Archive for the ‘Education’ Category
It’s time for installment number five of the “Things I Once Hated” in the hopes that it’ll show I’m no longer the hater I once was. I keep telling people I’m mellowing with age but after listening to some of their comments I’m beginning to think they still aren’t believing me. I am getting mellower dammit! What’s wrong with all these people? Let’s just get started on today’s items 56-70 before I get irritated even further.
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#56 Vegans – These smelly people are no better than those religious types who insist on showing up at my house to irritate me. Trying to convince me not to eat meat is like asking the pope not to pray so much. It looks good on paper but it will never work. No improvement here you stupid veggie eating, Kool-aid drinking, dipsticks.
#57 Greasy Sink Water – Thank god for Dawn dish detergent. It’s helped me to eliminate this problem from my life which is reflected by my 50% reduction in hatred.
#58 Fake Boobs – As I’ve previously stated many times I love boobs. I’ll further qualify that statement by saying I still hate fake boobs. Some of the fakes are nice to look at as a general rule many look a little strange. Unless the women are willing to spring for the added expense of a nipple relocation they can get downright bizarre. No improvement.
#59 Ass Kissers aka Brown-Noser’s – Over the years I’ve worked with many of these folks and while it can be fun to watch them go through their antics I still can’t respect them or like them. No improvement.
#60 Waiting in Lines – This has always made me a little crazy. With the development of e-readers and IPads it no longer bothers me quite so much. 50% improvement.
#61 Autopsy’s – This can never change. I’ve been present at quite a few and it never gets any easier. No improvement.
#62 Bee Stings – This one has faded into my past and something I’ve finally learned to deal with. If they sting me now I just get the best bee killing insecticide on the market and kill every last one of the little bastards. 100% improvement.
# 63 Stinky Breath – To me this is just one step below Body Odor. What’s amazing to me is that 77.54% of people who have BO also have terrible breath. Is there some sort of connection there? Who knows? No improvement.
#64 Illegal Aliens – Seeing as how my better-half’s son currently living in LA was rear ended by an unlicensed and uninsured illegal Mexican driver this week. No freaking improvement. Suck it Mr. President.
#65 Adam Sandler – I’ve totally changed my mind on Mr. Sandler. I’ve finally seen a few things of his that I really enjoyed. 100% improvement.
#66 Democrats – I’ll just refer you back to my comment on Liberals at item #36. No improvement.
#67 Wet Farts – I don’t like having them and I don’t like sitting near someone else who’s having them. PU! No improvement.
#68 Feet Calluses – I’ll again refer you back to item #40, Corns. There’s nothing as romantic as snuggling on the couch with your spouse and be forced to watch her sand her calluses or trim her toe nails. Ahhhhh, true love. No improvement.
#69 Performing Artists - These might be the most annoying of the street people with Mimes leading the pack. For me they’re even worse than the homeless. At least the homeless will go away after you give them a buck. These fools stick around and refuse to leave. No improvement.
#70 Ugly or Fugly Feet – This item is not about Corns or Calluses. It’s about just plain ugly feet. Why is it that people with the ugliest feet also insist on wearing sandals to restaurants. I’ve got a thing for feet and that’s the worst experience I could have. “Down With Ugly Feet”, now there’s your bumper sticker. No improvement.
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That leaves only thirty more items before I complete the review of my list of 100. I think I’m making good progress so far and I plan on posting the newly revised list once this review has been completed.
Mr. Mellow signing off.
You would think I’d know better by now after all of the computer and networking fiasco’s I’ve had in recent months, but oh no, I just keep kicking the hornets nest over and over again.
I’ve written in the past about the robbery that took place here almost two years ago. If you’ve never been victimized by a home break-in it’s hard to explain just how paranoid you instantly become. Every time you leave your home you wonder if the criminals will return to take the rest of your belongings.
