I'm a Grandpa

It's been an interesting week.

A few hours ago, two inadvertent keystrokes wiped out four day's of work. I was not a happy camper. Most of it's recovered now, and #3 daughter suggested a common-sense way I can avoid this sort of thing: back up frequently. Obvious, in 20-20 hindsight.

My wife and I are now grandparents. #2 daughter and son-in law satisfied all legal requirements, and are now the proud adoptive parents of Elizabeth, a baby girl on the east coast. We've seen her via an Internet-based video link: Skype, I think.

Those three will stay where they are for — however long the state they're in sees fit. Legal requirements are met, I understand: but not the bureaucratic ones. This was expected, and they made necessary arrangements in advance for a long stay.

It's frustrating, but I remember the 'good old days,' and the reasons we've become increasingly careful about the adoption process.

I'm looking forward to meeting Elizabeth face-to-face.

Back from the Hospital

I picked my son up at the hospital after Mass this morning. He won't be doing any heavy lifting for a while, and it hurts to laugh: but other than that, he's doing okay.

Appendicitis isn't what it used to be, for which I'm grateful. I remember the 'good old days' too well to want them back. The surgical procedure went smoothly, and involved three remarkably small incisions.

My son and #3 daughter are playing a board game in the other room. Yesterday evening they were talking, using his laptop, my daughter's computer, and Skype. I love living in the Information Age.

I wouldn't mind having no more major surprises before Christmas.

More-or-less-related posts:

• "Appendicitis and All That"
  (November 30, 2013)
• "Good News, Bad News, and an Antibiotic-Resistant Infection"
  (November 22, 2013)
• "I Got What I Asked For"
  (September 29, 2013)

Malware: Threat, and Opportunity for Relaxation

A routine sweep of my computer last night found two probably-related instances of malware on my computer. The software that found them asked if I wanted them removed. I gave it the go-ahead, of course.

After re-starting my computer, I had a more robust anti-malware application sweep the computer again.

This gave me much more free time than I expected today: or wanted.

Five hours later, I've eaten, washed dishes, started reading something #3 daughter wrote, listened to music, and chatted with my son about the malware situation.

The good news is that the second-to-the-last sweep only uncovered four instances of malware: which weren't there after the last one.

The 'it's not a problem, it's an opportunity' news is that I have five fewer hours to get tomorrow morning's post done.

That's okay. I've got my notes from yesterday: and now I know what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. And, probably, evening.

Missed the Deadline, Couldn't Log In: Other Than That, No Problem

Spending last weekend in North Dakota, visiting #2 daughter and son-in-law, discussing Spiral Light Candle, and having a family get-together, put me (more) off-schedule:

• "Busy All Week, and Not Much Done"
  (December 2, 2012)

Bulletin? This Week?

I didn't think about the Knights of Columbus council bulletin for this month, until late Wednesday afternoon. That's when the local Grand Knight called, and asked me if I'd gotten his email.

I hadn't checked my personal email since returning to Sauk Centre. Oops.

He said that he probably should have called earlier: true enough. The monthly meeting is next Tuesday.

The Way it's Supposed to Work

I liked to have the bulletin finished and sent to the printer by the end of Sunday evening, nine days before the monthly meeting.

That way, Main Street Printing (or Main Street Printing, depending on who you're talking to) has a press-ready file in their email first thing Monday morning. Sometimes I don't get the bulletin ready for them until Monday afternoon, or Tueday.

Three Days Late? No Problem - - -

Wednesday? Getting it to the printer then, the bulletin would have to be printed, folded, then sent to my house: where my wife and #3 daughter would apply labels, I'd do the other pre-mailing preparation and paperwork, and finally get the bulletins to the Post Office - before mid-afternoon Friday.

I checked my personal email: or, more accurately, tried to. I couldn't log in. I'd changed the password recently, and couldn't remember the 'easy to remember' new one.

- - - and Locked Out of Email? No Problem - - -

All I had to do was log into my hosting service, and change the password 'from the inside.'

I couldn't log into my hosting service, either. New password? User error? Didn't matter: I couldn't log in.

No problem: I called tech support. GoDaddy, the service I use, still has one of the best tech support I've encountered: which is a good thing, since the way they reset passwords is to send a verification email.

