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Monday, July 1, 2019

Personal Update

(For politics, please scroll down)

Overwhelmed here on the home front!

So, why have I been nearly AWOL from the blogosphere?

Short list, in no particular order:

1) Obtaining my Real ID Driver's License.  What a nightmare, one that has turned me into a rabid libertarian!  The DMV rejected my original birth certificate of registration — never mind that the certificate is signed and sealed by the state of Virginia. My certificate of marriage was also rejected because it was signed by clergy, never mind that he was acting on behalf of the court. Each of these rejected documents was good enough when I got my driver's license in 1967 and effected the name change in 1972 after I married. But not now! Hours upon hours waiting at the DMV before I got to the service window, the clerk of which obtained official copies of the needed documents through Virginia-government web sites; this immediate option was available only because I was born in Virginia and was married in Virginia.  All in all, this little experience cost me nearly $100. Last Friday, we headed out to the DMV again — that time, for Mr. AOW to get his Real ID. Fortunately, the process for him took only an hour: handicapped priority.

2) Upgrade to Windows 10 required for my unwieldy and heavy "big machine" computer, which I had to lug into the repair shop. Down the flight of stairs here to lug the thing into the shop, back up the stairs to put the upgraded machine back into my office. I couldn't call my cousin-in-law to help me because he was recently diagnosed with cancer and is too depressed to do much of anything except for getting his final papers in order and pursuing treatment.  Nor could I call our good friend Steve; he had a massive stroke a few weeks ago.  Major back pain resulted from this foray with the computer, but the machine is working, and I can easily access and modify all files, including photos,  education files, and medical files.

3) Breakdown of Mr. AOW's mobility scooter. Four miles off site, of course!  I had to scramble to find a way to fetch Mr. AOW and his scooter back home. On the way to fetching Mr. AOW and his scooter, I had a car accident.  In order to get the scooter repaired, we had to use a private shop and pay various fees (but not for parts, still under warranty, albeit barely).  Repairs for the scooter could have been effected for free, but the Medicare provider for the scooter didn't answer the phone and didn't return returned my call until six days later. I am now in the process of filing a formal complaint against the derelict medical provider for mobility devices.

4) Breakdown of our handicapped van, which required nearly $2300 in repairs. The brakes and steering were compromised, so there was no way to delay the repairs.  The garage also found major problems with the exhaust and steering systems. Last year, I paid good money for exhaust repair; apparently, that repair was never completed. Yet another example of a garage "using the pencil" and scamming a customer — a handicapped customer at that.

5) Ongoing major clean out of papers accumulated by my ancestors and other family members for nearly a century.  Among those papers, I found a 1918 deed!  Apparently, my ancestors threw away few "important papers." As a result, I'm left with the herculean task of scrutinizing every batch of papers before tossing anything into the trash or the shred box.  So far, I have sorted through four huge Rubbermaid tubs filled with folders, documents, and memorabilia.  I have several more tubs to go.  This is going to be a busy summer! Not only a busy summer but also a busy fall; The Merry Widow will come here in a few months to help me with the sorting and disposition of long-languishing items crammed into every nook and cranny of This Old House, in my family more than 70 years.

I have more items of agony to relate, but no time to relate them.

Thanks to Silverfiddle and Warren for helping me out with this blog while I'm struggling through trials comparable to those of Job!

52 comments:

  1. Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
    And He shall sustain thee.
    He never will suffer the righteus to fall.
    He is at thy right hand.

    Thy mercy, Lord, is great,
    And far above the Hevens
    Let no one be ashamed
    Who wait upon thee.


    ~ choral text from Mendelssohn's Elijah

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  2. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

    Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

    Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

    There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

    God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

    The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

    The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

    Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

    He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

    BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

    The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.


    ~ Psalm 46 - KJV

    DEAR FRIEND,

    I HOPE YOU DON'T THINKL ME GUILTY OF ISSUING "VAIN REPETITIONS," BUT I CAN TELL YOU WITH PERFECT SINCERITY THAT THESE WORDS HAVE GIVEN ME COURAGE< STRENGTHENED MY RESOLVE, STIFFENED MY BACKBONE, AND GIVEN ME NEW INSIGHTS THAT HELPED RESOLVE SEVERAL THREATENING "LIFE CRISES" IN MY PAST.

    I WILL PRAY SOMETHING SIMILAR WILL SOON HELP SUSTAIN YOU, AND THAT A CLEAR PATH TO A SIMPLER, MORE AGREEABLE, LESS BURDENSOME WAY OF LIVING OPENS UP FOR yOU AND MR> AOW BEFORE YOU KNOW IT.

