In an attempt to burn the bridges that lead back to PC use, I did some house cleaning this weekend. The pile now sits on our dinning room table and what a pile it is. The equipment I have mostly revolves around peripherals of one kind or another. Included are memory systems, routers, printers, microphones and web cam parts. The table seats six and, right now, there isn't room for a sugar bowl.
Yes, I know. I'm a gadget hound. I did the same thing with camera equipment and golf clubs, but even I have to admit this was pretty spectacular. I have no idea how much any of this is worth only the magic hand of E-Bay will determine that, but the cost had to be significant.
The software alone would have paid for a new moped, if my daughter-in-law Anne hadn't helped me with either getting it for me through the MS employee store for a low price or, as in many cases, just giving it to me.
Than there are those systems that relate just to laptops. I have about fifty to seventy five 3.5 inch disks with information on them going back to software systems that aren't even supported anymore. I have a drives and data storage in two forms nobody has used for years.
Each system has a connecting cable for attachment to the computer, than there is a power source. The power plug is usually one of those huge clunky plugs that caused them to redesign the power sticks so you could get more than two plugs on a six outlet stick.
Now we come to the books. I like the claim that David Pogue's informative how-to-compute books make. They claim they are "the books that should have come with your software." I've always said pretty much the same thing, that when you buy new software Amazon has a thirty dollar book you'll need to really learn how to run the program well. I have them all, and multiple books for some programs.
In simplifying my life by going to Mac, I had no idea how complicated my PC life had become. In essence, my frustration with an overloaded and complex system led me to a dinning room table that pointed out my own complicity in my situation. Most of the stuff I've acquired I didn't need or use very often. From now on, I have to be more attuned to why I'm adding something to my life. After going through the why, what when, where and how questions, I need to ask one more. So What!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Patience
Again this morning the black flat roof of the building behind us glistens with moisture. The gutters gargle and drip with the collected falling rain. My home page tells me that the temperature in Milwaukee is 45 degrees, but I have to check the wind direction and speed in order to allow for the variation on our lakefront.
This morning, like most, I will make my coffee in a press, review my e-mail, write in this blog and check my schedule, before I go to work. What I would really like to do is to pack my lunch, throw it in my messenger bag and take the moped to Alterra on the Lake. I would get on the wi-fi network and smell the fresh air off the lake while I compose my blog or work out a character in my stories.
But no, this infernal cold wet weather will not give up. It hangs like smoke from a leaf fire on a calm autumn day. Oh there is a promise of better weather this weekend, but today, it's the rain and the gloom of a winter that loathes to die even an honorable death
This morning, like most, I will make my coffee in a press, review my e-mail, write in this blog and check my schedule, before I go to work. What I would really like to do is to pack my lunch, throw it in my messenger bag and take the moped to Alterra on the Lake. I would get on the wi-fi network and smell the fresh air off the lake while I compose my blog or work out a character in my stories.
But no, this infernal cold wet weather will not give up. It hangs like smoke from a leaf fire on a calm autumn day. Oh there is a promise of better weather this weekend, but today, it's the rain and the gloom of a winter that loathes to die even an honorable death
Monday, April 23, 2007
Hi! I'm a Mac and He's a PC
If you've been reading me lately, you know that I went back to the Mac format after years of sliding into the morass of PC hell. I have believed for years that Computers in general are harder to use than they should be and PC platforms are nightmares. My trek back to Mac didn't start with those stop the fast forward on my TIVO commercials, but rather with my purchase of an I-Pod for my wife. She told me how easy it was to operate, compared to other products like cell phones, PDA's etc. I know Mac's are easier to use, so I decided to go simple
In the very largest sense, I didn't go simple because while my computing got simple with my MacBook, my wife continues to use the PC and I have to help her deal with the problems that just will not go away. Now I'm going share some of our problems with you and I'm sure that a number of you will write and say that all I have to do is this or that and my problems will go away. But my answer in advance is, where were you or specifically where was that answer when I needed it?
The hell hole of PC's is the possibility of computer virus. Don't tell me they are a myth, I've had them. They are a messy, expensive, pain in the backside. The last time I downloaded my new edition of PC Cillian anti virus, firewall, anti snooping, cookie eating, spy ware preventative software, it was like soaking my machine in molasses. I knew what the problem was. It's the lack of RAM (Random Access Memory) to cope with the new software that is literally looking at every kb of transaction on my machine. Memory is cheap, right. So I bought a gig from a Kingston distributor (Who will remain nameless pending the lawsuit). If my last aside didn't inform you, I got the wrong chip and they wouldn't allow me to return it because, of all things, I opened the package and tried to install it.
Then there was the wireless network. Installing it was sliding a key into the ignition and turning on the engine. It's when I put my foot to the gas and tried to use it that I began to get frustrated. Every once in a while it drops the connection to the Internet. I have no remedy for this except to reboot the computer. I have problems with this. My wife has panic attacks. (Which of course means, I have gastric ulcers.)
