Annie, I miss you

Weeping, I'm playing our song

That's all I can do

Love,

Tom

Slogging one's way through meaningless, colorless Silly-Putty can be a real drag.

Not Now!

No feelings today

The blue and gray depression

Is having its way

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day, That costs thy life, my gallant gray!" - Sir Walter Scott.

Yesterday I felt it was the time was right to complain to my cable company about the services I was receiving, and those I was being charged for but not using.  The customer service number is easy enough to find, but from that point on, their Customer Relations Management (CRM) directory system takes over.  CRM software is designed to make it as difficult as possible for you to speak with a Real Live Person (RLP.)  It is quite possible that there is only one RLP per huge, enterprise sized corporation.  It may even be a part-time position.

It makes no difference which number you press from the initial contact on, because you are not intended to get past that point anyway.  First, you are to press the phone number with which the account is associated.  OK, would that be your home phone number from **&T, the cell number you used in setting up the changes, or the new number they assigned to you and which you do not know?  Your account hangs out with them all.  The system allows approximately twelve seconds to accomplish this task before suggesting that you try again.  You know that this is hopeless, but you try.  Even if you knew the number and had it written down in front of you, there is no earthly way to comply.  The cell phone keys are packed so closely together that your chubby little fingers have a near zero probability of pressing the correct sequence of numbers within the time limit.

They know that.  Therefore, an alternative is offered.  You may enter your sixteen digit account number, instead.  At this point you become certain that the CRM software is toying with you, but what to do?  Entering a series of random numbers is fun.  Repeating this action using different numbers is good when told that the first entry does not exist.  This is also the point at which you begin to gain some control.  The system decides it is dealing with a total incompetent and offers you simpler choices.  Do not choose any of them! Press zero!  Continue to press zero in response to anything the system suggests.  You are taking a slight risk here, that the system will simply hang up on you.  As long as the company doesn't know if you want to buy something, this is not likely to happen.

When you get to the RLP, state in a frustrated but very relieved tone, "Thank God I finally got to someone who can help me!"  No anger, complaining about the CRM, or menacing threats about dropping their service entirely.  Remember that you want to get something.  You want the RLP to feel as friendly and helpful as possible.  You may be the first person of the day who has treated them nicely or made them feel good.  Use that advantage!

When I completed my business with the RLP, I thanked her profusely, told her that I was very pleased with her helpfulness, and assured her that I would be a C***ast customer forever.  This would be good for her next performance evaluation as "all calls are recorded for training or whatever purposes."

Oh, by the way.  When I called I was paying $160.16 for the bundled services.  When I hung up, I will be paying $92.97 for exactly the same bundle and the Speed Channel was added.

Press zero ten times

Fumble and mumble; be nice

Get cable half-price

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Old age and treachery will prevail over youth and skill." - Unknown

I mean it.  I don't just dislike it.  I am not moderately annoyed by it.  I hate this object with a passion equal to that which I have felt toward any inanimate object that I did not destroy.  It doesn't care.  It knows it is immune to my wrath because I do not own it, and it takes advantage of that knowledge.  I believe that it even knows that I am armed and still it taunts me.  A few magnum slugs through its fan motor and capacitor would silence it but it knows I won't do that because I would be evicted and it is -5° F (-21° C) outside.  Earlier yesterday when I ventured out for groceries in the warmth of the day it was 5° F (-15° C) with a -16° F (-27° C) wind chill index.  When I returned, it felt warm for almost 30 seconds until I realized that I should not take off my coat.

I live in an two story, eight flat with all the plumbing, heating, and electrical supply lines located centrally.  Architecturally, that makes a certain amount of sense, but it locates eight toilets, eight bathtubs, eight washer-dryer units, and eight furnaces roughly within a 12' x 12' x 10' space.  Where do you imagine the most sadistic architect you can imagine would place the bedroom in a design such as this?  Right!  And the air intake for the furnace is located directly outside the bedroom door.  As one lies awake at night, anticipating the next heating cycle, it is possible to drift off to sleep in warmer weather.  First, a small, relatively quiet fan starts, soon followed by the "whump" of the natural gas ignition.  It is then only a matter of seconds until the main fan begins to deliver heat of the devil's own fires to the apartment.  When this occurs, I can only compare the sound to the Arfons brothers' Green Monster jet dragster of the 60's.  Its J-47 engine being fired up for the first time at US 30 Dragstrip burned down the timing shack in the process.

When the heating cycle finishes, the silence is deafening.  I firmly believe that these furnaces were originally garage heaters which, by way of the Peter Principle, worked their way up to their level of incompetency.  From such lowly beginnings, they try too hard.  The main fan must be running at a speed somewhere between double and triple its rated capacity.  At the opposite end of the apartment, the hot air blowing down from the ceiling vents is louder than the TV, and can literally be felt ruffling one's hair.  The thermostat that allegedly controls the temperature seems to have only two settings - too hot or too cold.  There might be a 0.5 mm point at which the setting is correct, but it moves and dodges about.  Really.  There seems to be no correlation between the thermometer and the tremendously oversensitive movement of the heat adjustment lever.  The single positive thing I can say about this ... device ... (aside from providing heat, however undesirably) is that the cost of the gas it uses is included in the apartment rental.

