Flowerbeds Part 2

I love my 2 Saucer Magnolia tress.  The early Spring flowers are gorgeous.  But they walk a dangerous line with the weather.  One cold night, and all the emerging flowers die!  If I had it to do again, I would have planted Star Magnolias.  They open their flowers a week later.  So, they bloom more reliably.  

They are lesser in showy flowers but more reliable.  But I chose the Saucer Magnolia because there was a small park across the street from my office and I was awed by their beauty.  And the trees have pleasingly twisted branchs and nice green leaves the rest of the year. But they were in the center of Washington DC and city-centers are warmer.  

This year seemed promising.  Lots of buds, and the weather forecast was for wees of above-freeze temperatures.  Alas, a 22F night snuck in and killed are the blooms.

I was lucky to get this one, starting to open just before the freeze.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you get frozen blooms!  At least the cold temps don't kill the tree.  And I have some backups for the future.  2 years ago, I planted 2 korean dogwoods and 2 Sourwoods in the far backyard.  The Dogwoods will bloom a couple weeks later in Spring and the Sourwoods don't exactly bloom, but the leaves turn bright red in Fall.

It has actually been a hard couple of years for trees here.  The drought 2 years ago was harsh.  A Beech tree in the front yard died outright.  I have 2 Golden Rain trees at the street on either side of my driveway.  I died and the other is barely alive (just several small branches with leaves emerging).  I may try to clip some small shoots and root them.  

A huge Sweetgum tree has been falling apart slowly for years.  I don't really mind that (it shades the garden).  But the trunk is going to fall on my fence eventually.  And it has shady siblings.  I hope they die too (I can use the light).  I can't have them cut down because they are actually (barely) on the neighbor's property and they don't care about my garden.  But I can hope they die natural deaths like the falling one.

When I moved here, the backyard was filled with junky trees.  I cut down some and a couple fell over on their own.  Wild blackberries and English Ivy took over.  They are hard to remove.  My hope is that the 4 new specimen trees (2 Dogwoods and 2 Sourwoods) will shade them out between chainsaw and brush-cutting efforts, but it will take a few years.  

I'll get the backyard cleaned of problem-plants eventually (and as the new trees grow).  Then I can try to remake the 10' pond and get the place looking as good as it did 10 years ago!

Flowerbeds Part 1

I've been slack about posting about the yard.  Too much griping about the computer (new one arrive 4-21 I hope).  So this starts 4 posts about the flowerbeds for this year, grouped by dates.

I covered the entire area of the main daffodil bed with black plastic last fall afrer the first hard freeze to try to smother the weeds.  Can't do it earlier than that because rain collects in small pools and mosquitos love that.  

When I saw the first daffodils emerge near the house (where it is warmer and they come up faster) I pulled all the plastic off.  There were some daffodils struggling to find light there already.  I should have realized that the black plastic warmed the soil.

But they recovered and greened up quickly.  So here are the first.

I planted them originally in pie-slice segments.  Daffodils come in varieties than emerge early-middle-late.  I thought the succession would look best that way.  Had I to do it again, I would have planted them randomly so that the entire  bed would be in partial bloom early to late.  But it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The earliest ones bloomed rapidly...

In the front yard, the same daffodils were also blooming.  Fortunately, I DID randomly plant early and late daffodils, so there are blooms March-April.  And I chose yellow for early and white for late, so it changes the front yard "look".

The Nandina bushes are lovely and hardy.  And I have 24 rooted and healthy ones growing from seeds I collected.  Some will grow along the drainage easement and some will form a property line with a neighbor.  They are very deer-resistant and around here, that is a very good thing.

A closeup of the early daffodils at their best...

And I have individual clumps in the back yard.  Daffodils are toxic to voles, so they just go on blooming every year.  These are probably 30 years old.

More old clumps.

More old clumps.

A nice hyacinth.  I originally planted 50 in a 4' circle.  They are not toxic to voles.  So this is one of the last (lucky) survivors who haven't been found yet.  They smell AMAZING!

Closeup of the main flowerbed early daffodils...

And from a different angle.  Well, I do walk around the beds.  

Two weeks later, the next batch were blooming and the older ones still had flowers.

Best pic of both together...

