I'm part of the banking system!

I don't like banks.  I don't like their rules, the stifling atmosphere, the feeling that my every move is being watched and recorded.  Call it paranoia but it is the way I feel.  And it is probably the reason I've been in our bank less than a dozen times in the past 40 years.  I do as much by mail as possible and at drive-through tellers otherwise.

This week I took one more step to take fewer steps into a bank.  Instead of depositing a check through the mail or drive-through atm I "phoned it in"!

Golden One Credit Union has the ability to accept deposited checks that have been photographed with a smart phone or scanned on a regular scanner.  It was simple enough:

1.  Endorse the check as you normally would
2.  Run the check deposit app
3.  Enter the amount of the check
4.  Take a picture of the front and back sides of the check (the program reminds you to have good lighting and hold the camera steady)
5.  Press "Transmit".  The check cleared  over night.

When the Automated Clearing House changed the rules to eliminate returning all canceled checks they made it possible to use a photocopy as proof of the check and thus made it possible for me to be part of the bank.  And I love not visiting my bank.

Pride goeth before the fallI

I've been feeling pretty good lately although the bursitis in my left elbow has again flared up.  In fact it hurt enough that I went to the doctor to get a shot of cortisone like I did almost exactly one year ago.  But the shot hasn't seemed to do anything this time.  I've needed to be more protective of the left arm because of the elbow pain.

Well, yesterday  evening we were scheduled to host a choir party.  Carolyn had spent many hours straightening, cleaning, and decluttering the house.  Edward, Tiffany, and their boys had come over to help and had left after lunch.  We were down to the little things.  I was in the living room putting away non-Christmas music and straightening the Christmas music around the piano.  Of course I wasn't using my walker since there's so little room to operate behind the piano bench.  And of course my feet would at that moment decide not to cooperate with a step I wanted to take.  Thrown off balance, I reached out with my left arm to steady myself.  The left arm gave notice through a tremendous jolt of pain that it wasn't about to be used that way.  Encouraged by the pain, my elbow buckled.  And down I went. I felt my knees go about the same time and thinking that was smart of them.  Now I wouldn't have so far to tip over.  My side hit the soft padding of the piano bench pushing it out of the way and apparently causing enough noise that Carolyn could hear me from the kitchen.

Carolyn was showing our youngest son Steven and his  wife Lisa how we made a hot, spiced drink from apple juice, cranberry  juice, and orange juice.  I heard her say, "Uh-oh, Dad just fell."  I didn't yet know what shape I was in but I still relaxed a little, knowing that help was on the way.  While the three of them came into the living room, I assessed the damage.  Nothing hurt enough as to signal a broken bone.  I hadn't lost consciousness.  The piano and music cabinet appeared unhurt.  Carolyn suggested that she and Steven help me up but after a brief attempt, I suggested we wait a couple of minutes while I got a damage assessment from my body parts.  I quickly determined that lifting me by my arms was not going to work.  But an underarm lift first to a sitting position, then to my knees, and finally to my feet worked quite well.   I have no idea what we would have done if Carolyn and I had been alone.

Carolyn slid my walker to me but even before I took a first step I knew that I couldn't  use a walker just then.  The pain in my arm from any pressure was just too great.  I asked Steven to retrieve my power chair while Carolyn moved away the walker.  This was only about the second time we've had the power chair in the house and it felt weird.  I discovered that I could negotiate every door I needed to as long as I kept my left arm securely inside the chair arms.

We continued with our plans for a choir party (about 22 people) at  our house that evening.  I wasn't much help but at least I could participate.  I don't think I'll be using my walker for the next few days.

Christmas is a Season for Taking

Being by nature a contrarian, I often find myself trying to find another viewpoint, another way of looking at things.  And since we hear so much at this time of year that Christmas is a time of giving, I'd like to propose that Christmas is a Season for Taking.

We should take the time to celebrate warmly and openly with friends, neighbors, family, and even strangers.  Christmas is a time of good cheer.  It lends itself to going out of our way to meeting and greeting people whose life we can enrich and who, in turn, will enlarge our circle of friends.
Take note of the beauties of nature.  Take walks and bicycle rides.  Take along your kids and grandkids.  Take some pictures or videos of your adventures.

