My Theory on Aging

 

There is something that happens once a year that many people fear. This annual occurrence threatens the way of life for some. many hide behind falsehoods and justifications.

What is this horror of horrors that many are so afraid of? It is the annual Birth-Day. That's right the yearly ritual of aging, getting older,continuing up/down the hill

What is aging? It is the process in which are bodies tell us we can no longer do the thing we want to do, and have difficulty doing the things we must do, I.E. work, play with kids, grand kids, or keep up with the younger crowd.

This aging process is inescapable for all who live on Earth. It’s a fact of life. We don’t typically feel our age until the great age of “__”,(fill in your own “Great Age”).

In my professional** opinion age is a matter of mental projections. As our yearly number increases we hear more comments that remind us of how old we “should feel”. Phrases like, “Your old”, and “how's it feel to be old?”, or “old Geezer”, don’t help with our mental state. The more you hear and Listen to these comments the more you feel your age. So what do you do when you hear these things…ignore them for the most part…continue thinking young thoughts…act young were appropriate.

I am currently “xx” number of years old. (notice my lack of acceptance for my real age). I try to ignore all signs of aging as a matter of course. the other day while I was riding with another driver, I was climbing in and out of the back of the truck like I did it every day, (which I do, so it was no big deal for me). The driver I was with was impressed that I moved so “easily”. He asked how old I was, (weird question). I continually deny my age.

At some point age catches up with people. That is when you are allowed to use age as an excuse.

 

In closing I just want to reiterate my theory: “It’s all in your head”, (at least until you hit the age of “__”).

 

 

**My P.H.D. came from the same place I got my drivers licencse, Perfect parent of the year award, perfect attendance award…for the last 15 years, and my “spy” permit… Al’s awards and more. “Where success is just a payment away”.

 

Jason

Computer Fun!

 

Today is update Tuesday. After my wife's computer updated and then restarted she found a new program installed on her computer “Antivirus Pro”. We don’t own this program have never heard of this program, and definitely didn't download it. Tristan was no longer able to use the Internet, run many of her programs, restore to an earlier point, or even run her virus scanner. the one thing we could do was reinstall windows….. What Fun!!

 

The good news is that Tristan had just backed up her important files to DVD's so her data was saved.

So let the fun begin….I think it is great fun to do a clean install of windows… you get to pick and choose (from the mass amount of programs that you have installed over time), the ones you actually use.

We started by reinstalling Windows. Then we started on the fun task of figuring out which programs Tristan needs/wants. Some we had, (on various hard drives and flash drives around the house, (that is my fault, I like storage),  others were included with the restore disks that came with the computer, and some we had to go rooting around the net for.

 

As I helped with the reinstallation of every thing, we discovered a couple of programs, (we had difficulty with before hand), that worked this time around, (made my wife happy!!). It is now 7:45 PM and Tristan's computer is just about finished.

 

Here are some suggestions for heavy content creators or picture takers…and all who could possibly get a virus.

• Install a security program and turn on windows fire wall

The program I use is Microsoft Security Essentials

This Idea comes from “The DAM Book: Digital Asset Management”

• Back up…There is a three step process to backing up

1. make 3 copies of your data
2. put it on 2 different kinds of media I.E. hard drive cd DVD.
3. have an off site back up (on the web or at your office or at a parents house

Remember that one copy is not a backup and don’t make a copy then delete the original because you will still only have one copy.

For a great article on backing up visit dpbestflow.org 

• Get a password manager

 

The one I use and recommend is Last Pass.

Last Pass not only remembers your password for every site you save to it, but it remembers websites and logins for those sites.  Last pass will even generate secure passwords for you. All you need is to set a master password and let last pass do the rest.

This is what my password vault looks like (yes I did edit the contents so you cant see some of my user names).

 

By clicking on the links on the left it will automatically take you to the site and log you in.

 

Please let me know what your suggestions for a good computing experience are.

 

Jason

Christmas in July

 

Why were my wife and I up till 12:30 last night? Well we weren’t wrapping presents or making gifts. We weren’t Watching a movie together. It turns out that we weren’t doing anything normal parents of five with one on the way should be doing on a long Friday after the kids are asleep, (I.E. sleeping).