The maddening thing is that when I check the connection the card says it's connected, the network software says the computer is connected to the card, but the computer can't access the Internet. (By the way this does not happen to my MacBook. Hell so far, none of this is in the world of MacBook)
Today my wife was looking forward to a long morning of productive work on her job search. I was going to be gone for the morning. The place would be peaceful and quiet.
OH! OH! The D drive went missing.
Yes a quick look at My Computer and the insertion of a number of different CD disc's provided no evidence, outside of blinking lights and whirring drive motors that we ever had a D drive. By the way one of the suggestions I found in the deep pile of FAQ's, that substitutes for customer technical service today, was to reinstall the driver for the drive. That is on a CD that came with the computer. Talk about seeing your keys hanging from the ignition switch when your locked out of your car.
I don't even want to think of , much less add up, how many hours my wife and I have spent learning go arounds, fixing and stumbling our way through these crisis's. These experiences belay the fact that computers make us more productive. The fact is they do make us work better and faster, but only when they work. I stand by my first assertion. Computers are way to complicated. PC's are beyond complicated
In the very largest sense, I didn't go simple because while my computing got simple with my MacBook, my wife continues to use the PC and I have to help her deal with the problems that just will not go away. Now I'm going share some of our problems with you and I'm sure that a number of you will write and say that all I have to do is this or that and my problems will go away. But my answer in advance is, where were you or specifically where was that answer when I needed it?
The hell hole of PC's is the possibility of computer virus. Don't tell me they are a myth, I've had them. They are a messy, expensive, pain in the backside. The last time I downloaded my new edition of PC Cillian anti virus, firewall, anti snooping, cookie eating, spy ware preventative software, it was like soaking my machine in molasses. I knew what the problem was. It's the lack of RAM (Random Access Memory) to cope with the new software that is literally looking at every kb of transaction on my machine. Memory is cheap, right. So I bought a gig from a Kingston distributor (Who will remain nameless pending the lawsuit). If my last aside didn't inform you, I got the wrong chip and they wouldn't allow me to return it because, of all things, I opened the package and tried to install it.
Then there was the wireless network. Installing it was sliding a key into the ignition and turning on the engine. It's when I put my foot to the gas and tried to use it that I began to get frustrated. Every once in a while it drops the connection to the Internet. I have no remedy for this except to reboot the computer. I have problems with this. My wife has panic attacks. (Which of course means, I have gastric ulcers.)
The maddening thing is that when I check the connection the card says it's connected, the network software says the computer is connected to the card, but the computer can't access the Internet. (By the way this does not happen to my MacBook. Hell so far, none of this is in the world of MacBook)
Today my wife was looking forward to a long morning of productive work on her job search. I was going to be gone for the morning. The place would be peaceful and quiet.
OH! OH! The D drive went missing.
Yes a quick look at My Computer and the insertion of a number of different CD disc's provided no evidence, outside of blinking lights and whirring drive motors that we ever had a D drive. By the way one of the suggestions I found in the deep pile of FAQ's, that substitutes for customer technical service today, was to reinstall the driver for the drive. That is on a CD that came with the computer. Talk about seeing your keys hanging from the ignition switch when your locked out of your car.
I don't even want to think of , much less add up, how many hours my wife and I have spent learning go arounds, fixing and stumbling our way through these crisis's. These experiences belay the fact that computers make us more productive. The fact is they do make us work better and faster, but only when they work. I stand by my first assertion. Computers are way to complicated. PC's are beyond complicated
Monday, April 16, 2007
Ah! The Infamous Address Book
Today, I have to write about the Address Book. Not the little black thing that gets lost in the bottom of women's purses. Nor am I writing about the ratty five year old, spiral bound model that has so many entries crossed off and written over that it is either illegible or you can't figure out which entry is the most recent. No I'm writing bout the digital model which is built into your computer programs in one way another.
Digital address books are really what as known as a relational data base. If you use your address book to inform other programs, anything you do to the empirical record will reflect in the linked records. Let's take for example that you have your Uncle Louie's contact information in a MS Outlook contact file. If he is on your Christmas Card mailing list and that list is derived from Outlook files, than when we change his address in his contact record than the address will change on the card mailing list also. The same will be true for any information we might have to change, such as the phone number, e-mail address etc... .
The problem is that many people, myself included do not use programs that merge easily with MS Outlook. So we have many address books. I have one for each of my three e-mail address's and that alone is enough to drive you nuts, when someone adds an e-mail address or moves, let alone getting a new cell phone. I cleaned up my friend John's record when I found four e-mail address's.
As those of you who have read this know I recently went back to a Apple Mac format. Yes, I'm still loving it. Right now I'm in the stage of moving in while I live there. I still have a couple of things I haven't got set up yet, but I'm pleased with the progress and let me assure you my life is easier and more productive.
