[ Home | All Archives ]

      Wednesday, November 01, 2006

otherstuff 05:49 AM - 11/01/2006 The topic: Trick or treaters ---------------------------------------------- Every year, there are less.  This year, there were sixteen.  We gave out full sized yummy candy bars (not crap, chocolate).  Snickers, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, M & Ms (plain and peanut), $100 Grand,  Crunch….there were some Starburst and Skittles, but I handed those out first.  Not chocolate=crap. Brian said there were a ton of kids walking up and down the street.  He heard one man ask his kid if he wanted to come down to our house and the kid said “no”.  Maybe because the driveway is dark.  Maybe because of the bushes.  Our house might look scary to the little folk.  I dunno. I do know that we bought sixty candy bars.  We gave away sixteen.  Which leaves us with forty four.  I ate four last night (had to get it out of my system).  That leaves forty.  Brian had three, which leaves thirty-seven. Let’s see how long we can make them last.  Any bets as to when the last candy bar will be gone?  (Keep in mind, I get into moods where I physically crave chocolate.) | Permalink

      Thursday, November 02, 2006

otherstuff 07:02 AM - 11/02/2006 The topic: Do you respect your significant other? ---------------------------------------------- I spent lots of time yesterday in the office, moving stuff (the position of the monitor was really bothering me, it was elevated and ever since I changed things around to let in more light from the window, it wasn’t entirely viewable from all positions) and I changed the towel that Brian has covering his files/paperwork to protect them from cat pee.  The towel was pretty stiff and I put up a clean one. When he sat down at his computer yesterday, one of the first things he said was “thanks for changing the towel”.  It was a little thing, but it made me feel good. It’s always nice to know that what you do is noticed and welcomed.  I got to thinking about everyday interactions.  We’ve been together over twenty years now (twenty one years on New Year’s Eve) and for the most part, we treat each other with respect.  We don’t bark orders at one another, we ask “could you do this or that?”, we don’t say “do this or that”.  Like “could you please fill the cat feeder in the dining room” or “could you please wash my jeans today?”  I think we say “thanks” more than we say “please”. But, all in all, I think we show each other respect.  What about you? | Permalink

      Friday, November 03, 2006

mailstuff 08:06 AM - 11/03/2006 The topic: Message to bcats ---------------------------------------------- My email to you bounced, so I thought I'd put my response here: CRF is not an automatic death sentence, it can be managed. DeeJay was CRF for over three years and managed nicely with sub-q fluids. We caught Rusty too late and fluids didn't help Lucky at all. One of the best pages with a comprehensive list of links can be found at Tallyville's CRF page.I’ve heard the Yahoo CRF group is awesome. If the vet tries to get you to buy the prescription diet, see if you can get samples first.  Our CRF cats have never liked it. They’ll show some interest in it until I buy mass quantities, then decide they think it’s just horrible.  And they’re finding out that it’s not the level of protein (many of these diets are low protein), but the quality of the protein that matters. And a cat who won’t eat, can’t maintain. Good luck and my thoughts are with you, I know how frightening this can be. | Permalink

otherstuff 08:07 AM - 11/03/2006 The topic: I feel the earth move…. ---------------------------------------------- We had an earthquake about fifteen minutes ago. Fun.  4.5 out in the desert. | Permalink

catstuff 10:26 AM - 11/03/2006 The topic: Sweet! ---------------------------------------------- click for bigger pic I took this this morning.  Wally is such a wonderful surrogate mom to the kittens.  He let Ron Howard chew on his fur for a while, then they both sat up and I got this neat picture of the two of them. And if you look real close, you can see some other cats in the background. ================================================ Visit the Friday Ark #111. Also, check out this week's Carnival of the Cats, #137, hosted at Crazy Meezer. | Permalink

otherstuff 10:37 AM - 11/03/2006 The topic: Okay, it’s not chocolate, but ---------------------------------------------- it’s not crap either.  I’m talking about Starburst candies. They’re okay.  I can eat those.  But everything else that’s not chocolate, is crap. | Permalink

