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Completed and painted the bridge span framework and operations hut. Computer screen shows what the real hut looks like. Both road and footpath railings are installed. I used matchsticks and split bamboo skewers. Found some narrow washers, in my toolbox, which fitted nicely over the LED navigational lights. Now they look like light beacons. I am very happy with the outcome. It is times like this when I question myself, "Did I build that"?

@Torkys Everything that comes to mind.

Had lots of fun adding the railings and mesh (fly screen). Started painting bridge span.

Try looking at work, and everything else, as an exchange of energy. Our body needs energy (food and medicine). To get those energy resources requires money (another form of energy). To get money is to work (another form of energy) for it. We get that energy from the employer (another form of energy), who pays us to do what the employer wants us to do, regardless how silly / mundane it may be. Also, it is better to be a writer because you love writing. Why not write for free, in your spare time (since you are not working), writing newsletters for members of non-profit organizations (or other). Though it does not pay, it gets you writing (what you love doing) and adds an element to your resume. That is, that you love writing, and have current publications for potential employers to peruse.

Hello beatlemantis. First of all, congratulations for finishing school. Just to let you know, many youngsters leaving school have felt the same way and even worse. So you are not alone with this experience. Life has turned a new chapter. Everything has changed. Routine of going to school, study, meeting regular friends (and even enemies) has ceased. To get along now requires money to travel and meet others at places that cost to buy drinks and food. Your friends are about to meet new friends (you may lose friends). They are starting a new life with new goals and interests. Learning to be independent is a must and somewhat uncertain. A new set of coping skills will need to be learnt. Coping skills checklist (off the cuff): Coping with.... Rejection (from job interviews, partners, peer groups, parents parenting) Financial responsibilities of earning money, budgeting, savings, paying bills, food and cooking, medical, insurance. Socializing into new groups. Meeting new people. Dealing with different personalities. Living alone. A job that bores you, or challenges you. A new set of unfounded fears about self and future. This forum is a good place to ask questions about how to cope with your new chapter in life.

@Dan Arnautu If you wish to change yourself, perhaps Damn Ardrain

@Torkys Leo said... Inquiry does not necessarily mean to ask a question. To ask a question already puts you onto a path. And as long as you are on a path you are stuck on the path. You may have a question but then let go of it, don't hang on, accept, accept, accept...

Getting into a REAL relationship is not like going to a wedding but to a funeral (for the ego).

Building the operations hut from 3mm MDF, perspex and cardboard.

@h inandout This thread has reminded me of a dream log book which has been put away for many years. Thanks for the reminder. The initial purpose was to try and interpret the dreams. But then (and again now) is simply to log down anything that I felt/thought was a powerful impression for future artworks. Now that art is becoming a rediscovery for me, I will restart referring to that log book a bit more. Here is a dream I had many years ago which means a lot to me, though others don't seem to grasp it. I started, and then stopped, this painting many years ago. I will finish it one day. It is a dream image which suddenly presented itself for many minutes. The skin was gold-like and all the scars represent healed errors yet not forgotten. The light within the eye is the grace of redemption.

That is a lot of can'ts. It reminds me of my early days. A mentor noticed the same sort of self-talk in me about something I was struggling with. However, he helped me to realize something about myself by telling me to replace all those can'ts with the word 'won't'.

@PetarKa Students are suppose to fill in the why. School education covers a broad field. Learning stuff that does not suit you actually does suit you in terms of tolerance, patience, allowing, but most importantly to listen to what does not seem to entertain you. These side/hidden lessons are vital for future lessons in life. A lot of the stuff I learnt at school cannot be seen in direct use in my life vocations. But what I do see is how it has helped me to understand other stuff in areas I have no interest in. Example, I am not into biology, chemistry or geology, yet I can appreciate nature a lot more because I can see those three subjects whenever I go for a walk in nature. I would say that the education system's main flaw is not teaching students to listen. To listen without listening to one's own criticisms, judgement, stories of intolerance and impatience. To not only listen to what others are saying, but what is written in a book as you read it.

@heisenburger law of attraction insight... "Nature abhors a vacuum" - Aristotle. It takes faith to create a vacuum of what you want/need. Unconditionality keeps the vacated room open for it to be filled.

