Random Ideas, Comments & Thoughts, Sometimes Political, Sometimes Adult… Hope you don't choke.
I’ve tried 3 times to come up with something to put here…
It’s one of those days where nothing seems to want to work. Everything is muddled and incoherent.
So… I’m going to spare us all the embarrassment and just wish everyone a good day.
Maybe tomorrow I’ll have something worth saying.
As I’ve mentioned over the past 6 months or so, SPAM in my email had become a major problem.
At one point I was getting over 100 SPAM emails per hour. That was at the height of the SPAM blast and it was very annoying.
I’d given up. No filtering that I could apply stopped the onslaught. It had gotten to the point that I didn’t even open email because my email account had been reduced to complete uselessness.
I’d got to bed with zero SPAM email in my junkman folder and by morning there’d be 1000 and more coming in.
I finally started just emptying the junk folders blindly. I wouldn’t even look, I’d highlight everything and hit delete.
Now, over the last few days, the SPAM email count has dropped off precipitously. I have no idea why. As I said I’d given up trying to set up filters because nothing I could do would stop more than a handful of the ever changing addresses.
I still believe that I should be able to select specific countries to literally lock out. Pretty much every country has a specific set of IP addresses. Why shouldn’t I be able to say, “I don’t want ANY email or communications from country X, Y, or Z?” If I don’t know anyone there, am I going to be interested in email from strangers? Probably not!
The thing that annoyed more about all of this is the cost in battery, CPU time, and my time to deal with bullshit emails saying I’d won this or that, or I was eligible for a legal settlement or asking if I’d like to see some whore’s pussy or prolapsed anus.
Every one of these emails imposed a penalty on my computer, phone, and iPad performance and battery life. Not to mention sucking up cellular data if I happened to be carrying my phone outside my WiFi range. I think I should be compensated for those costs.
I’m not holding my breath, mind you, but this stuff has a real cost and consequence associated with it. Which is one reason that I think all SPAMMERS when caught should be castrated with a dull spoon.
Now suddenly, this major annoyance has pretty much dried to a trickle. In fact it’s back to the level of SPAM that I was getting before the FTC blasted my email address to fucking PayPal who then sold my information to SPAMMERS. All for a lousy $10 settlement against LifeLock.
I think the FTC and PayPal should cough up $10,000 for the inconvenience they caused me. Again, I’m not holding my breath.
It is nonetheless interesting that as quickly as this began, it’s over. I ask the question(s) Why? & How?
Did someone just realize that their servers were wide open and insecure? Or do the SPAM lists get old enough that they’re retired?
I know it sounds like I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I’m curious. Did the Russians or Ukrainians blow up a server farm???
Has China given up trying to extort me over my porn habits? They can threaten me all they want, If you get pictures of my naked ass, and like ‘em please send $2.00. Thank you!
Oh God!!!
Maybe the folks trying to extort me have decided I’m too old and not hot enough. That would totally suck!
I’m not sure how I’d feel discovering that I was too old and gross for SPAMMERs or Hackers to try to extort money from me by threatening to post captures of me jerkin it in front of my web cam…🤣
In any case, I’m glad to not be buried in SPAM anymore. I just hope this lasts.
Friday on her show Deadline, Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC said, “shit is about to hit the fan in this country,” she apparently believes this because former President Donald Trump was inciting his “cesspool” MAGA base.
People like Wallace and Joy Reid, and too many others to list say things like this and completely miss the irony of their statements.
When Wallace and these other talking heads effectively call the approximately 50% of the county a cesspool, you better believe folks are going to be offended. In that offense, and the divisiveness already existing in this country, if something were to happen. A mass shooting for example, or a building being burned down, then Wallace should be held to the same standards as Trump.
Trump supposedly gave a speech on Jan 6th that incited an insurrection. Wallace called half the country a cesspool because they happen to disagree with her position and that could incite violence too. So do we indict people like Wallace before or after something bad happens?
I don’t want Trump in office again, but I’ll be damned if I vote for Biden or Harris. If it comes to Trump versus a Democrat I’ll vote Trump!
That being said, I really detest these talking heads painting everyone who has had quite enough of Biden, Bidenomics, Harris, and the rest of what is clearly the worst administration in my lifetime including Nixon, Carter, Clinton, and Bush 1 & 2, and oh lets not forget the Obama years, as some kind of wrong headed piece of shit.
That is what she’s saying. She’s saying MAGA comes from a cesspool. It’s understood that the floaters on the surface of a cesspool are shit.
