Travels with Emmy...
Our show this past weekend was at the Allentown Art Festival. Allentown is a party/artsy section of Buffalo NY. The weather report for both days included passing showers, of which we got few to none. Crowds on Saturday were sparse but we enjoyed a just-below-average monetary intake. There was heavier traffic on Sunday, but they didn’t spend much, at least not at our booth..
My wife is the artist, she builds beautiful bead embroidered jewelry, I am a retired truck driver. I get to do all things that are not actually artistic. We travel to the shows with our pickup truck camper and display trailer. It far easier for us to walk a few minutes to the camper and stay overnight even if the location isn’t ideal, than to drive the hour or so home and back in the morning.
This year’s overnight stays in Allentown were the quietest to date. Two years ago a security alarm started to ring loudly around 2PM during the first day of the show from the building whose parking lot we were taking advantage of. It rang for over 30 hours. I was surprised nearby residents weren’t alarmed and up in arms themselves. The police came shortly after the noise started but could not locate the owners to access the building and shut the alarm off.
The ringing bell wasn’t so bad, it helped to cover the noise of the college-aged drunken kids singing and arguing loudly as they roamed the streets from bar to bar. It has been pointed out to me that these are suburban children, not locals. I believe that to be true, when I was an inexperienced drinker I was one of those noisy young people. I lived in Hamburg, a suburb of Buffalo; I came to Allentown to enjoy the night life, noisily roaming the streets and frequenting the bars in that section of town.
I am always amazed at the patience the locals have for these arts and crafts festivals. I live in rural Western NY and when I have to wait for a car at a stop sign on the end of my road where there usually is no traffic I can be slightly perturbed.
Residents, who live where these shows take place, often have to park blocks away from their homes. Before and after ‘show hours’, while we are tying up loose ends or opening for the days show, neighborhood folks walk by with their dogs or hoof it to the market. They always have a cheerful “good morning” or “hello”.
‘Twere it I, it would probably be a growl… I’m just saying.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Machine whisperer recycled column
I am not the only one; there is an army of bewildered backyard mechanics with average abilities out there. We did the simple things. We adjusted carburetors, changed spark plugs, replaced oil and filters, brake shoes, mufflers and shocks.
We always expected a Ford or a Chevy, even an old Volvo, to last a decade or two with a few repairs and some routine maintenance. You’d have to open the hood or crawl under and get your hands dirty, but in the end, you could make it run.
Then there is the above average mechanic. I have a neighbor and friend whom I’ll call Bob. He has a machinist’s mindset and mechanical character. Bob has been retired twenty years and is having a particularly hard time giving up his old ways. He has built machines from the ground up, creating them a piece at a time, on a lathe or a horizontal mill from brass and iron. I think of him as the ‘machine whisperer’.
I’ve seen Bob, walk up to a dead car or dismantled engine. He’ll scratch the side of his head; maybe shake it ever so slightly from side to side. He will then roll up his sleeves and work it like a puzzle, “is the engine getting air? Is there spark? How about fuel?” When the puzzle comes together and the pieces function like the well-tuned machine it was meant to be, Bob would be satisfied, but no one was surprised, because he is the machine whisperer.
Bob recently bought a brand new computer and had high-speed internet installed in his home. He unhappily carried his old PC to his shop and spread it out on a flat-topped cart, where many of his mechanical projects begin. The big old CRT monitor, tower, printer, external modem, speakers and the connecting cables covered the three by five foot surface.
The old computer had let him down. Even though Bob performed routine maintenance on it- defragging, blowing the dust out of it, the aged PC failed him. He didn’t even get a decade out of it.
He is a fan of several on-line forums, reading posts from other motor-head types. Discussions are of machines, their care, and construction. As we all know though, it is a high-speed world. The motor-head forums became harder for Bob to view with dial-up internet service and his old PC’s super-slow processor. Other motor-heads sent pictures to him, and though he is a patient man, the long wait for a single old tractor photo to upload was disturbing. Video links were out of the question, click on one and it would choke the life out of the ancient PC.
