Sadly, I wasn't able to finish the 20 page photo book by the midnight deadline to get 50% off. It was running so slow...don't know if it was the Snapfish website or my internet connection...I'm leaning toward Snapfish...a whole bunch of people trying to take advantage of the big discount bogged down the system.
But, the good news is that (this time) I was able to save what I had before I exited the program and don't have to start from page 2 again. I may have mentioned (I can't remember what I've written previously, even though it was just a day or two ago) that the automatic saves by Snapfish were lasting longer that the interval between the saves. The first 200+ photos I loaded up took no time at all, but the ones I loaded up during the last two days took FOREVER! In fact, I had to quit the program several times because I couldn't tell if it was doing anything or not. I didn't worry about quitting without saving because the program was saving every few minutes. Well, I don't know what it was saving, because when I reopened it, I was back almost to square one each time. Except for the last time I exited. I tried to exit about midnight last night. I kept pushing the "save" button and it would get busy with the little circle and stay busy for 5-10 minutes and then a window would come up telling me that it was sorry but it couldn't save at this time...try again in a few minutes. Nice. I did that several times, getting the same message each time. Then I noticed that there was a little toolbar above the save button and one of the items was "file." I clicked on that and there was another "save", so I clicked on it and it apparently did the job because it had saved all the pages I had done.
Instead of being upset about not finishing it, however, I've decided to look upon this setback as an opportunity to improve the book. I put a scanned photo taken at our wedding on the same page as a photo of us at our 45th anniversary party (not a big party...just the kids & our nephew and his wife...not even the grandkids.) All the photos from our wedding have turned a kind of mauve color...almost like they were proofs. Anyhooo, when I looked at that on the photo book page a few minutes ago, I thought maybe I should take it to my photo editing program and try to work on making it better and if I can do that (improve it, I mean), I'll replace the one I put in the book.
Since I had a page with pictures of my 65th birthday, I thought...why don't I find a picture of me as a young girl and scan that and put it into the book on that page. So, I'll continue working on the book and wait for another big discount opportunity before I have it printed. Maybe I'll get books ready on the Shutterfly and Walgreen's websites, too. Maybe not.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Photo book blues
Arggh! Until late last night my internet speed was fine. Not the fastest, but fast enough to keep me pretty happy. Suddenly, it slowed waaay down...and I'm getting very annoyed.
I've only put photos on 2 or 3 pages in the 20 page long photo book. Once I get all the layouts and photos and text in I still need to change the page backgrounds. At the rate it's going, I should have it ready by the next time Snapfish offers 50% off. Which is fine, I guess, since I was only making the book for me, anyway.
It's been one thing after another, again. I mentioned in the last post that I was able to install two wireless devices with no problem at all. Well, a few hours ago the printer acted like it had never met the rest of us before. I had to hook it up with the cable. I don't really want to even try it wirelessly again since I spent a couple of hours bouncing from one window to another with no success.
I was made aware of the printer issue when I tried to scan a photo taken at our wedding in 1965 and the BRAND NEW printer wouldn't scan. So, that started the bouncing from website to website. At the HP website I read that my selected printer (an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier) was not ready for Windows 7. WHAT? Turns out there's a workaround for the issue. I can use Windows Live to import from the scanner. Luckily, Windows Live is already on the computer, but I still had to register. Registering generated an email with a request for me to confirm my email. The instructions were to copy the address given, open Windows Live and paste the address into the window. Since the speed isn't up to par, that took a little while. But, I got it done.
Meanwhile...Snapfish was STILL attempting to load a photo onto a page. It had been busy at that for 30-45 minutes...not normal. I had deleted it and retried it several times and even tried loading a new photo onto a different page. All I got was the little circle spinning, letting me know that it was "working." Yeah, right!
So, I closed it all down at about 2:00 and made a sandwich. When I came back to it awhile ago, it was still slow...so, I closed it again and decided to whine about it here. To make it perfect, Blogger is being slow and telling me "an error occurred while saving."
And there you have it! My unproductive morning and (so far) afternoon. As I said at the start... ARGGH!