We decided that it was time to go through the thousands, (seems like it sometimes), of toys that have accumulated in our house over the last 9 1/2 years. I brought all of their toys from the two bedrooms downstairs, brought all the toys stored in the attic. After all the toys were gathered, (we started around 9:30), we spent an exhausting hour and a half to two hours going through toys and deciding what to keep, what to toss, and what to give to Good Will.

This is the total of all the toys in the house not counting Legos or Duplos which we are keeping forever. The big green tub close to the white door is full of Little people which we are also keeping forever.

 

We discovered that we had way to many toys from fast food joints. Lots of broken or parts missing toys were found and lots of toys that don’t get played with.

At some point in the evening I was sent out on a food run, Taco Bell and Dairy Queen… What it was hard work…lots to carry down stairs.

 

When All was said and done we ended up with no broken or parts missing toys, no happy meal toys, and no unwanted toys.

This is what the load to Good Will looked like: 10 boxes and 1 basket

 

Needless to say the kids never saw what got trashed or donated so they can’t miss it. There was great excitement this morning, (like Christmas type excitement), as the kids woke up to find all the toys downstairs. The excitement grew as we took the toys to there rooms and started putting them away in closets and on shelves.

 

End result: Two very tired parents, Five happy kids, Less mess…for now…

 

Jason

Weird Eating habits

Eating is a fact of life. Every one has to eat. The one thing that sets us apart from each other is how the food gets to our mouths. From straws to forks to spoons it gets there, some how. People have different methods; the fork everything method, it's opposite of spooning everything, to the two utensil shoveling method (very messy I might add).

I like the fork every thing method even for applesauce. Now when it comes to foods that require a spoon, (like ice cream and soup), I have an odd habit, as pointed out by my lovely wife, I will put the spoon to my mouth and then, turn the spoon over and scrape the food off toward my tongue. Why such an unusual eating habit? It's simple enough for me. I have sensitive teeth. The idea of hot or cold food touching my front teeth makes me cringe. In reality it is quite uncomfortable.

Another lesser habit I have involves ketchup. I like it on my grill cheese sandwich, on my potato chips (i.e. ketchup chips out of the bag). Funny enough everything else use ketchup for seems pretty normal to me.
What are some of your weird eating habits? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Jason

All I need to know about life I learned from the movies….

Bad guys-

-When confronting bad guys in costume (i.e. full body armor with matching helmet) remember that they can't shoot straight so you can run straight to cover (car, building, around a corner, or over a hill).

-When sneaking up behind bad guys reach around and cover their mouth so they can't yell/scream.

-A karate chop to the neck always works

-Bad guy bosses love to talk... So you can always find out what their secret plans are...you just need to find that one really easy way to escape and then ruin the bad guys day.

-The hide out is almost always below ground, dark and grimy, unless the baddy is super rich and powerful already then it is a pent house apartment or CEOs office.

-Bad guys always lose....after about two hours of action.

Driving:

-There are two types of cars; really cool and fast cars, and really old cars you know will just be torn up, scraped up, damaged beyond repair, or be destroyed in a spectacular explosion.

-When bad guys drive they plow through traffic. When the good guy drive they weave through traffic..... Leaving other drivers to plow into other cars/buildings/or poles.

-The car always seems to run out of gas at the gas station.

-Any car can make a spectacular jump. Only the cool ones survive the jump and keep going.

-When being chased... Jump over a river... The other car will do one of two things; try to jump and end up in the river, or plow nose first in to the river.

 

-Dating:

-When making dinner for a date.... Don't forget the begets.

-always dress to impress, apply copious amounts of make-up, and make a fashionably late entrance.

-There's always a spark

-Espionage/Spies

       - Always carry a blank cd to copy important secret  information,    (you never know when you will get another chance).

-See bad guys above…

-Don’t get Caught…..If you do get caught “Mums” the word.

