What it means to be Ultimate P

Well it's been almost 4 years since I moved to the west coast from the "sticks". And I thought it might be a good time to let new friends, as well as old, in on what it means to have an Ultimate P experience. For instance, when I was in high school, I left to go to Woodstock in NY without telling anyone but my closest friends. Foolish yes, but that was an Ultimate P experience. More recently, I have been volunteering my time as a Big Brother. Very fun. Very rewarding. Very Ultimate P. Last year I had my last baby tooth removed and an implant "installed". Not at all fun but still Ultimate P. When Josh and I hit the road for a 2 week trek across the country in 1998 to visit Seattle for the first time, go hiking, and see 2 Pearl Jam concerts - Ultimate P. For almost the last year, R and I have been taking swing dance lessons. Again, Ultimate P. And today I had another Ultimate P experience; R took me to get my first manicure and pedicure. It was amazing. It started out by sitting in a heavenly massage chair as a warm foot bath lulled me into a relaxing stupor. When the pedicurist arrived I was really into it. She did her thing which felt very good and even gave me a happy ending... a nice foot and lower leg massage. My little piggies were in heaven. Very nice. Next her attention turned to my hands. She filed, trimmed, and massaged. When she finished my nails and cuticles were perfect, my hands and feet were soft and clean. I'm sure I'll be back. You just can't be enough Ultimate P.

On the home stretch to vacation

R and I are less than a week from our long-awaited vacation. We're going to spend 10 days in Minnesota visiting friends and family and relaxing. It can't get here soon enough!

Here is our itinerary:

July 26-28: Mischief in Minneapolis
July 29-31: Beaching it in Brainerd
Aug 1: Frolicking in Fargo
Aug 2-3: Getting a good dose of Bad Medicine
Aug 4: Heading for home

To the Fargo clan: Clear your schedules! We'll only be there for about 24 hours so I hope to see you frolicking with us!

Tucker Max

Ok, there is no way I could be friends with this guy but I read his book and couldn't believe some of the things he's done. Many of the stories are on his website. WARNING: Adults only...

Me? A Professional?!?!?

So I did some homework and it turns out that I am eligible to apply for a Professional Engineer's (PE) license. Here are the requirements:

1. Graduate from an ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) accredited engineering program

Check - NDSU's Electrical Engineering program is accredited. Graduated 2002.

2. Obtain an Engineer-In-Training certificate

Check - Took the test and passed it in June, 2002

3. Build 4 years of experience under the supervision of another PE

I am approaching my 4-year anniversary at Boeing. While I haven't been under the "direct supervision" of a PE, Washington has an industrial exemption that will allow me to reference anyone in the company. I can find someone without too much effort.

4. Pass the PE exam

This is the only requirement I still need to satisfy. It's a day-long exam, offered twice a year. The exam is divided into 2, 40 question, 4-hour parts. The "breadth" section is a high-level exam on general aspects of engineering. There are 3 different "depth" exams where I choose which one to take: Computer; Electronics, Controls, and Communications; or Power. I'm leaning toward the Power exam since I would like to (someday) be self-employed with an off-the-grid power systems consulting business. The next exam is in October followed by one in April. This October seems a bit soon since I'll have to sign up for a 6-week review class at the University of Washington and study some myself. Next April would work but I am getting married in March so that might be a slight distraction. So I am planning to take the exam next October. It turns out that Boeing will pay for the cost of the review class and the exam fee. I think they'll reimburse me for the study material too. Can't beat that!

Or maybe I should just forget that plan and go back to school for an MBA...yeah, right!

Pledge of Allegiance: Advertising ploy?

Independence Day – a perfect time for some independent thinking. On this all-American day of apple pie, parades and fireworks, what better time to question why we pledge “allegiance” to a flag?

We say the Pledge of Allegiance a lot, mechanically mouthing the words without truly understanding them or their history. Are we deluding ourselves into believing this somehow renders us more patriotic?

At the risk of sounding like Cliff from “Cheers,” here are some little-known facts, Normie.

Conservatives are up in arms about presidential candidates wearing flag pins. I’ll bet precious few of them, however, are aware that the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a left-winger, a socialist even, and that corporate profits were the sole motivating factor behind it.

Francis Bellamy penned the Pledge in 1892. Bellamy was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist and an extreme nationalist whose sermons (“Jesus the Socialist,” for one) eventually got him booted from the church.

He then landed a job with Youth’s Companion, a magazine that also happened to be in the business of selling American flags. The magazine’s owners decided they needed to boost flag sales. They came up with a marketing gimmick.

They engineered a deal with the National Education Association to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing in the New World. By agreement, all the schools in the country were to have flag ceremonies, and naturally they would all need to have flags.

To cement the deal, they had Bellamy write the following pledge that youngsters all over the country would be required to say:

“I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“One nation indivisible” was a phrase Bellamy used to drive home the fact that states had no inherent right of secession. The Civil War was still fresh on the minds of Americans, and the Northerners wanted to be sure the Southerners understood the new rules.

Socialist that he was, Francis had wanted to include “equality for all” in his Pledge, but he knew the states’ superintendents of education – who generally did not support equality for women or for African-Americans – would object.

That could hurt flag sales (the Pledge was, after all, just an advertising ploy meant to peddle more flags), and so he dropped the idea.

The last change to the Pledge came in 1954. In response to the “Red Scare” of the McCarthy era, the words “under God” were added, supposedly to show that we rejected the godless precepts of Communism. Otherwise patriotic atheists and agnostics were not consulted.

Sadly, the Pledge of Allegiance was but an ad campaign created to bolster a corporation’s bottom line. Perhaps worse, it was worded to be politically expedient rather than politically correct.

We’re about the only nation to “pledge allegiance” to a flag, and we do it without even understanding why we do so. Perhaps it’s time to consider retiring this anachronistic practice, or at least finding a meaningful replacement.

Paul Howey is the author and can be reached at pmhowey@gmail.com

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Birthday America!

Hair

I brushed my cat, Tesla, tonight....

Does anyone know if there is a market for cat hair?

If you are selling your house, get a Realtor....

just not this Realtor:

Electoral Snapshot

Here is an interesting snapshot of the 2008 Electoral Map. Right now, Obama wins the White House by a count of 317 electoral votes to McCain's 221. Even more interesting is that right now, the Donks pick up 6 states relative to 2004 and the Conks pick up none. Notice how many states are decisively breaking for Obama and their margins. The Senate races also show a shift. The Donks picking up 4 seats and the Conks get none. Hmmm.....

Poo-poo on the Sonics

The Sonics are gone to Oklahoma City pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by their former owner. He aledges that the current owners negotiated in bad faith by not seriously pursuing an arena upgrade deal. It's a long shot.

Poo on the Sonics is what I say!