Here are my Thoughts for Thursday: Still keeping with our limited schedule, we are open today from 2pm to 6pm. As I described last week, the locked door thing is still a thing so don't hurt yourselves pulling on the heavy metal rectangle with a handle, it won't move until 2pm today. Note that our clocks are synchronized with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and as such there can be no debate regarding what you think the time is if we do not agree. Our clocks have the final say including the one in my office that I haven't gotten around to setting ahead for daylight savings time yet. I need to stand on top of my desk to get to it and seriously, I could break a hip or something and so instead I just do the advanced calculations to compute the correct time which again is irrefutable. Tomorrow is May 1st (I verified this with the NIST) the next day (Saturday) is May 2nd (More on this later). Beginning tomorrow, we will require anyone wanting to enter Computer Greeks to be wearing a Face Mask or Face Covering of some type. Calm down, I'm not finished. I realize this is a point of contention for many people. Some believe that the coverage of the Pandemic is overblown and the media are promoting fear for the sake of ratings like that would ever happen. Those holding to this opinion feel that the Stay at Home Order and the limits placed on their personal freedom are an example of the government overstepping their power, again- as if our leaders would ever want that. Others feel that the safeguards in place are reasonable and need to be enacted to provide all of us with the best possible outcome to a terrible situation. I have spent the last 24 years as a business owner working hard to keep the ?#@! out of political arguments for 2 main reasons. 1- Because my opinion about most things isn't something anyone should live their lives by (with all things computers and tech being the obvious exception- in this area I am a god! (A god, not the God), and B- It's a Lose/Lose situation for my business. If I say I like Pizza with Ham and Pineapple on top (This is an example and may or may not be my actual opinion) I will offend all of those who detest such a lifestyle choice. If I claim Pizza with Ham and Pineapple on top is an abomination (again, an example) then I have a group of protesters outside my store because I chose to discriminate against someone based on their choice of toppings. So for the most part I keep quiet and stick to my job. This is not the case in this instance and the choice we need to make seems clear, even for those who don't agree they are necessary. Early on during the initial spread of this nightmare, someone said something that stuck with me and I'm sure I'm not getting the quote exactly right but it was to the effect- We may never know if we overreacted with all of the restrictions and measures being put into place, but we will most certainly know if we did too little. There it is. Too Much vs Too Little. Which is worse. Staying home all the time sucks. Not having the freedom to go where you want how you want is no fun. Having a business that can't be open or is limited in what it can do is a nightmare both financially and for my blood pressure. I get it. I live it. Everyday, all day, and twice on Sundays. It's still the right thing to do for everyone. You're not wearing a mask for you, you're wearing it for me, and the others who work at Computer Greeks, and the grocery store and your family. It's an inconvenience, but one we can live with. Eventually this will get better. We will tell stories to our kids and grandkids about 2020 that they will never believe and that will be something to look forward to. But we need to get there first. So, to sum up: Need Mask - Mask Good - No Mask, No Entry even when the Big Metal Door is supposed to yield to your mighty pull. I have placed another necessary barrier in your way that I know you can overcome. I believe in you! And finally, as I mentioned so long ago at the beginning of this "Thoughts for Thursday" message, May 2nd is the day after May 1st. It is also, My Birthday. I will be celebrating at home, wondering where all of the years have gone, worrying about my increasing weight and decreasing hairline, and spending most of the day being genuinely thankful for everything I have had in my life. My family (shout out!), friends, health, and this business and its amazing customers. I will be gratefully accepting all warm thoughts, well wishes, and monetary donations that can be sent to my PayPal or Venmo accounts. Have a Great Day All! Stephen Georgiou Tech god (again, a god not the God, small g, please don't protest)

Well, I woke up this morning and realized what day it was and since it has been a while since I shared my thoughts with you, I thought maybe if I had some thoughts to share, I could probably do that with a brand new “Thoughts for Thursday”. Isn’t this your lucky day! So, I just let Bea go outside, the cutest dog in the world and a guest author of some of my earlier “Thoughts for Thursdays”, and couldn’t help but notice how damn cold it is. Now, I know it’s still April, but yesterday was 70 degrees and I just assumed this morning with all of it’s bright sunny skies would be warmer than the Nordic temperatures that greeted me. As usual, I was wrong. It struck me how quickly things change sometimes and how obvious those changes can be. Which made me consider some of the things that can take a very long time to change and are frequently overlooked. A 40 degree drop in temperature overnight is hard to miss, but what about all the things in life that take months or years to evolve? How often do we pause to notice and take stock of these things as life goes by? Now I don’t want this to deteriorate into a flowery philosophical treatise on how the mighty oak comes from a tiny acorn and how I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree. That’s not really my style. Not enough sarcasm for my taste. Not that trees aren’t great and all. I’m all for trees and shrubs and plants of various kinds, so don’t go spreading rumors that Uncle Steve is Anti-Tree. I don’t need any more trouble from those militant Arbor Day Advocates, those people are nuts. Trees are definitely an excellent example of changes over time that may not register on our daily radar, but not exactly what first comes to mind for me. If you’re a fan of that sort of thing, we have the wonderful Lake Katherine for all your horticultural and natural revelation needs. If you haven’t been there, you should make a point of it. It’s awesome. Just watch out for those Arbor Day Advocates, seriously. What I began to ponder was more of the people and lives that change so gradually that we may not properly take stock of them as the days rush rapidly forward. Ok, I guess being somewhat flowery and philosophical is going to be unavoidable here. The aforementioned Bea will turn 2 years old in less than a week. It is shocking how big she has grown in only a few years and the memories of the tiny puppy we brought home are still easy to envision. My children, once so tiny and adorable and loving, have grown into actual adults. Still at times adorable and loving if not so tiny anymore. Even though these changes have taken years, they are still recent enough to notice and reflect on with little effort. Noting the changes in our own lives is not nearly as easy for me. So, let’s take “me” for example. This is my post after all and I’m the one doing most of the hard work here (yes, you must read it which isn’t always easy, I know), so if I want to make this about me, I’m entitled. My birthday is in 18 days (gifts and donations can be sent to Computer Greeks as usual). If my math is correct, that means on May 2nd, I will turn really really old. May is also the month that Computer Greeks turns 26 years old, which in business years is crazy old, but let’s keep the focus on me. I can vaguely remember not being really old, (they say your memory is often the first to go) and I can certainly see there have been more than a few changes over the past 3 or 4 decades. Apart from the obvious physical changes, (my increasingly rugged good looks), I am so far removed from the person I was back then I often wish I could travel back in time just to punch my younger self in the face. I know, many of you probably share the same thought. I mean about visiting your younger selves, not going back in time just to smack me around. Ok, maybe some of you think about borrowing my time machine and going back to high school to teach me a lesson or two, and I guess I don’t blame you, but geez, get over it already. I wasn’t that bad, was I? Don’t answer. The younger me was clueless. Too confident, too cocky, too smart for his own good that it would be years before he realized what an idiot he actually was and still is to this day. Mark Twain once wrote, “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” That couldn’t be more accurate. Now don’t get me wrong, the young me wasn’t a bad guy. There are many things I greatly respect about him. He was a generally decent person, despite the occasional transgression or two. He usually tried hard and certainly didn’t want to cause hurt to anyone, despite what the four or five fights he would get into might argue to the contrary (never my fault, believe me). Much more optimistic than he would be in later life and with the energy and fearlessness to try new things that over time would become less and less possible. He had rarely failed the way he would in future years and that goes a long way to creating an attitude that often only the young possess. He had good friends that he never appreciated enough at the time and that he still thinks very fondly of to this day. Love hadn’t scarred him as it would eventually, as it does to all of us, and that seems to create a naivete that you just envy. It’s a brief window in our lives that never lasts very long and will never be duplicated. As the years and decades would pass, that me would slowly and almost imperceptibly become the current me, with changes both small and at times dramatic. I have often mentioned how I didn’t have to grow up until my dad passed away. I was 29, married, and with a 6-month-old daughter at home and until he was gone, I didn’t have to be a real adult every day. That was a dramatic change. I was still immature at times, but life and the pressures of opening a new business and having so much depending on what I did and how I did it was immense. In my thirties I would try to be a good father and