general update

My computer decided to not turn on over half the time starting on Sunday. Since it was intermittent, I tried to live with it for a while, but I only got it to turn on once on Sunday, twice on Monday, and once on Tuesday. I need a more reliable computer than that. So Dad and I took it in on Wednesday, and I'm borrowing Dad's computer to keep up on the net until they get mine back to me. I sure hope they fix it this time. This is the fourth time we've taken it in this year. {frustrated look}
Otherwise things are going nicely. My writing might be doing better, the orange and cream lei turned out nicely, and the next lei has begun nicely, too. So life is mixed fun and frustration until they fix my computer. {resigned smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

A new lei in progress

Here’s a picture of the new lei. I wanted to share it for two reasons. It uses the other pattern that’s easy to make with two colors. It’s kind of a checkerboard, or maybe a lazy spiral. Also, the last of the darned spots are just braided in here. I’m happy with how it turned out. The darning made the ribbon quite stiff, so I was afraid those patches wouldn’t bend or hold their folds right. But they’re fine; I can’ spot the darning unless I look carefully.

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

{SIGH}

Whoever decided that “darn it” is a mild curse never had to darn four separate chewed spots on a quarter inch ribbon. I’m suspicious they didn’t have to darn socks, either, but they certainly didn’t have to darn such a narrow ribbon. {wry look}

Valentine found an orange-and-cream ribbon lei I’d just started a couple of nights ago. I didn’t realize how much he was chewing it, and I certainly didn’t realize how much damage he’d done before I got it away from him. He actually chewed six places, but two are by the end, and don’t really affect the strength of the ribbon. The other four are more central, and torn up badly enough, I had to darn them to make sure they didn’t break during or after braiding. I did most of the darning last night… Boy, does that take patience! {Lop-sided smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Ribbon Leis

One hobby I’ve gotten back to recently is braiding ribbon leis. It doesn’t take a lot of thought, so it’s great for keeping my hands busy while I think. I do prefer to have something to do, so I’m not just staring off into space while I’m working something out. {Smile}

Since some of you haven’t seen my ribbon leis, I took a couple of pictures. Besides, it was a way to try out my new camera on something easily repeatable if I messed up. {Smile}

Here are the leis I’ve finished more-or-less recently. Two are blue and gold, because my Dad and I needed new ones in our high school colors; our old ones went to visiting aunts who also went to Hilo High School:

Here is the lei I’m working on now:

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Camera update

I’ve been slowly figuring out my digital camera. Early this week, Dad looked it over, installed batteries, set the date, and showed me how to turn it on and take a picture. Today, I figured out how to copy the picture from the camera to my computer. It would have been easier if the manufacturer’s directions mentioned you need to turn it on before you copy from it. I suppose that’s supposed to be obvious, but it’s a lot more obvious in hindsight than ahead of time. {rueful chuckle, Smile}

Anyway, I have a picture of the ribbon leis I’ve worked on recently, and another of the one I’m currently working on. I’ll share it… when I feel more like figuring out how I’ve shared photos before. There’s enough looking up of stuff I’ve forgotten involved, this it isn’t going to get done today. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Hello, {smile}

Well, my computer went back to the shop a couple of weeks ago. Dad’s had to go in before mine came back, so I was offline entirely for a while there. I’m caught up again, and my computer might really be fixed this time. It helps to replace a non-working video card with one that works reliably. The tech hopes she did that this time.  {Smile}

Dad’s computer is back, too, and appears to be working better. I certainly hope so. {Smile}

I hope our computers stay fixed for a while. That would help me get my online activities in better order. The break I’m taking from Facebook is going well, except that I’m finding it hard to stay away from mindless online games when I’m done keeping up with my friends thru email, LiveJournal, blogs, the alt.books.m-lackey newsgroup, and Goodreads. I’m afraid none of those take that long. {rueful smile}

I don’t suppose anyone has suggestions about how to revitalize things? I’m trying, but I’m afraid I’m kind of stuck so far. So I’d really appreciate any suggestions. {wistful smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Hello again…

{peek in} Sorry to become spotty at replying so soon after I delurked. {apologetic smile}
As I mentioned to some of you in email, last week Monday (a week and a half or so) we had a bad power failure in our part of town. It started with lights going on and off and on like someone was playing with the light switch. I assumed that’s what was happening, so I took a while to turn off my computer, modem, and battery backup. After that it didn’t work right, so Dad and I took my computer in to The Computer Store Wednesday morning. We got it back Saturday with the tech’s assurances that it worked great for her. She said if I still had trouble, try plugging it straight into the wall, because it might be the battery backup. She was right. The problem was the battery backup. I bought a new one Monday, Dad installed it Tuesday, and I took my time moving things back. I just wasn’t in a mood to rush.

