Tell Me (and Others)

Right after my trip to the CapeSoft World Tour event in Las Vegas, I developed a case of Shingles.

Oh boy, you do not want to experience this. Luckily my case was not as bad as it could have been. I did visit a doctor in time (must be within 48 hours of the appearance of the rash) to be prescribed the anti-viral tablets. The outbreak appeared just a week before we were to take a road trip to Nashville with friends. I managed to endure the trip by taking pain killers. Not much could be done about the rash. It just has to take its course.

My friends were great, and they managed to endure my suffering by imbibing in alcoholic beverages. Thanks go to Candace, Bill, Sandra, Skip and Sharon for your support.

If you are round-about the age of 60, and had chicken-pox as a child, then you would be well advised to see you doctor about having the newly available vaccine for us oldies. The USA FDA approved its use just last year.

Here I sit, three weeks on, and beginning to feel great again.

To find more details on shingles, check out WebMD

John.

We have been using a Canon PowerShot A60 digital camera for several years and have been very happy with it.

Oliver Sudden.. All of a sudden, last Saturday all the pictures it took were coming out streaky/blurred.
I think it was MY fault the old camera died… At first I thought it was condensation on the CCD (Close Coupled Device) that records the pictures. I tried leaving it out in the blazing sun of West Texas for an few hours to no avail.

I had just charged up the batteries for the weekend and put them straight into the camera. I remember that they were rather HOT from being charged, so this may have damaged the insides ( read ccd ) of the camera. It still performs normally, but the photos are useless.

We needed a camera for Mother’s Day, so off I went to BestBuy. I ended up with a Canon PowerShot A560 because it was similar to our old camera and we know (sort of ) how to use it.

The moral of the story is…

Do not put hot batteries into your camera.

Hope this saves someone else from killing their camera.

John.

I wish I had thought of this first. But no, I left that to my wife…

” We NEED to have MORE than we NEED to HAVE ! ”

This came to her during a late night discussion when we were attempting (as usual) to solve the World’s problems. Luckily I was alert (Dont call me a lert) enough to decide to write it down for later use.

Now we always know what our problems in life are. And they are … that we presently do not have more than we need. So we strive to get more of what we need.

Maybe one day ……

Taxes are not the same the world over. But every one I know thinks that they would be better off in another country, where they “know” that taxes are less.
Not so.

I know about UK, USA and Australia.
Of these three, I would say that the combined taxes (Income, Capital Gains, VAT/Sales/GST, LocalCounty, School, Property) that you incur earning, and spending, are highest in the UK.
Next highest would come the USA. The lowest combined taxes would be in Australia (But do not let the Aussie politicians know this!).

Then there is the voluntary taxes. What – I hear you say? Voluntary Taxation?

Yes. This usually goes by the innocuous name of “LOTTO”. This is where you are goaded into purchasing a ticket where you have 1 in 99 billion (or so) chances of striking it rich.
Profits from Lotto go to subsidizing education, health, and other social programs that would normally be funded from forced taxation.
I think it is great that so many people contribute to this voluntary taxation, as it reduces the amount that the rest of us need to pay.

Griffo.

Have you actually ever listened really closely to the actual words used in a radio or TV interview?

There, I actually just did it here to show you what I actually mean.

Got it yet?

Well, it is the over and superfluous use of the words ‘actual’ and actually’.

I first discovered that I was doing just this, about 15 years ago. I was lecturing in “C” computer programming at a college with about 90 students in a large lecture theatre.
When lecturing, it is not too hard to detect when the crowd is becoming bored. Also, detection of the odd smirk is easy.
I detected both these things and it took me a couple of weeks to figure out.
By watching the group, and trying to figure out if I was gesturing in some particular way that would trigger their reactions, I noticed that it looked as though they were ‘scoring’ my presentation. Several were marking their notes as I was speaking.

By watching them, I finally determined that each time I said either ‘actual’ or ‘actually’, I was being scored. And I was saying it a lot!

So, I realized that I had to stop adding this word where it was not needed. This did not take much effort.

Soon I had my lecture group back in tow, and they were able to concentrate (I hope) on learning to program in “C”.

Next time you listen to a person being interviewed on radio, or TV, listen out for them using ‘actually’ and ‘actual’. It drives me mad now to hear it so much!

On Sunday October 30 the daylight savings ends for this northern summer. Clocks go back 1 Hour!

A learned friend of mine once said:-
“Why do they need to mess with the clock twice a year by 1 hour? Why don’t they just change the time by half an hour and leave the damn thing alone!”

Probably a good suggestion considering all the problems introduced by adjusting the local times.