THE GRIM REAPER IS AFTER MY COMPUTER...
...strange things are happening to my Internet Machine...
-
I've heard that the average lifespan of a computer is right around five years. And, no, my computer's not dead yet, but methinks it's beginning to show the signs of Old Age. I can't get most of the 'number' keys to work in Upper Case, which means I don't have any parenthesis, no dollar sign, and most outrageous of all, I have no "at" character which is so vital for writing e-mails and many other functions. I have a way around that for the time being; I can always copy my own e-mail address from my inbox and do sign-ins that way. But...all of a sudden some of my keys aren't working; I don't have an exclamation point or a dollar sign--insert exclamation point here--. Now I must use dashes instead of parenthesis. Some linguistical expert out there will read this post and say, "that's the wrong use for a DASH." I know, I know...
-
Here it is, the homely little laptop computer I've pounded on since Spring, 2007. You can see the white spots on the "touch-mouse" and the "click" button just below it. The other wear spot, up near the slash key, comes from years of playing computer pinball, and that's where I rest my right hand. The forward-slash and the "Z" keys control, respectively, the right and left flippers. Great fun, by the way. This coming spring, I will have had this computer for 4 years. I know I bought an extended computer warranty some time ago. Maybe I'll have to call up Tech Support and listen to some foreign agent in a sweatshop in India and try my best to understand at least half of what he's saying. This poor little machine has served me well; it's been a real trooper. And even if I do get a new computer, I don't wanna lose my Windows XP...or my computer pinball game, so I'll have to find a way to transfer all of that, as well as my other programs. I guess Computers are like us living creatures; the longer life goes on, the more things Just Don't Work Anymore. For instance, I find I'm needing a new pair of Bi-focals more and more as time goeth on. HELP. --insert exclamation point after 'help'--.

--------------------------------------------------

Whilst Roaming Around on the Internet, I found this disturbing picture in which a photoshopper re-mixed President Obama's face with that of someone who is, well, Not President Anymore. Yep, we've got some real sickos out there. Although as Mr. Obama ages and goes gray--and the Office of The President will do that to a person--will he 'morph' into a more Bush-like countenance? I'll tell ya what shocked me; I saw some footage on TV News that showed President Obama striding into some kind of appearance before the News Media, and he had on a suit coat and white shirt, but he was wearing NO TIE. It would've looked better if he'd unbuttoned the white shirt. As such, I was slightly taken aback. Actually, Obama can wear whatever he wants, I guess. But all the while, I'll be listening for the beginnings of a Texas Twang in his speeches.
-
Regarding Our New President, I'm hopeful but skeptical. I don't like the fact we're going to war in Afghanistan; in short, we're just moving the conflict a couple of countries eastward. Well, actually not, for I don't see the end of conflicts in Iran for a long, long time. The group "Chicago" sang a song back in the 1970's called "Dialogue" in which a Seeker Of The Truth asks a young naive college student, "Don't It Make You Angry, The Way War Is Draggin' On?" to which the student replies, "Well, I Hope The President Knows What He's Into, I Don't Know". I guess No President will ever be able to once again Immediately End War. I'm thinkin', maybe we should get out of the Middle Eastern Countries and just let themselves blow each other up.
-
Meanwhile, here at home, some fanatic was arrested for attempting to blow up a plane in mid-air, and it turns out the guy's Dad actually Told Our Government His Son Was Going To Do This, but news of that didn't come out until way after the fact. So, More Airport Security, Once Again. That, then, will offset the measure which was passed recently which would result in Airlines being FINED for making passengers wait waaay too long for their flights. Now, we'll have to beef up security again, so once again people will have to wait and wait and wait for the privilege of being body-scanned before eventually getting into something that resembles a plane. And the increase in security will probably negate any fines to the airlines. What a wacky world, huh?
--------------------------------------------------

And so the year draws to a close. I remember back when 1999 became 2000. And now we're here in a hop, skip and jump. 2010. Some folks are saying this decade of the 00's is coming to an end, and we didn't even know what to call the last decade. Well...there was 9/11, the start of the War in Iran, An Economic mess here at home, a rising crime rate, a Republican President who just about ran this country into the ground...I'd call it the decade of the "oh-oh's". And what decade will we be in as of Midnight Thursday? The "10's"? For some reason, that doesn't sound right. But that's what we're gonna be in whether we like it or not.
-
Do I have any New Years' resolutions? Well, I'd like to be a better guitar player, although if I was gonna be any better, I would be by now. But I don't practice enough. So my resolution would be to practice more? Well, first I would have to build up the resolve to practice more, and who knows how long it will take to actually build my resolve. But first I gotta get the house clean and that's gonna take a while. I saw the A-and-E program, "Hoarders" the other night, and I was shocked at how much my living room looked like that of some hopeless, depressed individual who buys waaay-too-much of everything and then just tosses everything on the floor 'till the mess overtakes them. I need to lose weight, too. I guess I've gotta resolve to start walking more. But that'll interfere with guitar practice and housecleaning...and all of the 'above' interferes with my blogging time, and as far as blog output, this year of '09 has been PATHETIC. So I resolve to blog more. Unless something happens to interfere with that. Okay, Strike all of the above. I'll just take things day-to-day and see what happens. And maybe that's something we all should do more. Just take it day by day.
-
This will be my last post of the year. In this blog's next year, it will have achieved the level of 1,000 posts. I've maintained this blog since 2005 and feel that in some ways, I'm just spinning my wheels here....running out of ideas. I haven't posted regularly, so when I DO blog, the posts come out much too long, as is the case here. So while I ponder all of that, Years' End approacheth nigh, and I'll wish ya and yers a Happy-and Safe-New Years...