Some parents just make way too much money, buy their kids too much, and give them way to big of an allowance!
But then the way insurance regulations are now, most of them couldn't get a job if they wanted one.
And they can forget finding entry level jobs with starting salaries being so high.
Excess Deaths
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Re: Excess Deaths
I recall when my parents started to give me an allowance. It was 25 cents per week and I was not required to earn it. I also recall asking why I was getting free money like that. LOL Mom just said that's what kids my age get. That is what wakened my interest in working for a living. I got myself a paper route and hauled in a whole $5-$6 every week depending on how many tips I received. I also had a part time job in a bakery washing the floors and counters after hours. That was the best job I ever had because the owner told me I can eat all the cookies I wanted as a bonus. They had to be eaten on the job otherwise I'd have to pay the going price. After I outgrew the paper route, and got a driver's license, I became a bagger and stock boy at the local Certified food store which was in competition with the IGA store down the street. I know you have talked about IGA here a few times and it always amazed me that they are still in business. Kroger was a local supermarket too in my youth, but today they are owned by Albertsons. One of my two favorite stores up north was also an Albertson's owned shop and I truly miss them. I think they have a presence in STL but nothing like that out here in O'Fallon.
I got an unearned allowance from my parents, but in retrospect I have to wonder how they did it. My sympathies always are extended to you when you relate stories about the cost of living because I know what poverty is. It didn't seem so at the time, but I grew up in poverty. Dad only worked six months out of the year and mom had no salable skills. Besides, she was a "housewife" and not expected to work. So, parents do what they think is best for their kids even today. Obviously. I can't see anyone earning too much when it comes to raising a family. We got by with dad working part time, but today mom, dad, and all the kids have to work just to pay the mortgage. That is, if they can afford to own a house.
I got an unearned allowance from my parents, but in retrospect I have to wonder how they did it. My sympathies always are extended to you when you relate stories about the cost of living because I know what poverty is. It didn't seem so at the time, but I grew up in poverty. Dad only worked six months out of the year and mom had no salable skills. Besides, she was a "housewife" and not expected to work. So, parents do what they think is best for their kids even today. Obviously. I can't see anyone earning too much when it comes to raising a family. We got by with dad working part time, but today mom, dad, and all the kids have to work just to pay the mortgage. That is, if they can afford to own a house.
Re: Excess Deaths
I think as kids we all had those types of jobs. I also sold newspapers, washed tubs at Bob's Donut Shop, and helped out at Schinzing's Market. Being in a small town at the time, all of us kids played together. Hoppy from Schinzing's AG Store, Mike from Jansen's IGA Foodliner, Jim from Schollmeyer's tavern, etc. As a group, us kids were a valuable asset to all the family owned stores in town. We were always together on our bikes, and when a truck came in to one of the stores, word got to us real quick and we all pedaled over there to help unload the truck. Most of this was just taking the boxes from the loading dock and hauling them to the store rooms and putting them on the shelves where they belong.
Kroger never did do very well in the St. Louis County area. One would open and within a couple of years, they closed down.
At that time, folks just didn't like their Blu-Ray meats, and the prices on everything was really high, compared to the other stores. But when Schnucks bought out Bettendorfs. Well let me back up a second. We had a Bettendorf's to our East, and about three more blocks there was Rapp's which was about the same size as the IGA Foodliner. Bettendorf's merged with Rapp's and was called Bettendorf/Rapp for about a year, then the Rapp name came off the sign for about 6 months, then Schnucks bought the building and renovated the whole thing and opened as Schnucks Market. They had low prices so stole many customers from the smaller grocery stores. But our family was so used to Schnizing's meats, and accustomed to the AG brand of canned goods and condiments, most of those items we still got from Schinzing's. Besides, it was less than a block from our house so mom could send us over there, and we had a charge account there too.
We did get an allowance, but it was for buying snacks at school. Besides, we were expected to work down at the greenhouses where we got paid. It wasn't much, which is why I would get small jobs on the way home from school to make extra money.
When we were young, mom was a stay at home mom. But before that, she worked as a hair dresser, and kept her license up and active most of her life. During the war, she worked as a welder in the Oregon shipyard. After the war, she went back to doing hair part-time at the local beauty shop next door to Shinzings, more as a favor than a job really. After her first baby died, she worked in the cut flower shop sending out bills, until I came along, so thereafter she was always home. Only in later years, after we had all flown the coop, did she go back to the flower shop, mainly to answer the phone and take orders.
Kroger never did do very well in the St. Louis County area. One would open and within a couple of years, they closed down.
At that time, folks just didn't like their Blu-Ray meats, and the prices on everything was really high, compared to the other stores. But when Schnucks bought out Bettendorfs. Well let me back up a second. We had a Bettendorf's to our East, and about three more blocks there was Rapp's which was about the same size as the IGA Foodliner. Bettendorf's merged with Rapp's and was called Bettendorf/Rapp for about a year, then the Rapp name came off the sign for about 6 months, then Schnucks bought the building and renovated the whole thing and opened as Schnucks Market. They had low prices so stole many customers from the smaller grocery stores. But our family was so used to Schnizing's meats, and accustomed to the AG brand of canned goods and condiments, most of those items we still got from Schinzing's. Besides, it was less than a block from our house so mom could send us over there, and we had a charge account there too.
We did get an allowance, but it was for buying snacks at school. Besides, we were expected to work down at the greenhouses where we got paid. It wasn't much, which is why I would get small jobs on the way home from school to make extra money.
