From http://despair.com/viewall.html
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Pet peeves and other misc things
One of my pet peeves (OK, so I have several of them. It's just I learned a long time ago pet Peeves are like a salesman being "right". I was taught and learned quickly that a salesman can be "right" or he can feed his family. Now, I don't mean it is OK to do wrong things. But my job as a salesman was to supply the customer with what he wanted even if I didn't think it was the right choice. If he wanted a 50 page a minute copier even though a 12 page speed machine would do what he needed, it was his money and his decision. If he needed the 50 and wanted the 12 my job was to help him see the error of his ways, but sell him what he wanted to buy if he didn't come to his senses ... in my opinion.
Pet Peeves are kind of like that. I can choose to let them bother me or I can choose to get on with life. So I have learned to live with most of them and just not let it bother me. But we digress...)
As I said, one of my Pet Peeves is rusty grab bars on tractor doors. I like a nice smooth painted one my hand can slide up or down without dragging. So when I finished with the spray tractor Saturday evening I grabbed some emery cloth and polished them up, got out the Rustoleum enamel and painted them.
Always wear disposable gloves when doing this. Because when you get off balance and instinctively grab the bar ...
well, most of it came off.
Oh, and don't drop the can on its nozzle either.
Let's see, what other Pet peeves might I discuss ... Actually, it is something I rarely think about. Life is too short and other things are more important than being upset because the lid is left up on the toilet (that became one after a foreign object got lodged in the toilet gooseneck the weekend company was coming) or the lawn mower threw grass out in the road (that was one of Dad's)
So if you have a Pet Peeve, keep it to yourself and get over it.
Irritations and Pet Peeves are similar. Apple Computer irritates me. I got an iPad through a seed company promo.
Before I can do anything I have to plug it into a computer with internet access (and it better be high speed) and download the latest version of iTunes ... which means I have to have Quicktime to use it. The real irritation came when the desktop would not install Quicktime. I'm still unsure what I did to make it work.
I realize, it will probably all work well and make the sky blue and the grass green. I just hate being told "You gotta..."
Monday, August 22, 2011
I sometimes get rather brilliant ideas for blog entries
I spent Friday night at a youth 'lock-in" at church. Ever see 2:45 AM at church?
I'll be honest, I wasn't too enthused about it. I'd never been part of something like it, and didn't see much benefit to baby-sitting a bunch of kids.
We had about 30 kids. I didn't count, but I bet half of them weren't "ours". We ate, we played,
we did a scavenger hunt,
we had a hayride,
all kinds of fun.
And I hope we made a difference in a few lives.
all kinds of fun.
Would I do it again?
Sure would. But I might take a nap first.
Monday, August 15, 2011
I hate buying computers
I know, those who now me doubt that statement. Just because as I set here typing I have 5 if them in or just out of arm's reach. Well, actually there are a couple more. That is why I went shopping.
My old faithful laptop
decided to quit on me. I had it at the family reunion doing a little writing on it. I put it in the camper and brought it home. When I tried to fire it up it wouldn't. The power light would come on, the hard drive light would light and blink, then it just turned itself off. The display never did come on. A friend has the same laptop, and his recently turned all 4 feet in the air and died. Well, actually his power jack broke. Doing some looking I found that seems to be a common problem. The only good solution is replace the motherboard.
So, is that my problem? I called my computer repair shop and told them I was trying to decide if it was worth the 25 miles drive each way to bring it over and leave it, then come back 25 miles each way to pick it up. After talking about how it was acting and what the possibilities are I was convinced the problem was going to cost more than it was worth putting into this laptop.
Maybe the monitor is bad. Or just a video driver. So I plugged in my desktop monitor and turned it on. I found some kind of Dell diagnostic program running ... until the computer quit working. Hmmm... Tried again. This time I got a blue screen of death, one that give an error code that only means something to a hard core geek. So I tried again, to get a totally different result.
So, do a search for dell inspiron 1000 problem. Whole bunch of results. All of which point toward replacing the mother board. Do it yourself for $150 or have it done for $300. And that may or may not solve the problem but you won;t know until you replace it.
OK now it's time to go shopping.
The problem with computer shopping is you KNOW you will be wrong. Regardless of what you buy there will be a better deal with a better computer, probably next door to where you just bought yours. I've decided you figure out what you want to do and spend time with a (gasp!) salesman. I started to say salesperson, but I have found in the computer world there are very few knowledgeable women. There are some, but not many. If you find one she is fantastic, but she is rare.
