Monday, March 31, 2014

Bummer--Time To Get a New Computer

Gerard is happy about this--he's been wanting a new one for probably three years now but the one we have works just fine.  It's an emachine with windows XP, the one I got for my dad back in July of 2006.  Yesterday I got a message that as of April 9, there will no longer be support for windows XP.  This means that not only will there be no technical support for it, but no automatic protection against viruses or updates.  I found some complicated instructions at  http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=20 for doing an upgrade to windows 7 but I do not want to bother with that since my computer is almost 8 years old.

I have lots of pictures that I will miss.  I backed up some on cds but to reload them all into a new computer would be a nightmare.  Some I tried putting on a SanDisk 4GB portable drive (I think that's what it's called).  This takes a long time to do this too since my pictures are organized into 17 different folders.  I could probably delete a few though but it's still lots of pictures because I even have some subfolders in them.  This is really stressing me out.

I have AVG virus and malware protection which works very well and I just renewed it!  Fortunately, there is a number I can call to let them remotely come in to my new computer and transfer it over but I have to delete it from my old one first.  Then, my Epson printer may not be compatible.  I tried checking  to see if it is compatible with windows 7 or 8 and I couldn't even find the picture of mine on there!  This is a big headache for me.  Times like this, I wish I were a computer geek, I feel so ignorant about the actual workings and set up stuff when it comes to computers.  I sure wish they gave me more notice.

I am not one bit excited about this but plan to start the hunt tonight, Best Buy here I come, guess.  Have you gone through this process of transferring to a new computer?   

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Yay, I'm Forgiven!

My cat, Manny Boy, is back to his sweet loveable Mr. Nice Nice self.  When I got home from work the day after his dental cleaning, he greeted me at the door as usual and jumped up on the table to eat his supper.  Then jumped up into my lap when I was on the computer just like normal.  He laid on me while I watched two TV shows from the couch.  I'm so glad he is not holding a grudge.  

When I went to pick up my cat from the vet, they made some mischief too by giving me this letter they actually wrote trying to make me think it was from my cat.  As soon as I got to the third sentence, I knew Manny did not write this:

Dear Family,

Thank you so much!

Today was a very big day for me!  The staff here was so caring and friendly I wasn't nervous at all!  They kept telling me how good I was being and that everything was going to be okay.  They told me that the injection they were going to give me was going to make me very sleepy and when I woke up my dental cleaning would be over!  It seemed like only a few minutes, and when I woke up I felt just fine.

They were always checking up on me making sure I was comfortable and warm which was nice.  They also told me that they had called to let you know that I was doing just fine and to see when you could pick me up!  I was so excited to show you my sparkling clean teeth!

Thank you for caring and taking such good care of me!  By keeping my teeth clean and healthy we can have a longer life together.
 You are the best owner a pet could ever ask for! 
It was cute and it did make me feel a little better about putting him through that, but I knew it wasn't really from him.  (See yesterday's post, "Mom's Up To Serious Mischief" for Manny's real thoughts.  I keep telling myself that it was worth over $500 if it extends his life. 

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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mom's Up To Serious Mischief by Manny Boy

I am so mad at my mom!
Yesterday I knew it was going to be a bad day when I didn't get my breakfast on time.  None only was it not on time, but I didn't get any at all!  Mom rattled the bag trying to get me upstairs where that pet taxi was and as soon as I saw dad in that room, I ran the opposite direction and hid behind a chair.  So did Spunky, but mom was really after me this time.

When I got downstairs and saw all the closed doors, I knew I had to hide quick.  Mom managed to pick me up and drop me into the pet taxi while dad held it.  It was two against one, not fair at all!  I was so cold when they brought me outside into the car.  Very uncomfortable!

My mom left me there at 7:45 a.m. the vet's all day!  I was so mad and hungry!  They poked me to get some blood to test and then after a few hours of being confined and ignored, they knocked me out while the head guy cleaned my teeth.  You know what mom and dad were doing while I was being tortured all day?  They went to see some movie called "DIVERGENT" and went out to lunch at CiCi's.  I must admit they did call before the movie to see when they could come and get me, but it was a long time.