When we were young, mom was a stay at home mom. But before that, she worked as a hair dresser, and kept her license up and active most of her life. During the war, she worked as a welder in the Oregon shipyard. After the war, she went back to doing hair part-time at the local beauty shop next door to Shinzings, more as a favor than a job really. After her first baby died, she worked in the cut flower shop sending out bills, until I came along, so thereafter she was always home. Only in later years, after we had all flown the coop, did she go back to the flower shop, mainly to answer the phone and take orders.
Re: Excess Deaths
I grew up inside the city limits of Chicago and didn't leave until after I was married. The house I grew up in was across the street from the apartment my newly wedded wife and I rented. It was pretty much like any city neighborhood and there was a gang of kids I hung out with until we got to high school. The homes were jammed packed side by side on what must have been no more than 30 foot frontage for the bungalows. There were some 4-flat apartments mixed in, but those were generally for older folks and not young families. We played in the streets and in the alleys most of the time, but there were a couple city parks within walking distance as well. That's where the ball games were played. You didn't need any equipment of your own either because each park had a club house with various types of equipment free to use. It was in one of those clubhouses that I learned how to play chess. The point of this story is that the community was open and visible. All the neighbors knew each other so that if you were a kid looking for trouble you had better do it outside of your neighborhood.
The visible community was still the lifestyle when we moved to the suburbs. I can't say anything was unusual about all the places I lived, until I arrived here in O'Fallon. I've told the story elsewhere how the neighbors here are very friendly when they meet you on the street, but that's the end of it. Now and days I see more kids roaming the streets than I did when we first moved in, but it's nothing like all those old neighborhoods I lived in up by Chicago. The weird part of it all is that the kids don't even play in their own back yards. Well there are a few that do, but very few and none of them seem to have fellow playmates from outside the immediate family. Thus, when the kids come knocking on my door looking for work, it is very surprising. I don't recognize any of them because their parents must keep them locked in a closet when they are not in school. It certainly is a different world down here, but I suppose it's all perfectly normal for the folks who grew up here. It's hard to guess what the kids do to earn spending money. Maybe they don't need to. All I can say is that it's nothing like my youth was.
The visible community was still the lifestyle when we moved to the suburbs. I can't say anything was unusual about all the places I lived, until I arrived here in O'Fallon. I've told the story elsewhere how the neighbors here are very friendly when they meet you on the street, but that's the end of it. Now and days I see more kids roaming the streets than I did when we first moved in, but it's nothing like all those old neighborhoods I lived in up by Chicago. The weird part of it all is that the kids don't even play in their own back yards. Well there are a few that do, but very few and none of them seem to have fellow playmates from outside the immediate family. Thus, when the kids come knocking on my door looking for work, it is very surprising. I don't recognize any of them because their parents must keep them locked in a closet when they are not in school. It certainly is a different world down here, but I suppose it's all perfectly normal for the folks who grew up here. It's hard to guess what the kids do to earn spending money. Maybe they don't need to. All I can say is that it's nothing like my youth was.
Re: Excess Deaths
When I was growing up, Des Peres was a small community, and literally, everyone knew everyone else, especially all the business owners knew each other, their wives or husbands, and all the kids, since we all played together.
Even as we got older and expanded our area, due to having cars, since the majority of us all cruised the same circuit, we were well known near most of those hot spots. Bevo Mill was down in the city, along with several other stops we hit, like Ted Drew's, etc. But you also have to realize, most of the owners of these places were in the service during WWII, and knew each other from there too, and from the VFW clubs, and local parties many of them came to.
In other words, there wasn't anyplace in the county or city where I could go that someone somewhere would know me and my parents, and word would get back to them if I was doing something not Kosher, hi hi.
Kids these days have all their electronic gizmo's and stay in there houses all day. They don't play outside until the street lights come on anymore. Not safe to do so anymore either. And of course, NONE of them want to do anything called work for a few bucks spending money. We'll never see the era in which we grew up in ever again. And I'm afraid it will only get worse!
Even as we got older and expanded our area, due to having cars, since the majority of us all cruised the same circuit, we were well known near most of those hot spots. Bevo Mill was down in the city, along with several other stops we hit, like Ted Drew's, etc. But you also have to realize, most of the owners of these places were in the service during WWII, and knew each other from there too, and from the VFW clubs, and local parties many of them came to.
In other words, there wasn't anyplace in the county or city where I could go that someone somewhere would know me and my parents, and word would get back to them if I was doing something not Kosher, hi hi.
Kids these days have all their electronic gizmo's and stay in there houses all day. They don't play outside until the street lights come on anymore. Not safe to do so anymore either. And of course, NONE of them want to do anything called work for a few bucks spending money. We'll never see the era in which we grew up in ever again. And I'm afraid it will only get worse!
Re: Excess Deaths
This place is not only friendly on the surface but also very patriotic. I never saw so many American flags flying on non holidays until I got here. Some stores have gigantic signs over their entry port claiming to love god and country and especially the veterans in the community. There are indeed VFW halls too, some of which are quite elaborate. Thus the folks here give the impression that they are friendly AND patriotic. Well, I have no problems with any of that claim. It just doesn't happen on my street. There are flags and people driving by wave to me. But none of them know so much as my name. And that includes the people I've talked to a time or two.