So I wondered over to Staples. It is "Back-To-School" time. So there are some laptops at pretty good prices. I looked around. I talked. I admitted my ignorance. I liked it back when your choices were between the SX and DX version of the 486 processor. I remember hearing 2 computer salesmen arguing over whether it was justified putting a 40 meg hard drive in a computer when all the customer would ever use was 20 meg.
I'm getting to be an old geek.
I haven't got a clue what the difference is between an I3 and an I7 processor. Do I really need a blu-ray DVD player in my computer? And a fingerprint scanner .. in my computer? But I do know enough to know a computer should have as much memory (RAM, not hard drive capacity) as possible ... and with a laptop it is always better buying it already in there instead of adding it later. I also was pretty sure I wanted an HP or a Toshiba. There are other less-name brands, but I wanted one of those two. I wanted a number pad like my desktop keyboards. And I wanted to be able run an xP program not available as a later version.
They had an HP on sale with 6 gig of RAM, a nice big screen, and a keyboard with a number pad built in. And the helpful friendly ready to take my money salesman said if I upgraded to the pro version Windows 7 would do just what I wanted.
Well, we'll see about that some other time.
But I took a deep breath and bought it, an HP Pavilion dv7.
Cost less than the first several computers I bought and does more. I7 processor (whatever that means. My salesman said it meant it was better than an I3), Blu-ray optical drive, 17.3" monitor, 6 gig of RAM, finger print scanner, etc.
Following my normal logic, after I bought it I looked it up. PC MAG reviewed it (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388455,00.asp) and said :
Not good for gaming. DARN! (OK, if you know me my gaming consists of Spider Solitare, which came with it BTW). It is more powerful than a similar sized laptop a friend bought as a backup for his business use few years ago for $2500. That's about my style, not the latest and greatest but a good bang for the buck.
I decided to mess with the old Dell. Took the hard drive out (only 2 screws!) and put it in an external hard drive enclosure I have. I had to take the HD out of the enclosure, but no big deal. Just 2 more screws. Put it in, plugged it into my desktop, and it fired right up. I can't pull data off it, but I can see it. More hmmmm.... I can buy a rebuilt mother board for $139. I may risk it and see if I can get this one to work again so I can pull some data off it. If I can it would be a great laptop for the shop. Or I may just set it next to the older Dell laptop I have on a shelf someplace.
My old faithful laptop
So, is that my problem? I called my computer repair shop and told them I was trying to decide if it was worth the 25 miles drive each way to bring it over and leave it, then come back 25 miles each way to pick it up. After talking about how it was acting and what the possibilities are I was convinced the problem was going to cost more than it was worth putting into this laptop.
Maybe the monitor is bad. Or just a video driver. So I plugged in my desktop monitor and turned it on. I found some kind of Dell diagnostic program running ... until the computer quit working. Hmmm... Tried again. This time I got a blue screen of death, one that give an error code that only means something to a hard core geek. So I tried again, to get a totally different result.
So, do a search for dell inspiron 1000 problem. Whole bunch of results. All of which point toward replacing the mother board. Do it yourself for $150 or have it done for $300. And that may or may not solve the problem but you won;t know until you replace it.
OK now it's time to go shopping.
The problem with computer shopping is you KNOW you will be wrong. Regardless of what you buy there will be a better deal with a better computer, probably next door to where you just bought yours. I've decided you figure out what you want to do and spend time with a (gasp!) salesman. I started to say salesperson, but I have found in the computer world there are very few knowledgeable women. There are some, but not many. If you find one she is fantastic, but she is rare.
So I wondered over to Staples. It is "Back-To-School" time. So there are some laptops at pretty good prices. I looked around. I talked. I admitted my ignorance. I liked it back when your choices were between the SX and DX version of the 486 processor. I remember hearing 2 computer salesmen arguing over whether it was justified putting a 40 meg hard drive in a computer when all the customer would ever use was 20 meg.
I'm getting to be an old geek.
I haven't got a clue what the difference is between an I3 and an I7 processor. Do I really need a blu-ray DVD player in my computer? And a fingerprint scanner .. in my computer? But I do know enough to know a computer should have as much memory (RAM, not hard drive capacity) as possible ... and with a laptop it is always better buying it already in there instead of adding it later. I also was pretty sure I wanted an HP or a Toshiba. There are other less-name brands, but I wanted one of those two. I wanted a number pad like my desktop keyboards. And I wanted to be able run an xP program not available as a later version.
They had an HP on sale with 6 gig of RAM, a nice big screen, and a keyboard with a number pad built in. And the helpful friendly ready to take my money salesman said if I upgraded to the pro version Windows 7 would do just what I wanted.
Well, we'll see about that some other time.
