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January 25, 2024 – Practical Performance

January 25, 2024 /

I have wanted not just make energy measurements but also to see practical performance this year. This means that I need targets that represents practical or real life situations. Many years ago, I occasionally liked to visit a site called The Box O Truth which seems to be a forum these days. It started out as a guy that would build targets and test different loads against them.

I decided to build my own Box of Truth. Not necessarily to duplicate what already has been done but to satisfy my own curiosity. I built what represents an interior partition wall to see if it will stop air rifle pellets. If not, is there a pellet weight or energy that will be stopped? This is a question of safety, what happens when a projectile hits an interior wall.

There are all kinds of variations that could be built. Instead of two sheets of drywall, I could add sheathing and siding representing an exterior wall. Since my pellet trap has a 3/4″ sheet of plywood for the back, I already know that it cannot penetrate that thickness. But, if I was testing firearms, that might be useful information. You could also build several of these things to represent the penetration of several rooms.

From top left to bottom right is Crossman Copperhead (3.5 ft/lbs), Crossman Piranha (11.6 ft/lbs), Gamo Blue Flame (16 ft/lbs) and H&N Slug HP (12 ft/lbs). The BB was from the Crossman Legacy 1000 at four pumps while the remaining pellets were from the Crossman Optimus. All three pellets penetrated the ‘wall’. The BB did not. I know that because I could feel them embedded in the first layer with no indication of back penetration.

What I have learned is that an errant shot or a deliberate shot into a partition wall offers no safety. While there is never an excuse for negligent discharge, it should give you pause for self defense and where your shots go including a single family dwelling or neighbors in a attached living scenario.

Nothing is ever perfect. This is a test that is basically two layers of drywall. There could be pipes, wires or structure in those walls causing unpredictable results but not in my case. In addition, I put insulation between the walls because I had it laying around from my duct work. Many partition walls have no insulation and there are different types of insulation densities as well. Each one the variables along with luck makes a difference. What is hard to measure is the exact energy or potential harm after the projectile goes through the wall. Just because it penetrates, doesn’t mean it is lethal but it is foolish to assume otherwise.

In the future, I would like to do some more deterministic testing. That means developing a target that shows how energy relates to depth of penetration. There are some homemade ballistic gelatin recipes and techniques that I am interested in investigating. But, I am not quite ready to do that yet.

End Your Programming Routine: Data really means nothing without correlation. Ten ft-lbs versus 20 ft-lbs has no context unless it can be applied to something meaningful. If 20 ft-lbs can go through 1/2″ plywood but 10 cannot, then you have information to be able to make decisions under those variables. My test really didn’t prove anything other than don’t shoot at your walls, but then you shouldn’t be doing that anyway. Really, the next logical step would be to find out how much energy would be required to penetrate both layers.

January 24, 2024 – It Is That Time of Year Again

January 24, 2024 /

it is not just the holidays, but the following months has it’s own dread. Because I am a little lazy, all of our bill statements tend to pile up over the year. However, it is this time of year that I choose to file, organize and shred. I do this because it is the beginning of preparation for tax season.

I am certainly not making excuses, I should do it more than once a year. One of the biggest reasons is that filing is inconvenient. Statements, receipts, etc. go into a drawer after they are dealt with. When the drawer is filled, the stack goes upstairs to a pile. That pile grows unchecked until this time of year.

When I sort, I group everything by debtor. Things that are one and done like invoices go directly to the shred pile if significant time has passed and there is no warranty. Each individual stack is organized oldest to newest so that it can be placed into the file and automatically be in order year over year.

Trust me, my recent tax filings have been no picnic. Owing over $10,000 a few years ago was not only a shock but also caused me to evaluate what and how I am doing things. Getting audited was trying for my spare time and my relationship. One of the things that I changed as a result of this was my use of a tax professional. I used to do all of my own returns but that caused so much strife between my marriage that I have finally resigned to pay someone.

Maybe you have never done your own taxes. Or maybe you have never paid for them to be done. Well, there is a dirty little secret if pay someone to do it and that is the majority of the work is gathering and organizing the data to prepare the tax returns. The truth is, preparers just plug in the data as provided. Their fee is for their time and the small amount of liability that they incur by doing so.

Now, my taxes aren’t exactly straight forward but they are not the most complicated. Over the years I have had rents and royalties, LLC and investment complications. So, I have to do things like gather all of my utility bills and sum them for the year so that I can calculate the percentage of the cost that the rental has on the overall bill for deduction purposes.

