Living And Learning How to Wait

Posted on May 14, 2009 by venagozar

I was looking at book descriptions on the web, looking for a book to read. Doing this started me thinking of books I thought were good reads. Richard Bach’s books are among my keepers I would have if I had to limit my library to those books that made the biggest impression on me. Among his best work, and probably the simplest read is, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

I was not sure back then what attracted me this particular book and books like it. I found Seagull so simple, yet so profound! It was a book I gave to my own children, and close friends to read. My children were almost teenagers at the time and probably could not understand why I gave them a book about a stupid Seagull trying to fly.

It is a simply written book that can be read in no time. If you are ready to hear and understand the message, the book will be with you for your lifetime, such as it is with me. I have almost all the books Richard Bach has written. I think Bach was way ahead of his time when he wrote them. Richard Bach is in love with planes and flying, so his books all have something about flying in them. All of his books are well worth a read, if you are not afraid to explore new areas of possibility.

The gist of Jonathan Livingston Seagull is never quitting, never giving up. Never quitting is written in the book on a couple of levels, both our physical and spiritual level, so the lessons apply to all areas of life. Eventually Jonathan ascends his limitations, although he has his share of problems and nay-sayer’s along the way.

waiting I have lived through some dark times. There were times when I would wonder what is the purpose of my life, and why am I going through this? Of course now, I know the reason and the answer, so it is a simple thing to look back and say to myself, it was not that bad. But it was bad of course, some days it was a matter of getting through an hour before I could look ahead to the next hour.

The biggest hope I had going for me when things were very dark was the thought that a year from that day, things could be no worse than they were at that moment. That was not a lot of consolation on one hand. On the other side of things, it was a truth of truths. The thought things could get no worse kept me going, and helped me through each day.

One day led to the next, and each day was not a lot better than the previous day. Over time I learned to accept that was just the way it was, or so it seemed. I was stubborn and refused to learn what I needed to learn from my situation, which added to my dilemma. Eventually I came out the other side, and I knew why those books were there for me all those years ago. They helped me understand that some things just take time.

Everything in life happens on its own schedule. The schedule of other things may or may not be the same as my own schedule. It may not even be close to the way I want it to happen. It is a hard lesson to know that no matter how much you want something to happen, if it happens at all, it happens on its own time.

Learning to enjoy the moment and enjoy what is happening that moment rather than what we want to be doing, or think we should be doing is one of the best things everyone can do for themselves. After all the moment we are wanting to happen may never happen in the manner we want it to, or worse yet, not happen at all. When those moments never happen at all, we may have wasted a lot of time waiting for nothing.

As much as I appreciate Jonathan Livingston Seagull, I spent a long time learning how long Jonathan had to wait.

Hook and Bead Carp Fishing Setup

Posted on May 12, 2009 by venagozar

Here is what I use for my hook and line setup, and hook baiting when Carp fishing.

I make a hook rig like the one below:
carp-hooks

The hooks I use are number 4 Salmon Egg hooks although any similar size hook will work just fine. I have used every size hook from a number 10 hook to a 2/0 walleye hook. The biggest concern is using a hook appropriate to the size of the Carp you will are likely to be catching.

The red things are part of a stone bead necklace I picked up at one of the bead stores for about four dollars. I have over 200 beads now. If I were to buy glass beads they would be a lot more expensive and I doubt the result would be any different. I doubt Carp care what type of bead I am using.

The line to tie the bead to the hook is twenty pound test (spider wire type line). It goes by different names, but is generally all the same type of line I am guessing. I bought mine at a sporting goods store because I did not think I could use a whole spool full. Buying a packaged spool line may have been cheaper, so you may want to check prices.

On a side note, I have found that a pair of pliers used to cut wire works better than the nail clippers I was using. The line is very tough and nail clippers are not.

For tying the line to the beads, I use a modified surgeons knot which is a modified overhand knot like you use when you tie your shoe. I tie it twice like tying a square knot instead of once as the web page shows because the need is different. It is easy to tie, and seems to work okay.

I use simple single half hitch knots to attach the line to the hook. The green stuff on the knot at the hook is cheap nail polish to make sure the knots do not come untied. I picked green because it was the cheapest color.

I tried plastic pieces from a craft store instead of stone beads, but the Carp crushed the plastic while chewing the bread. Small buttons seemed to work okay, but I soon ran out and they were not as cheap as the stone bead necklace.