A mid-bloom clump.

The fullest bloom of the frontyard daffodils.

A closer pic...

I decided to plant daffodils shortly after I moved here.  Well, I knew they lived long (and prospered).  But there was a yard I drove past frequently (not in my neighborhood, but on a sidestreet shortcut to the grocery store) that had a large daffodil bed.  I admired it a couple of Springs before I realized "I can do that".  It took some work (nothing good is easy, or everyone would do it).

And I planted tulips and hyacinths among them.  The voles ate all of those.  So I bought mesh wire and made cages to protect a 2nd planting.  That worked better, but tulips don't live long and maybe the wire mesh small enough to keep the voles away were also too small for the hyacinths.  I need to mark where the cages are and dig them up to try again after the stalks of the surviving bulbs die back down.

Later blooms next post...

Persistence

 I sometimes don't realize how frustrating computers are to others.  Some people are skilled at them; the hardware or the apps parts.  Some people just have to live with the frustrations.  I'm in the middle, I think.

I know enough to try.  Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail.  That may be the most maddening of all.  I sometimes think it would be better to know most all of it or less of it. The first is very helpful and the 2nd pretty much lets you just "accept".

The middle means you struggle constantly.  Knowing what to do is like killing the wolf at the door with a gun.  Not knowing is like just accepting things and throwing a steak at the wolf.  Being in the middle is like just having a knife against the wolf.

*Sigh*

This time, I had to accept the wolf.  I can't wait for the new computer.  It will "probably" solve most problems.  Probably...  I won't know until it gets here and I set it up.  I'm hoping it is a hardware problem, fearing it may not be.  

I both love and hate computers.

Good, Bad

The bad news is that I had to struggle through my tax software with the old Mac Mini.  

The good news is that it still worked.

The bad news is that the taxes were hard as hell because I needed a statement from my Credit Union and my password wouldn't work.

The good news is that the Credit Union emailed me the statement.

The bad news is that it needed a paasword, too and in a pdf format my computer refused to open..

The good news is that I got it open in Preview "eventually".

The bad news is that I couldn't print the whole page full size (needed a magnifying glass to read the numbers).  

The good news is that the numbers were about right.

The bad news is that my inkjet printer decided to run out of ink.  

The good news is that I finally found the dedicated printer cable for the "new" color toner printer that has been sitting around for a year refusing to connect to the Mac Mini.

The good news is that it worked (after "many bad words" at the "add a printer app").  

The good news is that the toner printer printed out the Credit Union statement, full size.

The bad news is that it was so unexpected to work, I almost had a heart attack when it began to print.

The good news is that I completed and printed my tax forms.

The bad news is that I owe some additional taxes to Federal and State.

But in general?  More good than bad.  The color toner printer works great.  Loud, but who cares?  And my taxes are done.  I'll call that a "win".

Bad Day April 3

Sorry, everyone.  I got SO frustrated with the existing computer.  I kind of "lost it" suddenly a few days ago.

It was weird.  The computer had mostly stopped the frequent restarts, but then suddenly got very hot (some heat before for weeks but HOT recently.  I was also noticing that more original-size photos were disappearing from my Photo app.  

I went through an entire "restore" from my Time Machine backup from 2 weeks previous.  It took about 9 hours and I had to be there to answer a few dumb questions (like, "do you wish to continue"?). 

I got the computer "restored".  But I had lost the photos I had taken after that date.  Fortunately, I was able to import them back from a later backup.  It almost makes no sense, but it does really.  I needed the restore from mid-March to avoid some problems, but the newest backup processed photos were OK.  I keep the full-sized photos in Photo, and the smaller (cropped an light-adjusted) ones in a separate set of folders'

The full-sized Photo files (about 1.5-5 MB) are for quick viewing "all at once".  The processed ones (100-300 KB) are for posting.  Both have some value.

It occurs to me that, with a bit of tedious work, I can recover the missing Photo pics (at smaller size) back to Photos.  They look about the same regardless of size.  There are many I would love to have easier access too in Photos.

But they weren't the cause of the problems I have been having.  They were annoying.  What made me snap and shut down the computer and pull out all the cables in anger was the difficulty in commenting on the cat blogs.  And not being able to do that became maddening.

