It's Crashing! Let me Save you!

So I'm fussing with the computer, it's slow and not doing what it should be doing as fast as I think it should and the phone rings. It is one of those Asian international calls routed through Atlanta...

"Miss? I'm with *$*$, and we have been notified by Microsoft that your computer is about to crash..."

This is serious! My computer just can't crash at this moment!

"Miss, I can help you, it won't cost you anything..."

The blue screen flashes on then settles into the desk top picture I so dearly love. Program sputters, rejects a simple edit ...

"Miss! Please! I can help! Microsoft sent me a warning about your computer. It won't cost you anything!"

The program crashes yet again. Desperate, I'm desperate... "It won't cost anything? Who pays for it?"

"Microsoft."

I think about it. "What do you want me to do?"

In a couple of quick exchanges, I hand over control of my computer to a complete stranger. And amazingly, he finds some things that do make the computer work faster and the program quits crashing. I'm feeling better, now able to breathe.

And the stranger goes in for the kill. "Miss, I find that you have an outdated version of ****, unless you pay me to update it, I will make sure you can't turn your computer on and I'll report you to the company."

What?! "I have no idea what you are talking about! I don't even use that program! I didn't install it!"

"It was installed when the computer was at the factory. Whether you use it or not makes no difference. It is out of date."

"But I don't want it! I don't use it! Delete it!"

"It is out of date, Miss. Unless you pay me to upgrade it, I will crash your computer."

Hostage, I'm being held hostage by a stranger who barely speaks English who holds my livelihood in his mouse and is a click away from destroying weeks of work! Weakly I ask, "How much?"

"Just $69.00, Miss, unless you want me to fix all of your computer so it works better and faster then it will cost more."

I have turned control of my life over to a junkie who gets his kicks out of controlling other people through their technology. I wonder if all Americans are like this – we'd trade our children to make sure our technology is working right. Okay, trading our children is a bit extreme, but the point is, when it comes to technology and our dependence on it, I think Americans would do almost anything to make sure it is running correctly, and will stay running that way.

Long story short, Asian stranger screwed up, computer down for 24 hours. I was able to finally connect with a technician who told me what to do instead of doing it himself. At all times I maintained control of my computer – well, most of the time. I got so lost and frustrated that I suggested he take control for a couple of minutes and straighten out the current problem.  Then I regained control. Was I set up? Again?  Who knows, but  the computer is now working better, faster, has more energy than it has had in several months, but it was a long scary 24 hours. It was an angry 24 hours – I was taken advantage of, I let myself be taken advantage of.

Lesson? We've signed up with a company who will take care of all of our computers and their hesitations over the next year. We've deleted, we hope, all those silly programs that we don't use... and when we get a call from a stranger who says they've been sent by Microsoft to save our computer, we can say we are already covered, the problem is already taken care of, take us off your list, if you call this number again, we will report you to the FCC.

Will that work? Who knows – but at least it is worth a try. I have had these computer strangers sent from Microsoft call me back several times to convince me they are legitimate.  I emailed Microsoft once if they were really doing this to me, but I never got a reply back. I just wanted an official note, something I could hold onto.

Transistor Radios – I wanted one so bad! I wanted to be able to listen to music out in the yard. My babysitting money went toward my college account so I was not able to "cash" anything in. But my friends had theirs and they shared! The World Series was a serious matter for us – we'd listen during lunch at school – it was the only time radios were allowed in the lunch room at school or in study hall. Now I have one – for weather.

I am very much an introvert, much to the amazement of my students and other faculty. My grandson and my better half are also – but people would never know it. All three of us are able to "work a room" and make people feel very comfortable. At the end of the day, we need the silence, the quiet, an hour to keep our own company, create our own world and live there for a bit... we like people! But after a day of them, it is nice to be alone. It is nice to know that we are alone or doomed to obscurity. 

I've discovered that as I "mature", I find that I don't tolerate some types of people as well as I use to; I don't participate in some activities because I find them mundane and/or just stupid. (Not politically correct, I know. But really! Any conversation about the latest "reality show" should not last more than 30 seconds.) Maybe that's why I've taken to hiking. I don't have to listen to the latest whine and excuse and no one can get hold me! The lengths I'll go to be have a quiet couple of hours!

So I have finally finished the content edit for a book headed to Hay House for publishing. It has been an honor to do this project! As soon as it becomes a reality and available, I'll let you all know. The art work in the book is incredible! And the story is what I call a "soft story"; an easy read with lessons and messages so well hidden that you don't know you've been taught something until you sit back and look at the pictures.