We can take the opportunity to dust off our musical talent, such as they are, and join the choir or the congregation in singing some of the happiest songs in the hymnal or the choir library.  Take this opportunity whether or not your second grade teacher told you to be quiet when the others sing.  Even the psalmist admonished us to "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord (Psalms 95:1)."

Let us take stock of where we are and how much we have been blessed in the past 12 months.  We'll soon be making those irksome New Year's resolutions which can make us feel negative about our accomplishments.  Take the chance this month to focus on the positives.

Take a look around your home, your neighborhood, your work area.  How can you make a difference?  Take a chance in asking someone to work with you on a clean-up or beautification project.

Finally, let us take time to really appreciate God's gift to humanity.  We can recognize the symbolism in the gifts we give each other which represent God's gift to us as well as the gifts brought by the three wise men from the east.

Making progress

I decided from some of the comments I was getting that NOT seeing my leg wound was making it sound worse than seeing it.  Besides, it seems to me that it is so much better this week that I'm quite optimistic about the outcome.  Here are the photos.  I tried to edit them so they were as close as possible to the same orientation and size.

Nov 9

The size of each picture is approximately 6" square, about 6" below the knee.  Although far from healed, the wound has lost virtually all the hypergranulation and is actually starting to grow healthy replacement tissue on the outer edges.

Nov 14

This morning I was seen by a wound specialist who changed the compression dressing and with silver nitrate cauterized a couple of the edges that looked like they would have trouble healing.  She was reluctant to say how long the healing process would take but it would be several weeks.

She explained my diagnosis (stasis dermatitis associated with venous insufficiency) requires that I wear compression stockings - probably the rest of my life or I can expect further breakouts like this to occur. This one was complicated by bacterial infection.  Fortunately, I have good arterial supply to my legs.

Thank you all for you concern, prayers, and well wishes.

You don't want to see it

My leg, that is.  When they removed the dressing this afternoon to check the status of the wound, I took a couple of pictures but I've decided they might be a little too graphic.  If you imagine what a leg would look like if a pit bull bit into it and pulled off a piece of leg 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick, you'd be pretty close.  It's not that regular looking but it's just as ugly.

I've been referred to Kaiser's "wound care specialist" who's supposed to call me within the next 7 days.  I think that is both positive and negative - positive in that if they thought it was flesh eating bacteria I'd be in the hospital right now and negative because they're needing to escalate the care already.

As you're  probably aware, nurses don't tell you anything without clearing it with the doctor and mine wasn't available today.  But I had three of the office nurses look at my leg with great concern written on their faces.  And one of them muttered the word "hypergranulation".  Granulation is a good thing.  It promotes skin growth over large wounds.  Hypergranulation (sometimes called proud flesh), on the other hand, retards skin growth.  So you have to "wound the wound" until the hypergranulation is eliminated and the normal healing process can begin.  I'm guessing that's what the wound specialist does.

In the meantime, it's back with the tightly wound dressing on my leg and showering with my leg in a garbage bag to keep it dry.

From bad to worse - my left leg

I have been nursing two problems with my left leg for several months: swelling from the knee to the toe; and an open sore about 3/4 in in diameter.  Neither problem seemed that serious when I discussed each with my doctor.  The support hose and lasix didn't help the swelling and the anti-fungal salve was only slowly helping the open sore.

Then last Saturday I put a different band-aid over the sore after rubbing it with the prescribed salve.  It was one of those band-aids that is like rubber in that it deforms easily and sticks well even to wet skin.  The next evening my skin was all red around one end of the band-aid.  It felt like a bad sunburn or chemical burn.  When we removed the band-aid the skin came off as well.  The new wound was bigger and uglier looking than the original.  So we placed the salve on both sores and placed a band-aid over the new sore.  Yes, we're smarter than the average bear so we place the band-aid at 90 degrees from the previous one and (I can't believe this) we used the same flexible, sticky band-aids.  The next morning (you guessed it!) removing the band-aid tore a 3/4 inch piece of skin.  The other end had generated a blister 3/4 inch in diameter and a 1/4 inch high.  The blistered had punctured and was leaking it fluid.

I got an appointment with the doctor Monday morning.  He said to stop using the salve and the band-aid that had caused the trouble (duh!) and had his male nurse dress the wound with 4 x 4 gauze sponges.  The doctor prescribed an antibiotic, prepared a specimen from the weeping blister, and told me to come back two days later to see how the wound was going.

