sheepdog

Is there someplace I can buy Microsoft Office without paying nearly half as much as I gave for my new lap top computer to start with? Cheapest I've found so far is $130. Sadly, I can't even read my files on my laptop I need to have with me when I go on vacation without it. My old office program is not compatible with Windows 8. I also will have to find it downloadable, since the lap top doesn't have a disk drive. And I'm wondering it you buy a download, what happens if your computer dies and you have to get a new one, do you have to buy it again? You know, I just hate spending money on non tangible stuff. I don't bat an eye on spending $600 on a dog, but you can see and pick up and hold a dog.

Just wanted to update this post, I'd still love to have some Psycho Cosmos seed if anyone is growing any. It's early enough that I can still order some later if I just absolutely have to, just hoping to get out of the big shipping and handling fees.

Environmentalists would like to blame all the evils on the planet on us greedy humans. But I just got an interesting email written by an Australian geologist Professor Ian Plimer with an extensive education and numerous degrees and author of numerous scientific papers and books, in other words, someone with an education to back up their statements. It seems that all our efforts to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions for the past 5 years, has literally gone up in smoke from 4 days of volcanic eruption in Iceland. Yup, just 4 days! All those dim, expensive and toxic light bulbs we have been coerced into spending a fortune on, all our hybrid cars and switching to reusable cloth shopping bags, riding your bicycle, using biodegradable cleaners that don't work half as good as the old fashion one, all of that, all those supposed sacrifices have not reduced the amount of carbon dioxide as what the volcano just put in our atmosphere in a mere 4 days. Then of course, there is the idea from our beloved government to put carbon emission taxes on companys and any one else who emits carbon dioxide, including the farmers who's cow's have the audacity to fart in some sort of feeble attempt to reduce emissions, when in fact, all that will do is make us human broke and the government more bloated than it already is, and since money isn't going to stop anything when it is in the hands of the government, it's just an excuse to tax us even more and give the government more power and control over us. The professor goes so far as to claim that when the volcano in Mt Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines it dumped more greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere than the human race has since it's existence on earth began! All in all, a lot to think about and a very interesting email.

Oh no, I'm not into cold weather sports. Or cold weather period for that matter. I'm heading for sun and sand. California desert. A few side trips to Mexico. Nice warm weather. Sit out on the porch till dark with t shirt and shorts. Maybe even see the big city of LA, to see what all the fuss is about. But that's only if I can't find a highway around it. I will definitely enjoy it. Sit on my butt and do nothing, just my cup of tea.

I hope everyone here has a fun New Years eve, just remember to be careful, stay safe, don't drink and drive, party and have fun but call a cab when it's time to go home. Hope everyone has a prosperous healthy and happy new year.

I have known several people who meditate, and I've studied it quite a bit. I do believe there may be some pretty significant health benefits to this idea. However, try as I might, I simply cannot manage to do this my self. Just can't figure out how to blank my mind. My brain simply does not have an off switch. I can't keep simple little thoughts from just popping in on me. Did I give that dog his shot? Need to turn the heat lamps on, why hasn't this person emailed me back, my brain just goes to spinning. If I ever have trouble falling asleep, it's because my brain won't stop. Luckily that doesn't happen very often. Usually when my head hits the pillow I'm gone. But when insomnia does strike, it's always because I have something running around in my head. I think it would be a huge benefit if I could learn to shut it off. And I have tried. Just have never been able to manage it.

My gosh, I got my first seed catalog already today! Heck, it's still too early for even me to e drooling over all the cool plants I want to put out in the spring. Anything garden related is now off my to do list. This week it's prepare for vacation, that will take up all my energy and mental facilities so I don't forget too many things. Looks like I may be picking up a puppy on the way home, so I have to plan for that too. I'm worse than Santa Claus when it comes to making a list and checking it twice. So hard to remember everything. Some things I think about I forget before I get somewhere to write them on a list. Wish I had a memory besides the one in my computer. LOL, of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most!

I'm always a day late and a dollar short it seems. But definitely want to get in on this one and wish everyone the very best for the new year.

Thanks and it's great to have friends.

Hey, that works! Thanks! So much more aggravations I'm now saved from! Just makes me wonder how many cool tricks there are out there that I'm too dumb t know about that would help me out so much if I did know.

Thanks for responding. I think you are probably right. I also later realized that the plug in the lap top is plugged into is the one that is also controlled by the light switch by the front door, so when ever the lights are off it's not getting charged anyway, so it is probably alright. Surely with all this modern technology they do have batteries smart enough to over do themselves. Now......if only I could get a handle on Windows 8.

Good news on this story, it seems A&E, the cable station that carries Duck Dynasty has relented and taken Phyl back into their good graces. The new season of Duck Dynasty will include the entire family, including the mouthy opinionated patriarch of the family. I just love a good kick in the teeth to the politically correct minions of whinny liberals. Go rednecks!!!! Just keep right on hunting and fishing and telling it like it is!