You are correct to point out that we will never again see the era in which we grew up. That is true for every generation. It's a truism dictated by the nature of time itself. Events can only occur once, which means the environment in which they occur changes almost immediately as a result of those events. There isn't any way to undo the changes. At best all we can do is accept the fact that we grew up in a different lifestyle and let the rest of the world do the same. There is likely some truth to the notion that things are getting worse, but I think it's really a matter of life having more opportunities now than in previous years. Thus the landscape of our existence becomes more and more complicated as we grow older. It doesn't help that we are less prone to accept changes in our later years, but that is the only way to get through life in maximum comfort. The good old days live forever in our mind's eye. I kind of like that idea because I can reminisce anytime if have a need to. Reality is a whole different situation.
You are correct to point out that we will never again see the era in which we grew up. That is true for every generation. It's a truism dictated by the nature of time itself. Events can only occur once, which means the environment in which they occur changes almost immediately as a result of those events. There isn't any way to undo the changes. At best all we can do is accept the fact that we grew up in a different lifestyle and let the rest of the world do the same. There is likely some truth to the notion that things are getting worse, but I think it's really a matter of life having more opportunities now than in previous years. Thus the landscape of our existence becomes more and more complicated as we grow older. It doesn't help that we are less prone to accept changes in our later years, but that is the only way to get through life in maximum comfort. The good old days live forever in our mind's eye. I kind of like that idea because I can reminisce anytime if have a need to. Reality is a whole different situation.
Re: Excess Deaths
I shouldn't laugh, but we see more Confederate Flags down here than our National Flag, hi hi.
Civil War Reenactments are a big thing down here too. Ironically, the South Never Wins those either, hi hi.
Ten Forty Roger on REALITY being something I don't even recognize anymore.
Kids today know a whole lot more than when we were their ages too.
But knowing more doesn't make them any smarter, usually just the opposite.
Besides being super lazy too boot.
Sorry I missed yesterday, I had to go pick up my bro-in-law from east podunk, about 20 miles away. His truck wouldn't start, and even using my jumpers and starter box, it still wouldn't start. There was nobody else he could call at the time or he wouldn't have called me. But he was really stranded. He's 82 years old and not in all that good of health himself, going downhill the past three years shows. He will have his daughter take him back out there with some parts he thinks is the problem. The basics really, a new fuel filter for the carb, not likely, a new spark coil which is what I think it was, and a new set of plugs and wires.
And I've already heard from him, it was the coil like I thought and as of about an hour ago, he's home and his truck is running like a top again. He's still going to replace the plugs, wires, and filter since he bought them.
Civil War Reenactments are a big thing down here too. Ironically, the South Never Wins those either, hi hi.
Ten Forty Roger on REALITY being something I don't even recognize anymore.
Kids today know a whole lot more than when we were their ages too.
But knowing more doesn't make them any smarter, usually just the opposite.
Besides being super lazy too boot.
Sorry I missed yesterday, I had to go pick up my bro-in-law from east podunk, about 20 miles away. His truck wouldn't start, and even using my jumpers and starter box, it still wouldn't start. There was nobody else he could call at the time or he wouldn't have called me. But he was really stranded. He's 82 years old and not in all that good of health himself, going downhill the past three years shows. He will have his daughter take him back out there with some parts he thinks is the problem. The basics really, a new fuel filter for the carb, not likely, a new spark coil which is what I think it was, and a new set of plugs and wires.
And I've already heard from him, it was the coil like I thought and as of about an hour ago, he's home and his truck is running like a top again. He's still going to replace the plugs, wires, and filter since he bought them.
Re: Excess Deaths
I've only passed through Tennessee while driving the Interstate. Actually we stayed over night in Manchester, TN, as a half way point to our final destination in North Carolina. That entire trip was the highlight of my life and I got to actually see "the South" that people like to talk about fondly. It was September right after a major hurricane (forgot the name of it) and Georgia still had scars from it along the highway in the form of horizontal trees. The most surprising and impressive thing about that trip was that contrary to my expectations I did not see one confederate flag anywhere. Most people I've talked to love their country, but the country represented by that Confederate flag isn't the same one I am living in; not even here in Missouri. It doesn't surprise me to read you comment about the flag proliferation in your state. Some things do not change, even with the passage of time.
Also surprising to me is the fact that you were able to run a rescue mission to save your wife's brother. No doubt you did the right thing, but for some reason I didn't think you went any farther than the local doctor's office and even then you are not unassisted. I can imagine the feeling of being stranded in East Podunk, and it's one of my greatest apprehensions here out in the country. I don't have any relatives at all closer than 330 miles and no neighbor phone numbers either. It's at times like that I would hope Google remains my friend, and that I'm close enough to a cell tower to make a call.
Also surprising to me is the fact that you were able to run a rescue mission to save your wife's brother. No doubt you did the right thing, but for some reason I didn't think you went any farther than the local doctor's office and even then you are not unassisted. I can imagine the feeling of being stranded in East Podunk, and it's one of my greatest apprehensions here out in the country. I don't have any relatives at all closer than 330 miles and no neighbor phone numbers either. It's at times like that I would hope Google remains my friend, and that I'm close enough to a cell tower to make a call.
Re: Excess Deaths
I'm actually surprised you didn't see at least a few pick-up trucks on the road with a confederate flag flying on them.
We have TONS of car shows down here, perhaps that's why I see so many.
I brought with me two extra portable tanks, and one of the larger tanks just in case I got stranded myself.
Fortunately, I was having a better than usual day with my breathing, and nose dripping slowed quite a bit.
Perhaps because I was doing a good deed.
My brother lives at the Duck Club which is north of you I think. And my sister lives in Springfield, MO.