So in life; go to work find corrupt entity, get caught, run like crazy, fall down, getup, run, run, run, get into car drive really fast weaving in and out of traffic. Find co-pilot, drive to motel, stay the night in fear and terror. Run, drive fast again, jump a river, out maneuver the following car by e-brake turning into an alley that just fits your car but the SUV has to find another route giving you time to get to headquarters and spill the beans thereby ruining the bad guys day.

Dune series review

 
About a month ago I finished about a month long listening experience. The Dune series by Frank Herbert. The author wrote this six book series before his death. The series has since been carried on by other authors.

Book one: Dune

Dune starts off on a green water filled world called Caladan. In a castle/fortress lives a the Duke Atreides, his Bene-Gesserrit which, (you'll learn more throughout the series) wife, (by all but marriage) named and titled Lady Jessica. And their son Paul, the ducal heir.
The Duke Atreides is forced to leave his planet, by the Emperor, and relocate himself, his family, servants, and military to the planet Arakis (also called "Dune"). Dune is a desert planet (complete desert, no water, no rain, all moisture is captured and reused). It is the dream vision of the native population (called the Fremin) to remake Dune into a paradise planet,though it may take many generations. They will do this by placing collector plates around new plants.

Through strategic and subtle plans the dukes enemies overwhelm the many defenses around the new fortress (a very trusted and un questionable servant becomes the tool of the downfall).
In the after math Paul and his mother manage to escape into the dessert. There they meet up with the locals called the Fremen. After a tense encounter they are invited to join the  Fremen life style in the desert.

When Paul starts to see future events he is regarded as someone out of prophecy or legend. He ultimately "marries a native Fremen named Chaney, leads the Fremen to freedom and power by destroying the Harkonnens that took over the dukedom of dune, then maneuvers him self into being emperor.

My thoughts:

This book was a good listen.  It had stealth, cunning strategy, a completely different universe with different rules and personalities.
I did like being transported to another time and place.  I did however find it difficult understanding the new rules and relationships. It seems that the priorities set forth in the first book of this series are: selective breeding to bring forth the desired traits. Love is not the rule but the exception to it. Religion is only a tool of the powerful, (i.e. The Bene Gesserrit and even Paul Atraides who uses the prophecies and legends about himself and his mother to gain control of all Fremin and ultimately the empire), to control the masses and changes constantly. There is an a constant battle over power for three different races.

Over all this was a fun ride.

Hollywood....leave my entertainment alone

 

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My family does not have cable at our house. As a result we have a large movie/show collection (we like to watch shows as a family). Most of the movies we have are what you could call kids/children's, movies from Pixar,DreamWorks, Disney. We also have DVDs of Dora the explorer, go Diego go, Backyardagains, Blues Clues. If you count movies like Harry Potter and Star Wars as kids movies the add those to the list as well.

Recently I bought Avatar and Star trek. Both of these are really great movies with one big exception....wait for it.... A sex/bed scene. Obviously the directors thought this act would add to the movie in some way, whether it was for a tender moment, i.e. Avatar, or for a funny interaction between characters, i.e. Star Trek. This does not  add to the enjoyment of the show.  The only things this does for my family is cause mom and dad to pay close attention to where the offense is and skip that section, (my kids love Avatar, (they hate when we have to skip something even when they have no idea why), I like Star Trek minus the aforementioned scene).

I have a show that I like, (I watch it on hulu.com), called Stargate Universe. It's about a group of scientist and military personnel that are forced to evacuate a crumbling planet through a stargate. By change of the address on the star gate they end up on a ancient space ship, (Destiny), that is flying through the universe billions of light years from earth. Sound interesting so far.

About every three episodes or so the makers of this unique show find it necessary to introduce a "Bed Scene", (not long of course, (does it need to be long), or show what some characters sexuel preference is, (don't know don't care), to mix up the "emotions" of the show. It disturbs me... I would rather they just get on exploring planets or fixing the ship or fighting random aliens. I don't need to see what happens in bed rooms, (I’m married…I know). The last episode was great; Strategy, tension, and a little helping of true friendship!!!

This pattern of "adding to the emotions" of the show happens in a lot of TV shows with increasing .... With movies and TV shows it just dampens the enjoy ability` of what I am watching.

Did all the mirrors break?

