tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22811869745162651572024-02-02T01:47:35.067-08:00Personal musings of Steve SilverwoodSteve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-79883062860531609022017-04-13T15:18:00.001-07:002017-04-13T15:18:04.033-07:00How to Solve and Fix “This webpage is not available dns_probe_finished _no_internet” Error in Google Chrome | Web TalkI've been using a service called OpenDNS for several years now. It's absolutely free, and you can either just use the OpenDNS servers themselves (see opendns.com for details) or set up an account and use their additional services such as filtering to prevent spam, porn and other threats. The article below mentions the use of OpenDNS as one of three fixes for the Chrome error its intended to fix, but my personal opinion is that use of OpenDNS will (1) prevent the problem from happening in the first place, as I've never seen it happen before; (2) provide you with a more reliable domain-name server than the one provided by your ISP; and (3) give you additional free services that will improve the security and reliability of your Internet service.<br /><br />
<br /><br />
//S//<br /><br />
<br /><br />
<a href="http://www.webtlk.com/2017/04/09/how-to-solve-and-fix-this-webpage-is-not-available-dns_probe_finished_no_internet-error-in-google-chrome/#.WO_4PzXsmNA.blogger">How to Solve and Fix “This webpage is not available dns_probe_finished _no_internet” Error in Google Chrome | Web Talk</a>Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-67358004394396468022017-03-17T21:15:00.001-07:002017-03-17T21:18:07.116-07:00Planning the rebirth....Psst, your company is watching you now http://a.msn.com/r/2/AAofFAV?m=en-us&a=0Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-56710848854525821452011-02-28T15:45:00.001-08:002011-02-28T15:45:43.502-08:00Printing “on the road”<p><font size="3">If you’re like me, you’ve run into the problem of needing to print something while traveling.  Of course, nobody packs around a printer these days, so what do you do?  If you’re staying in an upscale hotel, they might have a “business center” that provides services like printer access along with copiers and other amenities.  But if you’re traveling on a budget, your local Motel 6 doesn’t often provide such luxuries.  What to do?</font></p> <p><font size="3">Well, I’ve run across a couple of options that help.</font></p> <p><font size="3">First, if you’re not really concerned about the <em>quality</em> of the printout – say, you just need some notes printed to have on hand for the big meeting, or you want to print the directions to the local theme park – you can hook up your fax modem in your laptop to the phone in the hotel room, then use Windows’ fax program to “print” the document to the fax modem.  Different versions of Windows work differently, but in Windows 7 you can use the “Windows Fax and Scan” program.  If it’s installed on your system, it includes a virtual printer that you can just print to, and the output goes out through your fax modem.  To make sure it’s installed on your system, look in the Control Panel under “Programs and Features” and click on the “Turn Windows features on or off” to bring up the list of Windows options you have installed.  Under “Print and Document Services” you should see this:</font></p> <p align="center"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzk1iXwvI/AAAAAAAAAG4/AZAvu5CyHYA/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzlRPK8lI/AAAAAAAAAG8/-z4hjggxMxo/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="491" height="428" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">If “Windows Fax and Scan” isn’t checked, check the box and click OK.  (You may be prompted for your Windows install DVD, so do this BEFORE you hit the road!  I make this a part of every Windows installation I perform, just in case.)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Once it’s set up, you can use the “Windows Fax and Scan” program from the Start Menu to bring up the application:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzmJJ6AuI/AAAAAAAAAHA/puoaGqvg_cA/s1600-h/image%5B10%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzmtatvqI/AAAAAAAAAHE/XF74dn-FsWk/image_thumb%5B6%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="867" height="454" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">This is where you manage your incoming and outgoing faxes and scans in Windows 7.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Now look in the Start Menu under “Devices and Printers.”  If you open that up, you should see something like this:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzm2VfP0I/AAAAAAAAAHI/HpH4SCmOkwI/s1600-h/image%5B15%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwznkIl_OI/AAAAAAAAAHM/c2-uTHEt7Is/image_thumb%5B9%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="649" height="463" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">Notice the 2nd item under “Printers and Faxes” – that item named “Fax” is your fax modem.  Print to that “printer” and you’ll be able to send faxes.  When you print you’ll see something like this:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzn8nC-VI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/9ur7PV9mEk4/s1600-h/image%5B20%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzoXOVzjI/AAAAAAAAAHU/Cbl-5Ofx2fQ/image_thumb%5B12%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="494" height="449" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">Just select “Fax” and click “Print.”  You’ll then see this:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzor2XsVI/AAAAAAAAAHY/rtLBJE2s-bE/s1600-h/image%5B26%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzpP31iII/AAAAAAAAAHc/_DUZmqDGTtU/image_thumb%5B16%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="785" height="613" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">Fill in the recipient’s fax in the To: field, give it a subject such as, “Call room 202 when you receive this, please!” and put whatever notes you need to include in the bottom box.  Click “Send” and it’ll go.</font></p> <p><font size="3">WARNING: before you plug your modem into the hotel phone line, make sure you have a “data” port on your phone.  DO NOT plug it directly into the wall!  Digital phone systems run at somewhat higher voltages than the average home phone system, and those voltages are quite capable of frying the modem.  Since the modem is 99.44% of the time a direct component of your laptop’s motherboard, fixing a fried modem will require replacing the motherboard in your laptop.  The cost of that is high enough that it’d be cheaper to just replace the laptop, so unless you’re absolutely sure where you’re connecting, ASK SOMEONE AT THE HOTEL FIRST!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Another on-the-road option is to use the eFax service.  See </font><a href="http://www.efax.com"><font size="3">www.efax.com</font></a><font size="3"> for details.  One of the beauties of this service is that it lets you not only send faxes, but receive them as well – through your email!  Your account will come with a dedicated phone number, which others can use to fax to you.  When a fax is received via that number in the eFax service, the fax will be converted to a .efx file and sent to your email account.  </font></p> <p><font size="3">You can get a free account which lets you receive up to 10 pages a month, but you have no choice as to the phone number you’re assigned.  In my case, although I live in the 951 area code, I got a 928-area-code phone number.  The down side of this is that even if your next-door neighbor is sending you a fax, it’ll probably be a toll call for him.  But if you’re only rarely receiving faxes, this shouldn’t be too big a deal.  If you want a local fax number, or if you plan on receiving more than 10 pages a month, get a paid account.</font></p> <p><font size="3">You can also send faxes through eFax.  Regardless of the account you have, you have to pay per fax since the cost of sending a fax – the phone charges – are “hard” expenses for eFax and they have to recoup that.  I <em>think</em> you get a certain amount of sending credit on a paid account, but if there is it isn’t much.  The process of sending a fax through eFax is similar to that in Windows, except you use the eFax printer.  In the 3rd illustration above, you can see the “eFax 4.4” virtual printer.  Just use that when you print, and follow the prompts.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The advantages of using this method are (1) you don’t even need to hook up your modem to the hotel phone line; and (2) you can use it anywhere you have an Internet connection.</font></p> <p><font size="3">One other option I use for “printing” is in the case where I see something on the web which I want to capture, but I don’t need to have a paper copy of the information.  In such cases I use one of three options: (1) send the contents of the web page to OneNote, which lets me work with the data later but doesn’t always preserve the formatting as it appears on the web page; (2) <em>print</em> the web page to OneNote, which preserves formatting but won’t let me do anything with the data later on; or (3) use a print-to-PDF program to capture the output to an Adobe Reader (PDF) document.