Upcoming Gathers

Hey Folks I just got off the phone with Kim Morgan and pleased to say with restrictions being lifted and everyone looking to get back to nature back to seeing friends Just want to give you a heads up.

Wolfsong Gathering is happening this May Long week-end. I know I am looking forward to hopefully being there. The gathering takes place at Magik Morn owned and operated by Kim Morgan it is located in/near Lindsey Ontario. Rough Camping, Bring your own water, No electricity on site, but it is a wonderful venue.
Magik Morn. 761 Fleetwood Road, Kawartha Lakes
Date of Event: Friday May 20th to Monday, May 23, 2022

I Robot

The adventures in robotics continue. Over the last week I have continued to utilize Kenny AKA Wall-E AKA NEO when I can. I am still learning how it works/doesn’t work. I am still learning new terminology, still attempting to understand its ability to learn, still attempting to understand its programming and mapping algorithms. Training was very limited other than basic operations.

As a floor scrubber it works well. It washes floors, moves decently on manual mode. Steering took a little to get used to. It is some what longer, and taller than most floor scrubbers I have used so far. Its cleaning profile is 4 inches narrower (26 inch vs 32 inches) than I am used to and one would think this would be an advantage, it is not because the increased length changes its turning radius. A shorter, wider scrubber is able to turn around in spots where Neo is not capable. It uses considerably less water than most other scrubbers as well. I should mention the scrubber I normally use is a Tennant 5680. It has a 32 inch cleaning path.

Key differences on the 5680 Vs Neo. Clean water goes in top and dirty water goes in the bottom on the 5680 Neo is the exact opposite. Scrubber deck is located on the front of the 5680 where as on Neo it is located at the midpoint. Steering is done by pushing the 5680 from side to side, and drive wheels are located in the middle, throttle control operates by rolling the throttle forward to move forward, and rolling back to move in reverse, throttle located on right hand of handlebars. Neo steering is handled by steering as you would with a 4 wheeler, direction of movement controlled by selecting forward or reverse on the touch screen, the drive motor is located at the front and pivots much similar to ride on scrubbers such as the Nobles SSR. The throttle control operates similar to that of a motorcycle. I find that the throttle range of motion is too great and needs to be made less in order to get “full throttle” without over stressing your wrist or having to adjust hand position while attempting to gain full throttle.



Foray into Robotics

Well it appears robotics are attempting to take over floor cleaning. Hence I shall be documenting my experiences as I learn robots, and supposed autonomous robots.

Earlier this week I was introduced to NEO, a robotic line of floor scrubbers manufactured by Avidbots Corp. I was given training on how to use the device and its features. I was regaled of its marvel. It would intelligently wash floors. It would send alerts on when it needed assistence. It would be better than a human.

So far I am disappointed in NEO’s performance. It is four times slower than a human. It gets stuck more often than it should. It should have been called FRED (Frickin’ Ridiculous Electronic Device) I have quaintly called it Kenny, after the South Park character because I would so love to kill it right. The device might work if the rep from Avidbots had listened to the people who need to use it. Kenny operates by following a pre-programmed map and as any programmer knows GIGO, and it is very clear that the person who set up our maps has never cleaned a floor in his life. The maps implemented follow no intelligent pattern of cleaning. Upon my first view of the maps he created I quickly informed him they would not work, the areas he had the machine going into were areas where human kind were working and this would cause a problem. He waived off my concerns by stating that the machine would work around them, and if need be the machine could be re-routed by a drone pilot. I forgot to mention this thing is equipped with 3D cameras and is remotely monitored while it is turned on.

Well my first night to use the machine it encountered people, and it shut down because to many people got in its way and it sat there for way to long then gave up and no intervention from a drone pilot to reroute. Oh and wait I received no message from it to go and rescue it either. So I chose a simpler map, no people working in the area at all. Along went Kenny and it seemed to be working fine I spoke to soon. Kenny went into a corridor that was too narrow for it to turn around in, it panicked, again no intervention by a drone pilot, it shut down and yet again no message received by myself to go rescue it. At this point my co-workers were frustrated because I was spending too long babysitting Kenney. That night I gave it one more go, one more map. 3.5 hours later it had not completed its work and the area it did cover would have been done by a human with a walk behind scrubber in 30 minutes possibly 20. We gave up for the next few nights using Kenny.

