Michael Louis Scott June 1997 to Date

Note: <888> 08/25/04  Wednesday 6:05 A.M.:  I made and ate my usual salad www.geocities.com/mikelscott/salad.htm .  I did not have garlic to make a fresh batch of hummus www.geocities.com/mikelscott/hummus.htm , so I did not use hummus.  For the cheddar cheese portion, I used Stop and Shop extra sharp cheddar cheese, and I used Stop and Shop New York extra sharp cheddar cheese.  I had the salad with all of the other regular ingredients.  I ate the salad with a glass of iced tea.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/25/04  Wednesday 4:45 A.M.:  I went through my email.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/25/04  Wednesday 4:20 A.M.:  I went through the last six weeks issues of the Greenwich Post and the Greenwich Citizen, and I threw them out with the grocery store circulars and the computer periodical literature that I did not have time to read with some other periodicals.  I saved some of the more eclectic magazines.  I will now go through my email.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/25/04  Wednesday 3:15 A.M.:  This Tropical Depression 6 has formed Tropical Depression SIX  and National Hurricane Center Tropical Prediction Center and NRL Monterey Satellite Photos .  CIO

Note: <888> 08/25/04  Wednesday 3:10 A.M.:  While I was sleeping yesterday around 2 P.M., I had somebody call me from Hyundai in San Diego to remind me that I needed my 45,000 mile service checkup done, but I told them that I only had about 42,000 miles on the car, so I do not need it done yet.  I actually think from the service chart that I have, I only need an oil change and oil filter change done at 45,000 miles, which I can have done at Oil Star, and the next major service check is due at 48,000 miles.  About 3 P.M. DHL delivered the light bulb that I order from Sears for the Sears Kenmore upright vacuum cleaner.  I guess tomorrow they will deliver the vacuum bags and belts.  I went back to bed until 10 P.M..  I had breakfast of oatmeal, toast with strawberry jam, orange juice, vitamins, supplements, and coffee.  I went outside briefly, and I picked up my mail.  I then went back to bed until 2:30 P.M..  I will now do some regular computer work.  I also have to sort out my computer periodical literature and other periodical literature, much of which I do not have time to read, so I will throw it away.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 10:25 A.M.:  On my Sears www.sears.com order for the Sears Kenmore upright vacuum cleaner parts, the two belts shipped on 8/23, and the 8 vacuum cleaner bags shipped on 8/23, and the bulb shipped on 8/22.  I channel surfed on the television.  I watched President Bush's press conference from Crawford, Texas from yesterday on Cspan.  I guess he is like me, and he does not iron his shirts, but prefers the fresh from the dryer look.  I will now shut down the computer, and I will go to bed soon.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 9:00 A.M.:  I threw out the garbage, and I chatted with some neighbors outside.  It is getting late in the day for me, since I got up at 10 P.M. last night.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 7:10 A.M.: I installed the latest Via 4 in 1 drivers version 2.4.1.0 .  The scan with Norton Win Doctor 2003 now works on the first two active X scans.  However, the program scan with Norton Internet Security Professional 2004 still freezes.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 6:50 A.M.:  I made and ate my usual salad www.geocities.com/mikelscott/salad.htm .  I used a tin of sardines that I chopped instead of tuna fish.  For the cheddar cheese portion, I used Stop and Shop extra sharp cheddar cheese.  I used all of the other regular ingredients.  I had the salad with a glass of iced tea.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 5:30 A.M.:  I checked my computer system security with Symantec Security Check , and it showed my Ping port was not Shielded but open.  As I recall when I installed Windows XP SP2, and I last tested the security all of my ports were shielded.  I tried changing some of the firewall settings for Norton Internet Security 2004, but the Ping port was still open.  I tried enabling the XP SP2 firewall, but the Ping port was still opened.  I tried some other settings to no avail.  I reset my Siemens router to the default settings.  I then uninstalled Norton Internet Security 2004 and Norton System Works 2003.  One had to do a safe boot after uninstalling them to remove the "C:\program files\common files\symantec shared" folder and its contents, so one can reinstall them.  I then reinstalled the copy of Norton Internet Security 2004 Professional by mistake that I had returned when I had problems before I got Norton Internet Security 2004.  It installed all right, so I left it on my machine, and it recommended disabling the XP SP2 firewall, which I did.  It is not that much different than Norton Internet Security 2004, but the product activation worked.  I then installed Norton System Works 2003.  I installed the updates.  However, the Symantec Security Check still shows the Ping port is open, and there does not seem to be any remedy that I can find on the internet.  I guess I will have to live with it.  Also in Internet Security 2004 Professional when I scanned for programs, it freezes, so I will add programs as they pop up with security alerts.  