husband, often with complete and abject failures that I still find hard to fathom. In my forties, I would continue to do much of the same, while slowly the things I wanted to achieve in life would evolve into much less “things” and much more “life”. I would also do my best to pretend to be a good business owner and learn from my past mistakes, which honestly is all that being an adult is about, gaining experience and faking it. For anyone out there who might be in their “younger” years, let me clue you in on a huge secret. Those of us you consider adults, are just kids who have gained enough experience to be able to pretend we know what we are doing well enough to convince those around us that we really do know what we are doing. It’s all a big show. We don’t wake up in the morning feeling like grown up adults, no matter how old we are or how long we’ve been working at all these things that make up life. We’re just doing our best to not repeat our mistakes and hope no one notices it’s all a hoax. There, now you know the big secret. Don’t let anyone know where you heard it from. The me of today is both a greater and lesser version of my younger self. We’re not entirely different people, just a reflection of the changes that time, experience, comedy, tragedy, and life itself have contributed to over all these days. I’m more patient than I was. Less likely to overact, both positively and negatively. My values are substantially different and the worlds I wanted to conquer when I was young are much less important than the life I want to achieve now. Accumulating money and things is not a goal in and of itself. I strive to achieve a quality of life that I haven’t always enjoyed, which is much more important than any possessions or things could be. I use the word “enough” a lot these days. I just need enough money to not worry about not having enough money. I just need enough time to not worry about not having enough time. I don’t need more. I don’t want bigger and shinier and better than anyone else has. I just work to have enough. And when work and life become too difficult and stressful as they often will, I know when I have had enough of that as well and do my best to make the changes I can so that happens less and less often. If I can get that previously mentioned time machine working or when one eventually becomes available on Amazon, I would love to pay my younger self a visit and give him a few words of advice. 1- Put every dime into Apple Stock (It’s not that I still want mountains of money, but like Forest Gump said, it would be one less thing, which is nice). 2- Don’t sweat the small stuff. You have no idea what big things are coming that will require all of your sweat, so save it up. 3- Getting hurt is ok. You’ll survive. 4- You don’t have to be right. Winning often means someone else has to lose, and that often isn’t worth it. 5- Don’t speed in residential areas- especially that one street on the way to school- the cops are waiting there. 6- You can’t know what you don’t know but realize there’s so much you don’t know and that’s why you’re an idiot. 7- Appreciate what you can while you can. Life doesn’t always give you a head’s up that something big is coming. You need to appreciate the unexpected little things every day. Looking back, they will often be much more important than you think. 8- Work hard, but don’t make your life about work. (I recently saw a post asking “what would be your dream job?”. The response was, “why would I dream of labor?” Work is a necessity, doing what you love is a gift few have, but life isn’t about your job and you shouldn’t be defined by what you do. 9- Typing class is going to be way more important than you think. 10- Enjoy the 1985-86 Super Bowl Bear’s season- it’s going to be a long wait for another one. 11- Spend time with those you love- life is shorter than you think. 12- Forgive others and ask to be forgiven when you’re wrong- and then move on. Being wrong is going to happen, learn to accept it, make up for it, and be better- but don’t punish yourself or others for it forever. It’s not worth the cost. 13- Life isn’t always fair and bad things happen to good people. Working on accepting these things goes a long way to dealing with life in general. 14- Never open a software and computer shop. 15- Always show respect to others until they prove they don’t deserve it, then avoid those people as much as possible. There will be crappy people in every facet of your life, family, work, school, friends, everywhere. The more you can remove them from your life, the happier you will be. 16- It’s all going to be ok. You’re going to fail. You’re going to lose. You’re going to hurt. Tomorrow, you’ll get up and try to be better. You’re going to be ok. 17- And finally, if you ever get the idea to write down and post your thoughts thinking that anyone else has any interest in reading them, move on- you’re just not that interesting. Until next time -Be Well and Stay Safe, Uncle Steve

Good morning to everyone kind enough to take the time to read the latest offering from my “Thoughts for Thursday” series, or “TfT” (as those of you who belong to my “Insider’s Club” get to call it- only $9.95/month 1 month free with a year’s subscription). And for those of you who can’t be bothered to spend a few minutes reading the most underappreciated work in all of literary history, I pity your sad existence, but you’ll never know because you’re not reading this are you? It’s been a bit longer than usual since I was able to find the time and motivation to pen this episode and like always, life has been its typical challenge for Uncle Steve. (Warning- the next section of my TfT is more serious than the usual tone of my writing, but what do you expect? I promise this week’s entry won’t be entirely about this, just hold on.) I did toss out a few paragraphs some weeks ago when I fully intended to add an entry to this series, but the tragic Uvalde School Shootings had just occurred, and I had nothing positive to say to anyone at that time. Just to clarify my position on this issue: I'm not against gun ownership. I'm against a system that allows the sale of weapons that can fire 120 rounds a minute to mentally ill people too young to legally drink with no background check because that might "infringe" on your constitutional right to commit mass murder. Pretty simple, right? Do I have anything positive to say now? Not really. What is there to say that hasn’t been said in the 23 years since Columbine and a near endless parade of towns and schools that we added to the list of tragedies ever since? Thoughts and Prayers? When is Enough, Enough? There is new legislation that promises to be the most significant overhaul of the nation’s gun control laws in decades, supported by both parties in the Senate, and honestly, it’s almost pointless. It doesn’t raise the age to own a gun. It doesn’t limit the types of weapons that can be purchased. It addresses some completely common-sense measures that would “hopefully” make it harder for someone with a mental illness to purchase a weapon and closes the “boyfriend” loophole that shouldn’t even exist. What is the “boyfriend loophole” you ask? You can’t own a gun if you commit violence against your partner- common sense, right? We don’t want convicted violent offenders to own guns, correct? Well, if you weren’t married, living with them, or have a child with them, you can buy all the guns you want. Absurd. And the Republicans in the House refuse to even support this. 70% of Americans want stricter gun control legislation and the politicians that supposedly represent us in our democratic society, do not reflect that demand. Until they do, hoping that Robb Elementary is the last name on this horrific list is nonsense. Thoughts and Prayers are great, but I’m also going to offer my ability to Vote for the candidates that I believe will make the obvious changes to try to improve this insanity. Maybe if enough of us do that, these atrocities will eventually become a distant memory. Moving on… The title of today’s entry is “All I Really Need to Know”. Now, I’ve mentioned time and again over the course of writing these episodes, especially when I am so conceited as to offer up my opinions, that I am an idiot- it is a fair disclaimer that protects me from lawsuits. And as an idiot, I find it helpful to keep a very simple list of things that I need to know concerning life in general. I will now be so kind as to offer to share this list with all of you, thereby making your lives much easier by default. Full disclosure, the complete title of this episode is “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” and many of these points are directly stolen from the author of that piece- Robert Fulghum. Stealing good ideas is much easier than coming up with them on your own. That’s a bonus tip. Now, I know that the world and the people who presently reside in it are often far from “simple”. As we got older, our lives became infinitely more complex and navigating the relationships and places that we found ourselves in always seemed far from “simple”. But maybe we were making things too complicated on our own, and perhaps if everyone viewed things from the perspective of a Kindergartner, we would all be better off? Well, here’s my list and I’ll let you decide for yourselves. “Share Everything” Can I have one of your cookies? Sharing is caring. I’m not saying you need to give away your stuff, but when you have more than enough, looking out for those less fortunate is part of being human. Have a generous spirit and hope that if life finds you in need, you have surrounded yourself with those who feel the same way. Wouldn’t we all be better off if we did? “Play Fair” “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing”- Vince Lombardi I shouldn’t have to say this, but since that quote comes from the legendary Green Bay Packer’s Coach, you know it’s bad advice. Winning is meaningless if you lose your ability to respect yourself and be respected in the process. I’ve lost more times in my life than I care to remember, but knowing I tried to play the game the right way, means the times I did succeed were everything they were supposed to be. “Don’t Hit People” I know the immediate response to this statement will be, “but what if?” I get it, but if everyone behaved this way, all your “what ifs” would be answered. “Flush” Nuff said. “Clean Up Your Own Mess” When my kids were little, we were big fans of “The Big Comfy Couch”, where the wonderful Loonette and Molly would perform the Ten