Blog Dis
On the lam in Lebanon...
2026-03-19
It took effort and planning to accomplish. Back in September 2025, which feels like a million years ago, I had shelled out plenty of coin to upgrade my computer set-up. My tech guy (bless his heart) arrived on-site to set up everything, to ensure that the migration of my entire writing and personal files (and there were many), were successfully transferred to my new computer, to include software applications. The entire process took 4.5 hours. While this may seem to be an inordinate amount of time, it actually went very quickly once I realized that each application, periphery device, connectivity, had to be properly tested, before I would sign off on it. Only one glitch needed to be resolved, when it was determined that my docking station wasn't the right one, so I had to race out the door to Canada Computers to make the purchase swap.
The end result was a successful installation.
Because I'm alive, and breathing (touch wood) I was educated on my new hardware purchase. As one example, you can buy a cheap laptop these days with barely 500Mg of storage for saving some files to your Desktop and these cheapos cost less than $500 Cdn, or cheaper, depending on the model and brand. The aim of anyone running with the latest version of Wind*ws 11 will very quickly find out that the goal of Micros*ft is to encourage you to purchase the cheapest laptop with their operating software, to ensure that your work and all your docs are saved to the cloud, using Micros*ft's OneDriv* application, which not so ironically requires you to initialize your Micros*ft account and by extension your OneDriv*. If, however, you're like me, someone who has a long history of behaving like an unfettered rogue, as well as an uncivilized woman at times... well then you're wise to buy the higher priced hardware option, one that comes with 1 Terabyte of hard drive space, to avoid being forced to save anything to the cloud. The difference in price isn't negligible. The hardware with more storage capacity will cost you four times as much, if you go with the route of buying a laptop, which most do. And here's where my tech guy was awesome. He opened the DOS prompt, and entered the appropriate commands in order to bypass Micros*ft's requirement to create a personal account, and by not doing so, OneDriv* was never initialized. Instead, and before the swap-over occurred, I made a complete copy of my Documents folder, Desktop and every former folder onto a Flash Drive, a super-charged USB stick that can hold a f*ck-ton of documents.
I've never liked the idea of the cloud, not once, not ever. The cloud is the biggest bamboozle in the tech world. The cloud is nothing more than a roomful of servers, gobbling up more energy than any desk top hardware ever invented. This is the way computers and technology are headed, because the big players of this world, Micros*ft and🍎want access to all your data, as well as your personal information, should you store it on your computer, whether this is a tower or a laptop. And if you comply with the requirement, upon booting up your new piece of hardware, and you consent to create a Micros*ft account, then OneDriv* will automatically upload a copy of everything on your hard drive without even you having to initiate the process, nor do they seek your approval. Micros*ft merely goes ahead and does it, in the background, without your permission or your foreknowledge, before your files have been uploaded to the cloud. 🤔What would you call this level of behavior? I call it presumptuous, agenda-fulfillment, duplicitous!
I paid my tech guy his going hourly rate, plus a bonus, and then thanked him profusely for his expertise, for a job well done. I'm spoiled, I will admit. Afterward I had a few follow-up questions on queuing up my external LaserJet printer, as well as procedures for setting up another software application, and he was happy to help. This is what I call being blessed — when you're able to cultivate the best of professionals, those who know their trade craft inside and out. Yours are known to you, as are mine to me. I can count the number of reliable professionals on one hand that I'm able to call upon to deliver. I am referring to my web-designer, my graphic designer as well as my proofreader, my editor (who is no longer taking on new clients), my superintendent, hairstylist, dentist and periodontist, and at one time this list included an aesthetician whose hands were magic when it came to giving me pedicures.
However... no one or nothing is meant to last forever, and this applies to our cadre of top professionals. At one time my Lebanese tech guy was a small business owner, with whom I had developed a working rapport for nearly ten years. One day, I learned that he had skipped the country with his father, after his mother had passed away, and they headed back home to his native land, Lebanon, to return her body to the original earth from whence her family had come. I've never seen or heard from him since, no hide, no tail, not even a postcard from Lebanon. Given what is currently going on in Lebanon, I've been thinking about him, wondering if his life in Canada has paled in comparison to returning to his former life in Lebanon. I fear the worst for him now because his country is experiencing a severe escalation due to this current conflict with Hezbollah and Israel. The war in Iran with USA and Israel doesn't help either. Some 800,000 persons in Lebanon have been displaced. Canada's Prime Minister Carney has pledged to donate $35 Million to assist Lebanon.
