Deer Whistles and statistics. Do they really *not* work or can they protect you?

 The first thing we learn in science is that anecdotal evidence is not evidence. Regarding deer whistles, there's no lack of anecdotal evidence! Actually, there is...

I've always had deer whistles on my cars; I think I picked that up from my dad, who had them on his cars.  I've also never hit a deer, but my wife has and she did not have deer whistles.  These are anecdotal and true stories because I've experienced both.  

When I searched the internet, I did a search for both types of stories. I'm sure they exist, but they've not been gathered together in one place.  One thing I noticed was a definitive lack of evidence about them *not* working.  In fact, I found fewer stories about them not working than I did about them working.  And this is the problem with anecdotal evidence.  If the horns work, no one thinks to mention this unless they decide to search for evidence or post a story contrary to their friends. The same is true if they don't use them and they hit a deer.  In the latter, we're more likely to see a story that says, "I hit a deer the other day." and not one that says they did it and they "were" or "were not" using deer whistles.  What is a person to do?

The lack of evidence one way or another is not proof they don't work.  Nor is it proof they do.  However, when all one has is anecdotal, I say better safe than sorry.  Fortunately, they're cheap, and it's not hard to mount them correctly.  My personal opinion is: The reason there are so few stories about deer horns working is because so few people have hit deer and were also using a deer horn.  Also, I do find far more stories about people hitting deer than I do about "not" hitting deer.  Of course, the reason for this is obvious. If we talked about everything that didn't happen to us, it would be boring, and no one would read it. 

Bottom Line: If you're on the fence about using them for a very small price and increased confidence, install them.  Installing them correctly and staying alert around fields and wooded areas near roads wouldn't hurt either. 

FWIW: In every instance I've seen deer and was using a deer horn, I was alert and the deer either already running across the road well ahead of me, or they were standing at the side of the road staring at me.  Whether this was because I was using a deer horn or not, frankly, I don't care.  I'm not going to stop paying attention to the driving conditions!  The best offense is a good defense! 

Express Scripts - A mail order company with conflicts of interest

 Conflict of Interest - 

• a situation in which the concerns or aims of two different parties are incompatible.
• a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.

 Express Scripts (E.S.) is a mail-order prescription supplier and a prescription insurance company.  A conflict of interest arises when your local pharmacy wants to provide a temporary fill for a prescription, and Express Scripts locks out the pharmacy from filling that prescription. "Too Soon to Order"

This is blatantly false because Express Scripts has not yet filled the prescription, shipped the prescription, delivered the drug, and at the very least, "you" have not received the medication.  How can it be too soon for the local pharmacy to fill if you have not received the medication?

The simple answer is it is not too soon.  In fact, local pharmacies and patients always deal with this.  According to one local pharmacy, when asked if this is a problem with all mail-order companies, the response was, "No, this is mainly a problem with Express Scripts." 

Express Scripts knows this is a problem because every time it happens, the local pharmacy can call Express Scripts, explain the circumstance and obtain an exception to fill the prescription.  But this is wrong in too many ways.  First, it is unnecessary and a waste of time for the local pharmacy.  Express Scripts refers to this as an "exception," which it is not; it's a regular occurrence.  All that is required in this day and age of automation is for your doctor to receive a request from the patient indicating that their supply has run out.  (We won't get into solving this problem right now, and we'll save it for another blog.) The doctor requests a local pharmacy for an emergency supply and the prescription with refills from the mail-order company.  Express Scripts fulfillment is automated after the request is made, except for the local pharmacy fulfilling this request. It fills the prescription automatically 'before' the pharmacy can supply me with the emergency supply... and this makes them jump through hoops before they get authorized to fill it.  What a time waster, sarcastically, "Thank you, Express Scripts."

2021-05-18 Update:
A new system was rolled out by Express Scripts; it takes care of 'some' of the issues mentioned above; however, there are others.  Of course, in the switch over... I picture some IT guy's head rolling... from Hero to Zero.  It drained our FSA before it was caught, and suddenly we have no money to pay for prescriptions.  Apparently, the cancer medication is expensive; fortunately for me, it's underwritten... unfortunately getting the money from the FSA was more accessible, if wrong, and drained the account.  This was rectified immediately.. and by that, I mean within a month or so.  Sheesh.  At least it's fixed now.