The tech I worked with appreciated the humor: to get into my email, I needed a verification code - - - that he would send by email.

Happily, I have a 'business' account with another service - which will remain nameless, since I'm not impressed by their code-heavy, sluggish, email system. I didn't choose that service, there are good reasons for using it, and that's another topic.

I got new passwords established, finally, and looked through my email.

- - - Only Half of the Information?- - -

One of the messages I needed for the bulletin was there.

The other wasn't.

By now it was Wednesday evening: three full days after I'd have preferred to have the bulletin at the printer.

A phone call and less than an hour later, I had all the information I needed. Later Wednesday night I had the December bulletin ready. I made an Acrobat (*.pdf) copy, so Main Street Printing would have a quick and easy ready-for-print file.

I attached the Acrobat copy to an email: along with the original, editable, file. Once in a while, the bulletin needs to be changed at the last moment. Main Street Printing and I use the same software, so they can make minor changes at their end.

Technical Difficulties

I'd called Main Street Printing Wednesday afternoon: explaining that I was very late with the bulletin, would have it ready by Thursday morning, and asking what could realistically be done about printing it.

Their computer was in the shop. It was supposed to be back Thursday: with emphasis on "supposed to be."

I went through my usual email-and-attachment routine, anyway. There was a chance that they'd have their computer back. If not, I could print out a press-ready copy and bring that to the print shop.

Good News: Finally

Donna and the other folks at Main Street Printing are very good at what they do. When I called Thursday morning, she told me that she'd pulled out their old computer, used it to pick up my email, and already had the bulletins printed.

The Knights of Columbus mailing list was on the old computer, too: so labels would be ready, too.

By the end of Friday afternoon, I'd dropped the bulletins off at the Post Office. On schedule, to my relief: and surprise.

Slightly-related posts:

• "Birdbath, Bingo Booth, and Trade Show"
  (July 28, 2011)
• "Doing This Weekend: What I Should have Done Last Weekend"
  (December 11, 2010)
• "A Storm, an Old Willow, and a Squirrel"
  (July 27, 2010)
• "A Bulletin and Clerical Errors: Two of Them"
  (April 9, 2010)
• "A Pulled Muscle, a Bulletin, and Insomnia"
  (March 4, 2010)

My Son: First Paying Job

My son finished his first paying job as a computer technician today. We've got other computer repair and maintenance outfits in town: what sets Peter apart is that he does house calls. Without charging a king's ransom.

Am I a proud papa? A delighted dad? You bet!

Related (?) posts:

• "My Son, the Computer Technician"
  (February 2, 2011)
• "Candles, a Spreadsheet, and a Really Long Week"
  (December 5, 2011)
• "My Son, the Techie"
  (October 9, 2010)
• "Computers and a Small Town Family"
  (July 7, 2007)
• "Family and Computers"
  (July 30, 2007)

My Son, the Computer Technician

It's a big day at the Gill household. My son, Peter, passed his A+ certification this afternoon. He is now a computer technician with documentation that says he's a computer technician. (more about A+ certification at "Definition of: CompTIA," PC Magazine)

He's been a computer technician for some time, in the practical sense of having the knowledge and skills necessary to fix computers for members of the family - and folks he knows who needed their computers repaired. But now he'll have a piece of paper that says he is.

And contemporary culture being what it is - that piece of paper is important.

Am I a proud papa? Oh, yeah: definitely.

A Tornado Warning, a Hard Drive, Frustration, and a Hummingbird

Sometime after 2:00 this afternoon I saw gray sky out the living room window. Stepping closer, I saw a spectacular thunderhead growing.



I put more photos in today's post of the Sauk Centre Journal Blog.

We heard that a tornado had been sighted east of Glenwood - maybe 20 miles east of us.

Then, right around 3:00 p.m., the sirens went off and my wife, kids (the two at home) and I walked to the basement. No real rush - but we didn't dawdle, either.

Eventually the sirens stopped, we went up stairs, and watched a whole lot of rain come down.

We didn't even get hail. Not that I noticed, anyway.

Can't say I'm disappointed.

Other than that, I've been having a frustrating time finding stuff to clear off my hard drive. It feels a little like bailing out a cruise ship with a five-gallon bucket: lots of work, and not much to show for it. Objectively, I know that I cleared a little over a gigabyte of memory. Oh, well.

