Blackie and the Belt Drive Pulley

Somewhere, lost on a floppy, is the contemporaneous recount of this story.  It is too good to be lost. Doing my best to recreate it here.

 

 After a wonderful Backpack on the John Muir Trail with our four small children, Cousin Peter and J'Carlin were returning to LA via 395 on Saturday of Labor Day weekend.  About Lone Pine, which is about as close to the middle of nowhere as one can get, the Chevy we were in began to overheat and make funny noises under the hood.  We turned onto a side road to a campground hoping to find at least a safe place to stay and maybe a phone.  Alas, a few hundred yards in the Chevy quit in sight of the sign to the campground 2 miles.  Peter and I were matching pennies to see who would trek to the campground when a  well used Jeep pulled up behind us. A gentleman jumped out and asked if he could help? We said probably not but a lift to the campground to get the kids a place to sleep while we waited for repairs or whatever after the weekend would be nice.  He introduced himself as Blackie, and said that when camping season was over he was a car mechanic and would be happy to help both with a camp and possibly with the car.  He looked under the hood and quickly found that the drive belt pulley was torn off its mounting. He sighed and said he would need an new one and the junk yards were closed, but maybe he could find one tomorrow. He said there was plenty of room in his campsite and towed us all to it with the Jeep. 

 Once there he introduced his camping clan of a dozen people, and they invited us in to share dinner. All hints of payment were waived off, with a “Happy to help!” With what, we didn’t know, as all we had was a couple of credit cards, and the small change we were matching with.  After dinner and the kids were down Blackie’s story was told.  He was well known mechanic in the LA basin, and never lacked well paid jobs, but as soon as camping season opened up he left the crowds and hassles of LA for his Lone Pine Campsite.  The camp had a well stocked general store, and was close enough to Lone Pine for other necessities, so camping season was free of pressure and worries and Blackie and his clan could do as they pleased.  

 On Sunday Blackie disappeared for the Junk yard, and all of us were treated as part of the clan, our meager remains of trail food were refused with a thanks but no thanks, we eat better than that here, and you are welcome as friends of Blackie.  Later he returned with the bad news that no part could be found but that all was not lost as he knew the home phone of the Chevy Dealer, who would have the part.  After a brief conversation about the dealership being closed on Labor Day Blackie said “you live next door, meet us at the parts door.  We need to get these people back to work on Tuesday.”  A brief contretemps about payment, since we didn’t have that kind of cash and the banks weren’t open on Labor Day, No ATMs then, which was solved by Blackie personally guaranteeing the credit card payment.  

 Labor Day morning Blackie and I picked up the part, he had the car fixed, road tested and ready to go by noon, but insisted that we stay for the afternoon barbecue.  We agreed only if we could provide the meat.  We bought the store out of their best cuts, and dropped them in the cooler.  Much less than the cost of the repair, but the store had a limited supply.  As a result we arrived home early evening, with a repaired car, full bellies and wonderful story of human kindness.  

  

Heinlein’s Unusually Competent Women

 Heinlein’s Juveniles appealed to me in my youth because of the “unrealistically” competent female women. I was raised by a family of extremely competent women in the WWII years and the post war.  In those days women who were competent in anything outside of homemaking were almost invisible in society and strongly encouraged to conform to aspire only to the MRS. degree even while in college. 

 They are not unrealistic, just not common.  I eventually married one.  I learned early on in our relationship when we were both in High School that she had two aspirations: A Nobel Prize and successful children. If I didn’t intend to actively support both I should look elsewhere.  I went to a top tier University and dated normally but my choices were those seeking the Mrs. and non-breeders as they bought into the prevailing culture norm that successful women didn’t plan for children. As a result when she graduated with an honors STEM degree we married to cooperate in both endeavors.