I finally gave up on looking for software and just ordered some preprinted checks. What I should of done is put my old computer in the shop and get it fixed, so I can still use all my old programs. But anyway, I don't write all that many checks so I have enough to last for a long long time.

I just got a new lap top for Christmas from hubby. This is the first one I've ever had. I'm wondering about battery life. Will it hurt it if I leave it plugged in most of the time? I know some things have batteries that can be overcharged if left in too long. I really don't know how to handle this one at all. I do need to occasionally use it on it's battery, like when we go on vacation, but most of the time it will just be in the house, probably in the front room by the couch so I don't have to get up off my lazy butt when I'm watching TV at night and want to take a quick peek at my emails without having to get up during the commercial breaks and run all the way to the far end of the house to my office to check.

Your excused. With a name like yours I would of expected you to be atheist. Just kidding. And before you get a chance to, I'll say with a name like sheepdog you could expect me to be a b-tch, but most of the time I'm not. Sometimes I am though. You can't lump everyone in a group of people and say they are all that way. It just isn't so. There are good and bad people in all types. But sadly, it's the loud and vocal and generally obnoxious members of each group that get all the attention and therefore stand out to the general public as what that group of people are typically like. Weather they are or not. Right or wrong, it's just the way things work. So no bad feelings to you at all. Glad you brought this up, now I can say I know at least one cool atheist. Merry Christmas to you and yours too!

I just got Windows 8 on my new lap top. OMG, it's making me crazy. And of course, now I also have the touch screen to deal with, that I really have no idea on how it works. (I've never even had a cell phone or anything with the touch screen, so I'm really at a loss.) I did go ahead and buy Windows 8 for Dummies, but so far it's not helping much. I can't find anything. And just to be clear on how completely lost I am, I can't even find the left and right click buttons on the touch mouse screen. Most lap tops at least have 2 little buttons below the touch screen, but mine doesn't. Can't for the life of me figure that one out. Its an Asus lap top if anyone could give me a clue I'd sure appreciate it.

Ahhh...aren't you sweet! I'm guessing you don't know a lot of people. One of my favorite sayings is, "The more I know about people, the better I like my dog." And I think it gets worse the older you get. My list of people that I don't like gets longer every year. People are mean spirited, hateful, deceitful, liars, thieves, arsonists, and other criminals. Call me crazy, but I just can't find it in myself to love someone who steals from me.

Now this could be an interesting topic! I would venture to say if you are atheist you would say it is not bad. However, if you believe in pretty much any organized religion, be it Christian or Muslim or what ever, that religion teaches you that you will rot in hell or be left to eternal damnation if you don't believe in God. If you do not have a specific religion, I have no idea who would impress upon your their morals? I don't know much about atheists. Is there an atheist organization that actually defines the parameters of being atheist? Do they believe in any morals at all or do they follow basic Christian morals, only claim them to be from someone other than God? I actually have no idea. One thing I do know of atheists. They may have some moral code, but they do not believe in live and let live, or practice any type of tolerance. In some ways atheists are more zealots than your loudest bible thumping Baptist. They are loud and adamant in their crusades against people of religion. Despite the fact that they are by far a minority of the population, they make it their religion to force other religions to cease to exist. They protest any and all references in public to God or any thing Christian, especially the cross. The moral question comes up again with their serious problem with any public display of the 10 commandments. Now I wouldn't have so much of a problem with that as long as their beliefs allowed them to follow the 10 commandment's, just not believe they came from God. They have been fighting for years to have crosses taken down at war memorials across the country. In some ways, Atheists are just another religion to my way of thinking.

Yes, I agree with you, humans exist all over the planet and have been exposed and given the chance to adapt to all of earths variations. But remember, evolution is a very SLOW process. There are not going to be changes that we will be able to see in one generation, or possibly even several generations. At least some things. But having said that, I can say just in the last generation there are starting to be some changes in the physical prowess of humans. Young men just a generation ago would buck heavy hay bales in the hot sun all day and live over it. Now a days, young men are whinny because their laptop weighs a pound or 2 heavier than they want it to. We are becoming a race of wimps. So the way I see it, as we have less and less obstacles and difficulties to deal with in our lives the more we are going to devolve because we are not being physically challenged anymore due to all the new advanced technology we have available to us now. Hard to picture living in a leather teepee and burning dried buffalo chips to keep warm with todays central heat, and electric blankets.

It seems to me that with modern tech in cars, there should be some sort of way to come up with a kill switch or override button or what ever you want to call it that could save a person in the event of a malfunction in the computer system. In Demolition Man they had cars with auto drive or manual drive, whichever you preferred at the time. All voice activated. So I suppose you would also have to create a fail safe in the event the voice activation software failed too. You'd have to spend a lot of time thinking about all the things that might possibly go wrong and how to avoid them. Might get pretty confusing and complicated by the time it was all worked out. But I'm reasonably certain that before long they will figure all this out. LOL, I just wonder what is going to happen when the power goes out and none of this garbage works!

