12 girls I’m blocking,
11 friends just watching,
10 corny topics,
9 busted friendships,
8 friends complaining,
7 stalkers stalking,
6 party invites,

Five drama queens!

4 game requests,
3 photo tags,
2 poking friends,

And a creep who won’t stop in boxing meeee!!!

Happy Holidaze!

Get your Grinch on!

Golly, thanks for the Christmas present NBA. NOT!

These clowns (no offense Harlem Globetrotters, you guys know who’s buttering your bread) who make all that money for running around in shorts for a couple of hours, and the greedy owners who charge an arm and a leg for a ticket, merchandise, food, etc. have no idea how real people make money and support their favorite team, even if they suck. Well, it’s time for all of us to boycott (that means don’t support) the NBA, its sponsors, advertisers, merchandisers and media outlets. It’s that simple. When they go through a whole season without any money coming in, then they’ll start to realize who really controls the league. THE FANS!

Here’s the deal.

NBA players and the owners have decided that, they both want to make money and that there’s plenty of it to go around. Fans continue to pay ridiculous prices for tickets, shirts, hats, shoes, and anything else players or teams decide to endorse. Crying, writing letters and the like are no way for fans to get their message across to the teams, players and owners. The only way is MONEY. So, it NBA fans boycott this season, then maybe the parties involved in this fiasco we call “professional basketball” will get a clue on where exactly their revenue comes from.

But gee whiz, how am I supposed to support my Basketball Jones?

If you’re a true fan of the game of basketball, there are plenty of equally exciting and honorable to encourage the growth of the sport. Here are a few that come to mind.

• NCAA Basketball - Root for your local, or favorite college team, provided it doesn’t have a current sex scandal (sorry Clemson). Most colleges that have a football team also have men’s AND women’s basketball. I personally think it’s a more exciting game to watch. Most of the times, the officials actually call the game according to the rules. You know items like Traveling, Double-Dribble, and Palming or Carrying. The tickets and regalia are cheaper, and you support your college of choice.
• WNBA – The ladies, in my opinion, tend to play better basketball than the men. They shoot a lot more; they pass the ball and generally look more like a team than three superstars plus a rookie and a guy on his way out.
• High School basketball – These programs keep kids off the streets and are prime targets when the money gets tight in favor of alternate culture studies, sensitivity training, and other things besides Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Proceeds go to the team for stuff like uniforms, tournaments, and equipment.
• Boys & Girls Clubs - Another fine organization for helping the youth of America learn sportsmanship, team play, and values of hard work and discipline. Support your local Boys & Girls clubs by either putting your kids in one of their Basketball programs or just donate what you would have spent on NBA tickets to them. It’s tax deductible, and you won’t look like the creepy person with no kids watching the game(s).

What else is there?

C’mon, there are plenty of other sports on the TV. Football, Hockey, College BB, College FB, College Hockey (in some areas). There always are plenty of sports on TV. Here’s a thought, GO OUTSIDE AND PLAY! If it’s too cold, then DO SOMETHING other than sit in front of the box watching. Heck, go through last season on EA Basketball if it will make you feel better. Hey, why not go to the gym and PLAY basketball. You know with real sweat and everything? Bring along a cheering soundtrack if you think it will help. A pick-up game of H-O-R-S-E still burns more calories than a Lakers – Bulls game while sitting on your butt. Save that NBA money for yourself this year.

Don’t feel bad for the players or the owners, they have plenty of loot from last year’s fleecing of the fans.

No Problem!

My personal size chart, shipping address, color pallet, and nearest auto/boat/RV dealerships available upon request. Just comment on this entry with your email address.

Act before 12/25 and receive a free, personalized, hand written Thank You Note via delivery method of your choice!
(In Person deliveries require transportation, lodging and per diem in advance.)

Pass this on to anyone. It can be for Hanukkah, Kwanza, whatever the occasion.

I’m an equal opportunity giver.

We the people (legal citizens of the United States of America) have survived the worst downturn since the great depression, and we want to let you know that we have a deal for you.

For the past few years, we watched what happens when debts aren’t paid, and we know from painful experience how devastating the effects are on our communities and families. It does not matter if you are from the left or right, the result is the same. The people will suffer and our government will drive away in a Wall Street limo.

And so, we the American people are giving our contract to you, President Obama and every member of Congress from both parties, so you know where we stand.

