Our home internet and email connection is finally back after being completely down for one full week. While it really wasn’t a life-or-death situation, it was painful not being able to use my email, look at my bank account balance, pay bills on-line, or surf the web for information.
The first thing I did was to contact the customer support department at Earthlink, my internet provider. I went through the whole bit, describing everything to the Indian guy on the phone, checking this, typing that, until he finally came to the conclusion that my cable connection was out and that I needed to contact the Time Warner service department. This, however, was not so easy. Every call I made to Time Warner was transferred via their automated phone system back to Earthlink. I tried various combinations of menu selections, yet always got back to Earthlink.
The second day, almost by accident, I managed to connect to a recording that confirmed there were some service outages affecting internet access, they were aware of the situation, and they were working on it. Well, that was something, anyway. But the next day, the recording was gone and I still had no service. Did this mean they thought it was fixed? I wanted to talk to someone!
Day four, after continuing to punch through all possible combinations of menu options, I managed to connect to a live person in the service department! He confirmed that there was a service outage that covered a large area of Southern California. He assured me that I should be back on-line by the next day. But I was not back on-line the next day, or the day after.
By the seventh day, I was determined to either get the problem fixed or kill someone. I first talked to Time Warner, and they informed me that the service outage was no longer an issue, that my cable and modem both worked, and that I must contact Earthlink again. Earthlink once again took me through their trouble-shooting script and this time decided it was a Microsoft issue! I had been receiving an automatic update program from Microsoft which failed to load several times. Earthlink believed that this could be the reason for my problem.
Microsoft said they could fix my problem, but would have to charge me. Okay, by that time I thought it was worth it! After over an hour of trouble shooting with the Microsoft Indian guy, the final solution was to do a system restore back to a week ago, before I lost internet access. We also disabled the automated Microsoft updates, which apparently aren’t compatible with my computer for some reason. Well, it worked.
Perhaps I should have known to do a system restore without having to pay for a service call. I’ll know next time. But I hope there is no next time. Dreamer!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Grasshopper Goes Alternative
I’ve always wanted to try alternative healing and finally had a reason do to so. It all started last month when I caught a cold with a slight cough on the 4th of July. It seemed like an ordinary cold that was running its course nicely by the end of the next week, but then worsened into chest congestion and a stuffy nose that wouldn’t go away. Week three of my misery, I finally went to the doctor, who diagnosed a sinus infection and gave me the standard antibiotics and decongestants to take for it. I took the antibiotics, my nose seemed to be less congested, and all was going well until I broke out in big, red, itchy spots about a week into the antibiotic treatment. Total misery! The doctor’s remedy was, you guessed it, yet another drug prescription to offset the effects of the first one.
This, I decided was the perfect opportunity to try a different approach, one focused more on the whole person, rather than treatment of symptoms. I asked around and got a glowing recommendation for a local lady who is an acupuncturist/natural healer. I arrived at my appointment quite excited to start on this new venture.
Unlike the usual 10-minutes with a conventional doctor, my first treatment session lasted well over an hour and consisted of much in-depth personal discussion about my health history. I told her about my apparent low immunity to colds this last year, my allergies, my normal diet. She then performed acupuncture, which truly did not hurt at all, massaged by head and sinuses, and did a relaxation exercise. Her diagnosis: I needed to rid my body of toxins and let go of obsessive over-thinking as well. I went home with a bag full of supplements and instructions to stop using antihistamines for allergy, to avoid sugar, white bread, and white rice and to eat lots of greens.
I willingly followed the program for nearly a week. Then, a very slight, barely noticeable skin rash that started shortly after beginning my supplement program began to spread and started to really itch. It was obvious to me that I was having an allergic reaction to one of the supplements, perhaps because my system was still hyper-sensitive after reacting to the antibiotics.
I emailed my practitioner with my concerns and asked if I might need to drop one of the supplements. Instead, however, I was told to take mega doses of Vitamin C and to be sure I wasn’t inadvertently eating any sugar. You see, in this particular world view, there is no such thing as an allergy. My body was simply ridding itself of “toxins.” After a day or so of obsessive over-thinking, I made the decision to drop two supplements out of my regimen and see if the rash improves. I suspect it will.
So does this end my experiment with alternative medicine? Perhaps not. I haven’t yet decided whether to return for a follow-up session, but am leaning toward the negative. On the other hand, I plan to continue on a couple of the supplements she recommended, as well as the diet. I’m also pursuing some herbal alternatives to antihistamines for my allergies, which show some promise, as well as some herbs to improve immunity. We’ll see if I get fewer colds next year!
This, I decided was the perfect opportunity to try a different approach, one focused more on the whole person, rather than treatment of symptoms. I asked around and got a glowing recommendation for a local lady who is an acupuncturist/natural healer. I arrived at my appointment quite excited to start on this new venture.
Unlike the usual 10-minutes with a conventional doctor, my first treatment session lasted well over an hour and consisted of much in-depth personal discussion about my health history. I told her about my apparent low immunity to colds this last year, my allergies, my normal diet. She then performed acupuncture, which truly did not hurt at all, massaged by head and sinuses, and did a relaxation exercise. Her diagnosis: I needed to rid my body of toxins and let go of obsessive over-thinking as well. I went home with a bag full of supplements and instructions to stop using antihistamines for allergy, to avoid sugar, white bread, and white rice and to eat lots of greens.