otherstuff 10:40 AM - 11/03/2006 The topic: Speed dial ---------------------------------------------- Up until this year, I’ve not used any speed dial numbers on my phone.  Well, it comes with #1 being used for voicemail.  I have no control over that.  I did learn how to input Brian’s cell number, so he’s speed dial #2. Then while at Disneyland last month, I added two more.  One, my phone tag pal, I set as #3.  It was easier to do this than to have to scroll down my list of contacts for her name.  And this made it a lot quicker when I’d call her to tell her I wasn’t talking to her.  The other was for another one of my contacts who was in another group.  And her name was farther down on the list (this phone lists out each number separately, home/work/cell and the list gets long), so it was more convenient to have her set as #4 when I wanted to get a hold of her.  With that many people, we didn’t move enmasse, we had little groups going this way and that.  The cell phones really helped to keep in touch with one another.  And the speed dial function sure came in handy. | Permalink

      Sunday, November 05, 2006

otherstuff 03:28 PM - 11/05/2006 The topic: Ponderance ---------------------------------------------- So, we finish shopping at CostCo, stop by Taco Bell on the way home for a bite to eat.  Brian gets two bean burritos with green sauce, I get two taco supremes (they’ve got sour cream, you know). We get home, eat, then Brian starts unpacking the car and I start putting stuff away.  Some of the things I have to make room for, like the soup and the tomato sauce and diced/stewed tomatoes.  I checked the date on some Marie Callender soup that seemed like it had been in there forever, it’s expired, I tossed it.  I put the new soup up (I found some new flavors at CostCo; will we eat them or will they end up like the stuff Marie made?), then started on the tomatoes. A while back, when I cleaned out the pantry, I vowed I’d not put stuff on the shelves that came multiples in a box, in the box.  I’d open the container, then put the goods up individually.  The tomatoes came in boxes.  There were twelve cans in the tomato sauce box, eight each in the diced tomato and stewed tomato boxes.  That’s twenty eight cans.  The boxes have on them “pantry perfect” and “perfect for pantry”.  Probably because all three had a part of the box that you could punch out and the cans would just roll out.  But there’s a problem with this, the very reason I no longer put stuff away in the boxes. Those boxes take up space.  As you use what you need, the box contains that much less.  It’s probable that I could have three boxes in the pantry and only three cans left.   All that space, gone to waste.  And it’s harder to keep an inventory when you’re not sure how much is left.  I can imagine how frustrated I’d be if I decided to make an Italian sauce to find out I didn’t have enough canned tomatoes. Two thumbs down on the “pantry perfect” boxes. Bad idea. | Permalink

otherstuff 03:39 PM - 11/05/2006 The topic: Yay! ---------------------------------------------- CostCo had sour cream!  We got some!  Now, where did I put my spoon? | Permalink

      Monday, November 06, 2006

catstuff 10:45 AM - 11/06/2006 We found a quarter on our walk this morning The topic: *Sniffle* ---------------------------------------------- Rachel has sniffles.  Sagwa was sneezing earlier.  It’s official.  We have cold. Fun. | Permalink

otherstuff 10:47 AM - 11/06/2006 The topic: Hair coloring ---------------------------------------------- My hair is long enough now that I am reluctant to do anything to it.  Anything that involves chemically changing anything about it. Last week I did some research and decided that I wanted to try a semi-permanent color.  We went to Wal-Mart yesterday and I bought some “non-permanent” color, L’Oreal, number 42.  All my white is gone.  Brian likes it.  I think it’s too dark. Probably because I’m so used to seeing all of that white around my face.  He thinks the rest of it looks lighter (impossible, no color was lifted, the existing color was coated).  It’s pretty glossy, I’ll give it that. It supposed to last about twenty-eight washings. Twenty-seven to go. | Permalink

otherstuff 03:16 PM - 11/06/2006 The topic: Vote tomorrow! ---------------------------------------------- Grand Ave - Steve Breen Remember, if you don't vote, then you can't complain. If you don't vote (and there's no valid reason you didn't), and you do complain, you're an idiot. | Permalink

catstuff 03:52 PM - 11/06/2006 The topic: In rememberance ---------------------------------------------- We had a little nip party earlier today in honor of Pepper, who died six years ago today. It was a short time from diagnosis to loss.  Squamous cell carcinoma in her lower jaw. I miss her.  I miss how she smacked the vacuum cleaner.  I wish she’d been here to meet the Roomba and the Scooba.  She would have loved them both. | Permalink

