tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-289527272024-03-06T22:46:43.637-06:00Don-GuitarDon Crowder and his wife, Lisa Miller, are proponents of and believers in, true love, random acts of kindness and a child-like sense of wonder. DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-36961835633675801882014-05-14T02:01:00.000-05:002014-05-14T02:01:05.560-05:00Somewhere along the way it occurred to me that my life is interesting to me but hardly of interest to anyone else so blogging is a little silly. So I lost interest in it. Lately there have been occasions when I just wanted to put my thoughts and feelings on paper (albeit virtual). I just want to say something, as it were, without worrying about whether or not anyone is listening. I think I've lost interest in twitter because it seems like shallow blogging. I do spend a little time on facebook and G+ but that doesn't really take long and afterwards I feel I may have missed the point. I want to interact with folks on a meaningful level, I'm just not sure how. A part of me feels that I simply don't have anything meaningful, or valuable, to offer. On another level, I know that isn't entirely true but it may be true that I don't have anything to offer that hundreds of other folks haven't offered, on multiple occasions, all over the web, and once information is on the web, it's out there forever. So, in the end, anything I can contribute, in the way of information, is certain to be redundant and that tends to reinforce my suspicion that writing anything at all is an exercise in futility. :)
Where's the point?DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-43176921157724502202011-11-18T04:39:00.002-06:002012-07-25T20:06:44.360-05:00Creating Playlists for a Sansa Clip Using Linux.Creating Sansa clip playlists in Linux is super easy IF you do it exactly right and make NO mistakes.<br /><br />The playlist is just a text file with a .m3u file extension; that's all there is to it, but (and this is a BIG BUT) the playlist won't work if it doesn't have a commented out identifier at the top of the list. Here's one I've copy pasted from my Sansa Clip:<br /><br />---<br /><br />#EXTM3U<br /><br />Away_In_A_Manger.mp3<br />Be_Home_for_Christmas.mp3<br />Carol_Of_The_Bells.mp3<br />Charlie_Brown_Medley.mp3<br />Christmas_At_Hogwarts.mp3<br />Holy_Night.mp3<br />I_Saw_Three_Ships.mp3<br />Let_it_Snow.mp3<br />Merry_Little_Christmas.mp3<br />Silent_Night.mp3<br />The_Christmas_Song.mp3<br />The_First_Noel.mp3<br />The_Holly_And_The_Ivy.mp3<br />What_Child_Is_This.mp3<br />Winter_Wonderland.mp3<br /><br />---<br /><br />If you've been a Linux user for a while you know as well as I do that the hashmark (pound sign) preceding the characters at the top of the file indicates that what follows is a comment which should be ignored by the player's software but if you leave that commented line out of the playlist it WON'T WORK. Why? I've no idea but that's how it is. The carriage return which followed the commented line seems to be optional but this particular playlist didn't work without it so I've gotten in the habit of using it with all of them.<br /><br />---<br /><br />As it powers up, the Sansa clip doesn't recognise folders in its file system and will list your music files as though you had dumped them all into one large folder even if you've carefully sorted them into labelled folders. If, on the other hand, you do carefully sort your music into folders, each folder must contain its own playlist because folders ARE recognised by the software that reads the playlists and will be unable to find an mp3 file which isn't in the <br />SAME folder as the playlist.<br /><br />Note: In case you're wondering if you can specify the path to the mp3 file in the playlist, I have no idea, I've never had occasion to try that.<br /><br />If you wish to use the same tunes on more than one playlist you must, then, avoid using sub-folders and put all your mp3 files and playlists into the MUSIC folder.<br /><br /><br /><br />---<br /><br />You CANNOT delete any music files or playlists using your file manager in normal user mode because Linux will then create a hidden, system trash folder inside the Sansa clip and move the files you've deleted into it. You will know that this has happened because when the Sansa clip re-initializes, after you've safely removed it from your computer's USB port, it will find, recognise and display the deleted playlist (or music files). You'll know this has happened because you'll have an extra playlist that comes up empty when you select it (or songs that you're certain you've delete will still appear to be there).<br /><br />---<br /><br />** If you find that you do, in fact, have an empty playlist (or songs that you know darn well you've deleted), you'll need dolphin, Konqueror or some other file manager that permits you to split the screen into two windows and you'll need to open an instance of that file manager with root privileges.<br /><br />With *buntu systems (or systems based on Ubuntu) you can use...<br /><br />sudo dolphin<br /><br />or<br /><br />sudo konqueror<br /><br />On just about any other system you should probably use<br /><br />gksu dolphin<br /><br />or gksu konqueror<br /><br />Note 1: If you get an error message, open up your package manager, search for and install gksu. Then try it again.<br /><br />Note 2: In either instance, you may have to go to your package manager and install dolphin or konqueror.<br /><br />Note 3: Yes, you may be able to type "su"<enter> followed by your root password <enter> and then type dolphin or konqueror but, in my experience, this sometimes returns an error and simply won't work whereas gksu, which is designed for the purpose, usually works fine.<br /><br />Note 4: Insofar as I'm aware, there are no other Linux file managers with split screen capabilities but don't let my ignorance stop you if you have, or know of, another file manager which has the capability.<br /><br />---<br /><br />Once you've opened an instance of your file manager which has root privileges, split the screen, direct one window to the trash folder on your main hard drive and the other window to the Sansa clip.<br /><br />With focus on the window showing the Sansa clip, set the file manager to Show hidden files. Drag and drop the hidden, system trash folder from the Sansa clip into the trash on your main hard drive. While you're at it, check the file folders, and every folder you've created on the Sansa clip for backup files created by your text editor and delete them. Why? because the Sansa clip doesn't recognise backup files and will find and display them as yet another playlist after it's initialised.<br /><br />Speaking of which; before creating, editing or manipulating playlists, make sure you've set the preferences in your chosen text editor so that it will NOT create backup files.