I willingly followed the program for nearly a week. Then, a very slight, barely noticeable skin rash that started shortly after beginning my supplement program began to spread and started to really itch. It was obvious to me that I was having an allergic reaction to one of the supplements, perhaps because my system was still hyper-sensitive after reacting to the antibiotics.
I emailed my practitioner with my concerns and asked if I might need to drop one of the supplements. Instead, however, I was told to take mega doses of Vitamin C and to be sure I wasn’t inadvertently eating any sugar. You see, in this particular world view, there is no such thing as an allergy. My body was simply ridding itself of “toxins.” After a day or so of obsessive over-thinking, I made the decision to drop two supplements out of my regimen and see if the rash improves. I suspect it will.
So does this end my experiment with alternative medicine? Perhaps not. I haven’t yet decided whether to return for a follow-up session, but am leaning toward the negative. On the other hand, I plan to continue on a couple of the supplements she recommended, as well as the diet. I’m also pursuing some herbal alternatives to antihistamines for my allergies, which show some promise, as well as some herbs to improve immunity. We’ll see if I get fewer colds next year!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Gotta Have Friends
I just finished an interesting book called Vital Friends by Tom Rath. Rath was associated with the Gallup organization, as well as other major research firms and specializes in studying the impact of friendship on peoples’ lives. While the book discusses many types of friendships, it focuses a great deal on the workplace, and how having a best friend at work can make a huge difference in an employee’s productivity, engagement, and job satisfaction. This got my attention.
One of the things I missed most when I retired was the daily interaction with my co-workers, even though I didn’t actually have one “best friend” and the work environment was becoming far less conducive to employee socializing. Looking back, I’ve always had a best friend or a few very close friends almost everywhere I worked, and when I didn’t, my stay was short. Rath validates what I’ve always felt: it’s the people you work with who make the job bearable – or unbearable.
Filling that friendship void when you don’t have co-workers anymore takes effort. I meet with my former co-workers for lunch periodically. It’s always great to see them, but it’s just not the same as working with them every day. There is something about sharing the same goals, problems, and daily frustrations that makes co-workers close. I’ve met new people through my volunteer work, but don’t see them often enough for that “co-worker bond” to form quite as easily. In time, though, I think it will happen.
More on this subject in a future post. . . .
Note: I will now be posting the same pieces both in Blogspot and in MyBoomerPlace, so that my Blogspot readers who do not want to register in MyBoomerPlace can still access them. Thanks to everyone who has supported my writing efforts.
One of the things I missed most when I retired was the daily interaction with my co-workers, even though I didn’t actually have one “best friend” and the work environment was becoming far less conducive to employee socializing. Looking back, I’ve always had a best friend or a few very close friends almost everywhere I worked, and when I didn’t, my stay was short. Rath validates what I’ve always felt: it’s the people you work with who make the job bearable – or unbearable.
Filling that friendship void when you don’t have co-workers anymore takes effort. I meet with my former co-workers for lunch periodically. It’s always great to see them, but it’s just not the same as working with them every day. There is something about sharing the same goals, problems, and daily frustrations that makes co-workers close. I’ve met new people through my volunteer work, but don’t see them often enough for that “co-worker bond” to form quite as easily. In time, though, I think it will happen.
More on this subject in a future post. . . .
Note: I will now be posting the same pieces both in Blogspot and in MyBoomerPlace, so that my Blogspot readers who do not want to register in MyBoomerPlace can still access them. Thanks to everyone who has supported my writing efforts.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
This is Serious
There’s a lot on the news lately about the high price of gas and the possibility that it will dump us into a Recession. It doesn’t sound too different from the over-hyped news stories of past years that we usually tuned out, as long as we were still able to fill our tanks. This time, though, it may be more than just saying “ouch” and paying a little more. This time is serious.
A long, long time ago during the 1970’s, we experienced a nationwide gasoline shortage that resulted in gas-rationing, less recreational driving, car-pooling, and a rush to buy more fuel-efficient cars, like the then new Honda. The shortage didn’t last very long, though, and we soon forgot all about it. And although gas prices continued to rise and fuel-efficient Japanese cars became decidedly less “foreign” to us, we gradually started buying bigger and bigger cars again until, today, there seem to be far more gas-guzzling SUVs than anything else on the road.
Then came 2008. While we have become accustomed to rising gas prices, which then level off for awhile as we adjust to them, no one seemed prepared for the rapid and steep increases that experts predict will continue to $6, possibly even $10 per gallon. We are finally reaching the point where gasoline will be truly unaffordable. The trouble is, we’re reaching this point seemingly overnight, while our society can’t change that fast.
Planes still use only petroleum-based fuel, and airlines are losing money. They can’t raise fares high enough to offset their fuel costs without also losing customers. Many will go out of business. Truckers can barely afford to fill their tanks for long hauls across country. Many will go out of business, and the price of shipping goods (and, therefore, the price of nearly everything) will continue to rise.
Some people, already living on the edge, will fall off that edge. Most people will simply cut back on other spending in order to afford gas in their cars to go to work. Less spending equals Recession.
I believe that we will eventually solve our energy problem. Unfortunately, it will take years for the country to agree upon a cost-effective alternative to petroleum fuels, develop and produce that alternative, and convert everything that currently runs on petroleum. In the meantime, people are hurting. Why did it take us so long to wake up? The truth is, we didn’t want to hear the truth, and we elected “leaders” who only told us what we wanted to hear, not what we needed to do.