The simple truth is I have to do this work whether I do the taxes or I have someone else do them. It so happens that I am forced to get organized way earlier when I hand it off whereas I may drag my feet when I am doing it myself. As my filing goes, any bill that is not used in taxes gets evaluated as to how much folder space I have. It really serves no purpose to have five years of bills filed. But when the folder starts getting full, I start culling years past. Those papers all go to the shredding box.

Speaking of shredding, I also eliminate my eighth year of tax forms. This time of year is great because I can sit in front of the TV and shred while playoff football is on. It makes me feel like I can afford to spend the time watching while doing something useful at the same time.

Be prepared, it is amazing the volume of paper after shredding compared to before. It is not clear to me whether I can put it in the recycling bin or not. Sometimes I do but when they dump the bin, there is often a snowstorm of paper bits on the ground. I think the recyclers don’t like it because for that fact.

End Your Programming Routine: Part of why I dread this is it is a big job. It makes things much easier when everything has a place and it is in it. If you are not a consistent organizer, I highly recommend doing it this time of year because it really pays dividends for those other required things in life, like taxes.

January 23, 2024 – Do You Have a Lightbulb From College?

January 23, 2024 /

As I dream about putting the next duct into the floor joist, I visualize in my head the steps and what obstacles are around. My basement is where everything that has a little bit of use goes to die. The lightbulbs in use are a hodgepodge collection of things that were changed out for aesthetics but still had function. One of those lightbulbs I purchased when I was in college. Specifically 1996-1997.

I lived in a townhouse my senior year. That was built in the 1970s and it had recessed lights in a lot of the building. Most college students swapped the proper floodlight bulb with a regular bulb when they burned out because they were five times cheaper (If they swapped bulbs at all!). I ended up purchasing the correct bulbs before I moved out and like a good preparedness person, I had a spare.

Since I have lived in that townhouse, I have never lived somewhere that had recessed lights requiring that particular style of bulb. This bulb moved from southern Oregon to two apartments in the Portland metro area to our first house in Salem, to South Carolina to where I live now. A couple of years ago, I realized that I was never going to have a proper application for that bulb and so it ended up in the basement. I probably should have donated it to Habitat For Humanity.

It is not like I will run out of mismatched bulbs any time soon. In fact, about fifteen years ago, the city (electric utility) changed all of our bulbs from incandescent to compact fluorescent. When they did that, they left all the bulbs they took out in a plastic bag and gave them back to me. As those CFLs burned out (one of the biggest scams ever), I replaced them with the bulbs that they took out.

I am on the last of those bulbs now. I am very skeptical of the lightbulb environmentalism. We took an inert technology albeit less efficient and replaced it with a high technology, high toxicity product. We saved 50 watts of energy times the number of bulbs and congratulated ourselves when we should have been looking at the social engineering of the problem in the first place. If you want to read about that type of discussion, this is a good start here.

I regret the loss of the incandescent bulb. There were certain applications that really benefited from the inefficiency. An old, rural trick was to plug in a lightbulb in the well house to prevent the pump and line from freezing. You cant do that with CFL or LED bulbs. The next best solution is a space heater. So instead of burning 100 Watts, we are now using 1000 Watts. So, I suppose if the farm house changes all of their lightbulbs to LED, the net difference even with the heater is still lower energy consumption.

But, what do we have to do to make these bulbs and what do you have to do to get rid of them? The old tungsten filament bulbs were simple and safe. When those were replaced with compact fluorescents, those bulbs contained mercury vapor. Once vaporized, these would eventually rain down into surface water and accumulate in aquaculture. Hence, we are advised by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to eat no more than two servings per week. Pregnant women are a no for any exposure. This is a problem caused entirely by our own industrialization and fluorescent light bulbs are a contributor.

There is one facility within a one hour window that accepts fluorescent bulbs. It is open every Tuesday from 12-4 and one Saturday per month. When you get there, enjoy your one hour wait to get to the facility. My point is the disposal effort is extremely impractical. Consequently, I throw them away. And I am a person that puts a lot of effort into recycling. I have a technojunk pile that goes for a specific recycling. I disassemble things to get to there component parts that are trash verses recyling. I reuse materials wherever possible. I even think about the lifecycle of things before I buy them.

