Author: David

Over-educated Curmudgeon, Bit-Bucket Tuner and Budding Brewmeister.
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Me$$y$oft’s Windows Update Process Sucks Sewage

So, since I was closing in on 10,000 wins and no losses in what I call “Zen Freecell” (the “classic” Windows 7 version), Me$$y$oft decided to kill it on my Win10 box. Naturally. That’s not so bad, since I only played it while doing other things (watching a movie, listening to music, whatever) for relaxation. It’s not as though it were any kind of challenge. But it’s just a symptom of the kinds of things Me$$y$oft has taken to doing to users of Windows, such as the REALLY irritating things like resetting all the associations with non-Me$$y$oft software to only Me$$y$oft versions, if included with any sort of Me$$y$oft OS build. No thank you. Re-associating programs each time I open something Me$$y$oft wants me to use one of its crappy programs/apps to open is only likely to encourage me to move this box off their OS, too, no matter how much I need Windows to use ONE particular piece of software.

And all of that is after clearly and specifically designating a day and time for updates to be installed and having Me$$y$oft just effectively say, Screw you. I’m gonna wait until you are doing something productive and kill what you’re doing by rebooting to install “updates” no matter what I agreed to in the scheduling process.”

Me$$y$oft is trying to make me hate it and its products. And, you know, it’s working.

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“Consider the lilies. . . “

Perspective.

My paternal grandfather grew up in the house pictured above with 11 other people. Our current home is at least twice that size and is considered by many to be a “small” house, and yet is quite comfortable, roomy even, for up to four people, maybe more even nowadays.

Unless you live as a strict Amish today, you are surrounded by more luxury than well more than 99% of people who have ever lived, and even the most frugal of us in today’s ordinary world waste more in goods than it would take to have kept a family of four in comfort in days of yore. So, [Luke 12:22-32]

22“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.

23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.

24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?

25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?

26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?

27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

29 And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.

30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.

31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.

32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

mmmK?

Continue reading ““Consider the lilies. . . “”

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Some of My Favorite Things/Cutting Remarks

I’m not much of a “gun guy,” though I like ’em and even have open and conceal-carried handguns, and gone for lovely “walks in the deer woods” with a Model 1895 Winchester, etc. No, I find myself more drawn to knives, and in fact, I don’t really know exactly how many knives I own. . .

I usually walk around with something like five to eight knives on my person, depending on where I’m heading and what I plan for my day. All of them serve slightly different purposes, though some do overlap a bit. Right now, the number is nine, because I just noticed an old K-Bar pen knife sitting in a coffee cup (with a bunch of other small folders) just within reach of my right hand. Now, I don’t find much need for a pen knife (I don’t do a lot of writing with a quill pen, and I usually use other knives to trim/sharpen carpenter and other pencils, etc.), picked it up and appreciated its feel in my hand, so. . .

Yeh, now and again, I dig through my collection for some of my favs. In front of me, above the keyboard drawer on my desk proper, for example is a 65-year-old Schreade-Walden H-15 “pilot’s survival knife” a great uncle of mine used as a hunting knife for about 35 years, before it was passed to me. Nice knife, shaped along the lines of a K-Bar my Estimable Son-in-Law gave me a few years ago, just a couple of inches shorter. And yes, that K-Bar is another fav knife, as is another gift from him, a sweet, very small Spyderco Elmax “Squeak Sprint”. VERY nice lil knife! Exquisitely engineered down to the finest detail of ergonomics, fitting my hand just perfectly. Very well thought out finger and thumb choils for example.

Ah, but I could go on all day cataloging “favorites,” because so many are, for different reasons. The three everyday carry knives from Son&Heir that are on my person right now, for example, are favs and find daily use, as does the belt folder from my Wonder Woman that now sits on my belt at my left side and the Swiss Army knife in my righthand pocket that is also from her (its scissors “blade” is its most-used feature), and on and on and on. . .

And then there are my “car knives” which collection includes a fancy-schmancy multi-tool. . .

Yeh, I like–and use!–knives a lot. Such nifty, multi-multi-multi-purpose tools.

Continue reading “Some of My Favorite Things/Cutting Remarks”

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Asked and Answered. Move on.

I wear a scanable medalert bracelet with online med info that includes my allergies. Listed FIRST under “allergies” is my serious adverse reaction to being asked the same question more than once. When asked the same question a second (or third or. . . ) time, I tend to answer, “Asked and answered,” and let ’em look it up. I have no patience with lazy, arrogant, insulting asshats with nothing better to do than waste my time.

I answer cops the same way when asked the same question more than once: “Asked and answered. Move on.” (Last time I did so it was the local chief of police. He had illegitimately stopped me for a traffic infraction I had not committed. I don’t take their crap. I declined his offer of a ticket and moved him along. Seriously. Coincidentally, he resigned two weeks later. . . Yeh, seriously.)

I am too old to take crap from anyone. Period.

