Although Spring has sprung and we have had bouts of beautiful warm weather, it has turned freezing cold and rainy again. The boys are huddled in their blankets. No riding, just work and trying to stay warm.
I am in technology heck, with my desktop computer on the verge of death and my windows laptop close on its heels. Lack of memory seems to be at the root of the problem, and I can certainly identify with that. My desktop, 7 years old, has had issues since its conception and I have decided to pull its plug. The laptop, I am hoping to revive with added memory and tonight I plugged in an additional 1Gb chip, more than doubling it's previous capacity. I wish it was as easy to fix my brain. I have to say, I can see the difference--in the laptop, not in me. My memory is still feeble.
After 7 years, upgrading the desktop has been an adventure and it's not over yet. The friendly folks at Dell were (not too) sorry to inform me that, yes, I do need to get a machine with Windows 7 and because the (not too) friendly folks at Intuit have put out the word that they will not support any version of QuickBooks except 2010 on Windows 7, I needed to get the Professional version of Windows 7 because it has the capability of running a Windows XP window (or something like that). And the old Microsoft Office suite I have will not run on Windows 7, so I had to upgrade that as well. So I ended the conversation $1300 lighter although I did qualify for the 1-year interest free financing. The computer arrived on Tuesday as I was getting ready to go to a client's. The FedEx driver was kind enough to bring it inside the house, and I left the door open for him as he moved the boxes. After he left, I realized that I had not medicated Patches the cat, and then realized that Patches was nowhere to be found. Panic set in. I searched high and low, under the furniture and outside. No kitty. Panicking even further, I reluctantly called FedEx and eventually got a real live person, who seemed a bit bemused and put me on hold for an eternity. When he came back on the phone, he told me he had tracked down the driver, who had pulled the truck over and ransacked it looking for the cat, who of course was not on board. I thanked him profusely and let him know where to deliver the prodigal feline should she show up. Still frantic, but unable to do anything about it, I left for my client ( by now, about a half hour late) and then realized, about 2 miles down the road, that I had not actually seen the cat at all that morning, which meant that she was still asleep under the covers (yes, yes, I let the cat sleep under the covers with me). I had looked UNDER the bed but not IN the bed. So I was able to work with peace of mind albeit much embarrassment, and sure enough, when I got home, Patches was waiting for me. I really need to send a very nice note to FedEx but I'm just too embarrassed.
I will probably never get home delivery again. When UPS delivered my saddle a few months ago, they left the note on my door stating that they were sorry they missed me. I arrived shortly after, and determined that those tire tracks were fresh, and stalked the driver until I found him around the corner. I blocked him in the driveway of his delivery and forced him to dig out the saddle and put it in my car. I guess I need to look into DHL for delivery service as they are the only company that I don't seem to have some sort of humiliating experience with.
Anyway, I am still working on getting the new computer set up. Being stuck with dialup has been a thorn in my side (really big thorn) for years and it is festering more all the time. Turns out that dialup is so obsolete that new computers, including the one I just bought, don't even have modems built in. A real problem since they won't do ANYTHING without internet access. So I had to research and order an external modem, which arrived today and I haven't had time or fortitude to deal with. Also, although you can run that parallel XP program with Windows 7 Pro, it doesn't actually come with it. You have to download it, along with some other utilities, from the internet. All 500 MB of it. Even with a modem, that is pretty much impossible. BUT, it turns out that the wireless card that I use with my laptops actually works with the new computer, so I was able to download XP last night.
One last hurdle is that my printer doesn't work with Windows 7 without downloading the new driver, so I was going to tackle that next. But it may not be necessary since, as of this morning, the printer seems to be on strike. Everything seems to work except that all the copies and printouts come out blank. No error message about low toner levels, although that cartridge is getting elderly. Now I have to see if it is a toner cartridge problem, or if that printer is so attached to the old computer that it has no will to go on without it.
I hear that working out problems keeps your mind active and puts off the onset of senility. At this rate, I will never be senile although the problems might drive me insane.
Oh, Joan--you make my day sometimes. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the wireless card works, that's great!
The rest of it is exactly why Steve has not replaced his desktop. Unfortunately, when it died the other day (though we resuscitated it), he realized it is inevitable.
And you may not ever get senile, no, but some might say you are already a little insane. :) Of course, that would be a bit like the pot calling the kettle black, too.