Petty Vents

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Do HS kids in your state require community service for graduation? Or might they have a Key Club or other helping organization? If so, give the school a call and send a notice to the sponsor. Explain your situation and what you might need. You could be surprised. Also church groups often have teen groups that can help.
 
My day got SNAFU'd. I had planned on making the sauces i need for 2 dinners later in the week, plus another little recipe, and a quick easy dinner. I also needed to make a purchase order and an invoice in our accounting program for Craig's little business that i have run since his accident/stroke back in 2020, and needed to print a couple of things to do that. What should have been a 15-20 minute task turned into hours.

We've got an old, and i do mean old computer. I don't remember when we got it, but it came with Windows XP before they even put out the first service pack. I have replaced the power supply once. It has a RAID setup, which means it has 2 hard drives that mirror each other so if 1 fails, you always have a fully complete exact backup, and the computer will still boot with only 1 working drive. I've replaced drives at least 5 times, maybe 6. We still use it because it has the accounting program Craig started his business with back when. Well, I started it, it booted, i did some of the data entry, then switched to a newer computer to access email so I could print what i needed to finish.

No go on the print. I'm getting madder and madder, then realize something. Our modem/router died a little over a week ago so I had to replace it, which meant a new password for our home network. I had updated the password for everything but the printer, which is wireless, except for the old computer which is cord connected. Okay, go to enter the new info. The printer was stubborn and refused to recognize the new router, and when it finally did, kept telling me password was wrong. I finally got the printer connected and the info i needed printed out.

Then, i turn back to the old computer to finish entering info and am confronted with the BSOD, aka blue screen of death. Well, a few, actually quite a few, blue words came out of my mouth. I restarted the computer and chdsk came up, ran, and proceeded to tell n
me the config file was missing or corrupted and i needed to boot from a disk. Okay, i drag out the original disks. Yes, i actually still have them. Only thing though, i never hooked the CD/DVD drives back up when i had the computer apart to replace the power supply. A few more blue words came out when I realized this. So, turn off the computer, hook up the 2 drives, 1 is a slave drive. Start the computer again. It booted but now it tells me 1 of the RAID drives is bad so i have to replace another drive. I got the accounting work done and backed up those files.

There is a huge amount of photos and other stuff on there that craig is supposed to drag and drop stuff he wants to keep so i can upload that stuff and he still hasn't done, even though it's been 6 months since he was first told to do it.

I'm going to try to keep it limping along until the end of the year and then we are switching to a cloud based accounting program. I'm done with this.
 
My day got SNAFU'd. I had planned on making the sauces i need for 2 dinners later in the week, plus another little recipe, and a quick easy dinner. I also needed to make a purchase order and an invoice in our accounting program for Craig's little business that i have run since his accident/stroke back in 2020, and needed to print a couple of things to do that. What should have been a 15-20 minute task turned into hours.

We've got an old, and i do mean old computer. I don't remember when we got it, but it came with Windows XP before they even put out the first service pack. I have replaced the power supply once. It has a RAID setup, which means it has 2 hard drives that mirror each other so if 1 fails, you always have a fully complete exact backup, and the computer will still boot with only 1 working drive. I've replaced drives at least 5 times, maybe 6. We still use it because it has the accounting program Craig started his business with back when. Well, I started it, it booted, i did some of the data entry, then switched to a newer computer to access email so I could print what i needed to finish.

No go on the print. I'm getting madder and madder, then realize something. Our modem/router died a little over a week ago so I had to replace it, which meant a new password for our home network. I had updated the password for everything but the printer, which is wireless, except for the old computer which is cord connected. Okay, go to enter the new info. The printer was stubborn and refused to recognize the new router, and when it finally did, kept telling me password was wrong. I finally got the printer connected and the info i needed printed out.

Then, i turn back to the old computer to finish entering info and am confronted with the BSOD, aka blue screen of death. Well, a few, actually quite a few, blue words came out of my mouth. I restarted the computer and chdsk came up, ran, and proceeded to tell n
me the config file was missing or corrupted and i needed to boot from a disk. Okay, i drag out the original disks. Yes, i actually still have them. Only thing though, i never hooked the CD/DVD drives back up when i had the computer apart to replace the power supply. A few more blue words came out when I realized this. So, turn off the computer, hook up the 2 drives, 1 is a slave drive. Start the computer again. It booted but now it tells me 1 of the RAID drives is bad so i have to replace another drive. I got the accounting work done and backed up those files.