A long, long time ago during the 1970’s, we experienced a nationwide gasoline shortage that resulted in gas-rationing, less recreational driving, car-pooling, and a rush to buy more fuel-efficient cars, like the then new Honda. The shortage didn’t last very long, though, and we soon forgot all about it. And although gas prices continued to rise and fuel-efficient Japanese cars became decidedly less “foreign” to us, we gradually started buying bigger and bigger cars again until, today, there seem to be far more gas-guzzling SUVs than anything else on the road.
Then came 2008. While we have become accustomed to rising gas prices, which then level off for awhile as we adjust to them, no one seemed prepared for the rapid and steep increases that experts predict will continue to $6, possibly even $10 per gallon. We are finally reaching the point where gasoline will be truly unaffordable. The trouble is, we’re reaching this point seemingly overnight, while our society can’t change that fast.
Planes still use only petroleum-based fuel, and airlines are losing money. They can’t raise fares high enough to offset their fuel costs without also losing customers. Many will go out of business. Truckers can barely afford to fill their tanks for long hauls across country. Many will go out of business, and the price of shipping goods (and, therefore, the price of nearly everything) will continue to rise.
Some people, already living on the edge, will fall off that edge. Most people will simply cut back on other spending in order to afford gas in their cars to go to work. Less spending equals Recession.
I believe that we will eventually solve our energy problem. Unfortunately, it will take years for the country to agree upon a cost-effective alternative to petroleum fuels, develop and produce that alternative, and convert everything that currently runs on petroleum. In the meantime, people are hurting. Why did it take us so long to wake up? The truth is, we didn’t want to hear the truth, and we elected “leaders” who only told us what we wanted to hear, not what we needed to do.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Retired One Year!
A couple of weeks ago, I received a request to take an on-line survey from my former employer. The survey targeted recent early retirees and tried to determine not only why we retired early, but whether the company could have done anything to keep us longer. I found the survey to be well-designed and interesting. It made me really search my own soul.
I’ve been retired a whole year now, and sometimes retirement still doesn’t seem natural to me. Most of my adult life, I enjoyed working and got a lot of self esteem from my job. But by the time I decided to retire, that joy of working was gone, for the most part. Would I have stayed on the job longer if offered part-time hours with medical benefits? Part-time with a full pension? How about a paid sabbatical? Contract work? These survey questions probed to the heart of the matter: did I really want to stop working altogether, or did I just need more time off?
Continuing to work at the same job part-time might have given me more time to exercise, cook, and go to the beach, but I doubt that I would have enjoyed the job itself any more. So I might have considered it, but probably wouldn’t have accepted a part-time offer. The idea of a sabbatical or contract work was even more interesting. Taking a break from work altogether could certainly help in a situation of job burn-out or long-term stress. But once again, I probably would have turned down such an offer after seriously thinking about it. In the end, my motivation for retiring was not stress or burn-out as much as lack of passion for what I was doing.
I applaud the company for finally realizing that it needs to take steps to retain its most experienced people. I have no doubt that many people considering retirement would be receptive to a phased, work-to-retirement option of part-time work, contract work, or a paid sabbatical. But the key to retaining employees, retirement age or not, is a little more complicated than offering benefits and incentives.
I’ve been retired a whole year now, and sometimes retirement still doesn’t seem natural to me. Most of my adult life, I enjoyed working and got a lot of self esteem from my job. But by the time I decided to retire, that joy of working was gone, for the most part. Would I have stayed on the job longer if offered part-time hours with medical benefits? Part-time with a full pension? How about a paid sabbatical? Contract work? These survey questions probed to the heart of the matter: did I really want to stop working altogether, or did I just need more time off?
Continuing to work at the same job part-time might have given me more time to exercise, cook, and go to the beach, but I doubt that I would have enjoyed the job itself any more. So I might have considered it, but probably wouldn’t have accepted a part-time offer. The idea of a sabbatical or contract work was even more interesting. Taking a break from work altogether could certainly help in a situation of job burn-out or long-term stress. But once again, I probably would have turned down such an offer after seriously thinking about it. In the end, my motivation for retiring was not stress or burn-out as much as lack of passion for what I was doing.
I applaud the company for finally realizing that it needs to take steps to retain its most experienced people. I have no doubt that many people considering retirement would be receptive to a phased, work-to-retirement option of part-time work, contract work, or a paid sabbatical. But the key to retaining employees, retirement age or not, is a little more complicated than offering benefits and incentives.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Wake Up!
We’ve been on Daylight Savings Time for about 3 weeks now, and I must admit that I’m still not completely adjusted. Perhaps the artificial time change just started too soon, a supposed energy-saving measure that some suspect was really designed to boost retail sales, giving people more daylight hours for shopping.
The government’s “stimulus payment” to taxpayers is also supposed to help boost retail sales and “jump start” the economy, though most people I know aren’t going to go right out and buy something with that money, and if they did, the money wouldn’t go very far, so the effect on the economy would be short-lived. What would really cause people to buy more over the long term would be lower gasoline, food, housing, and health care costs; secure, better paying jobs; and getting out from under their personal debt.
When are our elected officials going to realize that the American people aren’t little children that can be pacified with free candy? Who is paying for the candy, and when are they going to start working together to solve the problems that got us into this mess in the first place? I’m getting a little tired of all the political posturing and bickering between Republicans and Democrats or even among those of the same party. We’re all in this together, folks! Let’s get to work!