I also said that I'd clear out the Wormhole Booksfor Sale page by the first of September. It is now almost the first of October and I find that some Transports are selling very well! So, I'm keeping them up and available for $.99 for the Transports until I find time to close things out.  

I heard from Tammy N. She has a new story to share! So we are creating another series of her stories. They should be available by November! Tammy's stories have those amazing twisted endings. The two of the three that will be available in November are my all-time favorites of hers.

Well, Don. I believe Mr. Twain was right – you never know about people until you travel with them. Travel safe.

Carolyn

All images downloaded from Google Images

Fig 1 – Computer crash retrieved from The Republic Of PR MC22S5B: BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE COMPUTER

peopleof5b.blogspot.com

Fig 2 -- Windows-Explorer-Has-Stopped-Working.png retrieved from

www.thewindowsclub.com

Fig 3 -- A Few Transistor Radios retrieved from

www.northernelectric.ca

Fig 4 –Famous Introverts in History | The Happy Introvert retrieved from

courtneyhook.wordpress.com

Fig 5 -- The Introvert Ideal | Alone together

www.introvertideal.com

Take a hike and Leave me alone.

Hi Carolyn,

Gotta admit, I got slightly winded just reading about your hiking hi-jinks. Truly you and I are diametrical opposites when it comes to some aspects of enjoying the outdoors. I  appreciate the invigorating dimension of getting out and moving about, but would prefer taking in the great outdoors from the seat of a motorcycle or the cockpit of a sailboat. Clearly, your M.O. packs a healthy exercise bonus, though.


 Even though I've had someone on more than one occasion tell me to " take a hike " , I just can't muster up enough curiosity to give it a shot.

Speaking of sporty activities, your observation that I'm situated well below the 49th parallel has more than just a  weather related dimension to it. Growing up less than 2 hours from The Motor City and with a dad who was born in Motown meant that this time of the year turned a young boy's thoughts here in Southwestern Ontario to the "  Great  American Pastime " . 

 Late September and beyond meant that baseball was nearing the climax of it's lengthy season. We were in an area where major league ball games on the radio could be pulled in, especially after the sun went down, from Detroit, New York  and on a clear humid night, even from Chicago.  I tried to never be far from the airwaves when the ump intoned " Play ball "

You know how there are sometimes little events - or maybe vignettes would be a better term - that stick with you forever.  Sometimes they aren't major character defining  moments -  just a few minutes when all the cosmic consciousness tumblers are in place.  Well, one of them for me  was in early October, 1961,as a pimply-faced 11 year-old sitting on our  front veranda listening intently to the  transistor radio I had recently traded my paper route savings for. 

" Why would you buy some cheap, crappy Japanese junk?"

 " Sony... what kind of a name is that ?? "

 My schoolmates  thought I was nutso when I emptied the bank account for this one. I was unfazed, though.

 It was, for starters, so amazingly cool to be hearing the radio outside and from this little plastic box about the size of a package of Kraft  Singles  cheese slices. And most astounding of all... it didn't need to be PLUGGED IN.

My Yankees ( yes... I was a Yankees faithful until the Blue Jays and Expos appeared on this side of the border ) were in contention - of course. But some Yankee come lately named Roger Maris was trying to steal Mickey Mantle's mantle of fame ( of course the pun is intended! )

by being the one to break Babe Ruth's 60 homers in a season record.

Well he got his 61st dinger right at the end of the season - and I remember being able to hear it as it happened. Anyhow, this year, with the Toronto Blue Jays  on top of their division - with the Yankees nipping at their heels of course, I'm into baseball big time again with all of those other Canucks who have hopped onto the bandwagon. Stanley Cup playoffs and The World Series still rule as my pinnacle sports events.

Anyhow, let's get back to the present. I somehow got sidetracked recently into looking into the whole introversion/extroversion thing. It had not occurred to me before that I had fairly pronounced introvert characteristics. I always associated being an introvert with being pathologically shy or having pronounced hermit tendencies.



However, I have been finding myself in more situations recently - and by recently I mean within the last few years - where I have actually wished I was by myself rather than in the company of others. It wasn't that I disliked the people around me at the time so much as  it seemed to be more and more attractive to be  alone with my thoughts . I was kinda reminded of this after your mention, in your last blog, about certain happenings being, in part, your " reaction to age ".  Maybe this is part of me getting older. Don't people become more reclusive as they age?

My deal, however, is that I've always enjoyed my own company more than that of others most of the time. I don't seek solitude to get things done that are not doable when others are about. I simply am quite comfortable with no conversation in the room other than echoes. Plus, I am happy to just sit and think, or read, or simply " putter about " for hours on end. Sometimes taking my own sweet time tidying up the kitchen or something similarly menial can be surprisingly therapeutic.

