About 3 weeks ago, we confirmed that our doctor was leaving this area to move to the big city, and therefore we needed to find a new local doctor. Today was the first appointment with the new doctor.
He's a young guy, pretty sharp and seems to be principled without being, for lack of a better term (that I can think of), a fanatic. He seems to be willing to talk with you, explaining what and why. This is a very good thing as I have visited other doctors that wanted to talk at you and not explain a thing. My relationships with them usually lasted only one or two visits.
So far, I like him.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Yes, I'm still alive.
I haven't been posting due in part to laziness, being down in the dumps and pain.
Let's look at these in reverse order.
Pain-On 08-27-09 Mom and I jumped in the QE-II (Mom's Lincoln) and went to Indy to see the kids. Ravon had just delivered my first grandson and we wanted to see it. We stopped in Joplin, MO to get gas and snacks, and I slipped on a wet spot. When I slipped I hyper extended my right knee. I have slowly been getting over it, but have reinjured it 3 or 4 times. When I'm in major pain I get to where I don't care about much of anything and don't bitch as much about anything except how bad I hurt or how I didn't get enough sleep, and ya'll don't want to hear about that.
Being down in the dumps-When I hurt I don't get enough sleep. When I don't get enough sleep I get a down in the dumps attitude, and I just don't care enough about most things to blog about them.
Laziness- When I hurt and am down in the dumps I get lazy. I keep telling myself I'm staying off my feet to let the knee heal, but I'm truthful enough to admit to both of my readers that I'm just lazy.
I hope to make a few more entries this Christmas season. We'll see.
Let's look at these in reverse order.
Pain-On 08-27-09 Mom and I jumped in the QE-II (Mom's Lincoln) and went to Indy to see the kids. Ravon had just delivered my first grandson and we wanted to see it. We stopped in Joplin, MO to get gas and snacks, and I slipped on a wet spot. When I slipped I hyper extended my right knee. I have slowly been getting over it, but have reinjured it 3 or 4 times. When I'm in major pain I get to where I don't care about much of anything and don't bitch as much about anything except how bad I hurt or how I didn't get enough sleep, and ya'll don't want to hear about that.
Being down in the dumps-When I hurt I don't get enough sleep. When I don't get enough sleep I get a down in the dumps attitude, and I just don't care enough about most things to blog about them.
Laziness- When I hurt and am down in the dumps I get lazy. I keep telling myself I'm staying off my feet to let the knee heal, but I'm truthful enough to admit to both of my readers that I'm just lazy.
I hope to make a few more entries this Christmas season. We'll see.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Thoughts on today's youth
All my life, while I was growing up, in my 20's, 30's, 40's and now my 50's, I have heard from my elders how the "new" generation was going to hell in a handbasket. I have been told society is failing because of the actions of the kids. I'm here to tell you this is just plain WRONG!
I have a friend, about 17 or 18 years old who is stubborn. He is going to do what he wants, when he wants to. Does he sometimes make bad choices? Yes he does, but at his age he doesn't have a lot of experience to guide him. Experience come from making choices and some of them will be bad but I have never seen or heard of this young man do anything bad to anyone, intentionally. His parents despair at his actions, but they don't realize that they raised him to be exactly the person he is turning out to be. In my estimation, he is someone I would trust with anything I have.
However, I know a young lady, who's behavior is very self destructive. Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, shoplifting,etc. This young lady is looking for acceptance and love, which she didn't receive while being shuttled back and forth between relatives while the parents were in and out of jail. She's showing self destructive behavior because thats what she was taught.
My daughter is a third type. 19 years old, with 2 children and a husband she is trying to raise the best she knows how. She calls and asks for advice from both her parents, and we both contribute what we can to help, financially or otherwise. While growing up, her mother and I divorced, so now she is searching for a stable relationship. She has unconditional love from both parents but wasn't taught how to have stability in a relationship but she is doing her best.
