US Army Retired

US Army Retired

Friday, December 18, 2015

Total Panic – No Keyboard

I'm sure we've all had instances when something has happened with our computers or cell phones that dumbfound and tighten our guts. We have no idea what happened or what we did and even less on what to do about it.



I was typing something and suddenly it stopped. I could hit all the keys I wanted and nothing happened!

Was it my word processor? I went through every darn thing on the toolbar at the top and there was nothing about a keyboard.

I checked every single connection to the back of my desktop. I then tried to do a search for keyboard using Cortana (I have Windows 10) and nothing! No letters appearing in the search box.

The mouse worked just fine so I went to the little windows icon and it opened up. But, where did I go without being able to type anything?

I clicked on restart and waiting to see what would happen.

After the wait, the screen came where I have to sign in. Amazing! I could type in my password in that screen.

Once the desktop came up, my heart fluttered as I found the keyboard working just fine.

What a relief.

And then...

Next day, everything working fine. Then, all of a sudden – dead. As the proverbial door nail. Nothing. Not a single letter on my word document. Not a letter in Cortana or my browser. Opened the Settings thing and tried to type in the search box – zip.



Thank goodness for the mouse. Found the Dell Support site and the telephone number. After an excruciating wait finally got a tech. My biggest problem was understanding him. I'm pretty good at understanding English spoken by a lot of people as their second language. But this guy had me totally lost.

I managed to finally get across to him what my problem was. He finally got to the point in his book where he told me to turn off the computer, holding the power button for 30 seconds. He then told me to turn it back on, tapping the F2 key. Lo and behold, there were three little icons on the lower right. The bottom line was getting me to enter a Safe Mode.

Let me make this short here. We spent at least thirty minutes doing all sorts of stuff I almost instantly forgot. Going here there and everywhere. He got me back to the Dell Support site and had me do some stuff to set my PC to Windows 10 and then download something called a BIOS. I have absolutely no idea what that it!

Anyhow, got it downloaded and then ran it.

Still no keyboard.

But I, at least, had the latest of whatever it is I'm supposed to have.

Still no keyboard.



We at last got back to Settings. He had me click on Ease of Access and then Keyboard. He had me click on On-Screen Keyboard and it appeared. He then wanted me to go somewhere else and I clicked on Cortana by mistake and …

The keyboard worked! The On Screen Keyboard was still there, but suddenly my real keyboard was working as if nothing had ever been wrong with it.

I kinda shut the guy down but not before learning he was in Manilla in the Philippines! And, his first language is Tagalog and not Spanish like most Philippinos. So I managed to get out of there and back to my computer.

The On Screen Keyboard still sits there in my task bar (or start up bar or whatever they call it) but my regular keyboard is back.

Still have no idea what happened. What on earth did I do to disconnect the keyboard? What's gonna happen if it does something similar after mid-January when my manufacturer's warranty runs out?

The Dell support forum has probably the worst layout of any other I've ever logged on to. The Windows support forum isn't much better. Ask a question and almost never get an answer – if you can find your question again.

Would love to find a decent discussion forum for Windows and PCs in General. Something to search for.

As you all can surmise, the keyboard's working – although my fingers still have a heck of a time finding the right keys – and I frequently stare at that little icon at the bottom of my screen and pray it's not gonna go blooey on me again.

Something to think about – being able to type, I went to Cortana and typed in “keyboard.” Got a wide variety of choices to include, “Keyboard, touchpad, or mouse not working correctly.”

Ummm, if they are not working correctly, how is one supposed to navigate to this page? Seriously?

Keep your fingers crossed.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Manuscript Rejected – Just Prods me for More Determination

The hardest thing about writing is not getting the words down on paper (or in ROM). It's getting people to read it afterward. One needs to be creative when telling the story but it takes an awesome amount of salesmanship to get the story out.

That's easy for the famous ones. In fact, most of them don't even write the book they're selling. Check it out. How many big-shots have co-authors? The ones who did all the research and the actual editing and revising”

For the rest of us, it's a matter of trying to sell ourselves through a process called querying – sending out letters to pitch the story to literary agents and/or publishers. And it takes a lot of research to find one of them who might be interested.

