Friday, October 16, 2015
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
"A Rose...
...by any other name, would still smell as sweet"---Right? Well, let's talk about that.
Recently---and I don't even remember how it came up, my friends were teasing about my midwest accent---again. It's been ongoing for 30 years now. I take it all in good sport. But sometimes, they have me questioning myself. It's not like I have another midwesterner here with whom I can confer. Plus, my children grew up here and jumped on the "that's not how you say it" bandwagon early. I married an Oklahoman, so he's no help.
There are many words I say differently than everyone else. Anything with an "or" in it comes out and sounds like "ar" from me. Like fork---is fark; forty---is farty; farmer---no wait, that's right, now I'm confused---oh yeah, it rhymes with former. Just reading all that back looks weird and wrong to me. But that's how I talk.
Of course, here, I'm surrounded by southern accents. They all drop the "g" at the end of "ing" words, like goin' or speakin'. I guess if you add that little accent sign it's okay. My favorite is "fixin'". Like "I'm fixin' to start supper. Now I know the dropping of "g's" isn't exactly correct because every time I type it like that---spell check keeps correcting me. Man, if I was a southerner, that would drive me crazy! And then we have Cajun friends who say "Laugh--ee--ette" rather than "Lahf-ee-yette" as I was taught. Here in Nashville, they say "La--FAY--ette" which is just wrong. Whatever.
Sundae is the word that came up recently. I still can't remember how or what we were discussing. Turns out there are 3 correct pronunciations:Sunday—definitely the most usedSundeeSunduh—you know how y’all’ve (I think I just might have made up a new word—contraction for “you all have”) been razzing me!! You made me second guess myself. When I was in St. Louis recently, I polled all of my siblings. Jeanne, Joyce and Matt—ALL said “sunday.” Now I was really sweating it---like maybe I'm some kind of hick after all. Then I asked Janice and Jennifer. They both said “sunduh.” I asked Ronnie to break the tie. His response, “I never say that word.” Uh, thanks, Ron.The funny thing is that when I'm in St. Louis these days, all those midwest accents really stand out to me---even my siblings. I just don't hear people talking like me much.I think Shakespeare would agree with me, "a sunduh by any other name would still taste as sweet!" Hmmm, I never realized I had so much in common with William. Oh, yeah, it's that "smitten with Britain" thing I've had goin' far at least farty years!
Recently---and I don't even remember how it came up, my friends were teasing about my midwest accent---again. It's been ongoing for 30 years now. I take it all in good sport. But sometimes, they have me questioning myself. It's not like I have another midwesterner here with whom I can confer. Plus, my children grew up here and jumped on the "that's not how you say it" bandwagon early. I married an Oklahoman, so he's no help.
There are many words I say differently than everyone else. Anything with an "or" in it comes out and sounds like "ar" from me. Like fork---is fark; forty---is farty; farmer---no wait, that's right, now I'm confused---oh yeah, it rhymes with former. Just reading all that back looks weird and wrong to me. But that's how I talk.
Of course, here, I'm surrounded by southern accents. They all drop the "g" at the end of "ing" words, like goin' or speakin'. I guess if you add that little accent sign it's okay. My favorite is "fixin'". Like "I'm fixin' to start supper. Now I know the dropping of "g's" isn't exactly correct because every time I type it like that---spell check keeps correcting me. Man, if I was a southerner, that would drive me crazy! And then we have Cajun friends who say "Laugh--ee--ette" rather than "Lahf-ee-yette" as I was taught. Here in Nashville, they say "La--FAY--ette" which is just wrong. Whatever.
Sundae is the word that came up recently. I still can't remember how or what we were discussing. Turns out there are 3 correct pronunciations:Sunday—definitely the most usedSundeeSunduh—you know how y’all’ve (I think I just might have made up a new word—contraction for “you all have”) been razzing me!! You made me second guess myself. When I was in St. Louis recently, I polled all of my siblings. Jeanne, Joyce and Matt—ALL said “sunday.” Now I was really sweating it---like maybe I'm some kind of hick after all. Then I asked Janice and Jennifer. They both said “sunduh.” I asked Ronnie to break the tie. His response, “I never say that word.” Uh, thanks, Ron.The funny thing is that when I'm in St. Louis these days, all those midwest accents really stand out to me---even my siblings. I just don't hear people talking like me much.I think Shakespeare would agree with me, "a sunduh by any other name would still taste as sweet!" Hmmm, I never realized I had so much in common with William. Oh, yeah, it's that "smitten with Britain" thing I've had goin' far at least farty years!
