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Hints & rants

This weB-LOG contains helpful hints and rants about your Macintosh, Apple products and your electronic life.

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Category: Uncategorized

The Decision

November 17, 2021 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #669 November 27, 2021 I realize that some of my recent skydiving stories have not been the best advertisement for making a parachute jump. But these stories have a lesson. This one is about making the right decision. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfLqy83UHk8 The decision The twin turbine Otter roars down the runway. Wheels up and we are flying. Lake Elsinore fades away into a blue green pool as the Ortega mountains rush down. The airplane stabs through cumulous clouds and breaks out into a pure blue sky. 1500 feet. My wife Paula opens the door. Fresh air washes over us. I look...
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My Wife My Life

November 17, 2021 Uncategorized 7 Comments
Episode #668 November 20, 2021 “A towel, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy says], is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have.” — Douglas Adams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaEVAweUkGA Forest tubs It was a sunny summer day in the forest. Peppermint Creek was a rushing playful sparkle. It cut through trees, fern and boulders. The water was so clear that schools of river trout could be seen. Jays and warblers harmonized to the syncopating creek. Paula and I were dressed in shorts and sun shirts. We wore tennis shoes with no socks. The sun baked through the filter of...
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Why?

November 10, 2021 Uncategorized 7 Comments
Episode #667 November 13, 2021 A computer consultant can seldom answer the question “Why?”     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVub1QCUCGc Troubleshooting is an art which can uncover a problem, but may not reveal a cause. i have always used the troubleshooting method of split half analysis to determine WHAT the problem might be.  Split half is the process of eliminating everything except the problem. “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” — Michelangelo Buonarroti A problem exists inside its environment. Removing the filters...
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Goodbyes

November 5, 2021 Uncategorized 6 Comments
Episode #666 November 6, 2021 i love to say hello. i hate goodbyes.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rblYSKz_VnI Goodbye is a wrenching away of the bonds i have. It is not fair to me or to the other person. It is a disconnect. i think the distress i have with goodbyes came from when i dabbled in Scientology. While reading the book “Dianetics” i learned that there were relationship requirements between Scientology, its members, everyone else and me. At the heart of this teaching was the communication gap. There were subtleties of tone in communication training. However, an unbreakable precept was that...
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War

October 29, 2021 Uncategorized 3 Comments
Episode #665 October 30, 2021 Last month i entered a war with two colonies of ants.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I5zE4N6g9Q The invading wave of insects coincided with a concrete patio that i had poured around my house. i believe that their habitat was so disrupted that they sought out my home as a new foraging field. Other factors were involved. The ongoing drought was making the ants’ source of water scarce. i had grown a bit lax when it came to thoroughly cleaning kitchen and bathroom surfaces. The sudden onslaught of two different colonies did coincide with the patio construction. In some...
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Kindness vs Anger

October 22, 2021 Uncategorized 10 Comments
Episode #664 October 23, 2021   i struggle daily with impatience, intolerance and anger. They are gut reactions. There is no room in my self image for such emotions, yet there they are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHP5MKgK0o8 The antidote for impatience is understanding. The antithesis of intolerance is appreciation. The alternative to anger is kindness. The other day i was walking across a parking lot, head down to avoid the concrete parking stops, deep in thought. As i approached a fast food restaurant for lunch a man behind me yelled, “Why the hell did you walk behind my car?” As i turned toward...
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