Several hours yesterday morning were spent in the past. I plugged in several old jump drives and scrolled through the photos and documents. It was great fun. I picked some of best and put them on this computer. Here are a couple.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Adventures of a New Computer
Spent most of yesterday morning sitting in this chair trying to get my desktop to look like my previous desktop. So far I have eight sites on the screen. I am definitely not a computer nerd so it is an accomplishment to get them. Several of them have the same Google logo (Why? I don;t have a clue.) This computer is a HP Pavilion. It was loaded with Microsoft browser which, with some difficulty, changed to Google. I don't know if it is better but I am more familiar with it.
Several hours yesterday morning were spent in the past. I plugged in several old jump drives and scrolled through the photos and documents. It was great fun. I picked some of best and put them on this computer. Here are a couple.
Several hours yesterday morning were spent in the past. I plugged in several old jump drives and scrolled through the photos and documents. It was great fun. I picked some of best and put them on this computer. Here are a couple.
Friday, June 26, 2020
Something New
Remember when I spilled the water? Remember I thought that I had dodged the bullet? It turns out that I was not so lucky. Several days ago the trouble started. After a long boot up time my screen only showed date and time. Nothing else. No response to keys strokes. The mother board was damaged. Fired the computer repair shop stated. Not a good thing.
Bottom line. Money spent. New computer. Mixed thoughts.
Nice to have new equipment but because my old computer couldn't be started up, the data on it did not follow. Don't know know if I will ever get it back. The Office Depot tech had to remove the hard drive so it is understandable that things did not work out as planned.
I will call Office Depot. Maybe things can be done. Maybe not. Any way it happens, life goes on.
Bottom line. Money spent. New computer. Mixed thoughts.
Nice to have new equipment but because my old computer couldn't be started up, the data on it did not follow. Don't know know if I will ever get it back. The Office Depot tech had to remove the hard drive so it is understandable that things did not work out as planned.
I will call Office Depot. Maybe things can be done. Maybe not. Any way it happens, life goes on.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Water and Computers
They don't mix. So when I spilled my Yeti on my laptop I was frantic. I wiped what I could, tipped it upside down, removed the battery. Got Randa's blow drier and blew the heck out of it. Then I got a space heater and placed the computer in a large cardboard box and aimed the warm air into the box. The efforts worked because I am typing this right now. Whew !
Friday, June 12, 2020
Clematis update
Picked up our new Clematis "Morning Mist" on Wednesday without a hitch. It will be nice when th and seee public is allowed to roam the grounds again. The flowers are amazing. We found a spot for it right away when we got home. The Clematis comes with an instruction sheet to cover care and feeding and also planting instructions.
The instructions informed us to dig a hole 18 inches deep, done. Put in potting soil, done. Take the plant out of the pot, done. Cut off the top half of the plant, done. What ??? Yup, By removing half of the plant the roots don't have to work as hard to get the Clematis accustomed to it's new home. I felt awful throwing the top half, with new growth, into the recycle bin, but I guess the garden knows what it is doing. We will wait patiently for new growth.
The instructions informed us to dig a hole 18 inches deep, done. Put in potting soil, done. Take the plant out of the pot, done. Cut off the top half of the plant, done. What ??? Yup, By removing half of the plant the roots don't have to work as hard to get the Clematis accustomed to it's new home. I felt awful throwing the top half, with new growth, into the recycle bin, but I guess the garden knows what it is doing. We will wait patiently for new growth.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Best Album Cover
I received a turntable for Christmas. Since we arrived home I have a chance to dig out a box filled with vinyl memories.
Song for America
Monday, June 8, 2020
Clematis
Flowers make me smile. They help make a yard look better. Grass is grass. It's nice to have and easy to keep here in the Pacific Northwest. In the deserts of the Southwest, not so much. However you can always have flowers. Desert flowers have all the beauty of Oregon flowers. Differently, but beautiful non-the-less. I have put some of the flowers we have enjoyed on our stays in Arizona and beyond. Being away from home for up to 8 months of the years has kept us from doing much in our yard here in Canby. \
This year is different. It appears we will be Oregon bound for the rest of the year so we have been busy in the dirt. Planting new. Transplanting old. Adding new to existing pots. More changes to come. A new addition will be a new clematis. The trellis on the east side of the house has two small vines with small wine red and dark purple flowers. Walking around the neighborhood I have seen some large vines bursting with large pink flowers. That's what I wanted.
Enter Roberson Clematis Garden in Lake Oswego. Visited it last year in the fall. Even then it was amazing. Made a note to return in the spring summer. Well, the city has not opened it yet so operations are limited. You can, however, still buy Clematis from them. They cultivate and sell types that cannot be purchased at nurseries. ( They do not want to be competing with nurseries.) So after a phone call and conversation with a volunteer and a visit to clematisontheweb I found the one that we ordered. We will pick it up on Wednesday. Kinds sounds like we are adopting a puppy.
This year is different. It appears we will be Oregon bound for the rest of the year so we have been busy in the dirt. Planting new. Transplanting old. Adding new to existing pots. More changes to come. A new addition will be a new clematis. The trellis on the east side of the house has two small vines with small wine red and dark purple flowers. Walking around the neighborhood I have seen some large vines bursting with large pink flowers. That's what I wanted.
Enter Roberson Clematis Garden in Lake Oswego. Visited it last year in the fall. Even then it was amazing. Made a note to return in the spring summer. Well, the city has not opened it yet so operations are limited. You can, however, still buy Clematis from them. They cultivate and sell types that cannot be purchased at nurseries. ( They do not want to be competing with nurseries.) So after a phone call and conversation with a volunteer and a visit to clematisontheweb I found the one that we ordered. We will pick it up on Wednesday. Kinds sounds like we are adopting a puppy.
