kapachino

Tag: Computer & Technology

  • Relinquishing Goal 26

    Number 26 on my 101 goals list is to learn CSS/HTML/PHP well enough to design and run my website independently. After much thought, equivocating, and some internal growth on my part I have decided to intentionally NOT complete this goal.

    The reason it ended up on the list in the first place is because I am committed to my blog and I like it so much better when it looks nice. I admit it, when I visit a new blog I totally judge its appearance. I won’t not read a blog if it’s badly designed, but if I like the way it looks then it has a higher chance of succeeding with me. I’m sure other people are the same way. (Come on, ‘fess up!)

    Right now I have an extremely complicated theme running which doesn’t allow for easy editing. I came to be in this conundrum because my brother is a graphic and web designer, and in the past he has done the bulk of the work for me. After awhile I became weary of my old design, and felt exasperated waiting on my brother to change it. I don’t blame him at all, because he has a full-time job and no computer at home (crazy, right?). So I hastily switched to my current theme without knowing how difficult it would be to work with. There are many things I want to change about it, but can’t on my own. So I wrote goal #26, because I want to be able to do what I want with my blog, when I want.

    The problem is that as much as I try to get into learning this website stuff, I don’t enjoy it like I wish I did. It’s not something I can sit down and master in a few hours, and I don’t want to immerse myself in anything I don’t love. I would much rather spend my time on other goals, or with people who matter to me. Giving up on this goal is like breathing a sigh of relief. I’m okay with my blog being “good enough” and not perfect. I plan to search high and low for a user-friendly theme that I love that will work for me, switch over, then do minimal editing from there until it looks pretty. And if that doesn’t work, I can always resort to flattery, bribes, or threats to get the help I need. :)

  • I’m Like Job, Only Not

    I feel as if Someone out there is messing with me, trying to figure out exactly how many tiny annoyances I can take. Each one in itself is nothing to write home about, but the inconveniences just keep coming and it is driving me slowly out of my mind.

    1. Our lack of furniture, and how we ordered it over three months ago and in the end just canceled in frustration. We continue to eat every meal on our laps or using TV trays.

    2. A myraid of computer problems which, unfortunately, you already know too much about. And when I finally got my computer fixed up, our internet went out. I waited around the house all day long yesterday on my day off for the cable guy to come out and fix it, and of course he comes 5 minutes before his window is up. Then he tells me that our outside line is really bad and it will be a few days before someone ELSE can come out and fix THAT.

    3. I’ve had this sore in my mouth for two weeks now. It’s finally starting to heal, and lo and behold a new one is popping up.

    4. The lock to the driver’s side door of my truck is now broken. No big deal, right? I can just get in through the passenger side door. Nope. That lock has been broken for years. Since my truck is 10 years old and we’ll be getting rid of it when we have kids anyway (we both have trucks with tiny jumpseats in the back), it’s not worth putting money into to fix. So I just took everything valuable out of it and I’m leaving it permanently unlocked. If it gets stolen, oh well. I guess it’ll be time for a new car.

    5. For whatever reason, a muscle in my back is really aching today.

    Well this ends my venting session. I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here today!

  • the end is near

    The end of what? Of this annoyingly long stretch of boring, picture-less posts that mostly have to do with my computer in one way or another. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel because yesterday I spent two hours at the Apple store, and in the end I emerged with a completely functional computer and a brand new iPhone, after I offhandedly asked a question about a small issue I had been having with it.

    You would think that my problems would be solved, but you would be wrong. First of all, when I brought my computer home and attempted to re-install some programs, I found out that my administrative password wasn’t being accepted. I am convinced that the Apple Genius put it in wrong, and now I have no way of finding out what it is. Supposedly I can reset it by using the operating system install disc, but in order to use that disc I need my password. Very frustrating. So I’m about to hit up my good friend Google to see what I can do about this.

    There is also the issue of our internet, which decided to quit working two days ago out of the blue. Thankfully, my aforementioned brother-in-law Scott is coming over tonight to fix it. I know he’s going to fix it because he’s awesome, and in return I will provide him with dinner. It’s not enough to pay him back for all the technology-related problems he’s solved for me, but it’s a start.

