Hello...Hello?

I was informed that I was entitled to a phone upgrade on my cell phone contract. My old phone is overdue for an upgrade...it could be an antique in the cell phone world. It runs on coal. I don't want or need all the bells and whistles they stick on cell phones. I don't even want a camera...who needs it? I have plenty of cameras. My phone has a camera and I have over 200 photos of the inside of my back pocket.

Anyway, my phone signal has been breaking up and deteriorating in reception quality. So, I decided to go check out what was available. I am on the low end of the phone spectrum so the options were limited to a flip-phone very similar to what I have and two models that offer more options (like a calendar and alarm) and have a little drawer that comes out with a tiny keyboard. These two models differ only in the quality of the camera and the size of the screen. Since both models had screens larger than what I had I decided on the lesser of the two...with the "inferior" camera.  My phone guy, Ben, was new so it took a while for him to get things worked out. I think all cell phone guys are new because they seem not to know what is going on with their own products.

After it was all over and things were signed and fees recorded, I headed for home. I spent much of the afternoon squinting at the little manual (just the English language part) and trying to figure out the phone. When I did actually get a call, I couldn't figure out how to answer it. 

I suppose that I'll get it figured out in a couple days. This is an improvement, I guess, over my old steam-driven cell phone.


Update - 9/15....Screw it. I took it back and got a phone I can use. I never actually was able to answer a call on that phone.  And the reception wasn't any better than my old phone. I got one I can use and it works fine.  Plus I get some money back.  End of story.


Well, not quite. Further Update (September 22 - the Autumnal Equinox) Why is this so tough? The new phone seems to work fine. Only problem is that I read the user guide which told me I'm supposed to hit the 'send' button when I answer a phone call. That seemed odd to me...this is a flip phone and just opening it up when it rings should be sufficient. So, I ended up disconnecting a few calls before I decided that the user guide was full of crap. I was right all along. So I got that figured out....but now I'm getting weird phone calls from numbers in my area code but there is no one on the line and when I try to call back the phone number is out of service. These calls are originating in Puxico, Jackson ans Ewing, Missouri. No one in those places should even have my cell number. This is political campaign season and I'm guessing that these are robo-calls that can't figure out my cell connection (??). Maybe this will end after the election.

Drought

We've been complaining about the weather for months. You have probably heard...there has been  a serious drought spreading through the Midwest. While serious, we are not talking "dust bowl" or Horn of Africa devastation. But the drought is ruining some farm operations and people will be forced off their land. In my 60-plus years I've not seen it this bad. I live in a mostly rural community within a few miles of the lower Missouri River and there are sand bars stretching most of the way across the river in some places. We have been living with water conservation restrictions almost all summer. I think most farmers got one cutting of hay but, based on the field near my house, that was probably it. The corn crop is pretty much gone. Soybeans look better, especially in the river bottoms, but they are still in trouble. Cattle farmers are struggling and some farm families I know are cutting down trees so the cattle can eat the few leaves that are left. Apparently, cattle don't always eat trees but when they do, they prefer Honey Locust trees. Here's a tip if you are ever in this situation...don't give them the Honey Locust trees first because they get picky and don't like eating the other trees.


Many of our trees have already turned brown and lost their leaves. That normally happens in late October or early November. I have a big Hickory tree in my front yard that seems to be holding its own. The Cedars are managing okay. Maples and Poplars are mostly bare. I have a Shortleaf Pine out back that is surviving but I've seen some in the area that have turned brown and are probably dead. Dogwood trees are struggling. Landscape plantings are looking terrible. I grow a few hop plants but they failed to produce flowers this year.  The local vineyards are faced with a small grape harvest but they say it will be very high quality. I guess I'll be drinking wine instead of home brew.


Finally things have started to turn around. The remnants of Hurricane Isaac came through on Labor Day weekend and I didn't hear a single complaint. We only managed to get about two inches of rain but it helped. Since then we have had more rainy days and the grass seems to be coming back. Some of the trees look better but it's too late for many of them. Some will come back next year if the winter isn't too harsh and we get more rain. Temperatures have really cooled off. We had weeks of 100 degree days but we are in the mid 70s the last two days. It will get hot again but most of it is over.


I haven't cut my grass since June but I'll probably have to find my lawnmower in about two weeks if we can get some more rain. We usually have a very pretty fall but this year it will be subdued.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!!

The Republicans have been holding their convention this week in Tampa. The Democrats are next. The lies spewing forth from the speakers on the podium are absolutely amazing. It is breathtaking. Paul Ryan actually accused Obama of being responsible for closing down an auto factory before he was even President...and he just kept right on going. It doesn't matter that it's a lie, the important thing is to get it out there so the pea-brains who are sucking this up can get energized.