I took all of the normal precautions at the time with lock changes, deadbolts, metal doors, and padlocks on just about everything you can think of. It hasn’t made me feel the least bit protected. Today was the day when we purchased a rather sophisticated alarm system that can easily be expanded to include everything. It’s the first step in the creation of a “Smart House” which unfortunately requires a hookup directly into my home network and my internet feed.
Nothing is easy to install no matter what they tell you. It may be easy for the manufacturers but the guys that write their user manuals are idiots. Their one hour installation is now in it’s seventh hour due to faulty video cameras and the lack of a competent translator to read their instructions.
At last I have it in, operating and tested. All except for the two video cameras which were faulty and will soon be replaced. I now have door contacts, motion detectors, thermostats, sirens, and range extenders. All I need now is a wide and deep moat filled with hungry alligators and possibly a machine gun nest on the roof. If any intruders can get over the moat, past the alligators, through my dead bolts, and alarm sirens I guess I’ll just have to shoot them.
I feel safer already.
The last few days have been fugly and for those of you that don’t know what that means I suggest you call someone. Sleet, freezing rain, ice, snow, regular rain, high winds, and temperatures moving up and down the scale from 9 degrees to 40 degrees. A little bit of everything you could possibly imagine and none of it you would ever ask for.
The ice storm early in the week was responsible not only for icy roads but for falling tree branches covered with ice and snow. We had two small trees down in the back yard but nothing too terrible. Other folks weren’t as lucky with collapsed roofs, damaged vehicles, and damaged shrubbery.
We took a ride around the area earlier today and these photos pretty much explain how Maine feels in the winter. This first shot is of what a prosperous farm looks like in Winter.
A very solemn sight to be sure. I prefer the corn to be green and growing and the machinery in operation. The next photos were taken along the Saco river with the first looking north with the sun at my back and the second facing south with the sun in my eyes.
Regardless of the direction I’m looking that water is frigid, the cold wind was freezing my face, and I ran for my car when I was finished. The parking area near the river was covered in ice and it was purely luck I didn’t fall on my ass like I usually do. Through a bare spot in the ice I saw a reminder of Summer and of all the teenage kids who seem to congregate here. I don’t know who Jake is but an artist he aint!
I look forward to seeing more graffiti in about five months. I sure hope it’s better than this stuff.
I’m feeling particularly lazy today thanks in part to NASA and the pilot of a small boat floating off shore near Cape Canaveral. Both of them were responsible for totally screwing up my sleep schedule for last night and again this morning and unfortunately tomorrow as well.
I’m a bit of a science and space nerd and I was excited enough about the launch of Orion that I set my alarm for 4:15 am, stumbled out of bed to await the launch at 7:04 am. After two and a half hours of the prelaunch show I was ready to see that rocket fly. Too bad the dumb SOB in that boat who wandered into the hazard zone near the launch site caused the first of what ended up being four delays.
At 9:00 am I was still sitting like a zombie on the couch with my fourth cup of coffee, all wound up with no place to go. They missed the launch window and now I’ve got to do all of this again tomorrow morning. Since I’m not altogether alert yet, I thought I’d just post the third installment of "Things I Once Hated". These fifteen items will complete the first forty of my list of one hundred. Here we go.
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#26 Hospitals – I don’t ever see my feelings for hospitals changing. They creep me out just as much now as they did when I was a kid. No improvement and there never will be.
#27 Mimes – I don’t know many people who like mimes except for a few artistic types I attended school with. A major annoyance if you’re trying to sit on a bench and relax for a few minutes but no actual hatred. 100% improvement.
#28 Oprah Winfrey – What more needs to be said. She finally moved on down the road just like Phil Donahue. Goodbye, good luck, and get out! No improvement for Harpo.
#29 Finger Nail Decals – I love well cared for nails on a woman but in my humble opinion decals are tacky. I can’t say I hate people that wear them but the first impression they leave with me isn’t good. No hatred but a 100% of yuck. 100% improvement on the hate scale. I can almost feel myself evolving with all these fantastic improvements.
#30 Will Ferrell – To me he is the unfunniest comic I’ve ever seen or heard of. No improvement.