I have plans.  I don't believe that it knows I have tools.  Temperature probes that will measure its output at several locations in the apartment.  Pliers, screwdrivers, drills.  Devices of torture such as Vise-Grips and soldering irons.  And I'll use them!  I swear it!

And I don't much like the toilet, but that's another story.

Peace and Warm Wishes, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

I didn't even look for a quote for this post, but I'm certain I could have found something from Dante's "Inferno" or Big Jim Whittaker's climb of Everest that would have been appropriate. - Doc

Today in a speech to a hopeful nation ...

George "The Walker" Bush

Issued a proctomation

"Everything is fine!"

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." - George W. Bush

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.” - Joseph Goebbels

Since my move, I have watched and re-watched the movie "American Graffiti" at least a dozen times.  Probably more.  The more I watch it, the more I see in it, and the more of myself I see in it.  I want to be there again.

Now and Then

Long ago he lived

American Graffiti

Once was not enough

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Everybody needs his memories.  They keep the wolf of insignificance from the door." - Saul Bellow

Sorry.  That's a joke that only a few of my older readers will catch.  Many years ago when "easy-open" beer bottles were not at all easy to open, one bottling company produced an advertisement making fun of that fact.  It starred a "professional" wrestler opening a beer.  When, after a great deal of grunting and sounds of great efforts being made, it was opened, he stated, "The Crusher do good!"

That does have a connection to today's topic, deleting and/or erasing files from one's computer drive.  There are various degrees of deletion and erasure.  The least secure is simply deleting a file by sending it to the Windows Recycle Bin and clicking on "Empty Recycle Bin."   This action only erases the address (a few bits) of the file on the drive such that the computer no longer recognizes it as being present.  The body of it remains.  It can easily be found by someone with a little knowledge of computers and a program to view what is on the entire drive.

At the extreme opposite end of the security spectrum would be having a bit of thermite or a huge degausser installed in the computer set to destroy the entire hard drive if certain conditions are met.  This method would be for serious hackers, intelligence agencies, those with child porn on their machines, or any of you who really don't want your high school nickname known, and are willing to have a lump of smoldering plastic and metal on your desk to prevent it.

In many cases, simply deleting a file is enough.  If you don't care that there are retrievable remains of all your blog posts, emails to Aunt Edna, or grocery lists, fine.  More sensitive information deserves more care, at least encryption and more complete deletion when you are done with it.  At one time in the past, simple deletion was enough because people who wanted your data were not so common and ways to get it were not so sophisticated.  Unfortunately, that has not been true for several years, so it is largely up to you to protect it.

A recent article by Linda Martin-Peoples on MakeUseOf.com reviews or mentions in the comments section, various free file, folder, and disk deletion programs.  FileShredder seems to be a very useful free program.  Another program mentioned in the article  is a trial of a commercial program, not true freeware, and is not listed here.  Data Shredder is available free from CBL Data Recovery Technology, LLC, a Canadian data recovery company.  I highly recommend that you read the article on this link to their site which explains, in understandable terms, what the different levels and types of data destruction involve.  There are many free file shredders available at various sites around the web.  I use Eraser, parts of Crap Cleaner (which is again available at the linked site without the other software recently bundled with it,) and "other methods."  There are some programs I have not listed because they are completely destructive of all data on a disk, and I don't believe any of my readers would need such an ability.  If you are going to donate a computer to charity or dispose of one, contact me and I will send you the names and URLs.

Other caveats apply to this type of application.  Be certain that you trust the source of any freeware you download.  Open source sites with GNU licenses (like sourceforge.com, etc.,) large companies giving away a freebie to get you to buy other of their commercial software, and corporations giving away updates, add-ons, templates, etc., to their own commercial software are most often safe.  The other "It seems too good to be true" sites frequently prove that old maxim to be true.  The second caveat, specifically about file deletion software, is to know what you are doing!  If you do, go ahead.  If you have any doubt, don't do it.  Ask someone first.  When the files are gone, they really are gone unless you are willing to take the chance that a data retrieval company, charging $600 to $1000, might be able to get it back.

This article is presented for general educational purposes only, and does not constitute a recommendation or bad review of any particular company or bit of software.  It is not all inclusive, and there are many other good and bad programs out there.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"The word 'free' can have multiple meanings." - Wikipedia

This poem was written nearly three years ago, following the death of my wife and best friend, Annie.  I am sorry to admit that my attitude toward the holiday season has not improved very much, especially since this year it has been necessary to move the box and to reexamine many of its contents, trying to decide what may be disposed of.  I believe that I am thinking somewhat more positively this year, but will be relieved when the day after Valentine's Day has passed.

A Box of Gone

I have a box beneath my bed

Where memories are kept

Not entrusted to my head

I opened it a day ago

Enjoy the past, I said

Look at all the photographs

Fading quickly now instead

Holding one-time treasures

And the Christmas feelings fled

A panic dream awakened me

No tinsel, greens, or red

All was lost within the dream

It left me filled with dread

All old love and gladness gone

And all is past and dead

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2005-2008, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

“Melancholy is the pleasure of being sad” - Victor Hugo