McLarenblog • Page 20 of 136 • Evaluate products and politics for you.

Summary: There are many aspects to become an educated person. Some items that stands out where Fox News fails cultivating the individual properly are practice respect, humility, tolerance and self-criticism, compassion and unbiased knowledge.

Posted: 8-26-2022

Apple Watch Band Recommendation – Otter Box

10/26/2022 Score Card Comments 0 Comment

I had an Android phone, an LG V30, which was a fantastic phone for a very long time. It developed a problem early 2022, that was quite annoying using that LG V30. I decided to buy a new Apple iPhone. I then decided to buy an Apple Watch, Series 7, because it offered very nice marriage features with the cell phone. The two devices were like parent (phone) and child (watch). One of the most surprising events was that when anyone approached my house, I would get an alarm on my watch and view the Ring Camera images of the person on my watch. That was a wonderful shock!

When I purchased the watch I was stuck choosing a watch band that Apple was offering in it’s store. Apple makes great computers and watches but not watch bands, in my opinion. The sales person recommended the magnetic band which is clever to put on because magnets hold the band in place. The band is smooth and comfortable. But, days later, I discovered the watch flew off my wrist more than once because the magnets failed to hold the band securely. You really do NOT want an expensive watch to hit the pavement! I tried another band that had a series of holes on one band side and the other band had protruding pin that you needed to slide under the opposing band and choose the correct hole to put the pin. That band also failed me.

Left band is magnetic, which failed for me. Band attached to watch is Otter Box, my current choice. Two bands on the right (for different wrist size) use a pin which slides into a hole but is awkward to put on.

My Solution: The Otter Box Band for my Apple Watch is shown in the image above. I purchased my Otter Box watch band at Target. The only size they had was marked 42/44mm. The sales person said he was pretty sure it would work, even though it should have been a 45 mm. Note that my watch in the image below is a Series 7, size 45 mm, which is the larger size watch (smaller size Series 7 is the 41mm). I like large image devices. The Otter Box watch band 42/44 fit perfectly.

A very good web site that explains the Series 7 Apple Watch: Apple Watch Series 7 41mm vs. 45mm: Which size should you get?

This image shows a super magnified image of the rear of my Series 7 Apple Watch which reveals it’s 45 mm size.

Here is an excellent web site that helps explain how to choose a watch band size: How to Choose the Right Apple Watch Band Size. An Apple store employee will guide you to buy the correct watch band size which will greatly simplify this process for you.

The Otter Box watch band goes on just like my prior watch bands that I have used for years. One side of the band has holes along the length and the other band has the metal square ring with a locking pin and then a narrow rectangle that slides back and forth to receive the opposing band after it is clipped into place.

This watch band has NEVER allowed my watch to fly off my wrist like the magnetic watch band. This Otter Box band is easy to put on, take off and comfortable to wear. I just love great solutions in my life because they form a more solid foundation for me to depend upon.

Posted 8-26-2022
Updated: 8-27-2022. 8-28-2022

Reasons To NOT Vote For The Republican Party

10/09/2022 Score Card Comments 0 Comment

One of the primary, somewhat secret, obligation of the Republican Party is that it functions to enhance the rich class of people, the plutocracy class and not, you, the general population.

“The main reason Billionaires practice stealth politics, Page says, is that taken collectively, their political preferences do not align with what a majority of Americans want. Their near total silence on issues like taxes and Social Security is “almost certainly deliberate — probably caused mainly by a desire to avoid offense concerning their unpopular political opinions.” This makes it easier for them to avoid being held accountable.”
(Copied from The New York Times Magazine, With ‘Stealth Politics,’ Billionaires Make Sure Their Money Talks, Published April 6, 2022)

There are reasons why anyone might support a political party which works against the people of the United States. Let me list a few reasons from the viewpoint of a corrupt politician:

Vast amounts of money is offered by the plutocrats to help fund a GOP political campaign.
Alleged secret payments of money could be made to be an added incentive.
The plutocrats most often possess significant political power, other than money, to help their candidate get elected.
Plutocracy philosophy can attract some individuals to follow their mission.

