Always Different, Rarely Better

I'm Tired of Website Changes for Change Sake

Am I the only person who only goes to a website once a year (or so) and hate to find everything different? It makes it difficult and some times impossible to find what you need to do. Why are website designers always changing websites? I never feel like it makes anything better, just slower and easier for ads.

Could it be that this is the way the justify their existence, and paychecks, for the companies that always need a newer website? Or is it the fault of the company? They don't think they had such a good quarter last go and so of course, a newer image -- or at least website -- will fix everything.

When at all possible, I use this as a good excuse to stop using that website all together. For example, Multnomah County Libraries updated their website with loads of fanfare promising that it was going to better for everyone.

But here is the basic fact, after the new website was unleashed on the public it had tons of problems, programming was not even finished yet, so then they told us to wait -- it would get better -- eventually.

But after months and months, my queries only seemed to get slower and slower. When I finally was able to search for and place holds on three items on the Washington County Cooperative Library Services system in the time it took to just get my hits on Multnomah County's site, I said, "I'm done." I haven't been back since. I tried to tell them what was going on, but all they cared about was the little pictures and the ability for people to "rate" items. Oh boy! Such pretty little pictures, but it takes hours to place a hold! What a deal!

Seems there are some benefits to living in Washington County. I made sure and emailed my experiences to the webmaster out here and VIOLA! when they updated their system, we didn't lose our functionality just to make things prettier. I don't mean to take credit for that since the webmaster emailed back something which might possibly imply something like he agreed with me -- though I'm sure he really couldn't make any such statement officially or in any way that would be felt unprofessional.

No. We live in a decrepit age where change for change sake alone rules the day. Just wait, people will vote for one of the two Democrats left for just this reason...

Spammers New Attack

Well, it seems that spammers neither die nor go away. No, instead they find new ways to target people.

I'm very leary of all unsolicited email these days. Take the following:

Good day,

My name is Edward Johnson and I am looking to buy links from good websites as yours (xjs.com). I will be glad if I can have a text link or a text box 120x60 or 125x125 on your site. Please advise what what will be the price for each of these ads, if it is placed:

1. On your homepage only
2. On all site pages

I will be very thankful to you if you take into consideration my requrest.

Kind Regards

Edward Johnson

Hmm. I actually have a relative named "Edward Johnson" but he'd never send this email to me. Additionally, the from field of the email says "Stacia Hatfield [ahmed_hassan202000@yahoo.it]". Wow! That's three names and two different genders, and one might think multiple nationalities though it's hard to tell for certain.

But I remember I used to get a lot of email from a "Stacy Hatfield" back in the old days before I got cagier with my email address. What do you want to bet these are one and the same since no other spammer would use such an easy flag.

The other approach is to say that they want to buy my domain name. I'm sorry, but I know that at least half of these "offers" and "enquiries" are just trying to confirm an email address for spammers. The message is simply to vague to be treated as credible, but alas, I don't have any saved. I wonder why?

But this one is more troubling:

Hello,

I recently found your website: http://www.xjs.com/xianjiro/blog/xjvrl.html online for other good blogs. I run my own blog Bayareakicks.com, and I am trying to link to other blogs I think my visitors might like to visit once they are done on my site.

Since my website is visited by 1,000's of blog readers daily, I am positive many of my visitors would be interested in visiting your web blog once they leave mine. I figured you wouldn't mind if I link to your site since we are not competitors, and both have similar internet viewers on our sites. Please let me know if this is OK with you? Do you think you can link back to my website Bayareakicks.com? Thanks.

Murris

Hmmm. He's actually included the real link to the page where I used to write about movies and books, but let's see, my last entry was April 9, 2006 and it was titled "Am I Still Interested?" Gee, given the dates, one might think the answer was "NO!"

I just bet this one is really spam as well. He uses the same email address that spammers get off the domain name whois query. But this one is much slier and works on everyone's desire for an easy link. It uses flattery well and then just waits for me to confirm the email address or better yet, reply from another, real email account.

