Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Picture Of The Day & Diabetes Update

This was Tuesday morning. I don’t know if you can see it, but there is a fog bank in the distance that goes from left to right over the tracks. Click the picture and you’ll see it. I wanted to pull over and take a picture of the valley with the fog bank hovering, it was a very cool sight but there was no place to pull over.

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On the diabetes side of things my numbers have gone way up again. It’s almost like I’m not taking any drugs at all, or something has happened in my body to make them ineffective, again. For the past month or so I’m back in the mid to high 200’s. For the 4 months prior I was in the mid 100’s so it’s back to the doctor next week for more fun tests.

I’m still paying for the last round of what’s wrong with Erik tests, it’s getting old and too damned expensive. Ya have to do it though so I’ll report back when the results are in, I know my Triglycerides will be high because I stopped taking Lipitor, but it will be interesting to see what other numbers are like as well.

Have a great Wednesday everybody.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Our Rig Has Company

It’s another Endeavor, you think they’ll get along?

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Sunset, the HTC Thunderbolt doesn’t capture all of the color but it’s still nice.

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Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Pressure To Buy To Stay On Top

Long post alert! Smile with tongue out The new Kindle Fire is out, new CPU’s are on the very near horizon, new technology people expect you to know about and have experience with is coming out and I’m not buying any of it.

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Typical questions I get - How does a Mac connect to my TV, how does the Apple TV work (both versions), how do I wirelessly watch content from my laptop on my TV? How do I wirelessly sync my iPad (both versions), iPhone, iPod Touch to iTunes? How do I set up my wireless printer, my wireless network, my wireless TV etc etc etc…

The questions I get are getting harder and harder to answer as more and more products come out. It’s not that it’s hard for me to use these products but you have to have them or have access to them to answer many of the questions you get.

In the past, I bought many of them, because I wanted them and because it made me a better tech. Now, I don’t buy anything and the questions are coming in faster than ever. I try and be as on top of things as possible so I got both kinds of technical magazines for the PC and the Mac, or should I say I used to. I stopped them because now I have stacks of magazines dating back to the 1980’s and when I make the decision to recycle them they will all be gone. I haven’t reached that point yet however but I know I will. I hope.

Now, I read exclusively online because the content is now, not a month old or more like it is in the magazines. I couldn’t understand why I was still subscribing to them when the content was stale when they got to me. It wasn’t that often something would surprise me but it has happened a few times. Is it worth it to be surprised once in awhile to build up more and more of these things? I don’t think so.

My Mac Pro is a dual Quad Core monster with 16gigs of memory and all the goodies… well, it was a monster in September 2008. This is about the time I would replace it and Apple is considering doing away with it, why wouldn’t they, it wasn’t  and isn’t worth the money they charge for it (this is a whole other post). Anyway, I’m going to keep it, as well as the last PC that I built myself in 2007, a 2.4 GHz Core 2 DUO machine with only 2 gigs of memory and a 1 gig video card. It still works perfectly, is more than adequate speed wise but it’s 5 years old and should be replaced. It’s not really worth anything or I’d sell it but since it works so well, why replace it when I don’t run anything on it that requires fast rendering speed? Funny how logic works…

My HP HDX18, great laptop, fantastic even, my MacBook Pro, bought in April of 2009, runs both Windows and OS X so explain to me why I have 2 laptops? So I sold the HP, not because the MacBook is better, trust me, it isn’t but it does run both OS’s and I need to have access to both so bye bye HP. The MacBook Pro does have one thing I love, a very crisp bright LED backlit 1920x1200 display, none of this HD resolution 1980x1080 crap, that’s for TV,s I hate that laptops & desktop displays use it now as well. Steaming mad But that too is for another post. Smile with tongue out

So, how to stay on top of all this new technology without going into a BIGGER mountain of debt? I’m hoping reading (A LOT) will suffice and I know this is a bit of a long drawn out post to say so but I needed to get into it a bit, technology is getting to a point where you can’t keep up without going flat out broke or work for a company with a lab that loves to test new gear.

I have come to realize I can’t know everything and that’s ok, heck I never did get close to knowing everything so what was I thinking. I have also come to realize I don’t NEED all that new technology.

God I wish I had learned that sooner…. Disappointed smile

Friday, November 11, 2011

Happy Veterans Day!

To all those who served and are serving now, our heart felt thanks for keeping us safe.

 

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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Happy 236th Birthday Marine Corps!

I forgot to post this earlier today! Happy 236th birthday the the Devil Dogs!
"Panic sweeps my men when they are facing the American Marines." Source -
A captured North Korean Major...

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USMC

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Picture Of The Day

When I got out of my car this morning I shot this quick photo of the sunrise. I love sunrise and sunset, you get such beautiful pictures.

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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hitch Itch! I Know, You’re Kidding Right?

Not really hitch itch…yet, but maybe it was a mistake to put the count down meter on the page. Five months until our next trip?!?! I spoke to she who is mostly sane about such things (KAN-DO Kathy’ism!) saying maybe we should go during the winter! Yeah we could do it! Ok, so the rig is winterized, we could use everything except the toilet, shower, bathroom and kitchen sinks, so? Basically her response was… Disappointed smile

She who laughs at my childish ways doesn’t see how this could be fun! We didn’t get a chance to go as often as we/I wanted this year. I have found a few campgrounds that have their shower and bathroom facilities open year round within 120 miles of our home. I may look into this further, what better way to make sure the systems get their exercise this winter? Smile with tongue out She who is the wife is going to laugh when she reads this!

