Category ArchiveBells and Whistles
Bells and Whistles 14 Aug 2007 07:45 am
A New Computer Experience
Remember the first PC’s? The big heavy IBM-like AT’s? 8088’s? CGA, VGA, SVGA monitors. The bigger the better and heavier too. It was a struggle for some of us, me in particular, to learn DOS. Directories, files, folders. When to use forward slash and back slash. .bat, .config or config.bat, and *.* if you didn’t know… I was given a program called “Pathminder” from a friend of mine that really helped me do what I wanted more easily without having to get everything typed in just right. Then Microsoft came along with Windows. Apple never was in my picture back then for some reason. I liked the GUI’s. I thought they were cute and kinda made sense in some ways but I never looked into Apple or Macintosh. I was caught up in the Microsoft storm of sorts sweeping the PC world, and I tried to keep up with it and learning all the new things that came along. But I never could. I got to the point of feeling a little bit like it is hopeless to try. Helpless in some ways.
Bells and Whistles 27 Dec 2006 06:33 pm
The Ultimate Gadget/s
As I mentioned in the summary of the year 2006, my Dad had a cochlear implant that restored his hearing in his left ear, and the on December th, I had a stapedectomy to restore the hearing in my right ear. Both are technological and medical miracles in my personal opinion. I grew up with a father that needed something in his ear all my life, and even with a hearing aid, Dad could hear OK, but not well, and it got worse over the years until he could hear no more. Thank you God for inspiring the people you did to work and discover a way to make it possible for others like Dad to hear well enough to re-engage in communicating with those around him. It has been life changing for him and all of us.
Bells and Whistles 14 Jul 2005 08:32 pm
PIZZAZZ PIZZA OVEN!
Yeah here it comes JT… I was once chided when I got this gadget. Ahem…
I paraphrase the uterances of a critic when I disclosed this purchase to “him.” He said something like, “it doesn’t make sense to buy something that only has one purpose”…
Continue Reading »
Bells and Whistles 08 May 2005 11:41 am
Remote Control
There was a time in the early years of my life when the phrase “The Good Ol’ Days” meant, to me at least, the days before my time. Before I was born that is.
And I was having conflicting feelings about that phrase when I was thinking about the subject of this post.. remote controls. You see, I was just a kid back in the 50’s and 60’s and a remote controlled something meant that there was a string or wires from the object to be controlled and the operator. And when it came time for mom or dad to watch television and wanted the channel changes or the volume adjusted, I was their remote control.
Continue Reading »
Bells and Whistles 27 Apr 2005 12:23 pm
The Flo-Bee
Is it possibly true what they say, “if our hair is allowed to grow it will eventually stop growing?” There has to be something to that. All hairy mammals, except humans never cut thier hair. It grows just so far and stops. It grows a little thicker in winter and sheds when the weather warms up. I have two dogs that shed 24/7 yet the hair stays the same length. Some mammals have shorter hair than others. Some have more hair than others and yet it’s the same length.
Why is it that the hair growing out of a mans head and face, if uncut, will grow down below his waist, yet the hair on his arms and legs never grows over 1/2″ to 1″ long?
Continue Reading »
Bells and Whistles 24 Apr 2005 03:52 pm
Prelude to Gadgets
I thought it would be helpful to the reader/s if I could “share” my thought and feelings about “gadgets” before I start to talk about the gadgets I have or will acquire. It has been said that “necessity is the mother of invention.” That is only partly true. I believe it goes far beyond necessity. Necessity really does not apply in modern civilization. Necessities are summed up in a short list of, “I need food, I need air, I need water, and I need protection from the environment.”
Continue Reading »
Bells and Whistles 22 Apr 2005 10:18 am
Bells & Whistles
Anyone who knows me knows I like gadgets. Long live Ron Popeil! Who can forget the “Pocket Fisherman” or “Mr. Microphone” or the “Vegi-matic”? For me, “As-Seen-On-TV” is some of the finest programming on television today. Infomercials are a godsend. A relief from the humdrum of sitcoms and the dramas of reality television. Oh to be an insomniac! I could infomercial surf all night long. Just kidding. I’m not quite that bad…but close.