Last night I get a text message from a co-worker. Management is upset because we have not been using the automated scrubber and we are told we have to use it. SO off to work I go because I am the only one who has received full training on the thing.

I get to work, drag the machine out and I pick a map. hurray map completed after 1.5 hours but again a 30 minute job by a human and still much baby sitting, and still no messages received when assistance was required. SO I try a second map after lunch. 15 minutes into the map error code pops up, Error 300, I look up the error code and it essentially means ” I am lost and don’t know where I am” so I reset the machine at the start of its map and again same error code. At this point I think some one is messing with the machine so try one more time. Same result. So I check all its sensors and cameras to make sure they are clean and they are. One last go and wham same error code. I give up on that map. Move to another map.

On maps when they are created they have a start and end point. I can visually see the map and the area to be cleaned, the map is marked for the start point, and the direction the machine needs to face for each map. SO far of the maps that I have used 1 out of 5 has its direction marked correctly, and location start point set correctly. In order for the machine to begin you have to be within 1 meter of the initial mapped start point.

So last map for last night. A simple straight forward one.. It took me thirty minutes to find the proper start point and start direction (map not marked correctly). I start the machine it moved 10 feet then error 300… WTF? ok move it back to start point. Machine indicates I do not have it in correct location. so I move it maybe I was off. Three attempts same result, last attempt machine starts cleaning and again stops 10 feet away Error code 300. So drive machine back to its start point, same thing, it tells me it is not in the right spot, I move it again three times always in the same general spot 4th attempt away it goes… 10 feet error 300.

I gave up after that one. Spoke to store manager gave him a run down he is going to speak with district manager, I opened a ticket with Avidbot about mapping and other issues. Will keep you all updated.

Soft place to fall

I have been trying not to write for the last few days. I have been in a fuck it what the hell is the damn point, is it really benefiting me at all to do so. Work has been frustrating the hell out of me, I have been letting myself go, losing routines and just generally not taking care of myself. Is it the writing that is getting me in a funk or the lack of peopling. Is it, is it, is it. The lyrics of a song keep popping into my head

But I kept runnin’
For a soft place to fall
And I kept runnin’

ah that soft place to fall. that place where you feel accepted, where you can be you, where you are accepted for all your flaws. Does it really exist? or as the lyrics suggest

I was painting a picture
The picture was a painting of you and
For a moment I thought you were here
But then again, it wasn’t true, down

The picture, an Idea in your head that you so desperately want to be true. The soft place to fall, the picture you have in your head of that soft place where you can just let go, be you. hmmm. The home you want, the family, ah if life were that simple. The picture you paint is it really true?

And I was runnin’ far away
Would I run off the world someday?
Nobody knows
Nobody knows, and
I was dancing in the rain
I felt alive and I can’t complain

The illusion, I ran away to Neverland, I ran to that place where I was dancing in the rain, felt alive and really could not complain. BUT

I was listenin’ to the ocean
I saw a face in the sand
But when I picked it up
Then it vanished away from my hands, down

But then I started listening to that ocean, for a moment I saw that soft place but when I tried to grab hold of it it disappeared it vanished I tried to find it again but it was gone. The face the sand, the ocean. Neverland is an illusion. An Idea that does not stand up to the light and has no substance if you try to grab hold of it. It is a myth.

And all this time I have been lyin’
Oh, lyin’ in secret to myself
I’ve been putting sorrow on the farthest place on my shelf

Yes been lying to myself, I have put life on hold for a dream, put sorrows on the back burner, Neverland, that soft place to fall. hmmm. Neverland does not exist, it has no substance, its call is like that of the sirens of greek myth luring you to your death. The intangible lure of haunting somehow soothing melody that just draws you in and when you arrive it just sucks the life out of you.

No NeverLand is not real.

The Story of Brighid

This is the story of Brighid as told to me years ago in a ritual to her. It is here in the telling of this story and in the ritual that followed thereafter that I found my path.

