Let Go and Start Living 2 of 2

Unless we can somehow erase our memories, we never let go of whatever it is we want to let go of.  I snuck that thought in rather quickly so let me repeat it. We do not have the ability, any of us, to Let Go, nor do we have the ability to make person another Let Go.

If letting go were a simple process, we would never remember a skinned knee, smashed finger, or sore body part. If we hurt ourselves, we would pause, perform some simple ritual, and everything would be better. Fortunately for us, not letting go is a survival technique inherent in all of us.

What we do instead when we, Let Go, is we assimilate this present pain into us. We make it a part of us. We absorb it into ourselves. We take this pain inside of us and we mix it in with all our memories. We mingle and rationalize our present pain and emotion until we begin to feel a lessening of our pain.

We can go to others for help, though they can not really help us in the normal way we think of helping. We each have all the help we need inside us. What we need to do is decide we are ready to move on. At this moment when we decide to move on, our situation and our pain starts to change.

Generally whatever happened is the absolute worst thing we have ever experienced and it comes with the most pain we have ever experienced. Eventually we know we have to make a decision about our misery. Either we spend the rest of our life living in the moment of the pain, or we decide to start living our life again.

If we decide to start living our life again, we can see the pain for what it really is. The emotional pain we feel is a part of our life. Our pain is the result of our personal life experience. Our pain has happened and nothing we can do will ever make it disappear.

What we can do is stop thinking about hoe we feel, and start thinking about the events that led up to why we feel this way. What happened that was in our control and what happened that was beyond our control.

Whatever was in our control, we can ensure we do not do a repeat. By doing a repeat, I do not mean stop dating because this time it hurt so bad. Rather, slow down and think about what happened before. Were their signals the other person was giving off we chose to ignore? Did we emotionally invest more than we should have? Did we choose not to see the situation for what it was, and chose to create our own version instead?

It may well be there was nothing that could have been changed. It happens, and it is painful. It is also a part of life, and we can not quit living because we are hurt. Everyone of us is vulnerable because we are living our life the best we know how. Most pain of this type is a one time occurrence. It happened and it will never happen again.

If these situations are repeatable in our life, there is something we need to learn from them we are choosing to ignore. If you have one painful experience after another, perhaps it is time to change directions and not go down that path yet again. Going down a new path can be no worse than going down the same path  again. If this pain is a onetime experience, accept it for what it is. Learn from it, and keep on living.

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Let Go and Start Living 1 of 2

I was laughing out loud by myself today. Epiphanies happen at the strangest moments. I was reading a forum post about someone needing help with ”Letting Go”. Suddenly this new thought arrived, and I started laughing. I have written around this idea of Letting Go before in January and February. However, I had not phrased letting go as I thought of letting go today. Maybe this will help more people who are stuck in place they can not leave.

Letting Go is an opportunity for Health and Healing. Disparate and elaborate methods have been developed of hopefully fixing not being able to let go. Of course as with any perceived need there are almost as many people willing to help – for a price.

Read any Self Improvement Forum, or Personal Blogs, and invariably someone wants help to let go of something they feel is controlling their life. Go figure! That is what struck me as so funny today while I was doing some reading today,

People share their pain in a public forum looking for relief. They are desperate, looking for a way to move past some emotional event that has taken over their life. These people feel so helpless they are asking the world to help them with their pain.

What I found funny today were the words: Letting Go! Letting Go, as if letting go is some physical entity attaching itself to someone who was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Letting go attached itself to them and now they can not get rid of it.

Someone was in a relationship that went sour. A best friend left for no reason, a family or friend died, a close friend was unforgivably rude, or committed some other act that caused the other person to be so taken out of their life they can no longer find their way back.

We are all vulnerable painful experiences. Most of us come to terms with them and move past their infection point in our lives. Others though are in deeper pain. They feel like they are the only person in the world to experience the emotions they are feeling.

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Erase Hard Drive & Install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06, My Notes

Erasing Hard Drive and Installing PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06, my install notes.

Following my warnings and comments are written instructions for installing PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06.

