Today I say see you later to my Best Friend

This morning around 10am, My Best Friend "Dad" passed on from this life. I am a believer as was he in God and the infinite promise of a father's love for his children, a creator's love for his creation. "Dad" was not my father- not my biological father, but he was as close to me as my own biological father. He had always been there for me especially during the years that I had lost contact with my biological father.
He always told me that I was his best friend and that he loved me.
He never spoke an unkind word to me.
He never lost patience with me.
He even apologized once when he thought he had said too much but for me had said too little.
I have never known another man as good as he was to me and everyone and everything around him.
I know that he was not perfect and he was a man, but he was the best kind of man. A man that I aspire to be.

I loved Ray White as much as I have ever loved any relative or friend. To me he was both and the best. There is only 2 other people that I have loved more.

I had the distinct pleasure to co-write/edit, design and publish the book Dad, the Tomato Man: Coffee and Conversation with America's Oldest Blogger, Ray White, which was published just under a month ago. I am so pleased that he lived long enough to read it, post it on his blog and sell some copies. I learned more about a man I have known almost all of my 43 years on this world. The more I learned the deeper the respect and admiration I had for this man who would call himself my friend.

There are still copies of his book available to anyone who is interested, let me know if you are @ mikemumbled@gmail.com and I will see about getting you a copy. Ray would have wanted that.

He always started and finished his blogs by saying "Time is so precious, do not waste it." and "Live for others every day, be a blessing will you may."
I will finish the thought like this by paraphrasing one of his favorite hymns:
"Be ever so kind and always be true, Jesus-like in all you say and do."

You may not believe in Jesus, but only a fool would say what Jesus represents is not the right way one should strive to live. Anyone who would say that need only look at Ray White and see that he lived out what he believed to be true everyday.

Bye, Bye Dad- I will see you later.

Several Confessions of a serial individualist!

"Remember, when you're with me, it's the only time you're not the strangest person in the room. So go ahead, get weird with me."
                                                                                                         Ally McBeal

It probably sounds better coming from Ally McBeal than it does coming from me.

I don't do stereotypes. I do my best to reject generalizations. BUT THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IS PRONE TO BROAD SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS!

Hereby I shall confess to my own flaws and thus you may understand why getting weird with me does not involve the necessary loss of clothing or dignity that our language implies.

1. I am actively not a racist but I am racist. what I mean is that I try to not be racist towards people (including those damnable whiteys). The downfall of any reasonable human being is in generalities which are inescapable with our current level of English. One would have to revamp the entire nature of plural usage to completely avoid it. When discussing any group of people no matter how small or insignificant we all inevitably face the certainty of having to use them. Racism spawns from the idea of them. I am a racist because I grew up in a predominantly white South African and White American South Dixieland Cultures. Both cultures have Black Racism down to it roots on a variety of levels- some of it is very negative, some would be described as harmless. Regardless (and believe me I could write this entire blog on it) Racism factors into who I am. I reject it but do not deny it. I have to constantly ask myself why something offends me, why does this person upset me and so on. I do not engage in hatred of any general group or classification of people but it was bred into me by the environment and people that surrounded me. I do not blame them since I recognize that Xenophobia s exist in almost every culture and place on this planet anyway.
2. I am not a sexist... unless I am trying to get a rise out of someone else. I do not actually believe  that a man is a better driver, cook, house cleaner, bigger slob, lazy in bed than a woman. Adversely, I do not actually believe for a second that a woman is a better parent, cook, house cleaner, maid, scientist or lover. Sexism is sneakier that other failures and generalities since it is ingrained in everyone's psyche from birth by everything around us. There is no escaping it and it is even more prevalent in non-western societies. Is it wrong. In a word? Yes. But (and there is always a but) it doesn't have to be. What I mean by that is that a man or a woman can be anything and while some may see it as sexist, that person doesn't have to think of it in that way. If that person is complacent in allowing the labeling or defining of what they are doing or choose to be doing then they are not doing themselves any favors and are thus contributing to  problems of Sexism. I am a sexist when I want to be (yeah I know that is sounds paradoxical) because I wish to point out that someone is expecting me to reinforce the idea or suggest that the idea is somehow okay. No I don't want a little woman who greets me at the door my my slippers and newspaper, who has the house clean and supper cooked. If she chooses to do those things then it is here choice not mine. What I would want is someone who would know that I want her to choose.
3. I am not prejudice but then again I am fallible. What I mean and have meant is that despite my upbringing and the cultures that I have lived in. That despite what people expect of me. Despite of religions, churches, doctrines and credos I choose who and what I am. It is my responsibility to myself to not be prejudice. Let me say that as you get older, not being prejudiced gets harder. The very nature of prejudice spawns from experience. The longer you have lived, the more that you have seen tends to make you expect certain behaviors from certain classifications of people which ironically you have classified. Everyone is prejudiced in some way, it is unavoidable as a human being and most likely by any living creature. It is tied into your ability to survive. You prejudge situations and environments and the same through your experience or relying on another's experience. The major difference (to me) is that you separate prejudgement from prejudice by saying this to yourself (over and over again as the need arises) People are people unless they choose to be someone else or something else- wait and see. You can be prepared but shooting first may insure your survival but I doubt very seriously that it will be good fro your soul or anyone EVER inviting you over for dinner again.