Second Tidy on every episode. When my kids got too old for that show, I think they forgot all about the need to pick up after themselves. I may need to bring it back. “Take a Nap Every Afternoon” This one becomes completely obvious the older you get. “Wash Your Hands Before You Eat” I am positive we all know some of these people. The ones that can’t be bothered to washup, brush their teeth, wear deodorant. They’re the ones that needed the “Flush” mention from earlier. “Say You’re Sorry When You Hurt Someone” When we were in kindergarten, we all did this. No matter if what you did was an accident or purposeful, you could say you were sorry, mean it, and still be friends and go back to playing. The older we get, the more impossible it seems for people to make this work. Look, we have all been wrong. We have all been the bad guy more than we care to realize. Stop. Realize what you did. Say you’re sorry. Be better next time. Move on. It’s honestly that easy. “Don't Take Things That Aren't Yours” Can I have one of your cookies? Sometimes, the answer is going to be no. They may not have read this TfT yet, so they didn’t get the mention about “Sharing Everything”. People can say no, and that’s perfectly fine. We may not be happy about it, but it’s part of life and accepting that that’s ok, will go a long way towards being happier in it. “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together” We do better in life when we have others to go along on the journey with us. Friends, family, a significant other, whatever you can find that works for you. You check to the left and I’ll look to the right, and we’ll cross together when it’s safe. It’s a great system. “Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup” Before becoming too smart and too jaded by life, everything was a miracle. The rain, the moon, a flower, a puppy, big or small, a child can find wonder in every moment. Sadly, we often lose that as we get older and understand that Thunder isn’t two clouds bumping together. It might take a little more effort to pause and reflect during our busy days but make the effort. It’s well worth it. Look! A puppy! “Goldfish and hamster and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.” “Here is your life”, I tell you as I hand you the proverbial hourglass. I turn it over and the sand begins to slowly run down. “How long is it going to take?”, you ask. “A lifetime”, I answer. How long that is, we may never know and don’t always control. What we do with the time we have, is up to us. Make good choices. Thank you again for spending part of today reading this and I’ll try to get my next one out to you before Fall. As always, Stay Well and Stay Safe. Uncle Steve

I sat down this morning with every intent to pen a new and typically overdue "Thoughts for Thursday" for everyone. I usually try to keep my thoughts leaning toward the fun and entertatining side, even if the topics are a bit serious. Unfortunately, with the events a few days ago of yet another in an insane history of school shootings, there is no chance that I would offer anything at this moment other than outrage and anger. I normally try to avoid outright political discourse here, as I have no interest in completely offending any group of people and as I've said many times, I'm an idiot. But were I to continue with this topic right now, I would be all kinds of offensive to all kinds of people and I really couldn't care less. Quickly, and for the record- Here is the brief post from my Twitter Account (if you'd like to follow me (and you certainly should) you can find me @JustAGuy66 on Twitter. From My Twitter: I'm not against gun ownership. I'm against a system that allows the sale of weapons that can fire 120 rounds a minute to mentally ill people too young to legally drink with no background check because that might "infringe" on your constitutional right to commit mass murder. As I said- it was brief, but hopefully to the point. And to wrap up my very long non-post for now, here is a Video from former Chicago Bulls player and current Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. He expresses these feelings far better than I can. I'll try to find somehing less serious to post about soon. Thank you for your time Uncle Steve https://youtu.be/vPvf5RgCU08

Again, I’m a little overdue with my “Thoughts for Thursday” or “TfT” as those of you who joined the “insiders Club” like to call it. I seem to have missed February altogether, which sounds bad, but when you realize it’s the shortest month it doesn’t seem so awful. So here I am early this morning, wanting to make sure I get this accomplished before the rest of my day gets in the way, like it usually does. Let me begin by sincerely hoping all of you are doing well and life is treating you properly. I hope all of us are encouraged by the improving pandemic situation, although we now get to worry about the atrocities being committed in the Ukraine at this moment. I don’t expect life to be fair all the time, but I thought we had put this cold war insanity behind us many years ago. I know we often long for the olden days, but this was not what I had in mind. Moving on to less serious stuff… I’ve mentioned before that I rarely sit down with a plan on what to write about and this morning is no exception. I had some vague ideas swirling through the box of loose puzzle pieces that is my mind and rather than trying to force them all to conform to a single theme, I chose “Life, the Universe, and Everything”. See- It’s a perfect catchall for whatever spills out onto the page right now. For example… I was always taught to leave 2 spaces after a period when typing. Like this. But now it seems that leaving only 1 is the preferred option. Like this. I even found this information covering the topic online: (Nearly all style guides agree that one space is correct. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) was the only style guide that overtly recommended two spaces after a period, and even that long-time holdout for two spaces changed its guideline to one space in its 2019 update.) What the heck? I took typing in high school 40 years ago. It was something I thought was pointless at the time but have been grateful for literally every day of my life since and we were taught 2 spaces or suffer severe punishment. How could this have changed so dramatically? Were we wrong all along? Did we live in some sort of bizarre cult that held to this strange belief despite all outside pressure to conform to the rest of the world’s 1 space doctrine? I have no idea. I do know that trying to convince 40 years of muscle memory to not hit the space bar twice after a sentence is not working well and I constantly need to go back and fix it. I’m sure that this single page is riddled with spacing errors everywhere and it was the first thing that you noticed and are currently mocking me to your family and friends right now! How rude… Another annoyance of mine (there are no shortages of these, believe me) takes place this Sunday. That would be the end of Daylight Savings Time. I’m certain I’m not alone in my distain for the twice a year time shuffle and I think it needs to be done away with post haste (fancy talk for right now). We were always told that DST originated with something about farmers and their fields or war-time energy savings or some such hoohoo. It was all a lie, much like believing there should be 2 spaces after a period. First off, the energy savings argument is nearly non-existent. It really doesn’t make even a tiny dent. Secondly, it was never started to benefit farmers, they were opposed to it and somehow, it got blamed on them. History says it was started in the early 1900’s by Britain, adopted in Germany for WWI and we soon followed as a means of saving money during the war, which didn’t happen. What does happen is that changing your clock back and forth twice a year isn’t just an annoyance, but a real serious health issue. Messing with people’s sleep patterns, Seasonal Affected Disorder, and the additional stress cause increases in heart-attacks, car accidents, and medical equipment malfunctions. So, unlike the spacing at the end a sentence, this actually kills people every year. I hope reminding you to set your clocks ahead (Spring Ahead, Fall Back) 1 hour Sunday morning doesn’t make me guilty of murder? Cause of Death: Getting up an hour earlier. I don’t know about you, but that’s not how I want to meet my end. How do you want to meet your end Uncle Steve, you ask? Great question, and it fits well with the “Life” part of my generic all-encompassing theme today. Let me start my answer by saying I’m not a big fan of dying. I don’t care for the inconvenience or the permanence. I hate this Sunday because we lose a whole hour and it means trying to get more done in less time, well dying is even worse than that. You don’t just lose one hour, you lose several hours, and that is just not acceptable to me. I’ve got things to do like writing this “Thoughts for Thursday” which is already turning up much less frequently than I would hope. Can you imagine how rarely I would be able to get this out to you if I were in fact dead? Less. The answer is far less often. Now, as to the means of my demise. If I can’t go out in some amazingly dramatic fashion like diving in front of a train to save a box full of puppies or being trampled to death by a herd of puppies at the dog park or some other mass puppy related event, I would choose something very subtle and confusing. I’m not sure the exact mechanism- alien abduction? cow tipping?, but anything that has everyone wondering if I was still alive or not for as long as possible. “Did you hear that Uncle Steve died?” “No, he didn’t, I think my cousin’s daughter’s friend talked to him last week and I just read his recent “Thoughts for Thursday”. That would make me happy. As far as the actual disposal of my earthly vessel? I have that spelled out in my will. I want my remains scattered at Disneyland. But I don’t want to be cremated. I would suggest something around the Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean would be most appropriate. I wouldn’t mind a limb or two in the Small World ride, but it may not work with the existing décor. Well, that’s my quick take on Life and maybe not so much about the Universe and Everything else, I guess. I’ll try to get to more of that next time. And until then, remember: Computer Greeks is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm for all your tech needs. You can call us at: (708)636-3473, email at info@computergreeks.com, or message me right from our Facebook page. Stay Safe, Stay Well, and don’t forget to set your clock ahead Sunday. Uncle Steve

