Weekend experience.... Muppets in my Mac???

This weekend was peaceful and lonely..... Besides watching TV, DVD's and working a little, I did not experience very much.

But sometime Sanday - late evening - I was hijacked - well my computer was really the one to suffer.

Via email a masked bandit entered my email account and if I had not been quick he or she may have achieved whatever goal they had in mind.

Thank Apple Inc. for their wonderful trash can and immediate emptying - no questions asked - I was able to transfer this masked hijacker into internet oblivion!



PS: The identity of this masked bandit is obvious by that silly grin!!! Sort of reminds me of the muppets???

When operations come to a grinding halt.....

Ever hear of Murphy's Law? Well I experience everyday! But not only one thing goes wrong - lots of things go wrong!

Our workshop manager does not come to work, no one even knows where she is! She won't hand out the car papers so that we can sell that thing.

Without the manager we can't get goods shipped because she is the only one who can write and sign the invoice needed to ship the goods.

So I end up writing the invoice! Here in Germany I write an invoice for goods that need to be shipped from Jakarta to Germany. And then.... no one wants to sign the invoice. What is it with them??? Do they think they are signing off their life???

Geez...... and then: they (office and production workers) all just go home! The clock hits 5PM and they all go. No good bye or is there anything else. Gone! Do they ever stop to think that if I don't get my goods I have nothing to sell. If I have nothing to sell then I can't pay them???

No wonder some countries remain - Third World! In order for a country to develop the population needs to develop! If they always depend on others to take care of things how will they ever be independent!

Ok ... I need a coffee!

Slave of the machine.......

Sometime after 1:45 AM Central European time something went really wrong with my mail program. This morning after a slight computer freeze all my outgoing and ingoing mail had disappeared into thin(www)air! Gone!

My mail accounts - gone!

Thankfully I have been bitten by the crashing hard drive more than once in my life. So I have a back up - more than one!

Time Machine is great, but it took me the whole morning to locate the mail boxes that I had lost. I found them - saved and stored at 1:45 AM....

Now I realize that I am so dependent on this piece of machinery encased in white plastic called a computer that is scares me! And this got me thinking......!!! You buy a washing machine and if does not work.... You call the store you bought it at and raise hell! The same goes for a toaster, iron, car, phone (although I wonder about that one now too), stapler, copier..... anything!

The amount of shit we put up with when it comes to computers is amazing! And this is not the first time that I spent hours looking for solutions to a problem. A problem that a simple computer user cannot understand. Do you understand what this piece of machinery actually does? Do you know what processes (admittedly very complex and very fast) actually go in in there?

I sit here staring at the beautiful (but slightly dirty) keyboard thinking....... What does this thing do? Where is he storing all this information I feed him? What happens when information gets lost? Whole files disappear? Where did they go?

At least when you put something on a physical piece of paper and throw it out by mistake you know where to look! In the paper garbage! And if you are stuck in a streak of bad luck - you need to climb into the paper garbage head first to dig for that missing piece of paper. Thankfully we do separate our garbage here.

Can you imagine diving head first into your computer to look for something??

A little early.......

Better too early..... Good thing I thought of taking and posting these shots now!! And maybe I will just add more to decorate my web shop with Seasonal Photos....!

Most times though Christmas just whooshes past me! And I only realize on New Year's Eve that not only is there family to include in the well wishing but friends and customers too!!

This is but a start....

New camera.....

Marcus! I know you think I should have talked to you about my purchase first, but at the moment I am totally happy about my new DSLR!!!

Makes me want to cry.....!

On the way to my friends house to dog sit I was listening to the radio. There was a report about a guy that was beat up in the subway station - for no apparent reason! One guy started after asking him what he was looking at. This person - aggressive person - was joined by three others! For what???? What is society coming to????

It makes me want to cry.... be sick???

I could not believe what I heard. I tried to think of a situation in which I might want to beat someone up...... It drew a blank!

Sure I strongly dislike Ackermann and what he stands for - this guy along with many others who have lost touch with reality! But beat someone up??? Nope sorry - no one!

I would rather try to make them live off of minimum wage that is paid in a third world country! Make them eat what their minimum wage will pay! Make them "enjoy" the health care that minimum wage in third world country will pay.

But beating someone up??? No I can not think of one person, animal, insect or even electrical piece of equipment that I would want to beat up.

Ok !!! I am not an aggressive person!

Sorry... no photos?

To those who have asked.... nope no photos at the moment! I need to replace my camera power pack. But first I need to have money.... so work first!

US elections.....

With the beginning of September I became more and more interested in the US presidential campaign. I became active on some forums, voiced my opinion a few times, asked plenty of questions, shared my multicultural experiences and got attacked a lot of times.

I have been told that as a European I should mind my own business. I have been told to stop telling the Americans what to do. I have been told that I can't vote so it should not interest me.....

Whoa!!! Hello..... we live in a very very global world! And I needed to clear up some points....

