Thursday, October 16, 2014

Soon, Hopefully

I got a post lined up but I still need to actually write it. I have been busy. Had to get new brakes and I think a tune-up is needed soon on the truck.
Catching up on cleaning now that I have more energy, mowed the lawn (hopefully for the last time this year), and trying to keep the clutter to a minimum.
Got more stuff I wanna give to the Visiting Nurses and Salvation Army or Catholic charity that gives clothes and stuff to those less fortunate than myself.

I also am now using Patti's Mac which is a bit different than the Ipad and more different still than the PC I had that burst into flames.
Did I mention that? Hmm...no, I guess I didn't. I dunno. Well, since I dunno I'll pretend I didn't.

It happened a few months before Patti passed away. I was talking to a tech guy because the computer was giving me problems and all of a sudden sparks and then flame shot out of the back of the hard drive.
I kept my cool, fortunately, and immediately unplugged it, then I snuffed the flame out with an old flannel shirt I had nearby.

"What did you do? Are you okay?" Patti asked.

I picked up the phone.

"Um, I gotta let you go," I said to the tech on the phone. "My computer just erupted in flames. Thanks for tour help."

"Seriously?" The tech asked.

"Yeah, it's fried. It's toast. Gotta go, bye." I replied, hanging up.

"I'm fine and I didn't do nothin'," I said to Patti.

"What happened?" She asked.

"I dunno. It just shorted out then it caught on fire. Probably made in China. Damn commies!" I exclaimed.

So Patti has let me use her Ipad since that happened, which is great, except it's difficult, time consuming or more time consuming and sometimes impossible for me to post the photos and/or videos I wanna post. The text is no problem. But the Mac should be able to handle the other stuff once I learn how.

In a way I'm glad I no longer have a pc because I have had nothin' but bad luck with them freezing up or blowin' up.
Not that it can't happen with a Mac, but Patti never had a problem with it at all.
Plus, I got so sick of the brazillion updates for the pc nearly every day and microsoft making anything that works right into somethin' much worse with those updates (Motto for microsoft: if it works fix it until it don't).

Anyways, I never hear about all these problems from Mac users. So I'm gonna give it a go.
I am very thankful I have this option.
Hopefully, soon I will get the new post up and be able to post more often. I really do wanna get back to the stories.


21 comments:

julie said...

While I don't have any fanboy attachment to Macs vs PCs, I will say that we've been using Macs for at least a decade, and have rarely had problems. Which isn't to say never, but they are generally pretty low maintenance, and not nearly as frustrating as problems we continually battled with PCs in the late '90s/ early '00s.

But in my experience, when they do go they *really* go, so it's always a good idea to backup your data. Right now I'm using a mac mini, that I picked up after my big luxurious iMac croaked back in the spring. I couldn't afford to replace the whole thing, but the Mini actually works just as well, and since I already all the peripherals and the data backed up, it wasn't too much of a downgrade.

mushroom said...

Looking forward to your post. I enjoyed this one.

I like Linux. Windows 7 has proven pretty stable for work, but if I were setting up a non-work machine for myself, I'd go with Linux. I put Ubuntu on my wife's desktop until some guy talked her into Windows 8, which is a horror show.

Some of my best friends use Apple, and the Macs have advantages. I just can't bring myself to do it.

John Lien said...

Oh, I dunno Ben. Next thing you know, I'll find out you have a hipster beard and live in the Pacific Northwest.

This is troubling, troubling indeed.

My wife is on her next-gen iPad. Loves it very much. She would have stuck with the first one but the apps kept on sucking her ram dry and crashing her machine.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thanks Julie.
I've learned about backing up data the hard way, lol.
Yes, I simply want a computer that's gonna last awhile with the least amount of maintenance on my part and the least invasive updating system.

Hopefully, that will be my experience with the Mac.
I gave microsoft plenty of chances as it is.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Hi Mushroom,
I actually liked Windows 7, but You're right, Windows 8 is a nightmare.

Thanks for the advice about Linux. Now I just gotta learn the new system.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Hi John,
Ha! That'll be the day! Besides, I don't abide hipster music so it would never work out.

I know what you mean about apps. Patti had dozens of apps that did the same thing and she ended up deleting most of the apps she rarely used.

I enjoy the Ipad the most when I'm reading or commenting because I can walk around and still use it, or listen to tunes while cooking.

Joan of Argghh! said...

Computer flame-out? Wow. Not something you see every day, thankfully! ;)

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Hi Joan!
I know, right? Good thing I wasn't touching the hard drive at the time.
Definitely a WTH! moment.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

You know, it's kinda weird that the hard drive of the Mac is in the monitor. Kinda cool as well. Plus it saves on space.
My "desk" is a hospital bed tray so there ain't a lot of room on it.
On the plus side there's also no room to clutter it up. :)

Rogelio Bueno said...

Computers and beer, the causes of and solutions to most of life's problems.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

I'll drink to that, Rogelio!

Skully said...

I'll drink to that for everyone.

Leslie Godwin said...

I am happy to help when you have Mac questions.
Leslie

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thank you Leslie, that is very kind of you!

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

I'm at the local hospital right now. I was spraying my boots last night with waterproofing spray when the heater clicked on and blew it in my face so I inhaled some.
It made me cough so much I had problems breathing so I called 911.
They gave me some aerosol treatment for my lungs and I feel a lot better.
So far it looks like there is no permanent damage so I'm thankful for thay

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Now they're puttin me on antibiotics viz my white cell count is 21000, normal is 4000.
Means I got an infection but they don't know what yet.

julie said...

Ben, you are making things awfully hard on your guardian angel.

Take care of yourself. That's an order!
And feel better soon.

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Thanks Julie, wilco. :)

USS Ben USN (Ret) said...

Gonna get transferred to the Seattle VA and remain there until they can id the infection I have.
I will be unable to comment again until I get home cuz my phone battery is nearly dead
Hope to see you guys sooner rather than later.

julie said...

Maybe the inadvertent huffing was a blessing in disguise. If you hadn't gone in for that, they might not have caught the infection until it was a lot worse.

Take care - our prayers are with you as always.

Leslie Godwin said...

Never a dull moment! Praying for you. Sounds like your Guardian Angel is on the case.
Leslie