</font></p> <p><font size="3">In the latter case above, I use pdfFactory, which is a paid-for program.  There are others, such as NitroPDF which comes as part of the NitroPDF Reader application (free).  All of these create “virtual printers” just like the examples used above.  Print to one of those printers, and the output comes out as a PDF document for use later.</font></p> <p><font size="3">A fourth option for road warriors who need to print on the go is to use the FedEx Office’s “Print Online” service.  (This is a holdover from the old Kinko’s service, but has been significantly enhanced since FedEx took over Kinko’s a few years ago.)  Again, no phone required, just an Internet connection.  </font></p> <p><font size="3">This isn’t for casual printing, though – it’s purely for business.  I’d recommend this if you have to print a bunch of copies of a document for an important meeting, for example, and don’t have time to hunt down a color printer that you can use for 100 copies or whatever.  The details of the service can be found at </font><a href="http://www.fedex.com/us/office/copyprint/online/print/"><font size="3">http://www.fedex.com/us/office/copyprint/online/print/</font></a><font size="3"> along with a document explaining how to use the system.  As with eFax, a program is installed that gives you a virtual printer to use.  (I’ll leave it to FedEx to provide you with the details on how this system works, as they provide detailed instructions and examples on their web site.)</font></p> <p><font size="3">I hope the above gives you some options you didn’t know you had before.  As always, if you have questions or comments, please feel free to drop me a note.</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzpdgfg6I/AAAAAAAAAHg/JiiMez5V4Xo/s1600-h/Short%20sig%5B8%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: right; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Short sig" border="0" alt="Short sig" align="right" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWwzpucpvmI/AAAAAAAAAHk/C-4CT1SSjgg/Short%20sig_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="164" height="89" /></a></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3"></font></p> <p><font size="3"><em>As always, I believe in full disclosure.  I have no financial or other connection with any of the vendors or companies listed in this blog post, other than that of a customer.</em></font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-40165554621809314732011-02-26T16:43:00.001-08:002011-02-26T16:43:56.586-08:00Disneyland<p><font size="3">We saved up and finally could afford to get a pair of <a href="https://secure-disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/ap/index?name=AnnualPassholderGatewayPage&appRedirect=http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/ap/gated/landing?name=AnnualPassholderLandingPage">Annual Passports</a> this year for <a href="http://disneyland.disney.go.com/">Disneyland</a> here in California.  It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and at last we were able to do so.</font></p> <p><font size="3">As I usually do, once we take the plunge on something I tend to go nuts reading up on the background.  The <a href="http://www.rivlib.com">Riverside County Public Library</a> has been extremely helpful in this quest, having quite a few books on Disneyland’s history.  I have several items still on “hold” at the library which have yet to arrive – I’m “next” on some of them, others I’m a little further down the list – but so far the ones I’ve read (or watched on video) have been great!</font></p> <p><font size="3">One notable title is “</font><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Mouse-Tales/David-Koenig/e/9780964060562/?itm=1&USRI=mouse+tales+disneyland"><font size="3">Mouse Tales</font></a><font size="3">,” and a sequel “</font><a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/More-Mouse-Tales/David-Koenig/e/9780964060586/?itm=3&USRI=mouse+tales+disneyland"><font size="3">More Mouse Tales</font></a><font size="3">,” both by David Koenig.  If you have the chance to read these, by all means do so.  Even if you’re not a Disneyphile (is that a word?) you’ll laugh yourself silly at all the tales of stupid-guest-stunts and cast-member pranks that have happened at the park over the past 56 years.  Some pranks include:</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">A “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_to_Mars_(attraction)">Mission to Mars</a>” cast member once put on a lab smock and sat in Mission Control, pretending to be one of the Audio-Animatronics characters.</font></li> <li><font size="3">Another sneaked into the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_Sings">America Sings</a>” attraction and put party hats on some of the characters on New Year’s Eve.</font></li> <li><font size="3">Some of the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise">Jungle Cruise</a>” ride operators called a supervisor to take care of a “problem” out on the river, then hid in the bushes waiting for him.  When he showed up in a little boat, they jumped out of the weeds and turned him into an instant snowman with fire extinguishers.</font></li> </ul> <p><font size="3">And so on…  I don’t want to give away <em>all</em> the funnies, though, so get the books from your local library or order them.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Other tales include some recollections from the <a href="http://www.disneycastmagic.com/menu.php">cast members</a> who perform as <a href="http://disney.go.com/characters/">characters</a>, such as <a href="http://disney.go.com/mickey/">Mickey Mouse</a>, daily at the park.  Those are well worth reading – next time you visit any of the Disney parks, be sure to give a heartfelt “thank you” to all of them for putting up with all the abuse they have to put up with by unruly kids (and even adults) in the course of their day.  (Goofy was even <em>stabbed</em> once!)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Right now I’m watching a DVD set called, “<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Treasures-Your-Host/dp/B000ICM5RG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1298765523&sr=8-1">Your Host, Walt Disney</a>.”  It contains about six hours of programming from the old “Disneyland” TV show from 1956 to 1965.  Next up will be a VHS tape about Walt Disney himself.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’ve also been learning about the “<a href="http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/disneyland/">Hidden Mickeys</a>” to be found in the resort.  These are little touches that Imagineers and cast members have put into the design of park attractions.  Some are <em>very</em> subtle.  For example, I don’t know if it’s there now but in the past you’d hear a chime at the front gate when your ticket was taken and you passed through the turnstiles – the grille for the speaker in the turnstile is shaped like Mickey Mouse.  Others are a <em>little </em>more obvious, like three barrels hanging from a rope in the waiting line for one of the rides are arranged so that when seen end-on they make a Mickey shape.  If you click on the link above, you’ll go to hiddenmickeys.org, a site dedicated to the hunt for Hidden Mickeys.  There are also several books on the subject, so if you click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hidden+mickeys">here</a> you’ll see a list of such titles at Amazon.com.  You can also visit your local library’s website to search for the subject, where you’ll likely find several titles.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Another not-so-widely-known item is that the “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Splash_Mountain">Splash Mountain</a>” ride has come to be known in insider circles as “<a href="http://www.flashmountain.net/">Flash Mountain</a>.”  As riders come down the final slide on the ride, which takes you down a waterfall of some 50 feet at a 45-degree angle right into the water at the bottom, a hidden camera snaps a picture of everyone in your log.  Some uninhibited female riders have taken to yanking their tops up to “flash” themselves at the camera.  (Naturally, whenever something like that is caught by the camera, the ride operators will delete the picture so that it doesn’t show up on the monitors in the exit area of the ride, so if anyone reading this decides they’d like to try it and get a copy of the photo, forget it.)</font></p> <p><font size="3">Anyway, the point is, there’s a rich collection of Disneyland tales out there.  If you’re interested, by all means check your local library or the sources I’ve provided here.  Even if Disney lore doesn’t really attract your attention, you might still want to check out the “Mouse Tales” books, just for the hilarious stories there.</font></p> <p><font size="3">See you at Disneyland!</font></p> <p align="right"><font size="3"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWmeSoIe5LI/AAAAAAAAAGw/lDP2zTzWirk/s1600-h/Short%20sig%5B2%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Short sig" border="0" alt="Short sig" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TWmeTHTNMWI/AAAAAAAAAG0/HwzGUyqI7_o/Short%20sig_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="164" height="89" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">PS: If you’re reading this and are planning a visit to Disneyland in the near future, drop me a note at <a href="mailto:steve.silverwood@gmail.com">steve.silverwood@gmail.com</a> to let me know your plans.  