Posts Tagged ‘True story’

Grandsons and Computer Monitors

Monday, July 12th, 2010

I don’t let my grandsons anywhere near my computer, so they cannot be blamed for the problem that this article is actually about. If I had simply titled this “Computer Monitor” it would not attract much attention and few people would want to read it. The article is not actually about my grandsons or anyone else’s – although I suppose those people mentioned herein do, or did, have grandparents.

My wife and I will often have our grandsons over to the house for a few hours. This gives the boy’s parents a break – something all parents need. If the weather is nice outside, that is where we will spend most of the visiting time. If not, there are plenty of toys for them in the house. In either case we will closely monitor their activities.

Speaking of monitors, the other day I turned on my computer and monitor. But the monitor did not come on. The power on light emitting diode did not emit any light. I plugged the power cord into a different outlet. Still nothing on the monitor lit up. So I tried a different power cord – no change. I switched back and forth a couple of times and kept trying the power on/off switch. Never did it ever come on.

The very first computers did not have monitors. Actually the first computers were people – people who computed. Hence they were called computers. The first non-living computer was designed by Charles Babbage. It was called a Difference Engine. It didn’t do quite all of the things that today’s computers do. In fact it was only designed to calculate numerical tables.

Now maybe Babbage’s computer did not need a monitor. Or maybe he got sidetracked and never got around to designing a monitor for it. You see, he did get involved in sports for a while as evidenced by his inventing the cow catcher in 1838. But I don’t think that game ever caught on. Or maybe it’s a United Kingdom thing.

But eventually computers started to come equipped with monitors (no thanks to Babbage). My very first computer, a Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I came with a 12” black and white television set that was converted to receive and display computer data instead of television signals.

The rumor is that Tandy Corporation was so uncertain of the sales of the TRS-80 Model I that the original production run was for 4000 units. The concept being that if they did not sell, each store would be able to use one. As it happened, they sold 10,000 in the first month. I can’t prove anything stated in this paragraph – so don’t hold me to it.

Back to the future (well it was the future during the TRS-80 hey-day). I went on line to check the warranty policy of the manufacture of my non-functioning monitor. If the monitor was less than three years old they would email me a label for me to ship it back in the original packing and box. And, no surprise, I would need to supply the the original purchase receipt. Upon receipt of the defective unit, they would ship me a refurbished monitor.

I have the original packing and probably have the receipt. Due to my office perpetually being in a state of serious disarray, I’ve no clue where the original receipt is located. On an old Visa statement I found a transaction that I believe is the purchase of this monitor along with some other item(s). The month was September, 2007. But being within the three years does not help if I can’t find the receipt.

The monitor was purchased at Best Buy. In my looking I found some other Best Buy receipts. These were all so faded that I could not be sure what purchases they covered. In each case I could read just enough to know it was NOT the receipt I needed. So I do know that I did not have in hand the correct receipt at any time that day.

Well, I spent quite a bit of time going through the mess in my office looking for that receipt but never found it. I figure if I find it in time I can send the monitor in for replacement and then we will have a spare monitor. Next step: shopping.

I checked a couple of places on line but did not see anything that justified the wait for shipping. So then I checked Best Buy and Radio Shack. With Radio Shack I got the impression that I would have to wait for the monitor of my choice to be shipped to the store. The best deals at Best Buy also were “on line only”.

(more…)

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Ten Days Ago

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

It was ten days ago. Ten long, thoughtful days ago. I had been wanting the adventure – no, adventure is not the right word. The experience – yes, I had been wanting the experience for a long time. Still, how could I know just what awaited me?

My wife, though not one of us, went with me. She bravely sat at my side throughout the whole thing. We arrived early. We stayed for the full event. She knew some of the people, I did not.

Second by second the time ticked by. Each participant spoke the words they had come to say. Some scientific, some of personal history, some of nature, some of death, and more. The range of topics was limited only by the number of participants present. No, not even that number was the limit as some covered more than a single subject.