I am posting these notes for a friend to print, who until recently had never seen and only heard of something called Linux. He wants to install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 after trying out PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 as a live CD, and ensuring everything works correctly. His Windows OS is corrupted and can not be salvaged. In short his old computer is a paper weight, and he has nothing to lose by trying to install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 on his old computer.

I wrote these instructions out as I completed an install on my laptop. Following these instructions will erase everything on your single hard drive, and if all goes well, install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 as the only operating system.

The only certainty, or guarantee my notes comes with is you can read the rest of the post. Trying to follow my notes may destroy your computer. Following my instructions may turn your computer into a non working paperweight, a recyclable object.

Important Key words: Erases Hard Drive, No Windows, No other Linux, No files, No Pictures, No Programs, No Important Files, Nothing On the Hard Drive Except PCLinuxOS.

These instructions assume (think about that word) you have an older off the shelf Vanilla PC or Laptop with nothing unique added to it. These instructions also assume you have hard wired internet access.

If you ruin your computer by following these instructions, lose your operating system, your files or data, I am not responsible.

If any of the above does not make sense stop reading here, and find help from a close by knowledgeable Linux user who can help you install Linux to your computer. These instructions are for a friend who has decided to try to install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 on his personal computer. Follow them at your own risk.

These instructions are not associated in any manner with the fine website PCLinuxOS, its software, or any of its related websites or activites. On PCLinuxOS website are installation instructions that have been verified and used thousands of times. I recommend you go there and follow them.

Once again, I am posting this for a friend who until recently had never seen and only heard of something called Linux. He wants to install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 after trying out PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 as a Live CD, and ensuring everything works correctly. His Windows OS is corrupted and can not be salvaged. He has no programs or files on his computer which he still wants. In short his old computer is a paper weight, and he has nothing to lose by trying to install PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 on his old computer.

If you are unsure about doing an install, please read everything over from the top.

You need to think if you choose to follow the notes below. Following my notes are from an install on one computer only, and have not been tested on any other computer. If something is not how I typed it out, there is no one to help you.

These instructions are only for installing PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 as the only operating system, erasing everything on the hard drive in the process. These notes may or may not be complete.

Before you start the Install you will need: 

1. Password for the Admin (Root); 2. One User Name and Password for each person who will be using the computer including Root who will generally use the computer as a normal user unless doing administrative tasks.

1.  Insert Cd and boot off of the Live PCLinuxOS LXDE 2011.06 Cd.

2.  When PCLinuxOS menu comes up, arrow key down to the last option, Install PCLinuxOS and press.

3.  It will take some time while PCLinuxOS boots from the Cd. Eventually you will be asked to choose your keyboard layout.

Click on.

4.  A graphic with “PCLinuxOS” Installation Wizard will appear. Click on.

5.  A screen with, “Here is the content of your disk drive”, will appear. There should be four choices for installing “PCLinuxOS”, you want to click in the third radio button which reads, “Erase and use entire disk”. You only want this option because Windows is no longer usable. If this is not true, press cancel on the bottom left.

6.  Once you have clicked in the radio button which is followed by “Erase and use entire disk”, press the Next button.

7.  A screen will come up warning you that “PCLinuxOS” is going to install to your whole hard drive. This will erase everything on your hard drive from your selection the on last screen. Press “next” to continue.

8.  A new graphic with “Installing PCLinuxOS to your computer”, will appear with a bar below the graphic showing your the install progress. This portion will take anywhere from ten minutes to many minutes depending on the speed of your computer.

9.  When the install is almost completed, a screen will appear with the word *Bootloader on the top left. Below *Bootloader is *Main Options” with the sentence “Delay before booting default image” followed by the number 10. Click where the ten is and change the number to a 3.

10. Click.

11. The next screen will start with the letters, “Here are the entries…”. Click onon the bottom right.

11. A sentence, “Bootloader install in progress”, will appear. Be patient it will seem like nothing is happening. This step may a few minutes to complete. All you will see is an empty screen.