So, one more issue to throw at everyone.  Having your mail-order drug supplier also be the insurer is a bad idea... One gigantic conflict of interest.  The more orders they withhold from the local provider creating a precidence conflict prohibiting the patient from receiving a temporary supply from a local provider in a timely manner... the more money they save on medication they didn't pay for, as the insurer, when you needed it.  This conflict not only risks the patient's health, it served to prohibit a local supplier earning money. Yeah... it's really like that sometimes. By wasting your time, and the local provider's time resolving the problem, they make money.

Definition: "in a timely manner." By this, I mean to be received in time to meet your medical needs. Causing, for example, a missing medically necessary medication. One that is not received in time to maintain well-being and health, or threatens possible death due to an inability to obtain needed medication.

Excel VBA Sort Any worksheet by Name with a Named Range and Sort list from any Worksheet returning control to the calling sheet: Code included

 I use Vlookup in several sheets to obtain information in a Master List however, the Master list could have been used to lookup information and having been sorted is no longer in the order needed for Vlookup to work.  So, I needed a quickway to Sort that list into the correct order.  This routine allows me to make sure it is sorted for a lookup from any other sheet,

It also allows one to sort any Named Range, in any sheet by any sort list.

I got tired of needing to access data from a worksheet in an ordered fashion and creating a sort routine for that sheet.  With this, I can create a button, and sort any Range in any way I want from any sheet that needs it. 

The only requirements are:

The sheet must have a Named Range to be sorted and a Named Range which is the list to sort it by.  When calling from a different sheet, the routine activates the sheet with the Range to be sorted, sorts it, and returns to the active sheet it was called from. No more jumping back and forth.  

If I create a Sorting routine for a sheet, that looks up data from a Master list, I can first sort the Master List before calling the routine for the sheet that uses it.  No more messed up lookups because the Master List was sorted by another routine.

For safety, the routine also will debug print information that will allow you to confirm the sorting routine is working the way you want.  If you need different search criteria, the code can be added to this routine to give you even more fine control of the list being sorted.  The sort here is a generic one.  Alphabetical by the Range listed.

If this helps, leave me a comment.

Sub MasterSort(WorksheetName As String, RangeToSort As String, ColumnToSortBy As String)

'

' SortName Macro

' Sort from Any Worksheet any Sort with a NamedRange and SortColumn if  needed for reference in a VLookup form another WorksheetName, RangeToSort and ColumnToSortby

' Retains ActiveWorksheet before Call

' Prints in immediate mode activity for confirmation'

Dim OldWorksheetName As String

OldWorksheetName = ActiveSheet.Name

Debug.Print "Current Active calling Worksheet:" & ActiveSheet.Name, " CodeName of Sheet: "; ActiveSheet.CodeName

'Activate sheet to be sorted

    Worksheets(WorksheetName).Activate

    Worksheets(WorksheetName).Select

    Debug.Print "Worksheet being sorted: "; WorksheetName, " CodeName of Sheet: "; ActiveSheet.CodeName, " Named Range being sorted: "; RangeToSort; " and Column of Sort: "; ColumnToSortBy

'Sort activated sheet

    Range(RangeToSort).Select

    ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(WorksheetName).Sort.SortFields.Clear

    ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(WorksheetName).Sort.SortFields.Add2 Key:=Range( _

        ColumnToSortBy), SortOn:=xlSortOnValues, Order:=xlAscending, DataOption:= _

        xlSortNormal

    With ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(WorksheetName).Sort

        .SetRange Range(RangeToSort)

        .Header = xlGuess

        .MatchCase = False

        .Orientation = xlTopToBottom

        .SortMethod = xlPinYin

        .Apply

    End With

        Range("A1").Select 'places the cursor in the top-left cell.

             

 ' When done, reactivate the calling sheet

 

        Worksheets(OldWorksheetName).Activate

        Worksheets(OldWorksheetName).Select

        Debug.Print "Returning control to " & ActiveSheet.Name

End Sub

The problem is/was/will be no one wants to listen and/or do anything about it.

I recently ran into a post where someone commented: "The problem is/was/will be no one wants to listen and/or do anything about it."  The subject was the pandemic; however, I've encountered this a lot over the last few years; and decided I had to respond.  I had been looking for a common denominator to classify most people who bought into propagating false information.  And this is what I believe I've discovered:   When I run into a particular point of view: I like to divide it into two categories that follow this basic rule.  "There are two kinds of people; those who divide everything into two categories; and those who don't."  As a fundamental premise, I find it allows me to expand on the 2nd clause of this statement.  This was my response to them.