This weeks big project is transferring the contact information from my PC to my Mac. Please do not e-mail me with all of the easy ways to do this. THEY DON'T WORK. I'VE TRIED THEM. Exporting and importing comma delineated data bases is just another way of saying that it makes sense to learn how to build a garage in you back yard and than never doing it again, because the time spend learning and executing will be wasted.
The first problem will be that for some reason the file that you need to effect this trouble free transfer is hidden. Doing search will turn up files that look like the right one but it will have a three letter designation following it that no one has ever heard of, except a programmer from Microsoft who retired three years ago. He can't be found. It's rumoured that he walked into the mountains outside of Seattle with a laptop in his hands. When someone asked him what it was, he was planning on retiring there.
I'm going to overhaul my address book the old fashioned way. Entering data from one data base into a new one manually maybe time consuming, but it can have auxiliary benefits. I'm culling old contacts that I've been hauling around for years. Most of them are people I have done business with and no longer need. Plumbers from Appleton come to mind. Others are people who I've not contacted for a long time. I pause over these names, memories come back and I decide. Some I discard. If I haven't seen or heard from them in all of this time why bother. Others I put on my blast e-mail list, thinking that maybe some contact from me might inspire them to reply. Still other names I flag for immediate contact. I realize they have reached out to me and I haven't responded.
Yeah, this is tough work compared to the automatic import export moves I could be trying, but the benefits are going to be a shorter smaller address book and maybe renewing old friends.
Digital address books are really what as known as a relational data base. If you use your address book to inform other programs, anything you do to the empirical record will reflect in the linked records. Let's take for example that you have your Uncle Louie's contact information in a MS Outlook contact file. If he is on your Christmas Card mailing list and that list is derived from Outlook files, than when we change his address in his contact record than the address will change on the card mailing list also. The same will be true for any information we might have to change, such as the phone number, e-mail address etc... .
The problem is that many people, myself included do not use programs that merge easily with MS Outlook. So we have many address books. I have one for each of my three e-mail address's and that alone is enough to drive you nuts, when someone adds an e-mail address or moves, let alone getting a new cell phone. I cleaned up my friend John's record when I found four e-mail address's.
As those of you who have read this know I recently went back to a Apple Mac format. Yes, I'm still loving it. Right now I'm in the stage of moving in while I live there. I still have a couple of things I haven't got set up yet, but I'm pleased with the progress and let me assure you my life is easier and more productive.
This weeks big project is transferring the contact information from my PC to my Mac. Please do not e-mail me with all of the easy ways to do this. THEY DON'T WORK. I'VE TRIED THEM. Exporting and importing comma delineated data bases is just another way of saying that it makes sense to learn how to build a garage in you back yard and than never doing it again, because the time spend learning and executing will be wasted.
The first problem will be that for some reason the file that you need to effect this trouble free transfer is hidden. Doing search will turn up files that look like the right one but it will have a three letter designation following it that no one has ever heard of, except a programmer from Microsoft who retired three years ago. He can't be found. It's rumoured that he walked into the mountains outside of Seattle with a laptop in his hands. When someone asked him what it was, he was planning on retiring there.
I'm going to overhaul my address book the old fashioned way. Entering data from one data base into a new one manually maybe time consuming, but it can have auxiliary benefits. I'm culling old contacts that I've been hauling around for years. Most of them are people I have done business with and no longer need. Plumbers from Appleton come to mind. Others are people who I've not contacted for a long time. I pause over these names, memories come back and I decide. Some I discard. If I haven't seen or heard from them in all of this time why bother. Others I put on my blast e-mail list, thinking that maybe some contact from me might inspire them to reply. Still other names I flag for immediate contact. I realize they have reached out to me and I haven't responded.
Yeah, this is tough work compared to the automatic import export moves I could be trying, but the benefits are going to be a shorter smaller address book and maybe renewing old friends.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Where We Shop for Books
Old habits die hard. I still read an insider, daily newsletter for the book industry called "Shelf Awarness". I enjoy keeping up with the business, because it is so dear to me. A bookstore ranks right up there with schools, civic cnters, city hall, and other icons of public gathering. In my case, they are as important as Wrigley Field and Lambeau Field.
You don't have to read insider newsletters to know that independent bookstores are in trouble. Both the big box chains and the internet threaten the independents with thier ususal tactics of cherry picking their product selection and preditory pricing. Let's face it, you can buy a hardcover copy of the latest best seller for 20-30% off at the big box chain bookstore or you can go to the we've got everything under one roof retailer and get it for less and if you know where to go on the internet you can get it for even less (>$10 @ zooba.com)
All of these venues have their advantages and disadvantages, but none of them offer the feel of an independent bookstore. Independents are often small places if you look at titles per square foot. Cramped aisles and impossibly high shelf's testify to the cost per square foot of retail space today. The location of these stores are usually less than the 100-90% desirable retail space that their competitors garner. One of things I like is that none of look like the other, each venture into a new bookstore is an adventure
With rare exceptions the people working in big box are retail people who need a job in retail or are building a career in retail. People that work in independent bookstores are Booksellers (The cap on the word is no mistake).
