Un-Huh.  The title refers to the quote attributed to Chuck Colson during his years in the Nixon administration.  "If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."  It would appear that this house selling adventure has, somewhere along the line, turned from something I wanted to do into a monster that is dragging me along behind it, kicking and screaming. 

The potential buyer was to have obtained a mortgage as of yesterday.  That was the third extension I had agreed to for them to obtain funding.  My attorney called and I was prepared to hear that it had finally been obtained.  I actually misheard what he said in a very short-lived moment of joy.  When I listened more closely I heard what he was actually saying.  It ran something more like, "They'll probably get the mortgage after the FEMA inspection."  FEMA inspection?!  What FEMA inspection?  WTF!?  The same bunch that can't handle a gaggle of house trailers effectively?  When and how did they come into the picture?  What new law?  That recently?  You didn't know about it either?  Yeah, OK.  Give them another week.

This can't last much longer or I'll simply have to pull the plug on it.  It started as a simple "as-is" sale between a contractor who was to repair some water damage under my insurance policy and me.  I agreed to a much lower price than I wanted because I then would not have to do all the cosmetic repairs and updates that would be necessary to make the house desirable.  The contractor had all the necessary materials sitting in his warehouse and the house was to be sold to his son.  It seemed sort of logical and straightforward when we sat and discussed it together. 

Certainly the buyers must be no happier with this situation than am I.  A four generation group of them inspected the house and all appeared to really like it.  They are continuing every effort to obtain a mortgage and close the deal, as far as I can tell.  I want and need to sell so I am making every reasonable concession possible.  It has simply gotten to the point that, if it sells on October 26th, the next scheduled closing date, the costs I will have incurred approach $10,000.  This situation has kept "the carrot" just close enough that I keep chasing it, and just far enough away that it hasn't been caught in six months.  I am canceling the apartment I had found and also the storage space that I leased to cut costs as much as possible.  Nobody has done anything wrong, illegal, incompetent, or more than normally self-serving.  Just wrong time, wrong place, wrong economy.  At this point I think I might be better off selling the lot and casually mentioning, "Oh, by the way, there's a house on it."

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Oh well.  I'll figure it out." - Doc

Occasionally I recycle or do multiple posts of the same basic article on more than one of my blogs.  Sometimes it makes sense to do so and sometimes it doesn't.   One post that I did here first made its way to Solo Shrink, a blog primarily of interest to mental health professionals in private practice.  The post on rootkits installed without with the individual computer owner's knowledge was posted on both because rootkits have the potential of compromising a client's Protected Health Information (PHI) without either the clinician's or client's knowledge.  It was posted on Solo Shrink as it is very important that the private practitioner know of threats like this so that they can take all steps possible to protect confidentiality.  In this instance, it seems only reasonable that anyone might want to know about some security software relevant to the same security problems.  On a cautionary note, the software I list is almost always free or shareware, and not "top of the line," very expensive commercial software.

"In the last post, I ranted about rootkits being planted in consumers’ computers without their knowledge by unscrupulous corporations or by hackers with even less honorable motives. I vented my displeasure with a corporation but did not give any information about what one can do about a rootkit. To remedy that oversight I embarked on a quest for some free software that will detect their presence. I shall try to rectify the omission in this episode.

AVG, an excellent commercial security software company, offers three security software applications that are free for the downloading. The best known is their free anti-virus program, but they also offer an anti-spyware application and a rootkit detector. All three are available here.

Sophos Software also offers free anti-rootkit software, a threat detection test, and an application discovery tool in addition to their commercial line of security software.

When you try these programs, as I have, please give consideration to purchasing the full featured versions or making a donation to the software’s author if you like them."

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

I know I cried the day he was shot in Dealey Plaza.  The assassination was announced over the school's P.A. system and all the students in our band class sat in stunned silence.  School was closed for the three days while official preparations were made and he lay in state.  He was finally borne on the historic horse drawn caisson from his Funeral Mass to his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

I know that a large part of my innocence also died during that week when I heard some adults stating that they were glad he was dead and that it should have happened sooner.  I don't believe that I knew how to hate before that.  My areas of interest in psychology were certainly influenced as a result of materials such as the following which later came to light:

I know that I have only liked or trusted a total of three politicians since his death.  I was relatively quiet and circumspect about it, but I became radicalized as I tried to grasp the concept of a very charismatic and effective president being slaughtered by either a madman or a larger plot.  As a few years passed and the nation's situation worsened, an "invitation" was extended to me to join the Weatherman faction of the SDS.  I didn't accept the offer, but I'm sure I must appear somewhere on the fringes of photos of later protest rallys.  I don't understand why it still surprises me that the normal, average citizen still does not "get it" when the overall political climate of today is concerned.  But they don't.