12. When the previous step completes, a screen with the sentence, “Please click finish, restart your computer, and remove the LiveCD media when prompted”. Press, the “Finish” button.

13. PCLinuxOS will shutdown and a screen will appear saying, “Restarting the system”. Once it is done the screen will turn black and an instruction, “Please pressonce the LiveCD is removed.” Your CD tray should pop open. Remove the CD and press.

14. The system will reboot again and the PCLinuxOS Splash screen will appear. There will be two options and the top option will be grayed, press.  This is the end of the physical install, now the setup portion will begin.

Setting up the system

1.  The system will start to reboot. The first screen to appear will ask for time zone, slide the slide up and choose Denver. Click on next.

2.  The computer is most likely set to local time which is the top option. Below is NTP Server, click in the box, Automatic time synchronization…. Click on the triangle to the left of North America. Click on, “All Servers”, then click on.

3.  Enter Roots password, twice and click on. Do nothing with “Authentication method”

4.  Enter the first User name using no capitol letters and no spaces. Press thekey. Enter the user’s password, press tab and enter it a second time. If they match, press “Next”.

5.  This screen is the Logon screen. Click on the user listed, enter the password, and press.

6. If you are using a wired internet connection, your internet should be connected.

Software update and install

7.  Click on the ‘Start’ button which is a Round button with “PC” in it. Highlight “Software Center” and then click on “Update Package Sources List”.

8.  If your Internet is connected click ‘Ok’. Two more screens will appear, click ‘OK’ for each one. The next screen will have the word “Repo: at the beginning. Linux is timing the software servers speed. This process may take a few minutes to complete.

Once it is complete, a new screen with, “Select you preferred repo…” will appear. Highlight the top entry and click ‘OK’.

Click okay for the next screen too. Two more screens will appear, click ‘OK’ and the click “Yes”.

You will be asked for the Root password, enter the Root password and click, ‘OK’.

9.  A new screen called ‘Synaptic’ will appear, this is the screen where you will download software from and add and remove programs through.

Click, ‘OK’ on the next screen.

10. On the top right of Synaptic is a red arrow and the word ‘Reload’ Click on ‘Reload’. Synaptic will update it data base from 14 different repositories. This will take a few seconds to complete. If Synaptic gives an error and says it could not retrieve all repositories, wait a few minutes and try again. This error happens rarely.

If there is no error, Synaptic will appear again.

11. Click on ‘Mark All Upgrades” which is next to ‘Reload’. Click on, ‘Mark’ on the screen that shows up.

12. Going to the top of Synaptic, there is a green arrow and the word, ‘Apply’. Click on Apply. A screen will appear asking you if you want to: ‘Apply the following changes?’ Click, ‘Apply’

Synaptic will now download and install all program updates. This may take anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour or more. If Synaptic reports any errors, it will ask if you “want to continue anyway?”. Click on no, and try later. If all goes well a screen will appear where all you need to do is click on ‘OK’

13. On the bottom left of Synaptic, there is a button named,”Sections”. Click on this button.

the left side of Synaptic will change to labels containing software that are part of that section. You can go through here and select software you want to install. Here is an example.

A. Go down to the section labeled, “Games/Other” and click on it. and click on the label,

B. On the right side of Synaptic games will be listed. Go down until you see, ‘gnome-games’. Click on box with a star in it in front of ‘gnome-games’.

Click on, ‘Mark for Installation’ and click again on the box that appears with ‘Mark’ on the bottom right of the box.

C. Repeat using the same steps you used with the choice called ‘gnome-games-extra-data’ which is below ‘gnome-games’.

D. The Green Arrow and Apply button are no longer grayed out and are waiting to be clicked on.

Synaptic will now download and install some more games. This may take anywhere from a few minutes to longer. If Synaptic reports any errors, it will ask if you “want to continue anyway?”. Click on no, and try later. If all goes well a screen will appear where all you need to do is click on ‘OK’

This is the process you will follow to add more programs or games.

When you exit this time only you will be asked if you want to remove the repository speed test files, click ok.

