Before you think this is some macabre blog about life and death hold on! I am talking about time to let your trusted computer retire.
“Why the hell is my computer so slow!” I substituted “hell” for the F word! You get the point. People are frustrated and just pissed off by the time I get a call.
The average life span of a PC is about 5 years, give or take. The issues I have with that are many, and most of that revolve around the EULA. (End User License Agreement)
Does anyone read these? I did a couple of times and boy oh boy, you need a lawyer to figure it out!
If you purchase a computer with an operating system that dies than the OS dies when the computer does. Unlike the old days of DOS and or early Windows.
When it gets right down to it the expensive part of the computer is not the hardware, but the software. The OS is about $150 or so… Ok I can stomach that.
Office full blown is $500! Does it die with the computer?
The Adobe suite is off the charts expensive, does it die with the computer?
Why is it that a computer running an OS runs just fine and as time goes by it slows down? Does the computer just get tired?
Three finger solute brings this up…
It has a lot to do with the patches and ad-ons that we do to them. A computer is much like a baby. Everything that you do to it, or with it from its “birth,” has some effect on it.
Herbie Pulling a trailer and from the 1954 movie the long long trailer Ricky and Lucy pulling a trailer full of rocks.
I equate it to a car. Let’s say your car is a Volkswagen beetle that new, gets you down the road and does what you want it to do. After a few months it is not quite as Zippy as it was earlier and after a year it starts showing its age. You take it in for a tune-up, start using a higher grade of gasoline and for a while it works fair. Then after a while going up hills are a struggle. After downshifting to 2cnd you make it up the hills but you remember earlier in its life when maybe you only had to downshift to 3rd but for the most part; not at all.
After much head scratching you start looking at every little detail of your poor car. Suddenly you find out that your partner in crime has secretly had a fascination with collecting rocks. Your poor car is hauling tons of rocks in the “bonnet” under the back seat, and even the glove box!
Some of the rocks have been there so long that they have become part of the car! After removing all of the rocks that you can; the car once again makes it up the hills but not as fast as it did when it was new.
Your computer when new; was the fastest thing around, if you are like me, you over buy!
After months and maybe years the computer much like the car has the occasional issue with web sites, or e-mail or loading a picture file to edit.
Time to look for rocks.
You buy a product like Crap Cleaner and you let it work its magic. Not before too long, your computer is running “ok” so you push on.
After a few years Crap Cleaner no longer does it. You enlist the help of someone like myself. I hunt and kill malware and other viruses. I check for the latest drivers and work my magic and manage to get your computer running as it should, but it is not as good as it was new.
Yep, that is me….
Why?
I can tell you that it is most probably not the hardware. I can prove it to you by installing another hard drive and installing the virgin OS that your machine came with. The machine will behave just like it did out of the box, until you put your “stuff” back on it, most of the time.
Uninstall Crap
One of the things that I find the most, is people install all of this “stuff.” It all looks cool until you see that your computer is full of trial-ware, and other “stuff” that you don’t use. Delete it or “uninstall it.”
Startup
A quick look at the startup software will usually tell you that you have too much crap starting up.
A CTRL ALT DELETE or three finger solute will bring up a menu which you can then bring up task manager. Look at the processes utilization and so forth and see where it is. Frequently I see machines that have used all of the allotted memory and are now into virtual memory. Virtual memory is orders of magnitude slower than “real memory” as it is swapping to your hard drive. Troubleshoot the issues and remove programs or processes that are starting up that you really don’t need. The goal is to keep the machine using only real memory and not have to deal with a bunch of “Rocks!”
Hardware dust bunnies
I have seen worse!
They are overclocking some computer so they have taken to using water cooling systems much like they did back in the days of the Amdahl MainFrame’s.
There is a special breed of animal that I liken to gremlins. They live inside your computer and other electronic “stuff.” They plug up the vents, restrict air flow and clog up fans and get inside your CD Rom drive stopping it from working, even inside your floppy drive if you still have one. These are the ever present Dust Bunnies that once only lived under beds and furniture. Now they have found a new occupation destroying electronic stuff and they are not even cute!
Someone had way too much time on their hands…
Just like Gremlins, don’t get water anywhere near them!
One thing that I never overlook is cleanliness of the machine. These things are ecological disasters when it comes to dust! If Hoover was smart they would build a combo PC / Air Cleaner as these things really do look like the inside of the vacuum cleaner bag. If you have pets or maybe are in a warehouse etc. the problem is exacerbated. While I really want to title this BJ, I decided that might be too crass. You get the idea, take it outside and blow the crap out of it, “literally,” with an air compressor if you have it, or that expensive canned air. I clean mine out every 6 months and that goes double for laptops as people use those things in strange places, even on their bed where the machine can’t breathe correctly! Laptops should be used on a hard surface, not carpet, couches or beds!
These machine generate heat and must be adequately cooled. If your machine is still running warm after the BJ, consider buying and installing a better CPU cooler and even more fans for the case.
While I am talking about hardware, make certain that your power supply is up to the task at hand. It needs to be able to produce more wattage than you need and it should have a large fan in it that moves lots of air. Today they have power supplies that have plug in cables that give you the ability to only use that which you need in the way of cables and not have a lot of extra wire floating around inside the box! Anything in there that you don’t need can obstruct air flow.
While I am talking about cables, dress them properly. They should be neatly tied together and routed where they do not obstruct a fan from turning and if possible away from air paths so cool air can make its way through the case.
Antivirus
Antivirus is Key to computer users today and more critical than ever before. While my tin foil hat side of me thinks that the creators of this software are all out to be better than the next guy by actually producing and passing the thousands of viruses out there; I don’t have the smoking gun. I see that this is a huge industry and where there is money there is greed / motive. I cannot fathom why anyone would sit around in their mother’s basement in their underwear writing destructive viruses if they cannot see the effect of their work and are not being paid.
Eww, I just about feel bad putting this here….
My current favorites are Eset Node 32 and Trend Micro. I also have Norton running on a PC that I use infrequently and do not depend upon or even allow anything “free” other than defender on my network / lab computers / home computers. Free is not worth what you pay for it! Defender is not the end all be all product and I would never depend upon it as my sole protection. That would be like people practicing the “rhythm method” for birth control, you know what they call those folks right? Parents!