We might be able to meet up in the park over a burger and swap stories.</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-37611402101267619072011-01-30T21:10:00.001-08:002011-01-30T21:10:39.677-08:00“Dummies” Online<p><font size="3">If, like me, you’re a fan of the “For Dummies” line of books, you might want to check them out online.  The <a href="http://www.dummies.com">dummies.com website</a> has a lot of tips from their books available for reading online.  If you’re not sure if a particular Dummies book has what you want, you can check it out in advance before plunking down your money.  That’s especially helpful if you’re buying your books online, as opposed to visiting your local brick-and-mortar bookstore and looking at the book first-hand.</font></p> <p><font size="3">//Steve//</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-15959197333260831022011-01-28T15:03:00.001-08:002011-01-28T15:03:49.996-08:00OneNote 2010 Web-Capture tips<p><font size="3">Something I've found useful when capturing a bunch of web-based data to OneNote is to use a dual-monitor ("extended desktop") configuration.  My notebook does a nice job of supporting this setup.  I put OneNote on the 2nd monitor, and use the main monitor to view web pages in Internet Explorer 8.  </font></p> <p><font size="3">Why do I mention this?  Because sometimes it takes a moment or two for a web page to be copied to OneNote, and I can't really proceed to the next page until it's done.  Being able to see both applications helps me keep track of what's happening.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Also, I've found that it works MUCH faster, and preserves the formatting better, to select the text on the web page that I want to copy to OneNote rather than just capturing the entire page.  Doing the latter causes the data to be put up in a series of tables, and the formatting gets skewed pretty badly sometimes.  Not always, but sometimes.  The process takes about a third of the time if I select just what I want to capture, rather than doing the whole page.  To do this, select the section of data you wish to capture, then right-click on the selected information and choose “Send to OneNote” at the bottom of the menu.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Finally, if the web page you're capturing has a "print" option -- one that changes the data layout to a printer-compatible format, rather than just invoking the IE "print" command -- it's much easier to capture the information.  A good example of a website that works well in this regard is the “For Dummies” site.  Take, for example, the following page:</font></p> <h3><a href="http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-target-a-resume-for-a-specific-job0.seriesId-135246.html"><font size="3">How to Target a Resume for a Specific Job</font></a></h3> <p><font size="3">It looks like this:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLSlZ_38I/AAAAAAAAAGQ/jvxn45J8Lo4/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLTdhm68I/AAAAAAAAAGU/CHB0lcl238c/image_thumb%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="655" height="401" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">If you click the “Print” item here:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLTyrZMDI/AAAAAAAAAGY/B7s2D3-12uc/s1600-h/image%5B8%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLUIw00iI/AAAAAAAAAGc/1tNKPH0JwOs/image_thumb%5B4%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="345" height="35" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">you get a format that’s much more conducive to capturing to OneNote:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLUg40ILI/AAAAAAAAAGg/gja4C-uksnw/s1600-h/image%5B13%5D.png"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TUNLVMgeG7I/AAAAAAAAAGk/tUrouaDDpvA/image_thumb%5B7%5D.png?imgmax=800" width="656" height="287" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">With this format, even capturing the whole page works very quickly.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’d love to hear from other OneNote users who have interesting tips to share.  Drop me a note in email to <a href="mailto:steve.silverwood@gmail.com">steve.silverwood@gmail.com</a> with your ideas and I’ll be happy to post them here.</font></p> <p><font size="3">//Steve//</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-22139146404985484902010-10-28T11:56:00.000-07:002010-10-28T11:59:03.721-07:00"Unstoppable" Movie<div>I've been seeing the short TV trailers for this movie, starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine, so I thought I should check out the "full" trailer online. Found it on YouTube <a href="http://tinyurl.com/35y3xxz">here</a>.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Unbelievable! This is going to be the biggie for the year, I have no doubt. GOTTA see this one when it comes out!</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKfk7qVH48yHJriOfTTR-AaFRQ0OS_IvHsFBk9gGJycPjoyygxD34okEwk06ntJ4WPYLPQUfFagihxbAyIpokuHLkCXiGxyim-0Aegpk7FU0dJSx5sJ6JmaUxRufbptlHxx5mAN3a-K4/s1600/Short+sig.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 125px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 62px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5533173333104628882" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKfk7qVH48yHJriOfTTR-AaFRQ0OS_IvHsFBk9gGJycPjoyygxD34okEwk06ntJ4WPYLPQUfFagihxbAyIpokuHLkCXiGxyim-0Aegpk7FU0dJSx5sJ6JmaUxRufbptlHxx5mAN3a-K4/s200/Short+sig.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div>Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-49988415043836588552010-10-06T12:05:00.001-07:002010-10-06T12:05:58.576-07:00Cryogenics<p><font size="3">Just read this on <a href="http://www.theonion.com"><font color="#0000ff">The Onion</font></a>:</font></p> <p><font color="#0000ff" size="3"><u><strong><a href="http://www.theonion.com/articles/new-college-graduates-to-be-cryogenically-frozen-u,17034/">New College Graduates To Be Cryogenically Frozen Until Job Market Improves</a></strong></u></font></p> <p><font size="3">Reminds me of some pundits talking back during the big “Y2K” crisis that we all should consider taking the few remaining COBOL programmers and cryogenically preserving them for the time of the “Y10K” crisis so that there would be someone on tap to fix COBOL applications when <em>that</em> problem comes up….  <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKzIkcOY6CI/AAAAAAAAAF0/jFYjemW22rY/wlEmoticon-smile%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" /></font></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKzIlOpa5wI/AAAAAAAAAF4/VCumTpDiRyU/s1600-h/Short%20sig%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Short sig" border="0" alt="Short sig" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKzIlVB7vEI/AAAAAAAAAF8/LYLze1_PS2M/Short%20sig_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="92" height="51" /></a></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-50425348254600812092010-10-04T22:27:00.001-07:002010-10-04T22:27:59.506-07:00The Honeymoon is Over…<p><font face="Comic Sans MS">That’s the title of the email I just received.  Here is a copy of the content:</font></p> <p> <hr /></p> <p> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top"> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3VakL_TI/AAAAAAAAAFc/bfrc6onZV1A/s1600-h/clip_image001%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="clip_image001" border="0" alt="clip_image001" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3Vpyb3WI/AAAAAAAAAFg/w0wgLuf0doI/clip_image001_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="343" height="393" /></a> <br /><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">The Honeymoon is over. <br /></font></b><b> <br /></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">You know the honeymoon is over when the comedians start.</font></b><b> <br /></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">The liberals are asking us to give Obama time. We agree . . . and think 25 to life would be appropriate. <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">--Jay Leno <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">America needs Obama-care like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask</font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">. <br />--Jay Leno <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: Have you heard about McDonald's' new Obama Value Meal? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: Order anything you like and the guy behind you has to pay for it. <br />--Conan O'Brien <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: What does Barack Obama call lunch with a convicted felon? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: A fund raiser. <br />--Jay Leno <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: What's the difference between Obama's cabinet and a penitentiary? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: One is filled with tax evaders, blackmailers, and threats to society. The other is for housing prisoners. <br />--David Letterman <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: If Nancy Pelosi and Obama were on a boat in the middle of the ocean and it started to sink, who would be saved? