Attitudes

Learn to face things as they come, and when they come, with calm deliberation.  We may not be able to control events, but we can control our attitudes toward them.  (I failed to record where I found this.  REH) 31 October 2011

Vigilance

Vigilance is the heart and soul of loss prevention.

Paying attention.
Minding the details.
Troublespotting.

(Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 13 October)

Self

And if there is one thing we must learn about "the self," it is that it does not like to be challenged, confronted, or dislodged.  (Selwyn Hughes, Every Day Light, Day 274) 29 October 2011

Ben's Chili Bowl

 Small decisions can have big consequences.  (Steve Case, Everything Counts, 9 October)

I will not forget that each of my actions today will affect others, and I will act with compassion.  (In God's Care, 10 October)

******

Yesterday Cyndi and I paid our first visit to the famous Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street in Washington, DC. We ate and late lunch and even talked with the owner, Virginia Ali, for a few minutes.  We ate in the back room where the walls are covered with photos of many famous people who have visited over the years.

After lunch we walked a couple of blocks to the Montserrat House on 9th Street where we attended the gallery show and book signing of photos taken by entertainer, Moby.  Before the book signing Moby and two ladies gave a very nice thirty minute concert.

We took the subway from the College Park station.

Mr. Dickie
28 October 2011

Disturbances

Political and natural disturbances have always been a part of world history, so do not allow them to discourage you.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 650) 27 October 2011

Existence Of Mankind

"Some day science may have the existence of mankind in it's power, and the human race [may] commit suicide by blowing up the world."  (Henry Adams in The Promise Of A New Day, Casey and Vanceburg, 18 October)

******

I regret that I converted some of my music files to the WMA format rather than the MP3 format.  The MP3 format works nicely with Spotify, Google Music and Box.net.  I found and installed a program that converts from WMA to MP3.  It converted several files without any problem.

I needed to convert a Powerpoint slide show to a PDF file.  My first attempt using Google Docs didn't work properly.  On some slides the footer text moved up into the text of the slides.  Last night I found an online conversion program which accomplished the task.  Today I'll upload the slide show to the computer club website.

If you are interested in recording the streaming audio from some Internet radio stations take a look at StreamWriter.  There are over five thousand stations in the list the program can access.  It's possible to record from more than one station at a time.

Mr. Dickie

26 October 2011

Reality

I can resist reality and suffer pain or peacefully accept what I cannot change.  (In God's Care, 11 October)

******

Quite a few of the music files I have on my computer are in the WMA format of Microsoft.  Too late I realized that this format doesn't work with: Spotify, Google Music or Box.net.  Yesterday I downloaded and installed a free program called Switch that will convert WMA files to MP3 files.  I used the program to modify the songs in three albums.

Melva and I decided to have two of her three sewing machines fixed.  Both are Singers.  One needed a routine tune up.  The other had two broken gears.  I bought this machine for Melva around the time we got married.  We had the broken gears replaced with gears whose designed has been modified.  The technician stated that the new design seems to have eliminated the frequent problems with the original design.  Now she has so many sewing machines she won't know which one to use.

Mr. Dickie

25 October 2011

Imagining

Imagining the successful completion of a goal increases the likelihood of its attainment.  (Casey and Vanceburg, The Promise Of A New Day, 10 October) 24 October 2011

War No More

Let's not confuse war with patriotism; we're all citizens of the whole world, and war hurts our human family.  (Casey and Vanceburg, The Promise Of A New Day, 18 October)  23 October 2011

We Won

... catching up and patching up are poor substitutes for keeping up in the first place.  (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 13 October)

******

The President has announced that he will pull the troops out of Iraq by the end of the year.  

• What does this mean?  
• Does he mean all of them?  
• Did we win the war?
• Will we keep some presence there for the next fifty years?  
• What about all of the material and equipment?
• Will we move the equipment somewhere else where we need it?
• How many millions of dollars will we spend to replace these abandoned resources?
• Did we accomplish our mission?
• What were we doing there in the first place?

Last night I listened to the Friday night Grand Ole Opry.  There were some good acts.  Hometown success story, Eddie Stubbs, was the announcer.  On the bill were: Jimmy Dickens, The Whites, Riders In The Sky, Mike Snynder and Mandy Barnett.

Mr. Dickie

22 October 2011

Negative Messages

The negative messages from the past may howl in protest as we dare to challenge them.  (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 11 October) 21 October 2011

StreamWriter

Put yourself through a self-improvement project that is designed to maximize your state of mind, body, and spirit.  Write your own personal curriculum and apply it each day.  (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Wisdom Of The Ages, p. 165)

******

I've been listening to several Internet radio stations and recording some of the music.  I'm using the program, StreamWriter.

Mr. Dickie
20 October 2011

Grandiose Claims

Photo: Mr. Dickie - Bridge to nowhere at the new Navy Yard waterfront park, Washington, DC)

People will make grandiose claims and promises and will deceive many.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 650)

******

Yesterday I enrolled in Google+ at the request of a former co-worker.  I got some things to work.  Others will require more reading and testing.  I did manage to create a photo album and some circles.  There were only four friends already signed up.