We know that all sides in the debt dispute are full of hot rhetoric and lies. You are politicians, so we do not trust anything you say. You know that you can make sure our country pays its debts, even if that means we must continue to suffer at the hands of our incompetent government.
We promise, with all our hearts and collective souls, that if you don’t do all in your power to stop the politics and save our national credit rating, that we will vote every single one of you out of office in the next election.
Never before has our country been so united against such an incompetent group of buffoons. We know that both sides are fully dedicated to manipulating us to get themselves power. We are sick of it. We now know there is nothing you won’t do to pander to your narrow political interests on both sides and every extreme.

And so, we the American People promise to you, our incompetent government, that unless you fix the budget now, we will not vote for any incumbents until all of you are out of office. We are not the weak fools you take us for, we are the American People.

Sincerely,

America (the People You Don’t Care About)

PS: Yo, Super Committee. What do you call an ex-congressman? [Insert YOUR name here.]

1979
I was first introduced to this guy named Steve in 9th grade. It was in science class, a curriculum that covered the extreme basics of chemistry, biology, physics, and the like. Kind of like the Discovery Channel, in real life, and Mr. Wizard. We were doing a lesson module on computers. Our school had a grand total of 4; three Tandy (Radio Shack) TRS-80s, and this other machine called an Apple II. The instructor, an obvious technophile who really didn’t want to teach Junior High Science, used this Apple thing to teach and demonstrate BASIC programming, while the students plugged along on the TRS-80s. The teacher demonstrated how, with this new thing called a “personal computer” you could not only do math, but draw things, write documents and even program it yourself! This thing was definitely better than my Atari 2600. I wanted one.

Not only did we do lots of hands on stuff, but we also learned about various persons and companies involved in computers, both personal and mainframe, and certain people that were considered to be important to their development. Steve and his buddy Steve came up more than once in the lessons. I saved and saved, and eventually was able to purchase a PC. Unfortunately, Steve’s stuff was a bit too expensive, so I had to settle for the TRS-80, cassette drive and all.

1980′s
Through high school, I ran across Steve’s stuff here and there. I remember going to the Fredrick&Nelson’s (a Division of Marshal Fields) and seeing this little beige box with a small screen, keyboard, and this little puck-like thing attached. I was mesmerized. The sales guy, not from the store, was giving a demo on what this thing could do. He pushed a key and the thing SPOKE! I mean, not like the old Speak and Spell, but in clear, plain English. Compared to my Trash-80, as I and most of my friends called it, this thing was like, from the future. Something from Star Wars or something. Cool Steve! I really really want one. But at $2500, there was no way I could afford, or talk my folks into one. Dad had seen a few of these in his office, but never used one. After all, he had a secretary to do the typing. Why would HE need a Macintosh? I can still remember going to that store, every chance I could, to look and play with Steve’s beige box hoping someday I would have one.

High School came and went, off to college and, once again I found myself in computer classes. IBM and Microsoft were THE standard for anyone who took the PC seriously. In face, now that they were affordable enough for some students to afford, professors were specifying that reports, programs, etc, had to be turned in in MS compatible format. Our dorm had a few PCs for general use and one, lonely Franklin (an Apple II clone). Frank, (as we computer nerds called it) played text and graphics games, ran spreadsheets, word processing, and a host of other things without crashing. Frank didn’t get used for “real” work though, due to the IBM/MS edict. A few of my friends had Steve’s Mac or Apple computers in their dorm rooms, where everyone hung out. I, due to finances, had an IBM XT clone in my room, where no one hung out. So college came and went as well. My association with Steve was that of a fan and follower but, due to finances and where industry was going, not an adopter.

1990′s
I remember visiting the parents after being on my own. I had been working for a couple, three, years and had upgraded PCs, discovered the Internet, and was subscribing to both PC and Mac publications. My little brother dragged me into his room to show me something Dad had brought him for an early Christmas present. I almost fainted. Sitting on my baby brother’s desk was a semi-used Macintosh LC. It had just been taken out of the box and wasn’t hooked up yet. Turns out my Dad’s company had excesses them when they had converted to IBM and MS machines. My dad bought one for my bro because the price was “finally reasonable for a toy.” With little or no help from me, my brother had the thing up and running in less than a half hour. He was 12 at the time. I offered to trade him my new PC strait across. No dice. Steve had finally made it into my house, which I had moved out of 2 years ago.

I kept in touch with Steve and his goings on. Even when he wasn’t working for the company he founded, I was glad that I could support him by going to the movies his other company made. As for the new, new computer company’s stuff? No way. That stuff was even more expensive than the beige boxes. He eventually went back to his original company, I remember reading about it on an AOL newsgroup. He was doing well. Good for him.

