Thoughts From The Darkness

It's been a few days or weeks since I rambled a little bit. I can tell this blog is gradually moving back to the same direction it was going before I announced to the world that the subject matter would change. Plans of more transparency. No stone left unturned as those thoughts slowly crawled out from beneath the rocks. So what happen? What's the plan?

When you saw that title you probably came running to see how far my brain had dropped over the cliff ... wrong kind of darkness. Not quite true. The darkness is what is outside on a Sunday morning at 7:15am. Still the mind is active, maybe too active at this time of day.

In the past few days you have probably notice the blog has changed colors for less than five minutes, font changes but no format changes. I like the format and I've heard from a few readers that they like it to. It's easy to find stuff, and easy to navigate through. So the format will stay but you know how I like 'tweaking' the look when I get an overactive brain.

It was just a few years ago when I had this type of brain activity, I'd start looking through websites that had cars for sale. In most cases I'd end up trading cars or trucks or both within 72 hours after I started looking. The disaster in all of that impulsive buying was my bank account took a hit and the satisfaction didn't last long. I think the all-time record for owning a car before I traded it was 47 days, in December 2016.

Now I just look through website design (themes or templates) choices and fill the same urge to make changes. Yet there has been a battle for the past few months, thinking I would take advantage of those 'holiday deal' with drastically reduced prices, that have since passed by me.


The Apple Watch Series 4.

I don't really need one. I know it will only work with Apple computers and iPhones, which I have. I would have to add an app to track my sleeping habits. The battery life is too short for me. (18 hours) Nor would I buy the cellular version because I don't need emails, texts, music, coming out of my wrist. I'm looking at the health tracking features mainly.

On the other side of the view, it does have a proven heart health tracker, including an EKG reading. I was reading this morning that it does NOT have constant pulse reading but I think that might be an incorrect statement, I'll have to check. It does have 'fall detection' where it will call 911 if the settings are right and you don't respond in a certain amount of time.

Tied in with Apple Health in my iPhone, that 911 call will alert the friends I have listed as emergency contacts, all living out of state. That might be handy since I live alone but I don't plan to fall and see that as a feature that isn't needed for another 20 years when I will be in my late 80's. On the other hand it could replace my iPhone. How neat would that be to go anywhere without carrying a phone in one hand or slipped into a pocket in cargo shorts/pants?

Yet the iPhone has a fantastic camera for indoors or low light. Not bad for outside. Could you tell which photos in blog posts from Wednesday on, were taken with the iPhone ?? So that would be one reason not to have the watch replace the phone.

I currently wear a Garmin VivoSport that has a long battery life, constant pulse readings, GPS, sleep tracking, synchronizes with MyFitnessPal (food log) and feels small on my wrist. I would not have paid the $160 for it, but Garmin sent a new one to me free when I let them know in September that the band to my Garmin VivoSmart 3 broke. I didn't ask and really wasn't looking for help. I was just letting them know what had happened.

The Garmin gives me all the information that I was looking for two years ago. It looks good in casual dress, which is most of the time for me, and will look good as I mow the yard or do yard work in the warmer months.

So it's back to the question of 'a need' or 'a want' for the Apple Watch. Just like it was when I use to satisfy this urge by trading cars. I feel a strong urge to drive to Best Buy today and buy one ... a huge urge actually ... or I could buy a new camera .... see what I mean? That little man on my shoulder with his lauging voice, is tormenting me again today.

Something else I do when I get in these moods for change. I play around with different browsers. Safari for Macs, Google Chrome and Firefox Quantum. Even though I have always read the latest reviews in CNET, PCmag, and other tech websites about those browsers ... I still keep going back and trying all three of them.

Until a couple of days ago when RetroRoxie sent me a link, helping me find an answer for WHY Safari and Google Chrome was preventing me from making replies on some WordPress blogs plus logging me out automatically from my blog on Blogger, "Bhounds And Other Adventures".

