2/05/2025

Changing My Cell Phone Number To 309 966 1616


I am changing my cell phone to the Illinois number 309 966
1616. This number was used by my wife in Illinois. 

My Florida number 941 312 1032 will still work, but will be a Google Voice number that will go to my computer. You can leave a message on that number.


The switchboard to the right was on Hill 327 near Danang, Vietnam. I was an old SB-86 with stacked SB-22's on top.  Very old and creaky. Wires everywhere.

Ron Leon asked me if I would watch the switchboard while he went to get the mail.

"Sure", I said, "show me how to do it." He showed me and took off.

I handled the first call ok. But as more calls came in I became confused. I was disconnecting calls, and ringing back into peoples ears, and in general screwing it up.

The board was totally lit up when Leon came back. This was not good.

 "Lieutenant, what did you do?" cried Leon!

"I screwed it up", I said, "Fix it!" and went back to my office.

The CO, the XO, and the S-3 all called me within minutes.


"Who the hell do you have on the switchboard? He is terrible!". 

They were somewhat profane, as angry officers can be.


"It was a new man, Sir,"  I said. "We will never put that idiot back on the board.

"Oh", they said. I think they felt a little bad about how I must have chewed out the poor idiot.



     ...............    I never put that idiot back on the switchboard.

                                        Craig Hullinger 








Government Spending And Reduction Efforts

 


In 2023, major entitlement programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, and other health care programs—consumed 50 percent of all federal spending. Soon, this spending will be larger than the portion of spending for all other priorities (such as national defense) combined. https://www.federalbudgetinpictures.com/where-does-all-the-money-go/


Making government more efficient and reducing costs are a laudable and should and is an ongoing effort.  But giving Musk the power to do it without careful thought or congressional oversight is no way to do it.

You need to do it carefully, with minimal disruption. Carefully considered reduction in force can work, but you first need to make sure that your remaining work force can do the job.  And a wise leader does not demoralize their work force with threats and uncertainty.  No way to run a railroad or a country.

The illustration above shows where the money is spent. Half of government spending is on social security and medicare. Most Americans have paid into these two programs all their lives, and expect to receive benefits from those programs when they get older. There are likely reductions in workforce that can be made, but you do it carefully, with a deep look at where efficiencies can be made. 

What you don't do is what Musk did to Twitter, where he bought a company, decimated the workforce, ruined their morale, and now runs a company that is worth much less than when he bought it, and is filled with "free" hate speach. 

Elon Musk’s X is worth nearly 80% less than when he bought it, Fidelity estimates.  https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/business/elon-musk-twitter-x-fidelity/index.html

Musk is a fascinating fellow.  He did a brilliant job with Tesla and his rocket company.  But he failed when he took over Twitter, a large and successful company. So the take on him that he is great when building a company, but terrible when he takes his talents to an existing organization.

And this is the fellow we have entrusted to improve our government.  SAD. Nuts.


2/04/2025

Federal Employment Peaked In May 1990


The population of the United States grew from 132,164,569 in 1940 to 331,449,281 in 2020. So keeping the Federal workforce with little growth over that time period is impressive. And it includes the Department of Defence. And most of the people I observed were hard working, and a lot of them charged machine guns for minimum wage.

One thing we learned in the Marine Corps was that you take care of your troops, and your troops will take care of you.

And most of us found that to be true. And most of us thought that was the right way to be a leader.

And the corollary was screw over your troops, and your troops will screw over you. And that is also true. Your unit will be demoralized and angry, and the good competent people will quit. 

Trump and Musk are the new leaders of the United States and the Federal Government, a very large professional organization.

And they are screwing Federal employees. Locking them out of their computers and offices, and trying to get them to quit. 

A great way to ruin a fine organization. Our "Great Leap Forward". Doge is Dodgy. Musk is doing to our government what he did to Twitter - ruining it.

We Americans will suffer from a  demoralized work force with a lower level of service. And our prestige and respect among the nations will plummet. Already has. But not to worry - China will fill the void.