Also the first two Norton Win Doctor 2003 Active X scans both freeze now.  I did do a Norton Win Doctor scan of the system without the first two tests.  Overall the system is still running the same.  I still do not like having the open Ping port, since as I once recall it was shielded.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/24/04  Tuesday 12:05 A.M.:  I was up at 10 P.M., and I had breakfast of oatmeal, toast with strawberry preserves, orange juice, vitamins, supplements, and coffee.  I called up the Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island, New York 1-516-922-6363 police department about a missing person.  I was looking at this link NRL Monterey Satellite Photos and there is a hurricane like formation that has not formed yet northeast of Brazil.  Frequently people whom live by the waterfront and forget whom they are, it is caused by the fact that they spend so much time outside, that they can get hit by lightning and forget whom they are.  It happens all the time to people outdoors, camping, hiking, in the military, playing golf, mountain climbing and sailing.  CIO 

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 2:55 P.M.:  I microwaved and ate a Stouffer's 13 5/8 ounce chicken fettuccini lean cuisine dinner, which I ate with a glass of iced tea.  I went outside, and I chatted with a neighbor.  I had my August 30 appointment changed to September 13.  I will now shut down the computer, and I will go to bed.  CIO 

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 12:40 P.M.:  I remembered this morning when I was talking about International Harvester now Navistar www.navistar.com which used to be one of my neighbors in Knollwood, Illinois nearby they had a International Harvester factory in Libertyville, Illinois.  I met members of the McCormick family affiliated with that company while at college in Lake Forest, Illinois.  Of course they have other factories elsewhere too.  On one road trip across country, I happened to get tired and as usual back in the period from 1978 to 1980 during my four road trips across country, on one of those road trips I stopped by Wittenberg College now www.wittenberg.edu Wittenberg University.  I stayed at a fraternity house, and I went to a beer party before I resumed my trip the next day.  While driving around the town Wittenberg University was in named Springfield, Ohio, I noticed they had an International Harvester factory that made the personal size vehicles similar to the old Wiley's Jeep, but slightly larger.  I guess it was basically a farm vehicle for chores, but I have only seen a few of them around the country, so I guess they were not popular with the urban set, but they did not look too expensive and they were wider than the Jeep.  Possibly they still make some sort of similar vehicle there if one is in the market for a utility type vehicle.  I recall the people were very friendly there.  I found this link on the International Trucks http://www.navistar.com/site_layout/index.asp from this site http://www.ci.springfield.oh.us/ , so International is still the largest employer in Springfield, Ohio if you ever need a truck, but I am not sure if they make a personal size truck such as these http://www.navistar.com/site_layout/militarybusiness/index.asp and http://www.smartruck3.com/ , which seem to be a little more elaborate than the simple farm vehicle they made around the time that I visited.  On the farm in Knollwood, Illinois there was a 1947 International Pickup truck with a crank out front window that I actually might own still, since the person I sold it to for $10 never took possession of it.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 11:45 A.M.:  I went out after the last message.  I drove down by the waterfront and some new fishermen were there.  I went downtown, and I walked the entire length of Greenwich Avenue and the train station area.  I sat out at various locations.  I used the bathroom at Starbucks.  I then drove over to Putnam Trust Bank of New York on Mason Street.  I checked on my account, and what I did earlier this morning was the correct procedure to correct the situation, so now I will only be billed a $1.99 a month for internet banking privileges instead of $4.99 a month for internet banking with bill paying.  I then went by the Greenwich Hospital Thrift Shop.  Everything is half price and clothes and linens are $15 a brown paper bag.  I then went by the Greenwich Library, and I read the Greenwich Time.  I chatted outside with another regular library user.  I then went by the Stop and Shop, and I bought 10 ounces of fresh spinach for $1.99, a 16 ounce bag of baby carrots for $1.99, and fresh broccoli from Maine for .99 a pound for $1.25 for $5.23 total.  I then returned home, and I picked up my mail.  I drank some iced tea.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 5:25 A.M.:  After the last message, I logged back on to http://www.bnyonline.com/ , then I looked at www.outletpc.com then I looked at www.greenwichtime.com .  Then I started to run Weather Pulse, and my computer froze.  I tried rebooting, and it would not reboot.  I tried several times to no avail.  I finally did a System Restore from a Safe boot up, and it took longer for the System Restore than normally, and when the system rebooted, I did a Safe Boot again to complete the system restore.  