Well, we are on a short trip in our little RV. I have mentioned before that it is very small - not like those huge bus things featured on TV shows about RVs or even the nice compact ones you might see on the road where the body of the RV comes over the cab section. NO, this is an ordinary Chevy 3500 van - the same as tradesmen use or are made up with seats to hold maybe 15 people at most. The van is made taller and, in part, lower to the ground, but it is no longer or shorter than van as it comes from Chevy. Over 6 feet of the length of the van (the back end) is the bed. Then there is about 5 feet coming to front which is, on the driver’s side, the kitchen, and on the passenger side, the toilet compartment and what is called “the third seat” being a car seat (sort of) behind the front passenger seat. (I say sort of as it is a car seat on top of a wooden box -the seat lifts us and has some storage.) In front of all this is the regular van front - 2 seats, dashboard, etc, though the seats are special ones which turn around to face the back of the van.
In a space this small storage is at a premium. There is other storage around the inside (and outside) of the RV than under the third seat as mentioned, but one is always looking for more. The day we picked it up - neophytes in “Rving” to make sure everything worked and we understood how to use everything as we bought the RV 2 states away from where we live. There were 3 dealers we had to choose from, each about the same distance from our home. We were not happy with two of the dealers and were with the one we chose. The RV was ordered. We loaded up our car with the stuff we had bought for it - some things we actually needed, others were excess as we over think everything - lots no longer travels with us - but other things we have found we need do.
I had tried to be very organized - all the plumbing related items were on one end of the sofa, the electric related items on the other end. The bedding was in the middle. We bought microfiber towels - recommended by many online. Sorry, they caught on everything on our hands and we have since replaced them with quick dry regular towels. Then all of this was put into our car for the trip - in large plastic bags matching the above categories.
Paying for and having a “tour” of the RV took longer than we thought. We called the campground to let them know we would be there after the office closed (unfortunately common with us when we travel, but fortunately something which most campgrounds are prepared for) and we were told where to find map and instructions for our space, how to behave (yes, each park has same apparently many RVers are not smart enough to figure out), etc. We left the RV in our space and ran to dinner. So we had planned on getting it all set up in the afternoon, but instead were doing so after “quiet time” had started (on of the how to behave instructions). In addition unlike now when the RV has everything in it, we had to keep taking items from the car and putting them into the RV. The well organized bags did not help as things were not done in the order of how items were in the bags.
We tried out putting water directly into the tanks - special hose and external water filter needed and running the water through the various sink, shower, and toilet. Worked great. We then tried attaching the hose (needs hose, water filter, and pressure regulator) directly to the RV and running the water out of the hose directly - not suing the tanks - no water. What does one do? Shut off the sink tap and then try again of course! Still nothing. Then I hear a noise of running water in the back of the RV. I go out and sure enough, there is water pouring out of the back of the RV - we found out that the hours we spent with the salesman showing us how to do things was in good part a waste - he told us to set something the wrong way, so rather than putting the water into direct use - we were filling the already full rear tank and the excess was coming out of the overfill valve!
We went on checking things - we could not get anything on the TV using the antenna on the roof. I spent hours turning the antenna knob in the ceiling of the RV to try to find where the antenna needed to face - no luck. There was no cable/dish TV at that campground so we could not check same. We later found out that the splitter for the cable/antenna into the TV was assembled wrong, so that the output was putting the signal into the cable - from the antenna and the TV - this we fixed on our own after the dealer service department, insisted it worked okay.
I made up the beds as twin beds rather than as the king bed it is made up as now. We were unable to sleep that night - well husband was, and therefore I was. The twins were too narrow. So we went to the king setup which is rather hard to make up - some post I will tell of the fun in making up the bed - talk about needing to be organized.
Well, finally we were ready to try our first real trip. We chose the area we often go to and an RV park we had checked out and looked nice - and we are here tonight. We were lucky enough to get a reservation for Memorial Day - holiday weekends often have to be booked a full year in advance - Disneyworld’s RV park is booked in full 2 years in advance for New Year’s Eve. This RV park we went to is next to a children’s amusement park (NOT Disney) and husband was told that there was a space available, but we should be aware it was under the roller coaster. We booked the space with thoughts of Woody Allen in “Annie Hall” where he says (and shows) living under the roller coaster. We were not actually under the coaster - or even in the closest space to it and we did not hear it from inside the RV.
Now we were dealing with actually “living” in the RV. There are all sorts of stuff one has with them that is not used at night in the RV and other stuff which is not used during the day when one is driving around and going out to see things. We had some items at night that were in the way - including a plastic box, sweatshirts, window cover... I realized that there were areas of the RV not used at night - so the plastic box went where my feet are during the day - the seat is turned around to face into the RV and the box goes on the floor in what is now behind the seat. There is a curtain for privacy which covers the inside of the front side windows and the windshield - Hey, stuff can go on the top of the dashboard at night! On a later trip which required winter jackets - they were added to what goes on the dashboard at night. The stuff is moved off it in the morning and the box and sweatshirt go between the seats - the box of tissues which is kept during the day on the plastic box between the seats goes on the kitchen counter at night. The laundry bag rides on the bed during the day and when we go to the bed - it goes to the third seat.
The garbage pail folds down flat and stores (empty of course) in an overhead drawer during the day. At night it sits between the front seats - it fits there as the plastic box and tissue box have been moved. (A store shopping bag fits in the pail as a liner - taken out in the morning and thrown out before collapsing the pail.)
When we take off our shoes in the evening I put mine behind the driver’s seat - remember this means they are next to the gas and brake pedals. His shoes go between the seats - in front of the garbage can.
When the bed is made up there is a space - which is the aisle between the two side bench seats which make up the bed when the center of the bed is not in place - under it in the middle. Lots of stuff fits under here - laptop computers (including this one), bag of items which are not unpacked unless needed (other items are unpacked). One trip we bought 3 wrought iron plant stands - only place to put them was in this space on an angle. When husband has mentioned this to others - they did not think to use this space!
Our RV has a small closet - it holds 12 hangers and is slightly longer than the length of a men’s shirt. So one can fit 12 shirts in it - right? No. One can fit 12 hangers with a couple of shirts on them in it? No. Forget the hangers. We bought a set of sweater shelves - you know the soft hanging units which have large shelves for sweaters to be kept in a closet. It has 6 shelf sections. Our closet is only the equivalent of 4 shelves high - solution? The bottom 2 shelves are collapsed and unused. Instead of 12 shirts I can fit over a week of clothing in it for the 2 two of us. We each have 2 shelves. One shelf for each of us holds shirts - folded to the size of the shelf (in thirds in length). The shirts alternate front to back - the collar of one shirt sits to the fold of the other, etc down the stack. This evens out the height the shirts take up. The second shelf for each of us holds a spare pair of jeans with our underwear and socks on top of the pair of jeans. So instead of 12 shirts (6 each) and having to figure out where to keep the rest of the clothes, we have clothing for 7-8 days in the same space. The tiny shelf at the top of this closet holds our slippers - easy and convenient to reach.
In the same way in one’s house one has to look at the spaces which are there and the stuff one decides to keep to match them up. Just because something is normally kept in one type of space, does not mean another type or location of space will not be appropriate - or even more so. I realize I am talking about an RV and you are thinking about your house, but it is the same idea as it just a (very) tiny house on wheels - the biggest difference - other than size - is that when you store things in your house you do not have to make sure they will not move when the house moves (as it does not). Across the opening under the bed, in front of the items store there, for example, I have 3 tension curtain rods - these help keep the items in place so they don’t go sliding out and about when we are driving.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
MORE CATCHING UP AND A PERIOD FESTIVAL - THAT TAKES ORGANIZING!
Still another week of trying to catch up - does that sound like your life?
I realized while using my word processor program that there was an update I had in the computer which needs to be found and put in again - until it is, envelopes are not easy to do as there was a fix to them in the update. I also still need to import the data for the address books for same back into the program. I noticed the problem with the envelopes as yesterday I wrote letters and sent out emails whose information had been sitting on my desk waiting to be done.
