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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Shoulder Pain

June 12, 2025 Uncategorized 7 Comments
Episode #854 June 14, 2025   Fortune smiled on Paula recently.         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpGpu-pIVEk Paula’s shoulder has been sore and aching for about a year. The pain was constant and severe enough to wake her up in the middle of the night. She was unsure of the cause, but repeated extension of her rotator cuff is an unavoidable feature of skydiving. Our general doctor referred Paula to an orthopedic surgeon. He was competent to give her cortisone shots and physical therapy exercises. Nothing alleviated the pain for long. Eventually, the surgeon ordered an MRI, which revealed a torn...
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The Comeback

June 5, 2025 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode #853 June 7, 2025 This week I divert from my normal blog with a short story.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipCCl3jvZC0 The comeback by Ricki T Thues Dick Desoto is walking through the woods behind his summer cabin in the mountains above Idyllwild. It is March, yet there is still an occasional crunch of icy snow under his military hiking boots. The trail is narrow, edged with boulders and Manzanita. Dick enters a clearing and shuffles through a bed of leaves. A twig cracks a few feet away. He comes to a sudden stop. Disturbing the silence is a rustling sound....
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Determined

May 25, 2025 Uncategorized 2 Comments
Episode #852 May 31, 2025 A one-word description of my personality is determined.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcjzHMhBtf0 Every situation can be addressed and assembled like a puzzle. Group the shapes. Group the colors. Research every aspect to visualize the big picture. Define the edges of the project to understand its limits. Apply all the straight-edged pieces to the edge. Understand and build a solution from the outside in. Eventually, at the end of the process, the last piece of the puzzle will be obvious. Don’t stop. Keep going. Determine your fate. The hardest part of finishing a project is finishing the...
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Selfish

May 19, 2025 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #851 May 24, 2025 We have come to expect everything all the time for ourselves.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ef9QnZVpVd8 Our expectations of others are so low that even with good intentions fall below our own self-image. Politicians are all corrupt. Teachers are brainwashing our children. Scientists are driving up the costs of manufacturing and, therefore, products with their fabricated pollution warnings. Climatologists invent the threat of global warming to justify higher taxes and fund expansive social programs.  Drivers own the road with their high beams and tailgating. Medication is a plot to make us sicker to sell more drugs. People...
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Audentis Fortuna Iuvat

May 15, 2025 Uncategorized 1 Comment
Episode #850  May 17, 2025 "Nona stamina ducit, Decima metitur, Morta secat." “Nona draws the threads, Decima measures, Morta cuts.” — Ovid paraphrase   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lweVp978_c The roles of the three Fates suggest the idea that aspects of our existence are beyond our control. But what of free will? Philosphers posit that conclusions like birth, major events or death might be fated, but fortune governs the path, opportunities, twists and turns along the way. Free will allows us to push the limits of what is achievable. “Fortune favors the bold” is a phrase used to encourage pushing the limits of what...
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Do Nothing

May 6, 2025 Uncategorized 5 Comments
Episode #849 May 10, 2025 Sometimes, but certainly not always, doing nothing is the right thing to do.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX2bE-OBtwk   Some weeks ago the smart light on my under-the-sink water filter faucet went out. The lights are meant to advise if the filter is OK, needs replacement soon, or must be replaced right now.  Green, yellow and red. It was the green light that extinguished. I could not remember how long ago I replaced the filter. I’m sure it was more than a year. The filter box claims that the filter is good for one year or 1000...
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