#31 Fake Finger Nails – I really don’t hate them because my better-half has occasionally had them installed. Even if I did I can’t ever say it out loud. 100% improvement.
#32 The Smell of Urine – Yours, mine, or anyone else’s. No improvement.
#33 Corpse’s – Being a former soldier and police officer I’ve seen my fair share of bodies. I always hated being put into a position to personally deal with the dead. It’s very creepy and I hated it then and still do. No improvement.
#34 Women Missing Teeth – I guess I really don’t hate them but they do give me a huge case of the willies when they smile at me. 100% improvement.
#35 Political Correctness – No explanation needed for this. My biggest all time hate. No improvement.
#36 Liberals – This refers to those true dyed-in-the-wool, Kool-Aid drinking, Obama loving, and Clinton worshiping Liberals. Many other Liberals are moderate and I don’t hate them, they just annoy me. 50% improvement.
#37 Drug Users – Just hate’em ! ! ! No improvement.
#38 Boogers – As I’ve matured I’ve come to understand that I don’t hate all boogers. I really can’t hate my own because I’ve spent years learning how to properly handle them. I do hate the boogers of others because they show up in the damnedest places. Now you not only find old gum under table edges but also the occasional moist booger. That’s really rude so please flick it elsewhere like everyone else does. 50% improvement.
#39 Clowns – I once wore a clown costume for Halloween and mistakenly looked into a mirror as I walked by. It freaked me the hell out and I’ve hated them ever since. No improvement.
#40 Corns – Nothing’s worse that being in a darkened room getting romantic with a gorgeous women and as you run your hand slowly down her smoothly shaved legs to her feet. There you run into some crusty and nasty corns. Hate is way too nice a word for those things. Not only do they make the woman limp but me as well. No improvement.
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That takes care of items 1-40. The rest will be posted before years end and then I can get started on my New Year’s resolutions.
P.S. It’s now the next day and I just finished watching another four hours of the Orion flight. Kudos to NASA and all of it’s partners. The takeoff, flight, and landing went without a hitch and they should be congratulated on such a huge accomplishment.
Now I need a nap!
Finally Black November, Black Friday Week, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are over. Cyber Week will continue for three more days but OMFG. This has been the worst year I’ve ever experienced with the constant drumbeat of commercials, sales, bait and switch schemes, and alleged price drops. I’m beginning to believe that the majority of people in this country are just as stupid as I once suspected.
Working with and for retailers for years gives me an excellent perspective on things and it’s depressing as hell. Not only did retailers start earlier than ever with their push, the sales and price reductions were ridiculous. Did it ever occur to people that if they can sell most of their goods at these Black Friday prices, just how much their actual markup really is. They reduce prices by thirty percent and still seem to be making money. All that tells me is that for 51 weeks every year we are being criminally overcharged for just about everything. Does that stop the crowds from becoming near riots so they can purchase a certain doll or a certain electronic gadget? Hell no! It’s a form of insanity that brings out the absolute worst in some people as well as the constant and unrelenting pandering by the retailers. It’s maddening.
The retailers seem desperate to one-up all of their competitors to grab a little more market share. One of the commercials I can mention is the one that got me thinking along these lines. How bad does it have to be for the Kleenex company to start a competition where consumers are asked to relate an uplifting story of a personal interaction with a Kleenex tissue. Who in their right mind is going to invest their time to write a heart rendering nose-wiping story. Just unbelievable.
I harken back to the Y2K fiasco. That was the tipping point for me. I saw retailers and businesses panic millions of citizens and other businesses into spending billions of dollars for a trumped up emergency that never happened. It appears that we haven’t gotten any smarter in the intervening years.
I needed to rant a little today because this kind of idiocy makes me even crazier than usual. I see no end to it and there seems to be no concern by the buying public about how much they’re being manipulated. What more can I say? Not much that will be listened to for sure. Here’s my last word on the subject for this year so listen closely.
