Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Old Tech
I bought my first computer, an IBM Clone 486DX33 in 1993. That sucker had 2 megs of memory. I wuz smokin'! Eventually, I added a CD-ROM drive and an improved graphics card, along with an improved sound card. This was a lean mean computin' machine. I remember the first time I fired it up after adding the new hardware. I covered my eyes and hit the power button and waited for the "poof!" accompanied by a shower of sparks out the back. But No! It hummed to life, and fired right up! There was no auto detect back then, you had to set everything up separately, and tell the machine how to deal with the new stuff.
As we all know, things don't remain same in the computing world for very long. Soon, I discovered the machine was not capable of running newer programs without extensive upgrades that weren't really worth it, and went shopping for a newer unit. Another PC, only they weren't calling them "IBM clones" any more. They had become "Windoze compatible" and Bill Gates was becoming a very wealthy geek. It was a first generation Pentium and it actually lasted me for quite some time. In fact, I still have it, and intend to give it to my brother to replace the pathetic POS he's now using, after adding an additional hard drive. I learned a lot about computers from those first two machines. I never used Windoze 3.1 on the first box unless I had to. Instead, I used the command driven DOS, as it used MUCH less memory than 3.1 did. Drove my Mac driving friends nuts. "Hey Dave, where's the navigator?!?!?" "I never use it!" "Why not?!?!" Because I know how to use a computer!!! I don't need to be lead by the hand!!!" Now, of course, Micro-Squish has convinced all the software makers to require WindozeXP, and you can't avoid it anymore like I used to.
I spotted a piece about Commodore fans who're still breathing life into their archaic machines, going so far as to meeting together, trading parts and software, etc. The company itself disappeared in 1994. I remember there was a store devoted to the Commodore Amiga in my neighborhood. I walked in, not knowing they didn't carry IBM stuff, and got a quick lesson in fanaticism. These guys loved their machines and did their best to convince me that I needed to buy one too. The Amiga did have pretty amazing graphics for the time, but the lack of programs I needed to run on it precluded me from buying one. They also suffered from spastic hardware that wasn't exactly the most reliable in the world. Then, one day I walked by and noticed the place had closed. I read later that the Commodore Company had folded. I wondered then what would happen to those guys. They loved their machines so much. I imagine they're members of one of those clubs these days. They probably have at least one example of every one they've owned. I can't imagine them ever giving up their machines. I read in that article that there's an organization in Germany still writing code for these things.
It reminds me of the Sony Betamax VCR. I never did buy one. By the time I was able to afford a VCR, Beta was obviously on life support, and not long for this world. But I knew a few people who loved their Beta machines and refused to go to the "dark side." When Sony announced they were giving up the good fight and discontinuing Beta production, they actually felt betrayed. They went out and bought as many Beta tapes as they could, hoarding them so they'd be able to use their machines long after Sony abandoned them. I remember watching Beta recordings, and the picture was indeed better, but the lure of 6 hour VHS recordings was a siren song to me. (Mainly because I'm a cheap SOB and I wanted to get by with as few tapes as I could.)
It makes me wonder. Thirty years from now, when all of today's teen and twenty somethings will be a bunch of crotchety pissed off middle agers, they'll probably proclaim to the stupid little shitheads that will be their children "Why, in my day, we had the IPod!! It was a great thing. Nothing like that modern piece of junk you guys use! And turn that crappy music down!! You'll wreck your ears." (mumble, mumble bitch.) "Impertintent young pups! And clean up that pigsty of a room!!!"
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Monday, June 26, 2006
Car Racing Notes
It's beginning to look like the American open wheel orgainizations are beginning to see the light, and understand they MUST re-unite the two groups, or they're simply not going to survive. It's taken about ten years too long in my opinion, but maybe, just maybe they'll get it done this time.
Nice to see Jeff Gordon take a win this weekend. I believe he now holds the record for road course wins in NASCAR. I also see he introduced his new sweetie. Better get that prenup in order first there Jeff. I think his convincing win shows that he could have done well in any form of motorsports in my opinion. When was it, a couple of years ago, when the F1s came to Indy, and Jeff and another F1 driver "swapped" rides for a little bit? The F1 driver, I can't remember who, never quite got the handle on the stocker, and proclaimed it a real handfull. If I remember right, Jeff was cutting competitive, respectible times within a few laps. I sometimes still wonder what he could have done in F1. There were a few rumors circulating at the time that he may do just that, but it was dismissed out of hand by most automotive sportswriters as out of the question as Jeff was "too long in the tooth. Ouch. That hurt. He STILL seems like a "kid" to me.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Nice to see Jeff Gordon take a win this weekend. I believe he now holds the record for road course wins in NASCAR. I also see he introduced his new sweetie. Better get that prenup in order first there Jeff. I think his convincing win shows that he could have done well in any form of motorsports in my opinion. When was it, a couple of years ago, when the F1s came to Indy, and Jeff and another F1 driver "swapped" rides for a little bit? The F1 driver, I can't remember who, never quite got the handle on the stocker, and proclaimed it a real handfull. If I remember right, Jeff was cutting competitive, respectible times within a few laps. I sometimes still wonder what he could have done in F1. There were a few rumors circulating at the time that he may do just that, but it was dismissed out of hand by most automotive sportswriters as out of the question as Jeff was "too long in the tooth. Ouch. That hurt. He STILL seems like a "kid" to me.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Monday, June 12, 2006
Mulling things over.........
