The Writing of Roddy

While The Writing of Roddy doesn't sound like the most imaginative title for a new Facebook page, that's the name I chose.

Just a couple days or so before the time of this writing, I created this page while I was sitting in a truck stop in Indianapolis. I wanted to do yet a bit more in my endless quest to make the world aware of my work, and I have known for quite some time that placing anything on my regular Facebook page is largely a waste of time. After all, those there who might be interested have long ago checked out what they might desire to see. Aside from that, it's been hard to reach any new audience.

I have tried with some things. I have disseminated post cards created to advertise my writing, but I saw no results from that, either.

But here's the thing that will be different about this new page. Here, I won't simply be shamelessly plugging work and attempting to peddle what's there to sell. Rather, this page will focus on writing, writing issues, writing examples and excerpts, some basic writing lessons (grammar and usage, for example), and then the occasional rant and such. I will surely place the occasional article there, including new ones and sometimes some of the old ones, provided they're relevant.

I don't want the page to be something boring as all get-out and quickly looked past simply because, there it is, that asshole plugging his shit again. No, this will be more about providing food for thought and something truly interesting to check out with each and every post.

Yes, yes, the occasional post might include the website or some other thing, but this will not just be about cheesy advertisements. Instead, I want it to be about the writing as well as those reading the posts. At this moment, I have a mere 7 Likes for the page, but would like to boost those numbers significantly. In fact, if anyone knows a good and clever way to get the word out and achieve more of those Likes, you'll quickly get my attention. I have seen I could pay for an ad, but that could be quite expensive. I would like to do it and I think it could prove to be a good idea, but the $$$ just isn't there right now.

Part of my goal is to offer posts that would catch the eye and the attention of the reader, and then prompt some food for thought. Here and there, I'll post excerpts from stories and so forth. I might plug another writer's work or site. Overall, I want everyone who reads those posts to think, yeah, I'm glad I check that out.

I also would like to be more than open to the readers and subscribers, absorbing any advice about what you gentle readers would like to see posted there. Humorous anecdotes? Political rants? Conspiracy theories? Regardless of what it is, I want it to be good writing, about good writing, referring to good writing, or a celebration of good writing.

So please, feel free to get involved and let me know what you think. And please, help me achieve as many Likes as we can on this thing. I would love to see the Likes reach four figures!

Wow! Could you just imagine that?

Truck Driving as a Job

While I cannot say this is actually a job, I can say it can be a decent living. I say it is not a job because it's more of a lifestyle rather than a job. When you have a job, you go home after your shift. But being a truck driver means you really don't know when you'll be back home after you hit the road. 

The work is not that hard and can be downright enjoyable, and the pay is decent compared to some other blue collar careers, but there is something that must change in this industry if things are going to improve for everyone. I say everyone because everyone is suffering due to certain issues plaguing the industry. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. 

The turnover in the Transportation Industry is enormous, but this is not due to the overwhelming labor or the horrible conditions. The truth is that most trucking companies are largely the same, regardless of the name on the side of the truck. The bigger cause of the turnover is a large percentage of drivers seeking a company or environment where they won't be treated like the world's doormat or two-footed sled dogs. If there is a unique aspect to this industry I have found that surely must be leaking from the edges of the Twilight Zone, it is that so many people despise truck drivers. This is particularly true within the industry itself. If one is in Transportation but in a non-driving position, the driver is so beneath their contempt that one would wonder how they stand coming to work everyday. 

I can say some drivers lend to the problem. Many can be intentionally ignorant and combative, and many demonstrate no patience with anything. But then, these two issues are likely causing one another. Another thing is that the driver does come across as someone who does what he does because he fits into nothing else, although this is truly a fallacy. 

Most drivers come into this from other industries, lured by the notion of a free and adventurous lifestyle. Many grew up in it and know little else while some are shanghaied by the foolish ads placed by some companies, often indicating this is so much fun, respected, and pays a mint. How ironic that many of these same companies gladly treat drivers like, well, sled dogs and are more than happy to ensure of their misery. 

The turnover causes extraordinary costs within Transportation, and these costs are past on to the consumers via greater hikes in freight expense. Further, the quality of the driver is diminishing because good and decent, intelligent people escape from the industry regularly after recognizing that the potential to be treated like something other than a moronic criminal is akin to winning the lottery. 

It isn't that there are no jobs where one can find decent treatment and not be leered at with a tinge of disgust, but they're becoming increasingly rare. One way to go, if one can afford it, is to become an Owner/Operator (O/O) and drive for a company at their discretion, or to drive for themselves and operate the truck like a small business. But to obtain a tractor can cost near to six figures, and if one is going to drive for themselves, the trailer is also a significant expense, not to mention all the costs and fees like insurance and on and on. Some companies come well recommended by drivers because of the environment and conditions, but getting in there requires some patience on a long waiting list. 