Sunny Dallas day

Abruptly Camelot ends

Spray of rose and gray

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

A funny thing happened in the middle of a dream last night.  A second home appraiser had been here in the afternoon taking pictures, measurements, and generally looking things over, inside and out.  He seemed to be in favor of granting the desired mortgage to the potential buyer.  Then again, so did the first one, when he was here.  At any rate, I felt relatively positive when he left but resolved not to plan definitely for either selling or staying.  I will continue to do things that I should do whichever the case may be.  It is certainly an opportunity to continue getting rid of stuff that I know I'll never really use but just don't want to admit it.  So the house is getting cleaner and more barren inside while looking OK from the outside (not counting the need for a coat of paint and the replacement of a few deteriorating pieces of decorative trim.)  All in all, I was feeling more positive than not when I went to sleep.  No disturbing dreams that I can recall.  Everything seemed normal.

I awoke with a start, at about 2:15 a.m.  I don't know what prompted it, but I had a sudden realization that I hadn't seen Bittle since the appraiser had been here.  I was immediately worried because he has usually walked over me two or three times by that hour and generally let his desire for a treat be known.  Perhaps it was the lack of an expected stimulus that startled me awake in almost the same way that the presence of unexpected one would have.  A notion similar to the certainty that kids are getting into trouble if you don't hear them bickering for two minutes straight.  While still dazed, I recalled that the appraiser had not closed the door when he went into the back yard for pictures. 

I ran around checking every room in the house, the basement, and the garage.  Stinky helped by running with me and causing me to trip or leap over him several times when he stopped abruptly.  No Bittle.  The doors had been shut and locked when the appraiser had taken his leave, so that made me certain that Bittle must be locked outside.  All outside lights were turned on and out I went in search of Bittle the Timid.  He's not the brightest cat in the world and generally just won't do outside.  Being locked out of the house would have unhinged him more than it did me.  I didn't bother with shoes as I deemed this an emergency search and rescue operation.  For my valiant efforts I was rewarded by running through the overripe crab apples under the decorative tree near the front door.  Dry socks and squooshy crabapples are not a pleasant combination, either in theory or practice.  That turned out well enough, though, as the wet grass washed most of the crabapple sauce out as I wandered around the lawn attempting to whistle and call Bittle without frightening him more.  I couldn't find him and eventually went back to the house. 

As I entered the front door, Bittle and Stinky were both standing in the foyer looking at me as if I were a madman.  I suppose I did look that way, actually, with the soggy socks, serious agitation, and all.  I then sat down on the floor and had a talk with The Boys.  It was comprised primarily of trying to convince them that hiding was not a good thing for them to do and that if they caused me to have a heart attack, treats would likely cease rather quickly.  I think they understood at least a little of my concern as they both followed me to the bedroom, jumped onto the bed, and settled in.  Waiting for their treats.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"A cat determined not to be found can fold itself up like a pocket handkerchief if it wants to.  ~Louis J. Camuti"

What more need be said?

From Slate e-zine, artist Powell.

Peace, Doc

Hmm.  Yes.  Technically in "Eight Things Tag" there is no requirement that one must explain the meaning of a "thing" not understood by the reader.  The curiosity about one entry comes from the fact that I was being deliberately cryptic.  I put that one in as a zinger for the Spaces Live team who had just featured me again without warning or notification.  The only way I discovered this was from a large increase in hits coming from Spaces Live home base.  At least the last two times they have had the courtesy to display a stock photo of a "real" doctor in scrubs, walking down a hospital hallway.  The first time I was featured, about two years ago, a picture of a demented looking bald guy, waving a Rorschach card was used.  People asked if it was me.  I have grown two pony tails in the past 12 years and only once in 30 years have I administered the Rorschach (a psychiatrist made me do it.)  You're right.  I'm stalling.

To begin this perilous journey of explanation, we will travel to Savile Row in London where some of the world's finest men's wear is produced for specific individuals.  There is nothing "on the rack."  One selects the fabric for a suit from a series of bolts of cloth.  When one acquires his tailor in this fashion, it is usually assumed that the customer will return repeatedly unless he is terribly displeased with the shop's work.  Exact measurements are taken of every part of the body necessary to make the suit fit perfectly.  Adjustments are made to these measurements over the years as one develops a paunch, loses his youthful musculature, develops a slight hunchback, or any of the myriad other changes that may occur to the human body as the years pass.  Slight adjustments in the amount of cloth in the basic pattern that has been so carefully developed are made. 