Today I went to run the new backup program in my computers. I first had to put it into my laptop. I finally got it loaded into my laptop. I plugged in the external hard drive - it could not be found. After several tries I decided that this was not to be the day to do backups.
The board of my embroidery group chapter is trying to put together the schedule for the coming year. I needed to send out an email telling members about a choice of projects that they need to make a decision on by the first meeting. Today all was resolved with which items we will be offering and I sent out the email. I also finished putting together our program for the year as we finally had plans for all the meetings lined up. I will have to go tomorrow and get it printed for the members, then assemble, address label, and stamp the copies, so I can get them out in the mail. Much of it is copied year to year which makes it somewhat easier to write.
We normally go away in August on vacation. The weather has been extremely hot with chances of major rain storms every day so we have not made plans. Husband announced today at lunch that the weather is suppose to be okay starting next week, so we will be going on Monday.
Well, the stack on my desk is almost gone thanks to the work I got done on Tuesday, so of course it will now grow again. I have to stop the newspaper, put holds on the mail here and at our Post Office box - and we like to do all of this for at least a day before we leave so we see it stop - means I have to call the newspaper tomorrow and go to both post offices to stop the mail.
We put the stuff we took out of the RV when we had the generator work done, back in today - while we ran the generator for the month - that way it was air conditioned in the RV while we worked. I still have to make up the beds. I am doing my regular laundry tonight and will laundry again before Monday so all the clothes are clean and can be packed. I have to call the pharmacy and renew 2 prescriptions so we have enough of them for the trip. We also will have to transfer some money so we can prepay all the bills due while away before we go. Oh, and I have to put out the newsletter for the embroidery chapter while we are away so I copied the email addresses to take and need to copy the last couple of newsletters to put together the new one.
Something more pleasant - We did manage to go away for a day last Saturday. There is a very nice, small festival northwest of Philadelphia called Goshenhoppen. It is different from most folk and craft festivals in that the purpose of it is to make sure that the traditional crafts, trades, cooking, etc. are not forgotten. The people who are involved with the festival go back to the colonial period and came from German countries. (Germany itself was not a country until the 1800s.) The association which runs the event owns a house from the 1700s which is partially restored and the event is held on the grounds around the house.
On the side of the road (the road is closed for the event) that the house is on, everything is related to the 1700s - and the people are dressed as their ancestors would be then. In addition to the house, rebuilt external bake oven, there is a kitchen garden. On this side of the road one can see a Revolutionary war encampment, wood working, water pump making, gun making, coopering (barrel making), windsor chairs being made, cooking in a hearth and over an open fire, rope making, two different types of foot powered wood lathes, bookbinding, marbleizing (on paper), roof thatching, weaving, a “school room” where children learn to write in the period style of writing with ink pens, spinning of linen as well as spinning of wool, straw hat making, wood carving, tape weaving (thin long strips of cloth to be used as ties for the clothing - very necessary in period), an assortment of types of needlework, bee keeping and other things I have forgotten. There are things for children to try such as sewing, the previously mentioned tape weaving, and corn husk dolls.
Now on the other side of the road is the 1800s and people are dressed in this period. There are demonstrations of stone cutting, leather work, tin work, fence making, wheel making, cigar making, blacksmithing, farm animals (and a bit of how they work machinery), how to make a jointed building - no nails or screws, quilting, cooking on period stoves, laundry, Christmas customs, sewing on an early sewing machine and more.
One sees children working at most of the demonstrations. As part of the idea that the knowledge of the past should not be lost, children work as apprentices learning how to do traditional things. Apparently the children can either do the same thing year to year or different things each year. Some of them also study what they are demonstrating during the year with the expert they are working with.
On this side of the road there is also butchering demonstrations - those, such as me, who do not want to see this can easily avoid it. There are food, drink, and books for sale booths. An unusual food here is Funny Cake. It is a pie shell with a chocolate pudding like layer and a cake like layer over it. We found it in one other place in the area and it was not the same and not as good. We asked at the booth and it is made for them to their recipe. There is also a building with cooked food for sale for lunch or early dinner. And there is a stage.
During the day there are different presentations on the stage. The group normally has a theme for the year and the presentations are based on same. While some are musical, others are lectures or discussions on the theme for the year. This year’s theme was the fact that it was the 50th festival and there were photos from prior festivals on display.
There is a band and there is a grand parade in the afternoon around the grounds.
Now, understand, this is not a huge festival. When we have spoken with volunteers there they are surprised that anyone outside of their area knows about it, let alone comes from 2 states away to visit it - year after year. The man demonstrating leatherwork was talking with my husband, who also does leatherwork. He explained that his tools were his father’s tools and that they date to the 1800s. This is the type of continuity they are looking to keep in this association and this festival.
Okay, so what does this festival have to do with organizing? Two things.
First, it shows the sort of life that existed in the past. One’s life had to be organized. As a woman in the 1700s kitchen garden was explaining - if one did not grow enough vegetables and preserve them - pickling or drying being common methods - (canning did not come into existence until the 1800s) as well as preserving meats - drying, salting, smoking being common methods - one did not have food in the winter. That is organizing. Imagine needing to know how much food you will need until spring and how to keep the food you have until then. Too little or if it is improperly preserved and the family will go hungry.
Even the stoves in their houses (unique to several non English groups) are well planned. They consist of 5 sheet panels of iron. One is laid on the floor on brick floor (only in this area of the floor), one on each of the 3 sides away from the wall and one on top. It is located in the main room of the house. The stove backs to the kitchen wall so that the stove pipe goes out the back, through the wall and into the kitchen fireplace so that they can share the chimney.
The walls (again this is unique to those of their background) are double thick and there are cabinets set into the wall between the inner and outer layer. There is one in the main room and one in the (master) bedroom.
Second - think of the organization to have this event each year. The festival is run by volunteers. The local German descendants are not like the Amish you may be thinking of and picturing in your mind when you hear Pennsylvania German. They are of a variety of religious groups who came here for religious freedom. They consist of Lutherans, Mennonites, Dunkards, Brethren, Moravians and others. They live modern lives and wear modern clothes unlike the Amish and more traditional Mennonites.
Every year the members of the association have to come up with a theme. Figure out which special programs they will run on the stage and elsewhere. They have to make sure that the volunteers from past years are coming and look for new volunteers - especially ones who can demonstrate different things. Period clothing has to be repaired if needed. New clothing made for new volunteers. Clothing has to be matched to the various children who, of course, change size year to year. Advertising is put out. Since the road through the property is closed off I am sure that each year they have to apply for permission to do this from the local municipality. The local fire company takes care of directing parking of cars. The festival planners has to make sure the fire company will be there and will have enough volunteers from their end.
Then there is the physical setup and take down. I understand that the festival takes 2 weeks to set up and probably as long to take down for a festival which runs 2 days! Booths for sales are set up. On the 1800s side a good number of period stoves are setup as are tables for those cooking to work on. They have on each side of the road, in addition to the house from the 1700s, an open air house. This is a floor with interior walls of a house diving the floor into the various room. (Sort of a house with no outside walls.) Before they had the actual house to show, this was how they showed the house of each period and how they differed. The houses have to be assembled. After the event all of this has to be taken down and stored away.
I have run small reenactment events and been involved on a minor level with a large local event. The amount of people needed and the amount of work done is more than one would would figure. Everyone has to know what they are doing (hopefully the people who did each job before are still there) and how to do it. Things are always missing or broken. (We went to a reenactment with another unit and our unit brought a privates tent and a fly - a tent that is only a top - at my suggestion. When we went to set up we were missing one of the fly poles. I was told I had a choice of which tent they could set up - which did I choose? - I had them set the tent at a corner of the fly and the same pole held up both, although the fly corner had to come down to the height of the tent - but this is the sort of stuff that happens, and hopefully the group is organized enough to minimize same.)
Next time you go to a fair or festival - even that local church or school fair - look around and think about the organizing which goes into it.
I realized while using my word processor program that there was an update I had in the computer which needs to be found and put in again - until it is, envelopes are not easy to do as there was a fix to them in the update. I also still need to import the data for the address books for same back into the program. I noticed the problem with the envelopes as yesterday I wrote letters and sent out emails whose information had been sitting on my desk waiting to be done.