Early 2000′s
My father called, all retired by now and asked me for my email address. My what? Dad wants MY email? Dad doesn’t have a computer, does he? Turns out he had just bought one. From Steve! My dad, had bought one of the original iMacs, you know, the ones that came in any color as long as it was Bondi Blue. Apparently, with his retirement, he had taken on some offices in the community he and mom now lived and has to use email, calendar and do some light word processing. There was a Mac computer club there and he had sat in on a couple of meetings and then went to the nearby university and bought one. Now $1300 of my inheritance seemed still a bit expensive compared to the $700 I just put down on a new Dell, but dad was happy and I didn’t have to be tech support. Turns out no one did. I was learning that more of Steve’s wonderful products were infiltrating my family. My dad and my two brothers were Mac users now. I, the Mac champion of old, when Macs weren’t cool, was the only one who didn’t own one! Forgive me Steve for I’ve been a sinnin’. I still just can’t afford your coolness. I’d drive your store in Glendale (over an hour), to look and yearn for one of your shiny new machines with the same intensity that I did when I was a small boy marveling at the little beige box that talked. I know your stuff is better, more reliable, just works, yeah, yeah, yeah. Still luv yah man!

2005
My Dell died. I didn’t even try to fix it. I’m coming Steve! I’m bringing money this time! I was the proudest owner of a base model iBook sporting OS X Tiger. I took it home, plugged it into the wall, turned it on, and was surfing the web in less than 10 minutes. I finally realized, sadly, what I’d been missing. Steve continued to impress with new stuff every year. I was part of the magic now. I even visited the Mother Ship. Steve wasn’t in that day though.

August 2011
Steve is retiring, his illness is a factor in executing day to day duties. He looks like he needs a rest. He’s still advising and is on the board though. He’s been dealing with this thing since 2005 or so? Hope all is OK and that he’ll show up once in a while either doing something great or just at an Apple event. I sent him an email, doubt he’ll read or even receive it, but it makes ME feel a bit better.

05 October 2011
Steve died today. The day after Mr. Cook announced another great innovation to Steve’s company’s products. Off to the Apple Store, where I bought my 1st Mac to light a candle.

08 October 2011
As I sit here writing this on my iPad, while listening to another memorial podcast on my iPhone, and glancing on my Twitter feed on my MacBook, I realize that, for a kid who was somewhat of an outsider, Steve was a hero to me in an era where there weren’t many to choose from. I’m talking about folks that young kids should try to be like. I’m not talking about one name celebs, like Jay-Lo, Gaga, Chaz, Michael, Justin, Madonna, Sting, Bono or even Johnny. I’m talking about folks who made a difference that has lasted. One name folks like Gates, Woz, Kawasaki, Ellis, Turner, Dell, Ivar (Seattle restauranteur and philanthropist), and of course Steve. Truly the man, the myth, the legend.

09 October 2011
Just saw a video of the iPhone 4S running the Siri application. Hey! This little box from Steve talks too! Does it come in beige? It should… That would be a nice touch of class. Steve might have liked that.

Remember back in the days before instant messenger, Blackberry text, SMS, email and the like? How did we communicate with people quickly? We TALKED to them. Whether by phone, voicemail, or a real live sit-down meeting. People used to talk and others used to listen, I mean really listen. In our day-to-day dealing with the service industry, we, as consumers seem to be both the victims and the perpetrators of ineffective verbal communications. No one speaks clearly and concisely, and no one listens.

Can’t Afford to Pay Attention
Is time worth so much money that now, we don’t have time to listen to one another? If so then why do we waste so much more time either asking for clarification or fixing errors due to miscommunication?

Let’s take an example. Ever been to the local Subway, Chipotle, or any other of those type shop where you selection is made in front of you by one of the “technicians” while you provide directions from the other side of the sneeze guard? Ever notice that sometimes they seem to be on autopilot, just putting it together the way most people order it until you say something? Guess what? They ARE on autopilot! They’re so concerned with keeping the line moving, or their own station, or plans for later that they just go into machine mode and shut down the connections from ears to brain. Notice too, when you do get their attention and deviate from the “norm” ( spinach instead of lettuce, both hot and mild peppers, you name it) how frustrated they look? Forcing that connection to work again must hurt.

Now… Now… Now… What was that?
We are getting, more and more into a culture of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now. Next day air, 30 minutes or it’s free, 90 days same as cash, now, now, now. Technology is making things go faster and, for the most part, that’s OK. My lab test results can be looked at by several experts around the world in almost real-time. My pay goes right into my bank account on payday. Niece or nephew gets that gift card just in time for a forgotten birthday. But sometimes, isn’t taking some time to do it right the first time better?

