explain things about Zaphod Beeblebrox

He was a ...ummmmm ...sometimes two headed ...character...lol...in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy of book and film fame.



Of particular fame was the character of "Marvin the Paranoid Android".



In the original game on the Commodore 64 and other platforms one had to get Marvin to help one "get off the main bridge" before one could continue in the game and most folks, including the poor woodsmoker, could not so do! A lot of games back then were "guess what the programmer is thinking" things. lol

Gargle Blaster was a libation. lol

woodreallylikedtheideaofthethumbsmoke

[GreyGeek]

Woody, you're the libation expert for Kubuntuforums.net!

[woodsmoke]

GG wrote:

Woody ... libation expert.

Aahhhh yes my old friend ...back in the days I had plenty of money and plenty of options...

a) before the loss of work because of Obamacare (a nationwide situation when the IRS changed the rules on what constituted "full time work" from 40 hours per week to 32 hours per week ( to force employers to give Obamacare to retired people who have insurance from retirement, or a spouse. Or, to students who have insurance from parents) .

b) before the REPUBLICAN controlled state legislature allowed the state Dept. of Elem and Sec Ed to change the thirty year old rules on "what classes somebody has to have to be able to teach" , (and this is at the COLLEGE level)...this started by the DEMOCRATS...over fourty years ago in

the MARCH TO EXIT EXAMINATIONS...

and forcing people to be in the never ending revolving MONEY MAKING tread mill of the colleges providing..."continuing education" classes to fifty year old teachers...

a lot of teacher lost sections, I was moved from physics back to biology, not because I did not have "enough" hours but because I did not have "the right kind" of hours...



Not NEARLY as much fun as Jack is having!

And now...thanks to the RepubiDemicats the colleges are losing state "foundation" money because of "gotta get those costs UNDER CONTROL"...

Even the land grant university has cut back ...over... 600...that is six HUNDRED...positions throughout the system...

All of the colleges , both four year and community...are having classes normally taught by "adjuncts" pushed to the FULL TIME faculty...

OH ARE THE FULL TIMERS MOANING AND GROANING...they ALL have contracts which specify that they will teach as many sections as the administration deems fit...

I am LUCKY...other adjuncts are just without jobs...moaning and groaning about "how can this happen to ...ME!!! "

But, I was given a hybrid, which is online and one session seated, biology class, with lab...so...

I am now down...from five years ago of six sections per year to...2 sections per year.

AND NOBODY ...in the lame stream media or ...turn your heads liberals...even FOX NEWS...NOBODY is talking about this because...welll in the colleges..." do not air dirty laundry.." it is all peaches and cream!! lol

Fortunately...

Staring when my folks divorced when I was fourteen...I have FORCED myself to look ahead, look at situations squarely and to LOOK FOR...the handwriting on the wall...



AND... a major illness due to Viet Nam... shrapnel in my mouth and Agent Orange... and I was laid low... very low...

So... when I got past all that I decided that...

If I am going to be one of the people who IMPROVES and SUCCEEDS... instead of laying around moaning and groaning...and letting forces beyond my control...such as the GOVERNMENT... define me as a person or what I can do...

that I need to be in TIP TOP physical condition...

so...

a) first thing alcohol gone
b) back to my normal regimen of exercise, swimming and SCUBA...PRACTICE...no diving with disabled people...no money for that...
c) third thing apply to teach online at very single college in the U.S. that has appropriate openings...and guess what I found out...
d) wear out shoe leather knocking on doors for jobs...

the international faculty that the colleges trumpet...?

IT IS ALL A SHAM...the colleges TRUMPET a big talk about having an "international faculty"...no... they are all local people who have DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES working at the college...yeah...there is one or two that is physically in another country but it is all a sham...

Except for...the one truly international on-line college...University of Phoenix. Their problem was that...because of the whole CLINTON BUBBLE...they tried to turn into a seated college also... I taught online for several years, they moved me to "hybrid' and then seated and because...

the online model which was valid and fine...did not TRANSLATE to the seated model they were attracting THE WRONG AUDIENCE... not secretaries or whoever trying to upgrade "a skill set" ...they were attracting people who would NEVER HAVE GONE TO COLLEGE IN THE FIRST PLACE... and it just did not work...

Of course the media had to make a scandal out of what really was a "scandal"...

I quit because of the changed pardigms at the place after an argument with a dean who was a wannabe "woman on a mission" and so they won't take me back...

too bad...

But...because of getting BACK into my normal fitness AND eliminating the alcohol...

I'm now working about thirty hours a week in a sheet metal warehouse... lol...I just LOVE DEMPUBECANSCATS

And, I will take this opportunity to apologize to the Kubuntu community...quite a few of my posts from about three years ago to about a year ago...

were because of incipient depression and not being able to control my life and too much alcohol .

For that, I apologize.

But... when I go to the local Hawaiian Grill I still allow myself the random Mojito or Syjuice! lol

woodbackinshapesmoke

[GreyGeek]

No apology necessary. Most of us figured out you were having troubles and didn't want to aggravate them.

