Lincoln’s match, similarly, was set into play by the firing on Fort Sumter. Buchanan had been an inept leader, so his follies became Abraham’s victory.
Moses did not become great for the forty or so years that his group wandered around the dessert. It was only when they came near crisis that he could bring out his ten-point program of leadership, and have it become a template for so many and so long a time.
There are deniers right now, too many of them; denying the state of the housekeeping of the planet and of the state’s budget. As long as there is that quorum of deniers there can be no opportunity for the likes of a Churchill, Lincoln, Moses, FDR.
Right now I can think of no person better qualified to be President; however, he is not in a place to lead. Not yet.
It would take smarter people than I am to know when this country will be ready for change, all I know is, not yet.
Perhaps it will be in Obama’s time, but not quite yet.
This country is not on the edge of defeat by the greatest army in the world; the Constitution and coherence of these United States are not yet at risk.
Two great military nations have not set up the game so that a Roosevelt can make that speech that signified his leading.
It is not easy to accept that the U. S. will need to be in more dire circumstances than now, not something any person would wish–except that it seems to be necessary, if history is any lesson.

Last autumn I bought a new computer that runs Windows 7; Abbott, in all its wisdom, refuses to update their software from XP or Vista (perhaps they want to see if W7 will be around for a while, or are waiting for W8 or 9?
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I had been storing all of my medical data onto Google Health; a handy and friendly way to carry around info on my Rx’s and phone numbers etc. Either give the doctor’s nurse access to my Google account, or to download everything onto a Flash Drive kept on my key-chain. I used it many times, easily, because the format was PDF, which any machine can read.
Google is discontinuing Google Health and recommend MS Healthvault instead.
The Abbott meter was no good any longer, and I had waited long enough for them to enter this century. So my pharmacist let me try Bayer ContourUSB meter. I won’t go into details, except to say that an hour and a half on the phone with “Charles” from Bayer tech. service finally got the software loaded and recognizing the data from the meter. But then HealthVault wouldn’t recognize the meter. I am sure that I could spend time with a MS tech. person, but enough is enough.
Then I tried Truetrack; I plugged the gadget into a USB port, the software was found and installed automatically, the data was instantly seen on my HealthVault page. The process took just a couple of minutes; true plug and play. The only downside to Healthvault is that the reports are in csv format for Exel, not PDF, they have not said that they will make the easier and more common format available for customers.
So, if you are thinking of using your computer to manage glucose readings, make sure that it will work. Both Abbott and Bayer did not work for me. Abbott denies that they are refusing W7, but it has been out there for a while now.
I do not work for any manufacturer, I receive no money or free goods for this–I just want to pass along the caution.
This would make a good gift for an elder, like myself, so that everything is handy and easily accessed.

There came times when I ask this question; why get out of bed today?  At first inertia is reason enough to get up and make coffee, also, my will pushes back  morbid notions.  But there was something missing.  I need a reason other than a push from behind, something to draw me forward; but new roles don’t come with the morning mail anymore.  ”What do you want to be when you grow up?” not heard in a long, long time.

I have asked others their answer to the question, the most common answer is,  just be yourself.  A response that tells me that this person has never asked the existential question, what am I about?  Remember Aristotle’s statement that the unexamined life is not worth living, this is what he meant.  For those who never ask, comes the rude awakening when the usual roles of middle-life disappear; what do I do now that I don’t work, am not a parent, and all the other usual ones?

I was at that place not too long ago; uneasy that I have perhaps a decade or two more to live, but don’t know how to fill the time.  I could sit in a lawn chair and read Tom Clancey drivel, watch the clock for cocktail hour(s), watch Oprah Pablum.  Look around at elders, this is what many are about, and they don’t feel good about it either.

But I have a role; it began  when I was five years old, with varying effort ever since, can perform it up and until it is time to go into the box.

I am a writer.