    If I can get these two things sorted out, which I’m confident I can, then I will just need to undergo the process of transferring all my recovered data from my external hard drive back onto my computer, organizing it, and renaming it. Easy, right?

    Well, there I’ve gone and written another yawn-inducing post about my computer, something I wanted to avoid. I’m too lazy to change it now. But in other news, I survived my David-less few days, and to my great happiness he is back at home again, enjoying the weekend off while I work.

    XOXO,
    Kathleen

  • on my own with a disabled computer

    Well, it appears I jumped the gun on the whole “my computer works!” thing. My computer DOES work, but it is impaired. I think it may have had a stroke, and is now experiencing some residual disability. Half of its brain works, the other half is paralyzed. The good news is it’s the internet side that works. I am typing right now from my computer, and I seem to be able to navigate the wonderful worldwide web without difficulty. But the second I try to open iPhoto my poor little compie just freezes. So I’m taking him to the hospital (aka the Apple store) on Thursday to see the doctor (aka genius). You may laugh, but last time they actually pulled out a stethoscope on him.

    Anyway, I won’t be able to show you the photos of my new living room/kitchen/breakfast room/laundry room quite yet. My husband up and went on a business trip to Nashville without me, and took his computer with him! (Full disclosure: I told him he should.) So here I am at home with the dogs by myself. It is quiet around here without the TV on (although I do seem to be becoming quite the reality TV junkie lately), and already just a tad bit cleaner, but oh the loneliness!

    I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to you, but my husband and I like each other. A lot. And we much prefer to be together than apart. Unfortunately, we have already spent many nights apart since we’ve been married, and I admit it’s completely my fault. I’ve done some house-sitting for friends a few times, and I went on my annual girls-only vacation. But now I’m experiencing it from the other point of view: the One Who Stays Home. It’s much worse.

    So my plan to minimize the ache in my heart while he is away includes the following:

    1. Stay busy. I have something planned for every day and night that he’s gone, except today. And today I will be doing chores around the house and hopefully getting a bike ride in.

    2. Be around people. Tomorrow I’ll be at the church’s youth group pool party (I’m a volunteer), Thursday I’m spending the afternoon/evening with a good friend, and Friday David comes home!

    3. Take up the whole bed. There’s nothing quite so lonely as a single person in a king-sized bed, so I plan on sleeping smack dab in the middle of ours. Also, I’m going to force one or both of the dogs to sleep there with me so I have something to cuddle with.

    In conclusion: I miss my husband bunches, my computer is post CVA, and now I’m going to go eat some leftover lasagna and channel my inner electrician. Those outlets won’t rewire themselves.

  • my computer works!

    It’s Sunday night, and while most of the country is basking in this long weekend, I am preparing for another day of work tomorrow. In case you’re wondering, it isn’t too fun to have a job where you are forced to work holidays and weekends. So it’s almost my bedtime, but I just wanted to write something, because we got so much accomplished this weekend.

    First of all, I am so excited that my computer is working again, thanks to my brother-in-law Scott. What happened was what they call a “logical failure” of the hard drive. Nothing physically wrong, but the computer no longer recognized it. So I paid $99 for this program from Prosoft Engineering, ran it overnight, and most of my files were recovered and are now stored on my external hard drive, aka the thing that I should have used weeks ago, BEFORE all this happened. Sigh.

    Anyway, it’s a bittersweet ending because although the files were recovered, they lost their file names. There is also a lot of COMPLETE JUNK that I had no idea had made its way onto my hard drive that I have to sift through to find the files I’m looking for. And unfortunately, some of the files were “corrupted,” including the presentation I worked so hard on.

    When I turned on my computer today it was like it was brand new. I had to reinstall all my programs and set up my system profile and internet bookmarks again. It’s kind of cool to start fresh, in a way, but also kind of annoying.

    As for the other stuff we did this weekend, I was going to tell you about it now but I’m getting too tired. So I’ll tell you about it tomorrow, or the next day if I’m feeling lazy. But the living room, kitchen, and utility room are looking great, and I can’t wait to share pictures with you!