Sleepless in Midland

Glock handguns -- another accidental discharge

A fellow who organizes and runs various competitive shooting events at the Midland Shooters Association rifle and pistol range circulated an email about an accidental discharge of a Glock handgun, with gruesome pictures no less.

Glock handgun are designed so that they can be shot fast.  There's no cumbersome external safety to fumble with before shooting.  And when there's a bullet in the chamber the hammer is almost fully cocked so there is only a minimal amount of trigger pressure needed to shoot it.  They are popular handguns, and many if not most police officers use them throughout the United States.

So when a handgun that easy to shoot is in such common usage there are bound to be accidents.   Some call them accidental discharges.  Others call them negligent discharges, because with every accident there was some inattention to detail by someone.

Glock owners need to be extremely careful, because in my opinion, their design, specifically the lack of an external safety, the inability to see from the outside whether there's a bullet in the chamber, the partially cocked hammer (which you also can't see), and the ease with which it can be fired make it more dangerous than most other brands.

I've written on this subject before, see Are Glock handguns safe? and Accidental police gun discharge - San Antonio.

If I didn't know it before, I certainly learned from reactions to those entries that Glock owners are very loyal to the brand.  But there is one thing on which Glock owners and I can agree:  they need to be very conscious of what they are doing when they handle a Glock handgun.  Daydreaming can be deadly.

I can't verify the truth and veracity of what that email writer says -- Snopes.com is silent about this.  And I don't know where this happened.  But it sounds plausible.  And the photos are very convincing.  So here's the email:

Not only did I set off a .45 in my garage, but I passed right through my left hand ...... Yep .... I *******ing shot myself point blank. I'm still having a hard time getting my head around what I did. I was SO angry at myself. I have always been uber safe with any firearm, but one lack of procedure changed everything. I'm really taking this hard, and all the "it could have been worse", "accidents happen", and "thank god you didn't lose your hand statements really don't help. I guess I'm getting over it, but it still seems very surreal to me.

Here are details....I know you all are morbidly curious, and I don't mind telling...it's kinda like therapy for me. I DID NOT hear the shot (nor did my ears ring afterwards), and it felt sorta like catching a fastball right in the palm of your glove. I have a very clear image, and suspect I always will, of the hole in my hand...perfect .45 diameter not bleeding....yet. I took a few seconds, and then the arterial arch in my palm cut loose. Blood like you wouldn't believe.  I think the fact that I was a Paramedic in a former life helped me out here. I walked into the laundry room and grabbed a towel to wrap it up, call up the stairs for my wife to come down.

I remember thinking "if I go get her, I'll mess up the carpet on the stairs". No lie. She came down half asleep and kind of grumpy, and I told her "I just put a bullet in my hand". Said she was calling 911 and according to her I responded "That would be a good idea.." My wife is neo-natal RN, and can remain cool as a cucumber. This helped me out too I think.

I went back into the garage, put my blasted hand on the floor kneeling on the towel and proceeded to open my ever present jump-bag with the other. I opened a US issue trauma dressing with my teeth, and proceeded to wrap my hand. Those dressing are the schiz nit by the way. My wife later told me it was very  "Die-Haredesque"......

I do remember cussing at myself the entire time...I have never been that angry before.....

Four cops, the shift sup., a pumper truck and am ambulance later I was off to the ER. I didn't feel any pain until I got in the ambulance. The endorphins shut down and it hurt like nothing you can imagine. No tickets from the cops, but did have to ask which weapon I did it with. My garage looks like an arsenal pre-range trip.

The bullet (a Black Talon no less..) shattered my ring finger meta-tarsal, and 'removed' two others. It destroyed the flexor tendon of my ring finger, almost separated my pinky tendon, and exited the right side of my wrist just above my watch band. There was a definite exit hole, but the blast force blew the side of my palm WIDE open about three inches in length. I didn't even see the exit wound until I removed my watch for the FD. Anyway, nine hours of surgery, three screws, a tendon graft from my forearm and about two-hundred sutures later I was put back together. My surgeon said if anyone has to get shot in the hand, this was how to do it. No nerve damage....whew. Physical therapy twice a week for god knows how long, and the surgeon expects at least 80% function back.

