tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88976683435402592552024-03-17T23:03:52.195-04:00New Shoes in the RainAdventures in the good lifeRick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.comBlogger664125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-24918407067169680732024-03-17T07:15:00.001-04:002024-03-17T07:15:41.659-04:00Just in case<p>Wishing you a very pleasant Sunday morning, as I write this post. Hope all is well in your corner of the world!</p><p>Like most people, I have numerous electronic devices that are a big part of my everyday life, both for work and for leisure. I have a mobile phone (we finally got rid of our land line a couple of years ago), a tablet and a desktop computer. I also have a laptop computer that was assigned to me by my employer, and I use that for specific purposes.</p><p>My question this morning is whether or not you use cases for the items you carry with you every day. I'm sure there are surveys somewhere that spell this out, but I find it interesting that so few people go without some sort of case, particularly on their cellphones.</p><p>This has been so for a long time. In my case, I've generally relied on a case to allow me to hang the phone from my belt, as older phones would easily overwhelm one's pants pockets, and I don't always wear a coat or jacket (the days of routinely wearing a coat and tie are long gone, I'm happy to say).</p><p>My first cellphone was a big flat phone, which I think later was called a "candy bar" style handset. It was bulky and had poor battery life, but at least I never had one installed in my car. I never had a case for that phone, as I felt it was pretty substantial and I didn't use a phone all that much back then, since all one could do was make very expensive phone calls! I think I had two that would qualify as that style of phone, the second being quite a bit smaller than the first.</p><p>Sometime later I graduated to a series of flip phones, which seemed like very advanced pieces of tech. These phones, which you may still see versions of here and there, were much smaller, and pocketable if the user wished. I preferred some sort of belt clip but that meant a two-piece case which attached with velcro or some other method and they often didn't fit very well and were made with the very thinnest and cheapest versions of real or synthetic leather.</p><p>Then came Blackberries, which were real tanks, and they came with a fitted belt holster. Never worried that I would drop or break any of these phones during the time I used them.</p><p>And then came the iPhone.</p><p>Even in their earliest days, they were expensive, and, of course, they've gotten ever larger with each new version. I've ALWAYS used a case for them, to protect my investment. I've even ponied up for inexpensive cases when my employer would issue me an iPhone, mostly out of habit. With the last couple of iPhones I've taken a liking to clear cases, since the phones are actually pretty nice looking. Way back when, all of the phones were black, so it wasn't a big thing to cover up that ordinary looking item.</p><p>I currently use the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is absurdly large by 2007 standards, but offers ample screen real estate for e-mail, messaging, calls, and all of the apps one could imagine, feels good in the hand and isn't absurdly heavy.</p><p>I've leather phone holsters of varying size since my first couple of Blackberry phones. I found one kind of my accident from a company called Colonel Littleton and found that they allow me to pass the belt through a sewn loop, so they don't fall off like a clip-style holster. I've now had three of them, and cannot imagine not using this in my everyday carry setup. </p><p>And that brings me to my iPad.</p><p>I bought the first generation iPad, then the third, then the Air 2. Then Apple introduced the iPad, which was a less expensive version of the tablet, and had several of those, buying a couple of these for my grandchildren along the way. I came to like a case on the back, to keep the aluminum from scratching, so have purchased an array of different cases made mostly of soft-touch plastics. A couple have had kickstands built in as well.</p><p>I currently have an iPad Air 5, in blue (matching the iMac on my desk where I'm composing this piece), and while I bought a simple case to protect the back when I bought it but eventually decided to buy the Apple brand Smart Folio, which attaches to the back of the tablet magnetically, and the front folds back in several configurations to allow you to use it while holding it, or set it up on a tabletop.</p><p>That's the current issue. Because I'm a regular person, the oils from my hands tend to accumulate in the spots where my left hand holds the iPad. I like this case, it keeps the device nice and thin, allowing me to slide it into my briefcase or suitcase pocket with little space lost.</p><p>But I've tried a couple of different methods to clean that part that I fold back, getting it cleaner but still stained. The material the case is made from is some sort of elastomer that feels a bit like felt on the inside, thus preventing scratching. It absorbs fingerprints, and I expect that the smoother side would, too, if I were holding it from there.</p><p>Cases seldom last for the life of a device, so I'll be looking around for a replacement that won't absorb quite so much of the skin oils I leave behind. I've certainly been there and done that, so we'll see what I come up with as a replacement.</p><p>If you have something that you especially like for a phone or iPad case, let me know with a comment!</p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-19142994252433882572024-02-26T16:15:00.001-05:002024-02-26T16:15:02.967-05:00Fix THIS!<p>Hello, friends. It's Monday, so hope it's going well for you. We have sun and 70 degrees here in Lexington today, which is a nice way to start the work week.</p><p>Once in a while I take stock of some things I've done around the house and take a small amount of pride in what I've done. Please note that my father was NOT a handy person, attempting to mount a basketball hoop with nails when I was a kid. I thought I could do better, so as a confident twelve-year-old does, I asked my mom to take me to the hardware store so that I could get the right items to secure the rim to the existing backboard we had.</p><p>My father didn't speak to me for well over a week, he was so angry that I had shown him up.</p><p>I don't try things I can't do, which usually is a plumbing or electrical issue that is more than my limited skill would permit. But I generally will try things if I can find a YouTube video that explains what I need to know.</p><p>For instance, the rear climate system quit working in a Honda SUV I used to own several years ago. YouTube had two or three videos about a capacitor that could be had for a small price and wasn't hard to replace (it was really like turning a screw). Ordered the part, watched one of the videos multiple times, went out to the car and swapped it out. Voila!</p><p>I love it when something like that works.</p><p>I've also had a little luck more recently in the automotive area. My wife miscalculated her passenger side clearance when backing out of our garage and damaged the mirror on that side. Worth mentioning that this car is a 2005 Honda Accord, but she loves it. So I did some shopping online and found a replacement mirror and successfully installed it, even connecting the power adjustments correctly. It's right where it should be while my wife drives around town today!</p><p>Same car, different problem. She came in from an errand about a month ago and said that her key stopped working. The battery failed, it seemed, so my job was to try to open the head of the key to replace the battery. I had a similar problem with my former Honda SUV some years ago, and was able to remove the controls from the old key and place them in a new key frame with the blade from the old key and a new battery. Dug around online and found the correct key blank, did the swap and now we have a sort-of-new key for a car that's 18 years old. Ha!</p><p>Today's my office day and I work from home when not in the field or traveling. A while back we discovered that the placement of our wireless router, inside of what would be a bookcase built into the front of my desk, was causing us to lose some internet signal throughout the house. So the solution was to put it atop my desk, which addressed the signal strength issue but then overcrowded the top of my desk. Tried a few things but to no avail to relieve the overcrowded surface.</p><p>I looked at everything by scooting the desk out from the wall (we have the feet mounted on felt pads) and I deduced that the Ethernet cable between my modem and router was too short to allow much flexibility. That was fine when the pieces were sitting side by side, but I wanted to move them apart a little. Went through a massive plastic bag full of electronic and computer odds and ends, and would you believe that I found a much longer cable amid the junk? Made the switch, moved the router to a spot directly behind my desktop computer, and reclaimed considerable desk space. How about that?</p><p>Before you start thinking about calling me about the little jobs you need done around your house, remember what I said about knowing my limitations! I can replace light fixtures and electrical outlets, but am not at all comfortable installing a new one where one was not located before. Same with plumbing. If we're replacing an item, a drain pipe or a faucet, I'm your man, but if it's something different, can't help you.</p><p>My ingenuity is going to be put to the test in about a month, as my wife and I have discussed the need to make some changes in our front and back yards this year. I'll let you know how it goes!</p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-9702181619061926292024-02-12T15:42:00.001-05:002024-02-12T15:42:18.331-05:00This isn't normal<p>Anyone out there a little fuzzy from staying up to watch the end of the big game last night?</p><p>I'll confess here that I wanted the 49ers to win. Not a big fan of these inevitable dynasties, we suffered through it with Belichick and Brady and now this. Despite how much I like and appreciate Andy Reid being something of a throwback in many ways, there are members of his team that are the very definition of the popular and thus overexposed athlete.</p><p>There, I feel better.</p><p>What I came here for was to discuss what's being said at campaign events by the former President, who's had a break from court appearances to campaign for the job he really wants. I understand fully that he comes from outside of "mainstream" politics and that's a big part of his appeal to a certain percentage of voters. But making disparaging remarks about anyone who's serving in the military (active duty or reserves or National Guard) is not appropriate. Nor is implying that foreign dictators operate their governments more efficiently than our country's democratically elected leadership does.