There is a huge amount of photos and other stuff on there that craig is supposed to drag and drop stuff he wants to keep so i can upload that stuff and he still hasn't done, even though it's been 6 months since he was first told to do it.

I'm going to try to keep it limping along until the end of the year and then we are switching to a cloud based accounting program. I'm done with this.
Well that sucks. I hope your day gets better from here.
 
oh medtran! your computer day was certainly worse than mine! You have my complete sympathy and consoling hugs.

My screen, on occasion, would flicker - still seeable but needless to say annoying. It was usually when the battery was low so plugging in was the answer.
the other day I unplugged a fully charged computer and moved it over to my easy chair where I watch TV.
Of course, watching TV cast from my phone is another story, with lags about every 3rd sentence being uttered. Ergo I watch my shows on the laptop.
Last night it started flickering even though fully charged. It was a bit scary - this thing is not even 2 years old. So I switched to phone casting to TV - but it was so annoying I ended up watching my shows on my phone.... squint!

Store opens at 10 am - I'm there at 10:05 with computer under my arm. An hour later, my favourite guy says, I can't do anymore. Go home and phone support but make sure they do ** test and ***test and these other two as well.
Chat with the robot who directs me to a non-techy who directs me to a low level tech who 2 hours later says 'I'm calling in a high level tech to see what he can do'. Two hours later the high level tech cannot fix and says it is a hardware problem with the monitor. Shows me how to connect to TV with an HDMI cable (which luckily I have a 6 ft one as the TV is above the fireplace). Then the low level tech joins the high level tech and says there is one thing left we can try. I say sure, he says it will take a minute. OK - I go to the laundry room (20 steps there and 20 steps back) come back - the tv is blank my laptop is frozen and what the $%^&*(*&^%.
Grab the laptop, jump in the car and get to the store, tell my favourite guy - I have a fuse in one hand and a match in the other. He says 'oh boy, that's not good but... think I can fix it'. He runs another program and 30 minutes later says, "Now, don't close this, go home, plug it in and just let this program run. It says 2 days but that's not right. Let it go over night and if still not done in the morning you can press Escape. Your screen will still probably be flickering but at least you can use it."
Well, good news was, for some reason the TV behaved properly with the casting from my phone. I checked about every hour and the time to run kept reducing dramatically. Still not finished when I went to bed but this morning - although it flickers on first screen of start up - it is behaving so far.
So hardware or software - nobody knows.

Last week of November the tablets will be coming on dramatic sales with Christmas in mind and I have my eye on one. Phone, tablet, laptop will all talk to each other (I hope). So I will have a back up should this little lemon should dry up and become fodder.

not a robot.png
 
a RAID setup only mirrors any bad info from primary to secondary drive, presuming they are both alive.

meanwhile , , , there is absolute no viable backup routine for the primary drive, other than to CD or thumb drive.

RAID works for dynamic minute/hour-it-fails - but not for day-after-it-fails.
 
a RAID setup only mirrors any bad info from primary to secondary drive, presuming they are both alive.

meanwhile , , , there is absolute no viable backup routine for the primary drive, other than to CD or thumb drive.

RAID works for dynamic minute/hour-it-fails - but not for day-after-it-fails.
Maybe if there is a virus it will mirror and cause issues, but that is not the scenario I described above, i.e. FAILS and REPLACED were the words used.
 
I woke up this morning and had plans to do several things today. I wanted to make a batch of potato salad to have with lunches...and I thought I might as well get the Christmas cards out of the way too. I like to buy them in October, address them, etc., in November and mail them on the weekend following Thanksgiving. But it was not to be!