The subject of death: that was mine. We were to speak words recently assembled, but my words were from nearly four decades ago. I had brought with me words written a long time ago because I did not know what the rules were. But I did not hide it. In fact, the very words themselves revealed the time lapse. I am not ashamed. The words were good. The story they told was not.

Even though she is not one of us, Margaret was also required to speak some words. She asked me to recommend some of my words for her to speak. I did. She spoke them. She did well.

And then we were required to prove our ability by putting together words that related to a subject that was announced just before we started the creation of the new sentences and paragraphs. Although it may not be the intent of our host, this procedure would prove that the words we were soon to speak were truly structured by none other than ourselves. After all, who could say that the words I spoke on death were arranged by me? I could, but who else?

And so we did. It was scary. It is my habit to arrange words and rearrange them and often do that repeatedly before I consider them worthy of presenting to others. Even then I am not always so sure. But I did as required. I put together words about – toothpaste. And, even though she is not one of us, my wife did so also. And she did well.

The task was enabled by a chemical supplement: a product originating in the equatorial territory of the Americas. The product is made from a bean which comes from a pod which grows on a tree. The bean is fermented and roasted and further processed until it becomes the thick pellet we were given. It’s powers are nothing less than magical. All at the event were able to produce sentences that met the requirements of our host. For me, I am sure it was the cacao bean that made the difference.

So was the experience what I expected? No, not quite. I had anticipated true critiques of the word packages provided by each of us. That was not provided. In a way it was a relief. I was prepared for negative feedback on my words, but I’m not so sure I could reciprocate. And that would not be fair.

The group comes together on a regular schedule. The next time is four days from now. Will I be there? No, I will not. I’ll not stay away because of my concern stated in the previous paragraph. As it happens, I’ll be traveling to another state on the day of the meeting.

Will I assemble with these people in the future? Yes. After all, while I am required to sit through whatever words they wish to speak, regardless of my interest, or lack of interest, in the subject, this provides a reciprocal advantage. They must listen to whatever I choose to speak of, regardless of their interest, or lack of interest. In other words, I have what all writers want: a captive audience.

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Cletus Koors

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

In Lafayette, Indiana, there is a company called SIA. SIA stands for Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. Originally the “I” stood for Isuzu but they dropped out of the agreement a few years ago. I work for US Security Associates (USSA). SIA contracts with USSA for security services.

This year March 13th was the night of the annual awards banquet for the SIA group of the USSA employees. It is often referred to as our Christmas party, but it is a bit off season. It either runs from one to three months late, or from nine to eleven months early. I’ve never been sure which. Regardless, it matters little as there are no Christmas decorations or Christmas music. Nor is there anything else about it that would remind you of Christmas. Well, there are drawings for gift cards so I guess they could count as gifts for the lucky winners.

The company, SIA, began production in 1989 with the first Subaru coming off the line on September 11 of that year. Early in the life of the company there were some employees of SIA that also worked for USSA at SIA. Or perhaps it was employees of USSA that worked for SIA. Maybe both. A long time before I came on the scene here, a ruling was made that prohibited this “double dipping”.

There was an exception made for one Cletus Koors. This year marks Cletus’ 20th anniversary with USSA. I’ve known Cletus for seven years and have always admired and respected him for his knowledge and excellent work ethic. I’m sure these factors played a role in his being the exception to the no double dipping rule. At this year’s banquet he was given special recognition for his two decades of service to USSA. For most of the time I have known Cletus (perhaps all of the time and beyond), he has worked full time for SIA during the week and worked almost full time for USSA on the weekend. That is part of the work ethic I spoke of.

All of the above I already knew. At the banquet I learned that Cletus saved the lives of a family from a fire. He was driving past the house where he could see a fire going on and he helped the residents escape from the flames. There is no doubt he saved the lives of those people.