LED technology isn’t much better but there are some real advantages to LEDs. The flashlight power and shock resistance is miles better than twenty years ago. I do not hold the same regard for home level bulbs. The materials to make the bulbs come from dubious partners. The components in the bulbs are of toxic makeup. The color of the cheaper bulbs are terrible. At least they don’t kill our environment when they break but they are still supposed to be recycled. Again, they need to go in the technojunk pile.

I can see that I got way off base from where I started. Whenever I see that bulb and think about it, I think about my life in summary. It is amazing to me how long I have had this consumable. As we think about our next phases in life, I have to believe that this is probably the last stop. I suspect that it will be left here when we go to our next house because that time is approaching.

End Your Programming Routine: While the story is cute and anecdotal to me, hopefully the greater lesson in the story is beware of the universal solution. Whether it is vaccines will cure a disease or a new kind of lightbulb will solve climate change. We always, always, always have to consider who is to gain from legislation and policy. The educated consumer/voter is less likely to fall for the false prophet scam. Some things may be problems that don’t need solving and then all of a sudden, new solutions create newer and worse problems.

January 22, 2024 – From Information to Opinion Overload

January 22, 2024 /

My first exposure to the internet as it is today was around the mid 1990s. When I think about the power of what it represents I am somewhat in awe. I even relate a story about the relevance and impact today. But, at some point the internet shifted from a repository of any information to a place that people go to feel better about themselves and with that, we are being programmed to keep coming back. As a result, we end up with hollow lives and brittle egos who are now addicted to the notification.

January 19, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto III – IV

January 19, 2024 /

Had I known what I was doing, I would included Canto III last week. It is not considered a level but the crossing into the afterworld. I would call that introductory information but I was relying on another reference to help me get started. Oh well, We get the vestibule or entrance, the crossing and the first level of hell this week.

The vestibule is an interesting concept. According to Dante is is filled with fallen angels that the translator calls Opportunists. These are entities that didn’t pick a side (that is God or the Devil) and therefore were into the game for themselves. Consequently, they are denied entry into the afterworld neither heaven nor hell. They are chased endlessly by bugs as the spirits wish for a place to go.

Level one is also interesting. Last week I mistakenly said Virgil did not have a place. Actually, he is in the first level because He lived before Christ. All pagans are in this level because they were not blessed to have the opportunity to be Christian. It seems like this level isn’t too bad relatively speaking. It is the moaning of restlessness. Apparently there is nothing to do and the realization that this is the best it will ever get.

It is not completely apparent to me, but the translator indicates that this work is not just religious work but also a social and political commentary. Some of the notes related to the verse indicate contemporary figures in hell as well. There is reference to Boniface VII who became pope by manipulation. I would have never understood that without the note from the translator.

This week I am going to talk specifically about the pagans as they are described. Within the text is says that when Christ was crucified most of the previous population was in level one. That being said certain people were removed from hell and went with Christ. These would be people like Moses, Noah, Daniel, etc, the heroes of the old testament.

When I was really young, I was told that animals would never go to Heaven because they didn’t have a soul. Later, I decided that that was not possible because I didn’t want it to be true I really loved my dog, how could I be denied my dog in heaven? Since then, I have come to modify that belief a little. I am not sure if we will see our pets in the afterworld for our sake. But, they really have no free will so how could they possibly have an afterlife? Maybe reincarnation is a better explanation of animals?

Now that is settled, we as Christians have to look at the Bible in its entirety. Supposedly, Christ is the new covenant of our relationship with God. He has been described as a vengeful god in the Old Testament. That is why he drowned the world in Noah’s time. Aside from particular instances, surely not every single individual besides those mentioned in the old testament lacked the complete requirements for heaven. How is it possible that Moses was in hell until Christ arrived?

I am going to try and not hold that against Dante because I just cannot believe that and be consistent with my beliefs. Supposing that I am somewhat right, there has to be a plan for the people that existed before Christ or out of the earshot of Judaism. What about Asia or the American Natives? Surely we are all God’s people? I can’t believe that they would be condemned to hell by their existence being away from the proximity of the middle east and the ability to communicate across vast distances.

End Your Programming Routine: Next week is Canto V, the second level of hell described as carnal. According to Dante, I suppose it is fortunate that I am a Christian. Otherwise, I would have no chance at heaven. I am not here to take down Dante per se but to analyze and provide commentary on The Divine Comedy. I am sure that we are going to not just be entertained, but also learn something useful for our eventual eternity. I am more than sure we are going to find lots of behaviors to agree on before we are done.

