"We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results."
– Herman Melville
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Quote for today
"We cannot live for ourselves alone. Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results."
– Herman Melville
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
If Jason Calacanis is against Apple, who can be for it?
I read this blog post a little while ago and, bizarre as it probably is considering the subject matter, it did get me to thinking, mainly I suspect, because I dislike any form of unjustified elitism and I regard the whole Apple thingy as just such an unjustified snobbery.
My first thought is about just how expensive Apple actually is .... for everything ... even for music you buy from them nevermind their PC's, operating system and laptops. Yet, people seem to be more than happy to pay to buy what seems to have effectively been brainwashed into them as a sort of cool form of hippie elitism.
I find this amusing actually. Anyone who knows anything about real hippies knows that they are rather shabby and against the flow sort of characters but Apple, by it's profits, is neither of those things. People, however, continue to buy into the comeback story of the poor orphan child which floundered two decades ago and has "miraculously" recovered. I too find this tale touching, but not when it is to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars to get something a good few other cheaper devices can do for me - that seems to "ring" false somehow.
My husband had bought into the hype though and bought an INCREDIBLY expensive, top of the line, best of the best, Macbook Pro three years ago (he really is an elitist :)) Said "Pro" has been through 3 batteries now - two of them actually expanded with heat and have warped the casing and one just upped and died for reasons which remain unknown. Said Mac has now been given to the child - yes, the child - which is sort of wasteful and sad if you think about it and is most definitely not elitist or hippie-like.
I have to give it to the Apple folks though, they know how to market, o boy o boy but they do!! I am regularly astonished at the fanaticism one evinces from a closet Apple fan by ranting about an exploding battery and about how much mental power is exerted to justify such things nevermind the energy devoted to demonizing PC's and that demon of computing, Microsoft, when said closet elitists defensively respond.
To me, this is a car type debate. Being a woman, I just want a car that is reasonably priced, safe, reliable and not like a tapeworm ridden dependant with regards to gas - I feel the same way about computers .... clothes too believe it or not and yes, I know this makes me somewhat of a rarity.
Labels do not maketh the man and nor do the car or the any kind of machine and so this whole business of setting oneself up, backside exposed so the jeans label can be seen, or feet in the air so the colour of the sole can be seen or my favourite, and the most pertinent to this post, in the window facing outward so that the make of your laptop can be seen in any given dingy coffee shop. I find all of those behaviors sort of tacky and purpose defeating most especially when for example Apple, holds itself up to be the very antithesis of that sort of thing.
I drove a Toyota and I loved my Dell. I would never move from Windows to Leopard and by God, I think Office is a magnificent set of pieces of software. I have never had a Dell battery explode nor have I paid what I consider to be a small fortune for any software or music that I own (though I do indeed have an IPod).
That typed then, guess which side of the fence I fall on which brings this particular little tirade to a close :)
My first thought is about just how expensive Apple actually is .... for everything ... even for music you buy from them nevermind their PC's, operating system and laptops. Yet, people seem to be more than happy to pay to buy what seems to have effectively been brainwashed into them as a sort of cool form of hippie elitism.
I find this amusing actually. Anyone who knows anything about real hippies knows that they are rather shabby and against the flow sort of characters but Apple, by it's profits, is neither of those things. People, however, continue to buy into the comeback story of the poor orphan child which floundered two decades ago and has "miraculously" recovered. I too find this tale touching, but not when it is to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars to get something a good few other cheaper devices can do for me - that seems to "ring" false somehow.
My husband had bought into the hype though and bought an INCREDIBLY expensive, top of the line, best of the best, Macbook Pro three years ago (he really is an elitist :)) Said "Pro" has been through 3 batteries now - two of them actually expanded with heat and have warped the casing and one just upped and died for reasons which remain unknown. Said Mac has now been given to the child - yes, the child - which is sort of wasteful and sad if you think about it and is most definitely not elitist or hippie-like.
I have to give it to the Apple folks though, they know how to market, o boy o boy but they do!! I am regularly astonished at the fanaticism one evinces from a closet Apple fan by ranting about an exploding battery and about how much mental power is exerted to justify such things nevermind the energy devoted to demonizing PC's and that demon of computing, Microsoft, when said closet elitists defensively respond.
To me, this is a car type debate. Being a woman, I just want a car that is reasonably priced, safe, reliable and not like a tapeworm ridden dependant with regards to gas - I feel the same way about computers .... clothes too believe it or not and yes, I know this makes me somewhat of a rarity.
Labels do not maketh the man and nor do the car or the any kind of machine and so this whole business of setting oneself up, backside exposed so the jeans label can be seen, or feet in the air so the colour of the sole can be seen or my favourite, and the most pertinent to this post, in the window facing outward so that the make of your laptop can be seen in any given dingy coffee shop. I find all of those behaviors sort of tacky and purpose defeating most especially when for example Apple, holds itself up to be the very antithesis of that sort of thing.
I drove a Toyota and I loved my Dell. I would never move from Windows to Leopard and by God, I think Office is a magnificent set of pieces of software. I have never had a Dell battery explode nor have I paid what I consider to be a small fortune for any software or music that I own (though I do indeed have an IPod).