Ever gotten a phone call asking you if you’ve received an important text or email? Remember the two to three-day mail cycle? I do, and I’m not that old. Seriously, if someone sent me a memo/letter asking a question, it was already two to three days old. If he sent it on a Monday, he MIGHT get my response Friday the same week, with a courtesy (look it up if you don’t know what it means) phone call to give the answer and “Paperwork to Follow”, provided I didn’t have to get too many management signatures on it. Sometimes the need for speed is trumped by the need for understanding. Sorry Maverick. Next time Goose talked, you DID listen. Worked out pretty good eh?

Not Having to Talk to Anyone (A Shut-in’s Dream)
With all our technology it is possible to go through almost the whole day without verbally communicating with anyone and still be productive. I tried it a few days ago.

• Woke up. Checked and answered emails and messages, notifications, etc… Need coffee
• Breakfast, courtesy of my online grocer.
• Checked NextBus app and caught the bus to work. While on board, read the news and FB on my mobile device.
• At work, it’s me and the PC all day. Lunch? Went to cafeteria, paid with scanning phone. Cool!
• On the way home, picked up a few odds and ends, automated cashier and scanned phone again.
• Home now, Netflix, ESPN, maybe an e-book. A little Facebook to pass the time until online pizza order arrived. One last message/mail/calendar check, then bed.

Total word count (spoken) let’s say <10, I cussed out a few folks under my breath on the way home. But you get the idea, I really didn’t have to engage in a verbal conversation with anyone. Kinda sad really. I didn’t like it. There’s something about interaction with others that adds to the quality of life. However the quality of that interaction is in no way related to the quality of the information.

A Solution
Back to my point, finally. Speaking well, and listening attentively is NOT only for those trapped on either side of the podium in some lecture hall. It is just as important for the doctor/patient, home owner/handyman, boss/employee, barista/customer and, believe it or not, parent/child interaction. The number one thing is to slow down, think before you speak and take time to process what you’ve heard before reacting or speaking back. Remember though, like any other skill, it takes practice, commitment, and…

… TIME – something were supposed to have more of in this modern age…

Some background: The particular scanning done involves receiving an injection of an indicator, and then lying down in an apparatus, similar (so they claimed) to an MRI chamber for some images to be taken, slowly, by a camera of sorts. Then you leave, only to return after a few hours to repeat the process sans another injection.

The technician was quite thorough in her explanation of the machine and the procedures, she didn’t seem very familiar with, nor sympathetic to the “patient experience”. The machine was uncomfortable, claustrophobic, and plain old intimidating. Following the 2nd round, I asked if, at any time during her training, had she ever been in one of these devices. Her answer floored me. She had NEVER been in one, even to just feel what it was like to lay in a tube for an indeterminent amount of time. So, she has never had a clue as to what her patients are going through.

I have several friends in the physical therapy or health care profession. The phlebotomists tell tales of themselves and their lab partners practicing IVs and drawing blood on each other, the physical therapists work out with their classmates, heck even the security folks have to take a mace or taser hit to complete their training. I’m pretty sure that flight attendants have to dive down the exit slide and use their seat-back as a flotation device once ro twice.

So I wondered, as I lay there listening to the A/C fan and the overhead light buzzing, why can’t these imaging techs or CAT Scan operators spend an hour or two in one of these machines? I think then, they’d have a little more understanding and patience for their patients (customers). When you were growing up, did you ever see a Ford salesman drive a Chevy? How about a Sears salesperson at JC Penny’s? Where did the IHOP servers eat lunch? Yep IHOP. Aviation crew-chiefs get their names painted on their aircraft because they go up in them post repair. Now it seems that everyone is just there for the paycheck.

The old adage “Customer’s Point of View” doesn’t seem to be in the lesson plans of the “Do no harm” oathed medical community. Why? Is it a money thing? I doubt that Obama Care or health system reform will change this. It’s not just the medical community though.

Too many have lost the notion that good customer service makes return customers. When you produce a physical thing like Apple, Honda, even McDonald’s it’s not too difficult, but when you’re pure service, the felling of content or comfort that your customer experiences in your presence IS the product. Words like compassion and empathy (look them up) come to mind. Sometimes the good old days were better.

First, we hope this note finds you well.  We all want economic, political, and social satisfaction with our own form of self governance.  Unfortunately, we have to broach a subject that is not all that pleasant.  We hope you’ll continue to read on, and offer any solutions, or dialog, you see fit.

