Power Vs. Energy

Our houses are connected to the utility company. We used to call it the power company, which was aptly named. They had the power and we drew their power and paid for it in units of time. If we plugged in a coffee pot that drew drew a killowatt and it took a half an hour to perk the coffee, we used a half-kilowat-hour, a term of energy for which we paid at the end of the month. Power times time used equals energy.


The same is true in engineering. A super-capacitor can quickly discharge large amounts of power for discharging a laser but a lithium battery slowly powers cell phones for hours if not days.

In the same way, athletes have developed power-ful muscles and have power to use when running, bicycling and swimming. If they last a couple of hours, they have generated energy from their power (have done work). But athletes specifically train for either short bursts of high power (powerlifting, for which they look huge but can hardly walk) or long low-power endurance races (for which they look like skinny runts). Seldom do you see a muscular athlete doing cardio (they'd get small), or a racer lifting (too much mass to carry).

Which way is healthiest: Both. An athlete lacking power means brittle bones, and an athlete lacking endurance means heart attacks. In this age of specialization, we should worry about the quality of life rather than trophies and T-shirts.

- © 2013 by Willy

Breaking In New Anythings

I made the mistake of trying to break in new hiking boots... a revolutionary new model ("Airs") that promised to be gentler on my heels. Instead, the boots broke me... gave me an awful case of heel spur plantar fasciitis tendinitis just in time for a planned hike.

I knew better, but... mesmerized by the promise... I forgot.

I have had recurring trouble with my left heel for over twenty years. That heel is very sensitive to new shoes and boots to the point that...

- I have been using the same make and model boot for the last 19 years, and

- When my running shoes model was discontinued, I bought four pair.

Lessons learned:

(1) Return the revolutionary boots with promise.

(2) Order a couple of old model boots before they are discontinued.

(3) Reject temptation. Quit getting mesmerized by New. Quit trying new boots, shoes, things, people, processes... new anythings. Instead, continue to evolve and improve on what I have and do, a decades-long evolution. Evolutionary is good and revolutionary is bad. Evolutionary is good and revolutionary is bad. I'd better remember this!

- © 2011 by Willy

Just The Basics

Having had many busy weeks at work and beyond, I waited until the very end to pack for the latest adventure, resulting in a controlled panic. Yes, I always do this. To make it doable, what works for me is to keep everything hike-related in a huge duffel bag in my sports closet, including a check list.

I then separate items by place and function, depends on where and how I'm hiking. I am on the way to a two-week backpacking trip to Yosemite.

What goes into the wilderness itself goes in the backpack. Within that I have a bag for what I will carry in my pockets or person, like granola bars, whistle, tiny LED light, GPS, camera, sunglasses, DEET, sunblock, toilet paper, and etc.

I make a separate bag for the trip to base camp motel like extra clothing, snacks, cell phone, cell rechargers, reading material, car GPS, boarding passes, neck pillow for long night flights and etc.

So organized, eh? So, where was that blasted poncho!

OK, so I found it and finally got it together. Then I went through it all again, paring it down to the basic needs only: Out goes the rum (how did that one get in there?), the What-Ifs and redundancies. After all, I am an ultralighter... the most basic and smug of backpackers.

I have been an ultralighter since I was a kid, because I had nothing then. It was reinforced by a free spirit I dated in the '80s, and driven home recently by my daughter.

For instance, a light and small plastic hooded poncho with a tiny umbrella and hat saves at least a pound as compared to a heavy, bulky and sweaty multi-layered "breathable fabric" raincoat, and I needed that hat for mountain-top balds anyway.

Ditto re a coolmax liner or sheet instead of a light sleeping bag; chlorine-dioxide pills rather than a fancy troublesome reverse-osmosis pump filter; two tiny LED rather than a flashlight (redundancy needed here); a smaller tent; multipurpose bandanna rather than towel; two band-aids rather than moleskin; just floss, toothbrush and toothpaste (no comb, no razor, no deodorant, etc.); no radio/mp3; no cell phone if another group hiker is carrying his; no stove; and less food to eat, even.

I am realistic or careful enough to take a down vest, dry socks, backup disposable poncho, hiking pole and other safety-necessary items.

John Muir hiked Yosemite just carrying a loaf of bread.

I am trying to do Life that way too, getting rid of junk and junky people... and losing weight. Determining what is mental heath safety-necessary is big. Keeping just the basics.

- © 2011 by Willy

What Makes Us?

"Pressure Makes Us." - Nike ad, World Cup. Is that it? Life philosophy in three words? What about time to enjoy family, friends, a pretty sunset and other?