      Tuesday, November 07, 2006

catstuff 06:07 AM - 11/07/2006 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #16! ---------------------------------------------- click for a larger pic Today’s Tummy Tuesday picture was taken yesterday during Pepper’s memorial nip party.  Ross shows how much he enjoys the nip. ================================================ If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!   | Permalink

      Saturday, November 11, 2006

otherstuff 09:10 AM - 11/11/2006 The topic: DVD savings ---------------------------------------------- Twice a year, DeepDiscountDVD.com has a 20% off sale.  This is only for DVDs that are already in release, not pre-orders.  This is the place I get all of my DVDs from. You can only use a coupon code once.  But fortunately, they’ve got more than one, in case you placed your order, then remembered a movie you forgot. The sale is on from 11/10 (yesterday) through 11/18 (next Saturday). The coupon codes are: USATODAY ESPN YAHOO DVDTALK NYTIMES SUPERSALE DDDCD DD1110 DVDPRICESEARCH LATIMES I advise registering, setting up a wishlist, adding movies to it through the week, then checking out all at once. Oh, and there’s always free shipping. Have fun and happy shopping. | Permalink

catstuff 09:18 AM - 11/11/2006 The topic: Lonee ---------------------------------------------- I think I’m resigning myself to the idea that Lonee will never have ongoing good stools for the rest of her life.  *sigh*  Yesterday, she went under the bookcase, and it was good.  I didn’t clean it up, though, I wanted it to dry out a little.  Since it’s a far reach for me, I didn’t want to make the mess worse.  She hadn’t gone again until this morning, right before we left for breakfast.  I smelled it first, checked the usual places, and found it on one of the cat mats by the cat beds.  We were on our way out to breakfast, so I left it until we got home.  First thing Brian says when we walk in the door “geez, it smells in here”. Well, duh, I told you before we left, but you were so ready to walk out the door, you were waiting in the car before I had a chance to do anything.  I grabbed the mat, took it outside and hosed it off.  Brian brought some wood in for me to put under the bookcase so that she can’t go under there anymore and I cleaned yesterday’s pile out and put the wood blocks under the bookcase. But she’s a happy kitty!  She comes to me for pets and loves and purrs and talks.  I felt bad for her last night when I was taking the soft food to the office.  She just looked at me like “where’s mine?”.  I’m sorry, little Lonee.  I just don’t think your intestines can take it. | Permalink

catstuff 09:24 AM - 11/11/2006 The topic: Bladder infections ---------------------------------------------- Katie was doing the “I feel like I gotta pee” squat last week, so I started her back on amoxi (stupid me, I didn’t finish out the last course for her).  And last night, Potter was squatting on the towel by my monitor.  He’s got an infection, too.  I started him on amoxi last night. Then, this morning, Mystie peed in my bathroom sink.  I saw her. There was a little drop of bloody urine, then a stream of normal.  The question in my mind is “was the bloody urine also hers or does it belong to some other cat?” Multiple kitty cat ownership can be a hardship at times. | Permalink

      Monday, November 13, 2006

catstuff 10:38 AM - 11/13/2006 The topic: It’s Kitty Movie Monday! ---------------------------------------------- Rachel protests having to go in for the night. ================================================ Be sure to visit the original Kitty Movie Monday over at Laurence Simon's TBIFOC. ================================================ This movie was made with SwishVideo | Permalink

      Tuesday, November 14, 2006

catstuff 07:02 AM - 11/14/2006 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #17! ---------------------------------------------- Wally is once again our tummy model of the day.  And what a tummy he has! ================================================ If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies! | Permalink

      Thursday, November 16, 2006

catstuff 06:55 AM - 11/16/2006 The topic: It’s kitten fixin’ day ---------------------------------------------- Kittens are going in for surgery today and you know what that means. Lots of hungry kitty cats right now.  Food was pulled up at ten last night, so they haven’t had a chance to eat in nine hours and that’s a lot for a kitty cat in this house. I thought about setting the cat door to in only, shutting the office door to the house and opening the office door to the outside, so cats could come in here and eat, but the kittens couldn’t go outside of the building, but they’d pretty much settled down by the time we got back from our walk. An hour.  That’s when I take them in. | Permalink

