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I’ve made a decision regarding California Mobile Driver’s Licenses.

Once they become available, I’m going to go ahead and load it.

The government, for a variety of reasons knows who I am. Since I’m a pretty stable individual and haven’t changed addresses or phone numbers for at least a decade It’s highly likely whatever information associating my Driver’s license and phone would give the state or Federal government will be redundant.

In addition to the TSA check in, potentially a bar with reader technology carding me, (I’d be so overjoyed at being carded at my age I’d probably have a heart attack,) there is one other oblique reference I’ve seen and I don’t know what they’re meaning.

Some of the literature makes reference to age verifications on websites and as required for purchases. This implies to me that the data might be requested by certain sites. This would negate having to make a photo copy of your Driver’s license then email it to someone you don’t know. I’ve always hated having to assume that they’re going to handle the data properly and delete the copy of the driver’s license when it’s no longer necessary. The implication is that somehow the relevant data only, will be presented to the requestor thereby minimizing security risks.

I have a real problem when medical facilities, or insurance companies, or banks make copies of my social security card and driver’s license. I’ve said often to these people their procedure is just begging for fraud and id theft. In recent years a number of medical office breaches have proven my point.

It’s possible that the digital ID could curb or at least add a stumbling block to ID theft and I’m all for that.

I have no idea what sites they’re talking about. I’ll perhaps try looking at an adult site first.

Funny thing about adult sites, is that their security is pretty damn impressive and they are also among the first folks to adopt new technology.

My adoption of this technology may, (likely will,) result in nothing much different in my daily, weekly, or even yearly life. It might be that until a substantial number of states adopt the technology it will largely be a nothing burger.

Additionally, should I leave California, there are very few states that have adopted the technology that I’d choose to move to.

Based on the current list, Ohio? They don’t have a lot of favorable policies towards retired folks. So it’s likely that I’ll have it, then lose it.

Maybe Arizona? That would depend on where. Phoenix is right out. Flagstaff? Wilson? I’m not 100% convinced, but trying to keep an open mind.

Update: Apologies!  I just found out that Auto correct isn’t working in the Title Field in my blogging application.

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I never would’ve thought…

The resin bed in the water softener could break down. But it can and then god only knows what you’re drinking if you drink the tap water.

The reverse osmosis unit had been off-line for about four or five days. I didn’t think about it too much because I thought the water softener itself was still working properly. Uh huh… Sometimes if I didn’t have bad luck I’d have no luck at all.

As it turns out I was wrong. The resin bed in the water softening system had deteriorated which actually explains why I felt like absolute shit for two or three days.

I was drinking the tapwater, thinking it might just have a little more salt than usual. It turns out it may have had something else too.

This probably explains why Jesse was a little loose in the rear end. I suspect both of us were trying real hard to throw off whatever else was included in the tapwater that we were drinking.

Saturday or Sunday I switched over to bottled water, not because I had any great insight, but because the tapwater came out looking murky at one point, then it was brown, later it was just cloudy. Let’s put it this way it looked like Detroit.

I thought the problem was the water company itself, and was all prepared to give them a piece of my mind on Tuesday after the Labor Day Holiday. Because the only time things seem to break anymore is over a holiday weekend!

Then I noticed that the hose water was clear. Meaning the problem had to be inside the house. I tried to bypass the water softener and found that the bypass valves were seized. So bottled water it was, I just hope Jesse didn’t acquire a taste for arrowhead.

The repair guy showed up as promised, when promised. He was prepared and went right to work.

He got the RO unit working again, then went down to the Water Softener itself. The bad news was the resin bed was shot to hell and was polluting the water more than helping. The good news was the system has a lifetime warranty so there was no additional charge to clean out the old resin and replace it.

An hour or two later and the system is once again operating.

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That could have been a problem

I really want to get a new GoPro Camera.

I’ve been meaning to do it but keep putting it off due to the expense and / or waiting for the new model.

I’d like to get one for a couple of reasons. They’re not bad dive cameras with the right water tight enclosures. They’re good hiking and trail riding cameras and their still photos are really good too.

Ds 070 02_1 3204930131.All of this came to light again this morning as Jesse and I were on our walk. 