Get the latest updates
Allow the stinking updates from Microsoft as they have a vested interest in your machine working properly. Like the antivirus folks who work tirelessly to constantly put out new updates, so does Microsoft. It may be a simple tweak and yes, they frequently allow stuff out that should be tested more thoroughly so you may want to wait for a few days before you actually install it yourself but, most of the time they are the thing to do.
Turn off indexing
By default Windows has indexing turned on. As your computer ages and you fill up those massive terabyte hard drives with stuff, the computer uses valuable horse power to index all of your stuff. That can slow your machine down to a crawl! Unless you search for files constantly turn off indexing! If you still want to have faster access to certain files you can selectively index.
Defrag
After all else, run check-disk and then defrag your hard drive. If during the checkdsk process you find bad sectors don’t wait, stop right there and back up everything and replace the hard drive! Most all electronic equipment is rated in MTBF or (mean time between failure.) It is not a matter of “if” but when it will fail.
Let it Die
XP is dead, get over it. End of life software keeps those that write the stuff in business. Software is an incredibly dynamic industry. Linux is more static if you want to learn something totally new but even it changes.
Machines that run DOS have been re-cycled and are polluting third world countries where some send old boards and parts to allow low budget workers to re-claim precious metals at risk to the person and their ecology. If old Al really wanted to something of value, he would tackle this issue as those people are seriously polluting their environment as our garbage is a job for them. Bottom line, re-cycle your old hardware in a responsible manner. PC’s are not an investment in hardware but rather for what they do! They have a finite life and when they start sucking the life out of you by you having to baby them, wait on them and spend your hard earned money to “fix them” get a new one!
If I had a nickle for every time the phone rang asking me what do I do now with this C thing….!
If you decide to re-cycle any old computer and you are worried about your “information, as you should be” remove the hard drive and hang on to it. When you are certain that you no longer will need anything that possibly could be on it, take your drill and drill a hole, straight through it, hit it with a hammer multiple times, after dropping it on a cement surface, and then put the remains into the recycle bin. Wear your safety glasses just in case….
I am experienced in forensic computing so trust me, if you do any of the above, or some combination, nobody will get anything off of it, ever!
Crap Cleaner as part of its program has something called Drive Wiper. That may very well do it, without all of the destructive energy being spent. Once you run it everything is gone to the great bit bucket in the sky, or basement..
Who am I?
I am just a guy who has been working with computers since before Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were anyone, period! The internet was not around and Al Gore was still inventing the calculator to determine how much to charge for green-house gas emissions, from the basement in his mansion!
Al, what can be said?
Actually a lot, can you say “MEME,” I bet you can…
There was no e-mail, no internet; and porn was not digital anywhere! There was still Greg Shorthand and Secretaries were a hot commodity, as executives could not construct a proper sentence without them.
First picture of something racy that was found on the internet I think using “gopher.”
Early Internet usage… This is actually advanced as there is a browser!
I lecture, consult, and when time permits, give back to the community with things like this “free advice or entertainment.”
Re-post this if you think that it will help your folks, or readers, or some family member that wonders why their computer is “so slow!” just don’t edit it and make sure proper credit is given. Thanks!
Just in case: There are no warranties expressed or implied with this “free advice” for the legal record, let’s call this “entertainment” as I know that there are those out there that will do something to their computer and try to claim that this blog was in some way responsible and they might even be the ambulance chaser attorney type, that sees a lawsuit in a free lunch!
So, anything that you read here is “entertainment” and if you should try this at home, you do so at your own peril, if something goes awry! “Plain language…if you stuff it up” I am not responsible.
Minimum Wage This is a much more complex situation than merely a governing body dictating more laws to the folks.
Minimum wage jobs were starting points in ones career, never meant to be a career, just a paid internship if you will. These jobs are for kids in school, jobs that require that you be at an appointed place at an appointed time; learn a work ethic, and possibly some future skill set that you currently lack. As an example, I learned how to “really mop a floor” 40 odd years ago.
Some mom and pop shops may only be able to afford some laborer like this. They might be for menial tasks that also keep teens busy and out of trouble while teaching them some work ethic.
The bottom line is, few companies are started with the concept of creating jobs. Businesses are about creating a product or service, and employees are a “necessary evil” in most cases; as there are so many regulations and laws that companies must adhere to when one has employees. It has not become easier over the years, quite the opposite!
On top of existing regulations, Obamacare has changed the paradigm of the fabric of business vs. employee / minimum wage.
Full-time jobs have been modified to part-time, to avoid healthcare all together. Along with the part-time designation came more employees and less pay. Retail giants were one of the first on the bandwagon and many industries have followed suite to make certain that the full-time employee count was for folks that were indispensable.
The new immigration law that was enacted by Obama has once again changed the way that business work. I recently visited a McDonalds where there was not one English-speaking employee in the place, at least, which English was their native language.
If trends continue, I perceive that more Americans will be surviving on the government tit, as the part-time-minimum-wage-jobs of today will go to more of these types of folks who will be happy to have them, as they do not qualify for “free stuff,” yet.
To your question: why not pay your employees more than minimum wage if you can? I have a client that does. He pays his people much higher than scale, and is learning that you cannot buy good employees. A very small percentage of the people that you hire have a work ethic that you the business owner has. They possess the Fred Flintstone work ethic of when the whistle blows, Yabba Dabba Doo!
Listening to the news, talk radio or even reading the news online, wouldn’t it be refreshing if someone simply admitted that they did not know, vs. making a statement that is blatantly fabricated?
It is easy to tell why some news outlets have so few in their audience. Even the most desperate of viewers wants it to be true so they watch and listen and parrot what they hear which is again blatantly false!
There is an old axiom regarding telling a lie enough where it becomes fact. I think some in the news media are guilty of this. I think that many in this administration are guilty of this.
Yesterday it was pointed out by Hillary Clinton and other liberal outlets that the GOP will take us back to the stone age if they had their way. Vaccinations are totally safe according to their science.
Do you trust anything that any government says?
Mr, “I did not have sex with that women,” defending his wife! Really, we believe you, ah huh….!
