Opuscula Canon printers: Pretty reliable, Bad packaging

CANON makes — or perhaps made — some great products.

I have two Canon 35 mm cameras (a brass F-1 and an FtB) sitting in my closet, a Canon SD1100 IS mini-digi cam and a full size Canon digital camera that does everything but yell “Say Cheese!” — fine for most folks, but I like my brass F-1 and its sensible controls. (I also have a 4*5-inch technical camera.)

I also have — had — three Canon multi-function printers.

My old MP-560 (right), a really good, reliable printer for perhaps a decade, finally needed professional help. Professional help translates into “costs more than a new printer.”

The MP-560 was well-designed and provided 99% of all the things I want in a multi-function printer. (It lacked an Automatic Document Feeder.) Four ink cartridges plus extra black. Worked via Wi-Fi and Ethernet.

Knowing it was nearing time to replace it, I bought a Canon MX-922 multi-function printer. This one had an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) that was handy, but the printer’s mechanical design was, in a word, BAD TERRIBLE.

In order to print anything but 8 ½ * 11 paper, the paper tray had to be emptied and some cheap plastic sliders moved to hold other papers — envelopes, 4*6 photo paper, etc. A pain in the posterior. (The MP-560 had a slot for envelopes and sundry paper sizes.)

As with the MP-560, the MX-922, the printer worked with WiFi and Ethernet.

MX-922 Heads “North”

Yes, I know most folks say something heads south when it starts to go bad, but from where I sit in the Sunshine State, going north is not a good thing. Snow, ice, sleet, etc. and et al

The MX-922 (right) started blurring letters. I tried this and I tried that, all to no avail.

I don’t print a lot of things, but both my Spouse and I do occasionally need a printed document.

So, this morning I hied myself off to a local office supplies store and bought, for $50, a Canon TR4520 multi-function printer.

It is as badly designed as the MX-922 — paper has to be removed from the single paper tray in order to feed envelopes, albeit it is slightly easier to accomplish.

Even to CLOSE the TR4520’s paper tray (right) it has to be emptied. Not so the MP-560, or even the MX-922. Shutting the paper tray door helps keep dust out of the machine; obviously something else Canon engineers failed to consider.

The input size adjustment seems a little more substantial than the MX-922’s and there is less to go wrong with the new machine’s feed system; fewer little pieces of plastic to break off.

The scanner on all of the Canon printers worked to specification. The MX-922 and the TR4520 feeders are pretty straight forward. All Canon printers offer automatic two-sided printing and collating.

Unfortunately, the Canons are not Linux-friendly (no drivers) nor are they particularly Mac-friendly. I think Canon is being very short-sighted, but then they can’t seem to get their packaging (mechanical engineering) back to the level of the MP-560.

Canon also, apparently in an effort to sell more ink, has gone from four small color cartridges and one large black ink cartridge to two fat cartridges: one black and one tri-color. Having multiple color cartridges set Canon apart from most of its competitors.

If this new printer will perform faithfully for as long as my just-discarded MP-560 I will be — if not happy (due to poor packaging) — at least satisfied.

Unlike the MP-560, maintenance on the TR4520 is a pain.

Firstly, the documentation provided on a CD is not correct. I never did figure out to align the print head. I’m no dummy; in fact I used to WRITE technical manuals for mil-spec electronics, process control gear, and private telephone systems, but the Canon documentation simply fails to match the software. Documentation should follow the KIS(s) Principle — Keep It Simple (stupid). The paper documentation is almost nil.

Set up, following the CD's prompts, was simple.

The new printer is set up and works, via WiFi, from both computers and at least one “smart” phone (a Redmi 6A). There is NO Ethernet connection. There is a telco connection for fax (that, unfortunately, my carrier (Consumer Cellular) does not support.

The TR24520 IS noisy, even in “quiet more.”

I confess that I am a Canon loyalist. I have only had one really bad Canon product, a video camera that failed when needed most.

The TR4520, however, may be my last Canon.

Sloppy design.

Two ink tanks.

Poor documentation.

If I am forced to buy a new printer before 2030, it likely will be a printer from another manufacturer. HP makes bubble jets now, as does Brother and some others. Canon needs to bear in mind there ARE alternatives, even in relatively low-cost home office printers.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment on Canon printers

Opuscula Being responsive To clients builds Lasting relationships

LATELY I HAVE BEEN DEALING with a balance board vendor and several employees of a company paid by the residents to “manage” the community.