It appears my “Thoughts for Thursday” (TFT) has become a monthly endeavor lately, so as this is my first of 2022, let me begin by wishing a Happy Belated New Year to everyone. I’m doing my best to remain optimistic for the New Year, but so far it is looking far too much like the Old Year for me. Covid has decided to hang around for a while longer, like a holiday house guest that doesn’t know when to pack up and head home. (C’mon Aunt Kathy! Your Begonias need to be watered.) I won’t spend today’s TFT wading into more Pandemic/Masks/Vaccines/Arguing/Politics/Insanity/WhatTheHellisWrongWithPeopleI’msosickofit conversation. I can save that for another time. Today, for once, I wanted to discuss something I honestly know about (pretty much, the only thing I know about) Computers and all this Tech Stuff. A brief recap to catch up any new readers here: Computer Greeks (Located at 12222 S Harlem Ave in Palos Heights and Open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm) opened in May of 1996, and if my abacus is still working correctly, that means we are approaching 26 years in business. By my estimation, 26 years is a long time for any business to be around and in the world of computers and tech stuff, it is many lifetimes. When the world was young and the store was new and filled with joy and hope (not like today), computers were still somewhat rare, the internet was only starting to develop a wider audience as it would still be another 5 years before even ½ the population was online. Today, we carry the internet around in our pockets and often take for granted the wealth of entertainment, communication, and information that it provides. I try to tell my kids how lucky they are and how things used to be (not that they ever listen to my priceless words of wisdom). After describing how I walked 6 miles to school up hill both ways, I then mention how we waited in line to use a pay phone to call our parents when we needed a ride home. How if someone spouted some random bit of information: did you know that Mikey from the Life Cereal commercial- the one who’ll eat anything, died from Pop Rocks when his stomach exploded? (That was a real thing by the way). You had no choice but to accept it because you couldn’t just pull out your phone and Google it. When I was a kid, I thought thunder was two clouds bumping together (Like my mom told me!) for years before finding out it was a lie. If only I had the internet at my disposal the way every toddler does now on their own personal iPad. Even typing out this “Thoughts for Thursday” would have been a much more tedious task involving feeding sheets of paper into a typewriter, changing ribbons, and the liberal use of “White Out”. I am so glad I took typing in High School; it is genuinely one of the things that I appreciate every day that back then, I thought was a waste of time unless I became a secretary. Ah, the good old days! But now It’s 2022, and if you’re reading this, you most likely have a computer, a phone, a tablet, a desktop, a laptop, a smart tv, a ring doorbell, a refrigerator with a LCD screen, a Google Home, or ask Alexa questions daily. The age of information and technology is possibly the most incredible change in our lifetimes. Information and knowledge is so valued, that I can remember when a set of Encyclopedias would cost thousands of dollars, were sold by door-to-door salesman, and required financing to purchase. I can also remember needing to write a book report on Lichtenstein and being unable to find the “L” volume that someone had failed to put back in its place. So, it’s great that we have all of this wonderous technology at our fingertips, (Quick comment here- We have “Fingertips”, but don’t “Tipfinger”, but we don’t call them “Toetips”, and yet we Tiptoe?) but there is a cost and a responsibility for being connected to the digital world. You must be willing to accept a near complete loss of privacy and a constant risk to your security when you live with the technology of today. Your personal information is online for the viewing. Your name, address, phone number, date of birth, social security number, driver’s license, and so much more are easily discoverable for those who want to. Our credit card numbers are bought and sold online like a flea market. This is just the world as it is, but there are things you can do to protect yourself. There literally isn’t a day that goes by, that we don’t get a call at work from someone who has been “Hacked”. Now this isn’t the “Hacking” we might picture from the movies, with someone using super advanced technology to find out your passwords and get into your accounts. This is more accurately described as Tricked, not Hacked. When you get a call from “Microsoft” telling you Windows is going to expire and won’t work anymore if you don’t call them right away, that isn’t getting “Hacked”. When you’re browsing the internet and suddenly, a Window pops up saying your system has been compromised and is virus infected and you need to call the 800 number on the screen immediately, this isn’t getting “Hacked”. When an email shows up in your inbox telling you that you have a refund coming for an overcharge by your antivirus software, so you let the nice man at the end of the email have access to your accounts to send you the money, this isn’t getting “Hacked”. 99.9% of these cases that we take care of follow a very similar pattern. Something: a phone call; email; pop-up window; telegram; happens to scare you, you react without thinking, give a “helpful” person on the end of the phone remote access to your system, and then all hell breaks loose. At the point that they try to charge you for “fixing” your system, or worse yet, extort money from you by locking you out of your own computer, you realize this was a terrible mistake. As much as I understand we don’t normally expect this level of deceit and lies when dealing with people, you need to be aware how often it happens and make intelligent choices. Don’t believe strange phone calls, emails, or windows that mysteriously show up on your devices, I don’t care if the person says they’re Bill Gates himself. Don’t allow strangers, ever, to have remote access to your devices. This is like giving your address and garage code to some guy on the street. Now don’t get me wrong, remote access is an invaluable tool to provide support and correct computer issues and I use it every day, but I’m a Freakin’ Tech God who has a local business that’s been around for 26 years that is beloved by customers and the community for generations. People can trust that what Uncle Steve says is the truth and what I promise to do (and not do) is going to happen. So be aware, use your common sense, and when in doubt- call us before doing anything. I would rather take 100 phone calls from people asking if something is ok, than 1 from a person after the fact. The second part of your responsibility to yourself and your technology, is properly maintaining your devices. Your desktop and laptop computers need regular attention if you want to be able to use them as safely and trouble free as possible. How often Uncle Steve? I often compare it to your furnace and air-conditioner, once a year. It was 20 degrees below zero yesterday and my furnace worked hard to make sure my family and I were toasty warm in our humble home. Do you think that I ignore it, cross my fingers, and hope it turns on when these winter temps come around? Not a chance. I have it cleaned and inspected every fall to ensure I have the best chance of getting through the winter without any disasters. You need to treat your desktop and laptop computers in the same way. Your computer turned on just fine this morning? That’s great, but wouldn’t it be nice if you knew it was properly updated, that your security patches and protection were current and working correctly, and that it was running as quickly as possible? That’s what regular computer service can help you enjoy. Now don’t get me wrong, having your systems serviced every year doesn’t mean there isn’t a chance of having problems anymore than having my furnace serviced every fall means it can’t give me issues, but we are trying to give ourselves the best possible outcomes by doing what we can. This is how we typically treat life itself. I look both ways before crossing the street to make sure I have the best chance to get across safely. I use my turn signal when I drive, go to the dentist every 6 months, have my oil changed regularly, and try not to eat leftovers after more than 7 days. (My wife says 3 is the max, but I hate wasting food: True story: a few weeks ago, I ate an entire plate of chili cheese dip (I’m not proud of this), that I found in the fridge thinking it was 4 or 5 days old. When my wife got home, she saw what I had done and couldn’t believe it, not because I ate the entire thing, but because it was from New Year’s Eve- 14 days earlier. I survived, but it wasn’t something I would do again.) I do all these things because it’s what I can control in my life to try to minimize the disasters that I’ll have to deal with. I can’t help you with your car. I can’t help you with your dental problems (I could try, but you probably wouldn’t want me to). I can’t warn you about your far too old leftovers hiding in your fridge, waiting for the unsuspecting late-night hunger to strike you when you’re most vulnerable. But I can help you with your computers, your security, safely backing up your important data and pictures, and any questions or problems that might come up involving all this Tech Stuff. If you can’t remember the last time your desktops and laptops were gone through, give us a call (we have records for all this stuff). You can bring in your systems or even schedule us to work on them remotely (remember, we’re the trustworthy people it’s ok to let on your computers). How much does all this incredible quality service and priceless peace of mind cost Uncle Steve? (Insert shameless sales pitch here) Our Safety and Security Scan Service is priced this week at only $79.00. As always, Stay Safe and Stay Well Uncle Steve

