Thursday, July 18, 2019

Thursday Thirteen

1. So far this summer I've had an ear infection, strep throat, and now I have a blood clot in my leg. It's throbbing while I have it bent down to write this. Throb. Throb. Throb.

2. Writing at the computer is difficult if one is supposed to keep the leg elevated.

3. I have a laptop but I don't like writing on a laptop. I'm not even sure why I bought another laptop; I seldom use them. Mostly I just wanted to have something here as a back-up in case my desktop goes down. My last laptop had Windows Vista on it. It was old but my new laptop isn't any faster and nothing about it cries out to me, "use me, I'm the best!" That's probably because I bought the cheapest Dell I could find.

4. With Windows 10, one never knows when another update is coming, so I feel like the probability of a crash is always imminent.

5. I back everything up to a second hard drive, and sometimes if I'm working on something important, I send the file to myself in gmail.

6. I have tried to use OneDrive but apparently the Cloud is beyond my comprehension. I can't get the thing to upload. I don't blink my eyes in the proper sequence or something.

7. I'm still using MS Word 2007. I don't want to have to pay a monthly or yearly fee to Microsoft to use its products. I think you should only have to pay for it once and be done with it. It's not a visit to the doctor for an annual physical.

8. I believe that the cracks of our democracy are widening every day. When the earthquake comes, what will be left standing?

9. No wonder dystopian literature is popular. It is hard to imagine a utopian one. Human nature bends toward the dysfunctional.

10. I am feeling my age and feeling sad today, though I couldn't tell you why. It is a day to celebrate - 50 years ago we landed on the moon! And then we defunded the space program and lost all hope. Instead of reaching for the stars we reached for dollar bills and quarters. Watch the shiny nickel and dimes rain down. Enthralled by the chains of capitalism, we let our hearts and souls be derailed.

11. I like trains. Even the ones that jump the tracks.

12. In The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gandolf gives his life so others may move forward. "You shall not pass!" he cries to the evil Balrog as the rest of the fellowship try to escape the mines of Moria. I wonder where our Gandolfs are today. Who will stop the Balrog? (Who gets to define what a Balrog is in today's world?) Who stole our better angels?

13. Gentleman may cry peace, peace, but there is no peace. Is life so dear and peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? - Ah, but hasn't it been purchased? Aren't most of us playing with bread and circuses, slaving at our corporate jobs, not living our best lives because we don't even know what that is anymore? When up is down and sideways is straight, who can tell what is good, what is evil, what is bad, what is moral? Where will we go to find answers? We must look within, and if the answer is not there, then we must look to the past for wisdom. Not the Bible - but the past. Look at what has been, and swear it will not be again.


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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 613th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

8 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh--blood clots are scary! Is yours a DVT or the surface kind (I forget the acronym for it)?

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    1. The surface kind, as far as I know. They didn't do a scan or whatever it is. It's popped out like a golf ball on my leg. SVT is what they call it. And yes, it is scary.

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  2. Agree Agree Agree! I'm waiting for a Gandolf and whoever it is doesn't even have to die. I miss 2007 windows. I got used to 2010 but they don't give away the word processing anymore. I have a netbook for travel. Hope you feel better soon.

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  3. I'm happy with Word 2004 for Mac which still opens new versions of Word for PC and Mac. Knock on wood my 8 yr old Mac keeps on singing for another year.
    The angels are in Congress. We just have no idea who they are and what they are doing because reporters aren't covering them. So I think.

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  4. Oh boy, I hope that clot clears up with no problems. Those scare the bejeebers out of me.
    Interesting mood you're in today and quite the free-flowing train of thought. I am growing to dislike Windows 10 and all that goes with it more and more. It irritates me to no end that my phone and laptop are linked whether I like it or not. Mostly, I don't. If one updates then things aren't quite right or if I mess up one thing it messes it all up. Grrrrrr. George Orwell certainly was on to something. Big Brother in the form of Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Amazon, and the rest is surely watching.

    And now I'm singing that Police song "I'll Be Watching You."

    Curse Microsoft.

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  5. Are not we suppose to be the better angels?

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    1. Yes, we are. But look around and tell me how many "better angels" you see, especially from the vitriol online and the rampaging white nationalism. All I see is a downward spiral, and a lot of sad, helpless better angels.

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  6. Getting a mental picture of you typing while your leg is over your head!

    I don't remember Balrog in Lord of the Rings, but I think he lives in the White House now.

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