Category: Annoyances

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I was really cranky yesterday. Today is starting out bumpy too!

This morning I wake up to a phishing email.

No, I didn’t lick on any of the links contained in the email.

It was a good try though and arriving as it did early in the morning I almost fell for it.

The email was talking about one of my domain names and told me that the domain was suspended. This didn’t seem right. It was at this point that I discovered I wasn’t able to log into the hosting system. Which led me to discover that they’d moved all their support functions to the Philippines.

Additionally they’d restructured the login and access to the hosting site, and oh by the way you’re no longer able to look up past invoices.  It was that last bit that made me ask the representative if they’d moved to India. She paused a moment and told me the Philippines. I laughed and told her it figured because there’s a certain way Indian and Asian designed websites are laid out, the policies and procedures are different from the US, and the also have a certain “Feel” that I’ll sometimes pick up on.

It’s not racist! It’s what happens when you have 40 years of dealing with software from programmers the world over. It’s hard to describe, but software seems to reflect the culture of the programmer in subtle ways. It’s something about the way logical and critical thinking skills are built. I’ve theorized that those skills are colored entirely by cultural influences, not where someone went to college. 

Yes 2+2=4 but the logic to derive that answer is a little different.

On Twitter there are videos of Asian folk showing how to multiply really large numbers using a graphical system of vertical and horizontal lines. It works, but is unlike anything I was taught in school. We were taught about carrying a number. This Asian method doesn’t require carrying a number at all.

Same results, different method to get there. I wonder if this system is something derived from the abacus.

We typically never think about math being done differently. As Americans we think 3 x 3 = 9. We know it, most of us were taught to memorize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division tables up to 12.

Apparently, not all cultures do that, instead they present a system that may be scalable, that always works, and is simple to use. Maybe that’s why Asian kids are so good at math. I cringe at the poor Asian kids being told to show their work, or dealing with math concepts that look like set theory these days. Their parents are going to teach them “The Way” that they were taught and that method probably goes back a thousand years. This new American set theory crap that American parents have so much trouble with, must drive traditional Asian households to the brink of insanity.

After having seen these different problem solving systems demonstrated, I’m more convinced than ever, the subtle nuances I notice about web sites & software is really an artifact of culture. Specifically problem solving and language.

Some of the best HAM radios in the world are designed, manufactured, and programmed in Japan. Their instructions for use and access to features is often very complex and counter intuitive to the American mind. There are things I still can’t do with my HAM Rig. The Rig can do stuff, but getting to the settings to enable this stuff is so counter to my thought process it simply doesn’t program into my brain. It’s something about the way hierarchies are built in my brain versus how they’re built in a Japanese person’s brain. 

It’s not right or wrong either way, it’s just a different structure to navigate. For me, all related settings should be on the same branch of a menu. For a Japanese engineer, that may not be a true or even a logical statement to make, 

I say all of this because at 7 am this morning my brain was processing these issues and while I was trying not to be annoyed, I was getting annoyed. 

There are several things that annoyed me.

I don’t recall being informed that the hosting company was moving offshore. One of the reasons that I chose, and stuck with them was because they were based in America. So much for that idea!

They insisted that I create a 6 digit PIN number to be used when I was speaking with one of their representatives on the phone. “For my safety and security…” Don’t ya know. Oh and that PIN couldn’t have more than 2 numbers that repeated so Sorry anybody that wants to use their birthdate and was born Aug 8 1980. NO! You can’t have the PIN 080880 BAD PERSON!!!!!

I can’t see past invoices nor can I see what the renewal pricing is on a service without starting the renewal process. Uhhh that’s really annoying because I can’t do any comparison shopping. 

Those are just the first things I was confronted with after getting an actual live human being on the phone. Getting past the dubiously “Helpful” Genuine People Personality (Thank You Douglas Adams) robotic phone system was a challenge!

The human navigated me through all their “Improvements” so she was very helpful.

All of this led me to wonder if I wanted to maintain the domain hosting plan that I have at all. It’s an expense that I’m not sure is useful anymore. It’s never been profitable. It was useful for Jerry, I’ve hosted other websites for clients here and it’s provided me a place to have this blog. But now… Perhaps the utility has passed.

