A Sunday Morning Workout With Our ‘Little Man’

We drove down to Victoria early Sunday morning to have a visit with Carrie and Mason. When we arrived he was motoring around behind a little push-cart toy that he could walk behind just by hanging on to the handle. He was moving so fast I thought he just might be able to come home and help cut my lawn! Once in a while Mason would let go of the handle and just stand there…thinking…but no steps yet! It’s not going to be long though as he’s strong on his legs and rarin’ to go!

After racing around with his push-cart, Mason decided it was time to play on the floor with his toys along with his Grammy and Grandpa of course. This involved mostly chasing and catching him as he crawled off in all different directions to try and get a hold of things on tables that he wasn’t supposed to be getting a hold of. More than once I heard Grammy whispering to Carrie that “when Mason starts walking he’s going to be a holy terror”!! Should be fun.

To get some R&R, we took Mason for a walk to Starbucks – he loves going out

Before we were totally exhausted, Paulette and I decided to take Mason for a walk to the nearby Starbuck’s – we desperately needed some caffeine to keep us going. Our ‘little man’ loved that as he likes to point at things and tell us what he’s seeing in a language all his own. Lots and lots of laughing along the way. At Starbuck’s we gave him some small pieces of a muffin. He ate some of it but most of the muffin was broken into tiny pieces and dropped on the floor. What a mess that was.

Back home, it was time for Mason’s first “horsey-ride” with Grandpa being the beast of burden. He had a good grip on the back of my shirt as I crawled around with him but Grammy wasn’t far behind making sure he didn’t fall off. He sure liked that.

Mason showed us the crawl through tunnel he got for his birthday from one of his little friends. It’s really amazing to see some of the new toys and playthings that the little guys have to play with these days. He spend quite a long time crawling back and forth through this tunnel. He especially loved it if someone would chase him. I could chase him alright but there was no way I was going to fit through that tunnel.

Thanks Grammy and Grandpa, that was fun, come back and see me soon ok?

By noon, Paulette and I were completely exhausted. It was definitely time to head for home after making a quick stop at Costco. We said goodbye to Carrie and Mason giving our little man an extra big hug. As soon as we recuperate and give our weary bones a rest we’ll be heading back down for another workout session with Mason!

Thanks for visiting!

Flying From ‘The Nest’ Learning Thermostat For Now

UPDATE:  Molly returned to the vet clinic Saturday morning for another IV antibiotic treatment. The good news is she is doing much, much better and she is back home and only has to return for a follow-up check next Wednesday. She will continue to take antibiotic pills for the next 5 days while home. She is happy and active again.

The big worry was Molly wasn’t eating and refused to even try the low-fat canned dog food. She wouldn’t eat it at the vet and she wouldn’t touch it when we brought her home Friday night. It was worrying as Molly had not eaten a thing in almost 3 days.

Saturday morning, the vet suggested that Paulette go home and cook a chicken breast for Molly, cut it up and bring it back to see if she’d eat it.

That worked like a charm as Molly devoured the chicken in no time flat. We left the chicken at the vet’s while she was having the IV and they said they’d feed her more every 2 hours. She loved it. All Molly needed was a “little home cookin’”. She’ll be on a diet of chicken and white rice for the next week or so – maybe longer. We’re very grateful to all the staff at the Mill Bay Veterinary Hospital for their tremendous care, compassion and the excellent medical diagnosis and treatment provided to Molly!

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As much as I was looking forward to purchasing and installing a Wi-Fi enabled Nest Learning Thermostat, further research has led me to put this idea on hold at least for now. Reading up on the Nest I discovered that it, like all Wi-Fi enabled thermostats, requires a common ‘C’ wire to bring constant power from the heating and cooling equipment to the thermostat so it can power its Wi-Fi system. I took the cover off of our old round Honeywell mercury based unit to find 2 heating wires but no C wire.

A Typical case:  Y1 = Cooling;  W1 = Heating; C = Common;  Rh = Power

Nothing’s ever easy or straightforward when it comes to home improvements it seems. What would be the fun in that, Mr. Murphy asks?  After discovering the lack of a C wire I spent many hours this past week learning more about thermostat wiring than I ever really wanted to know!  I had no idea that today’s thermostats had not only black or red and white wires now but also blue, green and yellow required to run A/C, heat pumps, fans and all kinds of stuff we never had a need for in our home.