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(Sarcasm on)
Merry Christmas – HO! HO! HO!
Santa has requested that I help him out this year by collecting funds needed for the ever increasing costs for reindeer feed, new uniforms, and elf shoes. Just have all of your friends immediately send $10.00 to me and I’ll make sure you’re all moved directly to the top of his gift giving list. The sooner you act the better because the funds are badly needed to help Santa deal with the many holiday stresses for him and his helpers, of which I am one. I’ll be able to spend a week in Tahiti for Christmas with my family so I can be ready for next years duties. All of this holiday stress has become a dangerous health issue for us and it doesn’t seem to be covered by Obamacare. Help us out, who can’t afford a $10.00 donation for such a good cause. Santa will love you forever and you just might get that special gift you’ve always wanted next year. I should also mention that we have a payment plan in effect where your ten dollar donation can be deducted monthly from your account and delivered DIRECTLY to Santa for his expenses during the off season. Get your kids involved, they love Santa too. Santa stickers are also available for just $7.00 and can be shipped directly to your home. Just add $8.00 for shipping and handling.
HAVE A HAPPY AND GENEROUS HOLIDAY SEASON
(Sarcasm off)
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P.S. I only marked the last paragraph as Sarcasm due to MY fear that certain people would read it, react, and immediately rush to send me their $10.00. I’m just cynical enough to believe that could happen so please, DON’T SEND ANY MONEY.
I thought starting the month of December with part two of my review of “Things I Once Hated” would be appropriate. After working for a toy retailer for thirteen years, I once hated Christmas with a passion, but as you can see I continue to show improvement in some areas. Here are the next fifteen items.
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#11 Pierced Clits – While I think these body decorations can be interesting they also have the ability to be dangerous. I no longer hate them but I do think we males should be forewarned in some fashion as to the possible dangers to our equipment. 100% improvement.
#12 Large Groups of People – I still hate this. You can’t easily get over a phobia like this so there will never be improvement here.
#13 Old Gum Under Tables – No matter how good that old gum might taste I refuse to partake. It also sticks to the knees of my pants and I hate that. No improvement.
#14 Penis Tattooing – Just saying those two words make me cringe. I still hate unnecessary puncturing of the genitals for any reason and can’t be convinced otherwise. No improvement.
#15 Penn & Teller – Over the years my opinion on these two has changed a lot. I still think Penn is a big blowhard but I’ve taken a liking to Teller. He knows when to keep his mouth shut. 50% improvement.
#16 Dumb Cashiers – This problem is even worse now than it was when I initially made my list. No improvement to this everlasting annoyance.
#17 Stinky Feet – Unfortunately I still hate this. To my everlasting embarrassment I’ve become a contributor to this problem. I hate my own feet and how they reek. No improvement.
#18 Decomposition – My feelings about this go hand-in-hand with Funerals. Thank God for cremation because I don’t even like to think about being embalmed and left to rot. Creepy as hell if you ask me so there’s no improvement.
#19 Night Farts – I’ve had to modify my feeling somewhat on night farting. While I don’t mind my own I have some serious issues with my better-half. So I’ll just call that a 50% improvement.
#20 Bugs Crawling On Me – Absolutely no change here. I freaking hate it. No improvement.
#21 Tongue Studs – After giving this category a little more thought and doing a little field research I’m now all for them. See how much I’m growing and improving. 100% improvement.
#22 Hairy Bushes – This is a tough one. In Summer I hate them but in Winter I love them. I’m forced to declare an improvement of 50%. It’s just the right thing to do.
#23 Terrorists – Kill them all. No improvement.
#24 Overweight Pets – This category can’t really change. Owners are mostly responsible for this problem and need to change their ways. No improvement.
#25 Know-It-All’s – No change here either. These people make me want to scream and then kick their collective asses.
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That concludes my revisits to the first twenty five items on my list of one hundred. More to come in the next few weeks.