It was due to the privacy settings for each. Safari calls it "cross-site" tracking. Google Chrome calls it "3rd party websites collecting cookies and data". I needed to switch them to 'off' so each could take place. Once I did that, both Safari (using it now) and Google Chrome did not prevent me with those two issues I had for months ... or since their last updates.

Many reviews say that Safari is the best browser for Macs. I have an iMac and a MacBook Air and it is what I have run for a browser most of the time until I had that problem two paragraphs above. I like that Firefox and Safari do a great job in blocking ads and stopping videos from automatically playing on news and sports sites.

I could tighten the settings on Google Chrome and add some apps to prevent ads and autoplay but I am not really keen on the brighter version of the new Google Chrome. Now, if I were using an Android phone I would tie myself into the Google system with docs, and all the other products they have available ... but I get all they offer in my Apple devices, all synchronizing with my phone, computers and tablet.

I know I will continue to bounce between browsers every few months ... but at least that is free. Plus it calms that overactive brain I get sometimes.

So where is all that blogging transparency? The change in direction for the blog?

My mind has been content I guess. I have not noticed a lot of deep thoughts surfacing. I have not noticed any inner crisis taking place. Both hounds are in good health, no emergencies, no drama going on ... nothing to bring thousands of blog readers rushing to see the latest, like they slow down to look as they drive past a car wreck.

I've continued to "glance" at tv news. I have also continued to turn off the tv or change channels within minutes, mumbling under my breath ... "what a bunch of shit". (yes I LOVE that periods OUTSIDE the quotes ... :)

So I don't have a lot of radical comments about what is going on in the news because I have stopped watching it enough to where I cannot make comments. In 2013 while working as a government contractor I was sent home when Obama shut down the government. Speaking only from personal experience ... I think I remember being gone for only 10-14 days ??? but I do remember to keep my health insurance and a regular paycheck, I had to go on vacation while wasting my vacation days.

I did write a post the other day and saved it as a draft. It was an idea I had for the blog that wasn't tried and may not happen ... a weekly collection of questions, weird or otherwise, that I have throughout the week. I still have that post in 'draft' folder. Which brings up the subject of 'drafts' ... not beer, blog posts.

I have a hard time writing blog posts in advance, filing them under 'draft' and posting them later. Most of the time my posts are time related, like current, within that hour(s) ... I cannot go much more than a day on subject matter for the post. Whereas some bloggers can write about where they were and what they did on a trip two months later ... I find that hard to do.

So due to my DNA, I'll probably continue to blog like I always have ... in the morning after our walk ... maybe late afternoon or early evening in the warmer months. I am outside a lot when it's hot doing anything, from yard work to sleeping under the sunshine. If I post something like this very early in the morning ... I'll probably have a second post late afternoon or early evening with a paragraph summary and all photos.

That is probably what will happen today.

One thing about this template (theme), I do not have to manually put a space between the photos so they show up on tablets and phones with a space between them. Nor do I have to change the file size like I did on blogger, so the photos were sharper. Which I have discussed that too many times in the past.

Just remember, new readers ... the hounds and I live a pretty simple lifestyle, laidback without a lot of drama. I'd say the post about the water heater a few days ago was the most excitement the hounds have had in months. Believe it or not I still have steaming hot water coming out of the faucet so that is a good thing, since I had no idea what I was doing to repair it.

The posts are usually more photo based than a post like this but sometimes I like nothing but words, content, thoughts, etc. I just have to come up with some kind of photo to add to the top so there is a small thumbnail on the front page. The look stays the same that way.

Much like me mowing the whole yard when only the backyard needs mowing ... or the "balanced" look where the punctuation is outside the second quotation mark. Or all those squares for each post lined up evenly on the front page.

That will give you a picture what my pet peeves are ... plus crooked photos on a wall in anybody's house.