<br /><br />If you forget to do this and notice that your editor has, for example, created a back up copy of your playlist on the Sansa clip remember that you cannot just delete it. Why? Because when you do Linux will create a hidden, system trash folder and move that backup playlist into it and because the Sansa clip operating system has no idea what a trash folder is it will find and display that deleted playlist (unless you also deleted the songs that were listed in that playlist, thereby putting them in the same folder, in which case it will remain a playable list). What should you do if that happens? back up the two asterisks on this page (** above) and start over.<br /><br />---<br /><br />So, if you started your playlist with the right information...<br /><br />#EXTM3U<br /><br />...listed the songs you want played, separated by carriage returns (the enter key for those of you too young to remember typewriters) with no typos in the file names or the file extensions, didn't list any songs that aren't in the same folder as the playlist, didn't delete any files or use an editor that creates automatic backups and remembered to save your playlists with .m3u file extensions, your playlists will be recognised when the Sansa clip initializes and will work beautifully. If you've forgotten even ONE of these carefully composed instructions you get to start all over again.<br /><br />Do NOT ask my how I know so much about making playlists for Sansa clips on Linux systems. You may, however, assume that I've had a great deal of experience with creating playlists for the single Sansa clip I happen to own. My Sansa clip contains 200 songs sorted into 5 perfectly functional playlists. That's the truth and is as much as I'll admit to without coercion.<br /><br />If you get stumped feel free to contact me. :)DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-65494982472860783892010-12-15T15:39:00.002-06:002010-12-15T15:51:47.256-06:00Thank You World Wide WebDear internet,<br /><br />Thank you for helping me find my wonderful wife and introducing me to some of the best friends I've ever had in my life.<br /><br />Thank you for paperbackswap.com because I'll never again be without a book to read.<br /><br />Thank you for bobsredmill.com.<br /><br />Thank you for sfherb.com.<br /><br />Thank you for amazon.com, ebay.com, half.com, google.com, paypal.com, icanhascheezburger.com and all the other wonderful websites which teach me new things, make me laugh, help me find things I would otherwise never have found, help me buy things I could otherwise never have afforded and bringing the entire, great-big, wonderful world into my home, placing it at my fingertips.<br /><br />I know I owe you big-time and I'll keep doing what I can to repay you.<br /><br />Love,<br /><br />Don CrowderDonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-73164834806834647062010-11-25T19:15:00.001-06:002010-11-25T19:17:57.838-06:00We Love Our Freezer!When Lisa and I began our new lives together we were both working as stockers in a supermarket in Llano (Texas). The store had a deli and most days there was cooked food left in the warmer at closing time which was distributed among employees. As often as not, we took home a few pieces of fried chicken but there was seldom enough for a meal and Lisa couldn't eat the breading anyway so I pealed off the breading, pulled the meat from the bone, put it in a ziplock bag and put it in the freezer. I added to the bag each evening until it looked like there was enough in the bag for a meal at which point I'd start another bag. Having little packages of cooked chicken in the freezer lead to one of our favorite recipes, "Apricot-Chipotle Chicken", and gave birth to an idea. These days we have thaw-heat-and-eat packages of cooked shrimp, sausage, chicken, turkey, beef and pork in the freezer along with a collection of really good recipes which are quick and easy to prepare. We can have a terrific home-cooked dinner on the table in a half hour or less. We have to cook our meals, due to Lisa's food sensitivities (hybridized wheat, corn and milk), but we've learned how to make that an asset instead of a liability.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-77065818351600640682010-07-23T23:53:00.001-05:002010-07-23T23:53:54.657-05:00Unanswered questions.Until today I'd never heard of Epicurus but I was intrigued by this quote which is attributed to him:<br /><br />“The gods can either take away evil from the world and will not,<br />or, being willing to do so, cannot;<br />or they neither can nor will,<br />or lastly, they are both able and willing.<br /><br />If they have the will to remove evil and cannot, then they are not omnipotent.<br />If they can, but will not, than they are not benevolent.<br />If they are neither able nor willing, then they are neither omnipotent nor benevolent.<br />Lastly, if they are both able and willing to annihilate evil, why does it exist?”<br /><br />---<br /><br />I love questions which can't be answered. I'm amused by those who feel that such questions have been answered and disgusted by people who are frightened by the questions. I'm content to say "I don't know" but that doesn't mean I'll stop trying to reason out an answer.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-61558602477970051382010-03-08T15:17:00.002-06:002010-03-08T15:20:49.252-06:00Sometimes Serendipity Pinch Hits for WisdomWhen mom died we'd been living with her and taking care of her for years. This was our home and, after the will was probated, I was half owner of the house with my sister owning the other half. She wants to sell it; we don't. This is still our home. We offered to buy her out, making what we believed was a fair offer. She wanted $15,000 more than we offered. She found a lawyer to take her case and threatened Judicial Partition. Rather than negotiate with her lawyer (as the letter we received strongly suggested) we spoke with the young lawyer who handled the probation of mom's estate/will. Our thought was to have the place inspected and appraised enabling us to approach my sister with an offer based on confirmed reality. He suggested we have the house inspected but hold off on the appraisal. The inspection results show a very large collection of problems with the house, not all of which can be repaired. The inspector suggests we tear the place down and start over and, based on his results, the house is worth substantially less than our previous 'best guess'. My sister is stubborn, willful and not too bright. Bless her heart. I'm so glad she didn't accept out offer. That would have been the beginning of a never-ending nightmare for us. We were saved by serendipitous dumb luck.<br /><br />I don't think my sister and I will ever get past the enmity this has created between us but I'm betting that one of us will eventually attend the other's funeral. Sometimes that's enough. Life is change; change is good.