2017 Fall October 31 Tuesday

 2017 Fall October 31 Tuesday

41 degrees this morning, walk 35:03 minutes

A little cooler than I expected this morning.  I am still relearning how to dress for cool weather.  For example, I learned this morning that 41degrees may require a slightly warmer sweat pants, and light walking gloves may be appropriate.  

On the other hand, it may be that I just need to gradually get used to the cooler walk.

Pace was 21 seconds slower than my goal, which kind of surprised me, since I thought I was walking faster.  It is just hard to really judge how fast I am walking.

I was on a college campus yesterday for my job, and it was like being in another world.  The energy on the campus is really amazing.  

I wonder what happens to that energy when we get out of college or school?  It seems to permeate the entire campus, even outside.

All of the students were very courteous and helpful, they probably thought of me (or face it, they probably didn’t even think of me at all, they have other things to think about!) as an eccentric professor or a sales person or whatever.  

When I think of myself at that age, there is too much else going on to dwell on the stranger in our midst!

There is a mall (or rather  a former mall turned office building) that has a school on it for high school students and I notice the same energy there when I saw a group of students walking to  lunch (or wherever).

I do have to wonder how we lose our sense of wonder and engagement.  

A lot of the sessions at the conference I attended last week was on how to keep that sense of wonder and engagement, or maybe how to reawaken it.

The Starbucks/Panera Bread competition (which ir really only in my mind) continues with Panera Bread the clear winner on food and Starbucks the clear winner on Coffee!  

Actually Starbucks has one sandwich I really like.  Last weekend it was out on Saturday and so I bought another kind.  Sunday the Starbucks closest to me was out of the sandwich again (this is the wonders of “mobile ordering”, so I drove to another Starbucks that had one!  (We have four Starbucks within relatively easy driving range although “our” Starbucks is about a mile away but is always extremely busy).  

Meanwhile, Panera Bread didn’t have ice coffee one day and I haven’t been back since!

I have to take at least a half hour for lunch.  Since I normally “eat on the run” while “in the field”, I take my half hour and catch up with “The Sopranos” while sipping (or swallowing) ice coffee, since I normally take my “lunch” right before I head home.  

More on that in future posts.

That’s it for now, Tuesday, October 31, 2017.

2017 Fall October 30 Monday

2017 Fall October 30 Monday

53 degrees this morning, walk 35:01 minutes

Good walk this morning.  Relatively cool, nice walk.  Actually my watch said it was 60 degrees and the weather app said it was 53 degrees which is quite a difference.  Based on my walk, I think closer to 60 degrees is right, but I can’t really tell.  

Pace was 2 seconds faster than my goal.

Listening to the “Great Course” course on “Great Utopian and Dystopian Works of Literature”.  I have found when I know almost nothing about something, it doesn’t take much to learn something!  

Right at the first the instructor mentions that “to be happy, you have to take advantage of someone or someone has be be suffering so you know you are happy” or words to that effect.  It concerns a society where everyone is happy but they all know their happiness depends on the suffering of a child.  

While I was somewhat familiar with some of he literature on  Utopias’, but it has been interesting thus far.

I find it rather disturbing to think that to be happy someone has to suffer, so I’ll just say i strongly disagree with the concept and let it go at that.  

I guess you would have to say that is true in sports, for one person or team to win and “be happy”  another had to lose etc.   

Of course in a perfect world, the losing team would be happy for the winning team, but I don’t think that happens often.    

Speaking of books to listen to while I walk, I am going to start a biography on Grant after this book.  The book is about 54 hours long, so it isn’t just listening to a book, it is a major commitment of  time to listen to it

Grant is an interesting character and I wanted to read more about him. I had never realized his impact on our history until I read “Team of Rivals” about Abraham Lincoln.  

In fact I would say that book had an impact on my thinking, since the problem Lincoln had with his Generals emphasized the importance of “doing something”, even it is is eventually the wrong action.  