I've only put photos on 2 or 3 pages in the 20 page long photo book. Once I get all the layouts and photos and text in I still need to change the page backgrounds. At the rate it's going, I should have it ready by the next time Snapfish offers 50% off. Which is fine, I guess, since I was only making the book for me, anyway.
It's been one thing after another, again. I mentioned in the last post that I was able to install two wireless devices with no problem at all. Well, a few hours ago the printer acted like it had never met the rest of us before. I had to hook it up with the cable. I don't really want to even try it wirelessly again since I spent a couple of hours bouncing from one window to another with no success.
I was made aware of the printer issue when I tried to scan a photo taken at our wedding in 1965 and the BRAND NEW printer wouldn't scan. So, that started the bouncing from website to website. At the HP website I read that my selected printer (an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier) was not ready for Windows 7. WHAT? Turns out there's a workaround for the issue. I can use Windows Live to import from the scanner. Luckily, Windows Live is already on the computer, but I still had to register. Registering generated an email with a request for me to confirm my email. The instructions were to copy the address given, open Windows Live and paste the address into the window. Since the speed isn't up to par, that took a little while. But, I got it done.
Meanwhile...Snapfish was STILL attempting to load a photo onto a page. It had been busy at that for 30-45 minutes...not normal. I had deleted it and retried it several times and even tried loading a new photo onto a different page. All I got was the little circle spinning, letting me know that it was "working." Yeah, right!
So, I closed it all down at about 2:00 and made a sandwich. When I came back to it awhile ago, it was still slow...so, I closed it again and decided to whine about it here. To make it perfect, Blogger is being slow and telling me "an error occurred while saving."
And there you have it! My unproductive morning and (so far) afternoon. As I said at the start... ARGGH!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
From beginning to end is a somewhat crooked path
At least it is for me. I've chronicled the way my day usually goes in an earlier post. I actually wasted a lot of time trying to find that post so I could put a link here. It would help if I labeled the posts. Maybe one day I'll go back and do that.
As for right now, I've been doing my usual zig-zagging through the day. I start out doing one thing and take a detour in another direction and then another and another. While I've essentially been in the same spot all day...in front of the computer...I've had lots of things going on with the computer.
I decided to work on a photo book (for myself) because I received an email from Snapfish telling me that photo books were 50% off until tomorrow. So, I thought I'd upload all the photos I'd taken during the first half of this year to the website. Well, not all of them. I take pictures of some things that won't make it into a photo book. For instance, I have a couple of photos of a rock next to a penny. The rock was in a package of frozen black-eye peas at New Years dinner, I think. It was roughly pea-sized. I had the penny in the photo for size comparison. That was just in case I decided to send an email to the food company. Carolyn found that rock in a bite of black-eyed peas...luckily she realized it was a rock before she bit down on it. That's just one example of a photo you won't see in my photo book.
I also managed to get the wireless mouse installed as a device on the laptop. And...the printer. Yay! I felt like I needed the mouse while I was uploading photos to Snapfish. When I tried to select multiple photos to upload using the touchpad, I would occasionally end up making copies of a bunch of them. So, I thought that the mouse would help give me more control. This mouse is a lot more sensitive than the wired one on the old computer. The cursor looks like it's on crack. Maybe I'll get used to it. I don't need it so much for the type of thing I'm doing at this moment. But I know I prefer it for scrolling and moving from place to place on the screen.
Ugh! It's nearly 8 PM and if I'm going to get a photo book for 50% off, I need to get busy on it. Maybe tomorrow I'll think about opening that box with the router in it and try to get set up for internet away from this desk. Yes, I'll think about that tomorrow.
As for right now, I've been doing my usual zig-zagging through the day. I start out doing one thing and take a detour in another direction and then another and another. While I've essentially been in the same spot all day...in front of the computer...I've had lots of things going on with the computer.
I decided to work on a photo book (for myself) because I received an email from Snapfish telling me that photo books were 50% off until tomorrow. So, I thought I'd upload all the photos I'd taken during the first half of this year to the website. Well, not all of them. I take pictures of some things that won't make it into a photo book. For instance, I have a couple of photos of a rock next to a penny. The rock was in a package of frozen black-eye peas at New Years dinner, I think. It was roughly pea-sized. I had the penny in the photo for size comparison. That was just in case I decided to send an email to the food company. Carolyn found that rock in a bite of black-eyed peas...luckily she realized it was a rock before she bit down on it. That's just one example of a photo you won't see in my photo book.