Today I went to run the new backup program in my computers. I first had to put it into my laptop. I finally got it loaded into my laptop. I plugged in the external hard drive - it could not be found. After several tries I decided that this was not to be the day to do backups.
The board of my embroidery group chapter is trying to put together the schedule for the coming year. I needed to send out an email telling members about a choice of projects that they need to make a decision on by the first meeting. Today all was resolved with which items we will be offering and I sent out the email. I also finished putting together our program for the year as we finally had plans for all the meetings lined up. I will have to go tomorrow and get it printed for the members, then assemble, address label, and stamp the copies, so I can get them out in the mail. Much of it is copied year to year which makes it somewhat easier to write.
We normally go away in August on vacation. The weather has been extremely hot with chances of major rain storms every day so we have not made plans. Husband announced today at lunch that the weather is suppose to be okay starting next week, so we will be going on Monday.
Well, the stack on my desk is almost gone thanks to the work I got done on Tuesday, so of course it will now grow again. I have to stop the newspaper, put holds on the mail here and at our Post Office box - and we like to do all of this for at least a day before we leave so we see it stop - means I have to call the newspaper tomorrow and go to both post offices to stop the mail.
We put the stuff we took out of the RV when we had the generator work done, back in today - while we ran the generator for the month - that way it was air conditioned in the RV while we worked. I still have to make up the beds. I am doing my regular laundry tonight and will laundry again before Monday so all the clothes are clean and can be packed. I have to call the pharmacy and renew 2 prescriptions so we have enough of them for the trip. We also will have to transfer some money so we can prepay all the bills due while away before we go. Oh, and I have to put out the newsletter for the embroidery chapter while we are away so I copied the email addresses to take and need to copy the last couple of newsletters to put together the new one.
Something more pleasant - We did manage to go away for a day last Saturday. There is a very nice, small festival northwest of Philadelphia called Goshenhoppen. It is different from most folk and craft festivals in that the purpose of it is to make sure that the traditional crafts, trades, cooking, etc. are not forgotten. The people who are involved with the festival go back to the colonial period and came from German countries. (Germany itself was not a country until the 1800s.) The association which runs the event owns a house from the 1700s which is partially restored and the event is held on the grounds around the house.
On the side of the road (the road is closed for the event) that the house is on, everything is related to the 1700s - and the people are dressed as their ancestors would be then. In addition to the house, rebuilt external bake oven, there is a kitchen garden. On this side of the road one can see a Revolutionary war encampment, wood working, water pump making, gun making, coopering (barrel making), windsor chairs being made, cooking in a hearth and over an open fire, rope making, two different types of foot powered wood lathes, bookbinding, marbleizing (on paper), roof thatching, weaving, a “school room” where children learn to write in the period style of writing with ink pens, spinning of linen as well as spinning of wool, straw hat making, wood carving, tape weaving (thin long strips of cloth to be used as ties for the clothing - very necessary in period), an assortment of types of needlework, bee keeping and other things I have forgotten. There are things for children to try such as sewing, the previously mentioned tape weaving, and corn husk dolls.
Now on the other side of the road is the 1800s and people are dressed in this period. There are demonstrations of stone cutting, leather work, tin work, fence making, wheel making, cigar making, blacksmithing, farm animals (and a bit of how they work machinery), how to make a jointed building - no nails or screws, quilting, cooking on period stoves, laundry, Christmas customs, sewing on an early sewing machine and more.
One sees children working at most of the demonstrations. As part of the idea that the knowledge of the past should not be lost, children work as apprentices learning how to do traditional things. Apparently the children can either do the same thing year to year or different things each year. Some of them also study what they are demonstrating during the year with the expert they are working with.
On this side of the road there is also butchering demonstrations - those, such as me, who do not want to see this can easily avoid it. There are food, drink, and books for sale booths. An unusual food here is Funny Cake. It is a pie shell with a chocolate pudding like layer and a cake like layer over it. We found it in one other place in the area and it was not the same and not as good. We asked at the booth and it is made for them to their recipe. There is also a building with cooked food for sale for lunch or early dinner. And there is a stage.
During the day there are different presentations on the stage. The group normally has a theme for the year and the presentations are based on same. While some are musical, others are lectures or discussions on the theme for the year. This year’s theme was the fact that it was the 50th festival and there were photos from prior festivals on display.
There is a band and there is a grand parade in the afternoon around the grounds.
Now, understand, this is not a huge festival. When we have spoken with volunteers there they are surprised that anyone outside of their area knows about it, let alone comes from 2 states away to visit it - year after year. The man demonstrating leatherwork was talking with my husband, who also does leatherwork. He explained that his tools were his father’s tools and that they date to the 1800s. This is the type of continuity they are looking to keep in this association and this festival.
Okay, so what does this festival have to do with organizing? Two things.
First, it shows the sort of life that existed in the past. One’s life had to be organized. As a woman in the 1700s kitchen garden was explaining - if one did not grow enough vegetables and preserve them - pickling or drying being common methods - (canning did not come into existence until the 1800s) as well as preserving meats - drying, salting, smoking being common methods - one did not have food in the winter. That is organizing. Imagine needing to know how much food you will need until spring and how to keep the food you have until then. Too little or if it is improperly preserved and the family will go hungry.
Even the stoves in their houses (unique to several non English groups) are well planned. They consist of 5 sheet panels of iron. One is laid on the floor on brick floor (only in this area of the floor), one on each of the 3 sides away from the wall and one on top. It is located in the main room of the house. The stove backs to the kitchen wall so that the stove pipe goes out the back, through the wall and into the kitchen fireplace so that they can share the chimney.
The walls (again this is unique to those of their background) are double thick and there are cabinets set into the wall between the inner and outer layer. There is one in the main room and one in the (master) bedroom.
Second - think of the organization to have this event each year. The festival is run by volunteers. The local German descendants are not like the Amish you may be thinking of and picturing in your mind when you hear Pennsylvania German. They are of a variety of religious groups who came here for religious freedom. They consist of Lutherans, Mennonites, Dunkards, Brethren, Moravians and others. They live modern lives and wear modern clothes unlike the Amish and more traditional Mennonites.
Every year the members of the association have to come up with a theme. Figure out which special programs they will run on the stage and elsewhere. They have to make sure that the volunteers from past years are coming and look for new volunteers - especially ones who can demonstrate different things. Period clothing has to be repaired if needed. New clothing made for new volunteers. Clothing has to be matched to the various children who, of course, change size year to year. Advertising is put out. Since the road through the property is closed off I am sure that each year they have to apply for permission to do this from the local municipality. The local fire company takes care of directing parking of cars. The festival planners has to make sure the fire company will be there and will have enough volunteers from their end.
Then there is the physical setup and take down. I understand that the festival takes 2 weeks to set up and probably as long to take down for a festival which runs 2 days! Booths for sales are set up. On the 1800s side a good number of period stoves are setup as are tables for those cooking to work on. They have on each side of the road, in addition to the house from the 1700s, an open air house. This is a floor with interior walls of a house diving the floor into the various room. (Sort of a house with no outside walls.) Before they had the actual house to show, this was how they showed the house of each period and how they differed. The houses have to be assembled. After the event all of this has to be taken down and stored away.
I have run small reenactment events and been involved on a minor level with a large local event. The amount of people needed and the amount of work done is more than one would would figure. Everyone has to know what they are doing (hopefully the people who did each job before are still there) and how to do it. Things are always missing or broken. (We went to a reenactment with another unit and our unit brought a privates tent and a fly - a tent that is only a top - at my suggestion. When we went to set up we were missing one of the fly poles. I was told I had a choice of which tent they could set up - which did I choose? - I had them set the tent at a corner of the fly and the same pole held up both, although the fly corner had to come down to the height of the tent - but this is the sort of stuff that happens, and hopefully the group is organized enough to minimize same.)
Next time you go to a fair or festival - even that local church or school fair - look around and think about the organizing which goes into it.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
ANNIVERSARY
This week is our 37th wedding anniversary. The years went past in an instant.
What does this have to do with organizing?