There are a lot of factors that result out of this belief system. For the reasons listed below, do not vote Republican because that political party mainly works for the betterment of the small group of wealthy individuals and they do not care for what is best for the whole American nation.

It is time for leaders to enact real reforms to bring transparency and accountability to election spending.

The GOP politicians usually receive large donations from their benefactors. One example is a contrived political action group called the Federalist Society headed by Leonard A. Leo.

Leonard A. Leo assisted Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings and led campaigns to support the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

The Supreme Court is a big part of this alleged corruption exemplified with the ruling in Citizens United which allows money that is not recorded, thus secretly used, so as to rig the political system in the favor of the rich.

The GOP has become a rather despicable self serving party by working to serve the needs of the plutocracy who, most of the times, works against the best interests of the nation. Here are just some of the examples of it’s corrupt ideology actions:

Welfare:

“The Republican Party opposes government run welfare programs for the poor, believing it encourages laziness and dependence on the government.”

Bigotry:

Republican attitude toward some segments of the new American population is that those segments are perceived to be below expected normal standards by some minority of individuals.

Immigrants and minorities typically have lower financial success because they are newly arrived and it can take a long time for anyone new to this country to achieve parity. Immigrants often live quite a distance from the middle and upper class which adds to feelings of distance.
Immigrants and minorities often look a bit different, may speak differently, might dress differently which adds a small perceived factor of fear in the minds of some people.
Group membership within the broad electorate should not be added to by these new “strange” individuals who do not fit perfectly with what the GOP think their group should look like. This feeling of not connecting, may lead to opinions of bigotry.
Some GOP individuals may be concerned that “my nation” might change from their perceived current norm. This change comes about by allowing too many of other type individuals to change the current group image in some way. A small sense of fear that “my country” will change can promote a belief in bigotry.

Women.

The existence of men and women, most of the time, appears to be equal and deemed necessary for the continuation of the humane race. But women are so different from men in so many ways which can lead to some male sexism, a mild form of bigotry. It seems that child birth is rather unusual because the birth process is mainly an all women effort and men are just witnesses to the process. But, for some rather stupid reason, men seem to hold a bigotry belief that they can decide when and how a women can bear a child. Because a man is a partner with a wife, men do have a voice but for child birth, a husband should realize that he must bow to the needs of his spouse. Politicians therefore, must allow a women to have an abortion and stay away from this decision process. Women were created free and should be free to decide their own future. More Republicans push for abortion bans without rape, incest exceptions.

Race:

Republicans feel that white men are supreme to non whites. This typically comes from fear of anyone not possessing the same skin color as themselves. Because the United States population mainly has white skin, silliness sets in over any perceived difference from white.

Republicans some times work to minimize the voting power of minorities in an effort to suppress those who it feels do not fit the perceived mold of what is akin to themselves. This is rather silly because how a person votes is believed to stem from skin color?

Taxes:

Republicans seemingly most important self serving issue is to lower what the wealthy have to pay in taxes. In part this is because the super wealthy do have to pay a lot of money out of their vast wealth. This is a huge concern for the wealthy. Because the plutocracy seems to work hard to take over the United States from being a democracy and move it to being a fascist state, we should gain control over these pending fascists and raise their taxes so they can no longer use money to overturn our form of government.

Business:

Republicans believe that there should not be any large government programs such as Social Security and Medicare which helps the general population of citizens but that such programs should be privatized so that some plutocracy business can make a profit for performing that social program. This is just another example of corporate and plutocracy greed.

Unions:

Republicans work to rid and diminish the power of unions because unions work for the interests of the workers and not always for the interests of the business owner. Unions are viewed, by some plutocrats, as working against the interests of the rich. A good business person should always examine all aspects of their business to maximize profits. Working against unions should NOT be one of those efforts because the worker is an integral part of any business and is as important as the owners and managers.