Carp do not have teeth, but they have chewing plates in the back of their mouths. They use these plates to chew small shells, seeds, etc. Carp can not bite, but when it comes to small shells and seeds, they are no slouches.

The distance or length of the line from the bead to the hook is important. If it is too short you may hook the Carp to far inside their mouth. Too long and you may miss hooking them at all. The length I have these tied off at is a good length for the size Carp I catch.

I generally go through four or five hooks each Carp fishing trip myself. Occasionally I give a couple away to someone fishing for other fish who wants to have some fun and actually catch a fish instead of standing at the bank with a fishing rod in their hand.

I also use on my line:

1/4 to 1/2 ounce sliding sinker

One more bead by itself

One small barrel swivel

I cut off about sixteen inches of line from the reel

I place a sliding sinker and one bead on the line attached to my Carping rod

I tie on a barrel swivel which will separate the sinker form the hook

Tie the 16″ piece of line on the swivel

Tie the hook rig on the line

I always check my knots. Any number of big Carp and not so big Carp have never been landed because knots were not tied properly.

niblets Next comes the bait. I use whole kernel corn on the hook itself. Del Monte Whole kernel corn as it is the sweetest (7 grams sugar per 1/2 ounce). Usually three to four nib-lets on the hook itself.

Then I take a pinch of white bread, or dough and form it into about a dime size ball around the red bead. The bead is used to help hold the bread or dough ball in place.

I cast gently because too much force and the only thing going to the bottom with my line is an empty hook and bead.

Carp fishing close to the bank, or in shallower water generally results in smaller Carp. Although you will catch more Carp and catch them faster.

Casting out as far as you can cast results in bigger Carp, although fewer of them. Bigger Carp are more cautious.

One warning, do not leave your rod unattended. Carp are very light biters. More rods have disappeared into the lake from Carp than any other fish. When Carp ‘bite’ they have a barely noticeable tap tap tap on your line.

Then they either swim off with your bait in their mouth, or they feel the hook and get scared and race away. Either way if you are not close to your fishing rod it is gone, so stay close to your rod!

Concerns and Worries Change Over The Years

Posted on May 10, 2009 by venagozar

I was looking at and reading random blogs today. I am always surprised at what we choose to write, worry, or notice. Today is no different. Nika over at nikabrightlightwarrior is pondering the possibility of starting a new chapter in her life. This is a serious matter, starting a new chapter in ones life, and I would be spending a lot of my time thinking about it too.

Grefdo, lately of Grefdo.com discovered and blogged about a nineteenth century vampire killing kit for sale. Noticing the hits a vampire post I made previously receives, it may not be too late to buy it. There seems to be the possibility of need even today. And I thought real vampires were extinct….

The oddest odd blog entry I found lately is over at Abhamalpani.com where Abhamalpani can not decide exactly where she stands in the Second Life cheating scandal that led to the real world divorce. According to how I understand it, a woman found out her husband was having cyber sex with a prostitute in the game and filed for divorce from her real world husband.

In my little slice of the world, things are a little more mundane, or at least not so far out on the fringes. I remember my first really major worry was over the birth of my first child. We had purchased an, ‘everything you need to know about babies’ book and of course I read it.

The book listed some three hundred common illness, defects and problems that are common to newborns. I lost a lot of sleep over reading that book. Unless you have children, you do not really know what a relief it is to count ten fingers and ten toes, and look into a new pair of eyes and know there is someone home in there.

Some time later my concerns changed to a ‘what are they going to be when they grow up’ worry. At first I worried about my girls getting interested in sex too early. Then I worried about them getting pregnant. By this time the gender of who they would choose to become involved with had become a non issue, as I had moved on to wondering if they were going to survive their teenage years.

Once my Girls were out on their own, my thoughts changed over to my Mother and Aunt, who lived alone and were getting up in age. Those worries took care of themselves more or less. I now find I wonder about myself more often than I did in the past.

retired3 I now have different concerns. Will I be working the same job from now until retirement. What will I do when retired, ie, will there be enough free money to help fill free time.With the economy in the state it is, there is a newfound concern of working anywhere until retirement for many people.

Then there is the food I eat. I am not overly concerned about how it is grown, raised, or processed. I am more concerned about whether, when I eat those left overs, if they have been left over longer than they should have been.

Time does a curious thing when you get older. It slows to a crawl in some areas of your life, and races in others. Left over food is a good example. What I think is only a day or two sometimes turns out to be five or six days when I stop to think about when I really cooked that meal.