I often tell my friends that book selling is a "sip the kool-aid" kind of job. You either love it or you don't do it, because there sure as hell isn't any money to be made. And might I add unlike some businesses that underpay their workers and make fabulous profits, I don't think the owners of the businesses do that well either.
I could go on and on about how the chains have made life miserable for the independents and how their community friendly, we're just folks like you attitude disappears once they dominate the local market. How they suck money out of a community and put as little back into as they can, but that could be a book and in fact many of them have been written.
Recently I read an article in Shelf Awareness where an owner of a specialized bookstore, who was making the decision to stay open on a month to month basis, said what I've heard so many times before, "If people want to have a bookstore in their community, they have to make the decision to buy their books there." Everything else is irrelevant. Enough said
You don't have to read insider newsletters to know that independent bookstores are in trouble. Both the big box chains and the internet threaten the independents with thier ususal tactics of cherry picking their product selection and preditory pricing. Let's face it, you can buy a hardcover copy of the latest best seller for 20-30% off at the big box chain bookstore or you can go to the we've got everything under one roof retailer and get it for less and if you know where to go on the internet you can get it for even less (>$10 @ zooba.com)
All of these venues have their advantages and disadvantages, but none of them offer the feel of an independent bookstore. Independents are often small places if you look at titles per square foot. Cramped aisles and impossibly high shelf's testify to the cost per square foot of retail space today. The location of these stores are usually less than the 100-90% desirable retail space that their competitors garner. One of things I like is that none of look like the other, each venture into a new bookstore is an adventure
With rare exceptions the people working in big box are retail people who need a job in retail or are building a career in retail. People that work in independent bookstores are Booksellers (The cap on the word is no mistake).
I often tell my friends that book selling is a "sip the kool-aid" kind of job. You either love it or you don't do it, because there sure as hell isn't any money to be made. And might I add unlike some businesses that underpay their workers and make fabulous profits, I don't think the owners of the businesses do that well either.
I could go on and on about how the chains have made life miserable for the independents and how their community friendly, we're just folks like you attitude disappears once they dominate the local market. How they suck money out of a community and put as little back into as they can, but that could be a book and in fact many of them have been written.
Recently I read an article in Shelf Awareness where an owner of a specialized bookstore, who was making the decision to stay open on a month to month basis, said what I've heard so many times before, "If people want to have a bookstore in their community, they have to make the decision to buy their books there." Everything else is irrelevant. Enough said
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Nappy Headed Female Basketball Players Who Sell Sexual Services
I sincerely hope the media gets tired of kicking Don Imus. Folks, he's down and dead. Kicking him some more will only wear out your leg. This story, if in fact that is what it is has more momentum than the latest tsunami. Why?
To begin with, let me join the Greek Chorus in saying what he said was ridiculous, unfair and out of line. It was way over the line. Why did he say it? Only Imus knows and I doubt if he can explain it himself. Why all the attention? Because the Nicole Smith story had lost it's glimmer and Brad and Angelina are on vacation, or it was a slow news day in the entertainment world.
Imus, like many shock jocks, is a mixture of entertainment, social commentary and news. It isn't the service they bring to radio that is under criticism, it's the manner in which they serve. Most of these clowns conduct their business at the level of junior high school locker room humor. They punctuate their remarks with poddy humor and street slang to sound like that kid your mother didn't want you hanging around with and some people listen to them for that reason. I stretching the bounds of decency, some radio personalities not only pander to the worst instincts of their target audience, but they are rebelling against the bounds of common decency. Why? Just to see how far they can go and what they can get away with.
Imus has done this before. this kind of one-ups menship causes a fury for a time and than the fire goes out and we resume business as usual. The game has changed however. Recently an similar incident drove one of his competitors to satellite radio where there are no boundaries or rules. Maybe this is what Imus is angling for. If CBS were to fire him, he would be free to make millions and have no restrictions on what his small mind could come up with.
Imus is only responsible to two groups of people, his listeners and his sponsors. His sponsors have voted. They are leaving the show like beach dwellers recognizing the arrival of an oncoming storm. His listeners? We have to wait. He's going to serve out a two week suspension. The question will be, when he comes back will his listeners?
(Since I wrote this, Imus was dropped by both MSNBC and CBS. I'm betting Satellite radio is waiting in the wings.)
When all is said and done the righteous have had their say, Don will apologize and the fury will die sown. My question is what we would have done if Chris Rock had said what Imus said.
To begin with, let me join the Greek Chorus in saying what he said was ridiculous, unfair and out of line. It was way over the line. Why did he say it? Only Imus knows and I doubt if he can explain it himself. Why all the attention? Because the Nicole Smith story had lost it's glimmer and Brad and Angelina are on vacation, or it was a slow news day in the entertainment world.