  There have been more than a couple of occasions where I've been holding down the fort for a few days here while my LSBH has been down home with her aging parents and the time has seemingly hurtled past. Upon her return I've been asked:

"So whatcha been doing ?"

 I've been hard pressed for a definitive answer.

 "Just sittin' and thinkin' and enjoyin' doing nothing " wouldn't be the best response - truthful or not. 

Okay, on to Mr. Twain and a thought that may be introversion related or not, but is certainly true in my humble experiences:

I have found out that there ain't

 no surer way to find out whether

 you like people or hate them

 than to travel with them.

Catch ya later,

(unless I'd rather be alone...... )

Don

El Nino Bruce Lee and Aliens

Don,
I keep forgetting that you are below the 49th Parallel so you get the same weather as Chicago and Michigan. Living on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan has got to be a real challenge!

According to the Washing ton Weather Feds, this year just might be the tie breaker. So far, the current El Nino, nicknamed Bruce Lee, is the second strongest El Nino on record. Apparently the warm southern water in the Pacific Ocean has shifted north so water above the equator is warmer than usual.

This affects winter weather in the United States and can cause winters to be a bit warmer - there was no saying as to whether or not that means more or less snow. And no one is saying whether or not this will end the drought in California.The eastern seaboard usually gets heavier rains with these. The one thing that we have seen has been the decline of Atlantic hurricanes, but Pacific cyclones (hurricanes) have been more frequent. This does cause problems for Asia and the islands in between including Hawaii.

I have to admit that this summer has been milder than expected. And we had a lot of moisture in the form of rain and hail early in the summer. But we've not had our usual July/August monsoons, so for now, we're very dry and very lucky that we aren't having the forest fires that have plagued us in the past. We do get the smoke from the fires in Washington and Idaho. Some nights we can't open our windows.

There are reports that aspen are changing - last year it was October before the trees changes. A friend in Minnesota reported that geese are already migrating south. This is about a month earlier than usual... I wonder what the trees and the geese know that I don't know.

Even though my container garden is not doing as well as it did last year, the Farmer's Markets have been prolific with ripe delicious produce. Lots of tomatoes and young sweet squashes; sweat corn that puts sugar to shame; the peaches and pears could be a bit juicier, but they are still incredibly tasty. Beans are stringy and costly... but chilies have been hotter than usually and very very tasty! We went to a market yesterday where a vendor was roasting chilies - it was a spicy sweat smell. The onions we've bought have been strong enough to bring tears to my eyes at the first cut. By the time I get to cutting the root off, I'm crying!

Fall - for you it is back to school. For me it is how many more essays do I have to read? My daughter complained loudly a week or so ago that she was more than ready for the grandkids to back to school. This week, the grandkids all complained that it wasn't fair that summer was over and that they didn't get to do all the things they wanted to before they had to go back to school. I guess I was one of those strange kids - I liked school so going back in August was not soon enough for me.

Speaking of strange, I came across a weird article about the octopus. According to a recent genome sequencing of the octopus, they are different than any other animal on Earth. They have 33,000 protein-coding genes where humans only have 25,000. Not only does the octopus have a large brain, it has eight arms (and can taste through its suckers) and is a problem solving animal. The genome charters are postulating that the octopus could very well be "alien".

I always knew aliens lived here - I just thought they took over the brains and bodies of teenagers for about eight years...

Friday I had the opportunity to hike a little known county park. Amazing! The hike was 3 miles round trip - elevation change was 1000 feet in the first mile and in the last mile (going down). But, the amazing thing was the split personality of the trail. The first part was through the woods on the south side of the canyon - beautiful dense moss carpets, bearded moss hanging from the trees, small creeks that still had water in them; you could hear the birds, but we never saw them. I think we could have planted a redwood tree there and it would grown.

At the top, we crisscrossed several more streams. Then we cut into the mountain and crossed over to the north side of the canyon. Within about 15 feet, we went from Pacific Northwest forest to dry dusty cactus and yucca, lots of sage and minimal pine trees - Colorado hiking. We  came down a steep fire break road. After the "magic forest" we felt like we'd been tossed out of paradise into boring.

We decided that we'll go back and hike the upper 2.5 mile loop - and when we come down, we'll go back through the forest. Even though the down grade is intense, it will be a far more interesting climb down.

With all the hiking I've been doing in the last month, I'm discovering new muscles and tendons I didn't know I had (I think this is the weekend warrior syndrome). Last week I used a trekking pole and managed to twist my back ... I saw a massage therapist who suggested that if I don't need the poles for balance, it is best not to use them.

