Gotcha Last!

My brother is only 58, but he's very sick battling a blood disease (hemocromitosis), as well as cancers that have been hitting him due to internal organ deterioration from the blood disease that is killing him (and did kill my dad at 57). But one of the things my family does is try to laugh in the face of hard times. So whenever we get together, we try to look at the funny things we've endured versus focusing on the tough fights ahead.

At a recent family gathering, we reminisced about a funny event. And although I was the goat in this story, it's just too funny not to share.

My brother is several years older than me. As long as I can remember, we have had a game of tag. We call it Gotcha Last. The premise is simple...tag the other person, scream gotcha last and run for the hills before the other person can tag you back. Then hide out until they go away and try to be the one who got the other one last for as long as possible. Silly...but fun. And it's lead to some funny, dangerous and silly situations over the many years where my brother and I have nearly torn up the house in attempts to be the gotter versus the gottee.

And yes, even far into adulthood, this silly game has followed us. You'd think that as adults we'd be over it. But, although we appear to be grown up, when it's time for one of us to leave a family event...someone is going to touch the other one...possibly an innocent pat on the back after a hug goodbye...and then scream GOTCHA LAST and run like hell!

Several years ago, we had a block party in mom's neighborhood. Lots of friends and family members gathered at mom's to enjoy the day's festivities. As the day got later, it was time for those who lived further away to start thinking about getting home. My brother, his wife and young kids were packing up to go. There we were, all acting like respectable adults...hugging goodbye, thanking everyone for attending the party, appreciation shown for goodies they brought to the picnic table and wishes that we'll all see each other again soon.

But I just couldn't leave it at that. So as I was leaning in my brother's car...wishing everyone a fond and final farewell...I tapped him on the shoulder, screamed GOTCHA LAST and ran like crazy into mom's house, into the bathroom, locked the door and hid out there for at least 20 mins. I had to be sure that he had given up the chase and was well on his way home.

I finally, slowly opened the door...fully expecting to have him standing there to smash open the door, tag me and run. But no...after all, he was a respectable adult now, with a family and he had to get his kids home. I was the one acting like a child, right?

I slowly walked out to the front porch...carefully checking behind me, as well as listening ahead of me for his voice. But all appeared safe.

HA! I'd won this round! The victor! I moved out onto the porch, where mom was shaking her head and laughing that we still play this silly game. I sat down on the stairs and began to enjoy my victory. Along with some friends who had witnessed the melee, we all sat there laughing and giggling as I explained the life-long obsession to be the gotter to those who didn't know what the heck had just happened.

There I was...in all my victorious glory...sitting on the stairs, yucking it up and proudly reviewing my strategy that allowed me to get him while he was strapped into his car, knowing he'd never be able to get out and catch me before I was able to get myself locked into the bathroom.

Suddenly...a large hand reached over my head, grabbed my entire face...thereby locking me against the railing of the steps and I heard it...my brother yelling GOTCHA LAST!

I DIDN'T BELIEVE IT!

But it was true...he got me!

I quickly spun around the railing as mom yelled out her usual warning for this game....be careful and don't break anything!

My brother was racing down the gangway between the houses toward the back fence. HA! Right behind him, I was sure I could catch up to him as he fiddled with the gate to get it open. But my brother had been a high school track and field star, as well as champion wrestler. One of his best events had been the hurdles. Okay, so that was about 40 years ago for him. But that sucker still had some game because he grabbed hold of the metal fence, flung both legs over the 4 foot fence and was in the yard ready to clear the back gate to head for the alley, where he, obviously, had put his getaway car.

So it was me who stood there fiddling with the gate to open it. I did and tried to catch up with him through the yard, but he was already over the back fence and into the alley.

I emerged into the alley just in time to see him stop his car...kids snoozing inside, wife frustrated with these antics...about 10 feet down the alley. At which time he punctuated his masterful plan by giving me a one (middle) fingered salute as he screamed GOTCHA LAST and laughed his fool head off as he drove away!

I returned to the front porch, defeated, humiliated for being nailed whilst I'd been bragging of my victory...and was greeted by everyone laughing their fool heads off. I sat on the porch and joined their laughter. I had to admit...that one was pretty darn good!

Later he called to enjoy his triumph a bit more. And over the years, this story has been retold at family gatherings...as we all laugh about it over and over. It was a pretty good stunt. Particularly, since he 'fessed up that...as he was sneaking up the gangway, knowing what he was about to do, he could hear me laughing at him for getting him last and bragging about how slick I had been. He said it was all he could do to cover his mouth and try not to let out any sounds of his giggling as he came up behind me. And although he had every intention of attempting that hurdle, he said he even surprised himself that he did, indeed, manage to pull it off after all these years without killing himself!

