This narrative is long, detailed and primarily written to myself. What might turn out to be critical thresholds this weekend are embedded within the strange happenings that are not directly related to the insights.  The insights are not explored in this narrative, just mentioned.  – Larry/nuet

This has been a strange day, June 18, 2016 – Saturday.

I woke up a little after 10am, with our many animals in my bedroom asking for breakfast. Instead of getting up, I set my cell phone to record video, and captured many of my dog and cat friends. I don’t know why I haven’t done this before. This was the start of a day when many “things” “returned” that I had lost or forgotten. I wonder whether this heralds a shift? I sure need a major shift in work/life-style. Then I fed the animals. Eloise was in pain so I didn’t ask her to video me feeding the animals.

I started my usual routine on my ASUS computer: process my emails, balance my bank accounts with Quicken, skim & bookmarks some interesting url from my emails, drink coffee. What was not usual was that yesterday I had moved the ASUS from its usual location, expecting to take it to BestBuy for their GeekSquad to fix the problem that I was having.

My ASUS Q551LB was purchased 9/9/2015 (for $1,000) and has caused me trouble ever since. I failed to notice that it was 64bit (all my other computers have been 32bit) and came with Windows10. None of my apps have worked well, the system is always slower than my prior computers, and the 64bit apps I installed are running at 32bits. I can take it in and have the GeekSquad install Windows8.1, for no charge. But, I don’t look forward to having to reinstall all my apps.

Yesterday, I thought fate was forcing me hand. It all started when I found, online, a 4+ hour update of a critical video about 911TRUTH. The site recommended downloading, as it was reported that someone keeps knocking it out for access. Some sites critical of the USA are continually being hacked. I didn’t have an app to download the video, so I search for them, and chose one (VideoDownloadConverter), and set to download it.  I never felt secure that I had downloaded it, and never saw the app available. Webroot showed no malicious threats.

Suddenly, a File Explorer window filled my ASUS screen, with a little window asking me to insert a disc in drive E. I removed the window and looked for drive E – which was listed but seemed inaccessible. It wasn’t my DVD drive. Then the intrusive window was back. It always returned, sometimes after a few seconds – a minute or two at best. I had to do all my work in the durations between the intrusive window.

I tried many things. Restart. Looked to find the file and uninstall – but none was listed. Discovered a new task bar on my FireFox browser related to a video download app. Examined all options, which included instructions to uninstall. Followed those instructions and removed an addon extension. It was gone. But, the window still appeared. The app was no longer listed so can’t to be removed. I was still being asked to insert a disc in drive E. And the taskbar for the app kept appearing on FireFox whenever I restarted FF. I could make it not visible, but it was there.

Then, as I was looking at my second monitor I realized that I could do all my work on it. I set it up to have two apps showing side by side and just ignored the ASUS screen. Soon, however, the whole system began to be weird. FireFox and ThunderBird have been freezing occasionally – with a little window requesting me to stop or continue a script – often for programs I hadn’t been using. Sometimes it self repaired; but most of the time I have to restart. This began to happen more frequently. And one of my accounts in Quicken showed items only to 6/6/2016, and I didn’t know why. I had Bus for my Quicken files, but it puzzled me. After my third restart in half an hour, I gave up.

I gave up. Moved the ASUS to a side table and installed my old Compaq, with Vista, in its place. It took three hours of turning it on and off for it to finally start – and all my external hard drive and external monitor worked. Off and on I have attempted to update this computer as a BU, to use when I take the ASUS in for repair.

While waiting for the Compaq to come alive, I worked with the ASUS. Strangely, it seemed to work better than before, but the troublesome window continued to reappear, and the taskbar appeared on FF. I exploring the different “options” for my apps and the computer.  I discovered that “VideoDownloadConverter” was set to be my homepage when starting FireFox. I wouldn’t have intentionally done this, but I deleted it, and my problem with the window requesting me to put a disc in drive E no longer appeared.  Hurray.

I decided to check in on Quicken, and found the problem persisted. Then, for some reason I clicked on the date tab at top, that sets the orders the items by dates, increasing or decreasing. Walla, the missing dates appeared and Quicken now works as it should. It was now after midnight, “today”, but I was able to access my emails and read my urls with no difficulty.

Then, later “today”, after feeding the animals and doing a few other things around the house, I skimmed my emails and started to examine some new urls.  WOW! I found some fantastic dance videos, some fantastic hologram videos (I was unaware holograms had advanced so far), and I rediscovered a website that had been one of my favorite, but had totally forgotten about it.  On shifting from my HP to my ASUS last September and in losing my COMCAST account (they suddenly discontinued supporting websites), I somehow had not set up to get periodic emails.

I rediscovered TAI, The Arlington Institute, run by John Peterson. His bi-weekly FUTUREdition, http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/tai/fearchive , was my primary source of news of innovations. It was great to be reunited with TAI; but also disturbing that I could have totally forgotten about it. There were a few other regular email lists that I lost when COMCAST closed on me; and it took me many months to notice them missing. I am now set to get notice by email for all future FUTUREditions, and have access to an archive of those I have missed.