All three of these examples bring me to the point of my story. Last night we had 15 kids knock on our door at various times while they were out trick or treating on Halloween night. These kids ranged from ages 18 months to about 13 years old and were all escorted by parents, some of who came to the door with them and some who waited for them in the driveway. All of the parents, aged about 18 to about age 35, demanded politeness from their children, as in "please" and thank you". Only one little boy, about age 8, didn't thank me for his candy as I put it in his bag but he was so excited about free candy that I thought he was going to wet himself.
So, don't tell me how horrible today's kids are or how bad today's parents are. The parents I saw last night were spending time with their polite kids. We get out of the next generation exactly what we put into them.
I have a friend, about 17 or 18 years old who is stubborn. He is going to do what he wants, when he wants to. Does he sometimes make bad choices? Yes he does, but at his age he doesn't have a lot of experience to guide him. Experience come from making choices and some of them will be bad but I have never seen or heard of this young man do anything bad to anyone, intentionally. His parents despair at his actions, but they don't realize that they raised him to be exactly the person he is turning out to be. In my estimation, he is someone I would trust with anything I have.
However, I know a young lady, who's behavior is very self destructive. Drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, shoplifting,etc. This young lady is looking for acceptance and love, which she didn't receive while being shuttled back and forth between relatives while the parents were in and out of jail. She's showing self destructive behavior because thats what she was taught.
My daughter is a third type. 19 years old, with 2 children and a husband she is trying to raise the best she knows how. She calls and asks for advice from both her parents, and we both contribute what we can to help, financially or otherwise. While growing up, her mother and I divorced, so now she is searching for a stable relationship. She has unconditional love from both parents but wasn't taught how to have stability in a relationship but she is doing her best.
All three of these examples bring me to the point of my story. Last night we had 15 kids knock on our door at various times while they were out trick or treating on Halloween night. These kids ranged from ages 18 months to about 13 years old and were all escorted by parents, some of who came to the door with them and some who waited for them in the driveway. All of the parents, aged about 18 to about age 35, demanded politeness from their children, as in "please" and thank you". Only one little boy, about age 8, didn't thank me for his candy as I put it in his bag but he was so excited about free candy that I thought he was going to wet himself.
So, don't tell me how horrible today's kids are or how bad today's parents are. The parents I saw last night were spending time with their polite kids. We get out of the next generation exactly what we put into them.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Toshiba Netbook update
Well, I've had my netbook about 3 weeks now, and I'm completely satisfied with my purchase. Having read all the specs and multiple reviews before purchasing, it completely fulfills my expectations. I have set power settings a little higher toward the power end and less toward battery and while checking email and light web surfing (30 min to 1 hr) via a network cable, playing mp3's, watching videos stored on my hdd, reading ebooks, and doing light word processing I have plenty of power and between 5 - 7 hours battery life. I'm happy.
I only have 2 problems with this netbook, one minor and one semi major.
Minor-the buttons for the touchpad need a small trim piece between their edge and the edge of the wrist rest to keep me from activating them when my belly hits it. I know, I know. Just set it on a table and it won't happen, right? Wrong! This is a form factor called a laptop, capable of being used while sitting down by placing it in your lap.
Semi Major-What the hell took Toshiba so long to bring this thing out? A few years back I had a Toshiba Libretto 100 and it was great, just a little smaller but not near as capable so I know they
know how to build this form factor right, and this time they built it better than the Libretto.
I only have 2 problems with this netbook, one minor and one semi major.
Minor-the buttons for the touchpad need a small trim piece between their edge and the edge of the wrist rest to keep me from activating them when my belly hits it. I know, I know. Just set it on a table and it won't happen, right? Wrong! This is a form factor called a laptop, capable of being used while sitting down by placing it in your lap.
Semi Major-What the hell took Toshiba so long to bring this thing out? A few years back I had a Toshiba Libretto 100 and it was great, just a little smaller but not near as capable so I know they
know how to build this form factor right, and this time they built it better than the Libretto.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
life update
Well, lots of things, some good and some not so good have happened since my last post.
