RIP Edgar Mitchell

Call it whatever you will, a moment of weakness, a passing curiosity, or just another masochistic urge that needed to be scratched.  I recently got sucked up into the vortex of one of those Internet deals offered up after conducting totally unrelated business of another kind.

I had purchased some small parts for my ancient Makita drill.  Just before I was about to move on, a window popped up offering me great rewards if I filled out a survey (promised to last only a few valuable minutes - they lied) regarding my recent purchasing experience.

In full Homer mode, I punched the "sure, why not" button.

The survey itself was short and simple.  Once finished, I eagerly punched the "now reward me" icon.

A lifetime later, I emerged almost whole again with just my ego bruised, and happy that I had only dropped $8 to regain my freedom.  I reminded myself that answering surveys on the web is  a recipe for misery and that there is no such thing as "free" on the Internet.  If it ain't money, it's at the least time paid, and always a price paid for the stress tied to knowing you have been snared and hope that chewing off a leg is not the only option left.

It had been years since I actually had a magazine subscription of any kind.  I regularly missed the actual feel of paper with words on them.  I looked forward to getting my first mag in the mail.  So far only Time and Rolling Stone have turned up in the mailbox.  This Old House and whatever other mag I signed up for have yet to mingle with the junk mail.

Now that our nation had become hooked on getting their information in 60 second bytes off screens large and small, I expected these newer versions of periodicals I once read to be lighter in content and size than what once was.  I was not disappointed, but I was still surprised at just how much lighter in content and size they were now.  But I guess that even the fact both Rolling Stone and Time are still fighting the good fight is testimonial to their dedication to the time honored tradition of killing trees in order to keep us informed.

Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with killing trees as long as we plant new ones to take their place.  But I'd be a much bigger fan of the pulp industry if they switched to Hemp.  An annual plant harvested makes more sense than one that takes many more years to mature before being worthy for the pulp bowl.  An acre of hemp yields as much pulp as 4 acres of trees, is recyclable up to 8 times versus the 3 times wood pulp can be recycled and it outlasts wood fiber paper by centuries.  Seems to be a no brainer.  But then what do I know?

Anyway, forgive me for sidetracking.  My point of this post has yet to even be posted and now I sit here and wonder just what the Hell was my point in the first place......................... Uh, ................. Oh Yeah,  I wanted to talk about values, specifically the values Americans have in their hearts and minds against the real world values their actions and lifestyles indicate.  And then look at the subtle ways the media tweaks our values by what and how they present their dribble for consumption.

Time has a a two page spread entitled "The Brief".  Chock full of factoids, anecdotes, and notices, it can be consumed and digested in less than 5 minutes.  Of course there is an obit section, notices of the passing of important people once of the present, now safely ensconced in our past.  In the issue dated 2/22/16, the 3 most recent obits were the 6th man to walk on the moon, the author of Georgy Girl, and some real estate developer of apparently noteworthy renown.  And who do you think they decided warranted a picture and not just a 30 word mention?  Yeah, that's right, the real estate salesman. ...................... Hmm.

I decided Edgar Mitchell deserved better so that's why I used his name in the post title and his image to start the post.  Hands down a dead astronaut rates higher in my book than a dead rich land developer.

Later .......................................................