Imus, like many shock jocks, is a mixture of entertainment, social commentary and news. It isn't the service they bring to radio that is under criticism, it's the manner in which they serve. Most of these clowns conduct their business at the level of junior high school locker room humor. They punctuate their remarks with poddy humor and street slang to sound like that kid your mother didn't want you hanging around with and some people listen to them for that reason. I stretching the bounds of decency, some radio personalities not only pander to the worst instincts of their target audience, but they are rebelling against the bounds of common decency. Why? Just to see how far they can go and what they can get away with.
Imus has done this before. this kind of one-ups menship causes a fury for a time and than the fire goes out and we resume business as usual. The game has changed however. Recently an similar incident drove one of his competitors to satellite radio where there are no boundaries or rules. Maybe this is what Imus is angling for. If CBS were to fire him, he would be free to make millions and have no restrictions on what his small mind could come up with.
Imus is only responsible to two groups of people, his listeners and his sponsors. His sponsors have voted. They are leaving the show like beach dwellers recognizing the arrival of an oncoming storm. His listeners? We have to wait. He's going to serve out a two week suspension. The question will be, when he comes back will his listeners?
(Since I wrote this, Imus was dropped by both MSNBC and CBS. I'm betting Satellite radio is waiting in the wings.)
When all is said and done the righteous have had their say, Don will apologize and the fury will die sown. My question is what we would have done if Chris Rock had said what Imus said.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Aging Gracefully
I've never tried to hide my age. I'm not ashamed to be sixty six years old. I do miss the days when people would say that I appeared younger, but that was when I was overweight. Evidently fat stretches the wrinkles. I don't mind getting older and I try not to act in ways that older people have that irritates and alienate younger folks.
The entitlement attitude is probably the thing that ticks people off the most. Like a lot of men my age, I'm old school on things like letting women have my seat on a bus etc, but older people who expects special treatment just because they are old are frustrating. Hogging the aisle at the grocery store, driving on the middle of a two lane road and barging ahead in lines are all fairly typical instances of grey hair entitlement issues. The get out of my way, can't you see I'm old attitude is not uncommon.
Most of this comes from and attitude that is really a defense for incompetence. They hog the aisles in the store because they are using the cart as a walker to hide their inability to walk distances without it. They drive in the middle of the road because they can't see. Seniors barge into lines because they are in a rush to sit down to rest or they have to get to a bathroom. And sadly some of it because they think they deserve special treatment. They seem to think if they smile and tell you that you should give up your place in the line it's expected you will and if you don't you lack respect for the elderly.
Of course, all elderly people do not act this way. and as usual, the few wreck the image of the elderly for the many, but that is not the point here. What most older people hate about getting old is the loss of the ability to do things they used to do. Rather than admit we can't do something, we either try to do it and look ridiculous or we insist that someone does it for us with the attitude that we deserve the attention or service. We are owed the special treatment.
As you would expect men are worse than women, but what can be real amusing is women trying to play the I'm old and I'm sexy cards at the same time.
"Why Camille, I'll bet this nice, young, handsome man would love to carry these things out to are car. Wouldn't you?"This with her head cocked, face smiling wide and her eyes fluttering like she's in a dust storm with her hand lightly resting on my forearm.
Of course I'm not young, long past being handsome, if I ever was and I wouldn't love to haul her packages, but I will if it's obvious she needs help. All she really has to do is admit she can't handle it and ask please.
But somehow that is admitting something we don't like to admit even when we are young and able bodied, we need help. For some reason as we get older it becomes harder. Maybe admitting that we are older and less able to do for our selves is frightening. Maybe it's pride. Whatever it is the manifestation's are flat out irritating.
The entitlement attitude is probably the thing that ticks people off the most. Like a lot of men my age, I'm old school on things like letting women have my seat on a bus etc, but older people who expects special treatment just because they are old are frustrating. Hogging the aisle at the grocery store, driving on the middle of a two lane road and barging ahead in lines are all fairly typical instances of grey hair entitlement issues. The get out of my way, can't you see I'm old attitude is not uncommon.
Most of this comes from and attitude that is really a defense for incompetence. They hog the aisles in the store because they are using the cart as a walker to hide their inability to walk distances without it. They drive in the middle of the road because they can't see. Seniors barge into lines because they are in a rush to sit down to rest or they have to get to a bathroom. And sadly some of it because they think they deserve special treatment. They seem to think if they smile and tell you that you should give up your place in the line it's expected you will and if you don't you lack respect for the elderly.
Of course, all elderly people do not act this way. and as usual, the few wreck the image of the elderly for the many, but that is not the point here. What most older people hate about getting old is the loss of the ability to do things they used to do. Rather than admit we can't do something, we either try to do it and look ridiculous or we insist that someone does it for us with the attitude that we deserve the attention or service. We are owed the special treatment.
As you would expect men are worse than women, but what can be real amusing is women trying to play the I'm old and I'm sexy cards at the same time.
"Why Camille, I'll bet this nice, young, handsome man would love to carry these things out to are car. Wouldn't you?"This with her head cocked, face smiling wide and her eyes fluttering like she's in a dust storm with her hand lightly resting on my forearm.