It’s winter now, and it takes a lot to heat Bobs’ shop. He won’t work out there much until spring. The old computer still sits on the flatbed cart. The machine whisperer walks out to his shop occasionally and sees the parts arranged on the cart. He walks around it, viewing it from different angles. He scratches his cranium, shakes his head imperceptibly side to side, he can’t fit the pieces of the puzzle together, he can’t bring it back to life.
No amount of thinking or shrugging of shoulders or nodding his head will bring this puppy back to life. It is as obsolete as a blunderbuss.
It is good the cold makes his shop unusable for now. Though defeat is inevitable, Bob has time to accept it. He realizes there is no resale value for the junk computer. At least a car would bring him money for parts. He will chuck it in the spring.
He’ll spread the parts of an ailing, but real machine, made of steel and aluminum on the cart. He will have it running, smooth in no time, clicking or humming or thumping the way it was meant to- for he is the machine whisperer.
Comments? Changinglanesterry@gmail.com
We always expected a Ford or a Chevy, even an old Volvo, to last a decade or two with a few repairs and some routine maintenance. You’d have to open the hood or crawl under and get your hands dirty, but in the end, you could make it run.
Then there is the above average mechanic. I have a neighbor and friend whom I’ll call Bob. He has a machinist’s mindset and mechanical character. Bob has been retired twenty years and is having a particularly hard time giving up his old ways. He has built machines from the ground up, creating them a piece at a time, on a lathe or a horizontal mill from brass and iron. I think of him as the ‘machine whisperer’.
I’ve seen Bob, walk up to a dead car or dismantled engine. He’ll scratch the side of his head; maybe shake it ever so slightly from side to side. He will then roll up his sleeves and work it like a puzzle, “is the engine getting air? Is there spark? How about fuel?” When the puzzle comes together and the pieces function like the well-tuned machine it was meant to be, Bob would be satisfied, but no one was surprised, because he is the machine whisperer.
Bob recently bought a brand new computer and had high-speed internet installed in his home. He unhappily carried his old PC to his shop and spread it out on a flat-topped cart, where many of his mechanical projects begin. The big old CRT monitor, tower, printer, external modem, speakers and the connecting cables covered the three by five foot surface.
The old computer had let him down. Even though Bob performed routine maintenance on it- defragging, blowing the dust out of it, the aged PC failed him. He didn’t even get a decade out of it.
He is a fan of several on-line forums, reading posts from other motor-head types. Discussions are of machines, their care, and construction. As we all know though, it is a high-speed world. The motor-head forums became harder for Bob to view with dial-up internet service and his old PC’s super-slow processor. Other motor-heads sent pictures to him, and though he is a patient man, the long wait for a single old tractor photo to upload was disturbing. Video links were out of the question, click on one and it would choke the life out of the ancient PC.
It’s winter now, and it takes a lot to heat Bobs’ shop. He won’t work out there much until spring. The old computer still sits on the flatbed cart. The machine whisperer walks out to his shop occasionally and sees the parts arranged on the cart. He walks around it, viewing it from different angles. He scratches his cranium, shakes his head imperceptibly side to side, he can’t fit the pieces of the puzzle together, he can’t bring it back to life.
No amount of thinking or shrugging of shoulders or nodding his head will bring this puppy back to life. It is as obsolete as a blunderbuss.
It is good the cold makes his shop unusable for now. Though defeat is inevitable, Bob has time to accept it. He realizes there is no resale value for the junk computer. At least a car would bring him money for parts. He will chuck it in the spring.
He’ll spread the parts of an ailing, but real machine, made of steel and aluminum on the cart. He will have it running, smooth in no time, clicking or humming or thumping the way it was meant to- for he is the machine whisperer.
Comments? Changinglanesterry@gmail.com
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Internet Sales
Terry Stephan
Changing Lanes:internetsales
According to the flyer a friend gave me, I would receive an MP3 player and lunch, just to sit in on a FREE 90-minute “2009 Internet Marketing Conference”. The leaflet included testimonials - people had already made bazillions of dollars following the advice given at these conferences.
I knew it was a sales pitch, probably software. The leaflet added, “join us at this fun, relaxed, informative 90-minute Conference that is guaranteed to give you a new way to think about making money like never before.”