otherstuff 06:58 AM - 11/16/2006 The topic: My mouse is dying ---------------------------------------------- The left button is sporadically not working.  Gah.  I searched high and low for another mouse last night.  The ball mice don’t work (like the one that came with the computer).  I have a mini optical mouse I got for the laptop and it works, but golly gee whiz, it’s so darned small, it’s hard to work with. Ordered one online last night.  Microsoft owes me from that settlement thingy, so this will pay for the new mouse.  Then I still have about thirty dollars left to spend…. | Permalink

otherstuff 07:00 AM - 11/16/2006 The topic: KVM switch ---------------------------------------------- I think my KVM switch is biting the schniztel.  That’s the box that I use so that I can use the same keyboard, mouse and monitor for both computers. I figured this out a couple of weeks ago, that this switchbox is the reason my monitor doesn’t work properly.  I got that game “Gold Fever” a while back and when I got the new computer, I had to play it on the laptop since playing it on the new computer gave me a “frequency out of range”.  For some reason, I tried hooking the monitor directly to the computer, not using the switchbox and the game played as it should (I think this game is why I wore out my left mouse button). So, I started looking for a new switchbox.  This one is old and more technologically advanced boxes are out there.  I found one over on Amazon, a week later I get a notice “it’s on backorder”.  This did not please the royal one.  The royal one fired off an email to cancel the order.  And then, the search began. I did find a similar switchbox over at PageComputers.com, for about thirty dollars more.  But I really wanted it, it was worth the money because it comes with cables and there’s a possibility I need new cables, too.  I know one of the pins is missing in the cable I connect to the HP.  It was around $85.00, the one at Amazon was about $55.00.  So, I ordered it last Thursday.  It’s supposed to be here tomorrow.  I kept checking the order status, because when I ordered it, there were only four left.  Yesterday, I see that they’re back in full stock and the price has gone up forty dollars since I ordered mine!  Wow!  That’s a first.  I actually bought something at the right time.  How cool is that? | Permalink

otherstuff 09:50 AM - 11/16/2006 The topic: Thanksgiving Day ---------------------------------------------- I just made reservations for 4:15 at Black Angus, a steakhouse. Besides beef, they’ll be serving up a swell turkey dinner.  Mom had a friend invite her over (she’s invited a few folks over), didn’t hear anything from Brian’s mom, so it will just be the two of us.  So, Black Angus it is. | Permalink

catstuff 09:59 AM - 11/16/2006 The topic: My babies… ---------------------------------------------- They were shivering in the carrier at the vet’s office.  And they didn’t take them out of the carrier, but left them in it.  I pick them up at 4:30. That’s forever from now. | Permalink

otherstuff 06:54 PM - 11/16/2006 The topic: Wah! ---------------------------------------------- I turned off the computers, set up the new KVM switch and the new computer wouldn’t boot up.  Got an error message to contact HP support.  Contacted HP support “Oh, you need a new hard drive”. Wah!  Some guy is coming by tomorrow to audit stuff and I never got around to printing it out, was gonna do it tomorrow morning.   Oops!  I can boot up in safe mode, so I’ll try to run the program that way and print out the information he’ll need. As well as back up all of my files so I can send them back the bad drive when they send the replacement to me.  Which I get to install.  | Permalink