Wow, I'm sure you've all heard about the firestorm the Duck Dynasty dude created the other day. Unless of course you have been in a brain dead coma for the past week or so. It's on every news program, television and talk radio and the internet is practically on fire. Quite a war going on between the politically correct police and the rights of freedom of speech people. Of course, you know I'm not a fence straddle when it comes to issues of personal freedom. And I would like to start my own personal war against political correctness, so I'm sure you probably already know who's side I'm on in this issue. If for some strange reason you haven't heard, just a bit of background. Phil, the head of the Duck clan was giving an interview to a magazine, when the reporter asked about his beliefs on some subjects, including homosexuality. Phil told him exactly what his beliefs where. Now, you have to know 2 things about Phil. He is a Christian and he is a redneck. So needless to say his views on homosexuality are those typical of the Christian faith, who do believe it is a sin. So in comes one of the gay rights organizations and raises holy hell. They get the cable station to put Phil on leave. Ah...but here's the rub. Duck Dynasty just happens to be the most popular show on this particular TV station! Millions of viewers each week and the series has started it's own huge merchandise line, with clothes and coffee mugs and you name it, you can find it in cameo with Duck Dynasty on it. And the rest of the family is not going to carry on the show without their head man. The war rages on. Even though the TV station, A&E has put him on leave, one of the major sponsors of the show has decided to stick by the duck men and have refused to pull their advertising dollars from the show. Several other sponsors are of course, straddling the fence, but at least they have not come right out and condemned the show or threatened to no longer sponsor it. And there are several other cable TV networks that are just frothing at the mouth in hopes of getting the show on their stations. I think A&E really screwed up. I mean seriously, they knew from the very beginning that Phil and his family are rednecks. That was a good part of the charm of the whole show to start with. So why did it come to be such a huge shock when he professed his beliefs? That shouldn't of surprised anyone at all. Any anyway, why was he allowed to give the interview to the magazine to start with when I'm sure they knew what was going to come of it. And nobody says much about the reporter doing the interview, something that kind of gripes me. Had he done any background information for his interview, he would of known Phil's beliefs. So I'm sure the question was asked in a deliberate attempt for publicity and shock value and possibly just to start the mess that has come from it. One of 2 things needs to happen to the reporter. And I don't care which quite frankly, he needs smacked up side the head, OR, he needs to get the opportunity to interview Prez Obama! Nice to see an interview of him where the reporter wasn't sucking up to him and actually asked some tough questions. Some of the people crying foul about what he said are really warping and twisting his words. They also don't have a good grasp of the constitution of the United States or what it means. I heard one gay rights advocate say he had the right to have his own opinion, but he should have that opinion in the privacy of his own home and not in public??? What kind of an idiot would say that? Phil has been accused of all types of hate speech and just about everything evil you can think of. But damn people, he was asked his opinion and he gave it. Period. Just because someone has a different opinion than you do does that give you the rights to claim your opinion is correct and he is wrong? What makes one persons opinion right and gives them precedence over someone else's rights and opinions? Phil has the right to his opinion, no matter what some else's is. You can't give rights to one person by taking them away from someone else. That's my big problem with this whole mess.

I don't do a lot of downloading anymore, but it's nice to know that there is a way to estimate the time it takes if you were ever on some kind of deadline and had to have it done. Of course, math is not my strong point so I probably couldn't figure it out anyway. I wouldn't even know how to start to find out what my download speed was, let alone to all the other figuring. But hey! At least you posted something! And around here lately, that's at least something positive. So feel free to rattle on about anything that pops into your mind. I know I do!

Well, it might be nice to think our newbie was enjoying the great view and fresh air on some tall building or a hilltop somewhere, but since they have not come back to let us know or continue their conversation, I suppose we will have to deduce that they were referring to the drug use interpretations. Maybe they are too stoned to find their way back here. Bummer. Oh well. Guess it was just more spam like we just got a great big wad off again. Do people really have such meaningless lives they have to waste their time doing this kind of junk? Especially this time of year, they should be out with friends or visiting family. Not trashing up web sites that have any desire to have their useless information.

Ok, that sure helps. Thanks.

Things have really really been slow around here. It looks like I am going to have to resort to drastic measure to have something to write about. So I have decided to do a series of stories about some of the different breeds of dogs. But I don't want this to be the same kind of information you could find in a million other places on the internet. All the usual information as to size, hair coat, color, country of origin I don't want to delve into very deeply. I want this to be much more personal, more of a look into what the breed is really about, how they act and interact with humans and other animals, their intelligence and any compatibility issues they may or may not have. I have read a lot of breed descriptions online, and in all honesty, these are not written by people who have actually owned this breed of dogs, but just written by researchers who have read the facts of other sources and come to what they consider to be an educated idea of the breeds stats. Granted, some of these stats are written in stone by the breed clubs, as to coat, size, color etc., but many details are left up to the imagination of the reader as to the true personality of the breed. I want to also include information about my personal interaction with each breed. Hope you all enjoy it. I'll start alphabetically, with Airedales. Stay tuned!