I hoped to glean some internet savvy by attending. The invitation insisted on ‘business casual’ attire. The ironic thing is, people I talk to list working in their pajamas as the number one benefit of working on the internet at home.
I have attended sales seminars with “free” giveaways in the past and found them to be time consuming and irritating, the giveaways junk – I decided to go anyway.
As people showed up for the meeting, one and two at a time, staff ushered them to specific seats. I couldn’t help but notice the younger people were placed up front. They would be more enthusiastic and, had less shyster-exposure. As I write this, I think it likely there were one or more ‘plants’ in the front row. I have nothing to back that claim, other than the fact that those up front had an unrealistically enthusiastic passion for the sales pitch.
The further from the front, the greyer the hair was.
The speaker began by claiming to be a former FBI special agent and asked if there were any law enforcement people in the room. Negative responses assured him there were no police in the audience. That and the notice requesting no one record the event, made it so there was no need to stay within the confines of the law in this assembly.
The presentation started late and lasted far longer than the originally stated 90 minutes. The speaker was friendly and funny. He pitched software and a support system to build a website. You could vend whatever products you choose to, on line. There were stiff monthly fees and internet tool packages, some costing upwards of $3200.00.
The sales group passed around “business order forms”. The forms asked for your credit card information, needed so you could attend another conference in Erie Pa, to be held in several weeks. It would only cost $48. There, you would sit through a second push so these wonderful people could gain access to a larger portion of your bank account.
Our friendly speaker said we could eat lunch as soon as we filled out our order forms. The whole pitch had boiled down to this, after two hours of camaraderie, jokes and an impassioned plea for this software it would be an embarrassment not to fill out the form for this superb company. I did not feel friendly or pliable; I never do when backed into a corner.
As I stood to leave, I noticed the people in the front rows, bent over their forms, eagerly filling in the demanded information. I turned; most of those seated behind me, hair just a bit more grey than mine, had their arms stubbornly crossed in front of them, no pens in hand, no credit card info entered on their forms, they were ready for a fight. They wanted their “free” MP3 player and lunch.
It was nearing 2PM and I was hungry and extremely perturbed. I had not ‘gleaned’ a single useful fact.
Including drive time, I had invested four hours. I figured the lunch and MP3 player were at least half hour away, possibly longer, depending on how the standoff between the grey-hairs and the ‘friendly’ staff ended.
I cut my losses and walked out the door. Half an hour later after a nice lunch for which I gladly paid, I savored coffee and something I remembered.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
I’m not sure about free MP3 players.
Comments: changinglanesterry@gmail.com
Or http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
Changing Lanes:internetsales
According to the flyer a friend gave me, I would receive an MP3 player and lunch, just to sit in on a FREE 90-minute “2009 Internet Marketing Conference”. The leaflet included testimonials - people had already made bazillions of dollars following the advice given at these conferences.
I knew it was a sales pitch, probably software. The leaflet added, “join us at this fun, relaxed, informative 90-minute Conference that is guaranteed to give you a new way to think about making money like never before.”
I hoped to glean some internet savvy by attending. The invitation insisted on ‘business casual’ attire. The ironic thing is, people I talk to list working in their pajamas as the number one benefit of working on the internet at home.
I have attended sales seminars with “free” giveaways in the past and found them to be time consuming and irritating, the giveaways junk – I decided to go anyway.
As people showed up for the meeting, one and two at a time, staff ushered them to specific seats. I couldn’t help but notice the younger people were placed up front. They would be more enthusiastic and, had less shyster-exposure. As I write this, I think it likely there were one or more ‘plants’ in the front row. I have nothing to back that claim, other than the fact that those up front had an unrealistically enthusiastic passion for the sales pitch.
The further from the front, the greyer the hair was.
The speaker began by claiming to be a former FBI special agent and asked if there were any law enforcement people in the room. Negative responses assured him there were no police in the audience. That and the notice requesting no one record the event, made it so there was no need to stay within the confines of the law in this assembly.