There are two kinds of people in the world, those who understand that the world is complex; and those that think no one wants to listen and/or do anything about it. I noticed a critical factor in the disinformation of conspiracy theories: most people spreading false information believe no one cares about anyone. Still, they, and a majority of those people, aren't even sure about themselves. 

In supporting the false claims by accepting like-minded experts, who are experts only in the eyes of those who only want to hear what they believe, they contradict themselves. Apparently, the only ones, they think, who care are those who hold the same view as they do; and so instead of doing the work of discovering on their own, they believe that like-minded one does care because they've found someone who is a little more like them. So, while they claim, or presume to claim, that no one listens or cares, they think that because they care about this or *that*, similar and like-minded people must also care. 

Unfortunately, reality shows that the people who care the most are the ones who are willing to listen to others; and do not get stuck in accepting even their own theories but are eager to look into other "non-like minded" ideas... and work their way toward the truth, especially when that non-like minded person proves they're an unreliable source. And that's the difference between people who care; and those who think no one listens or cares. 

So, like someone who cares, I've considered your claim that "No one wants to listen and/or do anything about it." I've left the concept of "it" pretty broad but also aligned with your talking about the pandemic and found it false, not just broadly but specifically regarding the pandemic. I'd like to add that I've cared enough to write this, and pointing out that "No one listens or cares" is false. I have also read the book "Code Breakers" which gives the history of the discoveries that led to the vaccine's development.  However, it points to a category or classification of the people who think that: " no one cares." However, I presume you must care; because you do seem to question, but I feel also feel that having that attitude of not caring causes you to tread very closely to those who heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and I suggest instead that you turn to the truth, and discover it for yourself. But, I reject the concept that "no one" listens or "no one does anything about it." It is a very dangerous stance to claim as an absolute.

This kind of statement makes a wild claim of some absolute that gets the most ire and attention.  Most people know inherently that an absolute claim is false, yet it rankles them when someone else does it.  Clearly, no one believes an absolute to be accurate; unless it's a religious statement.  Even then, most people are open-minded to some degree, even about what they know with certainty. 

Securing the rights of all Americans and the constitution.

Several critical issues that must address in the future have emerged in the wake of the 2020 election. The recent election has shown that the people's will is under attack. If we do not resolve these issues, we can see an end to the American experiment of freedom and a country run by the people. We must have a system to establish fact from fiction.


A. Gerrymandering: There are two possible solutions for this. [1:] Mathematicians produced a computer program that creates unbiased district lines. (Stacey, K. (2017, November 08). Researchers devise an algorithm to combat gerrymandering. Retrieved December 27, 2020, from https://phys.org/news/2017-11-algorithm-combat-gerrymandering.html.) The program has been shown to mathematically draw lines that remove human interference and political biases. Or, if we choose, we could [2:] Eliminate the Electoral College permanently and move toward a popular vote system.

One Republican who responded to a statement about using the popular vote suggested that something similar to the Social Security number could be used to ensure that each American gets one vote. (He told us we could use our Social Security Number, but something similar would be better.) While we must ensure that individual states stay involved in the collection and tabulation, we must not allow our voting to fall under one department controlled by any part of the Federal government. The current system maintains independence, and anything that could replace that present system must embody the same spirit held in the concept of state independence. We must also ensure that no state can eliminate or deter the people's rights. 

We can do it! The Electoral College was developed when communicating the vote to Washington, DC, was cumbersome. The electoral college was principally designed to facilitate and expedite the people's voting decisions for our legislators. (In other words, pass on the information, not provide an opportunity to meddle or change the outcome.) The system was also designed to ensure that states with lower populations were represented fairly. Implementing a popular vote system at both state and federal levels is possible to ensure we lose none of this protection and interest. 

We've recently become aware of the weakness of how the Attorney General for the US is selected and how politics can usurp the independence of this selection. We must discover a means by which the AG can maintain its role as an independent investigator while securing for the future that no president can exert political influence in this selection. The AG must be held to the highest standards that ensure that investigations follow the rule of law and the constitution and that everyone, regardless of their political affiliation, is treated fairly and equally under this law. 

One suggestion was to install a non-partisan body of legislators selected from both the House and Senate from Congress to oversee the process and be given the authority to either select the AG or intervein when discovery shows that a president has compromised this process. I would like an open discussion on how we might implement this. 