Yeah, it's a silly, childish game that has caused a lot of havoc over the years, but it's also caused a lot of laughter.

And not to be morbid, but more recently he told me "And don't even dare try to get me last at my funeral, because I will get you back!"

You know what...I think I believe him. I don't know if I dare even attempt it!

Office 2003, Service Pack 3 is Now Available

If you're running Office 2003, you can now download and install the latest service pack for Office 2003, which contains various fixes and greater security for your system.

At some point, your version of Office 2003 may let you know about this update and ask you if you want to install it. However, if you don't want to wait until your turn rolls around, you can go to the Microsoft Office Update page to see what Service Releases you should have on your system.

Go to this link: http://www.update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us and your system will be checked. You will then see what updates are missing from your computer and have the choice of what you want installed.

If you prefer to download the file and update it manually, you can get it here: Office 2003 SP3

To learn more about using/installing this update, see this KB (Knowledgebase article):
Description of Office 2003 Service Pack 3

To see more details about what has been fixed/updated in this release, see this KB:
Issues that are fixed in Office 2003 by Office 2003 Service Pack 3

One important issue to be aware of is that this release will add tighter security and that may mean that you will get an error if you attempt to open older, legacy documents from previous versions of Office, which may not have access to this increased anti-hacker security. If this is a concern or you get an error trying to open docs after installing SP3, see these two KB articles (or read all these articles first, so you know what to expect):

You receive an error message when you try to open a file or to save a file after you install Office 2003 Service Pack 3

Information about certain file formats that are blocked after you install Office 2003 Service Pack 3

Why should you care about having the latest updates? Mainly for security reasons. In this age of identity theft, you want to make sure that your computer is well protected. As thieves come up with new ways to break into your computer, with a virus or spyware that can access your personal information, software companies come up with new barricades to stop those newfangled attacks. But if you're running an outdated system, you won't be protected from the latest round of attacks. This is true with email, too. You want your antivirus and spyware software to always be updated and to regularly check your system.

If you don't understand these processes, go to the TechTrax Archives and search for those terms. Run a search for SPYWARE and one for ANTIVIRUS. That'll give you articles that will explain why it is so important to keep things updated.

If you don't want to take the time to run the search and/or you don't think updates are important, at least read this article:
As the Worm Turns...Your Computer into a Zombie

Oh, and if you think you're safe on a Mac or Unix box, read the above article, too...because you may not be as safe as you think you are!

Stop Painful Leg Cramps, Instantly

Have you ever experienced a leg cramp? EeeeeOwwww! Nasty, eh?

I remember when I was a teen. I'd be sleeping away, peacefully. Suddenly I'd be jolted awake as searing pain grabbed my calf, squeezing the muscle and causing incredible pain. I thought it was the worse pain in the world. Of course, that's before I had the pleasure of experiencing the labor of child birth! Whoa baby...that one wins!

Back to leg cramps. You can't do anything about it, right? You're forced to freeze there and just bear it until it finally subsides. Just deal with it, right? Suck it up and endure the pain until the muscle relaxes and releases you from the agony, right?

WRONG!

Child birth may have been nasty business, but during those birthing classes, many years ago, our instructor knew that pregnant women are prone to leg cramps. She was a nurse and told our class one of the best secrets that medical professionals obviously know about, but had never told me before...or since for that matter.

What's worse is that my poor dad used to suffer from severe leg cramps. I wish I would have known this simple secret before he died so I could have helped him stop the pain. But maybe this article will help someone else out there.

This post idea came to me this morning, as I was stretching before I attempted to crawl out of bed. Suddenly, I felt a leg cramp starting. But before it could get its nasty claws into my muscle, I stopped it in its tracks.

How? Simple...toes to the nose!

A leg cramp causes the muscle to scrunch up. If you point your toes away from you, you give the muscle on the back of your leg even more slack, which allows it to squeeze up even tighter, thus causing you even more pain, as well as most likely letting the pain go on longer. What you need to do is stretch out the muscle so the cramp is stopped. To stretch out the muscle in your calf, you need to point your toes up toward your nose. This causes the muscle in the back of your leg to be pulled tight, thereby stopping the ability for the cramp to squeeze the muscle...which immediately stops the cramp! You need to point your toes to your nose quickly and tightly and hold it until you're sure the cramp is gone. If you relax your leg and start feeling the pain, pull those toes to your nose again.