I had seen a lot of General McCellan’s in my career, people who had great plans and never took action, always waiting for something or someone, never able to actually any action and complaining and back-stabbing their way through life.

On the other hand, I probably saw a lot more General Grant’s, people who did their  job and were committed to doing the best they could.  

That’s it for now, Monday, October 30, 3017.

2017 Fall October 29 Sunday

2017 Fall October 29 Sunday

43 degrees this morning, walk 35:18 minutes 

Dressed way to warm this morning, apparently there is a huge difference between 34 degrees and 43 degrees, more than I realized.

This morning seemed actually almost warm, although as I mentioned I dressed way too warm for 43 degrees. Due to the “wicking” nature of the closing it the over-dressing actually wasn’t that bad.

Pace this morning was exactly what my goal is. 

I  called Apple Support about the inability to pick up  “public” wife and found that Apple is apparently trying to be overprotective by blocking access to public networks that don’t require a password.

Kind of like “destroying the City to save it”, it is incredible that Apple is doing this. 

Apple Support vaguely (and even with a straight face) tried to say “anyone can see you on a public network”  (as if I didn’t already know that).

The warning is fine, but blocking access completely?  Might as well junk all Apple produces (that conned to wi fi) as useless.  

If Apple really cared, they would provide automatic VPN to “protect” their users instead of crudely blocking access with some stupid message which doesn’t even advise you Apple is blocking you.

Hopefully someone will file a class action lawsuit to take care of it.  

I think Apple has gotten out of touch with their users, with this insane program and ignoring desires for a touch screen on their laptops and desktops.  

Strange they emphasize touch screens (with pencil etc) on their tablets, but pompously say their “users don’t want touch screens”.  How about asking us?

Of course, I have the final option of simply junking all Apple products and going with another computer maker.  Not ready to do that yet, but I will if I am blocked from public wifi.

Almost Halloween.  I will always remember the Halloween when it snowed (in Oklahoma City).  I sat and watched the snow and read “Bright Lights Big City” straight through.  That may be the last time I read a complete book at one sitting.  

I used to read a complete book at one sitting all the time, but at that time I probably hadn’t don’t it for years so it was unusual at the time.  

Aliene is getting around ok, or as well as you can without using your right foot, which means she does the essential things.

I checked Amazon for what a “foot scooter” costs and of course found we could buy one for less that it is costing to rent one for two months.  Of course I don’t know about the quality (the quality of some Amazon products is horrible) and it would have taken four days to get one etc. 

It actually will be nice just to take it back and be done with it after she doesn’t need it anymore. 

That’s it for now, Sunday, October 29, 2017

2017 Fall October 28 Saturday

 2017 Fall October 28 Saturday

34 degrees this morning, walk 35:27 minutes

Obviously coolest day of the season this morning.  Probably dressed a little too warm (it didn’t seem that cold out there, there as little wind)

Pace was 17 seconds slower than my goal.  I don’t know if it is the weather, or the amount of clothing, but my pace is almost always slower in cold weather.

The state tax on hybrids and electrics was declared unconstitutional, which I expected.

Basically the state law provided for a $30 tax on hybrids and a $100 tax on electrics whiteout any regard whatsoever for mileage etc.   Fortunately the State Supreme Court declared the law unconstitutional as an illegally passed tax.

If the State Legislature  really cared, they would have adopted a schedule of taxes based on weight, mileage or some other criteria instead of doing the bidding of the oil and gas industry to try to deter alternative powered vehicles.   

What was really strange was the Executive Director of the state “road contractors association” (who of course wanted more money for construction) was saying he extra cost  was justified based on the “weight” of hybrids and electrics, which is simply incorrect.  

If he was really worried about the “weight” of hybrids and electrics, he should have been pushing for a tax rate based on weight of all vehicles, including the overloaded trucks of contractors that really  tear up the roads.  

