Carol’s Dragonfly Ranch

Home of Carol’s Pond


September 5, 2025


August was a very expensive month, both financially and health wise. In the health department, the ophthalmologist informed me that I have Macula Degeneration just starting. This can be an inherited condition and my Mother was a victim of it as well. For now they just have me taking vitamins.


In the monetary department it was $2100 for new glasses. I think that is outrageous. My last pair I got at Costco and while the lenses were fine, they were never right. I can see a lot better with the new ones.


While Macula Degeneration is a slow moving condition, I can no longer see to drive at night. This is no big deal because I seldom go out at night.


Wildlife has been scarce because of the heat. But I did see a young lizard where I take old computers to be recycled. He wanted to go into the office but the lady said no, he had to stay outside. He went back out willingly. But I did find something right out the back door. It was the shed of a snake. It was about 6 feet long. I thought it was a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. I called the conservation department and they informed me that those are not found in this area, only Timber Rattlesnakes are native to this area. Further research showed it is a non venomous Coachwhip Snake and they can grow to 8 feet. If I see it, it will die just as violently as I can kill it. I figure the Lord was having a really bad day when he created snakes, flies, cockroaches and armadillos.

In the computer world, the computer I built from scratch when I lived in St. Louis, shot craps. The motherboard failed. It was about 10 years old. So now I am in the process of cannibalizing it for parts. It was a deluxe system with 8 gig of memory, a 750 watt power supply, 2 hard disc drives, one running Windows 7 and the other Linux Mint along with 6 cooling fans, 2 DVD drives, and extra USB 3 ports. I even kept the covers off the sides for better air circulation. Heat is the major killer of computers, especially laptops.


Speaking of laptops, one of the Estate Sale companies I patronize, gave me 3 laptops and a couple of weeks before another company gave me and HP laptop. HP is my favorite computer make, followed closely by Dell. Of the 3 the one company gave me, 2 were boat anchors, IE totally worthless. But the one was an HP that just needed a charger. I had a charger. I gave the 2 HP laptops to a woman that has 20 year old twins in college. They will have to share the charger.


That is all the news from Carol’s Pond.


Later,

Rex

Comments

  1. Nancy KissackSeptember 6, 2025 at 5:54 AM

    Ooooweee those glasses can be expensive, but we can't see without them! I agree, snakes are not on my favorite animal list, but coachwhips are good guys ... they eat all the mice and rats. I'm always in awe of someone who can take computers apart and put them back together. It's all Greek to me!! In spite of my MAC computer, I agree with HP products. They seem to last longer. Hope you have a great day Rex!!!

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