The government’s “stimulus payment” to taxpayers is also supposed to help boost retail sales and “jump start” the economy, though most people I know aren’t going to go right out and buy something with that money, and if they did, the money wouldn’t go very far, so the effect on the economy would be short-lived. What would really cause people to buy more over the long term would be lower gasoline, food, housing, and health care costs; secure, better paying jobs; and getting out from under their personal debt.
When are our elected officials going to realize that the American people aren’t little children that can be pacified with free candy? Who is paying for the candy, and when are they going to start working together to solve the problems that got us into this mess in the first place? I’m getting a little tired of all the political posturing and bickering between Republicans and Democrats or even among those of the same party. We’re all in this together, folks! Let’s get to work!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Update on Those Cats
It took some doing, but I finally convinced Tom that we urgently needed to capture and spay the stray cats (pictured in my last post). I borrowed three humane “trap-and-release” cages from Lynne of the Whiskers and Tails Foundation. Tom had a lot of anxiety about frightening the cats and separating them from one another, but one fine morning he managed to capture Momma Cat within a matter of minutes after baiting the trap with her favorite Fancy Feast canned food.
Momma endured the trip to Animal Birth Control with quiet grace and came through her operation with flying colors. Tom was much relieved – at least until we released her and she decided to pull one of her disappearing acts. I was sure she was so happy to be out of the cage that she was out visiting all of her favorite hang-outs around the neighborhood. Still, it was a relief when she finally reappeared two days later to have a snack and take a nap in the garage.
Snowflake was the next to go. We weren’t entirely certain that Snowflake was female, but our hunch proved correct. Not only was she female but, like Momma, she was also pregnant! Snowflake also came through her operation very well, but cried and pawed to get out of the cage. Thunder missed her, too, as they had been nearly inseparable. So soft-hearted Tom released her, perhaps sooner than he should have, and to our surprise, she and Thunder immediately darted under the house through an open grate. Once again, we worried and watched for nearly two days until Snowflake emerged from her hiding place, happy and healthy and seemingly oblivious to what had happened to her.
As a result of making the difficult decision to capture our free-wheeling strays for just a little while, we avoided being overrun by multiplying stray kittens and will continue to enjoy our three “garage cats” without fear of the situation getting out of hand. Still TBD: little Thunder, a male, will also eventually need to be captured and neutered.
Momma endured the trip to Animal Birth Control with quiet grace and came through her operation with flying colors. Tom was much relieved – at least until we released her and she decided to pull one of her disappearing acts. I was sure she was so happy to be out of the cage that she was out visiting all of her favorite hang-outs around the neighborhood. Still, it was a relief when she finally reappeared two days later to have a snack and take a nap in the garage.
Snowflake was the next to go. We weren’t entirely certain that Snowflake was female, but our hunch proved correct. Not only was she female but, like Momma, she was also pregnant! Snowflake also came through her operation very well, but cried and pawed to get out of the cage. Thunder missed her, too, as they had been nearly inseparable. So soft-hearted Tom released her, perhaps sooner than he should have, and to our surprise, she and Thunder immediately darted under the house through an open grate. Once again, we worried and watched for nearly two days until Snowflake emerged from her hiding place, happy and healthy and seemingly oblivious to what had happened to her.
As a result of making the difficult decision to capture our free-wheeling strays for just a little while, we avoided being overrun by multiplying stray kittens and will continue to enjoy our three “garage cats” without fear of the situation getting out of hand. Still TBD: little Thunder, a male, will also eventually need to be captured and neutered.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Thunder, Snowflake, and the Momma Cat
A stray black cat gave birth to three kittens in our neighbor’s back yard last summer. Only one kitten survived: a spunky tabby with dark stripes and white feet. My husband Tom named it Thunder. Tom began feeding Thunder and Momma in front of our house and even set up soft beds for them, first in the garden and later in the garage, to protect them from the rain and cold.
Thunder and Momma were soon joined by a small white kitten/cat with one blue eye and one gold eye and a distinctive black tail. Tom called the white cat Snowflake. Thunder and Snowflake soon became inseparable buddies.
I was ambivalent about trying to adopt one or more of the strays, since I already have a 10-year-old cat named Tomo, who stays in the house nearly all of the time and doesn’t much care for other cats. But it didn’t matter anyway. Momma wouldn’t let anyone near Thunder, while Snowflake darted away every time anyone approached. We couldn’t even get near enough to determine the gender of the kittens, although we now think Thunder is a male and Snowflake is female. They are all, I’m afraid, now too accustomed to their freedom to ever become house pets.
As spring approaches, Momma appears to be in heat. Tom wants to adopt one of her kittens next time, if there are any. But Momma is a stray, after all. She no longer sleeps in the garage every night and often disappears for days at a time. Who knows where she will have her next litter. Meanwhile, we watch Thunder and Snowflake from our front window as they grow into mature cats, so close and yet so out of reach.
Thunder and Momma were soon joined by a small white kitten/cat with one blue eye and one gold eye and a distinctive black tail. Tom called the white cat Snowflake. Thunder and Snowflake soon became inseparable buddies.
I was ambivalent about trying to adopt one or more of the strays, since I already have a 10-year-old cat named Tomo, who stays in the house nearly all of the time and doesn’t much care for other cats. But it didn’t matter anyway. Momma wouldn’t let anyone near Thunder, while Snowflake darted away every time anyone approached. We couldn’t even get near enough to determine the gender of the kittens, although we now think Thunder is a male and Snowflake is female. They are all, I’m afraid, now too accustomed to their freedom to ever become house pets.
