Clean air

Posted on by backuphill

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If you are still doing this, then you’re an idiot.

selective focus photography of man doing vape trick

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Or if you are now doing this, you’re an idiot.

If you are trying to defending doing either of these, you’re an even bigger idiot.

We all know now that smoking is bad for you. There is no doubt about it. Not only does it waste your money, but it destroys your body…and you do it knowing full well the consequences.

However, this whole vaping thing replaced the smoking trend with a “safer” alternative. Yeah, so much for that right? If you have followed the news at all, you know it isn’t going to end well.

This “safer” trend has been around a lot less time than smoking. Yet, it has taken significantly less time to show that it isn’t any safer. But, for some reason people think that putting something that doesn’t come from a cigarette into your lungs is better for you. Weird logic, don’t you think?

Look, it is pretty simple. The only think that should be going into your lung, for any reason, is air. Clean air (as clean as it can be).

That is all. There is nothing you can substitute it with and you can’t logically make an argument for anything else. If the American Lung Association tells you to avoid smoking, smog, and household chemicals, etc. then obviously any foreign substance – “safer” or not – shouldn’t be put into your lungs.

Honestly, I don’t even understand how this can be a debatable issue.

Idiots.

Defrost

Posted on by backuphill

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Programmers for my car’s electronics got it wrong. Not sure what the thought behind it was, but it’s irritating nonetheless.

My 2018 Kia Niro has been a great car, but after having it a year now there are a few things that bothersome. They are probably small things, but you know when you spend that much money on things you want to make sure people have spent time on the little things because that’s what makes it stand apart from the others.

Well, there are two issues that both have to do with the way the Defrost functions work.

First, the defrost for the windshield has a weird setting. When the function is set to be used, the fan automatically comes on at Level 3, EVERY TIME you start the car and no matter where it was previously set. Thus, it starts blowing cold air the second the car starts. I am constantly turning down the fan. I do like to always have the fan running for air glow, but it would really be nice if it just stayed at the level I set it rather than resetting itself every dang time.

Finally, the Rear Defrost button does’t have an automatic turnoff timer. It just stays on and on and on, until you look down and see it is still on and turn it off. How stupid is that? I think every car I have own previously had an automatic timer on that function.

I was recently asked if I had found anything I didn’t like about the car. There are very many things I could name off. These were two that came up right off the top of my head.

 

DOH!

Posted on by backuphill

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There are those clients who just don’t know what’s up and then there are those clients who are lucky to survive a day when left to their own devices…

You, of course, have heard of the typical IT calls where someone has to “check to see if it is plugged in” and to “turn it off and turn it back on” and “did you turn your computer monitor on?” You are smarter than that, right? I am sure you have never had to need that sort of tech support, right? You’re all beyond that now, right?

So, yesterday I took a call about the software we support not working. It was in my area of expertise and so I figured it was something the user was doing (or not doing) and that is why it wasn’t working the way they expected.

In this case, a teacher wasn’t able to get the software to record the grades being entered for a graded assignment. I called the client and shadowed them in my virtual meeting room. Below is the conversation:

Me: “What seems to be the problem? Can you show me what is happening?”

Client: “I know you can’t see this but I am pushing the numbers for 2 0 and nothing is happening.”

Me: “Are you using the numbers on the keyboard above the letters or does your keyboard have a 10-key pad?”

Client: “I am using the numbers on the side.”

Me: “Can you push the NUMLK key on your keyboard and try it again?”

Client: “Oh, huh, weird. I have never had to do that before.”

Me: “silence….as I roll my eyes and bite my tongue”

Me: “So everything is working like it should now? Glad I could help.”

Add that to the list of “I’ve seen it all” items.

Why is it that people have a hard time troubleshooting issues themselves? Is it that we can’t, won’t, or don’t because we always expect it to be someone else’s problem?

Chalk this one up as another head shaker…

Biting

Posted on by backuphill

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Certain situations and certain people leave you silent. Not by choice, mind you, but because you know it will be better for you in the long run. Ok, it is by choice, but you have to because there isn’t really an alternative.

I am talking about biting your lip (some would also bite their tongue) in order to keep from saying something you’re gonna regret- even if it is the truth.

I am getting tired of doing it. That’s my point. I am tired of biting my lip. I am tired of biting my tongue. I am tired of walking on egg shells. I am tired of all the other cliche sayings for holding back.

I am afraid. I am afraid that if I let go and say what I feel, think, want…well, that dam is rather large and it is rather full…there will be a sweeping flood of destruction. That flash flood will not leave much in it’s wake.

So, I keep biting.

And biting.

 

(+ or -)

Posted on by backuphill

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I can’t decide. Is this a positive message or a negative message?

I am leaning towards positive, but at the same time I have a hard time not viewing this as a negative. I mean, we’re talking “legacy” here so if it lasts beyond us then it will either encourage us to continue doing what we’re doing or scare us into doing something different. Is coercion really the underlying message here?

The decisions you make today will affect the legacy you leave behind.

First, are my decisions today really that important? Are the things I do today really going to leave a positive or negative impression? REALLY? I suppose they could but am I really that important?

