Costco, a little less oil in your Almond Butter please

 I know, almond butter is not peanut butter, so I don't expect them to be exactly the same.  But I find myself wondering, what exactly am I supposed to do with it?

It doesn't matter how much you stir it, you will never get it to the consistency where you could spread it on a sandwich and not be dripping off all sides of the bread.  I suppose if you used a level teaspoon of it then it wouldn't drip, but then all you would taste is the bread.

It tastes good, although not substantially better than peanut butter.  But at it's current consistency I can't really find a way to eat it that doesn't either not taste like anything at all, because I have to use so little of it without it ending up all over my hands, or bake it into something.

I really don't need a bunch of brownies or cookies around the house, because there is nobody here but me and if I bake them I will eat them.

Costco, I generally think of your stuff as quality, but you really missed the mark on this one.

And now I'm stuck with Windows 11

 My desktop finally died.  It was delivered with Windows 7, and had suffered through the update to Windows 10.  The threat of Windows 11 was hanging over it's head, as I had gotten notifications from Microsoft that the device was in fact compatible with Windows 11.  Perhaps that is why it finally died, it couldn't suffer the indignity.

With no functional desktop, I needed to go out and find another.  It took a few days, shopping around for the workstation and monitors.  I had two functional monitors but none of the workstations I found supported two VGA monitors.  They would, however support one VGA and one HDMI monitor, I was able to find some nice, but inexpensive monitors that had both VGA and HDMI ports so I bought them.   So after several days of shopping, plus several days of installing the software I need for work, and then four days doing actual work, I have come to the following conclusion.

Windows 11 is adware.

It is not so much a new operating system as it is Windows 10 with the functions rearranged on the screen, and the guarantee that there will be a constant barrage of reminders from Microsoft to install or activate something you don't really need interspersed with advertisements disguised as news.

 Over time I will figure out how to disable many of the more annoying features, although I wonder how many will be re-enabled by periodic update. 

Another thing that's never coming back

 For much of my adult life I have played poker.  I played in the poker rooms that played 5 card draw and lowball.  I played 7 card stud at the Oaks card room and in Reno. I have played hold-em in Reno, Las Vegas, and in a tournament on a cruise ship.  But the most fun (with one exception) I have had was the every other weekend game I had at my house.

It was a friendly game, nickle, dime, quarter, three raise limit, dealer's choice.  Most people bought in for twenty dollars.   We drank beer, smoked a little weed, and played from around 7 in the evening til midnight or thereabouts.  Nobody lost their rent money but that didn't mean we were not all serious about winning.  It wasn't about the money, it was about winning.

We played 5 card draw, lowball, seven card stud, hi-low split and some other variations that I can't remember.  Whatever the dealer called as the deal rotated around the table, that's what we played.  I moved twice, and the game moved with me.  As host I supplied the beer.  It was a small price to pay for the evening's entertainment.

Nobody plays those games anymore.  Texas Hold-em and poker have become synonymous.  I have enjoyed playing Hold-em, but it was never my favorite of all the different poker variations I have played. I don't begrudge those that was to play it I just wish there were choices.

 Oh, and the one exception was a hand I played in Reno.  It was 7 card stud.  I had 3 queens on the deal.  I wasn't first to act and I just called when it was mine turn to bet.  After that, with a queen up I was first to act.  I checked.  When another player bet I raised.  The following card, I checked again, and one player bet into me.  I raised again.  The other remaining players between me and the bettor had also checked.  They didn't need to be taught twice.

I check-raised all the way to the river and he bet into me every time.  I have won more (and lost plenty too) playing poker, but that had to be the most fun I ever had.  But that too, will never happen again, because nobody plays 7 card stud any more.

Finally ran out of excuses

 It is not quite 11:30 in the morning and I am just starting my second cup of coffee.  I haven't showered and dressed or eaten anything.  Even the coffee is from a pot I made yesterday and that I reheated by the cup in the microwave.  I think this is the first day since I moved into this place in April that I have not had travel plans or work or an appointment or an errand or some other obligation demanding my attention.  So there are no more excuses for tackling my least favorite aspects of relocating, or perhaps even life in general.  I have to go through all the things that were not essential to living and so they were pushed aside because I was too busy.

Item 1 - Reconciliation and filing.  Go through 4 months (as I was moving, March didn't get done either)  of paperwork, receipts, and statements, entering everything into the appropriate spreadsheet and make sure everything balances.  Then file all said paper appropriately.

Item 2 - Finish unpacking.  Most of what remains is cleaning supplies.  When I lived in more spacious digs I bought cleaning supplies in Costco-sized quantities.  I had a woman who would come in regularly and thoroughly clean the house.  She and her assistant (various helpers came with her over time) would spend several hours and significant quantities of cleaning supplies keeping the house in excellent shape.  And before leaving (she would leave a note if I wasn't home) let me know if any of the supplies were running low.  When I first downsized, it was smaller, but not that much smaller.  Plus it had a garage.  The second had a lot of closet space I was able to avoid dealing with the surplus cleaning supplies.  This place, not so much.

