Tech Tease

Darned technology!!!

Well, Microsoft has bit me again. But I'm doing the best I can to keep a sense of humor and not throw all my peripherals out the window.

Finally bought a long-needed full-size monitor... because my eyes just can't adequately see the tiny laptop screen anymore. But this new monitor doesn't behave like the one my employer provided for my even tinier work laptop. (My personal computer is 14 inches wide, down two inches from my previous personal computer. The work laptop is 12 inches wide. My personal monitor is 20 inches wide, and the work monitor is an exhilarating 22 inches wide.)

It has taken me ALL DAY to get my brand new monitor set up. I absolutely LOVE being able to see everything on the screen again without massively increasing resolution size. But now I have to keep my personal laptop wide open in a different area to prevent the little screen from blocking the big screen because both the monitor and the laptop go to sleep if I close the laptop. And, just as the reviews proclaim, the monitor I bought has lousy speakers. I didn't think it would matter because I have my own amazing external speaks. When I plug my awesome speakers into the laptop, everything is silent. The new monitor won't let anything else make noise!!! When I plug my not-cheap speakers into the monitor, the sound is noticeably degraded. I've tried EVERYTHING we are supposed to do to change these settings. Windows 11 and the new monitor default the sound to the monitor, and there's nothing I can do to change that.

Computers!!! Can't live without 'em, but sure can't live in peace with them!!!

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Hubba Hubba

Last year when I lost access to Photoshop because my personal laptop is so old (about 2016, I think), I was forced to upgrade to Windows 10, even though I did not want to (and wasn't entirely certain it would work). After the upgrade, which I still don't really like, I realized the day will come when I will be forced to buy a new laptop. Even if the old one still works just fine (albeit a bit slow...).

Not only did I lose access to Photoshop prior to my software upgrade, I also lost the ability to work from home via my personal laptop. I now have a work-issued laptop I can use at home exclusively for work. It won't run any of my other programs, and I don't spend work time working on personal stuff anyway...

We were at my in-law's for a week when a work crisis arose, and I wasn't able to help because my old computer was too old. My co-workers handled the situation with my verbal guidance (over the phone), but insecurity rooted. I've had enough internet outages at home to know the day will come when I cannot work from my personal laptop, even in a pinch. I can set up a personal hot spot on my phone and access the internet via my personal laptop when necessary, but I can't use my phone to get the work laptop online. If we lose internet during work hours (which happened five times last year), I have to hurriedly drive to downtown Denver to work in the office. This is not a fun task on a snowy day.

My mother-in-law wanted me to be able to continue working from home, so she helped me buy a new laptop last summer. I have now spent the last seven months trying to get that mini monster up and running.

Modern laptops these days don't come with adequate ports for you to plug in your keyboard (because the laptop's is SO tiny), your wireless mouse (because the touchpad is a pain in the everything!!!) and your full-size monitor (so you can actually see the documents you are working on without a magnifying glass). So you have to have a docking station.

External hard drives (still used by people like me who don't want to put all their personal stuff "in the cloud") won't run on inexpensive docking stations (that usually have only three ports anyway). You have to use a powered docking station.

New laptops don't come with CD drives (because who needs that when you are storing everything in the cloud???). External CD drives won't run on inexpensive docking stations. You have to use a powered docking station.

Not knowing half of the above details when I ordered the new computer, I ordered a cheap little hub from the same manufacturer that built the computer. Because the middle-of-the-line full-sized docking station runs more than $200. The computer alone was expensive enough! And I had to buy the external CD drive, too.

When I discovered I didn't have enough ports and couldn't run my external hard drive and CD drive via the mini hub, one of the IT guys from the office gave me, for free, a full-size hub by the same manufacturer he had "just laying around." I gave him a dozen cookies. He seemed very happy.

As of January 1, 2023, my 2016 laptop could be determined as not compatible with Photoshop, Windows, Citrix or any host of other programs or peripherals at any time, quite possibly without a moment's notice. So I decided I should get serious about getting that new laptop running by the beginning of the year.

It took me three weeks!!!

Turned out the mini hub I'd purchased was defective. Turned out the donated docking station was defective. Turned out I had to buy a new docking station, which didn't have enough ports for what I needed. Which meant I had to buy yet another docking station.