I created the blog back when Yahoo? Blogging was free and not censored up the ass. My blogs are mostly words, other blogs  on that blog hosting site were mostly nude pictures. My language, and the occasional nude picture got me in trouble with the censorship squad. That and I often spoke ill of their favored politicians. This was back in the days before Obama even thought of running for President.  After Obama took office for his second term, I was really in trouble. By then I felt pretty betrayed and Hope and Change had become for me, “Change and like it but there’s no Hope to be found here.” I also was saying unkind things about the Taliban so that caught the attention of censors too. 

Doing my own hosting became the only way to say what I wanted to say. Even then, Google and other main search engines made sure my articles never appeared near the top of any search. 

Do I need to keep speaking my mind? Does it matter at all? Is anyone interested in what an old codger like myself might have to say? 

Probably not. If I really need to continue with this blog vanity, there are cheaper methods & providers.

Maybe it’s just time for a lot of changes in my life…

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Good Golly, It’s almost April!

I’m losing time. It’s time for me to bite the bullet and get a massage. I don’t want to spend the money but having my lower back in spasm every other day is just not cutting it.

It’s not new damage it’s just spasms to the point of inflexibility. It’s also been taking the wind out of my sails when it comes to doing anything. I swear sometimes lifting a coffee cup is painful.

The last couple massage folks were nice, but I failed to make a connection with them. I’m not sure if that was because of them or me. Meaning I never let my guard down with them. The other issue is that I have to drive to LA or to Palm Springs and then drive back. Either option is a pain in the ass due to traffic and the general stupidity associated with traffic.

I’m going to have to do something soon. I’m tried of being in pain.

Speaking of pain…

I believe that I’ve finally collected up all the necessary tax documentation for the accountant. I’m not looking forward to dealing with the tax crap. I know it’s gotta be done, lest the unbridled raw power of the State and Federal governments be unleashed upon me.

I hate like hell, the thought that I’m going to have to write these fuckers a check. Why, when I’m unemployed, forced into retirement, and living on only what’s in the bank + SS should I give these morons what little I have so they can spend it like drunken sailors in Singapore?

One of those questions you’re never supposed to ask is, “What exactly do I get for my tax dollar?”

I’ve never been alone in asking that question. Regardless of the party in power, the people have always believed taxes were too high and the politicians have always found ways to spend beyond the available budget, then raise taxes to fund shitty pork filled bills.

Usually, the government, (State or Federal,) has failed spectacularly at performing their basic tasks. In the midst of failure, the politicians are asking for more money to fund non-essential tasks which they also fail at doing.

I’ve always believed that if a legislative body (State or Federal,) couldn’t pass a balanced budget, the entirety of the body should be flushed. I believe that would light a fire under their asses to do their damn job… If they wanted to keep their job.

There is no accountability, and no recourse. The feds talk about impeachment of this idiot or that idiot, they censure each other, they badmouth each other, but at the end of the day the same idiots are still sitting in their fancy offices, collecting their obscene paychecks, and doing nothing but growing fatter like a tick that’s found a sweet spot on a dog.

Yet, we all keep writing the checks. Or they keep deducting from our paychecks and we have no way to stop them. I’ve been feeling like we re-entered the, “Taxation without Representation,” phase for a long damn time.

Sure, we have elected representatives, but when they get to the state or federal capital they don’t represent the people that elected them anymore.

Instead, they represent themselves, and are willing to sell their grandmothers to a Chinese sweat shop for $5, and their sisters to a whore house on the Barbary coast for $2.

Hmm. maybe the whole tax thing and my back hurting have been why I feel so damn hopeless these days. I thought it was the endless bullshit over the upcoming presidential election.

That’s one of those things that I wish would just shut the hell up. Drop the damn bombs, kill us all, just fucking STOP. Biden, Trump, Al Sharpton, or the idiot brother of your second cousin who’s also your uncle.

I don’t fucking care who’s President anymore.

Absolutely NOTHING will change.

Hmm, I felt exactly the same at the end of the Obama Administration.

Disillusioned and hopeless, wondering if there was another country I could to move to, where I could enjoy a functioning government that wasn’t always in a state of chaos and scandal.

That may be a pipe dream.

Russia? At least there you know the rules.

I have to admit that I like their style when it comes to dealing with criminals, as exhibited by their handling of the terrorists that shot up the concert hall killing 140 people.

Cutting off ears, electrodes on testicles, beating the fuck out of a prisoner to the point his eye “falls” out of its socket?

Yeah!

If we had some of that kind of law enforcement here, I have to wonder if we’d have less crime, less corruption, maintained roads, and a generally peaceful society.

Hell I’d probably be more willing to pay my taxes too. At least then I’d be able to see what my “protection money” buys.