Lebanon has been on my list of places to visit before I die for quite some time. As has been my practice for decades, I'm typically drawn to visit countries for their renowned monuments or natural wonders. When it comes to Lebanon, it's most popular site is the Jeita Grotto, which has been described as a 'breathtaking' series of stalactite caves. I've done some spelunking in my earlier years, but none in decades, so this seemed like a place I would enjoy, over and above the fact that I'm partial to Middle Eastern cuisine (as I seem to be to many other cuisines 😆).
This potential adventure to Lebanon will now be on hold indefinitely, at least for the time being. Lebanon has a fascinating history. This is the same country that had produced Jezebel, the shameless woman, as depicted in the Old Testament, who was a queen of ancient Israel that married King Ahab but turned him away from the God of the Israelites and of the Jews, toward the worship of a Phoenician god, named Baal. Ahab and Jezebel let temples of Baal operate in Israel, and the pagan religion received royal patronage. Jezebel's final days were not pretty, however, owing to the fact that after her husband, Ahab, died she tried to continue ruling the country through her sons but was eventually betrayed by one of her servants who threw her out a window, and left her in the street to be eaten by dogs. Only Jezebel's skull, feet and hands remained — what I'd call an ignominious end. I told you that it wasn't going to be pretty.
Lebanon is an old city with an innovative past in terms of the application of civil rights. In ancient times their government approved same sex liaisons before anyone had figured out that same sex couples could actually have lust for one another. And this seems silly now, to not be able to accept that same sex couples are capable of expressing love, no different than heterosexual couples. Lebanese culture had practiced forward thinking, in my books, particularly as in this 21st Century we're still dealing with outdated and backward countries, stuck in a time-warp that dates back 1,500 years, countries whose harsh doctrines and practices will incarcerate an individual for daring to love someone of their own sex.
Between two consenting adults, love doesn't know that its anything other than love and ultimately why would anyone care in the first place?
Allow me to return to the topic at hand. I miss my Lebanese friend. I had become so accustomed to doing business with him that I never had to take it upon myself to learn the ins and outs of a particular computer problem because I could simply ask him for his expertise to steer me in the right direction. After he left, it took me six years to find my current web-designer, someone who writes original code, and who is possessed with a high level of technical expertise, all filed away in his noggin. I can't imagine not having him in my life. We've been working with one another for twenty years.
When it comes to our professionals, our gals and guys, don't take them for granted. Pay them their due. Pay them on time. Pay them a bonus. Most importantly, don't d*ck them around by procrastinating, when it comes time to pay them.
Finally, and in finishing off this post with my favorite subject, travel, I swear I could take a year off to go gallivanting. Though, I have to accept that the Middle East will remain off my list of places to haunt for some time to come, hell years even. I've been fortunate to have traveled into Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Yes, I know. I know what you're thinking. Technically Egypt isn't part of the Middle East, as its located in North Africa. But go to Egypt one day and you'll be schooled by Egyptians that as far as they're concerned, Egypt IS the Middle-East. Here it's worthy to note the Egyptian Brotherhood has deep ideological ties with some of the more efficient and ruthless terrorist groups ever: Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — known as the 'axis of resistance', all of whom had originated from Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. These terrorist groups are regarded as a loose, Iran-backed network of militant groups. I can't speak on behalf of Lebanon's able-bodied population, but I believe it's not an inaccurate statement to make that their families look forward to when these ongoing wars come to a quick end.
And if you enjoy eating Middle-Eastern cuisine, which is often grouped in with Mediterranean cuisine, owing to their proximity, then you'll understand when I say that the best cuisine won't be found in North America, but in the Middle East. Here in Ottawa we have a thriving Lebanese community, and when I had one time remarked to an American colleague that when they visit my fair city, they need to try a Shawarma, to which my colleague said, "A what?"