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-26571874450702823302010-03-04T11:25:00.001-06:002010-03-04T11:29:52.754-06:00Life, Love and the Imminence of MortalityAa little over six years ago a close internet friend (close in the ways that are only possible on the internet where there are no pheromones to interfere with our words) was having problems with her significant other. I'd long since decided the man was an insensitive lout who didn't deserve or appreciate her and I was angry over the way he treated her. My anger overcame me a little and I commented that "Your relationship really sucks" to which she instantly responded "So does yours". I was stunned. I got through the rest of the day in a numb haze. By the next day I decided that she was right so I sat down and had a long talk with my wife. After a brief emotional storm she calmed down and admitted to agreeing with my assessment of our relationship. So we separated amicably and that was that.<br /><br />Not too long thereafter, my internet friend decided that it was time for her to move on as well and Texas was as good a place as any (she was living in Florida at the time). She rented a truck, loaded up her 'stuff' and her dog and drove to Texas. Within nine days of arriving in Texas she had a place of her own, a car and a job.<br /><br />The woman is Lisa Miller. The dog's name was CeeCee. She and her dog changed my life and rocked my world. Next month, on the 24th of April, Lisa and I will celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary.<br /><br />A few days ago CeeCee developed some sort of physiological problem which made it difficult for her to stand and walk. The problem came and went, getting a little worse every day, for several days. Yesterday it got bad enough to keep us up with her until about 4 AM this morning when we finally had to get some sleep. At about 8:30 this morning we loaded CeeCee into the van and headed for the Vet's office (Jim Jenson's Cedar Hills Veterinary Clinic in Llano, TX and we highly recommend him). CeeCee died before we got to the clinic. We turned around and drove back home, dug a hole in the back yard, wrapped her in the old quilt that was her bed and buried her.<br /><br />All morning the orchestra in my head has been playing Ingrid Michaelson's song, Everybody. The lyric line I keep hearing is<br /><br />Everybody, everybody wants to love<br />Everybody, everybody wants to be loved<br /><br />Thank you Lisa, for moving to Texas and changing my life. Thank you for loving me and being someone I love. Thank you CeeCee for playing ball with me, begging me for snacks and being my dog too. I will remember you. I will miss you.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-64438891617887395782010-02-06T19:40:00.002-06:002010-02-06T19:51:22.954-06:00Universal Life ChurchI am an ordained minister in the <a href="http://www.ulc.net/">ULC</a>, which is free on the web though it seems to me it was ten or twenty dollars in the ads which were in the back of most comic books when I was a kid. I've been asked if I seriously consider myself to be a reverend/minister/preacher. This is my 'official' answer to that question.<br /><br />---<br /><br />If you understand that, to me, it means I hold all life in reverence<br />then I am a reverend.<br /><br />If you accept that it means I will tend your wounds if I am able<br />and hold your hand if it helps you face your demons<br />then I am a minister.<br /><br />If you believe me when I tell you that God does not<br />want you to be cold, hungry, alone or afraid<br />Then I am a preacher.<br /><br />---<br /><br />This isn't a quotation. These are my words and they come from my heart.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-37316621034805260452010-01-31T15:33:00.004-06:002010-02-08T13:01:06.168-06:00Cloud Computing for Gullible People (Not)In this issue of our electric co-op magazine there's a full page ad from a company that calls themselves firstSTREET about the GO COMPUTER. It purports to be a safe, secure, user-friendly operating system targeted at senior citizens. There's all sorts of info on the ad but nowhere do they mention what the OS is. The CPU is built into the keyboard housing so there's no tower. It's using an Intel Atom N270 (1.6 GHz) processor and the rest of the specs, from the website, are as follows.<br /># 1 GB Ram<br /># 160G Hard drive<br /># 4 USB Slots<br /># Built-in Wireless<br /># Speakers come built-in<br /><br />It actually looks pretty good up-front but as you get into it there are some disturbing clues in the ad. I'll quote some passages I found interesting.<br /><br />*in the unlikely event that your computer does develop a problem we'll send you a replacement absolutely free*<br /><br />Sounds to me like there's a heck of a fat profit margin in this thing!<br /><br />*since your data is remotely stored, you'll immediately have access to all of your original emails, files and photos ...instantly.*<br /><br />Ok, so we're talking about cloud computing here and, at this point I tried to find a decent tutorial on cloud computing to link to but everything I found was overcomplicated so I'll just have to write my own.<br /><br />Traditionally, the software applications (programs) you use on your computer are located on the computer's hard drive. This started way before the internet. You bought a computer and installed a word processor, maybe an image editor, possibly a spread sheet, some games, whatever. Then came the internet and full-time, always-connected high-speed connections. Now it's possible to use all sorts of fancy software which *isn't* located on your computer; it's located on the web. The industry first referred to this technology as *web 2.0* but, as it became more sophisticated and the possibilities began to expand, folks started calling it *Cloud Computing*. What's the advantage for you the user? First of all, you don't have to buy a Word Processor, secondly, if your computer crashes, you don't lose any of your important stuff because none of it is located on your computer, it's all right there on the web where you left it.<br /><br /><br />So what's the bottom line on the GO COMPUTER?<br /><br />Price: $879.00 <br /><br />Holy Mackerel Sapphire, that's almost 900 bucks for a cloud computing system. They've gotta be kidding!<br /><br />*Cloud Computing* is currently a major industry buzz word. The folks at gOS are soon to release what they're calling <a href="http://www.thinkgos.com/cloud/index.html">Cloud 1.0</a> which is targeted at low-priced netbooks, Canonical and Red Hat are venturing into the cloud computing market while Google's (cloud computing) <a href="http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os">Chromium OS</a> is under rapid development and beginning to get lots of media attention. Cloud computing is going to be a big thing because it lowers the cost of a basic computer by an order of magnitude. Looks like firstSTREET is trying to get their licks in quick, before the competition shows up and knocks the stuffing out of their margin. For example, check google shopping for an HP 2010 mini (netbook). It's got a smaller screen but very similar specs to the Go Computer at about a third the price. If you go to eBay and search Computers & Networking/PC Laptops & Netbooks for 'mini netbook' you'll find plenty of seven inch machines running Windows CE in the $50 to $200 range. Of course Windows CE is something of a joke but I'm guessing there'll soon be plenty of them listed with Linux operating systems and larger screens too.