I've included a pic of the round. Snap-On tool boxes are quite literally bullet proof. The jacket separated from the slug when it hit the box, that's why the slug is flat on one side.

If  the mods permit, I'll post pics of my hand too.....it's pretty burly, and will drive the point home.

Thanks for listening. My wife thinks I'm crazy to post this, but it really does help me feel better. Remember....check  the chamber twice, then check it again.

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Update 12/01/05; 5:40 pm. Gun sportsman John Krenik, who forwarded the above email, cordially disagrees with my points about Glock:

Quite frankly, I think that you are wrong about Glocks.  Of course we have dicussed that before.  I'm afraid that this would have just as easily happened with a springfield XD, 1911, or virtually any auto pistol.  Please remember that the guy intentionally pulled the trigger, had this been say a S&W 5906 he would have released the safety to fire it and the results would have been the same.  The gun did exactly what it was supposed to do.  Like any good firearm, a Glock fires each and every time the trigger is pulled when the gun is loaded, it will not fire unless the triggger is pulled.  The gentleman in this situation is, I feel, to be commended for telling us his story and also for not blaming the gun and putting the fault were it lies, with his poor operation of it.  My point in sending it on was to emphasize how inportant it is to be careful and attentative to what you are doing wh! en handling ANY gun.  I do realize that the anti-Glock people will point out that there are a lot of unintentional discharges with Glocks.  To a certain extent that's true, but mostly because ther are a LOT of Glocks out there, I read recently that the Glock 22 (just that one model) account for almost 50% of police duty sidearms in existance.  Of course when there are that many pistols out there, they will be involved in a lot more situations just because of sheer numbers.  the same reason that there are a lot more car crashes involving Fords than Ferraris.  While we may have to agree to disagree on this issue, I do encourage you to send it on, since we and many of our friends do handle loaded guns on a regular basis, it always helps to remember the possible repercussions of a moments inattention.  Thanks for writing and I'll see you soon.  John

Thanks John.  You are correct in saying that with so many Glock handguns out there that there is a good chance that any accidental discharge will involve a Glock.  And handlers of firearms should always exercise caution regardless of the brand.

Meatless Meat

Move over Tofurkey.  There's probably nothing comparable to the robust, juicy flavor of meatless meat!

And those love handles?  Faux fat.

Updated 12/01/05; 4:41 pm.  Actually they weren't that bad.  Quite tasty, in fact.

A Message to Visitors from the Future

Most weblogs such as this one get a lot of visitors who land here through search engine searches for a word or phrase that shows up in the archives.  What's noteworthy to me is that they often land on entries that date back to the very early days of this site.

Storage space is getting cheaper and more plentiful, and Google is very aggressively preserving web pages, and not only can a search engine user pull up an entry that the writer may have long since forgotten about, but Google's cache retrieval can even pull up pages that have been deleted.

So it's conceivable that far into the future people may be able to pull up some of these pages.  And this entry, inspired by the late John Belushi, is for those searchers from the distant future who land here and sample the humble writings of our century.

Welcome visitors from the future.

Perhaps you are an archeologist digging up the past, or maybe you are researching history so that our present can be included in your history texts.  Be gentle with us, we are doing the best we can with what we've got.

Individually and collectively, we've made the best decisions with the information we had.  But you, of course, can see how we might have done better.  Knowing how it all turned out, you can clearly see each of our missteps yet fail to see how we could possibly be so muddle headed as to make a wrong decision.  You can sit there with your superior intellect judging us with some standard that no normal person could possibly meet in this day and time.  Well, duh!  That's why they call it 20/20 hindsight!

