Nothing is ever as it seems...

Windows 8.1 is here and mom and dad needed a new computer. Did I want to set them up on a totally new platform -- no I did not. However, buying a computer they are going to keep for the next eight years, I felt they needed to be on the latest OS there is.

Thankfully for the simple pc user, i.e. email, Facebook, home banking, it's okay. At first glance things look radically different but when you get to the nuts and bolts if you can get to the desktop - things seem the same. The Apps page is what I call mom and dad's "fun page."

"You need a new computer," seemed innocent enough but .... you don't think about the all the work that goes into the moving and installing.

First they had no need for Microsoft office so they used Works that came with their old computer. Now I have to try to find out a program that will open and edit their Works files.

Then I learned that Quicken 10 which they use for their checkbook register was not compatible with Windows 8. So I download a free checkbook register and mom started using it. Neither of us liked it,  so I tried installing their Quicken 10 on their new machine and viola it worked. A lot of aggravation for nothing, if you own old software that you like try installing it and see if it will run before hunting for a new solution.

Warning! If you buy a cheap computer that comes complete without an optical drive or monitor connections - your going to have your work cut out for you. First  their old monitor only has VGA and DVI connectors. I purchased an HDMI cable first only to discover the monitor would not accept that. Then I purchased a connector to USB off Amazon only to discover that I purchased a serial connector not VGA. Okay go in a talk to someone, so off to Staples I go and got a converter that will work with VGA and DVI and convert it to USB - $50. Then I got the idea that if there was a HDMI to VGA or DVI so once again I check Amazon and there it was! $11 and return of the USB converter.

How to install the software off a CD without a drive? Open the CD on a computer with an optical drive and copy the files off the CD and transfer them to the new computer in the method you have to transfer. On the new computer perform the auto install as normal by clicking the auto install file.

I am sure I will have weeks of working out the bugs but right now they are up and running, yeahhhhhh.

Enough for now...

Cleaning up my life or not

Today must must must be a productive day. I have pulled the car out the garage and pulled the trash can in. I plan to clean and de-clutter as much as possible. Since Dad got this new illness and my crazy work scheduled, I have allowed the house to fall apart.

When I was in my 20s I learned quickly that I hated to do laundry so I made sure I had enough girlie small clothes to last a month. I have not altered that and so I must do laundry, sweep, mop, and general clean. Yeah meeee.....sigh.

Merlin and Winston are just lazing around but will start following me from room to room as I begin cleaning.

I am really not in the mood to move. I really have not fully recovered from my weirdo illness. I woke up on Monday with my world spinning. I barely made it to give the boys their breakfast before I had to go lay down on the couch. I ended up taking Dramamine and missed three days  of work.

The week ended with arriving a Mom and Dad's on Friday to learn that Home Health called and said that they were coming to take out Dad pick line. The problem was that no one had told the family anything and quite honestly we don't trust Home Health with any of his care. We did not know if the doctors had talk with the surgeon who wanted to leave the drain in his gut in for another month. We did not know that he was done with the antibiotics. We knew nothing.

The problem when you go on hospice they tell you not to go the doctor or it will throw you off hospice and if you have any problem not associated with your original illness to go to the ER. The whole problem with this is that ER doctors do not provide follow up care. And no one is following Dad's illness to ensure its going as planned.

On Monday, mom is going to find out if we can get a doctor to take care of his new illness, diverticulitis. We are not sure that he should be off antibiotics - no one has examined him since his original diagnosis. If he wasn't on hospice, we would have had a specialist tracking his care.

Lesson learned...find out if you family member is on hospice if you can still go the doctor and demand to be able to do so. IF they say no, then demand that THEY exam and track his illness in a follow up manner that would normally be done. We have been too timid with the first round and now the gloves are off!


Enough for now...

Worn Plum Smooth

This is my new motto. When bad things happen, such as WWII, the reasoning is quite sound. But in reality when bad things or just stressful things happen what else can you do but carry on - we all have to live through the tough stuff but how we do that is up to us. I want to KEEP CALM.