I find it strange that the state legislatures and national government start off with what taxes should be instead of what projects are needed and then adjust the tax rate accordingly.

It now appears that the lying bully lunatic and his band of criminals are providing huge wasteful government contracts (for private prisons, FEMA construction or whatever) without any bids but strictly “quid quo pro” for bribes disguised as “donations” or lavish parties and conventions at the resorts owners by the lying bully lunatic.  The criminals belong in prison instead of wasting billions rewarding their buddies and paybacks for “contributions”.  

Meanwhile residents/taxpayers of numerous cities and counties vote new taxes on themselves to provide needed projects by huge margins.  

A good reason why local government is the most trusted level of government.  

That’s it for now, Saturday, October 28, 2017.

2017 Fall Ocobrer 27 Friday

2017 Fall October 27 Friday

46 degrees this morning walk 35:26 minutes

Cold this morning, a high wind made it seem colder than it was.  

First walk in a week, not a good day for starting back to walk, but it went ok in spite of the wind.  The wind was about 23 mph.

Pace was 31 seconds slower than my goal.  That actually was not a surprise, I was just trying to finish the walk, I wasn’t too concerned about the  actual pace.

After about a day in San Antonio, Aliene and I both quit coughing.  It certainly is a good indication of what the cause of our coughing  is, something around here we are allergic to.

While I was overall pleased at the quality of the speakers at the conference, I am always surprised at the individual quirks of many speakers.  

Toastmasters has kind of trained me to be conscious of the quirks (such as ending sentences with certain words, expressions, using laughing as a crutch etc.  

Since even professional speakers do it, it makes me feel a little better!

“Re-entry” into routine life was about as I expected, you fit into the old routine fast.  

In the future I will have more understanding of what people go through when they break a bone, have knee problems etc.  

We did find out that, at least for now, Aliene will not need future surgery, hopefully  will not need it.  

Regardless, it has changed her whole life since every move now is a major trip.  Short walks (in the house) which used to be made without even thinking now require planning in advance.   

As Aliene says, it could be worse, and hopefully it will soon be just a memory.  At this time it looks like it will be 8 weeks for fracture to heal, hopefully no surgery  required. 

Looking forward to this weekend, hopefully a chance to take a breather and catch up on some things!  I enjoy traveling, but it is nice to get home also, especially after the episode that Aliene had.

I will be contacting Apple today about the wi fi problem.  It really upsets me that the “public wife” is being basically blocked due to the overly protective action by either Apple or someone else.

That’s it for now, Friday, October 27, 2017.

2017 Fall October 26 Thursday

2017 Fall October 26 Thursday

59 degrees this morning, no walk due to schedule

Probably will wish I had walked this morning, cool weather is coming in, there is a “freeze warning” for this area.  

I am definitely ready to get back into walking.

Returning to normal life routine today. Lift has changed more than expected from a week ago due to Aliene’s leg fracture. 

Anytime I hear about “minor injuries”, I will now realize the impact of a “minor injury”.  It changes your complete life.  Aliene is seeing the Doctor today, hopefully it is just a minor fracture and not a break or other problem that takes surgery.

I am always surprised at how fast I get back into the routine, no matter how long I have been gone.  It is kind of like the first time I was gone from home for a week or so when I was a kid, I got back and was surprised to find I wasn’t really missed, that life went on without me1

One of the more difficult things to do is to insure that I don’t get back into “normal” life and not ponder what I learned at the conference.  

This is really an excellent conference and had a lot of good sessions.

I think the main theme was that local government is where innovation and progress will be made in the future since the federal and state governments have turned into partisan bickering with vicious attempts to “punish” people and further income and wealth disparity by programs benefit the wealthy, suppressing voting and gerrymandering and the huge impact of being able to buy votes with secret contributions etc.  

They aren’t interested in progress, just ripping off the government for as many tax dollars and punishing policies for “persons not like them”.  A real sick bunch of people. 

