Southeastern Road Trip - Me and my GPT

 


Longest solo road trip of my life, tooling around the southeastern United States in my CR-V. A a combo of SFTE and family engagements.  
First stop, Nashville, to celebrate my grandson’s birthday,
       And my trusty Taylor!
    
Rocket City SFTE Chapter

Then, Huntsville, Alabama, to meet with the SFTE Rocket City Chapter.  Then on to Greensboro, NC for the Flight Test Safety Workshop, where I gave my stump speech on the impact of technology and AI in flight testing, especially in risk management. Again heard more validation of MIT's STPA.
Flight Test Safety Workshop

North Carolina SFTE Chapter at FTSW

Then up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to visit the Virginia Tech SFTE chapter.  The graduating engineers are so well trained with impressive internships and experiences that are quite impressive.  Yet some struggle to find a job?  A little puzzling?  
Virginia Tech University
On the spur of the moment, I decided to explore nature and camp an hour east of Blacksburg in the Shenandoah Mountains.  I had brought a 1 man tent.  But thunderstorms had me opt for Plan B,  sleeping in my car, which worked out quite nicely with an air mattress.  I drove to a secluded spot on a mountain road in the dark with thunderstorms around me and slept great until sometime in the night, I heard the trains coming by, on a track just 10 feet from my car! The next day it dawned clear, and I hiked up a creek to Cascade Falls.  Gorgeous.  

Then on to Lynchburg, Virginia, to visit my son, my newest grandson, and his wife. The Mother's Day celebration had all 5 kids' families on my daughter-in-law's side in a park with her parents for a grand potluck picnic and celebration. Such a quaint lifestyle, with kind, loving people and living as a close-knit communal family unit. Americana on display, basking in a bubble of ignorance and Christian Nationalism superstition radiating from Liberty University. Had a similar experience visiting my niece’s family and my brother in rural Greeneville, Tenn.  Living idyllic lives on an organic farm, growing most all their food, including fruit, vegetables and livestock plus homeschooling.  Wholesome and happy unvaccinated children with Christianity a staple.
Lynchburg with my newest grandson and mom

Religion is an effective social glue and controller for many, especially in this bible belt region.  It disappoints and saddens me that the human condition, deriving in large part from suffering fear of death and intellectual laziness, too often revolves around an autocratic deity. It does offer a form of stability and morality, but at the cost of disregarding truth and freedom. The adverse effects are seen in the larger social structure, dismantling science and progress, and validating conflict.  Will the reversion and degradation continue, or will science break through and lead the way to an even better world of humanism?  Time will tell.
After 10 days headed back to Fort Worth, but not before a nice hike just east of Knoxville on Horse Mountain. It's not real mountains, But still better than Texas
Horse Mountain
 
What did I learn on this trip?  That modern auto tech that helps driving long stretches is quite tolerable, especially now that ChatGPT has reached a level where it can converse like the most eloquent and patient companion!  Once that technology advances enough to be molded into canine or human form, the world will really change!  
Location: Greensboro, NC, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

La Vita e Bella

Image
Living in the NOW on the way to ski at Cervania, which is the Italian side of the Matterhorn.  Italians seem to me to understand how to live more holistically. It's a great lifestyle. I wonder if it can survive in a world of relentless go go competition? As for me I subscribe to ricorda il bambino dentro di te e segui la tua felicità. (remember the child inside you and follow your bliss)!
Read more

Double Fantasy Holiday - Italian Style

Image
Was this real or a dream?  If it was real, then it was a dream come true.  It all started with an email from a long-time guitar-playing friend. He sent me a link to a flat-picking guitar workshop in the Italian Alps (Dolomites) and suggested I should consider attending.   I put it off not sure if I had the time and talent to participate.   Then after receiving an invitation from an Italian flight test colleague to come stay at his summer home on the Adriatic Sea in the village of Pineto, I inquired about the workshop and learned that that there was one slot left after someone had cancelled. So I jumped in and started making plans.  I had left my Taylor guitar in Italy 3 years earlier with a street musician who I had become friends with.  I arranged to pick it up near Milan, hoping it was still in good shape.  My Italian colleague who had invited me to his family home, offered that I could bring a friend to stay.  I contacted a bright yo...
Read more

West Coast Tour to Assume the Presidency

Image
  This trip was a logistics marvel.  Fly into San Diego for 4 days to visit family and meet my newest grandchild of 4 months. What an amazing young bambino! My 7th nipote!   Fly to Sacramento to visit my brother and sister in the Sierra foothills and see a different way to retire on 25 acres. Scenic and peaceful, but not for me.   I visited my father and mother's grave for the first time. Gravestone already showing signs of aging. Little weird to think there bodies are in a box below decaying.  Meaningless, meaningless.  All we are is dust in the wind.  Drive to my alma mater, Univ of California, Davis to give a talk about SFTE to a dozen graduate students and faculty in the Department of Aeronautics.  My old grad school professors, Prof. Karnopp, and Prof Margolis were still there in the same offices!  90+ and still doing bond graphs!  Many others had died, some with their names on a building.  The new professors were young!...
Read more