There are some folk who don't see the gem inside my rough exterior who might consider me a hot head. To which I say a hearty "bite me". But let this opinion be a caution that within this blog may lurk items of a venting nature or perhaps those which might be considered a rant. So be it. Proceed with caution. You have been warned.

Friday, July 21, 2017

Old Computer Blues

Old computers die, they don't just fade away, and if they don't demand constant attention on the way out their replacement requires tender loving care before they are ready to step up and do their job. My six year old desktop, Asmodeus, has been plagued by random crashes for several years. I sacrificed to it's appetite for components by installing a new video card and power supply at a cost of over $100 each before deciding it was never going to be reliable long term again. Which of course means replacement.


I believe that Microsoft and computer manufacturers conspire to make the replacement of a computer only slightly less stressful than water boarding. Having been in IT for the last 30 years I have always backed up my computers obsessively. Not only to external hard drives, but by cloning to a second HD in the computer itself. Now Asmodeus refuses to run consistently even on the clone so replacement is the only option. The problem is that you can only back up your data files. All your applications and peripheral hardware have to be reinstalled.


Find all those DVDs and CDs with software you bought. Find the ones with your printer/scanner/midi and other drivers. Now sit in front of the new computer for hours babysitting the installs. Oops here's one that won't register because you already have it on the old machine - Oh boy! Now you get to sit on hold while you wait for customer support to grill you like a criminal. Finally got all that software installed and now you get to try to install the software that you originally installed by way of downloads. Now where did I put the product keys for those? Inevitably there are some you pay for a second time because you can't find the keys and have to have them. Computer roulette = trying to guess which program won't run on the version of Windows® on the new machine because you can't buy a machine with the old version any longer.

Bottom line it usually takes me the better part of a week to get the new machine up and running. Worse, it make take months before I realize I overlooked something that I use infrequently but is essential. Do I have really have to say that this sucks like a lamprey? It's my belief that the source of this periodic frustration is Windows' registry. This was a bad idea 30 years ago and as operating systems and programs get more complicated it is a worse idea. When you buy a new computer you should be able to transfer data, programs, drivers and settings in a single operation. Come on Microsoft, its time for a no more tears OS!

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Life Happens

Sometimes life's curve balls get the best of you for a while. But if you just keep doing whatever is next a sort of equilibrium emerges. With all good intentions of making 2016 a renewed year of rants and random wisdom, time got away and then my life's companion, best friend and wife was taken from me and paralysis and loss of motivation ensued. Now a sort of different "normal" is taking shape and this medium offers an outlet for what will now be the musings of an aging widower struggling through his remaining years in the company of a sometimes cantankerous dachshund.

Previously I've had things to say about dog rescue and adoption and when last I expressed myself here I had recently lost a longtime dachshund friend to Intervertebral Disc Disease. Having lived with these little long dogs most of my life I couldn't be long without one, so I soon found a handsome fellow in foster care after rescue in North Carolina. Transport was soon arranged to Iowa where he met his new roommates. His name was Pablo. Finding this slightly inappropriate for a dog with a strong Germanic heritage I decided to name him after a heroic figure from German opera, Siegfried.

One never really knows what a dog's life may have been like before he comes to his forever home and Siegfried seemed to have come from a place where humans were not entirely to be trusted. Siegi was very wary of human hands, especially if they were holding any object. Although he never bit us, he let us know by way of snarls and snaps that he needed patience and time to learn there was no danger here. To shorten what could be a long story, the point is that a dog will learn to trust where there is love. Two years later he shares my bed, sits next to me in my recliner, nuzzles my hand for comforting strokes and wants to accompany me wherever I go. When my wife passed away, he was a real comfort seeming to know our lives had changed forever and that it was his job to take care of me.

Having witnessed too often potential adopters who give up in the early days with a new dog, my plea is to give a rescue dog time. All any dog really wants is to please the one who treats it with love and kindness. And, as I have said elsewhere, rescue dogs seem to know when they have been saved from unpleasant circumstances and will make a companion second to none.  Adopt, don't shop!