Item 3 - Electronics and vinyl.  Setting up my desktop computer was one of the first things I did upon moving in, because it was necessary for working.  The setup is not optimal but it is functional.  My other electronics (amplifier, turntable, CD player, tape player, combo record player/radio, file server, router, multi-disk hard drive enclosure) are on shelves but not all are plugged in or functionally connected.

Item 4 - Filing cabinet. I frankly have no idea what I will find in there.  The hanging file folders were mostly removed for moving but there are all sorts of papers in there that were too recent to place into the storage unit.  That will be an adventure by itself.

Item 5 - Create a giveaway pile.  I have gotten rid of a few things by bits and pieces, but much remains that is surplus. Cleaning products will be some of it, but there will other things that could be useful that I need to dispose of.  I have already done that with clothes.  I know I need to do it with kitchen things.  I have more than sufficient flatware to seat a table of 12 people, the table and chairs being long gone.  The same applies to dishware.  I am sure that I will come across other categories along the way.

 Have I mentioned that I hate moving?  I have moved three times in three years, to successively smaller places while shedding possessions along the way.   Obviously not enough.  

It's almost 12:30, can't think of an excuse to put it off any longer.

It isn't either president's fault.

 Inflation leads to all kind of problems for must of us.  Stuff costs more and the next time you look it costs even more.  Wages won't keep up with inflation, and if they did that would cause even more inflation.  This is just what happens when the Fed prints a whole lot of money and dumps it into the economy.

Of course the right will blame it on Biden.  Those of us on the left would love to blame Trump.  After all, all that printing and dumping happened while he was president.  But you can't pin the blame on him.

Maybe he could get a very little amount of the blame, for downplaying COVID which probably made the death toll higher than it needed to be.  But the thing about handing out money to keep businesses open, keep their employees in their homes, and just generally prevent crashing the economy?  That was the Congress.

 First of all, he wouldn't give a rat's ass if half the country was starving. So he wouldn't give a shit about that.  And second, he isn't smart enough to understand the implcations of a pandemic to the country until it was much to late.  

The legislation originatated in Congress not the White House.  And as bad as inflation is, and now the rising interest rates that the FED is imposing to try and get it under control, it was the right thing to do.  Keeping businesses afloat and helping people stay in their homes was what we needed at the time.  The price we are paying is substantially less that what could have happened had Congress abandoned the working class.   

So someone from Congress shook him about the head and shoulders and pointed out how much he was pissing off all his MAGA crowd and told him to sign the damned legislation.  It wouldn't surprise me if he somehow managed to scrape off a little off that cash for himself too.

I don't like it either, but this is how we get the economy back in sync.  It's probably going to get worse before it gets better.

Can someone please explain to me...

A man lies in a hospital bed, his wife standing by the bedside.  He is hooked up to machines that are keeping him alive.  A doctor is explaining to her that he will never wake up, that he is essentially brain dead but his body will function as long as the machines are running.  Then the doctor leaves the room, giving the woman time to think about what he has told her.

She leans over the bed, kisses her husband and tells him goodbye, and that she loves him.  She steps out of the room and motions for the doctor to come back in.  She tells him her decision and watches as he disconnects the machines and her husband takes his last breath.

Would you fault her for this, for making a difficult decision on behalf of her husband?  Do you think it would be easy?

Alzheimer's runs in my family.  Both of my parents died with it.  There is no cure, and the few treatments that have been developed are woefully inadequate.   My choice, were it legal, would be that when I can  no longer recognize my friends and family, the people I love, that rather then spend my remaining days in confusion that I be anesthetized, anything of use be removed from my body, and then I be allowed to die.  Even though it is not enforceable under current law, I put that into my advance medical directive.

How is that unreasonable?  When the person I am is gone, replaced with a confused and frightened infant in an aging body, why am I required to keep going until something else breaks down, or my brain finally forgets to tell my heart to beat or my lungs to breath?

Retired/Not Retired

 Last June my contract expired, and I chose not to renew it.  I had given my client about 8 months warning that I wouldn't seek to renew my contract, that I was going to retire.  When pressed, I told the manager that I might be willing to come back and help occaionally for short term projects.  I haven't yet decided if that was a bad idea.

I went ahead and initiated the process of disolving my business.  I had to keep it open longer than I had intended because they were much slower than usual paying my last two invoices.  Still all the paperwork was finally moving along nicely when I got a call asking if I would please come back for a tiny little project.  Can you see where this is going?

So I gave a call to Cherry Road.  I don't mind giving them a plug because I had worked with some of their people before and was impressed with their skill and intelligence.  And I knew they they were already an approved vendor with the client.

Have you ever heard the term scope creep?  I am now three months into what when described sounded like a one month project.  Yes there was some of that "While you're here can you...?" but I am not all that pissed off because my upcoming vacation is now more then payed for and I never have to go into the office.  Work really is easier when you are in a robe and slippers drinking coffee.

I am approaching what I think is the end of this project, and am trying to figure out a good exit line.  The message I want to convey in the most polite fashion is that I would be happy to come help them again sometime, but don't call me before June.  That's not unreasonable, is it?