Spoke Too Soon

I'm having all sorts of trouble getting a stable connection.  Not fun.  Wish me luck, I think I need it.  And I think I will be returning the computer.  We'll see after this factory image restore and what HP's Natesh says when he calls back in an hour.
-Typed with one fat finger on my wife's iPhone.

Back Online!

I'm back!

When we shut down the computer on Monday night all was well.  When we started it up again after work on Tuesday it was slower than molasses.  I tried everything - and I mean everything - that I could think of to try and fix the problem.  I worked on it Tuesday night and Wednesday night to no avail.  Absolutely nothing helped.  I even called computer-savvy StepDan and he couldn't think of anything that I hadn't tried yet.  So I went out after work yesterday and got a new one. 

Now the real work begins.  I have things set up and stable enough to use, but we will be fine tuning and learning how to use the new PC for weeks.  A major pain, but I'm sure we'll adapt.  I'm okay with the new mouse, but I think I'm going to go back to the old keyboard.  This one is too flat.

But for now, I got some catching up to do!  PTFO

Offline

I'm roughing it with a broken Internet machine. Back ASAP. Typing this on my wife's phone is a pain in the rump!

Peeps, Part Two

Last night we had our friends over for a fire pit, drinks and snacks.  Always fun to do, and it is a holiday weekend, after all.  I also had a lot of little sticks and bark I wanted to get burned up. Turned out pretty well.  While mosquito season is peaking, there was a good breeze and smoke to keep them at bay.  Also it wasn't a real hot day so sitting by the fire was more comfortable than it could have been.

It's been over two years since the original Peep incident (see the original video here), and last night Terry was ready to try and make lightning strike twice.  Well, I don't know if it matches the spontaneity of the first video, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

This And Thats

It has come time again to drop all sorts of little nuggets about this or that going on in our life recently.

• I've been overdue to update the garden site.  We've had a lot of rain recently and the plants have been growing well.  According to our rain gauge, we had about 8.5 inches in a 4 day stretch last week, and some pretty severe storms.  I got home one day and the street was blocked off just past our house due to downed branches and phone, cable and power lines.  There were similar or worse scenes all around the region.  I wanted to post about it but I don't want to show my neighbor's houses.  I can choose to post our own house, but even then I've blocked out the street numbers before.
• Speaking of the garden - well, I started to - salad greens have been ready and we got some more from a friend so we have been eating a lot of salads lately.  Kate has been eating more than I since I tend to tire of them after a couple days.  Steaks on the grill tonight!
• I'm taking a bit of time off this week and I really have nothing planned.  No projects, no nothing.  I'm starting to feel a bit guilty about being lazy, but I really need my batteries recharged.  I've been almost constantly training in one thing or another at work since last August and my brain is tired.  I have a U.D.O. concert dvd that I haven't watched yet - there, now I have plans tomorrow.
• I got a laugh from this fact about Wisconsin, via a very interesting article at Huffington Post that my wife pointed out to me:  'With a population of 5,664,893, Wisconsin has only 57 fewer drinking places (3,043) than California (3,100), a state with a population of 39,969,200.'  And 'Wisconsin had nearly three times more bars than grocery stores.'  It is an interesting article that covers a lot of things we're known for here, and not just drinking.
• We've had fun getting together with friends for fun and family for Father's Day recently.  We were going to have our spring party last weekend, but a few weeks ago, right before we started plans in earnest, we got a flier on our door for the 3rd annual street block party.  Just the same, the timing wasn't the best for us this year to throw a big shindig like we have almost every year since we moved here.  We have not gone up to the street's block party (held on the next block) yet, it seems like it is more of a families with kids thing.  Or maybe that's just an excuse.  I like to think we are friendly with most all our neighbors, but we are actually pretty private, too.

I've left this for a bit and come back after a wonderful grilled tenderloin steak dinner.  I really thought that I had more to say.  I'll probably think of a half dozen more things after I hit 'publish.'  Good thing I have a couple more days off...