Of course I'm not young, long past being handsome, if I ever was and I wouldn't love to haul her packages, but I will if it's obvious she needs help. All she really has to do is admit she can't handle it and ask please.
But somehow that is admitting something we don't like to admit even when we are young and able bodied, we need help. For some reason as we get older it becomes harder. Maybe admitting that we are older and less able to do for our selves is frightening. Maybe it's pride. Whatever it is the manifestation's are flat out irritating.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Rituals of Spring
Yesterday, a relatively unknown young man, Zack Johnson walked to the famed Butler Cabin on the Grounds of Augusta National. He met with William Payne, Chairman of Augusta National, Jim Nance of CBS, and Phil Mickelson, last years winner of the Masters. As is the tradition, he is interviewed by Nance, congratulated by Payne and given his "Green Jacket" by Mickelson.
I irreverently call Masters Week "Holy Week" and this year it just happen to fall on one of the busiest of religious weeks. I'm told that besides the Easter and Passover celebrations there were a number of spring rituals observed in almost every religion. But it's not to make fun of religion that I call it Holy Week, rather it's to reflect my feelings about a great event in sports. The Masters is everything that is good about competition. Bobby Jones, legendary golfer and founder of the tradition, wanted to bring together the best golfers in the world and challenge them to a contest to discover and honor the top player. While it's true that most of the contestants these days are professional, there always has been and will be room made for amateur players who can show they belong.
Golf is an unusual sport these days. Every player who competes is an individual entity. With rare exceptions there are no teams in golf. The players are often identified with their country of origin, but they are not sponsored by a country.
Players only get paid if they win. There is no show up money or under the table payments. You post a score and they divide the money. The players pay their own expenses and play in the tournaments they wish to play. While many players earn money as spokespersons for commercial interests, none of them are going to make much money with endorsements unless they win.
It is still a gentleman's game and nothing reflects this more than the Masters. You rarely hear one player bad mouth another player. The players enforce the rules on themselves. A player that cheats is not going to be n the tour very long.
The traditions and respect for the game are foremost in the minds of the players and officials of the USGA and the PGA. Rule enforcement and personal conduct are important in maintaining the integrity of the sport. and yet individuality and flare are not discouraged. Hard drinking fast living players might be rewarded with the admiration of the younger more raucous fans, but as John Daley has discovered it does not payoff on the scoreboard.
To be consistently successful at the game, it takes dedication and persistence. As Zack Johnson found out yesterday, you have to work on your game constantly, play your best, post a good number and you never know when the golf god might smile at you.
(I pause here to remember my good friend and fellow golfer, Jack Zarek. I will never watch the Masters and not remember the good times and fellowship Jack and I shared on the golf course. Jack past away this year after a valiant fight against cancer.
When the dawn breaks over the dew covered greens, I see you Zarek.)
I irreverently call Masters Week "Holy Week" and this year it just happen to fall on one of the busiest of religious weeks. I'm told that besides the Easter and Passover celebrations there were a number of spring rituals observed in almost every religion. But it's not to make fun of religion that I call it Holy Week, rather it's to reflect my feelings about a great event in sports. The Masters is everything that is good about competition. Bobby Jones, legendary golfer and founder of the tradition, wanted to bring together the best golfers in the world and challenge them to a contest to discover and honor the top player. While it's true that most of the contestants these days are professional, there always has been and will be room made for amateur players who can show they belong.
Golf is an unusual sport these days. Every player who competes is an individual entity. With rare exceptions there are no teams in golf. The players are often identified with their country of origin, but they are not sponsored by a country.
Players only get paid if they win. There is no show up money or under the table payments. You post a score and they divide the money. The players pay their own expenses and play in the tournaments they wish to play. While many players earn money as spokespersons for commercial interests, none of them are going to make much money with endorsements unless they win.
It is still a gentleman's game and nothing reflects this more than the Masters. You rarely hear one player bad mouth another player. The players enforce the rules on themselves. A player that cheats is not going to be n the tour very long.
The traditions and respect for the game are foremost in the minds of the players and officials of the USGA and the PGA. Rule enforcement and personal conduct are important in maintaining the integrity of the sport. and yet individuality and flare are not discouraged. Hard drinking fast living players might be rewarded with the admiration of the younger more raucous fans, but as John Daley has discovered it does not payoff on the scoreboard.
To be consistently successful at the game, it takes dedication and persistence. As Zack Johnson found out yesterday, you have to work on your game constantly, play your best, post a good number and you never know when the golf god might smile at you.
(I pause here to remember my good friend and fellow golfer, Jack Zarek. I will never watch the Masters and not remember the good times and fellowship Jack and I shared on the golf course. Jack past away this year after a valiant fight against cancer.
When the dawn breaks over the dew covered greens, I see you Zarek.)
Friday, April 06, 2007
The inevitablilty of doing it over again.