This is Clematis Morning Mist.
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Feeling Flush
Yesterday was the day to flush.
Water heaters to be exact. Water heaters need to be allowed to drain at least once a year. That goes for home and RV. The RV water heater in the RV is easy to drain. There's an exterior plate that opens to the show the WH. Near the bottom of the unit is a white plastic plug. Using a large socket ( 15/16 I think ) the plug is unscrewed. The water "glug-glugs" out until empty. Among the water puddle you will see lots of little white specks about the size of rice. This is why the WH is drained. The more minerals in the water, the more white specs will accumulate. The trailer WH had plenty.
After the tank emptied, the plug was screwed back in, being careful not to over-tighten. plastic plug remember.
The same goes for the house WH. It too needs to be drained. Not as easy. After watchng several UTube videos, I followed the instructions.
Turn off the gas.
Close the water inlet valve.
Turn the temperature control to vacation or cool.
Open a hot water faucet in the house.
Attach a garden hose to the outlet faucet on the WH.
Attach a towel or sock to end of the hose to collect debris that flows out.
Open the outlet valve to let the water flow out.
Wait until the flow stops.
No flow ! Yikes ! Another video showed how to remove the faucet if it's clogged. I didn't want to do that. So I opened the water inlet valve a couple of short bursts and that got things moving.
Reverse the order to get back to normal. The interesting part was relighting the WH. Having to light the oven in the trailer every time we used it was good practice to no big deal. The pilot light going, it was easy to dial the heating temp setting that we use for everyday. The surprising part was having to deal with the air bubbles in the hot water line in the house. After a bunch of spitting and bubbling, things are back to normal.
No debris in the drained water so the once a year frequency is fine.
Good tasks done.
Water heaters to be exact. Water heaters need to be allowed to drain at least once a year. That goes for home and RV. The RV water heater in the RV is easy to drain. There's an exterior plate that opens to the show the WH. Near the bottom of the unit is a white plastic plug. Using a large socket ( 15/16 I think ) the plug is unscrewed. The water "glug-glugs" out until empty. Among the water puddle you will see lots of little white specks about the size of rice. This is why the WH is drained. The more minerals in the water, the more white specs will accumulate. The trailer WH had plenty.
After the tank emptied, the plug was screwed back in, being careful not to over-tighten. plastic plug remember.
The same goes for the house WH. It too needs to be drained. Not as easy. After watchng several UTube videos, I followed the instructions.
Turn off the gas.
Close the water inlet valve.
Turn the temperature control to vacation or cool.
Open a hot water faucet in the house.
Attach a garden hose to the outlet faucet on the WH.
Attach a towel or sock to end of the hose to collect debris that flows out.
Open the outlet valve to let the water flow out.
Wait until the flow stops.
No flow ! Yikes ! Another video showed how to remove the faucet if it's clogged. I didn't want to do that. So I opened the water inlet valve a couple of short bursts and that got things moving.
Reverse the order to get back to normal. The interesting part was relighting the WH. Having to light the oven in the trailer every time we used it was good practice to no big deal. The pilot light going, it was easy to dial the heating temp setting that we use for everyday. The surprising part was having to deal with the air bubbles in the hot water line in the house. After a bunch of spitting and bubbling, things are back to normal.
No debris in the drained water so the once a year frequency is fine.
Good tasks done.
Monday, June 1, 2020
Being a cop
This is not a good time to be a cop. Especially in the city. Eric spent the last three days on the streets in downtown Portland. Not fun. Protests are ok. Protests are common activities in Portland. Demonstrations for causes from animal rights to free speech to "you name it' are almost daily. The last week or so has been different. Large and violent.
Folks have a right to protest. They have a right to say, " I am not happy." "Changes are needed."
They don't have a right to fire bomb businesses. Break windows. Loot stores. That is not what civilized people do. It is not constructive. It is destructive. It does not help the system. Burning, looting and trashing a clothing store does nothing for "equal rights". The ones who do this are hoodlums. Nothing less. Hoodlums looking for an excuse to be destructive and violent.
Folks have a right to protest. They have a right to say, " I am not happy." "Changes are needed."
They don't have a right to fire bomb businesses. Break windows. Loot stores. That is not what civilized people do. It is not constructive. It is destructive. It does not help the system. Burning, looting and trashing a clothing store does nothing for "equal rights". The ones who do this are hoodlums. Nothing less. Hoodlums looking for an excuse to be destructive and violent.
Taxes Really ?
It's June 1st. We have been back over 3 weeks. Time does go by. Because it's the new month it time to print off the statements from the bank and Visa so Randa can check them off. So while I was doing that I tried to find our Federal and State tax refunds. I filed them electronically in March. Or so I thought. No refund has shown up each time I check our checking account.
The IRS has an app so you can check on your refund. "No record" Hmm. Time to reopen Turbo Tax. Not good news. According to the program we had NOT e-filed yet. So after spending an hour online and on the phone with a rep, it is done. I have e-filed. (I hope). But this kinda makes me unsure of the quality of Turbo Tax. Sure glad the IRS extended the filing date.
The IRS has an app so you can check on your refund. "No record" Hmm. Time to reopen Turbo Tax. Not good news. According to the program we had NOT e-filed yet. So after spending an hour online and on the phone with a rep, it is done. I have e-filed. (I hope). But this kinda makes me unsure of the quality of Turbo Tax. Sure glad the IRS extended the filing date.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)