      Sunday, November 19, 2006

otherstuff 12:01 PM - 11/19/2006 The topic: Making headway ---------------------------------------------- Well, I think the HP tech was mistaken, I don’t think my hard drive is on the brink of failing.  I had some problems Friday, I had to install QuickBooks on Brian’s computer and print out the stuff for the insurance auditor.  I spent two hours on the phone with Intuit support (QuickBooks) with no resolution to the problem.  I signed up for the monthly service, which I can cancel at any time.  It’s $75.00 for the first month, $25.00 a month thereafter, with 24/7 support. I figure I’ll keep it active for the first month, then cancel, since I should have the new disk drive up and running in that time. I was able to get into my files, even run the computer after doing the PC Recovery that came with the system. Problem was it overwrote some of the existing information and most programs didn’t run properly, even after re-installing.  Thankfully, I’ve got the two external hard drives, so I transferred the important stuff over to them so I didn’t have to install things from the ground up.  And I kinda sorta had a guide as to what I needed to reinstall.  Some of the programs aren’t running because the licenses aren’t taking (boo!) and I’m not getting responses from their support, but I attribute that to the weekend. I don’t think they’re real big companies.  Get right down to it, there’s really only one that I’m having a problem with, but I’m sure that will be taken care of tomorrow.  Monday. I do like my new KVM switch, it’s great.  Since I wore out the left button on the old mouse, I ordered a new one.  I’ve got a $42.00 voucher from Microsoft, from the settlement, so I figured no big deal.  Well, yesterday at CostCo, I was looking at keyboards and mice and got a set.  I’ll use the new mouse I ordered online with the laptop.  Brian didn’t really care for the mouse I was using.  Too small and too slow.  Heh.  I was worried they wouldn’t work with the Gateway, since it’s Windows 98SE (which I can run my old games on, since it has true DOS).  The box didn’t say anything about supporting Win 98SE and when I put the disk in to load up the drivers, it pretty much stuck its tongue out at me.  Wouldn’t even start the disk.  But the wireless keyboard and mouse did work, even without the software being installed.  That’s fine with me, as long as I can open files and type in words, I’m not complaining.  Last week, I had two mice (the wireless didn’t work with the old KVM switchbox so I had a wired mouse for the Gateway, a wireless for the HP) and one wired keyboard.  Today, I’ve got one keyboard, one mouse and NO WIRES!  It’s great! So, I’ve got the computer pretty much how I want it and I’ll start backing it up to one of the external hard drives.  I’ll move everything that’s currently on that drive over to the other external drive, so all that will be on it is the backup for the computer.  Then, when the new replacement drive gets here this week, I’ll run one of the disk cleaners (too much personal and business information on this system to trust anyone with it) that overwrites the hard drive with gibberish, pull out the old drive, install the new drive and restore all of the files that I’ve backed up.  Which I’m planning on having the whole system backed up.  Right now, it’s under 42 gig. The backing up and the restoring is what will take so much time.  And I hope since I’m planning on reinstalling the entire thing, I won’t have a problem with relicensing programs.  Blech.  If everything goes the way I hope it does, I shouldn’t be down more than two days. One of the nice things about the reformat and reinstall, this computer is sure a lot more responsive.  I know a lot of unused programs are no longer installed. | Permalink

      Monday, November 20, 2006

catstuff 07:27 AM - 11/20/2006 The topic: Kitty Movie Monday ---------------------------------------------- Our Movie Monday entry is little Kirby.  Our vet refers to this cat as the “cat from hell” and remarked “that cat hates me”.  Well, part of that might be attributed to the fact that the only time Kirby saw the vet was when he was blocked and had to spend time under sedation with a catheter up his penis to his bladder.  But having his male parts uninstalled fixed all of that and now crystals don’t threaten his life. He may hate the vet, but he sure likes me.  Make sure your speakers are turned up.  ================================================ Be sure to visit the original Kitty Movie Monday over at Laurence Simon's TBIFOC. ================================================ This movie was made with SwishVideo | Permalink

catstuff 08:02 AM - 11/20/2006 The topic: He never used to do this ---------------------------------------------- The past few weeks, when we have dinner, Jackie has taken to sitting on the floor to my left.  Waiting.  Watching. Looking at me with his big beautiful yellow eyes.  He never used to do this.  I give him tidbits of my meal.  It can be hard because the cats are all in when we eat.  We had fish last night, I should have made an extra portion, just for sharing. I’d crumble up some of the fish we had and toss it towards the living room.  The cats would scramble and Jackson would hang back, just enough for me to get some fish to him, just for him. He’d nibble it down, then resume his sitting, waiting and watching. He’s such a striking cat. | Permalink

otherstuff 08:13 PM - 11/20/2006 The topic: Disk installation went fine ---------------------------------------------- Only problem is I left the external hard drives hooked up.  And the new drive did NOT get set up as the C drive and it doesn’t work.  It’s there, I think it’s on the H drive.  *sigh* HP support was worthless.  Oh, she tried to help, had me jumping through all sorts of hoops with no results. So, I put in a support call to Microsoft about changing the BIOS so that the drive that’s showing up as third can be moved to the primary.  The computer sees the new drive, it just doesn’t see it where it needs to see it and I can’t find a damned thing on the internet about changing it.  Oh, well, a lesson well learned. I had so much planned for today, too.  This old dog learned a new trick today. | Permalink

