Danny's Space

This last month of 2024 is hard and brutal. I see its shape from far away but I don't have to like it. Philippine lawmakers decided to pass next year's national budget full of controversies and everyone questioning the sanity of the Philippine House of Representatives and also the Senators. They cut the money for education, healthcare and major infrastructure projects. They increased funding for social welfare projects that are controlled by individual congressmen and senators. You can smell the fear. It's an election year. They have to survive. They did not fund healthcare and left members to themselves. Trump is going to be inaugurated January 2025 President of the United States. I know a lot of people suffered depression after the election last November. A man murdered the CEO of a big healthcare company. There was sympathy not for the victim of the crime but towards the perpetrator.

The last time I was with my doctor, she ordered some procedures done. Lipid panel, SGPT, fasting glucose, urine and x-ray. I decided to call up my health insurance and schedule my Annual Physical Exam. APE. 2023's aortic calcification "comment" by the radiologist is gone. My Triglyceride is high, HDL is low. Fasting blood glucose is north of 6 mmol/l. I am obese II. Not good. My SGPT is 80 (normal is 49). This results tell me my metabolic syndrome is back. Insulin resistant, fatty liver, increase adiposity around the waist and so on. What works, what's best? Low carb diet. Intermittent fasting. Choline from eggs. Milk thistle and flax seeds to restore glutathione. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. I'm going to try NAC and garlic too.

I went to San Mateo medical Center at Ampid last October 14th. I met Dr. Julie Ann Figuracion, an Internal Medicine Specialist. I have a chronic cough which she thinks to be allergic rhinitis and bronchitis. I also showed her last year's lipid tests and x-rays. She ordered new updated tests for later. These are my new medications per the doctors prescription. List of Newly prescribed drugs from Dr. Julie Ann Figuracion. 1) Zykast (Montelukast + Levocetirizine) 10 mg/5 mg For my allergic rhinitis. 2) Nebilet 5 mg tablets For my hypertension. In addition to losartan potassium and amlodipine. 3) Amlodipine Losartan Potassium 5 mg/ 50 mg For my hypertension. 4) Acetylcysteine powder 600 mg For my cough and phlegm. To be prepared in a glass of water. 5) Cefixime 200 mg For anti bacteria infections, antibiotic. Not to be used for colds and flu. I feel great with Zykast, the anti allergy medication. One pill and I slept for more than 9 hour...

It has been reported and I want to get this out so people won't be a victim.  The link is  https://homecash.space/.  

I began my Ubuntu use with Edgy Eft oh that's 6.10 which I quickly upgraded to 7.04 Feisty Fawn. I am using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Noble Numbat.

I've been coughing the whole week. I bought Tuseran forte and Amoxicillin for the straight 7 days. It's Pneumonia. It was a toss coin on whether I should go to the doctor or just treat this on my own. I still have the sore throat and the sniffles. But generally I'm fine. Hay I'm composing my piece on a proper app. Since updating my desktop to Ubuntu 24.04 I can't get Evolution Mail to connect and authenticate with Gmail account. It is now more than a month and I guess some of the software patches that were applied did it. I started Evolution Mail and it automatically asked for my email and password, then permit Gnome to manage my messages and contacts. After that it downloaded all my emails. So this is the first one to be sent out. Hope my luck hold out.

I don't know how to use the compose utility on Gmail. I am going back to it because I can't make Evolution Mail work now that I am on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. I guess about a week of this re-training and I'll be fine. Getting back to my blog's cadence. Starting to create and do more.

I spoke to Lino the other day about the pictures I sent. The Wawa Dam in Montalban came as a surprise to me because there was no marketing nor information. It was just an inaugural day press conference - a visit from the President. That was how I learned about it. Was it because the Dam was at the initiative of the former politician? This dam was built to contain the water flow every rainy season brings to the cities. In addition there was the power generation benefit to the surrounding communities. The other picture was the festival of San Mateo in Sta. Ana. It is the feast day of Our Lady of Aranzazu. Lots of bibingka and suman in the picture. I had to remind Lino about the fiesta of Dulongbayan where we lived, where we all started from.