You've seen it before, at public places like a fair, zoo, theme park, or even a mall, the various states of dress that people are wearing, (or rather not wearing). There seems to be a trend in the world to wear less and less.

Last month I went to the zoo with my family, sister in laws family,and mother in law. We wanted to see the new polar bear exhibit. We had great fun. On our way back to the exit, (and throughout the zoo), we were assaulted by several people who, (for reasons unknown), chose not to look in a mirror before leaving their house that morning.  They had clothes, (used very loosely,no that is not a pun), that were made for younger people or were just three sizes to small or what some people would wear to bed. I wanted to yell "Mirror Check".

I know that summer is much warmer than winter, that doesn't mean people need to go around in there underwear or pajamas. When the clothing you are wearing might as well be your swim wear you need to check a mirror.

One may consider whether a piece of clothing is comfortable to go out in. Now I don't nesseccarily mean the feel of the cloth, (though that can be a determining factor), I mean whether you would be comfortable wearing that with your mother/father/preacher around. Another thing to consider  is the many adjustments to the articles on your person, "got to make sure that "this part" is covered", not to mention the feeling of over exposure.  Speaking of adjustments.....seriously guys pull up those pants...no one wants to see those "awesome" underoos you are wearing. And pleeease Keep your shirt on.

 
My wife and I try to teach our children modesty in the way they dress.  We (my wife) go through great lengths to find clothing that fit and or of a modest design. Those items are getting harder to find, (especially for young girls)... Why? Because more and more people are buying the clothes that don't fit right, for themselves and for their children.  Leaving designers to make more ill fitting clothes.

  Teaching moments occur when we are out in public , when we can ask if that person is wearing clothing of a modest design. They also occur when you see young women and men adjust thier clothing, be it straps or waist lines, (get a belt). 

I assure you that it is possible to look nice (sexy even), while still wearing all of your clothes (that cover everything up). It is possible to look "cool" with your pants held up by a belt.
In closing just remember to "mirror check" before going public with today's outfit! 

Door Openers

Definitions:

Door:a movable structure for opening or closing an entrance, as to a building or room, or giving access to a closet, cupboard, etc.: most doors turn on hinges, slide in grooves, or revolve on an axis. (http://www.yourdictionary.com/door)

Opener:a person or thing that opens. (http://www.yourdictionary.com/opener)

I have opened a lot of doors in my life, in fact  I  am willing to bet the farm that everyone has opened a lot of doors. Its a fact of life… If you want to get inside.

I open doors (by myself) close to one hundred times a day, going in and coming out of stores that I deliver to. I do this while using a loaded hand cart, I have become quite adept at it.

Occasionally a customer at the store I am at will hold the door for me, it is a relief for me as some times (not often) I really need it.

Now as I see it here are two ways to hold the door for someone;

1- Hold the door from the outside (most common I believe)

2- Walk through the door and then try to hold it open from the inside

I have absolutely nothing against the first way, there is nothing to get in the way of the hand cart or the person operating it. I do however have a “pet peeve”, (maybe not the right word), with the second way. It can be hard to bring in a load of Gatorade (which can way almost two hundred pounds) while holding the door by your self but throw in another obstacle in the door way and it gets harder by multiples. when holding the door with one hand I can just pull in the cart and be on my way. If someone is “helping” then I have to worry about “running them over”, bumping into them with me the cart or the load, while trying to pay attention to the way this particular store is laid out, (counters, racks, people, ect…). So way #2 in my opinion and situation is less helpful.

Please don’t get me wrong I love it when someone takes the time to open the door for me. I will even hold the door for people before taking my load inside.I would just rather hold the door for my self than risk “mutilating” a good Samaritan.

There is an easy fix for all this door opener nonsense….. Automatic doors…. (I have still had people offer to hold the door for me (not realizing it to be an automatic door (I thank them any way).

The 80's

 
A time where big hair and baggy clothes were the rule not the exception. A time where TV shows were simple yet effective entertainment.

