Losing It

I have fallen behind the tech curve to keep up with some computer apps.  I may have to just give up and stop blogging.

Mac iPhotos has gone away and I need to go to the cloud.   I don't really have much idea what that is other than I have to go "somewhere else" to access my pictures.  

I've been a happy "cat-dad" for a couple decades.  I was able to switch from MS to Mac without major problems.  But Mac is getting kind of weird.  And I don't think I can switch back to MS.  I tried an MS computer 5 years ago and I couldn't make it do anything I wanted.  So it's a $1,000 doorstop.

I'll try to learn about "cloud", but I think my learning days are about done.  I have always been in total control of my computer and files, but I guess that is over now.  

OK, OK, I'm not good at quitting.  I'll try to learn about the "cloud" starting right after I post this.  But I think I;m not going to like it.

Computer Technology Issues

And for once, I don't mean mine.   I mean internet services and commercial computers.  I've been noticing more problems with both lately...

I shop at a grocery store that requires customer use of a touchscreen to pay.  First, the display always asks for donations.  It's irritating to have to deny a donation at every cash register in every store.  But I shop at the grocery store most often.

Sometimes I can't get the "No Thanks" notice to go away.  Tap the button with fingernail, fingertip and card corner and it stays for many tries.  I give directly to several charities, so I don't need the store to get a "cut" of what I donate.

Then I try to pay for my food.  The touchscreen offers tap, slide, and insert.  Tap almost never works.  Slide or Insert usually do. And my card offers all 3 options.  The cashier said they always have problems with Tap.  They didn't used to.

And the cashier's computer monitor shows different items than I bought.  The price is correct, but a peach is not a nectarine, and green leaf lettuce is not red leaf lettuce.  Well, if the price is the same, it doesn't matter too much.  

But sometimes I ask the produce manager why they have so much of one thing and not enough of a similar thing.  He says the store deliveries are based on the checkout data.  Given the inaccuracy of the checkout computer, I can easily see where their problem is.  Seriously, if their computer calls all peaches "nectarines", no wonder they have lots of nectarines and few peaches!

Outside at the store gas station (where I can use grocery-purchase points to get cheaper gas), the pumps no longer want to accept my store loyalty card half the time.  That it does work sometimes and not others means they have a tech problem.  

At a DIY store the other day, the card reader would not accept my card when inserted.  But it did when slide.  

This seems to be happening more and more often.  Are businesses just letting their technology fall behind to save money?  Are their profit-margins so tight that they have to let some things degrade to keep prices down?  I looked up my grocery store.  It had increased profits last year (and so far this year).

On the internet, Google has suddenly gotten worse about Blogger.  Suddenly for a week, when I want to upload images, it fails the first time, blanks the 2nd time, and usually works on a 3rd try.  Is it just me?  I stay updated on all software.

So it is something else.  Do they just not care, or are they just being careless about everything?  It seems to be happening everywhere I shop.

I'm not any sort of conspiracy-theorist.  Most problems are just people not doing jobs very well or getting overwhelmed by tech.  And I love tech!  It makes my world work.  But it feels like we are sliding downhill in some basics.

Do any of you have similar problems?

  

Hummingbirds

 I set out feeders 2 weeks ago.  One is by the kitchen window.  But I never saw any.  I feared that they weren't returning to my yard this year.  

But I heard a hummer-chirp in the yard a couple days ago.  And then I saw a male flitting around.  And if there is a male around, there must be a female.  And yesterday, I saw both at the feeder near the window.  YAY!

Mine are Ruby-Throated.  Not my own picture, but it was very like this...

I was SO glad to see both.  There is probably a nest in the backyard spruce tree.  They like that tree.  I have found nests there after they are unused by late Summer before.  I won't disturb them.

Meadow Garden

I've been trying to establish a meadow garden for years.  I should have followed the original guidelines and just covered the whole 15 x 30 bed with black plastic for a year, but I thought good transplants would grow.  They didn't.

So last year, I bought ten 5 gallon pots to grow tomatoes (my regular garden is too shaded) and stuck 30 meadow flowers around them.  They just sort of sat there all year.

This Spring, they exploded in growth!  All of a sudden, I had 8" thriving plants in 8 of the pots.  A few days ago, I started transplanting them to the meadow bed.  Finally, I had plants large enough to identify (the originals of past years came 2" high and the grass shaded them out)

Transplanting them from the tomato pots to the meadow bed has been hard.  I know how to transplant.  But the soil there is almost impossible to dig into.  It is all rocks in every place I dug.  I removed all the rocks, but it was exhausting works.  The shovel hits a 1" rock and it seems like a brick!  I finally found it best to pry them out with a trowel.

