Don't Wish, Don't Start, Wishing Only Ruins the Heart

For over a week now I haven't been able to use my computer. I had a lot of advice as to what the problem might be and several people who looked at it but walked away scratching their heads. I took it in to Best Buy to see if the Geek Squad could fix it. I was told that a driver had uninstalled and that all I needed to do was to go home and install the driver. I took it home and Chris turned the computer on to install the driver but we got a blue screen followed by an automatic reboot followed by OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND.

I took it back to the Geeks who informed me that my hard drive had crashed. No, I didn't back up my files. Yes, I lost pictures and everything. Bob, the thoughtful, gave me an external hard drive for Christmas. Just the kind of romantic gift any wife wants. Did I even open the package? No! When Bob was reminding me about this,  I turned the tables and asked him if he had backed up all of his files. Of course, he pulled out his recently updated external hard drive from the fire proof safe. What can I say about a guy who can make a fire with wet wood while it is raining? He is amazing and I need to take a page from his book. But for now I am going to ask John if he can perform a miracle by restoring the files on my damaged disk. I have heard it is possible with the right equipment and the know how. Maybe this can be one of his class projects.

I am now waiting for Sony to send me a recovery disk so that I can go get the computer out of Geek ICU. When that is installed my computer will be like a newborn on the first day with no stored memory or any of the programs that I have installed or downloaded.

I wish I had backed things up on a regular basis. I wish I knew that the trouble I was having was an indication of a crashing hard drive so that I would have backed up my files.

So, it may be a while, if ever, before I get those Washington camping trip pictures on the blog.

Cold Water Tutorial at Saltar's Point

When we first got to Washington it was pretty hot so we decided to take the boys out to Steilacoom to enjoy the beach on the Puget Sound. When John and Joe first got in they were surprised that any body of water could be so cold without chunks of ice floating around in it.



They were about to give up on the swim. But you know, John is a tough Navy guy. He was not going to let the water win without a battle.



But no matter how brave a guy is, he has to get past a certain threshold that keeps a lot of guys out of really cold water.



Once in the water John decided to lead Joe in a workout with team sit-ups.



No workout would be complete without proper push-ups.



After their refreshing swim we watched the trains go by and put pennies on the track for the train to smash the next time it went by. We also picked some delicious blackberries.

Out With The Old, In With The New

Okay, Everyone knows that I am not your biggest Obama fan, but I will have to say OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA, while moving both hands and my hips in a circular swinging motion. Yes, we finally got rid of that 16 year old van that has been leaking oil all over the street for the last 4 years thanks to the Cash for Clunkers program.



The boys were just a little sad to be getting rid of such an old friend. Well, really they just posed for this picture so the Previa wouldn't feel so badly about getting crushed. How can you miss a car that every kid has thrown up in at least twice? I can not count how many gallons of soda pop have been spilled over the years. It is a good thing that the Health Department doesn't inspect and condemn cars for unsanitary conditions before they are traded in.


Notice my smile as I get ready to drive the car in for the final trade! Its not as if this has been a bad car through the years. We have had very few mechanical problems. The problem was that everything else on the car was falling apart. I thought that it was pretty bad when the A/C went out, then the heat went out too. The doors didn't always open. That was a problem only when I needed to get in the car. The upholstery was ripping on the driver's seat and the front seat belts had been displaying a troubling sign for a few years saying that if you could read this yellow sign the seat belts might not work properly in crash conditions.


And here is the new beauty! A 2009 Toyota Venza. My precious baby, until she becomes a loud, temperamental, ugly teen. I hope they have a Cash for Clunkers program in 15 or 16 years when I am ready to kick her to the curb.