Blender Techniques

I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that I've decided to declare victory over my recent computer ills.

Mission Accomplished!

As it turned out, the 40 GB slave HD on the old computer is the one that failed - even though the error message I got when this all started told me the master HD was the culprit. When I installed the slave drive in the enclosure and fired it up, all I got for my trouble was the same horrible sound I heard last Thursday - reminded me of trying to crank car that ain't gonna start anyway, and hearing metal on metal that sets your teeth on edge.

So I made a list of everything I could remember that was on that drive and checked to see what was and what was not backed up. As far as I can tell, I'm missing my folder of 2008 pictures, some of which have been duplicated in other folders. For some reason, all the pictures I took on my tour of the Southwest in the Spring of 2008, were duplicated in another folder on the other drive. Good karma, man. I did lose a lot of the pics from my trip to Kim's and Robert's ranch in west Texas - looks like I'm going to have to go out and shoot all those longhorns again, but someone has to do it.

*****

Ever been really thirsty? I'm not quite sure exactly what Lisa's fixing here. We usually like to save Richard's SuperBlender for important jobs - like emergency daiquiris or Nucular 'Ritas - but this . . . I just don't know, although her technique is good.

Sometimes, a difference of opinion over technique can cause some fireworks, but it seldom seems to take much effort for Maureen to make Richard see things her way. It's probably her dimples. One thing's for sure - despite the technique, at the end of the day all the daiquiris and margaritas will be gone.

Now Karen, after her trip with Richard to China for Steve's and Tanya's wedding, came back with an oriental technique called "the Whining Crane", which appears to be derived from one or more of the martial arts. It doesn't make the daiquiris or 'ritas taste any better, but it tends to scare off hangers-on who may be inclined to diss her technique.

But Stan is truly "the Man". No muss, no fuss. His magaritas rock! and he stays on task, delivering the product on time and on budget - while calmly refuting any arguments that may arise over his San Antonio Technique. (He used to have a "Tyler Technique", but Tyler's in a dry county so, for the street creds, he had to change it to San Antonio Technique.)

Now I'm thirsty.

Hook 'Em

Well, This has been a fine weekend. I've been trying to work out a recovery plan for my computer ills and, to show you how vexed I was about it, I passed up a chance to go down to Ellen's in San Antonio with Stephen to watch football. First of all, I found a small program on the 'Net that fixed my file access problems. Then, I found a line I'd saved a few years ago in my computer notes that suggested a way to install Picture Publisher 10 on Windows 7 - and it worked like a charm! Then I found upgrades for my photo management program and my voice recognition software. So I've got my files and my programs now, and life is good.

While I was doing all that, I was sneaking peeks at the Conference USA Championship game as the East Carolina University Pirates beat up on the Houston Cougars. One of the signs in the stands brandished by a Pirates fan had an arrow pointing at his friend standing next to him. It said:

"The only Cougar I like is his mom!"

Then came the football highlight of the day - which almost matched my computer maintenance successes. That would be watching 'Bama dismantle Florida in the SEC Championship game. Of course, watching that game I kept hearing the whispered warning, "Be careful what you wish for." Alabama was awesome.

And finally, there was the Big XII Championship in the Cowboys new stadium in Arlington - known variously as "Jerry's Place", "The House that Jerry Built", or - Stephen's favorite - "The Boar's Nest" (or is that "The Bore's Nest"?) The Longhorns didn't impress anyone - till possibly the last minute and a half. When the clock hit 00:00 (the second time) Hunter Lawrence had kicked a last second field goal and Texas won - by a point.

HOOK 'EM

*****

If there are any sailors out there, they should recognize the signal flags at the top of the post as 

WHISKEY PAPA.

Thanksgiving 2009

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that Thanksgiving at Angela's and Danny's went very well. Of course, that was last week, in the Pre-Windows 7 era. I'm really feeling adrift without my image processing program, though some other areas are returning to "normal". I decided to go ahead and post a few of the pictures from the holiday in Arlington simply because my blog looks so drab without a few pictures.

Early Thursday morning Blake was ready for the party to start, but learned that being the "early bird" isn't always what it's cracked up to be. There were a few of us stirring but, with most of the clan still asleep and a few fanatics off running Turkey Trots, he must have found the early entertainment value of the environment well below his expectations.

Melissa and Tracy returned with Matt from the Fort Worth Turkey Trot and things picked up with their infusion of energy. Lisa surfaced a little later after running in the Dallas Turkey Trot - she had to pick up her various pies and her storied sweet potatoes. . . thank Heaven.

Lauren was ready by the time dinner was served. In the meanwhile, she worked off her excess energy by cruising the sun room on her "Rip Stick" and amazing her aunts and uncles with her mastery of the high tech skateboard.

After the Thanksgiving meal - and the Cowboys taking care of the Oakland Raiders - "the Big Kids (okay, Stephen and I) found ourselves at loose ends waiting for the Texas / Texas A&M game. I wandered out front with my camera and sat for awhile on the retaining wall, enjoying the warmth of the sun on my back. Cathie pointed out a butterfly flitting about Angela's flowerbed and, a few minutes later Lisa cruised by with a comment about my "shooting bugs" again. (She says lepidopterae are still bugs!) I was drawn to this burnt orange and white example and took its arrival as a good omen for the upcoming game.