<br /><br />Senior citizens, with regards to firstSTREET's GO COMPUTER, all I can say is don't do it! Just don't. Take half of that $900.00 with you to an electronics discount or monster-variety store (Fry's or Walmart) and buy whatever sort of Linux or Windows 7 laptop they offer for that price (It's likely to be a superior machine) and have your grandkids show you how to use it. You can *Cloud Compute* on any machine that has a browser.<br /><br />A couple of moderately helpful cloud computing resources:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-cloud-computing.html">http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/what-is-cloud-computing.html</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RMWO9JxZjA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RMWO9JxZjA</a>DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-29207449241719960492010-01-19T22:53:00.002-06:002010-02-08T13:07:10.244-06:00Oh, Will You Just Shutup About IllegalsI get so tired of listening to pseudo-patriotic diatribes going on about illegals. I lived in Brackettville, seventeen miles from Mexico as the crow flies, for fourteen years and learned a few things about illegals. Without illegals you can't farm because you can't hire farm workers; American citizens won't do that kind of work for any sum of money. Without illegals you can't run any sort of construction business because you can't hire workers; American citizens won't do that kind of work for any sum of money. Without illegals you can't get rid of garbage, eat fast food, or do any cattle ranching because (by now I'm sure you've guessed) American citizens won't do that kind of work for any sum of money.<br /><br />No matter how you feel about illegals, the fact is that businesses all over the United States would be severely crippled without them.<br /><br />Most illegals have forged, bogus Social Security cards but the U.S. Government is pleased to accept their taxes and Social Security payments. For our government this is *free money* because they'll never have to pay a refund on the taxes collected on bogus Social Security accounts and they'll never have to provide any benefits to those workers.<br /><br />Thousands of American citizens make out like bandits by renting substandard housing to illegals at premium rates. The illegals will never complain for fear of being deported. The landlords never have to fix anything or worry that their tenants are going to make trouble for them and those landlords are paid in cash so the chances are good they don't bother to report the income.<br /><br />Medical facilities and mechanics routinely charge illegals about twice the going rates with complete impunity. They know that illegals will just pay the money, in cash, and never complain.<br /><br />Once our government has pissed away millions of dollars on a giant fence, illegals will find other ways to get across the border. The fence isn't a solution. I don't like it but the only solution I can think of would be to annex Mexico as our 51st state.<br /><br />Mexican nationals are, de facto, an integral part of the U.S. economy and, while I'm debunking mythology, the majority of those who abuse our nations welfare and social services systems are native born American citizens who grew up in this country and have learned from the inside how to properly exploit the system.<br /><br />No, I don't have any brilliant ideas about how to solve the illegal problem but figuring out that the only solution our government has come up with so far is going to be a fiasco isn't rocket science. American politicians have always chosen to deal with the hard problems by throwing money at them. The problems don't ever go away but when the government starts throwing money people tend to stop bitching and start grabbing. We call that the Status Quo and it keeps folks complacent until they get distracted by the next big problem.<br /><br />If you're up for some irony, who do you think is building that much vaunted fence?DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-89195000265387814102009-12-18T16:35:00.000-06:002009-12-18T16:36:12.087-06:00Life in the Virtual LaneLisa's up to her ears in Google Wave and all-things-Google. The dog has been out to tinkle and had her mid-day snack. UPS brought me one of the video cards I bought on eBay so, if I can find a machine to test it on, I'll send it to the friend who needs it but can't afford it. We diced up some leftover meatloaf, stir-fried it with leftover short-grain-brown and wild rice and had it with fried eggs and bacon for breakfast. I spent a half hour practicing jazz licks and sundry minor scales on the funky-but-cool little Kay guitar Clenton gave me. We got a picture of our grandsons and a card from my middle daughter in the mail, along with a card from Jerry Fox who's a good friend though we've never met. He's one of the folks we describe as web-siblings. I don't think that's for lack of a better term, I think that's about as accurate a term as we could find.<br /><br />Web-sibling: <strong><em>noun</em></strong> <em>(hyphen optional)</em> Someone who is as close as family but whom one has never met in person.<br /><br />We own a TV set; it's connected to the VCR and a DVD player in the living room. My daughter Lily gave us a digital converter box. One of these days I'll probably put up an antenna. We don't rent or buy movies but we borrow one from the kids every now and then. I snagged a copy of the BBC's Planet <strong>e</strong>arth series on <a href="http://www.listia.com/" title="Listia.com">Listia.com</a>. There are five DVDs in the set and we've watched the first one. It was three hours in length. Gosh knows how long it'll take us to watch the other four. Three hours is an awfully long time to be sitting in one place without a mouse or keyboard.<br /><br />I've been upgrading from Debian Etch to Debian Lenny and I think I'm going to like it just fine. I set up a PCLinuxOS 2009.1 machine to use during the upgrade (as a sort of back-up w/learning-curve in case something broke). PCLinuxOS is awfully nice but some things don't seem to work well. For example, I can't get Konqueror to do a file search and I've no idea why. Very frustrating. In Firefox, when I click to bookmark a website the scrollbar won't work on the subsequent dialog box and in Thunderbird there's no scrollbar on the right side of the screen. All of which makes it highly likely I'll just settle back into my Debian machine and use the #2 machine to play with other distros. I've been wanting to try Puppy and Frugalware again anyway.