With only black and white wires, no continuous power for the Nest thermostat

Although it’s possible to run the Nest Thermostat with just 2 wires it’s also possible it could lead to unwanted problems. When we’re down south for the winter the last thing I want to worry about is heating problems. I’ve read all the reviews, articles and stories I could find about the Nest without a C wire and I’m firmly convinced that the C wire connection is an absolute necessity for safety and peace of mind. It’s needed to guarantee continuous power to the onboard rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Honeywell has rushed out the Lyric thermostat to compete with the Nest

So, how do I get a ‘C’ wire from our furnace to our living room thermostat location? The easy way would be to call a heating tech and have him do it for $100 – $150. I like that idea but since it’s summer and we don’t need heat for a few months I thought I may as well have at look at this job myself. After turning the furnace power off at the main breaker, I went down into our crawl space and made my way over to our electric forced air furnace and opened the main panel to have a look.

Our old inefficient Mercury based thermostat has to go!

I did manage to find the 2 wires from the furnace control panel that wound there way over to the wall and then up to our thermostat. So far so good. But, the rest of it was a concoction of wires, connectors and all kinds of strange looking things. I know somewhere in that mess there’s a Common C connector but nothing I could see at first glance. No manual either. Looks like I may have to find one and see if I can figure this all out (or just call a heating tech)! Heck, I’ll give it a try!

Depending on how things go we may end up with a Honeywell Programmable

You may be wondering at this point why I’m even bothering with all this especially since our old Honeywell Thermostat has been working for over 30 years now. The main reason is the old mercury based thermostats are notoriously inefficient. A new digital thermostat can save as much as 30% on annual heating costs. So, no matter whether I get a Nest Wi-Fi thermostat or even a Honeywell programmable one I first need to upgrade our wiring to current standards.

Thanks for visiting!

Molly’s Home & Canada’s Anti-Spam Law Set For July 1st

It was a long day of waiting and hoping but we finally got the o.k. at 6pm Friday to pick up Molly and bring her home. We had checked in at the Mill Bay Vet Hospital at 3pm and were told they were just waiting for the results of the latest blood work. With that, we had another anxious hour of waiting but we finally got a call telling us they were just giving Molly another antibiotic IV but that she’d be ready to go home by 6pm. Were we ever glad to hear that.

Molly headed right for her favourite spot in my computer room – ahhh, home!

Molly still has the IV thingie in her leg as we have to take her back to the Vet in the morning for a follow-up check. They’ll determine whether or not she has to have more IV antibiotics. If she does, Molly will remain there for a few hours until that’s finished then we’ll pick her up again. If not, then the Vet said they’ll remove the IV apparatus. Molly will be going on low-fat food from now on as that’s what’s recommended for dogs with pancreatitus. We’re just happy to have Molly back home with us!

Canada says ‘NO’ to SPAM

If like me you happen to be Canadian then you’ve probably noticed that you’ve been getting a lot of emails recently from companies asking for your express consent to allow them to keep sending you emails (aka SPAM). I must have received over 20 of these messages in the past few weeks and today I received 6 more. I had no idea I was even on the mailing list of some of these companies. So, why are they now asking for my permission to keep sending me emails? It’s because of CASL!

This email I received is typical of one where I never realized I was on a list

CASL is Canada’s new anti-spam legislation that takes effect July 1, 2014. It has caused near panic among many businesses who fear that sending commercial emails may grind to a halt after that date. This law is really tough as prior laws like the US CAN-SPAM Act relied on us to actually use the companies “unsubscribe mechanism” which sometimes was so small as to be unseen, CASL requires express “opt-in” consent. We

I was happy to take the option to ‘Unsubscribe’ from CarCost and many others

Violating the law could result in massive fines for organizations, businesses and individuals. CASL’s penalties are significant with the maximum penalty set at $1 million per violation for an individual and $10 million per violation for a business. The scope of CASL is not limited to activities in Canada. This means that organizations located outside of Canada that send messages to computers located in Canada or install computer programs on devices in Canada will also face CASL requirements.

Thanks for visiting!

Molly Looked A Little Better Last Night…. We’re Hopefull!

