Socks and Chairs

The Things on the Arm Chair

I have no idea what purpose they serve or what they are called. I have had my favourite reading chair for Seven Years Now.  It was a gift. And those things that go on the arms are never on the arms. They spend half the time on the floor with me picking them up. I have no idea how they have lasted 7 years.  One day I found one of them in Mimi’s cubicle at school. It found its way home.  Today it made it to the car and not into the school.   I believe the chair will self destruct before The Things on the Arm Chair
Do.

Math and Socks

I got a pair of Adidas socks when I ran the Boston Marathon in 1990. Nothing special they are just a pair of socks.  I do the wash about once a week and in my estimation about three in four paired socks enter the wash basket and make it back into the sock world known as the sock drawer. So by using higher Math and that full proof formula a pair of socks is very lucky to make it two months.  The socks I was given in Boston have survived sixteen years of daily washings and they are still a couple.

And some thing tells me they have run into The Things on the Arm Chair in some wash cycle somewhere.

This

I believe that I truly believe very little. And as I type this I don’t really believe the first sentence I just typed. Let’s see where this is going. One can only truly believe some things but everything else is a work in progress.

The only empirical evidence we have of this is sauerkraut. I will get back to that point.

I believe the absolute belief in some things in life is generally dangerous and counter- productive.  An absolute belief in or love of a country is a prime example.  Blind patriotism generally leads to a way of thinking that supports the notion that any thing different than your countries mores and beliefs is inherently wrong. To question ones government when it is not operating as intended is patriotic in it self.

The exact same thing can be said for religion. I truly believe that absolute faith and literal interpretations of gospel and written work is generally dangerous. Religious writings are stories and parables written down and passed from generation to generation.  We know what happens when stories get passed around.  Absolute blind belief in ones religion and dismissing others religious beliefs are a recipe for disaster. We see many cases of this repeatedly through out history right up to the present.  

When I was young and had a limited choice in what was served at our fondly remembered family dinners I truly believed that I hated sauerkraut. The cabbage smells permeated our house during its forty minute boil from fresh out the can. This is a Pennsylvania tradition of warding off bad luck for the coming year.  And I carried this belief for many years.  This belief was shattered one year in Southern Germany as I tasted sauerkraut that was made with out Pork. It was wonderful.

This little scenario is a convenient metaphor for what I truly believe.  To be enlightened one must venture away from what is familiar and comfortable. One must see other cultures and other ways of life in order to see the inherent self worth of others.  

I truly believe I love my children and that we should treat our fellow human beings exactly as we expect to be treated. Other than that, the rest is open to negotiation. As I truly believe we are works in progress and that the absolute belief and non introspection of existing beliefs can be irresponsible.  

X

It is funny how one little decision of lack of a decision can have a rippling effect for the rest of ones life.

I remember going on a job interview eight years ago with a firm in southern Washington.
I got done with interview and decided I did not really want to persue the job.

And the recruitter asked me if I would like to do another interview in Oregon. My answer was a terse –“No”. I was very tired and wanted to drive back home to Seattle. I can not remember how it played out but some where along the way I ended up going on that job interview.

And driving home from the second interview, they had slid a larege job offer in my pocket. Life would be very different if I had not gone on that second interview.