Corps of Discovery

[Anonymous]

Fellas,

"I'm jest a constuction fella" sez Roger Wendlick. He never went ta college, but he figgered America history wuz a fine hobby. He set off ta git ever book ever wrote bout Ole Will 'n Merriweather. First one cost $695 when hiz paycheck wuz only $300. He borrowed agin hiz house 'n run up $142, 000 on 9 credit cards ta git dang near all a the Lewis & Clark books, journals, etc.

One time he borrowed frum hiz Dad (a retired policeman), then sold hiz car 'n funriture ta pay him back. In '94 he had ta git a $12,500 set, so he offered ta buy it if they allow him ta pay $2000 a month, 4x hiz house note.

Finally the Lewis 'n Clark College give Ole Roger $375,000 plus $30,000 a year fer 10 years fer the whole kaboodle....'n they give Roger a desk so he kin keep an eye on 'em. He wears a badger hat 'n ermine vest ta work ever day 'n gives speeches fer $1000. He pretends ta be George Drouillard, the hunter on the expedishun. He tells the little pardners how at Ft. Clatsop they made 358 pairs of moccasins fer the home trip cuz they wore out ever 2 weeks.

He also tole how Merriweather poured 5 gallons a water in a pelicans beak ta see how much it would hold. I figger $1000 iz a bargain.

I reckon a heap a folks figger its kinda strange that a construction fella with no advanced book learnin' iz layin' pipe 6 days a week in the Portland winter so he kin buy all the books on the Corps of Discovery.

I figger its mitey kinda queer that a heap a folks likely think that way. :?

best regards,

bearridge

Here's some tales bout Ole Roger.


http://www.google.com/search?q=Wendlick ... art=0&sa=N

 

[Swampy]

Boyz round here spend th' same on dogz an' gunz... Thar homez ani't worth no 2000 dallerz all told....

But thiz boy did good wit hiz collection.
Wonder whatz out thar to collect ow a dayz??

swampy

 

[Pirogue]

Bear,
You said you thought it kind of queer someone would think that way. I don't know how to take it but here is my 2 cents (worth 1 1/2 though).

I admire someone who has a true passion for something. To take and just dedicate your life and money for something you love is very special.

Back in middle school I remember a fella who came around and did a one man stand up presentation as Teddy Roosevelt. That was what he did for as you say the Little Pardners.

Passion.

I sit here as a coporate weenie. Make sure the VP's, Ceo, shareholders all get their dividend checks and bonuses. While my passion is to make it another day with my office door key working.

This man is doing something he loves. I admire that.

 

[Anonymous]

Friend Pirogue,

I wuz tryin' ta say how it strikes me az mitey sad if a heap a folk think Ole Roger iz strange. My guess iz they figger its strange ta want all them books 'n they figger its strange fer a fella without no college ta even be interested in books. [I aint sad if they figger he's a bit strange fer wearin' a badger hat.] :wink:

I admire Ole Roger quite a bit. First, becuz he got a passion 'n second, becuz he showed everbody that jest becuz he aint been ta college, drives a caterpillar out in the sleet 'n wears a plastic hat dont mean he dont know more than a fella who been all the way thru college.

I know a heap a folks with a lotta years in college 'n I know a lot with none....'er jest a bit. College iz a bit overrated in my view.

I aint sayin' there aint a lotta fine college fellas who learnt a heap a useful stuff up ta college. Heck, I been ta the Bodine School myownself, but college dont give ya much if ya aint thirsty. Ole Roger wuz thirsty 'n didnt need no college.

Next life I'm gwine ta work on more careful word choosin'. I'm gwine ta exercise more 'n eat food that iz better fer me too. I sho hope I dont come back az a eskimo, cuz its mitey cold up there 'n they eat a lot a whale fat....without grits.

respecfully,

bearridge
bodine school of public babel

P.S. Oh yeah...I got a deep respect fer a kid who borrows frum hiz folks 'n then haz ta sacrifice ta pay 'em back. A heap a folks dont seem to honor a debt no more. :cry:

 

[Kayak Jack]

Education teaches one about the world, and how to think.

Training teaches a skill, either mental or physical.

Most of us, when we mention the word "education", are referring by default to "formal education" - the kind done in classrooms. Education, however, can occur anywhere at any time. And, classrooms can function without much real educating going on.

When I was little shaver, my Dad gave me an old hand drill, and a bit to go with it. I sat in the living room, by the old Iron-Oak wood stove and drilled holes to my heart's content, in a board. Trouble was, the bit went through the board, through the linoleum, and into the floor boards. No sweat, just yank it back out.

