Hello darling and other observations about Newfoundland (6/29/2017)

It has been a while since I've written.  I have somewhat hinted at it in my last post, we were on vacation and too busy for some serious writing.  But it is time.  It was a great vacation, with great impressions; we experienced a lot and I have a lot to share.

In my previous blog I somewhat hinted at it, but we left the country and traveled to Canada; to Newfoundland to be exact.  There are so many impressions to report without making this a travelogue that I foresee that two or more postings will be on this subject.

So what are my impressions?  I really don’t know where to start, but for sure, the people in Newfoundland are among the friendliest people I have met.  That it what the title of this post implies.  Everyone is a “darling” to them, and they genuinely mean it!  The one disappointment I had was when my cellphone was stolen, but that was my own fault and it was on the trail and I suspect it was a tourist; actually I know exactly who it was.  But as they say hind sight is 20-20 and I could not have confronted him about it anyway.  It is only a phone and I am not going to let it spoil one of the best vacations I’ve had.

People here and in Newfoundland asked us: why visit Newfoundland?  The answer is not so clear cut.  We wanted to do something special for our 40^th wedding anniversary.  Looking through one of my sailing magazines I ran into an article from someone who sailed around the island and along the Labrador coast.  Photos from that article combined with photos from our daughter’s trip to Nova Scotia and a past trip to Scotland convinced us that the Canadian Maritime was in order.  Pictures of puffins, iceberg, the colorful houses in St. Johns and Gros Morne National Park did the rest.  Simple as that!

Oops, I actually meant a different iceberg, but the Iceberg berg beer made from real iceberg water was mightily tasty and went great with this outstanding seafood chowder! 

Impressions:

• At a gas station, you can fill up fill up your car first and then pay.  It took me to the last day of our 14 day visit and I was still not used to it.  What, you did not have to pre-pay or stick your credit card into the pump?  No!
• Everybody wanted to talk to you; they wanted to know where you were from, why the heck you wanted to come to Newfoundland, how long you were staying, where you had been and where you were going.
• In one of the national parks I had a fun and interesting discussion with a park ranger on empathy.  On his computer he pulled up stories on how local fishermen saved U.S. sailors from two navy ships (USS Pollux and Truxtun) that sank off the coast of Newfoundland, which he shared with me.  Yes it was a quiet morning, but he could have ignored us too.  This just sets the tone for the entire vacation: relaxed, fun, educational, and recharging.  I have never experienced this anywhere else.
• We absolutely could not find one person who supported our current president.  One was lukewarm, but his wife kept rolling her eyes.   Most people expressed how sorry they felt for us about what we had to go through during and after the elections and our choice of president.  They went even further after the shooting on the baseball field, when many actually gave us their condolences.  We tried to give ourselves a complete news blackout, but that obviously did not work.  Many people did tell us that while in previous years they vacationed in the U.S., they were now actively looking for other places to vacation and avoiding coming to the U.S. (Florida, Arizona) in winter.  This was not because of fear for terrorism, but because of the political climate.  So much for being on vacation and trying to avoid politics for two weeks.
• Newfoundland has a lot of potholes in the road, some of which can swallow a car (yes I am exaggerating).  At times it felt like I was back in Scotland, driving on the left side of the road (avoiding potholes).  We just used every part of the road that was available at the time.  Surprisingly, the sections of road through the national parks were in the best shape!
• We experienced global warming as it happened.  Predictions are that this part of the world might actually get colder as part of global warming, which might have been what we saw.  So what did we see?  In a normal year, the glaciers in Greenland calf off and pieces float down the Labrador Current and you can see them from various points in Newfoundland.  The best time to view these appears to be late May and early June.  This year, for the first time since 1974 (according to the locals) the polar ice cap broke up (global warming caused?), and the Labrador Current combined with the north winds pushed it all south against the island.  The entire north shore was covered with sea ice, with large icebergs embedded in it.  It was so bad that tourist boats could not go out, the ferry to Labrador was stopped and fishing boats were stuck at their moorings.  One fishing boat that made an attempt while we were there was actually crushed and sank.  The crew got off and needed to be pulled of a sheet of sea ice by helicopter.  But as a result when the wind was from the north, is was damn cold along the coast.
• It appears that cars and moose don’t mix.  Everywhere there are signs that if you should call a certain number when you see a moose near the road.  I guess they chase them off, turn them into moose burgers or moose sausages, or whatever they do to them, but they do not want them near the road.  We actually only saw one moose (near the road) and one bear, also near the road.  Both were in Gros Morne National Park, and no we did not call them in.

