Talk about your dust bunnies…
I’ve been saving this for a while; I read most of the blogs in a feed reader (doesn’t everyone?), and it allows me to save the posts I like so I can share them here later! Whoopee!
This, over at Cute Overload, caught my eye a couple of weeks ago. With the state fair coming up, I was really afraid I might see some of this action:
Photos courtesy of Betty Chu.
You know, I was once involved in the rescue of several English Angoras that had not been so well cared for, and would you believe that under all of that hair they actually resemble bony little rats? We had to bathe them, and let me tell you, I’ve never seen such pitiful looking creatures. This was the daddy, Mike – he was the sweetest foster rabbit I’ve ever had.
Back in the saddle
I think I’ve fixed it. I spent the day installing a new keyboard and palm rest (who knew the trackpad was a whole big assembly thing?), and so far, so good. Now I just have to recover everything I lost when I did the system restore, and I’ll be back in business. In a way, it’s kind of good – starting fresh is always interesting.
I went to the state fair yesterday with Wia and Emma (and, of course, their parents). We had lots of fun – the girls were kind of underwhelmed by the animals, although the piglets, bunnies, and donkeys were a big hit. Also, I saw Casey and her daughter – but did I say anything? No. I’m a big dork. It was one of those instance where you’re not quite sure if you saw the person you think you did, and once you realize it actually was that person, it’s too late. Hey, the fair was crowded! The highlight of the trip, however, was the JUMBO strawberry shortcake. So, so good. I had to share it, but that was fine. Sadly, I only had time to take a couple of pictures… I find I’m really self-conscious about taking pictures of things other than family in public places, but it has more to do with the fact that I don’t know what the crap I’m doing than being worried about offending anyone. Which is too bad, considering I could use the practice.
There was this terribly cute exhibit called Little Hands on the Farm, and I think Wia is just the right age – she really seemed to enjoy it. The kids got an apron to wear and a little bushel basket to collect all their items.
They got cute little hats with the Pioneer logo.
And of course, she got to plant some “seeds”. There was a guy just on the other side of RC turning the sand in the sandbox, but being at the state fair, I doubt he found many “surprises”.
Technologically challenged
I’m sorry, internet folk. I’ve been needlessly quiet over the last week or so, and my only excuse is the depression that’s sucking me under. What’s causing it, you ask? Let me tell you. Last week, my beloved 2 year old Inspiron E1705 (Ralph) started flashing its wee battery indicator at me… amber, amber, amber, green. Which means temporary battery failure, or, more like D-E-A-D. Over the next couple of days the keyboard began to fail, and the trackpad began to move v e r y s l o w l y. Then, on Saturday, it gave me an error. Something about a file missing, and it wouldn’t boot into Windows! The horror! I called Dell’s tech support, and since I could get it to boot from the CD the “agent” suggested that I do a system restore. This puts everything back to factory settings, and he was sure that would fix the problem.
It didn’t.
I called back on Sunday and managed to get the boot issue fixed, but the keyboard and trackpad are so unbelievably slow that I can’t go about reinstalling and restoring all my files from backups. The “agent” said he would send me a new keyboard, but as of today it hasn’t shown up. I called again today, and the new “agent” said the chat session (apparently chatting is faster than speaking over the phone – who knew?) from Sunday ended before that “agent” could place the order. GAH!
Oh, and by the way, today I’m getting the original error again. It will eventually boot into Windows, but evidently a bad keyboard can cause this error. So, if I had installed a new keyboard before doing a system restore, I wouldn’t have to reinstall anything. Great. Thanks for telling me that NOW.
Don’t get me wrong… I have a backup desktop (George) I can use, but I don’t like to. I enjoy being able to sit in the relative comfort of my couch, watching (or listening, rather) to the background noise of the TV or iTunes while surfing. George is also not as speedy as Ralph, with his Intel Core Duo… he can run virus scans AND browse the internet with ease!
I’m a big weenie. Mostly I’m just upset because I don’t like it when my technology fails. I’d rather get a brand new laptop than fix the one I have, because now it’s not perfect anymore. I know, it’s nuts. Just call me crazy.