We’re hoping that Molly’s blood work analysis, scheduled for Friday afternoon, will show enough improvement to allow us to bring her home. Paulette and I went to the Mill Bay Vet Hospital late yesterday afternoon to see Molly and she looked 100% better than when I saw her first thing that morning. She was much happier to see us, more alert and she was able to walk slowly but steadily. We were able to take her out in the back of the clinic for a little walk with her IV bag attached.

Molly was looking much better late yesterday afternoon at the Vet’s

Clare, our wonderful caring Vet, said she would be taking Molly home again with her Thursday night so we felt really good about that as Molly’s never spent a night alone in a kennel in her entire life. She’d probably be fine as she’s a little trooper – I’m not so sure we’d be though as we both need a good night’s sleep – without worry! So, we’re hoping Molly continues to improve and that she’ll be back home with us Friday afternoon! Thanks for all the good wishes and I’ll keep you all posted.

Hi Grandpa, I’m having the time of my life!

On the good news front, Mason’s still smiling and enjoying all the new toys he got for his first birthday almost 10 days ago. I’m hoping that once we get Molly home and all settled in I’ll be able to drive down to visit with our little man this weekend. Mason’s standing up all by himself now with no supports and just beginning to think about taking that “first step”! I sure would like to be around to see that.

Thanks for visiting!

Our Pup Molly Is In The Vet Hospital

We had to rush our little Molly to the Mill Bay Veterinary Hospital at 7pm on Wednesday night after she suffered what we thought was a seizure. Molly began writhing on the floor and couldn’t stand on her own legs so we phoned and rushed her to the vet clinic.

After a quick but thorough examination, the Vet told us she was fairly certain that Molly didn’t suffer a seizure or stroke but blood work might help determine the cause of what happened.

We waited for 30 minutes until the first blood tests results came back. The vet said Molly’s red cell counts were low and her white cells high. She told us that there was definitely some kind of infection going on so she was going to put Molly on an antibiotic IV and recommended keeping her in overnight.

We hated to leave Molly at the hospital where she would have to spend the night all alone in a kennel but what else could we do. We spent a very restless night worrying about our little pup and didn’t get much sleep at all. Rylie wasn’t much better as she really misses her big sister.

I went to the Vet’s at 8am Thursday morning to see Molly and find out how she was doing. To my complete surprise Molly wasn’t there! The staff told me that a very caring and compassionate Vet, Clare, who was treating Molly had taken her home Wednesday night because she wanted to look after her personally. How about that? Dr. Clare arrived at the clinic with Molly about 8:15am and it sure was nice to see her actually walking albeit very slowly.

The Vet went in to look at the results of further blood work they had done the night before while I took Molly for a short walk out in the grassy backyard of the clinic. When I came back the Vet told me that Molly had a rather severe Pancreatic infection likely caused by something she ate or got into on one of our hikes. She recommended keeping her for another night on the antibiotic IV but she assured me she would take Molly home with her for another night.

Molly at 9 weeks shortly after we brought her home

We noticed Molly had been rather lethargic for a few days and on Wednesday afternoon she didn’t want to walk when we took her to the park. I stayed in the car with Molly while Paulette took Rylie around the trail. We decided that if Molly was not any better by Thursday morning we’d take her to the Vet but, of course, we never made it that far. The Vet told us what we thought might have been a seizure was more likely just extreme weakness and pain from the Pancreatic infection.

It just goes to show, once again, that we never really know what’s exactly going on with our pets for sure as they can’t tell us. Molly was obviously in a lot more discomfort than we ever imagined but she suffered in silence without us really suspecting there might be a serious problem.

It’s about 2pm PDT as I’m writing this and we’ll be off to see Molly at the clinic in a few more hours to check in and see how she’s doing. It sounds like we won’t be able to bring her home tonight as much as we’d love to but at least we know she won’t be left alone and instead will be going home with Clare, IV’s and all.  It sure is great to see a professional taking such personal interest in caring for our little Molly.

Thanks for visiting!

“If I Had 2 Million Dollars” – No, I Still Wouldn’t Buy It

Bob Dylan is probably my all-time favourite musician. The fact that he has always marched to his own drummer also appeals to me. In 1965, at age 24, Dylan was just back from a concert tour of England and relaxing in his room at the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, D.C. when he picked up a pencil and wrote a draft of one of the most popular songs of all time “Like A Rolling Stone”. It was written on plain hotel stationary and was sold at a Sotheby’s auction this week for over $2 million!

