The toughest task I had to do as a medic in the Air Force Reserve was taking footprints of aircrew

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the July 8, 2026 Pioneer Toastmasters Club meeting in Boise I was the Table Topics Master. The meeting theme chosen by our Toastmaster Brian Reublineger was The Toughest Job You Will Ever Love [from the Peace Corps, where he once had been a volunteer]. So, I prepared and used the following job-related questions:

 

What was the toughest job or project that you ever had?

 

What is your current job? What do you love or hate about it?

 

What was the best (or worst) project you ever worked on?

 

What was the best (or worst) job that you ever had?

 

At your current job, what was the best (or worst) day you ever had?

 

At your first job, what was the best (or worst) day you ever had?

 

From 1972 to 1978 I served as a medic in the Air Force Reserve. The clinic I worked at once weekend a month did flight physicals. The toughest task I ever had to do was taking footprints of aircrew. A Student Report, 88-2610, from April 1988 by Gary M. Triplett at the Air Command and Staff College titled Use of a Computer-Assisted Identification System in the Identification of the Remains of Deceased USAF Personnel said:

 

“The DOD has recognized the applicability of fingerprints, footprints, and dental comparison for the scientific identification of deceased active duty personnel for some time. In 1959, the USAF began footprinting of all aircrew members. The footprints are to be used for remains identification to supplement the fingerprints obtained from all active duty members when they enter service.

 

The footprints of USAF personnel performing flight duty recorded as a permanent part of the member’s medical record on AF FM 137, Footprint Record, are reviewed for accuracy and currency during each flight physical.”

 

Both footprints were taken on a single record card using printers ink rolled onto a glass plate. But the Air Force manual describing footprinting was vague about how to get the inking right. Luckily I found out that the United States Secret Service had a publication, a 14-page Guide to Taking Palm Prints published in 1972, with the following succinct explanation:

 

“STEP 1: PREPARATION OF INKING PLATE

 

In order to obtain clear, legible palm-prints, fingerprint ink must be spread on the inking plate in a thin, uniform coat. This can best be accomplished by placing a daub or two of ink on the plate (Figure 2). The ink can be spread evenly over the entire plate by rolling the ink roller back and forth over the plate until the desired consistency is obtained. (Figures 3 and 4.) The proper thickness of the ink may be judged by placing a slip of white paper under the inked glass plate. If the ink is of the desired thickness, the outline of the paper will be barely visible.”

 

An image of soles came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Overly enthusiastic use of ‘absolutely’ can sound like you’re saying the opposite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Absolutely’ is an intensifier. Back on February 23, 2014 I blogged about One-track minds: exactly, absolutely, always. And on June 14, 2024 I posted about how Hedges, qualifiers, and intensifiers are essentially weasel words which can be removed.

 

There is a Savage Chickens cartoon by Doug Savage on July 6, 2026 titled Absolutely, and shown above slightly colorized. It cautions that enthusiastic use of that word can seem like you mean the opposite – when Hell freezes over.  

 

 

Between the Listening and the Telling of Stories

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been skimming a 2022 book about storytelling by Mark Yaconelli titled Between the Listening and the Telling: How stories can save us. Google Books has a preview through page 21. There is a 29-second video at Hearth Community on August 2, 2022 titled Storytelling is being human together with this description:

 

“Storytelling is being human together. We tell stories to savor the pleasure of living. We share stories to help one another remember who we are and what matters. We tell stories to weave our lives together. We tell stories to keep our souls intact when suffering overtakes us. This is story as medicine. This is how story can save us.”   

 

Twelve chapters and three interludes in the book are titled:

 

A Place the Soul Once Knew

Confession

The Catacombs

Coming-Out Parade

Pure Medicine

Interlude: Clara

The Hearth

Storycatcher

Undocumented Stories

Tragedy

Interlude: Shoes

The Apocalypse

Sacred Stories

Interlude: The Faun

Home

There is an excerpt on June 28, 2022 at Broadleaf Books titled The Healing Power of Stories, taken from page 15 of Chapter 2: Confession. Another excerpt on September 5, 2023 at Thriving in Ministry titled ‘Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us' that comes on page 150 from Chapter 11: Sacred Stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a striking excerpt on page 93 from Chapter 7: Storycatcher says that:

 

“One night in an Irish pub, over dinner with writer Brian Doyle, I talked about my newly discovered work, drawing stories forth from people and towns and organizations. ‘You’re a seanachie,’ he declared. Seanachie, he explained, is a Gaelic word meaning ‘storycatcher.’ In traditional Irish towns, a storycatcher’s role was to unearth, gather, and share stories to strengthen and bind people to one another.

 

After Brian’s declaration, I began to claim my vocation as a storycatcher. I learned to ask questions that drew forth memories: A scared place from childhood. A memorable winter. A sacrifice. A missed opportunity. I learned to listen for patterns, for change, for the revealing heat of emotion. I read books by writers, oral historians, and professional storytellers and noted how they went about their craft. Over time I learned the warp and woof of stories, how they gather, arch, spiral, and spring forth. I learned how to root up the deepest stories from people and communities, how to catch their scent, how to ferret them out from the tangle of a person’s living.

 

I discovered that in every town the stories wait, like seeds beneath the concrete. They wait within the receptionist who sailed alone across the Black Sea, within the store manager who raised his two sisters after their mother died, within the well-dressed grandmother who spent her youth stealing horses in Saskatchewan. Lower me down into a seemingly empty, colorless place – a fast-food restaurant, a warehouse chain store, a gray office cubicle – and I will excavate a story that will break your heart, a true story that will bust your sides with laughter or unlock all that’s bound up in you, a story that will aim you like the North Star toward whatever is true and right. Give me a few hours of your time and I will mirror back a story from your life that will fill you with self-compassion. There’s no need to make anything up, no need for fiction. The truth waits to be told, but few know how to catch it. And fewer still know how to tell it.”

