Friday, March 31, 2017

Still Here...

Okey dokey folks. Well, once again, here I am with a pile of half finished posts in my drafts folder. I just can't seem to get over the hump in terms of writing something meaningful.

Soooo... I guess I'll just give you the condensed version.

First of all, I FINALLY got my new web server up and running. There was great rejoicing!


Well, there was great rejoicing until the thing went down inexplicably for 6 hours.


I'm not ready to give up yet, but it is a tad bit disconcerting. I think it encountered a problem with a routine update to the operating system, but I'm not entirely sure. Anyhow, when it's functioning my websites are running much better and faster.

And apparently my home computer was feeling left out because it decided that if the server was gonna get replaced, it wanted in on the action.


This has been something I've been avoiding for years, since my computer was over 10 years old and had been upgraded to its limits. But when it started making a noise that sounded like a rocket ship taking off, and sporadically refusing to boot...


... well, I decided the time had come.

Actually, the nail was in the coffin was when it took me 30 minutes to rename a file.



So, I'm writing to you from my brand spanking new Windows 10 machine. In general I'm liking this new PC - it's significantly faster than my old one, and it's very nice not to have the thing hang up every time I try to do anything.

There is a bit of a learning curve though (NO! I do NOT want to store all 100 gigabytes of old photos on the cloud, thank you very much - that's why I bought a terabyte disk drive!) but I'm getting it figured out.

And apparently, the only folks using desktops these days aside from programmers and graphic designers are... wait for it... gamers! So yes, the new computer came complete with colorful led lights giving my office the slight vibe of a 1970's discotech. Groovy. (She says without the slightest hint of sarcasm.)


The experience of having to set everything up again is a big daunting though... Oh... and it's been complicated by the fact that one of my credit card numbers got stolen - the one that has everything automatically charged to it. GRRRR!!!! I must say that I'm really looking forward to the day when technology can authenticate our existence without the need for a zillion passwords!


In other news, our wacky weather continues. After an incredibly warm and dry February and first part of March, the pattern has changed and now it's cool and rainy. And now they're saying we're gonna get 3-6 inches of snow overnight! With the crazy heat I went ahead and planted the spinach and peas in early March, and they're about an inch tall now. I'm also experimenting with growing radishes (another cool weather crop) and they're just starting to sprout. So everything's nestled in under a layer of frost cloth.

The green onions and garlic think it's mid-summer already though. I've been harvesting onions for weeks now, and the garlic looks lush and healthy. Hopefully it will survive the snow.


CatMan & I have been taking advantage of the weather to get lots of biking miles in. With the combination of the mild winter and the fact that I beefed up my winter riding wardrobe, we didn't have any long breaks from riding this year, so we seem to be heading into the spring in the best shape ever.


Seriously, we did 55 miles yesterday and it didn't seem like a particularly long ride. So assuming we don't get flooded out this year, we're hoping to conquer a few longer rides this summer- we've got a 65 miler with lots of hills, and a fairly flat 75 mile route in our sights.

Here's a photo from a recent ride with some cool iridescent clouds. Not quite as impressive on the photo as in person, but the colors you see next to the sun aren't an artefact from the camera, the clouds really were that color.


Of course, before any of that can happen, I have to get brave enough to replace my chain. Apparently bike chains actually stretch and need to be replaced every 5000 miles or so. Who knew? I'm hoping that it won't be as difficult as it sounds!


And... of course, I did heave an enormous sigh of relief when the Republican "health care" bill went down in flames.


I'm sure the battle is far from over, but I do feel like there's a bit of a reprieve. (FYI- I would absolutely agree that the system needs some changes, but asking self-employed folks ages 50-64 to pony up $15K per person per year, just for the premium payments on a high deductible plan, does not exactly seem like a fair proposal to me.)

I do have to say that I find it just a tad bit ironic that the reason the plan failed was not because it would kick so many people off of health care, but because it wasn't "conservative" enough. Well, any port in a storm, as they say... at least as long as it's not port 25 - because for reasons that are still a mystery to me, the new server refuses to recognize unencrypted SMTP... oh wait, I shifted gears again there didn't I.


OK, well on that note...

How are things in your little corner of the universe?