As big a fan as I am of Bob Dylan the idea of paying out $2M for the working draft of a song strikes me a a bit crazy. But, I have no idea how many gazilllions of dollars the buyer has so maybe it’s just chicken feed to him. In any event, Sotheby’s said it’s a world record for a popular music manuscript. But heck, along with the lyrics, the buyer also got Dylan’s margin doodles of a hat, bird and an animal with antlers.

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you ?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

Like A Rolling Stone got off to a rather rocky start when Dylan performed the song live for the first time when he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965 in Newport, Rhode Island. The song's sound was revolutionary in its combination of electric guitar licks, organ chords, and Dylan's voice, But the audience wanted the Bob Dylan of Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They Are a Changing so they booed him and called him a traitor to folk music and selling out to Rock ‘n Roll.

In typical Bob Dylan fashion, his reaction to the boos was to turn to his band and tell them “to play louder”. Since then, "Like a Rolling Stone" has remained a staple in Dylan's concerts and, up until 2005, he sang it at over 640 concert performances. It helped that Like a Rolling Stone grew in popularity and today is pretty much regarded as Dylan’s #1 recording.

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

Bruce Springsteen recalled that he was just 15 the first time he ever heard Like a Rolling Stone and it was like “somebody kicked open the door to your mind”. But, perhaps Elvis Costello said it best:"What a shocking thing to live in a world where there was Manfred Mann and the Supremes and Engelbert Humperdinck and here comes 'Like a Rolling Stone'". With one song, penciled on hotel stationary, Dylan changed the face of rock'n'roll for ever.

On a totally different subject, as of 10pm PDT Tuesday evening, Google still has not resolved the problem with the Blogger Dashboard where only 1 post shows on the Reading List. I’m really surprised that it’s gone on this long. Someone really must have thrown some sand in the Google Gears this time.

UPDATE: As of 6am PDT the Blogger Dashboard Reading List appears fixed!

Thanks for visiting!

Blogger Reading List Only Showing One Blog Entry

I had a few emails from fellow bloggers on Monday morning asking why they could only see one blog listed on their Dashboard Reading List. I checked mine and sure enough it was the same problem. It didn’t look like a big deal to me so I just wrote back to those that asked saying it was most likely a Blogger problem and nothing to do with their computer. And, it would most likely be fixed in a few hours. Well, I got it partly correct as it is a Blogger issue but as of 10pm (PDT), it’s still not fixed!

Monday was a very busy day for me so I never did get around to even thinking about this problem or anything else to do with blogging actually until I sat down at my computer around 9pm Monday evening. A quick check showed the Blogger problem was still not fixed but at least Blogger has responded acknowledging it is their fault and saying that programmers and engineers are working on it. With that, I trust it should be fixed by Tuesday morning!  What year, I’m not sure!

Thanks for visiting!

A Short, Must-See Video Clip Of Pure Messi-Enthusiasm

Even if you don’t like soccer and haven’t watched any of the World Cup games going on right now in Brazil, take a minute and watch this video of Argentina commentator Alejandro Fantino describing an extra-time, game winning goal by Lionel Messi who is without doubt the best soccer player in the world right now and a national hero in his home country of Argentina. This description takes sports excitement to an entirely new level unheard of in our baseball, football, hockey or basketball games.

Lionel Messi scores dramatic goal in extra time to lift Argentina to 1-0 win

After some long chants of "Goooooooooal, Goooooooooal, Goooooooooal", Fantino went absolutely berserk and followed up with comparisons in Spanish to the likes of Brazilian soccer legend Pele and then the Pope ("Papa Francisco")….Il Papa, Il Papa, Il Papa! It seems that on this day in a steamy, hot soccer stadium in Brazil, Argentina’s favourite son Pope Francis was bumped to second place behind Lionel Messi and his second spectacular, game-winning goal in as many games.

Lionel Messi’s annual salary is a staggering $65M plus $25M in endorsements

Lionel Messi, who turns 27 next month is expected to sign a new 5 year contract with his home football club Barcelona after the World Cup that will probably exceed the $50 million annual salary paid to fellow Spanish league player Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

The salaries for Messi and Ronaldo dwarf any other athletes in team sports. For comparisons sake, the top salary in MLB this year is $25 million (Ryan Howard and Cliff Lee) and $30.5 million in the NBA (Kobe Bryant).

