When my grandmother was born, airplanes were more than a decade in the future. In my lifetime, space exploration and exploitation became a reality. In the 20th century, automobiles took over. Electricity and telephones became ubiquitous, and television was invented. It would be impossible to name a century of greater change. Yet, I think more apparent change has occurred in the past two decades. By apparent change, I mean changes in daily life and routine. Think how dated movies made only a few years ago can seem. You’ll see people running around frantically searching for pay phones. You’ll see black computer screens with green type. You’ll hear people asking, “Where are we?!” The fabric of daily life now has an entirely different feel. Take, for example, the above cartoon from 20 years ago. Of course, many people—if they still have land lines—still have answering machines, but they’re not the icon of connectivity they once were. And kids in the household certainly do not consider them a lifeline! Technological change has been a juggernaut for the past 200 years, but the small details have never been more apparent than in the current century.
160 responses to “Answer Man”
Ghost, yes Ghostery. It’s a cookie blocker that also shows you what/who is tracking you. Here’s the company link: https://www.ghostery.com/en/
I keep blaming my spam on horny old sailors and the groups I belong to because Mike always denied it was him! And I know I don’t visit porn sites, nor need Russian brides or male enhancers. I do however, still use Mike’s email address and not mine, I decided I didn’t care if he knew what I did or said, the whole world knew anyway! I told him same thing.
Seriously, my spam filters gets most of the stuff we are talking about and I just erase the whole file every couple days. I have talked about this to some of the other “owners” of groups and what we watch for are suspicious “members”, either ban them don’t approve them, delete them and put moderation limits on people/members. It is the unwatched ones that get through.
Once my entire computer contents got hijacked and suddenly people all over the world were getting appeals to get us out of a jail (I think) in Spain. Since most of my friends knew I was in Oklahoma preparing to be invaded by hundreds of boaters, I got dozens and dozens of emails alerting me before I even got out of bed!
At that time I maintained all the thousands of address files for members in so many groups, I was a gold mine I guess? Now I don’t do that.
Love, Jackie
Used to like Jake too. Houston carried him, I guess I thought he was a Texas cartoonist. Had not seen the grits joke. Sitting here eating big portion of unsalted traditional oat meal with dates, cranberries, honey glazed walnuts, fresh blueberries and unsalted butter. It might benefit from some honey but didn’t put any.
And a Diet Coke. What do the rest of us eat when we get up? I am curious.
1. Corn Chez with 8 oz of 2% milk
2. Oatmeal with 8 oz of 2% milk
3. Two scrambled eggs with 2 oz of sliced lean ham, whole wheat toast and tomato juice
4. One over-easy egg on top of grits with a slice of whole wheat toast and tomato juice
5. One over-easy egg on top of three slices of bacon on top of a slice of whole wheat toast (open face sandwich style) and tomato juice
6. Ham-and-cheese omelet with one slice of whole wheat toast and tomato juice
Note: Not all at same meal
Neither does anyone ever offer me Russian brides or millions of dollars from Nigeria. The only thing that ever seems to (legitimately) show up in my spam folder is (I’m guessing, ’cause I don’t open ’em) offers for “Russian Wiagra” with oddly-spelled but recognizable words in the subject line. (Ex: Getz Goodr Medzines) An attempt to defeat spam filters, perhaps?
I’m sure my lack of spam affliction relates to leading a pure life and never, ever visiting questionable sites.
Jackie, here’s Jake Vest’s short autobiography: http://www.lake.k12.fl.us/Page/18154
As for the spam, what I am getting is mostly phishing scams, from people masquerading as legitimate groups. One was supposedly from PayPal, which I forwarded to their site for advice whether it was legit or not. They said it wasn’t. Also got one telling me to update NetZero info. As I don’t have one of those cards, this email went straight to file 13.
Well, I had a good friend who must have fallen off a turnip truck because he fell in love with a Russian bride and sent her a ton of money. I know this because I used to be his sales rep and knew all his staff really well. And I make friends of course. So they confided in me about all this to try to get me to talk to him and stop his foolish behavior. This was about time the net took off and I could not believe he fell for this scam, he was good looking, not too old, way younger than me in fact and straight. I thought he was smart too, before this.
Come on Ghost, you just have better filters and screens, like your cooking utensils.
Good sounding healthy breakfasts, protein, whole grains and vegetable juice. I like more fruits and veggies, nuts thrown in. By the time I get up it is either brunch or lunch of course!
Love, Jackie
What an interesting person Jake Vest is! Anyone should be thrilled to have someone like that teach their kids. I have friends like that who chose to teach after some lives of “adventure” and I think how fortunate those children are.
Looked at what was in my spam folder today, filter working overtime as it had a ton of department store ads I actually shop and health stuff from my medical advice patient portals, but the most interesting observation was that yesterday I could have had a 39% discount on cialis but today only 37%. And the Chinese one which I have no idea how to read Chinese (Or Korean or whatever) but the address was in English.
Then I deleted all 91 at one time!
Several years ago, my filter would occasionally catch an email purportedly from a friend but which was actually spam. It seemed obvious to me that something had invaded her computer and had at least stolen her contact list, but I could never convince her of that. After all, she had a Mac, and back then everyone “knew” that if you had a Mac you didn’t have to worry about that kind of thing.
She got a new computer a couple of years ago, and that spam stopped coming.
“Cialis, 37% off (old-timey bath tub not included).”
