Continued from last week
Day 3
Our hosts offered us the use of their jetski. But not just any jetski – it was a stand-up jetski.
For those of you who have ridden a jetski: it’s not like a normal jetski. The difference is like between driving a car and driving a motorcycle. It requires a lot more balance and a lot of concentration. With a normal jetski you can slow down or stop and not have to do anything. With a stand-up jetski you must balance all the time. Imagine riding a bike or motorcycle and not being able to put your feet down, or a kickstand either. Because there’s not ground under you.
And the handlebar moves up and down when you don’t want it to. That was the hardest part for me – I wasn’t keeping the handlebar down all the way when I was starting and I couldn’t steer very well. Anyway, here’s some guy on a stand-up jetski:
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Day 1
After last year’s excursion to the west coast, we took a shorter vacation this year, staying in the Midwest.
First off, we drove to Green Bay, WI. I had fond memories of going to tour Lambeau Field, so I wanted my kids to experience that. Actually, I have only one memory of the tour, but I do remember going when I was a kid. So day 1 of vacation was driving to Green Bay and then going on the official tour of the stadium.
First up: the statues. We parked near the statues out front. One of Curly Lambeau
And then one of Vince Lombardi:
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If I asked “What is the largest mountain?” you would probably answer “Mt. Everest”.
There is an unambiguous meaning concerning what makes mountains big: it’s the height.
If I asked “What is the biggest lake?” you would probably look it up and find there are two answers because there are two meanings concerning what makes a lake big: area or volume.
My vote is for area.
What is the purpose of a lake?
To provide lakefront property? That requires shoreline, which is a function of area.
To run boats and jetskis? That requires area.
To provide scenic views and relaxing sunsets? No one cares about the volume of the lake for those.
To give waterfowl room to live? They care about the area.
To hold water for humans to use? That’s not a lake, that’s a reservoir.
Part of the problem is that we don’t have a word to describe area like we do for height. You can ask what the tallest mountain is. That is specifically for height. How do you ask what the lake is with the largest surface area? What is the area-est lake? No, you ask “What is the biggest lake?” Same thing for volume. What is the hold-mostest lake? No, you ask “What is the biggest lake?”
Any ideas for a word that means “largest surface area”?
Any ideas for a word that means “largest volume”?
And no, you are not allowed to suggest “loudest” as the answer for that last question.
Was it not You who dried up the sea,
The waters of the great deep;
Who made the depths of the sea a pathway
For the redeemed to cross over?
Isaiah 51:10
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I like my cars simple. One reason is because they’re easier to work on, but another is that the kids who are learning to drive will learn to be better drivers if the cars do less for them.
Here it is, illustrated:
Let’s use blind-spot detection as an example. If the car always tells a kid when there’s a car in his blind spot, he won’t feel the need to check his blind spot himself and thus he won’t develop the good habit of doing so. Conversely, if he learns to drive with the needs to check his blind spot before changing lanes, he will develop that habit.
Kids, or anyone for that matter, need to get the good habits when they start learning to drive. It’s a lot harder to gain new habits once the subject has been learned.
There are a number of other safety features that have been added to vehicles lately, and they all work fairly well in that they accomplish their goals.
It’s not limited to vehicles either – there are other examples such as tamper-proof outlets. You can’t always protect people from their own foolishness.
When he sees riders, horsemen in pairs, A train of donkeys, a train of camels, Let him pay close attention, very close attention.
Isaiah 21:7
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This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