This is what travel does for us, to broaden our perspective, and to learn how to appreciate different cultures. Though, I am simply not prepared to promote or accept the idea that terrorism belongs in any culture.
Peace, love and safety to Lebanon.
The end result was a successful installation.
Because I'm alive, and breathing (touch wood) I was educated on my new hardware purchase. As one example, you can buy a cheap laptop these days with barely 500Mg of storage for saving some files to your Desktop and these cheapos cost less than $500 Cdn, or cheaper, depending on the model and brand. The aim of anyone running with the latest version of Wind*ws 11 will very quickly find out that the goal of Micros*ft is to encourage you to purchase the cheapest laptop with their operating software, to ensure that your work and all your docs are saved to the cloud, using Micros*ft's OneDriv* application, which not so ironically requires you to initialize your Micros*ft account and by extension your OneDriv*. If, however, you're like me, someone who has a long history of behaving like an unfettered rogue, as well as an uncivilized woman at times... well then you're wise to buy the higher priced hardware option, one that comes with 1 Terabyte of hard drive space, to avoid being forced to save anything to the cloud. The difference in price isn't negligible. The hardware with more storage capacity will cost you four times as much, if you go with the route of buying a laptop, which most do. And here's where my tech guy was awesome. He opened the DOS prompt, and entered the appropriate commands in order to bypass Micros*ft's requirement to create a personal account, and by not doing so, OneDriv* was never initialized. Instead, and before the swap-over occurred, I made a complete copy of my Documents folder, Desktop and every former folder onto a Flash Drive, a super-charged USB stick that can hold a f*ck-ton of documents.
I've never liked the idea of the cloud, not once, not ever. The cloud is the biggest bamboozle in the tech world. The cloud is nothing more than a roomful of servers, gobbling up more energy than any desk top hardware ever invented. This is the way computers and technology are headed, because the big players of this world, Micros*ft and🍎want access to all your data, as well as your personal information, should you store it on your computer, whether this is a tower or a laptop. And if you comply with the requirement, upon booting up your new piece of hardware, and you consent to create a Micros*ft account, then OneDriv* will automatically upload a copy of everything on your hard drive without even you having to initiate the process, nor do they seek your approval. Micros*ft merely goes ahead and does it, in the background, without your permission or your foreknowledge, before your files have been uploaded to the cloud. 🤔What would you call this level of behavior? I call it presumptuous, agenda-fulfillment, duplicitous!
I paid my tech guy his going hourly rate, plus a bonus, and then thanked him profusely for his expertise, for a job well done. I'm spoiled, I will admit. Afterward I had a few follow-up questions on queuing up my external LaserJet printer, as well as procedures for setting up another software application, and he was happy to help. This is what I call being blessed — when you're able to cultivate the best of professionals, those who know their trade craft inside and out. Yours are known to you, as are mine to me. I can count the number of reliable professionals on one hand that I'm able to call upon to deliver. I am referring to my web-designer, my graphic designer as well as my proofreader, my editor (who is no longer taking on new clients), my superintendent, hairstylist, dentist and periodontist, and at one time this list included an aesthetician whose hands were magic when it came to giving me pedicures.
However... no one or nothing is meant to last forever, and this applies to our cadre of top professionals. At one time my Lebanese tech guy was a small business owner, with whom I had developed a working rapport for nearly ten years. One day, I learned that he had skipped the country with his father, after his mother had passed away, and they headed back home to his native land, Lebanon, to return her body to the original earth from whence her family had come. I've never seen or heard from him since, no hide, no tail, not even a postcard from Lebanon. Given what is currently going on in Lebanon, I've been thinking about him, wondering if his life in Canada has paled in comparison to returning to his former life in Lebanon. I fear the worst for him now because his country is experiencing a severe escalation due to this current conflict with Hezbollah and Israel. The war in Iran with USA and Israel doesn't help either. Some 800,000 persons in Lebanon have been displaced. Canada's Prime Minister Carney has pledged to donate $35 Million to assist Lebanon.