There are no doubt inefficiencies in such a large organization, and I have no problem with reducing waste. But you do that carefully, eliminating the fat but not the muscle. That takes careful study and review. You develop a plan to reduce your workforce that is understood by your stockholders (the American people) and by the employees. And you treat the people that you eliminate fairly. You don't just whack people - not if you are a competent and decent leader.  

Pathetic. No way for a great country to operate. SAD.



1/29/2025

Affordable Housing For Economic Development Bringing People With Jobs and Money to Illinois

Affordable Housing For Economic Development

Bringing People With Jobs and Money to Illinois


Tired of the high cost of housing in your city? And the long commutes?

Leave the high cost areas shown in red and move to one of the Illinois counties

in the green areas below.  Home purchase costs are much lower than in the expensive

parts of the country and they often have minimal traffic. The map below shows high

cost areas in red and orange, and lower cost areas in green. Most of the central portion

of the USA is green, which equals low cost homes and little traffic.



Source to view the map:

nar.realtor/research-and-statistics/housing-statistics/county-median-home-prices-and-monthly-mortgage-payment


Wages are higher in the high home cost areas.  But if you are retiring or can take your high

paid job with you and do it remotely, the center of the country will permit you to buy a nice

home that fits your budget. And no more rush hour!


Individuals can make this choice, but it could also be a strategy for companies to help their

workers. Companies who are located in very expensive locations could establish satellite

offices where voluntarily relocated employees could afford to buy homes, and enjoy much

lower commute times.  Programs with Universities in college towns could train future

workers.


It can also be an economic development effort led by municipalities and the State of Illinois. 

Bringing people into areas that have lost population and who bring in their retirement

and/or job is wise and profitable.


My daughter, friend, and I recently pursued this strategy. My friend and I retired 15 years

ago and moved to the sunbelt - my friend to Arizona and me to Florida.  We recently

moved back to Illinois - in my case the death of my wife Beth Ruyle. In both cases the

much lower cost of housing was a factor.  And my daughter moved from Seattle. 

We purchased homes for much less than Seattle - Phoenix, and Sarasota.


Click to read more in a rough draft of the paper





1/28/2025

Arabic Numbers Were Invented in India

 Google has quietly changed their search engine.  When I searched for Arabic numerals, the first thing that came up was this Artificial Intelligence article.




Arabic numerals are the symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, which are used to represent numbers. They are the most common way to write numbers in the world.

Origin:

The numerals originated in India in the 6th or 7th century.

Arab scholars adopted the numerals and introduced them to Europe in the 12th century.

The numerals were developed over thousands of years and benefited from contributions from the Egyptians, Indians, and Arabs.

Uses:

Arabic numerals are used for counting and mathematical operations.

They are used in computers, phones, libraries, and to indicate time.

They are also used to write numbers in other bases, like octal.

They are used to write non-numerical information, such as license plate identifiers and trademarks.

Variations:

Eastern Arabic numerals: Used in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries in the Eastern part of the Middle East.
Western Arabic numerals: Used in Europe, the Americas, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya.




I read it on the computer, so it must be so.

______________

"What is Octal, you ask"? As everyone who took high school math remembers, Octal is I have no idea!  Luckily Artificial Intelligence (AI) program Chat GPT knows all, written below. I hope this clears it up.

AI Overview

Learn more

The octal numbering system is a base-8 number system, meaning it uses eight digits (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7) to represent numbers, with each place value representing a power of 8; essentially, it's a way to write numbers using only the digits from 0 to 7, where each digit's position determines its value based on a power of 8.

Key points about the octal system:
Base: 8
Digits used: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Place value: Each digit's position represents a power of 8

Example:
The octal number "125" would be interpreted as: (1, 8^2) + (2, 8^1) + (5, and 8^0) = 64 + 16 + 5 = 85 in decimal.

Why is octal useful?

Easy conversion to binary:
Since 8 is a power of 2, converting between octal and binary is straightforward by grouping binary digits into sets of three.

Used in some computer systems:

Octal is sometimes used in older computer systems to represent memory addresses due to its easy conversion to binary.

Octal Number System (Definition, Chart, Octal to Binary)
Oct 15, 2020 — Octal Number System has a base of eight and uses the numbers from 0 to 7. The octal numbers, in the number system, are...