In addition to their annual salaries, both Messi and Ronaldo rake in an additional $25 million more in endorsements. It’s only fitting, I guess, as their clubs, Barcelona and Real Madrid, are the two most valuable franchises in sports according to Forbes Magazine. The teams are fierce rivals with their matchups  dubbed El Clasico and watched by hundreds of millions of people (an estimated 400 million watched in March or three times the global Super Bowl audience).

Lionel Messi was born Luis Lionel Andres Messi on June 24, 1987, in Rosario, Argentina. As a young boy, he tagged along when his two older brothers played soccer with their friends and was not intimidated by the bigger boys. At the age of 8, he was recruited to join a Rosario-based football club. Recognizably smaller than most of the kids in his age group, Messi was eventually diagnosed by doctors as suffering from a hormone deficiency that restricted his growth.

Messi's parents, Jorge and Ceclia, soon found it impossible to pay for the several hundred dollars per month in medications required to treat their son. At age 13, with his prowess on the soccer field already gathering international attention, soccer powerhouse Barcelona FC offered Messi the chance to train at its youth academy and have his medical bills covered by the team, Messi's family picked up and moved across the Atlantic to make a new home in Spain.

Messi eventually grew to 5 feet and 7 inches and moved quickly through the junior system ranks, and by the age of 16, he had made his first appearance for the big team - Barcelona. Messi put himself in the record books on May 1, 2005, as the youngest player to ever score a goal for the franchise. That same year, he led Argentina to the title in the under-20 World Cup, Now, today, he stands atop the world of football proving that skill, speed and determination can still beat size!

Thanks for visiting!

Moving To The Nest Thermostat With WiFi For Snowbirds

One of the main issues we always have to worry about when we head south for the winter is what temperature to set the thermostat to that controls our home heating furnace. We’re lucky here on Vancouver Island because unlike most of Canada our outside temperature seldom ever drops below freezing (0C/32F). Still, it means we have to pick a temperature using our ancient Honeywell thermostat and that’s the temperature it’s set to for 3 or 4 months 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Google bought Nest earlier this year for a cool (hot?) 3.2 billion in cash

It’s not an efficient way to heat a home for sure because we normally pick 11C/52F while we’re away and it keeps it that way 24 hours a day. When we’re home in the winter we normally have our thermostat set to 21C/70F and when we go to bed we always turn the thermostat right down to 0!  Our bedroom is upstairs. It never seems to get too cold and we always sleep with our windows open. So, heating our home 24 hours a day has always seemed like a real waste of money while we’re away.

The Nest offers full control of multiple thermostats in your home

After a bit of research, I’ve decided to buy a Nest Learning Thermostat that learns your heating and cooling preferences over time, so you don't have to program it. But, and this is the big one for me, the Nest will connect to our home Wi-Fi network and a very elegant app will allow me to control our Nest thermostat using my iPhone, iPad or laptop while we’re in Palm Springs or anywhere else for the winter. That is going to be a huge benefit as we can monitor the weather and adjust accordingly.

You can use your iPhone to turn the furnace on while you’re still in bed

For some strange reason I never did get around to replacing our ancient Honeywell with at least a programmable thermostat. That was probably because I found those mechanical devices complicated and irritating.  The Nest Thermostat can program itself. Just turn it up and turn it down. It learns what temperatures you like and builds a personalized schedule. Teach it efficient temperatures for a few days and, within a week, it'll start setting them on its own. It will auto-adjust by season too. Smart!

Our old Honeywell Thermostat will soon be history

For those who may want to set their own temperatures rather than having Nest learn for itself, it’s very easy to do that without having to go through mind-boggling algorithms and 24/7 time schedules. It also has an Auto-Away and manual Away mode that will both turn off your system until your home reaches a minimum temperature that you choose during setup.

The Nest Thermostat back plate – looks like a fairly straightforward install

Thanks to a very generous daughter, I have a birthday gift certificate to Future Shop that will defray the cost of the new Nest Learning Thermostat. It retails for $249. I’ve spent a few weeks thinking about any computer gizmo I might need and couldn’t come up with anything. Then, I suddenly membered about this Nest Thermostat. It’s supposed to be very simple to install according to what I’ve read so I hope that’s true as I’ll be giving it a try sometime this coming week. I suppose I’ll report back!

Thanks for visiting! 