I managed not to watch any of the convention but I'm following it on the news because you just can't escape it. My main news interest is in Hurricane Isaac, otherwise I probably wouldn't even have the news on. I probably won't watch much, if any, of the Democrats' convention.  Why bother?

We have our own little side show going on locally with Todd Akin, the GOP's senatorial candidate. And what a show it is. Missouri seems to collect wingnuts. I have a friend (sort of) who comes from his district who keeps me informed on all of the crazy and outlandish conspiracy theories that the local Republicans dream up. She makes the "Birthers" look normal. She threatened and chased the census bureau guy off her property because he worked for Acorn. She says Acorn is in charge of the Department of Commerce and is sending out the census people to get information on her. She, of course, is a Todd Akin supporter and thinks that that flurry of excitement about "legitimate rape" and the amazing capacity of a woman's body to shut down a potential rape pregnancy is just the "Godless Liberals" plotting against her hero, Todd Akin.

I admit that I voted for Todd Akin in the primary election. I voted Republican just so I could vote against a few people and I voted for Akin because I knew he would self-destruct. I thought he would last at least until Labor Day but I don't think he made it a week. I'm not a big supporter of Claire McCaskill. I've met her a couple times and was in meetings with her when she was the Jackson County prosecutor. I don't particularly like her but she is serious, smart and businesslike. She is 100 times better than Akin. She is up something like nine points in the polls now but come November, anything can happen. Remember, Missouri elected a dead guy to the Senate rather than select the other choice...John Ashcroft.

My impression of Mitt Romney is that he is a guy with limited values and convictions. Only things related to his immediate family, church or wealth have any weight in his life. Everything else is merely a business decision. He can easily promote one idea or value and then promote the exact opposite based on what he sees as the business climate. He seems to have no lasting commitments to ideas or values. He also has the corporate model approach to things...the same way Bush Jr. did.  He is not a details sort of guy. That's why he chose Paul Ryan as his VP --- someone to be involved in the details. I think we tried that with Dick Cheney and it didn't work.

Obama is a details guy, maybe to a fault. He is also a person with life-long values and convictions. He is more likely to stay on the same course in a second term. It has taken so long to dig out of the hole left by the previous administration that people are impatient. I'm convinced that the economy was worse than we think and it will take a while longer to get back on track. The obstructionist approach taken by the GOP is slowing things down. Now they want to go back to the policies that put us in a near-depression.

I'm something of a supporter of Obama-Care. I think he managed to get the cat out of the bag, so to speak, and we will see improved health care in the future. There is a lot in Obama-Care that is positive and worthwhile and supported by most Americans. I am concerned about the GOP's plans for a voucher-based medicare system. Medicare needs help but not that kind. They would turn the focus of the system away from Doctors and hospitals to a group that they know and trust...insurance companies...with deep pockets.

I fully expect the Democratic convention to be one more non-event with lots of speakers tossing around lots of false information. It will probably be dull. I don't think there's a hurricane coming. 

Farewell Neil Armstrong

August 25th...Farewell Neil Armstrong. There are only eight Apollo Astronauts left who walked on the moon and the youngest is in his mid 70s. Armstrong was the first.  Will we miss them when they are gone?

We ended the Space Shuttle program a little over a year ago. We still have space ambitions but most of the interesting and newsworthy stuff is done by robots of one sort or another. We have just landed on Mars with the Curiosity rover. It will be in the news for a long time.

We have the International Space Station, packed with real live humans, orbiting 250 miles up above the earth. The ISS has grown to a size somewhat larger than a football field and is resupplied periodically by unmanned supply rockets. The Russians run a taxi service for moving people out to the ISS and back home again. The ISS is one of the brightest things in the sky when it flies over. It can be much brighter than the moon if the sun hits it right...but it seems that few people bother to look up.  I'm a sky watcher so I've seen it and it is an impressive sight...but it is over in about four or five minutes.

I guess we've reached the point where most of the pioneering work is over...at least close to our home planet. Much of the equipment and artifacts from this time are showing up in museums. There was a news item last week about Los Angeles having to cut down 400 trees along a roadway so that the space shuttle can be towed to the local museum.

The Chinese are talking about sending humans on a mission to the moon. That would be goos, I think, but I can't imagine what the cost would be. I wonder if unmanned space exploration is much less expensive than sending humans. The focus would be on robotics and other types of technology rather than life support.

I wonder if any of those space monkeys are still alive. If J. Fred Muggs is still alive at 60 then maybe there are still a couple space monkeys around.  We still send animals into space. In February 2010 the Iranians sent a mouse, two turtles and some worms into space on one of their rockets. They survived the trip.