The two are worlds apart in their approach to customer service.

THE GOOD FIRST

I ordered a balance board (right) from 60uP.com. It arrived as scheduled.

Some assembly required.

Stick some handles on poles. Stick the poles into the base and secure them with provided pins. No brainer.

Ahh, but there is trouble in paradise.

One of the handles won’t lock into place. The handle has a push pin that slips into a hole in the pole. One handle was fine; the other missed it by that much — less than a millimeter.

I contacted 60uP’s customer service.

After a few back-and-forths, I got a phone call.

Normally I don’t answer calls from unknown numbers, but this time I did.

The caller turned out to the Dan Metcalfe, the company president.

Metcalfe assured me that a pole with handle assembled (so we know it locks into place) would be on the way shortly.

Shortly turned out to be longer than expected and I had another email exchange with a 60uP Customer Service Rep (CSR). I asked for a tracking ID. After that I heard no more from the CSR.

I DID, however, eventually receive an email from a fulfillment service CSR with the tracking ID.

Shortly after I received an email from Metcalfe.

Am I impressed? You bet.

A vendor that cares about both product and customer.

I like to brag about vendors whose products work as advertised. 60uP is that type company.

THE NOT SO GOOD

The subdivision where I live has a Home Owners Association board, an “HOA.”

The HOA hired a company called Associa. Google lists Associa as America's largest homeowners association (HOA) management company that specializes in nationwide property management and community management.

The company IS large, with numerous regional divisions. It is headquartered in Dallas TX.¹ The local office is Association Services of Florida, an Associa Company, and although the sometimes-on-site representative lists the address as the gatehouse, the real office is in nearby Miramar FL.²

Am I being unfair writing “sometimes on site”? Hardly. The on-site person’s email signature block (sig) below makes my point.

Signature block showing site person’s hours: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Quick! If you have a “regular” job, where are you between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.? At work, of course.

If you happen to be retired and need a form or have a question, the sig boldly states: No Walk-Ins: By Appointment Only. So that there is no question, the statement is in boldface, just as shown above.

But there is a “catch.”

Not only is the on-site person unavailable to most residents, when a resident calls for an appointment, the call is not returned.

Email? They go unanswered. If there is a “Read Receipt” attached, the email sender may get that back, but a response?

Emailers probably are better off sans a response. When responses are generated, they are “snippy”; as if the residents work for the Associa employee. I’m certain the paycheck shows either Associa or Association Services of Florida, but in truth, the money comes from the residents’ monthly donations to the management group.

Recently Associa, the same by any name, sent out batches of “violation” letters, “approved by its lawyers.” Each “violation” generated a separate letter. Each separate letter also generated a fee for the lawyers. Never mind that the letter was a form letter with only the resident’s name and the violation changed from letter to letter. Some residents received five separate certified mail letters. (Guess who pays the postage.)

Comparing post marks to the missives’ dates, it seems many of the letters were dated several days before they were sent.

The Lawyers said

I had the unmitigated gall to complain that a YOU ARE IN VIOLATION letter was premature. A polite note from the HOA board — also residents — suggesting that this or that needs attention wold have been sufficient for most. If the kindly worded suggestion was ignored and the non-complying resident offered no reason for failing to address whatever the problem, THEN bring in the lawyers.

Associa needs to work on its public face. Harry S Truman had a sign on his desk stating The Buck Stops Here.

President Harry S Truman and his “The Buck Stops Here” desk plaque

Perhaps Associa’s senior management wants the company and its employees to be disliked. It’s possible that it no longer wants to be known as the America's largest homeowners association (HOA) management company (ibid.) If that is the case, it is well on the way; insulting and treating the customers as the local office representatives treat homeowners.

I know it is petty, but it would be nice if Associa would hire educated people to check emails and letters from staff. Again, it’s just “image,” but poor grammar and misspelled words from my employees — remember, my dues pay Associa salaries — embarrass me.

This entry was composed in LibreOffice Writer which has spell check. Even though I wrote professionally for several decades, I still use spell check.