But I took a deep breath and bought it, an HP Pavilion dv7.
Following my normal logic, after I bought it I looked it up. PC MAG reviewed it (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388455,00.asp) and said :
HP Pavilion dv7-6163us
- editor rating good
- user ratings (1) very good
- Pros Large screen. Outstanding battery life.
- Cons Not good for gaming. Display resolution too small for 1080p. No USB 3.0 ports.
- Bottom Line With a roomy display and a good selection of hardware, the HP Pavilion dv7-6163us offers more than a typical mainstream system—but a full-blown (and full-powered) desktop replacement it is not.
Not good for gaming. DARN! (OK, if you know me my gaming consists of Spider Solitare, which came with it BTW). It is more powerful than a similar sized laptop a friend bought as a backup for his business use few years ago for $2500. That's about my style, not the latest and greatest but a good bang for the buck.
I decided to mess with the old Dell. Took the hard drive out (only 2 screws!) and put it in an external hard drive enclosure I have. I had to take the HD out of the enclosure, but no big deal. Just 2 more screws. Put it in, plugged it into my desktop, and it fired right up. I can't pull data off it, but I can see it. More hmmmm.... I can buy a rebuilt mother board for $139. I may risk it and see if I can get this one to work again so I can pull some data off it. If I can it would be a great laptop for the shop. Or I may just set it next to the older Dell laptop I have on a shelf someplace.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
I've been away from the office for a few days at a family reunion. I'm told we are unusual in doing what we do and how we do it, so maybe I should describe what has been going on. Let me start with some family background.
My grandfather was raised in southern Illinois. His grandfather moved there from Kentucky. Things were tough southeast of Mt Vernon in the early 1900's. I've heard stories of how great-grandpa lost 20 acres because he could not pay the loan for it. I think if he had $40 he could have saved the ground.
Two of Gramps brothers had gone north to work in the flatlands of Illinois between Mattoon and Arcola, When he was about 16 Gramps had completed his education (all 8 grades). So pretty much carrying everything he owned Gramps went north. Today it's not a big deal, if we want to travel a hundred miles or so. We jump in our car or truck and in a couple hours or less we are there.. Back then it was a grand adventure. In todays society they might have well moved halfway across the country. It was a whole different world. Gramps moved north, found work, married, and started farming with one of his brothers.
I have trouble imagining life back then. For instance ... and I'm not sure if this was before or after he married ... the farmer he worked for hired a crew to harvest. Corn was picked by hand, thrown in a wagon, pulled by horses to the crib where it was scoped off. The farmer had taken a liking to Gramps, so when they got down to the last 40 acres he dismissed everyone else and told Gramps he had a job all winter picking that 40 acres by himself.
Imagine picking 40 acres by hand by yourself being a good thing.
Gramps and Grandma worked, struggled, and saved. I'm not sure about this, but I get the impresson Grandma's Dad was not necessarily impressed with his young guy from the hills of southern Illinois. His parents (grandparents?) had come to the US from Germany. They had planned on settling around Memphis, but when they got there their horses were stolen so they decided to come on north where there was a German community and settled north of Mattoon.
Like I said, Gramps started farming with one of his brothers. They saved up enough money to buy a tractor. They ordered it, and before it came in the bank failed. Gramps had to borrow the money (I think from his father-in-law) to pay for it. Saving the money was hard enough without having to pay for your first tractor twice!
Gramps got the chance to rent part of a farm on the edge of the Wabash River bottoms. 200 acres of flat , mostly developed ground a little over 60 miles away. I remember Dad telling how Gramps had rented the farm but the folks living in the house didn't have to move until almost Spring. Gramps came down with his tractor and plow and slept in the corn crib while he did fall work. More of that stuff I have trouble imagining. He rented a farm a full days drive on an old tractor in a place he didn't know anyone! They lived there a few years (2 or 3 I think) and then moved back north. A couple years later the farm came up for sale. 600 acres in one spot. Mr Buckner (the lawyer ...from Decatur I think) urged him to buy it. Gramps had to take out a second mortgage to buy 200 acres he bought.
Anyway, I am wondering away from the family reunion, but I had to tell you most of that to get here. Grampa had 5 brothers. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but 40 years ago the brothers and their families met for a reunion in a city park in Charleston, Illinois (close to where most of them settled) At some point they decided to have it back home. When Great-Grandpa died they inherited the farm together. Rather than sell it they decided to keep it. for the family.