Well, for 37 years I have been cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, paying bills, we have been taking care of each other when one of us was ill - or each other when we both were, and in general dealing with the day to day matters of life. This had taken a lot of organizing.
We had both lived with our parents until we married. Before the wedding we went ahead being the organized people we thought we were - we got an apartment, bed, bedroom furniture, living room furniture, borrowed a folding table and chairs for the kitchen. We bought the dishes we wanted, the matching glasses, tableware, sheets, and pillowcases. We had carpeting installed in the bedroom and living room and vinyl flooring in the kitchen. We had the utilities started - sometimes I went and waited for whoever was coming - at least once my mom did. (I had my first meal at the place we still get Chinese takeout from while waiting for something or other - the place was in view of the apartment and I stood out at the curb watching while they cooked - so I could see if someone came to the door of the apartment. I had not brought the silverware there yet and had to get a plastic fork to use.)
Have you noticed what is missing from the list of what we bought? I made the bed before our wedding so it would be ready when we returned from our honeymoon. We planned to bring our individual pillows from home, so we did not buy any. We married, went on our honeymoon and returned home somewhere after midnight. As we drove home we realized that we had no pillows and we had no towels. We stopped at my in laws (as they lived closer to us than my parents) and husband slipped into the house without waking them and took his pillows (we shared them) and borrowed some towels. See - no matter how organized one thinks they are, they are not.
I had to use a public laundry as there was none in our building. The first time I fell behind we resolved the problem by buying a third set of sheets and pillow cases so I didn’t have to run out and do the laundry on the weekend when we had time together. We later also lost a weeks worth of clothes, towels and bed linens there when someone left a lipstick in the dryer and it melted all over our stuff! The biggest problem is that we both are short and have trouble getting clothes - so replacement was not easy. We dealt with this by getting a small, portable washer and matching dryer. After this I spent most of the week doing the laundry as the washer could hold about a week of shirts for either of us - so we had to do a lot of loads - and the dryer did not vent to the outside, but rather into the room through the lint filter in the door. It took much longer to dry than a regular dryer and vented the heat into the room - horrible in summer. The dryer did make a nice serving surface with a table cloth over it if we had company in - it easily pushed into the living room.
I used to clean the apartment on Friday nights. Husband would be exhausted from working all week and would go to sleep early. I would close the bedroom door and clean the bathroom and kitchen - within feet of the bedroom - and then the living room. I only had to clean the bedroom when he was awake.
We could not find bedroom curtains we liked, so I got my first sewing machine to make the curtains. (One day soon I will get it fixed so I can use it again. When we had the bed bugs in this house the wire in the cord seems to have melted or detached.) We returned the living room furniture we had bought as there were problems and bought a new set of furniture. We bought a kitchen set. We settled in.
About 9 years in we bought this house - within extended walking distance of the apartment. We planned to save money moving - we would bring as much as we could to the house on our own. So we would fill the car and the van and bring the stuff here and unload it - by this time we had our craft business and all of the inventory and other items had to be moved here also. On the weekend before we were to move, my sister and her husband joined us in moving things. We would fill the 3 vehicles and drive them over and unload them. Oh, did I mention that my sister had recently had my niece? So the four of us loaded up at the apartment. When we got to the house she would take care of niece - feeding, changing, etc. while the 3 of us unloaded. After a couple of trips we thought we were okay and all went out for dinner. They left. We went back to moving stuff - and we realized that we were not going to get it done in time. We called husband’s father - he came and helped us load up and unload once. After that we were on our own. The moving company came on Monday - they took the furniture, the books (9 feet of floor to ceiling shelving) and vinyl LPs. Then we went back to finish. Still not enough time. So on Tuesday - the day we had to vacate - I was back alone taking out the last of the stuff - one of the best birthdays I have had.
Well, each problem, situation, and year we got a little better at keeping up with everything. We learned that something will always happen to throw us off (like the recent computer mess) and that we just have to go with it and catch up after. Our house is far from magazine perfect and I found out today that I have bought black markers 3 times - as I have 3 started packs - so we are not as organized as you might think. One has to take life as it comes and do ones best.
What’s next? Another 37 years? That would make me.... probably not.
What does this have to do with organizing?
Well, for 37 years I have been cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, paying bills, we have been taking care of each other when one of us was ill - or each other when we both were, and in general dealing with the day to day matters of life. This had taken a lot of organizing.
We had both lived with our parents until we married. Before the wedding we went ahead being the organized people we thought we were - we got an apartment, bed, bedroom furniture, living room furniture, borrowed a folding table and chairs for the kitchen. We bought the dishes we wanted, the matching glasses, tableware, sheets, and pillowcases. We had carpeting installed in the bedroom and living room and vinyl flooring in the kitchen. We had the utilities started - sometimes I went and waited for whoever was coming - at least once my mom did. (I had my first meal at the place we still get Chinese takeout from while waiting for something or other - the place was in view of the apartment and I stood out at the curb watching while they cooked - so I could see if someone came to the door of the apartment. I had not brought the silverware there yet and had to get a plastic fork to use.)
Have you noticed what is missing from the list of what we bought? I made the bed before our wedding so it would be ready when we returned from our honeymoon. We planned to bring our individual pillows from home, so we did not buy any. We married, went on our honeymoon and returned home somewhere after midnight. As we drove home we realized that we had no pillows and we had no towels. We stopped at my in laws (as they lived closer to us than my parents) and husband slipped into the house without waking them and took his pillows (we shared them) and borrowed some towels. See - no matter how organized one thinks they are, they are not.
I had to use a public laundry as there was none in our building. The first time I fell behind we resolved the problem by buying a third set of sheets and pillow cases so I didn’t have to run out and do the laundry on the weekend when we had time together. We later also lost a weeks worth of clothes, towels and bed linens there when someone left a lipstick in the dryer and it melted all over our stuff! The biggest problem is that we both are short and have trouble getting clothes - so replacement was not easy. We dealt with this by getting a small, portable washer and matching dryer. After this I spent most of the week doing the laundry as the washer could hold about a week of shirts for either of us - so we had to do a lot of loads - and the dryer did not vent to the outside, but rather into the room through the lint filter in the door. It took much longer to dry than a regular dryer and vented the heat into the room - horrible in summer. The dryer did make a nice serving surface with a table cloth over it if we had company in - it easily pushed into the living room.
I used to clean the apartment on Friday nights. Husband would be exhausted from working all week and would go to sleep early. I would close the bedroom door and clean the bathroom and kitchen - within feet of the bedroom - and then the living room. I only had to clean the bedroom when he was awake.
We could not find bedroom curtains we liked, so I got my first sewing machine to make the curtains. (One day soon I will get it fixed so I can use it again. When we had the bed bugs in this house the wire in the cord seems to have melted or detached.) We returned the living room furniture we had bought as there were problems and bought a new set of furniture. We bought a kitchen set. We settled in.
About 9 years in we bought this house - within extended walking distance of the apartment. We planned to save money moving - we would bring as much as we could to the house on our own. So we would fill the car and the van and bring the stuff here and unload it - by this time we had our craft business and all of the inventory and other items had to be moved here also. On the weekend before we were to move, my sister and her husband joined us in moving things. We would fill the 3 vehicles and drive them over and unload them. Oh, did I mention that my sister had recently had my niece? So the four of us loaded up at the apartment. When we got to the house she would take care of niece - feeding, changing, etc. while the 3 of us unloaded. After a couple of trips we thought we were okay and all went out for dinner. They left. We went back to moving stuff - and we realized that we were not going to get it done in time. We called husband’s father - he came and helped us load up and unload once. After that we were on our own. The moving company came on Monday - they took the furniture, the books (9 feet of floor to ceiling shelving) and vinyl LPs. Then we went back to finish. Still not enough time. So on Tuesday - the day we had to vacate - I was back alone taking out the last of the stuff - one of the best birthdays I have had.
Well, each problem, situation, and year we got a little better at keeping up with everything. We learned that something will always happen to throw us off (like the recent computer mess) and that we just have to go with it and catch up after. Our house is far from magazine perfect and I found out today that I have bought black markers 3 times - as I have 3 started packs - so we are not as organized as you might think. One has to take life as it comes and do ones best.