As spring approaches, Momma appears to be in heat. Tom wants to adopt one of her kittens next time, if there are any. But Momma is a stray, after all. She no longer sleeps in the garage every night and often disappears for days at a time. Who knows where she will have her next litter. Meanwhile, we watch Thunder and Snowflake from our front window as they grow into mature cats, so close and yet so out of reach.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Gratitude
2008 started out as a bad news year. I’ve had news of friends and family members losing their jobs, serious illnesses within my extended family, and the death of a cousin who was so loved and will be deeply missed by many. All this bad news came while I, along with everyone around me, it seemed, fought off a miserable winter virus with chicken soup and hot tea. I spent the first month of 2008 just wishing things would get better for everyone who is having a bad time.
Having lived through similar challenges myself, it was not difficult for me to empathize with the troubles of my friends and relatives and to become sad when thinking about how quickly good times can turn bad. Sometimes I need to remind myself how important it is to be grateful for all the good in my life. A habit of gratitude enriches the good times and helps us through the tough times that are bound to come. In my volunteer work, I talk to folks who are in some very tough circumstances, and I’m constantly surprised by how cheerful, strong, and optimistic some are. Their gratitude, whether it is for a long life that was good most of the time, people who care, small everyday pleasures, or memories of loved ones who are gone, keeps them going and helps them find the joy in life underneath the sadness.
Having lived through similar challenges myself, it was not difficult for me to empathize with the troubles of my friends and relatives and to become sad when thinking about how quickly good times can turn bad. Sometimes I need to remind myself how important it is to be grateful for all the good in my life. A habit of gratitude enriches the good times and helps us through the tough times that are bound to come. In my volunteer work, I talk to folks who are in some very tough circumstances, and I’m constantly surprised by how cheerful, strong, and optimistic some are. Their gratitude, whether it is for a long life that was good most of the time, people who care, small everyday pleasures, or memories of loved ones who are gone, keeps them going and helps them find the joy in life underneath the sadness.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
California Dreamin'
Last Saturday evening, we watched a postcard-perfect, orange and purple sunset from Kincaid’s on Redondo Pier, while waves lapped over the breakwater and families leisurely strolled the boardwalk. It was enough to make me forget the 25-minute gridlock we had just escaped in the parking garage. That, in a nutshell, is why people love living in Southern California . . . and why they hate that so many other people love living in Southern California.
In the last several years, condos and town homes have sprung up on every inch of spare land in the South Bay, including industrial/commercial areas and former swamp land, bringing in more people and more cars. As a result, the once laid-back South Bay now has traffic that more resembles downtown LA. While I try to avoid the beach on weekends during the peak summer season, I sometimes forget that there are now so many locals who also want to take advantage of a sunny Saturday during the off-season.
I’m not complaining much, though. After all, it’s February, and most of the country is dealing with snow, ice, and floods while we complain that beach parking is too crowded! This is the good life, folks. (But don’t tell anyone; there are too many people here already.)
In the last several years, condos and town homes have sprung up on every inch of spare land in the South Bay, including industrial/commercial areas and former swamp land, bringing in more people and more cars. As a result, the once laid-back South Bay now has traffic that more resembles downtown LA. While I try to avoid the beach on weekends during the peak summer season, I sometimes forget that there are now so many locals who also want to take advantage of a sunny Saturday during the off-season.
I’m not complaining much, though. After all, it’s February, and most of the country is dealing with snow, ice, and floods while we complain that beach parking is too crowded! This is the good life, folks. (But don’t tell anyone; there are too many people here already.)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Beyond Super Tuesday
Well, Super Tuesday is over and, thankfully, so are those endless Indian Gaming ads. Tom and I each voted for different candidates by mail-in ballot, and they both have dropped out, so we’re even.
Seriously, though, this election year we all have some critical choices to make, and no matter who wins, things are going to change. That’s exciting. I think everyone agrees there are many issues that urgently need to be addressed, including health care, the economy, Middle East policy, immigration, energy. My only hope is that all Americans vote with their heads and support the candidate whom they believe has the ideas and the leadership ability to get things done and solve these problems.
What a great country we live in to have such a diverse field of candidates to choose from! But in the end, gender, race, age, religion, or even political party should be irrelevant. The problems are complex, and Congress has been ineffective in solving them due to partisan bickering and political b-s. Our next president must be someone who can end the stalemate and start fixing what’s broken.
Seriously, though, this election year we all have some critical choices to make, and no matter who wins, things are going to change. That’s exciting. I think everyone agrees there are many issues that urgently need to be addressed, including health care, the economy, Middle East policy, immigration, energy. My only hope is that all Americans vote with their heads and support the candidate whom they believe has the ideas and the leadership ability to get things done and solve these problems.
What a great country we live in to have such a diverse field of candidates to choose from! But in the end, gender, race, age, religion, or even political party should be irrelevant. The problems are complex, and Congress has been ineffective in solving them due to partisan bickering and political b-s. Our next president must be someone who can end the stalemate and start fixing what’s broken.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas Wishes
I have a thousand things to do before Christmas Eve, but instead of doing them, I am sitting by the window, watching the rain. This was going to be a stress-free holiday season, my first as a retiree; but Christmas is a busy and emotionally-loaded time of year for everyone, regardless of their situations, I think. Listening to rain always gives me a feeling of relief and release. It calms me.
