Slope of Hope Blog Posts
Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.
My Eastern Bloc Tour
As most of you know, I was away for nearly two weeks on “vacation”. Typically, when I go 
somewhere new – – – even something minor, like walking into a new store – – I can typically write up some impressions I had about the place. One would think that a tour of Prague, Poland, and Berlin would evoke all kinds of prose. Strangely, virtually nothing came to mind, and I wasn’t even sure I could muster up a “post-travel” post.
A few folks asked me if I would write one, however, and I do have a few things to say, including one conclusion that surprised me. For those who don’t know me so well, an important preface is that I’m not that keen on traveling. I’m a notorious homebody, and the nuisance of planes, passports, and expensive hotels really isn’t my cup of tea. I’d rather just stay home with my dogs. But occasionally I am wrested lose from the snug of Palo Alto. (more…)
BIS Banksters Brazen Backroom Betrayals……….EP by BDI
The Idiot Savant thought he should pitch in while our marvelous magnanimous multitasking maestro was mindlessly meandering the old world, tirelessly touring terrific timeless towns, torridly tasting tempting tavern table treats. Moreover, since TK’s currently globe trotting across Europe rubbing elbows with professional thieves, I thought it apropos to concentrate my questionable craft on a cunning confidential continental institution situated in Switzerland. Namely; the Bank for International Settlements, otherwise known as the BIS. The above luminous photo is of their luxurious Headquarters.
Ten times a year, once a month except in August and October, a small group of well dressed men arrives in Basel, Switzerland. Carrying elegant overnight bags and stylish brief cases, they discreetly check into the Euler Hotel, across from the railroad station. They come to this quiet city from places as disparate as Tokyo, Paris, Brasilia, London, and Washington, D.C., for the regular meeting of the most exclusive, secretive, and powerful supranational club in the world.
Technical Tools Tale (The End)
Here’s the third installment of my little story, the first and second of which are here and here, respectively. As before, the term “X” is used in place for a certain real name.
Our little company was now under new management. In the months to follow, our respective jobs remained more or less the same, but the interactions within the office grew both peculiar and contrived.
For example, in the arsenal of psychology tools our new owner “X” pulled from his new age bag of tricks, there was something he called “pacing”. During these pacing exercises, everyone in the company would stop whatever they were doing (to the chagrin, I imagine, of customers calling in to place orders or get technical support) and pair off, two by two, and face one another while sitting in chairs. One person would speak, and the other person would “pace” them – – that is to say, the silent person would mimic the body language of the other party. This was not to be done in a mocking way, but instead was assumed to build empathy with the other person. (more…)
Knight Family A+++ Would Adopt Again
(I dedicate the following post to Iggy, who has made service to dogs an important part of his own life): For over a week, I was alone. This is highly unusual, since my life is greatly intertwined with the lives of my wife and children, so I feel somewhat at sea during the extraordinary rare times that I’m on my own. However, over the course of July 3-4, we all got back together, one by one.
Upon picking up my little girl from a week-long gymnastics camp in rural southeastern California, 
the reunited family began driving north again. My wife got a text message from another parent who had left the same camp and was headed south through the Mojave desert. They saw in the desert a dog walking aimlessly. Since the dad driving the car is, like me, a tender-hearted sort, he pulled over, and the dog immediately ran under the car for shade. They got him a bowl of water, and he lapped it up. (more…)