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
What Happens When I have Time on My Hands...
...I do silly, meaningless stuff.
Like this:
I've figured out potential candidate names for future family members that will fit on the wall. Hopefully, the grands will "buy" in to the plan!
They just need to keep some of these names in mind:
Tony; Alma; Dan; Dana; Deb; Amy; May; Fay; Hillary; Harry; Hannah; Hank; Chad; Chip; Chuck;
Mary; Joey; Sam; Sara; Anna; Andy; Phil; Paul; Paula; and some more "H" names. After Justin's name goes up, there will be even more possibilities.
Yeah, way too much time on my hands!
Like this:
I've figured out potential candidate names for future family members that will fit on the wall. Hopefully, the grands will "buy" in to the plan!
They just need to keep some of these names in mind:
Tony; Alma; Dan; Dana; Deb; Amy; May; Fay; Hillary; Harry; Hannah; Hank; Chad; Chip; Chuck;
Mary; Joey; Sam; Sara; Anna; Andy; Phil; Paul; Paula; and some more "H" names. After Justin's name goes up, there will be even more possibilities.
Yeah, way too much time on my hands!
Monday, October 12, 2015
I Quit Groovebook.
And not for the reason you might think. The photos were thin. The quality wasn't superb---again you get what you pay for. The book was only $4.00 a month---an incredible bargain. The pictures were just fine for my purposes. After all, everyone that knows me---knows that I'm all about the stories.
So why did I quit? I quit because a hundred pictures a month is just too much!! I started to realize that getting this many photos each month is exactly the opposite of what I teach and preach in my photo organization workshop. In my class---which hasn't officially been taught since the last of our scrapbook stores closed---I try to get people to realize what is realistic when it comes to their scrapbooking and picture taking. In this day and age of the digital---we take way too many photos. For most people, that might not be a problem. But for someone like me---a bit obsessive---must have everything completely organized---it's just too much.
Most people take hundreds of photos---and then never even have them made in to photos. I take my photos and have them printed. I'm very good at paring them down to just the best. But when Groovebook came along and promised a hundred photos a month for such a low cost, I couldn't resist. I never even really considered what I was actually signing up for.
At first, I was very excited. But, soon, all those photos became a burden. In my class, I talk about the numbers and doing the math when it comes to scrapbooking. You go on vacation and take 500 pictures---and believe me, that's a conservative number. We take multiples of the same shot---just because we can.
Now, let's do the math. Even if you put 10 photos on the page (I put a lot of pictures on the page)-----500 photos equals 50 pages---nearly 5 albums for one trip. Add to that the fact that most people are lucky to get one---at most two---albums done a year. It's a constant state of overload and confusion.
Not to mention what a mess we're leaving for our kids. When my mom died a few years ago, my siblings wanted me to go through her pictures---mostly because no one wanted to do it. She had already given each of us albums from our childhood photos. Maybe there were about 1000 photos left---all neatly in albums. When I went through them, I'd say there were about 80 photos that I/we were interested in. I realized right then---your kids are NOT interested in the trips you took without them. They don't care about the beautiful scenery or sunsets. They don't care about that nice couple you met on the cruise. They don't care how blue the ocean was---or even those great stage performers. If they didn't share the experience, it will mean nothing to them.
I really felt bad at the time---throwing away all of those pictures. Sort of like I was throwing mom's life away. But the bottom line is that those photos were just not important to us. I thank God that was before the digital age. I could have been wading through thousands of photos. That's what we're doing and leaving for our own kids. A burden. A BIG BURDEN!
So that's exactly why I decided to quit Groovebook. Ahhh, that feels good.
Girls---you're welcome!
So why did I quit? I quit because a hundred pictures a month is just too much!! I started to realize that getting this many photos each month is exactly the opposite of what I teach and preach in my photo organization workshop. In my class---which hasn't officially been taught since the last of our scrapbook stores closed---I try to get people to realize what is realistic when it comes to their scrapbooking and picture taking. In this day and age of the digital---we take way too many photos. For most people, that might not be a problem. But for someone like me---a bit obsessive---must have everything completely organized---it's just too much.
Most people take hundreds of photos---and then never even have them made in to photos. I take my photos and have them printed. I'm very good at paring them down to just the best. But when Groovebook came along and promised a hundred photos a month for such a low cost, I couldn't resist. I never even really considered what I was actually signing up for.