      Tuesday, November 21, 2006

07:17 AM - 11/21/2006 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #18! ---------------------------------------------- We have a Tuesday Twofer today.  Took this picture of Wally and the newly neutered Ron Howard snoozing on the sofa last night. ================================================ If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies!   | Permalink

otherstuff 12:41 PM - 11/21/2006 The topic: Microsoft calls ---------------------------------------------- “Sorry, we can’t help you, you’ll have to call Hewlett Packard.”  Something about the fact that Windows coming on the hard drive and partition drive, not on disks.  So, I call HP.  Spent about forty minutes on the phone with them, the result being the original recovery DVDs I made do not work (there was an error message when I made them, I called HP and tech walked me through looking at the disks and they were declared “done”.  Heh.  They weren’t.  They’re shipping me new disks.  I thought it would be recovery disks and when I said something about the cost “well, at least I’m saving five dollars over the cost of what MicroSoft support would have been” I was told “These are brand new disks for the complete Windows OS.  They retail for around $300.  You’re getting them overnight Fedexed for $29.13.”  So, I guess I can’t complain too loudly. He does want me to call them once the disks get here tomorrow and they’ll walk me through the complete installation.  Which can take hours.  I’m so looking forward to this. Not. Good thing we’ve got reservations for turkey day. | Permalink

      Thursday, November 23, 2006

otherstuff 08:56 AM - 11/23/2006 The topic: Thanksgiving day ---------------------------------------------- Went to bed at eight last night.  We went to bed at eight the night before.  It’s nice.  We miss some television shows, but the sleep is wonderful. Still don’t have the computer up.  After waiting most of the day yesterday for Fedex to show up, needed to go grocery shopping and I’d have liked to have washed the garage floor, but was afraid of running the machine because I didn’t want to miss the Fedex guy (I’m sure I’ll need to sign for the disks), I got an email around four that the disks didn’t ship until yesterday and won’t be here until tomorrow.  *sigh* At least I got close to caught up with laundry. We’re watching Spartacus right now.  Neither one of us has ever seen it. I’ve got the laptop in the family room instead of being back in the office.  It’s kind of nice not being back there. But I miss my computer.  I have a hard time with this keyboard. I found out yesterday that my wireless home network was not secure.  I think I somehow disabled that when I was trying to set up the Hawking Wireless Camera.  So, I got the secure setting fixed and next week I’ll call Hawking to see if they can help me to get the camera going.  I made reservations for an off-property hotel up at Disneyland for next month, just one night.  We talked about trying some of the higher end off-property hotels.  Last year, we tried the Hilton after finding there were no rooms at any of the Disney Hotels and were pleasantly surprised. This year, we’re going to try the Anabella, concierge level.  Chocolates and champagne at check-in, yum. Laurence Olivier was a very handsome man.  Brian didn’t even recognize him.  He looks bigger than I thought he was.  | Permalink

      Friday, November 24, 2006

otherstuff 11:08 AM - 11/24/2006 The topic: Waiting ---------------------------------------------- I’m so horrible at waiting.  Today, I wait for Fedex.  As soon as they get here, I can begin to reconstruct my computer.  I’ve tried to keep busy.  I emptied the dishwasher, made the bed, read the newspaper. I ordered a new headset for my at home cordless phone, since it looks like the cats chewed the old headset cord.  I found the prices have come way down on them, which is nice.  It’s almost eleven.  I’m watching CourtTV, Forensic Files.  Brian said something about going and looking at tractors.  I said something about “today? You want to leave the house while I’m busy getting the computer running?  You want to be gone?”   Then I said “why look at new tractors when you don’t have any place to store what you’ve got?  Hmm?  And before you think about getting a new tractor, why don’t you fix the ones you’ve got?”  He’s got one back in his shop that’s been there for years.  He works on it about once every six months.  It should be done by now.  So, today, he’ll finally fix the gas leak on our new stove (the part had to be ordered and the guy at Sears told him it was a part that wouldn’t have been covered, even if we’d notified the company we bought it from the day we got it, which doesn’t sound right.  Then he’ll work on his tractor. And I’ll sit here and wait for Fedex. I hate waiting | Permalink

