Jasonisms

Today the USA woke up to discover we'd attacked a nation that posed no threat to us - once again.  Once more the Republicans lie their way into war with a Middle Eastern nation for no reason other than to distract from domestic controversies.  On top of that, we have to wonder what role the Trump-Epstein Files played a role in these attacks. Epatein had an intelligence arrangement with Israel and, obviously, had kompromat on Pedophile Trump,  so was our president coerced into a war we didnt want or need? Are we living in a world where national executives, like Putin and Netanyahu, can threaten the most powerful position into he world into doing their bidding because morons elected a known felon, adjudicated rapist and plausible pedophile?

Nelson (above, and about 9 years old) is my mechanics dog. I've been seeing the same mechanic for about 15 years and Nelson has always been there to greet anyone pulling up or retrieving their vehicle. A few years ago, the mechanic adopted another dog, Honey, from a person who was living in their car and could no longer take care of her. He had to put her down in December due to neurological issues.  She was a sweet girl with more gums than teeth, but always happy to say hello. For years I'd bring treats for the marketing department when dropping off or picking up a vehicle. Knowing Honey had passed was sad and the mechanic was obviously hurt by seeing her go. Today I came by for a scheduled inspection and had a chance to meet the mechanics adult daughter and infant granddaughter. The daughter let me know they were taking Nelson to the vet this very day. He would not be coming home.  Again, the mechanic was obviously distraught, as he'd had Nelson for a decade ...

Turns out I check Blogger about once a year. It might be because Google still hasn't made it easy to create posts on-the-go, like other sites have. Sure, there's more control here over the final product, but getting there is much more difficult on a phone or other mobile device. Mastodon has been where I typically "mobile blog" as its quick and easy to get a post typed out and on the interwebz. 

So, I'm at a laundry mat. I'm putting my stuff into one of the washers and overhear and existing conversation between a guy (maybe my age, maybe a few years younger) and an older lady. From the gist of what I heard, he's a veteran who goes to a church for his alcoholism program. I kept my mouth shut about. If he believes in the Judeo-Christian God, then why did the God allow him to have alcoholism? Not saying anything, I cotinued to mind my own business. He, and the woman, start talking about "God's plan" and "mysterious ways" and, once I get the washer going and it's locked, I leave to run an errand. About 20 minutes later I return. The woman is gone and the man is sitting in his truck in the parking lot. I'm standing here watching my clothes go in circles and listening to Malicious Compliance stories on YouTube when the dude, who apparently came back in, starts talking to me. Keep in mind, I'm wearing a headset, machines are going, a co...

This is feedback I just sent to Google Maps using the "feedback" option. As you can tell, I was (am) a little annoyed that I had to stop and address something so basic it should have been included in the product of a multi-billion dollar company that has hundreds of millions of users every single day.  Google Maps is absolutely atrocious for making custom maps. It was so much easier when the MyTracks app was around, but like all good things, Google canned it years ago (and none of the other Play store offerings are nearly as good).  But, since I'm trying to demonstrate to someone the walking trail I found in when I was visiting Florida, I opened Maps (then had to search why I can't create a custom map only to discover I had to open MyMaps.google.com [which is dumb]). Then, I'm creating a simple walking map: start point? Check. Draw a line for the loop? Nope, not an option. Why? Because Google Maps is atrocious for just about anything that is actually useful (which...

You should really take 15 minutes out of your life to watch this video about #MomsForLiberty to truly understand how batshit crazy they are. https://youtu.be/fXtUGTt4MM4?si=jhfpoz81kxAEtbRX

So, I bought the new Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra to replace my S22 Ultra with the broken charging port. Luckily at&t had a trade-in program that made this extremely inexpensive for me.  I was recently watching a YouTube video on camera features trying ro figure out if there are any settings or features I should be using and discovered something I had seen while playing with the phone but didn't really pay attention to while poking around. Specifically, that the camera on this device (which I'm typing on now) can take photos at 12M, 50M or 200 M. That's two-hundred megapixels! So, I've been playing with this feature just to see how much detail I can extract from an image. From what I've looked at, 200M on my phone is still not as detail laden as the 15M on my Pentax K5 (yes, it's old). But, that's digital vs optical for you.  Here are to images I took today with the 200M setting. I was walking my brother's dog on a 6 mile loop I found and we were on the ...

Since my previous post had the photo insert upside down, I wanted to check and see if it happened to all photos or just that one. Dexter, my brother's dog, while we were out for a walk on Dead River Park, Hillsborough County, FL. 

My mom is visiting her sister just outside of St. Louis. My aunt has Stage IV lung cancer and is going through intense chemo.  This is while I'm in Florida visiting family and staying at my mom's house (taking care of her cat, watering plants etc.).  She called about an hour ago and asked me to find a certain pair of shoes my brother can bring to her while his family goes up this weekend to visit my aunt. I went up to see my aunt previously. While on the phone my mom mentioned she was tired of sleeping on the couch. My aunt no longer able to use the stairs, isn't using her master bedroom on the second floor, leaving it empty. I asked my mom why she didn't just use the bedroom upstairs and she replied that she didn't get good feelings from that room - that she's sensitive to the paranormal and the room scares her. It always has. My aunt moved I to this house which was built in the 1940s, in 1974, and had lived there ever since. I remember going ip there once whe...

