After a weekend of Microsoft snafu and glyphosate poisoning, in the depth of refrigerator-cold "blackberry winter," the electricity was disconnected at the Cat Sanctuary. I had $200 worth of goods to sell to A. A hadn't received a payment from someone else, promised to e-mail when able to pay, has yet to e-mail. B had wanted to work on a project that should have been good for $300. B's health is not the best and B never showed up. By Friday I was wondering on which day the electricity would be cut off, whether I'd have time to ask for an advance from C on Monday. The electricity went off on Monday morning. It should be on by now. Anyway, I'm sitting in McDonald's, where Microsoft started throwing its little fits about 8 a.m. and continued through about 1:30 p.m. 5.5 hours so far today.
We need a law. Microsoft needs to be required by law to make Windows secure in a useful way--by blocking all third-party input while computers are in use. Preferably third-party input, such as ad cookies and spyware and those infernal "updates," would be routed through the FCC and scanned for anything resembling spyware before it could be queued to reach privately owned computers even after they're shut down for the night. A button on every computer needs to be designated the "Report Delays" button, used to file a complaint if a keyboard command is not obeyed before the fingers can touch the next key. Computers must run at the speed at which people type. Regardless of how old the computers may be. Far from being allowed to try to "force sales," Microsoft needs to be forced to pay any customer to whom it fails to provide service by allowing wait time. There is no reason why today's computers and connections should ever fail to run faster than even professional typists type, bar an occasional weather disaster destroying physical connections. Wait time is the result of Microsoft living in fear that somebody else might be able to replicate Microsoft Office, when in fact anyone who happens to be a computer genius could replicate Microsoft Windows 7 (without the"updates") and blow Windows 10, 11, and 365 away. We shouldn't have to work through their anxieties.
Maybe Microsoft should be split, the way Standard Oil was...or maybe not even into regional territories, but into companies forced to compete to deliver customer satisfaction, which is what built Microsoft, the loss of which will destroy Microsoft.
I am...actually feeling better. Slowly deflating. I inhaled enough poison over the weekend to puff up to the point that moving and bending became difficult, normal breathing uncomfortable. I'm wearing a sort of salwar-kamiz thing I bought from a local charity store just for this time of day. Normally it hangs loose like the modest Indian Muslim outfit it's meant to resemble. Today it's a snug fit but it's getting less snug by the hour, and I feel bad about being out in public, looking like this. Nobody seems actually to be giving me a second look. Most middle-aged people are fat these days; most are fatter than I am. I feel an urge to say to anyone who looks at me, "Only about a third of this surplus bulk is honest natural fat. Two thirds are gas and inflammation. This is not the look of a jolly fat person. This is the look of bearable but acute pain." So far I've just smiled like a jolly fat person...who expects to need to walk out with a hand in a pocket, holding up the salwar that fitted so closely this morning. I do still have a waistline, though it wasn't visible this morning.
Health News
No veg until you've finished your candy and chips! Seriously, this study quantifies something I noticed more than ten years ago, and some "healthy foods" are less bad than others. Generally the rule is that the more of the outer part of a fruit, vegetable, nut, or grain you throw away, the lower the level of toxic "pesticide residues" is likely to be. Also, garlic and onions tend to be safe. Worth testing for reactions (eat a bite, wait until a reaction would start if it were going to, take charcoal if necessary): melons, pineapple, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, corn, dry beans, rice, winter squash, almonds, pecans, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, coconuts. Dangerous unless you know they've not been sprayed: apples, peaches, pears, cherries, berries, persimmons, carrots, radishes, potatoes, green leafy vegetables, peas, cucumbers, celery, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, rabe (canola), soy, wheat, barley, millet, rye. More expensive brands are more likely to be edible than cheap brands, but all those "healthy natural foods" people my age were told to eat--which were healthy to eat in the 1980s--are likely to be toxic.
Housewares
I've never liked 100-watt bulbs. They're too bright for my Highly Sensory-Perceptive eyes, they cost more, they had a shorter "lifetime," and they cast a yellowish light under which colors didn't look true. But some people's aging eyes needed them. I don't think it was appropriate for the federal government to dictate that the things not be made. People can, after all, see that fluorescent lights are a better bargain...for most of us...and people ought to be able to leave alone the minority who need the big bright bulbs.
Music
Ernie Haase...full-length album, 13 songs.
Pictures
Gorgeous nature photos:
Decor...now THIS is how a house ought to look!
Reading, Reasons for
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