I started collecting music at a very young age. I didn’t just collect everything because that would be impossible. I have my musical likes and dislikes but as everyone else the music of my twenties and thirties holds the biggest attraction. I collected first on eight tracks, then cassettes and later on CD’s which resulted in a collection of more than 400 albums of what are now called classic oldies. Ten years ago I decided to make the move to digital and spent months with a software package called Audiograbber and converted all of my CD’s into MP3’s. It was a massive job but it permitted me to take my entire collection and install it on my first 80 gig IPod. It was one of my better purchases because I’m still using it today, 11 years later, on the original battery.
Most of my music is from the late 1950’s through the early 1970’s. Only a few albums and artists have been added over the years because I only collect what I really like. I could sit here and attempt to razzle-dazzle you with song titles and artist’s names but what would be the point of that. We all love the music we love and some of us don’t like much of anything. Some people only enjoy the music for its ability to create an atmosphere that will lead to social gatherings at bars and clubs, drinking, dancing, and the occasional bout of recreational sex.
I’m fairly eclectic in my music tastes and enjoy quite a variety which doesn’t include Hip Hop or Country & Western. Only a very select few from those genres made the cut. Salt & Pepa, En Vogue, Delbert McClinton, and Bonnie Raitt are just a few that did.
Every so often when I’m alone for a few hours or when I’m working on the computer I’ll crank up certain selections and rock the house down. One day last week I decided to celebrate some of my favorite artists that had tons of musical talent and died before their time. I spent two hours listening first to my two favorite balladeers, Jim Croce and Harry Chapin. Then I moved on to the Big Bopper, Richie Valens, and Buddy Holly. I saved the best for last with Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, and ended the montage with Jim Morrison and Freddie Mercury. Wow. . . it was more than just a little wonderful. I’m still humming and singing those songs in my head and will be for quite some time.
After two hours of that music I found myself extremely sad to have lost them before their time and could only imagine all of the fantastic music that died with them. The only positive thing I can think of is that they and their music will outlive us all and be enjoyed by millions in future generations. They found their immortality albeit in a most unpleasant fashion.
I look toward to many more special moments listening to their songs as I’ve enjoyed doing in the past. With that:
R.I.P.
Four years ago in a galaxy far far away on my first blog I posted a list of 100 Things I Hate. At the time I challenged myself to compile that list in under ten minutes to make it as spontaneous as possible. I completed it easily and was really proud of my accomplishment. It was a fun exercise that I found interesting and one I want to revisit today.
I’ll be addressing the first ten items from that list and fully intend to cover the remaining ninety over the next month. "An unexamined life is not worth living." or so I’ve been told over and over again. That being said there are certain inevitabilities in life such as the much overused "death and taxes" but there are many others that are just as important. "Change" effects us all in a myriad of ways and many times we aren’t even aware that it’s happening. I hope this silly little exercise will give me a better understanding of the many changes that are taking place within me and the effect it has on my endless supply of opinions on just about everything. Here we go.
#1 STUPID PEOPLE – Unfortunately this one hasn’t changed much at all. Although now I recognize and admit that a large percentage of these people are harmless-stupid which makes them more annoying than anything else. The remainder are bad-stupid and remain on my hate list. It appears I’m not hating on this as much as I once did and I see a 50% Improvement.
#2 ROSIE O’DONNELL – No change here. No improvement whatsoever. She sucks.
#3 UNIBROW WOMEN – I’ve always had the ability to identify one or two things about any woman I’ve become involved with or thought about getting involved with. I consider them all lovely and fun to be with in their own right. I’m again forced to reconsider this item because I’m sure there are some women out there with unibrows that I’d like to spend a little time with. 50% Improvement.
#4 BUMS – This term along with the term hobo is no longer politically correct and I promise to slap myself on the wrist really hard each and every time I use them. Again I find myself hating those aggressive and arrogant homeless people who insist on getting in my face and wanting my money. Some of these others who are mentally challenged are just pitiful but because of all the politically-correct thinking in this country they’ve been dumped onto the streets. 50% Improvement.