Nope, it looks like it's time to change that nasty spam-bait email address I have to provide the domain name host. What a pain! But at least this way it takes a lot longer for the spammers to find the email address and now that I know one is spreading through their nasty databases, it's time for a change.

Webcam Directory Updated

Oregon WebCams Updated

I've had a webcam page on my website for some time, but like many things, I've just never seemed to get around to updating it until yesterday. What moved me into action?

I got an email from "Bill" that didn't say "thanks for trying, but many of the links have changed or died" or even "thanks anyway" but instead whined something like "none of your webcams work." Hmmm. Does "Bill" really think that I run the hundreds of webcams in this state? Or was he just whining that I hadn't updated the link he cared about.

Clearly, this is type of statement that passes for communication in our culture these days. Rather than stating what the problem really is -- none of your cams feature some cute, hot, young thing getting nasty so I can watch for free -- you get something like "your cams suck."

Oh well. At least broken links have been updated or deleted. I've left a couple entries without links hoping maybe someone will get me a new link they might know of that I haven't found (Medford and Sprague River). I'd also like to include more cams from Eastern and Southern Oregon.

Visit Oregon WebCams now.

The Other Kind of Christmas

I haven't had a particular fondness for Christmas the past few years. Clearly the fact that I'm on my own has something to do it, but when I first returned from Japan in the mid 90s I still went to the effort to get and decorate a tree. I even did it the first year I was in the apartment on Quatama, but there just doesn't seem to be any space for a tree in this apartment.

As for gifts, I purchased mine early in the month -- nothing fancy since I basically have to use whatever I get for my birthday to fund Christmas. Terry was kind enough to take them to the post office while I was at the doctor a couple weeks ago, so I know everyone would have their gift from me in time. But alas, I've spent many a year with few, if any, presents of my own to open.

This year isn't much different. Terry and Julie put together a nice Christmas basket with various goodies -- homemade strawberry jam, rhubarb chutney, ginger cordial, and apple sauce with some baked goods and some locally made fudge and flavored hazelnuts. I haven't tried any of it just yet, but know it will all be wonderful.

Additionally, Terry found a 3rd edition of the Atlas of the Pacific Northwest from 1963 which I've never seen. I haven't been through it completely yet, but it's really cool. I know I will also spend time comparing it with the 8th edition I have from 1993. It's pretty close to a perfect Christmas present for a crazy atlas and map loving guy.

My friend Don really surprised me with a gift of biscotti and a bag of coffee. I really didn't expect anything more from him since he had brought something else a couple weeks ago which I will keep private.

As for my family, my father sent a bit more cash which will, no doubt, come in handy. My one brother mentioned in an email that he's extended my subscription to National Geographic another year and my stepmother mentioned in her email that the post office had assured her that her present would arrive by last Saturday -- but alas, our friends at the USPS seem to let me down yet again. So I'll have to wait until this coming Saturday to see what she sent.

I'm going to put a bone in the oven for Robin and will probably give him a new tennis ball to chew up here in a bit.

And that's pretty much our Christmas. Even though I went through the official begging channels, I wasn't deemed worthy to receive a Merry Christmas through any of the various agencies this year (though Hillsboro's Trinity Lutheran did a remarkably nice job last year).

Never mind all the senseless babble from the media and marketers -- "Ho, ho, ho. Buy, buy, buy." I've always found that part of the season a real annoyance. And while I do enjoy watching some of the Christmas movies (I watched Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story last night), I can only take a limited dose of Christmas music. Last, while I do remember the story of the Christ child, I can't say I feel compelled to go to church.

I also prefer not to join someone else's family for Christmas since it always feels so odd to me. This is probably the only holiday I can say that about. I think it must have something to do with those early childhood memories that are so wrapped up in our understanding of what Christmas is. Unfortunately, I can't say that all those memories are happy, but they are in fact mine.

At least when I had a partner, we enjoyed combining our traditions into a new form of celebration that I rather enjoyed, but it's rather difficult to make this holiday enjoyable when one is alone.

One thing new this year is I have asked my family if we could NOT talk on the phone today. It's one of those things that I've done the last few years with a mixture of feelings. I remember hanging up the phone after a call and feeling nothing but depressed and since I know that's no one's desire, it just seemed to make more sense to avoid the calls all together.