Focusing on the positive, since the local government is closest to the people it can also have the most positive impact. 

As I mentioned, that is the beauty of the ICMA program, where I write down how I might use what I learned.

We had been rather worried about the flight back, but it went fine.  They are used to dealing with persons who may have limited mobility and do an excellent job of handling it. 

I attended the “qualifying” for the Formula 1 race.  Even the “qualifying” day was a real circus and I enjoyed even the limited amount of time I attended.  

I was surprised to note that the cars seem to go faster than they go on TV and I really don’t know how they can actually drive the cars at the speed they do, especially around some of the curves.  

Of course the first thing I am doing is watching a copy of the session I attended since I made sure I copied it!  Its is even more interesting when I have actually been there and can noted some of the things I missed!

Back to work today.  Difficult to believe the time I had been waiting for so long is over so quickly.

That’s it for now, Thursday, October 26, 2017

2017 Fall October 25 Wednesday

2017 Fall October 25 Wednesday

50 degrees (43 degrees) this morning. 

Made some changes to my iPhone and found the battery may not be gone after all.  Changed some of the battery eating settings. and I may have left the phone tethered to my computer when I couldn’t hook up to wifi due to some message about it was “unprotected wi fi”.

I think the problem may be the absolutely stupid wi fi notice in public places that “the connection may not be secure” and then it refuses to connect to your phone, iPad or computer.

I end up having to tether my phone for wi fi, so I expect the notice and resulting refusal to connect is a plot by the cell phone companies to force you to use more high cost cell data by not allowing you to sign up to wi fi.

It is really frustrating to use my data instead of the hotel wifi because someone thinks they need to tell me “the connection is insecure” and then refuse to connect me.

What is really strange is that Apple refuses to acknowledge that the problem even exists.  They just say use “forget this wit fi” and it will be ok when you reconnect but that doesn’t work. 

It is really infuriating and they need to get a  solution to this fast.  

I see questions about it on the internet and the “experts” just refuse to acknowledge it is a problem, which I don’t understand.  

It seems that whoever sets this up feels they need to “protect” you by not allowing you to sign up on Wifi.  I know full well the problem with unprotected wi fi.  

It even affects Starbucks, but I have found that if I go to the Starbucks website to either force a request for a sign on or go to the Starbucks web site and then another web site it is a work around.  

I don’t know who controls this, but I am really getting very tired of the continued “protection” that really is just a way of forcing people to use more data from the cell companies.  It is really strange that the “experts” at Apple and on the internet continually deny this is a problem.  I know it isn’t just me because the internet is full of questions from people who can’t hook onto wifi and the denials by the “experts”.

End of the conference this morning.  It has been a really excellent conference.  I went to a wide variety of sessions so it has been especially interesting.  I expect I will be commenting on many of the sessions here both as a learning experience (I remember a lot better when I try to state what I learned in my own words) and since I feel it is just valuable information.  

What I don’t want to happen is that I get all enthused about what I learn at the conference and then get back into the routine of daily life and forget about taking any action on what I leaned.  

That is the real value (for me) of the ICMA “Credential Manager” program, it makes me summarize how what I learned is a value to me and how I will use the information I learned.   

That’s it for now, Wednesday, October 25, 2017. 

2017 Fall October 24 Tuesday

2017 Fall October 24 Tuesday

59 degrees (49 degrees) this morning 

Last Friday, on the evening of our first day here, Aliene fell and fractured her ankle bone.  She knew almost the moment she fell (she heard it pop) that it was a fracture. 

To say it changed our vacation would be an understatement.  I guess we will never know if it was changed for the better or the worse, but it has definitely changed!  You never really know.

We went to the emergency room Saturday morning and got the official diagnosis that it was a fracture. They put it in a splint and advised her to see an orthopedic surgeon within 3-5 days.

They gave her a “walker”  (suggested crutches but there is no way that would work). 

We quickly realized the walker would not be sufficient and rented a wheelchair.  

