I'm just hanging out at the co-op, swatting flies and bidding on computer parts on Ebay.
This morning I finished adding updates to a couple of Thinkpad 390s. They both had small hard drives, under 3 gig. I took some programs off of them so that they would load. It took about 4 hours at Magpies.
Magpie did a good business, today. Most of the time it was crowded. They only serve breakfast on Sundays, but that looked good. I'm trying to lose weight so I only had coffee. I'm also trying to get more of my money into Delphi bonds so I'm skimping on everything else. Right now I'm at the co-op with a 33 cent banana. I do have to get serious about saving money and losing weight.
I'm thinking about going swimming at the pool at Luther College, tomorrow morning. I'll have to get up early, and I'm thinking about taking a bicycle to Luther.
It would be a good habit to get into. The use of the pool at Luther only costs $15/year. I've already paid it. That and the bicycling would be a significant increase in activity for me. I think that would really kick my weight loss in gear.
That reminds me, I was going to mention some money saving ideas for people waiting for their disability to come through, or anyone who is really broke:
1. Buy off the dollar menu at McDonalds. Its cheaper than what you can cook at home.
2. Collect beer cans for redemption, if you live in a state that pays you back for beer cans.
3. If you still drink coffee at restaurants, go to places that have free newspapers.
4. Cancel your internet service and use a cheap laptop at coffee shops, with free newspapers.
5. Go to auctions for cheap furniture.
6. Go to Goodwill and such places for cheap clothes and general stuff. They even have cheap laptops.
7. I've already mentioned food stamps and food pantries in previous posts
Well I've got to go to Ebay and see if I bought anything.

Getting old laptops to work

It's a lazy Saturday, downloading updates, at Bookends and Beans.
I got two Thinkpads working last night. I've been loading Suse Linux and then downloading updates at my favorite coffee shop.
Alice was here and we talked about reading another book, together. We are both into spiritual books. She, more than I am. I've been drifting away from spirituality. I'm beginning to think that religion really is the opiate of the masses. You see it abused in Iran and the U.S. as well.
I pretty much decided to quit dowsing for the lottery number. Alice pointed out to me that doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, is a sign of insanity. I think she quoted Einstein. She has a point. Since she was the only person I know, who reads my blog, I had to listen to her.
I think I'll cut it a little short today. Bookends is getting ready to close and I haven't downloaded my email yet.
I uploaded a picture of the Upper Iowa River from Phelphs Park.

Day off at the fair

I went to the fair, today, thinking that I had committed to manning the booth for the Democrats. It turned out that I should have been there yesterday. I just left because I had laptops to work on.
I got 2 thinkpad 390x's in the mail. I'm trying to load Mandriva 2009 on one. It's doing strange things. Maybe they are just too old for a modern Linux. If so, I'll use an older form of Linux. I may have troubles with the wifi card, though. If I can get them to take ndiswrapper, I'll be ok. That is a program which enables a person to use Windows wifi card drivers in Linux. It even works with old computers.
I got 2 hard drives working with the Gateway Solo 9300. One of the laptops is pretty fast at 750 Megherz. I loaded the hard drives, one at a time, on that machine, and they both work. When I get a CMOS battery for the other Gateway, I'll put the hard drive into it. The other Gateway has an intermittent problem that is probably the CPU. It warms up and goes flaky. Maybe I can get all three to work.
Dave at WRAP said that his wife is looking into getting on the TAA program. That pays people unemployment to go to college if they lost their job due to foreign competition. Her job went to Mexico, so she qualifies. I'm going to see if she can use one of the laptops. The fast Gateway would be good for her. I think I'll ask for some money. I can use that to put together other computers.
The TAA program will extend your unemployment for up to 2 years if you are going to school. She is going to become a dietitian. I wish her well.
I uploaded a picture of the fireplace, at Bookends and Beans. It's such a nice place to download updates and all the other computing that I do. There are convenient ac outlets so you can always keep your battery charged up.

Troubles with the camera

I'm having trouble getting my camera to work with Linux. I won't upload a picture today.
I got a new, old laptop in the mail today. 2 of my hard drives won't work with it. I got a hard drive with Ubuntu Linux working. I think I'll give it to Dave's wife. She's going to school, this fall. She'll need a good computer, but I think this one will do the job.
I went to see Patty Judge, yesterday. I didn't get to talk with her and I left my camera at home.
I did get to talk with Mary Jo Wilhelm. She's a state representative. I told her that we should legalize marijuana. I'm for the recreational use. It's still cheaper than beer. It would be an important cash crop for a lot of people in this state.
John Franzen butted in and came out for industrial hemp. I guess it has a lot of uses, none of which will get you high.
Well they are about ready to close up Bookends and Beans. I'll have to get going. Maybe I can go to the co-op and upload some pictures.
I never did get the camera to work with Linux but I uploaded a picture of Bookends and Beans. It's where I drink a lot of coffee.
On the disability front. If you are disabled, have you gone to support groups. I've been to many.
When I was in college I had a drinking problem so I joined AA. It was a lot of fun. The people attending participated a lot. Everybody had a lot to say about whatever the topic was.
I developed a gambling problem with commodities. I went to those meetings for a couple of years and it was similar to AA.
I feel that the 12 step programs spend too much time on guilt trips. I never harmed anyone other than myself so I don't know why it was so important for me to take an inventory. It was good to talk with people who had similar problems, though.
I tried starting a Schizophrenics Anonymous group. I ran it for a couple of years but the other people were so (out of it) that I didn't feel that I was accomplishing anything.
Something I found interesting was how many Gamblers Anonymous people were also schizophrenic. A Gamblers group I attended had 10 regular attendees. Out of those 10, 4 of them told me that they were also schizophrenic.
I now attend a group called WRAP. That stands for Wellness, Recovery, Action, Plan. It's attended mostly by mentally ill people. I kind of like it. Sometimes it turns into a pity-party. Sometimes people go on and on about their troubles.
I think self-help groups are a good thing but nothing replaces just taking charge of your life.
Personal responsibility is one of the main tenants of WRAP.
The market didn't seem to do much today. Tomorrow there will be news about the GM bankruptcy.
See you then.