</p><p>This contempt for norms has stretched to include NATO, which was a critical element of rebuilding Europe after World War II, and protecting what was reconstructed thereafter. Until he became President in 2016, there wasn't a lot of discussion about whether we received fair benefit from being a charter member of NATO, but now there is. And the Republican Party, formerly the primary vanguard of appropriate foreign policy, is going right along with him as he says if a NATO member is delinquent in its payments to the alliance, they should be subject to whatever Vladimir Putin and Russia wish to do to them in response.</p><p>While we're at it, let's all take a breath as we watch Israel defy the wishes of the civilized world and at least take a step back from this all-out war that appears to be underway in the wake of attacks in October. Millions of occupants of the Gaza Strip were told to migrate south, they did, and now they're all concentrated there. Now these same people, refugees in their own adopted home areas, are being told to evacuate again. But Egypt doesn't want them, so the question becomes "where will they go" or even be able to go?</p><p>I'm reminded at times like these of an operative line in the Rob Reiner/Aaron Sorkin film "The American President," in which President Andrew Shepherd, played ably by Michael Douglas, states flatly that "we have serious problems and need serious people to solve them." If that's not the truth....</p><p>Have a good week. </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-75474870328602071842024-01-29T11:43:00.001-05:002024-01-29T11:43:37.374-05:00Quick hits<p>Last Monday of January. Already. Where does the time go? If you know, please speak up!</p><p>Today's post isn't really ONE post, but numerous small ones. Here goes.</p><p>Are you excited about the Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers? I read that the Niners are slight favorites, but the Chiefs have been in four of the last five SB games with this one. Hard to beat that.</p><p>But I'm almost to the point I was with the Patriots, as in, "Them? Again?"</p><p><br /></p><p>$83.3 million. Ahem.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, various entities are trying very hard to pull the U.S. into active war in the Middle East. Our next move is likely to be calculated as a proportional response to the death of three service members. Let's hope that more won't follow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Charles Osgood, former CBS reporter, anchor and host of "CBS Sunday Morning," passed away recently, and his former show devoted its entire 90 minutes to Osgood, who was a witty, comfortable presence in many living rooms throughout his time as host, including ours. I'll confess that I smiled a lot and shed a few tears watching the retrospective.</p><p><br /></p><p>I'm not especially enjoying our schizophrenic weather patterns lately. My car still looks like a war zone.</p><p><br /></p><p>College basketball is beginning to resemble professional basketball more and more. Players can't make layups and defense is something of a passing phase for many teams. And, by the way, I detest professional basketball.</p><p><br /></p><p>There are approximately 15 days until baseball begins spring training.</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-29833401994841480452024-01-11T08:51:00.003-05:002024-01-11T08:51:59.972-05:00Unsocial media<p>Greetings, one and all. I hope that January is going well for you so far. I have to confess that returning to our usual routine has been a little bit of a letdown, after having our entire family together for full week over the holidays!</p><p>But I digress, as I stopped by this morning to address something that has been nagging at me for some time.</p><p>After many years of using Twitter, now called “X,” I decided to stop doing so and deleted my account. Why? Well, for one thing, the current owner of that platform decided to end Twitter’s longstanding practice of making it possible to use what is called a “client” to view content from that platform. In that model, it is possible to completely tailor one’s account to see only what the user wants, only those accounts the user follows, and no ads.</p><p>One of the earliest actions that rankled me was the elimination of these clients. That meant using the native Twitter app, which meant that my feed was polluted by a growing amount of unwanted advertisements and posts from entities whom I did not and would not follow. I spent long hours following online advice about how to prevent some of this unwanted content to appear, but it was no use. The onslaught of garbage and misinformation grew.</p><p>Then, suddenly, in the past few months, it seemed that I was seeing posts FROM THE OWNER of the platform, reposting items highlighting anti-Semitic rhetoric and other inflammatory material. The owner also restored a number of previously banned users to active status, including former President Donald Trump.</p><p>The last straw for me was when the owner reinstated the account of Alex Jones, of InfoWars fame. In case you weren’t aware, I’ll mention here that Jones was found guilty of circulating misinformation about the school shooting at Sandy Hook from some years ago, an event that Jones continuously claimed never happened. A group of the anguished parents of those children who were murdered in this event sued and were awarded a large settlement from Jones, who was unrepentant and filed bankruptcy. To my knowledge he has not paid a cent to these parents who have had to experience this nonsense.</p><p>That was it. That was enough.</p><p>Do I miss Twitter? Somewhat. I use Threads, the Instagram offshoot that became available last year. Everyone I followed on Twitter is not on Threads, but many are. And I’m a lot happier.</p><p>I read somewhere that the current owner told advertisers what they could do with themselves, and it was subsequently mentioned that the current value of X is now less that 1/4 of what he paid for the platform.</p><p>I suppose people ultimately answer for their behavior in one way or another.</p><p>Anyway, this is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, so thanks for reading today!</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-47903452471802751782023-12-18T13:51:00.001-05:002023-12-18T13:51:07.554-05:00Only SEVEN days!<p>OK, I admit that I am not usually on of those people who lives by a countdown of some special event, but this time I think it might be justified.</p><p>Our daughter is coming home with her family for Christmas with us, and my wife and I are VERY excited! We've seen them near Christmas in their home area in Colorado, we went out there one Christmas and during another holiday season, we arranged for our son and his family to travel out for the holiday.</p><p>But it's been a very long time since she, her husband and their two kids were here at Christmas!</p><p>Despite the excitement, we also have a good many things to do to get ready, mostly in the area of grocery shopping. We generally have a traditional dinner of pork roast, sauerkraut (my late MILwas from Austria) and lots of other side dishes. The festivities usually kick off with a pizza party, easiest way to feed everyone on the day the hungry travelers arrive. And there are breakfasts and lunches to consider.</p><p>I have tried and tried to get my wife to accept that we don't need to buy every single thing we might want in advance, and we've done that to some degree, but she still wants to go to the grocery and bring back two carts' worth of merchandise JUST IN CASE.</p><p>I always remind her that a) we live about five minutes from two different grocery stores and b) I'll be off all week. Neither factor matters, we must be prepared!</p><p>I am grateful to be able to say that we are, in fact, finished shopping for everyone. Or at least I think we are. This also happens nearly every year, where we think we're finished, and then I learn that we have a few more things to buy.</p><p>But it's going to be a joyous holiday season here at the Smith house, and we really are looking forward to having our nuclear family together again!</p><p>I hope that you'll have the same opportunity for your family to be together as well!</p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-47451584462529725412023-11-23T07:45:00.004-05:002023-11-23T07:45:38.715-05:00Thankful every day<p>Good morning and happy Thanksgiving to everyone!</p><p>I just wanted to stop by to share a couple of brief thoughts on this, our national day of gratitude and appreciation.</p><p>I am most appreciative that I have a wonderful family who loves me in spite of my failings, and who accept my love unconditionally!</p><p>I am fortunate to have a job that I like, where I feel I am doing people some good (finally, after many years of NOT feeling this way!), and that I am very good at performing!</p><p>I am grateful for the core of good friends I have upon whom I can rely for strength, support and comfort. Some of them don't even know how much I feel for them, so I need to work on that. But most all of them know who they are!</p><p>I am thankful to live in a country that is not under military assault by another, and where I have the ability to exercise my right to help choose our leaders. Let us hope that we are able to continue to provide this freedom in perpetuity.</p><p>And I'm appreciative of this forum, where I can express my thoughts and feelings freely. And I appreciate all who stop by to read what I have to say.</p><p>Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-87727533030081568152023-11-14T16:29:00.003-05:002023-11-14T16:29:31.835-05:00The agony of "de feet"---no more!<p>Good afternoon, friends. Hope your week is going well.</p><p>Let's put this out there. I've had problems with my feet for a long time, dating back to the 90s. Specifically, I have plantar faciitis in both feet. That's a disorder where the tendon that runs along the sole of one's foot is too tight due to inflammation or other issues, causing pain and discomfort in most any activity, but particularly in walking.</p><p>I began to develop this issue following some health issues, after which I began to walk for exercise regularly. Plus I began working at a job where I was in a building but walked all over that structure during each day. So there was no escape.</p><p>At that time our next door neighbor was a nurse and she said that she knew what my problem was and recommended two things: New Balance running shoes and insoles with pronounced arch supports. That helped, but I needed to do more, particularly during the work day, so I began to explore shoes that were softer but provided arch support.