I felt I was just "one-way", receiving comments but not sending them.  Once in a while, they would get through but mostly they wouldn't.  It was either some old apps on my end or the computer was dying.

I gambled on increasing the RAM a few months ago.  That didn't help.  I tried shutting down the computer between uses.  That cooled it off, but didn't really solve anything long-term.  A Mac Mini is intended to be left on in "sleep mode".

I decided to replace it, and that was annoying.  For the price of going from 8 RAM to 16 RAM AND having a technician come out to install it, I could have bought a renewed one from Amazon that would surely have lasted a couple of years.  

But that is spilled milk, water under the bridge, water over the dam, etc. 

I checked Amazon.  For my habits and purposes, I wanted a 1 TB, 16 RAM, Intel 5 or 7 chip, and plenty of ports.  And I was tired of "renewed".  They didn't have one new.

So I went to Apple directly, expecting a hideous price.  To my surprise, I found exactly what I was looking for new and found their prices are more reasonable than they used to be.  Competion is good.

So I will have a new Mac Mini computer April 21-15.  The only difference is that it will have the new Apple M1 chip instead of an Intel.  Well, it must work or they couldn't sell it (famous last words).  I may have to change some apps.  I hope I can still manage to do that.

Meanwhile, I will spend some time importing processed photos back in the Mac Photo app, clean out old docs and gifs, and read friends' cat blogs until I can comment again. 

I HOPE! 

Gone

 Gone.

More Computer Woes

I feel like a broken record sometimes...  computer, computer, computer.   I'm almost surprised anyone reads this blog lately.

I mentioned previously that the HD was backed up, so I erased the HD to try and try to restore the most likely "OK" apps a few at a time to see where the frequent restart problem was.  Great in theory, but it is not ( have learned) easy to restore some apps selectively.

I am probably misunderstanding some things, but it seems that some apps won't restore directly, but need to be re-installed via the original download installer packages.  I can't find some of them.  Maybe some kinds of files don't get included in the backup program or I need to change settings to cause them to backup.

They say "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing".  True.  I know enough to think I can fix things, but that same knowledge is "just enough" to get me wading in computer fixes that turn out to be too deep.

So I decided the better part of valor was just to restore the whole HD, and think of something else to try.  Eliminating all apps I could do without and or re-download free was one.  Getting the computer to a repair place was another.

I restored the HD successfully.  It took 9 hours.  Not that I had to do anything those 9 hours, but I had to stick around because sometimes the computer asks a question.  It didn't, so I spent the time cleaning windows and finishing my existing Civilization 2 game  (I won).

As an aside, I cleaned the windows using balled-up newspaper and home-made "windex".  Worked well, but finished with more "windex" and lint-free cloth.  And since the outside of the bottom half can be swiveled inwards, I was able to do the outside too. The Civ 2 game got my colonists to Alpha Centuri successfully in spite of all the opposing civs allying against me.  Well, I needed something to be successful!

So the HD was restored about 10 am (yes I stayed up all night).  There was some minor success in that (aside that it worked at all).  While it did that auto-restart upon turning it on, it didn't crash while I used it the next day.  Sounds great, right?

Nope.  The computer case became very hot!  That means death to the HD.  There is no point is trying to have it repaired.  I've gone through hot case issues before and it is never really fixable.  So I am just going to replace the Mac Mini.  It wasn't expensive itself (a renewed 2018 model from Amazon).  I should stop buying "cheap"...

"Cheap" is an old family habit.  My parents lived through The Great Depression and my Dad's side of the family were struggling farmers and small merchants.  As the eldest child, I was taught to be cheap.  Childhood training dies hard even though I don't have to be.

But I still have a dilemma.  Apple tends to release a new Mac Mini every couple years.  I have a 2018, there is a 2020, and I found some discussion that there will be a new one in 2023.  So rather than buy a factory-issued 2020, it might make sense to buy a renewed 2020 to last a year or 2.  Amazon sells them for around $400.  

That's not "going cheap".  It's more like buying a used car to just last 2 years while waiting for one of the good new all-electric cars expected to become available in 2024.  I won't bother you right now about all-electric cars, but one would suit my needs just fine (I do short errands frequently).

