St. Augustine

 When I was a mere lad, back before the invention of knowledge, we learned that Jamestown was the first permanent British town in North America. As a kid, I didn't pay much attention to the words "British or English". Brenda and I have visited Jamestown, and it is an impressive historic site, and we recommend it plus the great history in the areas around it.

Several years ago, whilst working a space shuttle landing that was delayed, I drove by St. Augustine, FL on my way up to Jacksonville, FL. This past weekend we had a Cru Faculty Conference in Gainesville, FL on Friday and Saturday and left Saturday after the meeting for St. Augustine.

It was a pleasant and very rural drive over (yes much of Florida, away from the coast, is not heavily populated). Our first shock was paying $15 for the parking deck at %:15 PM only to discover later that street parking is free after 5 PM. The parking attendant didn't bother to fill us in, and mistakenly told us the St. Augustine Visitor Center was open another 1.5 hours instead of 15 min.

Our next big shock came when we tried to book a hotel for the evening. I had glanced at the prices the day before and was happy at the low cost. Not now! The price for a very low-end Econolodge-type minimalist hotel was almost $190 for the night. Wow! That caught me off guard.

We bit the bullet, paid for the hotel, learned that there was no free breakfast and toured the tourist walking

street.

We truly love visiting historical museums and sites, and St. Augustine has plenty. We look forward to a return visit. If this is your first time there, consider buying tickets to the on-off tour train. It is a great way to learn a lot and see a lot very quickly. It is pricey, no surprise, but if you buy your tix the evening before you can get a $5 discount.

Enjoy.

Wordle Strategy

 At the behest of some Cru FC friends, I have begun to play Wordle. If you haven't yet played, it is a game wherein you try to guess a 5-letter word. As you make entries Wordle shows you if the letter is used in the target word, and if it is in the correct location. So far I have played about 50 or more of these and only had to make 6 guesses (the limit) one time.  Mostly I get it in 4 guesses, sometimes in 5, and occasionally in 3.

It is fun and I am guessing everyone follows a similar strategy.  I start with identifying the vowels. My first entry is some word like "audio" because it has 4 vowels. My next guess is a word with an e, and no other letters in common, like "entry" with an ey.  Or I could achieve the same with  "house=oue" and "daisy-aiy".

From here I try to test the unused letters whilst moving the identified vowel around. It is a to been total waste to used a letter that has already been eliminated or to reuse one in a space where you know it doesn't fit.

Sometimes the correct word is a variation on a theme, such as "sha_e". Here the letter could be a " d, m, p, k, l, r, or v". That's 7 possibilities and if you were lucky enough to start with "shame" you could run out of guesses before you ran out of possible letters.  In this case you need to check multiple possible letters in one word. Using "prank" would eliminate 4. That leaves d, l and v. trying "valid" would cover 3 more with 2 new ones. So, you can still win, but it takes a bit of strategy.

Anyway, it is fun and I have to fight becoming obsessive. I do note that if I get stuck, going to another task and then coming back is helpful.

I'd be curious to hear your strategies, if you are willing to share.

Regardless, Happy Wordling!

Life Review: Personal Computers

 I was among the first at the UGA to do my dissertation on a personal computer, an Apple 2e. Putting it on the computer was easy, printing it off was another story. In those days, printers most commonly were "tractor-fed", which meant the paper was one continuous sheet with detachable edges full of little holes. After printing off a 150-page paper, you spend 30+ minutes tearing the sheets into pieces, and tearing off the edges.

When I got to my University the secretaries had not yet left typewrites for computers. They did have correction capability though. My first couple of papers i wrote long-hand, then gave to the secretaries who tried to ready my scribble and type the paper. The secretaries would naturally make a few mistakes which I would find and give back to them, which sometimes generated new mistakes. eventually the hard copy was mailed to a scientific jounral who mailed it out to reviewers, who typed their review reports and mailed in their reviews, which eventually came to me--and the process started all over agian.

WHEW!

Thank you L^rd for personal computers with editing function. The www then facilitated research, and reviewing. Now tests could be kept and updated. Papers could be emailed at the speed of light. And, life was so much better.

Thanks be to G^d for personal computers, personal printers, and the www. Thanks indeed.

Life Review: The popsicle cooler adventure

 As kids we lived 2 miles outside Canton, GA, and thus in a rural area, with a couple of neighbors but a LOT of woods. We often camped in the back yard, and as we got older we camped in a couple of nice spots back in the woods. Overnights were our favorites.

Many years before I took thermodynamics I had the bright idea of taking a popsicle on an over-nighter. I put the frozen treat inside a small cooler that went inside a larger cooler.  Two coolers!  Wow, what a breakthrough in camping.

Well, I got up the next morning and eventually remembered my stored popsicle. Lo and behold it was thoroughly melted.  How did such a thing happen?

Well, if you took thermo you'd know.

Don't try this yourself without dry ice!

Finally a GOOD road Race!

 Saturday (26 Mar) at 0730 I ran my first 5k road race in many years. I seldom ran this distance in my competitive years because there weren't many of them and this was more like a warmup in those days. My gift has always been endurance, not speed.

Anyway, my last race, an 8k, was a debacle, so I was hopeful for this one. It was a beautiful day for a road race. We started and and just past the quarter mile I noticed a guy just a few yards in front of me who might be in my age group. His stride was a bit odd, but he was steady and we stayed together for most of the race. I pushed it, but within my limits. I didn't want a lot of folks passing me the last half mile.

So we climbed the bit hill just past the two mile and it was tough, but I closed on the guy. Finally about a quarter mile out I decided to pass him. As I passed I encouraged him that the race was nearly done.