Work has been hard over the last six months, I have had to learn Drupal, a content management system for websites There are many things about the new system I love and the ease of some things. I love that other people can post their stuff to the web. I hate that many things are very complicated that involve php. If you don't know what php is then you know how I feel!

Once I started the conversion, it was full boar on. We decided not to add anything new to the old website and I ended up with two looks for the web, which is not a good thing. So the stress was on to move things over as fast as I could. In hindsight I think that I would have just let the old website go stale versus do that again. Yet at the same time, I would not have finished as fast as I did because the pressure would not have been as great.

With all that going on, my Dad develops diverticulitis and has been in the hospital three times. So in between work and hospital visits my life has gone to pot. Today, I will schedule the two vet visits that where supposed to be done in June. I will schedule my 5,000 mile and 10,000 mile car tune up and ask if I can have the 11,000 mile tune up.  I hope that I get my dentist called on Monday.

Here's to keeping calm and carrying on...

Enough for now...

Life - school that never ends

I have of late been teaching myself how to use Drupal. It's a content management system for websites. It has been such a struggle and fight but I am getting there. When I graduate from OU with my Journalism degree, never in  my wildest dreams did I think my world would turn out as it has.

I have become rather an expert in web design, publications and now video. The only thing I can not do is audio. I sound like a dead fish (as my co-worker says and its okay because I do) .

I am blown away how much I have learn and how little my college courses are now. Next, I will be learning how to turn my publications into ebooks. Hears to perpetual learning!

Enough for now...

Merlin's World - A New One Everyday

I love my little guy but he has been more work than any dog I have ever known. He barks and the hateful neighbor complains to the city. He hunts all the time and tries to jump into the trees. He kisses much more than one would like but he's a great dog.

He painted the fence with mud...you never know what the new day will bring with Merlin.

Enough for now...

Can a Milano cookie be called medicine?

There is not enough Milano cookies in the world for this week to be easier. Dad is now out of danger and the slow heal and long hospital stay begins to wear on a person. Mom and I are trying to be smart about it and if I am with him, she stays home and rests and vice versus.

But hospitals are exhausting no matter what. Dad is still on his high powered cough medicine which dopes him up so much that his company is limited to in-between naps.

Currently, I am losing myself in this duty. I have not eating a solid meal in three days. Just Pepperridge Farm cookies and chips and dip. All my progress on the diet is gone or going. It's impossible to diet when you sit in a hospital room from 9 to 2. If you have lunch at 2:30 then you don't want dinner till 8 p.m.

I have just stopped eating meals and have been just continuous snacking. When I go back to work next week I will be able to eat breakfast as normal but lunch will be spent with him and food crammed down at my desk when I return and dinner will be after 8 pm. Right now, Dad needs me and my other concerns don't matter but... a salad actually sounds good.

Enough for now...

Too Much! Way Too Much

Wow, we are four months into 2013 and I am not sure I have anything but exhaustion to show for it. Work has been insanely busy and it really doesn't seem to be letting up. I am currently on vacation but it doesn't feel like a vacation to me.

Dad is in the hospital. A very slow recovery from pneumonia and a discovery of pulmonary fibrosis. We are in week three of the recovery and his spirits were low today. I think he panics when he feels worse than the day before. The doctor told me that patients with this, will not have steady improvements from day to day. They will have good days and bad days.

My Dad's cousin and bother and sister are here visiting and my sister came this weekend. We are all trying to take shifts at sitting with him in the hospital. In the in betweens I am trying to keep the house, do taxes and keep up my Dad's bullet jewelry business, which has only increased with each hospital visit. Those poor nurses don't know the sales man that my father is.

I had so many plans for this vacation. Dad and I were going to play with new jewelry designs. I was going to dabble into soddering and metal work but that is all out the door. I don't resent being at the hospital only disappointed that I didn't get to work with him this week. We will have time later on after his recovery but I have been so caught up with work that I was really looking forward to the Dad time and creative work.

Currently Seamus is staying with me and Winston and still is the ever loving bed hog! Here's hoping for a better four months and that by August I am recounting all the exciting or even mundane things we are doing.


Enough for now...