I just learned my ever loyal electrician died last Thursday, September 19th. We will miss you, Rolando Ramos, Rolly. Beloved by his wife and family, may you rest in peace. Happy Fiesta mga taga-Dulongbayan, San Mateo. I am living in another barangay but I was born there. I hope it is peaceful and dry. It always rains during the day.

I am on my hypertension medications. I take Losacar 50 which is a combination amlodipine and losartan blood pressure lowering combo. I am taking omega 3 fish oil EPA DHA 2000 mg daily. This addresses high blood pressure, high triglycerides and joint inflammation. It is working because my fingers and elbows are fine now. I am on Metformin 500 mg twice daily. I believe I could increase it to three times daily if I want. I want to watch for high blood sugar levels and my overweight situation. I am taking cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) with Menaquinone (MK-7).

I have a feeling of moving earth or walking off my itchiness. The growing fat in my belly tells me I am failing on many occasions to give in to this urge. My eyes are blurred by morning glory. I remember my father having the same ritual in the morning. After his weak stroke, he couldn't speak much, just a grunt but he would demonstrate with hand how he liked to wash his face. The weather wasn't helping. It's been raining cats and dogs the past week. The province of Rizal was soaked and spilled volumes of water into the bay and Laguna lake. Our Caimito tree was cut to no more than 4 feet from the ground. It was towering above the corrugated sheet metal of our roof. Now it lay horizontal on the yard. I calculated it could be made into a whole table and chairs set by a talented carpenter artist. I showed Lino the two big pieces of trunk that could only be moved if cut by a power saw in place. The road widening project in San Mateo was in the middle stage. One side of the road ...

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS does not have the feel of a Long Term Support LTS product. I have used Ubuntu since 5.10 and other linux distributions like Arch and Fedora. My daily driver is Ubuntu. In fact I have used the Ubuntu LTS on my desktop exclusively since 10.04. I can't authenticate Gmail on Evolution Mail. I find Thunderbird slow to download my emails. So yes I can make Gmail work with Thunderbird but not Evolution. Clementine the music application has crashed twice. On both occasions Ubuntu prompted me to send a crash report. At least the crash reporting works. Ubuntu 24.04 is not an improvement on 22.04. My recommendation is stay with Ubuntu 22.04.

Some important considerations here are, where's my important data? Like passkeys, passwords, authentication files etc. Obviously, it should be backed up and mine is in my cloud service. Later I would remember that I also have a copy in a usb stick somewhere. I will need these to setup my browser profile and my email. I also have my credentials on my phone. Once I authenticate my "new" device to my cloud service, syncing folders are straightforward. Like point and shoot. I wish that google drive is like Mega. Post install duties also involved updating the new operating system. I encountered a problem here as I was notified that locked files and updates cannot proceed. So if my blog reader encountered this issue as well I recommend reviewing this thread on Ask Ubuntu .  Solved my problem. Thank you Ask Ubuntu   I am missing some applications on this new install. I downloaded several applications. First on my list is Thunderbird, Evolution whichever worked fine with Gmail of...

I installed Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS in ZFS. I have an old ZFS pool I created there, which I want use in Ubuntu 24.04. My expectation is that it required only a zfs command using the terminal.  Assuming that my hard drives have the complete set of data, the command is: # zpool import dpool  -f        ; zpool import is the import command, dpool is the name of the pool and -f to be empathic.      