But, there you are laughing at us for all the mistakes we've made.  Well buster (or bustette), it ain't so darn easy when you're living it.  Why don't you look at your own pathetic life?

There you are with a shriveled up body because your generation never had to do anything physical, laser drills having long ago penetrated the earth's core and provided you with a free and unlimited energy source.

Your tiny little arms, made weak through millennia of your kind doing nothing but tap on a keyboard, are practically useless.  And your legs have evolved into weak little sticks from generations of never leaving the hover car.  And funny thing, you can't even laugh, because your mouth is only large enough for your annual food pill.

Enjoy this site, you miserable creature from the future.  But, get out of our business.  Go back to your own pathetic life, and let us enjoy the prosperity and our pursuits of happiness here in the 21st century.  You gelatinous blob of evolutionary disaster, go make a mockery of some other era.  Better yet, go look in a mirror and stare at your own blemishes!

Thankful for ... the list is too long.

Thanksgiving.  There is so much for which to be thankful.  The list would extend into tomorrow.

But let's start with the economy.  Nationally we may be headed for a slight downturn due to Greenspan's steady tightening the grip on the money supply.  But energy prices are off their peak -- $2.06 per gallon of gasoline looks downright cheap after last summer.  So maybe there's an offset.

Out here in West Texas things have been robust.  Unemployment is very low.  Help wanted signs appear everywhere.   It's no secret why.  The region is dependent on the energy industry, and high oil and natural gas prices have really sparked a boom.  The only downside is having to endure the stares of resentment from the rest of the country.  And there are those nasty threats to tax away any benefit.  (Shudder!)  Maybe they liked us better when we were down in the dumps.

I never saw that famous bumper sticker: "Lord, please give us another boom.  I promise not to piss it away this time."  But, the region has been given another chance, and let's enjoy it while we can.  That bust of the 80's caused a lot of, well, let's just call it involuntary readjustment.

There's another old saying that goes something like this: "Those who don't remember the past are ...".  I don't remember the rest of it.  Maybe it goes on to say that what we don't know won't hurt us.  Yeah, that's the ticket.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.  Thanks!  Thanks!  Thanks!

9/11 Hijackers -- some may be still on the loose

The History Channel broadcast a program Sunday night titled Grounded on 9/11 which was about the terrorist attack and the first ever order by the FAA to ground all aircraft.  Around the time that the order went out to stop all take offs, the pilot of United Flight 23, scheduled to take off from Newark to Los Angeles, kept it on the ground and returned to the gate.  And there was this:

Narrator:  "It's reported that several unruly allegedly middle Eastern men rushed from the plane leaving their luggage behind. Inside the bags officials find Al Queda instruction sheets, but false IDs prevent investigators from ever locating the bags' true owners."

John Carr, President of the National Airline Pilots Association:  "I maintain to this day, based on my personal belief and based on the events of that morning, the decision to halt airlines in all likelihood probably precluded other attacks."

That's something I must have forgotten.  There's nothing in The 9/11 Commission Report about it.  I searched through the report with several relevant words and phrases -- you wouldn't believe how many times "23" appears -- and came up with nothing.

But if it's true, these guys must have gone back into hiding, and that is a very sobering thought.  The good news is that they probably weren't leadership material.  But the next time someone wails on about how bad the Patriot Act is it might be well to remember that there are still people out there who mean us real harm.

Dude, You're NOT gettin' a Dell

The very old computer got trashed the other day at the Texas Recycles Day trash heap.   (See Heaving that old computer - updated, below.)   And as soon as I buy a new computer, the computer in current use will become the backup computer.

Buying a new computer has gotten so much easier over the years, or I should rephrase that and say that getting information about new computers has gotten much easier.  I recall the first one I bought back in 1984.  It was off the shelf of a retail computer store, and I'll never forget the response of the sales woman when I asked if the computer would do some such thing.  "I don't know why not," she said.  What a great answer!  Beats the heck out of "I don't know."