Tom and I delivered baskets, gifts, and quilts to seniors today. In the past, my Christmas charitable activities had been limited to writing checks, and I looked forward to this more hands-on experience. This is going to be my life from now on; getting out there and trying to find meaning for living, rather than working all the time to earn a living. Only trouble is, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to completely make sense of it all.
I get satisfaction out of letting lonely seniors know that someone cares, but feel sad that so many people end their lives in that circumstance and wonder if I will, too. I feel happy when I reconnect with my aunts and uncles at Christmas time, but feel sad that so many of them are now gone or are declining physically. I enjoy selecting gifts for friends and family members, but stress out on whether my selections will be appropriate or inadvertently convey the wrong message, and I still feel a little bit conflicted about the materialistic aspect of it all.
In the end, though, I look forward to Christmas. I enjoy the lights and the decorations and the food and the parties, and most of all that collective feeling of sincere good-will that I think is the true cultural meaning of this holiday.
I wish a wonderful Christmas holiday to all my family and friends.
Tom and I delivered baskets, gifts, and quilts to seniors today. In the past, my Christmas charitable activities had been limited to writing checks, and I looked forward to this more hands-on experience. This is going to be my life from now on; getting out there and trying to find meaning for living, rather than working all the time to earn a living. Only trouble is, I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to completely make sense of it all.
I get satisfaction out of letting lonely seniors know that someone cares, but feel sad that so many people end their lives in that circumstance and wonder if I will, too. I feel happy when I reconnect with my aunts and uncles at Christmas time, but feel sad that so many of them are now gone or are declining physically. I enjoy selecting gifts for friends and family members, but stress out on whether my selections will be appropriate or inadvertently convey the wrong message, and I still feel a little bit conflicted about the materialistic aspect of it all.
In the end, though, I look forward to Christmas. I enjoy the lights and the decorations and the food and the parties, and most of all that collective feeling of sincere good-will that I think is the true cultural meaning of this holiday.
I wish a wonderful Christmas holiday to all my family and friends.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Multi-Tasking: Just Say No!
Standing in line at Petco, a man carrying a sack of dog food under one arm yakked on his cell-phone while examining a rubber mat hanging near the check-out line. Because he couldn’t quite grasp the mat with his one free hand, the mat swung around and knocked a ceramic mug to the ground, shattering it into a dozen pieces. This caused the cashier to leave her station to clean up the mess, thereby slowing down the entire line of customers waiting to pay for their purchases. Another fine mess which could have been prevented if the man in question had simply been paying attention to what he was doing instead of trying to do too many things at once. And another example of mindless and unnecessary multi-tasking, since the phone call sounded to this bystander like an inane social conversation that could have waited five minutes.
One of my pet peeves is cell-phoning drivers. It seems like every time the driver ahead of me forgets to go when the light turns green, or cuts someone off to change lanes at the last possible minute in order to make a turn, it’s because he or she is on the phone. I sometimes wonder how so many people can have so many important calls that can’t wait until they get home when, just a few years ago, cells phones didn’t exist, yet people managed to survive somehow. Now some cars come equipped with DVD players and other assorted high-tech gadgets. The new opportunities for distracted driving boggle the mind.
I believe in doing one thing at a time. I learned a long time ago that if you have five files open on your desk at the same time, none of them will get done and some piece of paper is bound to get lost. Finish one thing, put it away, then start the next one. Some people think they’re being more efficient if they can talk on the phone, read email, and write a budget report while eating lunch when, instead, each task is only getting a small portion of their attention it needs. The increasing trend toward doing more than one thing at a time is not resulting in a society that is more efficient – just more distracted and accident-prone.
One of my pet peeves is cell-phoning drivers. It seems like every time the driver ahead of me forgets to go when the light turns green, or cuts someone off to change lanes at the last possible minute in order to make a turn, it’s because he or she is on the phone. I sometimes wonder how so many people can have so many important calls that can’t wait until they get home when, just a few years ago, cells phones didn’t exist, yet people managed to survive somehow. Now some cars come equipped with DVD players and other assorted high-tech gadgets. The new opportunities for distracted driving boggle the mind.
I believe in doing one thing at a time. I learned a long time ago that if you have five files open on your desk at the same time, none of them will get done and some piece of paper is bound to get lost. Finish one thing, put it away, then start the next one. Some people think they’re being more efficient if they can talk on the phone, read email, and write a budget report while eating lunch when, instead, each task is only getting a small portion of their attention it needs. The increasing trend toward doing more than one thing at a time is not resulting in a society that is more efficient – just more distracted and accident-prone.
Monday, October 1, 2007
The Disc Drive Saga
After three months of comedy and agony, the CD/DVD burner on our computer is finally fixed and my husband is happily churning out copies of a home movie to send to his kids. I had nearly given up on ever arriving at this happy ending.
It all a started when I first showed my husband how easy it was to use the computer to burn a copy of a home movie he had converted to a DVD disc. He was impressed and wanted to make more DVD copies. As luck would have it, though, the CD/DVD burner started malfunctioning shortly afterward. I tried updating the Nero burning software at a cost of $69, but to no avail. It was the hardware, and the drive was now incapable of burning, playing, or even recognizing any CD or DVD disc that was placed into it.
Not to worry, though. We had a service contract with Comp USA! I called. The part would be sent directly to our house, and as soon as it arrived, a technician would come out to install it. Naively, I assumed this would take place within a week or two. But when we left on our vacation trip over a month later, the part still hadn’t arrived.
