Savaneta, Aruba, DWI. About 0530 in the morning the sun starts peeking over the horizon. From the front patio of my little shack here the dawn puts on as brilliant a show as dusk. Here’s what it looked like this morning.
That bright speck in the upper center right is Venus. (click on the photo to enlarge it) When traveling to a place I know or don’t, I do my best to catch the nature phenomena. They’re typically better than any show and the price can’t be beat.
Bon dia.
Legos were one of my favorite toys. Getting a new Lego set was like discovering a pirate treasure, dreams became reality, of a certain scale. I remember when the “expert builder” sets became available. Now there were gears, racks and pinions, even differential mechanisms. Never did I know how far these sets could go until I discovered this video. It shows a reconstruction of the Antikythera Mechanism. You’ll remember from watching the History Channel that the device was discovered by divers off an island in Greece. It was later determined to be a tool to predict celestial events. Now you can see how it works, courtesy of a brilliant engineer and his Legos.
Amazing, no? Absolutely. It is fascinating to watch, especially from a Lego aficionado like myself. Imagine what you can teach yourself using these “toys.”
On the way from Alaracón to Biar, Spain, I plotted to check out the castle at Chinchilla de Montearagón. It’s a big old pile of rocks atop a hill like many castles. Just the kind I like. I exited the highway, climbed a one-lane track with a number of switchbacks only to arrive at a chain link fence bearing a sign that the castle was closed for renovations. Well, I can’t complain. The thing was built in the 15th century and who knows what kind of maintenance was done since. Hence, I rolled into the town itself by going down the track then back up the other side. In order to enter the town, you need the key, and here it is:
Luckily for me, the town fathers already had the gate open as you can see here.
I parked before entering the town, walked through the passageway you see above, and popped out on the other side that looks like this.
Couple of cannons there add to the effect that you’re in an old place. The gents hanging out there will be happy to relate a few stories if you’re interested. I got to wandering around, a bad habit but one that leads me to interesting things. Consider these painted beams from the local church.
And another example:
About six hundred years old they are. In good condition, too. There are quite a few palacios worth a look as you wind through the streets of Chinchilla, such as this one:
Note the pitch of that street. You’ll need good shoes and plenty of energy to hike around the towns of Spain. It’s okay because you work up a good appetite and can eat as you please. Here’s another one of those palacios.
The lesson for this day was that even if your primary travel objective is out of reach, you can still find plenty to see and do. Don’t be dissuaded by a ‘closed’ sign or a temporary inconvenience. Take a look around, plot a new course, and get on with it. It’s the journey, not the destination.
The Bent Page 
The Jobs We Do
I have the good fortune to meet a large number of people during my travels and book events. A couple of days ago, a fellow came up to me at the airport in Aruba and we were talking about his job. He works for a major aerospace company, developing electronic counter-measures that defeat incoming missiles and such. (How this works, I have no idea. I still operate in the fountain pen age.) At any rate, the devices and software this fellow develops and improves are fitted to aircraft of all types, making it safer for the pilots and passengers, etc. He related a story to me how one of the pilots came to their shop and held up a photo of his family. The pilot said that his family was grateful for all the hard work the guy and his team did. Thanks to them, he was alive.
There are lots of evil people in this world and it takes many more good people to stop them doing the nasty things they do. I was impressed with this man’s abilities and the story he told me.
Remember, there are a million little things going on behind the scenes that make our vehicles operate properly, our airplanes stay on course, our medical devices work perfectly. And it’s good people who make all that possible as well as mostly invisible. We only complain when it DOESN’T work.
My heartfelt thanks to all those out there whose names I don’t know, but SHOULD know because what they do is immensely MORE important than a movie star or sports champion. These unnamed folks are the ones that really count. I only wish our media would pay more attention to them. I, for one, would like to know who they are and give them the credit they have rightfully earned.
Thank you.
- Commentary
on November 19, 2012 at 9:06 pm Leave a CommentTags: Commentary, ideas, random, thoughts, work