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: America ! <br />-- Jimmy Fallon <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: What's the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: Bo has papers. <br />-- Jimmy Kimmel <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">Q: What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program? <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">A: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road. <br />--David Letterma</font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">n <br /></font></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">And: <br /></font></b><b> <br /></b><font face="Comic Sans MS"><b>Great Orators of the Democrat Party</b> <br /></font><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">"One man with courage makes a majority." - Andrew Jackson</font></b><b> <br /></b><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Frank lin D. Roosevelt <br />"The buck stops here." - Harry S. Truman <br />"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." - John F. Kennedy</font></b></p> <p><font face="Comic Sans MS"><b>And, from today's genius (dumb a**) Democrats... <br /></b> <br /></font><font face="Comic Sans MS"><b>"It depends what your definition of 'Sex' is?'' -  Bill Clinton <br />"That Obama ... I would like to cut his nuts off." -  Jesse Jackson <br />"Those rumors are false ... I believe in the sanctity of marriage." -  John Edwards <br />"I invented the Internet." - Al Gore <br />"The next Person that tells me I'm not religious, I'm going to shove my rosary beads up their ass." -  Joe Biden <br />" America is - is no longer, uh, what it - it, uh, could be, uh, what it was once was - uh, and I say to myself, uh, I don't want that future, uh, for my children."  -  Barack Obama <br />"I have campaigned in all 57 states." -  Barack Obama  (Quoted 2008) <br />"You don't need God anymore, you have us Democrats." -    Nancy Pelosi   (Quoted 2006) <br />"Paying taxes is voluntary." -  Sen Harry Reid <br />" Bill is the greatest husband and father I know.  No one is more faithful, true, and honest than he." -  Hillary Clinton   (Quoted 1998) <br /></b> <br /></font><font face="Comic Sans MS"><b>And the most recent gem of wisdom from the "Mother Moron": <br /> "We just have to pass the Healthcare Bill to see what's in it." - Nancy Pelosi (Quoted March, 2010)</b> <br /></font><b><font face="Comic Sans MS">HOW LUCKY CAN WE BE - TO HAVE SUCH BRILLIANT MINDS IN CHARGE OF OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY? <br /></font></b><b> <br /><font face="Comic Sans MS">''Life's tough.... it's even tougher if you're stupid.''  -   John Wayne</font></b></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3WMDv2uI/AAAAAAAAAFk/RH0oPQwCGso/s1600-h/clip_image002%5B3%5D.jpg"><font face="Comic Sans MS"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="clip_image002" border="0" alt="clip_image002" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3WkvmOvI/AAAAAAAAAFo/MygTl3Lzq3s/clip_image002_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="133" /></font></a><font face="Comic Sans MS"> -  GOD</font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p> <p><font face="Comic Sans MS">We all need to do our own part by abiding in God and living according to His standards – not the corrupt standards of this world or the eroded standards of our once-great country!  Then we need to register our important votes in the November elections for candidates that are like-minded and committed to the kind of change that will get our nation back on track.</font></p> <p><font face="Comic Sans MS">Please join us in prayer for our country and seek God’s face and His wisdom and guidance in these difficult days.</font></p> <p><font face="Comic Sans MS"> <hr /></font></p> <p><font face="Comic Sans MS">Gotta love it!</font></p> <p align="right"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3Wzce7iI/AAAAAAAAAFs/M6ryy6ui79I/s1600-h/Short%20sig%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Short sig" border="0" alt="Short sig" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TKq3Xf5km6I/AAAAAAAAAFw/0pFksv4bOXk/Short%20sig_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="106" height="58" /></a></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-42629027686042934232010-08-27T10:23:00.001-07:002010-08-27T10:23:08.410-07:00Google Chrome<p><font size="3">OK, I’ve finally gone and done it.  I’ve made the switch permanently (as much as <strong><em><u>anything</u></em></strong> is “permanent” <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THf0eY7uLsI/AAAAAAAAAFI/EVuURl2O8ls/wlEmoticon-smile%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" />) from Internet Explorer 8 to the Google Chrome web browser.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The <em>one thing</em> holding me back was the lack of support (either built-in or provided by a third-party add-in) for sending the contents of a web page to Microsoft OneNote.  I pretty much <em>live</em> in two applications: Outlook and OneNote.  Anything I think I’m going to refer to in the future gets stuck in a OneNote page.  OneNote indexes <em>everything, </em>enabling me to do a keyword search on the entire OneNote database for anything I’ve stored there.  Technical information, personal projects – heck, even stuff for my ham radio, shortwave and stamp collecting hobbies! – can be easily searched for and retrieved on a moment’s notice.</font></p> <p><font size="3">One thing I do frequently is send information from a web page to OneNote, but I couldn’t do that in Google Chrome until a gentleman by the name of Eugene Rosenfeld came up with a two-step process that gets the job done.  In an article <a href="http://thingsthatshouldbeeasy.blogspot.com/2010/08/google-chrome-send-to-onenote.html">here</a>, Mr. Rosenfeld shows that by using the “IE Tab” add-on to read the current page using Internet Explorer’s rendering engine, right-clicking within the page can send the contents of that page to OneNote.  It’s a hack, but it’s a <em>very, very good</em> hack!</font></p> <p><font size="3">Since Google Chrome operates – in my personal experience – about 10 times faster than Internet Explorer 8, this saves a <em>lot</em> of time!</font></p> <p><font size="3">See the following locations on the Web for more information about the products mentioned in this article:</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/landing_chrome.html?hl=en">Google Chrome</a></font></li> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/">Microsoft OneNote</a></font></li> <li><font size="3"><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/">Microsoft Outlook</a></font></li> </ul> <p align="right"><font size="3"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THf0em0YN6I/AAAAAAAAAFM/ZStqW-1CVTE/s1600-h/Short%20sig%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="Short sig" border="0" alt="Short sig" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THf0e3EX3mI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/duFJXYdLo9w/Short%20sig_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="91" height="50" /></a></font></p> <p><font size="3">Disclaimer: As I’ve emphasized in many a blog posting in the past, I am not an employee of either Microsoft or Google.  (I wouldn’t <strong><em><u>mind</u></em></strong> working for either, but that’s another story. <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THf0eY7uLsI/AAAAAAAAAFI/EVuURl2O8ls/wlEmoticon-smile%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" />)  I have no financial or any other connection with either company, nor do I receive any compensation – financial or otherwise – from either for praising their products online.</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-35488539011388304072010-08-24T17:32:00.001-07:002010-08-24T17:32:13.905-07:00Get a non-ISP email account!<p><font size="3">This past Sunday something came up in conversation that I hadn’t thought about for some time.  A friend at church recently had to change her email address because she changed Internet providers at home.  I’ve taken my GMail and other accounts for granted over the years, but this reminded me of why I <em>have</em> those other accounts, and not just the one from my Internet Service Provider (ISP).</font></p> <p><font size="3">Here’s the thing: if you only have the email account from your ISP, and you <em>change</em> ISPs, you have to do all sorts of extra work…</font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3">Tell all your friends about your new address</font></li> <li><font size="3">Change all of your online accounts that reference that address, like utility bills and such.</font></li> <li><font size="3">Change any email subscriptions like Yahoo! Groups and such, so they go to the new address.</font></li> </ul> <p><font size="3">…and so on.  And you have to do this <em>every single time</em> you change ISPs.  In my friend’s case, it was because she switched from Time-Warner Cable to Verizon’s FiOS fiber-optic service.  But it could be for whatever reason: moving to a new location that isn’t served by your previous ISP, for example.