I'm old enough to know better, but I still end up doing things twice. I do them once to learn and than do it again, close enough to correst to work. Let me demonstrate.
My workmate and friend Kieth and I agreed that we needed two new set screws for the knife assembly in one of the machines we run at the museum. We are talking about cents in value, not dollars. But for some reason, completely beyond understanding, our maintenance department neither has these replacement parts nor seems to be able to get them. We took the problem in hand. Packaging the defective screws in a small bag, I took them to the local hardware store to get replacements.
The screws are small, about the size jujubes. My clerk whisked me back to those drawers that every hardware store has that contain both the exotic and common nuts, screw, bolts, washers and such things as every handyman needs, that can be purchased in quantities of one for high prices. Viola! She brandishes the look-alike and demures only to the extent that the tightening device was an allen head not a star head such as I brought in. I care not. I buy a allen head wrench set to assure that we can use the new screws.
The next day I go to work confident that the problem is solved. The attempt at installing the new screw soon produces the conclusion that the thread design of the new screws is not the same. We are back to Zero on the sliding scale of solving this problem except that we know, Jeff should have asked the clerk to check the threads.
What is it about problem solving that requires twice the effort for some of us and almost none for others? I know that some of you will respond mentally, think you stupid idiot! But, I believe that some of us are just wired different. Some people just can't follow instructions, even, and I know this is hard to believe, if they read them.
I swear that I read all instructions. I check to make sure all parts are in place. I assemble the project in the order suggested. I get the thing or project together and... . Oh no look ! It doesn't work because you didn't (fill in the blank) that any four year old would have seen needed to be done. Now, I have to take the project apart and reassemble it, if I haven't stripped the screws or lost a irreplaceable part or fastener. I know this is sounding like a bad imitation of an Andy Rooney commentary, but it's true and it's just ticking me off.
My workmate and friend Kieth and I agreed that we needed two new set screws for the knife assembly in one of the machines we run at the museum. We are talking about cents in value, not dollars. But for some reason, completely beyond understanding, our maintenance department neither has these replacement parts nor seems to be able to get them. We took the problem in hand. Packaging the defective screws in a small bag, I took them to the local hardware store to get replacements.
The screws are small, about the size jujubes. My clerk whisked me back to those drawers that every hardware store has that contain both the exotic and common nuts, screw, bolts, washers and such things as every handyman needs, that can be purchased in quantities of one for high prices. Viola! She brandishes the look-alike and demures only to the extent that the tightening device was an allen head not a star head such as I brought in. I care not. I buy a allen head wrench set to assure that we can use the new screws.
The next day I go to work confident that the problem is solved. The attempt at installing the new screw soon produces the conclusion that the thread design of the new screws is not the same. We are back to Zero on the sliding scale of solving this problem except that we know, Jeff should have asked the clerk to check the threads.
What is it about problem solving that requires twice the effort for some of us and almost none for others? I know that some of you will respond mentally, think you stupid idiot! But, I believe that some of us are just wired different. Some people just can't follow instructions, even, and I know this is hard to believe, if they read them.
I swear that I read all instructions. I check to make sure all parts are in place. I assemble the project in the order suggested. I get the thing or project together and... . Oh no look ! It doesn't work because you didn't (fill in the blank) that any four year old would have seen needed to be done. Now, I have to take the project apart and reassemble it, if I haven't stripped the screws or lost a irreplaceable part or fastener. I know this is sounding like a bad imitation of an Andy Rooney commentary, but it's true and it's just ticking me off.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
The Most Repressive Regime
Of all of the labels one would try to avoid, the leader of the most repressive regime would be one, I would think, could float to the top of my priority list. But than the guys, and they always seem to be guys, that get the title don't seem to mind the insult. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to let the world know that they don't care. This uncaring, egotistical bravado tends to push them up the list toward the number one spot.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe seems to in the running to take over for Saddam Hussein in the coveted top spot for despots. He'll have to go aways to get past the current President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's in the lead because he's pissing us off directly, but when it comes to suppression of his own people, Mugabe is clearly in the lead. Mugabe is forced to use the cruder tactic's of competition because he has no nuclear weapons. It's like the schoolyard. Teachers might be afraid of the bully, but the kid with the gun is always going to get more attention.
Which leads me to my next thought. Why don't we invade the Sudan or Zimbabwe? They don't have weapons of mass destruction. Their people are probably desirous of a free democratic society. There has to be some natural resources that are strategic to our national security. The government of these countries have to be harboring terrorists of some stripe, even if they don't know it. These situations have all the qualifications for a first class pre-emptive war.
The problem is that by putting boots on the ground in these countries, we would have to engage in nation building, and we have no demonstrated talent for that kind of endeavour. However, It would stop the wholesale repression of a totally innocent people who can't defend themselves. We might even be able to build a coalition of African States to help us. Mugabe has to be an embarrassment to his neighbors and he is causing a refuge problem. if we help Africans take care of African problems we might even build some friendships with a continent where we have few if any friends.
