Cliff's new laptop

So yes, we got Cliff a new laptop; the five-year-old Toshiba didn't have much memory and had gotten slow as molasses in January.  The new Dell (not a high-end model) arrived today.
I put all Cliff's favorites on it and he began surfing.  He agreed that it's faster, and the pictures are sharper on it.  
Then he needed assistance logging onto his gmail account, so I helped him.  Upon logging in, I saw all these old emails he's read already.  
"Cliff," I said, "Why do you have all these emails here that you've already looked at?"
"Oh hell," he said, "They're funny.  I like to look at them again."  
"But they're cluttering things up," I said.  
"No, I want to keep them; they're funny."
Alrighty then.  Let's leave twenty already-read emails there.
He's come a long way in the past year, but he has a lot to learn.  The tabbed browsing still throws him for a loop.  
And sometimes he wants me to move something, or fix something, that's impossible.  
Don't get me wrong, I'm not making fun of him.  I'm the woman who has to ask her daughter to figure out how to use a digital picture frame.  
Getting old ain't for sissies.

Waiting... impatiently

I've told the world about my intention of getting a Mac Mini... soon! It's the most economical way for me to try out the world of Macintosh computers. Dell had a great deal on monitors, and I decided to order one while they're hot. You know, to go with my Mac.

So now the Internet is buzzing with rumors that the Mac Mini is soon (possibly this month) going to be updated so it will be cheaper and better. I can't go ahead and buy one until I find out if the rumors are true, right?

Worst case scenario? I'll have a big, wide, brand-new monitor. If I have to, I'll buy a Dell PC and get a Mac another time. It's a win-win situation.

Oh, and I do believe I have comments working again.

About that Mac I was going to buy

Both my desktop and my laptop are functioning fine right now, thank you very much.

I know, however, that the time is short for both of them.

I had been thinking of replacing both of them with Macs, when the time comes.

Ain't gonna happen. OK, maybe the laptop, when the old one dies. But not my main computer.

When I realized I could buy four PCs for the price of one Apple Mac, I knew what I'd choose.

Now if I ever win the lottery... watch out! I'll have both.

My next computer

I have a desktop and a laptop. Both are around three years old (incredibly old age for computers that suffer through the wear-and-tear and ignorance mine do) and have had current tuneups; they're working fine; whatever little glitch the laptop had seems to be gone.

As long as they're working, they have a home. But whichever one breaks down next is going to be replaced by a Mac. I'm already window-shopping online so I'll be prepared. My daughter has used a Mac laptop for a long time, so she'd be able to advise me in the transition. I'm sure many of my readers could give me some tips... Hyperblogal, for instance, who gave me this piece of advice in a recent comment:

"Donna, I can tell from your love of life, your sense of humor and your willingness to embrace technology to convey all of the above.... that you are a MAC person trapped in a Microsquish world. You must plan now to leave the dark side, come into the light and exit the virus ridden, pop up message world that is MS. There is still time, but you must accept the truth. 9 years running... no viruses over here.

Thanks for the invitation, sir. As long as our current prosperity continues on this homestead, my plan is to "leave the dark side" when one of these antiques crashes permanently. With the present economy like it is, of course, things could change; I might be forced to buy one of those cheapo Dells at Walmart when the need arises.

Otherwise, I'm coming to join you.

My aging computer

Two years is about as long as a computer has ever lasted me, and this one is six months past that mark. Now that I have air conditioning and a less dusty environment, I expect more mileage from my PC's.

For the last couple of weeks, this Dell has "hung up" ever so often. I wait until it's done sulking, then go back to tending MyFarm on Facebook, or whatever other important task I may be in the middle of.

Yesterday I got the old blue screen of death, only the computer recovered. I turned it back on, and it's working just fine. I went to the Dell website and did some window-shopping until common sense took over, and I realized that before I abandon this old friend, I'd be wise to just take it to a pro for a little tuneup. After all, it does everything I need; I don't need any more bells and whistles. The only way this PC disappoints me is that it won't let me watch full episodes of TV shows I've somehow missed; why did some genius schedule Grey's Anatomy at the same time as CSI, anyhow?