Ghost, one thing always struck me strange about the commercial for Cialis. If you are taking that for a reason, why would you want two separate bathtubs?
Jackie, if you are using Windows, I hope you have the “preview pane” turned off (if there is one in your email) and that you are only reading the subject line without opening the email. If it opens it could infect your computer with all kinds of nasty stuff. (something we didn’t have to worry about with the old telephone).
I think the bathtub would just complicate things, “Bridges of Madison County” to the contrary.
We had those at my boarding school, original plumbing, and my daughter has them in her house, also original plumbing. Deep and hard to get in and out of.
Anyone with first hand knowledge?
Just when you think you have heard everything: http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2015/01/fowl_play.html#incart_river
Never open anything I don’t have to, even if I know names. Just delete. I need to spend a night getting rid of old emails and cleaning up. If the Geek Squad is still around I need a house call!
Mark, see note above about those tubs. The two tubs on the beach seemed pretty ridiculous way to promote a drug for coupling.
I know about Hueytown, but even there a chicken suited salesman would be a shock! As a florist I got asked to do a lot of weird things, one was a flower arrangement in a giant rubber chicken foot and another involved a rubber chicken. Had no idea what those were about.
Florists are not easily surprised either but the time I made flower arrangements in two life sized plaster/painted kangaroos in their “pockets” to go on either side of a customer’s fireplace was a shock. Then she left on an extended trip, leaving them in the shop where we’d put them in window area for safety, causing great comment from other customers. Never was I so glad to see two animals leave my shop!
All this cookie talk has me wondering when Girl Scout season opens. Love those little girls learning to hustle in front store entries, tasty cookies too. 😉
Don’t knock Russian brides until you have had one. Loon has a sharp Russian tongue. I have the scars to prove it.
I sincerely doubt you got Loon off an internet site. Where’d that emoticon come from?
Girl Scout cookie sales have begun already, I got an email from granddaughter in Houston to sell me some on net. I told her mother (the cookie sales lady I am sure) I wanted to send mine to the troops overseas, an option, and I needed the form to do that.
Have not been down to Walmart parking lot to see if the tables are up out there.
On second thought, maybe you did but I doubt Loon was on the one my friend subscribed to!
Love, Jackie
Picked Loon out of the lineup in college. Blonde, Russian/Slovak, braniac; how could I resist?
Usually [tea or decaf, varies], 9 oz. tomato juice + rounded tsp. plain xxxsyl, and:
M and F, sardines [water pack] on Ezekiel 4:9 toast.
T, at hospital, ww bagel, farina + lots of raisins, fruit unless there’s only grapefruit sections [typically fresh pineapple, strawberries [giant], chunks of honeydew/cantaloupe]
W, Th, S, S. Typically a bowl of hot cereal set up the night before: cup skim milk, 1/2 cup oat, wheat, barley, or rye flakes [or 7-grain mix] + oodles of red seedless grapes. In the morning, nuke on hi 2m22sec, then on 6 or 7 at 6:66. Let cool while doing other stuff. Since I’m alone, if I’m rushed, I have a Clif Bar + tea, make the cereal for lunch or supper.
I’m not sure Harmony Foods Coop has grits. They’d work fine, with the grapes.
OK, on the red seedless grapes you mix them with dry cereal, skim milk and nuke the entire thing?
I have yet to find a Clif bar I like, although many boating friends swear by them. I however love Kind bars so much I end up eating them before I need “rescue” as a snack.
I like the Biblical breads but can only get them at Whole Foods, maybe Sprouts and Reasors, a local upscale grocery here. To my knowledge we have no food coops here. I am envious.
Love breads full of seeds and weird grains. Now I have to go see what’s in my bread drawer.
Love, Jackie
Jackie, you could use this one and work into your trips to Tulsa: http://www.naturalfarms.com/food-co-op/
Thanks Mark. They are located on Utica where I go almost every time I am in Tulsa. I will go check them out and see about joining. Last time I did this I lived in Houston. I must have some degree of “old hippie” in me because I have always favored coops, natural foods and helping the environment. Plus, the sacks were fun, you’d never know what you’d get, especially if they were using local growers. Like a trip to the farm.
All this thought about healthy food and I went and threw on a big pot of yellow split peas and leftover ham I’d cooked in an orange juice and jerk spice mix in slow cooker. Too salty for me but I think it will work great in the soup which has sweet potatoes in it, carrots, onions and fresh ginger root.
My house is already so full of good for you food, I have no excuse!
Love, Jackie
I was in my office slightly after hours one day when two young, blond Russian women wandered in looking for an English class. Their limited English took me awhile to figure out, but I can assure you that I was in no hurry and I helped them search for the class until we discovered that it had been cancelled for that evening. I offered to be a substitute teacher, but for some reason they left.
By the time I get up, I seek lunch: currently a sandwich of Swiss & hard salami with whatever condiment strikes me at the moment. Rye bread is preferred, the caraway seeds being just large enough not to be dangerous to/in my diverticula.
Heard the chicken/road joke with an armadillo as the recipient of the knowledge. Does that come from living in Florida?
In one of my smaller chemistry classes (only 15 persons), no fewer than 6 different nations were represented. Those originating in the US and Canada posed no problems, and I did know a few words of Russian, but the students from Cape Verde and Lithuania were more difficult to understand. I hoped they could understand me at least a little.
Jerry love ??????? ??????? ????? ???? ?????????, ?? ?? ????.