Dan Chen was obsessed with two things. Time and numbers. When he discovered computers, he began to explore probabilities and statistics which led him to research the numbers associated with human lifetimes. Once we are born, how much time do we have to live? His research had brought acclaim in university and several insurance giants had offered him prestigious positions in their actuarial departments. But Dan had another idea, an idea that had made him a millionaire The LifeTime Watch, an innovative device that worn on one’s wrist, not only displayed the time of day, it also showed how long you had to live. Dan had created a program that integrated human body metrics such as pulse rates, body temperature, sleep time and stress levels, along with environmental sensors including air quality, temperature and humidity, as well as an active internet connection that monitored local and international weather, economic and political information. All this data was fed into a unique analysis program based on thousands of human life statistics to produce a current estimate of one’s actual lifetime expectancy. It had taken Dan years to perfect his program and then produce the prototype LifeTime Watch, which had been tested on real people for more than two years. And it worked. The LifeTime Watch was 97% accurate to years and months to live. Millions had been sold. He was nicknamed Timeman. But Dan’s obsession continued. Now he and a select group were beta testing a new model that would bring this same statistical accuracy down to days. Dan was checking the new Lifetime watch as he walked along a busy San Francisco sidewalk. He was troubled by the anomalies. What about the 3% who beat the odds. Did they have something in common? He stopped and looked around at the moving mass of humanity that had flooded outside for the rare summer sunshine in downtown San Fran. Who was going to live today? Who was going to die? He looked down at his watch. He shook his head, that couldn’t be right. He looked again. The display was filled with zeroes. Zero years. Zero months. Zero weeks. Zero days. Dan’s watch said his lifetime was… Failing to notice that the traffic light had changed, Dan had walked out into the busy street. He never saw the bus that hit him. Moral: Time stops for no man, and sometimes buses don’t either. tio stib You might also enjoy: Control Freaking; Life Journey Poems & Prose
Tag Archives: life journey
Listen First to Understand
I want to help them give advice make them think I’m smart and nice but then I hear a wiser man listen first to understand I want to brag shout what I’ve done make them want to cheer me on but then that wiser man again listen first to understand no, I don’t always heed the rule neediness makes me play the fool but in the quiet of evening light I look back and know what’s right listen first to understand and I will be a loving man tio stib You might also enjoy: “If” by Rudyard Kipling; Life Journey Poems and Prose
The Cloud
I don’t see it in the clear blue sky romping gaily on my way no hints, no thoughts, no memories just a perfect day but then a shadow passes by and suddenly I give a sigh and darkness sweeps across my soul and loneliness exacts its toll tio stib You might also enjoy: Life Journey Poems & Prose; My Dementia Diary
Giving Back
she never questioned never paused simply poured her endless love into my life now she sits without her mind and I give back tio stib You might also enjoy: My Dementia Diary; Symphony vs. Stanza
Passwords
Security precautions require that you reset your password Enter new password letmein Passwords require at least one capital letter letmeinPLEASE Passwords require at least one symbol letmeinPLEASE! Passwords require at least one number 1MoreTimeletmeinPLEASE! Your session has expired please begin again ! tio stib You might also enjoy: Control Freaking; life is like a broken egg
A Wilderness Pill
when my back aches there’s a pill to ease the pain when I start sneezing there’s a pill for allergies but when I’m trapped in urban loneliness when my soul cries out for wildness for freedom screams to be lost in Nature’s oneness back in the immensity of desert silence standing in awe on a mountaintop dancing with waves crashing on a wild beach then I need a wilderness pill a medicine that smells of campfires that tastes of Springtime meadow flowers that reverberates with coyotes howling at the rising moon but my heart knows this easy out can’t begin to feed the hunger it’s time to get out get away time to be on the loose again tio stib You might also enjoy: Sorely Needing Wilderness; Which Mountain to Climb
little deaths
at first you think that’s strange she must be distracted the repeated question the forgotten moment it’s just not her but things keep happening shoes on wrong feet pants on backwards toilet paper wadded up in drawers she can’t count to ten she wants to walk over to mom’s house but mom lives in a another country the oddities keep coming building and now after days weeks months of little deaths she sits vacant wordless gone tio stib You might also enjoy: Walking With My Lover’s Ghost; This child Who Once Was Woman
All the Lovely People
the grocery clerk who bags my things the coffee man who sometimes sings postman, gardener, neighbors too stopping by with how are you? all the lovely people who lift me on my way their nods, their smiles, their greetings that brighten up each day and as I lay my head to rest my heart full, I must confess my simple life is richly blessed tio stib You might also enjoy: Over the Rainbow; Because Once, I Was Loved by You
A Daughter’s Love
open she said holding the spoon in front of the silent face open she said softly looking into the empty eyes the eyes that once so dearly loved her the lips parted the spoon slipped in the food swallowed automatically empty she set the bowl aside gently wiped the mouth the mouth that once had said I love you bending down she ran her fingers through the greying hair inhaled the scent of innocence pressing her lips against her mother’s head she kissed the child she’d never had tio stib You might also enjoy: A Trail of Hearts; A Child’s Smile
The Balance Between Wants and Needs
it seems the balance between wants and needs has much to do with happiness needs are part of daily life water and air necessities things without which human beings would not survive but then comes the gray zone the in between is love a want or a need? is belonging something we must have or just a comfort for a lonely heart Perhaps these are choices one must make and the answers differ among us but on balance when needs overwhelm wants when survival is paramount to desire when dreams are lost to getting by there is little room left for happiness tio stib You might also enjoy: “The Speed of Love”; “Because Once, I Was Love By You”