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Sources
1. https://www.associaonline.com/locations/contact
2. https://tinyurl.com/y6f6tasn

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment on Vendor response

Opuscula First impressions Can be misleading

WHEN I WAS VERY MUCH YOUNGER, my “Dutch aunt,” Mary Lee Thompson, commended works by the composer Aaron Copeland.¹

Because I held Miss Thompson in high regard, I hied off to the local music emporium and acquired a copy of a work by Copeland.

Then promptly swore off Copeland.

Aaron Copeland (Getty)

The record — those were the days of Long Playing (LP) 33 rpm vinyl platters — was, it turned out, one of Copeland’s early, “experimental” works.²

To this scrivener's ears, the “music” was a cacophony of discordant noises.

I reported back to Miss Thompson that I had sworn off Copeland. I presented her with the album.

Being far wiser than I, she elected not to debate the point, but suggested that what I heard was “early Copeland” and perhaps I could try a later work.

As usual, she was correct. (The only thing we disagreed about to the end was her appreciation of Henry Watson Fowler³ and what I considered — and still consider — his lackadaisical approach to the English language. Then, and now, I follow University of Chicago and Harvard grammar rules.)

Eventually — as she undoubtedly knew I would — I “revisited” Copeland’s compositions and, as she knew I would, found his later works music I truly appreciated.

What changed my mind?

Fanfare for the Common Man for brass, percussion (1942)

Appalachian Spring for 13 instruments, ballet (1944); suite for orchestra (1944)

Both frequently are heard on FM stations.

There are many other Copeland works I came to appreciate.

According to Wikipedia⁴, Copeland “found composing orchestral music in the modernist style he had adapted abroad a financially contradictory approach, particularly in light of the Great Depression. He shifted in the mid-1930s to a more accessible musical style which mirrored the German idea of Gebrauchsmusik ("music for use"), music that could serve utilitarian and artistic purposes. During the Depression years, he traveled extensively to Europe, Africa, and Mexico, formed an important friendship with Mexican composer Carlos Chávez and began composing his signature works.”

My introduction to Copeland was a pre-Depression work, a shock for a person who had grown up with traditional classical music as presented by the Indianapolis Symphony.

I did not encounter “modernist” works on stage until 1975 when the Israeli symphony insisted on pairing something modern with something traditional. I dislike being “force fed” and attended only one of the band’s concerts.

Lesson learned

Actually the heading should be lessons (plural) learned.

Lesson one: Listen to sage advice offered by those older and wiser. (I now am much older, but I’m not sure if I am all that much wiser.)

Lesson two: First impressions should not be cast into concrete; things are “subject to change.” The change may come from the person or object that gave the first impression or from the person on whom the first impression was made.

When my children were little, I insisted they try new foods. If they found the food unpalatable, they didn’t have to eat it.

Now my grandchildren get the same treatment. In most cases, they have come to appreciate foods they were certain they would not like.

I “tasted” Copeland’s music and found it discordant.

Then I had another “taste” of Copeland’s compositions and changed my “tune.”

I later learned a little Copeland history and why he changed his “tune.” I’m glad he did; I find much of his music evocative of scenes I have seen with my own eyes. (Over the years I have lived in most of the contiguous U.S. states and I have seen what Copeland saw in America.)

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Sources

1. https://www.biography.com/musician/aaron-copland

2. http://www.coplandhouse.org/aaron-copland/list-of-works/

3. https://teflpedia.com/H._W._Fowler

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Copeland

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment on Aaron Copeland

Opuscula Changing the clocks Who needs it now? Who wants it now?

ACCORDING TO THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC, Daylight Saving Time Ends on Sunday, November 3, 2019.
For most people today, moving the clock’s hour hand back in the fall (ergo: “Fall Back”) and moving it forward in the spring (hence: “Spring Forward”) is a pain in the posterior. (This is a “G” rated blog, after all.)

Homage To Dali's Melting Clocks by Steve Kaufman (https://tinyurl.com/yydawo7u)

The Almanac (ibid.) notes that Credit for Daylight Saving Time belongs to Benjamin Franklin, who first suggested the idea in 1784. The idea was revived in 1907, when William Willett, an Englishman, proposed a similar system in the pamphlet “The Waste of Daylight.” The Germans were the first to officially adopt the light-extending system in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I. The British switched one year later, and the United States followed in 1918, when Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which established our time zones. This experiment lasted only until 1920, when the law was repealed due to opposition from dairy farmers (cows don’t pay attention to clocks). During World War II, Daylight Saving Time was imposed once again (this time year-round) to save fuel. Since then, Daylight Saving Time has been used on and off, with different start and end dates. Currently, Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November.