Isn’t her statement what the Democrat party likes to call a dog whistle? Is she trying to incite violence against anyone who is pissed off at Biden and his administration and what he’s done to our country in such a short time? Is she trying to silence dissent by demonizing and devaluing people who may be in favor of making America Great, regardless of their party affiliation.
On the same show, Adam Schiff made the comment, “the Biden Inquiry is an evidence-free impeachment proceeding.” After my brain rebooted I thought, “Well asshole, you’d know all about evidence free impeachments!“
Still waiting to hear or see that incontrovertible damning evidence of Trump’s Russian collusion! I’m not holding my breath, you lying sack of shit.
I’ve got an appointment with the accountant today to hopefully finish up the tax crap dealing with the other half and my filing.
I took advantage of the automatic extension afforded us by the disaster declaration caused by the blizzard this year. It’s a darn good thing, because the other half’s filing system and document storage leaves a lot to be desired!
But I spent the night tossing and turning and feel like absolute crap. My brain isn’t working worth a darn but this is one of those things that must get done.
I had a lot of weird abstract dreams all night. But my computer is fully charged and hopefully the parts of my brain that aren’t working will be augmented by the device. Thankfully the machine fits nicely in my briefcase.
Later this week I’m going to have to pick up the snow blower, it’s in for repair and a tune up after 15 winters of hard use and being put up wet. The repair guy said it had the wrong size belt on it. I told him that was the factory original belt and he was surprised. He said that explained it, the belt was so worn and stretched that’s why the machine was smoking when you tried to use it.
I didn’t explain any further, the snow blower was the domain of the other half and as has been established the other half was not particularly kind to machines. I’m pleased that the repair didn’t cost too much.
Today is the annual Apple reveal of new iPhones and other hot desirable items to populate the Christmas wish lists of millions. I usually watch just out of habit these days.
I’ll be watching the event today because I want to see what my options are for a new iPhone. My current phone is getting long in the tooth, It’s to the point of replacing the battery or replacing the phone. My phone is 3 generations old. I’d like an improved camera, and I’d like to have USB-C connections across all my devices. I’d like the satellite SOS ability and crash detection.
All the above features are available on last years model (except the USB-C). I’m curious to see what this year’s model brings. Tim Cook will once again be Captain Obvious with his proclamation, “This is the best most advanced iPhone we’ve ever produced,” uh yeah Tim, that’s the nature of technology… Moving on!
The USB-C connection is a pretty sure bet. Other hardware & software features may be announced that have not been leaked. All of this will influence my decision, “New Phone vs. New Battery”.
I’m also hoping that Craig Federighi does most of the presentation this year. I really don’t enjoy all the “Diversity” players because they’re just not exciting.
Federighi is electric and his playfulness and enthusiasm come through, even if he’s presenting dry specs and figures. He’s a fun presenter and somehow he always makes you hold your breath when he starts a live demo.
I guess I see it because I’ve done my fair share of live demos where it was entirely possible for the thing you’re demonstrating to fail right then and there. He apparently has done his fair share of demos where everything went wrong. He telegraphs that tension and makes it fun, it’s a “We’re gonna have an adventure…” feeling.
I’ve always gotten the impression that if a live demo went to absolute shit… Craig Federighi would somehow find a way to laugh, reset, and try again without missing too many beats. Federighi could almost convince me to upgrade my phone every year.
That being said, there have been some comments associating his rise to SVP of Apple Engineering to the decade long slip in software quality across IOS, & MacOS. I don’t know if there’s a cause / effect connection or that the level of complexity in the software has caused the problem.
Personally, I believe that the issues have been, if not injected, then exacerbated by the rise of too much automated testing and not enough human eyes on the software until after it’s released. In the back of my mind, there’s a thread that questions if some of the problems aren’t based in diversity quotas.
When you hire someone based on anything other than their ability to build a product, you’re inherently degrading the final product. That’s not racist or sexist… That is simply a mater of fact.
Another of the dirty little secrets the diversity crowd would like to keep hidden and that no body is supposed to think about.
I’m not super thrilled with the expense of a new phone, but if there are sufficient improvements from my model to this one I could be moved to spend the money. Having USB-C is almost enough for me to plunk down the cash, on its own merit.
I’d like having only ONE cable and one charger for all my devices. So long as all my devices are smart enough to limit the charge current so that they don’t damage themselves. There aren’t many things I agree with the Europeans about, but de-cluttering my wall outlets, power strips, and the knot of cabling in my briefcase is one thing I heartily agree with.