What’s next? Another 37 years? That would make me.... probably not.
Thursday, August 4, 2016
BEST LAID PLANS - HARD DRIVE DIED PART 3 AND RV PROBLEMS
Well, I have spent a good part of the last week trying to finish installing software onto the new hard drive and to get it set up as the software was set up on my former hard drive.
I installed my organizer program and the software for my old cell phone, which I use as a PDA. I then installed the program which allows the two to synch. I then had to copy the data file for the organizer from laptop to the desktop after syncing them. The reason I needed to sync them is one file has to overwrite the other at the first sync. This way when I overwrote the old cell phone with the organizer I did not lose any information. So I then had those working. Until yesterday, however, I did not get the software installed so that my current cell phone could also sync with the organizer. (I sync one device, than the other when I sit down at the computer to work and when I leave so that all 3 have the same information - the current cell phone only for the parts that sync with the program. Between this and the software all ready installed so far, I feel like Sweeney Todd in the play/movie about him when he gets his razor back - “At last, my arm is complete again!”.
I had to redo for my records the two sales I mentioned we had as the information for my records was incomplete - that took the better part of an afternoon.
I played with the settings for the monitor and finally found a setup I can live with - how can certain parts look so different and others look right? I know it is not the setup I had before as a program I have which used to have a window too large for the monitor (and I had to change the setting to use same) and it no longer is too big, on the other hand, if I switch to a lower resolution, one of the other programs is too big to use. But I can deal with how it is now.
I am now dealing with changing preferences - the location of files, etc. I still have two programs and two printers to install. But I can use the computer again.
Now I have to catch up on what I did not do the last 2 weeks. I spent part of the afternoon doing follow up from the embroidery board meeting I went to last week - normally it would have been done the next day. I checked a few things online which I needed to do. I wrote a few emails. It seems every time I get the stuff to do NOW stack down, something happens and it stacks back up.
On top of all this we have had a problem with our little RV - the one I was writing about before this computer mess started. We had to take it to a shop authorized by the generator manufacturer to have something small fixed. We had a 9 am appointment. We planned to drive out with both the RV and the car - if we had to leave it we could, if it would be all day we could go out for lunch, etc.
Our RV has to be backed out of the driveway - not something easy to do normally and worse during rush hour, plus the construction going on. We decided to back it out the night before and turn it around and back it back up the driveway. We live on a VERY busy street. We figured we would do this around 1 am when the traffic is much lighter. There was suppose to be VERY heavy rain that night late, so we went out to do this at around 11 pm. Still too much traffic, but we needed to get it done. I stood in the road with a walkie talkie and when there was no cars, etc I told husband and he backed it out. It was not lined up properly and cars started coming on our side of the street. He pulled over up the block a bit. He then turned around and came back - wrong direction to try to back in. He drove up the street the other way and turned around. We then waited for an empty time on the street and he got it up the driveway.
Next morning we drove to the generator shop. I drove the RV as I was less nervous about it all. We cannot take the RV on the road we would normally take to get there - a limited access road, 50 mph road - as it cannot go on same, so we had to go on a main surface road. We got there just before our 9 am appointment. Husband went into the shop to let them know we were there and find out what to do. They told him to wait. We did. At 10 am a large RV (Class A - one of the ones which looks like a bus) pulled in. Husband had seem it leaving when he drove in, a few minutes ahead of me. They had an 8:30 appointment. We both sat there until 10:30 when they told the Class A to pull in and us behind them.
We explained to the mechanic all that was going on. Our generator is under the RV so he decided to check one thing first, since if that needed to be fixed, it would have to be taken off and the rest of the work would be easier. We waited. It did need to be fixed. He took the generator off and sent us on our way with the RV. He told us that he left what he needed to take apart inside, apart as he was sure we would not be using it. We said fine.
Now, before we brought the RV in we took our bedding and a lot of other things out as we are a bit upset about anyone being in the RV (or our house or our car...) due to our craziness about bed bugs. We covered the mattress pieces in plastic covers and put both on the side of the car which does not involve accessing the electrical system - or so we thought. When I got into the RV to drive it home, he had needed to access the side we put everything on. The table top (stored under the mattress on that side) was lying on the floor as was the top of the cabinet which goes under the table top (we did not even know this piece came out) and our mattress - no longer wrapped in the plastic covers were across the back. I was extremely upset. We could not drive the RV that way as a quick stop would bring the table and cabinet tops flying forward, so we put them in the car (and later stored them in our van temporarily) and drove home. We then sprayed the mattress pieces with alcohol and put them into zippered mattress bags and the smaller pieces in a plastic bag tied closed. We heard from the shop that pieces are in and tomorrow we will bring the RV back there to have the generator put back on. We have no idea how much all this will cost us - more than we can afford we are sure.
In the interim husband has been trying to figure out some problems we are having charging the RV batteries by driving (the car engine charges them). He has decided in the past week that we need new batteries ($500 each) and an assortment of other things. Now he found out that the a device which lets the car battery and the RV batteries take turns charging as needed when driving was recalled about 2 months after we got the RV - no one told us. He thinks this is the problem. So now he is trying to find someplace local which will either sell one of the device (and we will have our service station put it in) or install one for us.
Never a dull moment or a quiet relaxing one.
I installed my organizer program and the software for my old cell phone, which I use as a PDA. I then installed the program which allows the two to synch. I then had to copy the data file for the organizer from laptop to the desktop after syncing them. The reason I needed to sync them is one file has to overwrite the other at the first sync. This way when I overwrote the old cell phone with the organizer I did not lose any information. So I then had those working. Until yesterday, however, I did not get the software installed so that my current cell phone could also sync with the organizer. (I sync one device, than the other when I sit down at the computer to work and when I leave so that all 3 have the same information - the current cell phone only for the parts that sync with the program. Between this and the software all ready installed so far, I feel like Sweeney Todd in the play/movie about him when he gets his razor back - “At last, my arm is complete again!”.
I had to redo for my records the two sales I mentioned we had as the information for my records was incomplete - that took the better part of an afternoon.
I played with the settings for the monitor and finally found a setup I can live with - how can certain parts look so different and others look right? I know it is not the setup I had before as a program I have which used to have a window too large for the monitor (and I had to change the setting to use same) and it no longer is too big, on the other hand, if I switch to a lower resolution, one of the other programs is too big to use. But I can deal with how it is now.
I am now dealing with changing preferences - the location of files, etc. I still have two programs and two printers to install. But I can use the computer again.
Now I have to catch up on what I did not do the last 2 weeks. I spent part of the afternoon doing follow up from the embroidery board meeting I went to last week - normally it would have been done the next day. I checked a few things online which I needed to do. I wrote a few emails. It seems every time I get the stuff to do NOW stack down, something happens and it stacks back up.
On top of all this we have had a problem with our little RV - the one I was writing about before this computer mess started. We had to take it to a shop authorized by the generator manufacturer to have something small fixed. We had a 9 am appointment. We planned to drive out with both the RV and the car - if we had to leave it we could, if it would be all day we could go out for lunch, etc.
Our RV has to be backed out of the driveway - not something easy to do normally and worse during rush hour, plus the construction going on. We decided to back it out the night before and turn it around and back it back up the driveway. We live on a VERY busy street. We figured we would do this around 1 am when the traffic is much lighter. There was suppose to be VERY heavy rain that night late, so we went out to do this at around 11 pm. Still too much traffic, but we needed to get it done. I stood in the road with a walkie talkie and when there was no cars, etc I told husband and he backed it out. It was not lined up properly and cars started coming on our side of the street. He pulled over up the block a bit. He then turned around and came back - wrong direction to try to back in. He drove up the street the other way and turned around. We then waited for an empty time on the street and he got it up the driveway.