A 2-Step Windows 8.1 Computer Strategy For Data Backups

In the most dramatic revamp ever of its back-up utility, Microsoft has made it easier than ever for Windows 8.1 users to protect themselves against data loss.  The new File History utility is a set-it-and-forget-it solution that automatically backs up all libraries on your computer (contacts, desktop, documents, downloads, favorites, music, pictures, saved games, searches and videos), as well as the user’s custom libraries and SkyDrive. It can be set to do this as frequently as every 10 minutes!

My 2 Step Strategy For Computer System Backups

1.	Create a System Image on External HD	Once a month
2.	Use File History to backup all libraries, desktop etc.	Every hour

I’ll admit that I’ve been guilty of not using my external HD for not much more than a paper weight for far too long. I’ve just been lucky that no disastrous HD crash or other malfunction has occurred to make me regret it. In fact, until this past week I rarely even connected my external HD to my computer. Instead, I just plugged it in on those occasions when I wanted to look for a photo or document contained in some old archive. Occasionally, but not often enough, I did run a System Image.

To turn on File History in Window 8.1 go to Control Panel > File History

Wait until your computer finds your External HD then click ‘Turn On’

I talked about what a lifesaver the Create A System Image utility can be in 2 recent posts. The problem with it, like many backup utilities, is remembering to run it on a regular basis and the fact that it is only a “snapshot’ of your files and folders as of that particular moment. For instance, if you created a System Image on June 1st and needed to restore it on June 25th al the files you had added or changed between those dates would be missing – but, at least you’d have your OS and programs.

Click ‘Advanced Settings’ to customize how often you want to save files

Even with the new Windows 8.1 File History and its ability to copy all of your files to an external HD in time frames ranging from 10 minutes to daily (default is every hour) it does not copy over your OS, programs or apps which can be a real hassle to load and impossible if you can’t find your original installation DVD’s.  Creating a System Image each month will provide me with a recent copy of my OS, programs, apps and registry. I can live easily with a OS and programs as recent as only 30 days!

My Backup Files as of 6:58pm last night (refreshed every 30 minutes)

If I ever have to restore a file or all of them, it couldn’t be any easier. All I have to do is click on ‘Restore Personal Files’ and then in the new windows navigate to the files or libraries I want to restore and click ‘Restore’ at the bottom of the screen. The utility even allows me to restore the files to a different location if I want to.

Compared to the sleek Windows 8.1 File History Utility, the Windows 7 Backup looks pretty clunky!  I never used it because of that but I think this Windows 8.1 File History is just what the disk doctor ordered. In case you are wondering, File History is a silent tool that runs in background and uses very little in the way of system resources. After the first, initial copy it is fairly quiet and only copies files in libraries that have been changed so it has very little impact on your computer.

You can take a few simple steps to protect your computer from this:

Thanks for visiting!

Genius’ of the Day – General David Petraeus & Megyn Kelly

"This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias, or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight". 

With those words spoken Wednesday, retired general David Petraeus warned that the political conditions now in Iraq mean that military intervention would be disastrous because both sides would perceive the United States as favoring one religious faction against another rather than squashing terrorism alone.

Speaking at a foreign policy conference in London, Petraeus told the attendees that the United States should not offer military support unless Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is able to change political conditions there so that his Shiite-led government is seen as fair and representative throughout the country.

Petraeus’ view of Iraq aligns with that of President Obama who has stated that  any military engagement must be conditioned on a political plan that would form a national unity government aimed at healing long-standing wounds between the clashing sectarian groups. I can only imagine the shock of disbelief that must have run through the entire beings of the wacko right-wing war hawks who had elevated General Petraeus to near sainthood while he was overseeing the Iraq war.

One might risk a thought that war-hawks like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham along with former VP (aka “Chicken Hawk”) Cheney might listen to the man they once regarded as one of the “wisest people” they knew. In one of the most ill-timed statements Sen. McCain has ever made he recently called for Obama’s national security team to be fired last week, and suggested Obama should consult with Petraeus. Perfect! What would McCain say now? You already know, right?

Just last night McCain suggested that the United States should “go in, we use airpower, we get some boots on the ground, a few that can identify targets.”  He never even mentioned his former idol Gen. Petraeus. After the tragic loss of almost 4,500 American troops in a disastrous, ill-conceived and unwinnable war, McCain and others like him want to sacrifice the lives of more young Americans.