While my computer wasn’t working, Dad let me use his. However, that’s never quite as efficient as using my own, so I kind of fell behind in my reading and responding everywhere except in email. I think I just caught up with the three places I’m currently trying to read to keep up with my friends beyond email, including my friends’ blogs and LiveJournal, and at least one usenet newsgroup (alt.books.m-lackey, which isn’t quite totally inactive).

Anyway, I hope I’ll be better at keeping up now that I’m back on my own computer. {Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

I hope I’m back

{peek in} Anyone still here? I do hope so! {tentative smile}

I’m very sorry that I disappeared for so long. {bite lips} I kind of fell sick last summer, and only got well again last month. Oh, I wasn’t sick with the same thing the whole time. At least four illnesses managed to overlap in a way that I wasn’t well for entirely too long. {apologetic smile}

Anyway, I am better now. So I’m trying to rebuild my life without taking on too much at once. I’m probably being too careful about taking things slowly, but I’d rather fight some frustration and boredom than risk a relapse. {wry smile}

Anyway, I’m now trying to get back to reading my friends’ blogs, and at least occasionally writing in my own. I do hope this works, because I’ve missed everyone quite a bit. {Hopeful Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

"Sorry for the Excitement"

"Sorry for the excitement." That is what the lady who lives mauka (uphill) of us said as a greeting to me, then to Dad.

Their dog had chased one of their piglets under our house. One of the boys crawled under, and chased their piglet out. Their dog chased their piglet back under the house. The boy chased their piglet back out. Then their dog chased their piglet under the makai (seaward) neighbor's large bush/small tree. The dog kept trying to chase the piglet as the woman tried to catch the piglet. The boy came out, and tried to hold the dog. The boy didn't succeed, nor did the dog, but the woman did manage to grab the piglet after a few tries. The piglet squealed VERY LOUDLY! It stopped after a bit... I guess it didn't mind being held; it just didn't like being picked up. When the woman was sure she had a good grip, she started back mauka to return the piglet. She muttered about getting rid of the pig.

Actually, I kind of hope she does. That pig a rather spoiled pet, and a very large one. She was a nuisance even before she had piglets. (We think a wild boar from the swamp across the street is the father; certainly the humans didn't arrange to have piglets. Or puppies. Or kittens. Their pig, dog, and cats made the arrangements all by themselves this year. All of them. {Amused Smile}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin

Computer Update {Smile}

I'm relieved to report that my new computer is officially handling email a lot better now. Kind of. Mostly. As in not perfectly, but I can live with this. {Relieved Smile}

I had taken the computer into the shop because it wouldn't delete old mail on the server, and I considered the ISP tech's recommendation that I do that myself unsatisfactory. The Computer Store kept it for a week and a half, then sent it home. Norman warned me that a Microsoft tech he'd talked to a few months before had said that deleting email was a "known issue," meaning they knew there was a problem, and they hadn't fixed it yet. So Norman fiddled with the settings. I'd had it set to delete email if I deleted it on my computer (spam), or if it was over a certain age. Suspecting the problem might be an "and" where an "or" was really wanted, he told it to stop deleting email because I'd deleted it as spam. Last weekend, the quantity of old email went way down at my provider's. I think a particularly large chunk of email suddenly got old enough to delete.

{sigh of relief} So it's working. Mostly. I still have to go in and delete the spam if I want to get rid of it quickly. However, my computer is deleting old-enough email on its own. I can live with this. {Sigh of Relief, worn but relieved smile}

So this week I've been getting back into the blogs I like to read, and trying to catch up with them. I’m also thinking about what else I want to get back into. I had been sticking almost purely to Facebook games because I feel better about dropping them without warning if my computer has to go into the shop. Since it shouldn't now, I can use my computer to communicate with friends and family members the way I like to, including making posts and commenting on others' posts here. {Relieved SMILE}

Anne Elizabeth Baldwin