Tue Oct 6th '26...

[ST1100Y]

when your morning requires reviving...



G'Day...

set in my ways, dislike change, refusing any experiments (so "being Monk"): a SOP Nespresso fill...

7°/24°C, 90% RH, haze and dew soon driven away by the warmth of the rising sun...

October, the month of horrors... like the "achievements" of modern society...

picked up that registered mail yesterday...
containing a 32(!! ) digit re-activation code for my account at the unemployment service office...
so typed that in... highly focused... sweating... with shaking hands... like defusing a bomb... (I'm too old for this ...)
reviewed the entry 3 times... clicked [send] and the site prompted... [cannot process]... WAAAHHHHH...
worked on the second attempt though... [we've send an email with a verification link]... pfffff...
fellas! you're the unemployment office, not some counterintelligence branch...
And of course:
despite my 2011 account/registry there I'd to re-enter all my personal information, upload proof of citizenship and CV, etc...

Then we tried booking a doctors appointment... never needed a quack, nor wanted one, but over 60 one should have a personal MD...
Found out that you don't just call a receptionist...
Nah! These days you've to register at a dubious clickdoc portal... hosted on servers somewhere in Germany... huh?!...
Due faulty site coding the whole shebang required two laptops and 3 different browsers to finally work...
including the [we've send an email with a verification link]... ooch...

So it got late... time for bed... lets watch some TV...
Nah! A barely 4 year old Panasonic BD-player is now 'ancient'... suddenly Amazon Prime doesn't support that Java-OS-piece-of-junk anymore...
Seriously?!!...
(working fine when you watch via laptop -> HDMI cable -> TV... thus it cannot be just a dodgy Inet connection...)

So this morning I ordered a proprietary Fire TV Stick... lets see how that goes...

have a good one

 

[STooRay]

Wow Martin!
That stuff is so annoying, where’s AI to help?

Yesterday was all about rearranging the garage…I think I can fit our car in there now.
Ordered a new set of winter tyres, brand Toyo, 225/65/17 $1020 thankyouverymuch.

Driving home on Sunday, the diesel cost nok 31.49 pr litre, or $ 12.43 pr gallon….
I’m at that age now when I think everything is sooo expensive.

Today is a walk with a nephew, and cooking spaghetti.

Have a cheap ( cost wise..) one!
Stu

From our drive home on Sunday, moments before the rain set in….

 

[Rubio]

I was awakened at 4:17 to the sound of the furnace warming up the house. +3 on the outside last night with a good chance of our first frost. Better check the freeze protection of the coolant.
My original Firestick is no longer supported by Pluto and one old smart TV is no longer supported by Netflix. Phones and computers become unable to be updated, my Windows 11 version cannot be updated. Any day now I expect my car dash will display a message that it cannot be driven any longer.

 

[Obo]

Morning all, and thanks for the coffee, Martin.

It's called planned obsolescence. Everyone does it. The electronic techiness makes it all the easier to do. Hammers don't need software upgrades. You replace 'em when (more like if) they break.

5C for the ride to work in the dark. 13 and cloudy for the ride home they are saying.

Yesterday's ride home was misty wet, but still, it was riding. The Sun came out for a bit, but by evening it down poured. The riding days are numbered this year, and getting smaller. The trees though, are looking splendid as they transition. I snapped this from the side deck yesterday while we had bits of sun in the clouds.




Hope everyone has a great day.

Obo.

 

[ST1100Y]

... my Windows 11 version cannot be updated...

Stayed with Win10pro on all x64 machines* under my service (2x GF's, 3x mine)...
Opted for the extended service subscription, hence fine till Oct '27...
We'll see what comes after that... maybe they "invent" a fully new Inet standard, rendering all devices useless, forcing everyone to buy new...
(* only my Atom processor netbook is still on Win7pro... only used to plot Garmin routes and load them onto the satnavs while on tour...
That Toshiba NB510 still provides up to 8 hours battery running time... so no way I'm going to discard that gem...)

Any day now I expect my car dash will display a message that it cannot be driven any longer.

You'll need to pay the annual "drive subscription"... like with those seat heaters...

The quintessence is that you don't even own the devices you've bought (and fully paid for!) anymore...
And if you're a stubborn old scrooge like me, still running an Android 9 phone cause it does just anything I require and then some, they'll simply cut you off their services...
(currently Gmail is frequently bugging me with popups that I'll have to update... Nah! Screw you! I'd rather install FairEmail or such...)

 

[ST1100Y]

Hammers don't need software upgrades. You replace 'em when (more like if) they break.

If its one I like, I'd actually just carve a new (wooden) handle into it...

 

[Obo]

The quintessence is that you don't even own the devices you've bought (and fully paid for!) anymore...

If you've bought it, you own the device. You may pay a service fee for use of the installed software.

Think back for the GPS with "free map updates for life." There really should have been some sort of lawsuit against that false advertising.

 

[Obo]

If its one I like, I'd actually just carve a new (wooden) handle into it...

My Estwing is all metal. My dad bought me it long ago. There's an honest difference between cheap and expensive hammers, and it's not just the price. I now have two of them: the one he bought me, and the one he bought. His has this unique ring to it every time you hit a nail.

 

[steve3b3]

Good morning, and thanks for the coffee, Martin.