         Why does any of the above make me weird? Not sure, but I believe it is because I think about it a lot.

I define and redefine who and what I am every day. So tomorrow, I might just do some more confessing (yes I recognize the incongruity of saying I am a serial individualist).

Until tomorrow, my friends (and yes that can include everyone )

Today is my birthday

Well this blog today will mostly be a series of random thoughts that may actually connect down there (down there-look down but not yet))

I officially - well by US standards turned 43 today. I found a thing I wrote on my 35th and 38th birthdays concerning poetry- you will have to look at that blog to see it- (link in the sidebar)

Unofficially I haven't turned 43 yet until South African time- 8 hours or some such nonsense - (unless you live in SA) past 5pm.
I am told I was a planned and yet unplanned miracle born on Wednesday evening in Johannesburg - which is now known as a facial grimace and gutteral noise (Guateng or something)

I got to go and see my therapist this morning and tell him what it is like to find out that people love you and think that you are important. very important.
it is something to say that you matter to people.

I have been alone a long time. An author I am reading says that you can be alone and not know you are lonely until you meet someone who makes you realized that you were longing for company all the while.

I am going to say, "Get Well Ray White- Dad." Even though he won't be reading this. "Just because you are 98 and 1/2 does not mean it is time for you to checkout!"

I will come back and say something equally odd and somehow strangely related soon.

But I think only after I get some Sushi- a Dinosaur roll is roaring my name.

Avengers and the fine art of staying up late and getting up early

I went to see The Avengers movie last night- well actually this  morning  at 12:02am- mind you  it was closer to 12:30 am byt the time the previews were done and the movie started. The movie  was most enjoyable, humorous and awesome all at  once. The eye-candy was everywhere and the plot surprisingly engaging and intense. Most people will be lost however, since  there are many references to the other marvel movies (Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man)- well lost at times. The movie itself is strong enough to carry itself without the other movies BUT I  think it was better for them since even the minor (supporting characters) all had good on screen drama and emotional moments.
This movie definitely makes the top of my Action Movies for  the year and definitely in the top 10  (so  far) for movies  in general.

The company  I had for the Movie was awesome. Mr. Davis was as ever a good  companion- very geekish and knowledgeable. I enjoy his company immensely. Even his friends who came to the  movie were very appealing and friendly. All in all I had a great night.
The added bonus was the guy passed out  dead (asleep) in  the front row after  the movie. We tried to wake him and failed. I agree with JD- the guy had been  drinking. The manager revived  him and he did stumble out into the night and hopefully got home okay.

The next morning.
As with staying up late period, mornings are harder than others. Looking at 43 years on this rock, getting up in the mornings presents a new challenge that is often delayed until 9am. (you younguns still probably manage to stay in bed until sunset but Us old folks seldom make it past 9am).

To all those looking  for the other blogs,  I will be posting  them this  evening.

As always and since it  is the first time  here (nevermind)
I bid you  all a good day and will see you on the flipside.

Michael

Things that make you go Hmmm

Last night as I was wondering the world of Azeroth as my imaginary and thus virtual self, I got a message from eBay- not actually that way- that would disturbing- getting ebay message in WOW (ick)
Anyway- I got this message from a buyer on eBay that the video card I sent him was crap and he wants a refund. It that had been it - I would be fine, but no. Mr. Buyer than has to inform me that the card had encounter the random monster called static electricity while it was being shipped to him and this was why he wanted to return the item. Because he got the card which was not in an officially state-sanctioned antistatic bag and placed it in his win 7 64bit computer and it DIDN'T WORK!
I replied and said the following:
(not exact words) Uhmmm. static electricity? the card is not win 7 compatible, but go ahead and return it for a refund anyway.
This morning, I get a message on how mr. PC consultant has packaged and returned the item. AND A FULL PAGE WIKIPEDIA LEVEL ENTRY ON HOW everything he believes about the card works in the known (his known) universe works.
1. did you know that all hardware is compatible with all hardware? well all PC hardware is compatible with all POC hardware and it is ONLY the drivers that determine compatibility? No?
2. that if nvidia makes it there is a compatible driver for it? No?
3. that if you are a computer consultant than you understand the science of static electricity to the extent that you can explain how two plastic bags- one with metal fiber and one without can defend against all this static electricity running amok in the USPostal system? No? well If I were YOU, I would be very careful the next time I checked the mail!
4. I can type this all in nice neat orderly paragraphs with nice punctuation
"I am packaging up (in your original packaging) and shipping back to you at the address indicated on the package for full refund.
Thank You.

