Mountains in the mist....

This is the kind of day we're having.

Re: 'Monsieur Beep replies' (below)

There are some interesting comments from TC and Tommy in the 'Comments' below that posting, and if you would like to add something yourself, please feel free to do so. Evidently, it's something that has been troubling a lot of us and we may find it helpful to share our thoughts on it.

The back porch - magnificent, isn't it?

This back porch probably cost as much

as some complete homes once did.

It was a project that went on for months,

and that pad it sits on is strong enough

to launch a Saturn 5 rocket.

 

Our Christmas Tree

Monsieur Beep replies.....

Monsieur Beep! said...

Dear Ray, thanks for visiting with my blog. Yeah I thought I had overcome all things related to my parents decades ago, only to find out that I´ll never be able to escape family, and now, at a late stage in my life (too late though), everything is getting to be ok, I´ve never felt so happy and strong in all my life than at the moments a few weeks ago when I visited with my mother, and had her totally by myself, and we could hug and hold hands, with nothing any more between us, and feel the most basic love of all. "Let´s forget all that shit", she exclaimed to me, and for the first time ever she was able to hold my hand, and smile at me, and look into my eyes. I love my mom.

Our resident billionaire's Christmas lights are on again....

On a clear night, these can be seen

from almost 30 miles away,

near the U.S. Border crossing.

These have been a tradition here 

for many years, and we look for

them every year at the start of December.

It's Jim's way of saying 'Merry Christmas'.

 

The Roses of December

These are thriving because there's a microclimate

where they are, beside a warm air vent from

the underground garage complex.

 

 

The Last Sunset of November 2011

Georgia Strait with Vancouver Island in the distance.

 

Some nights are better than others....

And since I just woke up a little while ago, and just recently re-confirmed that I do in fact still have a functioning bathroom which soon will need more 'poopy-paper' (remember when it was the paper that actually did the job, instead of falling apart and letting your finger do the walking?) I'm pleased to report that I did get some sleep earlier in the evening. That's because I was sitting here at the old computer, less than thrilled at the world scene, when I suddenly found myself waking up with my head on the keyboard and the imprint of some of those keys across my forehead, fading slowly. So I decided to stumble into bed. I sleep better when I'm really tired and lately for some reason I seem to do that best without a pillow. But that's a whole other musing and we won't go there just now....I turned on the computer, and here's what I see today...

A page celebrating the anniversary of Mark Twain's birthday. Who doesn't like Mark Twain? Even though he mostly used that 'handle' and his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he was probably the original 'Grumpy Old Man' and a hell of a wit to boot. We all have a favorite Mark Twain saying or quote, very likely, (or we should have!) and mine is this one: "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."


That tells us a lot, right there. It tells me that the process of learning isn't just something we do in schools or universities or churches or wherever; it's a lifelong process that ought to be and frequently is a joyous one which answers our questions, satisfies our curiosity, solves a problem, or just informs us about the world around us. And motivation is the big secret to it. We have to want to before we're going to be open to it.


This is where the internet proves its worth, because we're not forced to learn differential calculus when all we wanted to know was why it costs a million dollars per pound to land a payload on the surface of Mars, for example. We can simply ask it a question, and get an answer - or lots of them. And it works like a charm, as long as we don't get side-tracked onto one of those triple-X sites where some impossibly enhanced bimbo is trying to get her hand on our credit card. (Leggo my ah-er-um... shirt, Honey - I'm much too old for that!). Kids in school, or at least this kid when he was there, tend to resist the set curriculum because (A) we don't like being driven when we should be led, and (B) we don't learn well if we're not interested in the subject matter. Is that why I failed Latin three years running? You bet your sweet bippy! Fortunately, the internet only teaches me what I'm anxious to learn. And at 79, I'm still learning, because that's what life is all about, Kiddies.

Attention Munchkins !

Not your average potato chip. In fact, not even close. These are made from a mixture of Taro, Yuca, Sweet Potato, Batata and Parsnips, and those with the bright red color are colored with beet juice.  These are really different and are a nice change from the usual suspects.
 

A little this and that....

A little of this is a very good thing, and remember, "With a name like Smucker's it has to be good!" - and it is. Very. It's also a very bright idea.

And a little of 'that' would be a piece in The Globe and Mail's automotive section today, by a couple of their self-appointed experts, giving us their flip one-liners on their choices of the top 50 vehicles for 2012.  I'm underwhelmed, Folks. Why? Because I can remember when every brand of automobile had its own distinctive and original styling which was instantly recognizable out on the open road from a distance of almost a mile away, and as a kid, I won bets proving that. After more than half a century of added learning and vast technological improvements, we now have a whole industry producing vehicles which all look like they were designed by the same couple of six-year-olds trying to copy their favorite toy cars from their Hot Wheels game. And that's just plain unforgivable. There's hardly an ounce of originality in any of it, and yet they want ten times as much for today's scrap iron as they did for the really original-looking stuff such as that beautiful 1957 Chevy we all lusted after back when. Shame on them all !! And that's my rant for today..... how do you like it so far?

