Frustrations Galore...

Driving...

Driving long distances.
Driving when others back seat drive
Driving when others cringe when you're driving.

Being told (in mixed company) by two different family members that they cringed and held their breath when being driven someplace by you.

I have a good mind to just say... No Problem... You don't like my driving? you drive. I'll be the designated Drinker, no questions asked, no answer.

Tonight however, We drove 500 miles back from visiting a friend.

I drove the first 150 miles (2 hrs @75mph)
then we stopped. traded drivers. Wife took second shift, drove from 11:15 to 2:15 pm.
Stopped for lunch, met daughter for lunch, in a comment during lunch, was told she hates driving with me, and then wife drove again from 4:00 until almost 8pm.

And she only stopped to trade drivers because I said I needed a snack.


(to me at least) This was the weekend from hell.

I think in the past thirty years, I have gone from being a teen-aged boy, complete with all the problems of a teen-ager, and gone through a great deal of transformations.

I have managed to discover that my childhood was not idylic, was not perfect, and was not all my fault. (Start of digression)

In discovering that ADHD diagnosed in Adults is often a huge surprise, I discovered that my favorite song growing up (Simon and Garfunkle's, "I am a rock") was helpful despite the fact that no one liked me.

In getting diagnosed with adult adhd, I can safely say that social cues, and the inability to read and react to them caused most of the problems in my childhood.
(End of digression)

Well I will say that since the time that I discovered that ADHD surpressed my understanding body language, that I have had a total transformation in my understanding of interpersonal language and cues.

I will go further and say, that because I have become more religious, I have also managed to become more introspective, and thus discover a number of my flaws, that went beyond the ADHD. I'd even take one LARGE leap, and say that because of my looking closely at myself, I have been able to forgive a number of people in my life that have hurt me in different ways.

This weekend was very difficult. I feel I've moved on. I've improved. I've managed to get past a great many obstacles. I've managed to even forgive people that hurt me. So to be with my sister-in-law,for an extended weekend, for the first time in nearly 10 years, and to be treated as If I was simply the same as the last time I was with her was madenning.

I did manage to convey some of this frustration to her, in a calm, apparently civil fashion, by explaining that in the past 15years that I've grown, and been able to forgive, and actually have empathy for those that hurt me. She replied that she isn't hurt, isn't angry (right I say to myself), and just doesnt care. I pointed out that it sounded like she was still extremely angry for what had happened to her as a child, and that she absolutely sounded like she was still very aggrieved about it, and that she absolutely DID not get over it.

Ehh... My answer is that this weekend had so much of my being insulted (this person's method of interacting is her witty rejoinders, (which to me, now, are quite stinging, and barbed,) and no longer as witty as I once found them!

There was so much negativity and bad "karma" (and I use that word very very sparingly!), that my entire reaction to the weekend was that the bad karma spread from her to us, and to everyone we even saw today.

Back to driving.

After having finally pulled over at 8pm, I was told the reason she was pushing herself so hard was that she too (dear wife) felt as if she was holding on for her dear life.

Thank heavens, I went into the Wendy's to get my soda and baked potatoes. I was gone for nearly 15 minutes, and by the time I got into the car, she was in the passenger seat.

I decided that rather then do the first thing that came to my mind (slamming the door closed, and saying go home yourself, i 'll get home later in the week!) I thought through the implications, and instead decided to humor her.

Instead of driving at 75 like I did on the first leg of the trip, I set the cruise control for 63mph. I accelerated only 4 times faster then this, when I actually needed to pass someone who was going my speed.

so instead of getting home the last 140 miles in 2 hours, it took three hours.

And next time, I may just driver at 55mph, with my flashers on...

but the last problem is that I now need to sell my six flags season ticket, because
a) I will not buy a $50.00 season parking ticket.
b) I will not drive my daughter in my car to the park, because I've found out she abhors being in the car with me.
c) So I now have no way to get to the park to park...

SIGH!!!

Welcome to YET ANOTHER blog from Markbnj

I created ThIS one to MOSTLY be a place for ME to put "STUFF"
(like video's, mp3's, and stuff that I reference from other places in my blog...)

If you've come across this blog by accident
Do the following

view one of my main (three) blogs

1. 1) the original: the eclectic's blog: I discuss: politics, security, PC's, Israel, Mideast, and other strange stuff...HERE:
2. My Poetry Blog: I committed to writing a new poem a day for the entire year. This was actually based on listening to an interview with Lori Parks (read the intro to the blog HERE for a real interesting experience, including the original interview you can listen to yourself!
3. My "Automatic-Poetry-Machine™" where I am attempting to bring poetry CLOSER to the "masses", by encouraging people to leave "input" to the APM™, and getting a poem written for them as "output". You simply leave a comment to the blog, with a NAME, A topic, and a FEELING, and a poem will be written for you as OUTPUT.

As I mentioned, This Blog simply is a place for me to put, "stuff".

thanks and dont forget to visit the APM to get a poem for yourself!

This is My (ehh.) Attempt to put SOME sort of Documentation on the INTERNET regarding the file named
HpqToaster.exe In HP and Especially COMPAQ Presario Laptops.