<br /><br />We're going to visit the Beierle's this evening. We're taking dinner with us. Venison sausage w/Bavarian Sauerkraut (hot buttered brown and wild rice on the side). Charlie (Beierle) is our favorite Linux Geek. He's got more computers, and more different operating systems, than anyone we know. For example, he's got an SGI computer which uses the IRIX operating system; I believe this is the type of machine used to create the original Pixar animations. He's also a geophysicist with a Ph.D. and one of the all-around nicest people we've ever known. He's our go-to-guy for problems with Windows, Mac or Linux and the buck usually stops with Charlie. I'm going to take the little Kay guitar and Lisa's taking her washboard so the Beierle's are in for a surprise. With luck, it'll be a pleasant one.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-56521763895663441182009-12-16T04:30:00.003-06:002009-12-16T04:35:51.608-06:00Today we took <a href="http://www.freelists.org/list/donspatch">our ezine's</a> first tentative step into the ambiguous waters of Google Wave. We're not at all sure what we'll find there or how it will affect our little newsletter but Lisa's excited that we might be the first 'Wavezine'. As the technical director of our web expedition I'll have to figure out how to provide folks with a link to our wave....<br /><br />*sigh*<br /><br />I just hate performance anxiety.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-56203143891580951842009-11-20T17:43:00.002-06:002010-02-08T13:15:55.920-06:00Ahead for Business (knot)A few years back my friend J asked me to play a small cafe with her. She said 'It doesn't pay much but I'll be happy to split it with you'. So I played the gig. Afterward, as we were packing up to go she thanked me for being there but didn't pay me.<br /><br />Call that strike one.<br /><br />A couple of years ago she asked me to build a frame for a Mexican string art portrait that had belonged to her father. I was reluctant to try it but did some mental math and told her it'd cost fifty dollars. She told me to go for it. I spent $12 on cedar, $18 on a piece of non-glare glass and spent around four hours making the darn thing. When I delivered it she thanked me but didn't offer to pay me. She propped it against the wall of her living room, behind a rocking chair (and noticed a few weeks later that the glass had gotten chipped and bitched at me about it but I ignored her).<br /><br />Call that strike two.<br /><br />J has used me as her 'man about the house' for a number of years and there have been numerous occasions when her nit-picky ways have caused me a great deal of stress but she paid me well enough, most of the time, and I actually like her. I'll admit that the attraction was most sexual in the beginning but it didn't take long for that to fade to a sort of fraternal fuzziness. By now she's more a sister to me than the one biological sister I have left.<br /><br />A few weeks ago she offered me a job helping to take care of an older couple who live about an hour away from here. She offered to pay me for my travel time as well so I happily accepted the offer. After a few days work I thought a great deal of the folks I was helping to care for and found it a joy to be there for them. Circumstances have arisen which made it necessary for the family to hire a 24/7 nursing firm but the contract isn't final and, because the nursing firm is neither licensed nor bonded, J and her crew (among whom I am numbered) are under consideration for taking over the job. I was on the phone with J this morning and wanted to discuss some thoughts I had about making our rates more competitive. Somewhat coldly, she insisted 'that's between me and them'. I believe that I correctly interpreted this to mean our rate structure was none of my business. Well, I'm content to be an indian and have no desire to be the chief but my trust for J is already an unsteady, provisional thing.<br /><br />I decided to call that strike three.<br /><br />I resigned, via email, a few minutes later. In a reply, J asked me if I didn't think I was being destructive. I didn't respond because I don't think she'd understand anything I said but, from my perspective, my behavior was preventative. Nobody will screw you over faster, or more thoroughly, than family.<br /><br />Managers who believe that information is proprietary are, thank goodness, self-limiting. Keeping secrets from your employees is like taping their mouths shut, handing them a saw and crawling out on a limb.<br /><br />Wasn't that a good analogy?<br /><br />If you want people to respect, trust and work for you, begin by respecting, trusting and working with them.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-32710102904427662742009-08-05T13:11:00.002-05:002009-08-05T13:14:42.585-05:00Nobody Gets Out of Here Without Singing the BluesEver watched a movie that was just awful? I think everyone has. It's probably an unwritten rule but, once in a while, even a really stupid movie can have a redeeming scene. For example, in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092513/">Adventures in Babysitting</a>, an undeniably stupid movie, there's a wonderful scene with Albert Collins. I won't give away any part of the movie but the music is great and the scene is hilarious. Another film that stand out in my mind is <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116745/">Kansas City</a>. This isn't a stupid movie, it's a grusome movie. The story is morbid but the music is great and there's a magical scene where it's supposedly sometime in the wee hours of the morning and there's only a handful of people in a jazz club while two upright basses and a piano are jamming. The whole movie is worth that one scene.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-91320074980532425452009-07-29T11:10:00.001-05:002009-07-29T11:13:26.901-05:00No, I wanna hear about your problemsIt's reached the point where I'm annoyed when none of my 'regulars' has updated their blog. Never mind the fact that it's been ages since I updated mine, I've had it 'up to here' with my life, I want to read about somebody else's. I'm not saying it makes me happy to read about other peoples problems but it does make me feel less overwhelmed by the drama (and trauma) that's going on in my own life.<br /><br />For example...<br /><br />My sister insists we sell mom's house, where I've lived for over 15 years now (mom died in July of 2008), and my wife and I have no place to go thereafter. My job, in a convenience store, is demanding, stressful and frustrating. Oh I enjoy the work well enough but the management seems carefully designed to inflict as much damage as possible to my psyche and, as the only male on the staff, I'm subjected to rather a lot of sexual discrimination by which I mean to say that mistakes made by my female coworkers are shrugged off (if not outright ignored) while any mistake I make is placed under a microscope and dissected at length.<br /><br />...and there's more but, as I said, I'm trying to get away from all that.