As I sit writing this missive, thousands of my fellow citizens stand duty in harm's way thousands of miles from here. Thousands of miles from friends and, more importantly, family. I've just had a wonderful Christmas Eve day. Presents, good food, and family. But I digress. The point is that I do this knowing that my fellow citizens, volunteers all, are in harm's way this holiday season.
And if it weren't for those people, the world situation would be far, far worse. This wonderful Christmas of mine would not be possible.
So, to all of you, far away in really crappy conditions doing what you volunteered to do, please accept this:
Merry Christmas. And thank you.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Let Me Say "Thank You"... Again
It's 1973. I'm eight years old. The nerdiness has already set in. I'm a voracious reader. I'm very big into books about submarines, World War II, airplanes, World War II, and Abraham Lincoln. Probably in that order. One summer, my parents took me and my siblings (all four of them) to the Indiana State Fair. I remember wandering around the fair with my Mom's hand firmly clasped in mine. We wandered up to a large table stacked with all kinds of second-hand books. The man working the table was very nice. He asked my Mom if I read. Her response was something along the lines of, "Oh, yes. He reads constantly." I was already pawing through the books on the table. At one point, he reached over, picked up a small, short book. It had a red cover and was a collection of humorous letters sent to the Beatles. It's title was something like, "Hey, John, Paul, Ringo, & George: Can I have a lock of your hair?" Something like that. He then said I could have it. Free. It was mine to take home.
I know that book is still around somewhere. I know I read it many times. Frankly, I read it at least once before I left the fair. My parents, at one point, wanted to watch one of the livestock shows. So, I sat with them and read that book. If I hadn't had that book, I'd still love to read. My parents really encouraged it. Growing up, my bedroom had a medium sized walk-in closet with shelves ringing the top 3 feet. And each shelf was cram-packed with old books. I learned of astronomy, physics, history, calendars, on and on, thanks to that closet of books. And for that, I thank my parents. That, and much, much more.
Still, this stranger added to my love of reading just a bit more. That love has stayed with me. Part of the reason I love to read blogs. I just love reading. And he showed me that a simple act of kindness can have a long-term affect.
That day at the Fair, before we left that stranger's table, my Mom (being a Mom and in her best Mom voice) said, "Say 'Thank you.'" I know I did. Otherwise, I would not have lived through that day. But that was a thank you of an eight year old under penalty of getting a whoopin'. So, here, now, and with Mother safely many hundreds of miles away, I think it befitting that I say,
Thank you.
I know that book is still around somewhere. I know I read it many times. Frankly, I read it at least once before I left the fair. My parents, at one point, wanted to watch one of the livestock shows. So, I sat with them and read that book. If I hadn't had that book, I'd still love to read. My parents really encouraged it. Growing up, my bedroom had a medium sized walk-in closet with shelves ringing the top 3 feet. And each shelf was cram-packed with old books. I learned of astronomy, physics, history, calendars, on and on, thanks to that closet of books. And for that, I thank my parents. That, and much, much more.
Still, this stranger added to my love of reading just a bit more. That love has stayed with me. Part of the reason I love to read blogs. I just love reading. And he showed me that a simple act of kindness can have a long-term affect.
That day at the Fair, before we left that stranger's table, my Mom (being a Mom and in her best Mom voice) said, "Say 'Thank you.'" I know I did. Otherwise, I would not have lived through that day. But that was a thank you of an eight year old under penalty of getting a whoopin'. So, here, now, and with Mother safely many hundreds of miles away, I think it befitting that I say,
Thank you.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Dual Monitors, But I Don't Know How
I have a (now older) Pentium 4 computer. About a year ago, the video card went Tango Uniform. As a replacement, I bought a PNY nVidia GEForce 8500 GT. A nice card, frankly. I've heard others say that it's a less-than-stellar performer for games, but I don't play games on my computer. That's what my PS2 / PS3 are for.
Anyway, the card comes with three outputs, a DVI, a VGA, and an S-Video. I recently purchased an LG 19" monitor and mounted it the wall above my current computer monitor. The LG is a nice, little monitor. It even came with VGA inputs. Which got me to thinking, Can I use this for a dual-monitor set-up?
The short answer is, Yes. But here's the problem. I don't know how I got here. Here's how I have them set-up.
Here's what I remember. I started with the nVidia GEForce window that appears when you go to "nVidia Display" window. I then clicked on one of the wizard buttons, followed by a few of the others, then I wound up with all of the settings I have now.
And it works pretty well. The only drawback is that some of the high-resolution graphics don't pan as smoothly as before. But otherwise, it works just fine.
Anyway, the card comes with three outputs, a DVI, a VGA, and an S-Video. I recently purchased an LG 19" monitor and mounted it the wall above my current computer monitor. The LG is a nice, little monitor. It even came with VGA inputs. Which got me to thinking, Can I use this for a dual-monitor set-up?
The short answer is, Yes. But here's the problem. I don't know how I got here. Here's how I have them set-up.
- Both monitors are now set-up in their native resolution. The Samsung uses 1920 x 1200. The LG uses 1440 x 900.
- They're set-up in a top/bottom combination. That means that I go through the top of the Samsung, which puts me on the bottom of the LG (mounted on the wall above the Samsung).
- Each can have a different wallpaper.
- Windows boots up and runs from the Samsung monitor.
Here's what I remember. I started with the nVidia GEForce window that appears when you go to "nVidia Display" window. I then clicked on one of the wizard buttons, followed by a few of the others, then I wound up with all of the settings I have now.
And it works pretty well. The only drawback is that some of the high-resolution graphics don't pan as smoothly as before. But otherwise, it works just fine.
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