One of Those

This week has been one of those… I was having computer problems on my new laptop earlier this week, and then all of a sudden, I had nothing.  It wouldn’t even turn on.  Wouldn’t you know, it was the week I chose to do my lesson plans early?  I had to call tech support, and after about fifteen minutes of holding, I was able to decipher the instructions that the foreign tech squad gave me.  Zilch.  Nada.  No change whatsoever.

 

After another thirty minutes on the phone, they determined that my motherboard was bad.  A tech representative will be coming out to fix it some time next week.  In the meantime, I have to  redo a week’s worth of lesson plans for three kids before Monday.  Why didn’t I print those lesson plans out right away?

 

Due to a meltdown in the electric box, we had no power most of the day on Tuesday.  It was raining, so we sat in the dark, cold trailer all afternoon while the electric box was being rewired.  Interesting.  I found myself wishing I had picked up a few more candles at the Bath and Body Works sale a few months ago. :)

 

All of my piano students had to reschedule for various reasons, too.  My week is all messed up!  I am very grateful, however, that the week is nearly over.  I am hoping to be back on board with my normal blog post schedule next week, but at this point, I am not holding my breath!  Life can be so interesting!

 

Well, the good news is that today is Mega Swagbucks Day again!  Some of you may have seen a few of the collector bills for Valentine’s Day while searching.  I finally got the last of the set, earning a special 14 Swagbuck bonus!  Yay!  There is still time to snag those bills – you have until Tuesday!  Happy Swagging…

Transferring…

My very sweet and wonderful husband bought me a new laptop for Christmas. This really was becoming more and more of a need each passing day.  My old computer took about five minutes, more or less, to boot up each day, and frequently did not want to turn off.  Using certain programs insured a lockup  (this would be my picture organizing and editing software that holds nearly 15,000 pictures).  Yep, you read that right!  I am one happy, snappy, camera toting mama!  Anyway, most of Monday and Tuesday was spent in computer lockdown while the old computer transferred all its files to the new computer.  I was so relieved I didn’t have to do each program by itself, the “old-fashioned way.”  Now all you have to do is connect both PCs to your home network and hit “Easy Transfer” and voila, it works all by itself!  Now, I was a little anxious when it took nearly 24 hours to transfer all 49 GB, afraid that one of the kids would touch it and disturb the transfer, causing us to have to start the whole process over again, but (big sigh of relief) it all worked out perfectly.  Now all I have to do is re-install some of my favorite programs – music writing, picture editing, and that kind of important stuff.

I am also trying to prepare myself for the possibility of a disaster – the chance that I might lose all my pictures.  It almost makes me cry just thinking about it!  So, I am also transferring all 15,000 pictures to my Snapfish account.  The best thing about Snapfish is not just their great photo sales, but the fact that they have unlimited online photo storage for free! I can definitely use that!  So, over the next few days, weeks, months, (as Eeyore says, “Who knows?”) I will be transferring all those memories, one MB at a time! Why did I take so many photos?!?!
A word to the wise, start uploading your photos  before you reach 15,000.  Depending on your internet speed, the time to transfer those important moments can be quite time consuming.  Right now, I am organizing all of mine by time segments (May 2010, June 2010, etc.).  That way, I will have a general idea of where to find certain events when I want a specific picture.  Don’t wait – the next crash could be around the corner! As much of a bother as it is to move pictures to online storage, it could save you a lot of tears later.

Computer Literate

I was really impressed with my friend Renee’s blog the other day.  She has been blogging for several years now and gave some of us “newbies” a few helpful hints.  I was overwhelmed with all the information, but immediately started to tackle the easier tasks on her 12-point list.  After about an hour and a half of messing around on my computer, I finally figured out how to edit the HTML text on my blog page for the look I wanted.  (She didn’t tell me how to do that – it took some research on Blogger Help and a lot of hair-pulling to figure it out.)  I am slowly becoming more computer literate, and that makes me happy!  Below is a picture of Paul at his computer... he is usually the computer guru around our house, but for once, I didn't need his help! :)
I also downloaded Windows Live Writer, a free program she recommended.  It can be used in conjunction with Blogger or other blogging sites.  I am having fun experimenting with the various effects and techniques for photos that are far superior to Blogger’s capabilities.  Thanks, Renee! 
I don’t often post links to other blogs, but Renee has some great ideas about food preparation as well as recipes and menus.  Check out her blog  and be inspired!