otherstuff 11:34 AM - 11/24/2006 The topic: Yesterday’s dinner ---------------------------------------------- It was worth the fourteen bucks, but I have to say I was a little disappointed in the meal. Why?  The turkey wasn’t the kind of turkey that’s taken out of the oven and sliced off of the bone.  It was like one of those pressed turkey loaves you get at the store, that you just heat and slice. There wasn’t really all that much on the plate.  There was a little tiny paper cup with cranberries in it, two slices of pressed white turkey over some dressing and sweet potatoes on the side.  The gravy was on the sweet potatoes and none was on the mashed potatoes or turkey/dressing.  ???  The sweet potatoes were good and since there wasn’t much on my plate to begin with, I figured I’d take advantage of the “all you can eat”.  Well, they were in such a rush to get the customers in and out, that our pie was there before the second helping of potatoes. I was almost finished with the pie when a server came out with the sweet potatoes.  I just looked at her and said “I’m eating dessert, I’m done with the entre”.  Like I said, it was worth the money, but I didn’t like feeling like I was one of a herd of cattle.  And I’d really like to have had real turkey.  I told Brian this morning, I’d really like to cook a turkey, have real meat.  We’ve got one back in the shop.  He said “make one for Christmas.”  Nah, my mom does that and she does a most excellent job of it.  My turkey dinners are pathetic compared to hers.  The only thing I make better is the gravy.  Maybe I’ll do it next week sometime.  I like turkey. | Permalink

otherstuff 02:50 PM - 11/24/2006 The topic: Whine time ---------------------------------------------- So, Fedex finally shows up about 2:15.  I hand him the box with the hard drive.  Just like I handed the box with the hard drive to the delivery woman on Tuesday.  With the same result.  “Oh, that’s ground, I can’t take that.”  What?  What!   I take the envelope in one hand and carry the box and the envelope into the house.  I went back into the office and told Brian we have to get this box out today.  Otherwise, they’re gonna charge me for the new hard drive.  They said to get it out in three days.  Well, yesterday being a holiday, I’m sure that would be forgiven.  After all, I didn’t get my disks yesterday and they were sent “overnight”. I found a place to take the box, not that far from here.  I was back in the office, I bent over just a little to pick up the box and got extreme shooting pains through my mid-back.  Gah!  I don’t need this right now. I want to get my computer up and running!  Brian drove down to the shipping place, I took the box in and left it. On the way down, we were right behind the kid who said it wasn’t his job.  Heh.  Anyway, the back spasms weren’t too bad.  Brian wants to take me to the chiropractor, but we’re not sure if he’s even open today.  If he is, they’ll be back answering the phone in five minutes. If he’s not in, I’m going to see about getting my computer back up.  We have lots of Aleve. And calcium.  Maybe ice cream might help, too.  *lol* I think I threw my back out yesterday cleaning the shampooer.  Remember I said I washed the garage floor yesterday?  I also cleaned the shampooer, I took it outside and when it didn’t roll on the grass, I carried it.  Bad idea, I’m thinking right now. Ouch. But I’ll tough out the pain for the love of my computer.  (I don’t think the chiro will be in, I really don’t.) ================================================ 4:00 PM And we’re on the road to recovery!  Hard drive is erasing right now, when this is finished, I’ll push the “R” and recovery will commence.  Yay!  I’m hoping my backup of the C drive will be a major help to resetting the system the way I want it. | Permalink

      Sunday, November 26, 2006

otherstuff 07:32 AM - 11/26/2006 The topic: Woohoo! ---------------------------------------------- I’m up and running! I didn’t get to bed until 1:15 Saturday morning.  The recovery took five hours!  The rest of the time was reinstalling the backup.  And guess what?  I still needed to reinstall programs and serial numbers.  I used the backup that I’d made Tuesday morning and the only thing it seemed to be useful for was as a guide for what I needed to get back on the system.  Some of the things were there and didn’t need to be reinstalled and some of them just needed a serial number, so that was good. That saved a little bit of time. Yesterday I spent most of the day reinstalling graphics programs and plugins.  And the movie making software. And once again, it was the Ulead software that took so much time. The fact that you can’t install an upgrade program unless you install the original program first can be a real PITA.  And if you don’t get them in the right order, you don’t get them installed.  I’m very pissed off that I can’t get my Paint Shop Pros installed.  I can the pre-Corel versions, but Corel has this thing in place that you can only install them so many times, then the number is no longer any good. Figure the computer problems I’ve had this year, the old computer, the new computer….sheesh.  I emailed them.  That just sucks.  I’m running a trial version of PSPX.  Can’t get PSPXI running at all. But, everything else seems to be working as it should.  The wireless mouse wasn’t working this morning, so I plugged in the adaptor from the old KVM switchbox and the mouse is working nicely. I guess just using the computers for power wasn’t enough to drive both the mouse and the keyboard.  I’m glad I still had it plugged in.  And I’m glad it fit the new switchbox. Anyway, things seem to be running smoothly.  Yay! | Permalink