Well that magic hour has struck ... 8am ... Stella has walked in the computer room to drink water, hydrating herself before she whines to get me to change shoes to boots, throw on my down parka, gloves and sock hat ... grab the camera and go out
to do 22 minutes of 'verbal herding" to get her from Point A to Point B. The walk last 5 minutes due to the sound of gunshots ... no verbal herding was needed ... I had to trot to keep up with her has she turned around and headed for home.

There was probably more I wanted to say in this post but like usual ... I forgot what it was.

It looks cold outside but I can see some sun here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Christmas In 'The Tropics'

I started years ago ending each blog post with "......... 'the tropics' ....." kinda as a joke. On this blog you will not see that before December 9th because the main blog was here, from October 2011 until December 9th. Yes, it is Christmas Day but if you were following Stella around the house you would never be able to tell it. We still had a great day, I do think about what day it is and remember past years. Early this morning I decided that the hounds would take a drive with me just to see what the area looked like on Christmas Day 2018.

Where last year we had snow, and freezing temperatures, today the forecast was for rain and mid-40's. The radar showed that rain was all around us but as you will see in a photo below, the chances of it raining here were slim. I saw a little blue sky peeking through the clouds.

Stella was on a slow exploring pace today. I can never leave her behind because I don't want to end my walk by going to the neighbors backyard to get her. Also, there have been times she has disappeared totally out of sight. It would take Sadie and I sometimes up to a hour looking for her, only to see her walking back home in the field ... from where?  Who knows? We never found her on our own.

At this point I came so close of taking that chance and letting her be on her own as I would complete the walk. It's much easier though just to backtrack a little, grab her collar and lead her back on the path.

That doesn't mean she will stay in the general direction of our (my) walk. Once I get past the point of that first turn around the corner of the woods, it is usually safe to let her roam on her own. Today I decided I'd follow her instead of trying to lead her. Don't be fooled, she was just as slow as the photos show ... she is on her own clock in life.

When I saw this deer trail I decided to take that since it was in the general area as she walked north.

When we finally reached our return path, Stella looked back at me as if to say "left or right?" ... We would normally be walking this part of the path from right to left in the photo. The dark gray area is the grandchildren's ATV track from the summer of 2017. No, not my grandchildren ... the neighbor's, two doors down that owns the field.

The skies don't look like rain to me. A small patch of blue to the south, upper left corner of the photo. As you can tell Stella is 'busting ass' to get back home as fast as possible

It was an uneventful walk this morning. A very slow pace but plenty of scent to smell for Stella. The morning outside was extremely quiet. Little if any traffic on the highway. I could hear birds chirping, as they were thrilled with the warmer winter this year ... after experiencing the coldest November ever in this area just a few weeks ago.

I found another reason to log my food into my app yesterday. I'd rather not, but it provides me with a lot of good information, with a detailed breakdown of nutrients. The main thing it was showing me yesterday and even prior days this past week ... I am not eating enough food !!!  LOL Really ???

From what I have read and what a doctor told a friend, a man my age needs 2,000 calories per day. I wanted to lose some weight when I started this change in lifestyle so I set my limit to 1,500 calories per day ... a little buffer built in. More than a few days in the past ten I barely get to 1,200 calories per day ... with no hunger pains, no cravings.

Except at night usually after 8pm ... insane cravings for a junk food run for cookies, candy, soda, chips, ice cream ... crap like that. I found that a small bowl of blueberries killed that urge but my recent problem has been that I am out of berries and any kind of fruit. I need a trip to the grocery store tomorrow. Otherwise it will be a nightly nightmare losing my mind wanting junk food.

With my full day schedule focused on wasting time yesterday I decided what the hell, who cares what Google does with my personal information. So I downloaded a new updated version of Google Chrome, which use to be my favorite browser. I looked through the preferences making sure there were no surprises I needed to opt out of.