The presentation started late and lasted far longer than the originally stated 90 minutes. The speaker was friendly and funny. He pitched software and a support system to build a website. You could vend whatever products you choose to, on line. There were stiff monthly fees and internet tool packages, some costing upwards of $3200.00.
The sales group passed around “business order forms”. The forms asked for your credit card information, needed so you could attend another conference in Erie Pa, to be held in several weeks. It would only cost $48. There, you would sit through a second push so these wonderful people could gain access to a larger portion of your bank account.
Our friendly speaker said we could eat lunch as soon as we filled out our order forms. The whole pitch had boiled down to this, after two hours of camaraderie, jokes and an impassioned plea for this software it would be an embarrassment not to fill out the form for this superb company. I did not feel friendly or pliable; I never do when backed into a corner.
As I stood to leave, I noticed the people in the front rows, bent over their forms, eagerly filling in the demanded information. I turned; most of those seated behind me, hair just a bit more grey than mine, had their arms stubbornly crossed in front of them, no pens in hand, no credit card info entered on their forms, they were ready for a fight. They wanted their “free” MP3 player and lunch.
It was nearing 2PM and I was hungry and extremely perturbed. I had not ‘gleaned’ a single useful fact.
Including drive time, I had invested four hours. I figured the lunch and MP3 player were at least half hour away, possibly longer, depending on how the standoff between the grey-hairs and the ‘friendly’ staff ended.
I cut my losses and walked out the door. Half an hour later after a nice lunch for which I gladly paid, I savored coffee and something I remembered.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
I’m not sure about free MP3 players.
Comments: changinglanesterry@gmail.com
Or http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
Friday, May 7, 2010
Blackberry Blues
I’ve always wondered what a Blackberry was and why President Obama was having such a hard time parting with his. I’ve had one for a while now. I have a slight headache, a stiff neck and sore thumbs from operating the clever little device. I’ve become very attached to it.
There was a time I kept every phone number of acquaintances, my employers and most addresses I considered necessary, in my head. I could also remember the list of a half dozen items I needed to get when I walked the aisles of my local super market. Back then, if I ambled to the living room from the kitchen with a purpose, I could recall what that purpose was. Now I wait for it to come to me or walk back empty handed. Somewhere along the line, my brain has turned to oatmeal.
Several years ago, I purchased a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) smart-phone. A long time before that, it had been cutting-edge technology, ridiculously overpriced. After years of production, (read ‘after it became much cheaper’) I bought one.
The smart-phone performed a plethora of important functions. It stored my appointments, my calendar, and address book. It contained my ‘to-do’ and grocery lists. Once a week I attached it to my computer with a cable and ‘synced’ all of the above. If I changed or added something on either the PDA or the computer, the two would talk it over during ‘sync-time’ and exchange the information. It even was a good calculator.
I loved the touch screen at first, but became less fond of that later. The PDA did many things wonderfully, but it wasn’t a good cell phone. It was a step backward in that area. When talking to someone, it felt as though I was holding a brick to the side of my head. Not a regular brick either. It was more like one of those heavy, dense Olean paving bricks. Some part of my face would hit the touch screen and end the call early or start a conference call, or play loud music. During the call, my ear would sometimes touch the screen in an inappropriate place and it would activate an unwanted application.
The volume settings were unruly, refusing to adjust the way I wanted. It would inexplicably convert to speakerphone between calls. After leaving scar tissue on my eardrums a few times, I knew to answer the phone carefully.
My two-year contract with Verizon wireless ended a year or so ago. Because I didn’t attempt to sign up for another service contract or get a new phone, Verizon began pestering me, sending me special “deals”, almost on a weekly basis. The longer I did not sign, the phones offered for “free”, got better and more elaborate. Competition in the wireless market is fierce and I was one guppy they didn’t want to lose. Verizon seemed frantic to win me back.
Following my brain’s example, my PDA smart-phones’ thinking became cloudy. When I entered information on the touch-screen, the wrong numbers and letters came up, I would hit a “t” on the virtual keyboard and an “r” would register on the screen. I had to ‘realign’ on a daily basis.