I wonder if we’d have problems at the border if we were known for fucking up lawbreakers?

As we hurdle on towards banana republic status, I suspect these questions will never be answered.

Just to be clear, over at least the past 24 years our government has been degrading. I don’t believe this degradation is party specific, it’s about lowering the bar, turning a blind eye toward crime, corruption, a “not my job” attitude on the part of elected officials, and government departments filled with unelected bureaucrats.

I wonder if Russia would allow an old fart like myself the opportunity to have a small house in the countryside with my dog for my last years.

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Happy, we don’t know what time it is Day

Ugh! Time Changes

I hate ‘em when I’m traveling! 

I especially hate ‘em when I haven’t had the fun of traveling. Who doesn’t enjoy the TSA manhandling your carry on, tits and / or balls? 

Honestly I don’t mind the time changes too much if I’m on a road trip. 

DST for some reason makes me really cranky. I’ve never figured out why. I suspect that it’s something to do with feeling late to everything, at least for the first week or so after setting the clocks forward in spring.

The feeling that I’m being rushed tends to make me growly. There is always one clock in the house that I forget to change and inevitably, that clock is the one that I’ll be looking at getting ready to go somewhere, only to discover that I’m an hour off.

So I’m going go try to enjoy my Sunday, and not be too growly.

I hope you all have a good day!

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Experimenting with Apple Watch Ultra

Over the past few weeks I’ve been having a lot of annoying issues with my Apple Watch.

Primarily the problem is around exercise and workouts. 

I’ll start a workout, then get into my activity, usually I’ll check my watch to see how I’m doing. It’s at this point that I find the watch has missed as much as 1/2 of my exercise time. 

I’ll turn off the workout, then restart the workout and often the subsequent exercise credit will be correctly shown. But because of the weird variances I’m not concentrating on my hiking or enjoying my walk because I’m constantly checking the technology to see if it’s working properly.

I’ve called Apple, their phone people have no clue what’s going on or why something that was working just fine is suddenly not working properly.

The Apple exercise ring is tied to heart rate. So, from a hardware perspective that means that the optical sensors on the Apple Watch have to be clean and unobstructed.

(As an aside, this is why people with darker skin tones have more difficulty getting Apple Watch to properly record their exercise activity. Their natural defense against UV damage to their skin also reduces visible light transmission through their skin. Honestly, If I had to make a trade off, I’d take a darker skin tone than my glow in the dark, skin cancer prone, ghostly white.)

When the Watch first started giving me trouble, I cleaned the back of the watch containing the sensors and also looked at the wrist I wear the watch on, to determine if there was irritation that might be altering or obstructing the light from the sensors.

That made little to no difference.

I did notice that if I was shoveling snow, the exercise and movement values updated normally. During snow shoveling I start the HIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workout because the work I’m doing shoveling snow sort of matches the workout.

I also noticed that walking and hiking during snowy times generally worked well.

But if I was hiking or walking on a sunny but coolish day, it wasn’t uncommon for me to lose 1/3 to 1/2 of the exercise time even though I was walking the same route, with the same watch, same band, and same dog dragging me along so he can sniff the next pile of poop.

Why the different behavior? Was Apple updating the sensor Algorithm behind the scenes? Is there some kind of stepped change to the Algorithm that happens after a certain number of workout hours, does it get adjusted based on fitness telemetry gathered during your workouts? I could see this as a form of motivation to get more fit.

If you ask an apple rep these questions, they aren’t able to answer. 

I got so pissed off that I stopped wearing my Apple Watch for a week or so. I admit, I do like the simplicity of a good old fashioned automatic watch. I like the ticking sound at night, and that I don’t have to fiddle with it. Simple Time & Date and I’m pretty happy.

The Apple Watch for me came about because too many shady people were taking way too much interest in my old fashioned watch. Better I’m mugged for a $500 watch than a $15,000 watch.

Plus I could have the joy of locking the Apple Watch from a web site, and listing it as stolen. Fuck you scumbags!! (I’d be fine with having the Apple Watch blow up when I listed it stolen. Let’s go Arabic shall we? You stole, you lost your hand…) Can you tell I’ve got a very dim view of criminals???

Anyway, I heard that there was a Watch OS update coming. So I slapped my Apple Watch on its charger for a while then put it back on. I started experimenting and have begun to wonder if the issue isn’t the watch sensors or the Algorithm, but is instead physiology.