I remember when a 30-megabyte hard drive was huge. Actually, I remember when hard drives of any size were cutting-edge technology.

Hummingbirds have definitely discovered the feeder. Just before I started writing this post one came - fueling up for the night, I suspect.

Information Technology, Birthdays, and Dusty Humor

I went to Alex today, partly to get a new router. This may resolve some of the issues we've had with using the Internet. Or, not. It was a good day for driving: overcast, so glare wasn't an issue. And the sky looked like rain, or something, was coming. Rain, as it turns out.

I got home a little before supper. While we were eating, my son left the room. Then returned. He'd swapped out routers, installing the new one.

Knocking my webcam offline in the process - temporarily. He explained that the service I use is very good at reestablishing connections. I checked - and sure enough, the webcam was back in service. With a notation in the log that it hadn't been able to get a signal out for a while. I'll be able to get the full report late tomorrow. If I'm interested: which I'm not, terribly.

I thanked him for doing the job. And told him that I want to be told when he does something like that. Before he does it.

We set the clocks forward Saturday night, in compliance with Daylight Saving time. Which may have made sense around 1920. Make that March 19, 1918: I did a little checking, and that's when this country jumped on the bandwagon.

It was all the rage in Europe: so dragging our schedules may have seemed like a very sophisticated idea at the time. I've gotten the impression that this country didn't really get over being a former colony until sometime around 1900. And car commercials were still talking about "European styling" recently. 'Recently' by my standards - say within the last decade or so. I'm getting off-topic.

There may, again at the time, have been some practical reason. I harangued about this in another blog. ("I'm Blaming Daylight Saving Time: or, Not," Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (March 17, 2010))

Whether or not the time change had anything to do with it, I was in a fog, mentally, from about Sunday to yesterday. I'll be catching up for a week. Or, deciding that some of the tasks can be dropped entirely for those days.

#1 daughter is up in the Red River Valley of the North now, visiting #2 daughter and my son-in-law. Also checking out a house or two, I understand. She's graduating this spring (assuming all goes well), and plans to move up there. Again, so I understand.

And, we celebrated #1 daughter's birthday while she was here on spring break. My wife got a candleholder/candle with a music chip in it. Twist it to the "on" position, and it plays "Happy Birthday to You." Over and over and over. #1 daughter, after about a dozen repetitions - maybe fewer - noted that it was getting monotonous.

My son will be turning 14 soon. I found a small pile of information technology trade magazines on the stairs a day or so ago. They didn't look familiar, so I checked the address block. I thought they might have been something my father had subscribed to: I got my taste for - eclectic? - unfocused? - knowledge from him. (For some online communities I'm in, where it says 'interests' I've said that I'm only interested in three things: What exists within the universe, what exists beyond, and what might exist.)

The magazines were addressed to my son. I'll want to ask him about them some time. Mostly to see if I may read them. Not to check up on him - those things are serious, business-oriented trade magazines. Yeah: he's that sharp. He's also 14, so I wouldn't count on his ability to make business decisions. Yet. No reflection on his abilities: at 13 going on 14, who is?

Something that doesn't happen very often: my father-in-law thought something I said was funny. He likes me just fine, but my humor tends to be dry. Dusty.

This time, my wife had told him about a discussion she and I had, about an extension of the garage. She received an inheritance, and bless her heart: she's spending in on (long overdue) replacement of the decades-old plumbing in the bathrooms. Also a patio (we've wanted it for over 2 decades - this time she has the money for it). Her choice.

Anyway, we were talking about adding to the garage so we could get two vehicles inside.

She was explaining the need to keep both vehicles inside, all good, practical, logical reasons. Then she added that it would also give her more room to practice tennis.

Then I said something like, 'Ah! The real reason.'

Wednesday: Caught up After Yesterday's SNAFU

I took an unplanned sabbatical from working on the computer yesterday. A rather nasty piece of adware started burrowing its way into my system. On the up side, my son knew of a fairly straightforward way to extract it.

