Canopyflyer

Gallagher on the English Language.

I also dot my lower case “j’s” and cross my lower case “f’s”.

About the only mental processing going on when I’m writing is what word I want to use next. In school, writing the letters was drilled in to me so that it is simple muscle memory to make them. That goes for both print and cursive writing.

Now when I took French in high school, I did have to stop and remember when the accents were required. I never reached a fluent proficiency with the language.

Contrast that with my wife who is fluent in French, both speaking and writing and she writes the accents with no additional thought.

I’ve been volunteering at Milwaukee’s Summerfest this year and it’s a pretty cool place. Multiple venues from the largest the AmFam Amphitheater to several smaller stages.

The only issue I really have with it, is with the stages all outdoors the sound quality is really bad for the most part. A couple of the bands have had a good Front House engineer that made the best of it though. Last night Kaleo finished out the Miller Light stage and they actually sounded pretty good. Never thought I’d listen to an Icelandic Blues band. Vertical Horizon was on earlier… Instamatic is just not the same without the Professor though. (FYI: Neil Peart was on the drums for the studio recording of that song.)

An outdoor amphitheater that actually sounds great is the Riverbend on the east side of Cincinnati, right on the Ohio river. I’ve seen several concerts there back when I lived in that area. Santana, Live (the band), and even the Cincinnati Pops under Erich Kunsel played there and it always sounded great. The best was probably the Pops playing the 1812 Overture… They used REAL F$%$KING CANNONS! It was awesome.

$20

That was my absolute limit to waste on gambling, the very few times I went to a casino. In 2000 I went to a “riverboat” casino in Lawerenceburg, IN to play slots and ended up winning $250. Which put me at a net positive for all the gambling I’ve ever done.

That was the last time I ever walked into a casino.

Je ne parle pas Francais.

You forgot about the love triangle between two characters!!!

Christmas Movies:

Paul

LOTR

Strictly Ballroom

Princess Bride

It was the fourth of fifth date with my girlfriend. She was an avid cook and wanted to cook me dinner… Specifically lasagna.

I arrived at her apartment with her in full swing preparing it… The only problem was all the pasta was green, it was a vegetarian lasagna (she’s not vegetarian). Asparagus and other vegetables rounded it out. It looked really unappetizing.

Here’s the problem. By this time I was REALLY into this girl and here she was spending a lot of effort making me something that I really didn’t think I could eat. I was afraid this was going to end our relationship.

So I spent the whole time watching her make this dish telling myself… “Ok Canopy, you’re a 34 year old man and not a child. You can pretend to enjoy it this once. It won’t kill you.”

Over and over that was going through my mind.

We sit down at the table and she told me to serve myself and I dished out as much as I thought polite…

Then I took a bite.

I ended up eating two servings worth it was so damn good.

OH, and she and I have been married for 20 years now and have two boys. Also, food became one of the cornerstones of our relationship. She took me from being a Midwest redneck meat and potatoes child, to a full blown foodie that actually has a wider palate that her.

She also taught me how to cook and it turned out I am really good at it. I made us salmon cakes with an aioli, with mashed potatoes (that I just threw together without a recipe), and roasted broccoli.

Hiking: There is a small state park about 4 miles from my house. I go there on my lunch break and take at least a 2 mile hike. If it’s a day where I’m not busy I’ll go as much as 4.5 miles.

I’ve loved hiking since I was a teenager. It’s my “me” time where I put in my earbuds and listen to an audiobook and just disengage from the rest of the world.

The cars that I’ve owned with loud horns in order of loudest:

1970 Chevrolet Impala / 1969 Chevelle. I think any late 60’s to 70’s GM car will have a loud horn.

2003 Acura TL. This car’s horn actually surprised me. It was very nearly as loud as Chevys’.

2019 Toyota Camry XLE Hybrid: My current car and it has a surprisingly effective horn. It’s a lot louder than my previous car which was a 2014 Camry LE.

Honest question:

Have you been assessed for any learning disabilities?

The reason why I ask is that your post is well written. It is grammatically correct, spelling is good and even proper use of commas. Which is well above average for most people on social media.

My oldest has a lot of issues with reading. Fortunately, my wife and I picked up on it quickly and got him assessed. It turned out he was dyslexic (from his mother) with an auditory processing issue (from me). We put him in a program specific to teaching dyslexic people to read. Fast forward to today and he will be transferring to Northwestern in the fall to start his Sophomore year.

There is a lot of assistance and accommodations available to people with learning disabilities. Not all are free, but it’s worth looking into.

I don’t think you’re “dumb”, I think you need learn how to learn.

Galaxy Watch 5

Daily.

I use the timer, alarm, weather, hiking (fitness), and…

One more thing… what is it(snaps fingers in thought)?.. OH! Tell time.

Practical Engineering: Civil engineering projects

Apollo11space: Details regarding the Apollo moon missions that are hard to find elsewhere.