At first, I was very excited. But, soon, all those photos became a burden. In my class, I talk about the numbers and doing the math when it comes to scrapbooking. You go on vacation and take 500 pictures---and believe me, that's a conservative number. We take multiples of the same shot---just because we can.
Now, let's do the math. Even if you put 10 photos on the page (I put a lot of pictures on the page)-----500 photos equals 50 pages---nearly 5 albums for one trip. Add to that the fact that most people are lucky to get one---at most two---albums done a year. It's a constant state of overload and confusion.
Not to mention what a mess we're leaving for our kids. When my mom died a few years ago, my siblings wanted me to go through her pictures---mostly because no one wanted to do it. She had already given each of us albums from our childhood photos. Maybe there were about 1000 photos left---all neatly in albums. When I went through them, I'd say there were about 80 photos that I/we were interested in. I realized right then---your kids are NOT interested in the trips you took without them. They don't care about the beautiful scenery or sunsets. They don't care about that nice couple you met on the cruise. They don't care how blue the ocean was---or even those great stage performers. If they didn't share the experience, it will mean nothing to them.
I really felt bad at the time---throwing away all of those pictures. Sort of like I was throwing mom's life away. But the bottom line is that those photos were just not important to us. I thank God that was before the digital age. I could have been wading through thousands of photos. That's what we're doing and leaving for our own kids. A burden. A BIG BURDEN!
So that's exactly why I decided to quit Groovebook. Ahhh, that feels good.
Girls---you're welcome!
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Upon doing too much...
...too soon. I paid for it dearly!
Butch is in Charlotte this weekend for Jeff Gordon's final hometown NASCAR race. Jeff's been his favorite from the start. I gave him those tickets for Father's Day---to go with Greg and Mitchell. Well, you know what they say about the cat being away. Had he been here, he would have kept me on the straight and narrow.
I'm not a sit around kine of person. I have a lot of energy and squeeze a lot of stuff in to my days. But I need to remind myself---I am not as far along in my recovery as I was the last time I got the boot. I had the heavy cast for 4 weeks prior to the boot. Instead, I took the boot as a license to just resume my normal life.
I was up and on it too much yesterday. I spent about 2 hours in my scrapbook room and was up and down the stairs a few times. I did some laundry, I unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry. By 9 a.m., I was paying for it. NINE a.m. you say? Well, I'd been up since 3 a.m. so I was heading towards the middle of my day by 9. I had swelling and pain. Not terrible, "I think I've done some damage" kind of pain, but aching pain and discomfort. I had a fleeting thought about doing damage, but I have a steel plate and 6 screws, so I don't think I can do any damage to it.
I did not take any pain medication---I was done with that after three days and was not going back. I could have taken some ibuprofen which would have helped. Believe me, I'm not a martyr. Had I been in excruciating pain, I would have. I decided that I wanted to suffer the pain and discomfort as a punishment and reminder. I spent the rest of the day resting with my leg up. That took care of it. By bedtime, I was feeling fine again. I had the best night's sleep in two weeks!
I need to really take it easy because if the Cardinals make it to the World Series, I'm going to the ballgame on October 30th!! Or at least I want to. It's on my bucket list---"attend a Cardinal World Series game." My sister, Janice (in Texas) and I made a pact the last time that we'd go together as we were texting each other in the middle of the night during the last series game that went extended innings until 1 a.m. The tickets are expensive and only will get more so. I'll need to make a decision in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, here's where you'll find me...
Butch is in Charlotte this weekend for Jeff Gordon's final hometown NASCAR race. Jeff's been his favorite from the start. I gave him those tickets for Father's Day---to go with Greg and Mitchell. Well, you know what they say about the cat being away. Had he been here, he would have kept me on the straight and narrow.
I'm not a sit around kine of person. I have a lot of energy and squeeze a lot of stuff in to my days. But I need to remind myself---I am not as far along in my recovery as I was the last time I got the boot. I had the heavy cast for 4 weeks prior to the boot. Instead, I took the boot as a license to just resume my normal life.
I was up and on it too much yesterday. I spent about 2 hours in my scrapbook room and was up and down the stairs a few times. I did some laundry, I unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned out the refrigerator and pantry. By 9 a.m., I was paying for it. NINE a.m. you say? Well, I'd been up since 3 a.m. so I was heading towards the middle of my day by 9. I had swelling and pain. Not terrible, "I think I've done some damage" kind of pain, but aching pain and discomfort. I had a fleeting thought about doing damage, but I have a steel plate and 6 screws, so I don't think I can do any damage to it.
