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Upgrade
A while back when the Scientist was doing yet another component replacement/upgrade I said that next time it happened I was going to switch to a laptop. My desktop computer has been problematic for a few weeks. Sometimes it wouldn’t boot properly and then there has been an ongoing problem with trying to update apps and even to do any downloads. So I casually started looking at laptops without much serious consideration. I almost bought a laptop at a local retailer but the only model left was the floor model and the salesperson refused any sort of price reduction for what was essentially a used machine. I really wasn’t keen on having a demo model anyway. Who knows what sort of damage might have been done to it.
I started looking more seriously and ended up at the Dell website. They had a number of models on sale and I wavered between various types. I was really keen on the 2 in 1 machines but wasn’t sure if that was a good direction when I was replacing a desktop. I finally set my sights on what is essentially a low-end laptop. It isn’t cheap but it has plenty of RAM and an I7 processor which should last quite a long time. I ordered it last Thursday and it arrived yesterday. Not bad service considering the ETA was originally the 20th. So far the machine is quite lovely. It has a 256 SSD and a 1 TB HD so it should be good for a while now.
One of the most noticeable things about it is how quiet it is. Admittedly I haven’t used any power hungry programs yet but it has hardly made a sound since I got it, aside from audio sounds. The trackpad is nice and smooth and far easier than others I’ve used. I particularly like that it has a numeric pad on it, which is one of the things I would miss with a laptop.
I’m still setting things up so I am still getting to know it. While waiting for this to arrive I’ve been using an old Samsung PC tablet. I think I’ve had it for four or five years now and I’m amazed at how good it still is for what it is. It’s an i5 processor and it also has an SSD which makes start up really quick. I seriously thinking about using for iTunes so I don’t have to have all the extra programs on my laptop. One thing that neither has is an optical drive so I am waiting for the local shop to get more in stock so I have something to use on the rare occasion when I need it.
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In the thick of it
It seems I am probably a bit further into my journey to menopause than I realised last time I posted. During this time, one period was completely missed and my body is currently trying to play catch up so it’s wreaking a bit of havoc on the body, enough that I wonder at what point I should see a doctor. It’s a bit more complicated than that but it seems likely my hormones have been a lot more off than they had been. Still no hot flashes. :)
Yesterday I had all sorts of problems with my computer and it soon came to my attention that I no longer had Malwarebytes running on my system. It seems to have stopped back in July and after considerable effort (helped immensely by the Scientist) it was apparent my installation was corrupted. Eventually I was able to uninstall it and reinstall. All seems to be running fine at the moment.
The problems on my computer led me to finally getting two step verification on some email accounts set up so that I can access them on the devices I want to use. This took quite a bit of going back and forth between accounts and setting things up but that also seems to be working properly and I can now check the email accounts with frequent use on my current phone, old phone, Ipad, tablet PC and desktop with no issues.
My temporary/casual job finished on the 12th of this month so I am back to the usual day to day stuff. I kind of miss the idea of work as I was earning a bit of money to add to the family accounts. It is nice not to have so many days wiped out at the moment though, particular at those times when I have to take a child to an appointment.
It’s been several months since our old lawn mower died on us and over the winter, the grass had grown rather tall in some areas. The Scientist and I went to a few places to check out potential replacements and after some indecision, we settled on another low-end sort of electric one which is probably a bit better than our previous model. I immediately set out to mow our front yard and after well over an hour, had made good progress. I was mowing along the side of the driveway, back along the side of the carport when the power disappeared abruptly as I accidently mowed over the power cord. We’ve only ever owned electric and I’ve not done this before (although did run over the solar light cord under tree several years ago). Â I discovered that not only had I destroyed the power cord but caused the power to go out in the house. It was too late to do more mowing so I didn’t end up getting a new cord until the next day. By then it was raining so I’ve now had to wait for things to dry again. I did get enough done to make the front yard look much better, much bigger. It’s amazing how much space tall grass seems to take. The backyard is still untouched but I will hopefully get to that in the next couple of days unless we get more rain.