The watch always misses the beginning of the walk. There’s an initial heart rate entry, then as I’m walking the data just stops. At some point in the walk or hike, the data comes back of its own volition, usually when I’m really pushing hard to move up a mountain or the dog and I are moving fast.

But it’s always lost at the beginning of the walk.

I looked back into records of the summer months and there wasn’t any missed data. Then I went back years. I’ve had an Apple Watch 3, 5, and now the Ultra. There was a consistent pattern from late 2019 forward. Lost heart rate data starting in mid to late November and persisting until April. This pattern persisted across the Apple Watch Series 5 and Ultra.

Why is it seasonal?

More confusing, why is the data loss intermittent during those times?

To be fair I was going to write a blog post about how the Apple Watch itself and the monthly challenges create a disincentive to work out or indeed keep fit at all. If a goal is constantly being moved such that an individual cannot ever achieve it, the individual will eventually say, “Fuck It!” 

However, I may have stumbled upon new data that would dissuade me from writing such a piece. 

Yesterday It was overcast, the humidity was high and it was a bit windy. As I was getting ready for the walk with the dog I put on my usual jacket and on a whim put on my gloves so my hands didn’t get numb from the wind chill. I sighed and started the outdoor walk workout then out the door I went. 

I knew at least half the data would be missing for the workout, but hey, why not? A little exercise data even if it’s inaccurate is better than none.

On the walk, I got the usual notification about the miles and pace. And I also got a notification that my exercise ring closed. I didn’t look at it or compare the exercise ring closing with the elapsed time of the workout.

When I got home, I pulled off my gloves, stopped the workout because the screen doesn’t react if I’m wearing gloves. Then I found that the entirety of my workout counted toward the exercise ring. “Typical, I thought, intermittent as hell. Works one day then not for the next 2.”

I picked up the gloves to put them away, and stopped…

Could it be that my hands being cold affects the sensors? What happens when the extremities get cold? The human body will shunt blood flow away from the extremities and toward the core as a protective mechanism against hypothermia. It’s a way of limiting heat loss. 

Hmm. If my hands are cold, but I’m wearing a jacket do just my hands turn on the vasoconstriction and would that reduce blood flow to the point that the optical sensors on my wrist wouldn’t accurately detect blood flow? 

When I’m shoveling snow, I’m wearing gloves, typically more for protection against blisters and dry skin than for warmth. If it’s windy in fall or winter I may put on gloves for a walk, especially if it’s humid or there’s some kind of misty rain.

When the body has excess heat to bleed off, vasodilation occurs allowing blood to move freely toward the surface of the skin to cool. That’s even before sweating begins. It’s simply thermodynamic heat exchange. That would explain why the end of a walk or hike is almost always accurate, and the beginning isn’t. 

I usually walk not wearing gloves in fall and winter.  I’m actually a little cold in the beginning of a walk because I don’t want to be too hot and uncomfortable or having to carry my jacket when I’m working my way back up the hill.

I wondered, “Have the times when the watch captured data flawlessly in the cooler months been on those days when I was wearing gloves and / or the temperature was above a certain point?” 

I was going to experiment more with this theory today. Unfortunately, I neglected to turn off auto update on the watch and discovered this morning that overnight the OS had updated to 10.4

I suppose I can still experiment even with the OS update. It’s 35°F outside, sunny and calm. Under these circumstances I wouldn’t wear gloves but I’d wear my hat and jacket. I’m thinking I’ll walk the dog without gloves and see if the data loss is present. Then tomorrow I’ll wear gloves and see if the data loss goes away or is minimized.

If it turns out that my theory is correct should I send it to Apple? I guess the real question is Would Apple listen and make the findings available to their phone staff to save other people the frustration and annoyance I’ve experienced? Would Apple even incorporate my theoretical findings into their testing to prove or disprove me. It would be nice if they did, and provided a real technical explanation. 

But somehow I don’t think they would, even if I provided them with the data. 

Apple has become exceedingly arrogant. Couple that with their notorious secrecy and minimalist instruction manuals, and I doubt seriously they’re interested in making information available.

I’ll think about it while attempting to confirm my theory. 

Once again, this is why companies should have real humans testing software and products instead of just doing automated stuff.

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Hmm. 20,000 per month?

That kind of money goes a loooooonnnnngg way anywhere, but in Florida, Dang!