I am not European! What does that mean anyway? My passport may states that I am Dutch, but I was not born there and did not grow up there. I was born in Taiwan - no I am not Chinese. I grew up in Indonesia and Singapore - no I am not Indonesian or Malay. Actually I have blond hair, green eyes and fair skin! I was raised on :

• Indonesian, Chinese, Indian and Western food
• American TV
• primarily the English language - leaning towards the American accent (much to the dismay of my English teachers at the school in Singapore)

Then there is this thing about my telling the Americans what to do??? I never did such a thing - I only voiced my hope! And in this global world we live in you will hear from people everywhere! We are connected not only via the internet, but by everything else! It is no longer one band one sound! It is one Earth one sound!!

Sure it is up to the Americans who they want to have as a leader. They are the ones that have to live with it in the first instance, but we "Europeans" will fell the effect too. As well as the rest of the non-European world.

And lastly - I love America!!! So why would I do something to hurt, insult or offend the Americans!!!

BUT I will keep a low profile now until November 5th!!

Mottos?

What is your motto?
How many times do we - all over the world - come across this question?? oh...sigh.... too many times. I could list some here, but will not bore you.
But what is even worse is: how many have "Mea Culpa" as their motto? Do these guilty people know what "Mea Culpa" means???

Mea Culpa is from Latin and literally means: "I am to blame".

Wow! How many people out there (and I have noticed this on lots of German dating sites and sites where you can get to know people who have the same interests as you ie hobbies, political views, preferences etc.). .... woops lost the thread here.
Well how many people out there actually claim to take the blame!? If I had the time I would try to get some statistics to apply to my daily life. Funny thing is that I have never met someone in real life that takes the blame!

Must be my fault - I take the blame for this! I hang out with the wrong gang!!

Inocent ranting.....

My answer to a customer about the US$ and shipping times of parcels from Germany to the US:

They don't lose those packages - I think! I am sure that they get held up in customs (like you were going to build a bomb from doll shoes and dresses or boost growth to certain body parts by inhaling or consuming doll shoes and dresses). Then after about 6 weeks when they run out of shelf space in customs they come across a package with said contents and think - it's only dolly stuff, no one will miss it and chuck it in the garbage.

Oh the German govt...... I could really get all riled up talking about the sh@§$! they dish out!

Don't worry about the US$ - not yet. The Americans are pros at bouncing back after bad news. If this was not the case they would never have discovered the west coast and Hollywood would be outside of New York!!

Here on the other hand, a small glitch makes consumers hold on to their wallets for dear life. Then they get old and senile, get stuck in homes, the money they saved so dearly gets spent on undefinable expenses for medicine and care. Then when the bank account and savings are all gone - woops the old man/woman dies in their sleep!

Please don't quote me. I am a Dutch citizen living in Germany - born and raised in Asia, International schooling, ties with Indonesia and America - if the German govt. gets wind of my rebellious ranting they might just let me disappear for good!

Confusion....

Reading this article about oil prices going down, US$ value going down, demand for oil slowing in the US...... confused me. I give up!

read it here

Here in Germany gas prices at the gas stations do NOT reflect anything but the rising prices of oil. If the oil price goes up, but the US$ value goes down - prices at the gas station go UP!!!

Now they are trying to tell us that oil barrel prices will not hit the $150 limit. And yet here in Germany they are raising energy prices for heating (gas)???? And the reason is because of the high oil prices (well they say something like the acquisition of gas is getting more expensive)....

I could go on and on and on..... The lies or I should put it more like the "fiction" that is served as "fact" to the common people is sick!

Of course the politicians have nothing to worry about - they raise their "diäten" in such a way that they can still heat their homes, drive on Sundays with no goal, leave lights on in every room!!!

But let me ask them this (not that they will hear me): what is the use of a rich government and rich managers if there are no middle class to buy their products!! Huh?

Fashion & economy flashback

Found this on the web today: Today's crunch feels like the '70s...

Some fashion is not coming back but look at what the celebrities are wearing.... long dresses that sort of look like those worn in the late '60s to mid '70s.
In the '70s the skirt lengths were going up and down..... or not?

Should this have been a warning?

No one goes there and yet......?

I don't know how it is in other countries, but here in Germany if you ask if someone goes to McDonald's most will say: "Yeach no!".

Funny thing though because they open every morning and new restaurants are sprouting up on a regular basis. Sometimes even they are so busy you have to wait in line!!!

And to add to all of this: this morning in the local paper a tiny article in the left hand corner - there where normally your hand would be holding the paper if not lying flat on a table! McDonald's actually made a bigger profit than the first quarter of 2007. And we are not talking thousands here - add a few zeros to that. Ok so it is in USD - but still! And if the statement is true that about 5% of this profit increase is due to the current exchange rate situation - then which Euro paying nation is actually going to McDonald's.

Honestly I wish my business would operate like that!!! No ones comes and yet my profits increase! Go figure!

But I have a secret - I do go to McDonald's (they have good coffee and even better fries). My daughter loves to go there. My brother takes my daughter and me out to McDonald's when we visit him in Munich. So I've outed myself. It is time that more of us just owned up to it!

Our "throw it in the garbage" society....