When the question comes up in the morning; why get up?  Because I write.  When I am uncertain or uneasy about so many things in my life, I write about them.  There are rare instances, like this one, when I allow others to read;  I write for the pleasure and fulfillment of it.  When writing of the weather what words can I use instead of overcast skies?  I have used all the usual ones, time for something different; the searching for alternatives is fun, using just the right word and phrase is worthwhile work.

What I write is life as reflected from my soul.

This little article comes under the same category as recent pain postings; have alternatives, there are always alternatives ready to be used, whether roles or pain relief they are there for each of us.

The large view of our situation  shows great difficulties, for now and ahead; that what we thought was the right way to conduct our affairs was wrong.  I can see that.  Yet great uncertainty prompts  me to look to what is always greater than my mundane self; and to take comfort in knowing that the  grand, and ineffable I see, is  permanent, in this world of change.

Perhaps what the G. O. P. is doing is merely process; they are at that stage of anger and rejection; my comments then would be  just those of my impatience as I wait for them to catch up, always waiting for them to catch up?

None of what is ahead is certain– except that we will have to face criticism of what we are about, and  have the strength to radically change course.

Without listing all the drugs and methods that were tried, and without making this mypity party just know that I have tried everything I could find in these last three decades. But this last iteration came in response to increasing pain levels and to longer periods of discomfort. Things were more and more matters for mindful acceptance, the technique that I have employ not only for pain, but heart, cancerwhy and brain problems.

After reviewing my history, listening to my mood and attitude, my pain management doc. asked me if I would like to try morphine.
As I have written previously, this was a surprise; why the biggest gun in the pain game had never come up in conversations with any doctor? But now I was being offered the chance to play a new game, with stronger equipment.

Morphine has succeeded where everything else failed. It does take some getting used to, partly as the name morphine carries so much baggage, also my body had to become accustomed to this stuff. But, because it does work, I have learned how to manage my pain, how to trade off some discomfort in return for a clearer head.

I suggest that if your pain is out of control, you might consider talking to your doctor about morphine. There are a very wide range of dosages; I began small, and it works immediately. They assure me that I can take this for the rest of my life with little fear of addiction, people in pain tend not to become addicts.

When a person believes that there are no alternatives to whatever mess they are in, then things can get real bad, no one wants to flirt with suicide. There is always something else to consider, this is one example.

It is important that those of us who have had progress share the news with others, if you have something to add, please do so.

I am going to use this venue to vent frustration with Carbonite backup service that I have subscribed to for some years, and had recommended it often. Recommendations even though I had yet to need restoration

Recently I had a computer go bad, there were a couple of hardware problems that made it bad and so was replaced. During the last days of the old machine I used the restore function and Carbonite twice. Then I bought the new Dell, new to me, and requested Carbonite to restore all my files.

I write this after using their chat service five times, read their tutorials, and just plain thought about why my files did not come back. Only about eight files from the last eight years were brought back. Four Carbonite Restore Reports contain many, if not all, of my file names; but there is no way of opening these files. The files have suffixes that are foreign to me such as:.wdb, .idif, .msf and .asx. I researched a couple of these online and found their sources; still no way to open even one of them.

Frustration came as the persons on the other end of the chat-help had me repeat what I have done, never answering the question of how can I get to these files restored to their original locations. I twice asked that they do remote access of my PC to either show me, or better yet open the files. No, and no reason why they wouldn’t do this; they may have a good reason, but why not share that argument?

I don’t like to bitch, only do it rarely, the last was years ago , about MagicJack and they way that they were handling problems. I post this to let out some of the frustration that builds when long-distance-support only follows a script. I am not saying to anyone that they should ignore Carbonite or cancel subscriptions, just be careful, check to see if the service really restores your computer back to what it had been.

I first subscribe because everything about it was automatic, requiring me to do nothing but renew my subscription. Restoration was to be automatic, it is anything but.

Let me suggest that the label and qualities be put aside for a short time; instead explore what is behind all inquiries of God and self, what is your ultimate concern?