A treat from California -

Fresh from California.

 These are a real treat up here 

in The Great White North,

near the end of November.

Now you'll have to excuse me,

while I finish off that bowl with

milk and sugar, and some fresh

Chunky Cheese Bread.....Mmmmm!!

 

Is your Windows 7 getting sluggish on Startup?

Mine was, because I like to load it up with all sorts of programs that will automatically start during the initial Startup sequence - and therein lies the problem, as they say.

So here's what to do about that, step by step:-

(1) Click "Start" on your desktop, and in the little "Search" window just above that Start button, type in the word Troubleshoot.

(2) From the list which appears, choose and click on "Review your computer's status and resolve issues."

(3) In the next window which appears, assuming you don't see any specific problems reported by Action Center, click on the selection shown in the lower left of the window, titled Troubleshooting.

(4) In that next window, under "System and Security", at the bottom of the list, choose and click on "Check for performance issues".

(5) A Performance window appears with an option to adjust settings to help improve overall speed and performance. Click on "Next" near its lower right corner.

(6) A search begins for issues, and if nothing specific is found, then you will be told that it is set up to automatically run programs at Startup which may slow down that procedure. It will offer to start the System Configuration utility, and you should choose "Next" to get it started.

(7) When the System Configuration utility window opens, you will see under its "Startup" tab a list of items each with a checkbox before it, and any items in the list which are already checked will be automatically started during your computer's initial starting-up routine. You can prevent those from being started automatically at Startup by simply removing that little check mark from the box, by clicking on it. NOTE: Those not checked on the list will still be started as required by your Windows Operating System, during normal computer use, so you don't need a whole bunch of them on this list. These are often added to this list automatically by their installation programs when first installed, so you should periodically check this list to remove (uncheck) the ones you don't need every time the computer is started.

(8) After you've trimmed down that list of checked items preferably to only those required for your system's security, then you can complete the process by clicking on "Apply" and "OK" and then do a system reboot to get these new changes recognized by the system. It should boot faster now.

Additional cleaning:

Other tricks for 'de-gunking' your pet PC running Windows 7 are to make shortcuts to your Prefetch, and (Username) Temp and Windows Temp folders, and regularly dump everything dumpable in those folders. Your anti-virus will likely have a folder in Windows Temp that you will not easily be able to delete, and you don't want to use MoveOnBoot or some other unlocker program on it, because that folder contains your latest set of database samples for the anti-virus, so when you come to that one, choose to 'skip' that, and leave it in there. And don't fret about dumping whatever is in the Prefetch folder, because that is automatically regenerated every reboot. So why dump it at all? Because - it will eventually collect a lot of junk that will be once-only type of files used to assist downloads or suchlike, and which may or may not be empty folders, and which you will never use again, but are taking up space and bytes. So out-out-out with them!

Your computer will thank you, and show it by giving you better performance, because it isn't hunting through junk while it ought to be responding to your latest requests. 
 

About Thanksgiving.....

Thanksgiving being a time for reflecting on our blessings and giving some thought to how fortunate we are just to be alive and experiencing all this, here's a video that I was introduced to by a friend in South Carolina. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did.

Enjoy your day!

A Traditional Christmas Song - Yust Fur Yoo!

This one's a 'politically incorrect' Golden Oldie for sure!

A fitting kick-off to the Silly Season.

To our American Cousins and Friends........

And by the way ..........

In today's paper.....

There's an article in the paper today with an accompanying video asking the question "Hottest car commercial ever?", and first, let's have a look at the video which the paper dissects frame by frame while flogging their point to death.....

It's 'hot' alright, but they don't make the connection to a car very well, and for that matter......well, why not just read the email I sent Dear Editor about it.....

Dear Editor:

As an old guy who has fallen for far too many 'come-ons'
from car dealers over the years, I just want to say that
according to my calculations, those crafty bastards now
owe me sixty years worth of kissing that should have been
included with all that screwing I got from them.

Just in case anyone's keeping score......

Enjoy your day,

Ray in North Van

Bobby Helms, eat your heart out! Here's how it's done....

And Dear Old Chet is rollin' over in his grave...

Don'tcha just love it ?

And now, Bobby's version....

I still prefer Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem.
 Enjoy your day, Everyone!
 

Today's 'Golden Oldie'

This comes to us from a time when The Walkman (remember those?) was still in diapers, and a cheap pair of speakers cost fifty bucks instead of $500. Brenda Lee is almost 67, and still belting them out periodically somewhere.