</p><p>Eventually I found a German-made brand of dressier shoes that came with insoles that were made of leather and cork, the latter of which eventually molds to the wearer's foot. That was a big help, but it's worth mentioning that they are very expensive. Also, in my casual and walking shoes, I was still wearing the kind that everyone who sells running or athletic shoes stocks. Hard plastic molded underside covered in a little foam insoles. They helped, but were far from perfect.</p><p>Not long ago I discovered a new product that was kind of the best of both worlds. It's an aftermarket brand of insoles called Fulton, which makes an insole for regular shoes and one for athletic shoes. They come with a cushiony top, where your foot rests, but the foundation that is so critical is actually made from cork. Just as the dress shoe insoles I mentioned above mold to one's foot, these apparently do, too.</p><p>I contacted the company and identified myself as a blogger with foot issues, so the result was that the nice folks who run the company asked me for my size and address and sent me a pair of each type of insole. They even come in a wide size, which is a must for me!</p><p>I've been wearing a pair of the original insole, for non-athletic shoes, for workdays over the past week, and the athletic style in a pair of well-cushioned but still not entirely comfortable casual shoes. I am happy to say that since then, I have not experienced ANY foot pain or discomfort since installing the Fulton insoles in these shoes! </p><p>The Fulton website states that they help put your feet, ankles, legs and back into proper alignment, and that seems to be true. Even with these German orthopedic shoes, I sometimes experience foot fatigue after a long day of marketing visits or other on-your-feet activities. Not so with these insoles. My feet feel good enough to walk more, even if I'm a little tired, and I'm comfortable throughout.</p><p>You can find out more at www.walkfulton.com. </p><p>If you're like me, and have had this problem for a while and have not found the right combination of shoes and insoles and other items, give these a try. I believe you will be very pleased!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-90752844013655741452023-11-09T07:54:00.001-05:002023-11-09T07:54:44.353-05:00Now and then<p>Good Thursday to you….</p><p>Have you ever really wanted something, eventually accepted that getting that thing was not possible, only to finally receive it when you least expected it?</p><p>That happened to me recently. Well, not JUST to me! Let me explain.</p><p>As I am sure I have mentioned in this space more than once, I am an enormous fan of the Beatles. You know, John, Paul, George and Ringo! Became a great admirer of their work well after they had gone their separate ways, followed their solo careers with interest and was astounded that so many songs I knew were actually Beatles songs. With the help of a friend who loaned me his collection of British album releases of the group, I immersed myself in their music and became a true fanatic. Listened to entire albums on tape on car rides, back in the days before streaming and playlists, and understood about how the group and their brilliant producer, George Martin, polished their songs (mostly written by Lennon and McCartney) and chose the order in which they would appear on these albums.</p><p>Time progressed and I became more fascinated by the Beatles’ evolution from two-and-a-half minute songs to longer ones with rich stories and concept albums and more diverse instrumentation and, well, the innovations we all came to know them for.</p><p>And then in the mid 90’s the “ Beatles Anthology” came along. A multiple part documentary for television and three double albums of alternate song versions and outtakes. Oh, my, now they’ve done it, and the hook was set even deeper.</p><p>The most intriguing aspect of this project was that the three surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, reunited briefly and reworked a demo tape that John Lennon had recorded in the 70s not long before his assassination, and with the help of Electric Light Orchestra founder and mastermind Jeff Lynne produced two new songs, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.” Just great.</p><p>The three went on their separate ways, resuming recordings of their own songs (all worked with Lynne at later points). Then George passed away in 2001 of cancer, and then there were two.</p><p>More time passed and the Beatles eventually worked out the processes of selling their music online, streaming it and of having their own channel on satellite radio. This introduced them to a whole new generation, many of whom had learned of the Beatles from their parents or grandparents. I have fond memories of bouncing my middle granddaughter on my knee playing the Beatles for her. She especially liked “I Am the Walrus”</p><p>There was still some incomplete items in their history, namely all of the documentary footage that was filmed for what later became the “Let it Be” movie. Enter Peter Jackson, the creative force behind “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” and the modern remake of “King Kong.” Jackson and his organization did a lot of cleanup work on the original film stock and of the audio. The finished product was called “Get Back” and was shown on the Disney Plus streaming service.</p><p>Paul and Ringo apparently remembered one more song on John’s old demo tape that they never could restore to what they felt it could be, as it was recorded on a simple cassette recorder. But Paul called Peter Jackson and asked if he and his team could clean up the audio and separate John’s voice from his piano. And he did.</p><p>Over the past couple of years I heard smatterings about this song, entitled “Now and Then” but I was fearful that it just wouldn’t be so great. Recently, though, Paul mentioned in a separate interview that the finished version of this song was coming soon and that he, Ringo and all involved were very proud of it and hoped Beatle fans enjoyed what he called the “final” Beatles song.</p><p>It was released last weekend, produced by Giles Martin, son of Beatle producer George and the person to whom the remaining Beatles have entrusted the remastering of many of their original albums. Giles also remastered the very first Beatles single, “Love Me Do,” as part of the package.</p><p>It’s just great. I choked up the first time I heard both songs. What a time we live in where a musician can record a simple trial of a new song on a handheld recorder that gets transformed into this.</p><p>If you love the Beatles’ music, you probably already know this, but if you’re not into it as I am, you will still be impressed.</p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-40507385251858035402023-10-05T07:02:00.002-04:002023-10-05T07:02:44.010-04:00I can see clearly now<p>Remember that old song? By Jimmy Cliff, the reggae star?</p><p>For some reason, I’ve been thinking a lot about that song recently.</p><p>Why? Well……</p><p>I went for an eye exam back in July because I sensed that my vision had decreased over the most recent several months. I had a cataract removed from my left eye in June 2022 and that improved my ability to see well quite a bit. But this latest decline was a little mysterious. I do a lot of computer work for my job and was having some difficulty seeing the screen well at times.</p><p>So in the process of my necessary vision exam the optometrist expressed some sense of loss as to why my right eye had declined so much since my last examination. Upon closer observation she concluded that I had a cataract on my right eye. The one I thought was OK around this time last year!</p><p>I had already decided that if this happened, I would seek out a new ophthalmologist. The previous one corrected my vision last year, to be sure, but had me come back repeatedly for what I thought were unexplained additional issues. Turns out that he had agreed to sell his practice and retire. So I asked for a recommendation of a new provider.</p><p>I was directed to an ophthalmology practice that operates in several cities in my home area and has several doctors. I was examined thoroughly by a technician and then met with the doctor, who confirmed that I needed this cataract removed. He also explained, quite rightly, that there are risks with any surgical procedure but he was confident that I would have a good outcome from this operation. Along with that, he does a day of surgery one day a month at the same surgical facility that my former doctor used, and it’s very close to our home. So we set the date of September 28.</p><p>About the only downside of this exam and office visit was that I had to drive north to Cincinnati for work appointments after having my eyes dilated. Uncomfortable but managed.</p><p>Went back in a couple of weeks to sign consent and receive pre-operative instructions, which were pretty straightforward. I was surprised to see that I would be following up with my optometrist, and not the surgical practice. But that was fine compared to the endless three month follow-ups I had experienced previously!</p><p>Surgery day neared and the day before, I received a call saying that I would need to be there at 6:15 AM for check-in and prep. My wife and I were both fine with it, as it was best to get it over with!</p><p>So we arrived as scheduled, signed quite a few forms and paid my share of the expenses. Then I went back for prep, and received several rounds of eye drops to disinfect and to dilate the surgical eye. I also received some medication to keep me relaxed. The doctor came to see me before I was taken in for surgery, explained what he was about to do for me and bumped me on the shoulder saying this should go well.</p><p>In short, it did. I was almost instantly seeing as well (with my glasses, of course) as I have in some years. I was even able to see well with an older description, which I found interesting.</p><p>Went the following day for follow up with the optometrist and she confirmed that all went well. Interestingly, she explained in great detail that this surgery was done in what is now the norm. The old way was to make an incision to remove the covering over the front of the eye, creating a flap to pull back and remove and replace the lens. The flap is then replaced and begins to heal almost immediately.</p><p>The new approach involves a small puncture in the cornea, through which the old occluded lens is removed and the new one inserted into place. Less invasive and less swelling, because there’s no incision. The white of my eye was really red and blotchy last time, but there was no direct evidence of a procedure at all with this newer method. No dryness or scratchy feeling, either. Nice!</p><p>I go back for a second follow up exam, and at a later time I’ll have a new vision exam and probably get new glasses to match whatever my prescription becomes.