Found this link on yahoo today and got me thinking - well I think a lot but this got me really thinking even more.

The other day I was distributing these fliers for my friend who works for a real estate agent. There were and still are thousands (I think it's thousands) of these fliers. And no where to put them. I was told that what was left should just be dumped in the garbage.

Sure we recycle, but why print so many in the first place???

Well easy answer the more you print the better a deal you get. So instead of printing the 2200 you need to print 3000 because it is "cheaper". Throw away the 800 you did not need and ....

Well guess what....... we all might not notice the price now but in the long run it would have been cheaper to print less (or none at all for that matter)!!! BECAUSE!!! the price we will pay in years to come is obvious!

What is it with people??? I get really aggravated when someone tells me how much they "saved". Saved???? Hey you only save if you don't buy what ever it is in the first place. On everything there is a price.

On cheap wine there is the head ache in the morning.
On the cheap running shoes - the sore feet and they came from some country that probably has not regulations on pollution.
On cheap yogurt - I don't know about you guys but I end up throwing out half of that cheap stuff 'cause it just does not taste that good. Better less for more money and eating it all of up and reminiscing about the great taste!

More later......

True love?

Surfing the net when I should be working..... I came across this article:

Can dog's love?

So true - at least all my dog owner friends think so. It really is time that I got a new dog. Life is pretty boring without a dog to keep me busy (as if I didn't already have enough on my hands!).

Here a pic of Ricky when he was younger!

Candlesticks?

I just read these three words on fx (a currency information site):

Paralysis by analysis.

I love it! It just so tells it all and can be used for almost anything in daily life. It makes me think of the bank that analysed my company about 8 years ago and told me to close shop! Well I am still around and will do anything to stick around for a while.

I guess the guy forgot to enter the human into his analysis!

Sins......

I am sure that everyone is familiar with the 7 deadly sins???

Well at lunch the other day with my parents we were discussing the problem of our world leaders. My opinion is that politicians forget what life is really like at the level us normal working people. Especially when elected do these politicians lose grip of "real life"!!

I was asked what I thought was the cause of this. And to this question I blurted out: The seven deadly sins is the cause only to realize that really there is one sin missing from the list!!!

Ignorance!!!

Am I getting carried away???

My sins..... oh I am an angel???

Greed:	Low
Gluttony:	Very Low
Wrath:	Low
Sloth:	Low
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Very Low
Pride:	Very Low

Discover Your Sins - Click Here

Happy People.......

Look what I bumped into today: the worlds happiest people website!

Strange the things that you can find on the web - I was led to this by an ABC 20/20 report on Yahoo. It was about Singaporeans being the happiest in Asia - despite the rigid government. Well it goes to show that the majority of humans are like sheep! Duh?

I like what that US man come Singaporean Actor said about smart and intelligent people running the country as opposed to those running Western countries...... uh smart remark. It is what I have been saying all along. "Fachidioten" are our politicians - nothing to do with smart and intelligent. They have yet to prove that!!

I have touched what.....4 - 5 different subjects in two paragraphs?

Will I get deported from Germany now???


PS I used to live in Singapore.... 1980 to 1983.

To drive or not to drive......

Cheap cars = more pollution = more demand on limited oil supply = .........

WAKE UP!!!! For §$&%"§$ sake! Why are car manufacturers striving to create a cheap car? Why are they spending money on developing this "cheap" car?

I read this article and thought:

1. why are other cars so expensive any way. I mean look at the price compared to 15 years ago? More safety - we still have plenty of deaths on the road - can't change the human driver!!! Can we?

2. I thought the oil supply was diminishing? If the car is "cheap", driving it sure as hell will not be!!! More demand on the already limited oil supply will just push pricing up - making it not only expensive to drive for these "cheap" car owners but for us "normal" car owners too.

3. How come no one seems to think about the consequences in the long run!!! Nope I want the big bucks now - I will not be around in 100 years to experience planet earth as a wasted polluted hell hole! This attitude is what got us in this mess! Time to wake up!!!

Then I imagined Jakarta, Indonesia with these "affordable" cars ..... seat 5 huh? Anyone been to Indonesia? Any of you notice the family sedan is a "motorbike"? So why would a family of 4 need a 5 seater when they can fit 4 on a motorbike and still have room for the Christmas shopping!!!

I wonder why can't these car manufacturers develop public transportation!!! Well I know the answer but isn't it time that everyone (I mean every single breathing human being) should start to be more responsible and considerate towards this one planet that we have!!!

Wake up before Mother Nature turns around and forces us into extinction. Read : "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and you will know what I mean!!! Bacteria and viruses have been around longer than us - so think about it!

What to believe....

Before Christmas I remember hearing on the radio that sales were fantastic - better than Christmas 2007.

But look what I stumbled across today while checking on the USD to Euro exchange rate:

German retail sales miss expectations!!!

So what to believe? You can't believe the politicians..... Reports about consumer optimism seem to false unless they are about 3 to 5 months old. Just sit and think about this for a while!!!

Still miss him! Been more than a month now.......