*———————————————————————————————————–*

Centuries ago, the people of Ireland discovered a special place in what is now known as Kildare, which in Irish is Cill Dara: the Church of the Oak. In this sacred landscape there was a natural spring and many great oak trees grew around it. The folk began to gather there and found that the spring had healing properties. Here they made offerings, meditated, prayed and found comfort. Eventually it became a site sacred to the Celtic goddess Brighid.

Legend says that one day a priestess, or Druid, was given a vision by the goddess Brighid while meditating beside the spring. Inspired by her vision, she gathered around her a group of women and together they built a small, stone temple. Within this temple they lit the sacred flame of Brighid. This flame was never permitted to go out. Each priestess took her turn to keep vigil over the flame and tend it carefully. Together the women also planted beautiful gardens of healing herbs and sacred flowers. They kept clean the waters of the spring and built around it a scared well. They ministered to the pilgrims who traveled to Kildare for generations.

In the 6th century Christianity came to Kildare. Missionaries on a quest to convert the people of Ireland arrived at the temple and demanded that the priestesses atone for their sins. The women stood steadfast against those who would harm the sacred flame of their goddess. Bravely blocking the doorway to the temple and guarding the flame with their own bodies. Though fierce in their defense of the flame, they were overwhelmed and dragged from the temple. It is said that they died fighting to protect that which had not been extinguished for hundreds of years.
The fire was put out. The walls and roof of the temple pulled down. The gardens were destroyed and the waters of the sacred well fouled.

In place of the old temple was built a monastery. A nun who took up the name Brighid helped to establish the monastery, bringing other nuns with her to the new building. Together they replanted the gardens. Together they cleaned the scared well. Under Brighid’s guidance, a new flame was lit in the chapel of the monastery. She and her nuns tended the flame and kept vigil over it, dedicating it to their Lord God. Brighid performed many miracles through her long life and after her death, her story became mixed up with the myths of the goddess whose name she shared. Brighid was declared a saint by the Catholic church and for generations, the nuns of St. Brighid tended her flame. Over the centuries, attempts were made by church officials to douse the flame, but none prevailed. In the 13th century a new Cathedral was built and the flame was moved there.

In the 16th century the Reformation came to Kildare. The newly reformed Church did not approve of Catholic practices that were clearly inspired by pagan folk traditions. Men were sent to the monastery and they demanded that the nuns forsake their ways. The Brigidine Sisters stood steadfast against those who would harm the sacred flame. Bravely blocking the doorway to the cathedral and guarding the flame with their own bodies. Though fierce in their defense of the flame, they were overwhelmed and dragged from the cathedral. It is said that they died fighting to protect that which had not been extinguished for hundreds of years.
The fire was put out. The cathedral and monastery stripped of all its wealth. The gardens were destroyed and the waters of the sacred well fouled.

Some 200 years later, in the 18th century, the monastery and the cathedral were rebuilt. The Brigidine Sisters returned to Kildare. They replanted the gardens, cleaned the well, put up new statues of St. Brigid and made the place holy once again. During the reclaiming and rebuilding of the site, the old, original pagan temple was discovered. It is now referred to as the Fire Temple. Its foundation has been restored and it can be visited, being slightly behind the new cathedral. In 1993 the Eternal Flame of Brighid was relit, both in the cathedral and in the town square of Kildare.

The Brigidine Sisters are unique in the fact that they acknowledge both goddess and saint in Brighid and in her flame. They also allow people of any faith to visit and to take a “piece” of Brghid’s flame with them. Many people come to Kildare and light a candle from the flame. They then trap the flame within the candle when it is snuffed so that they can carry it with them. So that Brighid’s flame can never truly be put out again. Many groups also hold vigil over the Flame according to their own tradition, be they Christian or Pagan.

Today all over the world, Pagans and Christians alike tend the flame of Brighid. Candles of every description sit upon mantle pieces, above modern stoves, on altars, in dorm rooms and apartments. The flame has spread to the four corners of the Earth. With so many keepers of the flame pledged to protect her fire, Brighid’s flame can never again be extinguished. Each Imbolg thousands of flames are lit all over the world.

