Short thoughts, Damn computers, and Solar lights
by Barry Bauer
Short thoughts:
So they want to build a Mosque near Ground Zero, are they nuts? Or should the question really be, are we nuts?
Should we allow access to our federal courts to Mexico and other countries in South America who want to join the lawsuit against Arizona because of their new immigration law? Is it okay that non-progressive countries tell us how to run our country? That’s easy, Hell No!
Shouldn’t it be the shared responsibility between the United States and Mexico to guard the border between us? How come it isn’t?
Was Einstein from the future?
Is it me or has the Detroit Tigers been no-nit more than any other major league baseball team?
All of a sudden George W. Bush looks good. I’d even settle for Bill Clinton being President again. At least we know what he’s up to.
Does anyone remember the classified “Pentagon Papers” released in 1971 by Daniel Ellsberg about the Vietnam War? Get your diaries out and make this note. In the secret world of government actions, history has just repeated itself . . . all over again, Yogi.
* * *
Clark Griswold once said, “Computers are hell!” Or was that somebody else? I can’t remember.
My computer went down last week and the signs were obvious. Newly opened windows would close, a search on Google gave me information on an entirely different subject, and basically, the computer turned into useless mush.
I must have opened something akin to getting a box of Cracker Jacks with a surprise inside.
I took it to a repair shop and asked them to clean it up plus install Windows 7 Home Premium edition that I heard was supposed to be more secure. I was tired of Vista. Of course that brings on a whole new set of problems like learning something new. It was going to be a “Change I can believe in.”
Gees, I hate that.
When I got the computer back I hooked it up to the cable modem (I thought) but I kept getting a message, not connected. I called the repair shop for help, and they ask if I had the Ethernet cable connected. “It’s the one that looks like a phone cable except the connectors are a little bit wider,” they said.
That’s the cable we found disconnected at both ends (?) and Betty asked what it was for. I couldn’t tell her. We turned the den upside down looking for the manual and couldn’t find it. I hooked the Ethernet cable up and we were finally connected to the Internet.
I called Charter to have them help me setup my e-mail account and the young lady told me that she could tell me what to do when I got there, but she couldn’t walk me through it. Something about legalities with Microsoft. She did give me a phone number, so I could call Microsoft.
I called Microsoft and they told me Charter was full of Garbonzo beans. “Call them back,” they said.
Somehow I ended up talking to a young lady in the Philippines, and she told me my new copy of Windows 7 was OEM (original equipment manufacturer) software. Supposedly it only comes with new computers. Don’t ask me to explain that because I can’t.
“You’ll have to call the maker of your computer (Dell),” she told me. Dell has quit supporting my computer a long time ago, so that was out of the question.
I called the repair shop that installed Windows 7 and asked him how come I ended up with OEM software and he said, “I don’t know, that’s what was on the shelf.”
I had to call them right back and ask where my e-mail software was and that’s when I found out that what I’m used to using was specifically made for Vista and I no longer had it. He suggested I download Mozilla, which I did. My question is why didn’t they load it?
I didn’t like Mozilla because I couldn’t find my e-mail addresses so I downloaded Windows Live Mail and there they were. I printed them off. That program wasn’t worth a hoot either because photos weren’t attached as a file; at least from what I could see. Photos were included in the message and sent with no obvious file name which is a problem, so I went back to Mozilla.
I’m still waiting to see if the attached files came through as an attachment.
If you see me and I’m talking to myself, it’s okay. I’m in stage II of recovery.
* * *
Last year we bought four small solar lights for our yard. They worked fine so we bought more this year. First we bought a box of six solar lights and later bought three taller ones that changed colors inside a mosaic globe.
We started out getting light from them until sunrise which is what we should expect. Then the time they stayed on kept getting shorter and shorter. That meant they needed new batteries already. The common thread is both the lights and the batteries were made in China.
We trade with China not because they make a superior product. We trade with them for political reasons and because some businesses make a tidy little profit from selling Chinese products.
Something doesn’t seem right, where is quality anymore?
Until the next time . . .
Now follow Barry on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1140235673