Hello All! I know I haven't had the time to post an official "Thoughts for Thursday" in several weeks, but I didn't want to let today go by without at least a brief visit and a few Holiday Thoughts. First- let me get some business out of the way: We are open today from 10am to 6pm, Tomorrow (Christmas Eve) from 10am to 2pm, and yes, we will be Closed on Saturday (Christmas Day). Shocking I know. If you waited until Saturday morning to get your shopping done, try Walgreens or the gas station. Lottery tickets are always a good choice. It's 2 days until Christmas, 9 days until New Years and if my math is correct, that means only 8 days left in 2021. We seem to be going out a lot like we did in 2020, with so much uncertainty over a new Covid variant, rising infections rates, and a world greatly divided over what to do. You're exhausted from all of this. I am as well. I wish I had an answer on what everyone should do and the right way to deal with the division in our world, but the best I can offer is that we try to do our best, remembering that we need to care about others, even strangers, as we do for ourselves and those we love. I think I recall something about what we do to the least of these... We should probably keep that in mind. I work hard to stay positive (it's not easy, right?)- appreciate what we have (family, friends, health (thank God), and the Holiday Season itself, even if the world isn't the way we would wish it to be right now. I think often of those we have lost and try to make sure we stay as hopeful and cheerful as they would want us to be, even without them here. I'm reminded of a terrible joke that I will share because that's what I do: As my dad was dying, the doctors scrambled to give him a transfusion, but no one could remember his blood type. Be Positive he whispered. But, it's so hard without him now. There you go, we need to balance the serious side with enough irreverance to keep us moving forward. That's what I hope for all of us in the coming year. Acknowledge the reality of where we are and what life brings us, but try to stay positive and make a dumb joke or two along the way. We can get through this, if we look out for each other, reach out when you need a hand, and always, ALWAYS try to be kind. To others, and to yourself. Don't forget, if you're not ok, then you're no good to anyone else either. I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Peace and Joy for the rest of 2021 and for the New Year as well. Uncle Steve

It’s Thursday, so that must mean we all get to enjoy another of Uncle Steve’s amazingly insightful and sardonic essays wonderfully titled “Thoughts for Thursday” or TFT for short. (Ok, so we missed one or two Thursdays again since the last TFT, but who’s counting, amirite?) I didn’t have to think very long to decide what I wanted to chat about today. I had a confrontation with a person on Tuesday who wanted to do business with the single greatest Computer Sales and Service Shop that has ever existed located at 12222 S Harlem Ave in Palos Heights, open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm and named “Computer Greeks”. (I realize that technically, no other Computer Store has ever existed at that address, so I guess we win by default, but you know what I meant). She walked in around 12:30pm and was lucky enough to be greeted by everyone’s favorite IT Professional with incredible Skills matched only by his Wit and Stunning Good Looks- me. As has been the case with many of us during this time, she walked in without a mask on. Ok, Wait! Don’t stop reading here thinking this is an old TFT going off on the whole “mask thing” again. It really isn’t. Well, not most of it, just give me a chance. Everyone should know my stand on the Great Mask Civil War, but for those who somehow might have missed it, I’ll give you a very simple and brief (hooray) summary. Wear Masks= Good Thing Wear Masks= Not Too Much to Ask Anyone Don’t Want to Wear Mask= That’s Fine, Wear One Anyway You Don’t Think Masks Work= That’s Fine, Wear One Anyway I Have Research and Studies and Can Demonstrate How Masks Cause Brain Damage and The White Sox Playoff Loss= That’s Really Neat, Wear One Anyway See, simple. Except after my encounter on Tuesday, it seems I need to add a couple to the list. 1- Do You Want My Business or Not? 2- Don’t You Care About Freedom? Do I want your Business? Do I care about Freedom? Let me address the first one first, which makes sense because I put it first after all. Do I want your business or not? Well, I imagine that she thought this was a rhetorical question, because the answer must be, “Of Course I want your Business!” What business could survive for over 25 years without wanting someone’s business? It’s right there in the name after all. There is one problem with this idea that this potential customer has overlooked. In reality, we don’t want everyone’s business after all and deciding if we do business together is our choice as well as hers. If a customer would rather pay more money for poor service and aggravation somewhere else, that is their choice. The same way Computer Greeks can decline to do business with someone as long as it is not discriminatory. Not accepting you as a customer because you are an idiot who would put your own defective ideas and self-interests above decent behavior and the safety of others is not discrimination, at least not until they diagnose stupidity as a disability I suppose. Let me be clear. I care deeply about my business and its customers. Surviving for over 25 years would have never been possible without the customers who have been kind enough to rely on us and trust us with their tech problems and needs. We always try to be patient, understanding, supportive, and helpful whenever people come in or call, often when they are stressed out, frustrated, and unkind due to the problems they are dealing with. We know this happens and try not to take offense when it does. But one of the things that I will never tolerate is being threatened in my own business and let me be very plain- “do you want my business” is a threat. That attitude will end any conversation I’m involved in and you will have no problem understanding if I want your business or not. The very easy choice is no thank you, please go annoy one of my competitors. The second bit of confused nonsense that our delightful Tuesday visitor presented me with was “Don’t you care about Freedom? Hell yes, I do! I love the damn thing. I love my country and think it’s the best one around. Freedom is Awesome! Unfortunately, I think she may be confusing Freedom with Anarchy. Freedom doesn’t mean you get to do whatever you want and never has. Freedom means having choices, the same as everyone else. And with those choices and freedoms comes the knowledge that we accept a majority rule called Democracy, that means sometimes, we have to abide by decisions we don’t agree with. That’s precisely how this thing works. You have a voice. You do not have the only voice. It turns out we all get one and yours, despite what you may believe, is no more important than anyone else’s. When things don’t go your way, you have the freedom to be unhappy about it and to try to legally affect change. You do not have the right to ignore those choices and behave however you want. That’s called Anarchy and I’ll give you a hint- it’s not a good thing. I’ll give you an example. You love Chipotle Burrito Bowls (who doesn’t). You also love Guacamole (again, who doesn’t). You believe that Guacamole should be included in the Burrito Bowl price, but Chipotle decides to charge extra for it. You believe that this is a violation of your Constitutionally protected Freedoms under the 92nd amendment which states that all reasonable condiments, including vegetable and fruit based, should be included with a meal for no extra charge. (Unfortunately, this amendment hasn’t been passed yet.) So, your freedom gives you some choices here. You are free to: 1- Pay extra for the Guac even though you don’t agree with it 2- Don’t get the Guac because you refuse to pay anything more 3- Boycott Chipotle and organize others who feel the same way to pressure them into changing. Except, you don’t like any of these choices. So instead, while they are assembling your delicious Burrito Bowl, you reach over the glass, grab a handful of Guac, toss it onto your Bowl and begin to lick the excess off your fingers, all the while shouting- Freedom B!tch@s! At this point, the manager of the Chipotle has a chance to exercise his Freedoms as well, which would include having you removed from the premises, calling the police, pressing charges, and banning you for life. (Oh No! No more Burrito Bowls?) Do you see the problem here? This wasn’t someone exercising their freedom, this was an asshat who thinks they have to always get their way or else they will throw a fit and misbehave. Last time I checked that’s not called Freedom, it’s called acting like a 2-year-old. So here I am exercising my freedom (which I dearly love). The freedom to refuse service to people based solely on the fact that they annoy me. The freedom to remove you from my shop (which by the way, is not a public place as people often believe, it is private property, just like every other business). The freedom to write a long drawn on article about how stupid and childish someone was and what I “Thought” about it. And finally, the freedom to refuse to pay extra for Guac on my Burrito Bowl. You can add it if you want, I promise not to knock your bowl to the floor because you don’t do things the way I think you should. That’s Freedom. As always, Stay Safe and Stay Well, Uncle Steve