Two days later, the wound isn't growing but it is uglier.  The culture indicated that another antibiotic was called for.  The nurse decided that it would heal better if the leg were not swollen.  After dressing the wound, he proceeded to wrap my leg with four layers of gauze, foamy stuff, ace bandage type cloth, and netted tubing.  I complained that I wouldn't be able to see the wound healing and he sympathized by saying he wouldn't be able to either.

I can still get my leg into my pants and my foot will fit into my sports shoe even with socks on.  (It won't fit into my dress shoes with or without socks)..  And I will wait until next Wednesday to look at the wound again.

Takin' it easy

Edward came over with his family today.  This isn't unusual for a Saturday as he and the boys have been so good about keeping our lawns mowed and edged.  But this time he let Tim and Jake do all the work while he rested and talked.  Although it doesn't appear that the stroke he last Wednesday left him with any lasting deficits, it still is a life changing event.  His sense of humor is still evident.  He said that whenever he can't remember something, he'll clasp his head and say, "That darn stroke!  Wiped out that memory!"

A stroke of luck

I was going to blog about my sore leg (or leg sore) but thought I'd better get the word out about Ed's situation.  It's really his story to tell so if you get the chance, call him and get the straight scoop.  But I'll try to give a summary as much as I know.

Wednesday, late afternoon, Ed was picking up Camdan from the day care center when he discovered he couldn't control the muscles in his left hand.  He's left handed and couldn't sign Camdan out.  Later, as the family was getting ready to sit down to dinner, Tiffany was on the phone with the "Emergency Call" nurse for Kaiser who encouraged Tiffany to take Ed into the emergency room.  By now he was slurring his speech.  If there's anyone who would recognize speech changes, it is Tiffany.

Tiffany called Carolyn to ask her to come watch over the kids while she and Ed went to the ER.  Carolyn instead suggested she take the whole family to the ER where she'd pack the kids up in our van and take them home.  That would shorten the time for Ed.

Because Tiffany had been talking to the nurse, he was quickly admitted to the ER where his symptoms were quickly validated.  However, initial reports were mixed.  To be on the safe side he was admitted for at least an overnight stay.  Thursday, Kaiser ran several tests and verified that he had indeed had a stroke but it appears not to have permanently affected his abilities.  Conversations that I've had with him on the phone indicate he can talk as well as ever and he certainly hasn't lost his sense of humor.  For those who remember Ed's phobia of needless and all things hospital, you know that is significant.

Ed is due to be discharged today (Friday) noon about the time I am writing this.  He ate a good breakfast and is just anxious to get out.  If you have the time, I'm sure he would be tickled to hear from you.  We certainly aren't happy he had a stroke but are grateful about the outcome.

Thanksgiving - the Ideal Holiday

I ran the following essay in our Ward Newsletter for November:
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Thanksgiving -the Ideal Holiday


That's saying a lot, I know, but just give me a chance to explain.  Of course, you might already agree with me and wonder what all the fuss is about.  In that case, just turn the page and continue enjoying this newsletter.

As I said, Thanksgiving is the ideal holiday.  For one thing it hasn't been commercialized like Christmas or Mother's Day.  Most years go by without my getting a single Thanksgivings Day card.  And I don't think I've ever gotten a present from Saint Turkey.   Not having to worry and worry and worry about what to get my wife for Thanksgiving goes a long way to making this the ideal holiday.

Don't get me wrong.  Thanksgiving CAN be stressful, if we let it.  If we know that cousin Jimmy always causes an argument with Uncle Tim, we just arrange to have one or both of them NOT invited.  And if Aunt Millie can't stand the sight of the carved turkey, she can preside at the young folks' table.  For Thanksgiving, you can make your own rules.

Speaking of rules, who says that you have to have a big roast turkey dinner and invite everyone you know and a few you don't?  You just might want to spend the day alone reflecting on all the thing s you're thankful for - including some time alone.  Be warned, though, about eating out for Thanksgiving.  We tried that once.  The food was delicious but the restaurant took a dim view of us when we went to snack on the leftovers.

Thanksgiving is for everyone.  We can have a big Thanksgiving dinner and invite the Silversteins down the street or my co-worker Abrahim Akbar without worrying if we'll offend someone.  Thanksgiving means to give thanks whether it is to God or Allah.  Or to treasure within your heart. Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful, to be thankful, without worrying about your neighbor's beliefs or what he thinks about yours.  Thank your friends for being your friends, your family for being your family; and your dog for helping to clean up the dropped turkey bits.