As a very young man, I had pressure to excel and get the heck out of my bad family situation. Pressure did make me, and I have significantly contributed to technology... and still do. I had ideas as a young man and attempted many, with mixed results. Not having a baseline to compare to, I do not know what kind of unpressured man I would have turned out to be otherwise. The difference from then to now is that lately I have seen more opportunity, have more means and more capability... but take less risk. I suspect that I finally learned what pressure and pain are and thus have modified my endeavors, i.e., I've gotten tired of my head being in a vise. I am more afraid of some things but fearless in others: afraid of intimate relationships but fearless in adventure, whether physical or technical.

What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, and I realized that relationships can kill me.

In summary, and in hindsight, I liked the pressure that made me. Family was a mixed bag and I did a better job of picking my friends, most of which I do still enjoy. I am awed by every sunset that I see, but I enjoy them better when I am by myself. Pressure made me what I am, and I am solo.

So, yes, "Pressure Makes Us," and it IS a life philosophy in three words.

- © 2011 by Willy

Did Watson Really Win?

So, "Watson," the IBM mainframe with artificial intelligence won at Jeopardy against the two best human opponents. It also thought Toronto was a "US City" (the category) and got every question wrong on "Month," a five-in-twelve guess! IBM will surely tout it as a PR win, but it was a dreadful performance for 25 scientists, four years of hard work and a mega-million bucks. Watson should have answered every question right, and first. I have a sneaky suspicion that, given a learning curve, the two humans could have beaten Watson, but that would not have been good PR.

Why did Watson do so badly?

The engineer would say that you're always one transistor away from failure. The athlete that he's one injury away from a loss. The old that he's one sickness away from bankruptcy. Algorithm guys should say they are one human away from being human. Humans think conceptually, whereas machines exhaust logic trees by brute force. Deep Blue beat Kasparov but Eliza is awful. Machines are profoundly ignorant of what humans take for granted. There's a lot of stuff we know that we don't even know we know.

Watson did badly because our AI algorithms just aren't there yet.

Should we worry about our own idiocy instead? What about our own human thinking, which only works when void of emotion? Should we work on our mental health instead of developing artificial intelligence?

Further, Watson really did not play against two humans... rather, Watson and the two humans played Jeopardy, with little interaction. The devil is in the interaction. For instance, even if we hold out for perfection, it may be that perfection is holding out for perfection too... and not us. And we may not recognize perfection even if it whacked us in the head.

One final point: There's a lot of difference between losing and being a loser. The two Jeopardy humans are not losers, and neither should we call ourselves that. Imperfect works just fine, and it's human. Perfection is God's business. We should be proud of being human... accepting, embracing it and applauding it.

We don't yet have to worry about machines taking over the world... no Terminator scenario yet... but Watson did well for a four-year-old toddler.

- text © 2011 by Willy

Outdated or Wiser?

The same things are true in life as in fitness and in faith.

Fall color is here and leaves are carpeting our trails. Fall comes and fall will go, just as sure as the sun will return tomorrow morning. But we learn more each year. This year I discovered ruins just beside my favorite hiking trail.

I am a 60-year-old engineer and am outdated in many things, but not The Big Picture. Yes, kids know eye-opening computer tricks and give me six significant digits of accuracy but oftentimes they get the first digit wrong... that is, they went the wrong way. Can't argue about results based on experience. We know that kids come and kids get old and go, and we all learn from each other.

The AIG/bank/wallstreet/auto bailout came a couple of decades after the Savings and Loan debacle. The economy is a shambles and we don't have the power to fix it, so we wring our hands until we remember that this, too, shall pass. It happened before and it will happen again. I have faith that as liberals come then liberals too will go. The tide comes in and the tide goes out. It ebbs and flows. Are the politicians protecting worthless bank assets incompetent or just crooks? Yes, and then they go, and we relearn not to trust them, or the banks.

We will discover the motivation to embark upon a good fitness plan... then receive an overuse injury or accident, and we stop to heal, and start all over again. Only this time we will risk less to overuse and pick where we ride.

We're living the good life and divorce happens and life gets sour. And life ebbs and flows again later. We get mad at God and then, in His time, we go back, wiser, and learn not to enter another relationship like that.

In my business, the cannon is as outdated as the slide rule, and so is the canon... all of the canons... because the truth is that nothing stays the same.

Life ebbs and flows, and there's much comfort and tranquility in knowing that, and accepting it.


- © 2010 by Willy

The Future

Time is the fourth dimension.

There are a few different ideas of time. Some call time an artifact, created for man, to keep everything from happening all at once. Others say past, present and future co-exist simultaneously in different dimensions (or so goes String Theory).

It seems to me that since we have to live with the choices we've already made, what we are now is what we've done, and so the future is defined by our actions today. Events unfold after decisions are made. Every act or choice has a chorus of consequences. Every act is a move which affects the next, changing me and everybody else... i.e., everything matters (Chaos Theory).

So, why not choose kindness, today? A kind word or deed makes miracles happen.

