Street takeovers Street takeovers are in the news almost every day. Just last week a woman was killed being hit but one of the drivers skidding in circles. They bother neighbors and businesses and are wild and unruley. In many intersections around our neighborhood you can see the car tracks of cars doing donuts during the night. Because they take over streets anywhere it’s very difficult for the police to do little more than chase them off when they receive complaints. It reminds me when I was young how the teenagers and others would drag race on the streets. Yeah, I did it to, while I was in high school. The police fought it for years with about the same results as the Street takeovers gangs. There were even deaths. But what was interesting about the drag racing, which you hear very little about now-a-days, was they found a way to curtail most of in in a very ingenios way. Official drag racing run by racing organizations. At first there ...
Posts
VAN NUYS HIGH SCHOOL, My 'American Graffiti' I went to Van Nuys High School for all three years, 1956 to 1959. It was like American Graffiti . Drag races on the streets, girls in wide skirts with poodles, lots of books under the arm going from class to class. But even at that there were things I never did in high school. I never went to the prom, in fact it never entered my mind to go. Probably because I wasn’t much of a dancer. Even though I went to a lot of Van Nuys Wolves (School mascot) football games while I was in Junior High, I never went to one game while I was in high school. I did have girlfriends, some that didn’t even know they were my girlfriend. I guess you would call that having a crush on a girl. I was shy and introverted, as I am even today. So it was hard for me to even get to know a girl much less ask her out on a date. Speaking of dates, one of my favorite places to take a date, when I finally had the nerve to ask, was...
THE SOCIAL DILEMMA I watched a documentary this morning on Netflix called, The Social Dilemma . It is a documentary warning about the 'dangers' of FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, Google search and all of Google apps and basically, all social media. Its purpose is to show how, we, as humans are manipulated to act and react to ads, notifications and browsing. I think it was kind of a take on the novel 1984 . It was concerning about what the social media knows about us and how they manipulate us to do as they want. The purpose is monetary. Many interviews were by former employees of these varios companies and how their previous jobs related to 'controlling' our social media responses. Pretty scary, until I got to thinking that social media didn't start this road to controlling our responses to advertising and persuasion. It actually started way back in the early 20th Century when movies and radio began. These inventions sparked the minds of the corporations that...
My Road to Macular Degeneration and Beyond I guess you could say that my road to macular degeneration really began with my father. You see, my father developed macular degeneration in his late years. At that time the only treatment was laser which basically burned the AMD (Age related macular degeneration) with a laser beam. The doctor would set an IV with a red dye and follow exactly where the spots in his eye were to burn them and try to stop the progression. Trouble was by the time they treated it the major damage was done and my father was basically blind in both eyes. What is AMD? There are two types. Dry and wet. Most people who have the desease are diagnosed as dry AMD. Dry AMD affects the surface of the retina by causing atrophy of the surface. That is a deep dip so the focus center becomes dark. The center of the vision, where all of the focus is,, becomes blind. But, the good news, if there is any, is that...
WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY A HOME? I just read an article about the negative affects of buying a home at the wrong time, even if you can afford the down payment and the monthly mortgage. "High" interest rates have driven down, sort-off, the home prices. So those who purchased a home before the ' bubble' burst are now underwater . In other wards they owe more than the home is worth. But, how bad is it to be underwater? Or, how bad is it to purchase a home with interest rates over 6% and maybe going higher? Let's see. We purchased our home in 1973 for about $55,000. We had a mortgage payment of $309/month. You may be thinking, how is that a big deal. Well, think about it. 1973. I was probably making a little over $100/week. The mortgage interest rate was over 8%, which was normal for a long period of time. The truth is, mortgage rates that went below 3% in recent memory was unheard of before the new century. People...
The Old Geek Guy Goes Walking The older we get the more we need to be as physically flexible as posible. One way I do it is walking almost every morning. I usually walk 1 to 2 miles at about 20 minutes per mile. it's really helps me to keep my legs strong and it makes me feel good just to accomplish the walks. But, what does technology have to do with exercise. It's said that if two people exercise together it's easier to continue with the regimen, one encouraging the other. But, with the pandemia that has been very difficult. So having something that encourages me to continue is very helpful. That's where my Apple Watch and iPhone come in. I use the watch to track my walk each day and the watch automatically transfer the data to my iPhone so I can see my progress, not jus for a few days but, ever since I purchased my iPhone and watch. I don't advocate buying just the Apple products. That goes for watches phones tablets or com...
This is my first post for The Old Geek Guy. The reason for this site is to offer step by step instructions to supplement my YouTube channel. For many this may seem too simple but the audience I'm trying to reach are those that are older, and have physical limitations. I myself have certain limitations including Macular Degeneration (MD), Drop Foot, hearing problems that make me use hearing aids and other typical old people problems. In my first YouTube presentation I'm mention some of these points. But here I would like to expand somewhat on a couple of them. The most bothersome is my MD. MD is a condition that older people get rather than younger. However, some younger people do suffer as well. MD affects the central vision of the retina. In severe cases it cause total blur and blockout of central focus. This makes it impossible to drive, read and even navigate walking. But, technology has advanced tremendously for pe...