QR Codes

Like me, you've probably seen designs like this in the newspaper and in various advertisements.  Now that I finally have a phone/camera with the capability of decoding these things, I looked them up in Wikipedia.  They're called QR codes and depending on the size and complexity of the pattern they can represent from 10 numbers to 5,000 alphanumeric characters.  They have error correction capabilities ranging from 7% to 40%.  Think of that - almost half of the pattern could be obliterated, covered with mud, or simply missing, and you could still recreate the content.

There are a couple of apps for the iPhone (I'm using QRReader) and a dozen or so websites that allow you to create your own QR code pattern.  The one I used is QR Code Generator by Delivr located at http://delivr.com/qr-code-generator The pattern can contain website addresses, e-mailing addresses, or plain old text that may or may not be computer commands.

Scan the code here and see what you get.

The iPhone comes to our house

I know it will sound like justification but it really is true.  Carolyn's phone has been acting up on here for the past two to three years.  It was one of the first of its kind but essentially the last smart phone that Palm Pilot made.  She has not been able to connect to our computers for the past 2 years so she has not backed up her contact list and calendar for that long.  Some days the phone will keep it's charge all day long and other days it is dead by the time she gets home.  And because she and I have different make and model of phone we get frustrated trying to use each other's phone.  We had a family plan with Sprint and Sprint wasn't selling or servicing the iPhone.  And finally, we expected our monthly rate to more than double and for that we wanted  a reliable, powerful system.

So when the iPhone 4s was announced and Sprint was going to be on board, we took the last two years savings and bought us a pair.

We pre-ordered by Internet so we could get a black one for me and a white one for Carolyn.  About the same time stores were running out of stock, ours were delivered to our home.

Carolyn got a pretty blue gel case and screen protector.










 I got an Otterbox Defender which totally encases the  phone in hard plastic and rubber and has a tough belt clip as well.

Friday evening we activated the phones on line.  Saturday we visited Sams Club and the Sprint Store to get protective cases and to transfer our contact databases and calendars.  Today we tried to figure out how to place and answer calls. So far we're impressed.

A couple of changes in our service may impact the way you call or contact us:  We have unlimited data so texting is free on our end.  We have unlimited mobile to mobile calls regardless of the network.  At least with the later models of iPhone we can now easily make actual face to face video calls like we've been promised in science fiction for over 50 years.

Random questionable ideas -2

I have learned to question anything that is said with authority but without substantial reason to think the speaker knows what he's talking about.  A current Republican presidential candidate was shown on a talk show recently saying, "I don't have the facts to back me up on this but ..." and he continued with his speculation about something.  It didn't really matter because he had already chopped the legs off his own argument. Scientists generally rate pretty high on my list of people who know what they are talking about but the class I'm taking this semester may be undermining that.  On the other hand, the strange things I'm hearing may be a result of my hearing loss rather than his statements.  In any case, here are the questionable statements I heard in the latest classes:

1. Writing by hand (especially cursive) involves the fine motor skills and is therefore an emotional exercise   Keyboarding with a typewriter or computer keyboard is not emotionally engaging.
2. The brain does not learn better by making exercises "fun".  The brain learns solely through repetition.
3. Neanderthals actually had larger brains than early humans but lost out in the evolutionary struggle because they were unable to form the social groups that early humans did.
4. Human brains have shrunk in the past 500 years indicating a possible evolutionary trend.
5. The  pointedness of dogs' ears correlates with their wildness.  The more pointy, the less they are domesticated.
6. The incidence of Down syndrome children correlates with the age of the father more than with the age of the mother.

What about it?  Anyone out there feel like taking one or more of these statements and find "facts" to either back up or refute the statement?

First Class doesn't always mean most expensive

This is one of those "I'll bet everyone else in the whole world knows this and I'm just finding it out" type of blog posts.  I grew up in the era of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th class postage which were generally reserved for packages, books, magazines, and all other stuff that didn't "deserve" first class status which was always fastest and most expensive.  At least that is what I thought.

Well, recently I needed to mail a small package to Texas so before going to the Post Office I visited their web site to get an  idea of what this would cost me.  