I then booted normally, and the computer booted without any problems.  I tried Weather Pulse, and the program ran all right.  I can not figure out what the problem was, but over the last few months, I have had major system problems at this hour on Monday morning, so possibly it could be an early bird hacker causing the problem.  Whatever the case, I have notified Optimum Online that certain strange events are occurring occasionally, so I imagine if there is a hacker getting through my Norton Internet Security Firewall, they will notice the activity sooner or later.  I am not good enough at reading system logs to determine the problem myself.  The only other alternative would be that some person or persons are gaining physical access to my apartment and causing the problems on the computer, which would have other ramifications too in terms of invasion of privacy and private security.  Also it could be small bugs in Microsoft Windows XP SP2, but overall it seems fairly stable.  Since the system worked fine for a day, I do not think it is the newer Nvidia driver, but it could always be that too, since when I originally installed XP SP2 the newer Nvidia driver caused a problem.  Since it is suppose to be a nice day, I was thinking of going out early this morning for some fresh air, since I only got up at 7:30 P.M. last night.  I guess I will now shut down the computer, and I will go out for some early morning activity.  Since I have had additional expenses this month despite the fact that I did not have an automobile insurance payment or an electricity payment, I am still on a limited budget, so there is not that much I can do during the daytime besides sit and walk and observe.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 4:20 A.M.:  I checked my banking account at http://www.bnyonline.com/ , and I noticed a $4.99 charge on my checking account for a bank charge.  I called 1-800-CALLBNY, and I chatted with the bank representative.  The bank representative explained to me on my free checking account that the Internet Service is only available for free for the first two months.  After that there is a $4.99 charge for internet banking with online bill baying, but there is only a $1.99 internet banking charge, if one does not use online bill paying, which I don't.  I had them change my internet banking to the $1.99 charge a month with no internet bill paying.  I guess I am stuck with this month's $4.99 charge, since I must have missed something in the fine print of the free checking account offer with internet banking and Master Card debit card.  I guess I can afford the $1.99 charge a month charge for the convenience of internet banking.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 3:10 A.M.:  I finished watching the History Channel program "D Day to Berlin".  I will now do some regular computer work.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/23/04  Monday 2:10 A.M.:  I finished the backup of the C: drive to the D: drive with Windows XP backup ASR automatic system recovery.  I placed the D: drive files into the C: drive for the backup to the D: drive.  After the backup, I placed the D: drive files back from the C: drive to the D: drive.  I then made a backup to the D: drive of the Documents and Settings folder and then another backup of all the files on the C: drive to the D: drive except the music files, Document and Settings, Program Files, System Volume Information, Windows, and System State folders.  I made and ate my usual salad www.geocities.com/mikelscott/salad.htm with all of the usual ingredients.  For the cheddar cheese portion, I used Stop and Shop extra sharp cheddar cheese.  I had the salad with a glass of iced tea.  I have been watching the History Channel Program of "D Day to Berlin".  I also ran Norton Speed Disk on the C: drive.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 11:20 P.M.:  I was up at 7 P.M., and I had breakfast of oatmeal, toast with strawberry jam, orange juice, vitamins, supplements, and coffee.  I went outside briefly.  I went downtown, and I walked the entire length of Greenwich Avenue, and I sat out at various locations.  I then went by the Stop and Shop, and I bought four half gallons of Tropicana Premium orange juice with calcium for $2 each for $8 total.  They only carry Hoover Vacuum cleaner belts and Eureka and Hoover vacuum bags at the Stop and Shop.  I then returned home, and I put the orange juice in the refrigerator, and I drank a glass of iced tea.  I will now use Windows XP backup, and I will perform a full system ASR Automatic System Recovery backup, which will take an hour with other maintenance operations I have to perform.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 10:30 A.M.:  Well, if one wants to order souvenir items for the Republican convention, try this link http://www.therepublicanstore.com/ .  Well, I will now shut down the computer, and I will go to bed soon.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 10:00 A.M.:  I ate two scoops of Hagen-Daz frozen coffee yogurt.  For any visitors from the warmer tropical climates whom have not experienced winters up north, they might research this weather information fact sheet http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wcstates.htm .  I guess I have experienced more than my share of cold weather up north over all of these years, so when it is cooler in August this time of the year, and it was 55 degrees Fahrenheit earlier this morning, it might mean that we are in for a colder winter up north coming up.