#5 DIRTY FINGERNAILS – No change here and no improvement.
#6 CRIMINALS – No change here either. No improvement.
#7 CANADIANS – I’ve moved this item into the annoyance category. Canadians are are just a mild form of a parasite that continually criticizes it’s host but continues to enjoy the benefits it provides. 100% Improvement.
#8 ROCK STACKERS – Once again, more an annoyance than anything else. It’s something I see no useful purpose in doing but if you feel compelled to do it then just do it. I can feel myself changing already and I’m getting all tingly with my 100% Improvement.
#9 FUNERALS – I hate them. I would like to spend the remainder of my life never attending another regardless of who it is. They freak me out and hopefully the only other one I ever attend will be my own. No improvement here.
#10 BACKWARD BASEBALL CAPS - This is something I’ve hated since it all started. Grown men and women teaching their children to look as stupid and ridiculous as they do. This goes hand in hand with saggy pants with underwear sticking out. I’d like to find the person who started these ridiculous trends and just kick their ass. No improvement.
By my calculations on these ten items I’m showing a 35% improvement overall. I find that amazing, disturbing, and annoying, all at the same time. I wish I could get that kind of improvement for my 2014 New Years resolutions but they’ll be reviewed and discussed at a later date.
I usually find myself posting about my personal life, friends, family, and the crazy things we do, but not today. After having an up close, personal, and distasteful incident with my television I feel the need to vent. This posting will be a tad longer than most but unfortunately for all of you I have a lot to say. Bear with me for a few minutes.
What I’m about to post may piss off a few people. I’m not a card carrying member of any special interest group advocating non-violence on TV or elsewhere. I’m just a regular guy who’s concerned with viewing trends on TV and in the movies. I take my responsibilities as a citizen seriously as accorded by the Bill of Rights which gives me the right and responsibility to voice my displeasure about things I’ve been seeing.
This is the time of Obama’s dysfunctional presidency and more importantly the end of Mad Men, the end of Sons of Anarchy, and worst of all the end of Justified. What will we now do to satisfy our deep, dark, and secret needs for illicit sex, adultery, criminal activities up to and including murder and mayhem?
We may be forced to feed our disturbing need for uncontrolled violence with the next generation of those gritty, realistic, murderous, and graphic programs like Hell on Wheels. Who doesn’t want to sit at home after a hard days work to watch rape, murder, and worse on their 60” big screen HD TV. Fortunately we still have our old list of favorites to fall back on if we can’t find enough blood and guts to satisfy us. That’s what Hulu Plus and Netflix are for, don’t you know.
We now have Dexter the serial killer who spends his off-time killing other serial killers. How much more graphic killing do we really require on TV before we begin to realize that our kids and ourselves are being desensitized to all this death and destruction. Watch a few seasons of Criminal Minds where the ever increasing number of serial killers justifies the continued ridiculous story lines that include everything up to and including cannibalism. We can’t see enough blood and guts I guess and there seems to be no limits of decency any longer. Anything is acceptable as long as it keeps the ratings where they need to be and the revenues flowing.
The politicians certainly did their part by making the famous "V" chip mandatory for manufactures. Just another politically correct gimmick used to quiet the critics and maintain the status quo. Do you know anyone who’s actually ever used a "V" chip or even knew there was such a thing?
Let’s watch more of that continuous stream of murderous zombie programing that seems to be the latest fad. There you can fill your need to smash someone’s skull and splatter their brains and blood everywhere. If all else fails we’ll always have those thousands of werewolves out there to rip out some throats or tear some hearts from chests for our viewing pleasure. It’s just so damn exciting. Also, there’s nothing hotter than a graphic sex scene between a human and one of those romantic and super sexy killing machines. It’s just so freaking cool. Start shining up those pretty trophies to prepare for next years round of award shows where we applaud and award the stars and producers of this nonsense.