I won't get into the current ownership, it will be a confused mess one of these days. But we come back every August for a family reunion. The old house is still here. It really isn't fit for habitation but it's OK for a few days. Several years ago a "bath house" was built. It has shower, toilet, etc with a men's side and a ladies side. We have a pavilliion )in other words a small tool shed with no side walls and a concrete floor. Over the years projects have included wiring pedestals for campers and running municipal water to hydrants strategically placed near the camper pedestals. There is no internet, almost no cell phone service. A couple years ago we were down here painting the house. I was 40 feet up in a bucket truck and could not get a signal,
As I set writing this early Friday morning we have 6 campers, a tent, and one family in the house, By Saturday evening I expect that to triple. You can't imagine spending several days with your extended family? I told you we were weird.
Right now there are 2-3 wheelers (ATV's), 2-4 wheelers, and a Mule (not the 4 legged kind) here, I remember 30+ yeas ago having over 30 motorcycles here. I have to run. I'll write more later
My grandfather was raised in southern Illinois. His grandfather moved there from Kentucky. Things were tough southeast of Mt Vernon in the early 1900's. I've heard stories of how great-grandpa lost 20 acres because he could not pay the loan for it. I think if he had $40 he could have saved the ground.
Two of Gramps brothers had gone north to work in the flatlands of Illinois between Mattoon and Arcola, When he was about 16 Gramps had completed his education (all 8 grades). So pretty much carrying everything he owned Gramps went north. Today it's not a big deal, if we want to travel a hundred miles or so. We jump in our car or truck and in a couple hours or less we are there.. Back then it was a grand adventure. In todays society they might have well moved halfway across the country. It was a whole different world. Gramps moved north, found work, married, and started farming with one of his brothers.
I have trouble imagining life back then. For instance ... and I'm not sure if this was before or after he married ... the farmer he worked for hired a crew to harvest. Corn was picked by hand, thrown in a wagon, pulled by horses to the crib where it was scoped off. The farmer had taken a liking to Gramps, so when they got down to the last 40 acres he dismissed everyone else and told Gramps he had a job all winter picking that 40 acres by himself.
Imagine picking 40 acres by hand by yourself being a good thing.
Gramps and Grandma worked, struggled, and saved. I'm not sure about this, but I get the impresson Grandma's Dad was not necessarily impressed with his young guy from the hills of southern Illinois. His parents (grandparents?) had come to the US from Germany. They had planned on settling around Memphis, but when they got there their horses were stolen so they decided to come on north where there was a German community and settled north of Mattoon.
Like I said, Gramps started farming with one of his brothers. They saved up enough money to buy a tractor. They ordered it, and before it came in the bank failed. Gramps had to borrow the money (I think from his father-in-law) to pay for it. Saving the money was hard enough without having to pay for your first tractor twice!
Gramps got the chance to rent part of a farm on the edge of the Wabash River bottoms. 200 acres of flat , mostly developed ground a little over 60 miles away. I remember Dad telling how Gramps had rented the farm but the folks living in the house didn't have to move until almost Spring. Gramps came down with his tractor and plow and slept in the corn crib while he did fall work. More of that stuff I have trouble imagining. He rented a farm a full days drive on an old tractor in a place he didn't know anyone! They lived there a few years (2 or 3 I think) and then moved back north. A couple years later the farm came up for sale. 600 acres in one spot. Mr Buckner (the lawyer ...from Decatur I think) urged him to buy it. Gramps had to take out a second mortgage to buy 200 acres he bought.
Anyway, I am wondering away from the family reunion, but I had to tell you most of that to get here. Grampa had 5 brothers. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but 40 years ago the brothers and their families met for a reunion in a city park in Charleston, Illinois (close to where most of them settled) At some point they decided to have it back home. When Great-Grandpa died they inherited the farm together. Rather than sell it they decided to keep it. for the family.
I won't get into the current ownership, it will be a confused mess one of these days. But we come back every August for a family reunion. The old house is still here. It really isn't fit for habitation but it's OK for a few days. Several years ago a "bath house" was built. It has shower, toilet, etc with a men's side and a ladies side. We have a pavilliion )in other words a small tool shed with no side walls and a concrete floor. Over the years projects have included wiring pedestals for campers and running municipal water to hydrants strategically placed near the camper pedestals. There is no internet, almost no cell phone service. A couple years ago we were down here painting the house. I was 40 feet up in a bucket truck and could not get a signal,
As I set writing this early Friday morning we have 6 campers, a tent, and one family in the house, By Saturday evening I expect that to triple. You can't imagine spending several days with your extended family? I told you we were weird.
Right now there are 2-3 wheelers (ATV's), 2-4 wheelers, and a Mule (not the 4 legged kind) here, I remember 30+ yeas ago having over 30 motorcycles here. I have to run. I'll write more later
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