I did not take any pain medication---I was done with that after three days and was not going back. I could have taken some ibuprofen which would have helped. Believe me, I'm not a martyr. Had I been in excruciating pain, I would have. I decided that I wanted to suffer the pain and discomfort as a punishment and reminder. I spent the rest of the day resting with my leg up. That took care of it. By bedtime, I was feeling fine again. I had the best night's sleep in two weeks!
I need to really take it easy because if the Cardinals make it to the World Series, I'm going to the ballgame on October 30th!! Or at least I want to. It's on my bucket list---"attend a Cardinal World Series game." My sister, Janice (in Texas) and I made a pact the last time that we'd go together as we were texting each other in the middle of the night during the last series game that went extended innings until 1 a.m. The tickets are expensive and only will get more so. I'll need to make a decision in the next couple of days.
In the meantime, here's where you'll find me...
Friday, October 9, 2015
Yesterday Was a Terrible Day!
How can I be so really excited and on a natural high one day and then the very next day it takes a terrible turn? Well, that's how yesterday was. And it has nothing to do with my surgery. It's technology---and that seems to be what can throw me into a tail spin every time! You may recall this post. Here's the recent story.
I have to go back to last week right after my surgery. Butch started it! He could not get the printer to print. Now it's not his fault---nor am I suggesting that it is. We have trouble with the printer occasionally. There are all kinds of hoops that I have to jump through to get it up and running again. The problem was that I could not get upstairs to deal with it. By the time I tried to explain everything to Butch to try, not only was the printer not working, but he had my desktop computer royally screwed up. It was time to go to plan "B."
I had him bring down my "travel" printer. Everyone has a travel printer, right? Now, you might recall that I have a multiples problem. (And if you want more proof, just put "multiples problem" in the search box above and see what pops up.) Soooo, he brought the printer downstairs and set it up on the fireplace hearth while I walked him through it from the couch. This also meant downloading the drivers from the internet for his laptop. After a paper jam and other aggravations for him, he was finally back in business. For a moment there, I did think he might have a stroke. If you think I can't handle technology problems very well---he can't handle them at ALL.
Fast forward to this past Monday. I wasn't concerned about the printer upstairs---knowing I would get to it when I could. Instead, I started to have some email problems. I could "receive", but suddenly could not "send."There was no rhyme or reason for it. Butch wasn't having any problems. All day Monday, I wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation. If I called Comcast, I would get someone that I would have trouble communicating with, would waste a lot of time and not be able to help me in the end. Comcast is notably inept. (Can you tell I've been there before?) They would then tell me it wasn't their problem---but a "Mac" problem. I would then call Apple, only to have them tell me it was a Comcast problem. Yeah, that's what would happen and the Apple people would be right!
I just ignored the problem---planning to deal with it on Tuesday. I'm much better at dealing with problems in the morning---that morning person thing and all. Well, Tuesday morning, first thing when I opened the lid to my laptop, I heard that familiar "swhooshing" sound that can make my heart go "pittypat" like no other. Happy again that I was back in business. Just some stupid glitch. Well, I would be wrong. Sure, the emails that were in my outbox all day on Monday sent, but nothing would send on Tuesday or Wednesday. I had to address the problem.
Wednesday was my "happy" day---after seeing the doc and getting the boot. I was on a natural high all day. I decided to use my new "best friend" to find a computer guru to just come to the house and fix my problems. My "old" guy, Troy---who helped me so much in the past---and is truly a genius---sent out a notice about a month ago that he would no longer be doing that. I had no choice but to turn to my new "best friend"---Thumbtack! I've already mentioned it when finding a photographer for the wedding. Think of it as a giant bulletin board of business cards for every possible service you could possibly need.
I found a guy that agreed to come out for $40.00 which included the service call and 2 hours of work. My old guy charged $125 an hour, so I was really happy with $40! You know what they say about if something seems too good to be true? Well, that is exactly what this was.
Now it's Thursday morning. The computer guy---who is supposed to know all about the Mac--- is scheduled to come around 11:30. I went up to my office to "fix" my desktop computer and printer. I fixed the computer problem pretty quickly---just needed a restart. After going through all of the normal stuff, I kept getting an error message on the printer. I went to the internet and saw all kinds of time intensive ways to fix it---none of which were foolproof. I did the easy things, but they didn't work. The printer is 5 years old, so I got the brainy idea that I would just get a new one. After all, I had this computer guru coming, he could set it up for me. I promptly went online, found another Canon "all-in-one" and sent Butch to Office Depot to pick it up. 45 bucks! This with the cost of the computer guy service call was still way under what it would have cost for my old guy to come out. You get what you pay for.