January 18, 2024 – Should Have Done This 15 Years Ago

January 18, 2024 /

I decided to take MLK day off. Everybody else in my house had it as a holiday and my account had it off too. I really I would be marking time in order to preserve some carry-over time off that I need to spend before April. I really needed the time off, I had been going three long weekends straight without much rest.

One of the projects that I have had on my agenda was to move the HVAC ducts into the floor joist bay. It was part of my space preparation for the wine cellar. But also, every since my I have built my office, it has become an unconscious limbo to get there. I can’t say how many times I have smacked into it because I wasn’t directly focused on where I was walking. Fortunately, it was a flexi-duct.

In total, I think the project took my son and me about five hours to complete. It was mostly spending time together and me teaching. I didn’t necessarily need the help. Without him, it may have taken me an hour or two more but it is something I need to do. The result is phenomenal, I can’t wait to do the next one.

To start out, I stapled the string that runs perpendicular to the joists. The string provides some additional support for the bats in the joist bay. I wanted to do this because I was going to cut the string on the bay that I was removing the insulation and after fifty years, some of the staples are a little dodgy.

Once the insulation was removed I was pleased to see that the joists were 2x10s. Since the entire floor has been done, I have never seen the framing before. This gave me the minimum amount of compression where the duct needed to run between the joist bay and cross beams.

There were a couple of things I didn’t expect. One was that the floor joist had some bridging. Only one of the two members was actually connected. Had I known it was there, I would have only removed insulation to that point and used that to place to begin the decent to the trunk duct. It is something to watch for when I do the next one. I don’t want to be removing a bunch of structural members because it makes my project look better. But since only one has been connected for the last fifty years, I figure the decision was already made and I used the pieces to block the bottom of the joist and provide some additional support.

The second thing I didn’t expect is that I was going to run the duct through the joist space into the future wine cellar space. I didn’t realize that the joists were terminated and that there was a rim joist. I couldn’t exactly cut a 10″ hole in a 2×10 so that meant that I had to re-route the duct through the wall. It is not where I wanted it but I will take solace that it no longer runs through the door way where it has been the entire time I have lived here.

My exploratory work has told me that my initial plan for the wine cellar will have to be modified. I have some structural members that I did not anticipate but that is OK because I can’t be happier with the results of this work. I will figure it out later, when I get there.

End Your Programming Routine: When you do things like this, you wonder why you have lived with them for so long. I spent $50 in materials, some of it I didn’t use but bought because it was icy and I didn’t want to make another trip tot the hardware store. Plus, I have more ducts to do, having some options make sense. Not only does it look better and the space more usable but the feeble lighting does a better job illuminating too.

January 17, 2024 – Like Father, Like Son

January 17, 2024 /

My dear, dear son. We are so much alike and yet it seems like there are chasms between us. Our interest and capabilities are similar, our experience and feelings are similar and yet for some reason one is haunted while the other is content in our beings. He made this cleaver below. I went to put the dishes away and it was in the knife drawer with the note Happy Birthday on it. He even presented in a way that I would. In secret, without any fanfare.

Last week was a difficult week for us. I was busy trying to keep the household together while he was doubting his place and role in it. My birthday was a week ago but it really came and went. I made a Korean inspired dinner so that I could taste my kim chi. I have to say that it wasn’t quite as soft as I wanted but in many ways it was better than I hoped. I definitely preferred this one to many that I have tasted before.

I was worried about the heating system and that everyone had their physical needs met before we were iced in for a couple of days while he was iced in already. Since we really didn’t do much on my birthday, my wife suggested that we have a small dinner on Friday, ahead of the weather. I was focused on the best choice and getting the word out while he was already planning how he could avoid it all together.

I am not there, but I think that I had a very similar high school experience. My best friends were older than I was. And so, my senior year was a solitary one. I ate lunch by myself. I was a little lonely, but only from the perspective that I didn’t understand why I jived with people that were no longer around more so than my peers. It is not so much of a mystery really but it is hard to convey in words. I think that my propensity to get along with older people has served me well. My first boss being a World War II vet liked me very much and invested in my first seven professional years.