And now, after all this, finally, my new personal laptop is up and running. I still prefer the old one. And I still hate Windows 10. I hate Microsoft more than ever. But my new personal laptop works, and I can work from home with it in a bind. I am, officially, connected.

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Charging

Work was SO busy on Tuesday. Then, Wednesday was a nightmare. I didn't get home from the office until after 8 p.m. The perfect Murphy's Law day. To top off everything else, the battery light on my 2016 computer that I recently bellyached about because I was forced to update to Windows 10 started flashing orange. I googled and learned the battery was gone. Replace it right away. Great.

So I ordered one from Amazon that was supposed to arrive Thursday (which would be today as you are reading this). It was another nightmare because I've never done this before. I didn't know if I was ordering the right thing. Or if I could trust the seller... my computer has been outdated for a very long time! What if the part I ordered was junk or didn't fit???

The part arrived at my front door ten minutes before me. I googled again to learn how to install it, then hoped like heck I wouldn't ruin the battery or the computer as I pulled the plug on the old battery and nervously installed the new one. Which I hoped really was new, as advertised.

My computer is purring! It's 9:18 p.m. Wednesday night, and my computer is working again! This little baby is like the Energizer Bunny! It just keeps going and going! Occasionally needs something new that stretches me in ways I didn't know I could bend, but it keeps right on going!

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Working From Home

Last month, when we first began working from home, our office manager asked employees to send me selfies of them at their home work stations. She thought it would be a fun way to keep working together while feeling as if we're still in the same office, as well as to help maintain morale.

I punctuated the request by sharing a photo from my home computer desk from 2017. Everyone got a kick out of it, and some even "cheered" by replying to all, "You win!" Nevertheless, it's not a selfie. It doesn't count.


I promised my co-workers I had put in a request for a retake so I could be in the picture, too. Meanwhile, most employees sent photos of their dogs at their work stations or their dogs on their laps at their work stations. It has provided a great way for us to bond across the miles, and it gives everyone something to look forward to each week, as business slows and job security fears rise.

Of course, I don't really care for deer in my yard because they eat everything I don't plant for them. But I've been feeding the squirrels for about a year now to keep them out of the bird feeder (not always successfully), so I suppose I could "feed" the deer as well. Meaning, let them eat what they want, since they are going to anyhow, and there's not really any way to stop them without drawing other garden visitors who might have a different type of appetite.

Such as... bears.

We hadn't seen deer in the neighborhood in a while, so I wasn't sure I'd actually be able to get a fresh photo. So I took photos of whatever wildlife popped into view.


First, of course, came the squirrel. Every day. Two of them, actually. Which means we may soon have more than two. They can be fun to watch. They still prefer the bird feeder, even if I put the same stuff in their feeder on the far side of the yard.

The one very pleasant surprise is when I catch them (from inside the house) attempting to scale the pole leading to the bird feeder and sternly announce, "NO!", sometimes two or three times. They actually reverse course and begin scanning the ground for bird leftovers. My squirrels appear to be as obedient as some dogs.

And if I get to take pictures of the babies when they arrive, you know I won't be complaining.

Mr. Squirrel refused to pose with me for a selfie.


Next came my favorite, the mountain bluebird who teases me at this time every year. Makes me think he wants to move his little family into the cubicle next to mine. Every year. And every year, we get tree sparrows instead. Not that tree sparrows are a bad thing. I love watching those little characters fledge, too. And Lizard thinks tree sparrows are the equivalent of jet fighter pilots. Man, can those little birds dive!

Nevertheless, there is something magical about that gorgeous blue color. I would love to raise a family of mountain bluebirds! You probably couldn't scrape me away from the window if that were to happen.

Alas, because I'm at the window so often now, I found out the true nature of Mr. Mountain Bluebird's visits. In between nesting seasons, wasps (not the bad kind) sublease the premises and build a little guest house of their own inside the birdhouse.

The bluebirds evict the tenants in advance of the tree sparrows' arrival. Oh, and a selfie with one of the bluebirds doesn't really show the bluebirds. So you get telephoto shots instead.










