The Computer Whisperer

Ron "the one" is our number one. He has been around computers his whole live, and uses them when he as to. He have never been up on cutting edge technology, even though he knows how to use them, and is more of a minimalist. (pictures, mp3, internet).

I got a call from him this week and this is how it went....

Ron: My computer will not start, I have this blue screen with some dumb notes that I don't understand.

Me: You have the blue screen of death?

Ron: What does that mean?

Me: Its not good.

Ron: Crap!

Me: Do you have a disk in any of the drives (Warning this gets a little geeky)
Ron: Yes, I have a Jimmy Buffet disk in the Cd-drive.

Me: That's the problem, Jimmy Buffet and Computers don't mix.

Ron: What?
Me: I can't see what's going on so can you send me a picture with your cell phone.

Ron: OK, (later) crap the phone is dead, can't send a picture...
Me: I don't know what else to do other than take it somewhere. I think your hard drive is failing, and you're screwed.

Ron: Crap, I have pictures and music on there I need off.
Me: Did you back it up?

Ron: Whats that? No
Me: Crap
Me: Is the hard drive making any noise.

Ron: Its making a clicking noise
Me: OK

Ron: Here listen to it over the phone, I will put the cell phone up to the computer so you can listen.
Me: (Thinking this is not good).

I'm telling this story to Daine and Nate M. on the golf course on Saturday, and they just are rolling, when
 Nate says: "Did he think you were like a Computer Whisperer and you could whisper  it back to health?  Like the Horse Whisperer?"

I know of no computer that will listen to me.

Becky said Daine just beats on the hard drive till it works. ( I don't recommend this even though it works sometimes)

Computers are like Cats, they just sit there, and then do what they want to. Funny thing, I saw a bumper sticker that said this:

"Dogs answer when you call, Cats just have answering machines."

Well, Ron's computer got fixed, he learned that you need to backup your computer, and I learned that I'm not a Computer Whisperer, more like a Computer Screamer!

"The German"

Alex is a fine young man from Germany that Shelby meet at Grand Haven High School in the spring. He was on an exchange program that brought him over from German of 2 or 3 months.
I've always had a bond with those Germans, because of my run ins with some German Engineers, German Cars, and other Stuff. I love that "German Engineering," I've had one Mercedes and currently have a VW Jetta.

Shelby rolls her eyes, when I got to try out some of my 20 or so words on Alex and said "Dad, Stop!" They have become great friend, and he has stayed with us this summer for 2 weeks. I was talking to him and asked, "what type of questions do you get from Americans and what are some of the funniest?"

How big is German?
How many people are in Germany?
Where do you live?
Where is Germany?
Do you have Stars? (What, wait a minuet, someone asked this?) Alex said he look puzzled for a second, and thought, yes we have movie starts in Germany, but no, they really meant "Stars in the Sky" (what a question).

I've concluded, like many Europeans, that people in America really don't know that much about Europe, its people groups, and its geography.

If anyone asked me some of these questions about America, I would have a hard time with them to start with.

Well with Vic, expect some funny ones.

Vic is with friend Amy, trying to locate Germany on a US road atlas? (Oh boy here we go)

Funny thing is, we had a "Smith" get together, and Lori (Vic Sister) said she thought Germany is half the size of the US? (huh?)

The joke going around the house was, I don't know, "Ask the German." or "Its the German's fault." "How do they do this in Germany?" Alex seemed to look to Shelby for translation questions, so sometimes, I thought I was talking through a Teenage Translator. (tt for short).

We had a great time with Alex, and now Shelby is on her way to German for 10 days. She will travel with Alex, and stay with him at his house with his Mom and Dad and Sister.

Blueberry Fields Forever

Oh its blueberry time in Michigan. This is the time where we have a influx of Hispanic workers in large vans hauling their whole families around to pick blueberry's for the West Michigan Blueberry farms. Oh yes and Vic is right out there picking away, trying to get her 10 pounds or whatever weight of of that delicious berry! She has some funny stories about the fields.

1-One time she was out in a private field of blueberry. All of a sudden she noticed that she was all alone, and there were only two other people in the field. (They were men). She started to panic when they started her way, so she pretended to be talking to Amy or Julie on the phone, so they would not attack her, or take all her blueberry's she had picked.

2-When picking out in the field, they usually give you a bucket and a string. You put the string around yourself and the bucket hangs and you fill the bucket up. Well, Vic being Vic, she puts the string around her neck instead of her waist, and fills the bucket up. The weight of the bucket starts to press on her neck, and she starts to hyperventilate. (ha) She needs to get the bucket off her neck, but doesn't want to spill all her blueberries. (I think that could leave a mark) It did, and she could have been the first person to lose her life by strangulation by a blueberry bucket. (SBBB).

I have had all kinds of blueberry things now for the last 2-3 weeks. Blueberry pancakes, Blueberry muffins (The first batch not too good), Blueberry waffles, Blueberry's warm, Blueberry's cold, Blueberry salad, Blueberry frozen, Blueberry shakes, (you get the picture).

I think my teeth are blue, and everything that comes out of me has a blue tint to it. (you get the picture, or I hope you don't)

Attached is the best recipes for blue berry muffins. Wow, Vic baked these and they were the best!(good job Vicki!)

I've watched my wife cook for droves, but she just has not done well in the baking area. This time, I say, "blueberry fields forever!" Love you honey...

Adoption Curve

When you think of adoption and curves, Vic would say I would like to do one (a child), and yes I have the others. (?)

The other day, Vic finally realized that she though the Ipod was a great Idea. She says, "I want an Ipod." I look at her and say, welcome to the 90's!

I corrected myself later after googling the year they introduced the Ipod, and it was in 2001. So I should say welcome to the "00's".

Now the problem with this is that I will have to do all the work on getting it set up and going. Shelby just happened to have a Ipod Nano, and I proceeded to get the Ipod set up and going. Of course she doesn't like my music, so I had to set up some of the music she likes.

In the past she has said, I stole her music. Shelby says this also. If you start liking a band because someone introduced you to them and you like it, in my family it's called stealing the band. If this was a universal truth, then every band would have one follower, and everyone else stole their band from them. Somehow this is not what the record company and in mind for new and upcoming artists. By the way, the band was Genesis, and I do like them also even though I'm a thief.

I get off topic so fast. Maybe I have ADHD or ADD or something? The curve above is the curve marketing should use for Blond people. I'm a early adopter, and Vic is left off the chart! I think in someways, she would be in the "never use this until after I die category." (ha!) She is always wondering what I'm up to. I have something new going on every day.

(?)By the way, for me the answer is no to her type of adoption, and yes to her curves!