The meadow flowers I bought last year are tolerant of bad soil.  Years ago, it was a ridge in the backyard that I had a landscaper scrape level and add to the soils to a low spot in the front lawn.  That worked well.

Then I used a roto-tiller to mix the clay/sand 4' deep.  And then dragged around a board to smooth the surface.  The surface 4" is all good soil.  But 4" down it is still clay and rock.

Digging holes for the transplants about kills me.  6 holes takes an hour.  It is like I'm prying out bricks with a screwdriver!

But I've transplanted over a dozen 8" meadow flowers in the past few days.  I gave them a deep slow watering yesterday morning and they all perked right up by the afternoon.  I expect they will thrive.

Finally, I will have some meadow flowers that survive and grow!  I still have a few more to transplant, but the heavy sprinkler watering should make digging their holes a bit easier.  

I have some small ones from last year.  They didn't grow, but they did survive.  Since the ones I planted around the tomato pots (in great soil) did so well this year, I expect good results and larger plants next year to increase the size of the meadow bed.  

I'm going to have a meadow bed of plants that butterflies and bees want to visit if it (darn near) kills me.  😩

And some good news about the meadow bed.  Some flowers that seemed dead there last year have exploded with growth on their own.    There is a group of 6 identical plants in one spot, so they must be deliberate plantings.  

And there are 6 scattered around with small yellow flowers already emerging.  So they must be meadow flowers I planted in previous years that are finally maturing and thriving.  

I may have a functional meadow bed emerging!

Annual Flowers

After my Busted Shopping Trip , I sat down here and made a quick list of local flower sources (Lowe's, Home Depot, and Walmart).   Compared Impatiens, Petunias, and Marigolds.  Entered price, pickup vs delivery, and availability.

I like 6-packs.  Cheap and they catch up in size fast to the bigger-potted ones.  And I don't mind routine standard annual flowers; "color is color" on the deck.  Its not I'm listed on any garden tours!  😊

Walmart didn't offer much.  And I've learned they don't water their flowers as often as the should.  Dry soil is a bad sign.  😔

So it was Lowe's vs Home Depot.  Normally, that is not an issue.  Their prices are usually the same right to the penny.  But their garden center prices vary.  I've seen great deals at one or the other most years.  

I discovered that (this year, at least), Lowe's wants to deliver flowers (for a $15 fee) and Home Depot has them available for pickup (no fee).  And Lowe's is $1 more per 6-pack.  With 7 deck pots to fill, that matters.

Guess where I'm getting my standard annuals this year!

New Brother Printer, Part 2

 After a few good prints, the battery backup started screaming at me (only during printing) and nothing would print after.  I went crazy trying to figure out the sudden battery backup problem.  It didn't happen until I used the new Brother printer.

I did some internet searching.  I finally found a mention.  One single little sentence fixed my problem, but it was sure hard to find it.  "One little sentence" in a long list of trouble-shoots the site had me try!  

According to Brother, the printer can't be plugged into the same wall outlet or surge protector as the computer.  I'm no hardware guy, so the idea baffles me.  But when I finally did that "one little sentence" suggestion, everything worked!

It took 2 hours to get at that discovery, but I just printed a color picture and it worked with no battery backup problem.  

Computer problems can be horribly difficult sometimes, but research and persistence always seem to work eventually.  

All the equipment seems to be happy now.  I finally printed out this pic with no noise involved...

YAY!  😎

Busted Shopping Day

😖

I left the house yesterday morning to buy prescription canned cat food (Royal Canin Renal T and D for Marley and Hill's Biome Gastro-Intestinal  for Lori), some groceries, and some cheap annual flowers.

It just didn't go well!  I got to Petsmart and couldn't find the prescription papers.  I was totally confused about that and thought maybe I left them at the checkout station.  And then I realized they were next to my computer.

There was a reason for that.  The last time I bought them at Petsmart, the clerk advised me they would stop selling them in a few months.  Apparently they have to have a Vet onsite to do that, and they were losing theirs.  They  didn't know if it was just their store or company-wide.

So I decided to set up subscription deliveries with Chewy, Petco, and/or Amazon.  Their sites all said they would contact my Vet for authorization (which seemed a routine thing).  All of them later said my Vet would not authorize that.  But that I could email or fax them copies of the prescriptions and they woud accept that.  

I haven't done that yet, but the written prescriptions were all at my computer for copying, so they weren't in the car at Petsmart.  Bummer.  😞

So I drove to the grocery store.  And realized I had nothing I actually needed to buy.  Lots of good stuff I'll want next week, but not Friday.  I'm veggied, fruited , and meated up for a few days...

OK, so I could go to the DIY store for annual flowers (I was lazy and just didn't plant any myself this year).  But we have 3 major cheap sellers of 6 packs of annual flowers here (Lowe's, Home Depot and Walmart) and I had only looked at Home Depot online.  And it is easier to do price research at home.