I recently purchased the first season of MacGyver on ITunes, (a rather lengthy process as it took almost three days to download 22 episodes at 500 mb each for a grand total of 11 Gb).
The most remembered scene, (for me anyway), from MacGyver is when Mac is captured by the bad guys and has to escape, (again...running theme perhaps), by contriving a device, explosive or a diversion out of everyday house hold or industrial items. There by making a spectacular getaway!

I remember one scene in particular where MacGyver is locked in a concrete room. He looks around, as he usually does in these situations, and finds a lighter and a hanging light. So MacGyver decides an explosion is needed. Filling the lock with the gas from the lighter he then throws the powered light bulb at the lock there by igniting the gas and making it explode the lock and letting him stroll out of the room. Not the most accurate, but made for very convincing entertainment.

That is the Essence of TV shows in the 80's. Shows like Knight Rider, A-team, Air wolf, Battle star Galactica, (these are a few of my personal favorites), offer imagined scenarios that are impossible difficult but are accomplished in the last five minutes of the show, (ie MacGyver).

Now as I went back in time to 1985 while watching MacGyver I noticed A few themes, (besides the cheesy effects), good is good, bad is bad. More than that is the fact there is romance with out nudity, love without sex, dialog without cursing and good guys doing what they do best, winning.

My wife just purchased the TV show "Gummi Bears" and my kids love it. They ask for it constantly. Good simple fun. All these old TV shows have brought the fondness of old cartoons back to my mind so that I now want to buy another of my favorite cartoons just to enjoy the fun,(Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers).

I have found that the cartoons of today are really about nothing, (and they are annoying). No values are to be found, bad jokes abound and they are way to violent…

At home we also have the complete series of "little House on the Prairie". My eight year old daughter loves it and I believe it is her favorite TV show. Why might she like it so much? It could be the simple stories of simple people. Or it could be the underlying good values and good feelings that come from watching a well done show. But the fact remains that it is a show the whole family can enjoy together.

 

Final Thoughts:

Keep in mind the things you watch as a family

Find shows that entertain and uplift and maybe even have a good moral…… ( Or just dump the TV altogether…)

Distracted Driving

Ever wonder how some people manage to get to work alive?

I drive/make deliveries for a living so I have let’s say a more unique view of the situation that most drivers on the road. 1. I am on the road a lot during my day of deliveries. and 2. I am higher up in the air than all the cars out there (which provides me with the ability to see much more than if I where just in a car). I see things that may be hidden from the average commuter. Just a few examples…

Every one knows about this one, the proverbial mobile beauty shop, (is it that important?).

Thinking of things best left for the bathroom…. What about flossing your teeth… yes I have seen it at least once during my forays out into the wide world.

Onto practical matters… Is texting or email so urgent that it can’t wait for a couple of miles until you get to work or a rest area, (somewhere that you are not moving). I don’t text with my phone never have and I don’t plan to. I have however taken notes or contact info on my IPod Touch…. Never said I was Perfect… Not a safe thing to do. I may feel more invulnerable than the puny cars I am surrounded by……. that said, I do not make a regular habit about it.

Some of the interesting things that have caught my attention are:

Texting/checking email

Reading; whether it be book or newspaper/magazines (yes i do mean those kind of magazines?)

Using a laptop in the lap of the driver or on the passenger seat

Eating of course

Changing directions on a GPS

A big pet peeve of mine is when people have there pets on there laps while driving, not in the back seat where they should be but sticking there heads out of the driver side window. The dogs get under the arms of the driver or the driver is petting or holding the animal…. you can’t move the animal fast enough in an emergency, because you don’t want to hurt the animal….

While I am on the subject of animals not being where they belong… he biggest annoyance is when I see parents who just let there children stand up or lean forward all he way (not seat belted. Are the parents that unconcerned with the safety of there children? okay off my soapbox.

The most common distractions are however cell phones and other hand held devices. With all these distraction I wish to coin a new phrase for police to put in their accident reports or traffic citations lets call it DWUIT- “Driving While Under the Influence of Technology”. or DUIT- “Driving Under the Influence of Technology”. I Think I like DWUIT better…It’s funnier to say.

So final thought is think about it the next time you get that itching in your fingers, or that need to read, or even if you fell like beautifying yourself think twice and then think again.

Thank You for your time

Jason