There are projects around the house such as building a new deck, putting on a new roof or cleaning out the garage. Then there are projects around the house such as crate training a Jack Russell terrier.

In the long run, Luna will succeed. It is going to take some work and it seems like a colossal task right now but Luna is going to graduate from college and behave like a non-jack Russell terrier.

Day one of informal training went surprisingly well. Her house is known as tu Casa. Yes, we thought we would train her and teach her Spanish at the same time. That makes a lot of sense considering she picked up German OK. It was kind of funny watching her start to bond with her house last night.

Which brings us back to Pavlov and BF Skinner. Skinner introduced the idea of shaping. Shaping is the process of rewarding behavior as it gets closer and closer to the desired outcome. And that is what we are doing with Luna right now. She gets little rewards for being around her house, going in her house, being quiet in her house.

I should be using the term tu Casa because she’s listening as I am writing this. The beauty of voice recognition.

So you remember back in college when during the summer you had assigned reading and had to read certain books to be prepared for the fall. That is exactly what it is right now. This is Luna’s summer reading.

This is also Jenna and my summer reading. How to crate train a Jack Russell. The book will be on the shelves in 2022.

Have a great Friday

While learning Spanish we are trying to figure out when to use terms for this and that. I had the same struggle with the title of this brain dump whether we had this stupid problem for that stupid problem. We still have a problem with stupid.and right now I’m not talking about ignorance and hatred. Those are related , yet a discussion for another day. Right now I’m talking about the issue of stupid. And there are many many people who love having the stupid problem.

Yes, a cheap and uneducated workforce is beneficial to the agenda of those Who try To rule democratic and economic processes in the United States. It is to their benefit to keep college expensive and attainable to the very rich for those who make great sacrifices for their children to get a good education. I believe it was during the Reagan era when federal funding for/for colleges and the funding never returned at the state level. So the chief responsibility of footing the higher cost rested to that of the students and families of the students.

Non-college-educated white voters used to solidly belong to Democrats, and college-educated white voters to Republicans. Several events over the past six decades have caused these allegiances to switch, the most recent being the candidacy, election, and presidency of Donald Trump.

But we’ve always had this if you’re in the United States. There is a common mistrust of those who did not go to college of those who did. Mistrust is such a tepid word that sometimes it borders on out right contempt.

It has been observed, those with a college education tend to vote for progressive candidates. Of course there’s black and white in there but this is the overall trend. So of course, it is an agenda item to keep college education expensive and pretty much unobtainable. Or you can bribe your way in, or money your way in and in the best case scenario study your way in.

I don’t see why it has to be mutually exclusive as I believe getting certified in a trade such as plumbing, woodworking and electricity is a great way to go. It is a skill set I am in awe of and there are certain people who are better suited to do that.

Of course I beat around the bush and never even got close to addressing the stupid problem. I just gave a nod and a wink to the smart problem. Let’s get everybody smart and on the same page.

Let’s get everybody on the same team.

I have not been out of the house in ages, and I headed out last night to go for a walk with my old next-door neighbor and one of my best friends. And for a while there, I had flashbacks to normal. It was my old commute to my old neighborhood and the trip I used to make weekly to play soccer.

Everything felt familiar to the angle of the sun, the litter along the expressway, and the reflection off of Mount Hood. It all felt kind of familiar. I think my heart started beating faster, with a stimulus response in anticipation of playing soccer.

But we were simply going for a walk. I reminded me of an old Pretenders song which I can’t remember the title. I believe it’s called “My City Was Gone”.

I didn’t see anyone I used to know, many businesses were closed and there was not the usual hustle and bustle. It felt like my city was gone. And there is a beauty with that as well as those living there deserve a well earned quiet night at home. It is their city now.

Have you ever watched the highlights of a sporting event. The stations glorify the violent dunks, violent hits instead of the artistry and beauty that can be the game. And that’s true of many things in life.

For now we look at the conflict in Columbia. The leading photograph in this article is that of the beauty of a Colombian city. The people, the music, the culture that is this South American country is beautiful. The pictures that are glorified are violence, conflict death and revolution.

Very little goes into saying what people are protesting against. In this case it is higher taxes. In United States it is a myriad of reasons and for now it is centered on equity and race. And by design, the focus is on the violence and conflict.

Then again I always underestimate the publics insatiable thirst for what is violent and what is conflict. That is what sells newspapers, and clicks on webpages.

One common denominator across countries.,a common thread vaguely goes back do religion. Those in power, promise great rewards to the common people in a far off time which may or may not exist. Not to piss anyone off, I Lean towards the later.

I don’t have an answer, other than dig deeper, understand the issues, See the inherent self-worth of humans and take to the streets if need be.

Namaste