Both of them came to visit me last month, which was nice to see them again.
After I wrecked my original Blazer, I never put my 2-meter and 440 rigs in the replacement one I bought.
And my handy talkies all have dead battery packs. I'm not much interested in talking to the farmers on their tractors down here, about hog calling, hi hi.
When I had my accident, the first thing I did was get a phone patch to the police from a local 2-meter repeater. There was no cell service where I had the accident. So my 2-meter rig was a blessing that day. Also the fact a club I didn't belong to let me use their repeater for a 911 call. Which I think most repeaters are set up to allow 911 calls to go through from anyone.
Many many years ago, I was stuck between two trucks, no damage to my car, but there was a serious accident, long before cell phones ever existed. Over six cars, two tractor trailers, a big truck behind me just barely stopped, and I was only like a foot behind the van in front of me.
Back then I had a semi-tune-able 2-meter transmitter, and was able to find a police car and locked onto his frequency, then I used my bandspread knob to get as close as I could to his, and he managed to hear me, at least enough to hear our location. Then I could hear him radio into the dispatcher, but couldn't hear what the dispatcher said. In any case, he was there in a flash, and within about 5 minutes, all the other services arrived on the scene.
I thought I would be in heap big trouble for using their band, which is a no no. And I was young at the time too. But later learned that in an emergency, any way you can get through is allowed to be used.
We have TONS of car shows down here, perhaps that's why I see so many.
I brought with me two extra portable tanks, and one of the larger tanks just in case I got stranded myself.
Fortunately, I was having a better than usual day with my breathing, and nose dripping slowed quite a bit.
Perhaps because I was doing a good deed.
My brother lives at the Duck Club which is north of you I think. And my sister lives in Springfield, MO.
Both of them came to visit me last month, which was nice to see them again.
After I wrecked my original Blazer, I never put my 2-meter and 440 rigs in the replacement one I bought.
And my handy talkies all have dead battery packs. I'm not much interested in talking to the farmers on their tractors down here, about hog calling, hi hi.
When I had my accident, the first thing I did was get a phone patch to the police from a local 2-meter repeater. There was no cell service where I had the accident. So my 2-meter rig was a blessing that day. Also the fact a club I didn't belong to let me use their repeater for a 911 call. Which I think most repeaters are set up to allow 911 calls to go through from anyone.
Many many years ago, I was stuck between two trucks, no damage to my car, but there was a serious accident, long before cell phones ever existed. Over six cars, two tractor trailers, a big truck behind me just barely stopped, and I was only like a foot behind the van in front of me.
Back then I had a semi-tune-able 2-meter transmitter, and was able to find a police car and locked onto his frequency, then I used my bandspread knob to get as close as I could to his, and he managed to hear me, at least enough to hear our location. Then I could hear him radio into the dispatcher, but couldn't hear what the dispatcher said. In any case, he was there in a flash, and within about 5 minutes, all the other services arrived on the scene.
I thought I would be in heap big trouble for using their band, which is a no no. And I was young at the time too. But later learned that in an emergency, any way you can get through is allowed to be used.
Re: Excess Deaths
I've listened to the 2 and the 6 meter ham bands several times on my new software toy. Once in a great while I can pick up a beacon but never any voice. I've tried nbFM and wbFM, AM, and sideband all with the same results. About the only reason I can think of to explain it is that the servers with the radio receivers are east of East Podunk. I do get a lot of low frequency amateur reception, but that's not line of sight like the VHF and UHF bands. So, I don't know what's going on up there, but whatever it is I can't hear it.
It is a surprise to me that you didn't get busted for barging in on the police com frequencies, but then it makes sense to allow it in an emergency. You are the first person I know of who did it. I knew a lot of hams back when I was active, and a few had portable rigs. Very few. I never attempted such a thing because even back then I was aware of the dangers involved with driving and trying to hold a conversation on a radio device both at the same time. Not only that, I never saw a ham radio antenna on a car that looked aesthetically pleasing. Not that any of my cars were a work of art, but still, I didn't need more ugly than I already had built in.
There was only one time I had to use my clever phone for what amounted to an emergency in the middle of the night. I had to navigate from here to an ER a couple dozen miles away and none of those roads were familiar to me. The Google Maps app literally talked me down into a perfect landing. There probably still are parts of the USA that lack good cell service so that the clever phone might not be the ultimate safety device, but it comes pretty darned close. At least it saved the day for me one time, and that alone paid back what it cost me to buy the device.
It is a surprise to me that you didn't get busted for barging in on the police com frequencies, but then it makes sense to allow it in an emergency. You are the first person I know of who did it. I knew a lot of hams back when I was active, and a few had portable rigs. Very few. I never attempted such a thing because even back then I was aware of the dangers involved with driving and trying to hold a conversation on a radio device both at the same time. Not only that, I never saw a ham radio antenna on a car that looked aesthetically pleasing. Not that any of my cars were a work of art, but still, I didn't need more ugly than I already had built in.
There was only one time I had to use my clever phone for what amounted to an emergency in the middle of the night. I had to navigate from here to an ER a couple dozen miles away and none of those roads were familiar to me. The Google Maps app literally talked me down into a perfect landing. There probably still are parts of the USA that lack good cell service so that the clever phone might not be the ultimate safety device, but it comes pretty darned close. At least it saved the day for me one time, and that alone paid back what it cost me to buy the device.
Re: Excess Deaths
I think most of the transmissions, other than local chatter, are now done using digital. Not sure about this since I've been away from it now for 20 years.