So fast forward to the present, and the buying options are overwhelming.  I thought I wanted a Dell, swayed perhaps by the tv ads or possibly by some positive exposure at the subconscious level.  At any rate, their website makes it very easy to find out what's available, and links help explain most of the options.  Best of all is the online chat with live Dell rep.

But here's the problem.  I've got a five year old HP three-in-one printer that hooks up through a Parallel Port.  Well, five years old must qualify it as an antique, because Dell computers don't have Parallel Ports.  You can't even buy one as an option.  Maybe this  tells you how backward I am, but I was stunned at that.

The Dell rep recommended a Parallel to UBS cable converter, but all the available information on those say they don't work on multi-function printers.  Not to worry.  The Dell rep has another solution --  buy an $80 Mini Port Replicator from Dell.

Fortunately, HP has a pretty good help desk, too.  But, HP recommends against replicators.  Instead, the HP rep suggested buying a parallel port I/O card directly from another vendor and installing it myself.

What a mess!  I may yet do that, but only after looking at other computer makers besides Dell.  An HP computer is looking awfully tempting right about now.  Surely HP computers will hook up with their own printers.

Oil Wells Popping up in our Browsers

The Texas Railroad Commission has some remarkable tools online and available for anyone to use to look up information about oil and gas wells in the state.  For example, there's a new RRC GIS Map Viewer that provides a wealth of information for the energy industry, and it should provide hours of entertainment for cartography buffs.  It's better than a video game!

Let's put it through it's paces.  Most local residents have seen that oil well pump jack about fifty yards West of the Sam's Club parking lot in Midland.  It would be a landmark but for the fact that pump jacks out number trees in this part of the world.

To locate that well on the RRC map, first  go to the RRC GIS Map Viewer.  Click on "Accept" button to acknowledge that they don't guarantee its accuracy.  Find the blank that says "Go to County/Offshore Area/Bay" and scroll down and click on 329 - Midland County, and the map should zoom in on Midland County.

Zoom in on the West side of the city and navigate around so that you can see the intersection of Loop 250 and State Highway 191 (also highway 158 at that point).  That green dot with the number 31493 below it is the well under examination.  That number along with the county code (329) is that well's American Petroleum Institute (API) number which is a number unique to that particular well.

Now let's find out a little bit about that well.  Open a new browser tab and go to the RRC drilling permit (W-1) query site.  We know that the API number is 329-31493, so fill that in the appropriate space.  Click "Submit" and we get a screen telling us that a permit was submitted by HCW Exploration, Inc., and approved on March 5, 1985, for a well named "Fred."  (How quaint.)

Click on the word "Fred" and the "Form W-1: Review" comes up to tell us that it was drilled to a total depth of 10,200 feet and completed on March 19, 1985.  Hold on, we're not done yet.  Wouldn't you like to find out how much oil Fred is pumping?

Go to the RRC Production Data page, and click on Specific Lease Query.  This part of the system uses the Railroad Commission Lease ID number, and one deficiency of the system is that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to translate API numbers into RRC Lease ID numbers.  But, we have the name of the well, and that's enough info to get there, it's just not as easy as it could be.

Click on the Lease Name Search.  Click on the button for "containing these letters" and type in "Fred" in the space for the name.  Select Midland County then hit "Submit."  That produces a specific lease report which should contain "(08-29731) Fred" in the box.  "Submit" that, and we get another query page asking for a date range.

If we put in a range between January 2005 and August 2005 we see that the operator, Pioneer Natural Resources, USA, Inc., has reported that Fred produced and disposed of 1,796 barrels of oil and 2,386 MCF casinghead gas through August of this year.  No reports beyond August are currently available online for Fred.

Oil prices have fluctuated this year, but using an average of $50 per barrel, that would come to around $90,000 for the oil for the eight month period.  And let's use a conservative $6 per MCF for the casinghead gas, and that comes to around $14,000.  It's probably safe to conclude that the well is producing in profitable quantities.