That typed then, guess which side of the fence I fall on which brings this particular little tirade to a close :)
Thursday, September 3, 2009
MailTo Encoder | Encode your email address to prevent spam
I found this the other day and just wanted to share it with anyone who has published their e-mail addy on a website for business purposes and who now receives copious e-mails about penis size and ways to increase sexual ability ....... and, who gets as aggravated by that spam as I do.
MailTo Encoder | Encode your email address to prevent spam
Posted using ShareThis
MailTo Encoder | Encode your email address to prevent spam
Posted using ShareThis
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
THE TALE OF THE INCREDIBLE TOOTH ABCESS
Everything was going along fairly swimmingly until I ate lunch last Tuesday. Now, I have racked my brain as to what in particular set it all off about that lunch and I have settled upon the poppy seeds in the muffin - sort of like The Princess and the Pea stuff.
What occurred was that a bolt of lightening - or what I think that would feel like - struck me in tooth 14 of my mouth. I know all about tooth numbers nowadays which amuses me to no small extent, having had them bandied about over my head when a dentist and endodontrist were discussing my fate with their respective assistants.
Having had issues with this tooth for a while which issues usually settled down after about 15 minutes, I soothed it all with my tongue and got on with the business at hand which was probably my inbox which is where I spend most of my working day.
No settling down occurred though - not a smidgeon. I barely slept that night despite the largest quantity of painkillers I had ever consumed and it was worse by Wednesday by which time I could barely talk let alone eat.
My husband, having been observing the proceedings from the night before, had taken to bringing soup home for lunch and supper - it was literally all I could get into my mouth because chewing was THAT painful and had also made an emergency appointment with a dentist for Thursday. He had to FIND a dentist because of the move we have just made on top of it all and that dentist had to be willing to see me as a matter of urgency and be contracted in to our health insurance scheme.
By Thursday, I was crying involuntarily, making putting makeup on night on impossible but I managed to dry up just before my dentist's appointment which was set for 12h30 and which I had gotten into a state of utter anticipation for, being sure that they would do something about my pain.
Sadly, he merely took an x-ray, prescribed an antibiotic and some stronger painkillers and told me I needed to see an endodontrist. It is the first time I have sat in a pharmacy and actually wept because I had to wait for drugs - I am deadly serious about this too. We got home, emergency endodontrist appointment was made for the next day and I took my doses and then I think I went to hell.
My mouth felt as if it literally exploded. The pain was so severe I think I actually passed out from it because all I remember about the rest of Thursday is lying on my bed flipping my pillow because I kept drenching it with all my weeping and then waking up, basically pain free at about midnight.
The endodontrist did the usual root canal procedure on Friday and I now continue with my antibiotics, never having needed another painkiller after the first one on Thursday on our return from the dentist and pharmacy.
What you are probably wondering, does any of this have to do with a blog about transitioning. I'll tell you .....
I have known about that tooth being in trouble for a good 3 years now and, I have done NOTHING about it because I was THAT scared of root canal. Result, more pain than any root canal could have ever caused me and a whole lot of rushing aruond and pill taking and haphazard medical provider choosing instead of a nice planned affair. Total coroboration of my mantra of getting as much knowledge as you can about what you need to do so that you can transition gracefully and so that fear doesn't paralyse you.
I keep saying it but herewitth then the proof that it would appear I don't always listen to my own advice andso, I got an incredibly rude reminder last week - I won't forget again.
What occurred was that a bolt of lightening - or what I think that would feel like - struck me in tooth 14 of my mouth. I know all about tooth numbers nowadays which amuses me to no small extent, having had them bandied about over my head when a dentist and endodontrist were discussing my fate with their respective assistants.
Having had issues with this tooth for a while which issues usually settled down after about 15 minutes, I soothed it all with my tongue and got on with the business at hand which was probably my inbox which is where I spend most of my working day.
No settling down occurred though - not a smidgeon. I barely slept that night despite the largest quantity of painkillers I had ever consumed and it was worse by Wednesday by which time I could barely talk let alone eat.
My husband, having been observing the proceedings from the night before, had taken to bringing soup home for lunch and supper - it was literally all I could get into my mouth because chewing was THAT painful and had also made an emergency appointment with a dentist for Thursday. He had to FIND a dentist because of the move we have just made on top of it all and that dentist had to be willing to see me as a matter of urgency and be contracted in to our health insurance scheme.
By Thursday, I was crying involuntarily, making putting makeup on night on impossible but I managed to dry up just before my dentist's appointment which was set for 12h30 and which I had gotten into a state of utter anticipation for, being sure that they would do something about my pain.
Sadly, he merely took an x-ray, prescribed an antibiotic and some stronger painkillers and told me I needed to see an endodontrist. It is the first time I have sat in a pharmacy and actually wept because I had to wait for drugs - I am deadly serious about this too. We got home, emergency endodontrist appointment was made for the next day and I took my doses and then I think I went to hell.