Hey, if they're constantly hiring drivers, they likely suck to work for, and it's usually just that simple. 

The problem isn't just directly within the industry, either. I have seen countless drivers express a loss of patience with the way they're treated at shipping and receiving locations. It seems the policy of numerous well-known companies that arriving drivers are to be treated rudely and as though they're there on some prison work-release program for dumbass sub-human freaks. First of all, this is simply unnecessary, and it lends only to creating greater difficulty. 

It isn't everyone, though, and there are shippers and receivers I have enjoyed returning to time and again because the people there are decent and actually enjoyable to be around. But every driver has a place they refuse to return to because of unacceptable BS on the part of some jerk who is a jerk just to be a jerk. 

I have been to these places and often talked to people who used to be drivers but got out of trucking because of the issues I have mentioned. They have stated, time and again, that because they are not retarded criminals, they won't work in an industry where everyone in the so-called entry-level position is treated as such. 

I completely understand, although Driver is not an entry-level position. There is no ladder of opportunity other than lead driver or driver/trainer. There are two sorts of positions- Driver and Driver Support. Within Driver Support there may be an aspect of potential in promotion, but those in Driver Support are completely foreign to those in Driver positions. The division between these two positions is vast. 

Do I have any potential recommendations or possible solutions? None that are realistic. Unfortunately, this is likely an issue of human limitation, not unlike other ignorances and evils. We know Human Trafficking is a heinous crime, but most of humanity is directly involved and those that aren't just don't care. Those that do are so limited in their ability to help that their efforts are almost pointless. So, to see improvements in this industry and an environment where drivers are treated like someone valid doing a valid job on a broad scale is simply is too fantastic to brood upon. 

If you drive for a profession, recognize within yourself who and what you are; don't concern yourself with the opinions of those who will not and have never done your job. Hey, that asinine office drone who sneers at your kind couldn't negotiate the truck out of the lot, and they likely couldn't tell you what to do with that big yellow button. Dismiss them and enjoy your life for the sake of it. There is nothing wrong with any honest job, even the jobs done by those who look down on you. The issue isn't job-related; it's just a poor limitation of our kind. 

Nothing Unnatural & the Future of Us

Is it not more than fair to assume that we are at a point in time when the future of all humanity is directly at stake? Not only the future of all humanity, but perhaps the life existing on this planet. Is it not fair to claim the existence of what might be the only life existing in the universe is in great peril? This writer claims we are right on that cusp. 

To begin with where I am coming from with this, it needs to be indicated I believe there is no such thing as the unnatural or supernatural. Now, where I am going with that is not a claim there is nothing existing that is claimed to be of these categories; if there are truly such things as ghosts, goblins, Sasquatch, UFOs, Nessie, alternate realities, Martians, numerous dimensions, and so forth, then these things are entirely natural. If it exists, it is a natural occurrence, consequence, and aspect of nature. Okay, let's move on. 

It is nothing except arrogance and ignorance to assume humanity is separate from the realities and actualities of Nature. It is also extraordinarily ignorant for anyone to assume we have a firm grasp on what is the nature of Nature or the Laws of the Universe. Sure, we're getting there and science has made discoveries and uncovered truths hitherto never imagined, but there's no way to assume how far along the spectrum of truth we've come along. There's no way to know how much there is to know, so how could we assume we're (insert progress here) along on the line. 

Look, we just cannot do that. So, how does this affect the future of us as a species? If there's one amazing aspect of reality and Nature that humanity refuses to acknowledge, it is humanity's place in the mix. So, where are we then? We're still separated by cultures, religious lines, belief systems, aspects of prehistoric tendencies (bloodlust, aggression, control, slavery, conquest, power over those deemed lesser, etc.) and issues of economic demand, and that is far from all, so one must recognize our progress into an age and time when we can truly pursue the future of humanity is far beyond our reach. 

Our religious beliefs alone just might drive us into the dust of extinction. Now, I am not saying religion is a factor of ignorance or off-thinking; I am quite a believer in the place and existence of a Supreme Consciousness. But I cannot claim any faith as to what this is, so those who do (the Islamic faiths are horribly guilty of this) believe their way is the only way and all others must be destroyed because your god demands it (have him take the podium, there buddy), I state you are impeding the future of life on this planet. Islamic Extremism is one of today's most significant threats to the future of Life in itself because they demand to see their vision of the truth exercised and no others, yet they refuse to explain the inherent ignorance of their faith. Hey, follower of the Muslim faith, could you explain to me why you believe your god wants you to commit heinous violence in his name (although he is of supreme power, right?) but he can't handle the job? Further, if you think he is all-perfect and right on with everything and your so-called prophets know all to be judged, then why is your god constantly screwing up and placing one clitoris after the next on your females, just so you have to go through the irritable trouble of cruelly hacking them off, each and every time? One would think your clever and all-knowing god would catch on and stop putting those there, huh? I mean, has there been even one case when one of those evil things has not shown up, right there in the crotch of the gender you despise? 