I know they are thinking of me and maybe they all would prefer that I was there -- I too prefer I was there, it's just the traveling that I can't abide. But then there is the talking to everyone. It isn't easy to hear about all the wonderful gifts everyone else has enjoyed opening when I've had little or none. And then there are the stories of fun had and wonderful food enjoyed. I'm truly happy for them, but again, through my own choice, I've done without.

But I guess the worst part is when I am asked the inevitable "So how was you're Christmas?" It seems that this is one of those magic questions where we only want to get answer that reinforces our own feelings of satiety. My scripted response is generally, "fine, fine," and then I change the subject. No one really wants to know how I feel, do they?

I think I will wrap this up because much like those phone calls I wanted to avoid, I find myself slowly overcome by emotions that I can do little with other than feel and trust me, they aren't good. So much like I decided a few weeks back, it's better that I forget about it all and just treat the day much like any other. This way I won't be any worse off for it.

I have the entire stack of I, Claudius tapes to enjoy -- and that puts the fun into Dysfunctional Family! It seems the lovely, large snow flakes are falling agin...

Merry Christmas to All
and to All
Good Night!

Hillsboro's White Christmas!!!

IT'S SNOWING!!!

As unbelievable as it is, it is actually snowing ON CHRISTMAS in Hillsboro, Oregon. Yes, that's right. I don't know when it actually started since it was just cloudy around 11 am when my friend Don dropped by.

We were chatting and he mentioned how quiet it was -- he actually said it's always so quiet when he is here and it's the quietest place he ever goes. So I decided to look out the window because it almost seemed TOO quiet to believed and then that's when I saw the most lovely, large snow flakes falling and a thin layer of snow accumulating on the privet hedge and cars in the parking lot.

My first thought was how rare, but then I immediately started to worry about Don's drive back to Portland (he starts work at something like 2am, so I know he's tired by this time of day). I expected, since it was snowing, that all I'd have to do do is turn on the TV and the reports would be falling over one another trying to stand in the patch of white, but strangely enough, there was nothing on TV (other than the more usual tripe -- I mean -- programming).

I checked on the Internet and sure enough snow was being reported on the National Weather Service's Portland page and snow was clear on various Westside cameras on the Portland page of Oregon's DOT website.

As I poked around, it seemd clear that the snow was coming from the southwest with the heaviest accumulations in Washington and Clackamas Counties. So I guess our friends in the media only care if snow comes to the city of Portland.

It seems to have stopped now that I write this. Maybe more will return, it seems that tonight's forecast might suggest an unpleasant commute tommorrow, but I don't have to worry about that at least.

I believe this is the first time I've seen snow on Christmas since the late 70's in Chicago. I wouldn't mind if it got a touch colder and we got a real heavy snow. I might even take Robin out to play in it...

Thoughts on Trying to Rest

For those readers who wonder how I could write so wryly about facing death down a couple nights ago and feeling only disappointment when it did not arrive, I only can point to today as an example. I only managed to sleep for a few hours before waking in the early hours of the morning the rumbling of the neighbor's truck to the south of us. His schedule is quite odd, but I'm sure it can't be helped that he has to leave at 2:30am. But do we really need to be treated to 5 minutes of warmup and pealing tires as he heads out?

As I started to relax again, the cops chased someone through the neighborhood with a constant quick bursts on the siren. I'm sure the bursts of sound is better than just running the damn thing, but it seems pretty clear that the perpetrator was unable to hear it. No wonder considering how many play they car stereos so loudly that we are treated to the thumps through the neighborhood all day long. Or maybe this one was jabbering on the phone? But I'd be willing to bet, given the hour of the morning, that they had a few too many.

The pain had decreased substantially, but rolling over the wrong way was still uncomfortable and deep breaths were painful. Sleep was impossible to regain though mostly because my lower body aches from being so tired -- this is a regular part of my disease and not directly the result of the flu attack. As I would relax, the muscle twitches and jerks were much more severe than they have been in a long time. Once while laying on my back, everything but my bum was lifted off the bed. [On a side note, I can't imagine anyone being able to sleep next to me without being physically hurt as I kick and punch though I hope it subsides once sleep takes me. I just don't know.]

