“What’S Going On?!?”:: A Layman’S Experiential Guide to Understanding Modern Living for the Individual

By Paul Keller

Whats Going on?!?: An Experiential Guide to Modern Living for the Individual is a collection of a number of manuscripts relating to the experiences, triumphs, and struggles of an average man into a flowing narrative that gives its reader a surfboard to ride the waves of life. Detailing the elements that make contemporary living so daunting and pulsating, it begins to uncover the illusions that distort our perceptions of our vibrant lives. This work is part memoir, part guide, and part entertainment; it is a single source for the layman to help understand the world as we know it. It will both amuse and stimulate its readers as they travel along for a journey through its pages that reveals some of the incredible mysteries that are at the heart of the human condition.

WARNING: This manuscript contains graphic images of fish & game harvesting/processing; viewer discretion is advised.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 9, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481750400

Paul Keller

Paul Keller is a longtime Alaska resident, an avid outdoorsman, and a writer on various subjects. As a University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Aviation Management and Business Administration, he has undertaken a tenured position with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (TSAIA). During his youth, he traveled throughout the United States to many locations, including Washington, D.C., and New York City; these traveling experiences gave him a unique understanding of the nation and its diversity. He currently resides in Anchorage, and he is planning future works relating his childhood experiences in his home state of Alaska.

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© 2013 Paul Keller. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 5/8/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5042-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5041-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-5040-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013908238

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Part I Considering The Elements

Part II Notes About Money

Part III An Eye Behind The Curtain Of Control

Part IV A Further Examination Of Truth And Individuality

Part V The Interaction Of The Elements Of Modern Society

Part VI Communication Amongst People And Groups

Part VII A Summary Of Individuality And Diversity

Part VIII First Intuitions:The Process Of Proper Negotiation And Its Effects On Leadership

Part IX Dogma, Paradigm, And Stigma: Effects Of An Executive Blight

Part X A Summary Of A Summary

Epilogue A Word On Our Public Servants And Everyday Heroes

References

Appendix I

Appendix II

DEDICATION

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TO MY PARENTS, MY SIBLINGS, my friends, my colleagues, my acquaintances, and the world—this book is for you. It is for you to enjoy, to learn from, and to offer the slightest glimpse into the way one individual’s perspective on matters of existence have so intricately shaped his life. Formed from both his own interpretations and the experiences and lessons of many others, his point-of-view has been hard-won from both struggles and triumphs alike. This is his narrative, a narrative for everyone…

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

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THIS COLLECTION IS DEDICATED TO everyone in my own life who helped me become the professional, refined individual that I am today. I owe more than I can fathom to my family, my friends, my colleagues, and even strangers. People whom I have interacted with for only a brief time have helped to shape my own development and appreciation for life itself. This work is the product of countless hours of speculation and study stretched across a period of over two decades worth of the human system of memory (incidentally, more on this later…). This is, literally, the result of living itself, and like so many other things, it is an ongoing work-in-progress. Built upon my resources and experiences, I hope to transmit my own unique perception to my readers in a way that eliminates the inconsistencies and purposeful evasiveness found in similar works that purport to offer advice and insights on meaningful living.

This tome is dedicated to the laymen—the people who, historically, would be considered the normal or average person(s). There are other folks who have had vast volumes written about themselves and their exploits; however, there have been comparatively few works dedicated primarily toward the everyday heroes who make civilization tick each and every day. Although I intend this piece to be read and valued by everyone (as mentioned in the dedication section), this prose is especially for the middle-class individual (or the bourgeoisie, as this demographic is called in the French language). While public figureheads and elitist classes can often become isolated and detached within their own self-involved worlds, it is the common man who often bears the brunt of the struggle of physical existence, often worrying about the most basic of needs. It is to these that this work is universally dedicated, and I hope it acknowledges the incredible achievements and struggles of such people as these…

PREFACE

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WELCOME, FELLOW READER AND MUSER! If you have found your way to the inside of the covers of this book, then you probably share an equal fascination with the topics it contains—namely: life, emotion, logic, and philosophy, to label just a few. These pages contain my own personal synthesis of the infinite volume of information that is contained within these equally voluminous and expansive subjects. I have spent many years reflecting, researching, recording, reading, writing, analyzing, and just plain pondering over the many threads that correspond to these subjects. Weaving in and out of their neighboring threads, each separate piece of this complex web contributes its own elements to a veritable tapestry that forms the basis of reality and existence—if you will pardon the elaborate analogy. This piece is the result of those many years of thought over these complex areas; it is the anthology of my many separate efforts of analysis into an integrated whole.