Attempting to travel with a walker or a wheelchair is a challenge to say the least, not counting the wear and tear on the person who is using the walker or wheelchair!  However, it has been doable.

We have to be sure we get a large enough vehicle that can carry the wheelchair etc.,  plan ahead to make sure we can get places etc.  Something as simple as going to the bathroom becomes a complex procedure! 

Overall, I”m not all that impressed by the facilities for wheelchairs etc.  (although it is much improved from the 80’s when I had a friend who was in a wheelchair), but at least they are trying.

Overall, people could not be more helpful and understanding.  The number of people who have gone out of their way to assist if needed, really surprised me, even though I usually have found people are willing to help. 

While this is a temporary matter for us, I can’t help but realize the problems for persons who permanently have to use  walkers or wheelchairs.  

Aliene is actually getting around pretty good, I think she just realizes that it is what it is and she’’ll make the best of it.  As she notes, it could have been worse.

There was that moment Friday evening when we knew immediately everything had changed and we couldn’t change that moment.  Of course, for all we know, the ankle bone fractured and then she fell, but I expect she just happened to hit her foot wrong and fell.

As I mentioned, her attitude about it has been amazingly positive, something that is important after something like that happens.  Neither one of us did the “what if” games, and it is actually one of those times when there is really almost nothing we could have done different. 

I guess it is considered “life”, as in “life happens” and you just deal with it.

That’s it for today, Tuesday, October 24, 2017.

2017 Fall October 23 Monday

2017 Fall October 23 Monday

56 degrees (51 degrees) this morning, no walk (as such, plenty of walking during day!)

Apparently the battery on my iPhone may be going out after 3 years.  If that is the case it is the first battery that has ever gone out on me on an Apple product and I have some that are probably 10 years old, including an iPhone 3, 3+, the original iPad and 3 shuffle iPods etc. 

Oddly enough, it is the only Apple phone I haven’t purchased from Apple, I purchased it from ATT.  Not sure if that is the cause or not!  

It actually started after the IOS update and then especially after some type of “carrier update” from ATT that  the problem really got bad, although I really didn’t think it was that bad until yesterday when I could literally see the battery discharge.  

I don’t know how you change a battery on an Apple phone but I have always heard you have to send it off and not have one for two or three days.  Hopefully they will provide a temporary replacement of some sort.

Kind of like water and air, you really realize how important an iPhone is to you until you don’t have one, although I basically have a good idea of how important a phone is.  

However, knowing what it WOULD be like to not have your phone and actually not having your phone are two different things!   Perhaps worst of all is seeing your battery go down, since that is anticipation, and anticipation and reality are two different things.  

Once you have the reality you deal with that, with the anticipation, you are dealing with the unknown, the anticipation that the moment will come when your battery is dead.

Last night, while trying to call an Uber car it dropped from 23% to 1% in about 10 minutes.  For some reason, it held at 1%.  Although we had other phones with us, they were set up for an Uber or Lyft car so it was kind of concerning! 

I think the huge difference between a taxi and a Lyft or Uber car is the way you pay.  Somehow, having it charged to your credit card versus actually paying the driver makes it a difference experience.  Also, I think there is a difference philosophy on the part of the drivers, which really isn’t bad or good, there are certain both good and bad drivers on both sides. 

Attending a conference and paying for it myself and attending a conference paid by your employer is a major difference in your experience.

When it was basically paid by your employer, I always felt had to be attending a session all the time, even it it always wasn’t always that interesting or valuable to me.  I have to also note that many times I went to a session I didn’t really think concerned me and it turned out to be valuable.  

Now that I am paying for it myself, I am more relaxed and don’t necessarily try to be attending a session all the time.  In a way I may get more out of it that way, since it gives me more time to experience orbiter aspects of a conference or just have a difference experience.  (I am taking vacation time, so it also has the aura of a vacation also.)

That’s is for now, Monday, October 22, 2017.