</p><p>At the ripe old age of 63, I feel really confident that I’ll continue to see well (again, with glasses) for some time to come. It’s a good feeling!</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-46581673360323269452023-09-15T07:50:00.004-04:002023-09-15T07:50:30.190-04:00Take nothing for granted<p>Happy Friday….we made it!</p><p>I’ve been on the road this week, traveling several hours Tuesday, yesterday and again today. So I’ve involuntarily used a lot of that windshield time to think through some things. And today’s title and corresponding topic kept coming back to me…..</p><p>TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED!</p><p>I turned 63 on my last birthday (Paul McCartney, I’m coming for your song next year!) and when you reach a certain age, I suppose it’s customary to be a little introspective. Here’s a list of things that I find more and more essential as the years go by.</p><p>FAMILY</p><p>I was very lucky to encounter my wife when I did, and suppose it’s mutual, as she had been widowed not all that long before we met. As I have mentioned here in the past, I was so fortunate to marry not only my wife, but also her children, who are now OUR children. Our family arrangement was unconventional at first but after almost 40 years together it’s the way things are for us.</p><p>I try very hard to take care of my family, our five grandchildren included, of course, and they certainly take care of me!</p><p>FRIENDS</p><p>I am by nature a friendly and outgoing person, and that has served me well professionally and in my personal life, too. And I have a large circle of people whom I identify as friends. Many are people I’ve met through work, but the core is a small cadre of people who have been there for me for a long, long time. I hold their counsel above all others, and they honor me with the same.</p><p>Form and maintain a small number of long-term friendships if you can!</p><p>WORK</p><p>I’ve held a lot of different jobs in a variety of work environments. What I know now is that it is crucial to do work that has at least some meaning, and where you can see how your efforts have been of benefit to others. That wasn’t always so important to me, but when I accepted my current job it was a big part of why I came aboard. As long as that doesn’t change I’ll feel a good sense of fulfillment. If not, my cynicism creeps in and I am far less satisfied.</p><p>And it is almost never about the money. I used to make somewhat more money in other positions but was always looking over my shoulder and was continually irritated over internal issues and what I have always referred to as political things. That still happens, but I am not as easily drawn into such issues in my current role.</p><p>FUN</p><p>Do something you enjoy in your spare time. I like playing golf but over time play less than I once did, largely because of the necessary time investment. I am a huge sports fan, and my cable TV package reflects that! I love to cook, which is good for me, since my wife likes most everything I prepare!</p><p>It’s all about balance.</p><p>That’s abut it.</p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-32060185964430385652023-08-30T20:16:00.002-04:002023-08-30T20:16:47.953-04:00Then vs. now<p>I am not the kind of person who routinely longs for the good old days. I like to think of myself as a fairly progressive person, and that I know how to adapt to changing times and circumstances.</p><p>But some recent events have made me think about how things used to be, compared to how they are now.</p><p>For example, political candidates were frequently judged to be finished in the eyes of the public when some thing either happened or a past event was found out. Remember Gary Hart, the handsome Senator from Colorado who had worked for John F. Kennedy and was often compared to him? Reporters covering his presidential campaign in 1988 apparently heard a lot of rumors about Hart and his many infidelities and when confronted about these rumors by the media, Hart challenged them to follow him and find out.</p><p>They did.</p><p>He was photographed secretly aboard a boat aptly named “Monkey Business” with a pretty young woman named Donna Rice sitting on his lap and at a townhouse in Washington, DC. He suspended his campaign a week later.</p><p>Roughly the same thing happened to John Edwards, the tort lawyer who became a Senator and was John Kerry’s running mate in 2004 and ran for President in 2008 but was exposed for having had an extramarital affair and for fathering a child outside of his marriage while his own wife was waging a difficult battle with breast cancer. He dropped out of the race and attempted to save his marriage but took nearly two years to admit to fathering the child. Later in 2010, Edwards’ wife lost her life to breast cancer.</p><p>And then there’s Donald Trump. I could detail all of his moral failings here, but they’re all well documented, so I won’t. But think with me what it says when someone who is the defendant in FOUR unrelated criminal matters is running for president, is by far the front runner for his party’s nomination, and that six of eight of his OPPONENTS commit to supporting him even if he is convicted of one or more of the crimes of which he is accused?</p><p>As I said at the outset, that was then, and this is now.</p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-21441294525348031462023-08-19T10:02:00.000-04:002023-08-19T10:02:18.545-04:00Latest and greatest<p>Happy Saturday, friends! Hope.you had a good week and are ready for some down time.</p><p>I don’t consider myself an early adopter of most anything, but I suppose that’s always a little subjective. I resisted the iPhone when it first came out, not only because I really, REALLY liked my Blackberry at the time, but also because I didn’t want to have to switch to AT&T’s cellular service, which I believe was called Cingular Wireless at the time. I have had Verizon Wireless for a long, long time, and like their service overall. So that didn’t interest me right away.</p><p>When I finally did get my first iPhone, I was pretty well blown away, and have been an enthusiastic user of various versions of this device since. I actually had an iPad before I had an iPhone, but learned enough with the workings of that tablet that I was able to troubleshoot for members of my work team who had iPhones. The rest came rather naturally, of course.</p><p>I was also a little slow to adapt to HDTV, which is, of course, the basic standard for video now. Then was a bit behind migrating to a flat-panel TV, and late getting into 4K. Each time I sort of kicked myself for resisting. The problem is compounded by the fact that broadcasters and cable operators are also slow to adapt to new technology, mostly because of the added costs, so finding content for your new super-duper TV is a little bit of a problem.</p><p>I didn’t realize how much cars had advanced until I regularly began renting cars for work five or so years ago. Knew nothing about adaptive cruise control (where the car detects another vehicle ahead and automatically decelerates), lane keeping assistance and so forth. I traded in a 14 year old car on my current one two years ago and so got accustomed to all of these new features in a hurry. My wife’s car is 18 years old but in very good condition, so she’s in much the same situation.</p><p>Let’s go back to that reference to an iPad. I’ve had several models of Apple’s tablet computer, including the first generation (bought months after it was introduced, a third generation purchased the first week it was out, an iPad Air 2 not long after it came out, and then I sort of regressed and had a couple of the entry level models that are simply called “iPad.” Bought those for two of my grandkids who live close by and they still have them.</p><p>Not long ago I upgraded to the iPad Air 5th generation, and the biggest selling point for me was the M1 system-on-a-chip processor. I have that chip in my current iMac (which was about the only thing that would wrest my second 2017 27-inch 5K iMac from my hands), so I knew what I was buying. Got a good price on it, since it’s already been out for a year or more.</p><p>But one thing I haven’t had for a while is my own laptop computer. My current joh requires me to use some proprietary systems, so it’s something I can’t replicate on my own machine. The job provides me with a typical corporate laptop that’s nothing special, but it does what’s needed and I hadn’t given much thought to a laptop of my own in awhile.</p><p>But now, with this M1Air, I thought it might be well to find some items to help me get more use out of it. First and foremost was a keyboard of some sort. I bought a couple of them, different brands and models, for my old base iPad, and they wound up with the grandkids, who both use them even now. So I knew I didn’t want quite what they have.</p><p>What I really wanted, I told myself, was an Apple Magic Keyboard for the iPad, made in different configurations depending on which model you have. A mass retailer of electronics was having a sale on the one for my machine and I went to buy it recently but they were out of stock. But they did have an “open box” model for an even better price. So I bought it.</p><p>Do I love it? Mostly. Will I keep it? Difficult to say, since I just got it and am already questioning whether this was a good investment, even at such a good price.</p><p>Let’s just say I’m still sitting on the fence as I write this using said keyboard.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-3151963013645338342023-08-08T15:48:00.002-04:002023-08-08T15:48:11.835-04:00Replacement value<p>Hope everyone's week is off to a good start.</p><p>My premise today is rather simple. When is it best to replace something that's older with a similar item that's newer? What criteria do you use to make that decision? Is it something you give a lot of thought to, or is it more impulsive?</p><p>My answer, for better or worse, is that it depends.</p><p>And I stand by that response.</p><p>For instance, for fourteen years my car was a 2007 Honda Pilot SUV. Bought it as a demonstrator with 4,400 miles already on it. Went a lot of places in that car, numerous business trips to St. Louis, Birmingham, Atlanta, Nashville, Cleveland and many other destinations. Transported me and my son to Cincinnati to see the Reds countless times, and later took along his two older children for games. Survived a couple of multi-state baseball trips. Went on vacation to Colorado for other lots of other weekend excursions. I did all of the major required maintenance, but after the second timing belt was installed, I also had to replace several pumps and other components and the car just never felt the same. I kept driving it until the mileage total reached around 235,000 miles and my wife finally convinced me to trade it in, fearing that I would experience an unplanned breakdown far from home.