Not everyone is burdened by Standard vs. Daylight Saving times. Citizens of Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa don’t change the hour. Florida considered a bill to exempt the state from the bi-annual change.

In some countries, notably Israel, the clock changes until recently were debatable. According to Wikipedia¹, Until 2005, the start and end of IDT each year was established in an ad hoc fashion as the result of haggling between political parties representing various sectors of Israeli society. Parties representing religious groups wanted the start delayed till after Passover and the end to precede Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, while the secular parties would argue for starting it earlier and ending it later. Thus, there was no established rule that could guarantee a predictable changeover in either direction. The debates about a fixed rule for determining the dates of IDT went on for years, and resulted in a suggestion that IDT will start on the 2nd day of Passover and end on the weekend between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This suggestion was rejected as it stipulated an annual IDT period of only 5 months, and yet it served as the basis of the final compromise.

On July 8, 2013, the Israeli Knesset approved the bill to extend IDT. According to the bill, IDT will begin on the Friday before the last Sunday of March, and end on the last Sunday of October.

Cesium fountain atomic clock (NIST, https://tinyurl.com/y95eev73)

WHY BOTHER

If the purpose of the clock change is to accommodate farmers, as The Old Farmer’s Almanac (ibid.) noted, cows can’t tell time. Farmers and ranchers traditionally worked from first light to dusk (and then do the required paperwork far into the night).

Folks with 8-to-5 office jobs either (a) go to work in the dark or (b) come home in the dark.

Same with kiddies heading off to school.

Rather than change the clock, change the schedule.

School vacation days are adjusted to compensate for weather “events” that prevent the students from attending; the government mandates a minimum number of days students are supposed to be in school — learning is not mandated — snow days, bomb threats, and similar occasions can cut down on vacations days.

During my working years I worked all manner of hours. Some day shifts, some night shifts, and some that overlapped. As a reporter, I worked “as necessary.” The same was true when I was in the military: “The needs of the service come first.”

In most cases, I managed to adapt to my hours, whatever they might be.

I may be more fortunate than some others who cannot adjust.

Daylight Savings Time (DST) does not put more hours in a day. It does not shorten or lengthen a shift.

My personal take on DST is “who needs it?”

Shades and blinds keep out the light for people who sleep during the day.

Lights can be switched on when darkness falls.

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Sources
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Summer_Time

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment on DST

Opuscula Constitution Bows to HOA; No free speech

Amendment 1: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I UNFORTUNATELY LIVE IN A subdivision with a misnamed Home Owners Association (HOA) that is above the law.

It is, by its obvious action, above federal law and the FIRST Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

It is, according to the current representative of the HOA’s management group, not answerable to the laws of the municipality in which the subdivision is located.

One of my neighbors who happens to be Israeli-American, put up a flag pole.

On that flag pole he put the Stars and Stripes.

Under the U.S. flag he put an Israeli Star of David flag (right).

Proper flag etiquette; the home country’s flag always is on top or to the right or all other flags, banners, or pennants.^{1, 2, 3, 4} Flags flown at night are supposed to be illuminated by artificial lights.

The Israeli flag was intended to be a temporary thing, but due to the heavy-handiness of the HOA management group's local representative, both flags remained on the pole until the threat of a lien against the property forced the property owners to back down.

Freedom of speech? Not in my subdivision.

Oh yes, the management association for the HOA has a battery of expensive lawyers ready to send threatening “violation” letters and to rush to place liens on properties whose owners don’t comply “post haste.”

Try as I might, I know of no one who complained about the Israeli flag; not the non-Israeli neighbors next door and across the street.

The purpose of a home owners’ association — at least as this scrivener understands it — is to assure that the neighborhood and the structures in it are well maintained; that eyesores are addressed, common areas maintained, etc.

Since most HOA’s are theoretically controlled by home owners of the community, it would seem appropriate that if a property needs attention, someone from the HOA would civilly contact the relevant homeowner and politely suggest that the issue be resolved.