Second, should I really care? If I am gone, I am gone. Morbid? Yeah, but does it really matter to me after I am gone? What do I really care?

So, what do you think? Is this an encouraging message or is it based in fear? Is it meant to alter our behavior in a passive-aggressive way? Or is is just to encourage us to continue making good decisions?

selective focus photography of tombstone

Expectations

Posted on by backuphill

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I’ll admit, I have a problem.

The problem? I have too many expectations. I don’t think I am an unreasonable person, but I do think that having expectations in the current days is slowly becoming an exercise in futility.

I expect that people mean what they say, and say what they mean.

I expect that people will be responsible for themselves.

I expect that people will own their actions, or inaction.

I expect that people will follow through. That they will honor their word.

I expect that family members will be productive citizens when they come of age.

I expect that my rights as a citizen of the United States are paramount to those of a non-citizen (obviously within limit as I am not a lawless individual).

I expect that the media should be fair and balanced.

I expect that my tax dollars are used for legitimate needs.

I expect that good customer service can’t be compromised.

I expect that respecting our elders and law enforcement is a given.

I could go on. But I won’t.

It doesn’t seem that there is a point to having expectations any longer. Yes, we all have our own expectations but there used to be those that everyone agreed upon and that just simply isn’t the case any longer.

What do you think? Is it unreasonable to have expectations these days?

 

Blah

Posted on by backuphill

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Just blah.

Blah, blah, blah.

After a few days of feeling under the weather, a Monday is the last thing I want. Oh, and work.

Who wants to work, on a Monday, anyways?

I am sure I could find 1000 other things I could be doing rather than being at work.

Not sure I am completely recovered, but I am on the mend.

How are you feeling today? Are you fully ready to tackle a new day? A new week?

Stuffed

Posted on by backuphill

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Not that serious of a post today.

I am home sick because the office crud has finally caught up to me and I am feeling under the weather.

Headache. Stuffy nose. Run down.

It’s fine, right? I should have gone into work, right?

Anyway, simple post today just to whine about health for a moment.

 

How about you? Do you tough it out and go to work or do you stay at home the first inkling of a cold?

Overstep

Posted on by backuphill

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Government overstep is the first step to oppression.

Government redefining language for a political purpose.

Government control of thought and speech.

Government gone wrong.

Government legislating what you can or can’t say is a step in the wrong direction.

New York is shamefully destroying your rights in the name of “protecting” others’ “rights.” It is playing politics and redefining language in order to make political point. They have been doing it for a long time and this is yet another step in the wrong direction.

“Illegal alien” is now illegal to say in the state.

This is all kinds of wrong because changing facts and definitions of words to suit your agenda is beyond absurd.

Legal = you followed the law.

Illegal = you didn’t follow the law.

Alien = relating, belonging, or owing allegiance to another country or government

So, by looking at the definitions that are agreed upon internationally and also defined by law in the same manner, you are an illegal alien if you are a foreign person who lives in a country without having official permission to live there.

There is no gray area there. You are either legal or illegal.

Even if you entered the US by following the law, but stayed beyond the time set by law upon your arrival, you are illegal. There also is no gray area here.

The government has become the oppressor.

The government has overstepped its design and usefulness when it takes such actions.

…When…it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, …to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. … But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. …

– Declaration of Independence, 1776

As we see governments overstepping their bounds and interfering in the daily lives of every day citizens (at the literal and figurative expense of citizens for non-citizens), then the words of the document become more and more relevant.

History has a way of repeating itself.

 

You’re a liar

Posted on by backuphill

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Unpopular opinion alert!

I am sure someone’s toes are about to get stepped on. It’s fine. Really. You’ll live. You aren’t “holier than thou,” or anyone else for that matter.

I am getting tired of people making the following statement:

I’m not racist.

Why am I tired of it? Well, because it simply isn’t true and you are lying to yourself.

Every one of us has racism built into us. It’s part of our human condition. It’s not something that can be eliminated. We are built to be naturally wary, scared, skeptical, cautious,  (whatever you want to call it) about people who are different than us.

When you have that fleeting moment go through your brain about someone different than you, whether it is based on a stereotype or actual experience, that is racism. Denying that it happens isn’t dealing with the truth.

What you do with that fleeting moment determines the degree of your racism. Yes, there are degrees racism. There have to be because some people are better at fighting their natural instinct that others. Is it just a passing moment? Is is something you dwell on and allow to affect your thoughts and feelings? Is it something that you act upon? Therein lies the challenge. What you do with it makes the difference. Can you train yourself not to act on your racism. I believe so. Can you train yourself to eliminate the fleeting moments completely? Nope. I don’t believe so.

Let’s stop pretending racism can be eliminated. It just can’t be. Can actions and words be eliminated? Maybe. We can make people so fearful of actions that they just don’t do them anymore. Think of the reverse Pavlov’s Dogs experiment. We can make sure people are so averse to acting or speaking on their racism that they are afraid to be around other people or go into society. Is that what we really want or need to do? Doubt it. It might actually make things worse. Just a theory, but I think we are getting to that point as we see governments try to legislate what or how you think.

Is racism bad? Of course. There is no debating that. Can it be eliminated? No.

 

What do you think? Talk amongst yourselves…