Thimerosal is a mercury additive to vaccines, which are “multi-dose.” This is a way that the drug companies increase profits by putting many doses in one vial instead of individual vials. Problem, while thimerosal is effective at killing any bacteria that might make it back into the vial it is also linked to neurological disorders, especially in children.
I feel for the monkeys….
Let’s think about this pragmatically for just a moment. Mercury was so problematic, so hazardous that the government did away with all batteries that were made with mercury; forcing many to junk electronic equipment that needed that particular battery.
Mercury is so toxic that you cannot throw those CFL light bulbs in the trash, they have to be treated specially. Mercury is so bad that there are specific cleanup methods for the breakage of a florescent light or computer monitor or neon sign as they contain small amounts of mercury.
Handling mercury is incredibly toxic as it will go right through your skin and research on laboratory animals prove that mercury seems to deposit itself in the brain. Could there be an autism link? Mercury, brain… let me think….. “I don’t know,” but if it smells like a fart…… Do you really want to chance it?
Therefore, mercury is bad…yet it is perfectly safe to have it injected into your body. Really, Hillary, now that you tweeted that the earth is round maybe we should check, because I do not believe anything that you say! Someone who leaves the white house claiming they were broke when in fact they had millions, I just don’t know.
All vaccines for children have a Thimerosal free product and if you really care about your child, pay the extra and get the vaccine without the mercury “single dose.” As the matter of fact, if it is not good for kids, it is not good for adults either so, I always opt for the thimerosal free product myself!
I don’t always get vaccinated; but when I do….
Between the lies of this administration, and the IRS, I do not believe anything that this government says. It is one of those “I hear you but,” let me check it myself.
Wouldn’t you like to play poker with him?
Factually, it is politically expedient to lie to the people. Much like the movie Mars Attacks,“horrible movie” but; do you remember the Martians telling the earthlings stop running, we are here as friends, right before they blasted them with their ray guns? Why? Because people are lazy and will not fact check!
Wait, don’t run, we are your friend….
That is the way that I feel about most of the liberal news media and of course, anything that comes out of Josh’s mouth, not to mention his boss.2016 cannot come soon enough for me, and I hope that the voters this time pay attention to the blather that pervades the airwaves and ignore the millions of social media hacks, trolls and other vermin that seek to get another liberal liar in to the White House.
When you have to spend over a Billion Dollars to “buy the presidency,”what does that tell you?
Well, “I don’t know,” what people were thinking this last time around but I can tell you, I hope that they pay attention to the fact that they are not better off today than they were 6 years ago. We should not have pulled out of Iraq, and we should not be pissing off our allies.
As a competitive type “A” kind of person; I lost, and in retrospect; its not a bad thing.
Other than, an ongoing game of Scrabble that I have been playing for about ten years now, I really do not play games. Time is much too precious to me to spend it on frivolity.
I was encouraged by friends to attend a “game night” with family and friends that I fight not to attend even though it is a semi annual event. I do not mind the eating part and the socializing but, as I said, I am competitive, sometimes to a fault. Loosing is not in my make-up ergo I can become a little over bearing in the process. So, why do it?
I do not keep up with trending games and or any other activities where time would be wasted. Not judging you if that is your thing, me personally, if I am not creating or working or helping someone; I will catch up on some DVR things or, a good book or sleep.
The game they had picked out was Cards Against Humanity.
Who dreams up this stuff? At first I was not sure how this was to play out, (no pun intended) but it took no time at all to see that the game appeals to the least human part of us. Or, maybe the most depending upon your take on life. Calvin said that we are all “totally depraved” this game would prove him correct or at least there is evidence that he may have been on to something. From the people who created it to the people who play it.
As a person with a very good vocabulary, I have to admit that there were words that I had to look up. Once looked up; I am just about sorry that I know them now. Most of them came up in the “urban dictionary” and were of a nature that would never be used in polite society.
I would equate this game to verbal pornography. The winners are those that gain the cards that are the most perverse and apply them at the right time so that the reader of such cards laughs the most. The perverse deviance of the situations, and or vernacular make the person who is reading them laugh or provide shock value!
If you have ever added the words “in bed” to a fortune cookie, imagine that on steroids!
Allow me to be totally honest here. I laughed; I laughed a lot. While I could not bring myself to play the cards that might have won, I enjoyed the mutual laughter of the group.
Laughing is contagious. When an entire group of people is laughing hysterically, it is easy to also be amused.
To the cons….
The game really creates mental imagery of a type that I would not want in my head. I do not watch certain types of movies or read certain material, as I do not want that rattling around my brain. Garbage in garbage out is not a bad mantra to employ through life, so I guard what I put in.
The pros….
After reading to this point, I bet you were thinking that I would not have a pro….
There is a time and place for everything under heaven, yes even this game.
The fault that I mentioned earlier goes along with the simple fact that I take life way too seriously. I do not let my “hair down” so to speak.
This game is so out there that it causes one to “let their hair down” if they will allow it and unbelievably, that is a good thing. Remember, while you are here, breathing air; you are “of this world.” The people who created that game are of this world. Your friends and family who laughed at the extreme R rated stuff in that game are “of this world.”
While I would certainly not make a habit out of this game, or “any game” for that matter, a slight distraction from reality tends to jolt you back into this world far enough to realize just how wrapped up in your worldthat you are. Your world may not be “the world,” hence knowing what is going on in this world through games like this or yes, R rated movies are not totally a bad thing.
It is like fantasizing. As a child, we fantasized about different things. Some of those may have been about what we wanted to do as we imagined ourselves blasting off into space or driving a fire engine! Some of those may have been about intimate moments with some movie star. Some of us may still fantasize and that is perfectly ok.
The problem starts when you try to make the fantasy a reality.
Game Of War .. Kate Upton
Game of War Screen Shot
Living vicariously through football players on the field or John Wayne shooting the next bad person is ok. Remember who you are and you are neither of those people. Movies, much like that game are meant to take you away from this world for a little while. To you ladies out there; there are few who ride white horses and come to your rescue. Enjoy the book or movie but, come back to earth before you walk among the common folks of earth.