BYJU'S

Octal - Wikipedia
Octal is a numeral system with eight as the base. In the decimal system, each place is a power of ten. For example: In the octal s...

Wikipedia

Octal Number System – Definition and Conversion - Vedantu
A number system with its base as 'eight' is known as an Octal number system and uses numbers from 0 to 7 i.e., 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...

Vedantu

Generative AI is experimental.

Now do you understand?




1/23/2025

Convictions

 

Convictions


Prentiss Granger and Laurel Hollingsworth grew up privileged in the South, met in private school and became best friends. Through the political upheaval of the 1960s, the two young women grapple with their own beliefs as the civil rights and antiwar movements explode around them. Then, in a single irrevocable moment of violence, everything changes. Caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, Prentiss finds herself on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List and trapped in the political underground. Laurel must balance her own convictions as she struggles to help her lost friend while she moves forward with her own life.

Praise for Convictions

Convictions is brilliant … a beautifully controlled piece of writing, intricately plotted and skillfully paced. It is a novel of substance, a thoughtful portrayal of an important part of American history. And it is entertaining and exciting to read.”
Raleigh News and Observer

“This first novel succeeds admirably in capturing the mood and feel of the sixties. Its narrator is well-developed as a flesh-and-blood, humorous, and self-deprecating commentator.”
Publishers Weekly

“The life of Prentiss Granger is a metaphor, a picture of the soul of the times…. Convictions is well-written and evenly paced, and sometimes very funny.”
—United Press International

“Cannon is at her strongest in evoking the Grand Canyon-wide gap between parents and their rebellious off spring, with a compelling sense of place.”
Los Angeles Times

“Taffy Cannon shows the seething discontent and the ferment in the 1960s that led to fundamental changes in American society.”
Chattanooga Times

"Very interesting way to look at the turbulent sixties.  A page turner. I really enjoyed reading it. Entertaining.Craig Hullinger


Click to read more and to purchase Taffy's books:

taffycannon.com

taffycannon.com/fiction/convictions

​________________

​Reading this book was a trip down memory lane.  It recounts all the big events of the day.  And of course made you think about which events you saw.

The JFK assassination was of course a major memory for all of us, and we all remember when it happened. I was in Doc Watson's chemistry class when Doc confirmed that he died.

The civil rights marches galvanized public opinion and changed many minds. Race relations needed improvement. I did my little bit for a year after high school in 1966 in the inner city of Norfolk. VA. popv.blogspot.com

The cold war was a huge issue. The Communist countries were threatening. The threat of nuclear war was very real.

Vietnam and the antiwar movement were major issues that the book addresses. Each one of us had to decide the correct course of action.

The race riots were also disturbing. I was stationed in Yuma, Arizona, in 1967 and we were preparing for both Vietnam and riot duty.  We were set to go to San Francisco. Our training for riot duty consisted of wearing gas masks and marching in close ranks with our bayonets fixed on our rifles. You could not wear glasses with the gas mask, so I was blind as a bat.  And the tear gas was nasty.  Glad we did not have to do that.

The heroines of the book go to Berkeley in the San Francisco area. You will remember the appeal of the bay area during the days of peace and love.  My friend and I drove from Yuma to San Francisco one long weekend.  We went to the epicenter at Haight-Ashbury. But it was sad.  Many kids strung out.

​The book takes us to the major peace demonstration in 1969 in Washington, DC. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam#

I went there with three other Marine Lieutenants.  I didn't even know about it - one of the guys said let's go, so four of us did. We did not know what to expect - four very short haired and very fit Marines at a peace demonstration.  But it was a very mellow event. I guess we all wanted peace - with different ideas on how to achieve it.

Vietnam was of course the big issue for all of us, whether we fought it, protested against it or avoided it. 

vietnammphs.blogspot.com

empehiheroes.blogspot.com

empehiveterans.blogspot.com

hullingermarine.blogspot.com

This book is a great read, and reminds you of all the "fun" times of our youth. I highly recommend it.

Craig Hullinger






Coping Strategy