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  3. O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him.
    And He shall give thee thy heart's desires.

    Commit thy way unto Him, and trust in Him,
    And fret not thyself bcause of evildoers.

    O rest in the <ord, wait patiently for Him.

    ~ contralto solo from Mendelssohn's Elijah

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  4. __________ The Lord of the Dance __________

    I danced in the morning when the world was begun
    I danced in the Moon and the Stars and the Sun
    I came down from Heaven and I danced on Earth
    At Bethlehem I had my birth:
    Dance then, wherever you may be
    I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!
    And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be
    And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said He!
    (...lead you all in the Dance, said He!)
    I danced for the scribe and the pharisee
    But they would not dance and they wouldn't follow me
    I danced for fishermen, for James and John
    They came with me and the Dance went on:
    I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame
    The holy people said it was a shame!
    They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high
    And they left me there on a cross to die!
    I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black
    It's hard to dance with the devil on your back
    They buried my body and they thought I'd gone
    But I AM the DANCE, and I STILL GO ON
    They cut me down and I leapt up high
    I am the Life that'll never, never die!
    I'll live in you if you'll live in Me ––
    I am the Lord of the Dance, said He!


    ~ Sydney Carter (1915-2004)

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  5. I am so sorry to hear of your trials and tribulations....thanks for the update..

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  6. The Real ID is a joke. In Maryland, they issued thousands of Real ID's contingent upon people returning with the proper paperwork. Guess what happened. They never returned with the papers. Now DMV is threatening to cancel those REAL IDs/drivers licenses. But you and I know, THAT will never happen.

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    Replies
    1. Here's a news article.

      Now let me just make a statement. The REAL ID allows anyone possessing one to access federal facilities. So if you're a terrorist, now's the time to get all you need to plant to bomb at a sensitive federal facility... and there are hundreds of them in the Washington DC area.

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    2. How do you figure? I work at one if those sensitive facilities....and a "real ID" is not used for access. Not even close. What sort if facilities are you talking about?

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    3. I'm sure a military ID card works just as well... but not everyone who's pays visits to federal facilities has one.

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    4. The 2005 REAL ID Act prohibits federal agencies from accepting driver’s licenses and IDs that do not meet standards set by DHS. One purpose of the REAL ID Act was to strengthen the security of federal facilities from terrorist attacks.

      The act established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the act’s minimum standards. The purposes covered by the act are: accessing federal facilities, entering nuclear power plants, and, no sooner than 2016, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft.

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    5. ...and I'm sure that wherever YOU work, thousands of private contractors are visiting YOUR facility and using their REAL ID Driver's license to gain access.

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    6. I go to NRL all the time, and sign in with mine.

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    7. It doesn't, depending on what you mean by "sensitive federal facilities". Approved visit requests and security clearances take care of the sensitive sites.

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    8. Nope, where I work you have an approved visit request and a security clearance. Period.

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    9. NRL is a controlled-access facility. Prior arrangements must be made with an NRL point of contact before visiting the Laboratory.

      Yep....a terrorist with a REAL ID would just be able to walk right in.....

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    10. Approved visit requests and security clearances take care of the sensitive sites.

      ...and how do the people at the gate know it's you, and not a spy/terrorist?

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    11. Because I have my organization ID and code.

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    12. I can call the Main Gate at my facility and arrange entry for anyone I designate. They, in turn, can got to the Main Gate and get a temporary unescorted badge and go wherever they want on the day I've designated for the visit. You don't think that a terrorist couldn't befriend me and ask to visit next week?

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    13. You've never had a visitor visit you? You've never arranged for a Review or Conference for hundreds of visitors?

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    14. You've never had to Interview a job candidate in your office?

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    15. There are a thousand ways to PHISH an invite to a federal facility. But what's supposed to make the system more "secure", is a REAL ID. But how good is a REAL ID if they never fully vet who they give a card (and even an illegal can get a Driver's license in many states.)

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    16. We clearly have different definitions of 'sensitive'. Visitors to my facility do indeed have to leave ID at the front desk, and if a drivers license...a REAL ID. But they don't visit without a security clearance and an approved visit request.

      Interviewing job candidates isn't done at sensitive sites.

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    17. But how good is a REAL ID.....

      On that we agree.

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    18. And even the SSA is filled with "Sensitive" Personal Identification Information.

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    19. I think I read somewhere that the Real ID is the Security equivalent of a National Agency Check (NAC).