I've been mulling something over in my mind ever since last evening. Every once in a while, I'll see a story in the paper that reminds me of the frailty of life, how quickly it can be taken from you or a loved one. Last Saturday, a man and his young son were killed in a pretty horrible car wreck. The man's kids had just arrived to spend the summer with him. By all accounts, he was a loving and doting father, and a good family man. That got me to thinking that you just never know when your ticket is going to be punched.
In the past few years, I've been doing my best to establish new priorities in my life. Been trying to pay attention to important things like my beloved sons and wonderful wife. My mooch of a dog, the obvious things. But last weekend on Sunday (The 4th) the sun was bright and the weather beautiful and it was a wonderful afternoon. As I was working in my back yard garden, it occurred to me that perhaps I ought to grab a chair, sit down, and just take in the wonderful day. I did just that. Sat there for a full hour under the shade of my oak tree, sipped lemonade and decompressed. It was great. Best hour I'd spent in a loooong time.
A lot of us tend to get so caught up in the day to day working world, and then spend the weekend working our asses off doing things around the house and yard, and feel guilty it we're not running ourselves into the ground. We think if we're just sitting there, enjoying the weather, the sun, watching the birds splash in the birdbath, (Really fun to watch!) we're somehow wasting time. That's faulty thinking in my opinion. I've come to believe if we don't slow down once in a while, and tell the workaholic voice in our head to "stick it boss, I've got a five dollar cigar!!" we'll surely regret it. Try it. You won't regret it.
One more thing, we've all got relatives who are the proverbial bane of our existence, but we've also got loved ones whom we care for a great deal. If you give them a hug and tell them you love them and recieve a surprised "What was that all about?" reaction, well, you're simply not doing it enough. Don't wait until tomorrow. If you think you've got time, you need to re-read the first paragraph of this post.
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
104 years old!!
My Father In Law lost his room mate at the rest home today. Henry was 104 years old. 104!! When this man was born, Teddy Roosevelt was one year into his presidency. Thomas Edison had just lost control of his motion picture patents. Edward VII was crowned king of England. The Flatiron Building, generally acknowledged as the first modern skyscraper, was completed in N.Y. City. He's been around to see the birth of flight, saw the moon landing, and watched the space shuttle soar back to earth. He was born the year the second Boer war ended. He saw the "Great War," WW2, and the Korean war. This man has seen a LOT of history pass before his eyes. 104 years. Man. I'll hit 53 this year and consider myself quite lucky to have gotton that far. Henry was reasonably alert, right to the end, but had slowed down quite a bit in the past couple of months. I believe he figured he'd seen enough. He lost interest in food, and wasn't watching much television any more. I'd sort of gotten to know him since the FIL moved in to share a room with him a couple of years ago. He was quiet, didn't talk much. I think he'd pretty much said everything he needed to say.
God speed and rest in peace, Henry. Hope your next journey is a happy one.
Arthur Schopenhauer, Paregra und Paralipomena
"A man must have grown old and lived long in order to see how short life is."
Friday, June 02, 2006
Hey, it just occurred to me....
I was in my teens in the late sixties, and I'll be in my sixties in the late teens.........
Oh wow man. That's pretty cosmic like........ Sorta ying and yang, ya know man........
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Oh wow man. That's pretty cosmic like........ Sorta ying and yang, ya know man........
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Attitude Adjustment
My "little boys" are grown now. We have three of them, ages 23 and 21. They've turned into fine, decent, hard working young men, and I am intensely proud of them.