 All Heinlein’s competent women were enthusiastic breeders, and many of his stories contain ways to provide appropriate care for the children of competent women.  Hint “All MEN should be able to change a diaper,...”   I learned that skill for the first middle of the night feeding.  When the baby cried, when she was half awake she asked me to bring him to her and was asleep when I got there to hang him on an available teat.  When he was finished she was fast asleep and I had no choice but learn to change the dirty diaper. Thereby establishing the parenting rule:  When she was asleep, at work, or busy I was a single parent.  Conversely when I was at work or busy she was a single parent.  As both of us were in high paying, demanding jobs we needed and could afford the best daytime nanny.  Until both children were in school, one of us worked for free.  We could have afforded an Au Pair, but parenting was a priority for both of us and we arranged our work schedules to fit. I was the morning parent getting everyone up, fed, and off to school or work, she was the evening parent with a lot of help from me. Our joke was that we split the parenting 60/40 with both of us doing the 60%

Paranormal collection post

Psychokinesis or telekinesis is a barely useful feature of some young people and the forces it can exert are minuscule. As a result it atrophies unless continually practiced. I have witnessed a run of 95+ of 100 coin spins controlled several times by several people to a called result before the spin. Teenagers all, and once shown that it could be done, did it reliably. Other than fun, a useless skill, but many have it. A related skill and more useful is the ability to control the fair roll of fair dice to 7. Very useful in informal craps games, if used sparingly, and has been done in casinos. The long runs that casinos advertise may be house players with the ability, although used very sparingly can change the odds favorably for the adept person.

Telepathy is a more common skill but generally useful only for people in close groups performing a desired common task. Most common in musical groups, cults, and mobs. And also the coordination of flocks of birds, Primarily used for synchronizing tempos or responses. I have not yet after many years of observing the phenomenon determined whether it is the group reading the mind of the leader, or responding simultaneously with a neighbor, but the microsecond timing of the responses cannot be explained by reaction as the time lag between observation and reaction is measured in deciseconds and in music microsecond lags are noticeable and disconcerting. (Why zoom choruses are impossible without computer assisted audio and video synchronization of individual players.) As a lifetime choral singer I theorize that most synchronize with a leader but correct by synchronization with neighbors(s). The baton is merely a telepathy aid, as the reaction time of different members is different enough to ruin the synchronization if sight response was all there is.

More rare is some telepathy in intimately bonded couples, under some situations, but many bonded couples can reliably win the dropped bill bar bet. Reaction time insures that a dropped bill cannot be caught between thumb and forefinger held open over the portrait, even if the fingers holding the drop are observed closely. But if the intent to drop is read telepathically reaction times are cancelled out and the bill is caught near the portrait. I have observed a couple win with their backs to a common wall, the bill held in a doorway in the wall.

It is also well documented that dogs read a human companion’s mind, and apparently some non-companion minds. “Don’t trust anyone your dog doesn’t like.” Dogs going to the door when their companion steps off the bus no matter if it is the usual time or a later time or when the car turns the corner into the home street is usual behavior. At obedience trials dogs respond to cues, visual or verbal, before any response time lag. I am not familiar with horses, but riders tell me that horses respond the same way.

Customer service stories

 Reminds me of an unpaid phone bill a long time ago when I was cross country courting and a phone at my new address was not being installed when promised. I was working long hours and couldn’t wait past their 2 hr window.  I came home to a hanger on my door saying I was not home when they got there and would have to reschedule, many times. When they dunned me about a substantial phone bill I asked for a payment window then went after hours and put a hanger on their door saying I tried to pay bill #### but they weren’t open. After several iterations, someone called and asked if I was having trouble getting a new phone installed?  Yep, I  said.  Install my new phone as agreed and you will get paid.  Surprisingly the next installer was on the minute.

Only a Child Can Do It.

 Practically everyone over fifty hated the old math and does it poorly and inaccurately without a calculator.  Because of the way they learned it they are incapable of learning the New Math. ( A whole class of Stanford Seniors learning New Math for a teaching credential, failed a 4th grade review quiz on a midterm.) If you didn’t learn the new math in grade school ferggettaboutit.  You can’t even discuss it intelligently.