After finding the "Get Prices" page on the USPS web site I filled out the bare basics of this package.
The next page warned me that I would have to use 1st class "package" rather than just first class if it met certain criterium.
I was then offered the rates beginning with the enticing words Express and Priority.  Note the prices are from $26 down to $17.  I'm beginning to think UPS might be better.  The small package flat rate Priority is only $4.95.  Maybe that's the way to go?
When I finally open the First Class section, it is more out of curiosity than anything else.  I can't imagine how expensive a package going first class must be. But no!  Surprise!  First Class package rate is only two bucks.  Best bargain in town.  At this price I'll be back.

Saturday mornings

Every other Saturday morning around our house has become so routine that we're in danger of taking it for granted.  Edward brings Tim and Jacob (and sometimes Camdan) over to our house to mow and edge the lawns or some seasonal job such as clean out the gutters or sweep down the spider webs.

Timothy helps with the lawns unless he's needed to vacuum the carpet. Jake helps with the lawns unless he takes care of Camdan.

 And everyone gets to enjoy Carolyn's great waffle, pancake, or French toast breakfast if they get here early enough.
 
I can't say enough about how much we appreciate our Saturday morning workers!

interesterified

Have you ever wondered about those phone numbers on consumer products like milk or margarine that say "If you have any questions about our product call 800-555-1234"?  I certainly have but until today I hadn't called.  I called today after reading the ingredients on a Marie Calendar frozen chicken pie box.  There on the fifth line down, second word over was this word I had never in my life seen:  interesterified.
What the ??? I thought.  I tried breaking it down interest-terrified, no; in-terestial-fried, no; in-te-rester-i-fied, no again.  So I called.

I don't know what I was thinking. Yes, I do.  I expected some happy Nebraska farmer to be spending a day off in the office just waiting for a call from me so that he could carefully and cheerfully explain what this mysterious word meant.  But I should have expected an automated, impersonal answer such as, "Good morning from Con Agra, the smallest name for the largest food supply company in the world.  You may select a menu item at any time by saying that item.  Are you calling about Marie Calendar Chicken Pies or Another Product?"

I carefully said "Marie Calendar Chicken Pies".

The machine said, "I'm sorry I didn't understand your answer.  You may select ...

After three unsuccessful attempts to understand me, the machine began tagging button punching to my menu:  "If you are calling about Marie Calendar Chicken Pies say 'Chicken Pies' or press 1; otherwise press 2."  It understood my button even if it didn't see which finger I was using to press it.

The next level followed with choices about caloric and other health facts, allergic reactions, menus, ingredients, and so on.  We played our little game until the machine finally gave me button choices and I was able to give her the finger again.  I chose ingredients.  The machine read the ingredients, noting that they were in decreasing order of weight in the actual product and that the actual weights were a trade secret...  But no explanation of interesterified.  I pressed the button to talk with an actual customer representative and "surprise" I was told that "all our customer representatives are assisting other customers" so I should wait or call back.  Five minutes later I was still getting the same message with no hint as to when my name might come up on their board.

I decided to Google.  Wiki Encyclopedia quickly responded with the following:

Interesterified fat is a type of oil where the fatty acids have been moved from one triglyceride molecule to another. Interesterification does not alter the fatty acids. This is generally done to modify the melting point, slow rancidificationand create an oil more suitable for deep frying or making margarine with good taste and low content of saturated fatty acids. This is unlike partial hydrogenation which produces trans fatty acids.

Aha!! They've found a way around the ban on transfat oil!    Other Google responses indicated that although the jury is still out on interestereified oil we should be cautious.  We've been deceived before.  But that's another story.

My walker gets an upgrade. My cell phone is jealous.

At the side of this paragraph is a picture of my walker, the walker we bought last spring on our way home from a Parkinson's seminar in Palm Springs.  It's been a good machine.  In fact the only serious breakage hs been the little red reflectors at the near end of the arm rest.  I'd point them out in the picture but they're not there.

I've been looking for something to replace them and finally saw something on Amazon.  To show you, I decided to try the video capabilities of blogspot.

Is that impressive or what? It's an LED with four settings Off, On, Fast Blink, Slow blink.  Now that I know this works, you may actually see some videos on this blog.