”Hey, neighbor, it looks like it’s time to fix the fence. Do you need time to get it repaired?” To which the neighbor might respond: “I know; I’m looking for someone to fix it but it can’t be done for about 15 (or 30) days.”

If the issue still remains after an agreed upon time, then get the lawyers involved.

Here, the lawyers send threatening letters at every opportunity.

Since they apparently are paid several hundred dollars for each form letter they mail out, if a property has two issues, two separate letters are sent. Five issues: five letters.

Mind you these are FORM LETTERS; the only thing that changes is the resident’s name and the alleged “violation’s” type.

Interestingly, the letters are dated several days BEFORE the date the Post Office canceled the postage.

According to Federal law, only a letter carrier can put anything into a resident’s mail box (right), and that “anything” must be postage paid.

The U.S. Code for crimes and criminal procedure prohibits the placement of unstamped fliers in any mailbox. Title 18, section 1725 states that any person who knowingly deposits "mail-able matter" without postage in an established letter box shall be subject to a fine.

The Government Accountability Office reports that fines may be as high as $5,000 per occurrence for individuals and $10,000 per occurrence for organizations.

This law is commonly known as the "mailbox restriction."

The restriction also includes anything placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle.⁵

A lawyer tells me that while this is generally true, the HOA can put anything it wishes into a resident’s mailbox — NEVER MIND FEDERAL LAW. Truth in blogging: the lawyer does business for the management group employed by the HOA, but there is no conflict of interest, I am assured.

Apparently it is true: HOAs in my state seem unencumbered by ANY law; they are, I was told, similar to an independent state. Based on its flaunting of federal laws, I would suggest that it holds itself as a separate nation.

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Sources

1. http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html

2. https://tinyurl.com/y6tuqx68

3. https://www.vfw.org/community/flag-etiquette

4. https://www.legion.org/flag/code

5. https://tinyurl.com/y7wf26h4

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment HOA on

Opuscula Employees forget Who pays them

I LIVE, ALAS, IN A COMMUNITY RULED BY AN IRON HAND OUT-OF-STATE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION.
The management association’s manager du jour is a harridan¹ the worst of many that have been foisted on us..
It is not that she does her job; it is the way she does it.

SOME HOME OWNERS’ ASSOCIATIONS (HOAs) are people interested in maintaining the neighborhood.

That’s fine.

If a neighbor has an issue, an HOA representative will contact the person and politely suggest something needs attention.

So it goes with my son’s HOA on Florida’s west coast.

If the HOA has the authority and if the “whatever” that needs attention goes unattended, then — and only then — the HOA will commence action, beginning with a formal letter — preferably certified to “CYA” the HOA — stating the problem and the consequences if the issue is not resolved within a reasonable, season-dependent, period.

MY HOA starts off with the formal letter informing me that I am in “violation” of this or that matter — and, since I am paying for the postage, it sends separate letters for each “violation”; each letter also lists the very stiff penalties if compliance misses the short time-to-complete date.

Apparently the HOA that controls my neighborhood behaves the way far too many HOAs in my state — Florida — behave: total disregard for the people who pay them; the people who are supposed to work for the community.

Interestingly, the letter, which came by regular mail, tells me I should be notified by certified mail. The out-of-state management association doesn’t even comply with its OWN rules.

 

Muppets’ National Curmudgeon Day poster featuring Stattler (https://tinyurl.com/y57kowjq)

 

I admit I am a curmudgeon. Moreover, I am an old curmudgeon who was raised in an era of greater civility; a time when “please” and “thank you” were common and sales people actually called customers “sir” or “ma'am” and never addressed a customer by his or her given name until invited, by the customer, to do so.

When I have an (indirect) employee — the resident management association representative — who tells me I need to make an appointment to collect some forms, that is beyond my ken. The association rep is not all that busy; previous persons in this position always have been available — when they are on site. They may not have done every resident’s bidding — the on-site person is, after all, a management association employee, albeit we, the home owners pay the association to pay the on-site person’s wages. Still, previous on-site association employees for the most part have been at least civil.

The current one doesn’t know the meaning of the word “civil.” Indeed, it seems the on-site person is on a personal power trip.

A neighbor reports the person even fails to return calls.

 

Unfortunately, the management association’s on-site person has several problems.