On the not so good side, I lost the hard drive in my laptop. I scrounged around and found a spare hard drive, installed it, and NADA! Apparently a hard drive controller of some type on the motherboard took a dump, so I've been without a computer for about the last 8 weeks. Yeah, I know, you're thinking, "Pappy, why didn't you just get up off your wallet and go buy another computer?" Well, three reasons come to mind.
1. I try to help out the kids if and when they need it, if I can. Family counts for more than toys.
2. I'm needing to do some work on the JEEP (Just Empty Every Pocket). I needs my transportation.
3. I know, I know. Use the credit cards. BUT I only owe about $600 on the last of them, and then I get to tell the credit card companies where to stick them. I'm looking forward to that. I will then be trying to live on a cash only basis.
On the not so good side, 2 months ago I was on a DSL connection. Last month, our household went cellular only for telephones. Being the brilliant individual I am, I didn't even think about losing my DSL when we cancelled the home phone. Now it costs me an extra $10 per month for a DSL line, which was activated yesterday.
On the not so good side, Rocky the Wonder Dog (picture at the top of the page) the puppy of PappyandPuppy fame is going blind. He hasn't been acting like himself, bumping into stuff, being startled by people reaching out to him, not seeing treats offered to him, trouble finding his ball when it's quit rolling after being thrown for him, ad nauseum. I took him to the vet yesterday and was told he is developing cataracts. It won't be long and he'll be completely blind.
On the good side, I finally scraped up enough to go buy a Toshiba NB205 netbook. 1.66 ghz processor, 800 mhz front side bus, 1 gb DDR2 RAM, 160 gb SATA2 hard drive, 802.11G wifi, bluetooth 2.0, and between 7 and 9 hours battery life all in a 2.6 pound package with a 10.1 inch tft screen wrapped in a royal blue textured case. I also got a HP 550 Lightscribe DVD burner. I sincerely love it.
Yeah, you back in the back with Alienware laptop on the handtruck and the goofy ass smirk on your face? Why did I buy a low end netbook? I'm glad you asked, pimpleface.
To my way of thinking, a laptop or notebook is supposed to be portable. The less it weighs and the longer the battery life, the more portable it is. I don't need a gaming rig or anything like that, just a small portable laptop for emails, web surfing, blogging, downloading pictures to, playng mp3's, and reading ebooks. Stuff like that. I'll have a mid range desktop unit in the near future for anything more than that.
The work that needs to be done on the JEEP? Charging system failure. Grounds need to be cleaned and checked. Replace battery cables. Probably need to replace battery. I just need to get off my butt and do it.
On the good side, Rocky is just going blind, he's not terminally ill. He's a dog. He probably doesn't realize anything is going on as he's going blind gradually and has been for a little while. I'll still be here to care for him and try to provide him with a quality life. He's MY dog. I'll do for him to the best of my ability.
On the good side, on August 27, Mom, Rocky and I loaded up in Mom's Lincoln Town Car, aka the Queen Elizabeth 2, and took a trip to Indy to see my new grandson Bubba (Jonah Hill Bruce) born August 27, 2009 about 1:15 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. We were lucky enough to be able to spend 5 days with them, playing with the Poot and Bubba, enjoying spending time with all of them , and cooking for them as I enjoy doing.
When we got back on August 4, Mom was on such a high it took 3 or 4 days for her to start winding down, and she still isn't rested up. Being the superior traveller I am, I'm almost rested up enough to do it again.
On the not so good side, I lost the hard drive in my laptop. I scrounged around and found a spare hard drive, installed it, and NADA! Apparently a hard drive controller of some type on the motherboard took a dump, so I've been without a computer for about the last 8 weeks. Yeah, I know, you're thinking, "Pappy, why didn't you just get up off your wallet and go buy another computer?" Well, three reasons come to mind.