While working, I often listen to talk radio. Most of the stuff you hear is provocative, so you will listen past the commercials.
Some college professor made the statement that white men are all privileged and she would not even call on them in class, as they did not disserve her attention. Wow! What a thing to say much less think!
Yes, I am white.
My great grandfather was a German immigrant and my great grandmother was from Italy. My grandmother who passed in her 40’s was from New York and her parents were from London. Her line traces back to Winston Churchill in some circuitous route, while my fathers parents came across from the old country much earlier.
When I was a young person, I came up with the idea of mowing yards for spending money, as my parents were certainly not wealthy. Dad was a mechanic for the airline who during its death throws absconded with the retirement money of its employees, which became “golden parachutes” for the elites.
I was not allowed to use the “family” lawn mower for this task so the first thing I had to do is come up with a lawn mower of my own. Garage sales provided me with broken down equipment that I learned to repair and keep going while traversing the neighborhoods looking for lawns that needed upkeep. $2 for the front and $2 for the back was the average fare.
By the end of the first summer, I had acquired 3 lawn mowers, an edger and purchased several rakes, brooms and other implements to take care of my customers.
The following summer allowed me to start a savings account as well as allow for popcorn money for the occasional movie.
By my senior year of high school, I was able to purchase my first car, which opened up different types of occupations that did not require as much sweat.
My first real confrontation with my white privilege status was when I went to try and work for Sears. I had taught myself electronics at a very early age and had found employment at the local TV repair shop. After working there, I could not stomach how they took advantage of people so I left to find something else.
Sears used to have a really good name and the service center was not too far from my home. I went through the interview and was given the tour of the service area. There in the back were several technicians, one white and the rest black. This mattered not to me as I see people as people and judge by character. If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you, end of story.
I had to prove my ability to repair sets, which I did rather handily. While I was wrapping up the manager went to talk with his boss on my behalf. He brought me out of the back into a private area and told me “he would love to have me but, his boss had just told him that he had to hire people that were non-white.”
This was my first brush with my “white privilege!”
This left a bad taste in my mouth. I stopped spending money with Sears, as I believe one should be hired for their ability to perform, and not their skin color.
I went to work for another independent and found that they too screw their customers selling them things that they do not need. I found that practice vile and gave my two weeks.
After finding a small place with rent that I could afford I opened up my own shop and for years, repaired TV’s for many folks.
Owning your own business is tough as one tends to work eighteen hours a day, at least.
There was a transition happening in the industry which brought the price of televisions down. The transition was directly related to offshore workers building them. When Zenith left American plants and went over seas; that was really the death knoll for television repair. Zenith and Curtis Mathes were the holdouts. When they too went out of the USA, it was over.
Until that date the television was not only an apparatus, it was also a piece of furniture. That too changed as plastic housings replaced wood and TV carts replaced cabinetry.
Customers would call for service or bring their set in and while I had it, they would be out shopping for something newer. In many cases when I would call with the estimate, they would have already purchased something newer and would abandon the set. The law back then was you could not sell their property. I had to send registered letters and after 90 days, I could junk it.
I would place them into a storage unit until I had a 12 X 30-storage unit full to the door with televisions that I could do nothing with, other than junk them.
I closed the shop and went to work in the business machine industry for sometime and eventually through my hobby got into computers. By 1982, I was well ensconced in the data processing field and by the early 90’s was managing IS departments.
My hiring practices were such that if you could do the job and had the appropriate attitude I would hire you. I was admonished by HR to look at people of color first, and consider them over their white counterpart. I hired many of all races but, I did my best to be color-blind, as I do not think that your skin color should garner you any favoritism, or should hold you back!
Just as your skin color should not be a factor in being hired it should not be a factor in firing you, but it is. One fellow that I hired developed a horrible attitude as the years progressed. This man would go out of his way to anger me, which he admitted to at his departure dinner from the company. He was doing his best to try to get me to call him something other than his name, so he could sue the company.
He found other employment and was leaving to go manage some group somewhere. At his going away dinner he ask me with the whole department there, “how do you hold your temper?” I looked at him blankly, whatever do you mean? “I have been trying to piss you off for months and never once did you even loose your smile!” The folks at the tables jaws dropped, as he admitted his plan and was now genuinely curious how I maintained my countenance.
Had I been a racist, I am guessing that he might have been successful. I am interested in your character, not your color; and certainly not your heritage.
Today I work with many different companies as well as different government agencies. They too still have to this date programs in place that business of minority status “must be considered first” before someone of “non-minority status, or white privilege!”
My customers that I get today have tried those methods, and have been disappointed time after time and finally call me. Once I get a customer, they see the difference for themselves and I do not have to solicit them after that. When they need my services, they call.
It is not my skin color, which earns me business; it is my character! I do what I say that I will do and I stand behind my work. I treat folks as I want to be treated and I genuinely care.
Those who foment racism are themselves most likely the racist in the room. Knowledge is key to being anything that you want to be. Knowing who you are is a good first start. Don’t believe the lies, most people of character are color blind.
To the uber liberal feminist white hating professor; you should get out more. I fear for the country when people of this ilk are teaching, molding young minds and spewing out their hate and bigotry from unfounded diatribes!
I too have a dream; that we as a people will learn from history; that we will know from whence we came and endeavor to correct the mistakes of the small-minded bigots of the past. It is easier to believe the lies than think outside the box, learn for yourself that people promote the lies because they are a comfortable place to hide or they promote an agenda, that is fallacious at best.
The simple facts are that there are a privileged class of folks. Color does not enter into the algorithm however. Adding color to the equation makes it play better and easier to sell, like the fictitious war on women. Nice sound bite, but untrue!
Those were the words spoken by an elderly person, in the next bed over from the person who I was visiting. “G..D! G..D! G…D! Just leave me alone!”
Talking with my friend who had suddenly found himself in the need for assistance, he was put into a room with another elderly man who could no longer care for himself or, his kids got tired of messing with him.
My heart went out to this person.
Think about this for a moment. No one ever thinks about the progression of life. We take for granted that life will simply stay consistent until we are hobnobbing with angels with harps and we hope that when that happens and we are given a harp, that magically we will know how to play it!