We had a couple of cops who were always on the CB bands chatting away while they patrolled the area. One of them was cool beans, the other a grumpy old codger, hi hi.
Some antenna's, especially for HF and 6-meters, can be quite gaudy on a car. But for VHF and UHF they are fairly small. You probably wouldn't even notice an antenna for 440, it's only like 6 inches long and black, usually at the back window of the car, so might be mistaken for a cell phone antenna. 220 is about 18 inches long, and 2-meters is usually around 2 feet long, and just a wire on a magnetic base is all.
Back in the 1970's and '80s, a few police stations monitored 2-meter frequency just above our allowed bands, it was reserved for emergency calls to a police station, if your rig could tune that small distance out of the allowed band. Most did if I recall.
I used to carry an older cell phone in my car, just in case I needed to use if for an emergency. At the time, you were supposed to be able to use a cell phone not connected to a provider to make a 911 call. Thankfully, I never got to test if it did that or not.
My wife's watch beeped and asked her if she had fallen and wanted to call 911, she said NO, I didn't fall.
She was trying to get the tear-off lid from a plasti-can of dog food, hi hi.
We had a couple of cops who were always on the CB bands chatting away while they patrolled the area. One of them was cool beans, the other a grumpy old codger, hi hi.
Some antenna's, especially for HF and 6-meters, can be quite gaudy on a car. But for VHF and UHF they are fairly small. You probably wouldn't even notice an antenna for 440, it's only like 6 inches long and black, usually at the back window of the car, so might be mistaken for a cell phone antenna. 220 is about 18 inches long, and 2-meters is usually around 2 feet long, and just a wire on a magnetic base is all.
Back in the 1970's and '80s, a few police stations monitored 2-meter frequency just above our allowed bands, it was reserved for emergency calls to a police station, if your rig could tune that small distance out of the allowed band. Most did if I recall.
I used to carry an older cell phone in my car, just in case I needed to use if for an emergency. At the time, you were supposed to be able to use a cell phone not connected to a provider to make a 911 call. Thankfully, I never got to test if it did that or not.
My wife's watch beeped and asked her if she had fallen and wanted to call 911, she said NO, I didn't fall.
She was trying to get the tear-off lid from a plasti-can of dog food, hi hi.
Re: Excess Deaths
My clever phone has the same software that your wife has in her watch (which is paired to her cell phone). The app description says that it monitors the sounds and the g-forces constantly. If the right sequence of sounds are heard, it will ask the same question Debi's watch asked her. Should I not respond, a call to 911 is made and the phone knows where I am located because of it's GPS capability. Apple watches have the ability to detect when a person falls and is not in a vehicle. My wife's Android phone could have the same emergency call software that I have on my phone, but she did not activate it. She got the watch so that she has a way to get help if she is walking. Only AFTER we bought the watch were we told that fall detector is coming this spring. I'm not sure why she requested the watch, but she is certainly enjoying the use of it.
One day recently my wife of many years made an unexpected (by me) trip to her doctor's office. Apparently the new smart watch she wears was telling her that her pulse rate was high. She was rightly concerned but I told her that I didn't have a lot of confidence in what the watch claims and that going to the doctor was the best option. Her pulse is in fact running high. The damned watch was right all along. Wife is on some kind of thyroid medication and they are going to adjust that dosage before they get a cardiologist involved. They did an EKG and that turned out OK, and then they dug up some past records to show her pulse has been high for many years. We'll see what comes from that, but the amazing part of this story is that the clever watch was indeed pretty clever.
One day recently my wife of many years made an unexpected (by me) trip to her doctor's office. Apparently the new smart watch she wears was telling her that her pulse rate was high. She was rightly concerned but I told her that I didn't have a lot of confidence in what the watch claims and that going to the doctor was the best option. Her pulse is in fact running high. The damned watch was right all along. Wife is on some kind of thyroid medication and they are going to adjust that dosage before they get a cardiologist involved. They did an EKG and that turned out OK, and then they dug up some past records to show her pulse has been high for many years. We'll see what comes from that, but the amazing part of this story is that the clever watch was indeed pretty clever.
Re: Excess Deaths
They sure pack a lot of things into those watches these days.
Can't even set the time on one unless you own a Schmartz-Fone.
It took me about ten hours total, to amass all the data, make copies of it, convert it to PDF, only to find I had to Print it all out and FAX it to them.
So then I had to figure out how to get the FAX going on my printer. The first couple of ways didn't work.
OK, what gives here?
I called Ooma and told them a test FAX I sent to my brother came out all garbled.
The commenced to explain how VoIP works and why you can't send a FAX over VoIP UNLESS the VoIP provider has a special set-up for FAXes. And it just so happened that my Ooma had such a service already set-up. And it was simple. Just hit *99 first and then the number. OK, still didn't work, but that was because I forgot to put a #1 in front of the area code.
Ran a test FAX to my brother and it came out perfectly.
So then, I had to FAX all 18 pages requested by the credit card company.
All of that is what consumed about 10 hours of my time.
And I've still not heard back from the CC company.
Can't even set the time on one unless you own a Schmartz-Fone.
It took me about ten hours total, to amass all the data, make copies of it, convert it to PDF, only to find I had to Print it all out and FAX it to them.
So then I had to figure out how to get the FAX going on my printer. The first couple of ways didn't work.
OK, what gives here?
I called Ooma and told them a test FAX I sent to my brother came out all garbled.