So, I'm going to share with you my latest attempt to sell SONORA SYMPHONY, A Warrior’s Wounds Healed by American Indian Medicine. After the usual stuff of a business letter, here's the spiel:

Staff Sergeant Ray Daniels awakens from nothingness. He feels the aches and pains of his physical injuries healing. But not the mental ones. Even the bravest mind cowers and entombs memories when confronted with unbearable horrors. Ray's memories only crawl out during his weakest hours, and when they do, they drag him awake, covered in cold sweat and shaking from unheard screams.

He doesn't know who he is, where he's from, and whether he has a family. All he knows is that the doctors told him he was injured in Afghanistan. Unlike the other patients, no one visits him. No family. No friends. He is alone.

Frustrated, he leaves the hospital to find himself in a truck stop outside of South Tuscon, Arizona. He's noticed by an ex-Green Beret veteran of the Vietnam War. Joe Redmond recognizes the blankness in the young soldier's eyes. He's an elder of the Tohono O'odham Tribe and takes Ray in, seeking to heal him using traditional know-how.

SONORA SYMPHONY is a contemporary novel of 109,000 words that approaches PTSD from a unique perspective. Ray's immersed in nature, given healthful and healing foods, and has his dark thoughts diverted with tales and lore of American Indians. All takes place in the Sonora Desert of southern Arizona.

Ray takes part in an ancient ritual on Baboquivari, the sacred mountain. It leads to a fork in his life's road. One leads to the World Above and the other to his future.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Further Thoughts on the Terror Attack in San Bernardino

Amazing how much they now know about the San Bernardino terrorists – NOW. And before the event.

Okay, so we've become so politically correct that trying to protect ourselves is considered profiling and that is somehow horrible? If I see someone walking toward me with a gun pointing at me, am I profiling because he may be dark-skinned, with a heavy beard, and one of those skull cap things?

Well, here comes this morning's roundup of total stupidity about the shooting – and warnings that it could – and probably will – happen again.

Report: San Bernardino Shooter Passed DHS Counterterrorism Vetting Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/427990/san-bernardino-shooting-refugee-crisis-ted-cruz-jeff-sessions


I still don't see a single interview with anyone who was actually at that party!

And these were not the types prepared to give their lives in the name of Allah. It is now clear they were planning something else. But what?


San Bernardino Muslim Killer Told Man He Murdered, Islam is a Peaceful Religion @ http://www.frontpagemag.com/point/261014/san-bernardino-muslim-killer-told-man-he-murdered-daniel-greenfield


ENOUGH !! – Just Who The Hell is “Tashfeen Malik”? @ http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/12/04/enough-just-who-the-hell-is-tashfeen-malik/

And here comes another HUGE stupidity that makes me gnash my teeth! The blonde babe on Fox and Friends just said something to the effect - “the couple ACCUSED of killing fourteen people ...”

ACCUSED! You've got to be kidding me. The bastards KILLED and INJURED people!!!! Where the hell does this “accused” come from? And, when will these idiots stop using it?


The “Mass Shootings Map” Propaganda Should Convince You to Carry At All Times @ http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/12/04/the-mass-shootings-map-propaganda-should-convince-you-to-carry-at-all-times/


(Maybe we should move to North Dakota)

VIDEO: UC biology prof. tells class NRA to blame for San Bernardino shooting @ http://www.campusreform.org/?ID=7058
The Looney Left is running rampant on our college campuses.

Here Are The Victims That Have Been Identified In The San Bernardino Shooting from http://www.buzzfeed.com/maryanngeorgantopoulos/victim-of-san-bernardino-shooting-remembered-as-wonderful-an#.rkJnKXVP3P













These Infidels sure look like evil people to me who somehow deserve to die in Allah's name. Thanks to BuzzFeed for showing us faces – no longer just names.

And here our illustrious Attorney General weighs in with:

Loretta Lynch: “Actions Predicated On Violent Talk” Toward Muslims Will Be Prosecuted @ http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/loretta-lynch-actions-predicated-on-violent-talk-toward-musl#.sxBM2x5JkJ


Make you feel all warm and fuzzy – and safe?