I guess I’m old-school enough to appreciate television when it was just entertainment. The need for censors was minimal and the programming was easily watched by everyone, children included. I liked it better when the good guys won and the bad guys lost. No gray area that required the good guys to be recovering drug addicts or alcoholics who’d been rehabilitated and continued to fight that good fight. I didn’t need the bad guys to be portrayed as good guys who were mistreated and abused throughout their entire lives giving justification to their inappropriate and criminal activities. Good is good, bad is bad, it’s that simple.
It wasn’t until “reality TV” arrived on the scene that things started really going to hell. I for one like to see bad guys pay for their sins. If it happens that they’re shot fighting with the good guys, I can live with that. What I can’t live with is the perverted need to see the slow motion bullet flying through the air, entering the body, and sending blood and guts flying in all direction.
I also refuse to watch as attempts are made to convince viewers that the good guys were at fault and shouldn’t have shot the bad guys in the first place. They should have handled him with kid gloves, shown empathy for their terrible childhood, and then set them up in a comfortable jail cell with cable TV, Internet access, a gymnasium, conjugal visits, and an attorney to file an endless list of appeals.
To me it’s all interconnected and as always a steady stream of propaganda works. I hope some of you agree but I hold little hope for that as well. As in the book 1984, when Big Brother controls the Media, we are screwed.
I’m done with this. I’ll be back to writing about my semi-boring life tomorrow.
I’m relaxing this morning for a number of reasons. This is the only time of the day I can really settle back and watch some NASA TV without interruptions of any kind. I always try to keep current with what they’re doing especially with the upcoming launch of this country’s next generation of space vehicle, the Orion, happening within the next three weeks. This unmanned first flight is the next step to seeing people actually visiting nearby asteroids and then on to Mars in a few years. For me it’s something that’s pretty damn exciting since I’ve been a huge space nerd for my entire life and never thought I’d live to see some of the things I’ve seen in the last few years. It also relaxes me like nothing else seems to do (do not include sex in that thought).
It’s also the time of day where I usually write my blog postings without phone calls and constant conversational interruptions. Most of my recent weeks have been a steady diet of all things computer. I posted a few weeks ago about the disaster that was my attempt to upgrade my home wireless network. After a great deal of time and effort I finally accomplished what I set out to do. Unfortunately all of those efforts were just the first and most important step in my much larger project of creating and installing my own personal Cloud system. It required a great deal of research to find the proper equipment and software as well as the training I needed to do it myself. As of this morning I’m just hours away from the completion of that project and I’m feeling damn good about it.
One of the things that made the project so easy (a relative term) was a device called the My Cloud. It’s a Western Digital product that attaches to a home network and provides a storage area for any and all devices included in that network. It sounds like a simple matter but it is anything but. Not only does it connect all of my computers, laptops, IPads, Android tablets, smart phones and printers together, it permits me to access the network with any of my wireless devices from anywhere I can find a Wi-Fi connection. We can upload photographs and videos from our cell phone and IPad cameras from just about anywhere. Everything is heavily encrypted and virus protected with layers of passwords and firewalls making access possible only by previously approved people. Unlike most commercial Cloud ventures from major computer entities, my cloud cannot be accessed by the government without my consent.
This all started a few years ago when our home was burglarized. Part of that "smash and grab" crime involved the theft of my better-half’s laptop. We lost more than two years of her photographs of family and friends which could never be replaced. Also every time I have a computer problem I seem to lose data when forced to restore or recover the device. It’s not that we don’t do proper backups, it’s that we sometimes forget to do them. With this new system some of our backups will now be done automatically into the Cloud which has been installed in an area not easily discovered by marauding criminals. Between the two of us we have more than thirty thousand photographs and five thousand songs in storage that are now safe from loss. It’s easy to replace a device but some other things are just irreplaceable and require extra protection. It’ll take a day of two to copy everything completely to the new four terabyte Cloud but I’ll certainly sleep better knowing it’s finally done.
So hooray for me and it’s back to NASA and another steaming cup of hot and delicious "Midnight Velvet" coffee. That’ll get my heart started for sure.