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-61882175955279828382009-07-20T11:54:00.002-05:002010-02-08T13:19:10.489-06:00Walk Softly and Carry a Water GunI'm a musician and normally a band leader but 'band leader' is an ambiguous title when you consider that ramrodding a weekend-warrior band isn't significantly different from herding cats. My band members normally describe me as 'the guy who's driving the bus' despite that fact that we're far from being the sort of band who could afford a bus. Most of us have some sort of frequently-changing day job and I suspect that musicians, in general, have a substantially higher level of drama in their lives than other folks but I admit this is only conjecture. Most hard-core weekend-warrior musicians play more than one instrument, thus improving their chances of getting a gig, and are members of more than one band. I played the guitar in a rock and roll band in high school and played bass in a jazz trio while I was in the Army (sure wish I knew whatever became of you Vic). In 1978 I 'went Country' and have been playing one instrument or another, in one Country/Western band or another since then. Fortunately for me, Texas audiences are open minded so we're no longer expected to play Country all night. Audiences seem to enjoy hearing a little blues and rock. The blues can be new or old but the rock should be at least 20 years old and older is better. Most of the time I play the guitar but I own and can play, bass or keyboards. My wife owns a set of Roland V-Drums and I've been privileged to play them a time or two. I'd never have imagined that a completely electronic set could sound, or play, so nice. They're a real treat.<br /><br />I've been living in the same town since 1990 and, by now, I've become a fairly well known and respected veteran musician. It's wonderful to be able to call on the most talented musicians in the region and know that they'll be as pleased and honored to work with me as I am to work with them. I've never been motivated by money, which I suppose is just as well since I've never really had any, but I find the respect of my peers to be a pearl beyond price. Of course there are musician in the region whom I dislike or who dislike me, I don't think there's any way around that, but I'm old enough to know that nothing is forever so I try to keep my mind open and my mouth shut. Rock on.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-54405931828510847232009-06-19T17:57:00.001-05:002009-06-19T18:00:15.622-05:00Linux Lead Me On, Broke My Heart and Left Me HangingMy first Linux distro was Debian Sarge. Learning how to get 1024 X 768 video resolution and the sound running was a really geeky challenge but I figured it out and was really proud of myself. Then came Debian Etch and I no longer had to bother with the sound and video, they just worked, the first time, exactly as I wanted them to. Wow, what amazing progress. Now, Etch has become obsolete and Lenny has become the stable version of Linux only now my 16 Meg nVidia TNT cards come up with 800 X 600 video resolution and there's not a darn thing I can do about it. Nor is this 'interesting' phenomena confined to Debian, it's also true of the Ubuntu family (in all its many incarnations, or at least the ones I know about). Yes, I've tried to find a solution but, so far, nothing I've tried has had any affect on the problem (and yes, I'm grateful that the sound, at least, is still working as it should, for whatever that's worth). I'm not hard to please, I don't use Compiz or dual monitors, I don't need super high resolution and I'm not a gaming geek. I just want 1024 X 768 video resolution and I don't care if I'm required to go through some geeky stuff to get it (like I learned to do with Debian Sarge) but I don't like being made to feel like I can't get there from here even though my hardware worked great with an older distro. This makes me very unhappy.<br /><br />As if this weren't enough to sour me attitude, KDE has, in their incredible wisdom, elected to castrate the finest file manager I've ever used. That's right, the 'new, spiffy' version of Konqueror is a total wimp compared to it's predecessor. Yeah, I know, Konqueror is supposed to be a browser, not a file manager, right? Bull, there are too many browsers out there already and I like all of them better than Konqueror but I've never used a file manager with as much power as Konqueror 3.5.5 (on my Debian Etch system). By comparison, Konqueror 4.2.4 is far prettier (as if all I cared about were cosmetics) while being substantially less user friendly. You want specifics? The home page on my Konqueror 3.5.5 (about:konqueror) offers me instant access to my home folder, storage media, network folders, trash, applications and desktop settings. The same page in Konqueror 4.2.4 offers instant access to the home folder, trash, network folders and bookmarks. Disregarding the bookmarks, since I'd never use Konqueror as a browser, what's left is exactly half the functionality of version 3.5.5. Now that's progress isn't it?<br /><br />I've been using Debian stable with KDE for about four years now. No way am I ever going back to 'that other OS' (which doesn't deserve the publicity of a negative comment which mentions it by name). Now, suddenly, I'm left hanging. I can continue to use Etch, which currently meets all my expectations but will become steadily more obsolete or upgrade to Lenny which doesn't meet my expectations. Isn't it great to have options?<br /><br />Yeah, right.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-25569388057086537532009-06-17T13:33:00.002-05:002009-06-17T13:43:54.347-05:00Friends, good pennies and yo-yo's often returnDad was career Army. That meant we never lived in one place more than three years. From late 1964 to late 1967 dad was assigned to Fort Ord, California. I have many fond memories of those years but the best and worst of them revolve around a girl named Randi. She was my first love and she was the most wonderful girl in the world. She was smart, she had a quick wit, she was pretty and she loved to laugh. I was madly in love with her and her fabulous family. Her mom encouraged me to be more outgoing and less worried about peer pressure. Her dad was a strong, quiet, intelligent man who wasn't at all intimidating to talk to. Her younger brother got me started playing the guitar. Her youngest brother was an impressive pianist and smart as a whip. I even loved their dog. Of course I was a teenager, knew everything and my world mostly revolved around my newly discovered libido so it was only natural for Randi to, finally, break up with me. In retrospect I can describe the two following years as my 'Gothic Emo' period but those words, in that context, didn't exist at the time. Suffice to say that I wore a lot of black and was extremely depressed most of the time. I refer to those as the 'hard years', by which I mean, it was always hard and I never got to use it. I poured all my passion into my guitar (excepting only the occasional bit that went into a kleenex).