Education:

Republicans seem to show a disdain for higher education administered at the federal level.

“In a Pew survey, only 36 percent of Republican and GOP-leaning respondents said higher education had a positive effect on the direction of the country.”

The GOP reasons that education should be run by each state not federal administered. Problem with this is that this avoids a national standard that all education systems must adhere too. Too many states seem to be corrupted by the GOP, which is why a national standard is necessary.

Health Care

Gun Control

“The share of voters who support stricter gun control laws has reached a new high, with more than two-thirds of Americans backing them, a new Morning Consult/Politico poll finds.”

GOP Attempts To Control State Elections

The pervasive myths of a stolen 2020 presidential election and widespread voter fraud are still dominant in many state legislatures, as Republican policymakers call for more investigations and reshape election administration in a way that could give them a partisan advantage.

Some Concern That Fascism Is Part Of Republican Party

The actions of some Republicans allied to former President Donald Trump fit the definition of fascism, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday, a day after President Joe Biden said they edged toward “semi-fascism.”

Summary

Do not vote for the Republican Party because they work for and support the plutocracy. Vote GOP is a vote for fascism. Please save this nation by moving it back toward being a true Democracy again. Vote for Democratic candidates. And stay informed.

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Alleged Scam Text Reveals Possible Issues at California EDD.

10/07/2022 Score Card Comments 0 Comment

I received an alleged scam text into my phone, October 4, 2022, which follows:

“+1 (820) 465-2292”

“California Unemployment {EDD}: Your prepaid Card is temporarily on hold status .Please review recent transactions at caeddverifyprepaid.com Failure to complete can result in permanent account closure.

Msg & Data Rates May Apply”

I have no idea what a California Unemployment EDD prepaid Card is. I am not getting any unemployment support from anyone.

I should have not tried to connect to the web site address but I did to further my investigation and got this response:

“The connection to caeddverifyprepaid.com is not secure.”

I have no dealings with the California Unemployment agency so I decided to let them know that I was allegedly being scammed. I went to their web site but could not find a phone number. They only offered a prepared document for me to fill out using my computer:

https://edd.ca.gov/en/about_edd/contact_edd/

I chose the option at that web page to respond to this offer: “Comments, Suggestions or Complaints”.

This took me to their prepared document that I had to fill out on my computer and print out and then send the document to them by mail.

Filling out the prepared computer screen document was flawed, in my opinion. In each of the document sections it was impossible to add a space between words. I had to place an underline or dash to convey the words that I needed to print.

I find this California EDD agency needs to vastly improve it’s operation for the following issues:

1: Their phone number: 1-800-480-3287 was utterly useless. I was not allowed to talk to anyone.

2: Their prepared computer form was flawed by not allowing me to put spaces between words. For example, the form asks for your name. I was not allowed to place a space between my first and last name. So, I put in an underline.

3: I have to print this document? I then have to mail it? Why can’t I send the document by e-mail? Why can’t I send the document from the current computer screen?

I decided not to send the document that I printed out because this would reveal my identity. I run an anonymous web site blog.

Posted: 8-7-2022

Outside Stucco Wall Needed A Lot Of Hole Repairs

09/27/2022 Score Card Comments 1 comment

After having an outside back yard pool removed, and also an outdoor pavilion that offered shade along the side of the pool, it was a shock to see that a pavilion beam had been bolted to the back yard house wall. What was shocking was viewing the huge number of varying size holes left after the beam was removed from the wall. There were a LOT of holes! I counted 114 small holes and 19 large holes in the stucco wall. The stucco wall that held the wood beams was painted a dark color prior to the pavilion being installed and a light color after the beam was mounted to the wall. It was difficult to see what was dirt, where the beam was attached and what was paint as seen in the image below.

After experiencing a variety of outside vendors perform home improvements, I have come away with the belief that quite a few of these businesses can make significant mistakes. I would never allow any business to attach anything to a home that I have control over without approving the mounting method. The example shown here is simply dreadful and a mistake.