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Now, if you have an email account that’s independent of your ISP – Google GMail, for example – then you’re spared the inconvenience of having to go through all that hassle.  No matter who your ISP is, your GMail account remains the same.  Have all of your online subscriptions, emails from your friends, online utilities, all of that stuff sent to your GMail account, and if or when you need to change ISPs you don’t have to do a thing.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It <em>sounds</em> completely obvious, but I’m betting there are a <em>lot</em> of people out there who go through this whole process, <em>completely unaware</em> of the advantage of using an ISP-independent email address, hence this post.  Heck, I may even put the URL for this blog item on my business card…! <img style="border-bottom-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-left-style: none" class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-smile" alt="Smile" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THRkjC1etAI/AAAAAAAAAFE/UtcxTR20I-M/wlEmoticon-smile%5B2%5D.png?imgmax=800" /></font></p> <p align="right"><font size="3">//Steve//</font></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-82343955466355877022010-08-24T17:22:00.001-07:002010-08-24T17:22:27.911-07:00Hot August…<p><font size="3">OK, this weather officially sucks:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THRiQsuw4zI/AAAAAAAAAE8/Z2la-xnlXFY/s1600-h/HOT%21%5B2%5D.jpg"><font size="3"><img style="background-image: none; border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px" title="HOT!" border="0" alt="HOT!" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/THRiQwSuTOI/AAAAAAAAAFA/KjvVjyAgbKg/HOT%21_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" width="244" height="172" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">(As taken from the weather gadget on my Win7 desktop.)  106 degrees high today, still 99 degrees at 5:14pm!  Definitely <strong><em>not</em></strong> comfortable!</font></p> <p align="right"><font size="3">//Steve//</font></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-21285567274482009792010-08-17T15:15:00.001-07:002010-08-17T15:15:31.875-07:00You gotta love the aircraft maintenance crews….<p>Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our  jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe  sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The  mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then  pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.</p> <p>Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and  the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.</p> <p>By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.</p> <p> <hr />P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement. <br />S: Almost replaced left inside main tire. <hr />P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough. <br />S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft. <hr />P: Something loose in cockpit <br />S: Something tightened in cockpit <hr />P: Dead bugs on windshield. <br />S: Live bugs on back-order. <hr />P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent <br />S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground. <hr />P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear. <br />S: Evidence removed. <hr />P: DME volume unbelievably loud. <br />S: DME volume set to more believable level. <hr />P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick. <br />S: That's what friction locks are for. <hr />P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode. <br />S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode. <hr />P: Suspected crack in windshield. <br />S: Suspect you're right. <hr />P: Number 3 engine missing. <br />S: Engine found on right wing after brief search <hr />P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!) <br />S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious. <hr />P: Target radar hums. <br />S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics. <hr />P : Mouse in cockpit. <br />S: Cat installed. <hr />And the best one for last…</p> <p>P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with  a hammer. <br />S: Took hammer away from midget. <hr /></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-50388990679246758602010-08-17T15:07:00.001-07:002010-08-17T15:07:26.218-07:00Older People’s Sense of Humor….<p>A Doctor was addressing a large audience in Tampa. "The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is awful. Soft drinks corrode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. High fat diets can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water. But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all and we all have, or will, eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?" After several seconds of quiet, a 75-year-old man in the front row raised his hand, and softly said, "Wedding Cake." <hr />An elderly gentleman of 83 arrived in Paris by plane. At the French customs desk, the man took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on bag. "You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked, sarcastically. The elderly gentleman admitted he had been to France previously. "Then you should know enough to have your passport ready." The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France!" The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. "Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to." <hr />Bob, a 70-year-old, extremely wealthy widower, shows up at the Country Club with a breathtakingly beautiful and very sexy 25 year-old blonde who knocks everyone's socks off with her youthful sex appeal and charm. She hangs onto Bob's arm and listens intently to his every word. His buddies at the club are all aghast. At the very first chance, they corner him and ask, "Bob, how did you get the trophy girlfriend?" Bob replies, "Girlfriend? She's my wife!" They're amazed, but continue to ask. "So, how did you persuade her to marry you?" "I lied about my age", Bob replies "What, did you tell her you were only 50?" Bob smiles and says, "No, I told her I was 90." <hr />A group of Americans were traveling by tour bus through Holland. As they stopped at a cheese farm, a young guide led them through the process of cheese making, explaining that goat's milk was used. She showed the group a lively hillside where many goats were grazing. "These" she explained "are the older goats put out to pasture when they no longer produce." ; She then asked, "What do you do in America with your old goats?" A spry old gentleman answered, "They send us on bus tours!" <hr /></p> <p align="right">Enjoy! <br />//Steve//</p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-44672537492409611552010-08-17T15:02:00.001-07:002010-08-17T15:02:06.717-07:00The Female Genie*<p>While trying to escape through Pakistan , Osama Bin Laden found a bottle on the sand and picked it up. <br />  <br />Suddenly, a female genie rose from the bottle and with a smile said, "Master, may I grant you one wish?" <br />  <br />Osama responded, "You ignorant, unworthy daughter-of-a-dog! Don't you know who I am? I don't need any common woman giving me anything." <br />  <br />The shocked genie said, Please, I must grant you a wish or I will be returned to that bottle forever." <br />  <br />Osama thought a moment, then grumbled about the impertinence of the woman and said, "Very well, I want to awaken with three American women in my  bed in the morning. So just do it and be off with you." <br />  <br />The annoyed genie said, "So be it!" and disappeared. <br />  <br />The next morning Bin Laden woke up in bed with Lorena Bobbitt, Tonya Harding, and Nancy Pelosi at his side.  His penis was gone, his knees were broken, and he had no  health insurance. </p> <p>God is good. </p> <p align="right">//Steve//</p> <p> <hr />*This is probably an old one, but still funny….</p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-70482216169054500412010-07-24T17:26:00.001-07:002010-07-24T17:26:30.304-07:00Stardock Fences & Fences Pro (Mini-Review)<p><font size="3">If your desktop is like mine, you tend to stick pretty much everything there that you’re working on instead of in the My Documents folder like good little boys or girls.  Unfortunately, that means <strong><em><u>clutter</u></em></strong> – big-time!</font></p> <p><font size="3">As a long-time Stardock customer, starting with WindowBlinds and moving on through many of their other non-game products, I’ve become quite fond of a little tool they have called “<a href="http://www.stardock.com/products/fences/?ref=">Fences</a>.”  In short, Fences allows me to set up little fenced-in enclosures on the desktop where I can stick pretty much anything to keep them corralled-up and organized.  Simply right-click on the desktop, drag to select an area, then let go.  A prompt appears to “Create new Fence here.”  Give it a name, and there it is.  From there, I can drag and drop files on the desktop into the fence, and they stay there.  Drag it around on the desktop to put it wherever you like.  