Shrek comes to Sacramento

Last night I had two "firsts".  It was the first time I had been in the Sacramento Community Center Theater, which sounds like a cozy little facility but is, in fact, a 2,422 seat facility located between the Capitol and the Convention Center.  Also this is the first time I had seen a musical derived from a cartoon.  In this case it was Shrek.

Sad to say, overall I wasn't really impressed.  The theater is designed to be "portrait" rather than "landscape" which means that even seats on the edge get a fairly straight-on view of the stage but the seats are so far away from the stage that it really doesn't matter.  Bathroom, food concessions, and souvenir shops all appear to be undersized. And getting around with a power wheelchair wasn't easy.

I have a mixed review of the play.  The actors, dancers, puppeteers all make a tremendous effort and the play sparkled with energy.  But we were so far away from the stage that I felt like I was watching the show on my iPod instead of on stage.    We weren't familiar with the songs or most of the dialogue.  So we ended  up many times wondering what the people around us were laughing about.

Prior to the show we ate dinner at Spataro, just a block away from the theater.  The service and food were excellent.  The only item less than great was the warm chocolate hazlenut cake which was small, dry, and disappointing.  at least the presentation was beautiful.  And we so seldom order dessert that it can hardly be a significant factor in this review.

Refurbishing our Laptop - pt 2

As I was saying in my previous post, I thought I was really fortunate to find System Mechanic.  Not only could is clean up the registry but it also had at least a dozen other utilities necessary to "tune up" a computer.  Many other companies have these programs also but they want to change  you another fee for them.  On the other hand, having so many tools meant that I could now use them to continue improving the status of the laptop.

However, as I began using all these tools I found that many of them seem to be more smoke and mirrors or simply duplicates of what is in Windows.

An example of the latter: disk inspection and fix.  Not only does this procedure take a horribly long time but the report results looks a little familiar. After running it several times, it hit  me.  It was the old DOS program CHKDSK.  This is the program we used to use in DOS when it looked like the hard drive was beginning to act flaky.  It could be run in a test only mode or a test and automatically fix mode.  And it has been included in Windows Vista under Computer>C:>Properties>General Tools.  Defragmentation is there also.  Of course one of the advantages of a program like System Mechanic is that it gives you another way to access these programs since Windows can be a bit obscure.

Speaking of dis defragmentation, I think this is an example of smoke and mirrors.


When you begin the defrag process you see a display of both the "entropy" (bar chart on the left) and the fragmentation (stadium chart on the right) of the disk.  I've never seen such pretty defrag charts although I'm not sure what they really represent and whether they are meaningful or not.

I do know that after six hours there was a significant change in both charts.  And according to the legend, the changes indicated progress.

After another six hours there was still more evidence of change but it seemed like we were getting increasing less progress per unit of time.  And what was worse was that when I restarted the process, the entropy graph reverted back to almost the first graph in this series.  The entropy, however, they've defined it, does not appear stable.






Of course, the computer itself may not be stable.  One day it goes into so many infinite loops that we're ready to trash it and the next day it works perfectly - still slow but not dead.

Refurbishing our Laptop - pt 1

This week and part of last I probably spent close to 30 hours trying to make our laptop computer perform the way it used to, the way it did when we brought it home from the store.  Of course I'm scared to do what Friend of the family Eric Bushman would do: rebuild the system from scratch.  Come to think of it, our two youngest kids would probably do that as well, and it wouldn't take 30 hours to do it.

No, I picked the approach that someone out there has faced (and solved) the same problem and would love to share their solution with the world.  What I have found is more like the old adage of "garbage in, garbage out".

A thorough survey of the internet using Google to search for "speed up your computer", "fix that slow computer", "tired of waiting for your computer to start". etc. gave me a list of approximately 50 programs, almost all of which can be loosely classified as "registry cleaners". (A survey of late evening TV advertisements came up with a half dozen of the same solutions.)

Quick lesson on the registry:  This is a super-humongous file that Windows uses to store indices, parameters, default values, keys, file names, passwords, ... that Windows will ever need to interact with other programs and various parts of Windows.  

Now since Windows created the registry one might think they would feel some responsibility for keeping it cleaned up and updated.  "Not our problem," says Windows as the registry grow and grows, getting bloated and unruly while your computer does indeed slow down.  And cleaning your registry can indeed speed things up.

