I heard something the other day…food for thought.

A co-worker of mine had this to say:  “I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed.”

Jeff, I think you’ve said a mouthful.  I’m not sure who originally said this, or if it’s a slight variation on a truly quotable quote, but I definitely get it! 

So much so that I think I’ll adopt it as a mantra…my lantern in dark places…the rocky ledge I cling to…

From the dictionary:  NOUN:  Wit:
 

1. The natural ability to perceive and understand; intelligence.
2. 1. Keenness and quickness of perception or discernment; ingenuity. Often used in the plural: living by one’s wits.
   2. wits Sound mental faculties; sanity: scared out of my wits.
3. 1. The ability to perceive and express in an ingeniously humorous manner the relationship between seemingly incongruous or disparate things.
   2. One noted for this ability, especially one skilled in repartee.
   3. A person of exceptional intelligence.

 

There are so many times in my life where I wish I had understood this already.  Times where I felt as if I were bashing my head against a brick wall.  I’m not saying, however, that I am always in the right, or that my ideas of things are the truest…au contrere…I believe there are fundamental differences in the sexes and they way they think, speak, and behave.  I believe there are basic principles to live by, but one’s interpretation of these principles are based upon life experience, and in no small way, religion.  So we are all human beings, fallible, just trying to muddle through it, doing the best we can with what we have; learning along the way, applying those things in our daily lives, and striving towards enlightenment, for lack of a better word.  {Gawd, I sound like a self-help book…lol}

But, I think it’s this understanding of human nature, or lack of understanding, moreover, that sets us apart…or, more to the point…drives me crazy…endangers my sensibilities…hurts me, inevitably.  {I need to enter that Writing like Hemingway contest, huh?  look at all those run-on sentences!}  Finding a life-partner who has similar interpretations, putting up with the ineptitude of your superiors in the workplace, and dealing with those people who cross your life’s path, can be really frustrating without some kind of dogma to live by.  I know of one such teaching: it’s called The Golden Rule.  “Do unto others what you would have done unto you”.  Baby, that says it all!  There’s nothing else for us idealists.  But how can we cope, in the interim, with those folks who just don’t get it?!  Why, we adopt a mantra as written in the beginning of this post…the whole reason for this post, as long-winded as it is…my new standard…my cure.

“I refuse to have a battle of wits with someone who is unarmed!”

Thanks, Jeff, for this great euphimism, and thanks to whoever said it first {I need to look this up, me thinks}.  You’ve saved my life, you really have…

Happy New Year!

I’m not one to make New Years’ resolutions very often, but in this case, I think I’ll give it a whirl…

I should be blogging more.  I should make an outline of what subject matter means the most to me.  Reviews of new sites, applications are fine, but I’m coming around again to the me that is satisfied with the programs I have now.  I’ve gotten some response from my Windows Help posts, so, perhaps, it’s time to delve more into that.  I’ve had comments on the screenshots of my desktop where people want to know how I’ve tweaked my themes, styles, icons, etc, so if you’re a tweaker like me, and like to change your wallpaper, colors, and look of your desktop every other day, then, hopefully, I’ll cater to you folks as well.

But, as always, time is a factor.  I have a day-job.  Blogging isn’t my livelyhood.  And I have to get ready for work now.

I sincerely wish everyone a Happy New Year!  Be good to each other. 

Brenda

Christmas Theme

…thought I would get into the spirit somewhat and change my theme for a couple of weeks…

…and here’s a screenshot of my desktop…

more Windows help…

Hmm, I’ve been getting a lot of hits on my post about Windows startup slow-down. Guess I’ll have to blog some more in that direction…stay tuned, ladies and gentlemen, as I think about how best to manipulate your startup items. My first gut impulse is to suggest you go download Spybot Search & Destroy. I like it more than the others out there…it seems to be the most comprehensive application for disabling adware, malware, and spyware, AND in the advanced mode, it can put your fingers on many other processes and functions that would require you to tweak the registry on your own otherwise…including the startup menu! And, of course, the best part…it’s free! I highly recommend you have some sort of anti-spy program running all the time, thus it will be one of your startup items…heh heh…catch 22, huh? But Spybot doesn’t hog too much RAM when the Resident is running in the background…only when you are making a scan, does it pull.

But, alas, I must get ready for work…more on Spybot, screenshots, etc when I have a moment longer to blog…

Windows Management Instrumentation [WMI]

Well, it seems I have frigged-up my WMI somehow. Some of the .dlls are missing. So, for the past 2 days, I have been trying to find a fix on the Knowledge Base at Microsoft.com. The link to reinstall WMI is missing from the site…@#$%^&…I’ve tried several steps listed…and it looks like the only alternative is to repair Windows. Which, if I’m not mistaken will more than likely turn into a format, since the OEM on my Dell is XP SP1. It tells me it can’t make a repair of Windows since I’m running SP2? If anyone has any suggestions, I’d be more than happy to consider pointers. I’ve formatted hard drives before, no big deal, and I know I’m seriously due for one, but, jeez, it can be such an undertaking. Burning backup data is tiresome, plus I have to make sure I have everything the girls want to keep, as well. Just not something I wanted to do on my days off. I’m considering going out and getting a little external drive to put the music, pics, email, faves, etc. on, then I won’t have to worry ’bout burning anything…just drag-n-drop. ‘Course I could put Windows on the new external too, couldn’t I? Then just boot from there? Nah, I ‘d probably end up takin’ it with me [keep it portable] a bunch of the time, so that’s out.