</p><p>So what did I buy? The Pilot's slightly smaller cousin, the Honda Passport. Virtually identical from the front seat forward, but smaller in the cargo area and no third-row seat. Love that car, but it has some work to do to become my all-time favorite, as this Pilot was.</p><p>On the other hand, about anything electrical eventually reaches the point where replacement is necessary. If your toaster stops making, well, toast, it's time for a new one. Cheaper and faster than trying to fix it yourself, you know. We have a Cuisinart K-cup coffee maker that we bought a number of years ago, and occasionally it will make a groaning noise that portends something bad on the way. But we do some cleaning and such and it seems better, so on we go. Worth mentioning that it has outlasted multiple Keurig brand K-cup makers throughout our family.</p><p>But sometimes technology advances and we swap out things to stay current, or get better/faster/improved performance. I'm typing this on an M1 iMac computer. Smaller than the chrome-colored 27 inch iMac it replaced, but, wow, is it faster and more efficient. I had added memory to the old computer and even had it running off of a solid-state storage drive to speed it up. Way better computer. </p><p>But I still miss the old one. It just SEEMED different.</p><p>When's the last time you "upgraded" to a new cellphone? My wife and I did that during the pandemic, bought Apple's flagship phone at the time, the iPhone 11 Pro Max. I keep the operating software updated on both, and they still function fine, despite having been purchased well over three years ago. My battery still has 92% of its original charging capacity, and that's not bad. I don't stream movies or music, so 5G is not all that important to me. I'm probably gonna keep this one for a while yet, and my wife is planning the same.</p><p>We only have one "good" television in our home, not counting the cheapo LCD that lives on a shelf in the guest room closet upstairs. We currently own a Sony OLED tv, with astounding picture clarity and excellent sound for a flat panel (there's essentially a speaker array and subwoofer attached to the back). We looked at TVs for quite a while before pulling the trigger on this one, but it was the right call at the time, and I seriously doubt technology has moved forward enough that this one is out of date.</p><p>I believe I have mentioned my affinity for leather goods from Colonel Littleton, Ltd., of Lynnville, Tennessee. Hand made by Americans in Lynnville from leather acquired from tanneries not far away from the shop. I have too many pieces to enumerate here, but suffice it to say, I'm the nerd with a briefcase, phone holster, wallet and so forth. </p><p>The briefcase is one of the oldest pieces I have. I bought it in the late fall of 2012 and it gets the roughest and most consistent use of anything, since I sling it over my shoulder or carry it from the handle, or toss is into the passenger or rear seat of my car. Would I like a new bag for work? Well, yeah, but there really is nothing wrong with this one. It holds all of my daily materials, I can load it extensively for a meeting or a large group presentation and it's still easy to carry with some room to spare.</p><p>If you're curious, it's the No. 1 Saddlebag Briefcase in polished steer hide. The Colonel sells these in other leather finishes, including American buffalo and even alligator, if your tastes run to the exotic, and you can see them and all of the other items they sell at their website, www.colonellittleton.com. </p><p>I've traveled all over with my bag, condition it a couple of times a year and it just looks better every time I spiff it up a little. It's even been to Disney World.</p><p>So I suppose my final comment is that you should keep what matters most, if you can, and when you buy something to replace an old friend, make sure you buy the best item you can. You never know how long it will be by your side!</p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-56527253109535908832023-07-31T10:22:00.003-04:002023-07-31T10:22:42.915-04:00Sugar, sugarGood Monday morning, everyone! Note that I waited until 10:05 AM EDT to say that!<div><br /></div><div>Some weeks ago I received some alarming news in my annual bloodwork that I do for my cardiologist. In addition to cholesterol numbers that are crucial to that aspect of my health, he orders a variety of other standard tests, and one of them captures a patient's glucose level.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think I'm in my fourth year with this cardiologist (my former doctor retired) and he routinely orders these additional tests. My glucose level indicated that I was in pre-diabetic range for the last several years, which was not a great surprise, since both of my parents were diabetic. But this year's glucose number was significantly elevated and he advised me to seek care with a provider who could address my newly identified condition.</div><div><br /></div><div>I should add that my former general practitioner had also retired several years ago, and since my cardiologist prescribes all of my medications, I really didn't have much need of a primary care provider. Until now, of course.</div><div><br /></div><div>So I started some research as to which providers in the health system of this cardiology practice was open to new patient, and found some options. I reviewed the patient reviews that each had posted and settled on one soon thereafter and scheduled an initial visit.</div><div><br /></div><div>That occurred in early May, and she impressed me by having reviewed my chart to the extent that she also recognized my health history, specifically my earlier cardiac issues. So that was a comfortable starting point, she understood my prior experience and offered some thoughts as well as an initial prescription of what apparently is the standard starting medicine for those newly diagnoses with type II diabetes.</div><div><br /></div><div>This practitioner also referred me to diabetes education and I eventually went for about an hour of meetings with a nurse and a dietitian. This was really helpful, as I initially went way overboard in cutting carbohydrates from my diet. The two clinicians separately advised that I limit, but not eliminate, carbs from my normal consumption, stating flatly that those who apply a severely low-carb approach often lack energy and have other problems.</div><div><br /></div><div>So since then I've been taking my blood glucose level every morning, noting the results and pondering why it's higher or lower some mornings than others, but also remembering that the A1C metric that is standard for diabetes treatment is itself an average. I've made some adjustments in what I eat at mealtime and for snacks. Whole grain foods are a big help and as the dietitian stated, it's important to think of the whole meal's carb content and not just one element of that meal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I feel good, have lost some weight and have not experienced any side effects from the medicine, which my new nurse practitioner had noted happens to some patients. </div><div><br /></div><div>So this is my new normal, and now that I have begun my 63rd trip around the sun, it will be for the foreseeable future!</div>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-37984506413634818252023-07-20T15:22:00.003-04:002023-07-20T15:22:59.516-04:0063 (and counting!)<p>Friends, I'm almost there. I've almost pulled even with the narrator of the Beatles' tune "When I'm Sixty-Four!" Today I turned 63 years of age.</p><p>Do I feel different? Not really, but I rarely do when I have a birthday. Just grateful for family and friends who care about me and provide love and support when I need it most!</p><p>I took some time away from work today to celebrate the occasion, although we began the festivities last night with a nice dinner out with our son and his family, which is always a great time. Our timing was because our middle granddaughter is going with a friend to Orlando and leaving tonight. Hope they have a great trip!</p><p>This morning I had a what I would easily characterize as a unique experience. Some weeks ago I noticed someone I knew way, way back and whom I had not seen in probably forty years had looked at my LinkedIn profile. I viewed hers and we eventually began exchanging messages. Turn out that she was one of the people involved with locating classmates from high school for our upcoming 45 year reunion. I told her I wasn't sure about the reunion but would be very glad to visit with her, so today was that day.</p><p>Other than not immediately recognizing each other at the coffee shop where we met, we had a long conversation that started as though we had last seen each other much more recently than we had. Forty years is a long time, so we had a lot of ground to cover, including spouses, kids, and, in my case, grandkids. It was very nice to get reacquainted and we agreed to try to visit more often from this point forward!</p><p>I also had the pleasure of having lunch with my next-door neighbor, who lives alone at an advanced age and has finally allowed my wife and me to help him with a few things here and there. He caught me and suggested lunch a couple of weeks ago, so we went out for the midday meal today. Good conversation all around, and funny, too! He's a retired law enforcement officer, so he has a lot of great stories from his work and life experiences. </p><p>I don't have any really philosophical comments to add. Just happy to still be here and to enjoy the very full life I have!</p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-53881629741382519442023-07-06T17:33:00.003-04:002023-07-06T17:33:42.409-04:00This is what's new<p>Greetings, friends. I know it's been almost a month since my last post, and I really don't have a specific reason why the delay, but it's good to be back in this space and I have a variety of comments to share.</p><p>We now live in a country where a President of the United States was impeached twice and was later indicted on multiple federal charges. And that man is currently leading the polling among Republican candidates for President in the 2024 election. I don't know if there's anything else to say to that, we've come close to this sort of scenario but never to this extent. And the investigations into this former President are ongoing, so there may yet be more charges forthcoming.</p><p>We may never know exactly what happened in Russia a couple of weekends ago, but suffice it to say that it probably wasn't planned and it fell apart just as quickly as it came together. As of this morning, there are questions as to the whereabouts of the leader of the Wagner Group, a mercenary organization that had been most effective on behalf of the Russian war effort in Ukraine. As a television host of whom I am fond often says, watch this space.