An article in the New York Post reports a Mother of 3 in Florida has been banned from picking up her kids from school pickup area. The ban is over a sticker for the Mom’s OnlyFans account on the back windows or her car. (Hey you Gotta advertise!) She is allowed to park across the street, collect her children, then walk everyone back across the street to her vehicle.

The school in question is a Christian School, can you see where there might be a problem?

Skimming further in the article I noticed a couple of things and these are what stopped me from just moving on to the next insanity.

The Mom’s account makes $20,000 a month.
The Mom only has sex with her Husband on camera. They don’t do any swapping or 3 somes. 
The couple films in a studio. The implication is the studio is at a location different from the family residence so the children aren’t exposed to the production of pornography. (I’ve often wondered how “God Fearing Christians” made babies when the entire family lived in a one room cabin. Mom & Dad had to get busy somewhere…)

As I was thinking about it, I was struck by this line of reasoning.

Mom & Dad Employed – Check
Mom, Dad, Children all live together, A Nuclear Family – Check
Mom & Dad’s business isolated from the home – Check
Mom & Dad are in a monogamous relationship – Check
Nobody is being exploited against their will – Check

Isn’t that exactly what the Religious Right wants? Just asking… The school itself is a private school, they’re gladly taking the tuition money that’s earned from Mom & Dad having sex with each other on camera.

There is one school of thought that says Mary, you know, the prostitute, financed the ministry of Jesus himself with earnings she’d saved from doing “business”.  It seems a little hypocritical of the school to take the money from these parents, then ignore Mary’s integral part in the story of Jesus. In this case they’re just broadcasting from their marriage bed.

I think the real problem is this.

The Mom is kinda hot. After 3 kids, she’s a total MILF.

There’s another parent Lexy Thomas, who is a TikTok influencer trying to get the Cline children tossed out of the Christian school. 

She claims that the school administrators did nothing about the decal. I’d say forcing the Clines to park across the street is about all they could do. The school is private property and they’ve said the Clines may not drive their vehicle on school property.

Even so, the TikTok Scold is pushing to have the Cline children removed entirely from the school.

Isn’t there another teaching in the Bible? Something like, let not the sins of the father be visited upon his children? Apparently, TikTok Lexy missed that particular bible study class.

The Clines say they’ve been upfront and above board about what they do and how they earn a living.

One student was apparently suspended for attempting to access the OnlyFans site on his phone while at school. This has provided fodder for the TicTok mother to keep making an issue about the Clines.

To be honest, the boy could have gotten in trouble for trying to access any porn site. The kid probably just saw the OnlyFans decal and typed it into his phone. I’ve done that with site names rolling by on cars. I think you can just take a picture of the sign with an iPhone and it will open it automatically. So I highly doubt the boy in question was “Suddenly and Shockingly” exposed to pornography.

The paywall alone should have stopped him.

The problem is an old one and it’s not about sex, or morals, or “The Children”. 

The problem is jealousy.

The photo to the right is purported to be Lexy Thomas. She’s a plain jane, and why the heck should she be the only person not having any fun? 

Sex is sacred, and only to be engaged in to make a baby. Otherwise the jaws of life are required to open her legs, Right? Ever notice how puritanical women always claim to be the victim and surprised, when their Man finds other pleasurable company, because they stopped putting out.

This photo appears to be from her TikTok account. If you’re going to be an “Influencer” why the hell didn’t you at least put some effort into your profile picture? Come on lady. 

Lets see… 

Hot 35 year old blond bombshell with a great rack making money screwing her husband on camera (pictured above)

OR

This ————————————————>

Survey says,

Bombshell!

There was a line in the article that caught my attention.

Several parents began to take note of the sticker during pickup and drop-off at the religious school, and word began to spread about Cline’s vocation.

‘Several Parents’ a.k.a. other mothers, a.k.a. vindictive gossips.

I was reminded of Loretta Lynn’s Harper Valley P.T.A.

Update:  02/12/2024 The children have been kicked out of the school.

So the nasty busybodies got their way and I’m sure they’re feeling super righteous about themselves. 

It would be really funny if the Porn Parents turned around and purchased the school. I’d probably laugh myself right into a stroke.

For the moment, The Harper Valley P.T.A. won. I have faith that Karma is a stone bitch and something will happen to the busybodies.

I think it would be really interesting to know how many Only Fans accounts tracked back to the oh so righteous parents whose children are still attending the school. 

After all, if a man has to rely on his hand because he can’t rent “The Jaws Of Life” to open his shrew busybody of a wifes legs he’s gonna need some interesting stimulation.