Before building the hut I decided to first add the traffic lights for the river vessels. Their wires were routed under and up through the hut floor. Outside the hut, on the surrounding balconies are enclosures that house equipment for operating and maintaining the bridge. These were shaped from blocks of wood, and painted bridge grey.

The enlightened are enlightened because they take things lightly.

The wiring from the span substructure can now be routed to and through the operations hut flooring. The lateral (sideways) bumper rollers were made and attached to the span.

Lets assume Jesus Christ was an enlightened person. Unfortunately, much of the time he was not understood, yet they sensed his truth. Not much was written about what he had said over a three year period. I would say that most of it went over their heads. The bible even mentions how he got frustrated with his disciples for not understanding him over that three year period. My conjecture is that his life reference was that of truth and love. While others, including his disciples, had a life reference of denial and fear. An enlightened being is lit from the inside. Their reference point is love and truth and from this they see life crystal clear. Others are in the dim / dark. Only a flicker of light is expressed whenever they are genuine. Their main reference point is fear and deception (denial) and from this they see life as a struggle through the dim/dark (the unknown). So often, the enlightened one, would be seen as someone foreign, being misunderstood, using unusual words and phrases. Some even see them as simpletons because they don't make sense. Their words are often paradoxical because they can see both sides of light and dark. They can be seen as an enigma, and those with an ego to protect will feel threatened by them. Unfortunately, history shows us many examples of how the world has a way of silencing them.

Can you sign up for both? Then when its time to go to college decide then which one to go with. Something to think about - Sometimes when you do not know where you are heading, ask yourself where you are coming from.

Denial. Ego got glimpsed (Oh!) in between unhappy and happy faces of expression. "Are you alright"? "Oh! Yes, of course I am. I am fine".

Thank you Annetta for your response. I am trying to keep it simple, yet it is complicated by its need to be operational and childproof. The later I am still working on. Annetta, I have done many things in my life, especially in my youth. This project is rekindling those old skills and knowledge, but somehow it feels different this time. As if there is more insight/wisdom (learnt from previous errors), patience, less doubt (or less concern about getting it wrong). Because of these new experiences, this project is quite exciting and revealing about my true nature.

This will sound terrible to most, but I do not have breakfast if I do not work hard that morning. If I do, such as a fast 40-75 km cycle ride, I like, after the ride, two boiled eggs with one buttered toast and then one Vegemite on toast, washed down with a cup of coffee.

Lets assume awareness is knowing what is true, and creation is the expression, or by product, of what is true. Then what makes the awareness turn into creation? Conviction, belief + faith. In a person it is conviction (the agreement that what is true is, or will be, real).

Now for a more ______ phase. I am not sure what the right word is that contains both apprehension + curiosity. The top portion of the bridge span is quite busy in terms of the parts that will occupy it. The whole creative process is both worked out on paper beforehand, yet a lot of it is still ad-lib. On top of the span is an operations hut, balconies, gangways, railings, longitudinal and lateral bumper rollers (to keep span in alignment), and a light switch for operating the traffic lights for passing vessels. I used 3mm MDF board for gangways and hut. Matchsticks for railing posts. Below, you can see that the cable anchoring points have been installed. Next to the anchoring points are longitudinal bumper rollers. These were adapted from microswitch actuating arms. The black U-shape device is an optocoupler (light switch). As the span is coming together, so too is my confidence in creating a model.

"Mahatma Gandhi's life achievement stands unique in political history. He has invented a completely new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country, and practiced it with greatest energy and devotion. The moral influence he had on the consciously thinking human being of the entire civilized world will probably be much more lasting than it seems in our time with its overestimation of brutal violent forces. Because lasting will only be the work of such statesmen who wake up and strengthen the moral power of their people through their example and educational works. We may all be happy and grateful that destiny gifted us with such an enlightened contemporary, a role model for the generations to come. Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood." - Einstein

Usually, in commercialism "to find a way to add more value to peoples lives than anyone else does" is an exploitative ploy. The best value to anybody's life is truth. However, most do not want to hear that. That biblical saying 'love thy enemy', seems to be a strange statement. But there is a reason for loving your enemy. The enemy is more likely to tell you the truth about yourself than a so-called best friend who only wants to appease you - regardless if its a lie. The best value to add to a person's life is the truth. Yet in commercialism that is not seen as the best way for financial success.