Next morning we drove to the generator shop. I drove the RV as I was less nervous about it all. We cannot take the RV on the road we would normally take to get there - a limited access road, 50 mph road - as it cannot go on same, so we had to go on a main surface road. We got there just before our 9 am appointment. Husband went into the shop to let them know we were there and find out what to do. They told him to wait. We did. At 10 am a large RV (Class A - one of the ones which looks like a bus) pulled in. Husband had seem it leaving when he drove in, a few minutes ahead of me. They had an 8:30 appointment. We both sat there until 10:30 when they told the Class A to pull in and us behind them.
We explained to the mechanic all that was going on. Our generator is under the RV so he decided to check one thing first, since if that needed to be fixed, it would have to be taken off and the rest of the work would be easier. We waited. It did need to be fixed. He took the generator off and sent us on our way with the RV. He told us that he left what he needed to take apart inside, apart as he was sure we would not be using it. We said fine.
Now, before we brought the RV in we took our bedding and a lot of other things out as we are a bit upset about anyone being in the RV (or our house or our car...) due to our craziness about bed bugs. We covered the mattress pieces in plastic covers and put both on the side of the car which does not involve accessing the electrical system - or so we thought. When I got into the RV to drive it home, he had needed to access the side we put everything on. The table top (stored under the mattress on that side) was lying on the floor as was the top of the cabinet which goes under the table top (we did not even know this piece came out) and our mattress - no longer wrapped in the plastic covers were across the back. I was extremely upset. We could not drive the RV that way as a quick stop would bring the table and cabinet tops flying forward, so we put them in the car (and later stored them in our van temporarily) and drove home. We then sprayed the mattress pieces with alcohol and put them into zippered mattress bags and the smaller pieces in a plastic bag tied closed. We heard from the shop that pieces are in and tomorrow we will bring the RV back there to have the generator put back on. We have no idea how much all this will cost us - more than we can afford we are sure.
In the interim husband has been trying to figure out some problems we are having charging the RV batteries by driving (the car engine charges them). He has decided in the past week that we need new batteries ($500 each) and an assortment of other things. Now he found out that the a device which lets the car battery and the RV batteries take turns charging as needed when driving was recalled about 2 months after we got the RV - no one told us. He thinks this is the problem. So now he is trying to find someplace local which will either sell one of the device (and we will have our service station put it in) or install one for us.
Never a dull moment or a quiet relaxing one.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
BEST LAID PLANS... PART 2
Well, last week I left off with my computer having Windows reinstalled and having to reinstall software. The computer is still not up to full working set up. I figure it will take at least another week.
I started installing software in, more or less, the order that 1 - I thought it was of importance and 2 - I thought I could install it myself. In addition to installing the software much of it needs to have its registration information given again (from the original registration of the software into this computer). Luckily when programs have needed to be registered I have made a record of the registration information which was given to activate the program - in one case of the “hidden” location the registration information (is validation the correct term) where the information has to be entered.
Installing software takes time - which is why the backups were made to begin with - and while the installations are being done I have been using my larger, slower, “kitchen” laptop to get some work done. I also, by hand, copied all of the entries in my Palm Centro to the organizer on this laptop so I was finally able to sync the two and not lose any entries. I am continuing to do so until the computer is setup and the software for the organizer, the sync program, and the sync program for my cell phone are installed on the desktop computer - they will be put in towards the end of software installation. Tuesday and Wednesday last week were spent installing software to the point that the computer was partially workable.
Thursday I installed my email software - a freeware program. I am not good at updating programs and was using a rather old version of the program. Husband told me to install the newest version. I did so. He then tried to copy my profile from the old hard drive to the new. It did not work in the program. He tried all kinds of things. Finally we reached the conclusion that old profile did not work in the new version of the program. We uninstalled the email program and installed the old version from my old downloads file. The program would not open. The computer thought the deleted version was still running. We rebooted the computer - 3 times; it did not help. Finally husband figured out what to do. So after about 2 or 3 hours of installing and uninstalling and rebooting, I finally had my email program back. I had only been checking my more critical email and the accounts more likely to have email, so for the first time since the previous Friday I finally checked all my email accounts. No surprises, thank goodness.
On Friday I tried to add 2 of our printers to my computer, the 2 I actually use on a regular basis. (We have a travel printer which was not of immediate need, a plastic tape label printer - I don’t think I have ever printed on it from the computer, a photo printer - only husband uses, and an older printer which still needs to run on a parallel port.) Our printers were purchased before my version of Windows. The disks therefore did not work. When I tried to have the computer add the printers, they were not listed. Panic set in. I then looked in the downloads file from the old hard drive and found - YES - the printer drivers!! We installed them and as of last Friday I can print again! Well, I guess, technically, I always could print by copying what I needed to print to a laptop, but who wants to do that.
Since then I have not had a chance to install more software. I am coping with the fact that my computer looks “wrong”. I don’t know how I had it set before, but buttons look smaller, icons look bigger. One button just looks wrong. Husband says to me that can wait until all is up and running.
On Monday morning we get not one, but two orders for our craft business. We have few enough orders that when we have one I have to remember how I do the paperwork for our records. Not only do we have 2 sales, but one of them is for multiple items - goodness knows how long since we had same - and is for our home state - which means sales tax was collected and I have to remember how I do an invoice with sales tax. All of this would be minor, except I am using alternative software, other than I normally use, for some of this as the software I normally use is not yet - let’s hear it - installed. I have a program which lets me write pdf files with multiple pages. The program I am using instead makes one page pdfs, so I have to start a folder to hold what is normally a single file until I can fix it. The software I use to print labels is not yet - let’s hear it again - installed. Husband manages to print a label on his computer with some program he has - we had to figure out which Avery label number the labels were. The orders went out on time, but I still have to get around to straightening out my records to what I like.
At this point husband suggests that I make a backup with the new backup program - so if anything happens as we go, we have everything to this point saved. Of course there are problems using the new backup program. I finally had to leave him working on it as I had to make dinner. He figured it out and I have a backup - which hopefully will work if I ever - oh, I hope not - need it.
Tuesday I went to work. No dealing with the desktop. I just had to use my work laptop - unchanged, everything as it was. What a pleasant thought. All went fine until I was done. I keep the info on a USB flash drive as I keep all my data on same and each client’s info is on its own flash drive so I can just bring that client’s info with me when I go to the client and I am always using the correct version of the info as it is on a specific flash drive. When I am done and about to leave the client, I back up the info to the laptop’s hard drive (and then again at home onto my regular backups). I finished work and went to back up the flash drive - I get message that the drive is full and it cannot be backed up. Panic starts to hit me. Then I think about it. I have about 3 backups at home from last month. I did not do that much work while here that I could not easily duplicate it next month if needed. I can deal with it. I come home. I put the flash drive in my desktop - as I thought, the drive is only about 1/3 full. All the work I did was there and it was easily copied to my backup. Okay, one problem easily solved.
When I made the list of programs on the old computer we realized that some software related to the processor chip was missing. I found the instructions for the software - which apparently is on the mother board disks. Husband installed the software for me while I was out today.
Today I had to go to a board meeting for an embroidery group I am treasurer of. Normally I am the most organized person there. I have notes and information - whatever might be needed. Between not being able to work on my computer and prepare in advance and dealing with this client and running to back up it’s data tonight, I am not prepared for the board meeting - or the errands I plan to run tomorrow around the meeting. I printed out a financial report and quickly made some notes on the back. When I got to the meeting today I explained, that they are about to see the other me - the one without her computer to keep her organized. Luckily, I still managed to come up with most of the info needed.
I still have not hooked up the USB hub with my flash drives - archive, data, backup A and backup B and I am waiting until a few other programs are reinstalled and ready to use. For now I put the flash drives in and take them out as I need them.
Hopefully when I next post it will all be resolved - I doubt it though.
Have you ever been through a mess like this?
I started installing software in, more or less, the order that 1 - I thought it was of importance and 2 - I thought I could install it myself. In addition to installing the software much of it needs to have its registration information given again (from the original registration of the software into this computer). Luckily when programs have needed to be registered I have made a record of the registration information which was given to activate the program - in one case of the “hidden” location the registration information (is validation the correct term) where the information has to be entered.
