LIVE!
Hopefully I can pull it off!
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Dec
26
2009
26
2009
Belated Holiday Wishes
During this holiday season I received MANY holiday cards and e-mails. Unfortunately because I’ve been so busy (as usual), I couldn’t send any out myself. So If I could, I’d like to use this as my Christmas Card to everyone who was kind enough to send one to me/I would sent one to….
Dear friend/relative/business associate…
Merry Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Ramadan/Solstice/Voodoo Day!
Boy! What a year it’s been.
Me with my computer work and you doing…whatever it is you do.
Thanks for the Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice card, it was very beautiful and/or humorous.
I enjoyed the photo of your kid or kids.
Boy, he/she/they are REALLY getting big!
Have you seen our mutual friend, if we have one?
Can you believe what he or she is up to? Boy…some people!
Does your son/daughter/sister/brother/husband/wife still have that drug problem?
All you can do is trust in God, or if you prefer, Voodoo.
How is Granny/Nanna/Mima/YaYa? So-so?
Hey! How about that professional team we both root for?
They should fire or rehire that manager of theirs. He’s a character!
Well…better go
By the way…
Sorry about not getting around to visiting/calling you that time/those times.
I hope you received many presents from Santa/the “Chanukah Guy”/Voodoo Man.
And that the coming year is as good as/better than/nothing like last year.
Best Wishes
Karl
The ACTUAL COST of the 12 Days of Christmas!
*Credits: Loosely based (OK…plagiarized) on a Saturday Night Live skit I watched some years back
Dec
24
2009
24
2009
A Holiday Card! Why Didn’t I Think Of This Sooner?
Here’s hoping your holidays are as wonderful & exciting as ever!
Dec
24
2009
24
2009
Why You Didn’t Get A Card This Christmas….
This has been one of the most hectic holiday seasons ever for me.
Everything started the week of thanksgiving. Switching over to my owning the business again-and all the things needed for that such as insurance and so forth, holidays, more clients (which I have no complaints on by the way), as well as some personal hiccups just made this season fly.
I really felt I was trapped in a tornado at times especially as the season is here!
SO…I wanted to apologize to friends & family for not getting you a Christmas Card and/or present. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I barely got presents for family (ask my Mom who just got her package yesterday & I friggin FORGOT the one item she asked for/needed now).
[BIG Sigh]
So please enjoy the holiday season & know that my thoughts are with you…if nothing else.
Dec
17
2009
17
2009
How Sad Is This Joke?
Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.
The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.
The SECOND sees his family doctor after waiting 3 weeks for an appointment, then waits 8 weeks to see a specialist, gets an x-ray, which isn’t reviewed for another week and finally has his surgery scheduled for a month Later.
Why the different treatment for the two patients?
The FIRST is a Golden Retriever.
The SECOND is a Senior Citizen!
Dec
16
2009
16
2009
My Tattoo: It’s done!
Nov
30
2009
30
2009
I’m Getting A Computer Company For Christmas!
I have to buy it of course, but….
As of December 4th, Olgoonik Technical Services “commercial operations” will revert back to Apex Logic.
As we’re writing in our letters to our clients, “We’re divorced, & we’re reverting back to our maiden name.”
While it was a fun run & we appreciate the opportunity, working w/a company whose history & culture has only been federal contracting was a daunting task.
I’ll say that I learned a lot about doing work under the banner of an ANC 8(a) company & the experiences/opportunities/friends were well worth the journey.
There will be some good things out of this. One of them is innovation. Apex Logic will be forming a “Social Media Services” group amongst other service offerings for next year (Cell phone repair…REALLY?!? Yep..really truly).
So where does this lead me?
For one, by business parter of several years is taking the opportunity to retire & be a horse trader & all around farm hand on his six acres so I am a sole proprietor (so far).
I’ll be able to streamline certain operations to make the company a leaner operation.
Finally….t-shirts at the office will be OK on Friday casual!
Expect more as things progress.
For now I get to go to the desert to muse on my future, once again, as a business owner.
Nov
05
2009
05
2009
Protecting Yourself From H1N1
So after some dialog w/friends on Twitter, I realized that maybe a good and simple article on protecting yourself from H1N1 (aka Swine Flu) might be in order.