In Deep Geek: Great LOTR content. Also covers GOT and The Witcher.

Illinois EnergyProf: Great place to learn about energy.

Engineer Guy: No longer making videos. Very interesting videos regarding the engineering of everyday items done in a straight forward and easy to understand style.

Project Farm: No nonsense reviews of various products. I have to admit, that I skip most of the video and just look at the results. I find his voice a bit difficult to listen to for long periods.

VASAviation: ATC audio of significant events. Usually has videos out the day of an event.

Blancolirio: If you’re a pilot, or interested in aviation this is the channel to follow. Straight forward assessments of aviation events.

Greg’s Airplanes and Automobiles: Gives a lot of detailed information on WWI and WWII planes. Can be a bit dry, but is always interesting.

HI Sutton: All things submarine warfare.

Animagraffs: 3d engineering renderings that explain how things work.

saVRee: Similar channel to Animagraffs.

Mr Carlson’s Lab: All things electronic.

Technology Connections: If dry, witty delivery about technology subjects is your jam, this is your channel.

Rose Anvil: Great information on boots and footwear. He cuts footwear in half and does a deep dive on how they are constructed.

Clint’s Reptiles: The Utah version of Steve Irwin… Almost.

The Operations Room: Animation of WWII and other battles.

The Car Car Nut: Toyota mechanic located near Chicago, IL. Gives a lot of great information on Toyota/Lexus automobiles. I’ve actually had him do work on my previous car (2014 Camry), even though I’m a couple hour drive from his shop.

I was a teenager back in the 80’s.

My very first job was a paper route and I absolutely hated it.

Second job was at a nursery/garden center, that also had a pool center. This job I didn’t mind so much. I learned a lot about landscaping and plants in general. I actually became knowledgeable enough that at the age of 17 I designed several landscapes, even one large job that was the HQ for a Japanese car company. Fast forward 20 years and my wife and I buy a house and my wife has always dreamed of having a yard with tons of landscaping. So I dusted off my skills and built multiple beds across our property. Today we have a yard that is mostly very mature beds which bloom continuously throughout the growing season.

Farscape:

The first 4 episodes of the first season get progressively better, but it’s when you hit episode 5 “PK Tech” girl that the show hits its stride. Sure there are weak episodes after 5, but overall the show just gets better the deeper you go.

Bill Booth

If it wasn’t for Bill, modern skydiving would not exist. It’s not just the 3 ring release, but several of his innovations that brought jumping out of an airplane out of the dark ages. His “Vector” line of containers is the best in the business. My student jumps were on rip cord equipped containers, but once of student status I exclusively jumped BOC throw out PC’s. Bottom Of Container Pilot Chute. This is how the main parachute is deployed by the jumper.

Does modern skydiving require his ongoing developments? Probably not, but the very foundation of skydiving was laid down by him. I would not have my 4500 jumps if it were not for him.

Can I talk to you my lord and god… Skydiving?

Nothing you do in the air will ever be cheap, but jumping out of planes is a lot cheaper than flying them.

My wife is a knitter and has been for decades. She literally has a closet full of sweaters that she and her mother knitted over the years. At one point she got a bit burned out, but still wanted to knit, but not commit to something complex like a sweater. A friend of her’s, whom my wife actually taught to knit, told her to knit socks.

Socks knit up quickly, so they are satisfying to make and they are easy, especially compared to something like a sweater.

I’m a bearded guy too and love to cook. So knitting isn’t a stretch, my wife loves to do it and it is very relaxing after a long day.

30 years in IT here, but didn’t get my degree until about 13 years ago.

Certs that I have (obsolete or not).

CCNA/CCNP/ Network +

MCSE

CLP (most certainly obsolete. Who runs Domino any longer?)

LEAN Six Sigma Green belt.

ITIL v1 Foundation, Incident, Problem, Change, Config, Service Delivery.

V4 Foundation and Incident

Of all the certs it has been ITIL that has gotten me employed the most and why I’m currently employed as an Incident Management Process Owner for a very large manufacturer.

In my skydiving days I loved to take jumpers just off student status and help them become full fledged skydivers.

The student progression will teach you the basics of how to save your life, but that’s about it. If someone stuck with me, they could pack, spot, accurately land, and turn points in 4-way and even dive on larger formations in a much shorter time than they could do it on their own or with someone else and do it safely. I also knew who were the good teachers on the DZ and direct my students to the person that could help them most, when my skill set wasn’t appropriate.

Most of the time I just did it for the cost of my jump ticket too. Although I got in trouble with the Drop Zone Owner as he was trying to generate revenue from coaching. So I did have to start working for the DZ officially when doing coach jumps. Annoying but it was what it was. There might have been a few or many fun jumps I did with someone where I accidentally gave them a few tip and tricks and they might have bought me a beer after the planes were tied down.