Maybe you think that you will be alive one moment and with former family the next. Maybe you think you will be with God after the “sting of death” and all of the mysteries of life will be made known to you.
Life runs in-congruent with our ideas of it, most of the time however; as there are no crystal balls that actually do anything other than collect dust. If there were, there would be no lottery, or gambling of any sort, as the same folks would always be winning. No one other than god knows your future.
As the guy in the next bed was fussing at the staff, the reason for the turmoil is that they were forcing him to shave. The rules as told to the “keepers of the aged” were that they must be bathed, shaved and not appear to be neglected should some inspector come around. I do not know “who” inspects such places or if they were worried about family actually coming for their obligatory Sunday after church visit.
When do you loose your rights as an individual?
There is an entire industry that has been created for, “taking care of the elderly.” What they are really doing is taking care of their bank account or so it would seem.
One elderly man put his wife into assisted living due to her advanced Alzheimer’s. He was her medical proxy as well as the person who took care of her needs. He was there every day; he dressed her, took care of her needs and only left for the night after she was in bed. When the facility where she was had a significant rate increase, he objected. Not too long after that, he came to visit her to find a multi-page letter on her bed informing him that they were suing to be her legal guardian, thus making all decisions for her and taking over their joint bank account.
This 84 year old man was forced to hire an attorney to fight the home and retain control of her care as well as their money!
This was a protracted court case and the judge found in favor of the husband but not before he was out an extra $10K as well as forced to pay the extra charges that the home went up per month during the entire time of the trial. How would you like this to be your battle at 84 years of age?!
It turns out that this type of activity is common with “homes.” If there is money involved, they do everything that they can to get it all!
There are lawyers who do this type of work, day in and day out and somehow manage to put their head on their pillow at night, and manage to sleep!
We do not know what tomorrow holds.
We get up every morning expecting a day pretty much like the one that we just had and than one day, something is wrong. There is a new pain, or it becomes harder to bring up a memory or you place your wallet or keys in the kitchen cabinet, or fridge.
If the nursing home is not a sad enough story, we have funeral homes.
Thousands of dollars for a casket, thousands for a simple cremation, these folks are right up there with used car salespeople.
Those people however are not messing over the deceased, they are screwing the folks who are dealing with loss and, when emotions are involved you can be so easily manipulated it is unreal!
When my mother passed, she had gone to the hospital after suffering a heart attack. Folks if you live in Arkansas, learn from this! She had subscribed to an air flight service that if you have an emergency and need to be airlifted out; you have already paid for the cost. One morning after taking a nitro pill and having the pain subside, she knew that she was in trouble. She called the service that sent and ambulance who then took her to an area where the helicopter could land. It was obvious that she had suffered a heart attack but was stable. The care flight people took her to a hospital that did not have a cardiologist on staff.
The ER doctor anxious to perform a surgery badgered her into allowing them to place a stent in one of her arteries. During the process, they ruptured the artery, which was the beginning of the end for my mother. By the time I could get there, she had undergone multiple surgeries, and doctors from Little Rock had been flown in.
This was made known to me by one of the witnesses on the form, that they had to really badger her to allow this.
The Cardiologist from Little Rock informed me in the hallway to the ICU, with all sorts of people around, “Your mother is not going to make it! You need to allow us to terminate life support.”
“In the truest sense of the word, I was Gob-Smacked!” Her kidneys had shut down, she was bleeding out of every orifice that one has, and if by some miracle she had managed to live, she would have brain damage, lost her legs as the circulation had been cut off from them too long, and would need respiratory care for life! Now remember that we had an audience as everyone that had family in ICU was riveted to the conversation and I could actually feel their stares!
I asked for a second opinion and walked away!
After a sleepless night wrestling with God, and another round of “what if,” the decision was made to let her go. A technical description of how this was to happen, was dictated to me by a person of the hospital, which was as cold and sterile as the morgue itself.
Shortly “two hours or so” after her death, I got a phone call from some funeral home demanding instructions what to do with the body. Time is money after all! My mothers’ desire was cremation but mine was to bury her. During the “sole searching,” they embalmed her for $2000.00. The next day I was informed of that, while I was signing the paperwork to have her cremated for another $3000.00 and then there was transportation from the funeral home to the crematorium that had to be paid for.
Lesson learned, plan for your own funeral so your kids do not have to.
So, what do you do with an aged family member?
Where my grandfather was concerned he came to stay with us and became part of the family until he passed many years later. He was actually a blessing as he was a kind man who had been generous his whole life, worked hard and raised his family with integrity.
Did he cause issues within the family dynamic? From time to time but, who didn’t? When there are people involved, there are issues. Family is family and you just “do!”
My cousins decided that they could no longer take care of their selves so they searched for, found and signed up for an assisted living place. They had a room, their own bathroom and a microwave, small fridge and of course TV and books. While there, the meds were dispensed per script, and care was given as needed to bathing and what have you. There were three meals and the rooms and facility were comfortable.
While visiting one day my cousin pointed to an elderly man who was lost. He was frustrated, angry and most probably dealing with feelings of deception. His family told him to get dressed, that they were going to come get him and take him to lunch! Lunch that one does not have to cook is always a good thing when you live by yourself.
They brought him to this facility, where they sat in the cafeteria and had lunch. When lunch was over they left him there with his new “keepers” as they went back to gather some of his belongings and liquidate the rest.
My cousins witnessed the spectacle and shook their heads while telling the story. The man was truly lost and anger was the least of his issues, I am certain that he felt betrayed.
I cannot begin to fathom his anger and feelings of betrayal!The fact that he was upset tells you that whoever he was, he still was.
Another “friend” had to put her mother into assisted living and everything was going good until she was told that she could not have her dog there. At this, the elderly lady said, forget it, take me back to my house. Little to her knowledge, most of her belongings were already gone, between the relatives and the Goodwill, her home was a shell; ready for the realtor. There was no going home.
Working with people who foster pets I have also learned that while the kids are happy to get the car, junk and revenue from the house, the pets are another story. One such pet was a 16 year old cat that belonged to a lady that went into a nursing home, no room for the cat! Folks, 16 year old cats do not adjust to new homes very well. This cat was scared and did not show well. Had I not already had animals, I would have given her a home just to let her hide under the bed and maybe come out once she felt safe.