Just saying, dude. Don't get all worked up. 

No religion has all the answers to our future in the universe. But religion, all religion, has a place in the formulation of the moral and just thinking of the humanity pursuing a future, as long as it doesn't go haywire. 

Perhaps there is the test. 

Science is rather aware that just about 99% of all life that has existed on this planet has gone extinct. Life started way back when, about 3 billion years ago or so, and has changed quite a bit over time. We know these things because nature wants us to know them. We also know most of it has gone away, never to return. We know evolutionary processes rid existence of the old to make way for the new and improved. I know some do not believe in this process, but one must claim the evidence is there, even if we should claim we don't have an exact understanding of what it means, hence the theory of evolution. 

We are facing a test (likely, we always have been) that is placing us before judgment to determine where we're going from here. Approximately 65 million years ago, nature created a significant paradigm shift on this planet; it brought forth the possibility for a particular species to develop a degree of sentience and curiosity of what is going on around it. Your author believes this occurred because the dynamic nature of this planet and, in fact, the universe, cannot be trusted to be calm enough not to annihilate everything on a regular basis. We know seasonal factors affect regions of the planet, so certain species must migrate and adapt in order to survive. 

Well, because past mass extinctions have shown a near complete annihilation of all life, Nature compelled our species (out of choice or dumb luck) to develop a sense of intelligence and ability to offer the potential to  migrate from this planet before it is destroyed, allowing life to flourish even when life can no longer flourish here on this planet. In short, I am saying we have evolved our intelligence and ability with technology as a natural thing, so the future of us and life of this planet can have a chance beyond just the viability of the planet. 

But there are a few wrinkles. 

Humanity isn't known to be the sweetest of creatures. We prey on our own kind so prolifically that even today, we enslave our own just for profit and pleasure. Today, more than 27 million people on an annual basis are victims of Human Trafficking, forced prostitution, organ farming, and other aspects of evil. If this isn't bad enough, these issues continue to flourish because our kind really just doesn't care enough to do anything about it. Well, there are those concerned, but one would think our species as a whole would want better. But because the existence of these issues is there, we cannot claim to want anything other than the status quo. 

Further, we still sell our entire existence to our political leadership. It once looked as though humanity would view political leadership as a place of service for the common good, but no, this is not the case. Even today, so much of a modern world has made a demigod of Obama, who is nothing more than a clever manipulator of the common thought. He's nothing new, but a portent of what can be so dangerous. Further, it is not a feather in our cap to demonstrate our demand to allow one individual the determination of the fate of nations, particularly when we know they seek little more than conquest and mayhem. We have seen the power and destruction of dictators and...loved every second of it. 

Today, we allow pathetic officials of government (people who can accomplish nothing more than widespread lies they don't intend to honor) to tell us we cannot handle our own lives because we didn't find our way to power through widespread lies. This is simply batshit (guano nutso, for the family friendly version) of epic proportions. Yes, we actually allow people to control the destiny and future of our world and kind solely through their prism of narcissism and personal satiation. Humanity witnessed incredible tragedy through these prisms, such as mass killings, war of unprecedented violence, starvation, genocide on broad scales, blatant theft on the part of despots only for their own benefit, yet we cannot stand to not continue to do this. We just cannot stand to not sell our species to someone we know lied to gain our favor. 

So, where are we going? If we do not grasp a firm understanding of what it is we seek as a species for the future of, well, us and everything, then we are doomed. If we do not adapt and overcome the obstacles keeping us from achieving a high state of sentience and civilization, then these obstacles will hold us fast while the reaches of extinction creep up from behind us. If this happens, the reaches of extinction will escalate. If we cannot show our worthiness to move ahead and truly achieve a place in the scheme of things, then we will have to be dealt with, and we are seeing this. If we cannot move our kind forward, we will hold our kind back. We will do so through enslavement, control, domination, force, and culling until such a time comes that Nature will claim us as the next failure in a long line of failures, only to look to another species in the hope that one can carry the baton forward. 

But we can see it, and that's the key. We are privy to a conscious course and decision, whereas the dinosaurs were not given a choice. The asteroids rained down and destroyed their world whether they liked it or not, but we can see ways to prevent such catastrophe. But the thing is, we evolved from a rather brutal and bloodthirsty thing, which means that if we want to be better, than we have to be better. 

