Answers To Comments

 I haven't done "Answers To Comments" here before (I think) but there have been some questions...

*  I mentioned a difficulty in getting some flowers in April.  Pilch asked "Would Lowe's let you pick them up instead?  Oddly, no.  Their website specifically said they were not open for onsite shopping.  Their garden center was not open yet.  And at $15 for online order delivery, I passed them by.

*  My new Brother color/toner printer was driving me crazy.  I finally found a small reference to having the printer plugged into a different wall outlet than the computer/router.  It worked.  Why that matters is beyond my understanding, since both outlets are on the same circuit.  But Pilch also commented "Glad you figured it out".  So am I.  👍

*  There was another issue about prescription cat food.  Marley needs a kidney-care diet and I have tried the 2 types of Hill's and the 3 of Royal Canin.  He won't eat any of the Hill's stuff.  Royal Can comes in 3 types (E, T, and T).  E is chicken liver.  T is pork liver and chicken liver.  D is T with some Salmon.  He will eat Royal Canin  T and D.  

He doesn't really like either but will eat it.  The weird thing is that Taz and Binq adore the stuff!  They nose into his bowl if I turn my back for a moment.  I had to buy a few pink foodbowls so I could keep track of which one had Marley's food and move them around to keep Marley's bowl under his nose.

Getting prescription canned cat food is tricky online.  Petsmart sells it in store (and I have to show the prescription each time), but they will stop offerring it in October because they are closing down their Vet connection.  Amazon and Chewy sell it but say the Vet has to approve.  My Vet says they don't approve online vendor requests.   Catch-22!

Pilch commented "Not sure if it is my state or a law all over, but they make you get the script from the vet and send it in now instead of having the vet contact them".  I can't find where to send it to Amazon or Chewy yet, but I have a few months to figure it out.

*  I've been having photo problems with iCloud.  It ruined my saved photos folders/file structure on the desktop.  I think I've escaped iCloud and got the photos back...

Messymimi commented "It's weird. I have to upload all photos directly from my phone even though I write on the computer. Supposedly it's all in the cloud, but I can't get it to come down to Earth".  I really understood that comment.  I don't understand iCloud either.  Mostly, I can't get it to work the way I want.  I really appreciated that comment!

*  I have a difficult dental situation.  The dentist says "your teeth are all beat to Hell.  You need a complete to top row of crowns at least".  The problem is whether to suffer 12 crowns in 8 visits or risk having some teeth just "break".  I go in for a detailed "consult" exam next week about that.  My dentist can do crowns with me awake but numbed.  I'm wondering about sedation implants (which my dentist doesn't do).  It will be an interesting "consult" and a difficult decision either way.

But Messymimi commented "I'm sorry to hear this. It's not fun to have dental work".  I appreciated that.

OK Maybe...

 I think after a couple days, I have managed to retrieve most of my files from the iCloud.  It sure wasn't easy.  Most important were the photos.  The desktop folder/file structure is gone, but I can probably slowly re-construct most of it (or live with the less-structured folders).  The newer pics are more important.

After confirming (I hope) my files from iCloud retrieval , I cancelled the account.  Apple kept sending serious warnings of things I wouldn't be able to do if I did, but those aren't things I do anyway.

I was able to export Full-sized (3-6Mb) pics from Photos library to my "blogger-size" (200-300 Kb) pic folder, reducing them to usable size there (I use Preview).  

I lost some early May pics.  Can't find them anywhere.  I'll survive...

But I think I will be back posting in a day or two.  I still have to go through all the April pics and list them on my paper record of pics/cats/subjects, and that will take some time.  

I still don't like the way Mac Sequoia has forced changes in my file structure, and the loss of control over how my photos are arranged, but I don't have much control over that.  I do what I can with the limited settings, but Mac sure makes it hard sometimes.  

But I tried a Windows computer a couple years ago and could not make any sense of it.  So I'm stuck with Mac.

Dental Issues

 Visited the dentist 2 days ago for 6 month tooth-cleaning.  Got bad news.  I am healthy in general.  But my family has a history of bad teeth.  And among family, I may be the worst.  

My dentist thinks I grind my teeth at night.  I don't want to be indelicate, but I have had a few intimate relationships and asked my bed-partner if I grind my teeth (and do I talk at night)?  The unanimous answer has been "no" (but I do toss and turn a lot).  And one partner really did grind her teeth (to the point where I woke her up expecting to see pieces of broken teeth).

What actually happens is "earworms" in daytime.   Some people tap their feet to the tune, some humm.  I slide my lower jaw back and forth.  That is not "tooth-friendly".

So my teeth are beat all hell now.  The dentist said there is severe wear and "holes".  He says that they are worn down so much that the only way to save me from full implants (which he does not do) is to place crowns on most of my teeth.  

I have some crowns, so I know what one involves.  I have had 3 teeth extracted because even a root canal wouldn't save them.  I have a consultant visit scheduled in 2 weeks to have more examination and discussion.  He wants to look at my teeth more carefully and discuss a timeline of appointments to crown teeth 3 or 4 at a visit.

I'm going to have to agree with his expectations.  I know my teeth are bad and getting worse.  But damn, it is going to be a miserable few months!

I always need a 2nd novocaine shot (I am somewhat drug-resistant and pain-sensitive).  And I have a small jaw so it is difficult to keep it open enough for dental work.  Heck, I can't even eat a thick sandwich!

My dentist doesn't push any "special treatments" on me, so when he says I need something, I have to trust him on that.  So it looks like I'm in for a lot of unpleasant dental work this Summer...

More Computer Problems

Photos has messed up my iPhotos folders.  I'm stuck on iCloud and trying to escape back off it.  Hours of work and not much success.

I feel like I've been forced onto iCloud without much benefit and many problems.  I'm trying to undo that.  But it sure isn't easy!

😖

I only mention this now because my original post was rejected and I had to remove some specific complaints that mentioned a Brand Name.  I'm a Mac user, so you can guess the Brand Name...

I'll detail that on another forum...  😐

And The Powers That Be decided my original post was OK after all, but I had already deleted it...  

😄

Meanwhile, I was slowly working my way back through the lost processed pics and re-processing the originals.  I caught up.  It's almost 9 am now, but worth the effort.   I think I'll stay up long enough to mow the lawn (it really needs it) and then let the mews go out while I transplant some tomatoes.  Then we will all come inside and I'll let them sleep around me (after their meal) until 6 PM and totally ruin my sleep cycle.  😎

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!