102 year old women battling to save her cat from being taken away..
During the human lifetime, many animals will go through their life. The animal’s life on the other hand will only see one owner, if lucky.
What kinds of people abandon their parents? What kinds abandon their parent’s pets?
Regrettably, some of these are simply greedy people who see this as a way to rid them of a burden and get their hands on the estate before it is an estate. The economy is tough so taking your parents home and car and “residual” might look like an answer to some.
Some of these are people who had parents who did not plan for one reason or another and woke up one day unable to take care of themselves. (it happens)
There are too many ways today where a person can live in their own home until they are no longer alive. Some on the other hand may want the social aspect of living in a community of people like themselves. The bottom line is to plan today for tomorrow.
I do not know if there are facilities which allow cats or dogs but, if that is important factor in the life of your “loved one” I would look long and hard for such a place.
Making the transition from home, to an assisted living facility should be made as thoughtfully and carefully as if it was for yourself! It is easy to be pragmatic when it is not you! One can only truly honor their loved ones by taking care to make certain that they are well cared for and comfortable.
Even if your loved one has Alzheimer’s, or some other form of dementia, touch, soothing conversation and a warm embrace will mean something to them. I know one lady who crawled into the bed with her dying mother and held her for most of the night. During this time her agitation was diminished, her breathing slowed and her racing pulse throttled back to normal. Some part of her mother’s addled brain still recognized the comfort and kindness provided her, by her daughter.
Once a man, twice a child….
As a child I learned to walk and then run
I became a man over night, while chasing the sun.
I straddled the cliffs and the peaks of life
And swam the streams of despair while fighting the good fight
Raising children to be strong both physical and of character
While leading by example and prodding, them onward.
My hair turning gray and my frame not as sturdy
My gate is for sure, not very trustworthy
Thinking back to much simpler times
When someone else led the course, or pointed the way.
Is it time to sit back and learn how to fish
Or chase little white balls with others like me?
The sounds I now make, sound much like my father
As well as the language, that sometime makes for unpleasant fodder.
My God knew me, before I was born
His plans for me however; are still an unknown.
The winter of life, I see in the distance; and know not whether to run,
Or simply embrace it.
Live life for today, as tomorrow is uncertain.
Learn to forgive and give thanks, for each memory you make
Once today is gone, its gone so don’t waste tomorrow
Spending time in the past for nothing can change it.
Worry little, love often, and laugh whenever possible.
Life is but memories both yours, and those that you share
Some idiot in Washington DC flies a Drone or UAV or Quad copter, take your pick, in super-restricted-airspace, and crash lands on the white house lawn!
The president and staff are calling on the FAA….!?
There already is a no fly zone in Washington DC proper. That goes for anything short of a paper airplane! You cannot go into the nearest DC Radio Shack and buy one of their smallest little UAV’s and fly it outside the store without breaking the law!
I for one am glad that this low-information person did it however, as now someone might do something about regulating where these things can fly; at a federal level.
This UAV could just as easily been controlled by a bad person wishing harm to the first family. They did it at 3 AM which is already a no-no as these things are not supposed to be flown at night, even though they are equipped with night vision. Go Figure!
Since nobody asked me about this; here are some free consulting ideas for you.
As we know these are too small to be detected by radar and they literally fly under the radar so, how do we detect them?
These devices should-be-made to identify themselves in their video stream. By law, this video stream must not be encrypted in any way. I wonder if a miniature transponder could be incorporated into the design and if so, what on earth would you use to detect and identify them?
I have ideas on ways to detect these things, and disable them, or at least track them down but of course, nothing is free, and development time has a cost. I even have thought of a way to design countermeasures for these things but again, need funding to make it happen.
So, is this a kick-starter, crowd funding idea, or is this a government grant idea?
Do you realize how many tens of thousands of dollars it takes to get a patent? If you want to protect your ideas in other countries you have to spend thousands for each and every country that somebody might put a plant and build your device. This process needs to be fixed so the little guy can invent and keep his or her idea instead of some large corporation stealing it, which they do!
The media really needs to run with this story, as the people need an education!
This is a story that needs telling, so kids with expensive toys do not get into trouble.
After arriving home, getting out of my car I heard a sound that I could not identify. At first, I thought it some sort of gas leak until the sound changed pitch abruptly, causing me to search the sky.
Hovering over my fenced back yard at about 20 to 30 feet was some sort of UAV, not a quad copter, more propellers.
As a Geek, I appreciate technology so my first thought was “wow,” that is somewhat cool! As I watched, the craft made a turn to another’s backyard, and than another, and then it took off to the north.
What was the operator doing hovering this thing over peoples back yards?
Posting about this on social media, one of my close friends noted that she had one over her back yard that day!
This uav was just released for sale and talked about at the electronic convention in Las Vegas. One wears it like a bracelet and if they want to take a selfie from the air; one removes it, activates it and tosses it into the air. Control of it is with the phone and it has a camera that is good enough to take a quality picture or video.
Recently the news reported one of these things crashed on the Mexican Border loaded down with drugs. Later we learned that they have been using them to get contraband into prisons. If I were a bad guy, I can think of all sorts of things that could be done, looking through windows for unclothed people would be at the bottom of the list!
View of New York From UAV
When I hear that the government had them that had the technology to peer into your open window from a mile away and count your freckles, I was concerned. Floating in the pool last summer I saw one like in the picture below flying at altitude going from east to west; the silhouette was unmistakable. There was no noise and had I not been looking up, I never would have noticed it.
This flew over my house one summer day, going straight over DFW! I was not aware that it was legal to fly these things in US air space.
What are the laws regarding Unmanned Aerial Vehicles?
Do we have the right to privacy?
A newly released document reports a type of radar that allows someone to stand outside your house and know if you are home and where in the house you are. I think something like this in wartime might be ok but, for anyone who can plop down $6000 to buy and use; this is another story.
Above you see a camera in a fake smoke detector, to the right is just picture of different cameras that one might see.
