Why Am I Still Paying Bills by Mail?
...and, why have I been posting so much lately?

The answer to both of those questions is, "I don't know". Except that actually going somewhere to mail something provides me with a sort of social life. And as far as the posting goes, well, it's the TV company's fault. You see, if MY CABLE CHANNEL PROVIDER HAD "TBS", I'd be watching the baseball playoff games that aren't on FOX! The game between the Colorado Rockies and whoever it is they're playing is going on right now as I type this, and I can't STAND it! Well, all of the World Series games will be on Fox, so I'll see all of those. So, without a SECOND baseball game for me to watch tonite, there's more time to blog. Whoopee.

I thought it was a "convenience" store: Today, I had to get two money orders, and the nearest outlet for that is a little convenience store about 3 miles away from me, so into town I went. And, Verizon is now about $185 richer, and I also had to pay for something I've ordered on Ebay. (This particular Ebay seller doesn't use "paypal", doggone it!) So anyway, the clerk processed one money order, and that's when the money order machine RAN OUT. She said, "I can either refund your money or you can wait for my supervisor to get here"; the supervisor evidently had access to blank money orders...well, I don't like to wait...especially at a CONVENIENCE store, but what else could I do? So wait I did, and all turned out well, and that Ebay seller will soon be about $30 richer.

I guess Tony Blair ain't in office no mo': England, Britain, U.K. or whatever it's called is in the process of pulling its troops OUT of Iraq. I guess there's about 5,000 of them left over there, and soon, half of that amount will return to the land of the Pound-Sterling. And I read today that NONE of this country's Democratic Prezzidential Candidates wants to commit to having all of OUR troops pulled out by the end of the next first term. Meantime, Prezzident Bush still has over 400 days left in office. And he wants more and more money to fight the "war on terror" at the expense of American Citizens who don't have adequate wages, health care, or employment opportunities. There's nothing intelligent about this paragraph; rather, I'm just putting several things together in point-counterpoint fashion. Somethin's happenin' here; what it is, ain't exactly clear...

Now, this makes sense: A short letter to the editor in today's Eugene Register-Guard newspaper caught my eye; so much so that I am quoting THE ENTIRE THING: "A recent letter to the editor chides a previous writer as being un-American for being critical of our government, and suggests the author should move to Iran where criticism has severe consequences. If this idea were followed completely, citizens who criticize their government would live in countries that don't allow criticism, and citizens who don't criticize their government would live in tolerant countries. I think the wrong people are being asked to move." I LIKE that. And, I think everyone connected with this current Republican Prezzidential Administration should read it and take it to heart. Well, fairly soon, Bush and his henchmen will "move" from Washington, D.C. Something to look forward to.

I was a latecomer to computers: I guess people have been regularly going online since, what, the mid-80s? The early '90s? When DID Al Gore invented the internet, anyway? I first went online in 1997, so, a lot of computer machinery came and went long before I ever had my first e-mail address. Between 1974, when I had to use punch cards to program a mammoth computer the size of my living room (homework from a math class I took in college), and 1997, I didn't TOUCH a computer. As time went on, I'd heard of the internet, and e-mail, and instant messaging, but I didn't give a hoot; didn't want to know about any of that stuff. And nowadays, I wonder how I managed without computer access. Next thing you know, I'll be getting a video-phone that plays music and movies and has annoying ringtones and all of the other bells and whistles that everyone seems to need these days. Ack! Anyway, I have a coupla pix to show ya...and while they might be from your past, they're not from MY past...

Two ancient computers, which are now dinosaurs languishing in a tar pit somewhere...that's the "Compaq Portable 2" from 1986 (top) and the MacIntosh Portable, from 1989. Actually, that "Mac" looks not unlike a laptop computer; it even has a "trackball" there in the right corner, which is a spiffy way to 'mouse around'. But, that was then, this is now, and my little laptop computer (which I am almost, but not quite a slave to), with its touch-pad mouse and wireless connection really is the cat's pajamas. And when I bought it in February of this year, there was probably a more-updated model just waiting to replace it. There are several websites for old computers where you can see many more of these old dinosaurs.
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Finally, one more computer thing: A couple of days ago, I downloaded a program called "Speedfree" which guaranteed to speed up my computer. And what effect did it have? It slowed DOWN my computer. So, like voters with the Republican Party in 2009, I gave ol' "Speedfree" the BOOT.