Now understand, I'm not talking about actually touching your toes to your nose. That would look silly! The next time you get a leg cramp in the back muscle...your calf...quickly straighten your leg and point your toes up as tightly as you can and hold it. The term toes to your nose is just a simple rhyme to help you remember which direction to point. Even if you're awakened and the cramp is going full steam and you're afraid to move for fear of more pain...don't be afraid. Just pull those toes up so that you stretch out that back muscle and you'll instantly start to feel relief. In seconds, the cramp will be entirely gone.

I hope this helps someone out there stop the pain. I know it has for me. Since I learned this secret, I have never had a cramp last for more than a second or two before I've quickly stretched it out to stop it.

Glory Hallelujah!

Create Your Own Computer Fireworks

Okay, so I'm a day late with this one. I was busy watching live fireworks yesterday, but you can always save this for next year. Although, it's addicting enough to play with anytime!

Go to this web site: http://www.wtv-zone.com/cal731/FEA/LL/LL.html

There you can click anywhere, as often as you like, to have fireworks light up the New York sky (virtually, of course).

Lady Liberty stands proud as you click and send up all the fireworks your little heart desires.

Resurrecting Dreamweaver 8 After a Cache Death

I'd spend way too much time trying to fix a serious problem with Dreamweaver 8, one that had been causing it to permanently crash on my main system. I'd given up on the problem for months and resigned myself to going back to Dreamweaver 2004 MX, but I missed some of the cool improvements in DW 8 (particularly the working in the Background feature).

As I'm currently working on getting out the next issue of TechTrax, I became determined to get DW 8 back working on my system. So I got a bit ruthless. With any luck, this fix will help someone in the future who is experiencing the same problem.

I don't know what caused the problem, but one day I was working away with Dreamweaver 8. I closed it and later attempted to open it, but it tossed up a warning message saying:

The cache will now be re-created because the cache file is missing or damaged, as shown below.

Okay, no problem. I assumed it would just regenerate its cache files and get on with it. NOT! As soon as I clicked the OK button on the above warning...DW 8 disappeared and nothing happened! Huh? What the...???

I tried again and again. Same result. I hunted for answers and asked gurus for help. They told me to go into my ..\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Macromedia\Dreamweaver 8\Configuration folder, locate the WinFileCache-######.dat file and delete it. I did. No luck!

After spending hours trying to trick DW into working, by doing everything I could think of, including uninstalling and reinstalling (which rarely helps serious crash problems, because the system files that are usually the big problem don't all actually get deleted in most software uninstalls), I finally had to give up and get on with life.

Today I was determined to give it another shot. I hunted the registry for potential keys to kill. I hunted my system file for anything having to do with Macromedia cache. Now I also had to be careful cos' I was now using DW MX and needed that version to work so I could do my web work.

But then I found a SiteCache folder under the DW 8 folders, ..\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Macromedia\Dreamweaver 8\Configuration\SiteCache, and decided to attack that folder. Since DW 8 wasn't starting at all, I figured I couldn't make things much worse at this point.

I went into that folder, leaving the folder itself alone, and deleted everything in it. BINGO!

I crossed my fingers and clicked the DW 8 icon...and it started up! Without the above message warning, it moved right into reconfiguring my cache files and there was the opening screen again! I was thrilled!

So if you're using Dreamweaver and you start getting the above error message and DW won't do what it should and simply crashes/closes on you, first go rip out that WinFileCache file. But if that doesn't do the trick, get bold and tear out everything in the subsequent SiteCache folder.

It worked for me...with luck it'll work for you and save you the hours I wasted trying to get this problem fixed!

Zap the Developer

Ever wish you could send a little shock to the developer who designed the software program you're using...when it crashes? Who hasn't!

Of course, the error is never our fault, it's always the fault of the stupid software program, right?<smile> Or, it must be a bug because the developer messed up, eh? Being a developer myself, I know that's not usually the case. But even I have had my moments when I've become so frustrated with a piece of software that I'd like to toss the ol' computer out the window and I'm cursing the idiots who built the software that is giving me the fits.

Well, Microsoft TechNet has had a little fun with the idea of zapping the developers who build the software. They've put together a video spoofing their technical support response system. You've seen the dialog boxes asking you to send the error details to Microsoft, right? Those little dialog boxes pop up when you experience a problem asking you to Send or Don't Send. I do hope you are all clicking the SEND button, because the cryptic data that they receive helps pinpoint problem areas in software and does help a lot. And not to worry, they are not tracking you or swiping secret info.