How to ensure that this right is not compromised could be handled in many ways and is open to debate; however, the end result should ensure that no one is discriminated against, and their voting rights should be based on the same criteria that determine citizenship. ............................ The key concept behind these issues is one of oversight. An independent body could be created, ensuring that things we have taken for granted that have hitherto only been protected by convention and good intentions.  These societal values need protecting. 

In the last election, a few people attempted to discredit our election and reverse the people's will in several states. The ethical dilemma brings to the forefront methods of disinformation utilized to mislead the American people. One example that comes to mind is an instance on TV. I am a big fan of "Westerns." Shows and movies embody the pioneer spirit and often present scenarios containing ethical dilemmas faced by the country and our pioneers in the early days. In one show, a neighbor attempts quite successfully to discredit another neighbor to remove them from exercising their rights to live free and independently according to the law. The 'bad' neighbor slaughters one cow of his own in his personal herd of cattle and leaves it just inside the property of the 'good' neighbor while simultaneously spreading rumors that he was under attack by a good neighbor.

Later, after leaving his cow on the neighbor's property, he complains about that 'good' neighbor by telling everyone that the man is attacking his herd. Afterward, the town sheriff investigates the claims and discovers the slaughtered animal. The 'bad' neighbor employs various tactics, destroying his property and blaming others. The incidents escalate and are used to provide evidence that the 'good' neighbor is breaking the law. 

In Hollywood, stories usually end with a happily ever after by some means of discovery that don't always appear in real life, but in this case, the show saves the 'good' guy while the 'bad' guy is caught. Not always an easy task against the vote of popular opinion.  The popular belief was in favor of the man causing the problem. This was part of the theme, shown before the truth came out in the show.  

In real life, things don't always work out. One example was seen in this last election, 45 v 46, where things got started with the then-current president claiming that the other side was cheating and attempting to steal the election, while in truth, there was no proof; except to show that by various means, that the then-current president and his cronies were doing the thing they were accusing of others. 

How does one defend against such behavior when the people we should trust to look out for our country and our best interests no longer find it within themselves to do so? Ultimately, the plan was unsuccessful (but they are still trying); we still have weeks to go before the issue is entirely resolved. In this case, people on both sides will need to step forward to uphold the laws put in place to protect our rights. But, it does show that when the wrong people are in a position of power, things can and do go very badly. 

Is there a way to prevent this from happening again?

If we can have an opportunity to do so, we may discover that this was the most extensive attempt to take over and destroy this country by a foreign power since the country was founded. I  suspect that foreign power(s) and interests have positioned themselves for this attempt for many years, including installing sleeper agents into positions of power. And I also suspect, though it may never be proven, that a foreign country planted a deadly virus in China to destroy US relations with that country.

We know the US was vulnerable to chemical or biological warfare for years. What better way than to release a deadly virus in a country that is not on the best terms with the US; and make them look like the 'bad guys?' Again, we may never know. However, I do not believe in coincidence. It was too convenient that a deadly epidemic threw our country into turmoil while we were undergoing an attempted coup to overthrow democracy and destroy the rights of the American people. 

In the end, the courts have, again... so far, upheld that all the charges were without merit; and the rule of law prevailed... this time. But what about the next time? 

Psychological operations were carried out to spread disinformation to divide and sway almost half of the country into believing in events that did not occur. In my attempts to understand why the division existed, in every case, the response was one of fervent belief in things that were without merit or proof. Rumors spread by the faction attempting to dismantle the system from within and without. The Rule of Law was under attack! As we reached the last battleground, the Supreme Court. My faith in the system did not waver. I had hoped that good people who had dedicated their lives to the rule of law would not be persuaded to subvert the system. I expected, and at times it appeared to be above all "reason" that a higher standard of ideals would prevail when push came to shove. In this case, I was told I was foolish to believe that right would prevail and that too many people had been bought and sold. And, in this case, I felt that even though people placed into the supreme court did not hold my political views on how the country should be run, I had hope that they would abide by the same ideal that I held when I swore an oath while working for the government many years ago. And this was to support the Constitution and lay aside my personal convictions when administering the work I had been hired to do. We know it as the Hatch Act. 

I have never felt conflicted in doing my duty versus voting my convictions. And, I had hope that justice would prevail. And we know now the outcome because the Supreme Court upheld that the attempted takeover of the election results was without merit. The rule of law prevailed! Going forward, this was too close to ignore the events of the last four years. Many people were duped into believing the misinformation being fed into the country from foreign powers and those supporting those foreign powers. Our system was pushed to the limit; if we do not act and decide to remain complacent, the next attempt could be successful. 