I liked the new design. I did NOT see any improvement in speed compared to Firefox and Safari. In fact it was so obvious in the difference in picture quality, ever so slightly, that I opened up Firefox to the same website ... putting Chrome and Firefox side by side, I compared the same photos as I scrolled through the same websites.

I could tell a difference. You know how I am with sharpness in photos. I was seeing it now. Also there was a little more color, true color in the faces of people .. more than the other browser. Who am I talking about? Firefox had the sharper images and color quality.

That's not all.

This glitch drove me away from using Chrome many months ago after an update and did again yesterday afternoon. Let see if any of you have noticed the same thing. Before I say what it is, I will tell you I  'googled' the problem. I looked at too many websites that talked of similar issues but not the same exact issue I was wanting an answer for.

I CHANGED settings so 3rd party websites could track my every move, thinking that blocking that tracking was making Chrome think I was someone else when I moved to a different page ... here is what I am talking about ....

Anyone else have this problem or KNOW THE SOLUTION????

• I go to my Blogger blog and in the upper right corner it is telling me to sign in
  
  
  
  • I am already signed into my blog
• When I sign in again it sends me to the 'dashboard' of my Blogger blog
  
  
  
  • It shows that I am 'signed in'.
• When I click the link to go to my blog front page it shows that I need to sign in again
  
  
  
  • I am clicking back to the blog front page so I can reply to comments made
• When I am logged in and try to comment on someone else's Blogger blog, it tells me I need to sign in


• So I click the link to sign in ... it sends me back to MY blog dashboard


• THE CYCLE KEEPS REPEATING ITSELF ... like it does not recognize a 'logged in me' is wanting to make a comment on another blog or even reply to a comment on my Blogger blog called 'B hounds and Other Stuff'. It does not recognize we are the same internet user.

I have the same exact problem if I try Safari.

I do NOT have that problem when I use Firefox.

My next problem today is the speed of my HughNet Gen 5 (only option). I have done all of the troubleshooting steps a techie would tell me to do. The last time this happened in February or March they sent the same installer out to the house. He replaced the cable from the dish to my router. Why? Because he did not install new cable when they installed the satellite dish a few years ago. At the time he was training a new installer.

All of my 'self' testing shows the dish and router are connected, no red negatives are showing up. I uses speedtest .net to test speeds when I am curious or having problems. I put that space before the dot all the time when listing a website here so there isn't a link.

I found out from Hughes Technical dept .... it is the bad weather in UTAH where my 'gateway' is located for my service. It's not related to the weather where I am located. For my trouble, they have added two free days of data to my account after giving me 15Gb of free additional data in November.  I found this hard to believe because Intellicast live radar showed clear skies for three states south of Salt Lake City, UT.

I am use to getting speeds of 40-45Mbps and today they are mostly 2.56Mbps.

The fast pace of retirement living will pick up starting tomorrow through the weekend. There are finally some good college football bowl match-ups and I will be watching multiple games day and night. The hounds will get their normal daytime sleep like always. I will fight for couch space and will always hesitate getting up to go to the bathroom or to get more food .... if I am gone and they are awake, they stretch out taking my seat.

I did go outside with Stella last night after midnight as I said I would in a post yesterday, but it was overcast and the full moon was nowhere to be found. The iPhone camera stayed inside. The last photo I took of the full moon with that iPhone camera was perfect, even without using a tripod.

The hounds and I did take that drive I mentioned. They were thrilled they could go. You could see their excitement in the following photos.

Heidi made her usual three complete circles before settling into the passenger seat. With it still be a little cold from the car sitting outside all night, she was more than happy with the heated seat option.

Unlike the 'old days' Stella did not hop up into the back like she use to. This past year I have had to lift her front legs up on the edge, then lift her rear up high enough that she will walk into the car with no problems. She shows no sign of pain when I do that.

You can tell she loves to ride. She has plenty of room to lie down in any direction.