I also managed to get the wireless mouse installed as a device on the laptop. And...the printer. Yay! I felt like I needed the mouse while I was uploading photos to Snapfish. When I tried to select multiple photos to upload using the touchpad, I would occasionally end up making copies of a bunch of them. So, I thought that the mouse would help give me more control. This mouse is a lot more sensitive than the wired one on the old computer. The cursor looks like it's on crack. Maybe I'll get used to it. I don't need it so much for the type of thing I'm doing at this moment. But I know I prefer it for scrolling and moving from place to place on the screen.
Ugh! It's nearly 8 PM and if I'm going to get a photo book for 50% off, I need to get busy on it. Maybe tomorrow I'll think about opening that box with the router in it and try to get set up for internet away from this desk. Yes, I'll think about that tomorrow.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Babysitting
Friday
Well...the fun hasn't started yet. No, I'm not sitting with one of the grands. I'm sitting with the computers while my files get transferred from the old computer to the new one. This is attempt number 5 or 6...I've lost count. The transfer cables that Carolyn bought when she got her Dell did not work on my new computer, possibly because I got a 64-bit machine, although I don't really know. Just guessing. Brent picked up the cable I needed yesterday and I'm now on my third attempt with them. Apparently, the new computer goes into a standby mode after sitting idle for a while. Moving the mouse has not proved to be successful in getting it going again. I've had to (improperly) turn it off to get it started again. Not an auspicious beginning to my experience. It's quite frustrating.
However, as most of you know...getting angry at the computer is pretty pointless. And we've been conditioned over the years to accept what it dishes out and move on. As an example: I am typing this post into an email on my iPhone, practicing using both thumbs. I'm not very good at it and constantly have to correct run-on words, accidental returns and hitting the "n" or "m" when I mean to hit the spacebar. And, I think I'm actually getting worse instead of better. Just a minute ago I hit "send" when I meant to scroll. That sent this email to my blog and stowed it as a draft. I then go into my blog and open the draft and either publish it or continue working on it. Well, crap! I just accidentally hit send again.
Well...the fun hasn't started yet. No, I'm not sitting with one of the grands. I'm sitting with the computers while my files get transferred from the old computer to the new one. This is attempt number 5 or 6...I've lost count. The transfer cables that Carolyn bought when she got her Dell did not work on my new computer, possibly because I got a 64-bit machine, although I don't really know. Just guessing. Brent picked up the cable I needed yesterday and I'm now on my third attempt with them. Apparently, the new computer goes into a standby mode after sitting idle for a while. Moving the mouse has not proved to be successful in getting it going again. I've had to (improperly) turn it off to get it started again. Not an auspicious beginning to my experience. It's quite frustrating.
However, as most of you know...getting angry at the computer is pretty pointless. And we've been conditioned over the years to accept what it dishes out and move on. As an example: I am typing this post into an email on my iPhone, practicing using both thumbs. I'm not very good at it and constantly have to correct run-on words, accidental returns and hitting the "n" or "m" when I mean to hit the spacebar. And, I think I'm actually getting worse instead of better. Just a minute ago I hit "send" when I meant to scroll. That sent this email to my blog and stowed it as a draft. I then go into my blog and open the draft and either publish it or continue working on it. Well, crap! I just accidentally hit send again.
Anyhooo, I decided to set the alarm on my phone for 22 minutes. When it chimes, I go move the mouse so it knows it's being tended. So far I think that is keeping it going. It looks like it's transferred about 50% of the 32.4 GB it's supposed to move. It indicates that it will take another 5 hours or so. That time estimation fluctuates up and down, so I won't bank on it. I'll just plan on getting plenty of exercise today, running up and down the stairs.