The solution to the upgrade fiasco is to install Ubuntu 24.04 clean. I downloaded the iso using my old Acer laptop running Xubuntu 18.04. I used Transmission and the torrent download for easy use. I found a usb stick I can spare. My next problem is to find an application to create a bootable usb stick.  Fortunately, because I've used Archlinux before I am familiar with the dd command. I have no problem using the command line and the terminal to copy the ubuntu 24.04 iso and create a bootable usb stick without a graphical user interface. So after the torrent download which took me about 20 minutes, I now have a bootable usb stick containing ubuntu 24.04.1. This is the command: # dd -R if=/home/Download/Ubuntu 24.04.1 Desktop.iso of=/media/usb stick volume bs=1M status=progress     ; R means recursive, if is the source or the file location, of is the destination, name of the usb stick, status gives you a report The new Ubuntu installer is quick and straightforward. Asks you to pick ...

I ran the graphical upgrade tool hoping to do a smooth upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04.1 but when I restart as instructed NO JOY. I was running Ubuntu 22.04 LTS happily when the upgrade tool notified me of the availability of the next LTS for download and installation. So I did a search for any caveats. I found a thread in Reddit but it was 4 months ago. The thread revealed that any kind of online upgrade to 24.04 results in failure. Clean installs are another matter though. The new version is ready for a clean install. The process of upgrading direct from an 22.04.4 or 23.10 isn't . I should have waited. I was happy with 22.04 LTS. Regrets. I can't boot. The computer stops booting with my ASUS motherboard dashboard. And all system hard ware is fine as reported by the motherboard. I lost all the screenshots I have of the upgrade from downloads to the last instruction to restart.

LTS to LTS upgrade happens when Canonical releases the first point update of the new LTS which is 24.04.1. That is suppose to happen on the 19th of August. A new update on the release date says it is going to happen on the 29th. So the developers moved it two weeks. I guess there are bugs to smoothen out.

I am using the new pool for my videos and music. Downloading them using my torrent client, transmission. The old pool is raidz2 and now I am using a raidz1 only. But and a big but I gained space of up to 4.5 TB.

I ordered these pair of chassis cooling fans from a seller in Lazada. One fan died and the other one is in the verge of giving up. It has been serving me for 8 years now. I think I need new ones.

A supposedly straightforward process and I messed up. Take the problem hard drive offline with: $ zpool offline poolname devicename Remove the old hard drive out. Put in the new shiny one in. Then type: $ zpool online poolname devicename (if needed) My system was set up to auto detect new devices and add them to the pool. Big mistake. That ADDED the device as a new top level virtual device. Leaving my pool still degraded. Worse, this process is irreversible. I had to destroy the pool and start creating a new one for data. Data stored here is mostly downloadable so data is not lost. Lesson is do not ADD devices the command to use is REPLACE. $ zpool replace poolname olddevicename newdevicename

I found myself unable to enter my login credentials when prompted to do so in Ubuntu. I think I might have changed it then forget about it. I've been running the current session for more days than I should have. I forget. So what's the solution to my problem. How do I get in to my system now? It involved getting into the grub menu somehow. I am uncertain as to how to do that exactly in your system. So there's a couple of ways to do it (finger's crossed). When booting at system start, use the esc key or the shift key. The first one worked for me. The timing is key. Wait until the bios banner shows then hit the esc key once. I am using Ubuntu 22.04.4 here. I have a current version of grub. The grub menu will give you options and the one you want is: root. Yes you want root privileges to set the root password. It should give you a terminal access where you can issue commands. Type: #mount -rw -o -s remount / ==> this command mounts the filesyste...

The last Apollo mission was Apollo 17 in 1972. It was commanded by Eugene Cernan and crewed by Ronald Evans and Harrison Schmidt. They spent 22 hours in the Moon. Fast forward to 2024, a remote controlled robotic spacecraft and lander made it back to the Moon. It is called Odysseus. Well it is suppose to study the Moon's South Pole where it is hoped that water can be found in those dark low ground areas barely touched by the Sun. Unfortunately, during the landing it hit a ground obstacle and tipped over to its side. Its science capabilities are now greatly diminished but it has power enough to tell Earth that it is in trouble.