After dinner, this evening, I moved my ASUS back to its original place and hooked it up.  At this point – 6/18/2016 11:07 PM – it is doing fine. Although I won’t be motivated to get this ASUS repaired at this time, I sense that these two days my be a turning point.  My computer problem broke my routine, to which I was becoming quite addicted, given my increasingly loss of memory.  To compose this I had to look many times at my ECCO schedules for yesterday and today to see what I had done!

It is now 32 minutes before midnight. I composed this in my NoteMap outliner, although I intended to send it as an email.  Instead I will post it on my blog. WHICH REMINDS ME. A few days ago I attempted to update my WordPress app for my blog and screwed up and lost all formatting. Glisten, from Australia, got be started again, but I still need to work on the menus. It appears I many need to seed my environment with reminders for all that I must do, and then make sure I scan all these seeds periodically.  I have my many TODO lists, and my multiple lists of titles and short drafts of essays and other docs I want to compose. I scan them, but unless I immediately work on an item from the list when I see it, I won’t remember to do it later.

And, I have so much that I believe is HIGHLY RELEVANT to share. I don’t see variations of my major insights mentioned anywhere online, or elsewhere. Of the interesting and relevant ideas and insights I do read online, there are many variations and many persons sharing versions. Many of my insights are alternative contexts within which the many relevant insights of others might be better synergized.

 

Another strange day, June 19, 2016 – Fathers Day

This day started as a normal day: late rising, minimal breakfast, online with my emails and the urls they led to for me to skim or read, bookmark all in my every changing folders system.

“I JUST CROSSED THE THRESHOLD OF ATTEMPTING TO SAVE URLS“, is a note I just copy/pasted from my ECCO scheduler -PIM, for 11am-12:25pm. Since I can find an interest in anything, and my comprehensive approach to our future renders many domains and topics relevant, I am tending to devote more and more time skimming and curating items – but in a system difficult to access or too share. I have no time, and will not have time – ever – to go back. I don’t imagine myself finding the time to make these lists accessible – even though they might be valuable to future historians IF my vision for UPLIFT succeeds.  I saw this as another turning point – IF I had the will to engage it.  But, it wasn’t for today, as events soon unrolled.

I made another quick run through Thunderbird and Firefox, sorting my emails and urls – a total of 10 minutes.  I make many such quick runs daily. Really don’t need to, but my senility drives me.
I went to my bathroom and found the toilet not flushing properly, failed to unplug it with the plunger – more energetically than ever before.  It worked for me the last time I had used it. Daughter Stephanie had said she had cleaned the bathroom (and kitchen). I went from the bathroom to the kitchen and emptied the dishwasher. After this, going up the hall to the bathroom I encounter a wall of water rushing down the hall.  I quickly entered the bathroom and turned off the water to the overflowing toilet. Eloise was out shopping with Stephanie, I called her, and set up our shop vacuum to suck water.  This required me to empty the heavy vacuum and remove the filter – difficult with my weak and painful arms. I did about half the water suckup when I was simply too bushed to continue. I didn’t feel well. When Eloise and Steph arrived, I was eating lunch (I had had no food so far) and watching TV news.

Eloise sucked up the rest of the water and we moved the soaked rugs outside to dry.  We dressed to go out to eat at Cheddars. It was record hot, 115. E & S had been out in the heat as they needed to get S’s car running – jump start, requiring purchase of a new jumper cable (ours was, naturally, in Tommy’s truck). We asked for a table for 5, as Tommy and Renee might join us.  The restaurant help made an error and turned their page over while our name was still at the bottom, uncalled. We sat in the un air conditioned vestibule with our little blinker device, waiting and waiting, as many others streamed both in and out.  Finally, Eloise checked and discovered their mistake – and we learned that Tommy and Renee were not coming – so we soon had a table for three. We all enjoyed a great meal. But I was feeling far from energetic.

Instead of going home, Stephanie had to shop at the nearby Ross for a handbag. We walked to the store that was near the restaurant. I had difficulty staying awake as Stephanie examined every bag in store. I swear some women take their time shopping to make miserable the men waiting for them. We finally drove home, only to find we were locked out. Stephanie, for a reason we will never fathom, has turned the lock on the door knob on the front screen door, while we locked it with a key for the deadbolt.

Neither Eloise or I had the key for the knob lock. Mine is with my key collection that has been missing for many months.  Eloise’s key for that lock was on another set of keys. We called Tommy, but he was busy showing Steph (before she would drive back to Phoenix) how to use her new watch. We sat in the air conditioned KIA for a very long time until Tommy came – pulled himself over the back wall and entered the back door that was unlocked. I was afraid that I might fall and break a bone if I tried that – but would have tried had Tommy not helped.

I felt very much “out of it”. I was very, very weak – unable to do some simple things I usually can do.  E & I watched TV news for a bit and I went to bed, finished listening to a novel on CD and went to sleep with BBC overnight – and slept until past noon.  I am finishing this at 6/20/2016 4:50 PM on Monday in my NoteMap Outliner.  I will copy/paste as a post in my blog. My energy level is normal today – and I look forward to following up on the insights I gained this strange weekend.