Fasting BG 2021

[bigskygal]

114 this blue sky morning.

82° was the high here yesterday, today's forecast is even better at 75°/43°. I don't do well in the heat.

Wally, there is a gal in the next town that does computer repairs, Bev the Geek, is the company name. I talked to her when my last Apple laptop died with the "pink screen of death". I would never venture any repair, but she has a very good reputation and I would feel safe with her if I needed anything fixed/replaced.

[skb]

Although I have assembled a PC back in the 90s, today's gadgets are too compact for my liking. While at the same time there's more of plug and play so parts replacement can be DIY in most cases.

121 this morning.

[Grammabear]

93 this morning.

I am grateful for people who understand computers and can build one.  I am not blessed with that ability and rely on someone else to help me when my PC is sick.

We have two Amaryllis in full bloom under a shade tree now.  They normally bloom at Christmas time.

[Tamagno]

153 this morning.

Wally, I've got an old Macbook and I realized I just keep it plugged in as it never goes anywhere - last resort before hiring a pro.

Its beautiful here today - the sort of day that reminds me why I bought this joint in the first place - the sun is shining and warm and plants everywhere have turned that beautiful lush green that always comes with spring.

[walkerwally1]

89 this morning.  Spring is long gone here.  Our high yesterday was 114° and it is supposed to be the same today.  We started with 85° at 5:30 AM so it probably will get to that at least. 
Actually building a PC is not that hard and it is pretty much just plug and play.  A windows laptop is larger and easier to modify than an Apple device.  The Macbook is much more difficult to work on because it is smaller and lighter and very much all crammed together so it is quite a challenge to work on but that is also why it can be as thin and light as it is.  I may not attempt to work on it but then again it is a challenge.  The down side is that the attempt may brick the device and right now it works just fine.  It could be sent to Apple or a third party for the replacement but what fun is that ?

[bigskygal]

101 this blue sky morning.

81° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 81°/39° still pretty cool at night.

I'm with you Grammabear, no way am I able to fix my computer! I too am grateful for those people that have the skills to do it!!

[skb]

120 today morning.

While on the subject of DIY, I'm reminded of a very interesting person I met in the year 2007. Apologies for this long post but he deserves this.

In 2007 I was deep in the jungles of central India and we had driven there in my Mitsubishi Pajero which was not a common vehicle in those days. Now Pajeros are made here. While in the forests, we developed a snag in the power steering system and it became very difficult to drive the car on the narrow and curving forest paths. Under the hood, we could see that the oil for the power steering was leaking pretty badly, but were in no position to do anything about it. Somehow, we drove the car back to Nagpur, some 200 kms away, replacing the oil every few kms.

Nagpur which is a big city in terms of size, did not have a Mitsubishi dealership and none of the local garages were of any help. It was impossible to drive the car back to Mumbai 1300 kms away in that condition. Someone remembered that an uncle of a friend used to recreate old WW2 Jeeps for Sale and we ended up at his house plus workshop, which sadly was more of a shanty. This man turned out to be Iqbal Ahmed, an uneducated genius, who held the Guinness World Record for making the world's smallest working Steam Engine. His passion is to also make working miniature train sets, that somehow he has been able to display all over the world.

Iqbal Ahmed looked under our car's hood, asked his son to go to the local hardware store and buy a couple of "O" rings of a particular size. Once he had the rings, he was able to machine them a bit to the perfect size, and we had a working power steering in all of 30-45 minutes, while we were treated to have a look at his World record creation, and all the other fascinating things he had made.

Of course we were very grateful but I was sad that one of the country's best brains was living in such conditions. For 2-3 years, I tried very hard to get him a small plot of land allotted from the government quota as in my opinion he deserved to have a comfortable life. Even with all my efforts, I was unable to do anything for him and that is something that makes me unhappy even today.

Thanks for reading. 

[Tamagno]

120 this morning.

SKB, that's a great story; thanks for sharing it. It reminds me of a guy I met some years back albeit on the opposite side of creativity who built much of the giant staturary we see in U. S. Cities. A very unassuming man who, unless you were invited into his inner circle, looked and acted like just another old-time kind of guy.  A tour of the 30+ acrees he lived and worked on were amazing bits of huge statuary littering the grounds in one instance undergoing repair to return to their places at the head of the Holland tunnel in New York City. If asked, he would describe himself as a welder. An amazing understatement.

As for attempting repairs to my electronics, Wally, I might well attempt such a thing but I know myself well enough to know that I'd probably come upon something unexpected and make a mess of it. Best for me to try those things when I'm ready to get rid of the device...

[Grammabear]

114 this morning.

skb - Thank you for sharing a wonderful story about a brilliant man you met.  Who would have thought your mechanical situation would be solved with an 'O' ring modified for the car?

Has anyone noticed the increase in television commercials for continuous glucose monitoring devices and insulin pumps?  We've noticed the Dexcom G6 being advertised towards Type 2 diabetics as well as the Libre.  And just last night we saw one for the OmniPod.