Cutting the grass soon will be quite beneficial for the dogs, who are off to the groomer tomorrow. Little boy dog will get a full clip and finally get all the knotted fur cleared out. It seems to get so difficult to manage once it reaches a certain length. Fortunately it’s now spring so I don’t have to worry too much about him being cold. We had the warmest recorded day in September on Saturday and on Sunday, the high was not much different than the low had been overnight. It’s been considerably cooler the past few days but seems to be warming a bit again. I know to expect changes in temperature but I would prefer to avoid such drastic changes.
I was very happily surprised to find out Neil Finn is playing a concert at a winery down in Margaret River in November. It’s a one-off show and features one support act I’ve not seen but would like to and another one I’ve seen two or three times before. The downside is it’s a 3.5 hour drive to get there, which means a return trip of similar length. We considered trying to stay overnight but it seems there aren’t many options due to this being during a food and wine thing happening during this weekend or week. Anyway, we are going to try to wing it. I suspect it will mean that the Scientist does the driving there and I drive back since I will be more awake.
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It’s the weekend-odd and ends from the past week or so
A couple weeks ago the Scientist and I both installed Windows 8 on our computers. Last weekend, I had a problem where my computer wouldn’t move out of sleep mode and something must have gone wrong because no amount of recovery would work. Eventually it was decided to do a clean installation and also to replace the hard drive as it was kind of old and started to get crowded. The installation went fine and I’m still trying to install some of my missing software. I ran into some troubles when I tried to load my outlook mail files and have yet to find the most recent files. I do, however, have files going back five years or more. Most of my email in recent years has gone through my gmail accounts so I should be able to retrieve most things but it doesn’t feel right for it to be missing.
I finally replaced my stolen camera last weekend too. After buying the required items from the computer shop, the Scientist and I ended up dropping in to Camera House in the mall. It’s not the one we usually visit as it’s a bit further away from the local store, but it seems to be one of the better stocked stores in the chain. It happens that the model I wanted, an Olympus Pen PL-5, Â had just come in a couple days before and hadn’t even made it out of the box yet. I looked at it and also the “mini” version plus the Canon G15, which is very much like the camera that was stolen. I even had a quick look at a another Canon but that one was really not what I was looking for. I eventually bought what I’d expected to buy and brought it home. When you’ve used cameras from the same company for a few years, it’s a bit weird to be faced with totally different operating systems and controls. I found it overwhelming at the start because it really is quite different than any of the others I’ve used. But I’m getting more used to it and learning the controls little by little. Hopefully I’ll be up to speed with it before the next birthdays and holidays.
Monday morning, I logged onto the computer early to buy tickets for the Neil Finn-Paul Kelly concert happening next March. I really enjoyed the one-off show they did last year so I imagine the next one will also be pretty special. It was kind of funny because I happened to comment a couple weeks ago that it looked like we wouldn’t be seeing and Finn-related shows this year. While that is true, this tour was announced just a few days later and now we have the anticipation of the next show. I’m hoping to take my new camera with me and try it out on the low lighting of the venue.
A couple days ago I was taking our family friend, an intellectually disabled man, to the library and gym as a carer. While at the library I decided to check out a couple of books. I haven’t used this card for a while so it was necessary to update details. It was a bit of a shock when the librarian read out my alternate contact as my friend who died earlier this year. This really surprised me because I do recall using her as a contact for a couple of libraries. But it was weird feeling to have her name pop up like that. Today would have been her fiftieth birthday so I’ve been particularly feeling her absence today. Her name also popped up on Facebook as she had an account that she hardly used. I keep thinking I should remove her name from my friends list but it doesn’t feel right to do that for some reason.
My shoulder is starting to feel better now. I’m still taking pain tablets daily but I was able to drop down to just one a day this week. It’s been hard having to avoid exercises using these muscles but I’ve mostly managed it so far. All going well I should be able to start moving back to my usual exercise next week. I’ll have to be cautious, though, because I seem to suffer more pain hours after exercise than I do while doing it. Meanwhile, my legs have been getting a pretty good workout on the cardio machines lately. To end on a really positive note, the woman who owns the gym has said she wants to do before and after photos of the Scientist and me in January as we’ve both made some good progress since we started. The Scientist has already lost 10kgs since the end of August. My weight hasn’t dropped a lot but my other measurements have gone down pretty steadily and it’s obvious by the way my clothes fit.