I have come to the realization that flatulence among the over fifty crowd is more a result of old food than inefficient digestion. Food poisoning should be a real concern for older people. I remember my grandfather seeing the last of previous Sunday’s roast in his soup the following Friday. And he thought his stomach did not work right….

In these days of concerns over the election, the future, gun control, same sex marriage, racism, and world peace, it is refreshing to read that we worry about smaller though no less important issues.

I am not sure if someone actually said it and it is a quote or not, but here is a quote think, ” It is most important to fix ourselves before we head out to fix the world”.

Life’s Problems Simple Solutions Guide

Posted on May 8, 2009 by venagozar

If you ever have the opportunity to hear a child negotiate for something, take a few minutes and really listen without being obvious about it. Children know valuable lessons about negotiation that we as adults have forgotten. Children when negotiating adults use the rule of three, which I too am very fond of.

The rule of three is a very good rule and has many uses. If you are not using it for problem solving, now is a good time to start. We all have problems in our life. Or perhaps it is better to say small issues arise in our life that we did not create. Whether it is the alignment of the moon and stars, or Monday morning traffic, or Murphy’s Law something is never too far away from occurring that we will need to fix.

Most of our encounters with problems happen for one of two reasons. We are repeating the same pattern over and over while expecting a different result, or we are experiencing something new in our life. When we experience something new in our life we do not have a lot of experience with it. So it is normal that problems can and do occur. Being ready for problems makes them smaller and helps us resolve them faster.

When starting something new in life, it generally should be done is stages. This is true whether is starting college, going to a first job, or dating. There is always a defined starting point for something new, and of course this is where a first problem has an opportunity to happen.

To make problems smaller, and make them go away quickly we need a plan. A plan is simply thinking about possibilities before they happen. Your plan does not have to be elaborate, and it should not be complicated. Making a plan for each stage of your new endeavor and identifying potential problems and solutions before they occur can be the difference between a bump in your path or a serious setback.

Knowing what problems may occur should be a given in everyones life. When starting something new, if you do not have enough experience to know what problems could occur, ask someone else who may have experience in that area of their life. Ask others what problems have they experienced or observed. When someone mentions a problem that could be a problem for you, ask them what their solution was, and how their solution worked.

When starting something new that is important to you, jot down a sequence of milestones you want to see happen. Each milestone is a place where problems can happen. As you write out each milestone jot down any situations that could happen that could keep you from your goal as you think of them.

Now you have a good idea of your goals along the way and what problems can occur. Identify what you feel may be the top three problems. Decide how you will resolve each problem you have identified. It does not matter whether what you identified is serious or not, the process or the doing is what is important.

You are truly ready to go after your goal. You have your milestones laid out, and potential problems identified. If a problem pops up, hopefully you already have thought ahead and you have a solution in place. You have just turned a problem into a non-issue because you can introduce your solution immediately and the problem can be resolved almost as soon as it happens.

Practicing identifying, milestones, problems, and solutions to potential problems before they occur helps life flow the way you want it to. While it is not possible to foresee everything, as time goes by, you will develop a keen insight into your life and where it is going.

Life Isn’t Always a Bowl Of Cherries

Posted on May 5, 2009 by venagozar

One of the greatest things about life is being alive. One of the worst things about life is being alive. The most excitement in each day begins with getting out of bed in the morning. The most excitement in each day is going back to bed. Every waking minute is filled with things that create feelings of wonder and awe. Every waking minute is drudgery, and a cruel lesson in suffering.

If those words and sentences could be placed in a square pattern with a third dimension, we could plot out each day of our lives within those boundaries. Over a period of time we would see there is a balance to our lives and we are generally right there in the middle somewhere. Generally is a pretty general term and does not say a whole lot.

For some of us our life would plot out around the top of the plot we created representing our lives. Each minute of every day is one big high pitched fast action picture book of wonders. By the time we lay our head on the pillow, we know it was one of the better days of our life.

For some of us our life would plot out at the bottom of the plot we created representing our life. Each minute of every day is one big disappointment and the only wonder in our life is the fact we made it though another day without disappearing in a puff of boredom. By the time we lay our head on the pillow, we know it was another one of the worst days of our life.

For most of us however, we would see our life is more or less in the middle of the plot we created. Some days will have been very exciting. Other days would have offset the excitement with a day or two of tedium. Over all though we are satisfied with our life and the path we are on. The downswings are offset by an equal or larger number of upswings. We tend not to mind those ‘bad’ days, because it helps us better appreciate the good days.