Earlier, I claimed all life on this planet is at stake, and it could be true. If we fail to achieve our potential, all life on this planet could be lost to natural catastrophe, while if we do achieve greatness, we could possibly save this planet. Is it not amazing that we speak of ways to deflect oncoming rocks from space that could devastate this world when the dinosaurs were utterly oblivious to the threat? That is progress, evolution, and a significant improvement. But we still have people who claim space exploration and such sciences are a waste of money. Money? Money is just a game of our kind, but too many claim our kind exists for the benefit of money. Right there is something requiring a significant upgrade if we're to achieve genuine greatness. 

I could go on and on through this blog post, but I have written articles prior to this that support my position here. Just from a monetary concern along with our penchant for money worship, check this article out. But that isn't the only one of this sort of concern. This article also lends to why we must change our erroneous ways or face the obvious peril. And these ones are based solely on economic issues. 

I wrote this article with the intent of shedding light on an issue few choose to recognize, but falls in line with the subject covered in this post. Now granted, much of what I am saying here is said in the article, but coming from a slightly different moment in time. The two posts support one another. But going back to our demand to rely solely on money, this article demonstrates why we need to rethink this. But all is not lost, as I have offered some food for thought in The Dryer Plan, which deserves contemplation. 

Now, I am not placing my perspectives on the table as the ones surely to lead humanity to a secure future while all other ideas are hogwash. The lunatics are doing that, not me. But I offer my perspectives as something to chew on, to consider, to look at with a freshness rather than the old and worn out notions of listening to the politically corrupt. 

Hey, humanity. I am just a guy and merely mortal. I have surely gone over the hill and likely have maybe twenty years left, give or take. If humanity survives or suffers extinction will not be known by me (at least I hope not, but I did survive 12/21/12), but I would hope to see it make it through. I have put in my two cents, and they don't demand you give up your liberty, intelligence, freedom, common sense, children, humanity, decency, compassion, and/or higher hopes for a better tomorrow. Can your political leaders (or freaks like Gore) make such claims? 

So, I Have this Website...

It was recently I just completed and placed online my website. I think this is still a work in the making, as I have a few more things I would like to tweak there before I say it is all done. But then, it has just about everything I'm looking for in a website for me. Just go to click right here to see the website and you'll see what I mean.

I wanted to be able to include the books I have written (the four novels, including the short story collection) as well as links to a couple of places where I have placed online articles. There are more out there, but these links are good enough for where I am working now.

I placed a spot detailing why and how I write, but I am contemplating changing this to something else. What that might be, I haven't decided yet (thus, how this is a work in the making), but what's there is good enough for the moment. Then, there's a spot one can use to contact me, which is nice, I suppose.

This was free to create, done through www.wix.com. I could upgrade sometime in the future so it doesn't read all over the site that this is a free site done through them, but we need to see if we can make this do what websites are supposed to do.

You see, the primary purpose of the website is to get the word out to the world that Roddy, this guy who does this writing, has a site one can access in order to access his writing. A website, they say, is sort of like a party invitation. If you throw a party and not tell anyone, it might get rather boring fast. So it is with writers. If they write this stuff and don't let anyone know, then nobody will read it.

You see how that works? Invite Nobody and Nobody shows up. Wow, but that's clever.

I have seen some other writers gain a good amount of attention through having a website, so I assumed it was about time I jumped on the bandwagon. I was going to do so a long time ago, but only recently has it became so inexpensive and simple to do so. It wasn't that long ago that a site could cost one a hundred bucks or more a month, or look a lot cheaper if they came cheaper. But now that everyone has one, the costs have come down and it's rather easy to put together something that looks quite nice. Sort of like this blog.

Hey, paying more than five bucks a month or so would have been money out the window. I haven't been making a mint at this, you know. Most of the people who know me won't even look at my writing, so, what's a guy to do?

But the site offers a way to get out of the neighborhood and to reach those who don't yet know me, which could be a blessing. If people just give the writing a chance and don't know the writer, the writing will actually have a chance. This would be particularly true if the site looks somewhat well done, and I think it looks okay compared to some I've seen.

So, for those who know me, check out the site just to see, and for those who don't, check out the writing for your benefit. I can say that at the time of this writing, there are only three works on this site that cost to see, and they're the three novels that, when in eBook, are only $1.99 each. That's under six bucks for four books and well over two hundred articles and blog posts, all of which are incredible in their own right. No, really, you'll be amazed!

So, go to Roddy's new website to get in on the fun.

The Sleep-Deprived Epiphany

Yes, dear Readers, an Epiphany. I was driving along this morning and on my way to work (there was a load of Arizona Iced Tea needing a good home and I was on a mission) when I suddenly felt an overwhelming burst of sudden knowledge pervade my being. It turns out my condition is not, I repeat, NOT, merely cluster headaches and a misaligned spine, but the result of years of disturbed and deprived sleep combined with several acute moments of blunt-force head trauma.