The problem is that registry bloat is just one of many problems that can cause your computer to slow down.  In our case it actually had more to do with a faulty disk drive.  But it could have been poor memory allocation, badly fragmented disk files, or outdated hardware drivers.   Or a dozen other conditions.  In which case a registry cleaner is just a waste of time and money.

Fortunately, I happened upon System Mechanic, a truly wonderful collection of utilities put together in a package that helps you to use them and understand what you're doing in the process.  If I had gotten this tool at the beginning of the 30 hours perhaps I would have only spent 15 hours.  System Mechanic doesn't eliminate the need for lengthy disk testing and repairing but it does help you know what to do.

(to be continued)

Random questionable ideas

This semester I'm attending a seminar on "Our Amazing Brain".  So far I've been less than impressed by some of the ideas put forth by our class coordinator.   I hope I just misheard or misunderstood what he was trying to say.

1.  There is a facial recognition portion of our brain.  It is located close to the area responsible for recognizing color.  This has the effect of making it more difficult for white people to differentiate and recognize people of of color .  The reverse is also true.

2.  People who write left-handed have more difficulty writing continuous, coherent sentences because their writing hand obscures what has just been written.  This prevents the brain from coordinating the new thoughts being written down with what is already on the page.  Of course, this is all now meaningless since no one writes with pen or pencil anymore.

3.  Several important civilizations chose to write from left to right because it was easier to read what was written as it was being written.  Among these forward thinking civilizations was ancient Greece who made the change in two steps.

Comments, anyone?  I haven't been able to find a shred of evidence for such ideas.

Little Things

Sometimes its the little things that make a great difference.  In this case it was a couple of piece of hardware that have made a big difference in my negotiating our back door.

The door leading from our house to our garage has spring-loaded hinges which usually ensures that the door is closed and we don't get the hot air, cold air, or bugs from the outside into our house.  However, when someone has one or both hands full, such as carrying in groceries or pushing a walker, the spring hinge really gets in the way.  Ever since we've lived here we've had a door prop.  (It worked better before we got ceramic tile.)  It kept the door 90% open.  That's good enough for carrying in pages but got in the way of my walker.

Ta Daa!  If the floor was causing the  problem, avoid the floor.  A magnetic door catch with a spring damper has replaced the prop.  The door opens wide and stays open without sliding on the tile.

Another small improvement was the aluminum ramp.  Not only do I no longer need to lift my walker into the house, but I can also easily bring my power chair into the house.

Taylor's sweet corn days

There's really something special about Small Town, USA, especially if they have an active chamber of commerce, interfaith committee, or some other mechanism for people to get together and have fun.

The 50th Wedding Anniversary we attended recently happened to occur on the same weekend as the town's "Sweet Corn Festival". For those who haven't ever thought abaout the term, sweet corn is the kind that we eat on the cob and from a can.  Field corn, on the other hand, is the kind that you feed to cattle or use for making fuel alcohol.  And Taylor, Arizona is one of those small towns that can get together and have fun. In fact they're known for their July 4th Rodeo.

The Sweet Corn Festival started with a half marathon which we somehow couldn't get up early enough to enjoy.  Next came the parade - a collection of 20 floats, "royalty" cars, and a band.  I think this is the first time I've seen a float with live sheep, pigs, and hens aboard.

o what a t-shirt can do!

a horse with pink polka-dots

the livestock float

High School band

50th Anniversary couple & SOME of their descendents

The action then shifted to the rodeo grounds where a craft fair was underway.  They also had barbecue, Hawaiian barbecue, Navajo fry bread, and, of course, sweet corn. .

The festivities continues through the afternoon with a farm rodeo and into the evening with a dance and, in our case, the 50th wedding celebration.

Forty Four Years and Still in Love

What more can I say?  I'm blessed with the most amazing wife in the world.

Music Circus: Miss Saigon

If it were phrased as a qquestion "Miss Saigon?" I would have to answer "Yes, thank God.  I did!" or "No, I really don't."  You see, I missed going to Vietnam courtesy of Uncle Sam by the very skin of my teeth.  So I did, in fact, miss Saigon.  But I don't regret missing out.

Watching the Music Center's performance of Miss Saigon didn't bring back any false pleasant memories, or any memories for that matter.  More of an opereta than a musical, the libretto of Miss Saigon was difficult for me to  understand even though I had read the plot summary.  None of the songs were "hummable" and the ending is just plain tragic.

