Thoughts (and Concerns) to Close 2014

This is what happens when I can't sleep at 2am.  I think too much about some of this world's absurdities.  And some of them rather worry me while I hope a few make you laugh.

Celebrities are not necessarily heroes.

Tweets are opinions, not news.

Repetition dictates popularity more than quality.

CGI abuse has turned movies into feature length cartoons.

Actors and musicians are entertainers, not political pundits.

Reality TV is far from real.

Pain is the one thing we can truly call our own.

Everything has a price, including freedom.

Money may not buy happiness but true starvation must be agonizing.

Religion does not guarantee that a person is either stupid or decent.

The most heated religious disputes seem unrelated to actual human caring.

Opinions should almost always be reserved.

What other people think of me is none of my business.

Solitude is nearly as precious a commodity as time.

If you have time to kill, there's a broom in the corner.

Humor can help resolve conflict, restore relationships, and even save your sanity, but only if you know your target audience. Otherwise keep your jokes to yourself lest you get popped in the nose, shut out in the cold, or possibly locked in a rubber room.

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A Foodie's Find

Like things a little spicy?  How about some crunch in your life?  I found just the thing to satisfy both those cravings.

They are crispy jalapeños under the Fresh Gourmet brand name.  My local grocer stocks them in the produce department alongside various bagged salad toppings.  The heat is unpredictable, as warned on the bag, but I don’t mind.  The lightly salted crunch with an amazingly fresh and fruity jalapeño taste has me hooked.

The crisps are versatile, too.  While excellent on salads, a handful makes a good standalone snack.  A sprinkling also perked up that old Midwestern standby – green bean casserole.  I added just a dash to the classic French fried onions.

Yum.

Then I cooked hash browns the other day.  I like my potatoes nice and crispy, too, so that turned out to be another great pairing.

I look forward to coming up with new ways to spice up my dishes.  How about you?  Anything unique at the store catch your eye?

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Ending Overtype Mode Permanently (!) in MS Word

I have a new laptop.  And this Lenovo ThinkPad is awesome, the keyboard a writer’s dream.

But (and don’t we all have buts!), there is one issue that has plagued me.  This post’s title gives it away, of course.

Overtype mode needed to be stopped.

A Google search became paramount, and for a change my “Google Fu” struck a major hit.  Or in this case, a lethal blow – allowing me to kill the Insert key, which I didn’t understand had been the reason behind my little agony.

On my ThinkPad, the Insert key just happens to reside next to the Delete and Backspace buttons regularly used during story editing.  For months I’d been going through Tools → Options → Edit tab to uncheck the Overtype mode box in the uppermost left hand column.

No longer.  Thank the heavens.

With no further ado, here is how you kill the INS key.

1. Start Word
2. Click on the Tools menu
3. Click Customize
4. Click the Options tab
5. Click Keyboard
6. Under the Categories dropdown box, select All Commands
7. Under the Commands dropdown box, select Overtype
8. Under the Current keys dropdown box, select Insert
9. Click Remove
10. Click Close until the dialog windows close.

That’s it.  Wasn’t that easy?  Can’t you just feel that weight lifting from your shoulders?  Well, that might be a little overly dramatic.  Maybe.

I must say thanks to Steve Thomas and the guys at tech-recipes.com both for sharing this information.  You can find the original post here:

Web Development Learnings
 

Happy writing!

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