1. I try to help out the kids if and when they need it, if I can. Family counts for more than toys.
2. I'm needing to do some work on the JEEP (Just Empty Every Pocket). I needs my transportation.
3. I know, I know. Use the credit cards. BUT I only owe about $600 on the last of them, and then I get to tell the credit card companies where to stick them. I'm looking forward to that. I will then be trying to live on a cash only basis.
On the not so good side, 2 months ago I was on a DSL connection. Last month, our household went cellular only for telephones. Being the brilliant individual I am, I didn't even think about losing my DSL when we cancelled the home phone. Now it costs me an extra $10 per month for a DSL line, which was activated yesterday.
On the not so good side, Rocky the Wonder Dog (picture at the top of the page) the puppy of PappyandPuppy fame is going blind. He hasn't been acting like himself, bumping into stuff, being startled by people reaching out to him, not seeing treats offered to him, trouble finding his ball when it's quit rolling after being thrown for him, ad nauseum. I took him to the vet yesterday and was told he is developing cataracts. It won't be long and he'll be completely blind.
On the good side, I finally scraped up enough to go buy a Toshiba NB205 netbook. 1.66 ghz processor, 800 mhz front side bus, 1 gb DDR2 RAM, 160 gb SATA2 hard drive, 802.11G wifi, bluetooth 2.0, and between 7 and 9 hours battery life all in a 2.6 pound package with a 10.1 inch tft screen wrapped in a royal blue textured case. I also got a HP 550 Lightscribe DVD burner. I sincerely love it.
Yeah, you back in the back with Alienware laptop on the handtruck and the goofy ass smirk on your face? Why did I buy a low end netbook? I'm glad you asked, pimpleface.
To my way of thinking, a laptop or notebook is supposed to be portable. The less it weighs and the longer the battery life, the more portable it is. I don't need a gaming rig or anything like that, just a small portable laptop for emails, web surfing, blogging, downloading pictures to, playng mp3's, and reading ebooks. Stuff like that. I'll have a mid range desktop unit in the near future for anything more than that.
The work that needs to be done on the JEEP? Charging system failure. Grounds need to be cleaned and checked. Replace battery cables. Probably need to replace battery. I just need to get off my butt and do it.
On the good side, Rocky is just going blind, he's not terminally ill. He's a dog. He probably doesn't realize anything is going on as he's going blind gradually and has been for a little while. I'll still be here to care for him and try to provide him with a quality life. He's MY dog. I'll do for him to the best of my ability.
On the good side, on August 27, Mom, Rocky and I loaded up in Mom's Lincoln Town Car, aka the Queen Elizabeth 2, and took a trip to Indy to see my new grandson Bubba (Jonah Hill Bruce) born August 27, 2009 about 1:15 pm. He weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and was 20.5 inches long. We were lucky enough to be able to spend 5 days with them, playing with the Poot and Bubba, enjoying spending time with all of them , and cooking for them as I enjoy doing.
When we got back on August 4, Mom was on such a high it took 3 or 4 days for her to start winding down, and she still isn't rested up. Being the superior traveller I am, I'm almost rested up enough to do it again.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Palin's Gift
Sarah Palin has given us all a very large gift when she announced her resignation. No, not the possibility that she supposedly killed any possible future political ambitions she might have had, but the very real fact that her announcement took at least half the air time that would have been devoted to that grotesque pedophilic caricature of a man, Michael Jackson.
Second Guessing Palin
It seems every major news outlet is 2nd guessing Sarah Palin's decision to resign as governor of Alaska. They have all decided she did it to facilitate a presidential run in 2012 and that she comitted political suicide by tendering her resignation.
Did Palin say she is running for president in 2012? If so I must have missed it.
If not, you people need to back off. Your job is to report the news, not analyze it. The MSM is completely out of control with their thought that they are the only ones smart enough to know what is going on and that we need everything explained to us with their twist on it.
Did Palin say she is running for president in 2012? If so I must have missed it.