The process of deworming my computer, although largely automated (this time), encouraged me to find other work to do. For one thing, I figured that the less I used the computer, the more of its resources would be available to the software that was patrolling its innards. Mostly, I thought that working at something that didn't have me looking at the monitor would be less stressful.

I think I made the right decision, but I hadn't caught up until late this evening.

I'd have been done earlier, but I decided to relax with the family and watch the two new Aaron Stone episodes that aired tonight. It may not be 'quality time,' but we had fun.

Somewhat after that, I read Garfield and sang with my son.

It's been a good day.

Snow, Bicycles, Software and Waiting

I'm waiting for software to finish testing a picture I'm trying to get ready for tomorrow. It's a slow process, involving one of the more maddening aspects of the 3D software I use.

But, it's given me time to think. Also, finish Stapleton's "Star Maker" - which relates to another blog. (Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space, mostly) Which I'll be writing about, another day, in that blog.

It's about 4 in the afternoon here, the sun's getting low in the southwest, and the software is still cranking away. There's snow on the ground - barely enough for snowmobiles.

It's been quite a year for this family: a head-on collision - everybody survived, thank God; one daughter married; my father died. I've missed something - no matter.

I was out, almost an hour ago, picking up a prescription, and noticed that a few high schoolers - or maybe junior high students - had used bicycles instead of cars. When I was in high school, back in the sixties, a few kids drove but most walked or used bicycles. Times change. So, apparently, does the amount of disposable income. Riding a bicycle doesn't significantly increase food intake - but gasoline costs money.

Oh, well.

I see the software's almost finished one aspect of the test. Time to see what it's up to now.

Still in Mourning?

The holiday season has never been a particularly good for me.

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy the holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's. But, as my wife said once, I get a bit crazy around this season. And, this is the season when I'm most likely to come down with some bug.

A few years ago, I discovered what may be a large part of the explanation: my mother had the major stoke during the Christmas season, when I was in 7th grade. I don't remember the incident, at all, but the odds are that it affected me: and at some level I probably remember in general terms when it happened.

So, this year my wife and #3 daughter were involved in a head-on collision. They both survived, but my daughter's wrist is still healing - and I insist on being hopeful that she'll regain her skill on the guitar.

Then #2 daughter got married, and my father died. The last happened toward the end of September.

I've been dragging myself to the task of getting some must-do tasks done, but don't need to look at my records to know that I've been less productive than usual. And, I may be coming down with something. Again. Or, what I had a month ago is still with me.

And, this week, I realized that I'm probably still "in mourning" over the death of my father. As I've said before, he's a hard act to follow, and I miss him. A lot.

But, God willing, I've probably still got a few decades left.

And, apparently, I'm getting back to - normal?

As evidence, I submit that I am about 2.56 gigabytes of space on the C drive, having backed up a few photos. That may not seem like much, but it took an act of will for me to get going on that little project. And, resolve a technical issue I've had for a few months with one of the backup devices.

(Some) Blue Sky, Sunshine, Wind and Windows 7

My son is still enthralled by Windows 7 - although not as excitedly as yesterday.

I took a few minutes off this afternoon to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. I'd have been out longer, but it was also windy - and I had work to do.

The family had my father-in-law over for supper, I fed #1 daughter's rabbit a celery stick later in the evening, and Giol the rabbit has gotten his foot medication applied.

It's a good life.

Windows 7: My Son Installed it Today

My son's 'Windows 7' package arrived today. He met the mailman on his way to the door.

Excited? You could say that. My son made a videotape of his opening of the package - complete with narration.

By now, 6:40 p.m., he's gotten it installed on his laptop - with only one glitch that I know of. A font he'd designed didn't get backed up. On the upside, he knows how he created it, and has some of the source files - but he'll have to re-build it if he wants to use it again.

Still, for an upgrade like that: he's had a very smooth time.

It helped that he's been doing backups and other prep for maybe a week now.

Did I mention that he's excited?

That's My Boy! Software in Beta, With its First Patch

It's almost time to go to Mass.

My 13-year-old son, talking to someone else in the family, said that he'd released a beta version of a piece of software he's developed - and just released a patch for it.

He calles it "B.I.O.S." For Bionicle Information Operation System: Someone called it an interactive encyclopedia - about Lego's Bionicles.

"That's my boy!"

