A problem bigger than me

The last two Sundays I’ve worked a total of 10 hours on a co-worker’s home computer trying to get rid of a virus she picked up. The virus doesn’t destroy files but it wreaks havoc with Internet Explorer, replacing your bookmarks and installing toolbars with links to gambling and pornography sites. The toolbars are very difficult to remove and hidden programs go behind you after you delete files and replace them with new versions so that when you start Internet Explorer the toolbars return.

Continue reading “A problem bigger than me”

Harvest Time

Part 5

After I last wrote it looked like Martti would have to move out to be closer to a job he had lined up in Cumming. It made me sad to think of him going off without the other two guys, plus I figured I would have to lower the rent again. He had arranged the job through an Estonian that lives here and involved digging swimming pools with a Hispanic work crew. With no transportation and not even a driver’s license he was going to try to move in with this guy. But the guy wanted $650 a month for rent which is more than I’m charging the three of them. He went back to Kroger and said that a “Help Wanted – Produce” sign was out. He asked “What does that mean, ‘produce’?” It is a strange word that we’ve chosen to mean fresh fruits and vegetables.

Continue reading “Harvest Time”

Trouble in Paradise

All is not well. Last Sunday I found out that one of the Estonians would be quitting his job with the book company. He will still deliver the books he has sold in September like the other guys, but he wasn’t making enough money to break even and pay for plane fare and living expenses (he already has his return ticket home since that’s a requirement of the visa). Instead he decided to take a regular job for the rest of the summer to pay his bills.

Continue reading “Trouble in Paradise”

The Fish List

Last night Jeb, Kathy, Susan, and I took Mom and Dad out for Mom’s 65th birthday. We went to a seafood restaurant and had a great meal and enjoyed getting to spend such a landmark day with Mom. At some point I mentioned the fish list that I keep in my Palm to say what kinds of seafoods are being harvested sustainably and which are not. There have been a number of fish that have been so overfished that not enough are left and the fishery has had to be closed until stocks recover. That means no one gets to enjoy eating those fish anymore and fishermen are put out of work. The fishermen respond to demand and seem unable to regulate themselves so there is room for a solution on the demand side, namely everyone who eats seafood.

Continue reading “The Fish List”