stubbed toes and mud pies

[flowerbug]

wow, it actually works. new toy, using it right now. so much faster, so much quieter and uses much less juice... i'm not really here right now, this is just a drive by post until i get some more stuff set up and figured out. nothing difficult, just takes time. i'm picky.

 

[flowerbug]

i guess i can write an update for those campers following along.

the new computer is humming along. actually, it is nearly silent, compared to the previous one it is a very welcome change. i did get the sound/speakers to work as they are so i will not need to get new ones until these fry. i was a bit worried at first because the sound was not very good, but then i figured out i just needed to adjust the speakers using the manual controls and they sound as good as they should. *whew*

my old machines are being taken apart. i have a lot of dust and gunk to get out of the one i hope to use and i'm not in the mood for that lately so it is sitting there waiting for me to get to it.

all the programs i needed to move to the new machine are moved. seems to be working as well as i want it to. so much faster. i'm a pretty happy geek. i'll need to find something else for pictures because i really hate what they've done with the latest version and recovery from problems is not very easy as it should be. luckily i have the skills to write code to dump stuff out how i'd like it...

what has been a real treat is to get some ocean reef videos and to play them and just watch them play at normal speed. so beautiful. i almost became an oceanographer... considered it as a kid...

jury duty has so far been a bust. i was all ready to go the yesterday and they cancelled. have to check later tonight to see about tomorrow, but think i'm off the hook for a few more days until they wrap around groups again.

in other sorta gardening news, i have enough papers shredded to mulch the next season's cucumbers.

 

[flowerbug]

after hearing Mom complain about her sewing machine again the other day i told her i would buy her a new one for her birthday, mother's day, valentines day, etc. gift. waking up today it was going to be nice enough out so we got ready and split.

she uses a sewing machine quite a lot, so i was hoping there was one a little more tougher on the scale of things than a very lightweight machine. and it turned out that there was one at the store. so that was an easy choice.

they didn't have any toasters (tb ) or irons (she knocked the one she had on the floor and it was leaking and not working well). she was thinking i wouldn't drive another 20 minutes to another store that carried such things, but i decided i could suck it up and go and we'd get it all done.

so, i hope Mom will be happy with her new toy, i set it up when we got home then she ironed and took a nap, but will be getting back to quilting sometime the next few days (when she has enough ready to sew).

i spent a while reading the manual (because i have to show her how to do things it's much faster and involves a lot less worry on both our parts if i can do that). tonight i tinkered with it a few minutes and got the needle position centered (instead of to the left) and monogrammed my nickname.

toaster smelled funny <-- made me think of y'all again. lol

iron works.

new sewing machine works.

just hope to hear her happy with it next time she gets to quilting. *hopes* we'll see...

 

[thistlebloom]

Well that was sure a nice thing for you to do for your mom. I'm sure she'll be very pleased with it. No toasters though huh?

I forgot to stop off and get one the other day when I was running errands. I met an old friend for coffee and we had a lot of catching up to do and it made for a rushed rest of the day. But don't worry y'all, I won't be making toast until I get a new one.

My sewing machine was 41 years old this past Christmas. It was a gift from my husband before we got married. It's got a metal case which I think is pretty rare these days. I've only had it in for a repair once, about 5 years ago. It doesn't get the workout it used to, but it's got a lot of hours on it.

 

[digitS']

How about you, FlowerBug, do you have a birthday coming up?

https://store.xkcd.com/products/linux-cheat-shirt



Steve

 

[flowerbug]

Well that was sure a nice thing for you to do for your mom. I'm sure she'll be very pleased with it. No toasters though huh?

I forgot to stop off and get one the other day when I was running errands. I met an old friend for coffee and we had a lot of catching up to do and it made for a rushed rest of the day. But don't worry y'all, I won't be making toast until I get a new one.

My sewing machine was 41 years old this past Christmas. It was a gift from my husband before we got married. It's got a metal case which I think is pretty rare these days. I've only had it in for a repair once, about 5 years ago. It doesn't get the workout it used to, but it's got a lot of hours on it.

*whew!* old memories...

at the first store she didn't like any of the toasters they had including a stainless steel one. "shows fingerprints too easy." at second store they had a stainless steel one for $20 that she said was ok so we ended up with that one. *smh*

the smells funny comment is from the directions (which included a line about if you did not read the instructions you were not qualified to run it) saying to run the toaster a few times on low to burn off any manufacturing residues.

i have the old family sewing machine in my closet here, it's a Singer featherweight, Mom used it for many hundreds of hours and was going to get rid of it so i snagged it to use on odd projects (patching old jeans usually). the stitch isn't quite straight so i think something is bent inside. still runs ok, i have an extra belt for it and plenty of bobbins, needles, etc. the foot pedal is not in the best shape. the plastic/bakelite bottom is crumbling, but so far still holding together enough i can still use it when needed. i use it so rarely i should sell it off, they are popular with collectors... even in poor condition someone will probably want it and use it more than i am.

 

[flowerbug]

How about you, FlowerBug, do you have a birthday coming up?
/QUOTE]

sometime in early spring is as close as i will ever tell people on-line. i'm a bit too paranoid about social engineering attacks and too many people trying to steal identities for nefarious purposes...

 

[flowerbug]

things are shaping up here. two old PCs taken apart, i need some wires to go from the front panel of the one old PC to the new motherboard, the connectors are not compatible, but in the mean time i can go forwards with the other power switch which being only two wire connector will work much better than the current method (a temporary short using a jumper ). at least until i can get the wires redone this will work. so now i know which color front i'll need on the dvd drive and can start hunting for that.

i had to do a little bit of metal work and the back panel doesn't quite fit so i couldn't put the new cover plate over. who looks there anyways? saves me having to get yet another case. works. less $ spent and recycled old case.

now there are piles of old parts to go to the computer recycler next time they are open. this big table looks rather barren without a 70lb old CRT and the other computer box and various parts. i'll clean it up tomorrow, the old towels i use to cover it could use washing to get the dust out and i can reorganize it a bit.

in other news, still snowing, about 8 inches so far. after supper i'll get out and shovel. this is what winter should be, looks so much nicer out there with some snow cover.

 

[flowerbug]

after reading @Collector 's story about the bottle and after many years of my own bottle collection sitting in boxes on shelves... well, we've already talked several times about me doing something with them.

i'm not doing anything at all with them. they're just collecting dust. i should give them to someone who would do something with them. i'll select a few of my favorites out and then give the rest of them away.

not even going to dust them off. out they go.


...temporarily distracted by Mom saying, "You gotta see this..."

a frozen spider web in February?

edit: she likes this view better... quote, "Less riffraff."

 

[thistlebloom]

...my own bottle collection sitting in boxes on shelves..

Do you have a bottle tree for your garden?

My mom had a lot of whimsical stuff in her garden (one time she said you could tell she was an old lady by all the crap she she had placed in the shrubbery, cracked me up).
One of her favorites was her bottle tree.
I have it now, it's out in the back.