And here comes our Social Guru = Bernie Sanders Offers Pro-Gun Control Tweetstorm After San Bernardino @ http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/bernie-sanders-offers-pro-gun-control-tweetstorm-a#.ijyj1NLpwp

No surprise here.

Before Shooting, Calif. Killer Talked On Phone With Terrifying Person… And Obama’s FBI Knew It @ http://conservativetribune.com/calif-killer-talked-on-phone/

More disgusting PC!

And this from The Guardian = San Bernardino shooting: US divided over whether attack was terrorism @ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/04/san-bernardino-shooting-america-divided-terrorism

IMHO, for spouting stuff like this, the UK is in extreme danger of falling into the abyss of Political Correctness. WHO was it who disagreed about this being a terrorist attack? And of course, there had to be the mantra of - “if it had been two Christians.” IT WASN'T TWO CHRISTIANS. IT WAS TO MUSLIMS!!!

San Bernardino Shooting: Political Correctness Kills

It’s not that liberals don’t engage in profiling; it’s just that they do it all wrong. MSNBC wasted no time profiling the terrorists as possible pro-lifers, pointing out that a Planned Butcherhood facility was “just a few blocks away.” And recently, liberal senator Sherrod Brown asserted that white males were a bigger threat to America than Muslim jihadists (this may be true about white males such as Sherrod Brown).


What was the plan of the San Bernardino terrorists? @ http://www.redstate.com/2015/12/03/san-bernardino/


And here comes links Muslim and Muslim-lovers hate!

San Bernardino jihad killer was given green card after background checks from FBI and DHS - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2015/12/san-bernardino-jihad-killer-was-given-green-card-after-background-checks-from-fbi-and-dhs.html/#sthash.jXMab91j.dpuf


Police: San Bernardino Muslim gunman Syed Rizwan Farook was in contact with known Islamic extremists - See more at: http://pamelageller.com/2015/12/police-san-bernardino-muslim-gunman-syed-rizwan-farook-was-in-contact-with-known-islamic-extremists.html/#sthash.jR17txFf.dpuf

San Bernardino Victim: She Fled Radical Islam in Iran – Was Murdered By Islamists in California @ http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/12/san-bernardino-victim-she-fled-radical-islam-in-iran-was-murdered-by-islamists-in-california/



Okay, his is enough for today. I am certain there are dozens more blogs, tweets, and articles about this. The speechifying is fine. But, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?

We must speak up. We must make our voices so loud that our representatives will act to protect us from further events like this. To hell with political correctness! And the ignorance of complaining about profiling.

If it speaks like a terrorist it's a certainty it will act like a terrorist

Thursday, December 3, 2015

My Thoughts on What is Going On About San Bernardino?



I'm sitting here at my computer thinking about the events I saw yesterday and about the reporting of the horrible shooting in San Bernardino.

It was like being back in the 60s or 70s! Reporters and cops groping to find answers in the dark!

Remember Paris a couple of weeks ago? Within minutes, we were flooded with videos of what went on inside the theater and at the street side cafe. Muslim terrorism blared. Jihadis screaming Allah Akbar or whatever they do. For endless hours.

Well, I had the TV on yesterday when the first reports came in. A horrible shooting by three people wearing hoods and dressed in combat gear shooting long rifles at a crowd. Within minutes, choppers were on scene showing us the massive presence of police.

And the coverage went on and on for hours. Nothing but guesses. No videos or voices calling the outside world from within the building. Nobody there had a cell phone? Or iPad or anything similar?

It was not until six hours later that I heard the word for the first time – TERRORISM! Six hours? What the hell is going on here with the media? And law enforcement? What makes them so fearful about saying it.

This was not a spur of the moment event. Those people were prepared to enter that place to kill people. Not one or two but as many as they could.

Workplace violence?

Yeah. Right.

Either law enforcement was stonewalling the media or they had direct orders not to say anything about the horror that wasn't politically correct. And the FBI showed up and took charge in one heck of a hurry. Did they know something they didn't want let out to the public?

And of course, he see the White House, The Hildabeast, and other Leftists screaming, “Gun Control.”

Well now, it's time for me to start my morning round of reading the news feeds at Drudge, BadBlue, and Feedly. Interesting to see what one will find.