</p><p>Did you hear that cocaine was found within the White House recently? Doesn't that seem awfully suspicious and yet obvious for that to have happened, what with the outcry from Republicans about how little punishment is being levied at the President's surviving son? And a certain former President had quite a lot to say, all unsubstantiated, of course, about this and to whom it belonged, etc.</p><p>Since our last visit, the Supreme Court issued quite a few decisions, most of which supported a conservative point of view. Not all that surprised by some of it, and it seems the Dobbs decision is still going to loom over voter turnout in 2024.</p><p>Do you listen to podcasts? I only started in the last year or two, as I travel extensively by car and while I love music, I get a little tired of listening to some of the same tunes over and over. My podcast tastes are pretty eclectic, and I believe I have mentioned here how much I enjoy the Smartless podcast (hosted by actors Jason Bateman, WIll Arnett and Sean Hayes), as well as the Vergecast, featuring editors of the Verge tech website. I've also come to appreciate Hacks on Tap, hosted by a rotation of three different hosts (all former or current political operatives). </p><p>But I believe my favorite is The Tony Kornheiser Show. Learned about this fellow thirty years ago, when he was best-known as a sportswriter for the Washington Post. Then he became one of the commentators on Monday Night Football (for only a year or so, I think) and the host of a talk show with another sportswriter called Pardon the Interruption. But for a longtime Kornheiser hosted a daily radio show on local radio in Washington, DC, and this show has morphed into a nearly identical podcast. He is witty, he is well-read, he is opnionated, and he's been referring to himself as fat, bald and orange for a long time, adding "old" to the list of descriptive words.</p><p>Most of his guests are also sportswriters or writers of other materials. I listened to two episodes this morning on my drive to my current location (which shall remain unnamed), and heard talk about professional golf, Qatari involvement in sports franchise ownership, chew toys for his dog and trying to break a $100 bill at a bank with whom he did not do business.</p><p>If you like any of the subjects mentioned, give it a listen.</p><p>I also like audiobooks and am currently listening to Walter Isaacson's excellent bio of Steve Jobs. I read it when it came out but am enjoying it in this format as well.</p><p>Oh, and before I go, let's give it up for the Cincinnati Reds, who unbelievably are in first place in the National League Central Division. For the moment. The youth movement has rapidly accelerated and first- and second-year players are filling key roles for this franchise, who have not been all that successful in recent years. I'm enjoying this and hope it continues.</p><p>That's good for now, hope you have a great weekend!</p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-87643105012198124832023-06-11T12:21:00.003-04:002023-06-11T12:21:50.379-04:00Well, then...<p>A lot has happened in the past few days, as always, so let's take a few minutes to sort this out....</p><p>Wildfires in Canada are creating smoke containing a variety of pollutants and the current shape of the jet stream has driven quite a bit of contaminated air into the US. Flights have been postponed, as have sporting events, in various cities, mostly in the eastern US. People in New York, particularly were advised to wear face coverings to protect themselves from the smoky conditions.</p><p>My take? You have to wonder how much of the fouled air from our frequent wildfires in the western part of our country made its way elsewhere. The reaction of some news outlets has been spectacularly stupid, to be frank, implying that Canada doesn't know how to manage its wooded areas and that they should do something.</p><p>The Ukrainian military has finally launched its long-awaited counteroffensive against the Russian forces that occupy much of eastern Ukraine. The results so far are encouraging for the Ukrainian side but so much disinformation emanates from Russia that it's just a little difficult to tell how it's actually going. But the Ukrainian military is clearly benefiting from better and more modern equipment.</p><p>The Cincinnati Reds added a mega-prospect named Elly de la Cruz to their roster recently. This young shortstop is 6'5" and runs insanely fast, is a very good hitter and fields his position well with a rocket arm. Fun to watch is a serious understatement. And the Reds are playing pretty competitive baseball, given they are experiencing some injuries, particularly to the starting pitching staff they counted on for at least respectability this rebuilding season. As a baseball fan but more importantly a Reds diehard, it's heartening to see this young group busting it on the field and celebrating each other when things go well. As it should be.</p><p>And now we come to the inevitable event of this week, the indictment of former President Trump on some 38 violations of federal laws governing the handling and possession of classified documents. We all knew this was coming at some point but this matter and these charges gained speed over the past ten days or so. Some media outlets have had bits and pieces of reporting what might be in this indictment, but the sum of it is most imposing. And the defendant, who will be formally charged on Tuesday, continues to claim that a) he is innocent, b) this is completely politically motivated, and c) he followed the Presidential Records Act completely. </p><p>We shall indeed see whether he is correct in his statements, but it won't happen tomorrow. Trump continues to lead an uninspiring field of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination by a wide margin. So we have some miles to go before resolution. And lest we forget, there is still a sweeping federal investigation of the January 5, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and accusations of election fraud in Georgia still not concluded but probably also leading to criminal charges of some kind.</p><p>Finally, this past week I took my first commercial flight since before COVID became a part of everyday life. I needed to travel to a location several hours from home by car so gained permission to travel by air so that it could be a single-day trip. Strange returning to a mode of travel that for some years was pretty normal for me. But the flights were pretty well on time and travelers all conducted themselves well enough.</p><p>Despite that, it was good to be home and back in familiar territory. As it always is!</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-49598537654239626082023-05-22T14:03:00.002-04:002023-05-22T14:03:38.395-04:00Cross country<p>Hello, friends! Have been a little busy with work and some other considerations, and just got back from a week's vacation!</p><p>My wife and I traveled from our home in Kentucky to Colorado for our oldest granddaughter's high school graduation last week. We had not made that trip by car in quite a while, but since my job requires me to drive a lot, sometimes for several hours at a time, we determined that this was a good idea, particularly with the performance of most of the major airlines being a little suspect at the moment!</p><p>We departed Lexington on Saturday morning, May 13. The weather was OK, if not great. Our route took us west on US 60 to Frankfort (Kentucky's state capital, for non-Kentuckians) and then onto Interstate 64 West. We followed that highway all the way through St. Louis, Missouri.</p><p>During our trip we ran into some clouds here and there but nothing significant, but once we made it through St. Louis and approached the interchange to Interstate 70 West, we saw the skies darkening considerably and a major slowdown in the traffic.</p><p>Did not take long to see why. Just a couple of miles onto I-70 we encountered what I would characterize as a severe thunderstorm, with very heavy rain and even some hail (thankfully, no damage to our car). We continued slowly with flashers on until we moved past the major portion of this storm and finally exited it entirely in about ten miles. Harrowing, but we made it.</p><p>We pressed on through Missouri and into the Kansas City area, with the weather improving as we continued west. Hotter, too. After the storm we decided to get fuel and snacks and keep driving rather than stopping for lunch, and finally stopped for dinner in Junction City, Kansas, then onward to Hays, which has become our family's informal landing spot for car trips between Kentucky and Colorado.</p><p>A good night's sleep left us with only a few hours to drive to our daughter's house, and it was great to get there and see everyone. Had a nice Mother's Day dinner at a great Mexican restaurant in their area later that day!</p><p>Monday we took a trip north to Fort Collins, the home of Colorado State University, where our granddaughter will attend college in the fall. Nice campus! We got some souvenirs there and then returned home to grill burgers and brats in the cool but dry air.</p><p>Next day was some errands and shopping, preparing for a great steak dinner for everyone. Our older grandson prepared one of the steaks in a cast-iron pan, while I manned the grill with the other meat. Worth mentioning that we made a trip to a place called Savory Spice (they sell online as well as in their store) where I purchased some excellent spice mixes for our steaks and the roasted potatoes that accompanied them!</p><p>The weather was still stubbornly cool but was clear, at least on that day. With the next day being our granddaughter's outdoor graduation, we were understandably keeping an eye on the weather.</p><p>Our faith was rewarded by a clear sunny day. Incidentally, our granddaughter attended one of several high schools in her area that share an athletic field that's literally down the hill from our daughter's house. Her school was the second to have their ceremony on the football field. It was a LONG ceremony, with speeches and entertainment that was apparently selected by the graduating class.</p><p>Celebration continued through dinner with a visit to a Japanese hibachi restaurant and delicious cake!</p><p>Didn't do a whole lot the next day, went to a couple of furniture stores to accompany our daughter and son-in-law as they looked at some new items. Relaxed in the afternoon and had a nice dinner of pork roast and sauerkraut (a family favorite).</p><p>Arose early Friday morning and headed out to do our whole trip in reverse. Weather was still cool and overcast for most of the way. Finally returned home on Saturday and enjoyed warm and sunny conditions all the way home!