Welcome back to my Thoughts for Thursday or as we now call it, “TFT”. As expected, after managing to complete my TFTs for two consecutive weeks (Hooray for Me!), I followed that up with a gap of a few weeks just to make sure none of you had gotten too spoiled (No one likes to be taken for granted). But here we are again just the same, filled with anticipation over what Uncle Steve might decide is his current target to wield his mighty pen of sarcasm and justice against this time. Masks? No, despite becoming even more of a problem for our country than it ever has been, I’ve covered that enough for the time being. Here’s a quick reminder- Wear the freakin’ masks and stop attacking the people who do or acting like a diaper baby when you have to put one on. It’s simple, see? Small Business Life during a Pandemic? Not today. While fascinating stories are still waiting to be told, I’ll put those on pause for now as well. The Migrant Crisis? Distracted Driving? Conflict in the Middle East? You have obviously overestimated my credentials if you think I have solutions to issues on this level. Way above my pay grade as well, sorry to disappoint. No, today I’m going to delve into a topic that is at the forefront of my thoughts today and much more in line with my intellectual qualifications to comment on. National “Fill in the Blank” Days. What in the name of Sam Hill am I talking about this time? (Also, did you know that the origin for the expression, “Sam Hill”, is most likely a euphemism for “Hell”? I always thought it was just some oldie time guy. Fascinating stuff, I know.) Back to the incredibly important topic at hand- National ________ Days. Did you know September 20th was National Pepperoni Pizza Day? I found that out when Pizza Hut emailed me this important factoid and I felt obligated to order a Pepperoni Pizza. I mean, I didn’t want to be unpatriotic. It’s a National Day! It also happened to be National Fried Rice Day; National String Cheese Day, National Punch Day (The drink I hope), and National Care for Kids Day. All these momentous National Days on the Same Day! What are the chances? It’s like if Thanksgiving, Easter, and Labor Day all happened at once! What are the chances, I “Thought” to myself. So, I did a little investigating and discovered to my amazement, this wasn’t an unusual occurrence. As it turned out, last Tuesday, the 21st, was National Chai Day, National Pecan Cookie Day, National New York Day, and most importantly of all- National IT Professionals Day! My own day, celebrated by the entire Nation, and I didn’t even realize it until I looked it up. That’s like finding out last week was Christmas and no one mentioned it! I wondered, what other amazing National Days was I oblivious to? So, I looked up what National Celebrations are happening today, that I should recognize and tell you about at this very minute and found the following National Days going on right now: Snack Stick Day; Great American Pot Pie Day; Teal Talk Day; Innergize Day; Restless Legs Awareness Day; and Checkers/Dogs in Politics Day. Ok, it suddenly dawned on me that none of these sounded even remotely like Christmas or even IT Professionals Day (Which is really close to Christmas in importance). I’m not even sure what most of these are? “Restless Legs Awareness Day”? Ok, I suppose that could be important? I mean, I don’t want to ignore what I guess is a medical condition, even if I can’t recall ever having seen their Telethon, but still important I’m sure. “Great American Pot Pie Day” and “National Snack Stick Day”? Now, I like a good Pot Pie even if I don’t think I’ve had one in years and it turns out a “Snack Stick” is mostly like what we called “Meat Sticks”, but seriously, these don’t really compare to “National Pepperoni Pizza Day”. I suppose we can use all of the Food Related Days we can get, so I’ll give them a pass. But what about these others? “Innergize”? That’s not even a real word for Cripe’s sake. (And who is this “Cripe” anyway? Is he related to the “Sam Hill” guy from earlier?) I had to turn on my Google Machine and found that “Innergize Day” is the day after the Autumnal Equinox and “offers an opportunity to relax and rejuvenate”. Well, isn’t that special? I’m afraid that if your job isn’t aware of this super important National Day, they may not agree with your desire to spend your time doing only relaxing and rejuvenating stuff. If your job is making you do actual work today, you stop right now, show them this TFT, and head on back to the Nap Pods you should have available to celebrate like you should. I also used my Google Machine to look up “Teal Talk Day” and it turns out that this is about Ovarian Cancer Awareness. A disease that certainly deserves more attention and focus. Once I researched it, I get the “Teal” notion like “Pink” has become the color for Breast Cancer Awareness. There seems to be all kinds of colors for all kinds of cancers, so bringing focus to any of these is great. Glad I learned this. Finally, we have the National Checkers/Dogs in Politics Day. Now I made the assumption that this was also a very important day with an odd name that once I looked it up, I would discover something as equally important to Cancer Awareness. I did not. It is literally a day to celebrate “Dogs in Politics”. Like Mayor Snuffles or Governor Rover? “Checkers”, was Richard Nixon’s dog that I guess he gave a famous speech referencing, hence the name. So, this is the day we celebrate the Presidential First Dogs who have dutifully served their country? Seriously? Anyone who knows me understands I love dogs. My daughter’s dog, “Bea”, has even taken over the duties of my TFTs in the past, so no one can argue my canine affections, but a National Day? It started to make me wonder if maybe these “National Days” aren’t really the important official events that they first appeared to be? I discovered an article from The Atlantic, that was a shocking revelation. It states: “Many of these days are new in the past few years, and a small percentage are recognized by the government. Whimsical as these days seem, the creation and maintenance of national days are a phenomenon with massive financial implications. Many such days are used—or were even specifically invented—to coax people to talk about products and services. This happens on a scale that traditional advertising almost never achieves. Even spending millions on a Super Bowl commercial cannot command so much favorable attention to a product—given freely and enthusiastically by unassuming consumers who blast it into the timelines of everyone they know.” This is news that is both distressing and disturbing. Am I to believe that “National Pot Pie Day” is merely a contrived holiday artificially created by a Pot Pie Advertising Conglomerate and not the genuine celebration by real Americans who simply wanted their love of Flakey Crusted Meat and Vegetable Pies to be justly honored? Then what about the others? The upcoming National Dumpling Day, National Chocolate Milk Day, Corned Beef Hash Day, or even the non-food related occasions such as National Ghost Hunting Day, National Scarf Day, or National Hobbit Day? Are they all just false festivities to manipulate us into spending our money on more things we don’t need while pulling our attentions away from the important issues like work and pandemics and politics and wars and – ok, hold-up? Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing after all. I can only watch so much of the news before I need to focus on something a little bit less depressing and terrifying and maybe a Pot Pie Day is just what we all need. And there’s no way I’m not going to remind you of next year’s IT Professional’s Day when it comes up again. I will make sure to have a list of gifts I would like you to send my way available for you to consider, so save up your money, it’s going to be a big list. Mark your calendar now so you won’t miss it. And as always- Stay Safe and Stay Well, Uncle Steve

This must be some sort of a minor miracle, because here we are with a new edition of my “Thoughts for Thursday” (or TfT as we now call it) for the second week in a row. Now don’t get spoiled expecting this to happen all the time, but we can enjoy it while it lasts. And there you have it, the theme for my TfT today- “Enjoy it while it Lasts”. I’ve mentioned a few times that when I sit down to write my TfT, I often have no idea what I’m going to discuss. The word “Thoughts’ is right in the title and like most thoughts, there is a bit of a rambling stream of consciousness to the process (ok, mine are certainly more rambling than most). So, I begin with a witty greeting and comment or two and begin to search for anything that I can pretend will be the actual topic and point of this missive. Sometimes I fail to find one and just continue to type disjointed sentences (albeit humorous and insightful) that I hope no one notices are a failed attempt at filling enough space so that I can feel my job is done (like the last two paragraphs you just read). But eventually, I bring the focus back to the topic and here we are. (Isn’t getting this insight into the inner working of the TfT posts just fascinating? No? Oh, well, you’ve come this far, might was well continue.) “Enjoy it while it lasts”. This expression is certainly not uncommon and I’m sure many of us have absent mindedly thrown it out to others or had it tossed our way without a lot of consideration to the deeper context. A six-year-old, eating a good humor bar from the ice cream truck they raced to catch up to- “Enjoy it while it lasts!” your mom tells you. Playing at the beach on the last day of your family vacation- “Enjoy it while it lasts!” your dad declares. Stuck at home during an 18-month Pandemic that looks like it may be here for a while still- “Enjoy it while it lasts!”, I implore you. Confused? Concerned? (Don’t worry, my medication hasn’t worn off- I’m fine). Let me explain To begin to understand, we need to look at the origin of the expression, “Enjoy it while it lasts”. No one is sure of the exact year, but one day, long ago, a dinosaur named Bert was lazily eating a plant with his best bud Stinky (Back then, Stinky was a proud name and didn’t come to mean what we now think of until much more recently). So as Bert was chewing on the prehistoric fauna, he stopped long enough to admire the beauty of the day and of the moment and commented to Stinky, “Isn’t this the best?”. “What do you mean?” grunted Stinky. “Well, it’s a nice warm day, the ice age is long gone, there are no carnivores in the area, plenty of this delicious prehistoric fauna for us to eat (they called it “Prehistoric Fauna” back then too), and good friends to enjoy it with. What could be better?”, Bert declared. Looking around to take in the experience, Stinky notes a bright light high up in the sky, growing slightly larger with each passing moment. “I can’t argue with you Bert”, Stinky says. “it’s the best”. The bright light is now a tiny fireball growing even larger still. “Enjoy it while it lasts”, Stinky remarks as he returns to munching the greenery with his best bud. There you have it, the official source of the expression. What does this story tell us? Well, as I see it, a few things that are noteworthy. Certainly, the idea that in order to “Enjoy it while it lasts” means we are doing something that is by definition, enjoyable. (Fantastic insight Uncle Steve!) Except what we are doing doesn’t need to be anything particularly noteworthy. Eating a salad with your friend on a sunny day might not stand out to many as a “moment” to pay much attention to. It certainly isn’t some grand event like a wedding or a child’s birth or the 25th Anniversary of Computer Greeks located at 12222 S. Harlem Ave in Palos Heights- open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 6pm. We all pay special attention to those days, but what about the routine times that fill in the vast majority of life in between the major occasions? Those are often overlooked and quickly forgotten. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Breault. Another thought I would note from the completely true and factual tale of our dinosaur duo, is that while we certainly know that the times we should enjoy will most likely come to end, that ending is not likely to be as obvious as the impending impact of a giant meteor. Yes, while eating our Strawberry Shortcake ice cream treat (far and away the best choice) from the melodious white truck will certainly end, we know that another will be available tomorrow, or next summer. We will get to enjoy it again. And the final day of summer vacation at the beach with our family has a limit before we must return home, but we know we will be back again next year, just like always. Until we won’t. “Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it”. – Sommerset Maugham I don’t remember the last time I talked to my dad before we knew he was sick. I don’t remember the last visit with my mom before she was diagnosed with cancer either. I certainly remember many of the “last” times I spent with them after we knew life had a time limit. The last time going to a restaurant, the last time watching a movie, and so many other little last things. I don’t mean to be somber or depressing (too late, I know) and I have no doubt all of us have similar experiences. Once you live long enough, you have a journey that is filled with both the good and the bad memories that are indelibly etched in our minds. Often, when those memories become branded in our brains comes completely by surprise. The ups and the downs alike. And let me clarify for a second. I’m not trying to say enjoy the good times because something awful is coming and they will be gone soon. Yes, that can happen, and I certainly hope all of us take the time to realize when the commonplace might not be so common, but don’t dread the ending or some impending doom. That will only make the chance to enjoy these moments even more difficult. As a famous philosopher once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”- Ferris Bueller That brings me to my final thought- I also want you to enjoy the bad times. No, not because something even worse is around the corner, but because they have so much of life’s value to offer as well. I can remember the losses and sadnessessess (is that right?) in my life at many ages with vivid detail just like I do the great joys. A grandfather passing when I was five, our first dog not coming back from the vet when I was a child (Hi, Snowy!), the one my children will remember the same way (Hey, Chelsea!) as well as the three guinea pigs, two hamsters, and several cats along the way, and so much more. My appendectomy, a broken collar bone, a couple of car accidents, lost baseball games, high school traumas, and many more than I can list. All of them offered a chance to appreciate the lives and the experiences that helped to make me, me. I hold the railing and count the stairs going into my basement because I once fell down a flight when I was young which allowed me to experience the aforementioned broken collarbone. I haven’t eaten Chicken Cordon Bleu in 37 years because it was served at our Senior Banquet (Not a “Prom” because dancing was sex standing up? Still confused about that one.) in high school and afterwards, we went on a boat ride where I returned my meal to the sea. I don’t tug on Superman’s cape, I don’t spit into the wind, I don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and I don’t mess around with Slim. All because life, and Jim Croce told me not to. I’m me because of the good stuff and bad stuff that fell on top of me over 55 years and all got mixed up and left me standing in this place at this time. So, at the beginning of this, I told you to enjoy the Pandemic while it lasts. I’ve said many times, I look forward to brighter days ahead without the stress, the conflict and the limitations and fear that we all currently are living in. But at the same time, I hope we try to take that look around and realize we can still enjoy both the bad things that can teach and mold and create, as well as the good things that give us our hope and our joy and our laughs. The things we should hold onto as long as possible while we are in this place and this time. So, here we all are- In this place and at this time. Having wasted 10 minutes reading a barely comprehensible dissertation written by an idiot because somehow your life hasn’t yet taught you how to avoid them. Maybe this time you’ll learn. In the meantime, Enjoy it while it Lasts. Stay Safe and Stay Well, Uncle Steve

Good morning to everyone on this fine “Thoughts for Thursday” morning. I know I’ve been seriously delinquent on my “TfT” (Thoughts for Thursday- Abbreviation Style!) posts in recent weeks and will offer a full refund to any subscribers who are dissatisfied with their service and have actually paid any money which sounds like a great idea now that I think of it, but since I haven’t seen a dime from any of the TfT Posts, would be highly unlikely. I suppose I could start a TfT Membership Club that for a reasonable monthly fee would offer more frequent and personal “Thoughts” available only for TfT Insiders? Then you could be privy to special Uncle Steve Insights (UCIs?) like, “damn, my back hurts this morning” and “crap, my feet really hurt today” and other super interesting revelations. I could even feature a “Guess What Part of my Body Hurts Now?- Sponsored by Palos Health”. These actually sound like really great ideas, I’ll update you on any progress here, but unfortunately, I’ve gotten a bit off-track. So, to continue- As I’ve mentioned in the past, I often sit down to write my TfTs (I really like this Abbreviation! It saves a lot of time writing out the full “Thoughts for Thursday”, but I guess this long part in the parentheses probable takes up way more space than it saves, so I guess I should stop making these comments so much, huh?), I’m often not sure what I want to write about. Sometimes, I have a notion what I want to comment on and other times I have no clue whatsoever as I gaze randomly around my office searching for inspiration. Some might think this is a sign of ADHD, but I have never- Oh, look! A Puppy! Now, what was I saying? Oh, yeah, other times I start with an idea in mind and end up on a tangent that I had not anticipated. Sort of like now with the whole TfT abbreviation thing and the excitement of the Membership Club and UCIs I need to work out. That’s when I realize it might be time to get to a point of some kind before I lose the 6 people who might have been so bored as to read this far. So, I’ll try to begin again with an idea I have had in mind from the start. Masks. Now hold on, I know what you’re thinking: “You gotta be freakin’ kidding me! I read through 5 paragraphs of this nonsense only for you to start up with the Masks Crap again!” I feel you Fam. (I’m trying to add some hipness to my writing, I hope you like it). That’s exactly what I thought when Chicago announced the mandate that starts tomorrow: “I’ve gone through 18 months of this nonsense and you’re starting up with the Masks Crap again!” Everything Old is New again, except for me, I’m still just Old. I wondered what I thought the first time around, so I wanted to go back through my Thoughts for Thursday (TfT) posts, almost back to the beginning- April 30th, 2020. Seems like a lifetime ago. I wanted to see what my Thoughts were early on and wondered if after all this time, how have they changed? Back then, I wrote: (“Beginning tomorrow, we will require anyone wanting to enter Computer Greeks to be wearing a Face Mask or Face Covering of some type. Calm down, I'm not finished. I realize this is a point of contention for many people. Some believe that the coverage of the Pandemic is overblown, and the media are promoting fear for the sake of ratings like that would ever happen. Those holding to this opinion feel that the “Stay at Home Order” and the limits placed on their personal freedom are an example of the government overstepping their power, again- as if our leaders would ever want that. Others feel that the safeguards in place are reasonable and need to be enacted to provide all of us with the best possible outcome to a terrible situation. the choice we need to make seems clear, even for those who don't agree they are necessary. Early on during the initial spread of this nightmare, someone said something that stuck with me and I'm sure I'm not getting the quote exactly right, but it was to the effect- We may never know if we overreacted with the restrictions and measures being put into place, but we will most certainly know if we did too little.”) There it is. How I felt 16 months ago. Any changes on how I feel today? Honestly, an Awful Lot and Not Much at the same time. Like all of you, I’m exhausted with this. I don’t want to write about Masks again. I don’t want to hear and read the words “Pandemic” and “Mandate” and “Worcestershire” (I hate that word! No one can pronounce it or spell it correctly- get rid of it). Back then, we were fighting over whether the Pandemic was real or not, whether masks were effective or not, and whether the actions being taken were justified or a violation of our rights. Today, we get to add “Vaccine” to our list of “Please don’t bring this up, it’s just going to start a fight” topics to avoid. So, what have we learned in all this time? Not much it seems. We’re still fighting over wearing a mask. Literally fighting. Like, punch a teacher in the face because you don’t want your child to be forced to wear a mask to school, fighting. Attack a business owner for asking you to wear a mask before entering their business, that kind of fighting. Still watching some deny the Pandemic even exists! (I don’t know anyone who died so it must be fake). And those who believe being asked to consider how their choices may hurt others is a violation of their Freedom. I guess being Free means being Free to be an Asshat to some? How sad. How shameful. How did you like it when all of the businesses were closed and your kids had to do remote learning? Wasn’t that super fun? Oh, you don’t seem to remember that? I’m assuming you don’t, otherwise needing to put on a mask wouldn’t seem so bad by comparison. You want to argue that the school has no right to require mask wearing? - well first off, it’s the State requiring it- so give the teachers and staff a break. And second, are you kidding? The schools have dress codes, approved meals and snacks, codes of conduct, and existing Vaccinations to allow you to enroll your kids to start with. But the mask thing is the tipping point? Why not protest that the Football Team won’t let you child play without a helmet on? “It should be the parents’ decision!” “The Government is trying to Control Us!”