We learn many important lessons from the story of Brighid’s flame:

From this we learn that we are not alone. We can light the flame and connect with the many other keepers of the flame. Even in our darkest hours, we can light the flame and be part of a history that spans millennia. We all are part of a great myth, the act of a goddess that is still in motion. A story that has not finished, a story that may never end.

From this we learn courage and to stand up for what we believe in. To defend that which we hold most dear. But we also must choose our battles wisely, while the sacred flame of Brighid was worth dying for, not all things are.

From this we learn to never give up hope … but also to be flexible and accepting of change. Metamorphosis is a part of life and all things grow, adapt and change with time. What remains is the inspiration we receive from the divine in all it’s forms.

From this we learn that history will inevitably repeat itself, especially when those with power do not accept the lessons that the past can teach us. Always we must move forward, but also look back upon that which has come before.

From this we learn perseverance. We learn the power of goddess, woman and saint. The strength of the divine cannot be extinguished by mere mortal men. That which is most sacred will rise again.

From this we learn tolerance and hope for the future. Progress towards a greater understanding of different paths can be achieved. We learn to offer the olive branch and keep an open mind.

From this we learn to always seek the sacred. To look for places that gives us comfort. When life gets crazy, we all need somewhere that offers us solace, a chance to reflect upon the divine and to silence a racing mind. We must make the time to nourish our souls and grow as spiritual beings.

From this we learn that there will not always be an established temple and sisterhood waiting to embrace us with open arms. But within each of us is the strength and skill to seek out and surround ourselves with like minded people. And together, build something that will create warmth, light, joy and healing for all.

From this we learn the fortitude of womanhood. The power and strength that can be found in every woman’s determined heart. With this strength, passed on from generation to generation, nothing can stop us. Not men on horses. Not a new religion. Not the threat of rape and murder. Not the darkness of a flame snuffed out or a temple destroyed. Always, we will rise from the ashes.

What is that you say?

Over the last few months I have been sitting back collecting my thoughts and expressing my feelings much to the chagrin of former friends and acquaintances. Mainly because I am putting things out there in the wild. Why you might ask is because I need to vent. Yes I could write this all down in a nice little quiet journal offline. No one would see it but me. But for me that does not suffice. I lost one friend who was not vocal enough, hid his angst away, and kept it mainly to himself. Yes he spoke to a few people who he thought he could trust. Those enablers that allowed him to continue on his path to suicide. So yes I may seem outspoken and maybe considered the “enemy of the state” and being kept under a watchful eye. But wait maybe I am not alone, and If I am not alone then YANA.

With a continuation of my previous post some things I have forgotten or maybe was in denial about or just not sure of and needed to rediscover. There is no clear cut, definitive guide or “AHA” to what determines a cult a cult. Yes there are warning signs and indicators but no one really fully understands the inner workings of cults. We are all familiar with the Dalmer, the Manson scenario but at first these things did not necessarily fall into the realm of “cult.” No one has actually infiltrated a cult and broke down their inner workings from a sociological, psychological point of view. No one has actually done a successful active case study on a cult from within. Most cults are not determined to be cults until after a long enough period of time has elapsed that there are enough people who come forward and say “hey man I think this is a cult” and some one actually case studies the former members.

Cults never admit to being cults. Members who remain active within the cult never see the cult. Cult leaders never admit to being cult leaders.

here lists some of the warning signs you maybe in a cult. But again no list is a definitive and I have found multiple lists but this to me seems to be most complete.

The group is focused on a living leader to whom members seem to display excessively zealous, unquestioning commitment.
The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.
The group is preoccupied with making money.
Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.
Mind-numbing techniques (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, debilitating work routines) are used to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).
The leadership dictates sometimes in great detail how members should think, act, and feel (for example: members must get permission from leaders to date, change jobs, get married; leaders may prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, how to discipline children, and so forth).
The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity).
The group has a polarized us- versus-them mentality, which causes conflict with the wider society.
The group’s leader is not accountable to any authorities (as are, for example, military commanders and ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream denominations).
The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify means that members would have considered unethical before joining the group (for example: collecting money for bogus charities).
The leadership induces guilt feelings in members in order to control them.
Members’ subservience to the group causes them to cut ties with family and friends, and to give up personal goals and activities that were of interest before joining the group.
Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group.
Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.