Old Television WOW!

Seaview jeff summers

I’ve been watching ME.tv occasionally.

They have all the shows from my childhood.

Back in stone age we didn’t have the ability to record TV shows. So if you had family stuff and weren’t home at 8PM sharp you’d miss such classics as Lost In Space or Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

As a kid I looked forward to Lost in Space every week.

As an adult…

Lost in space

Is it me or were the Robinson family the absolute WORST drivers in the Universe? I mean how many times did they crash that poor ship?

My parents didn’t let me watch Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. I know my Dad would watch it sometimes I can remember falling asleep hearing the theme song, and wondering what adventures I was missing.

Watching those shows today is almost painful.

Destroy14

Their concept of computers, and radiation alone was uninformed to say the least. I can’t count the number of times Admiral Nelson was exposed to the Seaview’s core. With that much exposure he probably could have been the core.

The computer I’m writing this blog on, sits in my lap, has a processor board not much larger square, than a pack of cigarettes (of the time) and runs 6 hours on battery. 

Considering that these shows were being transmitted into space for 50 years, any planets with life capable of interpreting TV and radio within 50 light years must have put a big red “X” with a caption “Psychotic Apes, don’t go there,” on their maps of our star system. 

Screen Shot 2016 04 24 at 5 46 23 PM

As I’ve noted, The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951 is one of my favorite movies. Not the new one, the original, with Michael Rennie. 

One of my favorite quotes is;

It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration.

I’ve often thought that it would be interesting if we received that message on every radio and TV on the planet.

It would certainly give us pause.

It would also answer a couple of questions.

We’re not alone, and we’re not likely to be visited.

None of which, decreases the guilty pleasure of seeing these shows from their imagined future.

Back online!

Just in time too!

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I’d blown through my mobile data on my phone’s hotspot.

Everything was installed today. Nice to be able to watch Archer and The Simpsons on Netflix using the TV instead of my phone.

Smaller network here than at home but it fits my immediate needs.

First week of training is done.

Resting up for the second week and planning to get to bed early. Just waiting for it to cool down a bit more. I want to hold off turning on the A/C but if it’s as hot tomorrow as it was today, I might break down and fire it up. It’s 84° F here in the living room. That’s with me having the windows open since about 1:00 pm today.

I’m hoping this week to relax just a little bit. Last week I was all about getting things done in the new digs. I’m not finished yet but at least shopping online will be easier.

I’ve also been able to update applications on my computer and phone without worrying about blowing through datacaps.

Perhaps this week I’ll get a bit more familiar with the local area. That will help things feel more like home.

It’s going to take a while before I figure out stuff beyond the drive between here and work.  I think it’s going to take even longer before I’m able to resolve the “here” home and the “there” home.

It’s nice having WiFi calling, auto updates,  and FaceTime working again. But it is very noisy at the “here” home in the city by comparison to the “there” home. 

Meh, Why must there always be trade-offs?

Possibilities

Fearful Egg

Well the trepidation of starting a new job is starting to abate. On a scale of 1 – 10, 10 being most freaked out, I’m hovering at about a 9.7

This is serious stuff and while I’m worried that I might not be up to snuff, I’m at least getting into the subject matter and totally believe this job has potential.

This technology is medical and it’s about making the lives of people using the technology better. I’m not just talking about convenient. This device helps people manage an illness and that means that it makes a real difference. 

Printerclipart

When I was in the printer industry, I remember clearly asking if the world really needed another eight page a minute printer.

When I was in Escrow and Banking I realized that I was making a difference, until I also realized that the software protocols we were building into the software were chronically being over-ridden so that loan officers could package loans and escrows that would make them money but that would ultimately result in many home buyers being upside down on their loans when / if the bottom dropped out of the housing market.

Housing Bubble

We all know exactly where that ended up…

I moved to the Military industrial complex so that I’d have the ability to contribute to bringing more of our troops home safe. At least that was the plan. Congress being Congress and The President being The President, they completely forgot that while they were measuring dicks playing games with the financials of the country and engaging in party politics that their actions had a direct and terminal effect on all kinds of projects in the Military industrial complex. Most of those effects were less safety for our troops and tons of people being tossed out onto the streets when projects were cancelled due to lack of funding.

Politicians at Work

I ask again where the morons in politics loyalties actually lie. I know the answer, it was a rhetorical question.

I suppose that I’ve always wanted to contribute something, anything that would make a difference and that would ultimately leave the world a better place for my having been in it.

Cry Bullies (grrrgraphics.com)

That’s how I came to be interested in Social Justice, and that’s also why I’m no longer interested in the “normal” social justice warrior crowd. They (as a broad generality) are interested in their pound of flesh, being perpetual victims, and I’d hazard a guess, getting some kind of revenge. Or, as in the case of the HRC crowd finding a way for their cause to net them millions of dollars for their schmoozing with the “in” crowd.

paystobegood

This company is interested in making money, as am I.

The difference between this company and virtually all the others I’ve worked for, is that they’re also about making life better for people suffering from diabetes.

Diabetes

I had no idea that managing this disease was so very difficult, I was equally clueless about the devastating effects that managing the more severe aspect of the disease could have, not only on the person with the disease, but on their families and their loved ones. I’m learning a lot about it and begin to have a very tiny inkling of the emotional costs.

Insulin

I’ve got friends that have the most severe form of the disease and while I was aware of their dependance on insulin and the care with which they planned their meals and lives, it’s so much more complex that I ever imagined.

Picture yourself as a parent with a child who has the most severe form of the disease. Now imagine what its like to wake up every night several times a night to go check on your child who might be having an event that could literally kill them in their sleep.

How about considering what it would be like if your spouse could go to sleep and simply never wake up.

This is serious stuff!

My friends who manage their diabetes silently, and with such grace are quite simply amazing. I’m glad to have gained an appreciation that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

At its core, my job is to help give folks with the disease, parents of little children, and spouses, a tool…

A little bit of technology, that will monitor and warn them that they, or their loved one may be heading into a life threatening situation. Even better is they may then be able to intervene appropriately and early enough to head the problem off before they have to make a 911 call or sit in an ER wondering if their loved one is going to be alright.

That’s leading me to think that perhaps this is exactly the right place for me to feed my soul and be happy in my work. I don’t want to jinx it, but perhaps after all of my ups and downs, I may have finally found the right place for me.

Perhaps by my small contribution kids can be kids. Lovers to keep on loving and folks who’ve wanted to climb mountains, or be athletes to do just that.

This is what technology is supposed to do. This is the kind of thing that I, and many of my colleagues used to believe in. Then slowly it became about shareholder prices, profit, and stock options.

In my heart of hearts i still believe technology should make differences in lives, and / or the world.

Games? Big Deal!

Email? Hey, you can lick a stamp.

Those are interesting uses of technology but they’re ephemeral.

This company and it’s products appear at first glance to be in line with my core beliefs and it’s very possible that I’ll have even more pride in what I do than I ever had in my entire career.

Of course I’m not longer that naive starry-eyed techie who was sold a bill of goods again and again. 

So while I believe in the potential, I’m not going to swallow the corporate line I’m being fed, hook line and sinker.

I’m going to see where this leads and I pray that this company really does live up to their stated core values.

And no, I’m not going to try to sell you all on the products. They’re not right for everyone, but for those people this tech is right for, it can be a game changer. That right there is enough for me to sleep soundly at night.

Speaking of which, it’s time for me to go to bed.