So I just drove home... Wasted gas, wasted time, some confusion.  I've had better days.

What a lousy start to a day!

New Brother Printer

It's a doozie!  Model MFC-L 8905CDW.  Yeah, I splurged...   

But I can print in color again (and I assume scan and fax).  But it wasn't easy setting it up.  Not the printer's fault, I was just stupid and confused about a few things.  

First, let me say it is very early morning.  I couldn't sleep last night (too much sleep the day before).  So there I was in bed completely awake.  I got dressed and started a load of laundry.  And then I thought about The New Printer.  So I decided to install it.  Three hours later, it works.  And all the difficulties (except one) were completely my errors.

Second, let me say I bought a 1/8th" custom-cut plastic top for the computer desk 2 years ago (for easier cleaning) but never put it on because the (failed) canon printer was too damn heavy to move easily.  So I pulled the Canon off the deck (nearly killed me) and dumped it on the floor.  Moved all the other stuff to one side and lemon-pledged that.  Moved stuff again and did the other half.

I built the computer desk many years ago.  In fact, it is so old it has a slot for fanfold paper to come up from a box on a shelf underneath!  But it is sturdy and nicely finished, so I keep it.  With the old Canon printer off, I slid the plastic top halfway on, moved the smaller stuff onto it, and got it in place.  Looks lovely.

But guess what?  I can't lift the new Brother printer onto the desk!  It sits on the floor, which made plugging cables awkward and I think I'll need to keep it covered to protect it from cat furs.

So I read the startup instructions.  I say "read" but mostly it was just poor images I had to struggle to follow.  It came from China of course.  Pulled off all the packing tape.  Some packaging items were weird.  One part was like 12" of plastic that looked like part of the printer!

It was "oh that's what the drawing was about".  I went on like that for an hour.  Even some tape that looks like it should be removed apparently isn't.  😖

But I did get it properly unpacked.  Then "load paper".  OK, that wasn't a problem.  Next, plug in the printer.  Did that into the battery backup surge suppresser.   For fax capability, I had to connect a phone cord to the router.  On my back with a flashlight.  Struggled for a few minutes.

Finally came to "connect the printer to your computer".  Should be easy, right?  No, that took another hour.  The printer came with a CD for connecting.  It didn't work.  Apparently, my CD is too old.  There was a download site.  That drove me crazy.

The printer was plugged in and connected to the computer.  But nothing happened.  I pressed the on/off power button a few times.

Oops, wrong button!  I finally found the actual power button (unlit little dark circle).  And when I pressed that, the printer made a screaming noise!  I went through several iterations of on/off (saying "bad words" frequently).  

I finally went back under the desk with my flashlight and pulled out the power plug.  I had it in a non-backup outlet and it seems the printer didn't like that.  It stopped screaming at me  after I changed some plugs around to give it a battery back-up outlet.  😣

Keep in mind that the CD didn't work, so I was at a Brother help website...

And then the instructions said to connect the printer to the computer.   I wrote down the menu sequence.  It didn't work.  Drove me nuts.  Then I finally realized I hadn't actually plugged the printer into the computer!   I should be shot for "computer malfeasance".  😢

Hurray, the computer recognized the printer!  I printed out a nice color version of

If you work hard and long enough, sometimes things work!

TV Commercials

I think TV commercial designers are dumb as a pile of bricks!  I watch TV a lot while making dinner.  They don't affect my purchases, but I like good ones and most are not.

My favorite "stupid" one is some company that sells sleeping pills.  They use an owl as their mascot.

OK, think about that.  They are selling a sleeping aide and owls are nocturnal.  How damn stupid do you have to be to use a mascot that is naturally awake all night for a sleeping med?

Illogic is both entertaining and maddening sometimes!

 

Computer Printer

 I've given up on my Canon color toner printer.  I called Canon Help, and after long hold got a really helpful techie.  We tried all sorts of software fixes, but none worked.  And as I was asked to send a couple of screens by email, we got disconnected.

Second call got me referred to some place where no one knew his name.  But this guy was a hardware expert.  Said the "assembly fixture" was broken.  And "couldn't be fixed".  So, essentially, I have a 40 pound doorstop.

I have a closetful of old non-functioning computer equipment.  This is now just another piece that I should just recycle.  

He recommended several Canon printers.  But I did some research (Consumer Reports, some techie sites).  I ordered a Brother 

MFC‐L8905CDW Business Color Laser All‐in‐One Printer, 7” Touchscreen Display, Duplex Print/Scan, Wireless, White.  $700.  But sometimes you just want "the best".  It will arrive in 2 days.