otherstuff 05:33 PM - 11/26/2006 The music in my head is Get it out of my head! The topic: Football ---------------------------------------------- I’ve watched three Chargers games in a row.  A record since we quit getting season tickets years ago. Check out my earworm. | Permalink

      Monday, November 27, 2006

catstuff 07:06 AM - 11/27/2006 The topic: Kitty Movie Monday ---------------------------------------------- In this blast from the past (well, from June of this year), we see Ron and Rory as kittens, playing in the carrier. I have to mention this, Kitty Movie Monday is the reason my computer broke, I do believe.  See, I was using MyDVD to save the video to the computer. None of the programs I have recognized the MPEG format that MyDVD would convert to.  So, I spent hours looking for a convertor and that’s when the computer gave me the error message and HP told me I needed a new hard drive. Then, the first converter I bought that worked, well, the author didn’t send me the license key in the 48 hours promised, so I cancelled that order and sought out another program.  I found one, paid for it and got it up and running.  Then I recontacted the payment processor for the first program and was told the author wasn’t going to accept the cancellation.  So, I had to pay for that.  But they did send the license key, so I can use it now. *sigh* The things we do for kitty cats. ================================================ Be sure to visit the original Kitty Movie Monday over at Laurence Simon’s TBIFOC. ================================================ This movie was made with SwishVideo. | Permalink

      Tuesday, November 28, 2006

catstuff 06:27 AM - 11/28/2006 The topic: It’s TUMMY TUESDAY #19! ---------------------------------------------- click for a bigger pic I caught Rachel on her back, all nice and stretched out. She didn’t even run when she saw the camera, she just held her position.  She might be a great model one of these days. ============================================== If you’ve got a Tummy Tuesday blog entry, feel free to post the link in the comment section or trackback to this entry. And if you put a link back to this page, then more kitties will get to show off their tummies! | Permalink

otherstuff 06:38 AM - 11/28/2006 The topic: Computer stuff ---------------------------------------------- I’m still having problems, but I think these are caused by the restoration of the backup files. So, I’m going to start from scratch today.  I’m saving the “Documents and Settings” because there are some things I don’t want to lose, like all of my FTP information.  That’s a bear to reconstruct. After that’s done, I’m gonna format the hard drive again, then individually reinstall all of the programs.  Hopefully, it won’t take more than a day to do. I mean, I should be an expert at this by now.  *lol* | Permalink

      Wednesday, November 29, 2006

otherstuff 11:45 AM - 11/29/2006 The topic: Computer stuff ---------------------------------------------- Well, I’m almost done.  Two days.  Heh.  Hopefully, this will be the last “two days” for a while.  I did the reformat yesterday and still had problems with the Corel PSPs getting installed, but I went to their website and found I needed to update my video card drivers.  Odd how they would prevent a graphics program from installing, but they did.  I’ve got most of the graphics stuff reinstalled, there are just a few plug ins I need to re-register.  Right now, I’m almost finished with the regular programs, like my fax program, the spyware and registry cleaners.  And some other stuff that I use on occasion.  I’ve got two printers left to install, the games that go on my C drive, then I be done! Woohoo! There shouldn’t be much leftover junk in my computer files at this point. | Permalink

All Archives

lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities. In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

<< November 2006 >> S M T W T F S       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

SVG Cutting Files at SVGCuts.com

website design by

©lisaviolet 1996-2024
Photographic images are the property of the photographer,and may not be copied, printed, or otherwise reproduced on any other site or used in any other publishing medium without the written permission of each individual photographer and kennel/cattery owner. Cathouse privacy policy.