The commenced to explain how VoIP works and why you can't send a FAX over VoIP UNLESS the VoIP provider has a special set-up for FAXes. And it just so happened that my Ooma had such a service already set-up. And it was simple. Just hit *99 first and then the number. OK, still didn't work, but that was because I forgot to put a #1 in front of the area code.
Ran a test FAX to my brother and it came out perfectly.
So then, I had to FAX all 18 pages requested by the credit card company.
All of that is what consumed about 10 hours of my time.
And I've still not heard back from the CC company.
Re: Excess Deaths
There are a lot of sensors in those smart wrist watches, and a small CPU. It's not big enough to do most of the data processing that needs to be done to perform the fancy tricks the sensors allow. Plus, there is no Internet connection in those watches unless you want to pay a lot more than the base price, and in that case the size of the watch also increases. Pairing it all to a smartphone (or other computer) is also a way to assure security should you happen to lose the watch. It's useless to anybody other than the person with the paired smartphone.
I think I missed something in your last reply. Apparently you had to provide a lot of documentation to a credit card company, and they wanted it by FAX. I had no idea VOIP was not intrinsically capable of FAX transmissions, but then it is digital instead of analog. I guess that makes a difference. I had FAX capability on my Windows 98 machine and used it several times. Then e-mail was invented and electronic signatures so that FAX became obsolete. There was a need for a FAX, for reasons I don't recall, when we sold the last house. I could not get Windows 7 to do it. They do have the software built in, but for whatever reason I could not make the connection. Doesn't matter now and days. Adobe has a wonderful system for verifying signatures electronically which virtually eliminates the need for FAX most of the time. I suppose there are some old school lawyers or government agencies who still want the paper, but I've don't some pretty fancy things without it, including applying for a passport.
I think I missed something in your last reply. Apparently you had to provide a lot of documentation to a credit card company, and they wanted it by FAX. I had no idea VOIP was not intrinsically capable of FAX transmissions, but then it is digital instead of analog. I guess that makes a difference. I had FAX capability on my Windows 98 machine and used it several times. Then e-mail was invented and electronic signatures so that FAX became obsolete. There was a need for a FAX, for reasons I don't recall, when we sold the last house. I could not get Windows 7 to do it. They do have the software built in, but for whatever reason I could not make the connection. Doesn't matter now and days. Adobe has a wonderful system for verifying signatures electronically which virtually eliminates the need for FAX most of the time. I suppose there are some old school lawyers or government agencies who still want the paper, but I've don't some pretty fancy things without it, including applying for a passport.
Re: Excess Deaths
I think the app you put in the Schmartz-Fone is what does all the computational work for those watches.
I had a stand-alone FAX machine I just threw away about 6 months ago.
A couple of my computers could FAX also, over the landline of course.
There are free on-line places you can FAX from, but they have a limit, and I had too many pages for any of them.
Then I remembered my Printer can send faxes it scans, but not from the computer.
Which is why I had to print them all out to FAX them.
Took a while to test and figure out why it wasn't working over VoIP, so a little on-line search turned up the fact you can't FAX over VoIP unless your VoIP provider has a special code to FAX.
So I called Ooma and they told me they do and how to do it.
I had a stand-alone FAX machine I just threw away about 6 months ago.
A couple of my computers could FAX also, over the landline of course.
There are free on-line places you can FAX from, but they have a limit, and I had too many pages for any of them.
Then I remembered my Printer can send faxes it scans, but not from the computer.
Which is why I had to print them all out to FAX them.
Took a while to test and figure out why it wasn't working over VoIP, so a little on-line search turned up the fact you can't FAX over VoIP unless your VoIP provider has a special code to FAX.
So I called Ooma and they told me they do and how to do it.
Re: Excess Deaths
The phone app that goes with the wrist watch is basically a database. Things like WiFi and Internet connections are performed by the phone itself. I've seen watches that have Internet built in, but I am not sure about how they do it technically. Apparently you don't need a phone in that case nor a router and modem. It must be done over the cell phone network, or something. You still need the app if you want to keep long term records. In any case it's bad enough having a watch on your wrist that transmits WiFi frequencies. A wireless internet connection would need a lot more power and I'd be hesitant to irradiate my wrists like that. I don't even put my clever phone to my ear when I make phone calls. I typically use the speaker phone option.
I'm pretty sure my current HP printer has an rj11 jack for FAX purposes, but it also has a web server built in. I can use that to send FAX over the internet. I don't think it was the current printer I tried to use as a FAX machine and failed, but apparently it can all be done on my All In One.
I'm pretty sure my current HP printer has an rj11 jack for FAX purposes, but it also has a web server built in. I can use that to send FAX over the internet. I don't think it was the current printer I tried to use as a FAX machine and failed, but apparently it can all be done on my All In One.
Re: Excess Deaths
Debi can check her e-mail from her iPhone, and before that from her Android phone.
I think they are trying to do way too many things with a wrist watch these days.
Next we will have Buck Rogers Super Decoder Rings or an equivalent thereof, hi hi.
I see folks with these white ear buds jabbering away. Don't know where the mike is though. I'm sure it all works through their cellphone somehow. Debi has some earbuds to hear her cell phone over, but she talks into her cell phone or her wrist watch.
She can take a phone call on her wrist watch too, hi hi.
Once I learned the *99 trick for Ooma to switch to FAX mode, no more problems sending out a FAX.
The only thing annoying is, when my phone rings for any purpose, the printer activates.