Yay, I should be able to make Christmas cards again!  But mostly, I will be able to scan/copy/fax/color print again.

Sometimes, you have to "pay to play"!

Yappy Dog

 I need some advice.  I've never quite understood dogs.  I've never liked them (my family has a long history of bad events with them with one exception).  But I don't exactly dislike them in general.  I am aware of the long good history of humans and dogs cooperating and adjusting together.

But I need some help dealing with this one.  The neighbor lady speaks better English than I do Spanish, but that's not much on either side.  So I can't just go talk to her about it.

It never stops barking...

When I am out in the backyard, Yappy Dog is desperate to "get at me".  It has made my yardwork "unpleasant".  One part of me wants to just spray the darn thing with a garden hose.  Another part says "make it a friend".  

It looks sort of like this...

I'll consider all suggestions.  👍👎

Yappy Neighbor Dog

I do not love the yappy neighbor dog.  It disturbs my time outside.  It is noisy, annoying, and I don't need some animal trying desperately to find a way through the fence to attack me (small as it is).

But I worry about it sometimes.  I don't think it has a  really good life.  

First, the single Mother there tosses it out into the fenced backyard as soon as the kids leave for school.  So it alone almost all day.  I don't think dogs like to be alone.  It runs around the perimeter of the yard barking all day.

Second, I hear it barking outside late at night.  All Winter.  And even now, it is cold outside.  And there is no doghouse where it can go for shelter and some gradual self-heating.  I mean, I think that a doghouse warms up slightly by the heat the dog produces).

Third, I have never seen the kids actually play with the dog.  I have a deck and can see over the fence.  They just don't give any attention to it.

I don't know why they have it.  The Mother tosses it outside all day, the kids don't seem to play with it.  It is almost as if they think they should have a small yappy dog, but really find it annoying.  

I am not big on dogs, but I don't like the idea that one is "kept but not wanted".  OK, maybe when it is inside, they drown it in attention and love.  But I don't think so.  

Should I ask Animal Authority to look into this?  Or should I just leave the situation alone?  I sure would like it to have a better home, out of my hearing the incessant barking and aggression.

Random Stuff

I got my replacement glasses  Friday.  The store said the lens on the previous pair had been ground just a bit too small, so that is why the lens popped out.  Well, that explains whyI couldn't seem to tighten the frame screws.  They were already as tight as possible.  

And I was fussier than usual about how the new glasses fit.  It took them 4 tries to get the ear-piece to keep them snug but not too tight.  I ended up with the best fit I've ever had.  Two days later and I haven't had to push them back up on my nose a single time.

Renewed my small trailer registration online.  It wasn't completing correctly and sent me back a page several times.  I finally noticed a small print saying I hadn't checked a box about agreeing to "terms and conditions".  So I did and they sent me a temporary registration by email.

Speaking of the trailer, some jerk pushed the front off the support block last Winter.  The ground was muddy from heavy rain so the metal pipe that raises and lowers the front snk into the ground.  And then the soil froze!  I couldn't pull it out.

Now that the soil is thawed, I still can't.  But I have a scissor-jack.  I'll have to put a cinder block under the jack to lift the front of the trailer to pull the support post out of the soil.  And another to rest the freed support on.  Just a real pain.  I already have too many things I need to do.

I'm so far behind everything.  I haven't planted a single veggie or flower seed yet.  My basement gardening bench area is a complete mess!  I actually bought some heirloom tomato plants from Amazon.  And I think I will go to the local DIY stores to buy 6-packs of flowers in a few days.  This is not going to be my DIY growing season.

I had planned to build a new planting box around the mailbox (the old one finally rotted after 25 years) and fill it with better soil.  But my Stella D' Oro lilies have already emerged. So I can't cover them in deeper soil.  I can still build a box around them, but I'll have to wait til Winter to fill it with new rich soil.

The Washington Nationals baseball team bragged all Winter about the improvements they had made on the team.  But they are currently 1-6.  It doesn't seem like it will be even an average season.

My Ryobi self-propelled electric mower got recalled.  Something about a potential fire hazard in the battery connection.  They will send me a replacement.  But I have to cut out 6" of a wire cluster, take pictures of that and the serial number and model plate, email the pictures to them, and wait 6 weeks for delivery of the new one.

At least I just use it for trim work.  My main mower is a John Deere riding mower.  I love it, but there are places it can't get to.  I've gotten it stuck in a couple of places where I needed the car to pull it out.  And one place where I needed my 6' metal bar to wedge it backwards a foot at a time.  

The Mews are doing well.  Lori is calmer about Taz and Binq (shelter cats I adopted late 2023).  She still isn't perfect around them and resents their presence in her house, but "Bad" has become "OK".  I appreciate that.