</p><p>So we're back where we started. It was a kind of fast trip, but it was wonderful to spend some time with the Colorado branch of our family!</p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-60416064712676861352023-04-24T09:36:00.003-04:002023-04-24T09:36:40.932-04:00Fear<p>Since my last post, there have been multiple shooting incidents where people rang the wrong doorbell, entered the wrong driveway, went to the wrong yard to retrieve a basketball, entered the wrong car, and more.</p><p>Most of the shooters have claimed in court appearances and otherwise that they feared for their personal safety, were worried they were about to be robbed, and other possible reasons.</p><p>At this point I'm becoming worried about armed vigilantes patrolling their neighborhoods without accountability (not unlike what happened in Brunswick, Georgia a few years ago). I get irritated at other drivers who cut me off in traffic, change lanes without signaling and such. But I no longer look in their direction, for fear that they may be armed and are prepared to respond to my irritation with deadly force.</p><p>What's more, in many of the states where these most recently publicized incidents have occurred, abortion has been either severely restricted or outlawed entirely. </p><p>I have difficulty grasping this dichotomy. Being in favor of preserving life should be universal, yet many states now allow the unrestricted carrying of firearms without so much as a permit.</p><p>The United States is the only major country where gun violence inflicted by one citizen upon another is so common. What's wrong with us?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-44208108306705724902023-04-16T11:52:00.002-04:002023-04-16T11:52:36.221-04:00Something to think about<p>My friends, I hope you'll accept my apologies for being absent from this space for, oh, a good while. My convalescence from my bout with COVID was completed some time ago, and I dived back into my work life with two hastily constructed weeks, followed by two long weeks of travel. </p><p>But since my last post I've had lots to think about a number of things, and lots of time to think about them.</p><p>First topic has to be the number of mass shootings in these past few weeks. We had a church-related school in Nashville endure a shooting by a person who was apparently a student there many years earlier. Three children and three adults associated with the school were killed. Then Louisville had two shooting incidents on the same day, and another last night. And this morning's news brought details of a shooting at a sweet 16 birthday party in a small town in Alabama.</p><p>President Biden says he's done everything in his power as Commander in Chief to curtail the proliferation of guns in this country. Senate and House members, most of them Republicans, say there isn't much appetite to move forward on additional gun regulations. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, widely assumed to be a candidate for President in the 2024 campaign, quietly and privately signed a bill allowing permitless carrying of any firearms by any adult during the course of these couple of weeks.</p><p>But it's worth mentioning that Tennessee Governor Bill Lee reversed himself on gun laws and signed an executive order regarding so-called red flag laws, which are designed to keep guns from those who are a danger to themselves and others due to mental illness or other documented issues. That's a small start.</p><p>The debate and protests in Tennessee over guns caused two young and strident state representatives to be stripped of their seats in the legislature there, with leadership claiming their actions to be worse than "any insurrection." They were promptly celebrated in the national media and reinstated, at least temporarily, by their local city councils.</p><p>Then there's the dueling federal court judges and their decisions about abortion pills that are widely used to produce safe abortions for women who want or need them. A Trump-appointed judge in Texas ruled that the Food and Drug Administration erred some 23 years ago by approving mifepristone for use by the afore-mentioned women. A different federal judge in Washington state ordered that the FDA's approval cannot be overturned and the drug must thereby be allowed for use. The Supreme Court issued a stay of the Texas order and will apparently render a more detailed ruling sometime this week.</p><p>Florida Governor DeSantis very quietly signed a six-week abortion ban during the public discourse of this debate. Interesting that he would sign this and the open carry bill while openly contemplating a run for the White House, giving his opponents ammunition to use against him.</p><p>Speaking of the White House, I won't make jokes about former President Trump's indictment by New York DA Alvin Bragg, but will add the comment that this is the least serious legal issue facing Trump. Not much doubt that the investigation by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith (no relation) is going to lead to charges on at least a couple of fronts, and none of them are minor.</p><p>Finally, the reckoning that Fox News has had in store for so long begins in earnest tomorrow, as voting machine manufacturer Dominion Voting's defamation lawsuit against Fox starts tomorrow. The excerpts that have been released have been damning against Fox, to say the least, and they've probably had a lot of explaining to do about statements some of their hosts made privately about the accuracy of on-air statements about the 2020 election and whether it was rigged or stolen. And about statements made about how they all really feel about Donald Trump and his associates.</p><p>I suppose all is forgiven now that Trump is again a central feature of their programming, with softball interviews conducted by one after another of Fox's vaunted primetime "hosts." Everyone loves a winner, of course, and it says a lot about the current state of the Republican Party that Trump is by far their leading candidate for 2024. </p><p>We'll meet back here in a few days to see where we are with all of this.</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-54242151584427136432023-03-23T11:31:00.004-04:002023-03-23T11:31:35.252-04:00After all of this time<p>Greetings, my friends. It's been a while, but I have a very good explanation.</p><p>Two weeks ago tonight, I returned home from a three day business trip and didn't feel quite myself. Felt like the beginnings of a cold or perhaps even a sinus infection. Friday I felt worse, but soldiered through my day's schedule. Didn't sleep well that night (didn't have any decent cough medicine in the house) but did better the next couple of nights, as I got some over the counter stuff to put that cough at bay.</p><p>That Sunday evening my wife, who also wasn't feeling that well by this time, suggested we do at-home COVID-19 tests, just to be sure. Worth mentioning that by this point in time we had both had two vaccinations and three boosters, the most recent administered in October 2022.</p><p>We both did tests. I tested positive for COVID-19, my wife tested negative. Then I happened to glance at the test kit box and saw that the tests we used were expired. Since we had several on hand, I went to another batch, found one that was date-valid and did them again. Same result, I was positive, my wife negative.</p><p>Hmm. After going through the entire spectrum of events associated with the coronavirus, I now had contracted a case of COVID-19.</p><p>The next morning I did a few things for work (weekly reports, mostly) and then contacted my boss, who advised that I would need to see a doctor to get a work excuse. My company allows two days sick before requiring an excuse and I expected this, as all of the CDC and other documentation is clear in recommending at least five days of isolation before resuming normal activities.</p><p>So I went to the local urgent care, since I don't have a family doctor, and was assigned to see a very personable and practical nurse practitioner. He reviewed my past test results and suggested that I would be a good candidate for Paxlovid, the anti-viral medication to lessen the effects of the COVID-19 virus. He also took me off work for the remainder of that week and the first four days of the current work week, with today being my final day off.</p><p>I sent that in to my employer and reported my extended leave to our absence management company, as they must approve my days off in order to be paid from a different accrual fund.</p><p>I spoke with someone from that absence management company the following day, and was told I would need a PCR test, and not simply my at-home antigen test, before my leave would be approved. So I went back to the urgent care and saw a different provider. She insisted on prescribing me a steroid inhalant, even though I explained that I had actually begun to feel better in the past couple of days, particularly after beginning the five day course of Paxlovid. She won, and an albuterol inhaler is unopened in our bathroom closet (but my wife has asthma and sometimes uses that, so it won't go to waste).</p><p>Great. Not one but two urgent care expenses.</p><p>I was promised a package of information by our absence management company but never received it, so began exploring their website to determine how to view the notes of my case and to upload completed documents and test results. I found the right area for all, wrote a note to my caseworker asking for my email address to be corrected and uploaded everything I had.</p><p>Next step was to get a form completed by the provider that detailed virtually everything I had already submitted, and got quite the runaround from the hospital system of which this urgent care clinic is an affiliate. Finally succeeded in explaining to someone there that I needed this by a certain date and the manager was gracious enough to complete it AND have the NP who saw me earlier in the week complete and sign his part.</p><p>Big sigh of relief, as I wanted to be absolutely certain that my claim was accepted and approved, or else I would not be paid for these days off without some struggle.</p><p>Since that determination I have gotten a few little things done around the house and yard. Nothing big, just a handful of small undertakings that require a little more time than my normal work travel schedule requires. </p><p>Back to work tomorrow. And that will feel strange, going back for a day and then having the weekend....</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-31772388901309970452023-02-27T13:41:00.005-05:002023-02-27T13:41:54.897-05:00In search of intelligence<p>It's Monday, and you've read the title for today's comments correctly.