Site redesign

It has been a real long time since I was last in here.  Way back then I 
only had the Windows O/S on my machine and it too was pretty old.  An 
Pentium II 266Mhz, withonly 64MB memory which I upgraded to 256MB not 
too long later.

Your site back then was not very easy to get around in, and I kept 
getting lost.  This new site design is very easy to get around in, and I 
like it.  As you have upgraded your site, I have upgraded and built my 
new box, and at least upgraded the O/S to a more stable one, Linux.  Oh, 
I still have Windows around, but on another HD, for I prefer to be in 
here.  I believe that with both of us upgrading, things should run a lot 
more smoothly.

If you wonder why I am rambling, it is due to my background.  I am an 
old broken down(disabled) truck driver, who has been fighting for 
disability for years(since 1994), and the fight continues.  Ah, but I am 
not content to just sit back and collect disability, for being raised 
with the work ethic.  Since physical labor is out of my reach, I have 
decided to use my mind.  Yeah I through a few pity parties for myself in 
the beginning, but that was just a waste of time and got me nothing in 
return except for short lived sympathy.  It was after seeing someone on 
the web in one of those chat rooms, type in their text in red instead of 
the usual black, that started me on a road to learning.

Heh, heh, if I knew back then where it would all lead, I would have been 
scared shitless.  No way could I learn all of this.  Ah, but I didn't 
know back then and I'm glad that I didn't.  For plugging blindly on, I 
have learned quite a bit.  I may not be perfect at it, or fast at it, 
but I have learned how to install and control a whole new operating 
system, Linux.  Not one of you easier O/S's to learn.  Heh, heh, I still 
consider myself to be in the learning curve.  But now I am comfortable 
working in it, hence my looking your site up again.

I originaly wished to learn Java awhile back, but the ol Windows 
platform, kept crashing on me, and all I ever learned before I got fed 
up with it, was to do "HelloWorld".  Windows just hated for me to run 
Java on it, especially a SDK.  So Java went onto the back burner till I 
could find some solution to that.  Learning Linux was the solution that 
had to take place, hence Java is no longer going to be on the back 
burner.  I come back to you site, and here you went and did a great job 
making it easier to get around in.  I appreciate the new look and 
navigation.  Thanks a whole lot.

Now I will be able to continue my self-learning of Java, and will 
eventually have a few apps and games that I will be able to market, and 
earn a living with all of this learning.  Heh, heh, I'll probably end up 
making a living long before disability ever gets approved at the current 
rate things are going.  I just thought that it would kick in long before 
now, so that I could contribute to the household while taking the time 
with the self-learning, but that doesn't seem to be the case.  Old 
veterans are not rated very high in today's society, hence we just 
struggle along on our own the best we can.  And people wonder why there 
are so many homeless people.  Eighty percent of your homeless are 
discarded veterans, who have fallen through the cracks of the different 
agencies.  No address for no money, can't get money for no address.  A 
real catch-22 there.  Why am I bringing this up?  Well, if there is 
someone campaigning in your area, and they are looking to help the 
plight of the veterans, vote for that person.  It doesn't matter what 
the rest of their politics are.  With all special interest groups, with 
the big $$$, it really doesn't matter what you or I want, for they are 
going to win anyway.  But at least in this way, we may be able to get 
some legislation passed that would get the lowly veteran more than just 
another set of cutbacks to the VA.  To let you know how bad it is for 
getting disability.  One of my Veteran Advocates, had lost his hearing 
in one ear, and diminished in the other due to a mortar round going off 
not to far from him.  It took him thirty years to finally be able to be 
approved to recieve disability for that.  That is morally wrong.  It 
should had been awarded right from the beginning.  I better stop now, 
befor I really get on my soap box.  But it is just to let you know, 
things have to change for us.  And unless you are aware, how can you 
know how to vote.  The gov't isn't going to tell you.  So I will.  So I 
may be an old broken down truck driver, but what broke me down was an 
injury that I got while in service to this nation.  Time deteriorated 
the original injury, and made me disabled.  Surgery could not cure it, 
and fact after the surgery, things have deteriorated to the point where 
it is now inoperatible.

I may be able to learn this tech stuff on my own, but not all veterans 
are able to.  For some, it is beyond them.  Let your elected officials 
know, that they need to be doing something for the veterans.  If you 
wish to get rid of homelessness, that would be a good start.  For if the 
veteran is not homeless, then 80% of homelessness will be gone.  And if 
you think that it is just men, 35% of homeless veterans are women.

Well, anyway, your site looks real good, and hopefully soon, I will be 
getting on with my self-study of Java.  After I send this, I'll be 
downloading your new IDE.  I have just installed the java2sdk-1.4.2beta 
for Linux.  I hope it works well with it.
-- 


Sincerely,

Richard Quick

God Bless you and may the Lord season your dreams.

Reg.Linux user since November 2001
User #258348
Machine #198987

Mandrake 8.2
KDE desktop
Pentium IV 1.7GHz