I gasped. I felt as though there was a great veil lifted.

I have been rather exasperated by the series of headaches I have been experiencing as of late. Please allow me to explain- Sometime back in or around 2008 I began suffering mind-bending headaches, but only after falling asleep. I would not suffer this during any waking hours and I noticed no hint the suffering would soon commence. But shortly after falling asleep (usually within two hours) I would be alarmed with a soul-shattering pain throughout my skull. I was eating pain relievers like a teen geek at a Star Trek movie (by the large handfuls for those not so gauche) to no avail. Eventually, I was eating these pills like this before falling asleep, but again, in a futile effort.

I quickly became uncomfortable and then eventually fearful of sleep.

Realizing this was a situation unable to stand, I went to the doctor. To illustrate, please understand I am not one to see the good doctor every time I get a sniffle or hangnail. No, if I can get the bone back in place myself and a Red Streamline Stapler will assist in stopping the blood flow, then the $20 copayment would be a monumental waste of funds. But I went to the doctor for this.

I explained my situation. “That’s right, doctor. It happens when I fall asleep and only then. But what’s worse is this situation is increasing in severity. It’s been about two weeks with no signs of anything but getting worse.”

He did a brief examination and then took hold of my tense shoulders. He then said, “To be honest, I think this is in your neck, not in your head.”

He wrote out two prescriptions and said, “Okay, I want you to take these. Don’t just take them when you feel like it, but do it as prescribed.”

People, these drugs were the shazam of the big, bad headache world. I mean, they stopped entirely. Well, not entirely.

A few months after experiencing headache free nights, the problem resumed. But my solution was simple in that I merely renewed the prescriptions and did what I had done before. Voila.

Yes, voila. The situation was resolved for years. But then fast forward to the present day, January of 2013.

A bit more than two weeks prior to the time of this writing, the headaches resumed. Now, at first they weren’t a major deal at all. I could beat them with a couple acetaminophen tablets and forget about it. During those first few days I found if I laid a certain way the headache would diminish on their own. Now, that’s awesome.

But it wasn’t to last. After a few more days, the old concerns of fearing the notion of lying down to sleep shivered me timbers. To go further, this was aggravated by the fact that I am now driving big truck again, and in a team truck with another. Just this past weekend saw a Friday morning miserable as all Hell while I tried to rest in order to work that night. I decided a visit to the doctor would be in order, and during the Saturday morning after driving through the night I cinched the decision in with a call. They could see me the next afternoon.

I attended this appointment yesterday, after a night of experiencing a full night of sleep sans the pain from Saturday to Sunday morning. No headache. No issues.

No bouncing, noisy Freightliner. There’s a point to that.

I explained to the good doctor what I had been going through recently and what I had endured some years ago.

Her diagnosis? Cluster headaches. For those not in the know, these are headaches that come and go in clusters of time, sometimes returning for a while before disappearing for an amount of time. She utilized a few words that got by me and then I was eventually confused to silence, but she had me covered. While I was relatively unsure of the origin of my pain, we now had two doctors with two different diagnoses. Now, the first one might have been wrong in his diagnosis, but not about the treatment. The medications prescribed (none of which were pain killers) did the truck wonderfully.

Our present doctor is approaching this differently. We’re going to seek the cause of the headache while treating the existing condition. There are two minor prescription pills (one known for high blood pressure but also known to assist with headaches) and another for issues like inflammation. A third prescription is for the pain when experiencing the headache at the moment it occurs.

I return in two weeks for a follow-up to see how we’re doing.

But I had an epiphany. If you recall, that is what this is all about. While driving in, I was still reeling from one of the irritable headaches from the night prior (only one night of relief from this demon, it seems) and then it occurred to me:

These things have been occurring during times of great unrest and when rest was difficult to obtain. Years ago, I endured the issue during my time working a third-shift position and when there were domestic crises afoot. Sleep was often something of a luxury at times, and I recall numerous moments when the lack of sleep along with being kept awake for often more than 24 hours was nearly as trying as the continual moments of being wakened when I was finally asleep.

Lately, the issues have been considerably different, but many of the problems parallel those days of old. Today, I have no set schedule in the truck; I drive when my partner is out of time and he does so when I am out of time. The truck is forever on the go up to twelve hundred miles daily, with a suspension system designed to clack your teeth together should a tire roll over a quarter. One must continually endure trying to sleep while the truck is at a constant 9.3 on the Richter scale, and this sleep could be demanded at five in the morning or five in the afternoon, or anywhere in between. There are stops, rushes ahead to stop fast, wide turns and the various endless maneuvers known in these big trucks.