Adding more users:

1. Click on the icon on the bottom left with the screwdriver and wrench in it next to the Start (PC) button.

2. Enter Root password

3. You are now in the PCLinuxOS Control Center

4. Click on System in the middle of the choices on the left.

5. On the bottom left click on the icon, ‘Manage users on system’

6. Click on, ‘Add User’

7.  Enter User name using no capitol letters and no spaces. Press thekey. Enter the user’s password, press tab and enter it a second time. If they match, press “Ok”. Continue for all users.

8. When done click on the X on the top right.

Setting up the Firewall

1. With the internet connection on, do a one click on the icon Firewall Setup, wait a few seconds and enter Roots password.

There will be three screens, read and if you agree press, ‘OK’ on each one using the default settings. Click, ‘Ok’ all the way through the Shorewall needs to be installed screen. There will be a delay while it downloads and installs  the Shorewall program. Click ‘OK on last time.

Office Software

1. If you want a free Office Suite type software installed, click on LibreOffice Manager icon and follow instructions. This is a pretty slow install and will take up to an hour.

Localization Icon

This icon can be deleted, unless you want PCLinuxOS in a language other than English.

Firefox has links all set up to bring you to PCLinuxOS website, where there are free monthly PCLinuxOS magazines, manuals, and forums. Do not delete the links until you are comfortable using PCLinuxOS.

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Portable and Temporary Cross Platform Note Taking

 

I was looking through my notes for the wireless network password at one of the centers I volunteer at, and could not find the correct scrap of a note in my traveling pile of notes. The way I find a needed note away from home is I pull out all my scraps and folded pieces of paper out of a shaving kit bag. I look through the pieces of paper until I find the scrap that has the password written on it. When away from home all my paper scraps and needed CD’s were kept in a shaving kit.

On my Mac I went through this process of consolidating my notes twice. The first notes collection was for large and stagnant writings I have collected over the years. The second notes  cleanup was to clean up the stacks of little pieces of paper laying on my desk. If you have a Mac you can read about my final choices for quick notes, perhaps one of them will work for you.

I selected these programs for notes rather than using paper scraps to write quick temporary notes with. My temporary notes are generally needed for few weeks, and then are no longer needed. The problem is paper scraps have two sides, so I usually have a note I want on one side, and an old note on the other.

Because Windows is what is, the numbers of software choices for notes is enormous. Note taking programs of all manner are available. Ranging from very simple sticky notes, to installing and using the world famous Wiki software that powers Wikipedia to track my notes with. A little overkill for my needs, but many serious writers and researchers are using these very powerful Wiki Software Programs to manage their extensive, detailed notes.

My situation is closer to yours. I want a smaller notes program. I want a workable notes program whether I am using Windows, Mac Os, or Linux, in three or more different physical locations on many different computers. I think I have found a solution that seems to work for me and perhaps will work for you too.

Many people are using internet based applications, or syncing their files through a website on the internet. These systems or applications are great for many users, and they are valuable for those users. Sometime the internet is not available, or we feel better having our notes stored locally.

On the public laptops I monitor, syncing software is a form of bloat ware. No one using the community computers has expressed any interest in collecting, keeping, or syncing data. Any software I install would become bloatware as the curious will click on the icon to see what it does. Keeping remote notes and data off the community laptops is a better option for healthy computers.

I prefer notes software that operates in Windows the same way Notational Velocity works on my Mac. Notational Velocity is a simple note taker that is url aware. Notational Velocity stays out of the way until I hit a key sequence to bring it out of waiting. I got on the net and searched for a Windows Notational Velocity type program. I ended up with these software options:

From there it is a toss up between the two programs. Both programs do a great job. On my Mac I use Notational Velocity. I chose Resoph Notes for my Windows Laptop. To be honest, I never made it further than Resoph Notes. Resoph Notes claimed to do everything I wanted a simple notes taking program to do. I installed Resoph Notes, and it does what it claims, so why complicate my choices?