Anyway………I suppose I should see how much data this is going to turn into first…I’ve gotten a shitload of new music, though…back to buying a little hard drive…ho hum. So, bear with me, patient reader, for the next couple of days while I consider how best to do this. Wish I had balls enough to format and put Vista on…heh heh…but this is my main desktop we’re talkin’ ’bout here…

Oh, I guess I should explain how I found out it was the WMI part of Windows…I was trying to install Max but it kept stopping the installation while trying to install the .NET Framework 3.0. So, after FAQs and troubleshooting and trying to install in safe mode and not succeeding, I found something that pointed to the WMI stuff. Alas and alack, I ran a WMI diagnostics tool and there it was…corrupt or missing files.

SIDENOTE: “The Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 (formerly known as WinFX), is the new managed code programming model for Windows.”

Really…that’s very interesting…the doomed WinFX that I have been wondering about…should prove to be some interesting research when I get around to it…

soft rain falling

On a more personal note this Labor Day, I awoke very early this morning to the soft sound of rain drops on the roof. As anyone in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex will tell you…we are seriously due. And, by the look of the radar, we could expect more throughout the day. Bliss.

For those of you who have games or picnics planned on this Labor Day Monday, something tells me we should carry on as if nothing is amiss…we wouldn’t want to jinx it. I, for one, will be turning my face toward the sky, closing my eyes, soaking it in…

Security Patches yesterday {Sept. 2nd}

Anybody else having trouble with IE 7 since yesterday’s automatic Windows updates {3 security patches for XP}? My Internet Explorer is acting very strange! I’m gonna do some cleaning and adware hunting and system mechanic and virus checking just to make sure…and hijack this as well…

More to follow…

Updated: I left a comment here at the IE7 blog…we’ll see what happens…

My internet explorer is better since reinstalling. But, I must admit, my Firefox is a little temperamental today, as well.

UPDATE: no response from IE team blog as of yet…but it’s been a long holiday weekend…we’ll see…

…and, yet, more mythology…

Ed, here is a home desktop as well, the E510 at Dell.

And, so, here we have it…a brand new Dell that is Vista capable for under $1000!

…a computer fantasy…

My daughter and I were looking through Electronic Gaming Monthly this morning. That’s all it took for us to continue dreaming of a world where I could afford a $5000, top-of-the-line, next generation, piece of machinery on steroids. I mean, seriously, who doesn’t want a dual-core, dual GPU with SLI technology, and all the bells and whistles to go with? Dual drives, dual hard drive RAID setup, not to mention 8.1 digital audio out and a 30 inch widescreen monitor….[Brenda drools and her eyeballs roll back in her head]. Whew, I think I need to be liquid-cooled!

But, before I run away with this fantasy, I should remind myself that I am an extremely blessed individual. My desktop is a 3 gig pentium 4 w/ HT, 128 meg NVidia, 120 gig of hard drive space, CDRW, DVD-ROM, floppy [what is that...lol], 5.1 audio, and a 19 inch CRT. And I’ve never had a lick of trouble doing anything I needed to do…multi-tasking is my forte. Gaming has been great…oh, and I have a gig of RAM. God is Good. So, why the fantasy? I guess a girl gotta dream, is all. Why don’t I dream of a Hummer or a Porsche? Or a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2-car garage of my very own? [I rent] Or, and this is a stretch, a love of my own? [since I'm recently unattached] Am I really that much of a geek? Why is it that I wait so impatiently for the new Playstation 3? I really have some strange priorities.

But, you’ll be happy to know I have other fantasies as well. Travel is one of them. More on that at a later time.

Time to blog…

So, I seem to be having trouble finding time to blog. Just like a major part of the U.S. right now, it’s hotter-n-hell here in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex area. Although we’ve had a cool front for the last couple of days [it's been 96 rather than 106], I seem to be melting from the heat. I work outside at the airport as a ramp rat…you know, the guys who throw your luggage around…heh heh…and it’s 100 in the shade around here, so I sweat from every pore on my body. So, when I get home, I tend to want to vegetate.

Nonetheless, I find myself getting pissed-off at my inability to commit more fully to this blog. Brain-drain is no excuse, but I really want to be somewhat coherent on this thang. Ya just don’t know who’s reading your stuff……so I strive to find a happy medium….thus I write first today about my inattention during the past few days, and hope that you, patient reader, will cut my body some slack…

Here’s my weather forecast:

http://xml.weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USTX0971_f.html

What’s the weather like where you are?