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

Chopping wood

March 15, 2020 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode 581 March 21, 2020 i buy a cord of wood each year to burn in my living room stove.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDTBF7h52s0 The wood is already cut to about 16” so it fits into the stove. These pieces of wood do not ignite as easily as i would like so i split them with my axe. i never thought that one of my household chores would be chopping wood, but i am glad that it is. There is time to think while chopping wood. A split log burns more easily because the fire can work its way more easily into...
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Timing is Everything

March 11, 2020 Uncategorized No Comments
Episode 580 March 14, 2020 i woke up the other day and went downstairs just in time for the coffee to finish brewing. i poured a cup, read my email and checked the 10 day weather forecast. It was going to rain for the next 10 days starting that night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vO9qp9cx4Q My shed needs a rain gutter to avoid erosion on the ground at the eave end of the roof pitch.  i got dressed and drove into town. On the way to Lowes i stopped at the post office to pick up some mail just as the postmaster was unlocking...
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Dirt Dive

March 7, 2020 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode 579 March 7,2020 In skydiving we dirt dive the jump before getting on the airplane. Dirt diving is practicing the skydive on the ground (the dirt).   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A An organizer designs the dive and assigns the team members their positions. Everyone walks to their relative positions and takes up the grip that they will take in the air (my right hand on her left leg, etc.). If there will be more than one formation (point) then (on a signal) we switch grips to form the new point. The dirt dive is repeated several times until everyone has memorized the...
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Hate or Love

February 24, 2020 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode 578 February29, 2020 Computers have become the nexus of hate and of love.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w44dlsnJ1no We are empowered by the knowledge base of mankind. Google can answer any question we ask. The answers are both true and false. We have embraced technology so throughly that we tend to trust whatever we read on the Internet. In conversation, your interlocutor might question a statement that you make. You looked it up on the Internet last week. It was stated (with references) on Wikipedia. What i know is true and “who are you to question my knowledge?” Wikipedia is opinion. It...
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No phone

February 17, 2020 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode 577 February 22, 2020 Recently i spent three days in Big Sur. There was no cell signal and no wifi.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBw271tXyk There were 1000 year old Coastal Redwoods, a babbling river and timeless beauty. My alarm clock was the sun coming through an eastern window of the cabin. Coffee was made in a tin cup on the fireplace. The stove was gas. No programing required. i counted sunrises to know what the next thing on my calendar would be. The number of steps i took were not a subject for my pedometer. When i got to the end...
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Weather

February 14, 2020 Uncategorized 4 Comments
Episode #576 February 15, 2020 Weather forecasting used to be a joke.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N8IJL2MpfE George Carlin, as the Hippie Dippy Weather Man, famously said, “Tonight’s forecast, dark, continued dark tonight, turning to partly light in the morning.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1uaw3WIOlc Today weather services like Weather.com are extremely accurate. i am planning a trip to Big Sur for four days, then to San Francisco for another four and a return trip over one of the mountain passes. First i consulted Maps on my Macintosh to see what route i would be taking. My desired route will take me over the Tejon pass....
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