I finally accepted one of Verizon’s offers. My new Blackberry does all the things my old smart phone did, only faster and without prompting. I don’t turn on my computer many days because email comes to the Blackberry. I can get CNN news, the weather, and Google anything, anywhere, anytime. It reminds me to take my medications and to take out the garbage. I can download audio books from the library or listen to music from any number of sources and, it’s a great calculator.
Technology has come a long way. As evidence, when used as a phone, the Blackberry feels like a much smaller brick than the old PDA did. Oh well, you can’t have everything.
Comments? Changinglanesterry@gmail.com or
http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
There was a time I kept every phone number of acquaintances, my employers and most addresses I considered necessary, in my head. I could also remember the list of a half dozen items I needed to get when I walked the aisles of my local super market. Back then, if I ambled to the living room from the kitchen with a purpose, I could recall what that purpose was. Now I wait for it to come to me or walk back empty handed. Somewhere along the line, my brain has turned to oatmeal.
Several years ago, I purchased a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) smart-phone. A long time before that, it had been cutting-edge technology, ridiculously overpriced. After years of production, (read ‘after it became much cheaper’) I bought one.
The smart-phone performed a plethora of important functions. It stored my appointments, my calendar, and address book. It contained my ‘to-do’ and grocery lists. Once a week I attached it to my computer with a cable and ‘synced’ all of the above. If I changed or added something on either the PDA or the computer, the two would talk it over during ‘sync-time’ and exchange the information. It even was a good calculator.
I loved the touch screen at first, but became less fond of that later. The PDA did many things wonderfully, but it wasn’t a good cell phone. It was a step backward in that area. When talking to someone, it felt as though I was holding a brick to the side of my head. Not a regular brick either. It was more like one of those heavy, dense Olean paving bricks. Some part of my face would hit the touch screen and end the call early or start a conference call, or play loud music. During the call, my ear would sometimes touch the screen in an inappropriate place and it would activate an unwanted application.
The volume settings were unruly, refusing to adjust the way I wanted. It would inexplicably convert to speakerphone between calls. After leaving scar tissue on my eardrums a few times, I knew to answer the phone carefully.
My two-year contract with Verizon wireless ended a year or so ago. Because I didn’t attempt to sign up for another service contract or get a new phone, Verizon began pestering me, sending me special “deals”, almost on a weekly basis. The longer I did not sign, the phones offered for “free”, got better and more elaborate. Competition in the wireless market is fierce and I was one guppy they didn’t want to lose. Verizon seemed frantic to win me back.
Following my brain’s example, my PDA smart-phones’ thinking became cloudy. When I entered information on the touch-screen, the wrong numbers and letters came up, I would hit a “t” on the virtual keyboard and an “r” would register on the screen. I had to ‘realign’ on a daily basis.
I finally accepted one of Verizon’s offers. My new Blackberry does all the things my old smart phone did, only faster and without prompting. I don’t turn on my computer many days because email comes to the Blackberry. I can get CNN news, the weather, and Google anything, anywhere, anytime. It reminds me to take my medications and to take out the garbage. I can download audio books from the library or listen to music from any number of sources and, it’s a great calculator.
Technology has come a long way. As evidence, when used as a phone, the Blackberry feels like a much smaller brick than the old PDA did. Oh well, you can’t have everything.
Comments? Changinglanesterry@gmail.com or
http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Timonium
By Terry Stephan
Blog…
I am ashamed of the amount of time I have not posted on this blog. I have a lot of reasons or excuses why I haven’t, but I should try harder. Betty and I have been on a ‘road trip’ selling her jewelry in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
I didn’t want to advertise that my house was sitting empty most of the time except when my cousin Spike and his pit bulls were watching the place.
We are now a week from home and Spike has informed me he will be released from the county holding center today and will be in residence this afternoon and will pick up his pups Killer and Softy tomorrow.
Our show trip has had little in the line of spectacular results, our revenues in most cases were a little less than last year’s, except for Greensboro. We took in about a third of what we did last year there. The area has a 12.7% unemployment rate. The powers that be chose to close a major downtown highway, the weekend of our show.