Patty Judge at the Fair Today

I'm going back to the fair,today. Patty Judge, the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa will be at the fair.
I messed up one of my Gateway computers, yesterday. I knew that the bad one had a bad battery. So I removed the battery from the good one to put into the bad one. In the process I messed up the plug of the good battery. I couldn't get the battery into the bad one. Now I have two bad laptops. I tried running the good one, with no battery to see if it would have the same symptoms as the bad one. It didn't, so I still have one that is not fixable. I'll use it for parts. I think it's a bad processor, but it could be one of the memory chips that is soldered in.
I uploaded a picture of Caroline. She works at Bookends and Beans. She is usually here in the afternoon.
I decided against posting or even picking lottery numbers. For me, that is a dead horse. I was hoping that dowsing was the solution to the lottery problem. It wasn't meant to be. School funding is safe, for now. I was just spending, around $18/month. It was a complete waste. I might try continuing to dowse, but I won't buy tickets or post my numbers.
I'm reading a book named (Work the System). It is geared up more for people who are working. I think he has some good point though. People's lives can be broken down into a variety of systems which can be tweaked. I think the author would approve of my cutting out trying to bring down the
lottery by winning consistently. It might be that dowsing is just another form of delusion.
I think this book will get me thinking about how I spend my time and money, and it will help me to optimize both.
Well, I think I'll have a lemon bar and get over to the fair.
Later

The fair starts

I helped the county Democrats, set up their booth at the fair, today. I also manned the booth for a couple of hours.
That interfered with my getting an old Gateway laptop to work. Yesterday I got a good shell in the mail. I transferred a good hard drive to it and then I loaded Suse 11.1 on it.
The streaming video and audio leave much to be desired. I'm afraid that this model of laptop is just too slow for video and audio. It has a lot of memory but the clock speed, (450 megherz.) may be too slow. I'll have to move into more modern computers.
I uploaded a picture of Trout Run Creek. I've got to get out and take some more pictures. I had about 20 pictures that just vanished from my memory stick. I was going to upload a picture of the three, feral cats on the footbridge. I don't know where those pictures went. They just vanished.
I didn't watch the market today. I'll have to get to Yahoo finance and see what happened. I think a person should just stay out. I still have hopes for my bonds, though.
If the sun comes out tomorrow, I'll get some more pictures.

Saw Jim this morning

I visited with Jim, this morning. He's having troubles with radon gas at his home. Apparently he uses his basement a lot. He has a tv room and a family room there. So he checked the radon gas levels. Surprise, surprise. They found high levels. Now he has to spend hundreds of dollars to vent the gas outside. It makes me glad that I live in a mobile home. I don't have to mess with that.
I got a new, old laptop today. It's a Gateway Solo 9300. I have one that is unstable. The problem went with the base. Maybe it's the CPU. I swapped out hard drives. Now I have Mandriva Linux working, quite nicely, on the new base.
I'm having troubles getting the wifi cards to work with Mandriva Linux. It uses ndiswrapper. That is a program that enables a person to use Windows wifi drivers on their Linux machines. The problem is that I'm at Bookends and Beans and I left my drivers at home. I'll just go home after I'm done blogging and load the driver.
I can go to Magpie's tonight and load the updates for Mandriva.
I bought another 19 Delphi bonds, today. My goal is to get to 100 bonds. That way, I might get close to $100,000 when they come out of bankruptcy. Of course, its a gamble. But I think its a good one.
On the disability front. You might as well apply for disability. I know that we and the people around us may have the impression that we are normal. But that may be denial, in action. If you hear voices and nobody is there. Or if you are a presidential adviser, but you never get paid. You are experiencing things that others don't. Don't fool yourself. You have problems that others don't. You probably have a diagnosis. Now is the time to fill out the forms and get your pension. Social Security will refuse you for a number of years. But when you get to a hearing things will fall into place. They will owe you back payment for all of those years that they denied your pension. It will add up to thousands of dollars. The important thing is to fill out the forms and get the ball rolling now.
I uploaded a picture of bicyclers on Dug Road Trail.