My mouth felt as if it literally exploded. The pain was so severe I think I actually passed out from it because all I remember about the rest of Thursday is lying on my bed flipping my pillow because I kept drenching it with all my weeping and then waking up, basically pain free at about midnight.
The endodontrist did the usual root canal procedure on Friday and I now continue with my antibiotics, never having needed another painkiller after the first one on Thursday on our return from the dentist and pharmacy.
What you are probably wondering, does any of this have to do with a blog about transitioning. I'll tell you .....
I have known about that tooth being in trouble for a good 3 years now and, I have done NOTHING about it because I was THAT scared of root canal. Result, more pain than any root canal could have ever caused me and a whole lot of rushing aruond and pill taking and haphazard medical provider choosing instead of a nice planned affair. Total coroboration of my mantra of getting as much knowledge as you can about what you need to do so that you can transition gracefully and so that fear doesn't paralyse you.
I keep saying it but herewitth then the proof that it would appear I don't always listen to my own advice andso, I got an incredibly rude reminder last week - I won't forget again.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wonga: How the Net Should Kill the Finance Industry
Having worked in banks for 18 years of my adult life, I know all about some of the nasty that goes on behind the scenes. What with the whole financial crisis doomsday scenario and with that aforementioned experience knowledge in hand, I am lately all about wanting "bad bankers" to be taken down and about new ways for the public to bank being found.
I accordingly found this article pretty interesting and I really hope this idea takes off in some other spots around the world - we surely need it .......
I accordingly found this article pretty interesting and I really hope this idea takes off in some other spots around the world - we surely need it .......
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Room Rules: What’s Reasonable?
Room Rules: What's reasonable?
Excellent question that and it reminds me of the transition I have been making from being the Mother of a child to the Mother of a teen. Good Heavens, my daughter KNOWS how to create a mess and she knows how to do it in short shrift. Now, this has not changed but her willingness to do something about it afterward has.
It is as if she uses her mess to get my attention and then show me that she won't do what I say no matter what the punishment.
My older family members such as her grandmother and grandaunt tell me it's normal for teens and that I am being unreasonable but I seem to remember the both of them pulling their hair out when my cousins and I were growing up too. I also seem to remember that I understood that a plate under my bed for three days was DISGUSTING!
Every single day with my child brings new lessons as to patience, tolerance and understanding of different - all great life skills - she must be a soul mate. I cannot think of a bigger transition than the one she is dragging me through and yes, on this count I must admit to being dragged :)
Excellent question that and it reminds me of the transition I have been making from being the Mother of a child to the Mother of a teen. Good Heavens, my daughter KNOWS how to create a mess and she knows how to do it in short shrift. Now, this has not changed but her willingness to do something about it afterward has.
It is as if she uses her mess to get my attention and then show me that she won't do what I say no matter what the punishment.
My older family members such as her grandmother and grandaunt tell me it's normal for teens and that I am being unreasonable but I seem to remember the both of them pulling their hair out when my cousins and I were growing up too. I also seem to remember that I understood that a plate under my bed for three days was DISGUSTING!
Every single day with my child brings new lessons as to patience, tolerance and understanding of different - all great life skills - she must be a soul mate. I cannot think of a bigger transition than the one she is dragging me through and yes, on this count I must admit to being dragged :)
TEACH OUR CHILDREN WELL .....
I am rather snobbish about education because I am rather snobbish about who I spend time with - my husband calls me an elitist - chuckles. It's just that I genuinely believe that time is my most precious resource and I accordingly wish to use it wisely. I have found that the better educated folk are, the more interesting and informative they are and hence, the more time I am willing to invest in them.
That probably sounds incredibly selfish but hell, if we can't be selfish about how we spend our short time on this planet, if we cannot choose with whom, then what is the point of it all?
On that note, I have striven to be fairly well educated myself - forfend the thought of being a hypocrite after all - :) and am also particularly angst-ridden about ensuring that my daughter gets the best education I can provide for her.
This got a bit difficult when I changed countries as I obviously had no idea how things worked in the new place. Enter a Google search and the discovery of what I consider to be an absolutely invaluable resource in this splendid website.
If you find yourself wondering how to go about deciding on education institutions, I sincerely suggest that you try this site - I have been using it since I got here, still get newsletters and couldn't be happier with the direction I have been steered in - in all my glorious snobbishness!
That probably sounds incredibly selfish but hell, if we can't be selfish about how we spend our short time on this planet, if we cannot choose with whom, then what is the point of it all?
On that note, I have striven to be fairly well educated myself - forfend the thought of being a hypocrite after all - :) and am also particularly angst-ridden about ensuring that my daughter gets the best education I can provide for her.
This got a bit difficult when I changed countries as I obviously had no idea how things worked in the new place. Enter a Google search and the discovery of what I consider to be an absolutely invaluable resource in this splendid website.
If you find yourself wondering how to go about deciding on education institutions, I sincerely suggest that you try this site - I have been using it since I got here, still get newsletters and couldn't be happier with the direction I have been steered in - in all my glorious snobbishness!
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