I just slept while I waited to get picked up and I was happy to see mom again when she finally came at 4:45 p.m.  When I got home, I was not going to let her pet me and just went off to hide in the basement to be alone and rest from my horrible day.  I was glad when I heard mom looking all over the house for me and couldn't find me.  She had to get dad to help with the hunt and he finally found me behind a basement chair way in the corner.  Mom brought me a little bit of food, but I showed her.  I just walked away from it.

She tried again a couple hours later when I was in the den and by then, I couldn't resist any longer.  I was starved so ate it.  I woke her up around 2:00 a.m. to give me a night time snack too.  She put Spunky in the other room with the door closed so I could eat in peace without Spunky trying to get my food.  She's trying hard to be nice to me again.

What do you say?  Should I forgive her and be my nice affectionate self again, or hold out a bit longer?

Joining in with Monday Mischief and Cats on Tuesday.

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Friday, March 21, 2014

Friday Fragments


Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. It's been quite a week so I have more than usual this week:

Politics

I am not big on politics so really got a kick out of the list about politics and politicians at Comedy Plus this week! Check it out for a laugh--it's so true!

4-Day Work Week

This was Gerard's first 4-day work week and what a productive day he had on Wednesday, his day off! See our Thankful Thursday post for details.

Dog License

The dog license renewals are supposed to go out in December but we never got ours so I finally called about it. Got the application and will get it in the mail tomorrow.

Returns

I got an offer in the mail for a small Heat Surge heater and thought I would be able to use it in our bedroom during the night. When I read the instructions though, it said it gets hot and you should not leave it unattended. If we are sleeping, we are not attentive so I called and made arrangements to return it for a full refund ($139).

NCAA Basketball

Sad, both our favorite teams lost in the first round, Ohio State and Duke! Duke's upset was even more unexpected than Ohio State's. Ohio State only lost by 1 point, so close. My only consolation is that others in our pool probably picked them too, but I had Duke going all the way to the final 4--very bad.

Pet Update

Abby finally got groomed this week and her fur is really soft again. Spunky Doodle's been sleeping next me through the whole night lately. Manny Boy will be going to the vet Monday to get his teeth cleaned. I'm told it is necessary to clean the tarter off and they can also get it from under the gums too which prevents disease. Do you get your cat's teeth cleaned?


Divergent

We are looking forward to seeing the movie "Divergent" on Monday when we are off. It takes both of us to get Manny Boy into the cat carrier!

Re-Decorating

After seeing episodes of "Sell This House" a desire is growing in me to do some painting and re-decorating in our house. The only reason I hesitate is that we have so much furniture to move that it is very difficult. That's why we still have our brown carpeting that is over 16 years old. It's still the carpet that was in the house when we first bought it!  There are a lot of things I'd like to change.

Books

We both read and liked The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley. Share this:


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband and that he gets to start working only four days a week as of yesterday.  He has chosen to have Wednesdays off at my suggestion and he had a very productive day.  Here is how he spent his day off:

He got up at his regular early time so he could walk our dog, Abby, as usual and drive me to the bus stop for work.

He took Abby to the groomer for a bath.

Washed the towels.

He washed my car.

He got his fill of computer time.

He vacuumed.

He scrubbed the kitchen floor.

He met me at the bus stop when I came home and brought the car so I didn't have to walk (it looked like rain).

We watched a bit of TV together in the evening--"Sell This House" and then he watched the Bruins continue their winning streak.

How do you spend a day off?  If you could have a 4-day work week, what day would you choose to be off?

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Wednesday, March 19, 2014

NCAA March Madness Brackets--Give It a Try!

