Crank It Up!

Let's not fall into the error of thinking that we have made a wrong decision just because we are sailing into high winds. (Erwin Lutzer, His Miracles, Day 73)

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Doing yardwork yesterday reminded me just how much work is involved in maintaining even a small yard. I was only "up for" spreading one bag of fertilizer on the grass. It's time to put gas in the lawn mower to find out whether I'll be able to get it started this season.

Friends and family, in the U.S.A. and Panama, have been laid off work. They have no idea whether there's a chance they will be called back. It's ironic that the price of food, gas, and almost everything else continues to rise when the economic situation shows little or no signs of improvement. Is it possible that our leaders are lying to us?

Mr. Dickie
7/Apr/2010 7:57

So What

I know how I feel about this and I know that it doesn't match how you feel, but so what. It is enough that I know it in my mind. I have no need to make you feel worse. (After Dr. Wayne Dyer, Real Magic, p. 146)

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Yesterday I went to the thrift shop looking for plastic cases to store floppy discs. I didn't find any. I did find two Case Logic CD cases. I bought those to store the Spanish music CDs. I stopped at the hardware store to buy two bolts to repair the hinges on one of my floppy disc cabinets. I think the end is in sight on my project to label my floppy discs. I see only about a dozen that still need labels. Lots of the floppies are stored in the little 10-floppy boxes they came in. I'm affixing external labels to those boxes before I return them to a bigger carton.

Mr. Dickie
6/Apr/2010 7:50

Clutter On My Mind

I believe that men are generally still a little afraid of the dark, though the witches are all hung, and Christianity and candles have been introduced. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 172)

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Looking at boxes and boxes of floppy discs quickly makes one realize just how inefficient it is to try to catalog the contents of hundreds of discs containing hundreds or even thousands of files. The good thing about floppies is that only one floppy at a time is vulnerable to destruction.

I've done preliminary labeling on about thirty of my unlabeled floppy discs. I going to put some external labels on some of the boxes before I return the discs to the boxes. I think that will help me find files when I want them.

I watched part of another episode of the show about hoarding last night. This issue is serious and I think not easily dealt with. It's upsetting to watch. In my opinion they aren't doing a very good job of educating the viewers about what the afflicted person goes through.

Mr. Dickie
5/Apr/2010 8:41

Easter Sunday

When you find yourself rationalizing your actions, it's time to pause and truthfully assess your motives, your actions, and their potential consequences. .. The sad but amusing side of rationalization is thinking that you are brilliant while you are acting foolishly. (The One Year Mini For Men, 22 March)

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Melva worked for someone else yesterday. All day I kept thinking it was Sunday. I went for a walk in the neighborhood. I stopped several times to talk with people.

About a year ago, when renters moved out of a house on Hendricks they left a pile of trash on the concrete patio behind the house. I tried several different ways to get that junk removed. After I talked to the county inspector I gave up and just put some of the small pieces out for trash pickup on two occasions. Imagine my surprise at the end of this week when I looked over at the patio when I walked past and everything was gone. I wonder if anyone living down there will know, "the rest of the story."

I'm still working on the project to label my floppy discs. It's a multi-step process. First I take a quick look to see what's on the disc. Then I attach a Post-It to the floppy. Later I come back and review my note while I write a label to affix to the disc. I'm glad I didn't count the number of floppies without labels before I started. I'm finding some files that don't mean a thing to me. I'm finding others that have information I can share on my two genealogy blogs.

Mr. Dickie
4/Apr/2010 8:40

The Half and The Whole

With respect to wit, I learned that there was not much difference between the half and the whole. (Henry David Thoreau, Walden, p. 199)

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Yesterday the two of us went for our first four-lap walk of the year at Schrom Park. We stopped at the thrift store loading dock to drop off a box of darkroom supplies that I removed from our shed. We also went to the nursery near our house. Melva bought marigolds and a camelia. I bought a bag of Perlite that we use to make up our indoor plant mix. I was pleased that I was able to get this material without driving all over looking for it.

I'm working on a project to review unlabeled floppy discs. Some are labeled with Post-its and some don't have any external labels. I wonder why I never took the time to affixed labels in the 1990s. It's more of my clutter issues.

Mr. Dickie
3/Apr/2010 7:34

Good Friday

Painful though it may be for us to admit it, here in this great land of America, we're losing touch with one another. The motivation to help, to encourage, yes, to serve our fellow man is waning. (Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom For The Way, p. 96)
2/Apr/2010 9:39

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Melva worked in the backyard resetting some of the stones around one of her flowerbeds. I worked in the shed reviewing a box of darkroom supplies, all of which I decided to either throw away or donate to the thrift shop. I also continued my review of several notebooks full of paper about, now obsolete, computer interests. I took the paper out of several notebooks and placed it in the recycle bin. Today I'll put out four of the old notebooks and some very ugly flattened cardboard boxes for trash pickup. I've made good progress on my project to review the boxes of notes in the shed. I've looked at the contents of every box at least twice and I eliminated more than half of the boxes. I have a hunch that I will never miss anything I was able to discard.

I went to the Computer Club meeting. I enjoyed hearing about, and seeing, the little robot car that Ted built. Watching how the car learned how to navigate a maze was very impressive. The program chairman and various club members continue to do a great job of providing us with interesting speakers.

Mr. Dickie
2/Apr/2010 9:47

Send Me Money

It is a great and neglected law of life that however right we happen to be there is nothing to be gained by rudeness. There is never any reason why courtesy and determination should not go hand in hand. (William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians, p. 17)

And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)

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A distant relative called yesterday to warn me that I might receive an Email from her saying that she was stranded in a foreign country and needed $2,500. The crazy thing is that she no longer has access to the Internet. We hadn't heard from her in several years, so the phone call was a surprise.

Yesterday I went for a 50-minute walk. I tried to listen to a radio with my yellow earbud headset. That didn't work very well. March was "going out like a Lion." All I could hear was the wind whistling around the earbuds in my ears.

Mr. Dickie
1/Apr/2010 8:39