Geron Kees

Hi, Nick! Good to see you again. Yep, well, every male knows what it's like to hear his boys talking to him. Some guys have a direct neural path from their crotch to the motor center of their brains, with only a small side link to the part of the brain that makes them drool. Others filter their 'impulses' through at least some area of the brain that deals with reasoning thinking, which allows for a bit of grace in the animal impulse. It's the difference between a smile, and a nice ,"Hi!", and a leer and a, "Yeehah! Here I come, baby!"

Grim. Alarming. Trenchant. I was not born until 1967, and so missed the worst of that period. I cannot say I'm sorry. I saw a little film once called 'Duck and Cover', and it made me sad to think it was shown to school children. There are better things out there to teach.

Your area of the country is better prepared for a quake than the entire rest of the nation. I have confidence you will be fine where you are. My area doesn't get much of this stuff. But there is no part of the country that is immune to some form of movement of the crust. The time spans between events here are far longer, because the forces at work are much slower. You California guys have all the fun!

Thanks for commenting!

Read the Schwartz, et al, group paper on the Hayward fault quake of 1868, and whether or not that fault is due to move again. The geologic record indicates an average of 150 years or less between major fault shifts, and we are currently at the 151 year mark since the last Hayward movement. The Hayward fault is the single most urbanized fault in the nation, with 2.4 million people living along the fault trace in the San Francisco area. The 1989 Loma Prieta quake is the strongest quake to test the quake resistance engineering of buildings and homes in the area, and the epicenter of that quake was relatively remote compared to the Hayward fault, which runs right through the USC Berkeley football stadium. The Loma Prieta quake was a 6.9 quake. The next movement of the Hayward is predicted to be 7.0 or larger. I think I'll stay in New York!

How did you know I was interested in seismology and tectonics?

Jack was a cool guy. I started watching him when I came here as a kid, and still remember the jingle for his little show. Your friend did good. I remember that show very fondly! So it wasn't Brian Cox? Who, then? Inquiring minds want to know!

Ivor just told you!

Hmm. I don't know about radio, but Jack Horkheimer used to have a brief segment on PBS called, "The Star Hustler" (later "the Star Gazer"). He was, until his death in 2010, the director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.

Thanks! And thanks for spotting the typo that no one else caught!

Warm feelings are nice to have. Thanks for offering this one!

Agreed. Religion should never be a weapon. Weapons destroy people. I cannot abide those who think that the right way to use religion is as a bludgeon. Otherwise, what others believe is their own business.

Thanks. And I had to laugh at your comment on Dame Edna. Like DQ said, the guy is straight as an arrow. He just has a sense of humor, and likes to appear in make up and dresses. If someone wanted to pay me a lot of $$$ to appear in make up and a dress, and crack jokes, I'd at least give it some serious thought!

Hell, I enjoyed your short-story-in-a-comment! I agree that maturity is a state of mind as much as the culmination of years of experience, and the organization of our thoughts and habits to deal with them all. Being able to choose to lapse in maturity a little is a gift. There is no rule hard-coded into humans that says we have to 'act our age'. That rule was created by prudes and party-poopers to cover the fact that they were embarrassed to step out a little, themselves. "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." This is one of the better known verses on this very subject. I am not a religious kind of guy, but I have to admit that there are some gloriously quotable things in religious texts. This one always stuck in my mind. And, as with all written things, it is subject to individual interpretation. As a bit of wisdom, it is great fun. And I agree with it, in the context that, as an adult, we really do need to think like an adult, and make adult decisions about things. And, most importantly, we need to treat others with enough of a mature attitude that we do not constantly trod upon toes as we go about life. But not all things need to be dealt with maturely, and humor (and fun) is one of the things that is completely subjective. Fun should be exactly that. Sharing fun is an even more wonderful experience than just having fun yourself. I place no limitations upon fun, except those of reason, safety, and law. Having fun is too much fun to restrict any of it that does not need to be restricted. So the above verse, read when in mature adult mode, means 'act your age'. In fun mode, it simply means, "don't forget to put your toys away when you're done!"

Thanks! Well, if John had taken up Mr. Henderson on the ride home, the story would have been a lot shorter, and a lot less satisfying.

Okay. I just wanted to know if you were comfortable with yourself now, or still working at it. You seem pretty collected to me, but I only have to listen to you, not look at you!

Thank you. I hope they're happy tears!

Right near the top? Okay, I guess I can deal with that. I just hope that your To Do list doesn't have a zillion things on it, and that near the top means sixty or seventy places down!

I didn't think it was nonsense at all. Now, if you start writing political speeches, I'll have to reserve judgment until I hear them!

Yep. I fool myself all the time. It's part of being human. But I try not to let everyone know when I'm doing it! Agree on the feedback. It's not the reason I like to write, but it is definitely a nice perk!

NEVER say never! I have written a half dozen 'stand alone' stories, that now have one or more sequels. There's a lesson in there, somewhere!

Do you tell people you're out now? Closets are small, dark, and depressing, and there is just always that one thing that wants to poke you in the ribs while you're hiding there!

Well, I thought you were a reader when you commented on my stuff. I should have looked first. Now I know better!

Very thoughtful piece. You can write, my friend, and you have thoughts worth sharing. You really need to be doing more of it!

Good start. I do want to know where this is going.But it looks like it's been lying fallow for a while. Why the wait? More?