We often see wildlife on our walks and I’m never able to get him under control and be able to get my phone out and deployed one handed in time. I’d really prefer to have something simple that I could mount my iPhone to and be able to use the remote shutter function in my watch to control the phone.

That would be a simple single point solution for the hiking. The GoPro would then be mostly about diving.

Ef454549 3b78 470d b7cd b303863b0f5c.67efa08eb720b9154f279d0541857b17.I own an older GoPro but the batteries are tired and honestly, it’s always been a pain in the but to get photos or videos off the damn thing. I don’t like having to pay a subscription so that my photos and videos can be uploaded to the GoPro cloud, then back down to my computer. Or that directly connecting the USB C connector from the GoPro to my computer won’t allow direct transfer to my computer where I”m going to be editing the movie in the first place, but it works for recharging the camera. The only way to do anything directly is to remove the super small SD card from the camera, then download the files from that (using an adapter for the SD card and a dongle for the SD card adapter to the USB C port) to my computer.)

It literally was such a frustrating pain in the ass I stopped using the GoPro and canceled the $59 a year subscription. 

I suppose, I’m a minimalist. I have device A and device B in my hands (or on a table) both have comparable connections based on an IEEE standard so Silly me, I expect the connection to work.

I suppose that’s another reason that I’ve been holding off on buying another GoPro. I want to be able to return the fucker if contrary to their specifications getting data off the camera is a cluster fuck.

Anyhoo. I suppose I’m still a bit frustrated by GoPro’s design failures in the past.

All of this was underscored on my walk with Jesse today.

Jesse suddenly stopped, but was at full attention. He was looking at something very intently and at first I couldn’t see what had his attention. Often he’ll do this if there’s a very large lizard. Then I noticed the short dry grass moving in an unnatural way. Meaning, the breeze was going one way, and the grass was moving against the breeze. 

Then I saw a dark line, and realized it was a snake of some kind.

Jesse was curious, but cautious. He was, however moving slowly toward the snake as it was moving toward the path we were walking on. The snake had a dark grayish color, it wasn’t until it got closer that I caught a bit of a greenish undertone and saw the tail.

The 3 little knobs told the tale. I was looking at a young rattlesnake, based on the colors it was probably a Mojave green rattlesnake.

The photo shown is a professional shot. Looking at it, I think the snake we encountered might also have been nearing time to shed its skin. The nice triangular markings in this photo were not as obvious. I don’t know off hand if juveniles have different colors/patterns. 

Jesse remained fairly calm as we watched the snake pass us. But it was one of those times when I wished again for a POV camera strapped to my head, chest, or perched on my shoulder.

This snake paid us absolutely no mind at all. It passed behind us moving straight across the path we’d been walking on.

In other words, all was naturally harmonious. The snake couldn’t have eaten us and we had no reason to bother it. So three apex predators in our respective niches passed each other with due respect and nobody got hurt.

I’d have liked to have pictures and video of it because I like nature.  Jesse & I were in fact walking through the snakes and other predators territory. I like the mutual, “We’re going to leave you alone if you leave us alone,” vibe when we’re hiking.

Some of the deer we run across this time of year have figured out, try as he might, Jesse isn’t going to chase them. They often watch us closely, but don’t necessarily bolt unless we’re too close. They’re beautiful and I’d like to get photos of them. However, me raising anything shiny and metallic towards them will cause panic and in an instant they’re gone.

Some kind of mounting apparatus would be helpful to capture them in their natural habitat too.

Predator desktop background_1239232_286.The newer GoPro cameras appear to have corrected their initial design flaws regarding data transfer. I’m not entirely convinced but would be willing to try. 9/4 GoPro is releasing 2 new cameras so I’ll take a look and see if there’s anything that is worthwhile.

Maybe I’ll just keep shopping for something that works with my iPhone.

I’d really like a rig like Predator. Head tracking would be a lot of fun even if it was only a camera and not an energy weapon.

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Here’s one of those weird things I notice occasionally

As I’ve mentioned, this whole driver’s license and ID thing in your phone fascinates me.

In August it was announced the California would “Soon” be joining the ranks of digital ID capable states. 

What didn’t get a whole lot of play was that Ohio brought the functionality online a few weeks earlier. 3-4 days ago Hawaii enabled the functionality with little fanfare at all.

