Some days you spend all day doing routine work around the house. Some days you spend all day doing one major infrequent task. Some days you accomplish a lot of fairly unusual stuff.
Today was the last type...
1. My online Mac computer had looked stretched out for a couple of days. Symbols that were supposed to be circles were ovals, the text seemed oddly spaced, some sidebars weren't showing all the information they usually do, and people in pictures looked fat. I had tried a couple of times to correct that in my settings and window sizes, but nothing worked.
2. My offline Windows 95 computer (that I bought a month ago for playing some old favorite games suddenly stopped working). I had just bought cheap speakers for it and there both a typical small round plug and a USB connector on the same speaker wire. There were no actual instructions in the box, so I made a best guess and plugged in the round plug into each of the several small round port in the back. Nothing. So I unplugged that and tried the USB port. Nothing. Then I tried both. Nothing. So I unplugged the speakers entirely assuming they didn't work with such an old computer.
When I restarted the computer, instead of the usual Windows 95 demand to press f1 for setup or Esc to boot, I got a message saying to insert a bootable disk. Naturally, in my cleanup campaign last Fall, I had tossed old "useless" software like the original Win 95 and Win 98 disks... I figured I had shorted something, messed up the installed Win 95 software, or something and would have to haul the tower to the local PC repair shop.
3. I have never been a dedicated paper filer. Oh, I'm ORGANIZED. A file folder for everything. But I tend to just drop stuff on the top of the file cabinet to file "later". The stack was 6" high and I needed several things in it. But sorting the stack out meant I needed space, and my dining table was clutterred. Recipes, DIY articles, computer and security advice, gardening suggestions, medical articles, etc. Yeah, I'm a "clipper". So to de-clutter the table meant I had to file stuff. Catch-22!
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So, today I decided to tackle those annoying problems...
1. I tried another round of correcting the setting on the Mac, to no success. For those who don't have a Mac (and having used both Macs and Windows, I make no judgement). But I use a Mac online, so you can tell which I prefer. And to those of you who use a Mac and have experienced the Finder App, you understand why. The other joy is the way Macs can stay in sleep mode without problems.
But it occurred to me that some problems can be solved just by restarting a computer. So I actually went a step further and SHUT IT OFF! First time in months... After a few minutes, I started it back up. Problem solved! Everything looks normal again. I concluded it was one of those "cats on the keyboard" things. Macs have loads of keyboard shortcuts, and the cats frequently (randomly) activate some and I have to admit some of them take time to figure out how to undo.
One problem solved...
2. Encouraged by that, I sat down at the bewly-purchased old Windows computer. I tried restarting it. No luck. I tried shutting it down. No luck. I tried unplugging it from the surge protector for a few minutes. No luck. Same message demanding a bootable disk. Considering that a visit to the PC repair shop was sure to cost at $200, I was about to but Windows 95 from Amazon or eBay, but them I recalled the stacks of game disks on the bookshelf. I recalled that when I switched form Windows to Mac I had copied all my Windows folders to writable CDs. Mac apps can read most standard Windows formats like .doc, .xls, .jpegs, etc. And I had saved those (and in fact I think there are old pic and docs and even emails that I should retrieve, having deleted some trying to solve a storage proble. 8 years ago, but that is a future project).
What I recalled having ALSO done was copy the entire old Windows C drive the last time I bought a new one (on advice from a clipped article - that's why I clip stuff). And sorting through about 30 jewel case of disks, there it was! A CD labelled "Original From Store Basic Win 98 Configuration" dated 4/23/99...
I hoped the Bootable File would work. I slipped it into the CD drive, restarted the computer, and "Lo And Behold", up came the desired request to choose setup or boot. I chose setup, which means the computer wants you to establish the date and time, display resolution, etc, just like the first time I started it after purchase. It opened Win 95 again, and sure enough, the few files I had added since purchase where there.
When that was done, I took out the old CD copy of the Win 98 program, slipped in the game disk (Civilization II - Best non-real-time play-at-your-own-speed strategic fighting and city-building game of all time... And I could play it again!
Two problems solved...
3. The paperwork filing was in no way tricky, just unbelievably tedious. To make room om the dining table, I sorted out all the clipped articles and set them on the kitchen counters (at this point do I really need to tell you that I had to clean the kitchen first, LOL!)? So after that, I had an empty table to sort out the bills. It's amazing how many types of them there were. Some are monthly or quarterly, so I knew they needed their own spots. Some come in a bunch at once (like vet bills). Some are nearly one-offs (stuff that isn't regular). Those got their own stack. Some were tossable (like the 2017 recycling pickup schedule and my 2018 Health Care Insurance Plan summary).
Iza wanted to help, so that meant rearranging a few stacks. But I eventually got them all sorted out. Which them meant arranging each group by date. Finding the dates on some bills can be hard (companies that keep rearranging the layout on their bills should be penalized).
But I started with the smallest stacks and arranged them on the floor by date (Iza was happy to help again). I filed those. That finally left some space on the table and I got through all the stacks, filing as I went. What a relief. And I found a few of the documents I was looking for. I even had some letters and poems that had stayed on the bottom of the stack the previous time I had sorted and filed stuff.
I think I should end this post and discuss those next time...
But today had some good endings and that doesn't always happen. So I'm pretty pleased with the day's work. And of course that doesn't count the routine stuff. I'm celebrating getting the odd stuff done.