On another occasion he stopped to help a stranded motorist. In doing so he went out of his way to help the motorist get a part needed to get the car going again. Upon return to the vehicle they discovered it had been crashed into by a semi-truck. Police and medical rescue personnel were on the scene – searching for bodies. The body (the motorist) was safe and sound because Cletus had taken him from the scene to find the needed part. In all probability the man’s life was saved by that act of kindness performed by Cletus.

After I had been an employee of USSA for a while there was an occasion when I was nearby while Cletus and Somebody were having a discussion about something. Now my memory has dropped some of the details on this, but bear with me. I don’t recall who Somebody was so I’ll simply call him “Somebody”. (Sorry, Somebody, I have a poor memory.) I don’t recall the topic of their discussion either, so I’ll simply say “something”. Cletus and Somebody held different opinions on the matter of something.

As the discussion ended, Somebody turned to me and sought my opinion on the matter. No doubt Somebody was trying to get me to agree with him and against Cletus. I declined to express an opinion on something. The reason I gave Somebody was that I didn’t want to make Cletus mad because I knew Cletus had two interests, money and guns. And I also knew that if he got mad at me he wouldn’t throw money at me.

Now let me be perfectly clear: Never did I ever think I’d have to worry about work place violence with Cletus. Never!

Still, it never hurts to play it safe.

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A Little Bit of a Love Story

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

Just a little story about when Margaret and I were first dating. For me it was pretty much love at first sight. I seriously doubted Margaret felt the same way, at least not as soon as I did. She had previously told me she did not expect she would ever get married again. It was on our second date that I decided to let her know that I thought we had a future together.

With the hope of not scaring her off, I simply told her that I knew that at that time it was too soon for her; but someday I was going to ask her to marry me, and when I did, she would accept.

When I was about the age shown in my avatar (and before Margaret was born), MGM released a musical called Thrill of a Romance. I have a CD with Michael Feinstein singing one of the songs from that movie. I had put that on the CD player and had it set up so that while I was sweet talking Margaret with my prediction, the above mentioned song was playing in the background. The song title: “Please Don’t Say No, Say Maybe.”

The irony is that Margaret did not even realize what was playing on the CD. She was paying no attention to the lyrics so she didn’t realize that my bold prediction was not backed by as much confidence as I would have liked. Then again, perhaps she was simply too enthralled with what I was saying to pay attention to the background music. Of course, I’d like to think the latter.

This September 30, we will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. That is 20 years of love growing stronger each day.

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Radio Repair

Monday, February 8th, 2010

The story you are about to read is true. The names have been changed to pronouns to protect the innocent – and because I don’t remember half of them. Hey, it’s been over twenty years, give me a break.

He was working in a store where, among other things, repairs were made to electronic devices.

She had brought in such a device for repair and had now come back to pick it up. She gave her name and/or a claim check.

He went and found the device. A book shelf size stereo radio. It had input jacks to allow another audio device without its own speaker set to be played though this radio. You know, a device like one of those new-fangled compact disc players. The radio also had an auxiliary, 120 volt, receptacle to make it unnecessary to find a separate outlet for the CD player.

He wrapped the cord of the radio around itself to keep it from tangling. Then he plugged the plug into the aforementioned auxiliary receptacle so it would not dangle while she carried the radio to her car. While doing so he joked, “If you plug this in here it won’t use as much electricity.”

She was pleased to learn this money saving technique.

He felt the need to confess that he had just been joking.

She looked disgusted and began to write the check to pay for the repair.

He told her that it would be twenty dollars. Then he added, “Of course, since this is a stereo radio, that will be twenty dollars for each side.”

She started to change the check to forty dollars.

He stopped her and, again, told her that he was just joking.

She completed the check for twenty dollars, took her repaired radio and left the store.

About two minutes later she came back into the store. She walked rapidly past him to another store employee. As she passed him she said, “I have a question, and I’m not going to ask you!”

Now what do you suppose got into to her?

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