Saturday
I did all that running up and down the stairs for about 10 hours. Every 22 minutes for 10 hours. The last time I got upstairs, the computer had apparently shut down and restarted because it was waiting for me to log in. I never saw a message saying that it had finished and I didn't see a list of transferred files which I was supposed to see. The last time I was up here before that happened, I estimated (because it didn't show percentages) that it had about 10 % left to transfer. It did indicate that it had about an hour and a half to go. It looks like most of the files transferred, but I haven't been able to find the Quicken data files that I need or the contact files for two email programs. Not to worry...they're still on the old computer, on the online backup and on a flash drive and the cavalry is coming. My computer guru has said he will come and help me sometime next week. Now I just need to clear a path and do a lot of dusting and hope my calves don't cramp up from all the trips up and down the stairs both yesterday and today.
I did get my new printer out of the box and installed it today. Still have some work to do to be wireless, though. I'm waiting for Jedd to help me with that, too. You should see this room. Stuff everywhere. My laptop is on top of a pile of papers and a notebook. I threw a bunch of old paperwork into a box to look at later. I had to do that to make room for the old printer, which is still hooked up to the old computer. A few weeks ago the old printer started printing badly. New cartridges, aligning the cartridges, cleaning the cartridges...none of that fixed the problem. It was leaving off the bottom part of about every other line. The old printer was over four years old, so I decided to get a new one. And here I am with two computers, two printers, cables strung every which way, papers, fileboxes, storage boxes...it's a nightmare.
Saturday
I did all that running up and down the stairs for about 10 hours. Every 22 minutes for 10 hours. The last time I got upstairs, the computer had apparently shut down and restarted because it was waiting for me to log in. I never saw a message saying that it had finished and I didn't see a list of transferred files which I was supposed to see. The last time I was up here before that happened, I estimated (because it didn't show percentages) that it had about 10 % left to transfer. It did indicate that it had about an hour and a half to go. It looks like most of the files transferred, but I haven't been able to find the Quicken data files that I need or the contact files for two email programs. Not to worry...they're still on the old computer, on the online backup and on a flash drive and the cavalry is coming. My computer guru has said he will come and help me sometime next week. Now I just need to clear a path and do a lot of dusting and hope my calves don't cramp up from all the trips up and down the stairs both yesterday and today.
I did get my new printer out of the box and installed it today. Still have some work to do to be wireless, though. I'm waiting for Jedd to help me with that, too. You should see this room. Stuff everywhere. My laptop is on top of a pile of papers and a notebook. I threw a bunch of old paperwork into a box to look at later. I had to do that to make room for the old printer, which is still hooked up to the old computer. A few weeks ago the old printer started printing badly. New cartridges, aligning the cartridges, cleaning the cartridges...none of that fixed the problem. It was leaving off the bottom part of about every other line. The old printer was over four years old, so I decided to get a new one. And here I am with two computers, two printers, cables strung every which way, papers, fileboxes, storage boxes...it's a nightmare.
One of these days this will be a distant memory and then I can start to have fun. Soon, I hope.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
My Dell is Here!
I was surprised to find that my new computer had arrived while I was at the bay. It wasn't supposed to be here until about Tuesday. But, yay!
I've been home for about 5 hours and still haven't even opened the box. There's just so much stuff to put away after a few days at the bay. Plus I needed to go get the transfer cable from Carolyn, which meant a visit with Jax, who was thrilled to see me. And I needed to stop by and see Gage and Zane. Zane has yet another cut...a very small one sort of between his eyebrows. He is always running into something or hitting his head on something else. I talked Wendy into putting a little butterfly strip on it at least for tonight, but she pulled it off so many times trying to get it positioned just right that it has probably fallen on by now.
So anyway...when I got back to the house, Wayne was here and I needed to make him (and me) something to eat. Then clean up the kitchen and then unpack all my clothes, etc. It's now 10 PM and I don't know if I want to even open the box at this point. If I did, I'd probably spend hours trying to figure it out. I think I'll just take a shower and watch some television and possibly tackle it tomorrow.
I've been home for about 5 hours and still haven't even opened the box. There's just so much stuff to put away after a few days at the bay. Plus I needed to go get the transfer cable from Carolyn, which meant a visit with Jax, who was thrilled to see me. And I needed to stop by and see Gage and Zane. Zane has yet another cut...a very small one sort of between his eyebrows. He is always running into something or hitting his head on something else. I talked Wendy into putting a little butterfly strip on it at least for tonight, but she pulled it off so many times trying to get it positioned just right that it has probably fallen on by now.