For anyone to abridge your right to privacy without warrant should be illegal! That not only goes for electronic tapping of your communication but most certainly, for invading your private space with electronic surveillance techniques whether it be radar, covert eaves dropping measures and even a drone of any sort. Too many good men and women died to give us freedom from many things and that includes an out of control government! Technology is great but anything that violates someone; the user of such needs to be held accountable!
Regarding the drones over the backyards, I am guessing that kids got them for Christmas, and did the first thing that came into their head, look in their neighbors fenced in yards and windows.
Allow me to be the first to put you on notice, this is an illegal activity and should it happen to anyone else, I would imagine a well placed stream of water from a garden hose would not do it any good, and may even render it inoperable. When the perpetrator comes to fuss and or collect their property, you can then take them to task. I just wonder what the law would say if this person came home with a busted nose, or pair of blackened eyes.
I am not sure what agency controls such things; as these fly too low for the FAA to get involved. I think the local police would be your best bet, as this is nothing more than being a peeping tom.
Video the offence and take em to court.
Attn: John and David! This story really needs to hit the media, as it is really a matter of not knowing what they are doing is illegal. They need to take them out of the neighborhood to fly them. Since they have a good quality camera, what they capture could be illegal as taking pictures or video of people without their permission is in itself a crime; especially if you are invading their privacy in the process.
I have no idea what people will do with this technology but we really need to be on top of it to protect your rights.
We sacrifice enough of our privacy every day just to go to work. Think about this, every intersection that you traverse has cameras that have the capability to capture your image. They can also contain bio metric software so your unique personage can be tracked, patterns established and documented. Your phone that you love so much “can be used” as a tracking device; to know exactly where you are, down to within a few feet of resolution. The hell of that is that you pay for it!
How much privacy do we have to sacrifice?
A trip through the airport and, well this is what you give up for the privilege of flying. A recent TSA whistle blower talked about how everyone wanted the job of the room where they view such pictures. While there they laughed at peoples private parts. Do you feel safe? Why is it that technology always seems to end up being used for perverse task or a weapon of some kind. I can just imagine some twisted mind when encountering a new technology, “how could I use this as a weapon?” Christians would say it is because we are a fallen people.
In public areas, the odds are good that security cameras are watching you and recording you. At work, the odds are good that cameras are watching you. Can your webcam be remotely activated, how about your own cameras for your own security system. Recently we heard of a Russian web site where thousands of cameras were hacked and their contents displayed for the Russians to laugh at, while watching whatever is going on in front of them.
If you buy these things, make certain that you change all of the default usernames and passwords!
While this guy saw the light, there will be others that do not…
A few years ago a school gave out laptops for kids to take home. Some whistle blower let it be known that the cameras in the computers were being remotely turned on and people were watching children in their bedrooms or wherever the laptops happen to be. Are we inherently evil?
Cameras are now so small that they are in pens, clocks, other everyday devices and you simply have to act as if someone is either watching you or recording you when you are out in public. But what about your home?
It is not my purpose to instigate paranoia. Most people are not interesting enough to be spied on in the first place but, Orwell was on to something. Take steps to make sure that your gadgets are secure and if you own and fly UAV’s, know that I will take steps to keep my private life private. This blog is one way that I am doing that by making this issue known to many who simply don’t pay attention to such things. It is my hope that my media contacts will find this interesting enough to do a story about.
-Best to you and those that you care about!
Please feel free to “re-blog” as you see fit. The more people that know about this the better off we all are.
Growing up I spent much time at the local Denny’s drinking coffee with friends and eating food that was hardly good for me. As I became acutely aware of what you eat you become; I switched to salads and more healthy choices even though I was still eating at a place that would have fried the coffee it were possible.
While there, I made many friends out of managers, servers and even the cooks. As the matter of fact for many years, the crew at the local Denny’s became just about a second family.
There were also the regulars who also became familiar faces and it was not long before we had this huge round table grouping in the back which contained many of the locals, off the clock staff and of course myself. I learned quite a bit about people while doing more listening than talking. You do not have to be rich to be happy was one life lesson that I have never forgotten. Having money is nice, but not a requirement for happiness.
I was living paycheck to paycheck, in very humble surroundings with a total monthly rent of $200. My transportation was nothing fancy and if I had not learned to work on them “every weekend” I would most certainly have been living back in the bedroom that I grew up in.
Today, many “generation X folks” go to school on their parents’ dime (tens of thousands of dollars) and expect the corner office, six-figure salary and a house like the one that they knew as a child.
I was not one of those that attended a place of “higher education,” at my parents’ expense. I am what some would call a self-made man. Having tasted living like the rich and famous through my childhood friends and tasted living in little more than a tin box I knew that I needed to set my sites on a standard that was obtainable but not so high that I would never make it. Aim High was the Air force slogan but after talking with recruiters regimentation and I were strange bed fellows as I often march to my own drum beat.
Since I had taught myself electronics at eight years old, I went to work for the local television repair place where some OJT was happening. Information then is nothing like today. If I want to know about a subject today, Google gets me more than enough to sate my appetite.
As a young person, I never stopped thirsting for information. The encyclopedia was my constant companion along with the college dictionary. I made friends with Dewy and haunted the library as time permitted. My appetite for knowledge was voracious however; my focus was extensive. Selectively I gave attention to subjects that always seemed a little out of my reach. Mechanic type stuff was easy for me but that is not what I wanted to do day to day.
I had thirteen cars at one time as I purchased them in disrepair and repaired them and sold them. There was always grease under my nails and my hands contained bruises or cuts on them from working in such a harsh environment. Cars back in the day were nothing like today, they simply were not reliable. Every weekend I was at the auto parts store or junkyard piecing together some car that some part had failed. I do not look back at those times very fondly as being under a car when you had to have it, to be to work, grew tiresome.
I still made time for my friends at the local diner and enjoyed my “salt of the earth” friends.
One day while eating my salad I overheard one of my favorite waitresses grumble about a tip. Some elderly couple had eaten their dinner and after their fill before leaving he pulled out some change and left two quarters. While I always over tipped, it was because I knew them, liked them and when I came into the place even before they knew me, the girls fought over which one got me and or my party. “to insure prompt service”
What I was not aware of; the patrons in fact fund the wait staff. If you have ever eaten at a restaurant you in fact are or have been an employer. How did you pay? Were you fair?
