Cop Car's Beat

Aren't computers fun?

Hunky Husband, as a gift, told me to buy whatever computer I desired. Having shopped around the local stores, and found nothing that fit my needs (the big box stores, here, have started offering "bundles", rather than a computer--I don't need another monitor!) Eventually, I went online to the HP web site...and...eventually ordered a "customized" computer. Let me tell you. Ordering a customized computer is much like designing your own home and having it built (which I've done 2.25 times): It's the little assumptions that get to one. I sorta assumed that the basic computer, prior to my making the customization choices, would operate as a computer. Well...yes, it will. But it will act as a computer only if attached to a network (local or global). I love the computer. It is tiny(smaller than my first luggable) and cute and fast. It just doesn't want to talk to anyone but me...unless it is plugged into a networking cable. No modem. No printer card/plug.

When I called HP about getting a reduced profile modem to install, it turns out that there is no such thing. I had to go with an external model (looks like a dongle, if you're wondering.) No more than I print, I've about decided to not worry about connecting to a printer, at this stage. I'll carry whatever I want to print to another computer via a flash drive, printing from the second computer.

How is it that I consider myself reasonably intelligent, but I failed to figure out that the basic computer was one that they probably sell to companies by the 10s or 100s? It is really a smart terminal to put on the company's LAN--through which it would access the internet and printers. Well...the website page that I was directed to in seeking a computer was labeled "Home and Office". Little did I realize that it was heavy on the "Office" and light on the "Home". My bad.

If I build enough houses, I may think of everything (for example: in this house, I failed to note that my bedroom window on the side of the house, cranks open with the pane at an angle that directs the street noise--from the front of the house--into my bedroom!) If I build enough computers, I may think of everything. But...I'm not counting on living long enough to accomplish either. This little tale tells the reason for my having been scarce in the blogosphere lately.

Oh...and one other thing I will tell you from experience. Earthlink no longer offers the software to go get one's email. I loaded the Earthlink software that HH had loaded onto his newest machine (November 2007). That brought my nifty little machine to its knees. It would not even re-boot. After dinking with it and failing to solve the problem, I was reduced to restoring the software as it was on the machine on delivery. All that time spent downloading updates to my OS and Office software was wasted. I did it again. Fortunately, I had held off loading Norton. When, the 2nd time around, I did load Norton, it took about 20 hours to download the updates via dial-up. Oh, joy!

Here's the little cutie--all 4 1/4 wide x 10 3/4 high x 13 1/4 deep of it. (Note that it sits atop my older computer.)

                                 

Now that the Great Backyard Bird Count is over...

This morning, there are four...count 'em...four pine siskins on our feeders. Grumble, grumble. Of course, by the time I grabbed my camera, I could only capture two of them in the photo (below). On the left hand feeder, with its back to us is one siskin, while the other is the bird to the far right on the right hand feeder. The other four birds are American goldfinches.

                                             

As to the GBBC: The listing below is of the species that Hunky Husband and I saw within one mile of our house. I should point out that Cornell Labs of Ornithology have changed the way one reports birds. For each day, I had to submit three separate reports--one for our yard, one for the nearby city park, and one for the country roads that bound our square mile.

Canada goose, Mallard duck, American coot, Ring-billed gull, Killdeer, Northern harrier, Red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, wild turkey, Rock pigeon, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, American crow, Tufted titmouse, White-breasted nuthatch, Red-winged blackbird, Carolina wren, Eastern bluebird, Western meadowlark, Black-capped chickadee, American robin, European starling, Cedar waxwing, Harris's sparrow, Dark-eyed junco (slate-colored), Northern cardinal, House finch, Pine siskin, American goldfinch, and House sparrow, for a total of 30 species.

Next year, I must remind myself to get the feeders filled a few days before the count starts.  This time, I left the feeders empty until Thursday afternoon, with the GBBC starting the next morning.

Birding Weekend

As Bogie mentioned in her Bird Counts posting, and many of you already know, this is the 2009 weekend for Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Great Backyard Bird Count (their blog is here.) So far, we've nothing exciting to report (see Daring Display of Memory for 2005's posting and Holiday Visitors & Great Back-Yard Bird Count for 2008's.) However, we have had a flock of about 100 American robins and about 15 American wild turkeys (1/2 our normal complement of turkeys) to report, on Friday and Saturday. I've heard the turkeys, this morning, plus a Carolina wren (we saw no wrens Friday or Saturday), but the turkeys haven't mosied down to our property so far. Well, scratch that comment about the turkeys' not having made it this morning. When Jellicle meowed to be let back into the house, I found the flock of 38 turkeys on our patio--many of which were on our patio.

Friday was pretty much a lost day. I was at the office all day and Hunky Husband was driving home from Jonesboro AR. The best sighting of the day, yesterday, was a pine siskin that was keeping company with the American goldfinches. Just as I snapped a photo (below) of the siskin (its back to the camera) and a goldfinch, a chickadee flew in. Don't ask me what kind of chickadee. We have Carolina and Black-capped chickadees which can usually be distinguished by their calls; but, our local chickadees have, I'm convinced, learned to make one another's calls.