The computer guy got here around 12:30. You know how sometimes you can tell right away you are in trouble? Well, this was one of those times. When I brought him in to the family room and had him settled in Butch's chair, I handed him my laptop and said, "Let's start with my email problem." He looked at my laptop and ran his hand over it and said, "niiiiicccceeee." Like he'd never seen a Macbook Air before. My antennae went up!
Now, let me make this very long part of the story very short (as if this story isn't long enough already!). He sat there for TWO hours trying everything he could to fix it. I sat there and finished my book and thumbed through FOUR magazines! I was pretty nervous about everything he was doing and could tell that he was trying to figure out the problem by checking the internet. We were getting no where and I could tell that I knew more about the Mac than he did---I'm a 20+ year user, but believe me, I don't know much about the technical stuff. That's what happens when you rely on someone else!
I decided that I needed to break up this party. I sat there and figured out what I wanted to say so as not to offend him---but also knowing that I did not want to pay him more than 40 bucks. Finally, I said, "look, nothing seems to be working. I'll just call Comcast and start there." He went on about what he'd tried and didn't understand why it didn't work. He tried to blame it on the Yosemite OS I was running and have been since it came out 6 months ago---without a problem all this time. He also admitted that he only knew a "little bit" about the Mac. Of course, prior to hiring him, I asked questions about his knowledge with the Mac. He assured me he could handle it. NOT!!
I said, "let me go ahead an pay you." He, very nicely said, "No, I wasn't able to help you, I wouldn't feel right about taking the money." I thanked him for being so nice and trying to help. I sent him on his way. I felt duped, so didn't feel bad about not paying him. I went back to my computer. ALL of the emails that were in my inbox were GONE!! Now for those of you that know me, this would not ordinarily be a big deal. I do not keep things in my inbox. The only reason I did this time was because they were things that needed responding to and I was holding them for when I could respond. Now they were gone!
I calmed down and thought, "okay, I'll just get them from the trash." The trash was empty too! The sent mail was empty too! Basically, ALL of my emails were gone. Thank goodness, my folders and stored emails appeared to be okay.
I called Comcast and got a really nice guy that I could actually understand. We spent about a half hour on the phone, changing numbers in this port and that. Finally, he laid the line on me that I knew was coming, "I'm sorry mam, this must be an Apple problem. Here's the number of tech support." I had the thought---which I always preach to Butch---"whenever something isn't going right, restart your computer." Of course I had already done that to try to fix the problem on my own. But it had not been done with all of this changing of things.
Lo and behold, restarting seemed to fix my problem---or so I thought. It's another long story that I am not going in to right now---but suffice it to say that due to the "cloud," now my iPhone is messed up!
I was happy to have my email working again. Now I decided to deal with hooking up the new printer. I've hooked up printers before and can easily download print drivers---nothing I can't handle. It's the getting all 4 of our computers to connect wirelessly that I was unsure of. Again---Troy!
I went up to my office, downloaded the set-up application from the internet, waited the 10 minutes or so---only to get the message that the software is not compatible with my computer. Before buying the printer, I actually had that thought. That's why I bought an older printer for such a good price. But apparently, it wasn't old enough. The technology of the printer is newer than that of my 6 year old desktop. I usually replace my computers every 5 years. I decided that I was NOT going to replace my desktop since I mostly use my laptop. I use the desktop to pay bills, print pictures, plan my classes, write my class handouts and do my scrapbook journaling. ALL of my photos are on that computer (backed up, of course) and ALL of our music is on that computer (several summers ago, I put about 800 cd's on it). And, because I also have a problem with fonts, I have about a thousand of them all neatly organized in folders by type. You can never have too many fonts either.
I reconciled myself that I would now always have to print from my laptop---shuffling photos to that for printing. A pain, but not the end of the world.
I went through the set up process 3 times---taking me about an hour. The message says that everything was downloaded successfully, but it doesn't work. I couldn't think of anything else to do. Butch gave it a try for another hour with no success.
So here's how it stands:
1. My laptop mail still isn't "right" but I can send and receive email.
2. My time machine is still not backing up (another problem I had planned for the tech guy to handle---I never even got to that).
3. We have a new printer that is not working.
4. My iPhone is "not right."
5. I'm back to square one. I need a Mac guru to come out to my house and take care of everything!!
Oh, Troy, I miss you so....