Yes, the Missus followed suit, although she made too quick a getaway with her afternoon snack for a photo.






Finally, my tulips began to make an appearance, and that means four-legged creatures are converging to check out the menu.

They practiced social distancing, too.


Trying to get both me and the deer into the same shot proved a little more problematic than I anticipated. But mission accomplished. I have my official Working From Home selfie now!

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Aaargh...

I don't know if I'm happy with myself right at this moment. I just paid for and am downloading Microsoft Word.

I didn't think I'd stoop this low anymore.

I went two years without Microsoft at home, and I've been doing pretty darned well. Until now. I have to do some editing and formatting that just doesn't work in Apache OpenOffice. It doesn't work in Google Docs.

The only way I can survive this project is via Word. Ugh. I did not want to have to do this. I feel as if I've surrendered, and Microsoft won.

I didn't want a Word subscription, and I do not want Microsoft monitoring me. I do not want auto updates at all. Ever.

It isn't cheap. I could subscribe for $70 per year and get the entire Office suite, which I do not want and do not need. To download just Word and not have auto updates is $130. Ouch. Older versions of Word (unsupported and without auto updates or subscriptions) are upwards of $200.

Lizard told me to go ahead and get the latest version of Word after we discussed options.

I still don't know that I like this. But it's nearly a done deal now, and Microsoft is once again a part of my non-work world.

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A Whole New World

We had to invest in another new computer because the three-year-old is beginning to show signs of heavy usage. It's flickering, burping and shutting down without any warning.

Laptops seem to live shorter lives every round. My first was a retired laptop from my office, way back in 2003, back when they would sell the computers being replaced to employees for $100 each. I picked up a very used laptop that lasted me another five years before it needed a new motherboard. When we had the motherboard replaced, the shop said we shouldn't expect to be able to do that anymore because the motherboard was no longer available. The technician told us we should get another year out of the refurbished motherboard. It gave us five years. I had no idea back then what an amazing lifespan that computer had given me.

We bought another laptop, this time brand new, in 2013, which is the one being supplemented/replaced now. It still starts up and sometimes even stays on, but we don't know how much longer it will keep fighting.

My Photoshop, eight versions back, had some real bugs on the 2013 laptop. I couldn't afford the upgrade, and the new laptop wasn't even supposed to be compatible with my dinosaur photo editing program. Many functions wouldn't work reliably or predictably, and the program would belch when I used it too long, but I made do. We had bought one of those crazy laptops later recalled with a heat warning. We were supposed to return it for servicing or replacement, but didn't because we didn't have a back-up computer to use in the interim) We've spent the last three years balancing the laptop on four boxes of cellophane tape because that allowed the bottom of the computer to breathe and stay cool enough not to burn up.

We think heat is one of the problems it's having these days. We haven't taken the 2013 laptop in to see if it can be repaired; we've just tried to limit usage so it wouldn't overheat as frequently. We were getting by, but shutdowns were becoming more frequent, even though we were using it less often.

We decided to use this year's tax refund to get a second laptop. With a second laptop, if we need to take one in, we'd still have one we can use.

We weren't incredibly happy with the selection of new laptops available. We knew my version of Photoshop likely wouldn't work with any of the last two PC operating systems. I also did not want anything to do with the two most recent operating systems. Vista is worthless, in my opinion, and everything I'd read about Windows 10 wasn't giving me confidence in the memory-hog software.

When the office where I work converted to Windows 10, I was even more determined NOT to buy the newest software. I hate it. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate Windows 10, but unfortunately, at work, I have no choice. At home, the choice is mine. The last thing I need is an auto-update on my limited bandwidth to commandeer my computer and render it useless until I can get to a free wifi location for who knows how long to finish some unexpected download.

We bought the only laptop we could find with adequate RAM to run a photo-editing program that gave us the option of Windows 7 or Vista, and this new toy is NOT a Microsoft product, thank heavens. Both operating systems came installed, and when we set up the new laptop, we had the choice of which operating system we wanted.

I picked Windows 7, and even though I've been using the newest laptop for only a couple of weeks now, I haven't regretted the older software for a single moment.

Even though the operating system is Windows 7, the 2016 laptop still is not compatible with my old Photoshop. Darn it. You can't buy Photoshop anymore. Now, you have to purchase a subscription.