So for Friday's hike I did not use them. And all was well until we got about a fourth of the way down and I "blew out" my right knee. It is the IT band on the outside of the knee. I had thought of taking my pole and putting it in my pack just in case, but I didn't. It was a long long hike down ...

So, I've been using ice and exercising. Today I was actually able to walk a mile without any stresses. I will get this! And I will be an amazing hiker! Probably just in time for my neighbor (my hiking partner) to talk me into cross country skiing or snow shoeing. I think I have more muscles than I am aware of and I'm not sure there are any exercises that can be done to strengthen something I don't even know I have until I pull it.

It this my reaction to age? or is it  my excitement to finally doing something about my sense of adventure?

Carolyn

Weather imperialism, Windows woes, Lego and such

Hi Carolyn,

Far out! Another one of those end of the summer crept up unnoticed situations. Well, it's not the calendar end of the summer, of course, but a career of teaching has embedded the end-of-August = end of summer paradigm in my thought processes and internal rhythms, I guess. 


It's been outside stuff 'round here for sure since my last entry aided by superb end of the summer months weather.  In fact, it's been so engrossing with the motorcycling, the general gadding about and the being farmer wannabees that I didn't realize just how long it had been since last I checked in. All of that fresh air has made this once confirmed nighthawk actually sack out before midnight pretty well every night recently.

 Anyhow..... some Captain Catchup here.


Firstly, weatherwise, you're so right about the politics trumps geography thing - i.e. the weather that stops at the border. It happens on this side of the 49th too, and not just on the small screen. My LSBH worked, in her teen years, at a restaurant here in Ontario on the 401 highway( our equivalent of your Interstates  ) about half an hour north of Detroit. This area shares a latitude with Northern California.  She will attest to the fact that holidaying Americans she waited on, in the summer months,  would comment surprisingly on how the climate was the same . No, they did not see eager American folks arriving in July  with ski gear strapped to the roof of their vehicles, but they did encounter folks who were surprised that it wasn't different outside.


  In my constant online weather trolling, I've been using intellicast.com along with Environment Canada stuff for years , in part,  because of that discrepancy thing. Where we are, stuck down well below the 49th, the weather flows across the Great Lakes from Michigan in the west to the eastern  seaboard.   There's not nearly as much of this missing weather stuff herein because Central and Southern  Ontario actually stick down into the Northeastern States like a friendly finger.



 Weather is one of those things that absolutely brings out the geek in me. I have about six different places I  visit almost daily to get a overall picture of what's happening in the atmosphere above North America. I am old enough to remain in constant amazement at the fact that this kind of data and info is available on an almost moment to moment basis. Even with all of this digital assistance there are still times when the weather can surprise, though.


So, when I found myself recently out scatting about a bit online I ran into a couple of frivolous but totally up my alley items.


I've been a Lego fanboy of sorts for a long time and stuck various Lego images in here in the last few years.  The latest thing that caught my fancy was a Lego figure for Mr. Bean. In the process of checking that out I discovered that there are  worldwide Lego websites, fansites, blogs, etc., to an extent that is exponentially greater than I had imagined. One that caught my attention was minifigures.com. I went and had a look. It's a company that has it's own line of Lego figures plus - and this was the intriguing part - a service that will create a Lego figure to your own specs. What stuck me as intriguing about this was that such a seemingly micro-niche endeavour would become so popular and successful. They have created figures for promotional purposes for Google and Microsoft, among many others. Whodathunkit??

Speaking of Windows... I found out that the supposedly seamless transition from Windows 8 to 10 that I, and all other Windows minions were promised, has not fully come to pass. It appears that at the moment I can't go and grab images online and stick them into the blog as I have since we began. I began this entry while still using the earlier O.S. and then switched. Once I got back to finish off this entry I found the images I wanted but could not copy and paste them.  In fact, the more I get into this new- designed to stop the hordes from migrating to Apple- operating system, the more I am finding that it makes me want to do precisely that.   Hmmmmm.

Anyhow, enough geekish whining for now. I'll just have to find some time to fiddly-fart around with this between now and next time.

Gonna go now, though. I leave you with this Twainism ( and yes, there is a Mark Twain Lego figure out there to be had online... )

A good memory and a tongue tied in the middle is a combination which gives immortality to conversation.

Ya know..... I'm not sure just exactly what that means..... but it sounds wise and witty none-the-less.

Don

All figures obtained from Google Images:

Fig. 1 - twitter.com

Fig. 2 - blogs.rediff.com