Stochastic Contemplations.

[Sue_CT]

I don’t think being out of shape should eliminate you , unless it’s extreme. I am pretty sure that will change in relatively short order. Maybe they need to add an extra 6-12 weeks of “pre” basic training with supervised meals and exercise programs, but if someone wants to join up and is motivated do it, help them instead of turning them away. Many young people today don’t know how to do it on their and being in a group of people going through the same thing might be helpful.

[karstopography]

The military will take recruits that don’t meet fitness, aptitude, educational or weight standards, so long as they do well enough on their ASVAB. The military currently waves all kinds of “standards” for recruits, even young people with poor ASVAB scores can find a way in. There isn’t that much interest in joining these days, probably for a number of reasons.

[karstopography]

https://usafacts.org/articles/military- ... t-is-down/

Some reasons potential recruits don’t want to join.

[MissS]

Young people just don't want to work anywhere anymore. Take a look around. The stores have no clerks or people to stock shelves. The young people want high pay without much effort so they are going to YouTube and such to make their fortunes. Very few people in their mid twenties are holding a real job.

[worth1]

I'm glad someone put that link up as to why people don't want to join.
It doesn't help when we hear so much as to how veterans are treated after they get out.
Trying to go from an atmosphere where everyone wins a prize to being in the military doesn't help either.
Another thing I've heard is being turned down due to being over weight was a form of body shaming.
No idea where that came from but heard it.

Here's what the Marines require.
It's a little more intense than the other branches.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... MGmQFbOo-B

I recall the drill instructor challenging everyone to try and go through the obstacle course again after they went through it once.
I took them up on it and went through it again.
I got a pretty hard stare for that stunt.

Then later on in the FMF we got challenged to go through the gas chamber twice and I did that.
We had one guy that could never do his pullups and I have no idea what happened to him.
He was on restricted diet the whole time.
One guy went nuts and we never saw him again.
The drill instructors sent him over the edge by making him admit he had relations with his mother and sister at the same time.
It went on for what seemed like an hour.
Another guy lost his temper and that didn't work out at all.
Later on I found out where they went and there were a ton of them totally mentally whiped out waiting to be discharged.
A whole barracks full of guys that were in various stages of mental breakdown.
Another guy and myself were in charge of them while we waited to be sent to our school.
What a frigging nightmare.
We even had to take them to the movies and it was like some sort of field trip for Lord only knows what.
The gay guys were in it too when they got caught.
The movie full metal jacket was pretty spot on for my experience.
Except there were 4 of them breathing down you neck.
The only exception was the hitting which by that time would land somebody in jail.
But it went on during the Vietnam war.

There is no way in hell today's kids could go through that.
And I've talked to Marines that have said so.
Then one day they came in and told everyone they were going to take a test to see if they could read and do math and so on.
The whole platoon went except for another guy and myself.
We went to what they called special testing that lasted all day.
It in my opinion was set up to see if you were going to lose your mind.
It had nothing to do with reading or math.
It was basically for people that scored really high on the ASVAB test.
I was going in to be a radio operator and the other guy was on an open contract and they made him a radio operator too.
So out of 60 some odd guys two went to that.
Ounce in the FMF out of school it was like walking into an opium den.
The barracks was full of pot smoking and Lord only knows what.
This was way back before drug testing.
And there was loud Rock music playing everywhere.
Including my own set up which was ran through my guitar amplifier.
The sounds of Pink Floyd and LED Zeppelin and so on could be hear everywhere.

[worth1]

Been spending the last few days re learning music notation.
It amazing how much I forgot over many years of not reading it.
Basically everything.
It's pretty simple to figure out the notes on a piano but not on a guitar or bass neck.
The same note and or sound is all over the place.
This is actual sheet music reading not tabs.
Down loaded a metronome on my phone so I could practice keeping time as well.
The reason is I can't write down what I come up with if I can't read music.
If I can't write it down I can't send it to someone else.
I'm a little old for this venture but it is what it is.
Or I won't remember what I came up with.
Writing music is like being able to read and write the written language and speak it.
You can play music and remember it but you can't read or write it for someone else or yourself.
You're basically illiterate in the world of music and I don't want to be illiterate.
I wasn't years ago but I forgot everything.
Life gets in the way sometimes.

[worth1]

The Hawthorne ridge mine explosion during WW1 has to be one of the most iconic videos ever shown about WW1.
It's the Big one we've probably all seen with all the dirt flying up in the air.
Here's a history of it and a very short video of the explosion.
https://phys.org/news/2024-01-scientifi ... veals.html

[MissS]

Been spending the last few days re learning music notation.
It amazing how much I forgot over many years of not reading it.
Basically everything.
It's pretty simple to figure out the notes on a piano but not on a guitar or bass neck.
The same note and or sound is all over the place.
This is actual sheet music reading not tabs.
Down loaded a metronome on my phone so I could practice keeping time as well.
The reason is I can't write down what I come up with if I can't read music.
If I can't write it down I can't send it to someone else.
I'm a little old for this venture but it is what it is.
Or I won't remember what I came up with.
Writing music is like being able to read and write the written language and speak it.
You can play music and remember it but you can't read or write it for someone else or yourself.
You're basically illiterate in the world of music and I don't want to be illiterate.
I wasn't years ago but I forgot everything.
Life gets in the way sometimes.