Sleeping in these conditions is both an art and skill. One usually does so eventually, as exhaustion will take over at any time. But the problem is that once the exhaustion is dealt with via some sleep, one often wakes well before desired. Then there is the fact there must be some law preventing the bunk in these trunks to be comfortable whatsoever. I have been driving team with this good fellow since sometime in October, and for the most part I have grown accustomed to it.

But lately some of the days and nights have been so odd as we’ve often had to wait for a bit of time to resume from a specific stop. Any semblance of a predictable schedule was given up some time ago. It isn’t uncommon to fight the fatigue at a time when one wants to stop, and just as common to just lie there, ready to go, during the limited time available to recuperate. And then, wham.

Now, I understand the phenomenon of sleep to be a rather complex and mysterious process despite the common nature of the phenomenon. The body goes through some significant processes in order to sleep, and then the processes taking place during this time are equally significant. Not only does the body rest and consciousness subside, but this is actually an increased anabolic state.

I believe my body is reacting to a significant amount of sleep deprivation and disturbance. While I am trying to sleep when I can, environmental conditions and other factors are disturbing and therefore modifying the sleep process, causing errors in the system. While chemical, anabolic and other biological processes are in full swing, external forces are impinging on proper progression, leading to a malformed conclusion. The errors, now increasingly consistent yet changing in their methods, are taking hold.

The common transformational processes are being afflicted with anomalous occurrences so continually that the appropriate process is being replaced with an askew version. This is leading to stresses in the process, so rather than achieving rest, a condition of marked unrest is occurring. The symptoms resulting from this is severe stress combined with subconscious defense mechanisms not unlike common factors known with PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In short, I think my sleeping process has falsely determined it is under attack, or at least living in chaotic conditions, and as a result is responding with abrupt measures not much different from a high fever.

The one night I slept fine, just two nights ago, I was home and quite relaxed. I was in the kitchen and enjoyed a couple beers while watching a movie alone. Then, once I was quite tired and had to try to sleep despite my misgivings about enduring the expected headache, I got into a bed that was quite comfortable and not moving at all.

I slept almost continuously for nearly eight hours. I was up just once for the restroom.

My sleeping processes are assuming they’re under attack. That is the knowledge I have gained during this epiphany.

I should add some of the side effects of these drugs include dizziness, mania, euphoria and anxiety. Further, some of my common stresses combined with some of these drugs can significantly increase Cortisol, which can lead to even more stressful issues and body breakdown.

Hey, I’m just saying. I’m just fine to drive. 

Alphabet v. Wheel- Which is the Greater Invention?

Some simple thought prompts certain things as food for thought, and historical consideration of the basic inventions we enjoy everyday often have people reminiscing on what it might have been like without this or before that. What was life like before our electronic age? Can you imagine what a computer would have been like before the transistor or the microchip? How about before the vacuum tube? What was it like before plastic?

What was it like before iron or bronze?

There are a handful of basic inventions and discoveries that made a fundamental difference for the humanity following ever since and these are contemplated now and then. For example, the discovery of fire is often considered the finest of humanity’s early discoveries since so much rapidly occurred thereafter, and the wheel is often considered humanity’s first primary stroke of genius.

I cannot doubt this grand invention was one of humanity’s first master wonder thoughts of historical proportion. Evidence of the invention of the wheel goes back nearly ten thousand years and we’re still using the hell out of it (can you imagine the difference of our world if one particular family name held a patent on that thing all this time? Hey, a story unfolds…), but is it still the finest of human inventions? Has anything surpassed it in importance? Just because it happened first, does that make it the forever number one?

The history of the Alphabet does not go back quite so far, but this thinker will make the claim that the wheel was dethroned by this one amazing invention. Because, sure, Grog and the other cavemen of the time could have passed on the methods to create another wheel without really having to write it down, but the potential implications of this invention and the potential future that could be created required some serious thought. The point is that the possibility to write down information and then pass it on to others in order to regain that information from what was written down has made a difference in human history unlike anything else.

So, why does the wheel take all the credit as being humanity’s finest invention? Beyond that, was the wheel an actual invention or does it also fall under the category of discovery? Those who first used the wheel for practical purposes may not have just worked out the wheel thinking they need something that rolls, but may have come across something round and found it rolls. Grog or Bill or whoever looked at that and had some dazzling thoughts about what could be done with it, but did he truly invent the thing?

Look, we’ll never know that for sure, but we can be certain that the development of the alphabet wasn’t something so easily stumbled upon. Sure, certain aspects of symbolic drawing likely led to simplifying those symbols in order to ease the time spent (they didn’t have writing tools then, one must suppose) creating them, and eventually a standardization took place. Today’s Phoenician Alphabet is considered the standard by which other alphabets were based on and has been since it was first created so long ago, and it exists with only one other primary alphabetical system, which is the Chinese writing. Sure, there are Hebrew and other forms, but the alphabet we use along with the system still employed by the Chinese are now the mainstays while others just hang on within certain cliques. And the alphabet wins out over that Chinese method as the standard to consider around the globe.