First, statements are made that simply are false.

Example: I was informed that my city has an ordinance with which my residence was not in compliance. It does have an ordinance, but it applies only to commercial buildings.

When this was pointed out to the harridan, she replied that the association does not go by the city’s ordinances.

So why did she cite it in the first place?

Second, the resident manager lacks a command of English — still the main language in the Several States — and apparently also lacks knowledge of email spell checkers and grammar checkers.

This scrivener is hardly a great speller, but I DO know how to use spell checkers that seem ubiquitous with all software for written communications. My email applications have it. My word processor applications have it. My spreadsheet applications have it. Even my cell phone applications alert me to a misspelled word.

To be fair, I have read horribly worded missives replete with spelling errors penned by college students (and some college graduates, too).

 

Wizard of Id cartoon for 9/20/18

 

The neighborhood is a mix of young and not-so-young, of native English speakers and those with English as a second (or third or fourth) language. Correct English use, therefor, is incumbent upon the management association’s on-site person.

Granted, English can be difficult. Its vs. it’s; to, too, and two; there, they’re, and their; lay vs. lie; and many many more words that can snare a writer with limited English skills.

 

Given that, the management association ought to assure that its — our — employee has either a good command of the language in which that employee will be communicating with the “customer” (residents) or, failing that, utilizes the utilities available to check spelling and grammar.

I’m not certain if the local residents’ board has any control over what the out-of-state management association does, other than the ability to replace the management association (which has been in place for a decade — was the job ever put up for bids?).

I know I am not the only person unhappy with the out-of-state management association's heavy handiness and the association's on-site representative's arrogance, but I wonder how many will (try to) do something to end this tyranny.

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Sources
1. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/harridan

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

Comment on HOA

Opuscula USPS fails To deliver

I'M NOT QUITE SURE HOW IT WORKS (or, more accurately, doesn’t work), but it seems USPS mail delivery gets worse with every price increase.

I HAVE THE POST OFFICE’S Informed Delivery notification; its an email that shows me scanned images of most of the letters I should receive in the day’s mail.

Recently I was informed that I had two certified letters on the way.

They never arrived.

I notified the local PO.

The next day and the day after: No certified mail.

Four days later my Spouse finds a yellow “Sorry we missed you” notice in the mailbox informing us that the letter carrier tried to deliver, one assumes, the two long overdue certified letters.

Normally, the yellow notice would be stuck to the door.

Since my Spouse was in residence all day, and since the notice was stuck in with other mail, it is more than obvious that the letter carrier did NOT try to deliver the certified mail pieces.

It was warm that day, but no rain.

Apparently the walk up the driveway was too much for the letter carrier to undertake.

So much for rain and hail and dark of night, none of which was present when the letter carrier failed to do her job.

We have decent mail delivery once a week — when the regular carrier has a day off.

My neighbor continually complains about the carrier’s surliness.

Since the carrier is a (un)civil servant with some “time in grade,” the only way we can hope to have improved mail service is for her to bid on an even cushier route. She used her seniority to get her current route.

This letter carrier frequently proves she cannot read numbers. My mail all too frequently ends up in a neighbor’s mailbox (and other neighbor’s in mine).

She has been known to drop mail in my mailbox for people across the lake; different street and substantially different number. (I don’t expect her to remember our surname; we’ve only been here for a decade.)

It’s a shame.

When we lived in Clearwater, our regular letter carrier was Vic. He knew us; we knew him. He was dependable and sociable. Mail service across the board was much better. (There was a heavily inked clerk at the nearby post office that fascinated my sons. He gladly told them about the tattoos.)

It’s not the area in which we live that turns civil servants into uncivil people.

The folks in the Broward County offices have, without exception, been personable and helpful. There ARE places in south Florida where such service would be a minor miracle.

But why a letter carrier.

Granted her vehicle is not air conditioned and, granted, when it rains she gets wet stuffing fliers and other junk mail into mail boxes — I can understand a bit of ill temper and a desire to “get it over with,” but it hasn’t rained all that much lately and while it has been hot — it’s Florida, after all — it has not been THAT hot and unless the carrier dallies at a mailbox, she should be getting a little relief as she moves on. She could have a walking route in an older neighborhood that still has mail slots in doors.