Oh well, I have my laptop for that, and the recliner is more comfy than this office chair, when I'm settling in to view a show that lasts for forty-five minutes.

If this thing should crash permanently during some fatal error, I'm prepared: This time I have an external hard drive with all my cherished pictures and music on it. So at least there won't be tears shed, like in times past.

I'd love to consider a Mac next time I do make a computer purchase, but the price puts me off. I've heard some complaints about Dell lately, so I'll probably end up going to Best Buy and getting something off the shelf there, when a purchase is necessary. Let's hope I don't have to do that for at least six more months.

Life with a hot tub or spa

When we purchased our hot tub, a sample of our water was tested and we were given an assortment of chemicals to be used for the maintenance of said tub. Things to raise and lower the pH, de-scaling junk, you name it. We were given a sheet of instructions on when and how to use all these. Cliff informed me that, since I'm the one who'll be using the tub the most, I need to take care of the chemicals. I agreed with that.

I blithely tossed in the first three or four ingredients to be used before we ever got in the tub. After doing so, I glanced again at my instructions and realized I was supposed to put the first thing in ahead of the others and wait awhile. Oops.

I was instructed to add two teaspoons of chlorine concentrate after every use of the hot tub, so upon getting out of the spa, I'd do that. A couple of weeks later, I noticed I was supposed to add it with the pump running. Oops.

The weekly maintenance thing didn't seem like such a big deal to me. Just add three chemicals in the proper amount. But yesterday, after a month of hot tub use, I realized that the pump is supposed to run for two hours after adding the de-scaling stuff. Oops.

Oh, and also yesterday I noticed I was to clean the filters before using that stuff. Oops.

One of the chemicals is to be added with the pump running but the aerators off. Hmmm. OK, I think I've figured out what that means... hit the "jet number 1" button once, not twice.

Something I figured out as soon as I read the manufacturer's book: there's virtually no guarantee on a hot tub. If you don't keep the pH right, that can mess it up and you are at fault. In fact, practically anything that goes wrong with it can be blamed on ME.

It isn't physically hard, but it's wearing out my brain. Are swimming pool chemicals this difficult to figure out?

On another note, when I got up this morning and turned on my computer, it wouldn't access the Internet. This is a common occurrence, and my first move is always to fire up the laptop so I'll know whether it's the desktop or my DSL connection that's failed me. Today, as usual, my laptop connected; the problem was with this computer.

My next move is to turn the computer off and unplug it for awhile. Often, when I plug it back in and turn it on, it works. Not today.

Then I tried "system restore". After all, I did install that new program yesterday. So I did a "go-back" to Saturday. Of course, Backstreet Browser was gone, but perhaps my computer would now connect to the Internet.

Nope.

OK, that leaves one other thing: turn off the computer, unplug the DSL box, and wait awhile. Come back, turn on the DSL, wait till the lights quit dancing, and turn on the computer.

That fixed the problem. I have no idea why. In fact, I don't know why any of these things works.

The world of computers is a mystery to me. Very much like this real world.

bargains

I guess like most folks, I get caught up in griping about price increases: the cost of gasoline or propane; good grief, $3 for a loaf of bread; veterinary services for dogs and horses.

But sometimes there's some good news.

Our microwave oven is getting a bit tired. It tends to burn popcorn before it's all done popping. It's taking longer and longer to cook those frozen chimichangas I keep around for the grandkids.

So, I browsed the Internet to check out prices. Wow, have these things come down in price, or what? The one pictured here is less than $50 at Wal Mart. It even has a turntable, which is a feature I've never had on a microwave.

We bought our first microwave when my kids were still living at home, probably around 1983. I'm sure it cost over $300, and of course we got it on credit. Hey, that was a lot of money then!

Computers are like this. I believe when I got my first Gateway in 1998, it cost close to $1,000; and that was one of the cheapest models to be found. It had a 6-gigabyte hard drive.

These days, the cheapest computer you can buy has at least 60 gigabytes, and you can get one for under $400.

Wow.