So anyway...when I got back to the house, Wayne was here and I needed to make him (and me) something to eat. Then clean up the kitchen and then unpack all my clothes, etc. It's now 10 PM and I don't know if I want to even open the box at this point. If I did, I'd probably spend hours trying to figure it out. I think I'll just take a shower and watch some television and possibly tackle it tomorrow.
A Few Days at the Bay
Just got back from several days at the bay. What fun! Many of my cousins were there, as well as good friends, so we had lots of opportunities to get together and talk about what we've been up to.
Virgie hobbled up and down the stairs, wearing the boot that is holding her ankle in place. She broke her tibia during a walk at the bay almost two weeks ago. She was lucky enough that it didn't need to be in a cast, so she is able to walk (carefully and slowly) in her boot. She loves to be in the water at the bay, so on two different occasions she was trundled to the beach on either a golf cart or a Bad Boy. Once there and either in a chair or on a mat, she could remove the boot and enjoy herself. She crawled into the bay on hands and knees and then made her way out to where it was slightly deeper (2 to 3 feet deep). The sun was hot, but the water was very nice, not warm as bathwater this time, cool and very comfortable. This is our favorite way to visit, bobbing with the waves...sometimes feeling a little nibble from something in the water.
Carolyn brought Kate and Carlee and stayed with me Friday and Saturday. The girls love to come to the bay. Brent stayed home with Jax again, so it was just us girls at our bayhouse. Carlee spends much of her time changing clothes. It will be interesting to see her reaction to wearing the plain clothes that are required at St. Philips Preschool. She will be in Pre-K 3. I don't know if they are ready for her! Kate will be in kindergarten there and is an old hand. She is excited that she has a special dress to wear every Friday when they go to mass. They start a week from tomorrow. It's hard to believe that summer is almost over for them.
Virgie hobbled up and down the stairs, wearing the boot that is holding her ankle in place. She broke her tibia during a walk at the bay almost two weeks ago. She was lucky enough that it didn't need to be in a cast, so she is able to walk (carefully and slowly) in her boot. She loves to be in the water at the bay, so on two different occasions she was trundled to the beach on either a golf cart or a Bad Boy. Once there and either in a chair or on a mat, she could remove the boot and enjoy herself. She crawled into the bay on hands and knees and then made her way out to where it was slightly deeper (2 to 3 feet deep). The sun was hot, but the water was very nice, not warm as bathwater this time, cool and very comfortable. This is our favorite way to visit, bobbing with the waves...sometimes feeling a little nibble from something in the water.
Carolyn brought Kate and Carlee and stayed with me Friday and Saturday. The girls love to come to the bay. Brent stayed home with Jax again, so it was just us girls at our bayhouse. Carlee spends much of her time changing clothes. It will be interesting to see her reaction to wearing the plain clothes that are required at St. Philips Preschool. She will be in Pre-K 3. I don't know if they are ready for her! Kate will be in kindergarten there and is an old hand. She is excited that she has a special dress to wear every Friday when they go to mass. They start a week from tomorrow. It's hard to believe that summer is almost over for them.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Exercise is Dangerous!
Many of my friends are aware that I am opposed to exercising. Any kind of exercising...yard work, house work, aerobics, stretching. You name it...I don't want to do it. Well, I don't mind playing the balance games on the Wii, but I haven't even done that for months and months. I'm sure the Wii Fit will have a snotty remark for me when I finally turn it on again.
It (Wii Fit) does have an attitude at times. Carolyn was signed in on my Wii when she had fewer kids and more time. Occasionally she would come over to do some of the sports...ski jumping, slalom skiing, hula hoops, etc. Then she got busier and also got her own Wii Fit and didn't come play with me anymore. Every once in a while when I turn on the Wii, it will inquire about Carolyn. The following is one conversation between the Wii and me:
Wii: I haven't seen Carolyn around for a while. How does she look? (The second sentence might not be exactly what it said.)