That was last week, I write this from Timonium, at the Maryland State Fair Grounds. People have referred to this place as “The Cow Palace”. It wasn’t until we got here that we found out that really is the name of the place. For verification, I drove around the building and out back were several huge steaming piles of manure..
Betty received some good ‘hype’ from the promoters on their website for this show, so we are hoping for some decent sales.
Blog…
I am ashamed of the amount of time I have not posted on this blog. I have a lot of reasons or excuses why I haven’t, but I should try harder. Betty and I have been on a ‘road trip’ selling her jewelry in Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
I didn’t want to advertise that my house was sitting empty most of the time except when my cousin Spike and his pit bulls were watching the place.
We are now a week from home and Spike has informed me he will be released from the county holding center today and will be in residence this afternoon and will pick up his pups Killer and Softy tomorrow.
Our show trip has had little in the line of spectacular results, our revenues in most cases were a little less than last year’s, except for Greensboro. We took in about a third of what we did last year there. The area has a 12.7% unemployment rate. The powers that be chose to close a major downtown highway, the weekend of our show.
That was last week, I write this from Timonium, at the Maryland State Fair Grounds. People have referred to this place as “The Cow Palace”. It wasn’t until we got here that we found out that really is the name of the place. For verification, I drove around the building and out back were several huge steaming piles of manure..
Betty received some good ‘hype’ from the promoters on their website for this show, so we are hoping for some decent sales.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Terry Stephan
Changing Lanes: ode to Susie
The conversation turned to Susie a while ago. She had been toasted multiple times. Thoroughly warmed to his subject and thoroughly warmed by the wine, Susie’s long time companion Matt continued, “I’ve slept with Susie under the stars more times than all the other women I’ve known, including my ex wife.”
“Here’s to Susie,” said a dozen voices in unison.
We were at a party, the original reason for which has long been forgotten, but it could have been for Susie or Matt or for the both of them.
I just met Matt and took an instant liking to him. I’d only heard about him from his sister Doris. She is a good friend of mine and Emmy’s. I had heard her speak of him often. He was in the Coast Guard, he admired and wanted to be a cowboy, and he lived in Montana; he seemed to have chosen that state as home after having drifted around for a number of years. Most of those years, he traveled with Susie, but he was a man who generally had bad luck with women.
Matt had come home to see his family and visit his Susie.
“Susie is the kindest friend a man could have,” said Matt
The chorus saluted, “Here’s to Susie.”
With a tender softness in his voice, Matt said, “I got my first glimpse of her when I was stationed in Michigan. I was in the Coast Guard. We traveled around together, but then I had to leave Susie stateside...”
“Here’s to Susie,” at the mention of the celebrated Susie, the partiers interrupted Matt’s train of thought.
With a slightly annoyed glance at no one in particular Matt started over, “I had to leave… her, with my parents when I went to Puerto Rico.”
When Matt came back to the states, he picked up where he had left off with Susie. He drove his old F 150 pickup that pulled the horse trailer in which his friend and companion Susie, the sweet red roan mare, traveled.
When it was time to settle for the night he would chose an out of the way pull-off, park the trailer and take Susie for a walk. He’d make a small rope paddock for her, roll out his sleeping bag, and he and Susie would spend the night under the stars beside the truck and trailer.
He eventually left the Coast Guard. Their travels brought them to Montana. Matt loved the state, he loved ranches and he loved the life of a cowboy. He worked as a jack of all trades. He had training as a forester, and a mechanic. He could weld and he knew horses, all assets to any ranch at which he took up residence. They were as glad to have him as he was to be there.
Matt dealt with severe migraine headaches and a multitude of other medical symptoms for many years. He was recently diagnosed with adult onset encephalitis, a form of brain swelling, the cause for which could be any number of things.
He was married for a while but never did get along with women as well as he does with horses, it didn’t work out. Their last argument ended when he turned to leave and his wife hit him in the back of the head hard enough to knock him out. She walked out and left him for dead. He was in some bar fights as a young man and did get knocked around a bit as well. Any of these things, or something else entirely could be the cause of his medical condition.
Before he was diagnosed, Matt knew something was wrong. His headaches were so bad he passed out on occasion, but he also drank on occasion, maybe he blamed some of his symptoms on that.