[walkerwally1]

91 this morning.  Still around 113° for the next couple of days and then it is supposed to cool down a little.  Wednesday it hit 129° in Death Valley which is only a couple of hours drive from here.  Started out at 90° at 6:00 AM and right now it is starting to sprinkle which is not a good thing as the humidity is going to be a lot higher than usual. 
A good story SKB.  One of the things that is amazing to me thanks to the internet is the incredible talent so many people have and the things that they come up with.  The "maker" community is full of talent for creating things and that is what got me interested in 3D printing.  I don't have that talent but they share their gift to anyone else to use. 
Tamagno, I don't have any particular talent but I do like to tinker and sometimes it works !   
Grammabear, I don't really pay any attention to ads for CGM devices.  As a type 2 Medicare doesn't think they are necessary unless you are taking insulin and will not pat for it.  I tried the Libre and it was informative but just too expensive to continue.  Medicare like most doctors just want you to take a pill and don't bother to test. 

[bigskygal]

114 this blue sky morning.

75° was the high yesterday, today's forecast is 86°/43°.

Thanks for sharing that story skb. Sounds like he was a very interesting and talented man.

Yes, Grammabear, I have noticed all the ads for CGM devices. But as Wally said, as a non-insulin dependant T2 I would get no coverage to get one no matter how convenient one might be.

[Grammabear]

120 today morning.

While on the subject of DIY, I'm reminded of a very interesting person I met in the year 2007. Apologies for this long post but he deserves this.

In 2007 I was deep in the jungles of central India and we had driven there in my Mitsubishi Pajero which was not a common vehicle in those days. Now Pajeros are made here. While in the forests, we developed a snag in the power steering system and it became very difficult to drive the car on the narrow and curving forest paths. Under the hood, we could see that the oil for the power steering was leaking pretty badly, but were in no position to do anything about it. Somehow, we drove the car back to Nagpur, some 200 kms away, replacing the oil every few kms.

Nagpur which is a big city in terms of size, did not have a Mitsubishi dealership and none of the local garages were of any help. It was impossible to drive the car back to Mumbai 1300 kms away in that condition. Someone remembered that an uncle of a friend used to recreate old WW2 Jeeps for Sale and we ended up at his house plus workshop, which sadly was more of a shanty. This man turned out to be Iqbal Ahmed, an uneducated genius, who held the Guinness World Record for making the world's smallest working Steam Engine. His passion is to also make working miniature train sets, that somehow he has been able to display all over the world.

Iqbal Ahmed looked under our car's hood, asked his son to go to the local hardware store and buy a couple of "O" rings of a particular size. Once he had the rings, he was able to machine them a bit to the perfect size, and we had a working power steering in all of 30-45 minutes, while we were treated to have a look at his World record creation, and all the other fascinating things he had made.

Of course we were very grateful but I was sad that one of the country's best brains was living in such conditions. For 2-3 years, I tried very hard to get him a small plot of land allotted from the government quota as in my opinion he deserved to have a comfortable life. Even with all my efforts, I was unable to do anything for him and that is something that makes me unhappy even today.

Thanks for reading. 

skb ~ I clicked on the link provided in your post and was pleasantly surprised to learn this man made his models on a 6 ft lathe machine.  My husband just retired last year from almost 50 years as a lathe machinist.  He so enjoyed reading about this man.  Thank You again for sharing the post.

[skb]

skb ~ I clicked on the link provided in your post and was pleasantly surprised to learn this man made his models on a 6 ft lathe machine.  My husband just retired last year from almost 50 years as a lathe machinist.  He so enjoyed reading about this man.  Thank You again for sharing the post.

Yes the guy did all that he did on a manual machine. A CNC lathe was out of the question. He could barely feed his family. Your husband will surely enjoy seeing more of his creations here. All images can be clicked to see in larger size.

His son, who is completely deaf and dumb, makes matchbox car replicas out of cardboard. Hard to tell that they are not metallic until you pick them up. If you Google "Iqbal Ahmed Nagpur" you will come up with a lot of his videos where he can be seen riding his toy trains.

[Tamagno]

115 this morning.

SKB, I followed the link to look at the fellow's work you mentioned. Its so admirable to hear of people who have the skill, patience and knowledge necessary for that.

I haven't seen the CGM ads but I seem to hear about them frequently. There's also chatter in tech blogs about Apple joining the fray. That's been a persistent rumor for a few years now, but its increased as interest in smart watch biometrics increases and more people are using them. Mostly the stumbling blocks are regulatory.

[Grammabear]

117 this morning.

skb - My husband was a CNC machinist for a very long time.  I don't know if he also could ran a manual lathe.  Thank you for providing additional information on Iqbal Ahmed.  He is a most interesting man.

I have never understood the Apple watch "attraction".  I have no desire to own a watch that costs so much because I would be consistently removing it to wash my hands while performing kitchen chores.