I don’t know how better to describe high school but trite. My era had people wearing baseball caps twisted with the tags hanging down and overalls clipped on one side. Talk about stupid. They were emulating the videos they saw on M-TV. It is no wonder I started listening to country music at that point. But at a deeper level, I can certainly understand not identifying with those people.

When you are not quite your own person and not self sufficient it is hard to squeeze into the crack of figuring out who and how you want to be. Even out of college, I struggled to become my own person. My parents didn’t do it intentionally (I don’t think) but in my head I was under their thumb and so therefore my decisions were clouded with how they would judge my decisions.

Now, it seems silly, but at the time it was real. I can’t get a job in college because my parents are paying for it. I can’t let them know that I am going to a bar. I can’t take that class, it is not serious enough. I can’t skip this class to do something I need to do. And on it goes. I get my son and we discuss gaps such as that. I do my best to empower him, but I can only go so far, It is up to him to take what is given.

I used to seek permission on many things, even at work. One day, I realized that if it is not illegal, immoral, against policy or something like that it was time to stop. Nobody needs to enable me to go above and beyond or improve something. That was a liberating moment even to the point that I am challenging the status quo on the other things as well now. Why is this policy in place that doesn’t make sense or I don’t agree with that stance because of X, Y , Z data.

You have to be careful with that way of doing business but it is part of becoming your own person. I think once that happens, then you become confident in who you are. And when you become confident, you become happier. When you become happier, you realize the proper perspective of all those other things were not worth the worry. That is where we need to take this conversation.

End Your Programming Routine: Of course, none of us are perfect. I am not and neither is my son. He ground and honed that edge, which took a lot of time and looks pretty good. The handle is a little more crude and made with pine, probably the wrong material for longevity and durability. It is just like our lives. Some things are worked and refined while other parts are dubious or inappropriate. We just need to keep practicing those elements that need work. Find another material, method, use another design or shape until we find something that works for us. The only way to do that is to keep trying.

January 16, 2024 – Speak of the Devil…

January 16, 2024 /

The day after I put out my winter preparedness note, I heard the heater make a long buzzing sound. I said to myself, that doesn’t sound right. Then, about an hour later, my wife said “do you smell that?”. I said no but I went upstairs and then I could smell a waxy smell, electrical-ish. I did some testing and it seems like the heater wasn’t working.

You can see from the thermostat that I have the power turned off. But, of all the things to happen right before the temperature drops to below zero for several days, this is close to the worst. At least you can take solace in the electricity is still on, this allows for the use of space heaters.

Fortunately, I do have several space heaters electric, propane and kerosene. It probably makes sense to move to one fuel, I think that is propane. Electricity doesn’t work when the power is out and kerosene has too many fumes. The one down side of propane is that the tanks are bulky but at least it is relatively affordable.

When I first learned that things were not working like they should, I turned off the power. It wasn’t terribly cold outside but the temperature started to drop throughout the day. I was using appliances and doing laundry so that kept the temperature at 67 before turning in for the day. There was a visible temperature wall between the bedroom with the space heater running and the rest of the house.

By the time I woke up in the morning, the temperature had dropped to 57 degrees. Based on what I was expecting, the service technician was going to validate that they were going to have to order a new motor. The best case scenario was that they would get it on Monday, after we had a weekend never climbing above freezing. I wasn’t cold yet but I was getting prepared for it.

The diagnosis was true, it was the motor. Then the technician asked if I wanted to try a universal motor. It wasn’t the OEM motor but it was also in stock and half the price they quoted me for a factory replacement part. I said, “I don’t understand try. Does it not fit or something?” He said, it had more power inputs. I have to admit, I still don’t understand the downside, it is called universal for a reason. I said yes, and it worked.

Having a spare furnace or even replacement parts of that sort are not really practical. The truth is, when they did the winter service in December, they said that the motor was ‘tired’. But, who really knows what that means? I said that I wanted to see a quote before I committed to anything. I mean, who really wants to spend another unplanned grand in December.

My wife thinks that I should have done the maintenance when they quoted it. She even said to me why wait? I am not doubting the technicians experience nor opinion but really define ‘tired’ for me. Nobody, including him could predict that the motor would fail on this day. If so, I would have scheduled the replacement for the day of the failure.