Technically, the play was over-the-top from the opening dirty disco routine to the helecopter flying the last American't to safety.  It wasn't so easy to pick out the good and bad guys so the political side of the war didn't play prominently in the production.  Pretty, listenable music, just not singable or memorable.

A Special Needs Traveler

I didn't know if retirement would bring more or less travel opportunities.  I suspected that the 1 to 2 times a month that I used to fly for work would be more than made up by trips related to our family.  Then when Carolyn retired, we would even travel more as seeing the world is on her bucket list.

Developing a disability that affects your walking is a life changing event.  But that isn't the same as a life ending event.  I really thought that my Parkinsons Disease would permanently prevent my traveling - at least by airplane.  Well, Carolyn has convinced me otherwise.  In fact, I can enjoy traveling more now than ever before.   The secret is time and assistants.

With my disability, it takes longer for me to do things, from dressing to eating to packing.  By planning in this extra time, I find that I'm actually less stressed about getting to the airport on time.  Carolyn has been really good about building in this extra time.

Carolyn is the number 1, best assistant I could ever have while traveling.  It makes more sense for her to handle everything from the tickets to the boarding passes to the tips to the ground transportation.  I am put in a wheelchair as soon as we enter the airport terminal and, except for a short walk through security, stay in the wheelchair until I board the airplane.  When we land I'm put in a wheelchair as soon as I walk off the plane.  I don't have to know where I'm going or how to get there.  Carolyn and the wheelchair attendant take care of all that.  I don't worry about my luggage.  Carolyn and the wheelchair attendant take care of that.  I don't worry about tipping the attendants.  Carolyn takes care of that.  I don't worry about getting an early boarding time.  My disability takes care of that.

I do still have to worry about what's in my pockets.  At the Phoenix airport I was certain that I had emptied all my pockets.  But the walk through machine thought otherwise.  So I was intimately patted down.  The officer asked me to empty a pocket that I thought was already empty.  It contained a pop-up Frisbee I had completely forgotten about.  The world is safer now that I revealed my Frisbee to the inspector.

(12 inch diameter Frisbee unfolded and folded in a little pocket)

50th Anniversary Celebration

Married for 50 years and still have a vibrant marriage!  What a wonderful reason to celebrate.  For some people celebrating a 50th Wedding anniversary is best done with a small family party and with the couple repeating the vows that they spoke 50 years ago at the beginning of the marriage.

But in our family recently the conditions were just perfect for a celebration that could involve the close family, the extended family, and even the town where they spent most of their 50 years of married life.  Specifically, my wife's second to oldest brother Norris and his wife Fawnette shared their joy and good fortune with anyone who cared to join them.

Following is a sort of picture story of this celebration.  Please click on the picture if you'd like to see a larger version.

	The celebration day started with a parade, not for Norris and Fawnette but to celebrate Taylor Town's Sweet Corn Festival.  It was an opportunity for Norris and Fawnette to honor the town at the same time the town cheered for them.
	There wasn't a trailer big enough for the whole family but there were representatives from most branches.
	Guests coming to the party were greeted by the bride and groom - Fawnette and Norris who tried to spend time with each person attending.  They are shown here with Fawnette's wedding dress and Norris's Army uniform  - the attire they wore when they were married.
	Almost all of Norris's siblings and spouses were able to attend.  His older brother and sister-in-law had mission obligations.
	Most of the children were also able to attend.  You may notice the poodle skirts worn by the women.  They set both the theme of the party - late 50's - and the color worn by their family.  The latter was especially helpful in figuring out which little child was looking for his mother.
	Each of the children with help from their family perform something for the program.  Here, Fawne's family (note the purple theme) sang a beautiful love song in lovely harmony and a capella!

	Michelle's husband John played his guitar and led his family in another love song.
	The color coding ever showed up when a family was waiting their turn to perform.
	Before and after the program, the young men and women of the family manned the ice cream and cookie bar, providing both refreshments and reinforcement of the 50's theme.
	I think they enjoyed their assignment.
	Two quilts were made by the children and their families.  One shows various activities and interests while the other is photo oriented.  Be sure to click on the quilts to see how lovely they are.
	Norris broke into the middle of the program with a surprise solo of his own which concluded with his giving Fawnette a beautiful diamond Mother's ring.

A good time was had by all.  

Thank you Norris & Fawnette for your lives of service, for your wonderful family, and you example for us all.