Going back to that map, is you scroll around Midland one thing that looks intriguing is the number of horizontal wells producing from spots under residential parts of the city.  Now there's a tantalizing prospect.  Not long ago in a post titled Pump Jacks in the Parks -- Let's Drill for Oil I speculated about the possibility of drilling in the city parks.  But with the capability of drilling horizontally that idea is even more tempting.

Perhaps this online mapping system doesn't interest everyone, but I'm in a continual state of amazement at the things that pop up online.  And to Fred, who turned 20 this year, a great big happy birthday to you!

Computerized Face Recognition

To really enjoy a good fictional tv show it almost always requires a brief suspension of one's own sense of what's real and what isn't.

For example, it isn't too rare to see a tv show that utilizes some form of computer face recognition.  The good guys and gals stare at a monitor as a computer rummages through facial images, and then, "It's a match!"

It's so easy.  See for yourself.  MyHeritage.com has a free demo where you can upload your own photo, and it will match your face with that of a celebrity you most resemble.  (Link via A Welsh View.)

There aren't any photos of me on the hard drive, so I went browsing around some of my favorite sites, and there was one of  Wallace over at Streams.

It's a match!  He's actually Babe Ruth!

(Forgive me Wallace.  I'm clowning around while you're over there paying serious tribute to our veterans.)

Flyover photos

Among the resolutions passed by the Midland City Council this morning (11/8/05) was this one:

19.  Consider a resolution authorizing the execution of an advanced funding agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation for the aerial photography project; and appropriating funds therefor.

It's my understanding that new aerial photos of the city will be taken sometime this winter.  And these new photos are likely to end up on the internet available for searching by anyone with an internet connection.

If, like me, you think it might be cool to send a message to those peeking Toms peering into our backyards, then it's probably not too early to be thinking of a concise message -- words, signs, symbols or a combination -- and about how to get it imprinted legibly onto our backyard lawns.

City Hall -- Dog Park vote coming tomorrow

Midland Public Information Officer Tina Jauz' press release of 11/4/05:

The City Council will consider appropriating funds for the purpose of constructing a dog park.  During an October 25th briefing session, city staff analyzed the proposed elements of the dog park.  It was recommended that all construction be handled in-house.  $35,500 would be appropriated from the 2003 park improvements unappropriated fund balance to be used to cover the cost of materials.  The cost reflects a reduction from the estimated $70,000 due to the use of city staff for the installation of fencing, gates, and concrete walkway.  City staff would also handle water stations, rules signs, and parking lot improvements.  Though fundraising efforts, Friends of the Dog Park have gathered $5,428.  These funds could be used to enhance the total project with the purchase of the proposed park entrance sign, agility stations, or park benches.  The park will be located at Hogan Park.  Contact: Monette Burke/Director of Community Services at 685.7354

I certainly am glad they got the cost down to a more realistic level.  We'll see tomorrow what the City Council thinks about it.
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Morning of 11/8/05 -- FLASH -- The measure passed!
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Fighting Fires -- Handling a Fire Hose

The last session of the Citizens Fire Academy took place at Harris Field which is a Midland Fire Department training facility located a short distance from town where students of the real Fire Academy learn the ropes.  They also learn the hoses, the tools, the equipment and everything else they'll need to fight a fire and keep themselves safe.

The training field has lots of structures the instructors can use to to teach firefighting skills.  They've got a cinder block house which they load up with hay and set on fire.  They've got oil field stuff to simulate the kind of fires that might occur at oil and gas wells, and they've also got a multi story building for high rise practice.

The hoses used by the MFD for fire fighting range from 1.75 to 2.5 inches in diameter.  The firefighters first hook up a five inch hose to a hydrant and extend that hose to the truck -- they call it the engine.   And the pressure at the engine ranges from 150 pounds for the 1.75 inch hose, pumping 150 gallons per minute, to 68 pounds for the 2.5 inch hose pumping at 250 gallons per minute.