Sunday: Father's Day 2009 - Surprising my Wife

When my wife came back from church today, she shouted "Happy Father's Day" up the stairs. It was about a quarter to noon, and she apparently expected me to be still in bed.

I wasn't: Which she discovered as she rounded the corner into the kitchen, and saw me in the north room, at (what else?) the computer.

Now, I'm going up to spend a little time relaxing in a lazy boy chair in the attic, reading. It's been a good day.

Monday: Small Town Tranquility and Road Work

A tranquil small town Monday afternoon: Sauk Centre style.

The house has stopped shuddering - for the moment. A road crew has been outside for most of the afternoon, laying another inch of asphalt on the west side of Ash Street. It's offered me the opportunity of watching road-building technology at work.

But Giol, #1 daughter's rabbit, didn't seem to like the noise and vibration. And my wife had me close a window. She said that odors from the tar were getting in, and she's probably right. With my sense of smell, it wasn't at all obvious.



Friday morning, #1 daughter got her raft out of storage, put it on her car, and had it inflated at a gas station. Then, leaving it upside-down on the car roof, she sat inside the tube and patched leaks. She'd gotten a leak kit at Fleet Supply.

Friday afternoon, soon after lunch, #1 daughter headed off to use her raft. Around 4:00, I started wondering where she was. Making a long story short, I called her a couple of times (she had prudently brought her cell phone along), gotten acquainted with three or four young men who were fishing on the 12th Street bridge over the Sauk River, let my wife know what was going on, and parked the van near that bridge.

Meanwhile, #1 daughter was drifting down the Sauk River, watching great blue herons, running into a beaver lodge - literally - and enjoying the passing revue of nature's wonders.

About that beaver lodge: she'd maneuvered around it without incident. Once she was past it, though, she discovered a spot where the current ran in reverse: and got a much closer look at the lodge than she'd planned.

#1 daughter told me that she'd planned to pole back to the Conservation Park, below the dam, where she'd started out. Then, she discovered that the river bottom was too muddy. Her paddles went into the mud just fine: but getting them out meant pulling about as much as she'd pushed. Net movement of the raft, therefore, was just about zero.

Back to the 12th Street bridge: I'd talked with the young men, so they were on the lookout for #1 daughter. Two of them brought the raft up to the street for her. They were quite impressed with the raft. I understand they were talking about building one or two for themselves, so they could fish closer to the river.

Leaving the raft there, I drove #1 daughter back to her car, and eventually we got her, the raft, and me, back for supper.

More must have happened that day, but I can't seem to remember. Actually, I do remember a sort of whirl of research, writing posts, and wracking my mind for something amusing to write for one blog.

Saturday was more of the same for me. Except that I grilled burgers - always a treat - and ate lunch with my wife in a tent that's rigged in the back yard. Quite a few small insects have found their way inside, and try flying out: through the tent's translucent top. They make a sound like a light rain, even - or especially - when the sun's out. Happily, they leave the food alone.

My wife would have taken her nap out there, except she didn't find a sleeping bag. The ground's a trifle cool to relax on. Maybe next weekend.


Eucharistic procession heading out from Our Lady of the Angels church.

I missed grilling Sunday. The two Catholic churches in town had a procession from one to the other and back: and I spent most of the noon hour taking photos.

My daughter spent the afternoon and evening at friends of ours, a bit under ten miles east of town. She went there to do a CutCo demonstration, and stayed to catch up. They hadn't gotten together for quite a while. Some of the family's sons are planning to go into farming, which means finding ways to save enough money. They've got a dairy farm: I found out that milk prices at their end have gone down as prices on the shelf have gone up. The milk on their table is produced on-site: which helps.

Sunday evening, a bit late, #1 daughter and I watched another episode of "Bleach," a cartoon series we both enjoy.

Which brings me up to today. #1 daughter was out on a sales call this morning and has another set up for this evening, my wife's been working on #2 daughter's wedding dress, #3 daughter's been writing - there's a lot of that going around in the family - and I had a few words with my son on the phone. He spoke at much greater length with my wife. He's still having a good time at the farm: chopping wood and doing chores as well as getting to know his new laptop.

Sunday: It's Been a Slow, Hectic, Day

First, more about Friday. I knew I'd left something out.