Once fenced-in, my desktop looks like this:</font></p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TEuEs4kYMDI/AAAAAAAAAE0/FFD0BrvfvKs/s1600-h/Desktop%20showing%20Fences%20Pro%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" class="wlDisabledImage" title="Desktop showing Fences Pro" border="0" alt="Desktop showing Fences Pro" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/_LDRKxhmPgJo/TEuEtbEde_I/AAAAAAAAAE4/M7B0tRyHPsw/Desktop%20showing%20Fences%20Pro_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="840" height="474" /></a></p> <p><font size="3">(The items down the right side of the desktop, except the one labelled “Backups,” are Windows 7 desktop gadgets, not part of Fences.)  I tend to keep my Fences of relatively uniform size, but you can size them to whatever dimensions you like.</font></p> <p><font size="3">One thing to keep in mind: these Fences are <em>not</em> folders.  If you look in Explorer at the contents of your desktop, they’re still all individual files as far as Explorer is concerned, so once you start using Fences you might want to forget about looking at the desktop contents in Explorer.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I use Fences semi-frequently.  Normally I don’t have any fences set up on my desktop, but if I notice that things are starting to get a little cluttered I set up some fences to impose some semblance of order on my usually chaotic life, then when the number of items on the desk get down to a more manageable size I get rid of the fences until they’re needed again.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The basic Fences program is free.  The Pro version, which offers some additional features to make organizing easier, is only $9.99 (as of the time of this post, normally twice that) so even though I don’t u</font><font size="3">se those features all that often, having them on tap was worth the very nominal cost of the program.</font></p> <p><font size="3">The Stardock.com web site for Fences has all the details about what features are available in each version, so I won’t go into all the details here.  Check for yourself.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Also, there are a number of reviews – professional and otherwise – on the Web which you might find interesting.  I will list them here, but note that I did <em>not</em> read <em>any</em> of them before putting this online.  I didn’t want any bias from those reviews to filter into my thinking as I wrote this.  A few of the reviews are:</font></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://download.cnet.com/Fences/3000-2072_4-10909535.html"><font size="3">http://download.cnet.com/Fences/3000-2072_4-10909535.html</font></a><font size="3"> </font></li> <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eS2JJ2G6ww"><font size="3">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eS2JJ2G6ww</font></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/neowin-review-fence-your-desktop-with-stardock-fences"><font size="3">http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/02/05/neowin-review-fence-your-desktop-with-stardock-fences</font></a></li> <li><a href="http://stardock-fences.en.softonic.com/opinion/good-program-but-has-a-major-shortcoming-46651"><font size="3">http://stardock-fences.en.softonic.com/opinion/good-program-but-has-a-major-shortcoming-46651</font></a></li> <li><a href="http://geeks.pirillo.com/video/software-review-stardock"><font size="3">http://geeks.pirillo.com/video/software-review-stardock</font></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.theaveragelife.com/2010/01/01/stardock-fences-review"><font size="3">http://www.theaveragelife.com/2010/01/01/stardock-fences-review</font></a></li> <li><a href="http://www.snapfiles.com/get/fences.html"><font size="3">http://www.snapfiles.com/get/fences.html</font></a></li> </ul> <p><font size="3">The above were just some of the results of a Google search for “</font><a href="http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=stardock+fences+review"><font size="3">stardock fences review</font></a><font size="3">” (click the link to recreate the search).</font></p> <p><font size="3">In short: Fences is well worth looking into.  The free version has nearly all of the features I use, so start with that and see if it helps you as well as it’s helped me over the past several months.</font></p> <p align="right"><font size="3">-- //Steve//</font></p> <p><font size="3"> </font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-19116274456262733402010-07-22T20:39:00.001-07:002010-07-22T20:39:34.848-07:00It’s tragic when a church implodes…<p><font size="3">Tuesday this week, our church business meeting started out routinely enough, then degenerated into character assassination, charges of blackmail, and calls for the pastor to resign.  Despite the best efforts of both the regular moderator and a “stunt double” moderator brought in from outside the church, there was no possible way to maintain order.  After about two or three hours of excruciatingly painful debate, it finally became obvious to most that there was no way anything further was going to be accomplished that night, so the meeting was adjourned around 9pm.</font></p> <p><font size="3">I’m so brokenhearted over the whole thing – seeing friends attacking each other, falling on to each other like cannibalistic wolves, flinging all sorts of rumors and innuendo – that I wonder if I will ever return.  I know I’ll be taking this Sunday “off” but it remains to be seen if I’ll be searching for a new church home soon…</font></p> <p align="right"><font size="3">//Steve//</font></p> <p align="left"><em>PS: Those who know me from church know what church I’m talking about.  Those who don’t, I’m not going to mess things up further by identifying either church or members involved.</em></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-71836529384396293302010-06-25T18:16:00.001-07:002010-06-25T21:51:31.946-07:00New laptop: Dell Inspiron 1545<p>I purchased a new laptop a couple of weeks ago to replace the trusty <a href="http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/product_support/en/product_support_central?c=us&l=en&systemid=XPS_M1210">Dell XPS M1210</a> laptop. It served me well for four years, and was still more than adequate for my needs until it suddenly gave up the ghost.</p> <p>After having spent some time with the <a href="http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/laptop-inspiron-1545/pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-1545&cs=19&s=dhs">Dell Inspiron 1545</a> – purchased at Best Buy for around $500 with tax – I’ve noted some great features and some shortcomings. Perhaps my experience will help others in their buying decisions.</p> <p>First, I have no regrets about my purchase. It’s a great system and well worth the money. Let’s get that out of the way first off. This isn’t a trash-job “review” like I’ve read elsewhere over the years, posted by someone who really has a hidden axe to grind. Quite the contrary, I’m happy with the system and have been a long-time satisfied Dell customer. And to clarify <em>that</em>, let me say that if I were honked off at Dell for some reason I’d be just as willing to share <em>that</em> information as well as sharing the viewpoint of a <em>satisfied</em> customer. In this case, I found just a couple of quirks and some very stellar features. </p> <p>On the plus side:</p> <ul> <li>Very easy-to-use keyboard, comfortable for a 40-year speed typist.</li> <li>Color options available were nice, although there are more options available through the Dell website – naturally, since the ones ordered through Dell (except those in the Dell Outlet) are built-to-order. Best Buy carries the most popular, which makes perfect sense. I opted for the sky-blue model, which is blue only on the lid, with the rest being glossy jet black.</li> <li>The resolution on the display is spectacular!</li> <li>It came with a built-in webcam, which I haven’t had occasion to use yet but I like having it, since in the past I’ve had to use external ones which are cumbersome, easy to misplace and just plain <em>ugly</em>.</li> <li>Video processing speed is great, well beyond what I’m used to, even though this particular model doesn’t have the dedicated video memory of the nVidia adapter (it uses the Intel chipset which shares memory with the regular system RAM). As I write this, I’m watching an episode of Caprica on Hulu.com, which is running smoothly despite being a “background” task, and a couple of other apps are also running in the background.</li> <li>The system came with Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit, on an AMD64 processor. Nice! 32-bit Windows makes use of <em>almost</em> all the 4Gb of memory, but not quite. Going with 64-bit Windows gives it just that much more usable memory. Originally, my XPS came with 32-bit Vista, but later on when I popped for a Microsoft TechNet Plus subscription, giving me access to all of Microsoft’s non-development software (servers, operating systems, applications, etc.) and I found out that my little XPS could support 64-bit, wow! Performance took a serious boost, even using Vista! OK, I’m not quite a Microsoft “fanboy” but I still like their products. But even Microsoft admits – now – that Vista’s performance could have been better, and Windows 7 proved it. I can’t fault them for waiting to say so, since everyone in the industry with more than a few years’ experience remembers the lessons that Adam Osborne taught us back in the early 80s. