Stupid

He used it twice, and with attitude. I was astonished that he did it and it took a while to believe that he actually used stupid to critize a whole group of people. No, it is not Michael Vick and the Pit Bull fighting episode. This is in a letter to the Galatians by St. Paul. I had never read this letter and had always believed that St. Paul was a kind, docile,holy man who only spread the Good News. This Sunday in Church there was a reference to the "Letter to the Galatians" and, never having read it, I decided to read it. It is surprisingly short, only five pages. Paul was upset that these people were thinking of getting circumsised in order to become fully Christian. Paul was against it and gives reasons why circumcision is not necessary. If you were like me, never having read it, give it a look.

Complex Dream

It began with what appeared to be a window onto space, a black space. In the space were about eight little men swirling and tumbling around, their shape not unlike the gnome in the Travelocity ads. Their arms were spread-eagle and the legs were apart also. This shape, like paper cutouts, never changed. Swirling about with them were what appeared to be large snowflakes. The little men were clothed in light blue. As I watched this swirling mass, I thought: "They are like Leprechauns, they should be in green." Right away, the clothing turned Kelly green on all of them at once. This astonished me and I thought: "How can that happen just like that? There was no overcolor, no difference in hue, the color change happened while the tumbling action was taking taking place. How can my brain do this? I thought let the color go black to blue, and it did. I switched the color back and forth a few times more but could not tell how I was doing it. What strange power was I using to do this?" (All this was being done while I was sleeping.) Directly after, I awoke for a customary urinary trip, one of three during most nights. While walking to the bathroom, I puzzeled over how the brain can accomplish such an event as I had just witnessed. I reasoned that the optic nerve could not have been involved because my eyes were closed. In other words, my brain was playing all this onto whatever screen is used for the optic nerve without the need for that nerve. How can the detail remain so sharp, while swirling , without mistakes entering into it all? Upon return to bed I usually fall directly to sleep. I did fall asleep wanting to return to that dream but this dream did not come back. Do any of you recall having direct action and control on a dream like I had? If so let me know. Even better would be a seperate blog outlining it.

HIRING What are the criteria that are used by people who do the hiring in the vast amount of corporations in this Country? What do they look for and how do they make the final decision on who to hire? What should the prospective employee know to get hired? You might answer: they have to know somebody, or they have to have the degree for which they are being hired, or they have to make a good appearance, or have a good resume, or fill out an application form in a neat manner. For some people in the Human Resource Department all the above are important. Many people know this and prepare in advance to get the job on fulfilling those requirements. When I hired I added to that, "the Beauregard method." Let me now say that I did hire a lot of people during my work experience. (I also fired a lot of people.) The overriding issue in my hiring was this, can this person do the Job. In addition, would they do it. Many of the jobs were repetitive, factory work. It was work that if one applied them self they would succeed. It costs a lot of money to hire a person and I wanted the best I could get for the hiring money. A smoker could not smoke on the job and so had to take a break away form the job. While away, there is no one doing the work. Yes, we did have relief workers who came around to give scheduled breaks so that they could use the bathroom, but smokers took extra breaks to satisfy there craving. Consequently, I never knowingly hired a smoker. Over the years it made a difference to the composition of the work force, and the efficiency of the plant. Doing the work involves getting there on time, every day. If the application had work gaps, or many employers, then I would inquire about their work habits. One was how many minutes they arrived at work before start time. Who takes care of the kids and how reliable are they. What was the method of transportation to work. I had to be satisfied that they would be at work every day, on time. During every interview I asked a most important question: "Are you a good worker?" Invariably, the person answered yes. This was important because, if they were not a good worker, it was my duty to let them go. It was always easier when terminating them to say: remember when I hired you I asked if you were a good worker, you answered yes, well I find that was not the case and I am letting you go. It was amazing that I never got any grief from letting a person go. They knew that they were not doing the job as others were doing it and had no cause to complain. A persons color, race or broken English made no difference to me. The important thing was could they do the job. I did discriminate against against piercings in men, earrings were the only thing at the time. I did hire a mold setter with a piercing once because we were in dire need. He was always attempting to talk to the girls and kept them from doing their job. I had to let him go. When hiring for factory work, a female had to show up for the interview in work clothes. If she had high heels or clothes that looked like she was going on a date, she got no interview. If they had a masculine or tough look, I believe I favored them. Our jobs were not for the effete. After having left a certain Company I had the opportunity to return after being away for nine years, the workforce looked like a zoo.

Lunch at "Mossfire's"

In every city there are bistros that are very charming and the food is delicious. Mossfire's is one of those places. It is in downtown Jacksonville and in an area that is being re gentrified. The name Mossfire's comes from that area in which there was a mattress factory nearby that burned down. The year of the burning, 1905. The cause of the fire was sparks from a welding torch that blew over into the drying pens for the washed moss used in the mattresses. Many of the trees near here have moss hanging from them. One of my students took a few of us there for lunch. Her son owns the place and does a great business there. While there the Mayor of Jacksonville came in to eat. We were told he eats there about twice a week. I don't know what he had but I had the meatloaf, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy and some steamed vegies. Wow, it was good - I ate the whole thing. Very unusual for me because lunch is, by rule, a small meal. I needed nothing else to eat the rest of the day even though I taught a cycling class at 6:30 that night. That meatloaf sticks to the ribs.