<br />Fast forward forty-some-odd years and I was able to track Randi down on the web. She has fond memories of me because she went on to meet lots of guys who were way bigger jerks than me. So now we're old friends, meaning sometimes we bicker, other times we ignore one another but beneath it all is a secure, comfortable bond, built on love. Sort of like family would be in a perfect world, but that's another story.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-57066216484384206222009-05-11T01:29:00.001-05:002009-05-11T01:32:16.267-05:00A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.Back before we got married, while Lisa and I were still dating, we worked as stockers in a <a href="http://www.supersfoods.com/" title="Super S Foods">Super S</a> market in Llano. The assistant manager caught me kissing her in the stockroom and primly advised us that we should avoid overt displays of affection while on duty. Later that day I had occasion to pass Lisa as she was stocking on one of the isles. Rather than stop and speak to her, because the assistant manager was a few feet away stocking on the same isle, I leered at her and said 'Hey lady' as I passed. She instantly leered back at me and responded 'Hey sailor'. The assistant manager frowned but didn't say anything. To this day, that exchange serves is as well as a kiss and a hug when we're in public or in a hurry.<br /><br />The store PA system played classic rock music. I guess that's a big thing with lots of supermarkets. We mostly ignored it but Lisa doesn't care for old Bob Dylan tunes and one Dylan tune, <a href+"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhOc0V-ES40" title="You Tube video of Bob Dylan's 'I Want You'">I Want You</a>, came up often in the music. Of course Lisa hated it and I knew it but, if no other employees were in a position to see me do it, I'd loudly sing along on the last two words of the chorus, 'so bad' in a really terrible Dylan-impression voice. I thought it was a pretty cool double entendre, acknowledging that my significant other didn't care for Dylan while reminding her that I really did want her, 'so bad'. Sure enough, if she was anywhere near me I could hear her laugh when I sang out with Dylan and I assume that some of my coworkers figured out the joke because, even though nobody ever said anything about it, I sometimes heard them laugh too.<br /><br />Life is good, love is wonderful.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-59914613763505582362009-03-12T21:14:00.001-05:002009-03-12T21:17:49.359-05:00Can someone loan me a (reg)fly swatter?I've been getting emails from regfly.com, formerly registerfly.com, complimenting me on having been a good customer since 2002. I finally tracked down an online feedback form to tell them what I thought of their ads. Here's what I told them:<br /><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br />Registerfly.com treated me horribly. They took my money but wouldn't apply it to my account (or show me how to apply it to my account). Consequently, both of my domains, one being very important to me, were lost forever. I elected to write off the money I gave to Registerfly as the price of learning a lesson and that should have been the end of the story but it wasn't.<br /><br />Now you're sending me email, talking to me as if I were a valuable customer who you'd like to bring back into the fold; as if Registerfly.com had never ignored or abused me. Nor is there any sort of link in the email where I can click to opt-out of your charming advertisements.<br /><br />So, some seven years have gone by and not much has changed with registerfly except your name (which is now regfly); you're still abusing me and I'm still putting up with it.<br /><br />All that's really changed is that I got myself a new domain, from another provider, and haven't had any trouble with it at all.<br /><br />So, if you were in my place, how would you feel about these ads you've been sending me?<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Was I too harsh? Do you think they'll understand? Is there any chance I'll stop getting email from them? Guesses anyone? :)DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-74088879424012191992009-02-23T10:15:00.000-06:002009-02-23T10:18:22.467-06:00Did it have to be Friday the 13th?Lisa awakened me at 6:30 on a Tuesday morning complaining that she couldn't breath and had already been up for two hours fretting about it so she didn't want to wait until 8:30 when the clinic opened. I took her to the ER (at the hospital in Llano, 20 minutes from here). The doctor took a chest x-ray and sent her home with an antibiotic, cough suppressant and an anti-inflammatory. Thursday afternoon I came down with whatever-the-heck-it was so Friday (the 13th) she drove me to the ER (at the VA hospital in Temple, a little over 2 hours from here but substantially more affordable). The VA doctor had my chest x-rayed and sent me home with an antibiotic, cough suppressant and an anti-inflammatory. Neither doctor gave the condition a name but both appeared to have seen it before.<br /><br />On the way home from Temple an idiot hauling a front end loader on a monstrous trailer pulled across the road in front of us, completely blocking the highway. Lisa, who was driving, managed to come to a full stop without hitting the trailer. The guy behind us was less fortunate. He rear-ended our car. The car is history, that's what the wrecker driver figured anyway. After calling 911 to report the accident we called our daughter Lily and, in relatively short order, our son-in-law, Kirk, arrived and drove us home (Thanks Kirk!).<br /><br />As of tonight (Sunday) we've both got sore muscles in our necks but are otherwise alive, well and slowly recovering from our respiratory conditions. Tomorrow we'll go to the clinic and have our necks looked at.<br /><br />It's all well and good to live in interesting times but, honestly, we'd much prefer having the words 'drama' and 'trauma' remain a little more abstract than they've been of late.<br /><br />Sheesh.