It’s not often, maybe even never, that I commend Fox News on anything they report but I have to give a tip of the hat to anchor Megyn Kelly who totally destroyed Dick Cheney during an interview on her show last nigh about his track record in Iraq.

Cheney, in his typical troll fashion had penned an article for the Wall Street Journal saying of President Obama that “rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many,”  Dick Cheney is no Winston Churchill that’s for sure. Megyn Kelly fired back with this barnburner of a question:

"Time and time again, history has proven that you got it wrong as well in Iraq, sir. You said there was no doubt Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. You said we would be greeted as liberators. You said the insurgency was in its last throes back in 2005, and you said that after our intervention, extremists would have to 'rethink their strategy of jihad.' Now, with almost a trillion dollars spent there, with almost 4,500 American lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many?"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Iraq is what it is; what it always has been for thousands of years; and, what it looks to be for the next thousand years. American bombs and missile strikes will only make things worse and invite more terrorist attacks against US interests.

Thanks for visiting!

7 8 14 System Tools and Security*

 Dear Classmates,

   

Tuesday,
July 8 at 7 pm at our Windows 7, 8.1 Workshop.

 My
new HP laptop has a Click (touch) Pad that acts like a touch screen. I really
like it for its ease and convenience.  I
use it 90% of the time, the mouse 10%.  Will
demo.

 

==============================================

Windows 8 was   released October 26 2012.

Windows 8.1 was released in October 2013.

 After our Question and Answer period and we will discuss and demo:

 

1. Disk Cleanup: It deletes; Temporary Internet
Files, Temporary Files, Recycle Bin, Offline Web Pages, etc.

2. Defragment:  (rearranges
your data for faster access)  As you
add and delete programs and files your, it is scattered all over the hard drive
   Defrag rearranges your data so there
are no empty spaces and the programs and data you use the most are put into the
fastest accessible portion of your hard drive.

 3. System Information. Tells you all about the Hardware
and Software on your computer. (More than you want to know).

Will demo the free Belarc Advisor.

 4. System Restore:  Restores
your system to a previous date. Say you installed a new program today and your
computer went haywire, use System Restore to restore it to yesterday. Restore
Point: Creates one when you download Windows updates.

5. Action Center: Manage security settings for
Automatic Updates, Internet Options, and Windows Firewall. What safety
features are turned on.

6. Anti-Virus programs:

For Windows 7, Microsoft
Security Essentials

For Windows 8.1 Windows Defender

 7. Power Options; puts your computer to sleep when not in use.

 8. Configure Notification Area Icons. They are on the right side
of the Taskbar.

9. msconfig: Too many people have too many programs starting up.

 10. Ram,
Processor or Chip, and Hard Drive

 Please take note: There will be NO meeting in
August.

 

Kindest regards,

 Joe Isaac

 ======================================  

 

 Q.
How do I increase the size of my font in Windows 7?

 A. Right click on your desktop and choose Personalize. Then
on the left side, click on the DISPLAY, select Smaller, Medium, Larger, Next, lick
on Apply.

----------------------------------

Check your Internet
Speed: http://www.pcpitstop.com/internet/bw.asp

----------------------------------

Drivers
are mini-programs (instructions) that tell your computer how to use its
hardware (like printers, scanners, etc.)

=======================  

 Q. Where is the refresh button on tool Bar?

A. At the top of Internet Explorer 11 there is
a curved Arrow next to the
X, to Refresh click on it, or just
hit F5 on the keyboard.

----------------------------------------

 Q. How is the quickest way to switch between
open programs or documents?

A.  By Jerry Heaton: Do Alt Tab on the keyboard and it will show all open programs.

========================================

Q. I am trying to find how to make
my internet page blank like you do yours?    
Thanks,

A. Go to Control Panel, click on Internet options  you get this screen.

 

Click on Use new tab and at the bottom click on OK.

Response: Got it!  This is so much better!   Thanks,

----------------------------------------

 

From Carl Peter:

You have never seen fireworks like
this, I hope!!!   Surprising shapes and
designs!!!  Enjoy!!!!  Chinese fireworks...........

