If you are not the first to notice that Microsoft “searches” really bite don’t feel bad. I mention this because there is no practical way to go back in this blog and search for most terms. Try it. All you get is the file name and of course, the idiotic MS search screen that blocks what you are trying to see. That goes a long way to explaining why, besides the sheer size of this work, you often see similar passages.[Author's note 2014-06-04: That was a note to myself, which I'll clarify. Google removed the search-within-a-search feature that originally was an integral part of this blog. For that reason, I did not include an index and now, thanks to Google, I can't find old posts here that I know exist. I myself have only one way to find those posts and that is a search on my computer. But I'm saying that the Microsoft search feature is terrible. It blocks half your screen and if it finds nothing, does not remind you what it was looking for. Thus, it was designed for dummies who can only manage one search at a time. If I hurt any feelings with that, well, I meant it, so there.]
I have some self-discovered trivia today--about microwave ovens. Wallace gave Dan-O a lift to work. I’d just finished making breakfast and noticed a fly in the kitchen, so I put Wallace’s plate in the microwave cavity. I figured that would also be convenient to reheat when he returned. He was gone an hour so I went to take the plate out and the food was still hot. No, not microwaved, but still hot from cooking on the stove an hour earlier. I’m certain this information is of some use to somebody. Somewhere. (The trivia is how something stays hot in the microwave [cavity] for an hour.)
I was taught a lesson today, a lesson about life--some people will steal anything. They say it is the certainty, not the severity, of punishment that discourages crime. This encourages the small time operators because it is well known the police don’t bother with petty crimes around here. My bicycle always gets cable locked to a metal post. Today, somebody stole the cable and left the bicycle. The happy news is I am now pushing 3,800 miles on that bicycle, so even if it disappears, it has done its duty. Significantly, riding a bicycle not only healthier in terms of a general mild exercise, it is easier on your system than walking the same distance. To anyone who points out the danger of a heart attack, I point out that I cannot walk 5 miles. But I regularly bike it.
So that there is no misinterpretation, my former career at the phone company left me unable to perform jobs with any measurable stress levels. Part of my lengthy search for work was to find something with minimal or preferably zero stress. This turns out to be impossible within reason. I have often said that I don’t mind a low-paying job as long as you don’t have to do anything. In Florida, the system will work you to death for minimum wage. From a legal standpoint, the physiological inability of my heart to withstand stress occurred too late in time to hold the phone company responsible.
This is a difficult situation for me, as I used to be able to walk in and get a job anywhere. For those not aware of it, I suffered a heart attack at an early age, and no direct cause was found. I had (and have) no contributing habits or conditions except a normally advancing cholesterol level within acceptable range. It was stress, the insidious brand. And yes, I can detect mild symptoms already but the test is whether they remain or advance.
Then somebody yards off with my bicycle cable. It’s a cruel world and I’m not the first to notice it is not filled with retired telephone employees.
The pundits (I like that word, it has such evil connotations of ulterior motives) are saying that real estate is back on track. Another sucker rally. Will they never learn? As Andrew Malchon said, “After age 55 you do NOT need an open credit line, you need cash in the bank.” He’s the extremely accurate predictor of so many events that he is not to be ignored. And he says state and city bonds (real estate based loans) will begin to default in 2010. His prediction for mid-2009? Another terrorist attack at the Wall Street area of New York or the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. That should be any day now.
[Author's note 2014-06-04: As we know, nobody took out the Treasury. But that's okay, they are doing a fine enough job of digging themselves into a bottomless crater.]
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