Anyway, we’ll see how all this goes. I may be ordering a new phone soon.
My dog that is,
The poor puppy was so conflicted.
My lower back is spasming and any little movement on my part generates intense pain. Standing is an ordeal, lying down in bed is almost as bad. Sitting is mostly tolerable but getting up & down is a nightmare.
Thankfully I did whatever I did to my back near the end of the day so the pup got his walk.
Sleeping last night was more of a dream than actual fact.
The dog spent most of the night on the bed. He checked on me every time I woke myself up groaning in pain. At one point he lay down beside me with his head on my shoulder. Normally, he’s not a super cuddly pup, so I know he’s aware something is wrong with daddy.
I hope he’ll understand when he doesn’t get his walk today.
Well before dawn, while I was enjoying this rare cuddly moment, the yappy annoyances otherwise known as chihuahuas at crazy pants house started in. There are 5 of them, (I think. It’s tough to count them because they all look and sound alike.) After at least a half hour of this incessant barking we hear from crazy pants herself making some weird noise in addition to the barking chihuahuas.
My dog, had mostly ignored the incessant barking, I suspect that’s because it’s incessant, and even he has come to realize these chihuahuas are running their mouths but not saying anything of interest to him.
At the height of their yapping he’d rolled over on his back and groaned. As if to say, “What the Fuck Now?” Unfortunately for him, the roll put his head at an uncomfortable angle against my arm. He was trying to get comfortable again when crazy pants started in at the top of her lungs.
That was too much.
He had to get up to go see what the noise was about. He ran to the front window trying to see whatever was going on. Then he came back to the bedroom and started working me out of bed. It’s my job to open the slider in the morning.
By this time, crazy pants had begun jabbering words, and making sounds that sounded like grunting, or a human vomiting. That she was doing all this in her yard isn’t surprising, I wouldn’t be surprised in the least if I looked over there and saw her taking a shit, or playing with herself. (At which point I’m sure I’d be the one vomiting. Crazy pants has been ridden hard and put up wet once too often. I’m sure the same is true of her privates.)
At this point my dog, try as he might couldn’t stop himself from running between the window and the backdoor. He just had to check out the disturbance and comment on it. Unlike the yappy chihuahuas his comments are more like “ruff” then a random interval where he’s listening to the commotion followed by another “ruff”.
I’m blessed that he rarely barks for no reason. If he’s barking there’s something that I should be aware of. He does howl, if there are other “real” dogs barking about something in the neighborhood.
Last night he’d asked to go out about 2am. That’s unusual and often means his tummy is upset. I was up so it wasn’t a big deal. He’d been down in the yard, taken care of business, then laid down on the rear deck so he could watch crazy pants house. If he doesn’t come right back in, it because his stomach is still unsettled.
I must have dozed off on the couch, because about 2:45 I was awakened by the most soulful, mournful, howl I’ve ever heard from him. I don’t know if he was answering coyotes in the distance, or just howling at the moon. I called his name once, and he came right in. He didn’t even give me a dirty look when I closed and locked the slider again.
Opening the slider this morning, he bolted out and down the back stairs right to the gate. Then he sat looking over at crazy pants place, and the barking chihuahuas, while commenting occasionally with a grumbling “ruff, ruff, ruff,” nothing was going on that deserved a real bark from him. He turned and came back inside the house looking almost disgusted.
I’d poured a cup of coffee for myself when crazy pants starts screaming, “It burns! Then began loudly, sobbing and howling owwww!” My thought was, “Oh my, did someone sprinkle water on her?” Alternatively, I actually hoped that she’d found something fatal in the junkyard that her back yard has become.
That’s not kind.
The dog headed back out to the upper deck for a better vantage point since the chihuahuas had increased the intensity of their barking to drown out crazy pants.
After a few more minutes of her “performance” to no audience, applause, or any other form of attention, crazy pants shut the hell up and wandered back into her house I assume.
I couldn’t see her as she was giving her performance, nor did I see her go into her house.
She’d accomplished her goal… Everyone in the neighborhood was no doubt awake.
I think I’m going to try lying or sitting on the couch with a heat pad to get the spasming in my lower back to stop. I doubt that I’ll get the laundry done, or much more in the way of sorting physical paperwork for the accountant.
But, I might still be productive today by immersing myself in the totally digital realm. I can dive into the data from the other half’s computer looking for any relevant financial information that the accountant might need.
I sincerely hope your night and pre-dawn morning was better than mine.