Dave R.

Note: I am a computer consultant who is both a techncian and programmer with 18 years experience. The video card hardware itself is not (in)compatible with an operating system, only with other hardware - in this case the card requires a PCI Express x16 slot/system BIOS. The machine in which I installed it is brand new and has a PCI Express x16 v2.x slot in addition to several x1 slots.

It's the DRIVER software that may or may not be compatible with the operating system - in this case Windows 7. NVIDIA is the manufacturer of the chipset that drives the video card (MSI just purchases the GPU - graphics processing unit - from NVIDIA and adds whatever flourishes they want to the card). NVIDIA makes the driver software and fully supports this card in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

This card is not even being detected by the physical computer itself, let alone Windoss - it does not show up in the BIOS as being installed even though it's correctly in the slot.

Also - FI - Static electricity is a common killer of electronics (even more so in dry weather) and it is important to not touch circuits unless you are grounded and to store/ship them in antistatic containers."

nice punctuation- see?

things that make me go hmmm.

There are holes up there.

1. Microsoft determines compatibility by and large. They have an extensive list of compatible hardware and questionable compatibility hardware. 

2. Nvidia didn't make the card, Gigabyte made (or had the card made by a third party unnamed vendor) and they dropped a nvidia chip on it. The Gigabyte website says the card is not compatible with win 7. So while Nvidia drivers for some cards are compatible it does not mean all NVidia cards are capable of even compitible with all versions of windows

3. Nevermind that it largely depends on the motherboard that all this is plugging into. Not all motherboards were created equal otherwise budget boards and computers would be frolicking with high end software and computer games.

case in point. USB 3.0 - USB3.0 depends on things that no one lists on stuff like Power requirements, BUS speeds, Bandwidth of the PCI slot. Firmware drivers, software drivers. 

in short you can buy a PCI-Express USB 3.0 card BUT it does not mean that USB3 device you have (Blackmagic Intensity Shuffle) will work on any motherboard or computer (HP AMD Quad core).

4. Static electricity by and large no longer is a valid threat to most computers, or computer parts,If one looks at the origianl anti-static bags- they were more metal than plastic back in the day and looks at what passes for one now (mostly plastic with some metal fibers) one might think that either the industry has gotten to be cheapskates about it or the threat was never all that real.

a 286/386/486 motherboard was quite sensitive to ESD (electro Static Discharge) But since we are well past 686 motherboard architecture I seriously doubt it is much of an issue anymore.

NOTE: evidence for this is much the same as the bag materials. Once upon a time a computer tech had to put the shoes covers on, walk on anti ESD mats and wear these ridiculous straps while they worked (I even got a couple of them) all of it was awkward and uncomfortable and got in the way all of the time.

These days, some tech wear special latex gloves when dealing with computer parts- mostly to prevent the transfer of body oils onto electronic parts not to stop ESD.

Once there was a HUGE AND I MEAN HUGE DEBATE on whether a tech should leave a PC plugged in or not when working on it. Leaving it plugged in would ground the PC. But with newer motherboard I.E. 586 on motherboards which keep a constant flow of electricity going through them even when turned "off" the Most techs who valued thier skins rejected this thought line. the advice then was to "ground" yourself by touching or staying in contact with the metal case at all times. Given the continued tight confines of most cases this is unavaiodable but the interest thing to note (if you have falled completely asleep by now) is that no one not even the hard core geeks and nerd breath a word about ESD anymore.

BOTTOM LINE: (yes you can skip to this section and avoid my entire tirade altogether)

I bet good money I will drop this card in a PC when it arrives and it will work fine.

I bet that I will still not give much of a damn whether the buyer is a PC consultant or a Microsoft Technician in 15 minutes

I bet that I will resell the card regardless since I have free shipping on it

and you can bet that I nodded and thanked him for his input and assured him I would give him a refund even if I were going HMMM or grinding my teeth.

and that is the tech life according to Mike.