Until I married Gerard, I never realized what all the hoopla was about over March Madness; nor did I know what a "bracket" was.  It's actually when people try to pick the winners of the Men's College Basketball Tournament that happens every March and the bracket is a diagram of the different games.  When you fill in all the games with who you predict will win, then you find a pool to enter in the hopes of winning some money.  Both Gerard's and my places of employment have one going.  Since his place has much fewer people and therefore a better chance to win, we have been entering only that one which costs only $5.  Although the winnings would be much less than at my work, mine costs $10 to enter and about 50 people are in it so the odds of winning are much less.


Karen's Method

By completing a bracket, it makes the games much more fun to watch and provides entertainment at a minimum cost.  This year, I used a very random method of choosing my teams.  First, I chose teams that I liked based on their names or the city.  When I got to teams that I felt were even or that I had no preference of team, I simply used two scrap pieces of paper with a 1 or a 2 written on them, mixed them up, and picked the piece on top.  If it was a 1, I chose the first team listed, if a 2, I chose the second team listed.  There are lots of methods people use when filling out their brackets, but no one really knows what's going to happen.  It's basketball with lots of good teams and really any team could win on any given day so that is why I do not put a lot of time or thought into mine.  This year my champion pick is Virginia.  It is an unpopular choice so if they should win, that will help me because most others in my pool probably won't pick them.  I chose them basically because they had a good record and are a different team than usual.

Gerard's Method

On the other hand, Gerard is just the opposite when it comes to completing his bracket.  He listens to all the experts picks and their reasons, reads whatever he finds about the teams and players, and second guesses himself over and over.  Last night he spent about an hour at least filling in his teams.  He takes it very seriously and the sad thing is, I usually do better on my bracket than he does, last year was the exception.  He beat me last year.  So far, his champion is Arizona.  Since we both enter the same pool, we usually pick different champions in the hopes of increasing our chance of at least one of us winning the pool.


So, what strategy do you use to complete your bracket?  Maybe you never did one but even if you don't actually enter a pool, it can be a fun family activity.  Just go to cbssports.com, click Print Bracket for each of your family members and let the fun begin.  You could set up your own prize for the one who gets the most picks right. The little numbers by the teams tell you how the league ranked them, the smaller the number, supposedly, the better the team so even if you don't follow men's college basketball, you can get a clue by the numbers to as to which team is considered the best in each region.

Check out the Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge--Get them all right and win a billion dollars!  Also giving away $100,000 for the 20 highest imperfect brackets.  

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Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Got my green on today, what about you?
 Joining in with AWW Mondays.

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Friday, March 14, 2014

Friday Fragments (travel, sports, books)


Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

A Trip I'd Like

Over at Snoopy's blog, I saw some very interesting pictures from a trip his mom and dad took down the Amazon, including dogs they saw along the way!  The post is titled "Dogs of the Amazon" but it has pictures of lots of other critters too!


Travel Tips

We don't travel but I came across a very helpful post for those who do at It's Just Life--"Traveling? Take These Along!" She gives a list of items to pack that could be quite useful!   I think this was the most helpful post I read this week.

Paraplegic Hockey

I was intrigued when I watched a bit of a hockey game played by paralegics between the USA and Russia. They sat on a what looked like a big skate using two sticks to slide themselves along on the ice. I struck me most was that there were actually that many paralegic hockey players and that they were so fast!

Good Neighbors

We live on a fairly long street near the one end so walking from the bus stop with snow and ice on the ground and a cold wind blowing more snow in my face is not very fun. I usually walk in the street at the side and am thankful when neighbors see me and stop to give me a lift. We have some very nice people on our street!

Civil War Christian Fiction

I just finished reading another Civil War fiction series by Lauraine Snelling consisting of The Daughter of Twin Oaks, Sisters of the Confederacy, and A Long Way Home. I enjoyed this series very much because of the well developed characters, the adventure and lots of action, and the fact that it is Christian fiction so swear words and steamy sex scenes are omitted. Reading this kind of book helps me keep my problems in perspective.  This series is about saving their race horses, protecting the freed slaves, the separation of families that the war caused, life on a wagon train, how people assisted in the war effort, and how far people will go to protect their loved ones and help others.