And at the last class the CFA students got some hands on experience with a fire hose.  The MFD usually assigns two firefighters per hose, so we were divided into teams of two, decked out in bunkers, boots, helmets and gloves, and given hoses.  And the task was simply to spray water onto the cinder block house.  It wasn't on fire, so they called it a dry run, but there was nothing dry about it.

I can assure you that it takes two strong men to handle one of those hoses even when it's pumping at less than full strength.  And the lesson we all took away that night was that any team requiring two strong men that has me on it will be short by one strong man.  My most sincere apologies go to the people who got drenched.

Next class:  Fighting a real fire!

(Episode 1 of this series titled Fighting Fires at the Airport was about the Midland Fire Department station at the airport and the equipment available to the firefighters stationed there which was on display and demonstrated for the students attending the Citizens Fire Academy.)

85 Wild Horses

Meet Fluffy and Seabiscuit.

One doesn't have to be a horse whisperer to appreciate the beauty of a fine horse, and these two young beauties were purchased in Odessa yesterday at the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program auction for a grand total of $290.  Actually they call it an "adoption," and it's somewhat similar to the adoption of any other domesticated animal from an animal shelter.

But, Fluffy and Seabiscuit aren't house broken, they're wild.  They grew up on federal grazing land, and the BLM has a program through which they cull the herds to prevent over population.  And those horses selected are put up for adoption at events like the one in Odessa yesterday.  According to their website, the "BLM placed more than 178,000 wild horses and burros into private care from 1973 through 2000."

Not just anyone can adopt a horse, though.  There's a minimum corral requirement of 400 square feet per horse plus shelter from inclement weather.  The new owner can't have any convictions for inhumane treatment of animals, and he/she is required to promise not to sell the horse for slaughter.

The program has an interesting history.  According to the website back in the 1950's a woman named Velma B. Johnston, AKA "Wild Horse Annie," became aware of the way that mustangers were capturing and selling wild horses for slaughter.  (The old movie Misfits was about such a group of mustangers.)

She started a grass roots movement that eventually resulted in federal legislation protecting those wild horses and burros and establishing the adoption program.  They don't make much money off of the auctions, but it helps pay for the transportation of the animals.

The horses are auctioned rather then just handed over because an invested owner is more likely to be a caring owner.  And yesterday new owners invested in 85 wild horses.  The horses weren't too thrilled about being hauled around, but when they get to their new homes then hopefully they will adapt nicely and be well cared for.

Paycheck Protection -- California's Proposition 75

Here's a hypothetical quiz:  You're a famous liberal United States Senator.  Who among the following do you favor most:

(a) Union members;

(b) Union leaders;

(c) Both of the above;

(d) Neither (a) nor (b).

If your name is Hillary Clinton, then the answer is (b) Union Leaders.

There's an initiative up for vote in California which would require public employee unions to get annual approval from the union member before his/her union dues can be used for political purposes.  It's clear why union leadership would want this -- money is power, and the more money they have to tempt politicians then the more power they have over them.  But should the union members want it too?  Maybe, maybe not.  But that's not the issue.

The issue is whether the union members should have a choice in the matter.  Currently the law in California says they don't, but Proposition 75 on the November 8 ballot would give them that choice.

Californians for Paycheck Protection website reproduces the whole initiative, and here's the summary:

Prohibits public employee labor organizations from using dues or fees for political contributions unless the employee provides prior consent each year on a specified written form. Prohibition does not apply to dues or fees collected for charitable organizations, health care insurance, or other purposes directly benefiting the public employee. Requires labor organizations to maintain and submit to the Fair Political Practices Commission records concerning individual employees' and organizations' political contributions; those records are not subject to public disclosure. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Probably minor state and local government implementation costs, potentially offset in part by revenues from fines and/or fees.

So one has to ask oneself, who could oppose this beside the union leaders?  Well, Hillary Clinton, for one.  John Edwards for another.