Prior to buying the 2016 laptop, I explored everything about Creative Suite/Creative Cloud (the newest version of the photo-editing software) to make sure I wouldn't have to be online all the time just to use the most important program on my computer. Once I learned I can download the software and just not use the Cloud, I decided to go ahead with the new laptop. It has taken months for us to reach this point.

Last week I finally purchased the photo-editing subscription, and I've had three chances so far to use it.

Overall, the operation of the new Creative Suite isn't all that much different than the Photoshop 7 I'd been using, only the newer program doesn't regurgitate. I have enough RAM on the 2016 laptop to run the powerful program. Creative Suite looks different than Photoshop 7, but so far, I haven't had trouble finding or using tools. I think I like Creative Suite. That's a HUGE step for me because I'm an old dog, and it's hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

My first photo trying out the new software was, of course, an old photo of The Wave. My first edited photo, of course, is now my new laptop wallpaper.


Next, I needed a word processing program. The employee purchase program for Office died after 2013, I'm told, so the inexpensive option was out of the question. I looked up Microsoft Word (because I don't need Excel at home, and I really don't like Outlook). The word processing program alone was, choke, choke, $109. !!! No, thank you!

So, I researched and then downloaded OpenOffice by Apache. It took me a couple of days to work up the courage to fire up the program. I'd read the free program can have a steep learning curve.

Although the spellcheck program is having issues right now recognizing English, OpenOffice is not that difficult to master. To me, it's not that much different than the XP version of Word, which was my favorite at work way back in the olden days.

I haven't transferred all my snowflake patterns to the 2016 laptop yet, but I've moved my journals over, and that's the computer I use each night when I write about my day. I haven't moved all of my photos over yet because I just haven't had time. But I'm beginning to really look forward to editing photos again because I enjoy using a computer and a program that don't crash.

Everything about the new laptop so far is a whole new environment for me, and I'm learning as I go. I think I'm liking my Microsoft-less world more and more every day. There truly is life beyond Microsoft! And guess what? You actually can teach this old dog new tricks!

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Scribbles

Lizard Doodles
I recently read a humorous commentary on the youthful art exploits of someone not quite as old as me. The author was poking fun at one of the first computerized drawing programs available to the public. At a young age, the artist in training scribbled in Microsoft Paint, then used the paint bucket to fill in the scribbles with color.

"We all did it!" the author proclaimed.

My kids did it on a Mac. I never did. Not as a child, anyway.

I chuckled when I read that commentary because the first time I was allowed to scribble and fill in the scribbles with color, there were no computers! I did it with crayons on paper. I sometimes even did it on the wall or on the furniture. Yes, in fact, I did. I even color-coded Grandma's ivory piano keys with felt tip pens so I could remember where to put my fingers when playing my favorite song, "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" from Cinderella, or some such catchy little age-appropriate ditty.

Oh, how I loved the brilliant colors of felt tip pens. And this was back when felt tip pens rarely came in packages of more than six or twelve. I'd have been in heaven with the awesome 48-color sets available now!


The Lizard doodles just like I used to!
As a teen, I loved to doodle with felt tip pens. The pens moved so smoothly. I would draw a little scribble with one color, then change to another color and outline my little scribble, then change to another color and outline the outline... I'd keep going until I filled the paper with a rainbow of pen lines.

Maybe that's why I am so attracted to Hawaiian quilting.


I also liked to draw thick and hard on top of the clear plastic crayon box (I don't remember seeing gigantic boxes of 64 dreamy colors until I was a teenager, and I likely would have gone into color overload if the monster boxes had been available way back then, too), then cover my drawing with glue, which I would peel from the plastic after it dried and hang in the window to let the sun come through the pretty pastel colors.

And that's how a future snowflake designer became hopelessly addicted to prismatic danglies.



Now I've taken to drawing with my sewing machine. In some ways, free-motion quilting feels a bit like the scribbles I used to do as a child. Reminiscing of my youthful art exploits brings back warm memories. Today's scribbling literally has the power to warm!

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Friday Fun

This has got to be some of the most fun I've had on a computer! Thanks, Dad!

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