I have to go back to last week right after my surgery. Butch started it! He could not get the printer to print. Now it's not his fault---nor am I suggesting that it is. We have trouble with the printer occasionally. There are all kinds of hoops that I have to jump through to get it up and running again. The problem was that I could not get upstairs to deal with it. By the time I tried to explain everything to Butch to try, not only was the printer not working, but he had my desktop computer royally screwed up. It was time to go to plan "B."
I had him bring down my "travel" printer. Everyone has a travel printer, right? Now, you might recall that I have a multiples problem. (And if you want more proof, just put "multiples problem" in the search box above and see what pops up.) Soooo, he brought the printer downstairs and set it up on the fireplace hearth while I walked him through it from the couch. This also meant downloading the drivers from the internet for his laptop. After a paper jam and other aggravations for him, he was finally back in business. For a moment there, I did think he might have a stroke. If you think I can't handle technology problems very well---he can't handle them at ALL.
Fast forward to this past Monday. I wasn't concerned about the printer upstairs---knowing I would get to it when I could. Instead, I started to have some email problems. I could "receive", but suddenly could not "send."There was no rhyme or reason for it. Butch wasn't having any problems. All day Monday, I wasn't quite sure how to handle the situation. If I called Comcast, I would get someone that I would have trouble communicating with, would waste a lot of time and not be able to help me in the end. Comcast is notably inept. (Can you tell I've been there before?) They would then tell me it wasn't their problem---but a "Mac" problem. I would then call Apple, only to have them tell me it was a Comcast problem. Yeah, that's what would happen and the Apple people would be right!
I just ignored the problem---planning to deal with it on Tuesday. I'm much better at dealing with problems in the morning---that morning person thing and all. Well, Tuesday morning, first thing when I opened the lid to my laptop, I heard that familiar "swhooshing" sound that can make my heart go "pittypat" like no other. Happy again that I was back in business. Just some stupid glitch. Well, I would be wrong. Sure, the emails that were in my outbox all day on Monday sent, but nothing would send on Tuesday or Wednesday. I had to address the problem.
Wednesday was my "happy" day---after seeing the doc and getting the boot. I was on a natural high all day. I decided to use my new "best friend" to find a computer guru to just come to the house and fix my problems. My "old" guy, Troy---who helped me so much in the past---and is truly a genius---sent out a notice about a month ago that he would no longer be doing that. I had no choice but to turn to my new "best friend"---Thumbtack! I've already mentioned it when finding a photographer for the wedding. Think of it as a giant bulletin board of business cards for every possible service you could possibly need.
I found a guy that agreed to come out for $40.00 which included the service call and 2 hours of work. My old guy charged $125 an hour, so I was really happy with $40! You know what they say about if something seems too good to be true? Well, that is exactly what this was.
Now it's Thursday morning. The computer guy---who is supposed to know all about the Mac--- is scheduled to come around 11:30. I went up to my office to "fix" my desktop computer and printer. I fixed the computer problem pretty quickly---just needed a restart. After going through all of the normal stuff, I kept getting an error message on the printer. I went to the internet and saw all kinds of time intensive ways to fix it---none of which were foolproof. I did the easy things, but they didn't work. The printer is 5 years old, so I got the brainy idea that I would just get a new one. After all, I had this computer guru coming, he could set it up for me. I promptly went online, found another Canon "all-in-one" and sent Butch to Office Depot to pick it up. 45 bucks! This with the cost of the computer guy service call was still way under what it would have cost for my old guy to come out. You get what you pay for.
The computer guy got here around 12:30. You know how sometimes you can tell right away you are in trouble? Well, this was one of those times. When I brought him in to the family room and had him settled in Butch's chair, I handed him my laptop and said, "Let's start with my email problem." He looked at my laptop and ran his hand over it and said, "niiiiicccceeee." Like he'd never seen a Macbook Air before. My antennae went up!
Now, let me make this very long part of the story very short (as if this story isn't long enough already!). He sat there for TWO hours trying everything he could to fix it. I sat there and finished my book and thumbed through FOUR magazines! I was pretty nervous about everything he was doing and could tell that he was trying to figure out the problem by checking the internet. We were getting no where and I could tell that I knew more about the Mac than he did---I'm a 20+ year user, but believe me, I don't know much about the technical stuff. That's what happens when you rely on someone else!