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, let me know and I will enlighten you.</li> </ul> <p>On the minus side of the ledger:</p> <ul> <li>The glossy jet black case tends to pick up fingerprints</li> <li>Whatever the material is that they use for the case – or for the coating – the skin oils from the fingerprints are difficult to clean off without using some kind of solvent like Windex, and I’m reluctant to use anything at all for fear of marring the finish.</li> <li>Maybe I’m an old fart, but I miss the little flickering light that indicates hard drive activity. All my previous systems, both desktop and laptop, had indicators that showed when the computer was grinding away at the drive. Without it, if the computer display pauses for some reason and I don’t see the drive activity light, I get concerned that something’s hung up somewhere.</li> <li>They picked an odd memory configuration: 3Gb instead of 2 or 4. The out-of-box configuration is a 2Gb module for DIMM A and a 1Gb module for DIMM B. This pretty much guarantees that I’m going to have to replace the B module to take the system up to the documented maximum of 4Gb. My XPS fairly <em>leaped</em> in performance when I upgraded it from 2Gb to 4Gb a couple of years ago, so as soon as I can spare the $$ I’ll be popping for a 2Gb DIMM.</li><li>For some wholly-unfathomable reason, the BIOS settings are configured so that the function keys are set not as Windows-type function keys (F1, F2, etc.) but as the Dell-specific keys to toggle wireless, change sound, play media files and so forth. In that mode, if you want to rename a file, you have to hold the blue "Fn" key down while pressing the F2 key, or you'll accidentally turn off the wireless network! It's necessary to go into the BIOS settings (press F2 while the power-on splash screen is showing) and toggle it so that the opposite is true. Then the F2 key actually renames files, while holding the Fn key and pressing F2 toggles the wireless (and so forth). <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:78%;" >[Added this information after the original blog entry was posted, as I forgot about it. Mea maxima culpa, my bad, etc. Sorry.]</span><br /></li> </ul> <p>Two items that are neither plus nor minus are the hard drive size and the choice of operating system. It came with a 250Gb drive, plenty adequate for home or small business users but nowhere near enough for me. Hey, I have three Western Digital one-terabyte hard drives hanging off this thing when I’m at my desk, so a little quarter-terabyte is piddly. </p> <p>So… </p> <p>First thing I did was to salvage the 500Gb drive from my XPS (which was an upgrade in <em>that</em> system, originally only coming with an 80Gb drive – a sizeable chunk of laptop storage four years ago!) and swap that out in the 1545; the 250Gb drive went straight into an external USB hard drive case for portable storage. I haven’t touched that drive yet, just in case I have to put it back in the laptop for some reason (knock wood).</p> <p>Second, <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/home-premium.aspx">Windows 7 Home Premium</a> is perfectly fine for most people, but I prefer <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/ultimate.aspx">Windows 7 Ultimate</a>. Thanks again to my Microsoft TechNet Plus subscription, I have the use of up to 10 licenses for each of just about everything Microsoft makes, so it was of no financial impact to go with the upgrade. (And hey, if <em>you</em> had the choice between a Honda and a Harley for the same price, which would <em>you</em> choose?)</p> <p>I still have some older programs I use, such as <a href="http://www.quickverse.com/">QuickVerse</a> 7.0 Deluxe (a costly product to upgrade to the current release), which won’t run under Windows 7 but which runs just fine under Windows XP. Windows 7 Ultimate gives me the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/windows-xp-mode.aspx">Windows XP Mode</a>, basically a Windows XP machine contained within Windows 7 (based on Microsoft’s VirtualPC technology). </p> <p>Ultimate also lets me join a network domain, which is of little use to most home users but of vital importance to IT professionals like myself. Throw in the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/features/bitlocker.aspx">BitLocker</a> encryption technology and some extended backup capabilities – <em>both</em> of which <em>should</em> be standard for <em>all</em> versions of Windows 7 in my opinion! – and the decision to go with Ultimate becomes a no-brainer.</p> <p>(I don’t use HomeGroup – yet – so that’s not an issue. It’s only available in Home Premium or Ultimate, but <em>not</em> in the <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/professional.aspx">Windows 7 Professional</a> version. Also, the support for an additional <strong><em><u>35 different languages</u></em></strong> in Ultimate wasn’t a factor, as I have a hard enough time just with English…! A complete comparison of the three different versions is available <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/compare/default.aspx">here</a>.)</p> <p>So that’s pretty much it. Looking at both sides of the balance sheet, I’m confident that this was a good purchase decision. If you’re considering a similar purchase, it’s worth looking into.</p> <p>Incidentally, my unit was purchased at the <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/">Best Buy</a> store #110 on Tyler St. in Riverside, CA. I can’t say much either way on the purchase experience there, since I knew that this was the unit I wanted. I pretty much just went in, picked out the color and plunked down the cash. One thing of note, though: I had to ask for the basic system – the ones that were on the sales floor were “pre-configured,” meaning they had been bench-checked and equipped with a few extra items like a full-version anti-virus program (and an additional $69 tacked onto the bottom line). I didn’t need any of that, so the salesman had to go into the back-room storage for an un-touched unit. Something to be aware of when shopping anywhere, as this is a common practice at full-service retailers.</p> <p>Questions and comments welcome, as always.</p> <p>//Steve//</p>Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-46438551265218938572010-06-25T12:22:00.001-07:002010-06-25T12:22:05.449-07:00Press-Enterprise customer service…?<p>On Wednesday this week, I called the <a href="http://www.pe.com">Press-Enterprise</a> newspaper here in Riverside, CA to subscribe.  At the time I called, they said it was too late in the day to arrange to start service the next day, but it would be no problem to have the paper start arriving on Friday (that’s today).</p> <p>This morning, no paper.  Customer Service doesn’t open until 7am, but their website was up 24/7 so I put in a note on their online service form to indicate that I had not received my paper that day.</p> <p>7:30am rolls around, still no paper.  I called them directly, and was told that it should have arrived not later than 6am on weekdays, 7:30am on weekends, they apologized and said they would notify the delivery supervisor and get a paper right out to me.</p> <p>9am rolls around, still no paper.  Another call, another round of apologies and promises of a delivery.</p> <p>11am, still nothing.  Another call, a promise <em>this time</em> of notifying <em>management</em> that there was a problem.</p> <p>It’s after <em>noon</em> now, still no <em>morning</em> newspaper.</p> <p>If this is any indication of the level of service I can expect from the Press-Enterprise, my next call will be to demand a refund.  I think I’ve been patient enough…  Argh.</p> <p>//Steve//</p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-23173423214902313192010-06-23T16:37:00.000-07:002010-06-23T16:42:30.539-07:00Changed pharmaciesHere's what I sent to Walgreen's just now:<br /><br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /><br />I tried to do the survey on my pharmacy receipt, which would have been a glowing one had I been able to get past the first step, but it wouldn't recognize the fact that I had selected a category for the first comment even though I =HAD= chosen "Pharmacy" as that category. Therefore, I could not complete the survey. Therefore, I could not be entered in the drawing for the $3,000! You guys had me 110% satisfied up to that point. Too bad you had to tarnish the record by a bummed-up survey page.<br /><br />Here's the deal. I went to two different pharmacies for my prescription. Neither one had it in stock. One -- at the doctor's office -- would have it in two days, but I thought maybe my regular Rite-Aid pharmacy would have it.<br /><br />Wow, not only did they not have it in stock, but the only person who could order it was the pharmacy manager, and he was out on vacation! They wouldn't attempt to contact another Rite-Aid to find out if one of their own stores had it in stock, either.<br /><br />Hmmm, there's a Walgreen's right down the street by where I get on the freeway, maybe THEY have it....<br /><br />Not only did they have it, they said it would take just a few minutes to get it done. And they offered to have their system automatically text my cell phone to let me know when it was ready. So I could just go out to the car, kick back with a magazine or even take a nap. The only disappointment was that it was ready SO FAST I barely had time to get comfortable in the car before I had to go back in and get the Rx!!!