There is a habit that males display early on that appears not to change over his lifetime.  This habit is necessary to know so that an extra amount of cloth is allotted to the appropriate area to maintain a perfect fit.  Now we get to the habit.  It is where the male positions his genitalia in his undergarments.  Most males would hope that this makes a difference in the amount of cloth used on the right or the left side of the pants' zipper.  Whether it actually does or not, he is asked by the tailor whether he "dresses right" or "dresses left" so that extra space may be allowed on the correct side.  I dress left.  It doesn't matter with jeans.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Oh, I am so embarrassed." - Oscar the Grouch of Sesame Street

It appears that my friends are much more tolerant of my uneducated attempts at poetry than I realized.  Thank you!  Should I be impressed with myself?  I don't think so.  I started writing a few haiku in undergraduate school.  Very few, but I used them the same way as I do now - to express an emotion or to produce a brief experiential feeling.  Because haiku are so short and so subjective, they are often difficult for the reader to know "what the heck was he thinkin' when he wrote that?"  That was certainly proven by the recent post of Sudden Sunshine, which nobody understood in the same way as I did when I wrote it.

It seemed to me that everyone who commented got something out of it, and most got a similar feeling from it.  In 17 syllables (5-7-5 format) it is often difficult to say exactly what one wants everyone to understand.  I started writing haiku again when I was trying to concentrate and distill large, multi-faceted problems into small, bite-sized bits that I could then deal with more effectively.  Although I follow the form, I believe I have only written one true haiku (and didn't publish it.)  According to the most commonly accepted rules, I should start with the first line being a "setup" line, referring to a season or nature.  The second and third lines should in some way pose a question, resolve the first line, produce a visual or other sensory experience, and so on, about the setup line.  I know that, but I don't do it.  I started writing them for myself and felt no obligation to stick to the traditional rules.  I also do not inflict as many as I write, either on readers of this space or on poets where I publish most of those I see as fit for public viewing, Fiction Press.  Yes, I have other spaces and blogs.  Ooh.  Now I've revealed a secret. 

The link is to my poetry site at Fiction Press.  If anyone decides to have a look, the whole bunch makes the most sense if you begin at the oldest and progress to the most recent.  In that way, you generally follow my feelings and thoughts over the past two years.  It's another peek into a shrink's mind and feelings, showing that they are very much the same as anyone else's.

Here's one I posted there, but didn't use here:

Night Light

Pixelated glow

From the fifteen-inch night light

Waking dreams captured

I believe that more readers here will understand it than did the people who critiqued it on the poetry site.  (Hint; the night light is a laptop screen.)

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Poetry is the art of creating imaginary gardens with real toads." - Marianne Moore

E. W. Dragon has seen fit to tag me to reveal eight "new" things about myself.  I interpret that to mean things that readers might not know about me rather than things that have happened in the past week or so.  No doubt either would be entertaining.  The following is the challenge she set: 

"The Rules of this TAG are:

1.) Each person posts the rules before their list, then list 8 new things about themselves.

2.) At the end of the post, that person tags 8 other people or more, letting them know that then have been tagged and to come read the post so they know what to do.

Ok...so, here we go: ..."

Before I proceed further, I wish to state that I will not tag anyone else, but if someone wishes to participate, just go for it.  I also noted that I was the first person tagged by Ms. Dragon and that she only listed seven tagged people.  I don't know if this has any particular significance, but it was there.  Now for my eight "new" things:

• It is possible that the sale of my house is failing due to the inability of the buyer to get a mortgage in the currently deranged lending and housing market.  Our local newspaper published 41 foreclosure sale notices in the legal section two days ago.  I shall look on the sunny side, however, and rest secure in the knowledge that my septic system is in good condition.
• I have been in four Unions (one of my own making.)  A.F.S.C.M.E., Mineworkers, Steelworkers, and Local 13 of the Villains, Thieves, and Scoundrels Union.  The last was from high school days and derived from the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon character Boris Badinof who headed the V.T.S.U.  We simply decided to become a local chapter of it.
• In high school I was a "mad bomber," able to time when a cherry bomb or M-80 would explode by drilling a hole through the lower part of a candle and inserting the fuse.  Timing was accomplished by measuring the time it took for the candle to burn down to the fuse.  The one in the auditorium during band class worked perfectly, but the one in the upper bleachers during girl's gym class was discovered before it could accomplish its mission.  I was called into the principal's office.  The cherry bomb and candle were on his desk.  I was able to maintain enough of a poker face that he ended up telling me to get a haircut. 
• I dress left.
• Since age 50, I have donated two pony tails to Locks of Love.  To prevent any possible misinterpretations, deliberate or otherwise, yes, I grew them myself.
• It disturbs me that my profession prevents me, both ethically and to avoid offending the other person, from bartering services rather than paying for them.
• I write haiku.  This began as a way to condense and distill intrusive, depressive thoughts following the death of my wife.  It grew on me, though.  I generally publish them elsewhere now, as some most of my readers have expressed ambivalence of one sort or another regarding them.  This is much the same as telling a person, "Lots of luck.  There are two kinds, you know."
• I think I will go flush the toilet a few times now - to count my blessings.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"The reason I talk to myself is because I'm the only one whose answers I accept." - George Carlin