Finally, I want to point out a proven scientific fact. We should not underestimate the power of the numbers. We often dismiss statistics with what has become a well-known saying. Liars, damn liars, and statisticians. However, statistics does have its place, and statistics show that the majority always has the answer regarding averages. One proof of this has been shown repeatedly, which I'll repeat and give through a simple story. 

Postulate a large jar of marbles, the number of which is unknown by anyone. We ask everyone we can to make a guess at that number. Science has shown time and time again, in all kinds of scenarios, that the majority can provide the solution to the question. In this case, how many marbles are there? By taking the average of all the answers and using a statistical law, "Teacher's rule," which in statistics is used to throw out the wild answers, like 1 Billion, for example. The average of all guesses will be close enough to the correct number to make it statistically significant. Indeed, this is a straightforward example, but this can work in all cases. We should look to the popular vote to determine our elections. When choosing the best answer to a problem, an average of all responses will provide the actual probability of a solution close enough to bring about the needed changes. The caveat is "provided that the majority has not been fooled."  The whole purpose of Psychological operations used by foreign powers is to sway the people into making bad decisions.  

And so, I suggest one more issue that must be handled if we want to survive as a country. Currently, we count on the people interested in truth to do the fact-checking. This works if one looks at what the majority of people are saying. But, we should have a system of checks and balances to thwart the steady stream of misinformation that has appeared since the advent of the internet and social media. Social media is not a good source of information. It may be a good source of interesting stuff; it's certainly a good source of information about things that people *want* to believe, but it's not always a good source of truth. Right now, we must police ourselves and do the work of not being deceived. Is there a better way to ensure that we are not deceived? I'm open to suggestions; anyone?

Windows 10 version 2004 update

Microsoft says that the newest update is pretty much, but not completely, free of issues; they will be listed when you choose to update it.  Click the supplied link about the new update.

I would like to entail my (cough) trouble free update, if one can call it that.

First I checked for updates and my defender wouldn't update definitions.  I had to keep refreshing the "check for updates option" by leaving and returning to this option. Finally, the update began; but it had listed one other update, which for some reason, disappeared... for now.

I checked for updates a few times with nothing appearing, and decided it was a glitch; and chose to download and install the new 2004 version.

Six or more hours later... I got all the way to 91% installed; and it stopped.  After leaving the computer to itself for a couple hours; I decided I had to stop the update; and, sure enough, there were two more updates for me to install.  Another defender definition; and the errant update for .net that disappeared on me earlier.

So, I gave it the go ahead for these two updates; the defender went quickly, so quickly that it went from downloading to disappeared; but a quick check of Defender showed it had installed. All well and good, the next one took about 20 minutes, and after a couple "check for updates" I gave it a go again expecting that it should start at 91% but, no... it wanted to download again.  I sat around, watched it climb to 80% in about 10 minutes, then dropped to 45% and kept going slowly upward.  So I stopped for dinner, and some family time.

At 11:00pm, about 5 hours later, I stopped in to check on it; and it seemed to be stalled, so I requested the family to shut down their phones, and to stay off the internet.  After watching some television with my wife; I checked on it before going to bed; and discovered it was "getting things ready" so, all seemed good; and while my spouse went to bed; I watched the news and checked again to find that it was installing, and at about 18% so I thought I might as well go to bed.

I'm generally a light sleeper; and at 4:50am, my daughter got up to make a personal visit; since I was awake, I decided to go and check on the machine.

I came into to room with the machine displaying a message saying that it was updating at 0% and would restart several times.  Not believing in coincidence; I've been here before, and seen installations stall at 0% and it was never good; so, my paranoia set in; and I hunkered down to babysit.  Much to my surprise about a half hour or so as I was watching TV, it got to about 18% and restarted for what I presumed was the first time.  I munched on my fingernails for a few minutes as I watched it try to restart, the screen blinking off and on, the logo appearing and disappearing, waiting for the installation message to appear; which to my relief, it did.  