OK, I've talked myself into a renewed 2020 Mac Mini.  Will order one tonight.  I have to make these constant computer problems go away!

Computer Problem Fixes

The Mac is not operating fully yet.

You don't have to know about Mac computers for this.  I made sure my backup disk (Time Machine on a Mac) seemed accurate.  Then I unplugged the backup drive and erased the internal HD.  Restarting it by instructions, I got the O/S back and it is the most up-to-date one.

I first added back a few basic apps that didn't seem they should cause problems.  Safari, my blogs and Blogger dashboard, Antivirus software, AOL mail, etc.  It seemed OK for a day but then started restarting again.  I restored a few others today.  They didn't make things any worse, so I guess they are OK.

Actually, the restart seems to happen more often when I awaken it from Sleep Mode than when I am actively online, but it does happen then sometimes too.  It is probably the hardware, but I want to explore the software some more before I replace it.  The restart error messages suggest there is an "outdated or incompatible software" issue.

A 2018 Mac mini should not be outdated, but I did go with a "renewed" one.  I won't to that again!

I would have to get a new current model 1 TB and 16-24 RAM Intel7 chip.  I don't understand the cloud and I have like 20,000+ photos and many apps.  I want to keep everything on my desktop.  And I will need some new apps because I am trying to escape Google the way I escaped Windows in 2008.

At this point I can post on my blogs.  And I can comment on some blogs, but not most.  I suspect my difficulty with posting on your blogs is a Google issue, but I'm not sure why.  It might be that I am not fully-Google or that Google doesn't like Macs much.  

I might have to change my blog host and blog-reader app.  Oh good, more things to do...

There is an IFixIt store that works on Macs not far from here.  I may bring the computer to them for an exam.  For all I know, the problem is simple for an expert to fix.  I can imagine the conversation afterwards:  "Well, really, all we had to do was move the library to the context folder, update the frazzic circuit, installer frazzic manager, and change the P1 setting to P2".  

Of course I'm making that up.  But their explanation would sound like that to me.  :(

I'm coming the end of my rope.  And when you come to the end of the rope, you pay an expert to untie it...

Comments and Visiting

I should mention I am having visiting problems again for several weeks.  I use Feedly.  On Safari, I can't get a comment to get through.  I save them to Word and try later, but it isn't working.  Sometimes it works, but I have to manually enter my site name, email address, and blog address every time, and even that only works "sometimes".  Maybe I am spoiled and most people have to do that, but I haven't had to for past years.

On Firefox, Feedly won't show the bloglist.

When I try to reset my account to log into Feedly directly, Google stops me and says I already have an account there through them.  And it doesn't work.  I can read, but can't reply.

The Laptop usually lets me get through, but there are 2 broken keys.  I can live with the Z key taking careful work, but the H key is maddening.  Still, it is a safe place for my bloglist file while I try to fix it on Safari and Firefox.

I am coming to hate Google as much as I used to hate Windows.  I think a lot of my problems these past 2 years are caused by my Google. account.  It is convenient, but seems to want to take over.  It might also be the Apple iCloud.  Similar takeover problem.

The guy who visited to add RAM (to 16) said that Mac O/S Monterrey "sucks up storage space".  I have a 1 TB internal drive and 75% unused, but I think he meant RAM.  My Mac is a 2018, which might sound old, but a Mac Help Forum says that isn't a problem.

I've made sure to update all my apps everywhere, so it doesn't seem to be an issue of old versions.  But something is going very wrong here.  Nothing is really working right.  2 days ago, the Mac Mini stopped waking up from sleep mode at the touch of a button.   Now I have to manually turn it off and then back on.  That is NOT GOOD!

Don't worry, I'm not asking for detailed Mac help here.  I'll ask more questions at the Mac Forum.  But it sure becoming more frustrating.  I have questions because I don't know enough about computers and I am frustrated because I don't know if it is hardware or software.  And if I just bought a new Mac Mini, I would still just have the same software to transfer.

Time to go annoy the Mac experts some more.  Actually, they are very helpful and kind.  It's just (probably) that I don't know how to ask the questions right.

But I really want you all to know why I haven't been leaving comments...