Key: The future tomorrow is our decision today. Choose wisely. I choose grace.


-© 2010 by Willy

P.S., it's time to go on.

The Why Of It...

My daughter had a boyfriend heartache, so she came home to talk to an old friend. The breakthrough came: "She told me something powerful: 'You may be all the Jesus some people see.'"

Now, that's a terrific solution statement, no matter what the problem is, but it's difficult for this ol' engineer to understand matters of the heart. Experience 'em, yes, but understand, no. Engineers do heads, not hearts.

I had earlier reminded her that the last stage in grief is acceptance, but now I just listened and took her out and showed her some stress-reducing things that work for me and may work for her too, like feeding the ducks and hanging out by a gurgling brook. We hiked in my backyard mountain... the inchworms were raining down this weekend, no doubt incubating in our oak-pine-hickory canopy above, but more about that some other time.

You would think that figuring out life is easy... that the number of heartaches someone will experience in their lifetime (Nh) is equal to the number of temptations (Nt) that occur times the probability of succumbing to temptation given the temptation (Ps/t). But life is not an equation Nh = Nt x Ps/t. And Ps/t is tough to figure. Life is not Yes or No, Black or White... it's endless grayscale, infinite graduations of brightness and hues of an uncountable number of colors, with a timescale and with many strings attached.

But I do agree that cutting down the number of temptations, and me behaving like Jesus, does result in a simpler life with less heartache... for me and for you too.


- © 2010 by Willy

Reflections or Summary

OK, so here's a summary of what I've learned last few years through some reflection. I hope, by jotting it here, to remind myself in the future.


Out of clutter, lead a simple but rich life both at work and at home. Work is not hard if you're doing what you love. Accept what you have to with a positive attitude. Enjoy life with people as well as solo. Don't relive yesterday. Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. Without adversity there is no drive. Do the right thing, no matter what. Make the choice that brings me peace and serenity. Forgive everyone for everything, and forgive myself too. You cannot fix stupid... you can only laugh at it. It's hard to find the right medication for grief. Sometimes the only way to get the right perspective is to let time pass. Time heals. Trust God. The best is yet to come. Enjoy the ride.

Now all I've got to do is remember this.

Funny Thoughts While Riding

Sometimes I get the most peculiar thoughts while bicycle riding.

I seldom carry an mp3 player with me due not only to safety concerns but also to my need to think things out.

Rudy Kalman, of Kalman Filter fame, one of the cornerstones of systems theory, stated that if a thing can be observed, it can be controlled.

OK, I've just lost you, so let me back up.

Where was I 40 years ago? When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, my liberal arts dorm roommates were picking on me because I was studying. NASA had been using all kinds of neat technical tools. The Kalman Filter was used in the Apollo computer for orbital insertions then, and I use it now for proper positioning of any vehicle. The Kalman is nothing but a simulation running onboard the rocket's computer, telling the rocket where it should be (giving observability), which comes in handy if the sensors briefly black out for any reason, like noise and vibration. Sensors being either optical or radar seekers, GPS, gyroscopes and the like. Us humans do this all the time, like when driving through fog at night, we know to keep slow and straight... unless we're at a curve on the road.

The key word is "briefly." The rocket and its sensors have to be designed for observability, and there are some things that just cannot be observed. Yeah, yeah... like teenagers out for the night. And, yes, sometimes we don't want to observe them even if we could.

Behavioral political psychologists or theorists also use this if-a-thing-can-be-observed rule in their logic, except that, to them, everything can be observed and thus everything can be controlled, even in this noisy economy. Not only do they forget their Kalman systems theory, but also, it seems, they forget their sensors altogether. Or is it their senses? The economy is shaking itself to death due to the meddling... can't these theorists observe that? Obviously not.

And, yes, it was a beauuutiful bike ride anyway! It was a relatively cool day and light traffic on an early Sunday for a solo ride at my own pace. I've never had a bad solo ride.

- © 2009 by Willy

I Did Not Know I Could Do This

Bailed! (Written at the Crawford Notch lodge).

On the first day I took a 6 am flight into Manchester where I met daughter Jennifer and we got dropped off at Franconia Notch at 6 pm. The first mile was not bad but the next couple to the Liberty campground were straight up the mountain. When somebody says straight up I hear "difficult" but this was miserable and unreal... with full packs in the rain we were crawling over boulders and flowstone at 45 degrees. There were no switchbacks, it was straight up! Looked like a mountain stream bed. We got to the campground at 10 by which time I was delirious and seeing things (a big rock looked like an REI Half-Dome tent). Since lunch, we'd had nothing to eat, so it was a protein bar dinner and sleep. I was so tired that I was not even going to pop the tent and instead sleep in the rain, but Jen set up my tent. It was obvious that I had not trained for this!




