Be kind

I suspect that most of the folks who stop by here would agree that in almost every case it's better to be kind than unkind.

If you're like me you were raised on this or a similar message. Sometimes it's expressed as "be nice," and that's a good message too. Being kind, in my opinion, is just a little bit different than being nice. Not that hair splitting over definitions is important here. We all get the point and I suspect that most if not all of us have found that being kind makes sense in a civilized society, that it's a better approach in most cases than being mean or angry or unkind, and that being kind generally brings greater benefits to the kind-er than the kind-ee.

And again if you're like me, you've tried all the other approaches many times and would like to have most of those back.

##########

It was a pretty morning for Red and I to make sure the south unit hadn't disappeared overnight.



We paused to overlook the south unit valley, blabber about the hazardous waste incinerator stack plume, and discuss the intricacies of getting a neurosurgery consult approved.



Then it was time to ponder surgery, recovery, and plans for a spring fencing project.



And more fence stuff...



And more fence stuff...



And finally the last of the fence stuff...



Before looking at and dreaming of a hill to run when I'm better.



Then, because of a phone call I received just before shooting that last video, it was time to head for Scottsbluff to do some face-to-face medical records stuff.

##########

Because reasons I won't delve into here, I needed to get records and a consultation faxed from the hospital in Scottsbluff to the VA in Cheyenne. It was one of those things you're best served doing yourself and in person.

Which brings us to the whole being kind thing. When I'm frustrated about my medical care and need to break up a log jam or figure out what to do next, I have a choice. Be mad and yell at the people I deal with or be kind. I really prefer to be kind. For one thing, you can always tell when you're talking to a medical person who isn't giving you the exact news you want that they're expecting to get severely yelled at. So it's always fun (and sometimes funny) to surprise them by being kind and pleasant and upbeat. When you do that, the people you surprise tend to want to bust their ass for you. Not always, but usually. Also, it just makes you feel good to be kind when you have a clear and expected option to be a dick.

##########

Anyway. En route to Scottsbluff and approaching the Wildcat Hills.



Like the Black Hills in SODAK, the Wildcat Hills are part of the eastern slope of the Rockies.  As is everything else around these parts, but the hills are the more scrunched up part and are in some ways more visually appealing.



Mission completed successfully. Hey look, someone put a sugar factory alongside the road!



And speaking of the pen-armed U.S. Chair Force...



I don't recall the exact nomenclature and have no certain knowledge of all the top secret nukulur stuff, but I'm given to understand that beneath the boy-scout-camp-looking campus (it's a campus in the Air Force, right?) there is an underground bunker/control center where the two Missileers turn the keys to shoot off the portable sunshine.



The actual silos are a bit nondescript. I'd make better and closer videos for you except for the whole "deadly force authorized" thing.



Finally, 17-mile corner. Who doesn't love 17-mile corner?



At the end of a busy and windy day, the view wasn't half bad.



Be well and enjoy the blessings of liberty.