Anyway, if you've ever been frustrated by software, you'll want to check out this Microsoft spoof video and get a giggle...as well as a little satisfaction at the fantasy of how nice it would be to have it actually work!<grin>

Click the link below...and enjoy!

Microsoft TechNet...It's Showtime

 

Beauty Shops Cause Strokes?

If you have someone in your life who goes to the beauty shop and you want to save them from possibly devastating their life, READ THE ARTICLE at the link below! It explains how doctors are now seeing a correlation between some women who go to the beauty shop, have their necks cocked far back for washes and such and shortly after suffer a stroke.

"Beauty parlor stroke usually occur when customers sit in reclined positions with their heads and necks flexed backwards for a long period of time, according to Dr. Thomas Hemmen, of the University of California, San Diego. They are caused by tears in one or more of the four major arteries in the neck, which in turn cause blood clots to form. The clots then travel to the brain and trigger strokes."

Read the entire article NBC4.com, here: http://www.nbc4.com/stroke/12926674/detail.html

Now before you think I've gone off my rocker and joined the Internet newbie crowd of Chicken Littles who hear about old or bogus virus information and send out emails screaming READ THIS MESSAGE!!!!!!!!....consider this...

My mother was a vibrant 86 yr old. Sure, she had her share of medical problems and we worried about her, but she had her faculties and still handled all her own stuff as far as bills, medications and such, as she had her own living space in the house. On Friday, November 3rd, 2006, she went to the beauty parlor for the first time in a long time. She had been told that the cartilage around her carotid artery on the right side of her neck was very thin, which had been helping to cause pain in that side. They also mentioned some blockage in the carotid artery on that side. Had we known about the above information, we NEVER would have allowed her to go to the beauty shop! But we didn't know.

She went to her appointment on Friday as planned. She had a grandson's birthday party to attend the next day, Saturday, as well as her son-in-laws big birthday bash the following weekend. Mom hadn't been to the beauty parlor in a long time, so she had the works...color touch up, wash, cut, set, style. We had planned to pass her off to my nephew who was going to drive her up to his house to stay over night for the party the next day, but when I picked her up from the shop, she was complaining of a bad headache...a possible sign of a stroke...something else we didn't know about then!

So I changed the plans and took mom home to rest, take some Tylenol and allow her time to feel better. Greg drove her up to the party on Saturday. Mom assumed she would be coming home that night, as did I. But my sister convinced her to stay a bit longer and enjoy the weekend with them at the lake. Mom can't say no, so she stayed, even though she wasn't feeling all that well. She came home Monday complaining of still feeling bad and another headache from the long (1 hr+) drive home. She relaxed at home and went to bed. Tuesday morning, November 7th, I went up to see if she wanted to go with me to go vote...and she was talking like a Martian! She was having a stroke! And a week later...a heart attack that required surgery to insert a pacemaker!

Now we can't say for sure that it was having her neck bent back several times on Friday at the beauty shop that caused damage to her artery that eventually caused a clot to form, break away and cause her stroke...but if it was your mom, would you take that chance? Had we known this information before...there is no way I would have allowed her to go to that beauty shop. And trust me, she'll never see the inside of one again! Thankfully, she now agrees with that fact.

Mom is doing much better, but she's not the same woman she was on November 2nd! She still gets confused a lot and there are a lot of things that are just too hard for her to handle on her own anymore...like writing simple birthday cards to her grand kids. Most of them are mixed up. But we all understand and she's trying. I handle all her meds now and give them to her on a daily basis. Even answering the phone is a challenge, if it's not a close family member that she'll recognize right away.

So if you have an elderly person in your life whose future you care about...think twice before you send them off to have their hair done! If nothing else, warn the beautician not to wash her hair backward, but leaning forward. Maybe also wear a neck brace to help ensure that there won't be a lot of bending? Or better yet...maybe do what mom is now doing and go back to a hair style that is simple and doesn't require a beautician's touch. The family will understand! Trust me...a beautiful hairdo is not worth the pain and frustrations of suffering a stroke and aphasia!

Oh, and if you don't believe the one article above, see this link and the many articles on this "syndrome"... HERE.

Finally, if someone you love does suffer a stroke, you should also read this article to see how you can create a tool, one I used with mom, to start helping them work on getting their memory back: Create Flash Cards in Word

Note that you can click the envelope icon below to easily share this article with those you love! Please do share it! Hopefully, it'll save someone else from suffering a stroke.