Response To Anonymous & His OWS Friends

Anonymous (you know who you are), at first I thought you were just some kid having fun with a blog you found. Now, I believe you are one of the OWS protesters which is fine, the American system at work and you should participate, gotta love freedom! Here is where we part ways.

I believe in this system, the United States isn’t perfect, as long as we have imperfect people it never will be. However it is the best country on this planet bar none.

The key public difference between the Tea Party and OWS is the Tea Party had zero instance of violence, contrary to what Nancy Pelosi said as she was crying about how violent she was afraid the Tea Party rallies would become which never happened much to her apparent dismay. The differences philosophically are too great to get into, so I won’t, besides, you clearly wouldn’t understand.

OWS protests have violence, rape and other crime and where is Nancy’s tears? She loudly proclaims her support for the protests though which makes perfect sense. The hypocrisy is apparent to everybody but the media apparently as they refuse to call her out on it. The crimes in OWS camps detract from any valid message any of the OWS sites may claim to have.

I am an immigrant, did I come from a hostile country? No, Norway is considered one of the best places on Earth to live today but I came here in the 60’s when the economy there wasn't so healthy. Norway was dealing with the residual affects of a hostile take over from the Nazis in WWII when we came here. Do you know any history? Do you know why the Nazis took over? Rhetorical question, I know you don't know but then I doubt many people do, history isn’t that important in schools anymore.

My father could hardly speak English when he came here but he worked his ass off to learn and did not want special treatment for his lack of English comprehension. He expected his kids to work their butts off and not expect anything from anybody that they didn’t earn. I didn't get an allowance, my chores were what he expected be done, no questions asked.

I believe in immigration, it’s what made this country great! Yet, I have been called an “anti-immigrant” by people (some of whom are friends) who say anybody who crosses US borders are immigrant’s, this is incorrect. Those of us who came here legally know exactly what it takes and how hard it is to go through the process. What I am is anti “ILLEGAL” immigration and the sheer amount of illegals from many countries not just Mexico flooding into this country is a concern for all, including you if you understood the law. I don’t know why we have immigration laws if our own Government, local and Federal refuses to enforce the law, it confounds me how the law is openly defied.

The OWS protesters have the right to protest but they/you seem to lack the understanding that the form of Government they are wishing for is exactly the opposite of forced fairness. Russia was not into everybody gets a trophy, everybody gets  a diploma, everybody gets a job, no scoring in a soccer match, if you didn’t do as you were told you had a wonderful Gulag to look forward to. Imagine the Russian Olympic teams arrival by the Politburo when they returned after their loss to the US, do you think they got trophies or a pat on the back?

You guys hold up signs saying Communism is the answer with no knowledge of what Communism has done to millions upon millions of people. None of it “fair”. I don’t know what history is taught in schools these days but judging by what I see spouted off by todays youth, nothing is likely the answer.

It’s real easy to demand a job or free higher education, free housing, free health care, free food, free clothing, free RV’s or what have you but what you don’t get is you work for it and it’s never FREE. Somebody is always paying the bill even if you didn’t have to. Do you think the stimulus bill was “Obama money” as people thought in New York as they stood in line for their “free Obama check” back in early 2009? Where do you think this money comes from? His checking account for Pete’s sakes? TAXPAYERS pay for everything in the Government, the Government doesn’t have any money, they have Tax Payer money, get that through your thick skull will you?

When the Government lowers a tax they always say “how are we going to pay for this tax?” The simple answer is they don’t! It wasn’t their money to begin with!! Lower spending you Government dufus’s!

I digress, as usual. The majority of rich folks got that way by working for it, some started at the bottom of a company in the mail room and worked their way up from there. Are there some rich folks who have more than their “fair share” as Obama put it? NO, their money is their money and that means all of it, who is it for you, me or Obama to say who has enough money? Yes there are rich folk who get away with not paying enough, guess what, there are middle class folk and every other type of folk out there who don’t pay their fair share either.

I can guarantee you this, Obama doesn’t feel he has too much money, I don’t hear him offering to reduce his pay. He feels the Government should make sure everything is fair but nowhere in the Constitution does it state everything will be fair, nor should it. The Declaration of Independence, another document you never read, states “Life, Liberty and the PERSUIT OF happiness” not the “RIGHT TO happiness”. You have no right to it, do you comprehend the difference? Do any of you OWS protesters? You have the right to pursue it, you aren’t owed it. This means you may actually have to do something that may seem a lot like work!

People like you, who can’t even write a sentence after going to school for over a decade, expect the same type of job, the same high level of pay that others have worked for and you expect others to foot the bill for how you get it. I see the crime(s) going on at the OWS locations and the video of them trying very hard to get law enforcement to do something violent so they can file law suits. I find it disgusting that the media refuses to report it yet they tried very hard to show the Tea Party rallies in the worst kind of light they could. I’m sick of agenda’s affecting the news reports we get today, left and right. It’s disgusting.

I’ll tell you what OWS Anonymous, I’m going to invoke the form of Government right here that you dream of. Your posts will be allowed for only the time it takes for me to delete them. Since Blogger emails me instantly when a new post comes in I can delete them pretty quickly.

This is all I have to say about the OWS protesters and you, you’ll get no more ink from me.

I have other people who post as Anonymous so I’m not turning that off. There is an option right above “Anonymous” called “Name/URL”. All you need to put is a name, no URL is needed, this way we know who you are.

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Sorry about the long drawn out response to the Anonymous self proclaimed OWS protester, it will be my last one I promise.