Annoying Stuff Again

I hate to keep being all negative because it is all "generally" minor, but the list continues grows...   

1.  The computer continues to restart randomly.  It doesn't seem to be any particular program.  I only use about 5.  But sometimes it is fine for days with them, and sometimes it is several times and hour.  The message I get means there is most likely an outdated program or one that has fallen into incompatiblity.

I thought maybe I had gotten lucky the other day.  I have Microsoft Office 365 for Mac.  I did get a few screen alerts that my "Microsoft Updater Assistant is no longer active".  So I found it for download and installed.  No change.  I think I need to open every single program/app and check the update status.  That probably won't help.  😞

2.  The color toner printer still won't communicate with the computer.  I noticed at one site about using a special printer cable.  It has a small square plug.  I have one somewhere.  I had it in my hands 2 weeks ago, but I can't find it now.  It is probably in that weird place where you put "things you don't want to lose track of".  😡

3.  I mentioned that the garden enclosure pipes were bent and/or fallen from a heavy January snowfall.  The good news is that the weather is warming enough to work outside.  The bad news is now I have to actually go out and do it.  

4.  I keep my passwords on a spreadsheet printed out from an old standalone computer.  That's unhackable!  But the printout is so old and over-written with changes that it has become unusable.  I have to completely redo the whole thing.  I have 1Password but don't like the idea.  If someone breaks into that, they get get everything.  My password is Really Difficult, but no password is unhackable.  And a Really Difficult password to hack is also Really Annoying to enter every time.

I wonder if there is a fingerprint/face ID external plugin?  That should be safe.  But for now, I will just go back to a printout from the standalone.  That's a lot of really careful typing!  😒

5.  Lori has been in heat again since Tuesday.  That's the 3rd time in 7 weeks!  Hopefully, it will end today.  It better end soon, because she is scheduled for a 3rd try at a spay on Monday.  If it gets delayed again, I may lose my mind.  At least the platelet count confusion is all cleared up now.

6.  I'm having a terrible time leaving comments when The Mews visit their friends.  Autofill wont't work on Firefox or Safari lately, and when it does, the comments don't go through.  I read, just am having trouble leaving comments.

7.  The heat pump is making odd noises lately.  I expect a failure soon.  25 years ago, when the first one failed, I considered having underground pipes installed for one (about $15,000).  Underground temps stay about 50F or like that, and that is very efficient for heat pumps.  I didn't know I would stay here so long.  It would have paid for itself by now.

8.  New problem!  And this one is a bit long.  My kitchen sink suddenly started leaking Thursday night.  I had run the dishwasher and the garbage disposal and run the faucet, so I couldn't tell the cause.  I stuck a small bucket under the drips.  The next morning, I just ran the faucet and it dripped.  Seemed like good news, as it suggested there was just a loose connection somewhere.

But when I went to empty the inch of water in the bucket, I discovered the entire bottom of the cabinet was flooded.  An entire 75 container of dishwasher detergent pods are fused and everything in cardboard is soaked.  OK, that is really minor stuff.  But I'm more worried that the cabinet floor will rot and leaked water into the basement below where I will see it ruining ceiling tiles a few days.

I couldn't find and loose connections.  I'm no plumber anyway.  So I called one around Noon Friday.  They were booked for the day, but could come out 3-5 pm on overtime ($250/hour).   I asked about today (Sat).  Overtime again.  And no Sunday work.  And on Monday I am busy with Lori and her spay and picking her up after.  So it would have been Tuesday before regular rates.  I decided I couldn't get along without running water in the sink for 4 days.

So I said OK come Friday 3-5.  The plumber came by promptly, took one look and said your garbage disposal needs to be replaced.  He said it was leaking from the bottom.  Well, I could see that but leaks from above always drip off the lowest point.  I was unsure.  The faucet drain, the disposal, the sprayer, and the dishwasher all go through mutual connections.

He showed me that the water was coming out of 2 small holes in the bottom.  Apparently they are there for that reason.  OK.  I asked him if he had a disposal in the truck.  He said yes, but it would cost $550.  He said, well there is the labor and parts and everything.