That "continuing education" scam is ridiculous. When I was teaching it was 15 hours every three years, on your own dime. The "acceptable" courses weren't related to physics, math, chem, or biology (my certifications) but titles like "American schools evolving", and other dimwit titles. ALL of them were just Marxist propaganda classes usually taught by hippies with pony tails, tie-dyed shirts, cargo pants and sandals. Course content included material from James Baldwin, Paul Robeson, and other notable Marxists authors and activists of previous generations. They ALWAYS claimed that DWEMs were responsible for all of the world's problems, that the Founding Fathers were greedy thieves, etc...., that "The Constitution was stolen from the Five Nations of the Iroquois", for example. In an argument with the teacher in that class I pointed out that only the Cherokees, who lived in the South East, had a written language, but none of the Five Nations did, nor any other indian tribe, until White men created languages for them. I also said there was as much or more proof for the Algonquian claim that Mohawks were "man-eaters", but that was politically incorrect. All of them were bribery classes with no real or useful content. The teachers usually promised everyone an "A" at the beginning of the class. Most of those in attendance usually kept their mouths shut, fed back to the teacher what he/she wanted to hear and after the last day of class blew it all off. I pitty the students attending colleges and universities today. They are, for the most part, wasting their time and money because most are not learning a skill that they can use to earn a living, unless it is "organizing communities" funded by Marxist groups using money funneled from Gov welfare programs.

You're in shape?

You're making me blush, woody. I'm in shape ... pear shape. But at 76, and other than being 40 lbs over weight, I'm physically OK ... if you ignore the fading memory and the slight tremor in the hands. (I'm always getting killed in Minecraft because when I move to hit the #1 key to activate my sword to fight a monster that sprung up to attack me I end up hitting several keys in that vicinity, sometimes ejecting my sword instead of swinging it! )

[TWPonKubuntu]

woodsmoke, you continue to hold the Chair of the Flaming Ellipsis. We salute you sir.

What you describe is why I left teaching, among other administrative foolishness. I don't look back.

Enjoy your metal working career and be glad it isn't making license plates... Stay well and prosper.

[woodsmoke]

TWP:

Thank you very much for the attribution! and I shall try to not stamp liscence plates!

GG:

Thank you for the very nice first sentence oh Grey One.

As to "being in shape".

I have always "been in shape", it is just something to do with my genes.

However, with the second wife I added about thirty pounds and after the divorce (we are still friends, she was wanting a nurse and a purse I go feed her cat when she travels and she calls me if she gets the oddment of mail ) I went on a regimen to get it off.

And as with you, I have about 6 pounds on my tummy that no amount of exercise will remove.

The rest of me is down to slightly less than what is recommended for sub-cutaneous fat.

As of my last checkup my doctor laughed and said something to the effect of...while reading the data on the reports "Woodsmoke, you will live to be at least 96! You have musculature that can only be called "athletic", you have the blood chemistry of a 28 year old, the bone density ( I took Fosamax for years ) of a 26 year old and the testosterone of a 29 year old! Now you just need to find a woman to share all that with! ... lol

So, yea, here I am 72 years old, I can put a full 70 pound SCUBA tank on my shoulder and carry it several blocks onto a dock and then onto a dive boat.

This whole thing about what happened this last year exposed the Agent Orange thing in that I have "always had" (but mis-remembered WHEN it started) and ever so slight "tremble" in my hands when I ..."start" is the best way to say it, do something with my hands, within a fraction of a second the tremble stops. But, it is an after effect of Agent Orange exposure.

The very first ...and ONLY time that I have heard it discussed on the telly was on Fox News with Neil Cavuto when he was discussing the V.A. with somebody back during the Obama adminstration and the guy went on an ABSOLUTE TIRADE about the fact of the trembling and that the VA, the congress, under Democratic control at that time and Obama willingly ignored it. He was just furious... even Cavuto was taken aback.

That is one reason, I think why Obama probably just "tossed his hands up" about a lot of the VA problems. The vets really DO have situations occurring years later which are...

wait for it...long term... ANOTHER BIG ARGUMENT about who is going to pay for it.

So...yea... I really am in excellent shape.

What is hilarious is that when one gets into the places where people are normally out and about in sun and water that I am just kind of one of the crowd but still attract a lot of women.

HERE...in the midwest...if you aren't throwing back the beers and slouching around in jeans and sweatshirt or "galluses" and largely overweight then people think you are...weird...

Now, YES there are MANY physically fit people here and quite a few wannabe "beautiful people", both men and women, but they are so obsessive about exercising and jogging and this and that that someone who is just "naturally" fit ...how ODD is that... lol

Hey, I have you on the list to carry my casket and I'm supposed to live to 96 so I'd be for brushing up on how to walk "in step" about thirty years from now! lol

woodsmoke

[GreyGeek]

What a coincidence, Woody! I just got back from my annual physical exam. The doc said everything on the panel was excellent. My HDL/LDL ratio was under 5 and for my age 2.9, which puts me between 1/2 and avg risk. My PSA was 0.2 ng/L. At 76 I can't complain about that, considering that 10 years ago last month I had the Green laser roto-rooter.

[woodsmoke]

my my aren't you just in style with green!

woodjealoussmoke

[GreyGeek]

The Green Laser process was easier and cheaper than the "gold standard" TURP process. In and out the same day. Within about 3 days as good as new.

[woodsmoke]

woodsmoke