First blog on new computer

I have been effectively offline since last week and it will take me some time to get caught up. 

Last week I decided it would be best for business if I replaced my “Franken-puter.”  This was my original laptop, the one I had custom-built, but which has experienced a series of accidents in this RV journey. 

The first was a Pepsi assault.  Cat Rocky affectionately rubbed his head against my cup with Pepsi and spilled it all over the keyboard. This happened back in April.  The keyboard mostly survived until it happened again a week or so later.  The second time was the death-knell for the keyboard.

We were in Fairfield at the time and I couldn’t afford to replace the computer, but I was able to purchase an external keyboard and employ that.  This worked fine for quite a while, until about six weeks ago, when Rocky (that affectionate and demanding little devil) somehow managed to close the laptop onto the auxiliary keyboard and cracked the screen! 

This required a visit to town to purchase an exterior monitor, which I also employed. Now the computer was a laptop, folded nearly closed, with an ergonomic elbow pad used to prop it open, with the keyboard on the top, and the new monitor looming over all from behind, amid a mess of cords.  Franken-puter.

With Psycards finances being what they were, it was time to invest in a good, reliable, and portable computer.  So I took Franken-puter to the repair guy we know and I traded it in for another laptop he had for sale.  Happy, I brought it home, but it wasn’t working properly, was too slow and I took it back to him.  (I won’t share the long version which involves three days of trying to hunt him down.) After some arguing, he “repaired” it and I took it home.  But I still wasn’t happy.  Of course, by now I had spent several days trying to install the software I need, and he was gone now on vacation for a week, so I finally chucked the whole deal and took the laptop I had purchased to Best Buy and traded it in for a new Lenovo.

Convinced the problem was now solved, I took the Lenovo home and began the long process of setting up one’s computer to one’s liking.  But the Lenovo didn’t like my wireless connection and kept constantly disconnecting me!  I had trouble downloading because it would shut off the wifi in the midst of loading programs. I did research and followed all the Lenovo/Google/computer geek tips I could find, but with little result.

Finally, I had to take the Lenovo back and exchange it for a Dell, which I am working on now.  Happy at last, I got it home and found that I had left the USB drive for my mouse in the Lenovo!  All these trips to town from the campground cost gas money, and I was frustrated by now beyond all tolerance.  Rick was kind enough to run back to town and get me a new mouse, I called Best Buy to have them mail me the USB thingy, set up the computer’s initial stuff, then closed that bad boy and spent the last two days making jewelry instead.

I desperately needed the artistic break.  The good news is I made lots of nice things for an arts fair coming up at Shady Creek Campground.

At last, this evening I decided it was time to go back to work and the best place to start was this blog. 

Some pieces were repairs.  The white and blue necklace and the yellow necklace with matching earrings were made by Mandy.