The Shade Project

The guest bedroom in my condo had blinds on it’s only window that let in too much light, even when they were closed. This made for early wake ups. I went to Home Depot to look for a six foot long pull down shade that would block out as much light as possible and found shades rated as “Blackout Lighting”. Back home, I double checked my window measurements and the next day purchased the shade. It was cut to fit the window and I was given the brackets needed to install it.

After paying at the self checkout area, I left the brackets in their small bag at the register. I realized this when I got home, and drove to the local hardware store in town. I got the last set of brackets they had that looked like the ones from Home Depot. Once home, I discovered these brackets did not fit the ends of the shade, so I decided to go back to Home Depot.

I stopped at the self check out and asked a worker bee if they found the bag I forgot. He looked at me like I was from Mars, turned away without a word, and starting talking to someone else. I went back to the windows aisle and got another package of the brackets I was given on the first trip, paid for them, and headed home again.

These didn’t fit either. Back to Home Depot. I found the guy who originally gave them to me, and he instantly assured me I was mistaken, they would fit. My verbal response to this assurance convinced him to go back to the shades section with me where I proved I was right. The ones he gave me earlier were for smaller shades, not the larger ones. I grabbed the correct ones, paid for them, and went back home.

These brackets were the correct ones. The overall install, counting the excessive car rides, went from about 10:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon. This is the norm for me with these type of DIY activities. But the shade works as intended and does make the room a lot darker than the blinds did.

I posted this in the “Life” category because I couldn’t bring myself to create a “Life as a Hapless Idiot” category.

Quotes

These are some of the quotes and quips I have collected over the years. I hope some are new to you. Not all reflect my beliefs on the topic. Some may get a chuckle…

Our current form of Capitalism has no concept of right and wrong. It only recognizes what is profitable and what you can get away with. And when you have the Government, the Media, the Military, and the Police on your payroll, you can get away with pretty much anything.
– Modern American Proverb

“I don’t believe in magic” the young boy said. The old man smiled. “You will when you see her.”
– Atticus

Governments don’t want a population capable of critical thinking. They want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to accept their situation.
– George Carlin

Remember, Ginger Rodgers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
– Source unknown

The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.
– H.L. Mencken

If someone points at your black clothes and asks you whose funeral it is, a look around the room and a casual “haven’t decided yet” is always a good response.
– Source unknown

You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
– Source unknown

How do we stop racism? Stop talking about it. I’m going to stop calling you a white man, and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.
– Morgan Freeman

If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read the newspaper, you’re misinformed.
– Mark Twain

There will never be any more people older then me than there are right now.
– Source unknown

Sure, Kill Bill’s a violent movie. But it’s a Tarantino movie. You don’t go to see Metallica and ask the fuckers to turn the music down.
– Quentin Tarantino

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
– Maya Angelou

You are a big country. You are the kindest country in the world. You are like a really nice apartment over a meth lab.
– Robin Williams, on Canada

Ships don’t sink because of the water around them. Ships sink because of the water that gets in them. Don’t let what’s happening around you get inside you and weigh you down. Stay up.
– Source unknown

The worst thing is watching someone drown and not being able to convince them that they can save themselves by just standing up.
– Source unknown

People who use a lot of swear words tend to be more honest and trust worthy, human behavioral studies suggest.
– Source unknown

The defeat of democracy and the end of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations.
– Thomas Jefferson

When the past calls let it go to voice mail. It has nothing new to say.
– Mandy Hale

People are created to be loved. Things are created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used.
– Source unknown

Time to Upgrade

Apple.

The iMac I’m using right now is old. It was manufactured in 2013. It’s getting slower on boot up, and the more time I spend in a given logon session the slower it gets, even without a lot of apps running.

I’m unhappy with Apple for not upgrading this model in quite a while. I’m not going to spend $2,000 or more to replace the iMac with a machine that’s running 2016 / 2017 technology. It was a big disappointment that their late October announcement did not mention any new iMacs.

Oh wait a minute – they did release a new iMac within the last year. It’s the iMac PRO, and the PRO part at the end of the name means it starts at $4,999. It’s targeted to professionals in the movie, arts, architecture, and design businesses.

By not announcing a new home or business iMac model by now, I think Tim Cook and his financial guys are forgetting the working class grunts and their Apple hardware and software purchases that helped Apple obtain their current financial status.

But that’s just my disappointment talking. In all fairness, they did announce a new Mac Mini PRO. The media tacked on the PRO, not Apple. My first Apple desktop was a Mini and was a great little box I used for years. The new Mini has many configuration options and a nice set of features. It allows for the building of a Mini beast which is what I did, aiming for it to have as long a life as possible. I’ll be ordering it soon, but without their $700, or $1,300 LG monitor. I’m sure I can get the monitor I need on the net for a little over half those prices.

I’m admitting to being too locked into Apple with my iPhone, iPad, iMac, Mac Air, and iCloud. I’ve severed my relationship with Microsoft for good (for the second time). I have a Lenovo laptop that now runs Linux instead of the Window’s 10 it came with. The Window’s updates got very unpredictable and often made messes it took me hours to cleanup, sometimes a day or more. I have minimal experience with Linux but early investigation tells me getting it to do all the things I do on the Apple platform may be a pipe dream. But as I said, I have a lot to learn about Linux and what software is out there for it.

My future plan is to not replace my iPhone when it is no longer keeping up with the other devices, and instead purchase an iPad with cellular. I may end up getting tired of lugging the iPad around all the time to not miss calls, so getting a low cost cell phone and plan providing only unlimited text and calls may be another solution.