The only problem left to be solved was how to accomplish reasonable note taking and saving on the community laptops where I volunteer. After looking at Wiki software I found three interesting possibilities. One is the original web page software, and the other two are children of the original. They each are editable web pages.  Web Pages they do not care what the operating system they are being used on.

The first program, and I use that term loosely because it really is not a program but a portable web page  named TiddlyWiki. TiddlyWiki is a pre-made web page that can either reside on your hard drive, or in my case on a thumb drive or memory stick. TiddlyWiki opens in your favorite browser, and you add non linear random notes, and daily journal entries.

I have limited experience with web page design, so I spent some time reading before I understood enough to realize how perfect TiddlyWiki is for portable notes. What makes TiddlyWiki or one of its siblings great is those notes I need where I volunteer are a small slice of all my notes. My portable notes only need to be about the laptops where I volunteer. I loaded TiddlyWiki to a thumb drive and I am all set.

While I was reading web pages for TiddlyWiki I found another portable web page named Wiki on a Stick (WoaS), a self acknowledged child of TiddlyWiki, and also Book on a Stick. Book on a Stick is a child of Wiki on a Stick and grandchild of TiddlyWiki. All three programs are the same, yet different. Depending on how you think and work, one will stand out from the others as your personal  favorite.

Using TiddlyWiki is really quite simple, though you may need to read some as I did to make it understandable. There are several links and a small manual available to get you started. Once you play around with them, any of the three Stick programs are easy to use and understand.

The first thing I did with TiddlyWiki was identify myself to the program/web page. Enter your name in the block and save it. Next I used the menu to create a Tiddler. A Tiddler is nothing more than a random piece of information with a name. There is also a Journal option which brings up a screen similar to a Tiddler but uses the date instead of having you provide a name.

For now, if you find temporary notes are a problem, you now have a couple of options that are easy to use, and in the case of the Web Page Wiki’s, they are also portable. All they need is a few minutes of periodic cleaning, deleting, and combining to keep all your notes under control.

 

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Cashing in on Casey Anthony, Let the Fire go out

After almost three years of Casey Anthony being in the news, the trial and the results, everything is now over. Why don’t we all start to focus on more important matters? Giving anyone undeserved attention to something is not the best use of our time. A trial by jury occurred and the Judge acted on their decision. Whether Casey Anthony is guilty or not, at this point does not matter, she was found to be innocent according to the evidence presented to a panel of her peers. The case is closed, and the matter is legally over.

Keeping the focus on Casey Anthony is already bringing on the inevitable deluge of books trying to squeeze a few cents from our personal coffers via sensationalism. The magazines, books, and web pages, and what they present will all be slanted in one way or another. Some People will buy the books, and we will go through another round of who said and did what. In the end it does not matter. Everyone involved in the matter did what they each thought they had to do. I do not answer for them, and neither does anyone else. They created their own world, and now they live with their creation.

In times past, situations like this were easier to deal with. Communities were smaller. Life outside of one’s community was precarious at best. Many merchants never returned from their journey because instead of banding together for protection, they traveled in too small of a group or alone. Few people traveled more than a day or two from from where they were born if they did not have to.

A Community who decided someone did an act of very wrong doing had options. The Community may have chosen to shun that Person, making them invisible to the Community as a whole. For the shunned Person, being made invisible was tantamount to a death sentence. Living in their Community was no longer possible because a shunned person could find a way to have their needs met. Life outside their Community, no matter where they went was hard in the best of circumstances. A Person leaving their Community was a stranger, a target to be preyed upon by people belonging to other Communities.

In some primitive tribes, there would also be the threat of something terrible descending on the village and in particular the home of the person who wronged the community in a way that deserved punishment, when there was no formal punishment. Generally, these creatures were Men or Women of the village who turned themselves over to punishing the offender. They may have formed a line acting as a simulated centipede, trampling and flattening everything the offender possesses, or came together at night, beating the offending person under the guise of darkness.

In formed groups, such as the military, men would be held down in their beds under a blanket and beaten as a form of justice. Vigilante groups, and other nefarious organizations often took it upon themselves to meet out justice. In many cases justice was delivered to the wrong person, but it mattered little to the group responsible.