The view from the French Beach trail on Twillingate Island.  Here you can really see the sea ice and the icebergs that came down with the Labrador Current. 

For right now, these are some random impressions that have come up in my mind of my visit.  Probably not very philosophical or educational today, but fun to share.  I will do some more in the future.  One thing is for sure: go explore, experience different places, different cultures; broaden your horizon.

I’ll stop learning when I’m dead (6/13/2017)

So here I am doing one of the more stressful parts of my job: auditing the courses people submit to us as part of their recertification requirements.  I wrote about it before <here>, but when a course does not qualify, I contact them and tell them that I will be removing it from their record and that they will need to take another class.

Here is a response I received: “That is very disappointing to hear.  I will be sure not to attend any future presentations by Mr. B…”  Suffice it to say we had a big laugh about this one in our office; what a baby.  It was only one hour of the 18 hours this person needed to accumulate over 3 years.  When I teach a whole day class they get 6 hours.

But then it struck me, how sad!  These are those people that I talk about in some of my my posts (and what I hint at in the title of this post); they come to my classes, sit in the back and either constantly browse on their phone (Facebook, porn?), or have their sunglasses on so you can’t see that they are actually sleeping.  These are those people that go home after a day’s of work grab a six pack of bud light out of the fridge and plop themselves in front of the TV and pass out, even before going to bed.  Their wives (spouses) either have affairs or have gained so much weight because their sex lives have gone to hell anyway, that it does not matter anymore.  This is what a couple of six packs, ESPN, FOX news and maybe a few porn sites during my classes do for them.  Figuratively these people are already dead, but they don’t know it yet, but mentally they are, they stopped learning.

That’s what the title of this blog refers to.  A lot of people that I encounter in my profession sit through my classes but they do not want to learn.  They have no interest in being educated.  They go through the motions.  I wish that I could kick them out, deny them their certificate, but I can’t.  I mention in one of my posts, that the thought that I may educate one or two persons in a class of forty is enough.  Even here that serenity prayer that I introduced in my previous post is applicable:  “Please give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

I am finishing this post on a well deserved vacation to Newfoundland.  I took this photograph of an iceberg floating off the east coast.  This is what is so important and frustrating to me: global warming, environmental issues, and the "I don't give a damn" attitude of some of my students. 

I may be a dilatant, but it is better than being ignorant.  When I went to graduate school, I did not only take courses that applied to my degree; I went berserk trying to get an education.  This was probably to my detriment, I did not graduate with a 4.0.  My class load was always too heavy, but I wanted to learn as much as I could.  That was important to me, learning!  Getting older, after a full day of work and two and a half hour total commuting I am tired when I come home.  But the least thing I can do is watch a YouTube video here or there about growing or taking care of Bonsais, which is one of my hobbies.  I am trying to learn something there.  I read when my eyes and brain can handle it.  I usually read non-fiction, I want to learn!  At home we rarely watch TV; maybe the news and a cooking or a home show so now and then, but that’s it.  This summer we’ll watch the Tour de France.

It is absolutely amazing that the country where everybody used to look up to for its education, its research and modernity is now cutting education, making fun of people who are educated and is in a race to the bottom, for the lowest common denominator.  A university education was affordable when I came to the U.S. in 1979 to study.  Now they have raised the cost of university education so high that it is out of reach of the common man.  We are creating a tremendous class system in this country between the wealthy educated upper middle class and not so wealthy lower middle class and the working class.  No wonder some talk about “the educational elite” as if it is a stigma.  No wonder we want to go back to burning coal for energy as opposed to developing high-tech means of generating energy.   

Sir Francis Bacon is commonly quoted of first saying that “Knowledge is Power.”  Bacon who lived from 1561 to 1626 is considered the father of scientific method.  For example Thomas Jefferson, himself a(n amateur) scientist, considered Bacon one of the greatest men that had ever lived.  I think it is true that knowledge is important and power.  One of the things I treasure most is learning and knowledge.  When I cannot learn I would die or be dead.  During my commute I listen to Doctor Radio on Sirius-XM, I need to learn; I often joke that by now I could sit for my medical boards and pass them, except I never dissected a cadaver.

All my bitching and moaning aside, learning and knowledge is not only good for you mentally.  It has been shown to slows down our mental decline in old age, helps us socially and may even help us financially.  Finally, when we are all educated, society will benefit as well, only then can we change the world for the better for all and eliminate the great divide between people.