OOPS! It pulled up some of that colored tar paper referred to during wartime as “linoleumâ€Â

 

[Anonymous]

Most of us, when we mention the word "education", are referring by default to "formal education" - the kind done in classrooms.

Friend Kayak Jack,

Ya sho iz good at word choosin'. When ya live in a small college town, ya git ta know a heap folk who been in school a mitey long time. While I liked a heap of 'em, but an aweful lot wuz a disappointment fer several reasons.

I even got ta feel sorry for some of 'em when they'd inherit some money. Theyd figger they wuz so much smarter than some uneducated fella who had no college 'n had worked hiz arse off ta git ahead that theyd jest use that money 'n sheeeezaaaammmm, theyd be on eazy street. That kinda thinkin' sent one real nice fella ta see the bankrupt judge.

I begun ta see some danger in bein' round "formal education" too long. It seemed ta drain off some folks common sense 'n passion. A heap of 'em went bitter cuz they warnt makin' the big money like them HVAC fellas, auto mechanics, pawnshop owners, 'n a heap of fellas they figgered warnt near bout az smart az them.

They likely wuz rite bout bein' smarter, but that aint the same az bein' wize 'n ya need both ta do any good.

On Mister Gore's web I met a heap a folks who aint got hardly no formal educatin' at all, but they iz full of a powerful learnin' passion. My life 'n work throwed me rite in the middle 'n I seen a good bit....even done some formal teachin' one time, but it wuz jest cuz I wuz gamblin' 'n drankin' with a fella out ta the college who wuz startin' up a new program. He asked if I'd help git it started off by teachin' some. I asked him ta bring me anuther beer 'n I'd do it. Next day I wuz kinda sorry. Ten years later I quit cuz I figgered I our books wuz square. I kept my word.

I know fellas like Ole Roger (cept fer the badger hat part). I know some fine college fellas who picked up some mitey useful knowledge in the school room. I kinda expected that. It wuz the fellas like Roger that wuz a surprize.

regards,

bearridge
faculty, retired

 

[andrewp]

It is my feverent belief that you can never stop learning. I cannot begin to tell all of you how much I have learned in the last year or so through this forum alone. But this is just one area of my life. I have many other areas where I seek to learn more.

The danger is when you think you've learned all that can be learned. That's about the time something comes along and bites you in the you-know-what. If your lucky, it just hurts your pride a little .......

A passion for learning is about the greatest gift one can posses.

 

[Kayak Jack]

It is my feverent belief that you can never stop learning. (SNIP) A passion for learning is about the greatest gift one can possess.

Smart young feller, ehh, Br'r Bear?

The day I quit learning, is two days before they throw dirt in my face. Only God can make a human, but any damned fool can make himself a fool. Some do a better job than others because they work harder at it..

 

[Swampy]

Years and years ago I heard something that has stayed with me and will til they toss dirt over me.
"Don't go to bed at night without remembering something that you learnt that day!"

In other words... pick up something that day or you have wasted a day...

However small.... add it to the rest....

swampy

 

[Kayak Jack]

Drive them philosophisizers frum the boat shed!

 

[Anonymous]

I'm thinkin' it wuz a pickpocket.

 

[dawallace45]

Bearridge , I agree 100% , a formal education doesn't make one educated , a love and thirst for knowledge is what does , most of the university educated people I know bore me silly , there are exceptions of course as with any thing , one of my shooting mates several years ago was a university lecturer and another mate has 3 degrees and doing a fourth [ I think he's making a habit of it ] Actually most people bore me silly unless they have similar interests to my self , I can be a difficult person to get along with at times but have spent too much time working by my self to change easily .

Some time back a spokesman for a certain university stood up and said the job of a university wasn't to teach a subject as such it was to teach people how to think , from what I've seen that seems to mean teach them what to think , or at least it seems that way in Australia

The smartest person I know has a grade 10 education , his IQ is about 200 , he cant hold a normal job for too long as he gets bored or frustrated that other people can't understand things as quickly as he can , he has to learn some thing new all the time , a compulsive studier , but he has some personality problems [ he doesn't have one ] , but apart from that he's a good bloke and a keen fisherman and hunter and likes to paddle now and then

David W

 

[Anonymous]

The smartest person I know has a grade 10 education , his IQ is about 200 , he cant hold a normal job for too long but apart from that he's a good bloke and a keen fisherman and hunter and likes to paddle now and then

Friend David,

I always wondered what them high IQ fellas done all day. :wink:

regards,

bearridge


P.S. Sorry ta hear yer Aussie colleges dont sound like a place fer swappin' a lotta new ideas. Most colleges up here the same way. Its mitey sad fer the little pardners ta grow up 'n have ta go off where someone kin teach 'em correct things ta think....'n what ta say out loud.