This continued off and on, installing and restarting repeatedly, while the counter steadily rose to 98...99... 100%; and it shut down.  I crossed my fingers, and said a prayer... but, figured, if I got that far I would be home free!   I was tense, and lost track of time; it took a while to come up; but when it did... I saw the familiar "Welcome" and while it finished the initial set up; I contemplated the word welcome.  My first thought was "Well come" and it thought, yes, it was well that I'd come this far.  Minutes and multiple times, I sat quietly listening to the hard drive buzzing away.  The activity light a steady yellow glow, only intermittently and sporadically giving the lonesome blink to the steady drum and thrum of the drive.  Well come indeed I thought; and entered my password and was surprised that only a short time later when my desktop appeared; and I was up... or so I thought.

After an update, I run a machine through its paces.  Earlier, while waiting, I pulled up some sites on my phone that complained about all the problems with this version; along with a Microsoft detailed list of issues since May 2020.  As I scanned the list; I noticed that most were resolved.  The couple that were not; dealt with apps; and printers; and server problems... and, the list was by no means small.  Multiple sites and multiple users with multiple complaints.... I was nervous; but hopeful. None appeared to be potentially my problem; well, there was one.

I noticed a complaint about Fax and Scan; so the first thing after I got to the desktop was to pull up the Microsoft Fax and Scan App... naturally.  I made sure my multifunction printer was on; and clicked Scan... and it stalled.  Dead in the water.

I quickly checked the protected folder access to see if perhaps it was stalling on accessing a protected folder.  Months earlier I had to give this app, or a part of it access to folders, so it would save to my document folder, instead of just to the C: drive.  Nope, no issues there.  I checked for anything, and found only old messages; apparently some Microsoft apps needed special privileges; but that too was taken care of months ago; but it did make me worry.  I checked and double checked months earlier when some Microsoft subsystems had folder access issues; and discovering they had the right certs showing ownership had allowed them access; but, that was months earlier.  Deciding to play it safe.  I turned off 'temporarily' protected folder access... and yep; the Fax and Scan was still stalling.

Fortunately, every time it did, and I had to force a shut down; I made a feedback (problem) report to Microsoft.  Right after an update; when they ask, I always give Microsoft full verbose mode on all activities; I can shut them down later when things are working.  Everyone is a bit nosey nowadays; sometimes I think a bit too much for my tastes; but, initially, yes; I'll help.  Giving up on that, I post to the feedback hub about the app not scanning; an issue discussed a month earlier; but found no other feedback; and moved on.

I grabbed a needed a screenshot for the bug report; and that worked, until I went to look at the image to make a few notes in it. I discovered that right clicking on the menu; and using "Open with..." caused the menu to freeze ... here we go I thought; it's buggy.

To make an already too long of a story short; I found numerous bugs; all of which I reported. "Icons were missing, I couldn't add or remove programs,  This went on for a few hours; longer than the amount of sleep I got last night until I ran across another article while researching the "Open with.." bug, and read someone saying... "Restart the machine." I thought; well, no... it can't be that easy could it.  My memory toggled on an earlier piece I read which mentioned that in the early months; Windows would restart too many times; but that the issue was resolved.  Could it really only need (1) more restart?  So, I crossed my fingers... Shut it down; and restarted.

Twenty minutes later I was commenting on all my feedback saying... Restarting fixed the issue, resolved.  So, in the end, other than needing, 1 extra restart; if I'd had a little faith that they had resolved the issues in 3 months; I'd have done a lot less nail biting.  But, problems, indeed yes there were.  But, in truth, these were all false starts; and restarts by Microsoft; the system recognizing, that something had gone wrong; and taking a few steps back, and starting over.   It was a different experience to be sure; one I hope only gets better with the next update; but, far from being simple or easy.  In the end, it required way less of my intervention than what I give it.  Who knew.  In many ways, it was reminiscent of the old Windows, which was fraught with tiny little issues; always resolved; but, time consuming.

Over the years, installations have gotten way harder, way more complex; and security much tighter than in the old days; still; I have to admit that in spite of the problems; most of them were ultimately in my head.  Sure, we did the drunkard's shuffle a few times... one step forward and two steps back; but, in the end we made it home safely.  Only time, and the upcoming weeks will tell.  As for me; I think I need a nap.  In total, the installation itself took hours; most of it without my intervention.  But, with my paranoia; I wasted at least half of those tracking down solutions to problems that ultimately did not exist.

So, keeping this in mind; let the machine do it's thing.  Keep checking for updates when it stalls or fails; give it at least an hour before deciding it's stopped moving forward.  Restart, and try again; and don't mess with it if it's still progressing, no matter how many times it goes backward and starts again.  And, ask the family to give you all the bandwidth you can grab.  You're going to need it.

