What You See Is What You Get!

It started on this past Thurs. I turned on my computer and something did not look right. All the icoms were about three times bigger than normal and were in different places on the screen. At this point I should say that I know just enough about computers to be dangerous(not blowing up or burning dangerous but still dangerous). So I set about the process of trying to figure out what was wrong. Nothing seemed to be out of wack except what I was seeing on the screen. At one point I started to monkey with the settings and made my screen go completely blank. I was afraid I was going to have to call Dell and talk to someone in India. These people are very nice but it is a very frustrating thing to have to do. Anyone who has had to call tech services knows what I mean. Cheryl told me a story this morning she heard yesterday a reunion committee meeting. One of the people at the meeting had to call Dell and after talking to someone in India was told to try something to fix her computers problem and to call back if this process did not fix the problem. This person was told to call and ask for Larry which is probably a very stange name for a tech person in India.
I could get back to my original look on the screen if I used restore to the previous day but this was very annoying. Than my McAfee started turning itself off than it started downloading a new version of itself that went on for about an hour. I decided it was best to close out and restart but the computer would not turn off because the message kept telling me that McAfee was running and I could not shutdown until it was done but, since it seemed to me that it had plans to never be done this could be a never ending problem. So I pushed the on/off button on the tower and got the same message. Now it seemed that McAfee had in fact taken over my computer. One choice I had was to throw the whole thing into the trash and take my sons suggestion and buy a MAC but I pushed the on/off button again and held it and it shut down. The poblem continued until this morning as I was getting up my courage and stamina to call India I mean Dell. I found a different section in properties and was able to solve the problem. I stil have McAfee hounding me about renewing my ant-span program but, I wil find a way to deal with that another day. I just hate it when my compurter sits and mocks me.

Well it is the time of year "To render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar's". Yes it is in fact tax time. It is the time of year that I approach the computer and Turbo Tax with trepidation. I plan during the year so that I come out about even but I sometimes don't get right on the mark. This year is good We actually get some back from both fed and state. Philosophically I am not opposed to taxes I believe that we need to pay for what we get. But, this time of year does in fact make me nervous. The envelopes are filled with forms and ready to mail. I made it through another tax year and can forget it till this time next year.

This is a test

Ah! Springtime in the hardware/home improvement business. This is the "season" that hardware stores do about 60% of their business. this makes for some long days for all involved. Yesterday was no exception for me. I drive a delivery truck for a small chain of True Value hardware stores. This is a very busy time of year for me until about the end of June. I was racing from thing to thing trying to get everything done. Stores needing things, deliveries that were forgotten to be scheduled for Friday trying to be done on Saturday deliveries being added when there was no chance to them being done. All in all a day meant for frustration and short tempers. I have a pretty high boiling point on my temper(through a lot of effort) but I do have my limits . I worked 11 and 1/2 hours without a break(I know You are all playing the world's smallest violin for me). While I was fighting the frustration and my temper I remembered what had happened on the very first delivery of the day. I went to a home to delive a pallet of builders that are used to make a raised edge around gardens and such. I delivered them with our biggest truck, the one that has a small forklift attached to it that can be taken off the truck and used to move material to a job site. It was about 7:15am and I was on a quiet street. I was concerned about noise and all kind of other details that come along with this truck. So as I start to move this pallet of builders to the customers driveway I notice that the owner is standing on the driveway directing me where he wants it put. I also catch sight of his son who is about 4 years old standing there in his coat and pajamas. He was just staring at me, he was in awe of the forklift and the noise of its motor and the big tires and all the commotion going on in his very own driveway. I thought to myself later how neat that must be for a little guy. He doesn't exactly know what's going on and probably was a little scared but there was a lot of noise and movement and it was a machine and he was probably pretty sure this was exciting. I thought latter that I wish I could view things like this little guy more often in life. Instead of taking everything so seriously all the time or worrying about things. I wish I could stand in awe of simple things without trying to analyze them or control them. I wish I could be more like a child.

Well I just finished a Do-it-yourself project that turned into one of life's frustrations. In the big scheme of things it was not a big deal but anyone who has ever started one of "those type of projects" around your home knows what I mean. This project was hanging a new ceiling fan. As most of these tasks it starts out as something that won't cost much and only take an hour or so. Well this job took about 8 hours and a lot of frustration. We are remodeling my oldest son's old bedroom and the fan that was there had come loose from the bracket so from the floor it seemed like and easy fix. Well with out getting into a lot of detail it was not and easy fix. I have not been much of a "fixer" lately but I am back at it now. I alwasys liked fixing things around the house but I had just gotten lazy. It is one of my goals to get back in the goove. It will probably take a while I get this old body in shape but, it's worth it. The next step is fixing the stairs on our deck and it probably won't cost much and it should only take an hour or so.