This doesn't just apply to YouTube, but any online location where people pop in with their religiousness for no reason other than to shove their religion down everyone's throats. Most of the time we just ignore these people, but I'm tired of that, just as I'm tired of the MAGAmorons and other alt-right imbeciles glorifying their ignorance.  We have to push back, let these people know their 240 character sermons aren't welcome in polite society. 

Apparently a local GOP group in Alabama posted KKK inagery on their Facebook page recently. When called out they apologized , but let's face it, both the Republican Party and Alabama are stereotyped for their racism and stereotypes exist for a reason. So ... was it unintentional or were they just not expecting the backlash? Image they shared:

 Let me start by saying 2-factor authorization is a good idea. In fact, it's a great idea for security, especially if your computer or password is compromised. That being said, Google recently announced that it would automatically enroll everyone into 2-factor authorization, whether they want to be or not.  Now, I understand Google probably has metrics on the back end showing how many accounts are compromised and how often, but to auto-enroll people into a program they may not even understand isn't the way to make things safer overall.  Education is the best way to make the internet and e/Gmail accounts more secure. Strong passwords, not using the same password in multiple locations, using a VPN when out and about, etc. Forcing people - people like my mom or someone who only has a Gmail account because they have an Android phone - to use a service that requires their phone be by their side at all times does a disservice to everyone - everyone except Google themselves. Wha...

8 months ago Don't worry, I'm not going to post a picture of my mug on here, but I wanted to tell this story because it caught me off guard and that so rarely happens.  This morning at the gym, I was relaxing in the hot tub, letting the hot (okay, warm) water relax my muscles after a moderately intensive workout. Sometimes I enjoy a light workout, sometimes a very intense once, but this morning I just wasn't feeling it, so I met somewhere in the middle, which is far more often than I want to admit out loud.  I was sitting in the corner, like I always do, watching a YouTube on the origins of Hallowe'en  (some of which I disagree with on technical aspects and some of which I found thought provoking) when a younger woman enters the hot tub. I hadn't seen her at the gym before and definitely hadn't seen her in the hot tub before this morning, so I thought perhaps she was new to this particular gym. I said, "Hi," and she took the corner across from me, abou...

 I just read this article - or, slideshow to be precise - about how to get a telemarketer to stop calling you and it rings absolutely true. I know this for a fact, not because I was once a telemarketer, but I did work for a company that made outgoing sales calls (under the guise of customer service follow-up) and we did all of the things outlined in this slideshow and more.  Since I will be spilling the beans, as it were, I'll use a pseudonym for the company I worked for in this capacity. Let's call it ... Laughing, Inc.  Laughing, Inc. operated a website and spent millions of dollars a year driving consumer engagement to their site. Once there, the site would walk you through a litany of options and would connect you to a service provider. Wham! Bam! Thank you, Ma'am. The system was not perfect - far less perfect than Laughing, Inc. would acknowledge publicly - and about 20% of the connections the website made were failed attempts. (That's a whole other story) My depa...

As I get older - as I'm sure happens with everyone wiser than a pogo stick - I regret more the risks not taken due to shyness (when I was a kid and teenager, ending somewhere in my late 20s) and low self-esteem.  RIP

The racists who make up MAGA love showing their racism whenever they get a chance, then they'll deny being a racist. It would be funny-sad if it weren't true 

I pulled into Parker, CO yesterday and when I tried to pass through Mainstreet the road was blocked off. Turns out there was some sort of classic car show going on and I was there a mere half hour before it finished. All I brought was my cell phone (Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra) and I was able to grab a handful of shots, most of which weren't very good. Either people were in the photo or the hoods to the vehicles were open or, as in most cases, sheets of paper on the windshields as you can see in he truck photo below. Photos edited with Snapseed.

Funny how that happens, isn't it? The Right was in fear of AIDS because it spread amongst the gay community first, then fast-forward and they ignored Covid-19 because it spread among our largest (liberal) cities first. Now that Covid-19 is tearing apart the heartland their cognitive dissonance won't allow them to vaccinate or wear a mask. They'd rather see people die horribly painful deaths than take the slightest precautions because of some perceived loss of freedoms. 

Literally watched a woman walk up to this water fountain and try to fill her water bottle. Um, did she not see the sign? Not making a sarcastic comment about attention to detail or being able to read was possibly the hardest thing I did today.

Yesterday I stepped into a pet food store to purchase a couple of treats for my mechanic's dogs. I always try and remember to being something when I know Im going there. This particular pet food store has been around for decades and when I lived in the area, more than four years ago, I shopped there occasionally. (The woman I lived with was more interested in supporting this woman-owned local business than I was.) I stopped in this store 9 months to a year ago to purchase a couple of treats and the owner told me I couldn't use a card unless I spent a minimal amount. As this is a standard practice with some small businesses since Visa takes a huge percentage,  I normally don't mind paying cash when I can to help small businesses avoid the extra costs and boost their profits,  but I didn't have cash on  me.  That being said,  I didn't need a minimum amount, I needed two pigs ears for $1.50/ea. When I explained this to the owner she told me that's their policy, so ...