I had my brother send me a fax and it came through and printed out just fine.
I think they are trying to do way too many things with a wrist watch these days.
Next we will have Buck Rogers Super Decoder Rings or an equivalent thereof, hi hi.
I see folks with these white ear buds jabbering away. Don't know where the mike is though. I'm sure it all works through their cellphone somehow. Debi has some earbuds to hear her cell phone over, but she talks into her cell phone or her wrist watch.
She can take a phone call on her wrist watch too, hi hi.
Once I learned the *99 trick for Ooma to switch to FAX mode, no more problems sending out a FAX.
The only thing annoying is, when my phone rings for any purpose, the printer activates.
I had my brother send me a fax and it came through and printed out just fine.
Re: Excess Deaths
The original intent for those wearable computers, such as was the FitBit, was to monitor your body for health purposes. I still have my original FitBit and that's the one that doesn't correlate blood pressure readings anywhere near reality. Be that as it may, the intent was for it to be a health monitor. Computers and cell phones started out the same way. Their initial purpose was limited which made them somewhat easier to use than today's beasts. But, as is wont to happen, marketing people took over a perfectly good product and screwed it up royally. One perfect example of that is the Windows operating system. If you took out all the telemetry related to marketing and all the ad based programming, Windows would be the perfect operating system. Part of it is due to the fickled nature of the consumer. Simple and working fine isn't good enough. So now we have wrist watches that can do what computers do which overlaps mobile devices and cell phone products. They are all merging into one broad package of services you can have in different formats.
Things like e-mail, text messaging, and even browsers are fundamental elements in any computer type device. That's fine with the exception that all the major players have their own version of each. The native e=mail on your Android device isn't the same as the native e-mail on your iPhone, and they both are not like Microsoft's Hotmail. To make matters simple(?) you can sync them all on all your devices, which means you will have a minimum of three e-mail clients running via an additional third party local aggregator. In the end it's all e-mail, but setting it up could be a challenge.
Receiving FAX messages could be slightly confusing if you only have one phone line. Back at the old house I had two phone lines (billed to one account) and dedicated one of them to data only. Thus any ringing on that data line number had to be a FAX or phone spam. Regardless, I never answered incoming calls on that second number. That second phone line, by the way, was the one with a dedicated DSL signal. When I got a cell phone and decided we don't need a landline anymore, the phone company would not disable just the analog line and leave the DSL line in place. There had to be two numbers associated with DSL service, or just one line with DSL and filters. That dedicated DSL line didn't need the filters which made my life easier, but the phone company refused to give me a stand alone DSL line. Something was illegal about that.
Things like e-mail, text messaging, and even browsers are fundamental elements in any computer type device. That's fine with the exception that all the major players have their own version of each. The native e=mail on your Android device isn't the same as the native e-mail on your iPhone, and they both are not like Microsoft's Hotmail. To make matters simple(?) you can sync them all on all your devices, which means you will have a minimum of three e-mail clients running via an additional third party local aggregator. In the end it's all e-mail, but setting it up could be a challenge.
Receiving FAX messages could be slightly confusing if you only have one phone line. Back at the old house I had two phone lines (billed to one account) and dedicated one of them to data only. Thus any ringing on that data line number had to be a FAX or phone spam. Regardless, I never answered incoming calls on that second number. That second phone line, by the way, was the one with a dedicated DSL signal. When I got a cell phone and decided we don't need a landline anymore, the phone company would not disable just the analog line and leave the DSL line in place. There had to be two numbers associated with DSL service, or just one line with DSL and filters. That dedicated DSL line didn't need the filters which made my life easier, but the phone company refused to give me a stand alone DSL line. Something was illegal about that.
Re: Excess Deaths
I know many folks who have moved up to Tablets and abandoned their actual cell phones.
It sorta goes with something I've said all along.
Once we got transistor radios small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, folks began carrying boom boxes around on their shoulders.
I keep waiting to see folks walking around with a 55 inch monitor on their shoulders, hi hi. Not that big of course, buy you catch my drift there. Super large screen cell phones that are now Tablet sized, hi hi.
Back before 800 numbers became popular, at my house in Creve Coeur, I had an Inward WATTS dedicated telephone, a dedicated FAX phone and FAX machine, plus TWO phone lines, one business and one residential.
The main reason I had the Inward WATTS line had nothing to do with business, and everything to do with the kids being able to call home from anywhere, even if they had no money on them. You could call a WATTS line from a pay phone without putting coins in the phone.
I even kept my two line phones when I moved south, and used Debi's mom's number for line one, and my number for line two.
I have two phone numbers on VoIP, but they both ring to the same phone, so I don't know which number they called from. And I cannot call one number from the other number either on the same phones.
I only tried DSL one time, and it was horrible. Mainly due to the super old telephones lines from the 1940s that were never replaced. They took a survey of our two subdivisions about a year ago, as AT&T was looking for who might switch to their Fiber Optics system. What they learned from this is basically we would consider it, and that almost nobody in our two subdivisions still have MaBell landlines at all. They rely mainly on cell phones, or like I do, on VoIP systems.
Almost everybody who has Cable Internet, has their e-mail service on Cable. Many also had web pages. But Comcast cut out personal web pages which is why I had to go with a separate host provider.
AT&T is not offering even an e-mail account with their basic Fiber, unless you want to pay extra for e-mail, and other things.
Which is probably why I should get my e-mail set-up better on my Host providers service. Right now I have the basic e-mail there for Admin, Webmin, and a few others they set-up for us automatically, but they all roll over to my Comcast e-mail.