Typically, they make one or two dollars an hour from the business, which now goes to cover their taxes. Back in the day, their tips were un-reported income for the most part and later some assumed value established to cover their part of the tax collection system.
Taxes are another subject for another day, today I am calling attention to the fact that these folks have a very irregular or inconsistent paycheck. The friends at Denny’s and the story is over forty years old. While it is not dusty in my mind and only seems like yesterday, the fact remains that this system is still in place today.
I saw a girl get a couple of quarters the other day from an elderly couple and could not help but think, surely by now, everyone knows that you are paying these peoples salary!
I have turned into a foodie over the years. My palate has changed from forty years ago and I have not been into a Denny’s in about as long. Eating fried food is not much better than smoking, of which neither I do.
While I am happy to report that automobiles are no longer the worrisome things they once were, they still however require maintenance, just not by me. Either metallurgy has improved or the Japanese and other foreign automobile producers have forced a paradigm shift in the American automobile industry as now American made cars compete nicely with the others.
What has transfixed my attention as of late is the fact that we still do not understand as a people what a TIP is and what it is meant to be. Some establishments use a kiosk of sorts at the table where you order, where one can entertain themselves while waiting and then where one pays for their food and service. When you “check out” a scale appears on the bottom with a suggested “tip” amounts. If not that then at other places, printed on the ticket are different amounts so you can easily identify the percentage and add in the correct amount.
While I will not belabor the point of automation in this industry taking away from the “personal touch”, I will say that part of my “tip” is that I expect that personal touch. When I go into such an establishment, I expect pampering. Had I wanted self-serve, I would eat at home.
So here is my TIP to the industry and all who choose to work there.
When I arrive, I expect a warm and friendly greeting, and I want to feel as if I am important and welcome. When seated; the table should be clean and dry and the chairs should be clean as well as the floor. The bathroom should be clean, and smell fresh. I often find that if the bathroom is poorly maintained; the kitchen is as well.
The server no matter how busy should be able to speak with my guest and myself in a friendly conversational manner. His or her knowledge of the food should be endless. They must know the food, how it is prepared and be able to speak to its contents for those with food allergies or even particular taste. As menus are convoluted at times, they should be a sales type person able to ask appropriate questions and suggest items.
The server should be visible at all times and attentive without over burdening the guest with request about the food. Water or other drinking glasses should never get below half-full. At no time should a guest have to go looking for their server or accouterments of some kind.
The food quality is not the responsibility of the server however, how he or she takes care of any issues is. Tips should not be reflective of the food quality. The server did not cook it therefore; they should not be punished, because the kitchen screwed something up.
There is a rule about Buffet’s and tipping, and it should be noted: that the more that one has to self-serve, the amount of the tip is reflected. Tips are reflective of “customer service.”
I personally find the kiosk with games offensive, and counter productive to the whole “eating out” experience. There are already too many distractions that keep people from “experiencing” each other and the whole “Event” of sharing a meal with someone. Just as I find electronic gadgets at the table offensive, I find places that push this technology and even push the patron to use it as a method of paying, distasteful.
The simple facts are that the family unit as a whole is suffering. They suffer from gadgets, screens of different kinds, or other distractions and the parents loosing control of what manners are. Etiquette in fact is becoming a lost art.
One of the reasons that I eat out is that I have the full attention of family or other guest without the distractions of the TV or other electronic things that amuse us. Some restaurants have taken to bringing that home experience to you however as there are flat screens all over the place with anything that might interests someone.
James Stewart once said in “Mr. Hobbs takes a vacation. That what we need is an Un-Edison!” Mr. Hobbs identified the problem, he just came up with an incorrect solution. What we need is parents who teach manners, etiquette and hard and fast rules about TV’s and gadgets at the table. Families should endeavor to eat at least one meal at the table without the distraction of TV or Facebook!
When people look back at our history they will find that the decline of the family had much to do with these things of which I write.
As we stray from our humanity, and trade social intercourse with pokes, and OMG, and LOL, we loose sight of many other things along the way including one another.
Allow me to leave you today with a verse from a book that most of you know, but may put aside for something else.
Ecclesiastes
A Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
There is a time for LOL and OMG; there is also a time for family and friends and one on one face-to-face laughing, sharing, caring, crying, hugging, bracing your fellow man, and paying attention to who you are and what your purpose is here, today.
I deliberately watched this a few days past when it actually airs, so if I choose to write about it; the spoilers will be fewer.
Last week, Emily and Victoria had been taken hostage, and tonight, well Sunday, all “hell” breaks loose as the bad boy of bad boys is vanquished, actually into an incinerator.
I cannot help but wonder if Aaron Spelling is helping them as this series is taking on some similarities to Charmed, without the witchcraft.
The twist to the plot is that Victoria works with Emily to secure their release at great peril to herself; in the end she tries to do the right thing.
Two new villains enter the picture as Margaux brings in one of her fathers thugs (some PI) to secure evidence on Emily to make her pay for Daniels Death, “She will have her revenge!”
There are side stories involving the crazy red head and Nolan, the gay-not gay brainchild which, involves yet “revenge” in the making, as the crazy mother Penelope (other antagonist ) is now making plans to ruin her daughters life, and keep control of her trust fund!
Who will die next Sunday? What will happen to the new bad guy? Will this too end quickly?
Will Emily know that she has a new enemy? Will her father step in and try to control the situation? What about the FBI people that were on the take; will they be caught, or will they be new bad guys?
Will Victoria renounce her new charitable attitude and help Margaux?
Stay Tuned! I will most likely pontificate about it, as a few of you seem interested, as that blog seems to garner some viewers.
Why not take a mental vacation from reality for an hour a week…?
Does anyone read these? I did a couple of times and boy oh boy, you need a lawyer to figure it out!
Three finger solute brings this up…
Yep, that is me….
I have seen worse! 
Someone had way too much time on their hands…
If I had a nickle for every time the phone rang asking me what do I do now with this C thing….!
First picture of something racy that was found on the internet I think using “gopher.”
Early Internet usage… This is actually advanced as there is a browser!
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