I guess this is a rather cliché place to start, but this work wouldn’t be complete without including a little of where I came from in its pages. I was born in the state of Minnesota in the United States of America in the year 1987 to two young parents who were both new to adulthood and the obstacles of raising an infant son. Both of them came from rural backgrounds, and their parents had farms and homesteads in the states of Minnesota and North Dakota. My dad was a recent college graduate with two associate degrees from North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS), and my mom had an associate degree in accounting from NDSCS. They were married in 1986, and their marriage culminated from a relationship that started when they met each other as students of rival high schools. Finding well-paid positions at that time in North Dakota or Minnesota was as difficult then as it is now in many respects, and for a young set of parents with a baby on the way, the daunting task of making a living proved to be a heavy burden. Under the circumstances, my dad made the choice to seek out military service as a career path. He enlisted in the Air Force late in 1987 and was soon departing the Midwest for the Pacific coast of the country.

The Air Force deployed him to Travis Air Force Base in California, and it was there that my first sister was born in December of 1988. During his time at Travis, my father was injured in an accident during a cargo handling incident in the hold of a C-130 transport aircraft. It left him with permanent spinal and nerve damage, and through the years, these injuries would slowly take a toll on his mobility and functional control in his limbs.

The call of public service ran strong throughout my family’s history, and this contributed to the development of my family’s makeup and professions. Many of my other close relatives served in the military, including my dad. My maternal great-grandfather, Edward Bertils, served in World War I. Louis Keller, my paternal grandfather, was a United States Army serviceman in World War II, in addition to his brother who was drafted into the Navy. Louis Keller went to Baltimore, Maryland, in order to complete his basic training; this was similar to training that my dad received over forty years later. He was trained as a field mechanic in order to repair jeeps, trucks, motorcycles, and other vehicles/equipment while at remote stations during the war; he specialized in field-expedient repairs in order to keep equipment running in extreme conditions.

He was stationed in the Philippines during 1945, close to the end of the war; he was onboard the backup invasion fleet that was supposed to invade mainland Japan if the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not work to stop the war. After Japan surrendered in August of 1945, he was recalled to the Philippines and, soon after, the United States. It was after the war that he put his mechanic skills to work, as he and his brother Cyril Keller set about designing the skid-steer construction loader known as the Bobcat (pictures of this are included at the end of the book). This loader has been used extensively by agricultural, construction, and other industries to speed up work; the nimble loader has a multitude of uses and applications. It was my grandfather’s and uncle’s contribution to the classic idea of American entrepreneurship.

My mother’s family grew up in the countryside on a farm in the Midwest state of Minnesota. Her father, Harold, worked the family farm as a young man until being struck with paralysis in his early 30’s. Defying all odds and a predicted terminal illness, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota (MN). My mother was born and raised on a parsonage farm near Fergus Falls, MN. Her dad and mom also opened their doors to foster children on the farm, and they helped to give a stable home to many children who came from around the state. She met my dad during her sophomore year in high school, and they dated for several years before being married in 1986. It was soon after their marriage that my dad and she embarked upon the life journey that eventually led them to a place that would change their lives and the lives of my brothers and sisters.

In a little more than three years after their marriage, the military would again transition my family to a new geographical location, and it was this move that would completely change the course of our lives. We ended up in what many people would consider, even in the twenty-first century, to be one of the most isolated and backwards places on the planet: Alaska, the Last Frontier of the United States. It was here that, after our initial placement on Elmendorf Air Force Base in 1989, my brother and second sister were born. After living in base housing for several years, my parents decided to permanently settle in the Anchorage area; they accomplished this by buying a small house off of the federal land of the military bases that surround the northern part of the Anchorage peninsula. Our family was raised there, and we developed a love for everything outdoors—hiking, fishing, hunting, snow-machining, wildlife viewing, skiing (in the winter, of course), and several other outdoor pastimes were taught to the kids in my family. Alaska’s economy is also partially reliant on tourism and outdoor activities, and there are many businesses, both small and large, that revolve around the changing seasonal attractions that draw large numbers of people into the state from all around the world. Commercial fishing, mining, oil production, logging, and several other professions in Alaska are just as intricately linked to the outdoors as the people who travel from the outside to enjoy the natural beauty of the state. Alaska is a unique place amongst the states of the United States of America; it brings together many facets of life in a place that still has links to the distant past.

In addition to my outdoor background, I have had this fate of having grown up in an Air Force family with a father who happened to be a Buck Sergeant Survival Instructor for the Airborne Early-Warning and Command System (AWACS) and F-15 squadrons stationed in Anchorage at Elmendorf Air Force Base. Let’s just say that growing up around him I have learned a few things that most people would find incredulous. Plus, his Air Force career (he is medically retired now) gave me the roots of my love for aviation. As such, I am a University of Alaska Anchorage graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aviation Technology with an emphasis on Aviation Management. The University has a great program here for aviation, and considering the state I live in (Alaska has only three main towns connected by roads: Anchorage, the Matanuska-Susitna Valley area, and Fairbanks), flying is the main mode of transport for reaching most of the state; it is an excellent place for such a profession. I am a Transportation Security Officer (TSO) at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (TSAIA) for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and I assist in protecting travelers from the very real threats of international terrorism and criminal activity. Being one of the most northerly major airports in the world, Anchorage International is a hub for many