What did you find interesting this week?  Have you read anything good lately?

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Monday, March 10, 2014

I'll Never Tell by Abby Dabby Doo (Monday Mischief)


 When it's is very cold out, my mom puts this pretty jacket on me.

To make sure it stays on, she puts my harness on top of it so not only is the velcro fastened, but the harness helps hold it in place too!

That's why my mom couldn't believe it when my dad came in from our walk carrying my jacket in his hand!  Ha, ha, I managed to take it off.  It just wasn't that cold to me.  I good magician never tells how he does his tricks.  Mom must have asked me at least six times how I got out of it but I wouldn't tell.  Then she tried tricking me by asking if I would do a video showing other dogs how to do it, but I did not fall for that.

Face it mom, sometimes I am smarter than you.  Most days my fur keeps me warm enough.  Woo Hoo!


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Friday, March 7, 2014

4 Friday Fragments: TV, Exercise, Dog, Question


Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

TV Day

When I was home sick on Monday I had a TV day with my cat and discovered an interesting show I never saw before:  "Sell This House." 

Exercise

I learned this week that there are even treadmills for dogs. Check out Amazing Girl Gets Shelter Dogs Moving to see a doggie treadmill.  I am so tired of waiting for warmer weather to go walking that I started walking around all of our 8 floors before work to get a half your walk in.  Not too many are there when I arrive so I can even sprint down some of the hallways! 


Houdini Dog

I put a jacket on Abby, our dog, when the temperature is below 20, but this week, she managed to get it off while on her walk. I have no idea how she did that because I had it under her harness!  She came back with the harness in place but no jacket. Guess she decided it wasn't necessary.

Which Fish?

For Sunday School this week, our lesson is on Jesus saying He is the "Bread of Life" after feeding the crowd of over 5,000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. Since the boys like to eat, I thought I'd bring some bread and fish. Should I bring tuna or sardines? I'm thinking the sardines look more like the fish the boy had.  UPDATED 3/9:  I used some rolls and sardines.  Half the boys actually liked sardines and ate them!  I only had six there when we split up the food among us.  Caleb said, "You should teach at my school because you have such creative ideas and there would be more kids." 



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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

A TV Day

I normally watch very little TV, but yesterday I was home sick so had a TV day with my cat, Manny.  I basically spent the day on the couch except when I had to blow my nose and eat or drink something.  We watched "I Love Lucy," "Golden Girls," and "Sell That House," in the morning.  I was laughing out loud on Lucy and the Golden Girls which is the best medicine! 

This is the first I watched "Sell That House."  It's a show that helps people trying to sell their house for a long time figure out why it isn't selling and help the owners get it to sell.  I enjoyed watching two episodes. 

The first was a woman whose townhouse wasn't selling.  No wonder, it was so cluttered and messy and smelly from the fish tank.  I can't believe people actually show their house with the bed unmade and clothes all over I do remember when we were house hunting, we saw a home similar.  Here's a hint:  If you are showing your house in the hopes of selling it, clean it up and get rid of the clutter!  

The second was a large home with an asking price of $499,000!  It was so outdated though that potential buyers were turned off as soon as they entered the door.  The show convinced the owner to spend $30,000 to remodel the entire house and then they got an offer for $500,000. 

In the afternoon, I enjoyed watching several episodes of "Little House on the Prairie." I always enjoy that show!  Then I finally got off the couch and played some Lumosity games.  I actually did better than I expected!

I felt like this was a waste of a day, but I just didn't feel up to doing anything--not even reading!  Glad I feel better today and can go back to work.


 
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Monday, March 3, 2014

AWW Mondays: Sharing

We always share the computer chair (Manny Boy and Karen)
Speaking of sharing, you have to see this skateboarding cat:
 http://www.godvine.com/This-Adorable-Kitty-is-Absolutely-the-Cutest-Thing-on-Wheels--4798.html

Joining up with Aww Mondays and Monday Mischief.

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