</p><p>I first want to offer some observations about ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot that may or may not be revolutionary in some way. That all sounds fun and rather innocuous in most respects, but since its capabilities have been reported in a widespread manner, there are now instances of companies using it to write advertising copy and some universities are screening entrance application essays to determine if prospective students are or were utilizing the service to write the endless essays necessary to apply to the college of one's choice.</p><p>There are many more uses, most legitimate, for such a service. A tech oriented podcast that I listen to regularly has spoken of it repeatedly and even had it write the intro to a recent installment. And it sounded pretty good!</p><p>Not to be left out Microsoft has revamped its Bing search engine (remember that, since Windows users really didn't have a choice for some time?) to include an interactive dialogue box in which a user could "speak" to Bing and have conversations, sometimes with hilarious results. There was a recent mention on this same podcast that users have expressed an interest in kissing this search engine, for reasons I still don't quite understand.</p><p>Programs that do at least some of this have been around for a long time. When I first got into personal computing I bought an artificial intelligence program called Racter. Users could carry on text-based conversations with the program, which was pretty limited, as I remember, and it would repeat words and phrases back as though it had said them in the first place. I remember a reviewer comparing it to an automated version of Mad Libs (remember those? My kids loved them!) and that is probably an apt description.</p><p>We bought our eldest granddaughter a toy called Magic Jinn and it was a verbalized version of the same thing. A cat-like creature would answer your questions and carry on a rudimentary conversation with you. Fun for an eight-year-old but when you get your first cellphone it kind of loses something, as it did with my granddaughter. But it was kind of fun.</p><p>Now let's talk about native human intelligence, or the lack of same.</p><p>People say and do stupid things. All the time. But now there's often someone around who's recording the stupidity for ongoing posterity. That's why it's different now.</p><p>I don't want to get into specifics, but there are certain members of Congress and other political figures who routinely put their feet into their mouths endlessly. Are they stupid? Probably not. Are they cagey? Quite possibly. Did they mean to say something stupid? Often they do. Do they care about the repercussions? Only if it costs them popularity or political capital.</p><p>The same goes for entertainment figures, mostly because they overestimate how much we want to hear from them on subjects that are clearly not their fields of expertise. As long as there have been microphones, cameras and tape recorders it's been this way.</p><p>But now we have podcasts, where some of the entertainment world's members speak into a microphone and say unwise, outrageous and even inflammatory things. And there's often a cost to this.</p><p>Scott Adams, who has been drawing and writing the Dilbert comic strip for many, many years, has also been writing a blog and conducting a podcast for some time. These vehicles have little if anything to do with the happenings of the Dilbert strip or its characters. I recall Adams being rather opinionated about the 2016 election and was ultimately right about its outcome. </p><p>And now he went and said some pretty offensive things. His own opinions. On a podcast he records himself.</p><p>And now Dilbert will no longer appear in numerous newspapers.</p><p>I lost track of Dilbert, Wally and the pointy-haired boss when I stopped receiving a daily newspaper lo these many years ago (we'll talk about the newspaper biz sometime soon in another post). Used to have a bunch of books that were collections of previous comic strips, and I often found them howlingly funny, if a little too real at times in comparison with actual corporate settings.</p><p>I remember some of Adams' musings from the campaign season of 2016 and didn't like what he was saying/writing at the time. So this latest situation does not really surprise me.</p><p>Not the first time that someone took a fall for their opinions.</p><p>So the search for intelligence goes on. Will let you know how it's coming.</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-89699332305641748402023-02-20T10:21:00.002-05:002023-02-20T10:21:34.775-05:00Again and again<p>Happy Monday, friends. If you have today off from work I hope you enjoy the day, and, if not, well, welcome to the club! We had two of our local grandkids sleep over last night, since they were out of school, enjoying having them here.</p><p>But that's not what's on my mind this morning.</p><p>How many consecutive days has there been a report of some sort of mass shooting event somewhere in the United States? As so often seems to happen, the Michigan State shooting incidents seem to have triggered some activity in workplaces and in family scenarios since that time.</p><p>Conspicuously absent this time has been the cascade of "thoughts and prayers," mostly from right-leaning politicians who are in deep with the NRA and other conservative causes.</p><p>And one of the more appalling aspects of what happened in Michigan is that some of the students at MSU had already been through a mass shooting event in their high school in Oxford, Michigan a couple of years ago, and one or more had also survived the massacre at Sandy Hook, Connecticut some years before that.</p><p>This is not a distinction anyone should want or aspire to receive.</p><p>I routinely as this when these things occur, but when will it end? When will people stop trying to make apologies for people who certainly should have have ever been granted access to a firearm of any kind, let alone one with a large capacity to inflict much more carnage? And when will those who know better stop trying to resolve domestic or workplace disputes with a gun?</p><p>As I state here regularly, my wife and I are blessed with two adult children and five grandchildren. We have luckily been spared the agony of losing a loved one to gun violence, and I hope that remains the case.</p><p>But it's going to take more than people wishing for anything to change. </p><p><br /></p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897668343540259255.post-33398292725909118562023-01-31T14:27:00.004-05:002023-01-31T14:27:31.699-05:00Bias<p>Hello, friends. Don't often post on Tuesdays, but it's not so that I can keep you guessing!</p><p>I had originally conceived a pretty significant rant in the wake of the Kansas City Chiefs win over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night. It seemed to me and my wife as we watched that game that the television announcers were squarely in favor of the Chiefs winning (by winning they qualified for their third Super Bowl in four years) despite some grudging compliments toward the Bengals, who started the game slowly but gained momentum and looked to be in position to win.</p><p>The other group that seemed unfairly favoring the Chiefs were the officiating crew. Several calls were iffy, to say the least, there was a do-over opportunity given them by the striped shirts, and in the end a penalty against the Bengals sealed the chance to win for Kansas City.</p><p>With a little more time having passed since that game ended, I don't really think that the officials were in the tank for the Chiefs, but it would be hard to convince me that the announcers weren't playing favorites.</p><p>And that really brings me to my topic today. The NFL, in particular, assiduously avoided any hint of linkage to gambling for many, many years. My father used to bring home what were simply known as "football cards" and we'd play them at home, betting on the team we thought would beat the point spread listed. Worth a mention that these were illegal, so the betting would be amongst ourselves.</p><p>That became a weekly thing that we would do, my parents, my older brother and I, putting money into a pot and winning or losing pocket change on the outcome of games. It was fun but sometimes a player who guessed a lot and guessed right would win money, regardless of what they actually knew about football. Sort of like going to the racetrack and betting on all of the grey horses.</p><p>Anyway, organized legal gambling began to expand geographically, beyond just Las Vegas and Atlantic City, then sports gambling services run from overseas popped up online, and now you have perfectly legal sports books operating in many states where there are professional sports teams. Some these betting services are "official partners" of one sport or another and may even sponsor venues within stadiums and ballparks.</p><p>The Cincinnati Reds opened an onsite bar when their current park, Great American Ball Park, opened. It was called the Machine Room, named for the great Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s. Visited there a few times but it never replaced sitting in seats or leaning on rails watching the game on the field. Now, that bar shares its name with one of the betting services, since Ohio legalized sports betting as of January 1.</p><p>So now the NFL and National Hockey League have franchises in Las Vegas, and there may well be a Major League Baseball franchise there in a few years, as the Oakland Athletics have struggled with poor attendance for many years and continue to examine the possibility of moving.</p><p>Not allowing teams to located in Nevada has always seemed disingenuous to me, particularly with more open association with perfectly legal gambling operations. So I guess it's good that time has apparently passed.</p><p>The subject of bias often comes up in far more grave situations as well. The initial reporting of the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis was that he has been beaten severely by Memphis police officers and died as a result. Then it surfaced that all five of the officers coincidentally were black. And just in the last couple of days a sixth officer was identified who happens to be white, and a seventh who has not yet been identified. Additionally there were three emergency medical personnel identified as being involved in the victim's treatment and one of them was white as well.</p><p>This was reported in such a way that it appeared that media outlets were concerned that public reaction would differ depending on the race of the accused assailants. Should it? The crime committed by the officers and EMTs was equally heinous, regardless of their race. It also should not matter that the victim was black, but it does.</p><p>I don't need to belabor this point but bias is far too prevalent in many important and some less important aspects of life.</p><p>And like so many issues, there are no easy answers.</p>Rick Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07564479735066322823noreply@blogger.com0