 

There is a 45-minute interview at Hearth Community on August 9, 2022 titled Anne Lamott Interviews Mark Yaconelli About His Newest Book.

 

Images of a fireside storyteller and lady catching a ball came from OpenClipArt.

 

 

Strong Voices is a children’s book that collects fifteen excellent American speeches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is important to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence. From the Twin Falls Public Library I got a 2020 128-page children’s book with introductions by Tonya Bolden titled Strong Voices: Fifteen American Speeches Worth Knowing. The full text for each speech in this anthology is preceded by a brief biography of the speaker. Those speeches are:

 

Patrick Henry ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.’ One version of his text.

 

George Washington ‘Farewell Address.’ Excerpts and text.

 

Red Jacket ‘We Never Quarrel About Religion.’ Text.

 

Sojourner Truth “I Am a Woman’s Rights.’ Text.

 

Abraham Lincoln ‘Gettysburg Address.’ Texts.

 

Theodore Roosevelt ‘Citizenship in a Republic.’ Text.

 

Franklin Delano Roosevelt ‘The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself.’ Text.

 

Lou Gehrig ‘Farewell to Baseball.’ Text and video.

 

Langston Hughes ‘On the Blacklist All Our Lives.’ Audio.

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy ‘We Choose to Go to the Moon.’ Text.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. ‘I Have a Dream.’ Excerpts.

 

Fannie Lou Hamer ‘I Question America.’ Transcript.

 

Cesar Chavez ‘Address to the Commonwealth Club of California, 1984.’ Text and audio.

 

Hillary Rodham Clinton ‘Women’s Rights Are Human Rights.’ Abridged text.

 

The Duke Cigarettes lithograph of Patrick Henry came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

A Pearls Before Swine cartoon with advice in a pie chart from life coach Rat

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a Pearls Before Swine cartoon on July 1, 2026 by Stephan Pastis with the following dialogue:

 

Rat: I’m now a professional life coach, and because you’re my friend I’ve decided to help you for free.

 

Pig: Oh goodie! How?

Rat: It starts with this chart I’ve drawn up showing the percentage of your life that you act like a real dum dum.

 

Pig and Rat: looking at chart [see above]

 

Rat: Do that less.

 

Pig: Somehow your help never feels like help.

Rat: Shoot. Now it’s 99%.  

 

 

A collection from 1942 of The World’s Great Speeches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes we just run out of speech ideas, or suffer from writer’s block. At that point, we might want to get inspired by looking through a large collection of speeches. At the Internet Archive there is a pdf of a 748-page book titled The World’s Great Speeches, edited by Lewis Copeland. Contents are:

 

Part I: GREAT SPEECHES OF EARLIER TIMES

I.     Greece and Rome 

II.    The European Continent

III.   Great Britain and Ireland 

IV.   The United States 

V.    Canada 

VI.   South America, South Africa, India, and China 

 

Part II: GREAT SPEECHES OF OUR TIMES

VII.  American Industry and Government 

VIII. International Affairs 

IX.   The Second World War 

X.    National Defense

 

Part III: INFORMAL SPEECHES

XI.   Informal Speeches

 

Part IV: THE UNITED STATES AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR

XII.  The United States and the Second World War 12

 

TOPICAL INDEX

 

INDEX BY NATIONS

 

INDEX OF SPEAKERS

 

I created a cover using an image of fireworks modified from one at OpenClipArt. 

 

Why did a keynote speaker overestimate his research skills?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There is an article by John Eades at Learnloft on June 25, 2026 titled Why Most Leaders Overestimate Their Presentation Skills which opens by stating a startling ‘statistic’ that: 

“Fear is real, and there are a couple of common things people fear.

A survey revealed that people’s two biggest fears are public speaking and death.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld landed a joke about the survey when he said, ‘Most people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.’

It’s funny because it’s true. Most people despise the idea of public speaking.”

John did such superficial research that he confused a joke with a 1973 survey where death actually was seventh. Both are shown above. And that misquote is a paraphrase of what Jerry said in 1993. Back on April 8, 2018 I blogged about Misquoting Jerry Seinfeld and inflating fear five times.

 

He also has a 9-minute YouTube video at The Leadership Lens on June 25, 2026 titled Most Leaders Think They’re Good Presenters. They’re Not. Both the article and video have some useful content:

 

“The Three Types of Presenters

 

Since leadership is more art than science, leaders can be introverted or extroverted. They are women and men. They are quiet and loud. However, after watching leaders across industries, most fall into one of three categories when presenting.

 

The Informer

The Informer knows their content cold. Their slides are detailed, their data is accurate, and their presentation is thorough. However, they confuse information transfer with communication. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but it can be boring. The audience might even learn something. Their presentations are forgettable, not because they couldn’t be better or because their content is weak, but nothing makes it stick.  

 

The Rambler

The Rambler has real experience and genuine passion. When it lands, it’s magnetic. But without structure, the audience works too hard to follow. They leave inspired by the energy but unclear on the point. The Rambler’s biggest blind spot is thinking passion is enough. While it’s better than someone who doesn’t care, passion without structure is just noise with enthusiasm.

 

The Inspirer

The Inspirer knows their content and their audience. They don’t present at people, they present for them. They use story, tension, and intentional moments to connect ideas to emotions. They take chances by using authenticity to show their true self. The audience doesn’t just remember a few of the things they said – they remember how it made them feel.”