Lebanon has been on my list of places to visit before I die for quite some time. As has been my practice for decades, I'm typically drawn to visit countries for their renowned monuments or natural wonders. When it comes to Lebanon, it's most popular site is the Jeita Grotto, which has been described as a 'breathtaking' series of stalactite caves. I've done some spelunking in my earlier years, but none in decades, so this seemed like a place I would enjoy, over and above the fact that I'm partial to Middle Eastern cuisine (as I seem to be to many other cuisines 😆).
This potential adventure to Lebanon will now be on hold indefinitely, at least for the time being. Lebanon has a fascinating history. This is the same country that had produced Jezebel, the shameless woman, as depicted in the Old Testament, who was a queen of ancient Israel that married King Ahab but turned him away from the God of the Israelites and of the Jews, toward the worship of a Phoenician god, named Baal. Ahab and Jezebel let temples of Baal operate in Israel, and the pagan religion received royal patronage. Jezebel's final days were not pretty, however, owing to the fact that after her husband, Ahab, died she tried to continue ruling the country through her sons but was eventually betrayed by one of her servants who threw her out a window, and left her in the street to be eaten by dogs. Only Jezebel's skull, feet and hands remained — what I'd call an ignominious end. I told you that it wasn't going to be pretty.
Lebanon is an old city with an innovative past in terms of the application of civil rights. In ancient times their government approved same sex liaisons before anyone had figured out that same sex couples could actually have lust for one another. And this seems silly now, to not be able to accept that same sex couples are capable of expressing love, no different than heterosexual couples. Lebanese culture had practiced forward thinking, in my books, particularly as in this 21st Century we're still dealing with outdated and backward countries, stuck in a time-warp that dates back 1,500 years, countries whose harsh doctrines and practices will incarcerate an individual for daring to love someone of their own sex.
Between two consenting adults, love doesn't know that its anything other than love and ultimately why would anyone care in the first place?
Allow me to return to the topic at hand. I miss my Lebanese friend. I had become so accustomed to doing business with him that I never had to take it upon myself to learn the ins and outs of a particular computer problem because I could simply ask him for his expertise to steer me in the right direction. After he left, it took me six years to find my current web-designer, someone who writes original code, and who is possessed with a high level of technical expertise, all filed away in his noggin. I can't imagine not having him in my life. We've been working with one another for twenty years.
When it comes to our professionals, our gals and guys, don't take them for granted. Pay them their due. Pay them on time. Pay them a bonus. Most importantly, don't d*ck them around by procrastinating, when it comes time to pay them.
Finally, and in finishing off this post with my favorite subject, travel, I swear I could take a year off to go gallivanting. Though, I have to accept that the Middle East will remain off my list of places to haunt for some time to come, hell years even. I've been fortunate to have traveled into Jordan, Israel and Egypt. Yes, I know. I know what you're thinking. Technically Egypt isn't part of the Middle East, as its located in North Africa. But go to Egypt one day and you'll be schooled by Egyptians that as far as they're concerned, Egypt IS the Middle-East. Here it's worthy to note the Egyptian Brotherhood has deep ideological ties with some of the more efficient and ruthless terrorist groups ever: Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis — known as the 'axis of resistance', all of whom had originated from Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen. These terrorist groups are regarded as a loose, Iran-backed network of militant groups. I can't speak on behalf of Lebanon's able-bodied population, but I believe it's not an inaccurate statement to make that their families look forward to when these ongoing wars come to a quick end.
And if you enjoy eating Middle-Eastern cuisine, which is often grouped in with Mediterranean cuisine, owing to their proximity, then you'll understand when I say that the best cuisine won't be found in North America, but in the Middle East. Here in Ottawa we have a thriving Lebanese community, and when I had one time remarked to an American colleague that when they visit my fair city, they need to try a Shawarma, to which my colleague said, "A what?"
This is what travel does for us, to broaden our perspective, and to learn how to appreciate different cultures. Though, I am simply not prepared to promote or accept the idea that terrorism belongs in any culture.
Peace, love and safety to Lebanon.