When we returned from vacation, there was a message on our answering machine from Comp USA: please call to set an appointment time. According to Comp USA, the part had been delivered the day before we arrived home. But where was it? UPS left it on our porch, and apparently it had been lost or stolen. A replacement part had to be ordered.
Curiously, it arrived in only two weeks this time, and a technician installed it the next day. Before the technician left, I burned a test CD. It worked, and I was elated. Then I tried to make a disc-to-disc copy of my husband’s home movie DVD. Error message. The technician patiently explained that I couldn’t use a DVD disc in a CD burner. I patiently replied that the part he replaced was supposed to be a DVD burner. That was when we both realized that Comp USA had sent the wrong part!
The technician called Comp USA and reported the error. Comp USA wanted him to remove the new CD burner he had just installed, but he refused, for which I was grateful. At least I could now burn some photo CDs that I’d been waiting to do for a month. Meanwhile, a new part was ordered.
So we were back to square one, again waiting for a delivery. And again, when it arrived about a week later, it was the wrong part, a DVD ROM which, Comp USA admitted, wasn’t going to burn anything. Yet another part was ordered. Would number four be the charm??
Maybe. The right part arrive only a day or two later. We wondered why the first one took over a month. A different technician, a young woman, arrived to install it. This time, I cut right to the chase and tried making a disc-to-disc DVD copy. It appeared to work at first, but the DVD copy would not play. We tried again and again. It was getting late. The technician tried one more time, this time using a longer burning method, and left before it finished. See if it works, see if the discs play in another machine, try a different medium, she said as she headed for the door. If not, maybe the part is bad and we’ll have to order another one!
My husband, to say the least, was not a happy camper, and immediately called Comp USA, demanding that they send someone “that knows what they are doing.” We needed a trouble-shooter, since we had no idea whether it was a hardware or software problem, but Comp USA doesn’t make house calls for that sort of thing. We would have to bring the computer in. Since all Comp USA stores have disappeared from our area over the last couple of years, and the nearest service center is now two hours away, that was out of the question. I would either have to figure it out myself, or we would give up on the service contract and hire a private computer expert.
I studied the Nero manual from cover-to-cover trying to decipher any possible software issues, and eventually learned that there was an electronic log file on my hard drive that listed all the error messages when a process failed. I read the log, and most of it made no sense to me . . . except for one line out of seventeen pages that indicated a DVD +RW disc is not compatible with the Windows XT operating system on our computer. Perhaps all I needed was a different disc! After making the first DVD copy on a stray blank DVD disc, we had gone out and bought what we assumed were the best quality DVD discs in the store, the “plus” version. It was midnight and all the stores were closed, so I hardly slept all night, wondering if my problems would all be solved by the simple purchase of a different DVD disc, without the “plus.”
The next day, I bought a small package of blank DVD-R discs, took them home, and tried making the copy. Unbelievably, this time it worked.
So this story is ended, and I’m not sure that the message is. I don’t know why it took Comp USA four tries to get the right part to us, and I don’t know why the technician didn’t know about the Nero error log. I love having a computer at home, but I’m just not smart enough to know everything about it. And I sure miss the IT department at the company where I used to work!
It all a started when I first showed my husband how easy it was to use the computer to burn a copy of a home movie he had converted to a DVD disc. He was impressed and wanted to make more DVD copies. As luck would have it, though, the CD/DVD burner started malfunctioning shortly afterward. I tried updating the Nero burning software at a cost of $69, but to no avail. It was the hardware, and the drive was now incapable of burning, playing, or even recognizing any CD or DVD disc that was placed into it.
Not to worry, though. We had a service contract with Comp USA! I called. The part would be sent directly to our house, and as soon as it arrived, a technician would come out to install it. Naively, I assumed this would take place within a week or two. But when we left on our vacation trip over a month later, the part still hadn’t arrived.
When we returned from vacation, there was a message on our answering machine from Comp USA: please call to set an appointment time. According to Comp USA, the part had been delivered the day before we arrived home. But where was it? UPS left it on our porch, and apparently it had been lost or stolen. A replacement part had to be ordered.
Curiously, it arrived in only two weeks this time, and a technician installed it the next day. Before the technician left, I burned a test CD. It worked, and I was elated. Then I tried to make a disc-to-disc copy of my husband’s home movie DVD. Error message. The technician patiently explained that I couldn’t use a DVD disc in a CD burner. I patiently replied that the part he replaced was supposed to be a DVD burner. That was when we both realized that Comp USA had sent the wrong part!
The technician called Comp USA and reported the error. Comp USA wanted him to remove the new CD burner he had just installed, but he refused, for which I was grateful. At least I could now burn some photo CDs that I’d been waiting to do for a month. Meanwhile, a new part was ordered.
So we were back to square one, again waiting for a delivery. And again, when it arrived about a week later, it was the wrong part, a DVD ROM which, Comp USA admitted, wasn’t going to burn anything. Yet another part was ordered. Would number four be the charm??
Maybe. The right part arrive only a day or two later. We wondered why the first one took over a month. A different technician, a young woman, arrived to install it. This time, I cut right to the chase and tried making a disc-to-disc DVD copy. It appeared to work at first, but the DVD copy would not play. We tried again and again. It was getting late. The technician tried one more time, this time using a longer burning method, and left before it finished. See if it works, see if the discs play in another machine, try a different medium, she said as she headed for the door. If not, maybe the part is bad and we’ll have to order another one!