Chapter 2: "This is f****** unbelievable!" said the young, fit, avid, experienced hiker with 1800 miles of Appalachian Trail under her belt. Jennifer had finally come to the conclusion on the second day that we had to climb down a big, steep, roaring waterfall to stay on the trail. I took the lead, holding some trees for balance, hugging wet rock and getting drenched.... again. The terrain was beautiful. The terrain was also kicking my butt. We finished exhausted at 10 that night too, but at a wilderness "hut" this time, which meant a dry bed and breakfast the next day, miles from nowhere. What a luxury!

On the third day, I drew blood. But I did what I did not think possible...10 miles of the most rugged and grueling terrain I have ever done, and I'm an old man that has done it all. Or I forgot. Some of this "hike" was rock crawling on stream beds, some vertical rock climbing and some was very STEEP bouldering... for miles at a time, up and down, over and over again. There was very, very little walking. We went slowly due to the terrain, the rain and the risky slick conditions. Coach Jennifer's encouragement helped.

At one spot I had Jennifer worried... a trail crossing expected in 0.3 mile had not yet shown up in a couple of hours, which meant to this old engineer that we had crawled to a virtual stop but yet we had another 1.6 miles to go past that, so I panicked, computing that it would be morning by the time we got through that stretch and I wondered how to get us out of this crazy predicament. Turns out that the trail crossing was not 0.3 but 1.3 miles ahead and we soon got done that night and into a hut.

Things got easier the next day, with fewer miles to cover and the trail less challenging (we actually walked some!). We got in to huts in time for dinner and slept well, although still miles from nowhere. I could enjoy the wildflowers and the bird songs. We did slip in the slick rocks and roots but had no accidents or injuries. I was having fun! Then we finally got to another Notch... and civilization! A road! A lodge! A room with real beds, showers, clean dry clothes and much needed rest.


My feet were killing me, with two blue toes, one of which will shed the nail. All our down was wet, even on dry bags. A week of bouldering the Whites is enough. I sucked. Jennifer suggested I bail out there. She'd continue up to Katahdin after drying out and spending a couple of days with dad.

At the lodge, we heard how often accidents happen (daily!) and how common it was to mobilize rescue squads and helicopters. But we had a good touristy time too, even went moose hunting (spotlighted two) and heard all kinds of tales.

It was great fun. In hindsight. Really!

- © 2009 by Willy

The Path Well Traveled

Unlike Robert Frost, I took the path most traveled.

Since the beginning, I took a path forward that appealed to my interests, a path that satisfied my curiosity, and a path that was easy given my talents.

As a boy, I took apart toys, figured how they worked and put them back together. A top was magic. A camera was a wonder. As a young man, I brought home every piece of junk piled on the street. I tinkered with cars before I could drive 'em. My bolt-action .22 was interesting but a semiauto gun was a marvel. I wondered why the doctors did not just coat my grandmother's bone joints with Teflon to reduce friction and improve action and I was fascinated with the concept of the human body as a bio machine of bones and muscles as levers and actuators. This all came easy for me because it fascinated me. An engineer was the easy way forward, and one that appeared to be the well-traveled path.

At school I had A's in "interesting stuff" and B's in the required humanities (who cared for a topic so subjective that it had no wrong answer?). For my BS I took every course offered in electronics and computers, resulting in a double major. For my MS I completed the required PhD courseload and I wrote a kickass thesis that was used as teaching material at UCLA. I continued towards a PhD and took every course in electrical engineering except electronics (done that for the BS) and many in other disciplines. I was just taking was what interesting and thus easy.

In the sixth grade, Robert Frost's poem intrigued me... why didn't he check out ALL the paths?

I took the course most traveled, I contributed, and made a difference. I am the better for it.


- © 2009 by Willy

Hardest Thing

What's the hardest thing I've ever had to get out of my mind? A relationship? Substance abuse? Money? Youth? Impetuousness?

An obsessive relationship. Being OCD is bad but having OCD over another person is just terrible. To the other, it is off-putting, whereas to me it may be called love. And what is it that makes one relationship different and obsessive over others? Over all the many (romantic or otherwise) relationships in my life, how many have been obsessive, and why? It seems to be normal to be obsessive a time or two, maybe with the wife (note this is not limited to lust nor love, but it's about obssesiveness). And what if the wife doesn't reciprocate? Ah... then I've lost power over that relationship, and learned there is correlation between obsesiveness (or love) and co-dependency!

This is logical... but obsessiveness is emotional. The solution here is to pull the damn cork off my mind and let all these OCD thoughts out.



- © 2009 by Willy

Do What You Can

... With What You've Got.

Don't worry about the things you can't do anything about. Concern yourself with making sure you always do your very best with the talents given you. You honor God that way

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- © 2009 by Willy