I Was Down, But Not Out!
Well here I am, Tuesday midnight and I am writing a new blog! Why aren't I in bed? Hmm, I am retired, with all kinds of time to do the things I want to do, so they say. I want to garden, make some extra spending money, exercise, fish, make some extra spending money, get my yard looking good and in shape, spend some time with my newest grandson, make some extra spending money, get ready for a trip to Europe this December, and did I mention, make some extra spending money?
I never knew I had this much spare time, but I am finding out that I can do all those things above and still have time for myself and my wife.
She retires this month, on the 24th. she works at a mental health facility that has 60 residents. She is dear to all of them and is torn that she will be leaving soon. I plan on taking her on a 9-day road trip. She deserves the time away from here, her stress level is the worst I have seen in all 30 years of our marriage. The road trip will settle her down. But my mind will be racing.
(Backflash to Friday AM) Breakfast complete, coffee pot 1/2 full, investments checked and now it is 9:00 and I am read to start working on my WA training and my new love, MY Website! I settle into my "work" chair in the man cave and turn on my computer. Nothing. Hmm, checked all the wiring, lights, and connections. Turned off the computer and restarted it. Nothing. Tried again, and again, and again. By 9:45 I start getting this feeling that my computer doesn't like me anymore.
I resort to my cell phone and look up information on Google (what else?) on how to take care of this problem. I watch several videos and tried all of those suggestions. Nothing. Can you feel the panic starting to overwhelm me? Everything I have worked on is there, in my computer, begging me to help them get out. It is now 12:30pm and I have decided to give it one more try. BINGO! We have a winner! The old computer fired up like it always had before this day began. Now it is time for lunch, BUT I decided I better BACKUP my computer first.
The back up took 3 1/2 hours. WOW! That took a lot longer than I thought. By now it was 4:00 pm and the wife would be home in 30 minutes. Better get the kitchen cleaned up, if you know what I mean! I was afraid that my computer would not start up again, so I left it on and took care of the honey do's as quickly as I could so my whole day would not be lost. I could get back on after supper.
Well, you guessed it. We HAD to go to town (35 miles one way from home) to get some shopping done for the weekend. By the time we had supper, got gas, went shopping for yard supplies and bought groceries, got home, and put everything away, whew, it was midnight. No working on my website today!
Saturday, Sunday was spent with the family celebrating birthdays and college going away get togethers. Monday went by without any concerns with my computer. I was able to get a lot done and felt pretty good about my progress so far. Monday night when all was said and done, I turned off my computer and went to bed.
This morning after breakfast, I grabbed my cup of coffee and turned on my computer to continue where I left off from the night before. NOTHING! OMG, I turned off the computer last night thinking it would be alright! No problem, I'll just get it going again like last Friday. Only this time, I know what I am doing! Uh, no you don't. You got lucky last week. Different week, different problem. Turns out the BIOS (whatever that is) is shot. The hard drive CRASHED for good this time. Cheaper (and easier) to buy a new computer.
When Marsha (my wife), (who else?) came home for lunch at 1:00, I told her about my computer problems today. Well you already wasted 4 hours, what are your plans for the afternoon? I'm going to town to get a new computer! Cool, she said, and while your in town, I would like for you to pick up a few things for me!!!
7:00pm, yes 7PM! That was when I walked in the house. Unload the car, put the stuff away and admired what I had bought. It was after 8:00 before we finished supper. Marsha's tired so off to bed she goes. My turn.
I get out the new computer with all the excitement of a child at Christmas! I get everything set up and going. I am so happy, the computer STARTED! Plugged in my flash drive and uploaded my backed up files that I saved from last Friday. (I'm so smart, LOL).
Went to work. Of course the first thing I did was get my WA on the new computer. Tweaked a couple of pages and started some new ones. Should I back up my new computer I wonder? It's pretty quiet around here. Should be, after all, it's midnight. So, why aren't I in bed?
I had to get some work in on my Website.
Recent Comments
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Hi Terracne, what a detailed description and yet so motivating.
Your writing style is excellent and I can vouch that if you pursue a writer profession - it will boom.
Through the post, I took your journey and read the whole post like I was reading a novel with ups and down, happy and sorrow moments, some action, some thrill and finally a happy ending with a lesson.
Keep doing the good work.
Warm Regards,
Gaurav Gaur
I totally feel your pain! My husband is a techie, but we still have similar problems. A few years ago, we were in the midst of doing paperwork on our house that we had sold. We were doing all the expenses on our house for 35 years!! My hubbie became very lax in backing up. Unfortunately, in the middle of all of the IRS stuff, our computer decided to crash! EVERYTHING we had been working on for almost a year was on there. He spent 3 weeks trying to get that computer running so he could back it up. He did finally manage to get it up long enough to back up everything. Oh, and I had over 12,000 photos on there! I would have been devastated if he had not been able to recover all the info. We prayed for 3 weeks, and finally, he got it running! As soon as the back-up was done, we ran out and bought a new computer! Lesson learned! We consistently back up everything. I do not ever want to go through that again!!
Isn't it funny how we feel when we get a new toy?? It is just like the old one, but it is new!! We had so much fun buying a new computer, monitor, etc. It was almost like Christmas!!
Good luck with your new computer and figuring out WA. We are also retired. We only have Social Security and finding it hard to survive on only that. Need more money just like everyone else??? Someday??? Take Care. Good luck on your road trip!
Thanks for the reply. I was fortunate to get my computer back up as soon as I did. Not sure what I would have done had it taken me three weeks! Sounds like everything is working out for you guys with the Thanks for sharing your story with me! Terry
I have just bought a new computer to Terrance and I love it. It has pushed my motivation levels so high so I can relate to you wanting to stay up to get creating content
Enjoy the new puter
Thanks Vickic3! I just read your profile and it sounds like you have led an amazing journey through life. AND you are not done yet. 2 children's books and grandchildren to share them with. I've often wanted to write children's books but it seems like every one else has stole my ideas (after I read theirs of course) LOL!!! I am content though with sharing my life and laughter with all of my grandchildren. They think I am crazy!
Thank you, Terrance,- Yes life has been full of adventures and still is. I love my online journey with WA and it is so nice to connect with lots of really wonderful people such as yourself
I hope you enjoy WA for years to come and build an amazing online business
Writing children's books is so much fun and testing them out on my grandies is as well. I figure if they like them, other children might too
All the best and chat soon
Vicki
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Well all I can say is you are turning out to be a great diary blogger of your life events as they unfold. I found it very good read .Life is real, and it was made interesting reading. All the best with your new computer.
Thanks Alan! I must say that so far my new computer seems to be slower that the other one, when it was working!