Forget “civil disobedience.” Such disrespectful behavior from people who think of themselves as authorities calls for less than civil disobedience. Outright disrespect returned for disrespect from people who are NOT one’s “betters.”

But maybe that’s just me. And maybe I should work on that. . . but I doubt I will.

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Ani-mules

Current situation with :ani-mules” here at twc central is not ideal, but it’s liveable. My Wonder Woman and I do not currently have a dog, but we have access to Son&Heir’s Wonderpup for canine companionship. We do have three cats, now, all via different processes.

Olde Fella (not his name) was “encouraged” into our family well over a decade ago by Lovely Daughter, who argued that the stray kitten who wandered up onto our front porch deserved a good home. With us. OK. He’s a bit cranky from time to time now, but he’s the one who’s also a real lap cat, and he’s otherwise very, very well-behaved, so win for him and win for us.

The Olde Fella has always kinda sought out my lap/company, and so my Wonder Woman felt a need for a cat of her own. Found one in a litter being offered by one of her students. Purty cat. LOVES my lap, too… but only when I’m sitting on the toilet. Otherwise, she’s very, very attached to my Wonder woman.

Latest addition, Pixel, was featured here recently. She’s a peach, but NOT a lap cat. Loves being petted ONLY on her own terms. Generally finds a place to nap/groom about 1/2 way between my Wonder Woman and me. *heh* Given the circumstances whereby she entered our lives, we have more intense investment in a short time with her than with the others, though the long term investment is, of course, less. So far.

Ideally, we’d have room/land for a few dogs, horses, small livestock, etc., but we’ll make do with these three, I imagine.

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On “To Trust or Not to Trust?”

On the Trust/Don’t Trust Scale, one thing to weigh is whether a person

1. Doesn’t like animals and
2. Whether animals dislike that person.

Usually, they are one and the same. Especially watch out for people who do not like dogs. They have no heart. People who do not like cats are often (usually, in my experience) control freaks and manipulators.

People who don’t like horses are usually just ignorant. *heh* If they refuse to learn better, they are willfully ignorant, and willful ignorance is elective stupidity. Such persons should only be trusted with small things. Very small things. 😉

Etc.

(Frankly, I even have problems with folks who don’t like skunks. 😉 )

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Little Blessings

So, early on the morning of the coldest day in a year, “someone” (*cough*not gonna say who but you know who you are) let our lil rescue kitty out into the cold, shortly before 4” of snow began to fall. By 0500, she had. . . disappeared. So, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, through Thursday AM, with snow on the ground and temps in negative numbers overnight (and not above freezing during the day), lil Pixel. . . dealt with it.

I kept putting food out. Her fav bed was in her cat carrier with bags of “donation clothing” over the carrier for insulation and a heating pad inside the bed cover. Food kept disappearing but kept not seeing Pixel and got no response to calls. Saw tracks that looked like they were hers, but no cat.

Last checkup “yesterday” was ~0100 this morning. Again, food was gone but no cat. Refilled the food container.

Got up this AM and went out with food to check, and food was gone. Saw movement to the south. Pixel. Called, she came. Pet her. Tried picking her up and she ran. Called again, and the second time was the charm.

Seems no worse for wear, though she did demolish a large bowl of water.

Yeh, yeh, it’s just a cat, and a “stray” cat at that. But still, small blessings.

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Globull Warmening Redux

Got up late this A.M., so it was already hotter ‘n fire on our front porch. -3°F. Means it’s probably somewhere around 10°F colder in the bottoms, if the usual pattern holds Not driving (yeh, driving, not walking) a mile in these conditions (and my conditioning *heh*) to find out, either. Refrozen streets unfunny, what with the 30° hill with hairpin turn just to get off our street (although I do expect the similar incline/hairpin at the light on the highway to be clear, since it was yesterday).

Globull Warmening.

And yes, I do know the differences between “weather” and “climate,” but since the CACAs (acolytes of the Cult of Anthropogenic Climate Alarmism) misuse weather events ALL the time as arguments (as stupid as they may be–“Cold weather means more Globull Warmening!” #gagamaggot), what’s good for the goose and all that.

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“Men are Expendable”. . .

. . .according to this, but I had a slightly different takeaway from the chart below (of course).

Lists “civilian” jobs but excludes LEOs (whom I count as civilian1, regardless what LEOs WANT to be thought of as). Doesn’t matter. Even if they were included (and even if this were a more or less accurate chart, which I doubt), cops would only rate somewhere around seven or eight on the chart. Not nearly as dangerous as they would have us think.

1 This pretty well sums up my views about cops and their job hazards: No One Cares If You Go Home Safe At The End Of Your Shift. Michael Z. Williamson deals with the issues of police safety very well, but another post of his details why I really DGARA about cop safety. Cops NOT policing themselves to eliminate the incidents detailed there are the reason for my disinterest in their safety. I don’t wish them ill, but neither can I work up a lot of interest in their safety. They’re adults, I assume, and chose the job, AND do not properly police their own ranks, so. . .