                            

Photographic Meme

In Kodachrome Recollections, Fred First displays one of his many gorgeous nature photographs. Please go see it before continuing to read.

Recently, Janeywan perpetuated a graphic meme in her posting, The Four by Four, which incorporates one of her lovely mountain scene photos (plus a dividend of four others, beyond the required posting for the meme). The meme is to go into one's photos, pick up the fourth folder, pick up the fourth sub-folder, etc, until arriving at a photo file. The photo is then to be posted.

Unfortunately, when I did the required fourthing, I came up with a photo that is not my own, but is Fred First's! The story is that, in about 2003, when I first started reading our younger daughter's blog (she, who introduced our family to the concept of blogging, blogs at Bogieblog), one of her posted links was to Fred First's blog (currently, Fred's main blog is at Fragments from Floyd). In his blog, Fred had posted the loveliest photo of violet blossoms imaginable. With some timidity, I sent Fred an email asking if it was possible to purchase a print of his photo. Fred graciously responded by sending me a file containing the image, with permission to print off a copy to my liking!

Though Hunky Husband and I used to have a darkroom (in our previous home), he did only black and white photography, development, and printing and had chosen to incorporate a walk-in book closet off of his den, rather than a darkroom, in this house. However, a fellow engineering puke at The Little Airplane Company, Kevin Dobler, volunteered to make me a print.  Kevin was/is a professional wildlife photographer, on the side, who regularly takes a couple of weeks in Alaska to tramp in the back country and photograph the wildlife. To see some of Kevin Dobler's fine work, please follow the link to his Chasing the Light website.

Both Kevin and I were intent upon his producing a print that was worthy of Fred's beautiful photograph. To that end, Kevin "played around" with various papers, settling on a wonderfully creamy (what I would call a deckle finish, but I'm unlearned in these things) art paper on which he made me an 8"x10" print. Although, I must admit to having been a bit disappointed that Kevin chose to change the temperature of the hues, a bit, the print turned out beautifully! (Now that I am accustomed to the print, I find both color versions pleasing.)

Immediately, I took the print to a local art framer who did her magic with multiple mattings and framing in deep, grayed tones of purple. The result has hung just above the night stand that flanks my bed--a joy for me to see each day.

And now, by special permission from the master photographer, himself, Fred First!

Do, please, observe Fred's copyright on the Three Violets photo. In his email of permission, Fred wrote, "[Cop Car], by all means! I'm pleased to see one off my very first images (somewhere around 1970) still being admired and appreciated." Do, also, check into Fred's Fragments from Floyd blog on occasion--to catch his announcement of an exciting project that he is working on.

Although Janeywan wrote that the original meme's instruction was to pass the meme along to four friends, I shall do as she did. Anyone who wishes should pick up the meme and run with it!

A Tale of Two Phones

This is my old phone, the replacement for which I went shopping, this afternoon.

                                    

This is my new phone.

Unstructured Time

In Strictly Sail, Buffy writes, "Ahhhh....isn't it great to have an unstructured day!?" She wasn't the only one with an unstructured day on her hands. I was able to have yesterday as an unstructured day, too! But...let me digress.

Two weeks ago, we finally got to have our local clan members (Dudette, Wichi Dude, Wonderful GrandDaughter, and Chew) down for a holiday meal. How wonderful it was to see them! I wish I could warp space in order to see the New Hampshire clan members (Bogie and her Wonderful Spouse) more frequently!

Wednesday, I called Dudette to see if she cared to go to lunch. She did. We met at a deli for a delicious lunch of salmon, asparagus, and green beans (her choice) or mixed squash (my choice)--all very healthful and delicious. We had a wonderful time chatting and she was kind enough to volunteer to accompany me on a shopping trip for the new computer with which Hunky Husband wanted to gift me. Although it turns out that none of the places that we hit really had much in the way of computers (Walmart and Sears no longer carry them at all and Best Buy and Office Max hadn't much selection--HH and I had previously looked at Sam's Club, which now only stocks computer/monitor package deals), we had a wonderful three hours, together. Thank you, Dudette. That was quite the present you gave me!

There is something special in the time that two people get to spend alone, together. I wish I could do that with each person in our extended family. It would be so lovely. As much as I love all members of our family, I love spending time with each member individually.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, HH chose to let me sleep, awaking me only in time to kiss me goodbye! He left the house before 6:00 AM, driving to Little Rock. I had the rest of the day to myself! At various times in the day, I spent a lot of time on the computer and ordering a computer, I went for a bicycle ride (during which ride, HH called for some information that he knew I would have about shelter populations in Arkansas), I stopped by the public library and checked out four "mental bubble-gum" books (Evanovich), and I stuck all of the meat that had been purchased for next week's meals into the freezer. Did you notice what I did not do? When HH is away, it never occurs to me to turn on a TV!

There are a couple of projects that I would like to get done before HH returns: 1) wash all of the dishes in the (built-in) china cabinet and 2) hang new valances at the windows of my bedroom. Actually, I have made a start on the china cabinet.