In the case of Casey Anthony, ignoring everything about Casey Anthony and the case is the strongest and most direct action an individual may take. Do not participate in gossip and conjecture gatherings; change the television or radio channel. Read a different article or web page. Do not buy any books that are out, or coming out, and do not patronize any movies.

Doing this may seem like a small almost inconsequential thing, but it the most empowering action we as individuals can take. Individual voices are small and seldom heard, but individual actions performed as a group thunder their resolve and determination. In fact after reading this post, call, email, tweet, or im your friends and tell them to ignore this post as it only adds fuel to the fire. Let the fire go out.

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Copied Trinkets, Faked People

Some out of town folks were here visiting for a few days and wanted to see some of the sites Albuquerque has to offer. I took them around to see the most popular sites as as their time was limited to a few days. They saw scenery, buildings, etc, ate at a few of the most well known places, and generally did what tourists do when on the road.

The visit went well except for souvenirs collecting. What out of town trip is complete until those spare few inches in the suitcase are filled with something to remind of where you went on vacation? Souvenirs these days are not what they used to be. In the old days you bought a pine box, or some trinket and all was good. Times have changed since then.

Today’s souvenir consumers seem to be pickier. Or at least my family was. From what I observed they are indicative of today’s tourist. What they want today is not what the tourist of ten years ago wanted, but most of the shops seem to have not noticed tourist taste in souvenirs has changed.

As recently as five years ago it was okay to fill store shelves with items made elsewhere. The most important role a souvenir played was the memories it would invoke when gazed upon back home. This week at least even the less discriminating tourist had little interest in an item representing Albuquerque, or New Mexico which were made hundreds or thousands of miles away.

I stood outside of stores filled with people wanting to take something home from their trip. Maybe they already had the everywhere trinkets with only the name changed at home and they wanted something unique to the area. Most of the people I observed, with exception of children and toy souvenirs, left empty handed. Except for those few upscale shoppers who made their purchases in the hand made jewelry and pottery shops representing local artisans.

The sales total for my visiting family of five, after visiting seven souvenir stores was one boys plastic shark tooth (or maybe girls too) necklace for a total price of perhaps four dollars. Nothing else had caught their eye. When you travel and stop at  tourist attractions, the trinkets all start to run together only the name of where they are from changes.

As I sat and listened to the murmur of voices, I heard people speaking with accents from all over Europe, not to mention visitors from closer to home who could not afford a trip abroad. These people in general had very nice cameras hanging from their necks, so they obviously had money to spend in their wallets. They were not however, apparently going to buy anything not locally made.

I understand how Tourists feel. I thought to myself, I would rather buy a crudely painted rock with a picture of the local mountains, or the city itself for a few dollars than buy something cutesy that says “Made far away from here” on the bottom. I believe those tourists I saw felt that if they were going to spend their money they wanted the bottom of whatever they purchased to have a local address. Who can blame them?

As I was watching I noticed a couple who sounded as if they were from Denmark. The couple was  wandering the plaza taking pictures, and entering shops. Their clothes were plain though expensive. They had a flair to dress in what could pass for local clothing if one did not pay to much attention. When they tired of the plaza, they jumped into an American made luxury car and drove off into the proverbial sunset – empty handed.

As I thought about them, it dawned on me they are the people we know. People we know who look and act a part. They seem to be authentic as to who they are, until one looks closely. Upon a closer gaze the real person starts to appear. Some people dress in the right clothes, say the right things, and act the right way. They look the real deal, until you look close.

Looking closely at people like these people were the differences start to show. Same as the souvenirs the shops were selling that try so hard to be local. As long as you do not look close as to where it was made or imported from, it looks perfect. Same as the souvenirs on the shop shelves getting dusted every day, these types of people are lonely, and collecting dust. They make a connection all goes well at first, and then are deserted after someone gets close enough to see who they really are.

Maybe some people would fare better if they let the world see who they really were flaws and all. How much better to be a rough local product than a close imitation from somewhere else?

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