I decided that I needed to break up this party. I sat there and figured out what I wanted to say so as not to offend him---but also knowing that I did not want to pay him more than 40 bucks. Finally, I said, "look, nothing seems to be working. I'll just call Comcast and start there." He went on about what he'd tried and didn't understand why it didn't work. He tried to blame it on the Yosemite OS I was running and have been since it came out 6 months ago---without a problem all this time. He also admitted that he only knew a "little bit" about the Mac. Of course, prior to hiring him, I asked questions about his knowledge with the Mac. He assured me he could handle it. NOT!!
I said, "let me go ahead an pay you." He, very nicely said, "No, I wasn't able to help you, I wouldn't feel right about taking the money." I thanked him for being so nice and trying to help. I sent him on his way. I felt duped, so didn't feel bad about not paying him. I went back to my computer. ALL of the emails that were in my inbox were GONE!! Now for those of you that know me, this would not ordinarily be a big deal. I do not keep things in my inbox. The only reason I did this time was because they were things that needed responding to and I was holding them for when I could respond. Now they were gone!
I calmed down and thought, "okay, I'll just get them from the trash." The trash was empty too! The sent mail was empty too! Basically, ALL of my emails were gone. Thank goodness, my folders and stored emails appeared to be okay.
I called Comcast and got a really nice guy that I could actually understand. We spent about a half hour on the phone, changing numbers in this port and that. Finally, he laid the line on me that I knew was coming, "I'm sorry mam, this must be an Apple problem. Here's the number of tech support." I had the thought---which I always preach to Butch---"whenever something isn't going right, restart your computer." Of course I had already done that to try to fix the problem on my own. But it had not been done with all of this changing of things.
Lo and behold, restarting seemed to fix my problem---or so I thought. It's another long story that I am not going in to right now---but suffice it to say that due to the "cloud," now my iPhone is messed up!
I was happy to have my email working again. Now I decided to deal with hooking up the new printer. I've hooked up printers before and can easily download print drivers---nothing I can't handle. It's the getting all 4 of our computers to connect wirelessly that I was unsure of. Again---Troy!
I went up to my office, downloaded the set-up application from the internet, waited the 10 minutes or so---only to get the message that the software is not compatible with my computer. Before buying the printer, I actually had that thought. That's why I bought an older printer for such a good price. But apparently, it wasn't old enough. The technology of the printer is newer than that of my 6 year old desktop. I usually replace my computers every 5 years. I decided that I was NOT going to replace my desktop since I mostly use my laptop. I use the desktop to pay bills, print pictures, plan my classes, write my class handouts and do my scrapbook journaling. ALL of my photos are on that computer (backed up, of course) and ALL of our music is on that computer (several summers ago, I put about 800 cd's on it). And, because I also have a problem with fonts, I have about a thousand of them all neatly organized in folders by type. You can never have too many fonts either.
I reconciled myself that I would now always have to print from my laptop---shuffling photos to that for printing. A pain, but not the end of the world.
I went through the set up process 3 times---taking me about an hour. The message says that everything was downloaded successfully, but it doesn't work. I couldn't think of anything else to do. Butch gave it a try for another hour with no success.
So here's how it stands:
1. My laptop mail still isn't "right" but I can send and receive email.
2. My time machine is still not backing up (another problem I had planned for the tech guy to handle---I never even got to that).
3. We have a new printer that is not working.
4. My iPhone is "not right."
5. I'm back to square one. I need a Mac guru to come out to my house and take care of everything!!
Oh, Troy, I miss you so....
Thursday, October 8, 2015
On Getting Your Hopes Up!
I try to always be optimistic---which isn't so hard since I was born this way. But today, Butch said I shouldn't get my hopes up. I texted that to the girls and told them it was too late. Of course my hopes were up. I don't even know what it feels like to have your hopes "down!"
I had my follow-up visit today after my foot surgery last week. Apparently, we both heard completely different things from the doctor. Last time I had this surgery, I had to go in to a hard cast. Butch thought I was going in to another splint cast this time, while I "heard" I was going straight to the boot. Well, I got the BOOT!!! Oh happy day!!!
The heavy cast the last time killed my knees and "activated" my hives. I definitely didn't want that again. Butch was so surprised and said he didn't understand if I had to wear the cast for 4 weeks last time and then the boot for 4 weeks, how could I skip the cast? We started discussing it and decided that there were several things at play.
1. I had the experience of the first surgery and knew what to expect.
2. I followed the doctor's orders to the letter and cut my recuperation by 3 weeks the last time.
3. The nurse/technician, resident and doctor seemed surprised that I have NO pain. That's a good thing, right??? I only took the pain pills for the first 3 days. In fact, I used the same ones left over from the last time. Yes, I'll admit, for half a second I considered refilling the new oxycodone prescription just to sell them and make a few bucks. But, I'm no drug dealer. If I were to have this surgery again---which of course I won't---I still have enough of the pills left from surgery #one.
