Prattlings – Page 6 – Random Thoughts

Little Lights in the Dark

Do you think this thing has enough lights? While almost unnoticable in the day, it really stands out in the dark.

That’s our network expander. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between our network router (which is over in my workshop because that’s where the internet connection is) and the computers we use in our home. It’s a device about the size of a deck of cards and plugs into a wall outlet for power.

Each light means something. But remembering what means digging out the manual and reviewing the chart. I remember that the left side reports on connection with the router over in the work shop and the right side reports on the connection with the computers connected via WiFi. There is an Ethernet port too, that’s connected to our phone system via a cable. Green lights are good, so all was well when I took this. Each light can also turn yellow or red to indicate less than optimal (or horrible) connection status. We’ve seen each of those at times.

Cochise likes to sleep in the den. I think it’s because these lights remind him of a Christmas tree. Especially when things aren’t connecting so well.

Sci-Fi Friday and the Furkids

This evening we engaged in some casual dining and watched an old Science Fiction Theater episode (1950’s stuff). Mostly, this is a human thing, but the furkids like it too because they get to eat in the living room with us and they get a special treat after dinner. They generally sleep through the program, though.

At bed time Marie and I sit in bed and read for a while. Sometimes we use book lights and turn off the lamps. But tonight my batteries were low. Blondie Bear is saying, “Would you PLEASE turn off the lights and go to sleep … I’m TIRED.”

Cochise could not hide under the bed without risking getting stepped on, so he made do with what was available.

Eventually Marie and I got sleepy too, turned off the lights, and went to sleep. Then the furkids could take up normal sleeping positions and get some proper rest. The poor dears! (wink)

The Baldface Encounter

I killed a big Baldface hornet’s nest Wednesday evening. It was just inches outside our play yard fence in a forsythia bush and was hidden from view until I trimmed the branches out of the fencing. I deliberated on this killing. I don’t kill just to kill. They’d been there a while and have not been an issue … except once that I know of. Continue reading “The Baldface Encounter”

A Joy-Filled Welcome

One of the great things about dogs is the way the dogs welcome us home. It’s always a celebration. It makes us feel great to know someone is so happy to see us again — even though we may have been gone only an hour.

I cannot speak about goats, horses, cows, sheep, pigs, lemurs, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, or ducks – I’ve never had those as pets. I have had cats and for the most part their reaction to our return was, “Oh, were you gone? When are you going to feed me?”

When the dogs welcome us home, it is always with enthusiastic glee. Continue reading “A Joy-Filled Welcome”

Renewing an Old Acquaintance

I remember, as a young lad, sitting in my Grandmother’s kitchen and watching her whip up meals when we came to visit her. I remember that her pans were black and crusty-looking (at least on the outside). And I remember enjoying those meals a lot.

In the years since then I’ve had an on-again, off-again fascination with cast iron cookware. Mostly off-again when I was young because I was more fascinated with technology: I witnessed the birth of the personal computer and the Internet. Watched as the first men walked on the moon. I’ve watched as so many things that for decades were mere science fiction became common place parts of our lives. Including Teflon.

As I aged I mellowed and have turned back to the old ways. Yes, I have a computer (5 of them in fact) and the Internet is an essential tool for what I do, but I’m living on a mountain-side acreage away from population centers. We get our water from our own well and our waste goes into a septic system. I grow as much of our food as I am able, and I am again fascinated by cast iron cookware. Continue reading “Renewing an Old Acquaintance”

Sisyphus and Blondie Bear

It’s raining.

Not hard, just a gentle rain.

Before it started raining I was mowing the front yard.

I was using our self-propelled walk-behind mower: that area is way too steep for the riding mower.

Riding mowers tend to roll over out there.

Rolling a mower is not fun.

I hit a stump. Continue reading “Sisyphus and Blondie Bear”

Squirrel Revenge

squirrel crime scene — Scene of the crime

Marie and I were sitting on the front steps this afternoon watching the birds at the bird feeder. Marie commented that she put some gourmet bird food (includes nuts) in the feeder, she was surprised a squirrel hadn’t camped out on the thing.

No sooner were those words out of her mouth than a squirrel came hopping along the ground through the trees. He hopped up and climbed the metal pole the bird feeder hangs from and began to chow down. I went out and chased him off.

Marie said, “I should put some cooking oil on the pole.” Continue reading “Squirrel Revenge”

Trends in Publishing

If you follow the publishing industry at all you will have noticed a number of trends. Everybody and their dog are talking about the trends in self-publishing via eBooks. I’m not going to talk about these: they are well covered.

trends in publishing

What has motivated me this morning is a discussion I’ve been having with a managing editor at one of the magazines I write for. A couple of days ago she opened a discussion with me about a special project article. Special projects are stand-alone publications. They often bear the name of the parent magazine, but are published as a magazine sized book. We have been discussing this proposal via e-mail since. One of the questions I asked was the expected word count. Continue reading “Trends in Publishing”

Valentine’s Day Tech Support

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and I came across this humorous look at romance and marriage that melds l’amour and technology. I did not create this (I don’t know who did) but decided I’d share it with you. Enjoy!

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slowdown in overall system performance — particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.5 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,
Desperate

Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System. Please enter the command: “http: I Thought You Loved Me.htm” and try to download Tears 6.2. Don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, over-use of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5. Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background, that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to install the Boyfriend 6.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Hot Food 3.0 and Lingerie 6.9

Good Luck,
Tech Support

New Personal Best

birthday This morning I celebrate a new personal best. It could be measured in a number of ways. Today marks 21,915 days (including leap year days) of life. Or I could say I’m celebrating 20 years of life — for the third time around. Or I could say I’ve broken into the realm of hexagenarians (but if you repeat that, make sure it’s spelled correctly!) Or I could just come out and state that today I turn 60 years old. No, let me rephrase that: 60 years of age. You are only “old” when you give in to that mental image.

I will say that I am surprised I’ve lived this long. I have not been particularly gentle on or cautious with my body and the joints and sinews do remind me of this carelessness. There have been a couple of times I wasn’t so sure my sojourn through this world wasn’t over. But God did not see fit to release me yet, so I stood up and walked on. In fact, today I am feeling better than I have in quite a while. To continue the analogy, there is a spring in my step. There are fewer pains to plague me, and I seem to have encountered a refreshing of the mind in the past week that has me once again humming and singing to myself, and to God, throughout the days. I credit that to the Holy Spirit, who is writhing around in me more than normal, holding out the promise of something good being about to happen.

Normally I don’t look forward to birthdays. I don’t hide from them either, just try to brush them off as merely another day. But this one is sort of a milestone. A personal best similar to when 200,000 miles rolls up on the odometer and the wheels haven’t fallen off. There is a sense of accomplishment in it that fuels my desire to make it to the next milestone. But today, I’ll take a few moments to relish this one and celebrate a little. Tomorrow I’ll set out on the trek toward 70.