25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about me

1. In high school I learned to send and receive Morse code at 13 words per minute to qualify for an Amateur Radio Operators license. My Ham call sign was W7ZMO. Dah di dah dit, dah dah di dah. (Hello, CQ)
2. In putting myself through college in four years, I was a butcher in a small grocery store, worked in a pea cannery, drove a wheat truck, was a Cat-skinner pulling a hillside combine, and finally a combine man and crew boss. I earned a BA in Language/Literature.
3. At Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho, I was a ministerial student, held a local preachers license and gave chalk-talks to youth groups illustrating colorful scenes of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.
4. I mistook the aurora borealis for the Second Coming while disking in wheat stubble on night shift. I got down off the Caterpillar tractor and prayed for 15 minutes awaiting the Ascension before it dawned on me that I was witnessing the most elaborate display of the Northern Lights ever seen in Walla Walla, Washington. I was so happy I wasn’t one of the “left behind!” BTW, my spiritual beliefs have changed since then. (See #23-25)
5. While stationed in Denver in the ‘60s, I flew myself to week-end Air National Guard drills in a Piper PA-12. I wanted to log hours on my private pilot license.
6. After a 15 year career with IBM, first servicing punch-card equipment, then as a Systems Engineer and finally an Instructor; I bought and restored “fix-er-upper” houses and apartments in Denver and on Maui.
7. I sailed in regattas with a Windmill class racing sloop before I took up wind surfing in Colorado and Maui.
8. My worst investment was apartment houses in a poor Denver neighborhood in which I was a “slumlord.” I’d have to pick up rents on the day tenants received their welfare payments or I’d be SOL for the month. Boy was I glad to get out from under that!
9. For 18 years I lived in an authentic Bucky Fuller geodesic dome I constructed entirely myself in Fraser, Colorado, near the Winter Park Ski Resort.
10. It was “Pike’s Peak or Bust” as we celebrated the climb of our final “fourteener.” In 1977 I received a trophy plaque on Pikes Peak, along with my two climbing buddies, Bob and Jay, for having scaled each of Colorado’s 54 peaks over 14,000 feet in elevation. Our families were able celebrate with us on top by driving up the mountain. Only two 14ers have a road to the summit. We climbed back down the way we climbed up to make it official.
11. On another insane mis-adventure, I lost the muffler and running-board step from my ’46 Willis Jeep while off-roading up the back side of Mt. Evans. But I made it to the top! Two other jeepers who started with me were unable to navigate the terrain and had to turn back about three-quarters of the way up. Mt. Evans is the only other Colorado fourteener to have a road to the summit. I drove back down the other side on the paved road.
12. I once taught a computer class for IBM in Puerto Rico. I still have the shell of a prize conch I pulled up while scuba diving there. With a little garlic and drawn butter it was delicious!
13. Along with the captain of the Maui Diamond fishing boat and my girlfriend, the three of us landed a 13 foot, 365 pound Blue Marlin while motoring back from snorkeling at Molokini. Pictures were published in the newspaper.
14. I earned a life time ski pass to Winter Park Ski Resort by volunteering 15 years for the National Sports Center for the Disabled as a ski instructor teaching blind kids to ski.
15. I was the fireman on a steam engine; my partner was a retired Union Pacific steam locomotive engineer. Along with 2 other partners, we owned and operated a 1907 Baldwin 2-8-0 Consolidation steam engine and several railroad cars which we leased to movie companies. I shoveled hundreds of tons of coal into that firebox!
16. As well as running the equipment, we frequently appeared in the movies as extras. Among the 20 plus movies we made were: Cat Ballu, The Professionals, The Devil’s Brigade, Breakheart Pass, Centennial (TV series), The Frisco Kid, Heavens Gate and A River Runs Through It. I sold my interest in the engine when Hollywood turned from making westerns to making space odysseys.
17. I’ve watched every episode and movie of Star Trek, first and second generations. Many of them several times. Am I a Trekkie? Other favorite TV series were Northern Exposure and Picket Fences.
18. I took thousands of railroading photographs and produced slide shows using two projectors and a dissolve unit and put on performances for various organizations to standing ovations. Now I’m digitizing those slides to make Power Point presentations.
19. I met my wife, Judy, in 1992 at a watercolor workshop in the Bahamas, conducted by an artist friend, Susan Blackwood. For 7 years we sold our paintings from a tent booth at Art & Craft Fairs throughout the Rocky Mountains. In 2001 we painted on locations around Provence, France, again with Susan.
20. I was employed by IBM for 15 years; then operated my own computer business for 18 years while being a ski-bum at the Winter Park Ski Resort. Drawing from my IBM experience I could sell, build, install, service, program, network and train operators on PCs in the ski resort condo rental property business.
21. Now a septuagenarian, I produce and maintain websites, as a Web-Servant, for non-profit organizations on a volunteer basis. I also post to my FriskyPhil blog every day.
22. I turn water into wine – but it takes me a year; …I have to irrigate the vines, harvest and crush the grapes, ferment the juice, bottle and age it. When I drink it, I turn wine into water in an hour. I don’t know how that’s done. It’s a miracle.
23. All my life I’ve been a spiritual Truth seeker, asking the question, “What am I?” I finally found that for which I was looking. I Am That I Am. It’s so simple when you live in the NOW and practice ho’oponopono.
24. I’m not who I think I am. I am not a body. I discovered my real Self is that beingness that underlies the drama of my life story. I began to awaken when a tiny ray of Truth was slipped past the ego during an est training in the ‘70s. I’ve continued mind training as a student of A Course in Miracles, Way of Mastery, Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament, Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, John Sherman and many others.
25. Source supplies all my needs. There is nothing to fear. Time is an illusion. The past is but a memory, the future is but a hope. The present moment of Now is all there is, forever. By simply noticing that I am here, that I am aware, that I exist; I have found a deep peace, happiness, and joy in forgiveness and simply allowing what is, to be. I follow inner guidance. I Am Love.

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

T.S.: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

C: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?

T.S.: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

C: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

T.S.: What programs are running?

C: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge, and Resentment running right now.

T.S.: No problem. Love will gradually delete Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

C: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

T.S.: With pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely deleted.

C: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

T.S.: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

C: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?

T.S.: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.

C: So what should I do?

T.S. Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge Your Limitations.

C: Okay, done.

T.S.: Now copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

C: Got it. Hey! My Heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over my Heart. Is this normal?

T.S.: Sometimes. For others, it takes awhile, but eventually gets it at the proper time. So, Love is
installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various components to everyone you meet. They will in turn, share it with others and return some cool components back to you.