In my experience where we find ourselves in this life plot has a lot to do with our age and expectations. Generally the closer we get to getting truly old the better we feel life is. The younger we are the more boring and tedious we tend to find our life. I am not sure, but I imagine our gender also has a lot to do with how we feel about our life too. In many cultures gender makes decisions for our lives which we have no control over or say in.

I used to find life tedious and boring. I would compensate by causing excitement in various ways in those people around me. Usually by pushing buttons and stirring them up. Some days I was not even aware I was doing it. Other days I tried extra hard to get people wound up. One day I realized the amount of pain I occasionally caused in peoples lives trying to amuse myself, and I decided I would not do those things any longer.

The problem then was I did not know what to do. I was very fortunate as luck would have it. I was lucky enough to read and be told a few thoughts that changed how I managed my life. It did not happen over night, but it did happen, and still does happen. I want to share them with you. Here they are:

1. I am going to die some day, and I have the opportunity and tools to change my life if I want to.
2. I like people
3. If I change my mind, I change my world
4. When I feel really sorry for myself, I read the obituary. Obituaries contain the names of people who would give anything to trade places with me.

They were tough words at first for me to understand and harder yet to make a part of my life. Every day I would catch myself and remind myself of these thoughts. I think if we distill life enough, we can find one basic premise: Life is what we choose to make it.

Messy Desk Recovery

Posted on May 2, 2009 by venagozar

boxes1 I was looking for a method of cleaning up my paper scraps I keep collecting from day to day living. After looking at many programs and not finding any new ideas I thought would work for me, I read a review of a Mac program named ‘In Touch With’ which I read about looking for usable programs on versiontracker.com which really caught my interest. The review of the program itself was nothing so creative, but rather the idea behind the unique way the people reviewing the program are using it.

Version tracker is a great resource for locating and reading what others think or do not think about almost any program for Mac or Window. Another two great resources for Mac software and reviews is macupdate.com and puremac.com. If they do not have a listing and review of a program to fit your needd, it is time to start writing your own programs.

We all have things that we wish to, or need to keep track of. Sometimes it is written on scraps of paper, sometimes it is contents of envelopes, drawers, boxes, and so on. I read a few program reviews where someone used In Touch With contact program to also keep track of items in their household! I think this is a very creative fix for a problem we all share!

Using an imac, I wanted to what programs I have to start tracking small stuff. I thought I would start out with those little scraps of paper with notes. I also wanted to store some phone numbers that I do not want in my address book because I will call them once or twice and that is all.

I use Journler which is an awesome program for keeping track of multiple documents. I did not want to use Journler for those scraps that I may never use because then I would have my Journler database filled with many entries that add to the more important information such as my blog and other articles I store in Journler.

Thinking back on programs I have used my imac, I remembered using freeware program named XPad. XPad is a nice little text editor with a built in document file. Xpad quickly absorbed all my scraps of notes and phone numbers from my desk and my top drawer.

Thinking about the reviews, and not wanting to lose my hardcopies of some of those scraps of paper, I placed them all in an envelope and labled it Envelope #1 which I put away. I the annotated all the entries in XPad (type, copy, paste, paste, paste…) with the location of Envelope #1. Now if I ever want to know the actual location of my notes and scraps, I have it.

It looks like XPad will become my short term notes and number repository for my imac. In Windows, Treepad would do the same thing. I could simply create a node named Envelope 1, and subnodes containing my paper scrap information and numbers.

I was left with a few scraps of information that I did not want on my computer because they are email accounts and passwords. I found a little program for mac that does one thing and seems to do it pretty well. It is almost a pre-version of XPad with the addition of encryption. I can have separate files, or documents, and they all will be encrypted, probably much better than I need, but that is okay. I am more comfortable with too much rather than none at all. The mac program I found is named LittleSecrets, , and the cost of registration is very reasonable.

There were two other programs I looked at, the first was Caboodle both a freeform and a tree view information manager with the ability to encrypt entries. A Second program I checked out is named Dossier which is similar and also allows individual entry encryption. If I was not already using Journler, I would give both Caboodle and Dossier serious consideration.

I have recovered from too many paper scraps. My collection of notes and scraps is gone from my desk and stored away, while their electronic versions are a mouse click or two away. I have some boxes of items which I packed up some time ago of things that are either of value, or I wanted to keep, and they are next to go into XPad with a note of what it is, and the box number they are in. Along the way, I just may have a garage sale!

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Monthly Archives: May 2009