Installing software takes time - which is why the backups were made to begin with - and while the installations are being done I have been using my larger, slower, “kitchen” laptop to get some work done. I also, by hand, copied all of the entries in my Palm Centro to the organizer on this laptop so I was finally able to sync the two and not lose any entries. I am continuing to do so until the computer is setup and the software for the organizer, the sync program, and the sync program for my cell phone are installed on the desktop computer - they will be put in towards the end of software installation. Tuesday and Wednesday last week were spent installing software to the point that the computer was partially workable.
Thursday I installed my email software - a freeware program. I am not good at updating programs and was using a rather old version of the program. Husband told me to install the newest version. I did so. He then tried to copy my profile from the old hard drive to the new. It did not work in the program. He tried all kinds of things. Finally we reached the conclusion that old profile did not work in the new version of the program. We uninstalled the email program and installed the old version from my old downloads file. The program would not open. The computer thought the deleted version was still running. We rebooted the computer - 3 times; it did not help. Finally husband figured out what to do. So after about 2 or 3 hours of installing and uninstalling and rebooting, I finally had my email program back. I had only been checking my more critical email and the accounts more likely to have email, so for the first time since the previous Friday I finally checked all my email accounts. No surprises, thank goodness.
On Friday I tried to add 2 of our printers to my computer, the 2 I actually use on a regular basis. (We have a travel printer which was not of immediate need, a plastic tape label printer - I don’t think I have ever printed on it from the computer, a photo printer - only husband uses, and an older printer which still needs to run on a parallel port.) Our printers were purchased before my version of Windows. The disks therefore did not work. When I tried to have the computer add the printers, they were not listed. Panic set in. I then looked in the downloads file from the old hard drive and found - YES - the printer drivers!! We installed them and as of last Friday I can print again! Well, I guess, technically, I always could print by copying what I needed to print to a laptop, but who wants to do that.
Since then I have not had a chance to install more software. I am coping with the fact that my computer looks “wrong”. I don’t know how I had it set before, but buttons look smaller, icons look bigger. One button just looks wrong. Husband says to me that can wait until all is up and running.
On Monday morning we get not one, but two orders for our craft business. We have few enough orders that when we have one I have to remember how I do the paperwork for our records. Not only do we have 2 sales, but one of them is for multiple items - goodness knows how long since we had same - and is for our home state - which means sales tax was collected and I have to remember how I do an invoice with sales tax. All of this would be minor, except I am using alternative software, other than I normally use, for some of this as the software I normally use is not yet - let’s hear it - installed. I have a program which lets me write pdf files with multiple pages. The program I am using instead makes one page pdfs, so I have to start a folder to hold what is normally a single file until I can fix it. The software I use to print labels is not yet - let’s hear it again - installed. Husband manages to print a label on his computer with some program he has - we had to figure out which Avery label number the labels were. The orders went out on time, but I still have to get around to straightening out my records to what I like.
At this point husband suggests that I make a backup with the new backup program - so if anything happens as we go, we have everything to this point saved. Of course there are problems using the new backup program. I finally had to leave him working on it as I had to make dinner. He figured it out and I have a backup - which hopefully will work if I ever - oh, I hope not - need it.
Tuesday I went to work. No dealing with the desktop. I just had to use my work laptop - unchanged, everything as it was. What a pleasant thought. All went fine until I was done. I keep the info on a USB flash drive as I keep all my data on same and each client’s info is on its own flash drive so I can just bring that client’s info with me when I go to the client and I am always using the correct version of the info as it is on a specific flash drive. When I am done and about to leave the client, I back up the info to the laptop’s hard drive (and then again at home onto my regular backups). I finished work and went to back up the flash drive - I get message that the drive is full and it cannot be backed up. Panic starts to hit me. Then I think about it. I have about 3 backups at home from last month. I did not do that much work while here that I could not easily duplicate it next month if needed. I can deal with it. I come home. I put the flash drive in my desktop - as I thought, the drive is only about 1/3 full. All the work I did was there and it was easily copied to my backup. Okay, one problem easily solved.
When I made the list of programs on the old computer we realized that some software related to the processor chip was missing. I found the instructions for the software - which apparently is on the mother board disks. Husband installed the software for me while I was out today.
Today I had to go to a board meeting for an embroidery group I am treasurer of. Normally I am the most organized person there. I have notes and information - whatever might be needed. Between not being able to work on my computer and prepare in advance and dealing with this client and running to back up it’s data tonight, I am not prepared for the board meeting - or the errands I plan to run tomorrow around the meeting. I printed out a financial report and quickly made some notes on the back. When I got to the meeting today I explained, that they are about to see the other me - the one without her computer to keep her organized. Luckily, I still managed to come up with most of the info needed.
I still have not hooked up the USB hub with my flash drives - archive, data, backup A and backup B and I am waiting until a few other programs are reinstalled and ready to use. For now I put the flash drives in and take them out as I need them.
Hopefully when I next post it will all be resolved - I doubt it though.
Have you ever been through a mess like this?
Thursday, July 21, 2016
BEST LAID PLANS...
The reason for the title of this weeks post is that we had several things fall apart on us. We were to be away and I planned a part 2 of “Organizing and Storing in our Tiny RV”. We decided not to go away - luckily before I made up the bed in rather hot weather - hotter in the RV. This turned out to be even luckier because of what happened. The piece will be written and run at a later date.
In addition to backing up my data, mentioned in a prior post (Organizing Computer Files, June 22, 2016) I also back up my computer. I do this on a monthly basis. I back up the computer, using a software program, to an external hard drive. Currently I am using a newer, larger hard drive I bought for this purpose (monthly backups). I have been making a new back up of the computer quarterly, with incremental backups for the following two months - by this I mean I make a new backup in January, then add to that backup in February and March and then make a new backup in April, etc. I also back up to the older external drive quarterly - in January, April, July, and October - each time a complete new backup - just in case the drive with the backups ever failed. I hate loading software when I get a new computer and did not want to deal with doing so for lack of backing up my computer or loose anything in case of a problem with the computer’s hard drive.
So last Friday I backed up my computer to a new monthly backup on what I will call (external hard) Drive N - for new - with no problem. At the same time I back up my computer which is a desktop, I also backup each of my two laptops on the same schedule. I backed up my smaller, newer laptop before backing up the desktop computer to both hard drives with no problem. I then attempted to make the quarterly backup of my desktop to the other drive - (external hard) Drive O (for old) and the same software just used for the monthly backup, but could not make up a backup due to bad sectors. I tried twice and then decided that instead of panicking I would wait and try it again another day. My older laptop is very s l o w and I set it up to run the backup overnight. I did the monthly back of it to Drive N overnight that night - no problem.
Saturday night, over night, I set my laptop up and did a quarterly backup onto Drive O - again no problem. So now I was pretty sure that there was no problem with Drive O. I then tried to backup my desktop to Drive O - again, it could not as I had bad sector problems. On Sunday evening, just to be sure that the problem was the hard drive of my desktop, I attempted a new, complete backup of my desktop to Drive N - to which it had backed up on Friday with no problem - it also could not make a backup due to bad sectors on my desktop’s hard drive. So, I told husband and asked him what to do. He told me that I needed to get a new hard drive in my desktop. It would not be much of a problem as we had backups and they are relatively inexpensive. (Can you see where this is going?)
So he did some research on hard drives (he builds our desktop computers these days) and figured out which one we should get and we went and bought it. At this time we were still thinking about going on a trip this week. Luckily we decided not to go on the trip just as we were starting the restoration of the computer to the new hard drive.
We brought the new drive home and disconnected the computer from all its wires. He had the good idea to have me take photos with my cell phone of each of the connections on the back of the computer to aid in putting them all back where they came from. It is filthy with dust - I dusted it and after we open it, we vacuumed it and dusted the parts that did not vacuum inside and out.
He disconnected and removed the old hard drive and we set it aside. Relatively easily he wires in the new hard drive and it snaps into place. We have trouble putting the sides back on the computer (it is a tower) and then remember it has to be done with the case lying down. The sides go back on. We are aided in all of this as I have the instruction books from the computer case and the computer chip from when he first assembled the computer, set aside in a folder for my computer (there is a folder for each computer he assembled - 3 to date).