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-45536856990492674832009-02-06T12:07:00.003-06:002009-02-06T12:13:36.518-06:00The Army is still changing my life (thanks uncle Sam).About eighteen months ago I started having asthma-like symptoms. I thought my childhood asthma has decided to revisit me in my golden years. At first the symptoms were mild and non-threatening but they gradually became more intense. After a kilo-dollar trip to the ER where they gave me a fifty cent Albuterol treatment with a nebulizer (lets talk about the rising costs of medical care) I went to the clinic in Llano. She gave me a prescription for Albuterol (we already had a nebulizer machine at home) which is very inexpensive and a rescue inhaler (Albuterol in a very small aerosol can for $40 ostensibly due to an exotic but necessary propellant) and that worked just fine for a few months. I scrounged an extra nebulizer machine to wag around in the van in case I had an "attack" while I was playing a gig and wound up using it on several occasions but my symptoms continued to become more frequent and more intense. I made another visit to the clinic and asked my <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician_assistant" title="Physician's Assistant">PA</a> if I was going to wind up needing a nebulizer treatment every four hours for the rest of my life. She gave me some samples of Advair and made it clear that she couldn't treat me for long with samples. Advair worked great and I only had to use it twice a day but a quick trip to drugstore.com showed me that it was going to cost around $400 a month. That was going to be a serious monetary obstacle for us. A few years ago I needed a complete physical and when the local clinic explained that it would cost several hundred dollars, reasoning that it was bound to be at least somewhat less expensive, I drove to the VA hospital in Kerville and got the most thorough physical I've ever had in my life for a grand total of $25. So, I said to myself. "Self, it's time to go see the VA again". I was able to get the forms online and fill them out. We had to drive to Temple (a little over two hours from here) but I'm getting superlative treatment and, so far, it hasn't cost me anything at all. My asthma-like symptoms have been diagnosed as <a href="http://www.copdguide.com/" title="What is COPD?">COPD</a>, I've had some minor skin cancers removed and I'm soon to be fitted for a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_airway_pressure" title="Continuous Positive Air Pressure">CPAP</a> machine to treat my mild sleep <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apnea" title="what is sleep apnea?">apnea</a>.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-39578797493158411822008-10-08T17:08:00.001-05:002008-10-08T17:12:57.246-05:00Oh Goody, Another Presidential ElectionMaybe it's age related but having seen a few presidential races, they no longer seem significant to me. As always, both candidates are idiots because that's how our political system works. Nobody who's qualified to be a good politician wants any part of the job and, conversely, anybody who wants political power is manifestly unqualified to be in possession of same.<br /><br />So, one or the other idiot will win the election and then he'll proceed to make countless mistakes which may or may not contribute to the mess our nation has become. He may or may not get caught with his hands, feet, or other anatomical protuberances in a socially or morally inappropriate place and four years from now we'll all get together to decide whether or not we want to elect yet another idiot or stick with the same idiot for the next four years. Et cetera, ad nauseam.<br /><br />The simple truth is that the President of the United States, who is generally considered to be the single most powerful man in the world, is powerless to change anything or, for that matter, do any lasting damage.<br /><br />We may or may not have a worldwide depression, things will get better, worse, or stay about the same.<br /><br />I plan on hanging around for as long as I can, to keep an eye on things, but I've long since outgrown the naive belief than my opinion, or my vote, is going to make the slightest difference in the way things are; any more than a single iron molecule could alter the course of a battleship.<br /><br />Will I vote? Yes, probably. Have I picked a candidate? Yes, but my wife likes the other guy so we may simply agree to abstain together.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-91592923655378496042008-07-27T15:18:00.003-05:002008-07-27T15:25:34.847-05:00Maybe Having Kids Is A Bad Idea After AllWhen my daughter was five years old her mother Karen (her maiden name was Knight) and I divorced. We only had one car and I left it with her when she asked me to leave. I took only my musical equipment and clothing. I didn't hire myself a lawyer for the divorce, I hired a lawyer for Karen and paid him in advance. She got the house, everything in, on or around it, the car and custody of our daughter Catrina. I think Karen managed to break even on the car but she sold the house for enough to clear several thousand dollars in profit and liquidated everything in/on/around the house in a garage sale.<br /><br />When Catrina was about 13 she decided she wanted to live with me. After a protracted battle, Karen capitulated and allowed her to come live with me on condition that I not ask her to pay child support. I couldn't have cared less about the money but I did insist that Karen sign a waver on the child support I was paying her. Karen did, in fact, sign a temporary child support waiver. A few short years later, my second wife, Kathy, and Catrina declared open war on one another. They refused to compromise, or even discuss their differences. At my wits end, I finally decided that my only option was to send Catrina back to her mother.<br /><br />Catrina moved out, Karen rescinded the temporary waiver, and the state promptly came after me for back child support for the entire time Catrina lived with me. Of course there was no way I could pay it and I was self employed so they couldn't garnish my wages. I asked Karen to please do something about this. She agreed it was unfair but insisted there was nothing she could do.<br /><br />After the shop closed I worked at one or another entry level job for the next few years and the state always took a little out of my meager check to apply to my back child support which, by this time, with penalties and interest, had grown to around $26,000.00. Karen agreed it was unfair but continued to insist there was nothing she could do about it. I finally started taking odd and part-time jobs that paid cash and that's how things stood until a few months ago when I decided to see if a lawyer could do anything to help me. I'd tried to hire a lawyer on several occasions over the years but they'd all refused me the minute I said the words "child support". This time I got lucky.<br /><br />Linda Bayless, a brilliant lawyer from Kingsland Texas, acquired the records from the state of Texas, did some research and advised me that, in fairness, I owed Karen about $3,000 if you subtracted the child support she was morally (if not legally) obligated to pay me from the child support I owed her. She then made one phone call and the $26,000.00 the state was demanding suddenly dropped to $10,000.00. Karen, of course, declined to concede that she owed me any child support for the time Catrina lived with me so $10,000.00 it remains today. She'll get it eventually, but I'm in no hurry to accelerate the process. Am I wrong to feel this way?DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28952727.post-41912317174264112722008-07-16T21:01:00.000-05:002008-07-16T21:02:27.437-05:00Thus begins a chapter of our life.On Tuesday the fifteenth of July at around 2 PM, quietly, in her sleep, my mother died.<br /><br />Thus ends a chapter of our life.DonGuitarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13970965529323438113noreply@blogger.com0