Once upon a time in the not too far distant past I really liked Sony products.  I still do.  I have Sony tape deck, receiver, CD/DVD player, pocket recorder, and was drooling over several of their high-end cameras, but I have resolved never to buy another of their offerings because of their corporate behavior. 

In 2005 there was a Sony BMG scandal in which rootkits were hidden in over 100 of the CD products manufactured and sold by them.  When the customer played the "copy protected" "XCP" CD, a rootkit, otherwise known as spyware or malware, was installed in their computer without their knowledge.  It interfered with the way in which Windows systems play CDs and opened several security holes for viruses to enter the unsuspecting owner's computer.  Rather than go on at length here, I refer the reader to the wiki link above, for a thoroughly researched and well written explanation of the problem and the various electronic, ethical, and legal ramifications of their ploy.  The first time, I was relatively quiet about it, but made my resolution and have abided by it.

Now they have done it again!  "... F-Secure's Deep-Guard software has detected rootkits in more software distributed with Sony products."  In my opinion, this goes beyond the point that I can simply shut up and not mention it to others whose computers may be affected.  They not only did it, but they did it poorly in an attempt at security through obscurity.  The TechRepublic Forum post I read most recently on this subject found many others with the same feelings about Sony as I have developed.

*Sigh*  At least I'm not the only one who became really cranky over this.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Experience is the best teacher, but the tuition is high." - Norwegian Proverb

There are a few good, free, web based applications out there amidst all the crapware.  I used Panda Software's computer-based anti-virus program for a year some while back and found it to be satisfactory.  Not perfect, but good.  That was at a time when many of the viruses, trojans, and worms were coming from the area of the world in which Panda Software is located.  My assumption at the time was that they would therefore be the first AV company to encounter many of the new threats "in the wild" and the first to develop new countermeasures.  It seemed to be a good assumption.  The only drawbacks I encountered at that time were a somewhat unappealing user interface and a very aggressive advertising program.  Panda was one of the "other good commercial AV programs" to which I referred in a previous post on free AV protection.

When I evaluate a program for my own use I quickly head in the opposite direction from AV and other security programs that immediately do a scan, find 1,284 possible infections on my computer, and warn me of the grave consequences of not purchasing their software or services immediately.  When I found and tried Panda's nanoscan online scan it quickly had a look at my computer after I allowed it to install an ActiveX application.  It reported that it found no viruses and that my other security programs were up to date.  Hmm.  Could it be true?

After one has scanned their computer with nanoscan, a pitch is made for totalscan.  It is stated that this version can be used in either “brief” (about five minutes) or “full” (about an hour) modes.  One has to sign up with an email address and a password for the free totalscan.  I did so and allowed another ActiveX to run.  This action started the download of a short program that literally took almost three hours to complete on a dial-up Internet connection.  When this process was completed, totalscan found 10 cookies that I knew were present and showed a large red button labeled "disinfect."  I hopefully pressed it.  The next screen informed me that I must be a member of totalscanPRO for anything to actually happen.  Technically, Panda delivered exactly what was promised, a scan.  I am so freaking gullible that I must be a relative of Wily Coyote. 

The purchase page even insisted that I was from the UK and wanted payment in pounds.  I'm afraid I cannot recommend nanoscam, totalscam, or totalscamPRO.  Some might want to take a look at Panda's relatively non-technical descriptions of crimeware, hoaxes, rootkits, and the like.  Otherwise, it did nothing that the previously listed freeware did not do except leave me with junk to clean out of the computer and two or three hours of subvocal swearing which I must attend to.  Despite my current displeasure, I would still state that Panda's programs and services are probably in the class of "other satisfactory commercial security software."  I'm glad I used a throwaway e-mail address, though.

Peace, Doc

Copyright © 2007, Thomas A. Blood, Ph.D.

"Dammit!" - Doc