<br /><br />So all of this would have gone into your survey, but I couldn't get past the first page of the survey site. Bummer, guys!<br /><br />Hey, you still have me as a customer, but I was really disappointed about missing out on my chance for the money.<br /><br />-=-=-=-=-=-=-<br /><br />What can I say? :) //Steve//Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-46526790160402136152010-05-31T15:08:00.001-07:002010-05-31T15:08:06.389-07:00Memorial Day<p>A couple of observations…</p> <p>At our local church, the pastor makes a point of recognizing veterans of all branches of the service during the Sunday service on Memorial Day weekend (since Veteran's Day isn't always on a Sunday).  God bless him, he also remembers to honor our spouses, who are as important to our military service as we are!</p> <p>Yesterday after church, we were at the gas station, waiting in line to fill up.  At the pump, an elderly gentleman with a walker was waiting for the attendant to bring his change out.  The young lady behind him went in to “expedite” that, while I helped him into his car.  We talked briefly, and I asked him if he was a veteran.  Yes, he was, retired from the Air Force in 1962.  He was a pilot on four-engine aircraft – a fact I got from him after a couple of more questions.  (He was <em>ever so slightly </em>reluctant to go into it.)  I thought he might have meant B-47s or whatnot, but it turns out his “four-engine aircraft” were B-17 and B-24 bombers over Europe during World War II!</p> <p>My wife honked at me once to remind me that there was a line, so I respectfully got him into his truck and saluted as he settled in.  After he left, I told her that this man flew through hell and back, many times, and lived to tell the tale.  He deserved a little respect from the generations that followed him into the service.  She realized at that moment exactly how much that meant to someone like me, and wisely dropped the subject. :)  I think my daughter and granddaughter, both of whom were also in the car, might not understand quite how important that was to me to have the privilege of helping someone out who gave so much, but maybe someday they’ll understand…</p> <p>An online cartoonist, going by the name Farva, has a daily strip called Air Force Blues.  Today’s strip says pretty much all there is to say about Memorial Day.  You can see it <a href="http://www.afblues.com/?m=20100531">here</a> – and I recommend strongly that you do.</p> <p>//Steve//</p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-19114794814212844452010-05-31T14:35:00.001-07:002010-05-31T14:35:39.427-07:00We’ve moved…<p> </p> <p>…and chaos reigns!</p> <p>We pulled up stakes from the Wildomar house on Saturday, 15-May.  <a href="http://www.vipmayflower.com">VIP Mayflower</a> came and picked up everything, and plunked us down at the new place in Corona.  As they did before – they’ve moved us at least one time before – they took good care of us.  Money was pretty critical this time, so I asked if they could match or beat the quote from another mover for the cost of packing.  (We were trying to do our own packing to save money, but there was just <em>so much stuff,</em> and with my limited capabilities since the back surgery I was just not up to it.)  They beat the quote, so our move came in at just under $2k for <strong><em>all that stuff</em></strong>!!!  The place we’re in now is smaller, so it’s taking us a while to get everything settled in to the reduced capacity of our new home.  But we’ll get there.</p> <p>The chaos factor has increased, since our oldest daughter and granddaughter have moved back here from New Mexico.  They’re in the process of finding jobs and a place to live, so the nest has gone from empty back to being to very full for the time being.  It’s a little stressful, especially for me, but I think after a while I’ll be okay with it.  I love ‘em both to pieces, but my problem (and it’s MY problem, nothing against them!) is that we haven’t even got all of <strong>our</strong> stuff unpacked yet and now we’re having to deal with another U-Haul truck full of stuff.  I got a little stressed-out over it all, and I reacted badly, so I’ve got some apologizing to do.</p> <p>My laptop also went on the fritz just after we moved, so I’m having to make do with a desktop (no portability) with half the memory and almost a tenth of the disk space as my trusty XPS, so I’m looking at replacement options.  The optical drive was going out on it anyway, so it’s probably just as well that I have to replace it, but it’s not something I can really afford right now.</p> <p>We also had to deal with the expense of replacing the engine in our car, since the engine blew recently.  More on that one in a coming post.  Brace yourself on that one – lots of drama, including the betrayal by someone whom I thought was a very good friend.</p> <p>Anyway, we’re here.  I’ve sent out a change of address email to a list of friends, but if you’re reading this and didn’t get the email, let me know.  Some addresses came back as no longer valid, and I don’t have email addresses for everyone I know.</p> <p>//Steve//</p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-80433338786043184992010-05-03T00:03:00.001-07:002010-05-03T00:03:49.005-07:00Don’t Mess With Old Folks<p><font size="3">Just read a great joke in email:</font></p> <p><em><strong><font color="#800080" size="3">An older gentleman had an appointment to see the urologist who shared offices with several other doctors.   The waiting room was filled with patients.   As he approached the receptionist's desk, he noticed that the receptionist was a large unfriendly woman who looked like a Sumo wrestler. </font></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><font color="#800080" size="3">He gave her his name. </font></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><font color="#800080" size="3">In a very loud voice, the receptionist said, "YES, I HAVE YOUR NAME HERE; YOU WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR ABOUT IMPOTENCE, RIGHT?" </font></strong></em></p> <p><em><strong><font color="#800080" size="3">All the patients in the waiting room snapped their heads around to look at the very embarrassed man.   He recovered quickly, and in an equally loud voice replied,   'NO, I'VE COME TO INQUIRE ABOUT A SEX CHANGE OPERATION, BUT I DON'T WANT THE SAME DOCTOR THAT DID YOURS.'</font></strong></em></p> <p><font size="3">Moral of the story: DON'T MESS WITH OLD FOLKS.</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-32544095463331637632010-04-28T22:24:00.001-07:002010-04-28T22:24:11.552-07:00Giving In Reverse<p><font size="3">I learned a very important lesson in the past couple of weeks.  A very wise friend told me that it’s a little bit selfish to refuse to allow someone to help you when you need it.  To do so denies the person wanting to help you from receiving the blessings that come to those who want to help.</font></p> <p><font size="3">That didn’t quite hit home until this week.  Usually <strong><em>we’re </em></strong>the ones that do the helping and giving.  This week we’ve hit some personal crises of our own, which seemed insurmountable at the time.  Our church family stepped in to provide the help we so desperately need.  My normal reaction would be to thankfully decline the help, but now I’ve learned the difficult lesson of thankfully <strong><em>accepting </em></strong>the blessings that others want to give.</font></p> <p><font size="3">It’s a hard lesson, one that’s taking a lot of prayer on my part.  I’m not a “taker” – far from it.  I only hope that I’m able someday to give back to those who are giving so much of themselves to help us in our time of need.</font></p> <p><font size="3">-- //Steve//</font></p> <p><font size="3">PS: A profound and heartfelt <strong>“thank you”</strong> to those of you who have so faithfully provided support and prayer for both Claudia and me during my recent hospitalization.  I’m eternally grateful to all of you, and especially those who have been there to support my wife during this time.  By being there for her, you’ve helped her be there for me – and without her, I seriously doubt I’d be here to post this to you.  She’s the love of my life, someone I really don’t deserve but am grateful beyond words to have in my world.</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2281186974516265157.post-51875141818689881812010-04-28T21:44:00.001-07:002010-04-28T21:44:13.296-07:00“Our Daily Bread”<p><font size="3">At one time, I was getting a monthly booklet with daily devotionals called “Our Daily Bread,” produced by the Radio Bible Class (RBC) organization.</font></p> <p><font size="3">Now they have an online version at </font><a href="http://odb.org"><font size="3">http://odb.org</font></a><font size="3"> which has each day’s devotional online.  Well worth checking out.</font></p> <p><a href="http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2010/04/28/devotion.aspx"><font size="3"><img alt="April 1, 2010" src="http://www.rbc.org/uploadedImages/Book_Covers/Our_Daily_Bread/ODB201004_SM.jpg" /></font></a></p> <p><font size="3">-- //Steve//</font></p> Steve Silverwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08586436560432853038noreply@blogger.com0