To start, H1N1 is no more dangerous than the regular seasonal flu…..seriously! The problem is that since the H1N1 is a relatively new strain of Influenza A (or seasonal flu), it can spread more easily. Our natural immunity to the Influenza A virus over the years allows us to fight it with simple solutions as dayquil & theraflu.
So what can you do to protect yourself here in good old Alaska (or anywhere for that matter)?
First the masks you bought to handle volcanic ash from Redoubt won’t work. The micron level won’t stop a virus. Those masks (e.g. painter’s masks) are designed to stop large particulates while allowing you to breathe normally.
Oh…and surgical masks are the same density as painters masks so they won’t work either.
So what do you do?
Wash your hands especially before touching your eyes, nose or mouth. It’s that simple!
Hand sanitizers help, but unless you do a THOROUGH wipe (accessing all nooks & crannies of the hands) you may still be spreading the virus. With hand sanitizer, use a gratuitous amount & rub ALL OVER especially the webbing of your hands. The sparing dab while keeping your fingers closed allows a possible spread.
Sneezing/coughing in your sleeve works if you are wearing long sleeve shirts otherwise your skin will deflect the virus into the air around you. Not wearing long sleeves? Use a tissue! Handkerchiefs only work if you WASH YOUR HANDS after putting it away in your pocket.
Another thing to point out is that you CAN NOT get the flu from a flu shot. Normal flu vaccines have dead cells which can’t cause the flu. As far as the H1N1 having live flu cells, they are genetically different from H1N1 so you won’t get the Swine Flu from the vaccine. Jury’s still out on if you get the other flu.
Also…don’t forget to eat properly and get enough sleep. That’s an easy & fantastic way to avoid getting the flu of any kind!
Oct
06
2009
06
2009
Not A “Nuff Said” – It Needs To Said Again & Again!
Goering: “Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece.”
“Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.”
Gilbert: “There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.”
Goering: “Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”
Nazi leader Hermann Goering, interviewed by Gustave Gilbert during the Easter recess of the Nuremberg trials, April 18 1946, quoted in Gilbert’s book ‘Nuremberg Diary.’
Oct
05
2009
05
2009
Defining An Artist’s Work – Karl Style
UPDATE: This is my rant on photography…but it can probably apply to other things.
So this weekend I decided to be part of a mini photo contest on Facebook.
Nothing special really (the prize is to name the next topic for the contest), but it makes for a nice place to post your work. For amateurs it’s a great way to meet other amateur photographers & hopefully learn new idea & techniques.
So imagine my surprise when one of the contestants not only critiques my picture, but changed it as well! He used the idiom of “personal preferences” to define changing it.
We went round & round..but in the end I decided to let it go as I was getting more vexed with the discussion.
This got me thinking…is it OK to change another artists work?
The simple answer is no…but I wanted to clarify why the answer is no.
Firstly I am OK with whatever the artist wants to use to express themselves. While my preference is to use as little tools as possible on editing photographs, I know that there are those who use various tools to enhance the work the do. That’s fine…it’s what they use to express their art.
My issue is with others that decided to change that work for their own ends.
Until the world of digital artwork, art was done by the artist with little or no chance to change their work. The work was a rendering of art as the artist interpreted the work. You either appreciated the level of effort or moved on to something else you did appreciate.
Many people probably saw ways to change or enhance the work, but in the end it was not possible (or easy). The work stood on it’s own as the artist intended.
Now we move to the age of the digital allowing for more impressive works. For the photographer, it gives additional tools to make the “art” stand out or express something well imagined that would not be possible without the ability of the tool.
Unfortunately, we now have thieves who not only steal the work but change it and even take credit for the changed work as theirs – creating a sad trend for those who simply want to express themselves & share it with others.
For a long time I used to scoff at the photographers who put their moniker (watermark) on a picture, thinking it was the height of conceit to mark their work. I mean it’s already theirs so why the mark?
Now I know how it feels, I will have to rethink the value of the mark. For now, I’m still going to keep the mark off as I really don’t want to add that.
However, as I get further in my journey it may become a necessary evil.
The reality is that the person creating the work is the only one who is to be able to change it should they feel it necessary to do so. To take their digital work, change it to suit you is simply inappropriate.