4. The doctor seemed a bit incredulous that I said this surgery was easier. Neither Butch nor I understood that reaction. I guess had he planted the seed that this one would be harder, I would have reacted to that.
5. In actuality, the doctor never actually said what he was going to do and we both just "assumed" what we did.
Any way you cut it, I'm so happy to be in the boot. Don't get me wrong. It's still uncomfortable and bulky. It rubs me in all the wrong places---which isn't good for my hives either. But, I am much more mobile and can take it off while sitting. In two weeks, I won't even have to wear it to sleep. Since it's my left foot this time, I can drive. I promised Butch that I'll take it easy and not drive yet. In reality, I pretty much HAVE to take it easy. I can really only be up walking around in the boot about 10 minutes max before it starts hurting my back. So, I won't be hitting the mall or anything like that for awhile. Still, I plan to meet friends for lunch, play bridge, get back to Movie Monday and go to the theater events on my calendar. A friend loaned me a rolling chair---it's sort of like a wheel chair except someone has to push it. That's what I'll use if there's any length of walking involved in my excursions. I'm still pretty limited.
That's okay with me. I'll take comfort over being able to maintain my regular busy schedule. Besides, I'm getting so much done around here. I'll have to share my latest stitching project soon.
Still not bored! I'm so lucky to have friends who visit me! Yesterday a few of them came over to have lunch with me and watch a movie. We spent the first hour or so just catching up. I need my "girls!" Plus, it was a nice break for Butch and his caretaking duties!
I'm glad I got my hopes us. It worked out just fine for me!!
I had my follow-up visit today after my foot surgery last week. Apparently, we both heard completely different things from the doctor. Last time I had this surgery, I had to go in to a hard cast. Butch thought I was going in to another splint cast this time, while I "heard" I was going straight to the boot. Well, I got the BOOT!!! Oh happy day!!!
The heavy cast the last time killed my knees and "activated" my hives. I definitely didn't want that again. Butch was so surprised and said he didn't understand if I had to wear the cast for 4 weeks last time and then the boot for 4 weeks, how could I skip the cast? We started discussing it and decided that there were several things at play.
1. I had the experience of the first surgery and knew what to expect.
2. I followed the doctor's orders to the letter and cut my recuperation by 3 weeks the last time.
3. The nurse/technician, resident and doctor seemed surprised that I have NO pain. That's a good thing, right??? I only took the pain pills for the first 3 days. In fact, I used the same ones left over from the last time. Yes, I'll admit, for half a second I considered refilling the new oxycodone prescription just to sell them and make a few bucks. But, I'm no drug dealer. If I were to have this surgery again---which of course I won't---I still have enough of the pills left from surgery #one.
4. The doctor seemed a bit incredulous that I said this surgery was easier. Neither Butch nor I understood that reaction. I guess had he planted the seed that this one would be harder, I would have reacted to that.
5. In actuality, the doctor never actually said what he was going to do and we both just "assumed" what we did.
Any way you cut it, I'm so happy to be in the boot. Don't get me wrong. It's still uncomfortable and bulky. It rubs me in all the wrong places---which isn't good for my hives either. But, I am much more mobile and can take it off while sitting. In two weeks, I won't even have to wear it to sleep. Since it's my left foot this time, I can drive. I promised Butch that I'll take it easy and not drive yet. In reality, I pretty much HAVE to take it easy. I can really only be up walking around in the boot about 10 minutes max before it starts hurting my back. So, I won't be hitting the mall or anything like that for awhile. Still, I plan to meet friends for lunch, play bridge, get back to Movie Monday and go to the theater events on my calendar. A friend loaned me a rolling chair---it's sort of like a wheel chair except someone has to push it. That's what I'll use if there's any length of walking involved in my excursions. I'm still pretty limited.
That's okay with me. I'll take comfort over being able to maintain my regular busy schedule. Besides, I'm getting so much done around here. I'll have to share my latest stitching project soon.
Still not bored! I'm so lucky to have friends who visit me! Yesterday a few of them came over to have lunch with me and watch a movie. We spent the first hour or so just catching up. I need my "girls!" Plus, it was a nice break for Butch and his caretaking duties!
I'm glad I got my hopes us. It worked out just fine for me!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