My husband, to say the least, was not a happy camper, and immediately called Comp USA, demanding that they send someone “that knows what they are doing.” We needed a trouble-shooter, since we had no idea whether it was a hardware or software problem, but Comp USA doesn’t make house calls for that sort of thing. We would have to bring the computer in. Since all Comp USA stores have disappeared from our area over the last couple of years, and the nearest service center is now two hours away, that was out of the question. I would either have to figure it out myself, or we would give up on the service contract and hire a private computer expert.
I studied the Nero manual from cover-to-cover trying to decipher any possible software issues, and eventually learned that there was an electronic log file on my hard drive that listed all the error messages when a process failed. I read the log, and most of it made no sense to me . . . except for one line out of seventeen pages that indicated a DVD +RW disc is not compatible with the Windows XT operating system on our computer. Perhaps all I needed was a different disc! After making the first DVD copy on a stray blank DVD disc, we had gone out and bought what we assumed were the best quality DVD discs in the store, the “plus” version. It was midnight and all the stores were closed, so I hardly slept all night, wondering if my problems would all be solved by the simple purchase of a different DVD disc, without the “plus.”
The next day, I bought a small package of blank DVD-R discs, took them home, and tried making the copy. Unbelievably, this time it worked.
So this story is ended, and I’m not sure that the message is. I don’t know why it took Comp USA four tries to get the right part to us, and I don’t know why the technician didn’t know about the Nero error log. I love having a computer at home, but I’m just not smart enough to know everything about it. And I sure miss the IT department at the company where I used to work!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Moving On
Each time a major change occurs in our lives, whether it is a marriage, a death, a new job, a move to a different city, we have to reconstruct the pieces that make up our daily lives, like putting together a puzzle. After five months of being retired, I am still doing that.
The first thing I had to do was to disengage from my old routine: getting up at 6:00 AM, keeping the kitchen stocked with the ingredients to make my brown-bag lunch, putting out my wardrobe for the next day each night, and setting up the coffee maker before going to bed at 11:00. All of this was gone in the blink of an eye, as was driving to the office while listening to my favorite radio station, walking across the parking lot, turning on the computer to check my email, reading the daily company news, going for my noon walk, etc.
In place of that old, familiar routine, I began to add new things that I never had the time or energy to do before, things like making a healthy breakfast for myself each morning, working out at the gym three days a week, shopping for fresh food at the farmer’s market, going out to lunch with my husband. Errands are now spread throughout the week, instead of crammed into the week-end.
But after five months on this new, more relaxed routine, I felt like there was something missing. A big part of that was being a member of a community of people. Although I still keep in touch with my former co-workers, I no longer really “belong.” I missed having an independent existence that I could call my own. When I got into my car and drove to work each day, another part of my identity emerged, the part of my self that was out in the world “doing something” and using my expertise, energy and mind to solve problems, get things done, and be recognized for it. These are the things that I kept in mind as I pondered the various types of volunteer activities I could pursue.
The first volunteer position I have accepted in a local social services organization involves two afternoons a week at an office where the small permanent staff made me feel like part of the family immediately. Some of the duties will require me to “stretch” a little in developing my people and listening skills, which is one positive thing. More positive still is the fact that my incentive for being there is to help people in the community. Continuing to complete the puzzle of building my new routine will be an on-going process. Perhaps I will later want to add one or more different volunteer activities, or perhaps I will really click with this one and want to spend more hours here. By taking this first step into the world of community service, however, I feel like I truly have taken the final step in leaving my old life as a corporate employee and moving on.
The first thing I had to do was to disengage from my old routine: getting up at 6:00 AM, keeping the kitchen stocked with the ingredients to make my brown-bag lunch, putting out my wardrobe for the next day each night, and setting up the coffee maker before going to bed at 11:00. All of this was gone in the blink of an eye, as was driving to the office while listening to my favorite radio station, walking across the parking lot, turning on the computer to check my email, reading the daily company news, going for my noon walk, etc.
In place of that old, familiar routine, I began to add new things that I never had the time or energy to do before, things like making a healthy breakfast for myself each morning, working out at the gym three days a week, shopping for fresh food at the farmer’s market, going out to lunch with my husband. Errands are now spread throughout the week, instead of crammed into the week-end.
But after five months on this new, more relaxed routine, I felt like there was something missing. A big part of that was being a member of a community of people. Although I still keep in touch with my former co-workers, I no longer really “belong.” I missed having an independent existence that I could call my own. When I got into my car and drove to work each day, another part of my identity emerged, the part of my self that was out in the world “doing something” and using my expertise, energy and mind to solve problems, get things done, and be recognized for it. These are the things that I kept in mind as I pondered the various types of volunteer activities I could pursue.
The first volunteer position I have accepted in a local social services organization involves two afternoons a week at an office where the small permanent staff made me feel like part of the family immediately. Some of the duties will require me to “stretch” a little in developing my people and listening skills, which is one positive thing. More positive still is the fact that my incentive for being there is to help people in the community. Continuing to complete the puzzle of building my new routine will be an on-going process. Perhaps I will later want to add one or more different volunteer activities, or perhaps I will really click with this one and want to spend more hours here. By taking this first step into the world of community service, however, I feel like I truly have taken the final step in leaving my old life as a corporate employee and moving on.
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