As I made the last corner, about 200 yards from the finish line, a white haired guy appeared on my left shoulder. I wasn't happy to get passed at this point, so I gave whatever kick I had. I beat him by a scant 2 seconds, but I did beat him to win my age group. It turns out he was a mere lad of 68 years.

I ran a 25:52, which is an 8:21 pace--the best I have run in a while. I actually enjoyed this race in contrast to the 8k in December. Thank you L

^rd!

Our Warped Perspective

 Right now war rages in Ukraine. People are dying, living in bomb shelters, seeing loved ones killed. Houses, businesses, hospitals are being bombed and destroyed. Things are serious to put it bluntly.

Yet, many of us, most of us, go along our merry way worried about the most mundane things. For example I discovered that one of our two chest freezers had quit freezing. It was still cold, so I tried messing with the controls and turning it off and back on. But, nothing worked and our meat was thawing rapidly. We rushed to the local appliance place (lots of places didn't have any in stock), and bought and installed a new one. Meanwhile people are not worried about their freezer because their home has been totally destroyed.

Likewise, COVID is waning, but people have, and continue to, struggle with illness.  Back issues are rampant with 3 friends really struggling with bad back issues. Meanwhile we think about the difficulty in starting the lawn mower.

L^rd give us compassion for those who are suffering. Give us the ability to look outside our petty selves and see the serious things around us. Take away our egocentricity and make us more like Jesus.

Come Holy Spirit--fill us to overflowing.

Life Review: International Mission Trips

 One of my Friends, Dan Arsenault has made 38 international mission trips. That's a lot and it got me to thinking about my international missions.  As best I can recollect in reverse order:

31-35) Roma, Fierenza, Bologna, IT- 2021, 2019, 2015, 2014, 2013

30) Newcastle, England, 2019, 

29) Oxford England

28) Honduras, 2017

27) Taipei, Taiwan. Professors as Students. July 2016.

26) Armenian State Institute of Physical Culture, Yerevan, Armenia: Recovery from training; Exercise in the heat; Teaching and evaluating University Students. March 14-18, 2016.

25) Univ. of Maria Galvez, Guatemala, City, Guatemala. Feb 25, 2016.

24) Univ of Costa Rica, 16 Oct 2015.

23) Gaborone, Botswana, 2013.

22) Ulaan Bator, Mongolia, Sept –Oct 2012.

21) Manila, Philippines, 3 talks to Philippine Olympic Committee coaches, May 16,17; 2 talks to Private schools coaches and PE teachers May 2011.

20) Chambrun, Haiti, July 2010. 

19) Aswan, Egypt Medical Residents- gave 7 hours of faculty development to 13 new physicians, April 2010.

18) Osaka CCC International. Spoke to Faculty members and staff. Osaka, Japan, 28 Jul 09.

17) Palmas, Costa Rica: Taught a 16-hour course on Andragogy and Leadership for pastors. June 2008, Jan 2009, Feb 2010.

16)  San Jose, CR, Oct, 2009.Cruzada de Estudiantil y Profesional, San Jose Costa Rica, 

 15) San Jose, Costa RICA Oct. 00 

** Rural Costa Rica, May-June 08. Taught a 16 contact-hour seminar in teaching and leading small groups Jan 09.

14) Maracaibo, Venezuela, University Multiple presentations May 08.

13) Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica, Two presentations, CCC Jan 08.

12) Matagalpa Nicaragua, Universidad de Commerciales Ciencias, Ave Maria University of the Americas, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Nicaragua (numerous invited talks . Mar 07.

11) University of Herat, Herat, Afghanistan. 3 seminars of 2.5 hours on Academic Leadership, and psychology of the learner. ~55 Faculty participated on each session. Oct. 06.

10) Cuzco, Peru, Presented four talks at the Universidad Nacional San Antonio Abad del Cuzco, Mar 2003.

9) Zurich, Switzerland, Two talks to the ETH (Federal Institute of Technology) Honggerberg,  May 27, 2003, .

 Lausanne, Switzerland, to medical students at ETH, Lausanne, 26 May, 2003

8) Merida, Mexico. Presented 7 talks at two universities in Merida, Mexico- Instituto Technologico de Merida and Eschuela Normal Superior, Sept. 2002.

7) Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, and Darwin, Australia, Jan-Feb, 2002.

6) University of Southampton, Sport Studies, Southampton, UK, May 01.

5) University of Panama, R.P. Schools of Medicine (Physiology Dept.), Natural Sciences (Biology        

       Dept.), and Physical Education, Republic of Panama, ‘96.

4) Monterrey, N.L. Mexico, Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey,  2 talks, June 1995.

3) Mexico City, Mexico, Instituto Technologico Autonoma de Mexico (ITAM) and Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM), Oct. 1994.

2) Quito, Ecuador. The Confederation of Sports in Pinchinchia (Ecuador)- 3 lectures , June 1994. The Polytechnical School of Exercise of the Superior Military Academy of Ecuador, June 1994.

1) Tashkent Government University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, CIS- 4 lectures March 1993.

Well, it is nice to see that G^d has sent me to some unusual places. Thank you L^rd for these several opportunities.

The GOSPEL message in Ps 33

 In Friday Morning Men's prayer we used Psalm 33 as our starting passage. I have read this Ps over many times but this morning I saw something that struck me--a clear gospel message.  Take a look at vv 17-19, "18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;

19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine."

You see that? We are hoping ONLY in His mercy.  There is nothing we can do--the Christ has done it all already!

I must admit, that I have longed for a simple gospel--like the 10-word gospel, but here it has been all along.

Thanks be to G^d!