I figgered that wuz jest in them science fiction books.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Braains and Minds

Brains are fairly easy to identify, and a bit harder to explain. A mind - now that's a different matter.

A mind is more like a process than a thing. We learn, and we learn to learn. We think, and we learn to think. As I said earlier, that is education. We can educate when we guide a little pardner (as Br'r bear is fond of calling them) to release a fish if we don't need it, when we say, "The fish likes to live too." Same thing if we return unused worms to the flower garden. "Worms like to live too."

This teaches a difference between taking for need, and taking for waste. A stewardship of the land and all of God's creatures.

Sometimes,"Li'l Pardners" got grey hair. Both the teachin kind, and the learnin kind.



BTW, it's been my observation that mosquitoes don't like to live. No need to spare them.

 

[Oldtimer]

Another two-bits worth on education

I said this was my two-bits worth on the subject, and I'll probably wind up giving change but…… Education comes in two flavors, formal and informal. Formal education can be associated with institutions whereas informal education is associated with individual initiative in reading and gaining experience, among other things. NEVER, NEVER equate a DEGREE of any kind with education, experience, and/or skill. A degree is a piece of paper just like a marriage license and, anymore, it doesn't mean a helluva lot to a helluva lot of people.

As stated in this forum previously, education is SUPPOSED to teach you to think. Doesn't always. Doesn't always teach basics, either. There have been college graduates who, when tested, graded out as functional illiterates. I think formal education should include the following:

1. Provide a basic knowledge database
2. Provide an overview/grand scheme of the knowledge that's out there and how it all connects to provide a greater depth of knowledge and UNDERSTANDING of the interaction
3. Teach you to think independently rather than 'accept at face value' or 'parrot'
4. Teach you how to find data efficiently that is outside your educational specialty (how to find and use other data bases).

There are probably more entries but that's enough to indicate that they're all TOOLS. None of the above is worth a tinker's damn as a salable, hit-the-ground-running commodity without experience just like a full set of Snap-On tools doesn't make a good mechanic. Working on cars, striving for perfection, the desire to keep up with the technology, honesty, and integrity makes a good mechanic. None of that is taught in college. Skill with or at somethingâ€â€

 

[Kayak Jack]

Edga-ma-kashun

I'll drink to that, Old Timer.

Course, I'll drink to almost anything, so that don't mean much, ya know. No - wait, I don't drink to abstinence. That'd be against my religion.

I'll drink to delay of gratification, though. I once held out for five or ten minutes. Her plaintive pleas finally wore me down ... so, I handed her the jug.

 

[Oldtimer]

Delayed Gratification and Social Change

Jack,

Don't know exactly what you're drinkin' to other than drinkin' but then my confusion factor has gotten a lotta experience lately and is gettin' pretty good at doin' what it does. That make sense or is it confusin'? I gotta go along with that side effect (benefit?) of delayed gratification if ya drink to it seriously. Now IF I was to do that, my drug of choice, based upon very frustratin' anecdotal evidence, would be juniper berry juice. Th' Brits know it as gin and corporate America knows it as Martinisâ€â€

 

[Swampy]

Oldtimer yer on to something... but a word of caution....

The USMarine Corp has ( had) a real life hero in General Chesty Puller.
Wouldn't he have made a grand Commandant of the Marines? Well, so the story goes, Chesty had some rather "foreward" thoughts o his beloved Corps. He wanted to tear down all the cement barracks and replace them with tents... he had some more... but this one about taking all the milk machines out of the chow halls and replacing them with beer caused a lot of "concern" in the appointment boards....

sometimes a good idea is best kept close to the chest huh?

swampy

 

[Anonymous]

Replace them with beer

The man was a bloody genius , obviously far ahead of his time ,
David W

 

[Kayak Jack]

Re: Delayed Gratification and Social Change

(SNIP) Let's start a movement to have water purified and sanctified not by chlorine and fluoride but by GIN. Oh perceive th' beauty of it, dear hearts. (SNIP)

I'm way ahead of ya, Oldtimer. A few years ago, one of my fellow workers had a small water jug on his desk. A ceramic barrel of about a quart and a half capacity, with a spiggot on the bottom so it could relieve itself in your glass.

One morning, I slips about 2 cups of vodka into the water, and sat back to watch the festivities. HELL! It took two days before he took a sip of water from the jug. Then WHOOO HEEE! He got real expansive that afternoon.

Later I told him and we all had a good laugh. Then, he asked me to do it again.