Heidi couldn't make up her mind whether to sit down or sit up to look out the windows. Since I do not take photos while driving, I was not able to show her looking outside straight ahead. Even my iPhone shuts down and blocks any notifications or calls once it senses that I am driving.

Of course being Christmas I didn't expect any gas, stores or fast food joints to be open. I was NOT surprised to see The China House open on Christmas. I have spent a few Christmas Days there for their buffet. Stella rose to her sitting position as we passed. She obviously smelled food in the air from their exhaust fans, I smelled nothing. The car windows were closed.

The question was ... could I resist having lunch there. It took another 25 miles of driving to make up my mind and call them. I wanted to make sure they had the buffet open. If I was going to fall off my 'way of life' wagon I wanted it to be worth my time and fall as hard as I could!! I knew I'd be the only one in there and have the whole buffet to myself. I did at first .... each dish was full and was brought out from the kitchen when I got there.

I couldn't serve myself fast enough ... BBQ pork, beef and mushroom, black peppered chicken on my first trip.

Added on that first trip was the chicken and broccoli, and the szechuan chicken. On the second trip through the buffet I added that fresh fish casserole, the lower left pan. I say "fresh fish" because I know they fly in fish from the China Sea daily to Indiana ... so when my taste buds told me it was IMITATION crab .... I ignored that tiny voice inside my head. I know what "fresh fish" from the China Sea tastes like.  :) :)

By the time I returned home it was time for the hounds to have lunch. That short 25 mile drive must have worn them out as they were still sleeping when I walked in the house. Although they were both behind the closed door of the bedroom.

It didn't take too many photos with the iPhone camera before I realized the low energy hounds were wanting an afternoon Christmas Day siesta. The way that Chinese food was flowing in my blood stream I could tell that I would not be too far behind them. What a great idea ... a short siesta to help in the digestion process.

Although with weather like today, is it really a day to sleep through it??? While they slept I evaluated my idea again .... all of that sodium and MSG moving throughout my body made my decision easy .... "siesta it is."

It was another great Christmas here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.

Summer Routine Is Back

I always say "it will never happen again" ... but it does. The other day after mowing the yard and trimming along the small brick edging, I sat my lithium battery for the weed eater on my FJ bumper ... again. I do that when I am putting each item back into the small shed that stores my lawn mower. But a few days had passed before I realized that expensive battery had made another 25 mile trip and was waiting for me on the FJ bumper as I returned with a shopping cart full of groceries. Right where I left it on Sunday.

Using that same word "again" I decided this morning I'd let Stella follow her nose on the morning walk. After all it's the middle of the week that some employees call "hump day" and are overjoyed their work week is half over. In retirement it feels the same as any other day and our only interest seems to be in the weather changes. It will change today from great weather to thunderstorms.

Stella didn't disappoint me as she took off in the opposite direction from Sadie and I. She has been good lately by not wandering off except that one time last week or two. She might require some of my verbal herding but for some strange reason she has been responding and obeying to certain words. No, not those words.

So while Sadie and I followed our normal path I kept glancing over at Stella to see if she was heading our direction or was taking off for the neighbors backyard, where there is a scent of a cat that keeps her interested. It was good to see Stella might meet Sadie and I by the time we were at the first turn.

Sadie was going to make sure Stella would follow us and made such a fast run over to her to lead the way, it caught me and my camera off guard and we missed the command that Sadie was giving her, but Stella got the message loud and clear.

Without cutting the field a second time last fall, there is a lot of grass replacing the wild weeds we saw last year. Last summer was so dry and hot that the field really didn't need cut a second time but if that Farmer's Almanac is right this year, with "a wetter than normal summer" ... they might be baling the field twice. The ticks are not as bad as a few springs ago when I kept a counter in the upper left corner of the blog,  updated after each walk. Yet I am finding a few of them on me after our recent walks this week.

I know there are heavy chemicals in Nexguard for killing ticks, fleas and mosquitoes but in this area of the USA it's needed. In the past two summers only one dose has done the job for the rest of the summer. Yes, I have tried the different natural remedies and I have not found them to work in this area.

