the iMentor

Hints & rants

This weB-LOG is about the musing of a technical consultant. It is the iMentor's thoughts on technology and the human condition.

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Author: Rick Thues

Misunderstanding

September 8, 2021 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #658 September 11, 2021 Misunderstanding is easy to achieve. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXn1TonSmFc Sometimes conversation should be without nuance. Plain spoken, succinct comments often communicate most clearly. When communication is too subtle, misunderstanding occurs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSjDDAucIj4 However, clarity is the vehicle of understanding. When forming a sentence more is often better than less. Sentences should, at a minimum, have a noun and a verb. Something is acting in some way. “He ran.” ...a perfectly correct sentence. But this sentence begs the questions: Who is “he”? How did he run? Where did he run to? Where did he run from? Why did he run...
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Now

August 31, 2021 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #657 September 4, 2021       The Book Of Counted Sorrows On the road that I have taken, one day, walking, I awaken, amazed to see where I have come, where I'm going, where I'm from. —  from Dark Rivers of the Heart -- Dean Koontz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7545WDwJWjg Now The Present is now. It is NOW, right now. Now it is the future and now it is past, right now. Now is the tip of an arrow aimed at a target that never arrives. The present does not wait for the end of my sentence. i thought that sleep would...
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Check Engine

August 25, 2021 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #656 August 28, 2021 My troubleshooting skills have been automotive instead of computing lately. But the same methods seem to apply.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYTtak15T-Y My wife and i were driving to Wyoming in my 1999 Toyota Tacoma. We stopped for gas outside Provo, Utah, where i filled up. OK… i kind of overfilled the tank. Five minutes later the check engine light came on. i did everything i knew to do: Paula pulled out the manual. The list of things that could evoke the check engine light included a loose gas cap. For all other causes the manual advised to...
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What You Know Who

August 18, 2021 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode #655 August 21, 2021   We have all heard that, “It is not what you know, but who you know that counts.” i suggest that it is both. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chGVpR9NzA WHAT i KNEW: Driving home from Wyoming i noticed a sluggishness in the steering of my 1999 Toyota Tacoma. WHO i KNEW: i thought to ask my mechanic about it when i returned home. WHAT i KNEW: In south Las Vegas, heading south on Interstate 15, just before the miles long expanse of desert, i needed to fill up with gas. WHO i KNEW: Chevron is my go-to gas station...
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Progress

August 11, 2021 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #654 August 14, 2021 When i was a cabinet maker in an architectural mill my foreman was also a politician. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeLvrVnDvBA i had been taught to detail the insides of the cabinets before assembling them. The routine of installing shelf columns, lazy susans and drawer guides onto the unassembled cabinet parts was more efficient than crawling inside the cabinet after it was assembled. One day, i was detailing cabinet parts on my bench when the foreman came over. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked. “Detailing the cabinet,” i replied. “You are making me look bad to the supervisor,”...
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Rule number 9

August 5, 2021 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #653 August 7, 2021 Leroy Jethro Gibbs is a special agent in the television series “NCIS.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50ZCUezGfkA A former Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant, Gibbs has a list of 51 rules. He teaches the rules to his team and uses them as a framework for conduct both on and off a case. Rule #9 is: “Never go anywhere without a knife.” i have adopted rule #9 and always carry a knife. i chose a multifunction knife because, like my computer, it can perform many tasks. The knife has the following tools: KEY CHAIN RING The knife can be attached to...
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