Back yard image of stucco damage. Note the dirty brown horizontal line across the wall.

Next image shows the problem of holes in the stucco, the wall being painted prior and dirt collected behind the prior wood beam. This article will try to solve these problems.

NOTE: The method and products shown here is only to offer you a singular view into a solution that might not be the best for you. I am sure that there are other solutions. This article reveals some products that were used for this project. Please do not accept our termite solution as it has not been tested for your health and safety.

I used the following wet solutions to clean the dirt on the stucco and applied the chemicals with a stiff plastic brush:

Bleach and warm water. (I was not impressed with this method.)
Simple Green. (This may have worked but not sure. I really was looking for a faster and clear winner method)
Tide, Heavy Duty. I had a Home Dept employee suggest this method. Not sure but I think this method may have been good enough.
I came to realize that the brush movement was very important. I used a soft upward and hard downward stroke.

After trying to clean the wall, which never seemed to be clean, I shot a termite killing foam into each hole. The reason for this is that plugging the holes with new stucco patch took some time before this project started. Termites could have entered those holes. The holes in the wall were under the second floor and above the first floor ceiling so the chemicals were confined and I assumed safe to apply. I did detect the second floor was creaking a bit more and think this was due to termites getting into the holes.

I next needed to find a solution for plugging the holes before I applied stucco patch. Some of the holes were so large that I was afraid that the stucco patch would not properly fill in the holes and collapse some time in the future. A Home Depot employee recommend a very good product. It is Loctite Tite Foam.

I had no idea of how to use this product but I soon devised my own method. I shot the foam into the larger holes. Immediately, I found out that the foam expands in all directions including coming back out the hole I shot the product into! Yikes! It was obvious that I had to cut the excess foam off the part that was in the wall. I decided to cut the foam bubble back just behind the normal stucco surface a little bit, maybe a quarter inch or more. You obviously do NOT want the foam to show but must be covered by a layer of stucco. I totally had to guess how much foam to push back from the opening. I did find out that I could push the foam back into the hole to any depth I wanted! I quickly came to love this product. I just had to figure out the needed simple solutions to small problems with using it.

Image above shows how the foam expands back out the hole it was shot into. Note also that the wall was painted a brown color where the wood beam was bolted but the rest of the wall was painted a much brighter color.

When I first shot this product into my first stucco hole I was a bit shocked to see this expand right out the hole that I shot this stuff into. It was obvious that I had to cut this foam bubble away. There is NO hurry for you to rush to cut this foam excess. I personally, like to wait for the foam to age a few minutes. Just make sure it stops expanding. The foam appears to not change consistency much as a few minutes pass so I reasoned that is is much better to wait for the foam to finish its expanding action. I think at least five minutes is enough time.

I found that a very sharp knife blade that is pushed into the bubble worked way better than trying to cut with a slicing sliding action around the large bubble. For some reason the knife had a problem slicing but worked perfectly pushing the blade into the bubble. Maybe it was because the knife was not that sharp.

I still used the knife to pick away at the remaining foam after the large bubble was removed. I think the whole task of making a proper foam cut out and scraping the excess foam away took no longer than two minutes for each hole.

I found that a paint can opener worked perfectly for pressing the foam back into the wall just enough so a new stucco patch could easily fit in and match the existing stucco wall. I used the paint can opener scraper side to remove any foam from either side of the hole. This tool was perfect for this.

Hole in stucco that has had Tile Foam applied and trimmed is now ready for stucco patch.

The image above shows the large hole is now ready for stucco patch to be applied. Note that the small holes, I reasoned, should not be a problem. I will apply stucco patch to large and small holes. I used a putty knife to apply the patch and used the putty knife to wipe any patch that was sticking beyond the surface. I then scratched the surface with a real stiff wire brush to add some roughness to the patch to possibly match the rest of the wall texture.

In the image below, a different part of the wall, it shows the patch hole completion.

The wall is now ready for painting.

Posted: 9-28-2022