Soon it was late enough that it hardly made sense to fall asleep since I'd only have to wake up after a short while to take my morning meds. But by then, I was so tired sleep came fairly quickly and easily. I then slept on and off until something like 4:30pm so that made about 7 hours of deep enough sleep if only the neighbors didn't constantly wake me up. Oh, there was the usual calling from neighbor to neighbor and short chats on the back deck, but that hardly compares with the all day yipping of the dog across the street. [And the apartment owner got upset because my dog barked when he parked in front of my apartment and insisted that I keep him from barking "for my neighbor's benefit". But considering he only barks when they do something...]

But I digress, the worst started up about noon when the screamer started throwing chunks of metal around his backyard. After 45 minutes or so of that the pounding started as he broke and beat the scrap. I thought about getting up and watching TV, but I knew that if it didn't last too long, I would need to go back to sleep. Luckily today there was no screaming tirade. No "fucking nigger, I hate you ass hole" yelled at the top of his lungs. No "goddamn mother fuckers what the fuck are you looking at" shouted at the kids as they walk past his house on the way home. No screaming at the barking dogs which so clearly bark at the noise he makes. And no screaming like a banshee for who knows what reason. So as soon as his attention was taken elsewhere, I was deep in dreamland once again.

It wasn't until 7pm though that I decided I was ready to get up. I figured the dog wanted to go out and do some business and I was feeling a bit hungry -- the first time since Saturday. I mostly feel recovered though I feel pretty run down, but I know that will be cured with a few more nights of good, long sleep. If only the rains would return that might even be guaranteed, but with dry, clear weather the neighbors are encouraged to be out and about and noise carries. It's not that I truly begrudge them their joys, whatever they might be, it's just that I find my own joy in was that seem quite different. Peace and quiet are at the top of my list, especially when I'm recovering from intense, if short lived, illness.

So why not move? Well, I moved here to escape an even worse apartment complex with even more troubling noise issues, if that can be believed. Since I lost my house in 2003, I've tried to make it in these apartments, but even when I was young and healthy enough to be working full-time and out on the town when I wasn't, I've hated living in apartments and worked towards the day I would have a house. I had viewed the rental as the last step before buying a place of my own, but I was never quite able to get all the pieces together to make that happen. Now it seems so far away, and rentals of houses in Washington County are so expensive as to be out of my budget, that it shall never happen and I will die in a crappy apartment I detest surrounded by noisy neighbors I share so little in common with.

And minus the good foundation of a house I love, I lack the strength to reach out and do much of anything else. I'm so mentally ready to try my hand at fiction, even if it means dealing with the addition of pain in my hands and arms as I now have in my legs and feet. But I will need to be able to concentrate and there are only a few hours during the day when that is even in the realm of possibility, but still there is the speeding car screaming down the road, the horn of the freight train as it moves slowly through Hillsboro, the ever present sirens of the police, fire trucks, and ambulances, and of course, there is always someone who needs to share whatever is on his mind with everyone no matter the hour of the day.

I can paint myself as retired, but I'm not working and am not exactly rolling in cash. That must make me one of the most eligible bachelors this side of the Pacific. Let's see, there are my dashing good looks, my ample figure which owes so little to hours spent in the gyms where today's hip and motivated worship in addition or in stead of the churches I no longer believe in. So even if a potential suitor can get past my poverty, my disability, my middle aged looks, and my unintentionally combative arms and legs as I wait to for sleep to overtake my eager mind, I can only live with another man IF he can qualify for the same housing program I'm on in Washington County.

So the best I could ever hope for is some kind of separate life shared with someone else on a part-time basis. There's no hope for a house and it's clear that my condition is going to continue to deteriorate, So you see, one can't even say "at least you've got your health." There is nothing in my present life that makes putting up with the pain and life's troubles worthwhile any longer. I'm completely tired of fighting with agencies for 'care' and having people with files sticking their beak in telling me how I'm supposed to live. With no one and nothing to live for, it's little wonder that I lay down to sleep a couple nights ago and hoped that I would not wake up again. But clearly, my life rarely works as I would see fit.