C2's Ally Cayetano who owns the Salon told me they are consuming the rest of the deposit. Mom and I finished the Sunday with Tess, Ally's employee. I released the scraps and aircon and windows and expensive light fixtures to the Lalamove man to be delivered to Ally and friends. I was able to bill and get paid for my troubles (and Mom). Also, our friend, Tess, got paid. Maybe maybe, maybe, the universe just got fixed. R5's Danilo Orinco whose wife is the face of the tenant since she's mainly a stay at home person. Their daughter is taking review classes for the Board of Education Professional Exams. Since this particular event is coming they are ending their lease soon. I thought that I am playing the executioner today with Marife, Jeffrey Botin's wife, the name on the R4 contract. They owe me two months worth of rental. She won the Bingo online game. She showed me 23K of winnings as a way to calm the axe down. I am very thankful for the stay of ...

Nene was our kasambahay since 2022. Good cook and fast worker. She went AWOL after Christmas 2023. We suspect it is a remuneration issue. I do pay her full social security contribution and I am doing that last duty this Monday of January 2024. I received a message from her reminding us of Mom's registration in the seniors pension program. I went ahead and registered Mom. Thank you Nene.

The cold air is here and the temperature is going down. Climate scientists took this time to tell us that 2023 is the hottest year in 144 years of record keeping. They predict that 2024 will continue the trend. I like the salty pandesal I bought in Burgos this Sunday morning. Mom and I shared breakfast. She cooked three beaten eggs with red onions. I woke up early to urinate but I had to do it next door. My bathroom door is locked from the inside. The door lock is broken. Next door is Mina's apartment, empty now.  Mang Roger can't fix it now. His son, Toto, died of a stroke just after New Year's Day.  My exercise routine is now at its lowest. Last month's cold turned to a long coughing battle.  I finished the business of paying the annual license fees for the apartments. There is that matter of renewing the fire extinguishers.  C2 unit is getting vacated. Ally Cayetano the tenant, told me it's a losing proposition. My co...

Anthony and Jasmin were here tonight. They were getting Mom to sign for an authorization to transfer Tita Fely's remains to the family plot also in Paraiso. So Mom signed and I gave them the title to the plot and a pair of Mom's ID cards. Anthony will have to go to Paraiso's offices in Sta LUcia. Christopher died on the 4th and services are ongoing at Nuestra. This is around the back of the church shrine in Guitnangbayan. He is the eldest, Anthony is the middle child and then Karla. They still have their father, Tito Atong. These kids' mom, Tita Fely, took care of me and Lino when we were pre- school. I remember listening to the FM radio with her. we mostly listen to Beatles songs and OPM songs. Tita Fely was in her early twenties. She's the youngest among Mom's siblings. Mom's father died in the war and Lola remarried.

I intended to pay my business licenses the first opportunity this year. I don't want to experience long lines and crowded waiting areas when I am already coughing and there are news of flu going around. An earthquake of 7.6 magnitude strike Japan and a plane collision added to my listlessness. Day 4 of 2024 went and I am still gathering documents and papers for the business permit. Mom and I are facing a busy January because our helper is absent without leave. I finished paying my SSS loan last month. I still have to worry about my credit cards. I experimented not taking my blood pressure meds. After a week not taking them I felt nausea and headache. I am now back to my hypertension medication. Thank you. I downloaded the e-lotto philippine app on my phone. I can get the lotto results everyday on my phone. I can place bets on their website and pay with my e-wallet of choice. I wonder what my father would say about gambling being so convenient and easy. I...

Mom chose not to attend the family reunion at Tita Connie's. She experiences shortness of breath even when only going for a 3 minute walk. I was tasked to attend and I did a hit and run, I did an eat and run. I was back after an hour. I told Tita Connie I stopped by Mercury Drug to get some medication for Mom. I went home with food packs for mom. I wish that most of you are safe and eating. I pray for your safety and happiness. Peace to all and a healthy 2024 to all of us.