. “Helmets don’t do anything! Pro football players still get concussions and CTE!”. Sound absurd? Well, that’s exactly how you sound when you argue needing to do something as simple and considerate as wearing a mask. You sound like a little dopey baby with a poopy diaper. Try not to do that, it’s not a good look. My position on this has been unchanged- I don’t give a damn what you think about the effectiveness of wearing a mask. I’m far too busy and exhausted to get into a debate with everyone who has an opinion about the subject and yes, I’m very impressed by the research you’ve done on the topic (reposting Facebook lies is not research by the way). It isn’t too much to ask. It never has been. Don’t like wearing a mask? Me neither- wear it anyway. Don’t think the mask does anything? Interesting idea- wear it anyway. Think this is a Government plot to slowly erode the rights of the people and control you for nefarious reasons and that the Vaccine implants a tracking chip into everyone? Seek help. I mean seriously, 1-800-getsomehelpyoureallyneedit.com Back to my post from April of 2020, I also wrote: (“Eventually this will get better. We will tell stories to our kids and grandkids about 2020 that they will never believe and that will be something to look forward to. But we need to get there first. So, to sum up: Need Mask - Mask Good - No Mask, No Entry even when the Big Metal Door is supposed to yield to your mighty pull. I have placed another necessary barrier in your way that I know you can overcome. I believe in you!”} Have my Thoughts on this changed? Well, sure. We need to make the story to our grandkids about 2020 a bit longer and add 2021 to the tale and I guess the part about believing in you. I still believe in you- the vast majority of our customers who give me hope and encouragement every day. Those who say kind words and are patient and understanding, who express their gratitude for us being open and available to help with their problems. You people make it possible for us to be here at all and I am always so thankful for the 25 years (and counting) you have allowed us to be here. To the others? I don’t believe in you so much anymore. My faith and hope have waned. I had thought that time and reason and hindsight would enlighten those who are so angry and vindictive as to take out their frustrations on others and that they would begin to change. Instead, 624,000 deaths in the US means very little to some people and nothing will change the way they behave. To be clear, I completely understand concerns over a Vaccine that hasn’t gone through the same testing we would normally see. I even understand the notion that someone wearing a mask that has been in their car for 4 months might not be the most effective barrier to the spread of the virus. My issue isn’t with anyone for these thoughts, I’ve had them all myself. My issue is with those who choose to hurt others for not thinking the same way they do. Who scream at and berate and physically assault anyone for being asked to mask up. There is no room in my mind or my heart to begin to understand you and I will not waste my time trying. I hope that you will see the error of your existence before it is too late. The Uncle Steve from 14 months ago was tired and stressed out, but still hopeful that we would all come out of this in the end. The Uncle Steve from today is more tired, more stressed out, and a little less hopeful that the end of all this is in sight, but still doing his best every day. Just like all of you. Stay Hopeful, Stay Safe and Stay Well, Uncle Steve

Well, it's been a little while since I posted my "Thoughts for Thursday". I wish I could get to it more often, but honestly, I am pretty busy (working at Computer Greeks at 12222 S Harlem Ave in Palos Heights Open from 10am to 6pm Moday to Saturday) and sometimes I just don't have any Thoughts worth sharing. But today, if you are interested, I will share with you my thoughts that I posted on my Twitter Account this morning- I encourage anyone with Twitter to follow me there- I'm the same hilarious genius you've known for years on Facebook, but even better. twitter.com/justaguy66 Here's the Backstory- So this morning a report came out that the State of California has filed a lawsuit against the gaming company, Activision/Blizzard, for discriminatory behavior. Why does this matter? Well, both of my kids work for this company having been able to get their dream jobs as Game Designers and yes, I am completely jealous. So after the charges came out alleging a "frat boy" culture where females were routinely subjected to sexual harassment and much worse, the company issues a response that I had some serious issues with. That response and (my comments) follow. Warning- It's a bit long, but then most of my posts are and let's be honest, I'm worth it! (First off, I'm an idiot so keep that in mind. Secondly, I've been a small business owner in the Tech Industry for over 25 years and do actually have some grasp of the Gaming World over the last 4 decades as well as what being a business owner means. Here's what I think...) We value diversity and strive to foster a workplace that offers inclusivity for everyone. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind. We take every allegation seriously and investigate all claims. In cases related to misconduct, action was taken to address the issue. (It starts with a statement of "Core Values" and I'm suggesting in the future, should just be added to the Letterhead directly under the Logo. It will save a lot of time having to type it in manually going forward. It is also an awful way to begin this response.) (I fixed it: We are devastated to read the DFEH Report and want to guarantee that we will do everything to address each victim's account and deal with anyone who has failed to protect them. We had believed these things were in the past, if not, then we must do better. ) The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past. We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived. They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court. We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family. While we find this behavior to be disgraceful and unprofessional, it is unfortunately an example of how they have conducted themselves throughout the course of their investigation. It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California. (Ok, its a denial- I get it. The report is "distorted and false" and in the past. We talking 5 years ago or last week? We cooperated, but they didn't tell us what they saw so that we could explain away their concerns before they published a report. The assholes!) (At last! The words "sickened" and "reprehensible" show up, but unfortunately, not in describing the offenders- so close. We will show in court (bad look). Tragic suicide with no regard for grieving family. Sickening indeed- On who's part? Threaten to leave Cali? Really?) The picture the DFEH paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today. Over the past several years and continuing since the initial investigation started, we’ve made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams. We’ve amplified internal programs and channels for employees to report violations, including the “ASK List” with a confidential integrity hotline, and introduced an Employee Relations team dedicated to investigating employee concerns. We have strengthened our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and combined our Employee Networks at a global level, to provide additional support. Employees must also undergo regular anti-harassment training and have done so for many years. (Mostly ok with this part- telling us what you've done to fix the issues is good. Still arguing that it's all in the past so it shouldn't be a part of a report going back 2 years is not. Also, no acknowledgment of the victims or that you employed people who did these things!) We put tremendous effort in creating fair and rewarding compensation packages and policies that reflect our culture and business, and we strive to pay all employees fairly for equal or substantially similar work. We take a variety of proactive steps to ensure that pay is driven by non-discriminatory factors. For example, we reward and compensate employees based on their performance, and we conduct extensive anti-discrimination trainings including for those who are part of the compensation process. (This is fluff. Who you employ, how long they work there, what they do, and how much they are paid and promoted compared to others are verifiable facts, not opinions. What your intentions and policies are does not change those facts. Either there is equality or there isn't.) We are confident in our ability to demonstrate our practices as an equal opportunity employer that fosters a supportive, diverse, and inclusive workplace for our people, and we are committed to continuing this effort in the years to come. It is a shame that the DFEH did not want to engage with us on what they thought they were seeing in their investigation. (In closing, We can prove we didn't do these things and they should have told us what they thought so we could fix it? I get that it's a lawsuit, but you don't need to go full defense attorney in you're initial response. This isn't your courtroom defense, it's a PR statement.) (Show some compassion for God's sake! You don't have to admit guilt to honestly care about those who were hurt, want to make sure that what you think about your company is actually the truth, and promise to review all of these charges in a Transparent Manner.) (Finally, who is this from? Mr. Blizzard? All of Activision/Blizzard as a whole? Where is the Person who will promise to be accountable for getting this looked at/fixed? Someone gets paid a shit ton of money to be that guy. Do your job and step up. It's the right thing to do.) There you have it. If you were so bored you made it to the end, Thanks! I'll try to make my next post way more fun and brief. Stay Safe and Stay Well, Uncle Steve