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    20. A NAC is a security investigation.....what would an equivalent be exactly? REAL ID doesn't involve a five year background check.

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    21. Not everyone who works at a Government facility has a clearance, but ALL employees and contractors undergo a NAC. They work with Unclassified data.

      A visitor to a government facility does not always need a security clearance, as much work done there is unclassified. So visitors with a Real ID are treated from a "security" standpoint much like contractor employees with NACs.

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    22. Real IDs are but one part of a "two-factor identification" concept.

      DOD employee's ID cards are usually CACs. I'm not DOD but I have a similarly "chipped" ID card that allows me to log onto Government computers and get into certain sensitive areas like labs. I put in my personal PIN to provide the 2nd "factor".

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    23. You still haven't backed up your original claim that a REAL ID makes it easier for a malign actor to gain entry to a random federal facility....then before the law was instituted, and non-REALID licenses were the currency of identification.

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    24. My calling down to the Gate and giving Security the heads-up details of your visit is the "2nd factor" that gets you into my facility.

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    25. ...but the REAL ID itself is the 1st, and most important factor. It's the equivalent of your CAC w/o the PIN.

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    26. Sooooo...what was the process for your facility before REAL ID?

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    27. ...and any good PHISHERman/terrorist worth his salt is going to be able to convince some "conference organizer" to put him on the list of attendees... most likely as spoofing them via e-mail into believing that they work for an oversight agency as substitute for someone legit.

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    28. Same, but with Driver's licenses... only State's began issuing D/L's to completely UNDOCUMENTED persons...

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    29. ...and so we had a defacto "single factor" authorization system posing as a dual factor one.

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    30. If MVA/DMV actually verified all the documents before issuing the Real ID cards, I wouldn't be complaining. That they're NOT is my complaint! It's exactly like issuing DL's to Undocumented people... the objection to D/L's that LED to the need for Real ID.

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    31. Are we going to need a REALLY TRULY REAL ID card next?

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    32. Sounds like Virginia is actually doing the Real ID paperwork. Maryland MVA gave me a hard time... but from the reports, they haven't given EVERYONE the hard time required. DHS should not honour Maryland's Real IDs until every one of those confiscated cards has been confiscated.

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  7. For what it's worth. Some twenty five years ago my mother took on a roommate named Ginny, who was a delightful lady of similar age. I did not get along well with my mother, but was taking care of her, keeping her house in good repair, and managing her money after my father died, and having Ginny on board was delightful. She was a nice lady and acted as a nice buffer to keep visits on an even keel.

    Mom went out of town and when I picked her up at the airport on her return and took her home we discovered that Ginny had died suddenly of a heart attack. It fell to me to call the niece, who lived in San Diego, (Mom and I lived in Tucson) and whom I had never met.

    Ginny had not sold her house, which had no mortgage, but was letting a visiting professor from China live in it, and it fell to the niece to sort through the estate and prepare the house for sale. The Chinese gentleman was delightful and very cooperative, and the house was much like you describe your relative's. Ginny was a packrat. There was a box full of absolute junk, for instance, and buried in it was a Squash Blossom necklace worth several thousand dollars.

    The niece's name was Kathy and the first words she ever heard from me was me telling her that her aunt had died. The process of settling the estate took more than a year, and we got to know each other better and better. We have now been married twenty years.

    Silver linings, dear heart, silver linings.

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    Replies
    1. Jayhawk,
      Wonderful story! Thanks for taking the time to tell us this story.

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  8. AOW, Prayers for you. What else can be said.

    Real ID ? If it's only required for international travel, I'm going to skip it. I have no plans to leave America now that the left has every other country on Earth hating Americans. And I have no interest in giving any of them any of my money or looking at their old buildings. I've seen enough of the rock to suit myself.

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    Replies
    1. Kid,
      It's required for domestic flights!

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    2. Ah, Well, that will keep me from flying EVER AGAIN. Not a bad thing.

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  9. Gosh, sorry to hear all that! btw, I never heard the phrase "using the pencil" before -- I guess from the context it means fraud, but I'd love to properly know what it means or where it came from.

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    Replies
    1. Jez,
      The phrase using the pencil means claiming to have effected a repair job but actually merely writing down that the job has been done and then billing the customer. The phrase is in common use among auto mechanics.

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    2. When I was in the military, I worked on radio, satellite equipment and other communication systems that required maintenance and inspections, and you had to document it all.

      We called it pencil-whipping, and people caught doing it got punished by leadership and were looked down upon as untrustworthy lazy bastards by the rest of us.

      Delete

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