Right now – 4:30 am PST, we learn they are American-born MUSLIMS, a husband and wife team. And law enforcement STILL refuses to call it terrorism.

Sigh. So here's a small assortment of what's on the Internet about it:

ISIS Adherents Praise San Bernardino Massacre, "America Burning" @ http://www.vocativ.com/news/256909/isis-san-bernardino-mass-shooting-america-burning/ - Still Workplace Violence.





His dispute? There was bacon in the turkey stuffing at the group's last Thanksgiving party! Syed Raheel Farook: Another Wiccan Mormon Catholic Does San Bernardino Jihad – What You Don’t Know About Devout Muslim Perpetrator, Trip to Saudi @ http://www.debbieschlussel.com/80554/syed-farook-another-wiccan-mormon-catholic-does-san-bernardino-jihad-what-you-dont-know-about-him/\


Disgusting liberal reporters mock people praying for San Bernardino after horrific massacre @ http://www.dcclothesline.com/2015/12/03/disgusting-liberal-reporters-mock-people-praying-for-san-bernardino-after-horrific-massacre/

Here’s What We Know About The Suspects In The San Bernardino Shooting @ http://www.buzzfeed.com/salvadorhernandez/what-we-know-about-san-bernardino-shooting-suspects#.ojyBjRLrKr

The Political Response To The California Shooting Was Quicker Than Planned Parenthood @ http://www.buzzfeed.com/evanmcsan/the-political-response-to-the-california-shooting-was-quicke#.ejle4d7pmp

 


Obama Immediately Responds to San Bernardino Shooting with call to action – strengthen gun control! @ http://www.westernjournalism.com/watch-obama-just-responded-to-california-shooting-with-immediate-call-to-action/ Why does he want us to disarm when we are being threatened by radical Islamists?


And, of course, Leftists leap into action with the “not all Muslims” mantra. Read more @ http://ace.mu.nu/archives/360366.php

Before the Police Had Even Caught the San Bernardino Suspects, Democrats ‘Knew’ Who to Blame w/video @ http://www.ijreview.com/2015/12/484967-484967/

And Moe Lane shares me beliefs about this with, The San Bernardino attack is sounding… weird. @ http://moelane.com/2015/12/02/the-san-bernardino-attack-is-sounding-weird/



And



only is concerned that San Bernardino shooting suspects recently returned from Saudi: reports @ http://www.albawaba.com/news/breaking-san-bernardino-shooter-recently-returned-saudi-reports-776610

Cruz says California shooting may be act of Islamic terror @ http://cnsnews.com/news/article/cruz-says-california-shooting-may-be-act-islamic-terror The man who wants to be POTUS seems to be more clued in than the one who is.

And, from Daily Kos comes this ignorance: Republicans offer thoughts and prayers instead of voting to keep guns away from suspected terrorists @ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/12/02/1456167/-Republicans-offer-thoughts-and-prayers-instead-of-voting-to-keep-guns-away-from-suspected-terrorists

ISI is already celebrating the San Bernardino assault w/more @ http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2015/12/i-suspect-militant-quakers-isis-already.html



Amen!

San Bernardino Shooters Left Their Baby with Grandmother Before Rampage @ http://time.com/4134437/san-bernardino-shooting-suspects-left-baby-daughter-with-grandma/

My Summation of all of this:

Well, the news cycle didn't surprise me. The usual Leftist attempt to make out of this something unreal. It was nothing but Workplace Violence because there is no threat to the USA of an attack by a Muslim radical.

Time after time, media afraid to report things to avoid accusations of not being politically correct.

Authorities being over cautious in what they decide to tell us. And they are still waffling over this as if afraid of somehow embarrassing the White House or our new Attorney General.

There was 4 hours between the shooting and the end of this by killing the attackers. What were they doing in that time?

And finally, it is clear to me that the beef was that the stuffing in the turkey at the Thanksgiving party contained bacon. And that is something in a warped mind that leads to a plan to slaughter others. It all leads back to one thing.

Sweet and simple. Muslims seeking revenge for a considered slight at a time when the targets were celebrating an infidel's celebration.

What more is coming from those warmed Muslim minds between now and Christmas?