Here's the Monterey County Herald:

Clinton and Edwards sent e-mails to California voters on their supporter lists, urging a "no" vote on Proposition 75 during the Nov. 8 recall election.

''The strength of our democracy depends on voters' faith in the fairness of the process, that everyone has a right to participate,'' Clinton wrote. ''In taking away the rights of public employees, and only public employees, Proposition 75 would weaken our democracy. It would undermine the work and the rights of teachers, firefighters and health care givers.''

Yeah, it's that "faith in the fairness of the process" that seems to be in doubt here when it looks like plain old fashioned greed.

Tradesports.com doesn't seem to have a contract on this issue, and I wouldn't gamble anyway, but I have a feeling that the California voters will pass Proposition 75.  We'll know next week.

For more information:  FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog has updates on the issue and League of Women Voters of California has a discussion.

Heaving that old computer - updated

We are  all familiar with Moore's law regarding the accelerating growth rate of the speed of new computer processors.  There's probably another one that goes something like this:  Your new computer will become obsolete in half the time it took for your old one to become obsolete.

I've got two obsolete computers, one which I use regularly, and a very old one that is taking up space.  I'm contemplating buying a new one, and that means I'll need to chuck the oldest one.  So just how does one go about junking an old CPU?

According to an article and ad in the Midland Reporter-Telegram, November 12 will be Texas Recycles Day, and most things recyclable will be accepted.  And there's this:

Axcess Technologies will be onsite to collect donated e-waste, which it will refurbish at its Austin plant. Generated by public demand, this year marks the third the recycling event has had the component for e-waste, or electronic waste, which include televisions, stereos, DVD players and computers. Last year, donors filled a semi-truck of used computers, retaining 23,029 pounds in computers alone from the landfill, Richardson said.

Before offering the donated computers for resale, Axcess electronically cleans and tests all hard drives. Computer donors will need to sign a release form authorizing the relinquishment of their donation, Richardson said. (Emphasis added.)

Sign a release?  Groan.  More fine print to read.  But, the obvious reason they would want a release is to use it as a defense if a buyer of the old computer mines the previous owner's personal data from the hard drive and uses it to his/her detriment.

Well that's a pretty loud message that we need to clean out any personal data from the old hard drive before tossing it.  I downloaded one of those free eraser programs, but I couldn't get it loaded onto the old computer.  But, I still had the quick restore disk, so I just used it to restore the hard drive to the status it was in when I brought it home from the store.

Was that enough?  I was getting more and more paranoid, so I reformatted the hard drive, and did the quick restore again.  Twice.

But how can a person be sure everything is either wiped off or overwritten?  There might be a way, but I don't' know what it is.  So I eventually called in the partnership of Chisel & Sledge.  That should do it.  Yeah, that should do it.  I hope.

Recycles Day Followup --  What a Dump! (updated 11/17/05)

Stacks and stacks of junked computers.  It looked like a scene from that movie about that little boy robot who got dumped.

Each one of those computers probably retailed for a three or four figure price tag.  But, it's all junk now.

Saturday (11/12/05) was Texas Recycles day, and the Keep Midland Beautiful volunteers assisted with unloading, lifting and stacking all of the stuff.  And they had a pretty good time, too.

Most manufactured items seem to have a predetermined life span, and new stuff is priced so that it's more economical to junk the old one and buy a new one than to try to repair the old one.  But, our Mothers probably drilled into us: "Don't waste!"

So the Recycles Day really does make us feel so good.

As we were warned, computer junkers were asked to sign a release, a rather overt acknowledgment that even computer folks wouldn't know for sure whether the contents of a hard drive are fully erased of personal info:

"Keep Midland Beautiful, Inc. assumes no responsibility for data left on drives.  The individual is responsible for the deletion of any confidential information stored in their systems."

My computer went in without a hard drive, it having already met up with Chisel and Sledge.  (See above.)

Guilt free dumping.  It felt so good!