The Alphabet we know of today truly changed the way humanity functions on just about every level. Now, the wheel was a basic invention that changed human history forever, and another standardized invention helped along the way, which was the development of language. The use of language was likely one of the first capabilities placing humanity on the road to sentience and civilization, but the written language allowed humanity to travel so much faster and to so many more people. Writing down how to make a certain wheel and then disseminating that information far and wide would have been better than Grog rolling his one wheel along and having people behold firsthand.

Language was certainly one of humanity’s greatest thresholds of grand importance, but the invention of the written language allowed human thought and discovery to spread just about everywhere. This is why we still consider the library as a location of incredible human wisdom, history and the accumulation of what we know, all in one convenient spot. That is made possible because of the alphabet.

And wow, but is it so simple. Clearly, I am employing this awesome invention at this moment simply to pass on these thoughts to you, and the alphabet ensures these thoughts are passed on far and wide. By using the alphabet in the way it was prescribed (this symbol sounds like this, while this one sounds like that, and you put them together to obtain this sound, or more importantly, this word…) we’ve been able to reach a point where we can fly, discover so many secrets of the universe, see places once thought not to exist, and, well, on and on and on.

As a writer, I am so grateful to have this marvelous invention as a part of my life. In fact, such things as writers would not be here; we would still be mere hunters and gatherers, and maybe doing some farming. At the time of this writing, I have been making my living as a truck driver (all 18 wheels of it), so it isn’t as though I am someone dissing the wheel. Those eighteen wheels have made a positive difference in my life, as well as everyone else’s. Today’s Transportation Industry makes all the difference in the way society and the economy operates, so if trucks were to stop rolling, so wouldn’t everything else.

While it wasn’t something I thought of consciously on a daily basis, but I have to consider how these two primary and ever-important inventions have made a particular difference in my life. Further, while I do find the alphabet the better of the two inventions for several reasons, the wheel does me more in terms of economic potential than the alphabet.

After all, innumerable people benefit from what I do via the wheel, but how many people will ever make it through to reading this particular sentence? 

Science & Faith- As Above, So Below

After giving this some thought, I have found I cannot help but to support the faith and theories behind religious and spiritual isms. But my reasoning doesn't have to do with the Bible or people’s firm assertions of what is right and wrong. Rather, my spiritual beliefs and faith in the place of God is based on the very things many people find turning them from these beliefs.

It’s funny how so many people have looked towards science and rational discovery as a vehicle to dismiss the existence of God and, therefore, the value of religion. I find this strange since the more I learn about how the universe and the world works, and how all things great and small work together on a precarious balance, the more it seems the notion that it is somehow an accumulation of random occurrences just appears naïve at best.

When we consider what science has learned of how the galaxies function and hold together, and how the methods operating our home galaxy foster the possibility of life here on Earth, and then how complex and sophisticated life is and has been for more than three billion years, and then how the function of the planet itself allows for life, and then how the solar system’s construction allows for life here (did you the know the gas giants help suck up a lot of meteoric debris through their extraordinary gravitational pull?), and then how our position within the galaxy allows our solar system to operate in its fashion, and the magnetic field of our world along with the atmospheric density of the planet fosters great protection for the life below…and then we must consider how science must only be scratching the surface of what can be known.

I do understand how difficult it is for some to give blind faith to religion; I am one of these people and I find religion a difficult subject. But I cannot help but to believe with absolute conviction there is a Universal Consciousness operating within, throughout, and above all of this. To assume it came together randomly as opposed to Intelligent Design is so hard for me to grasp.

Now, the Biblical teachings of what and who God truly is can be hard for me. It is difficult for me to believe in some invisible man in the sky. But, if my assumptions are correct in there is a Universal Consciousness, then I must concede that this God has placed a method of us understanding Him in a way He has chosen. But, one might ask, how do we explain the various religious dogmas, beliefs, philosophies, and pursuits? There is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and on and on. They’re obviously different, and within each there are different sects.

Look, once upon a time, mankind was not so united on a global front. Getting from here to there was a significant undertaking for a long time. So, might have this Universal Consciousness reached out to those according to their cultural specifics? Or, did they reach out to it, feeling innately to be a part of it? Beyond this, why do people who look at the Bible and other religious texts as having missing parts (explain the dinosaurs, Jesus) demonstrating a sure-fire clue that they’re just plain making it all up? It is so difficult for me to accept the atheistic notion that there are only the three physical dimensions and that we’re just meat come together as a result of various random effects. The clues signifying this is radical denial are just too voluminous.