While he and his friends were hunting way up in the mountains, Matt had a ‘spell’ of some sort and passed out. His friends couldn’t revive him and in their efforts to get him to a hospital quickly, Susie was tied to a tree and left to fend for herself.
She was there for three days- the odds weren’t necessarily in favor of Susie’s survival; horses are lower in the food chain than grizzly bears and mountain lions. Matt’s hunting buddies called a ranch in the vicinity of where they had tied Susie and ranch hands from there rescued her and kept her for three months until Matt was back on his feet and could come to get her.
Matt would say, ‘they help each other out in the great state of Montana.’
Matt’s fortunes went downhill from there. His migraines became debilitating and he had other associated medical problems.
When Matt thought he was not taking care of Susie as well as he should, he decided to find her a good home. His sister Doris suggested he bring her back to Western New York, after all, Susie had been around so long Doris felt she was a member of the family. She and husband Jay, built her a nice little barn
Matt lives on a ranch in Montana now. He goes on cattle drives when he is able and copes with his illness as best he can. He tells stories to anyone who will listen about his travels and the best horse he ever knew.
Susie is 29 years old now, her traveling days are done. She lives with a chestnut mare named Velvet in the cozy little barn that Doris and Jay built. The two horses get along well with acres to exercise in and they have their own barn cat named Possum. In Possum’s perspective, he has two large horses. When the mares get close enough, the cat swats at their hooves and legs through the wooden slats in the stall. If things are slow in the barn the cat will climb up one of the horse’s tails and run across their backs and escape by jumping to the nearest timber in the barn.
Anyone who has worked with horses knows each one has their own personality and their own list of ‘tricks’. Susie is known as a gentle animal and an easy ride but she isn’t real talented. However she will give you a big smile after you give her a treat.
I took my five-year-old granddaughter Paige to see Susie. Paige gave her a carrot and Susie took it from Paige with her big hairy lips then gave her a big toothy goofy smile, which in turn gave Paige a giggle and a grin.
Here’s to Susie…
The party to toast Susie was a few years ago. Matt calls periodically to catch up with family and of course to see how Susie is doing. He hasn’t been back “East” for a while though. I can’t wait for Susie’s next party.
Comments? Changinglanesterry@gmail.com or http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
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Thursday, March 4, 2010
Money and Quicken
Terry Stephan
Changing Lanes:dancingwithnumbers:
For years, I’ve used ‘Microsoft Money’ to send out bills, balance my checking account and keep track of finances.
From the first week I started using a computer, I wanted a good money management program. I began using a free version of ‘Quicken’ a dozen years ago. Then my bank, no longer satisfied just giving away toasters, gave away Microsoft’s ‘Money’.
That first software version of ‘Money’ lasted six years. Then Microsoft pushed me to update the program - at a price. They threatened that if I did not upgrade, I would no longer be able to send payments electronically. They hinted of other unknown dire consequences.
I took the threats seriously, grumbled, but paid the thirty or so dollars to keep using the program. There were more upgrades through the years. I objected but I paid. Even though the new software offered more features each time, I felt strong-armed.
I could have gone back to paper and pencil, the old way of taking care of finances, but I wanted the advantages of the series of tubes and wires that mystically bring the internets and their information into my house.
As you can tell from my savvy electronic speak, my knowledge over the years has grown a great deal in the field of computers.
Ms Money has a budget feature; I decided to put into use months ago. I needed a budget, or to specify, one in black and white, recorded and adhered-to, not just the tally I keep in my head.
I began spending long hours filling in figures and moving ‘categories’ around so that it would reflect our spending more accurately. I needed to see where we were going astray. After a week of concentrated work, I had the budget all laid out.
Then I received an email from Microsoft, they were discontinuing the Money software. For years, after the initial setup, I’d spent little time using the software. On a week-to-week basis, it doesn’t require a lot. Then I invested a large amount of effort on my budget and in a Murphy’s Law manner, they took the program away.