THIS IS THE DEFINITIVE answer:

Obtained by looking in C:\System.sav\Logs and searching for hpqtoaster.exe

[22:44:11.156] @REM =======================================================================
[22:44:11.156] @REM This file supports the automatic installation of the following
[22:44:11.156] @REM application: HP WIRELESS ASSISTANT
[22:44:11.156] @REM Fix OTS:#0176928 HP WA and QLB lost in Sys Tray after compare with DM.
[22:44:11.156] @REM =======================================================================
[22:44:11.156] @Addtoignorelist hpqwmi.exe
[22:44:11.156] @Addtoignorelist "HP Wireless Assistant.exe"
[22:44:11.156] @Addtoignorelist HpqToaster.exe
[22:44:11.156] @IFFILE(C:\Swsetup\WLASST\disk1\setup.exe)

**by the way** on my laptop this directory was created on the date that the laptop was formatted!



So, as my ABSOLUTE definitive answer, Don't want wireless to work?
DISABLE the hpqtoaster.exe LIKE I did. (I use wired connections!!!!)

cheers!

This is a humor post, if we ever have another humorous moment again

Why didn't I invent this?

Lifehackershows us this Great food tip!!

in answer to FOOLISH Girl's post (here"

Digital cameras- What the hell is it doing in there? 35mm cameras are not a mystery. What the hell is it burning the image on. I can't rap my head around it.

OK: Tech Geek/Nerd to the rescue.

1. Digital Camera:
A 35mm camera takes you image and "saves/burns/exposes" the image to your FILM, which then goes to the store to be DEVELOPED/PROCESSED into Negatives.

Negatives then are exposed onto paper which turns them into photos (positives), and the photos are then printed.

The 35mm camera "saves" the image to film, the same way a DIGITAL camera saves the image to MEMORY or some sort of "flash-card", you insert.

The 35mm camera saves an ANALOG (opposite of digital, and wont discuss here) image (representation) on the film, and is then processed.

The Digital camera takes the SAME image (thru the lens), and instead of focusing the image onto the film that is exposed, uses a CCD (charge coupled device) (same as a Modern day TV camera, or OPPOSITE of a TV)
to take THREE different images of the scene.

...backtrack....Digression
In a TV camera(today=CCD, in the past was vacuum tubes) there are three different sensors that take a picture of a scene, with
either a blue/red or green filter.

If you are old enough, you'll remember the 1st generation color TV's you could put your head against the screen, and actually see the small red/green/blue "holes/thingies that could turn on.
(nowadays, they would be LED's or LCD's, or plasma "thingies", they were then parts of a PICTURE tube).

a) the lens focuses on a "mini" tv-like screen. (actually the CCD!)
b) tiny microscopic thingies inside take three separate B&W photos (think red/green/blue) filters )
c) since this is a DIGITAL camera, the CCD's convert the image from a piece of data into a number, and then translates that number into binary (zero's and ones).

Say our CCD cell (pixel) has captured a image of a period. That cell converts the image into a series of ones and zeros that best represents what that "pixel" would look like.

Now that the pixel/CCD unit has our image converted into a "digital" piece of data, it (along with the other XYZ MB's in the CCD store that image to memory (just like a computer would).
It stores that in you camera in a format that current computers would recognize as a removable (floppy) hard drive.

So our picture of (say, a period) will then be stored in a file on your camera.
a) if you have added external memory to your camera, it will store there, otherwise it stores in the memory BUILT into your camera!

You then go into as an example Google's Picassa, and with your camera connected (or your memory card in a reader on your PC), it will take the photos and transfer them to your PC, and catalog them for you

Bio-Diesel FAQ for the terminally lazy/bored/short attention span.


Some random factoids for you:

(I am hoping to start a bio-diesel co-op up here in NJ-- Email me if you're up here and interested. my email ISNt a secret!)

1. Regular Diesel engines can run up to a 3 part ratio with "PURE veggie oil" to diesel without gunking up the engine.
   
1. You cannot use "recycled" vegatable oil like this unless you process it to remove the gunk, and do some (not much) chemical processing (can be done in a parking lot if you are going cross-country)
2. MAX ratio of 3 parts oil to 10 parts diesel, because at higher percentages, it will gunk up engine because it wont burn smoothly (MORE LATER)
   
3. If you have a diesel engine with a 10 gallon tank (to make it easier)this means:
1. You can take 2 gallons of Veggie Oil from the supermarket and add it to your diesel tank, and mix with the 8 gallons of diesel fuel.

2) If it were me I wouldn't run an unmodified diesel engine for anything more then 10% for at least a month, and would go up 10% every OTHER month.(3rd month=20%). I would be quite cautious-- esspecially if a new car!

3) The reason you need to modify a diesel engine to run SVO (Straight Vegetable Oil) is that OIL is heavier and larger particles then diesel. In order to rectify this, modifications are made that will pre-heat the veggie oil to the right temperature, so it is thinner, and burnable as easily as diesel-fuel. In addition, one of the things the conversion also does is make it possible (when you get to your destination) to burn all the Veggie oil out of your engine (so it doesn't solidify when your car turns off) This usually takes about 20-80 seconds and can either be automatic or manual.

1. USED veggie Oil (like from McDonalds/Wendys,etc)
   
1. For one person, (for example: going cross-country) could easily just walk in, sweet talk manager, and take the used oil out in the 5 gallon can, and process it in parking lot.
2. Processing essentially is
1. Filter/filter/filter (several times)
2. run it thru a few chemicals to get rid of residue so that it is purer.

That's essentially it

For a large group, the used oil will need to be collected, processed someplace, and then dispensed

Hope this helps you!