This is provided as an attempt to document my current state of mind and little else. Both this entry and the prior have been written and posted as is with no rewrites or edits. Together they describe what has happened to me in the last couple of days. They simply exist as I do.

I Didn't Die Last Night

Well, I've been hit with my first bug of the season and I can hardly believe I've survived. I guess it started on Saturday since that was about the only time I could have been exposed. My caregiver came up as usual but it was clear he had been ill but promised me he was over the worst of it and not contagious. HUH! That's a laugh.

Oddly enough, on Saturday night, I had a terrible time keeping my feet warm though for the most part I felt fine, just a bit tired. But all things considered, that's not much of surprise. On Sunday I had little appetite. I basically ate rice and had some before bed some cheese and crackers and a banana.

I slept maybe an hour or so and then seemed to toss and turn finding it hard to be comfortable and always drifting between hot and cold. But considering the weather was changing from cloudy and rainy to clear and dry, I figured this wasn't really unusually. I seem to be quite uncomfortable physically whenever the weather changes dramatically (thus why this past summer was so hard on me).

As evening approached on Monday things started to change. I felt tightness in my chest: nothing major, just a discomfort. However, being a middle aged male in poor health and caring extra weight, it's pretty much been drilled into me what this stuff means. As the pain started to radiate out from right under my breastbone towards my right arm, I really began to wonder. But I figured with the stress of the last couple of weeks, it was probably nothing to worry about. The doctor has rushed me off to the hospital with chest pains before and nothing has been found so when it happened again a year or so ago, I figured it wasn't worth the expense.

I figured since I slept so poorly Sunday night, I just needed to get to sleep early even though I napped a bit during the day. So I was in bed about 9:30, but had trouble getting comfortable. The chest pains grew dramatically and there was just no way to get comfortable, but a couple hours later I drifted off for about an hour.

When I woke next I was in horrible pain. It felt like Superman and my heart and trachea in his hands and was squeezing for all it's worth. Would anyone be surprised if I said I grew quite anxious and so tried to concentrating on taking slow, deep breaths. But this was difficult and painful. My hands and arms had been outside the covers and were stone cold. My feet were as well even though they were under a blanket. I curled up in a ball, trying to get warm, but the pain was too much.

I got up to go to the bathroom, the pain was now quite severe in my upper back and my head ached. While the house seemed no colder than usual, I started to shiver horribly. Back under the covers it took at least 15 minutes to warm myself up enough to stop the shivering. By now I was convinced I had a fever but the thermometer read 99.7F. I adjusted the bed and readjusted my position.

By now my neck was arched backwards and my mouth gaped open as I lay gasping for breath. I knew I should call the doctor -- you know to get permission from my managed care gatekeeper so that I could call for an ambulance. But last time I had to sit on hold so long that I just knew there was no way I could do that with the phone this time around. I figured it was time to screw the doctors and make peace with what I figured was coming.

Honestly, closing your eyes and waiting to die isn't half as difficult as one might think -- but it requires both no fear of death and a readiness to leave what surrounds you. I had both. I decided though that I didn't want to be found naked so I got up and put on a pair of shorts. I told the dog I loved him and closed my eyes.

Clearly, the worst thing about death is the pain, suffering and waiting. Why couldn't it come swiftly? I thought about doing something to either ease my anxiety or decrease the pain, but what? And worst of all, I didn't want to mess things up and make it look like a suicide when it wasn't that. So I just lay there until finally my eyes closed again and darkness overcame me.

I saw no shafts of white light nor heard any voices. Actually, I doubt I dreamed at all. I didn't sleep longer than 90 minutes before I was up again. I decided that the fever was much worse now. I got up, and decided to use another method to take my temperature and sure enough, this time it was 102F. Not as bad as I might have expected given the chest pain. I did notice that the pain was least severe when I was standing, but I was a bit dizzy.

I went back to bed, but it was quite futile. Every position just seemed to crush my chest. Some made it quite impossible to breath. After an hour of this misery I finally got up and went out to the recliner figuring it was the best way to sit upright comfortably. I slept for another hour.