 

http://www.youtube.com/embed/_LpMB1OZ53g?feature=player_detailpage%22%20frameborder=%220%22%20allowfullscreen%3e%3c/iframe%3e&autoplay=1

 

Full Length Dubai New Year's Eve 2014 Guinness World
Records Fireworks HD 1080p 3D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IchJ_2paHNs
  

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========================================

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Windows 8.1 Also Has The Create A System Image Utility

Last Friday I wrote a blog post about how Windows 7 users could save themselves a lot of grief and money by taking advantage of a little known utility called Create A System Image. This nifty little app allows you to restore your computer, including files, programs and device drivers after a catastrophic hard drive crash. Just like all backups, it is dependent on the last time you ran the app. Bill Joyce left a comment on my post saying that Windows 8.1 also includes this app – thanks for that, Bill.

The fact that Create a System Image was included in Windows 8.1 was news to me because when I first downloaded the Preview Version of Windows 8.1 it wasn’t there. Then, when I upgraded to the final version of Windows 8.1 I looked for it briefly and couldn’t find it so I figured Microsoft had ditched it. They didn’t ditch it but they did a pretty good job of moving this utility and hiding it. The only reason I can come up with for this is that Microsoft prefers us to use their other backup procedures.

Here’s how to access the Create a System Image in Windows 8.1

Go to Control Panel > Save backup copies of your files with File History

This screen will show for a few seconds while it searches for an external HD

The next display will show System Image Backup hidden down at the bottom

From there all you have to do is follow the instructions to Create a System Image on your external HD. For reference, you may want to refer to my June 13th post. 

A friend’s regular maintenance scan produced a rather frightening result

To show how effective this System Image utility is I can relate a successful use of it just yesterday. One of my poker buddies, Phil, was doing a routine Dell Maintenance scan on his Windows 7 computer when he got a message saying that his hard drive was in danger of failing and that he should replace it immediately. He called Sunday to see what I thought and I told him it didn’t sound good. He agreed it would be a good idea to replace his failing Primary HD immediately.

I knew Phil had an external HD so I sent him the instructions to Create a System Image and told him I would pick up a 1TB SATA HD the next morning and come over to install it for him. At Phil’s it only took a few minutes to remove the faulty HD and install the new one. The System Image process also creates a bootable CD so all I had to do was put the CD in and boot the computer, it then formatted the new HD and copied the System Image to it and soon his computer was back to normal.

After reading what happened to Paul Dahl when he took his laptop computer in to have a broken screen replaced only to end up having the repair guys wipe his HD clean, I’m convinced that should anyone have to take their computer into a shop for anything then please run a System Image first. It’s worth it, even if you have to go and buy a $100 external HD to do it. I know that Paul would agree with me and probably wishes he had an image of his HD before the repair guys destroyed it.

Thanks again for visiting!

Happy Birthday, Mason! What An Awesome Year!

A year ago, on the morning of Saturday, June 15th, Paulette and I were huddled nervously in the Maternity Ward of the Victoria General Hospital awaiting the birth of our first grandson. At 6am that morning, we had received a phone call letting us know that Carrie had been admitted at 4am after experiencing contractions. It seemed like an eternity as we waited but in reality it was only 4 hours before a very nice nurse walked in and announced ““the baby’s out and is a healthy boy”.!

Mason Richard Thomas Doyle – 8lbs – just minutes after he was born

I still vividly remember jumping up and doing my best “Wayne Gretzky fist-pump” just as if I’d scored the Stanley Cup winning goal – only this news was much better! We had a healthy baby and that’s all we had hoped for. Minutes later, we were allowed into the birthing room to congratulate the beaming new Mom, Carrie, and to say hello to her beautiful little baby boy Mason.Paulette and I got to hold Mason in our arms and to marvel at the miracle that brought us all such a perfect little baby.

“It’s been a great year for me, Grandpa, and I’m looking forward to year 2”

Over the past year, I’ve chronicled our many visits and happy times with Mason as well as posting dozens (hundreds??) of photos of our smiling little man. It’s been every bit as rewarding to us to read all the wonderful comments left by readers about Mason. He is truly one happy, good natured little guy and most of the credit for that goes to his absolutely wonderful Mom – our daughter Carrie! She’s super Mom!

Holding Mason in the birthing room not long after he was born

Mason’s Birthday Party with all his little friends was a huge success and his hot-rod was the big attraction and in high-demand amongst the little guys.

All this partying has tired me out – I needed a nap!

For this blog, the pictures tell the story much better than any more words from me!

Thanks for visiting!