Then it gave me several choices to gauge.
Wii: Does she look...() Better () Worse () About the same
I said: About the same. (She was pregnant, but other than that she was about the same.
Wii: Maybe you aren't looking closely enough. (Or something like that...THE BITCH!)
Really! That was pretty much how the conversation went. It was like talking to the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey...'I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.' A real attitude.
But, I digress. Exercise is dangerous! Just this past week, two people I know (a cousin and a friend) have broken a bone while walking! I think both of them are in boots, rather than a cast...which is marginally better, I guess. But still not very convenient. Just a few months ago another cousin fell...while walking...and broke a bone in her wrist. Actually, come to find out, her bone was not broken, but they thought it was so they put a cast on it, forcing her to type all her emails in upper case using her left hand only. She couldn't think and type at the same time...(sorry, Judy, but you know it's true). I had to keep sending her emails asking for clarification when she left out parts of her message or just ended in the middle of a sentence. To add insult to injury, she found out when she went to have the cast removed that it wasn't broken after all. They had noticed it upon further study of the x-ray, but neglected to let her know until she had been wearing the cast for 2 or 3 weeks. My friend, Pat, had bunion surgery as soon as school was out in June. She wore a boot for all of June and some of July. She had the audacity to walk her usual hour and a half one day last week and caused her foot to swell and hurt. The doctor read her the riot act for...wait for it...walking.
A couple of years ago another friend of mine fell...yes, while walking, and broke her arm. And yet another friend broke her ankle (I think it was her ankle) on her way to exercise. Come on! Can it be any more clear that exercise is dangerous?
I make it a habit to not exercise. You can't hurt yourself while sitting in a recliner reading. Well, there was that one time when my underwear rode up and I tried to fix it without getting out of the chair, thereby getting a cramp in my leg. But, it was just that one time.
It (Wii Fit) does have an attitude at times. Carolyn was signed in on my Wii when she had fewer kids and more time. Occasionally she would come over to do some of the sports...ski jumping, slalom skiing, hula hoops, etc. Then she got busier and also got her own Wii Fit and didn't come play with me anymore. Every once in a while when I turn on the Wii, it will inquire about Carolyn. The following is one conversation between the Wii and me:
Wii: I haven't seen Carolyn around for a while. How does she look? (The second sentence might not be exactly what it said.)
Then it gave me several choices to gauge.
Wii: Does she look...() Better () Worse () About the same
I said: About the same. (She was pregnant, but other than that she was about the same.
Wii: Maybe you aren't looking closely enough. (Or something like that...THE BITCH!)
Really! That was pretty much how the conversation went. It was like talking to the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey...'I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave.' A real attitude.
But, I digress. Exercise is dangerous! Just this past week, two people I know (a cousin and a friend) have broken a bone while walking! I think both of them are in boots, rather than a cast...which is marginally better, I guess. But still not very convenient. Just a few months ago another cousin fell...while walking...and broke a bone in her wrist. Actually, come to find out, her bone was not broken, but they thought it was so they put a cast on it, forcing her to type all her emails in upper case using her left hand only. She couldn't think and type at the same time...(sorry, Judy, but you know it's true). I had to keep sending her emails asking for clarification when she left out parts of her message or just ended in the middle of a sentence. To add insult to injury, she found out when she went to have the cast removed that it wasn't broken after all. They had noticed it upon further study of the x-ray, but neglected to let her know until she had been wearing the cast for 2 or 3 weeks. My friend, Pat, had bunion surgery as soon as school was out in June. She wore a boot for all of June and some of July. She had the audacity to walk her usual hour and a half one day last week and caused her foot to swell and hurt. The doctor read her the riot act for...wait for it...walking.
A couple of years ago another friend of mine fell...yes, while walking, and broke her arm. And yet another friend broke her ankle (I think it was her ankle) on her way to exercise. Come on! Can it be any more clear that exercise is dangerous?
I make it a habit to not exercise. You can't hurt yourself while sitting in a recliner reading. Well, there was that one time when my underwear rode up and I tried to fix it without getting out of the chair, thereby getting a cramp in my leg. But, it was just that one time.
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