My son found the CD that came with the webcam I'd been using. He was quite pleased with doing so: it was in a container, behind a CD rack, at my desk. I'm a little embarrassed - but glad that he found it.

He also found out on Friday that a set of cables and connecting hardware he wanted to use, to connect a printer to his computer, was about twice as expensive as he had thought it was. So, he tried using the wireless Local Area Network that lets computers in the house connect to the Internet, as a connection to the printer. Later that day, he'd succeeded. 'That's my boy!'

Today was a gray, chilly, overcast Sunday. I didn't get out: I may be coming down with a cold, and didn't want to make the situation worse. I think that was a good idea.

As a result, I was able to see a streak by the feeder that #1 daughter identified as a hummingbird. She's been out on a sales call, and down to St. Cloud to file reports, back up to Alexandria to check on mail at her apartment, and back here. Even so, she's making enough money to pay for the gas, with more left over.

Friends of the family came a little after noon, and took my wife, my son, #2 daughter and #3 daughter out to eat. I stayed here. It was then that I saw the hummingbird/streak.

They visited for a while, went on their way, and after supper my wife, my son, and #2 daughter went to Soo Bahk Do class. I'm hoping to get back into that routine on Thursday. After they got back, I read Garfield and sang with my son.

#1 daughter got back here in time for the two of us to watch a "Bleach" episode together - we've gotten into the habit of watching that cartoon series together. It's a sort of fantasy-adventure serial. Hardly something to rival Shakespeare, but it's fun.

Sunday Afternoon: Sunlight and Music

I'm told that #3 daughter played guitar another time, recently: but this afternoon is the first time I've heard her do so, after the accident. At this moment, she's singing, too.

#1 daughter has left, with her rabbit and my son's probably-defunct laptop. We're hoping to at least get data off its hard drive: the laptop, that is; not the rabbit. She'd have stayed later, but she and my wife thought it would be best for her to go a bit early, then rest, drink tea, and apply warm cloth to her head. She's got a sort of cold in her sinuses. Par for the course, this season.

I did much better than I expected to, in Soo Bahk Do Thursday, and plan to go again this evening.

Last night, watching a Bleach episode on my computer, my daughter wondered why I didn't use the headset outlet on the speakers, instead of switching plugs each time I wanted to go from headset to speakers and back.

It was a 'shazam!' moment for me. I'd never thought of it. I've got the headset plugged into the speakers now, of course: Makes all the sense in the world.

Wednesday: Of a Defunct Laptop and Some Guy on a Bobcat

#3 daughter was out, helping my son shovel, last week. She's definitely feeling better. That wrist is very much on the mend: she's down to wearing a brace 'as needed.' Like when she's shoveling.

I'm assured that she took it easy. She's sensible.

And, I learned that "some guy on a Bobcat" (a brand of snowmobile) has been by twice, now, when she was shoveling - and did quite a bit of the work both times. She doesn't know who he is, she tells me.

My son is not a happy camper today. He's got a fever - not much, just a degree above normal - and we kept him home from school. On the up side, an external CD drive he'd been waiting for came. Then, when he plugged it in, his laptop went dead. No lights, no fan - nothing.

Right now, it's a large trivet.

My son is not a happy camper. I've called the place in Alexandria, up the road, where we get our servicing done, and will be having #1 daughter drop it off Monday. (Unless something unusual happens, we'll be seeing her this weekend.)

My wife comforted the laptopless lad, and made arrangements for him to work this summer, and save up enough for a new laptop. He's been putting money away for a while now, but a thirteen-year-old's income, in this household, encourages patience when it comes to large purchases.

So Far, a Nice Day

8:35 a.m.

It's been quite a nice day so far.

I ordered a "Nancy Drew" computer game for my son, at his request, using his money, earlier: My wife and #3 daughter have been having a great time, playing another one. This morning, he asked me if I'd check on the order. It'll probably ship today or tomorrow: good news for him.

#3 daughter and I had a chat about the color of her music studio, and how she picks colors (on impulse). That 'studio' was #2 daughter's bedroom, until it was re-assigned.

Now, my wife is practicing violin, two rooms over. Which, for me, is about the right range. The violin is a fine instrument, but rather assertive, acoustically.

And now, back to work.