It sorta goes with something I've said all along.
Once we got transistor radios small enough to fit in a shirt pocket, folks began carrying boom boxes around on their shoulders.
I keep waiting to see folks walking around with a 55 inch monitor on their shoulders, hi hi. Not that big of course, buy you catch my drift there. Super large screen cell phones that are now Tablet sized, hi hi.
Back before 800 numbers became popular, at my house in Creve Coeur, I had an Inward WATTS dedicated telephone, a dedicated FAX phone and FAX machine, plus TWO phone lines, one business and one residential.
The main reason I had the Inward WATTS line had nothing to do with business, and everything to do with the kids being able to call home from anywhere, even if they had no money on them. You could call a WATTS line from a pay phone without putting coins in the phone.
I even kept my two line phones when I moved south, and used Debi's mom's number for line one, and my number for line two.
I have two phone numbers on VoIP, but they both ring to the same phone, so I don't know which number they called from. And I cannot call one number from the other number either on the same phones.
I only tried DSL one time, and it was horrible. Mainly due to the super old telephones lines from the 1940s that were never replaced. They took a survey of our two subdivisions about a year ago, as AT&T was looking for who might switch to their Fiber Optics system. What they learned from this is basically we would consider it, and that almost nobody in our two subdivisions still have MaBell landlines at all. They rely mainly on cell phones, or like I do, on VoIP systems.
Almost everybody who has Cable Internet, has their e-mail service on Cable. Many also had web pages. But Comcast cut out personal web pages which is why I had to go with a separate host provider.
AT&T is not offering even an e-mail account with their basic Fiber, unless you want to pay extra for e-mail, and other things.
Which is probably why I should get my e-mail set-up better on my Host providers service. Right now I have the basic e-mail there for Admin, Webmin, and a few others they set-up for us automatically, but they all roll over to my Comcast e-mail.
Re: Excess Deaths
I recall reading an article several years ago predicting landlines would disappear by now. That article is not too far off the mark, but I don't think they can entirely eliminate hard wired phones. Some people, and not only in rural areas, don't have a cell phone, if you can believe that. Those same people might not even have a computer, much less a tablet nor any high tech portable communications device. As much as the phone company would like to, they can't just cut off the service to those folks. Fiber can be made to simulate hard wire so that converting to it would not be an issue to those old school phone people.
They way I see it is that tablets can do anything a smartphone can do, but if you want to use it to make phone calls you still need the smartphone for the connection. That's the identical situation with wrist watches that are paired to a smartphone. All the phone network hardware is in the phone and not in the tablet or the watch. My laptop, can be paired with my smartphone but only for making phone calls. At least that is all Windows allows. Other third party apps give you full access to the smartphone features such as e-mail, instant messaging, and file transfers. The point I'm making is that they all can work together so that they all look as if they are one fully integrated system. If all you want to do is make a phone call from your device, you will have a very difficult time finding such a device. On the other hand, those are the preferred devices for organized terror groups who only need a phone to make a single call.
All two of my Internet service providers over the years offered pretty much the same services. Their primary job was to connect me to the Internet, but e-mail and server space for a web site generally is included in he same package. I have all that with Spectrum but never configured their e-mail service nor even know how to put my web site on their server. I don't want to do any of that with my ISP because their way of doing things is crap. This web site comes with an e-mail service and I do use that to administer the site, but nothing else. I have several other web mail type accounts that actually are useful and without restrictions. I don't use the Spectrum web hosting either for exactly that reason. I can do anything I want with my hosting service and use some sophisticated tools to do it too. The only problem with Spectrum is that it is insanely expensive. I can get a landline cheaper direct from Ma Bell. Unfortunately doing that would increase the price I pay Spectrum. If I don't buy their package, I pay full retail price. A lot of people are simply abandoning cable television service for that reason. You can subscribe to several streaming services for what it costs to get next to nothing from Spectrum.
They way I see it is that tablets can do anything a smartphone can do, but if you want to use it to make phone calls you still need the smartphone for the connection. That's the identical situation with wrist watches that are paired to a smartphone. All the phone network hardware is in the phone and not in the tablet or the watch. My laptop, can be paired with my smartphone but only for making phone calls. At least that is all Windows allows. Other third party apps give you full access to the smartphone features such as e-mail, instant messaging, and file transfers. The point I'm making is that they all can work together so that they all look as if they are one fully integrated system. If all you want to do is make a phone call from your device, you will have a very difficult time finding such a device. On the other hand, those are the preferred devices for organized terror groups who only need a phone to make a single call.
All two of my Internet service providers over the years offered pretty much the same services. Their primary job was to connect me to the Internet, but e-mail and server space for a web site generally is included in he same package. I have all that with Spectrum but never configured their e-mail service nor even know how to put my web site on their server. I don't want to do any of that with my ISP because their way of doing things is crap. This web site comes with an e-mail service and I do use that to administer the site, but nothing else. I have several other web mail type accounts that actually are useful and without restrictions. I don't use the Spectrum web hosting either for exactly that reason. I can do anything I want with my hosting service and use some sophisticated tools to do it too. The only problem with Spectrum is that it is insanely expensive. I can get a landline cheaper direct from Ma Bell. Unfortunately doing that would increase the price I pay Spectrum. If I don't buy their package, I pay full retail price. A lot of people are simply abandoning cable television service for that reason. You can subscribe to several streaming services for what it costs to get next to nothing from Spectrum.