Years ago I took them with me to do some grocery shopping. They were about 4 and 6 at the time, and they were being pretty typical kids that day. Full of their usual piss and vinegar. Refusing to sit in the seat, grabbing stuff off the shelf, begging for candy, etc. Don't get me wrong, they weren't running amok, just being "kids." That's all. But I had started the day out on a bad foot. We were out of coffee, amongst other things. That was one of the reasons I was there. (My day doesn't go so good iffen I don't get my first cup of Joe.) My loving wife, having had quite enough testosterone that morning ("Even the goddam cat's a male!!!" she snarled.) "asked" me to take them with me on my errands. I sensed this was one of those times when it's not healthy for a husband to say "Gee, I'd rather not, dear." We all piled into the Vista-Cruiser, and after stopping a couple of times to put them back into the car seats, (Boy they got good at springing themselves out of those things.) we finally arrived at the store. This particular store had free cups of coffee at the front door for customers. That's why I usually patronized this establishment. But I knew there was no way I could hold a cup of coffee and manage the rug rats, so I reluctantly passed it up, opting instead to wait until I got home and make a fresg pot. Down one aisle and up the next we went, with me growing more and more irritated as time passed. As I grew more and more irritated, I started to have some pretty pissy thoughts and emotions about being "stuck" with them. I was full of resentments in those days, and this day was no different from the rest. At about the next to the last aisle, I'd just about had it, and was seriously contemplating grabbing them by their scruffs, leaving the cart full of stuff right there, (Why, you're welcome mister store flunky. Any time!!) and dragging them back out to the car in a huge self serving hissy fit. "Dammit, why'd I get stuck with these little brats??? Why'd MY life go into the toilet like this??? Why ME??????" You know, that sort of selfish self centered type of thinking. Right at the end of the aisle, and just before my snapping point, around the end of the aisle came a woman pushing HER son in a wheel chair. This young boy, about 8 or 9, appeared to have about the worst case of cerebral palsy I've ever seen. His head was in a clamp-like device to keep it still, his arms were secured by straps, and he was belted into the chair, his body and face contorted by the disease. The look on his mom's face said it all. She looked at my healthy active kids, smiled nicely, said "Have a good day sir!" and moved on. I'm certain she'd have paid ANY price to have her boy jump up out of that wheelchair and start doing the same things my boys were doing.
Talk about attitude adjustment time.
Man.
Since that day, I've come to believe there's no such thing as "coincidence." I underwent a change of heart and realized just how lucky a man I was. I've had to conquer a lot of other demons since that day. But everytime since then when I've grown annoyed with my kids, or any situation for that matter, I think back to that day, and remind myself that I have much to be thankful for.
Have a nice day!
Years ago I took them with me to do some grocery shopping. They were about 4 and 6 at the time, and they were being pretty typical kids that day. Full of their usual piss and vinegar. Refusing to sit in the seat, grabbing stuff off the shelf, begging for candy, etc. Don't get me wrong, they weren't running amok, just being "kids." That's all. But I had started the day out on a bad foot. We were out of coffee, amongst other things. That was one of the reasons I was there. (My day doesn't go so good iffen I don't get my first cup of Joe.) My loving wife, having had quite enough testosterone that morning ("Even the goddam cat's a male!!!" she snarled.) "asked" me to take them with me on my errands. I sensed this was one of those times when it's not healthy for a husband to say "Gee, I'd rather not, dear." We all piled into the Vista-Cruiser, and after stopping a couple of times to put them back into the car seats, (Boy they got good at springing themselves out of those things.) we finally arrived at the store. This particular store had free cups of coffee at the front door for customers. That's why I usually patronized this establishment. But I knew there was no way I could hold a cup of coffee and manage the rug rats, so I reluctantly passed it up, opting instead to wait until I got home and make a fresg pot. Down one aisle and up the next we went, with me growing more and more irritated as time passed. As I grew more and more irritated, I started to have some pretty pissy thoughts and emotions about being "stuck" with them. I was full of resentments in those days, and this day was no different from the rest. At about the next to the last aisle, I'd just about had it, and was seriously contemplating grabbing them by their scruffs, leaving the cart full of stuff right there, (Why, you're welcome mister store flunky. Any time!!) and dragging them back out to the car in a huge self serving hissy fit. "Dammit, why'd I get stuck with these little brats??? Why'd MY life go into the toilet like this??? Why ME??????" You know, that sort of selfish self centered type of thinking. Right at the end of the aisle, and just before my snapping point, around the end of the aisle came a woman pushing HER son in a wheel chair. This young boy, about 8 or 9, appeared to have about the worst case of cerebral palsy I've ever seen. His head was in a clamp-like device to keep it still, his arms were secured by straps, and he was belted into the chair, his body and face contorted by the disease. The look on his mom's face said it all. She looked at my healthy active kids, smiled nicely, said "Have a good day sir!" and moved on. I'm certain she'd have paid ANY price to have her boy jump up out of that wheelchair and start doing the same things my boys were doing.
Talk about attitude adjustment time.
Man.
Since that day, I've come to believe there's no such thing as "coincidence." I underwent a change of heart and realized just how lucky a man I was. I've had to conquer a lot of other demons since that day. But everytime since then when I've grown annoyed with my kids, or any situation for that matter, I think back to that day, and remind myself that I have much to be thankful for.
Have a nice day!
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny ..."
Isaac Asimov