I created a Channel on YouTube and created a playlist.  I don't really understand the purpose of a Channel.  The songs I posted to the playlist played.

It's fun trying out all of the apps.  Of course everything takes more time than anticipated.

I discovered a new singer, Prisilla Ahn.  She's very good looking and has a very nice voice.  I searched to see if I could find her on Spotify.  I found her album - A Good Day, with eleven tracks.  I'm listening this morning while posting to my two blogs.

Mr. Dickie
19 October 2011

Meditation

Meditation is the quiet and sustained application of the mind to the contemplation of a "spiritual truth."  Its purpose is to "deflect" our minds from the problems we are experiencing, to raise our thoughts about the grievances and disconent that color our thinking. (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 17 October) 18 October 2011

Photo Project

Today display enthusiasm, confidence, commitment, and determination.  (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 7 October)

Photo: Mr. Dickie (Rainbow over the house behind ours.)

******

I'm working on a Facebook photo album project.  So far I've created six new albums: Quilts, Christmas, Winter, Capitol Hill, Panama, and Flags.  I'm moving appropriate photos into the new albums.  The idea is to make it easier to find photos and to reduce the number of photos in each album.  I found it hard to figure out how to move photos.  Once I found the places to click it wasn't that difficult.

Mr. Dickie
17 October 2011

Are You Willing To Participate?

We must refuse to participate in any form of activity that purports to be entertainment which trivializes violence and killing.  (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Wisdom Of The Ages, p. 170) 16 October 2011

News

When you listen to the news and see the tensions and troubles in today's world, keep in mind the warnings that the Lord gave.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 650)
15 October 2011

It Might Have Been

Indeed, "it might have been" is the lament of the unfulfilled dreamers who ponder the past with regret over what they failed to say or do because they feared the consequences. (Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Wisdom Of The Ages, p. 151) 14 October 2011

Shortcomings

There is no need for me to accept blame for another person's irrational actions.  I will deal with my own shortcomings.  (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 4 October) 13 October 2011

Excess Baggage

The gate into real life is narrow, and the way is difficult, so don't try to carry a lot of excess baggage.  (Warren W. Wiersbe, Chapter-By-Chapter Bible Commentary, p. 636)

******

This morning I got a nice surprise when I turned on the radio in the bedroom.  The radio was tuned to 105.5 FM.  This is the frequency of the  local WAMU-FM transmitter for Bluegrass Country the Internet radio station.  I'd left the radio tuned to this frequency a few weeks ago when I was testing to see if the new antenna placement would allow me to once again listen to Bluegrass music over the airways.  It didn't work very well, so I forgot about it.  Apparently they continued to make adjustments.  Now, much to my surprise, the radios in the computer room and the bedroom both pickup a fairly strong signal.

Bluegrass Country

Last night I listened to a private Internet radio station in Atlanta, GA.  A retired DJ runs the station.  I listened for just over an hour.  There are no commercials.  He mentions the station name from time to time between the songs.

EZ Does It Net Radio

Mr. Dickie

12 October 2011

Time

Time is not measured by the years that you live, but by the deeds that you do and the joy that you give. (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 5 October ) 11 October 2011

Action

Hearing and repeating a truth are not the same as acting on it.  (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 4 October) 10 October 2011

Expectations

To expect life to be tailored to our specifications is to invite frustration.  (Anonymous in The Promise Of A New Day by Casey and Vanceburg, 21 September) 9 October 2011

Wants And Needs

... few of us know what we really want, and none of us knows what is best for us.  (One Day At A Time In Al-Anon, 2 October) 

...possessions and success don't guarantee happiness.  (In God's Care, 4 October)

8 October 2011

Self-Talk

Self-talk can be dangerous if you start believing everything you say.  (Richard E. Henthorn, 26 September 2011) 7 October 2011

Baggage

...a careful examination of our baggage may show that we're bringing along things that are of no use on this trip and will only weigh us down.  (Steve Case, Everything Counts, 24 September)

******

The Prince George's County Genealogical Society meets once a month in the New Carrollton town hall which is located about one mile from our house.  Last night, for the first time in many years, I attended a meeting.  The speaker was a librarian from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  The president asked the audience to say the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the meeting.  I don't remember the last time I said the Pledge.  My memory was a little rusty.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America,and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible,With Liberty and Justice for all.  June 14, 1954

Mr. Dickie

6 October 2011

Excess Baggage

There's a heavy penalty if you insist on carrying excess baggage.  (Mr. Dickie, 26 September 2011) 4 October 2011

Purpose

Today maintain your purpose in life, act on it, don't just wish for it to happen.  Persevere in your attempts to achieve your goal.  (Helen Steiner Rice, From The Heart, 23 September) 4 October 2011

Thinking

All-or-nothing thinking can avail me nothing.  (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 18 September) 3 October 2011

Emotional Maturity

The ability to gracefully accept a compliment is a sign of emotional maturity.  (Larsen and Hegarty, Believing In Myself, 17 September) 2 October 2011

Intuition

I trust my intuition to help guide me through the changing circumstances of this world. (Eric V. Copage, Black Pearls, 20 September) 1 October 2011