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Michael McLeod

Is artificial intelligence that much of a threat that the pope had to send out that warning?

David Mitchell

Mike,

I am the least "techie" person on earth. But from what I can gather, the Pope's warning is valid. It looks as if un-checked AI has huge potential for good AND evil.

Michael McLeod

nerd word for the day. just ran across it, never saw it before, but perked right up because I knew enough german to recognize welt, which in german means "world." 

An Umwelt (plural: Umwelten) is the specific, subjective perceptual world experienced by a particular organism. Derived from the German word for "environment" or "surroundings", it describes how an animal's unique sensory capabilities—and what it considers significant—shape its reality, even when sharing a physical space with others. 

Michael Boulware

A lot of our people have been asking about Friday , Julty 24 plans for the day before our reunion. We are going to have a before the reunion party at Woodlands Backyard, 668 Grandview Ave, just north of the freeway. The owner is a Watterson backer and is setting aside a section of his restaurant so we can talk to each other without shouting. He is providing a free bowling machine. There is ample parking and a great menu. Plan to meet there at 4 o'clock. He has been told that we should be out of there by 8, he doesn't care if we stay longer. There is no need to make a reservation; just show up with a smile. That's Friday, July 24, 4 o'clock , at Woodlands Backyard in Grandview.

Michael McLeod

Please forgive me if I have posted this before. we were on the subject of snow and it reminded me of a favorite poem by robert frost. love it so much i know it by heart. it's about snow,yes -- but it's also about something much deeper. Love the line that compares melting snow to a disappearing snake, and the fact that the very last word  is a clue to what's really on his mind just gives this poem the most resonant final "ta da!" I can recall.

It's called "First Snow" 

James Hamilton, M. D.

More Parking Lot Photography

Yeah, good photos are available everywhere, and cellphones allow anyone to capture them. But it helps to develop an eye to appreciate the subtle scenes that are easy to overlook. 

This evening Janet and I pulled into the parking lot of one of our usual quickie eateries and, once again, I was able to view clouds, partnering with the Front Range and Pikes Peak, to create a stunning post-sunset. In moments like these one has but a few seconds before the light changes to darkness and the scene is lost.

With minimal photo editing (available on the phone itself) I was able to create an image close to what my eyes saw. The two flagpoles seem to be pointing to a portal of entry through the clouds to heaven and the line of thick clouds at the bottom of the scene were shrouding the Front Range of the Rockies.

Sunset over the Rockies! Gotta love it!!!

Jim

P.S.

Why do I do photo editing? It shows what I really saw and so can crop out parts of the photo that are not pertinent to the theme.

Michael McLeod

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/27/opinion/america-incarceration-prison-time-film.html

worth the trouble of copying and clicking.

hope the link works for you.

Jim: beautiful image!

Michael Boulware

I challenge each of you to pick out FIVE people in our class that you want to make sure you get to spend some time rebonding with at our reunion. I know our lists are going to number a lot more than five, but I am establishing limits. At the top of my list is Goose McKeon and Steve Hodges. Those two always did their best at everything they attempted. I would love to see Joe McDonough, that guy is as close to a perfect person as there is. Bill McCray and Gus DiNovo always make me laugh talking about our old grade school days. WOW! My five filled in quickly. I sure have a lot more I could add but I set a limit.

David Mitchell

Mike B.

I'd have to go with my old OLP guys, John Jackson, Kieth Groff, Kevin Ryan, Tommy Swain and Charly Kaps.

But then I'd be forgetting Tom McKeon and Steve Hodges. Where do I stop?

Joseph Gentilini

I am really sorry that I now find I am unable to attend this reunion and I was really looking forward to it.  SO HAVE A GOOD TIME!

Joe Gentilini

Michael McLeod

Graupel! 

That's just one of those words that sounds so cool when you say it out loud, whether or not you even know what it means. 

Unfortunately it's not a word that comes up in conversation down here in Orlando though. I had to look it up when I ran across it in a story I just read.

Graupel (pronounced GROW-pul) is a type of winter precipitation consisting of small, opaque, white pellets that form when supercooled water droplets freeze onto falling snowflakes. Also known as "soft hail" or "snow pellets," it is distinct from actual hail because it is soft, crumbly, and easily crushed between your fingers. 

Michael McLeod

Your other way cool word for the day is "cockamamie."