So as of this writing, there are six states whose ID’s can be stored and presented via Apple Wallet.

Looking at the digital representations of the IDs is kind of neat.

It might be that the digital licenses are better looking than the documents they’re intended to represent.

I stumbled across Hawaii being in the list, completely by accident and then wondered how that happened.

There have been no IOS updates over the past few days, so the addition of any of these IDs appears to be independent of the base OS.

This leads me to think there’s some kind of switch that can be turned on without a full update. Which begs the question, just how connected is my phone to Apple?

They talk about privacy and security but if something like this can be enabled transparently I wonder what else can be enabled… Or disabled behind the scenes without the phone or OS mentioning that there’d been a change.

This also suggests that California’s addition to the participating states could be done independently of an IOS update too.

Previously, I thought that states were added to the “Allowed” list via “Point” updates to the IOS and they’d require the user to allow the download and installation of an IOS update.

Yet clearly that is not the case.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

I suppose in reality nothing has changed. Apple still has control over the device just as they always have, the difference now is that I’m perhaps a bit more aware of their technological leash.

There’s another thing that I found interesting.

With the exception of Ohio. Every single one of these states, has something in common. They’re all deep Blue States politically.

Even Arizona, though I know there are people who’d vehemently disagree, is a Blue State these days.

California, a deep Blue State will soon be added to the list.

I don’t think it’s anything other than an oddity, a coincidence if you will. But it makes me wonder.

According to Apple and several news articles I’ve been able to dig up, there are other states looking into allowing digital ID’s.

In 2022 Apple said there were six states that would soon allow digital licenses. These States were;

Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, & Utah.

To date none of these states have proceeded with the project. Kentucky for example says “Soon” but has been saying that since 2022. The other states either say in the future or are non committal about it.

With the exception of Connecticut, these states are all Red States.

So I’m wondering if the difference is a matter of political, or religious leaning. Might it be conservatives worried about the intrusiveness of technology on every aspect of our lives, or do these Red States know or suspect something I’m missing.

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Well, my Number is 2 out of 5

2 out of 5 Times for something to work is apparently enough to keep me trying.

There’s a Shell filling station nearby in Phelan.

3 out of 5 times their pay at the pumps systems aren’t working. It’s always the same shit. “We have to reset the pump” Well if you have to reset the pump then why don’t you do it once an hour since apparently this is an ongoing issue.

Nobody knows how hard I work to keep from being an angry bitter old man just like one of my grandfathers, or one neighbor who is literally pissed off more than he is not.

It’s an effort to not go down that road.

I’m a cynic, easily annoyed, easily cranky, and generally don’t like people en mass.

Put all of those things together and it’s a recipe for a supervillain.

Except in my case I don’t have super powers so I’d just be a frustrated un-supervillain. Probably more like Dr. Evil.

I’m really tired of thing after thing, system after system, & service after service failing because people aren’t doing their jobs. What’s even worse about it is that most of these so called “Jobs” don’t require a lot of brain power, they just require that the person does as instructed.

Today, this gas station thing pissed me off perhaps a bit more than usual because they’re sitting there explaining, “We just need to reset the pump. It’ll only take a few minutes. “

I could see their display was flashing red on several pumps. Obviously all of those pumps needed attention.

So why were these idiots saying “Bro” and joking around then chatting with the customers and each other instead of doing their job. OR how about taking the pumps completely offline so they’re non responsive?

That’s what frustrated the hell out of me, The damn thing looked and acted like it was working but then told me that it couldn’t read the card. After 3 tries where I entered the rewards information only to have the transaction declined and waiting a good 20 seconds for the pump to be ready to work again I was really annoyed. It was 100° & I had groceries in the car.

What these idiots were talking about resetting is the pump’s payment processing system. So that annoyed me too. The pump was literally half assed online and was just teasing me. This is the absolute worst kind of malfunction for me. Half working shit that appears to be fully operational.

It’s not just the gas pumps. It’s literally services at every point of my contact with the world today.

I’m astounded just how much has changed in such a short period of time. Just since 2019 everything seems to have gone nuts and nothing is as it was, or stable for that matter.

I wonder if the craziness is a response to the sudden changes. Everyone is struggling to adapt and as a result folks are short tempered and easily provoked.

I hope that things settle soon.