But wait. what am I thinking? We can't invade a freely elected dictatorship just because we don't like what's going on. Even if we wanted to, we are tied down in a massive democratization project in the middle east. We haven't the resources or the manpower available to take on a two-bit thug like Mugabe.
Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe seems to in the running to take over for Saddam Hussein in the coveted top spot for despots. He'll have to go aways to get past the current President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad's in the lead because he's pissing us off directly, but when it comes to suppression of his own people, Mugabe is clearly in the lead. Mugabe is forced to use the cruder tactic's of competition because he has no nuclear weapons. It's like the schoolyard. Teachers might be afraid of the bully, but the kid with the gun is always going to get more attention.
Which leads me to my next thought. Why don't we invade the Sudan or Zimbabwe? They don't have weapons of mass destruction. Their people are probably desirous of a free democratic society. There has to be some natural resources that are strategic to our national security. The government of these countries have to be harboring terrorists of some stripe, even if they don't know it. These situations have all the qualifications for a first class pre-emptive war.
The problem is that by putting boots on the ground in these countries, we would have to engage in nation building, and we have no demonstrated talent for that kind of endeavour. However, It would stop the wholesale repression of a totally innocent people who can't defend themselves. We might even be able to build a coalition of African States to help us. Mugabe has to be an embarrassment to his neighbors and he is causing a refuge problem. if we help Africans take care of African problems we might even build some friendships with a continent where we have few if any friends.
But wait. what am I thinking? We can't invade a freely elected dictatorship just because we don't like what's going on. Even if we wanted to, we are tied down in a massive democratization project in the middle east. We haven't the resources or the manpower available to take on a two-bit thug like Mugabe.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Iraq, The Issues from Unity08
This morning I got an e-mail from Unity 08. Unity 08 (www.unity08.com) is a new online third political party. Their purpose is to bring the political discussion back to the center, reasoning that the two major parties are catering to the issues at the extreme. I believe this is true, so I signed up to be a delegate and I sincerely hope that we get candidates on the ballot. (If you're curious as to how we intend to do that, why don't you visit the site.)
A week or so ago, they asked delegates to send in questions that Unity08 could ask the candidates. These questions were suppose to reflect what the center of the political mass is thinking about. After accumulating these questions, they asked the delegates to rate the questions as to which we thought were most important. We were asked to rate the questions on a 1-5 basis with the additional options of ranking the questions as "Inappropriate" or "Off the Subject".
How many ways can you ask the question, "How would you as President bring our troops home from Iraq?" You wouldn't believe it. After I ranked about fifty or sixty of them I was itching for a button that was labeled "repetitive". However, there was enough difference, and hopefully the vetting process will wino it down to the essentials. I think the following covers it.
However, as I have mentioned in this blog before and I still believe, the most important question is, "What is your policy in the Middle East?" This is not a thirty second sound bite answer. It will take a thoughtful and patient audience to hear out the answer, mull it over and decide on it's merits. It is not the only foreign policy issue that is important. Our relations with the Pacific Rim, South America and Eastern Europe are critical. Our relations with our traditional Allies has been severely damaged and we will being walking around that issue for many years to come.
But there is no doubt the actions of the past five years have drawn us into an immediate and dangerous position in the Middle East. The answer here must include first an answer to the Palestinian question. if this issue is dealt with as we disengage from Iraq, we may buy back or credibility and become the broker of peace we want to be and should be.
A week or so ago, they asked delegates to send in questions that Unity08 could ask the candidates. These questions were suppose to reflect what the center of the political mass is thinking about. After accumulating these questions, they asked the delegates to rate the questions as to which we thought were most important. We were asked to rate the questions on a 1-5 basis with the additional options of ranking the questions as "Inappropriate" or "Off the Subject".
How many ways can you ask the question, "How would you as President bring our troops home from Iraq?" You wouldn't believe it. After I ranked about fifty or sixty of them I was itching for a button that was labeled "repetitive". However, there was enough difference, and hopefully the vetting process will wino it down to the essentials. I think the following covers it.
- How are you going to get the troops home?
- When?
- What are you going to do to prevent chaos when we leave?
- What do we owe Iraq in the future?
- Can we or should we separate Afghanistan from the Iraq problem?
However, as I have mentioned in this blog before and I still believe, the most important question is, "What is your policy in the Middle East?" This is not a thirty second sound bite answer. It will take a thoughtful and patient audience to hear out the answer, mull it over and decide on it's merits. It is not the only foreign policy issue that is important. Our relations with the Pacific Rim, South America and Eastern Europe are critical. Our relations with our traditional Allies has been severely damaged and we will being walking around that issue for many years to come.
But there is no doubt the actions of the past five years have drawn us into an immediate and dangerous position in the Middle East. The answer here must include first an answer to the Palestinian question. if this issue is dealt with as we disengage from Iraq, we may buy back or credibility and become the broker of peace we want to be and should be.
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