I got burned by the "I have one in the truck" thing before as part of a heat pump repair once.  The repairman did work on the heat pump, but it kept cycling from heat to cool.  He said I had a bad thermostat that didn't match my equipment, but he "had one in the truck".  For $400...  

Given that the house was about 95F and I had barely slept for the 2 days it took them to arrive (I wilt over 75F), I very reluctantly agreed.  It didn't help.  To save you from a longer story, go to the end of this post where you can skip it if you want.

Back to the plumber...  This guy was offerring a $550 replacement job for a new garbage disposal.  I said, you know I can just buy a new one at Home Depot and install it myself in 30 minutes.  He looked at me with a slight smile, so I told him I had installed this one and the previous one.  I can't do actual plumbing (finding leak sources, fitting pipes, soldering copper connections, etc), but replacing equipment was easy enough.  

He was more than generous about the visit and didn't charge me.  Well, it was 2 minutes and I was on his way to another local customer.  And I have had them to service for me before.  He said to call them if I had a problem.  Or if I bought one myself and needed help.  That was more than fair.

What I didn't know was that disposals have changed since the last time I bought one to install.  I went straight to Consumer Report magazine site to find the best  models at a good price.  The best have plug-in cords and narrower openings so you can't reach in lest you also stupidly turn it on while retrieving a dropped object in there.  The silly thing is that a child's hand can fit in.  And I don't have an plugin electrical outlet under the sink.

So I had to research new disposals for an hour.  Some were expensive and bragged about grinding up bones and peach pits.  I don't do that.  Some bragged they ground the material fine enough to be suitable for septic tanks.  I don't have one.  Some bragged about outlet plug-ins.  I don't have one down there.  Some bragged about "continuous feed" or oppositely "bulk feed" (which are oddly expensive for reasons I do not know).

I finally found the best-rated hard-wired, continuous feed, reasonably priced model, according to CR I could get quickly (tomorrow) from Amazon (cheapest).  It isn't the top-rated, but all the better ones need an electrical outlet for plug-in.  It will probably last 10 years.

BTW, when the plumber guy asked how I installed them myself, I smiled.  They are awkward to hold in place AND attach bolts at the same time.  I told him I just stuck a scissors-jack under them and twister the handle tight.  He blinked and I could see him thinking "I should get one".

Well, when you live alone and have to hold awkward things in place, you thing of things like that.  LOL!

   ----------------

The case of the wretched and rip-off heat pump (and eventually fixed) repair.

This is in the past, so not really important.  It is about how some individuals try to rip you off but the company can fix.  But as long as you are here, read on...

I don't have great luck with heat pumps.  They die after about 8 years.  2 of my neighbors have had theirs for 15 years.

So my heat pump died some 8 years ago in August.  I called the company that installed it.  They sent an idiot.  He worked on the outside unit and hooked up some testing equipment.  First, he said it was running properly, but then decided it needed more coolant.  He added more.  It seemed to work.  The air from the vents was cool.  He left.

Then I realized the heat pump was always on, recycling between cooling and heating every few minutes.  I called the company and they sent the same guy out.  Well, it made sense, he had just worked on the unit.

He decided my thermostat had failed.  He had one in the truck.  $400.  I was desperate, so OK.  The cooling came on and I was thrilled.  It seemed to work.  He left.  Then the heat/cooling cycling returned after mere minutes.  And I could hear whistling noises through the internal unit.

I called the company and told them about it saying they better send an actual expert this time.  They did, the next morning.  I said "it sounds over-pressured".  Well, professionals hate amateur guesses.  But he heard the whistling noises too when he arrived and agreed..  I also explained about the thermostat (and complained about the price).  Apparently, some repairmen get to sell parts for their own profit on the side.

The guy who came out was an actual manager of the business.  He agreed the repair had been done badly.  The higher than normal coolant pressure (whistling noises) was likely to have caused damage (and he gave me a brief nod for identifying that).  

He had the entire internal mechanical structure of the heat pump replaced at no cost.  And he examined the thermostat.  

This part is truly weird.  Thermostats display degrees in whole digits.  But some actually operate in 1/2 degrees.  And apparently, that matters but can be changed.  I'm not sure about how that works.  But, in any case, the real expert also adjusted the thermostat to match the heat pump (way out of my depth here).