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 8:55 A.M.:  I installed the latest NVIDIA driver 6.1.7.7 for my Mad Dog AGP Prowler 4X 64 meg. video card.  It seems to be working just fine.  Before installing the newer video driver, I had to uninstall the old NVIDIA driver.  I also had to disable Norton Antivirus 2004 while installing the new driver.  I then ran Norton Win Doctor 2003 on all but the first two tests.  I then ran it on the second test, but this time it froze on the first test.  Still the system is running just fine.  I set the NVIDIA driver to make the Sony FD Trinitron monitor appear a little bit more brilliant.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 7:40 A.M.:  Apparently the Dell 21 inch M1110 color monitor cost $899 new in 1998, and today it sells refurbished for about a $100, so I go a good deal on the monitor.  I looked at this page http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/monitors/6981E/ , and I reset the Dell M1110 monitor to the factory defaults, which one can do by pressing switch 9 and 10 and power switch http://support.ap.dell.com/docs/monitors/6981E/controls_and_indicators.htm .  Of course after all of these years on computers, my eyesight is probably like Mr. McGoo.  However, for big bucks computer people, I found this web site http://www.lcdmonitors.philips.com/folder3/21-inch-lcd-monitor.html , so it shows our Dutch cousins with the tulip guilders have a fairly expensive product for the user market.  Of course, one would have to make sure if one were using a LCD monitor, one was using the right video card with DVI support.  This page has some information on the subject http://www.techbargains.com/video-products/product-reviews.cfm .  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 5:20 A.M.:  The safest investment in the United States of America Long Term U.S. Government Bond Yield Data, Trend, and Forecast , but unfortunately if I am not mistaken, one has to pay Federal Income tax on T Bill earnings, where one could invest in riskier higher yield tax free municipal bonds, but depending on the municipality, one could be at risk of losing one's investment if the municipality defaulted on their bonds.  CIO 

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 3:40 A.M.:  I finished going through my email.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 3:30 A.M.:  After reading this article Forbes.com: Dutch Treat , I think I will call my apartment, the Rembrandt suite.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 3:00 A.M.:  I watched some television, but there is not much original programming this time of year, just reruns.  I ate 20 Townhouse crackers.  They tend to be a bit stale because living around the waterfront with lots of moisture, crackers get a bit damp.  I know of people whom live near the waterfront that keep crispers in their kitchens or pantries to keep their crackers dry.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 1:30 A.M.:  I read the June 2004 issue of Country Living magazine from England while I was at the Greenwich Hospital dental clinic on Friday afternoon.  There was an article about energy problems in England.  Apparently the wind powered electricity generating wind mills only work about 25% of time and most of the United Kingdom's energy resources from coal are depleted.  Also the oil and gas from the north sea are running out fast and might not be available in the near future.  Most of England's energy needs are being met by natural gas from Russia and the former Russian republics, Iran, and Algeria.  The writer of the article mentioned that 80% of France's energy comes from nuclear energy, and more than likely some time in the near future England would have to turn to nuclear energy to meet its energy needs.  The article also mentioned that in 50 years of nuclear energy worldwide, less people had died from nuclear energy accidents than die in a single week from automobile wrecks on the roads in England.  I wonder how many people might actually die sooner for a lack of energy to stay warm during the colder months.  I read on the BBC last winter that 50,000 people in the United Kingdom die from the cold every winter.  It sort of makes one wander what the real world priorities are of the so call environmental groups whom seem to continue to pursue more energy per capita per person than most people in the western world consume in their ordinary work day life in the western world.  Of course in other areas of the world because of climate or a more rigorous lifestyles, they do not consume as much energy.  I mentioned when I was down on the waterfront this past evening that the last time I was in Toronto, Canada about 21 years ago, all of Toronto was full lit up at night, and there did not seem to be any lack of electricity because of the large amount of electricity available from the power generation plants at Niagara Falls.  CIO

Note: <888> 08/22/04  Sunday 1:00 A.M.:  With all of the discussion about a Phelps family member at www.nbcolympics.com , there are other members of the Phelps family probably involved in http://www.phelpsdodge.com/ which is another one of those companies that one does not hear much about, but more than likely they might make something that one occasionally might use.  CIO