General Election Tuesday, November 6, 2018. Vote. Vote. Vote.

(Actually vote once and only once, but VOTE!)

Let America Vote!

Chop wood, carry water. So Zen. Small, consistent actions win the day.  Enlightenment will be yours. Already enlightened?

Chop wood, carry water.

This week the New Hampshire Gazette – Admiral Fowle’s Piscataqua River Tidal Guide (Not for Navigational Purposes)¹ column contained this little gem dated September 28:

“1891 – In New York a 72-year-old writer named Herman Melville dies in obscurity.”

Herman Melville died not knowing that 90 years later, in 1981, Moby Dick was force-fed reading for an American Literature course. And I was not the only one, it was not the only course, and it was not the only university. After Melville died, Moby Dick became a thread in the rich fabric of American literature. Speaking of fabric, another Melville quote:

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.”

-Herman Melville

In life, Melville was not feted for Moby Dick. One-hundred-twenty-seven years after his death? Plays staged, movies made, and the Moby Dick Wikipedia entry looks to be a comprehensive Master’s thesis with 167 footnotes. Whoa!

You don’t know if what you do makes a difference. Do it anyway.

Chop wood. Carry Water.

I worked at an electric utility on the bulk electric or, to my way of thinking the supply-side of the house. Power was measured in units of megawatts. Every four (4) seconds at hundreds of meter points across the footprint, measurements were taken, calculations were made and generators set to respond would follow the load. In megawatts. For the sciencey, a megawatt is 10 raised to the 6th power, (10**6 or 1,000,000). By way of comparison, kilowatts are delivered to residences, consumption is billed in kwh, A kilowatt is 10 raised to the 3rd power or 10³, but let’s get out of this rabbit hole.

If you plugged in your Christmas tree lights on a hot muggy day in July, we wouldn’t notice. Air conditioners running full bore, your string of lights would be a drop in the ocean. Our attention was focused elsewhere. But! The first Monday after Thanksgiving, tens of thousands of homes have Christmas tree lights plugged in and ready to go. The sun goes down, the load goes up but not like the Monday before. In aggregate, those Christmas tree lights make a difference, and you have our attention. Everyone weighs in with more light.  And the point?

You might not be aware of the difference you make. Make a difference anyway.

Chop wood. Carry water.

VOTE! November 6, 2018.

Wisconsin Residents: Information at MyVote Wisconsin.

¹ My absolute favorite newspaper: The New Hampshire Gazette, Volume 262, No. 26, September 14, 2018. Admiral Fowle’s Piscataqua River Tidal Guide (Not for Navigational Purposes) is on the back page.