Cockamamie (sometimes spelled cockamamy) is an informal American slang adjective that means ridiculous, pointless, or nonsensical. It is typically used to describe a wild, unconvincing, or hare-brained idea, excuse, or plan.

Mark Schweickart

Mike -- Thanks for bringing up the word "cockamamie". This was one of my father's favorite expressions that would come blurting out of him whenever he was particularly annoyed by something. I don't think I have heard anyone else ever using this word. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Footprints

Our home is punctuated with memories.

As we downsize the bareness of most of our carpeted rooms are left with imprints of furnishings which have been hauled away or donated for others to use.

We are down to the essentials that we still need and use until our house is sold and we can move to a unit which we have reserved in Ohio. Our walls are bare, the pictures and artwork that once were there will have to be separated into "keep or not" categories soon. 

Fifty years of living in this home allowed us time - perhaps too much time - to make it a part of us and who we are.

Pray that our house will sell soon and our return to Ohio will go well.

Jim

Michael McLeod

ok though this smells faintly of a popularity contest I'll bite on the suggestion of a top five I'd like to catch up with at the reunion:

Stan Kronenberger Mary Clare Hummer Dave Dunn Keith Groff Jim Hamilton

plus all the other hot girls I lusted after if that's ok. I know I'm a wheezing and disgusting old fart but it's all I got left.

Joseph D. McCarthy

Mike B.

I sent you a Message on this site.

Joe

Joseph D. McCarthy

Mike as a retired, if there is such a thing, reporter I've noticed youhaven't said a word about the upcoming 250th anniversary celebration.  NO, not that one.  A man who can recite the Canadian National anthem should be well aware that this is the 2250th anniveersary of the founding of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Michael McLeod

your word for the day is "scalawag." Don't hear it anymore but I remember my mom using it.

A scalawag (also spelled scallywag) is a mischievous, deceitful, or disreputable person, often a playful rascal. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mike McL.,

Great words!

Now, for some medical words for you to ponder:

Scatology

Buboes

Catarrh

Note: All are sort of gross things.

Jim

Michael McLeod

wow! Jim! Nerd that I am it's exciting to me that the word "scatalogical" has a connection to the medical vocabulary. It's a swear word when it wants to be, quite at home in the gutter, but it can clean up its act and hang out with the more respectable monosyllable set favored by folks with medical degrees. That's one word with a wide-ranging, well rounded personality. given that it is associated with a specific and quite important bodily function.

Michael McLeod

Jim:"cattarr" puts me in mind of the sound I make when I gargle.

David Dunn

Have  come up with a list of five for the Reunion:  Mark Schweickart, Mike McLeod, Bob Berkemer, Dan Barford, Jocko Maxwell.  Working on a womens list, and second list.  Some classmates like Lindda Weiner said she wouldnt come.  Wonder if some might be grandfathered in who didnt go to Watterson, but went to grade school, like Susan Steele, Walter S hymkiw.

David Dunn

Did anyone mention Catawampus yet?  My favorite word of the month.

Michael McLeod

Mark: I think "cockamamie" is one of those word that judgemental people can't live without. It's right up there with "balderdash."

David Mitchell

I wrote a post last night that I pulled in the wee hours of the morning. It was too long and a bit toto graphic.

------------------------

I had spent some time in earlier posts talking about the arrival of Major Smith, and how good things were with him in charge. He and I spent quite a few hours together in the cockpit. We and I were a perfect fit for one another. Things in those first few weeks of his arrival were really good for the whole Troop's morale.

Those same first weeks were during our initial incursion into Cambodia. But something tragic happened on May 10,1970.

His ship threw it's main rotor (Yes, it just snapped off) at about 1,000 feet as we were re-entering Cambodia after a uneventful morning and lunch break. They plunged to the earth and erupted into a large ball of fire. They had no chance of surviving that plunge. I watched them drop from the front seat of a Cobra about a quarter me behind them as the pilot of the other cobra (my last roomate, Dean Smith) yelled over the radio,     "MY GOD!   SIX IS DOWN!"

I was to have been his co-pilot as usual, but a last minute switch that morning put me in the front seat of one of our Cobra gunships. Major Smith's co-pilot was a new Captain - a native American from the Pauyute/Shoshone tribe just east of Reno. He had already done a year's tour in Viet Nam as a Green Beret. He was smart, funny, and eager to learn. Everybody liked him. 

He was going to be a new AMC (Air Mission Commander) and had requested the switch so he could ride with Major Smith and "learned from the boss".

We were devastated !