It's 43 and sunny in MA this morning, rising to 57, with continued sun and wind from the WNW at 10-20 mph.
It was chilly enough this morning, that I had to cut the cat's screen door adventures short, lest the heat come on.

Yesterday's track day went off well, although it was lightly attended. Whatever. I camp out at the side of the track for a few hours, and they pay me for it.

Today, I'll head over to the gym for a bit, and then on to other things.
Brenda mentioned that it's time to remove the AC units from the windows, so I'll probably do that.
Today's also the first Tuesday of the month, so I'll head over to a restaurant to meet-up and catch up with other former coworkers.

Regarding the planned obsolescence.. We would occasionally redesign our radios and amps because manufacturers made their ICs end-of-life, due to a redesign or die shrink that caused the original part to not work. In that case, we'd make one-time buys to keep us going, while we did a redesign and cost-reduction if possible. In some cases, the old software doesn't run on the new hardware. I think that's what happened too my original Fire stick.

Stu, that's an astronomical price for diesel! When we were up in NH this past weekend, we saw that the price was $6.4-ish and thought THAT was outrageous.
One of our corner marshal friends usually drives their converted short bus and trailer to the track, but we met them in our hotel, instead. Diesel prices made it more inexpensive to drive there and stay in the hotel. Someone with a similar conversion was bragging about getting 10mpg, and I'm sure that towing a trailer impacts mileage even more.

Enjoy the day,
Steve

 

[ST1100Y]

If you've bought it, you own the device. You may pay a service fee for use of the installed software.

Feels more like "leasing"... as you've no control about what software runs on it, or if/till when they'll keep you using it...

Think back for the GPS with "free map updates for life." There really should have been some sort of lawsuit against that false advertising.

The snag is their (secret) definition of "product lifetime"...
Not connected the device for 24 months... you're out...

 

[ibike2havefun]

Good morning everyone

Thanks for the Dead Tired brew, Martin- it hit the nail on the head. Speaking of which, and since the thread has drifted in that direction anyhow...

Hammers don't need software upgrades. You replace 'em when (more like if) they break. get lost or "borrowed".

FTFY

If its one I like, I'd actually just carve a new (wooden) handle into it...

My Estwing is all metal.

I have three all-metal Estwing hammers- two for hitting nails (22 ounce framing hammer and 16 ounce general-purpose jobbie), and one for hitting rocks (I was a geology student many years ago, and needed a rock hammer for field camp).

I also have a classic all-metal Estwing hatchet with leather-wrapped grip rather than the textured rubber style. I actually prefer the feel of the rubber grip (the leather's kinda slick) but the aesthetics of the leather appeal to me.

Ennyhoo...

It's 44°F in Rockville, calm, and brightly sunny. Sunny with a high of 66 are the expected conditions later on.

The only thing on my agenda today, apart from playing some uke of course, is a 75 minute sports massage. My back's been rather tight of late, so it's time to get the knots professionally untied.

Mrs. Fun seems to finally be getting over the bronchitis she brought home from her extended stay in PA a month ago. Much less coughing going on now. But she still doesn't feel up to sitting around the Solo Stove on the front porch with the neighbors, so I dunno whether I'll call a gathering this evening or not. Maybe. We'll see.

Stay safe and well everyone and tell your dear ones you love them. Do it today, NOW, for tomorrow may be too late.

 

[Sadlsor]

Thanks Martin.
I would not want to trade my bucket full of life's annoyances for yours. And I have plenty, and you can believe it or not... despite my regular / frequent excessively long posts, I actually don't share *most* of them.
Life's a beach.
Then you dive.
And in spite of my weaker moments, I'm pretty much a certified optimist.
Our 15 or 20 year old Visio TV seems to have crapped its power supply, but the good news a replacement is less than half of what this one cost.
Tried a smart tv a few months ago, but Roz being the stubborn technophobe that she is, refused to learn the new remote.
(Just say NO! to change, it's her attitude. But it doesn't work every time. She's being dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.)
So I can go to the DirecTv website to watch what I want, but she can't.
Or won't learn how.
Shouldn't be long before she breaks down and spends $100 - 150 for a new one, which I'll install.
Yesterday one of her cats had a very appointment, but she couldn't get him into the car carrier.
So I was going to put him in the box for her before leaving for work this morning -- but she woke up and hey pain was worse than usual, and said she can't lift the box.
It might weigh 17lbs with the cat in there.
Meanwhile, I left the crate door open, and two of the other cats said, "Hey, that looks cozy! Let me in there!"
Hard to get them out, so I left them to play in it.
The Grateful Dead sang, "Hang it up, and see what tomorrow brings." (Truckin')
So that's what I'll do.
Don't let the cat out of the bag.
Until you're at the vet's office.

 

[Weaselinsuit]

Morning all! Grey and foggy out there, 10C now, 19C later.

Drove the car today as the canine co-workers decided to actually put in a shift. They're hard workers, they've scanned the office floor for cleaning thoroughly, worked on co-worker mental health (for a price...it's a dog friendly office so treats abound) and tested the water quality.

I've had my current phone for about 4 years now. Every so often I contemplate getting a new one but despite some battery life issues, it still works and does what I need it to. Except for the camera. The camera isn't anywhere near as good as my previous phone, a Pixel 4. Should probably just buy a decent point and shoot camera but then it's one more thing to carry....these are trying times, we'll see what develops......

Hope everyone has a great day!