Good for you for going back and re-learning how to read music! It's a great thing to know if you have an instrument to play.

Several of my family members are in the arts. To truly compose you should take a course at one of your local colleges. It's the only way to really learn how to compose so that you can include rhythm and other instruments into your composition. Writing for just one instrument is not really composing. It is only creating a melody but not a song.

[worth1]

Been spending the last few days re learning music notation.
It amazing how much I forgot over many years of not reading it.
Basically everything.
It's pretty simple to figure out the notes on a piano but not on a guitar or bass neck.
The same note and or sound is all over the place.
This is actual sheet music reading not tabs.
Down loaded a metronome on my phone so I could practice keeping time as well.
The reason is I can't write down what I come up with if I can't read music.
If I can't write it down I can't send it to someone else.
I'm a little old for this venture but it is what it is.
Or I won't remember what I came up with.
Writing music is like being able to read and write the written language and speak it.
You can play music and remember it but you can't read or write it for someone else or yourself.
You're basically illiterate in the world of music and I don't want to be illiterate.
I wasn't years ago but I forgot everything.
Life gets in the way sometimes.

Good for you for going back and re-learning how to read music! It's a great thing to know if you have an instrument to play.

Several of my family members are in the arts. To truly compose you should take a course at one of your local colleges. It's the only way to really learn how to compose so that you can include rhythm and other instruments into your composition. Writing for just one instrument is not really composing. It is only creating a melody but not a song.

Hence the definition of the word compose.
The chili was a composition of cubed chuck roast chili peppers and a blend of spices.

In music the bass has a lot of leeway as to how they want to incorporate it into the music and keep the rhythm or tempo going.
In cover bands it's important to know the bass lines already laid down.

The bass is so important that you will almost never see a band without a bass but often without the one of the others.

You may or may not be surprised as to how many bands out there recording an album don't actually use the band to record the music.
They use session musicians.

Personally I'm not a big fan of really complicated bass playing like slap bass and such things as fancy fast bass leads.


But I am a fan of ghost notes.
It's where you dampen the strings but still play them.
It comes out more like a drum beat with different tones.

That's the ticking clock sound on the Pink Floyd song Time zone on the bass.

Then there are the places on the bass that produce harmonics if you just touch the strings lightly.

Well anyway I wasn't ever thinking about composition as much as I was just being able to actually read the notes and play the one instrument.

[worth1]

Property taxes paid in full for another year.
It's something I sweat about every year.

[worth1]

Yesterday I had to drive to Home Depot and buy a screwdriver and wire strippers just so this damned kid that shows up late everyday can work.
It cost me 44 dollars.
He spent 60 dollars on Panda Express and Chicken Express in 4 days.
He can't afford tools he said.
I told him the reason I could buy these tools is because I make a sandwich at home every morning.
And no I wasn't a kid that ate out every day back then I brought my lunch.
As the years go by it gets worse and worse with these people.

[rxkeith]

you are so going to love retirement.


keith

[Cornelius_Gotchberg]

you are so going to love retirement.


keith

The kid @worth1 references won't!

The Gotch

[rxkeith]

we are in florida for the time being on family matters.

i am trying to identify a bush, shrub, whatever it is. no luck so far, but it seems to be a popular plant.
right now it appears to be dormant. they are vase shaped with skeleton arms reaching upward. not a speck
of green on them right now. height is maybe six to eight feet high. what are they?


keith

[worth1]

we are in florida for the time being on family matters.

i am trying to identify a bush, shrub, whatever it is. no luck so far, but it seems to be a popular plant.
right now it appears to be dormant. they are vase shaped with skeleton arms reaching upward. not a speck
of green on them right now. height is maybe six to eight feet high. what are they?


keith

I've investigated and can't come up with anything.
Not enough information.
You might try asking someone there.

[worth1]

Darn guy late everyday.
Today his alarm supposedly didn't go off.
Give me a break.
My alarm hasn't failed to work in my entire life.
I hate being played a fool.

[worth1]

Screenshot of my alarm.
It's called responsibility something these idiots don't have.
They all seem to have ADHD or whatever the hell they call it.
What he really has is an inability to stay off his damned phone and pay attention.
If you call him out or get aggravated he almost explodes with excuses and it's my fault.

Screenshot_20240206-081628.png

[rxkeith]

i called a nursery.
best guess is crape myrtle. dormant during the winter. they don't start growing until the temp is a steady 80 degrees.
you won't be seeing any of these growing in the keweenaw. very pretty flowers once they bloom.
other possibility the person i spoke to mentioned was mussaenda, another flowering shrub. i am going with crape myrtle.

also been learning about florida palm trees, pines, and other trees, and birds, and snakes, and lizards, and on and on.



keith

[worth1]

Crape Myrtle is pretty common in the south.
And comes in many colors.
Bastrop has them planted everywhere.
The long limbs make great walking sticks and the bark is smooth and it sheds all the time.
They are very strong.
They are also kin to the allspice tree.
I dried the berries and tasted them but they didn't have any flavor to speak of.
Very drought tolerant too.

[Kurt]

IMG_2937.jpeg

Anyways what is up with theses new Stanley items?Selling like crazy,people are raiding stores,here is my classic in the morning go to when traveling.