On Weedeating and tilting with Windmills

When one proposes to eat weeds, one should consider the right tools of the trade. Also one should acquire a taste for perspiration and bits of grass. Weedeating is a dying art of desperation and bugspray. A fading craft of luck and humus spread among the dodgy field of lilies and roses. One should never weedeat to long or hold the weedeater to high. Also one should remember that if he or she has any strength in their thumb that tuning the spring can wait until summer unless of course you can mow it first. Then my dear readers, then you should definitely turn off your ipod and concentrate on what you set out to do instead of mixing metaphors, music and poetry while doing basic yardwork.
As to tilting with windmills, that is a matter of some difference. My advice is as follows- note not necessarily in the order given.
1. Always check the height of the obstacle against what you can manage- you will fall of less ladders this way.
2. Remember to check your weapons, tools, paperwork first, best be prepared for what can happen then wait until you find out a little to late that you needed a fork instead of a spoon, ink over pencil, phillips over standard, aaa or 9volt and so forth.
3. Always have an escape plan (Q was right about this one) bow out gracefully but make sure you can always bow out.
4. Accept defeat as a means of learning how to gainsay victory in the next engagement. One must understand his foe in order to someday best it.
5. It never hurts to go back and read the instructions a third or fourth time- I would advise checking often especially when dying your hair or in my case goatee. let's just say that hair dye is never as dark wet as when dried.
6. Always think through what you are doing and watch for signs of danger- like for instance if you slipped on the grassy slope without any weight then perhaps when you go back down said slope you don't carry that large sheet of glass in front of you.
7. never go it alone if you can avoid it. If you have to jump off a bridge talk someone into going with you, that way if you survive you can have a good laugh about it instead of crawling back up and hearing them say- "I told you so."

now armed with this advice remember to:
1. floss before and after most meals unless you are sitting at a table with your girlfriends parents
2. look both ways when crossing the street and keep looking because one glance is never enough.
3. Mind your p's and q's especially when dealing with your elders, police officers and angry balding short white men.
4. tell your mother you love her at every oppurtunity. as far as your dad is concerned- if you are a girl just smile and say something like "Oh daddy." He'll know. If you are a guy just grunt and nod, if he thinks you love him then you might want to ask for more money if not no one loses face.
5. always take time to reassure your pets that they are the most important things in your life and that you will feed them soon. Even if they aren't and you forgot to buy the pet food..again!
6. Tell your significant other that you love them more than the stars above and keep going until they start nodding yes. If you have no significant other, you can try this on a stranger or a friend but remember rule number 3 from above.
7. Read my blogs dangit. Because if you don't bad luck, fleas and a plague of rubber frogs will rain continuously from the sky until you do. Okay, probably not, but you never know it might happen.


Quote of the Day:
"If you haven't tried, you haven't lived."
                                    (Meet Joe Black)


Quotient of the Day:
"Seven divided by three is probably not four but could be almost 2.9565656."

Leading lives of quiet and not so quiet desperation

Sometimes I feel like Jack Handy and I are brother or twins and waxing philosophic about something amusing and true to life will open some greater appreciation of life. But then I remember that this is SNL we are talking about and the writers of the show might take exception to me personifying their work as some great movement of personal angst and philosophy.
So as I sit here contemplating another day where I have not wasted the moment, I have given my time and effort to helping others achieve a greater connection to the infinite (well the internet anyways) and partially assured a distinct lack of latency in future raiding instances in Warcraft by ordering them a new 100 foot of pristine rj45 Cat 5e cable- I can say job well done to myself and eat another Swedish fish.
Part of writing really long sentences is the joy of knowing that some grammar Nazi out there is either about to need more ant-acid or go looking for his stein (hopefully to toast with Lager and not a firing squad). Now I will pause and consider another yummy gummy and add that I may have helped encouraged a bright young girl to want to learn to read.
These are perilous times for random thinkers indeed. Attention spans being what they are and all, one must be careful not to stray to far off topic or eat too many Swedish fish.
I will however put this down on paper or at least this virtual script that today was a mostly good day. I will leave you with this, one of my favorite quotes.

"I am feeling pretty good about myself today. So far I haven't cursed, been angry with anyone, lost my temper or done anything out-of-sorts or thoughtlessly. So far today I haven't drank or smoked or frowned, or given anyone a hard time. And that's really great! But in a few minutes I am going to get out of bed and that point- I'm going to need a lot of help!"


Good Night you Princes of New England, and Queens of New York!