One machine down, and two to go.  Good luck!  P.S. Yes, I remembered to turn on the Ransomware protection: protected folder access!  All my settings were intact and everything is still running great... so far!

   

On Writing

It's a shame to borrow from a writer who I consider a prolific and entertaining writer. Still, I'm remiss if I insinuated that his works greatly influenced me.  Yet, I admire his work, what little of it I read. The first story I remember was "Apt Pupil" which disturbed me so much when I learned that a writer could not only get into a reader's head; but, make him think things the one would never have conceived to have thought.  I admired it so much that I read one other, "It."  In it, I searched it for the secret to S.K.'s ability to imbue words with so much power. While I believe I found that secret, I'm not sure I could ever make use of it, and certainly not in the same way.  It is my opinion; however, one other author used similar techniques in a different, more esoteric way. "The Spire" by William Golding.  I'll leave it to the reader to discover the secret independently.

I think it should go without saying that some of the best works of SciFi and Fantasy were by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the "Darkover" novels.  With that said, I'm almost ashamed to admit I've read and enjoyed Piers Anthony.  But, we all have to start somewhere. 

The first Science Fiction book I can remember reading was in the third grade.  I believe it was Isaac Asimov's "The Rings of Saturn."  I was told it was a bit heady for a 3rd grader.  But what I really remember most was how much I enjoyed it.  At the beginning of the year, I remember the school putting me into a remedial reading program, saying I had comprehension problems.  At eight years old, I'm not sure I even had a clue what that was, but I do recall this problem was determined by a test they gave me when I read the poem "Jack and Jill." I made too many presumptions about what was going on in the story; I can almost remember what that was.  It had something to do with what Jack thought about Jill when she came tumbling after rather than only stating the facts.  

Whatever my problem was, after 3 months of intensely reading boxes of laminated and brightly colored story sheets, complete with tests, I had passed, reading the entire course in one school year.  When I finished, I devoured Asimov's "Rings of Saturn" and remember clearly the librarian commenting on my reading at the high school level.   I even understood what she meant!  That was the start of a life of reading that continues to this day.

But, the first book that really made an impression on me was written in green ink, "Shadow Castle" by Marian Cockrell.  There was something magical about it which I later discovered to be Fantasy!  Trying to fuel that, I remember my parents grumbling about how much it cost for the weekly readers and the books the school sold to raise money.  Around the same time, I got a book that almost ruined me.  I still have nightmares about it.  Not often, mind you, but I think it creeps in now and then just to taunt me.  Don't laugh, but "Alice in Wonderland" made an even bigger impression; just the wrong one.  I remember reading it like a passerby staring at a car wreck.  Something about the baby, the pig and the cook just won't leave my subconscious alone.  I probably should reread it just to destimulate the memory.  I only came to appreciate it after my Uncle bought me a coloring book with puzzles.  I still love logic puzzles, which always remind me of my father.  I never realized it until much later in life; but, he often passed on his gems of wisdom in the form of logic puzzles.  "Did you know there are two kinds of people in this world?  Those that divide everything into two categories; and those that don't.  Does there exist a man such that when he drinks, everybody drinks?"  My father loved his cocktails.  My earliest memory consists of things like "What's blue and goes ding dong?"  Of course, the answer is "a blue ding dong", and the same with all colors except red, which, is a fire engine.  What a card!  I wish I'd gotten to know the man all his friends knew; unfortunately, cancer took him at 65 years of age.

But I digress.  I believe the subject was "On writing," so, as one might expect, I'm a writer.  Amateur, of course, I've never been paid to write anything; unless one counts technical papers, which I don't.  I've been told since as far back as I can remember that I'll never be able to write Fiction.  I'm starting to believe this is true, and so naturally, my most ardent desire is to write Fiction, Science Fiction.  I'm working on that right now, as a matter of fact.  Well, there's the rub; I'm writing this right now.  I haven't touched my fictional writing in almost a week.  I'd like to say it's writer's block.  But, like this, I always have writer's block, but it doesn't stop me from writing.  For some reason, it's just never Fiction... go figure.  If I could only just stop comparing myself to my favorite authors...

Update: 2023-06-17:  I am about 25% of the way through writing my book.  My wife, an avid reader of 2-3 books a week, says it's excellent, and I must finish it.  

She also said I cannot tell you anything about the story.