If not, you people need to back off. Your job is to report the news, not analyze it. The MSM is completely out of control with their thought that they are the only ones smart enough to know what is going on and that we need everything explained to us with their twist on it.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Trying something new
I want to try a new OS. My reasoning behind this is that Microsoft products have simply become too intrusive. While the products usually do what I need to do sometimes they won't allow me to do what I want to do without jumping through hoops, somewhat like the government. Couple this with the fact that my favorite Microsoft OS, XP Pro, is going away and I have no interest in trying Vista or Seven. Add in the cost of upgrading a Microsoft OS and you see why I want to try something new and preferably open source.
I'm not saying that I'm not willing to pay for an OS. I am saying I would prefer to try an OS that is less expensive that can be customized to my preferences and needs.
I have three reservations with trying a GNU/Linux derivative although I've been reading up on them and they have piqued my interest. Maybe one of my two readers can answer my thoughts.
1) I will need to aquire another computer to run this OS on, as I'm not going to replace the OS on my main computer nor am I going to try to set it up as a dual boot system. The main computer is a Compaq N410c, and, while it is old by most standards, I've had it quite a while and it does everything I want so therefore it's not obsolete.
I will probably build a medium power desktop computer but how do I know what hardware is supported and what drivers are available? This is probably my number one reservation.
2) Later this year I want to purchase a netbook, preferably with a SSD instead of a traditional HDD, bluetooth and built in 802.11n wifi capability. Whatever OS I decide to use must be compatible with the hardware of this netbook.
3) The OS must have a good GUI to use while I am learning to use the command line again, as I have only used the command line rarely in the last 13 years since I gave up Windows 3.11/DOS 6.1 and went to Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP Pro.
I also wonder about the fact that various drives (CD/DVD, flash drives, floppy drives and external hard drives) must be "mounted" and "unmounted or dismounted". Is this a major hassle? Can these procedures be automated or at least can you set up a shortcut on the desktop to provide these functions?
Can someone that has a working knowledge of various GNU/Linux distributions help a brotha out? :)
I'm not saying that I'm not willing to pay for an OS. I am saying I would prefer to try an OS that is less expensive that can be customized to my preferences and needs.
I have three reservations with trying a GNU/Linux derivative although I've been reading up on them and they have piqued my interest. Maybe one of my two readers can answer my thoughts.
1) I will need to aquire another computer to run this OS on, as I'm not going to replace the OS on my main computer nor am I going to try to set it up as a dual boot system. The main computer is a Compaq N410c, and, while it is old by most standards, I've had it quite a while and it does everything I want so therefore it's not obsolete.
I will probably build a medium power desktop computer but how do I know what hardware is supported and what drivers are available? This is probably my number one reservation.
2) Later this year I want to purchase a netbook, preferably with a SSD instead of a traditional HDD, bluetooth and built in 802.11n wifi capability. Whatever OS I decide to use must be compatible with the hardware of this netbook.
3) The OS must have a good GUI to use while I am learning to use the command line again, as I have only used the command line rarely in the last 13 years since I gave up Windows 3.11/DOS 6.1 and went to Windows 95, 98, 2000, and XP Pro.
I also wonder about the fact that various drives (CD/DVD, flash drives, floppy drives and external hard drives) must be "mounted" and "unmounted or dismounted". Is this a major hassle? Can these procedures be automated or at least can you set up a shortcut on the desktop to provide these functions?
Can someone that has a working knowledge of various GNU/Linux distributions help a brotha out? :)
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Why keep this up?
In this post, I stated this blog wasn't something I really wanted to do. While reading back through my back posts I see a large majority of those posts contain no original content and I have rarely written anything worth reading. From now on, if I post, it will what's on my mind at that time. The post's may contain a link to other info or may even contain a quote from other sources, but from now on this blog might be a little disjointed and scary because it will be a mirror of what I'm thinking. There's a very good chance I will very rarely post but if I do, it will be my thoughts.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Herpes of the eye
I just saw a disturbing ad on tv. They were advertising a solution to treat infections of the eye. They did say however that the solution had not been tested to treat herpes infections of the eye. How does one get a herpes infection of the eye? Looking for love in all the wrong places?
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