I've gone back to Facebook but still using my own previous policy of having no Facebook friends listed. No offense to them and there were only a few of them I listed, but I use Facebook only to read updated information about the groups I follow. I capture a lot of good information about the Toyota FJ, updated sports teams news, and even tornado tracking. I do not follow any groups about bloodhounds or basset hounds.

I have also made some changes to my internet browser and search engine. It probably doesn't mean anything but I guess it's best to take advantages of different browser and search engine options. I went from Google Search to DuckDuckGo for more privacy. I also went from Google Chrome back to Safari, which runs faster and smooth on my iMac and MacBook Air.

With their latest updates they automatically block 3rd party tracking and that results in having a lot less if any advertising showing up in my inbox or on the websites that I visit. The new Firefox Quantum browser is nice but is just too much of a data hog and my budget allows me only 20Gb per month, so that is not an option for me.

Motivation has been at a low point at times, in attacking that 'to do' list. I have spent more time just sitting outside enjoying the hot weather, reading a book or watching the hounds as they roam the field. Plus we are taking 3 walks per day, except Heidi. She prefers to wander the front yard, the top of the driveway and lay in the sun in the backyard while the bloodhounds and I take our walks.

Monday was hound toenail cutting day. Sadie was good once again and will let me cut hers as long as she can stand up. Stella will always lay down if I show her and let her sniff the clippers. Heidi was more than ready to get her long nails cut and laid down in the grass as soon as she saw (smelled) the clippers. I cut hers back the shortest I can remember they have ever been ... without cutting the quick. I could tell she felt a lot better after her manicure.

Stella jumped out ahead of Sadie and I this morning. I was positive she was heading for the 'far right corner' of the field. Yet, lately she has responded when I tell her "over here" ... she then turns and walks toward our direction. What has gotten into her obeying verbal commands?

Sadie is just Sadie ... every walk, morning, noon or late afternoon she follows the same directions with her nose to the ground most of the way. That's her tracking personality coming out.

Stella was pretty sure that recently deer had gone straight into that brush and up over the small wire fence. After spending a few minutes staring in that direction, she finally gave up and slowly started following Sadie and I along the back edge of the field.

With rain in the forecast this afternoon, tonight and the next three days, this farmer got his planting finished yesterday just in time. Based on how the field looks, in my NON expert opinion, I am guessing he planted soybeans this year instead of corn.

Stella checked to see if she could get away and head to the north woods before I would notice her. She stood there watching me as I walked 30 yards away from her and past her, as Sadie and I headed home.

Sadie never barks but lets her know it would be best if she started following me and her toward home.

At no time during these last photos were any verbal herding involved. They slowly wandered back to the house.

I think in the last part of the walk, they are following a scent of the field cat that I have only seen a couple of times. At least the cat is good at keeping the mice traffic to a minimum around the house. I can't remember the last time I've even seen a mouse in the house.

After 14 months the change in dog food to Sportmix, manufactured by the same company that makes Earthborn Holistic Pet Food, continues to work well for all three hounds. It solved Heidi's skin problems from a few years ago, put weight back on Stella and keeps Sadie lean and mean.

Due to increased soil erosion after I cut the taller grass around the old fence post and bank, I am letting that corner grow back to the height and thickness it was. The water has decided to follow that slightly indent in the yard, making a right turn and goes down the bank toward my house. I have changed that direction of water by a little digging out and modifying that corner close to the house at the bottom of the bank. Feel free to make any suggestions that might help.

I barely caught him flying by the house as the hounds and I were just finishing our walk. It looks like a shipment of brand new John Deere mowers heading to a dealership somewhere south of us.

I am more in the mode of being outside now, reading a book rather than working on that 'to do' list. How long will I wait to get started?

It's been a week of very enjoyable weather here in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.