Of course, having back-up heat in general is a really good idea. In this climate, I could get by all summer without cooling and a lot of the winter, it might be unpleasant but at least the plumbing wasn’t going to freeze. That was my biggest concern. All things considered, I think the lesson is don’t just consider one opinion when making decisions. But gather the data and cross check others to see if they make sense. If the part had cost $200, I probably would have scheduled the repair but the fact that we were getting near $1000 was a little more than I was willing to just jump.

End Your Programming Routine: Nobody wants to spend a quick $550. But, had I not insisted that they come out and look, I would have been waiting all weekend for the motor to come in and paid twice as much. So, despite the drawbacks, I am pleased that the issue is fixed. And with central heat in the house, I am reasonably comforted that there will be enough heat not to freeze the plumbing.

January 12, 2024 – The Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto I-II

January 12, 2024 /

Now I have gone a done it. I picked something so ambitious that I don’t know where to start. In case you are not familiar, The Devine Comedy was written in the late 1200s, set in 1300. Of course, it was written in Italian which means it was translated into English for me. Because of it’s age, it has been looked at over and over again and so there is lots of opinions about what it says and what it means.

I have read part 1 (The Inferno) before. All three of these are poems which contain much symbology making it not only abstract but also highly subjective to the translators vision. I find myself reading and re-reading because I don’t know what is exactly happening. My version is huge, it seems like half of it are notes as to what this or that is referring to or why they chose this translation versus others.

My purpose for picking this book was to spend more time talking about eternity and Devine topics more critically. For instance, I don’t particularly believe Purgatory, it will be interesting to see what Dante has to say about it. So far, I can already tell that it is helpful to have a good command of Roman history, mythology and Christianity because there is a lot here that I am referring to the notes to keep up.

This book is going to take a while. I plan on breaking it up into one topic at a time. Canto I and II are considered introductions to the levels of hell. So, when I get to the first level, that will be a week unto its own. I don’t know the book well enough to say what each week will be yet, but maybe I can do it as I go along. That being said, feel free to read ahead.

Because things are so cryptic, I am going to look at other sources while we go along. Normally, I don’t like doing that because I feel that it influences my opinion. But, in this case, it is necessary otherwise I won’t get anything out of this. If I don’t get anything, it will be pretty difficult to give anything worthwhile.

With that, Canto I and II are considered the introduction to the Inferno. Canto I has Dante entering the afterlife met by Virgil, the Roman poet. It has been speculated that Virgil is at the beginning of the journey because he lived pre-Christ. Therefore in the Catholic belief, he could not attain pure heaven nor hell. Virgil will be guiding Dante through Hell and some of Purgatory.

Canto II, Virgil explains that he was instructed by Beatrice to deliver three prayers to Dante because of concern for his love life. In case you don’t know who Beatrice is, she is the love of Dante’s life but married to another so he can’t have her. I had to look her up too, confused yet? Because of Dante, she was a semi-famous subject for nineteenth century art, but more of an inspiration to the story.

Virgil sort of lays out the land of how things are going to go including getting past the leopard of malice and fraud, the lion of violence and ambition and the she-wolf of incontinence. Now we have some foreshadowing for the hierarchical levels of hell too. If you thought like I did, hmm the worst sin is to poop all over the place. I had to think about that wording a little stronger. Actually the first definition in Webster is a the state of being incontinent. And the definition of incontinent contains 1) lacking self-restraint 2) not being under control.

We might imagine all types of sin that fall into that category. In broad strokes or my interpretation is non-violent crime, followed by violent crime and then sadistic, evil acts. All that is of course subject to the lens of the period. We will wait and see what this actually translates to in the book.

My book offers a summary before each Canto. In the summary, it claims that Dante and Virgil are symbols for human reason while Beatrice is the representing Devine love. It also talks about the levels being recognition of sin for hell, the reunification of sin for purgatory and then finally heaven. Even though I don’t hold those Catholic beliefs, I can sort of see the value of clearing them out of your existence before heaven. It is like the twelve step program, you have to attempt to make amends before you can be free yourself.

Let me cut to the chase here. If we believe everything about the symbols, then this is God telling Dante to figure it out. Use your human brain to understand eternity and I will use the most attractive bait I can find to persuade you. And so, we begin The Devine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

End Your Programming Routine: This was and will be hard. With the advent of modified beliefs and 750 years, we will see if we can learn the same lessons that Dante did. I do not believe that humanity or behavior has changed significantly since that time but our interpretation or judgement may have. Next week will be Canto III and IV,