We got a call from dear MIL this morning about 8AM. VERY unusual, as she usually sleeps in until at least noon or 1PM. Sadly, she was calling to complain that her TV picture stopped working yesterday about 11AM. For MIL, this is a near 9-1-1 situation. Her TV and her doggie are everything to her. She freely admits to being addicted to the TV. I was surprised she waited until today to call us. Usually, she's much quicker! This is a regular thing, as she tends to just start pushing buttons on the remote, on the TV, on the sound bar and anything else that might have buttons, leaving a real mess for us to try to reprogram. She claimed not to have done that and just listed to it like a radio. Anyway, DH tried talking her thru how to turn the TV on again, figuring it got out of sync on the remote...but it didn't go well. So, we did a few things and had a bit to eat and went to MIL's. We tried all the usual remedies, and nothing worked. The TV is one that she purchased long before she or even we moved up here, so probably circa 2010 or more. Eventually, we gave up and went to buy a new one. DH thought the 50" would fit the spot where the old 42" was sitting and only 100 bucks more. We took it to her place and measured and while we could make it work, it was going to be tight and tough to deal with when the next 9-1-1-my-TV-is-out comes around. We were assured that if it is too big, just bring it back for the smaller one. So, back to the store to exchange for the 43" model (42" is no longer).

Turns out returning/exchanging is much more involved than just buying. Sigh. So, maybe an hour later, we get back to MIL's. We remove the old one, set up the new one, easy, peasy...the new one is all HDMI no optical cords, etc. But, the Comcast remote doesn't want to talk to the new TV. Still works the cable box and still does volume UP on the sound bar, but no volume down. Sigh. And, DH's job ends with plugging everything in. Then I need to take over and do all of the programming. Over and over again...until finally I remembered, when all else fails, reboot! Alakazam! It works! Everything works again. MIL loves the new picture! I hand her the remote just to make sure she's all set and, nope, she says, "Don't I get a new remote with the new TV!?" Well, yes, but it doesn't work the cable box and the sound bar...and besides, you do not need to learn a new remote. Good, no? Not so much. I ask her to try the volume and try the channels, so we can leave, confident there will not be another 9-1-1 too soon! MIL starts pushing the mute button, on, off, on, off, on, off. I explain that she needs to use the volume button and she says, "I thought it was muted, so I try that first!" Anyway, I'm starting to think she's pulling my chain, but I go thru the remote with her, as if it is a brand new one. And it is almost 3PM before we can head for home.

It is almost time to start dinner. Potato salad and Christmas cards will wait...but, now you see why I start the Christmas card "project" in October!!!

In case I get busy, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
smileys-wink-252022.gif


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Well I've learned a lesson. At least it cost under $30. Re the computer drive issue above, I had purchased a new drive to replace the bad one. When I went to change them out, saw that somehow one of the plugs into the old drive had come out. Decided to plug it back in and see what happened. Booted up, the old drive was fine and the RAID system rebuilt the old drive. Think I'll just keep the new drive even though it is returnable since it's unopened.
 
Well, MIL made it ALMOST a week without a 9-1-1 TV situation. And, when we got there, the TV was working fine...but she started talking about friends of her sister that are having strokes and dying. It has crossed our minds that she is may be experiencing some mini-strokes. Starting to believe that she may be aware of same.
 
Well, I have been waiting for my Surgeon's Office to call me and make a follow up appointment with him ... my last surgery was on 11/3 and in my release paper work it said that I'd get a call to see him in two weeks .... no call yet ... So I took the initiative and called in ... I had heard rumors that he would be in town the week of Thanksgiving ... he's traveling Specialist from Austin Texas :oops: the nice young man that I got on the telephone this morning said, yes that's true, but he only has one day this month (he's only here once a month)for clinical appointments and they were booked up long ago..."now I didn't see your name on my list of patients to call. What did you have done and when was it?" He pulled up my records and there was a long pause .... "OHHHH! yes, doctor did note from surgery that he wanted to see you two weeks later. Boy it's a good thing you called! But I can't get you in with Dr. SoAndSo, how about Dr. WhatsHisFace? Have you seen him before? Yes I have I'd think that would be fine, don't you? Again I got, "BOY! It's a good thing you called in, I have only one more appointment left with Dr. WhatsHisFace, he's booked out until the first of the year and we are not sure when Dr. SoAndSo will be back" :oops:
One must be they're own best advocate!!!
Needless to say, DH was none too happy about this and I said, well at least I got in to see someone, only because I CALLED THEM! :oops:
Fingers crossed this will be the last of this chapter...
 
@Cooking Goddess yes I did, and I got a big thumbs up and released by this doc .... now we have to address other issues and this is turning out to be even worse!!!
Glad to know that one problem is resolved, but sorry that a new one took its place. It seems like once you hit 65, there is a lot of one step forward, two steps back. I hope the new doc can resolve your new issues. (((hugs)))
 

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