Waking just before sun up, I still felt as though I were fighting for every breath. I started to wonder who I should call -- the doctor, my caregiver, no one? By this time, I knew without a doubt that I wasn't having some sort of massive heart attack coupled with severe blockage of the pipes. I was pretty confident that I was fighting with a vicious virus and had to hope that what is left of my immune system could handle it.

I sipped some apple juice and tried to get comfortable. I just couldn't seem to get back to sleep so I got up and took the dog out for a leak. Walking was horrendous and I couldn't get him to go slow enough. We made it back inside and I settled back in but couldn't manage to find sleep.

I managed to down my meds at the usual time and then waited a bit to cancel the electrician from coming in a few hours. I then tried my caregiver at his office, but they said he'd called in ill again today, so I left a message for his wife figuring I didn't want to be the one to wake him if were sleeping. She left me a message which I got a numbers of hour later saying that he basically had a chest cold, headache and was coughing a bit. So it was clear we were affected quite differently if it is his bug I shared.

Shortly after leaving her a message, I fell asleep in the chair and finally stayed asleep for about 3 hours. Oh, if only the neighbors could have been quiet and not woken me for once! But I felt a bit better -- the fever felt less incendiary and the grip on my chest had lessened. I found I could even move around in the chair comfortably. But it was too damn bright to try and sleep in it again, so now I figured it was off to bed.

Sure enough, 5 hours of sleep and the worst had passed. I even ate a bit of chicken soup when I took my meds this evening. I watched a movie and got the dog out again for some more complete relief. I think it's time to feed him and head to bed for the night. I just hope I sleep well. I still have some minor body aches and feel unnaturally warm, my neck is rather stiff and deep breaths are still painful, but otherwise it's hard to believe that a short 12 hours ago I thought for sure I was dying.

I'll need to sleep well for the next couple of days and let my body finish getting rid of whatever has attacked me. If my caregiver was well, I might even rush off to the doctor in the next day or so to see if she's got any good test for this heart of mine. I can't help but wonder if it hasn't been damaged somehow during this attack. Additionally the key veins and arteries in and out as well as the place where the trachea splits towards each long seem to have been impacted though oddly enough I haven't coughed once nor do I feel like my lungs have fluid in them.

I wish I could report that I feel a new zest for life and feel lucky that I made it but alas, it's more like disappointment since I know that I've missed a chance to abandon this life I don't enjoy living. There hardly seems to be a reason to rush off to the doctor since she won't be able to give me a flu shot until I've been over this for some time and she can't write a prescription that will make my apartment quieter or safer. Well, maybe I will share a bit more about that tomorrow -- I think I need to go to sleep quite soon. I'm very tired.

Still here

What do you call painting a building with aluminum siding in October in Hillsboro?

Airshow Evicts Homeowners - Can This Be True?

In all the back-slapping coverage I've seen concerning this year's Hillsboro Airshow, nowhere have I read about something I find deeply troubling. While a neighbor of mine was trying to find a place to sit and watch from her car north of the Hillsboro Airport, a Hillsboro Police barricade stopped her from entering a residential neighborhood. She was told that not only could she not enter the neighborhood, but that the residents were being evacuated for the Blue Angels performance!

Can it really be true that not only are all roads closed around the airport to allow this expensive specticle annoy and bother the city's residents (most of whom don't attend the Airshow), but in addition, each time the headline act takes to the air the people who own or rent property around the airport are actually evicted from their homes?

In the land of private property above all else, it hardly seems possible that we force law-abiding, tax-paying Americans out of their homes merely so that other people may be entertained, albiet for a hefty $25/person/day. Even if one person is made to leave his premises for any time during the event, I would say that it is one minute too long. I would not willingly cooperate with such a request - if that is what it is under force of arms.

This almost seems too hard to believe, and I wouldn't believe it but for the neighbor's firsthand experience. Still, I would like nothing more than to hear from a person who had to leave their home under police supervision or threat, call it what you will.

Are There Gay Men In Hillsboro?

Then say hello already!