Trust me, I know what life is like sans air conditioning. We didn’t have it in any of my schools and for a long time my car’s AC was “4-40” — 4 windows open and (at least) 40 mph.

I don’t think I’m living in the past by expecting decent mail service.

I admit most of my correspondence is via email, WhatsApp, and even the telephone. (Not being very sociable, I don’t use the popular social media: Facebook, Twitter, et al and etc., too.) Still, the need for a “real” letter is raison d'être to keep the post office in business. Or perhaps a FedEx, UPS, or other carrier could do the job more efficiently — certainly it could not do worse.

On my agenda tomorrow is:
1. Locate my local post office
2. Visit same
3. MAYBE collect my two long-over-due certified letters.

If I can accomplish that, I will consider it a good day.

If.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Web sites (URLs) beginning https://tinyurl.com/ are generated by the free Tiny URL utility and reduce lengthy URLs to manageable size.

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Opuscula When is Transgender Gender change?

The headline reads:

Virginia teacher sues school after being fired for not using transgender student's pronouns^{1, 2}

The female student in question wants to identify as a male.
The student asked that teachers address the student using the male version of the student’s name and to apply masculine pronouns.

The fired teacher, apparently concerned for the student’s physical welfare — the student seemed to be about to crash into a wall, called out to other students to “stop her.”

DEFINITION, PLEASE

According to dictionary.com³

Sex is “a label assigned at birth based on the reproductive organs you’re born with.” It’s generally how we divide society into two groups, male and female—though intersex people are born with both male and female reproductive organs. (Important note: Hermaphrodite is a term that some find offensive.)

Gender, on the other hand, goes beyond one’s reproductive organs and includes a person’s perception, understanding, and experience of themselves and roles in society. It’s their inner sense about who they’re meant to be and how they want to interact with the world.

While a person can only change their sex via surgery, one’s gender is more fluid and based on how they identify. If someone’s gender identity aligns with their biological sex, we refer to them as cisgender people.

grammarist.com⁴ states

Gender was traditionally used mainly in grammar, language, and linguistics contexts to refer to the sex assigned to nouns (especially in non-English languages).

On the other hand, Sex has narrowed, and the word is now mainly confined to uses having to do with sexual intercourse and sexual organs.

In my grammar school days, “sex” meant male and female; later in high school “sex” took on additional significance.

“Gender” basically was a language thing. Fortunately, in English, most words are “gender free,” a situation that sometimes causes communications difficulties. Over the years, a number of female “gender” nouns have disappeared, e.g., actress, hostess, and some words were replaced by new terms, e.g., airplane stewardess and stewards have become “flight attendants.” (What are stewards called on cruise ships?)

TODAY’S REALITY

It is my opinion that if a person born a male, e.g., with a penis, he is a male until he surgically transformed into a female, e.g., a person with a clitoris. Likewise a person born as a female who wishes to be a male requires a surgical transformation.

A person who simply considers himself or herself of the other sex sans a sex change operation is, at best, a person with a desire to transition.

MY PROBLEM

I have no problem with a person who has surgically changed from one sex with its attendant obvious physical attributes to the opposite sex with its obvious physical attributes.

I DO have a serious problem with an “incomplete” (e.g., not surgically altered) person presenting whatever attributes they have in the opposite sex’s facilities because “they feel like” a man or woman, regardless of attributes.

I would imagine the transition must be both mental as well as physical. It is, I think, more than just wanting to do guy things or dress in girly fashions — that’s “gender.

IS TRANSGENDER A MISNOMER?

If a man wants to be a woman does he need a sex-change operation or is it sufficient that he dress like a woman — a man in “drag?” Are the ”queens” who parade in Key West transgender or just guys who like lipstick, silk undies, and panty hose? Are the women with “butch” haircuts and tats transgender or not.

Note I did not suggest that either the “queens” or the women who look and act like stevedores are homosexuals.

Are cross-dressers transgenders?

Are homosexuals transgenders?

As far as I am concerned, the person known today as a “transgender” is more accurately labeled “trans-sexual.” That term may have been usurped by men and woman who “go both ways.” (I have lived a sheltered life.)

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Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/y6jg3zrc

2. http://tinyurl.com/y4w9vjbr

3. https://www.dictionary.com/e/gender-vs-sex/

4. https://grammarist.com/usage/gender-sex/

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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