It could be that religion and spirituality is evolving and growing in sophistication as we do. That is a bitter pill for the faithful, but my purpose in this treatise is to explore a mystery. So then, how does one explain the corruption of faith, such as is being suffered in the Muslim faiths? How they assume Allah looks at the infidels as something to be destroyed (when He made them like they are) yet assume this same Creator supremely fucked up in placing a clitoris on the female so it is their job to lop all of them off? There are questions just not presenting their answers, but they do point out there isn’t anyone with a firm enough grasp of the actual truth.

I assume (I cannot state this with conviction and faith) that the Universe somehow developed a self awareness of a sort and a consciousness. There is a plane somewhere there that developed a form of sentience. But I assume it may not have always been like this and that this Consciousness does not have all the answers, but is working it out as time moves along. Perhaps God is not omniscient like we want to assume, but He needs to figure things out as He goes along. Maybe, just maybe, God is evolving, too.

As for Evolution, why do the religious want to doubt it? I bite my lip when people arrogantly state evolution says we just came from monkeys so it’s just bullshit. Well, first, it doesn’t say that whatsoever. We have to eat, sleep, bathe, eliminate, and do other things specific to the mundane, physical world, so why must we think God didn’t adopt evolution as a means of creating His Creation? He might have very well started with simple life way back in the Cambrian or whatever it was and then came up with bright improvements along the way (and that’s just here).

Have you asked why we are sentient and self aware (we’re not as much as we like to think) and why we’ve developed our minds and command of our world like we have? Could our intelligence and ability to create technology be a consequence of evolution resulting from the last great extinction? Might the Universal Consciousness assume that since this world could be struck out and somehow destroyed that there should be a species capable of achieving migration from the world, or saving it entirely? Geese fly south for the winter, but we cannot fly into outer space the same way. We must have technology. Ergo, our technology is a natural consequence of evolution and nature because the Universal Consciousness worked it out that way. It is fair to say the neon lights of Vegas are just as natural as the stars or the bellies of fireflies.

In one simple sentence: There is nothing supernatural or unnatural, ever. There is only the natural, and if it exists or will, or has, it is natural. Our space exploration is as natural as the migration of whales.

But this Universal Consciousness doesn’t seem to favor many species. More than 99% of all life that we have ever known to exist has long died out. I believe it is fair to state that if we do not get our shit together and work out our troubles, the Universal Consciousness just might decide to try again with someone else.

This is why we have a space program and a nuclear weapons program. Whichever one works better is the one who gets to stay. Why would God care? Just allow the insect world to develop a sentient species and try again. I believe the one fatal and all-consuming error of religion (forgive me) is that God does not single us out any more than he does any other creature. We assume we’ve had some favor because of our place in the scheme of things, but then, we can only assume. The difference between arrogance and ignorance is minuscule, and we know so precious little. Just imagine how our place in the eyes of God will change should we discover there is really life elsewhere. But life on other planets, particularly intelligent life, would not shake my faith in the Universal Consciousness; it would cinch it down unlike anything else ever could. But those guys in your randomizer and smoke it.

The point is that Nature and God come together so well that I cannot understand how people look to science and dismiss God, or how the faithful look to science and dismiss the assumptions and theories? If there is a God, and then Bigfoot and Martians, ghosts and mermaids, then they are of a Natural consequence. If there were truly dinosaurs, they were a creature of God, too. One does not cancel out the other.

I believe that one of the great challenges humanity faces now is the acceptance of the culmination of these isms. If we cannot do this and we must continue with the notion that they’re separate, then our place in the scheme of things might suffer. This is why I loathe radical political Islam; it could be the very last straw for our existence at all. If it flourishes over us, we will flourish no more.

So, could this final challenge be what has been predicted in the End Times and by the various celebrity prophets? What could justify any attention given to prophecies?

If the Universe works as I theorize and that this Universal Consciousness pervades it completely, then it surely could see these events taking us one way or another. If I see you reaching for a salt shaker and then you ask me, what am I doing right now, I can suppose you’re reaching for the salt shaker. If you grasp it and state I was correct, I would have accurately prophesied a future event. But this one would be so mundane because it is so obviously based on empirical evidence that one’s incited to yawn. But how does one suppose Nostradamus and his vision is based on wacky superstition and not an actual empirical view unseen by us, as he might have a greater touch on universal empiricism. How do we do this to any of the prophets not allowed by our personal faiths?

I believe the missing link between our spiritual faiths and our empirical knowledge is the key to our survival. We must recognize this link if we are to truly succeed and not go extinct. Only time will tell, but the Mayans predicted this time was a new era (those who thought this was the end were incorrect; it doesn't take much faith to recognize that) and this new era sees these two polarities clashing in a way unlike any other time we know of in all of history. We now live in a time when these two will either cancel one another out or come together, united as a One species greater than the one prior.

As above, so below.