We’re a bit strapped for cash at the moment, so, if it’s OK with you all, here are a few things we need to get understood by the rest of the planet (UN listen up)…

1. If there’s another disaster (natural or other) in your country, well, sorry. We don’t have any more cash, supplies, personnel or anything else to give out.  We’d be more than happy to stop on by, for a fee though…
2. If we, the US, have another disaster (again, natural or otherwise), we’d appreciate some help, for a change.  It’s the neighborly thing to do, right?
3. UN: Sorry dudes, time to start paying your fare share. Rent is due on the 5th of the month and late fees will apply. An itemized list is available upon request.  We all want to be fair right?  If you don’t like it, then leave any we’ll refund what remains of your security deposit after we clean out all the bugs, viruses, and other nasty things you’ve left here.
4. Oh, by the way, can you please start paying us back what you owe us? I know we haven’t been charging you much of a late fee or anything like that, but it would be cool to send a few bucks back now and again.
5. If you don’t want us “helping” you in your country, fine. We’ll leave. If you want us back, I’m sure we can agree on some sort of payment plan.
6. Last thought. Put up, pay up, or shut up!

V/R

The United States of America

A Veritable Smorgasbord


A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord
After the crowds have ceased
Each night when the lights go out It can be found on the ground all around
Oh, what a ratly feast! 

Melon rinds and bits of hotdogs
Cookie crumbs and rotten cotton candy
Melted ice cream, mustard drippings
Moldy goodies everywhere 

Lots of popcorn, apple cores
Banana peels and soggy sandwiches
And gobs of gorgeous gook to gobble at the fair 

A fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord
After the gates are shut
Each night when the lights go out
It can be found on the ground all around
That's where a rat can glut, glut, glut, glut! 

Going to the Fair tomorrow. Planning on enjoying myself.

Well, I took the plunge, I updated my MacBook to OS 10.7 Lion on my late 2007 MacBook today.  I’ve been playing around it for a few days, and here are some observations, both thumbs up,  thumbs meh, and thumbs down

THUMBS UP!

• [About This Mac] shows much more info in a pretty cool graphic format - Selecting this from the Apple Menu launches System Information, but there are several more choices of what to look at. 
  

  You can still see the general overview (Including your computer model (i.e. MacBook Late 2007) but you can also look at displays, storage, memory and even check your maintenance status, coverage and connect to support.apple.com all in one place!

• Re-Size a Window from any Corner - Finally! you can grab any corner of a window to re-size it.  That Windows pattent must have expired eh? 

• Smaller Footprint – Looks like Lion takes up less disk space.  Interesting…

• Snappier – I swear, even on this old machine, it’s faster than Snow Leopard was.  Could be more efficient code.  Even Safari loads faster. 

THUMBS MEH…

• Launch Pad – Why would I want this?  Isn’t the doc, application folder, finder or even spotlight enough ways to find an application?  Go ahead and delete the icon from your doc, the application is still in the Applications folder.

• A few new wallpaper files – No new screensavers. 
   
• Contacts – There’s no way to get back to the “old look” of the contacts file.  Nothing dis-functional or anything.  Just don’t care for the new look.
   
• Unsupported Apps - I only got one reported incompatible application.  DropBox was “quarranteened” in a separate folder because it was not compatible.  The fix?  Download the new version from DropBox.com.

THUMBS DOWN!

• Carbonite won’t play – This isn’t Apple’s fault, but it still sucks for me.  I got in touch with Carbonite and they promised me a fix “real soon” as well as an extra month free!

• Jesting about Jestures – Apparently, my MacBook is too old to support multi-touch jestures.  No, I’m not going to by an external trackpad just to three-finger swipe what I can do via a funtion key or hot corner.  

Well, that’s a quick, 1st look at this thing called Lion.  I’m sure I’ll have some more stuff in the near future as I actually start using it for real and not just playing around with it.  Apple seems to have made the upgrade to Lion pretty darned robust.  The only part that took really long was downloading the thing from the App Store over my cruddy DSL connection.  Once I started the install process, all the screens were informative and provided ample feedback that something was indeed happening.  Again I can’t believe it’s working on an almost 4 year old platform!

I do have a feeling that the next iOS update (any name suggestions?  Tabby, Main Coon, Russian Blue, Persian anyone?)  won’t run on this platform.  There might be a spot on the forced harware upgrade death march for me next time. There might be a MacBook Air in my future as well.  😜