I began looking for different software to replace MS Money. I found a trial version of something called YNAB (You Need a Budget), a ‘zero balance’ Excel based budgeting program. I dove in with vigor and spent another week of spare time, filling in numbers and categories, producing another, different budget masterpiece.
Several weeks of juggling figures has caused numbers and categories to dance in my head. In bed at night, nagging questions keep me awake, (Does that expenditure go in the category “Insurance: homeowners,” or “Household expenses: insurance?”).
As I was familiarizing myself with YNAB, I came to realize, it is very simple. You can’t do a lot of the things with YNAB software that you can with MS Money or Quicken, but simplicity can be attractive. I like it; it’s like buying a car with no options, not much to break down.
However, there is something to be said for power windows, AC and a great stereo. I’ve started to look at Quicken again, a full featured product with all the bells and whistles.
Here I am, mired in charts and graphs, columns and numbers. MS Money is leaving. Should I go it alone, pencil in hand? Should I slow dance with YNAB? She has mousy hair and a slightly crooked nose but she is uncomplicated and functions well in her own way.
Or, should I boogie with the ‘Quicken’ girl I brought to the party a decade ago? She’s back, dressed up, experienced with lots of extra equipment. I’m open to suggestions.
Changinglanesterry@gmail.com or
http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
Changing Lanes:dancingwithnumbers:
For years, I’ve used ‘Microsoft Money’ to send out bills, balance my checking account and keep track of finances.
From the first week I started using a computer, I wanted a good money management program. I began using a free version of ‘Quicken’ a dozen years ago. Then my bank, no longer satisfied just giving away toasters, gave away Microsoft’s ‘Money’.
That first software version of ‘Money’ lasted six years. Then Microsoft pushed me to update the program - at a price. They threatened that if I did not upgrade, I would no longer be able to send payments electronically. They hinted of other unknown dire consequences.
I took the threats seriously, grumbled, but paid the thirty or so dollars to keep using the program. There were more upgrades through the years. I objected but I paid. Even though the new software offered more features each time, I felt strong-armed.
I could have gone back to paper and pencil, the old way of taking care of finances, but I wanted the advantages of the series of tubes and wires that mystically bring the internets and their information into my house.
As you can tell from my savvy electronic speak, my knowledge over the years has grown a great deal in the field of computers.
Ms Money has a budget feature; I decided to put into use months ago. I needed a budget, or to specify, one in black and white, recorded and adhered-to, not just the tally I keep in my head.
I began spending long hours filling in figures and moving ‘categories’ around so that it would reflect our spending more accurately. I needed to see where we were going astray. After a week of concentrated work, I had the budget all laid out.
Then I received an email from Microsoft, they were discontinuing the Money software. For years, after the initial setup, I’d spent little time using the software. On a week-to-week basis, it doesn’t require a lot. Then I invested a large amount of effort on my budget and in a Murphy’s Law manner, they took the program away.
I began looking for different software to replace MS Money. I found a trial version of something called YNAB (You Need a Budget), a ‘zero balance’ Excel based budgeting program. I dove in with vigor and spent another week of spare time, filling in numbers and categories, producing another, different budget masterpiece.
Several weeks of juggling figures has caused numbers and categories to dance in my head. In bed at night, nagging questions keep me awake, (Does that expenditure go in the category “Insurance: homeowners,” or “Household expenses: insurance?”).
As I was familiarizing myself with YNAB, I came to realize, it is very simple. You can’t do a lot of the things with YNAB software that you can with MS Money or Quicken, but simplicity can be attractive. I like it; it’s like buying a car with no options, not much to break down.
However, there is something to be said for power windows, AC and a great stereo. I’ve started to look at Quicken again, a full featured product with all the bells and whistles.
Here I am, mired in charts and graphs, columns and numbers. MS Money is leaving. Should I go it alone, pencil in hand? Should I slow dance with YNAB? She has mousy hair and a slightly crooked nose but she is uncomplicated and functions well in her own way.
Or, should I boogie with the ‘Quicken’ girl I brought to the party a decade ago? She’s back, dressed up, experienced with lots of extra equipment. I’m open to suggestions.
Changinglanesterry@gmail.com or
http://changinglanesterry.blogspot.com/
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