By now the office is a bit disorganized - large manila envelope with computer instruction folders, parts, wires, box to new hard drive, old hard drive, work I had planned to work on... all out and about on the floor and what was before clear space on desks and printers.
We put the wires back on the computer. We turn it on. I use a touch pad instead of a mouse for the computer - it does not work. We then spend 15 minutes looking for a USB plug in mouse, including a trip by husband to the RV in case it was there - he finds it on his desk attached to a Raspberry Pi project (very small computer and coding). (We have since bought a second such mouse to keep around for when we need one in a situation such as this.)
We hook up Drive N (remember both N and O are external drives), we put the recovery disk into the computer’s DVD drive and start the computer. It finds the internal hard drive, it finds the DVD drive, then it keeps spinning. Finally we give up. We shut down the computer . We then hook up Drive O, restart the computer, and it appears on the screen. He runs the restore software. We go to reboot the computer and see that it has been restored - the computer will not boot. Of course, we try turning it off and on several times before being sure that there is some problem.
He looks up on the Internet what to do if the boot manager is missing. Oh, so easy, just run Windows repair. Well, I have the disk, but - it is in the closet in the office, which has all sorts of items from our earlier efforts of installing the hard drive and the project I hoped to work on spread around the room and blocking the closet door. So all of this must be moved elsewhere (in a crowded bedroom being used as a library and an office for 2 people). The Windows disk is put in the computer. He follows the directions on the Internet - I sit at his computer and read him the command line. We turn off the computer - then turn it on - it does not boot.
One instruction we find online says to reinstall Windows. We do so - which wipes out the restoration of the hard drive - computer now boots - yea! We reinstall the backup - it does not boot. We repeat this several times (we worked on this from around 3 pm to after 8pm- Chinese food for dinner as no time to cook).
As he has been doing the research for this online he finds out something important - the backup program, a popular (paid program, not freeware) has a reputation for not working. He had a problem when he tried to restore once before, but found that there was a problem if the backup or restore was done using USB 3 connections - so we had been using USB 2 connections. He reads that a newer version of the program does not recognize drives bigger than 5 TB, maybe it did not work at all with Drive N as this is an older version of the software and the drive is 4 TB, while Drive O is only 1 TB?
We finally give up. He reloads Windows and now I must find and reinstall all my software. Luckily the data, which was on a USB flash drive is intact as are the backups of it as they were on same and were done with different software so my data is all intact. I realize as I start to install software that much of my software is freeware and the downloads are on the old hard drive which was replaced. I did not anticipate needing to replace any of it by hand and so I also did not anticipate needing to get it off the drive before we took it out of the computer. While the programs could be downloaded again, many of them are older versions of the programs because I did not like the updated versions (and in many cases neither did husband), so I really need access to the old internal hard drive we took out). I asked husband if they could both be in the computer (extra empty drive bays in the computer anyway) - he said they could not as they are both drives which boot the computer and it would confuse the computer.
Today we went out and bought a case to convert an internal hard drive to an external one - so I can access the files on the old hard drive for whatever I need and is on parts of the drive which is still good. I then loaded more programs onto the computer with more to come.
I sat and checked my email and did other things on my smaller laptop while we were doing all of this installing and reinstalling the backups and Windows. I went to check my main email account. I changed the password a few months back - I know what it should be but that does not work, so I couldn’t check my main account - even worse, I had to hope that I checked that account with my bigger, older laptop - luckily I did and tonight - after not being able to check email yesterday or today on this account (I don’t check on the weekend) I was able to check email on this account. I still have to send an email to a friend for her birthday - which ended a little over an hour ago - as I did not have her email address other than in that email account.
I use very old software as a calendar/address book/todo list - an organizer program. I also use my old cell phone, a Palm Centro, as a PDA around the house as it syncs with this software (my current cell phone does not work with the todos section and I tend to only use same for home chores, so I sync both cell phones to the organizer software. When I start using it again, since it is being reinstalled on the computer I will have to overwrite the Centro - so I cannot make any entries or changes to same until they are synced again or I will lose any changes made on the Centro.
I cannot wait for all the software to be back, changed to how I like it to be (and you may know by now that I am picky and don’t like change) and it all to working as it used to be again.
I have learned that, unfortunately, one does not know that one’s backup software will not work until it is too late. We will trying another program which seems to be better liked and seems to work from now on.
While we were installing Windows and the backup Monday I also managed to start sorting through computer program and printer manuals back to I don’t know when. I pulled 3 large books (from when software came with large manuals) and some smaller ones. The 3 large ones I am going to donate as they are for programs not all that old and might still be used, the others have gone in for recycling. There were others I would have pulled out to toss, but they are for games that husband bought and I will have to go through them with him - I never toss or donate anything of his without his permission. I do now have the books to the printers on top of the others (they are lying down on the shelves) so they can be easily reached as they are still used when something goes wrong or needs to be reset.
In addition to backing up my data, mentioned in a prior post (Organizing Computer Files, June 22, 2016) I also back up my computer. I do this on a monthly basis. I back up the computer, using a software program, to an external hard drive. Currently I am using a newer, larger hard drive I bought for this purpose (monthly backups). I have been making a new back up of the computer quarterly, with incremental backups for the following two months - by this I mean I make a new backup in January, then add to that backup in February and March and then make a new backup in April, etc. I also back up to the older external drive quarterly - in January, April, July, and October - each time a complete new backup - just in case the drive with the backups ever failed. I hate loading software when I get a new computer and did not want to deal with doing so for lack of backing up my computer or loose anything in case of a problem with the computer’s hard drive.
So last Friday I backed up my computer to a new monthly backup on what I will call (external hard) Drive N - for new - with no problem. At the same time I back up my computer which is a desktop, I also backup each of my two laptops on the same schedule. I backed up my smaller, newer laptop before backing up the desktop computer to both hard drives with no problem. I then attempted to make the quarterly backup of my desktop to the other drive - (external hard) Drive O (for old) and the same software just used for the monthly backup, but could not make up a backup due to bad sectors. I tried twice and then decided that instead of panicking I would wait and try it again another day. My older laptop is very s l o w and I set it up to run the backup overnight. I did the monthly back of it to Drive N overnight that night - no problem.
Saturday night, over night, I set my laptop up and did a quarterly backup onto Drive O - again no problem. So now I was pretty sure that there was no problem with Drive O. I then tried to backup my desktop to Drive O - again, it could not as I had bad sector problems. On Sunday evening, just to be sure that the problem was the hard drive of my desktop, I attempted a new, complete backup of my desktop to Drive N - to which it had backed up on Friday with no problem - it also could not make a backup due to bad sectors on my desktop’s hard drive. So, I told husband and asked him what to do. He told me that I needed to get a new hard drive in my desktop. It would not be much of a problem as we had backups and they are relatively inexpensive. (Can you see where this is going?)
So he did some research on hard drives (he builds our desktop computers these days) and figured out which one we should get and we went and bought it. At this time we were still thinking about going on a trip this week. Luckily we decided not to go on the trip just as we were starting the restoration of the computer to the new hard drive.
We brought the new drive home and disconnected the computer from all its wires. He had the good idea to have me take photos with my cell phone of each of the connections on the back of the computer to aid in putting them all back where they came from. It is filthy with dust - I dusted it and after we open it, we vacuumed it and dusted the parts that did not vacuum inside and out.
He disconnected and removed the old hard drive and we set it aside. Relatively easily he wires in the new hard drive and it snaps into place. We have trouble putting the sides back on the computer (it is a tower) and then remember it has to be done with the case lying down. The sides go back on. We are aided in all of this as I have the instruction books from the computer case and the computer chip from when he first assembled the computer, set aside in a folder for my computer (there is a folder for each computer he assembled - 3 to date).
By now the office is a bit disorganized - large manila envelope with computer instruction folders, parts, wires, box to new hard drive, old hard drive, work I had planned to work on... all out and about on the floor and what was before clear space on desks and printers.
We put the wires back on the computer. We turn it on. I use a touch pad instead of a mouse for the computer - it does not work. We then spend 15 minutes looking for a USB plug in mouse, including a trip by husband to the RV in case it was there - he finds it on his desk attached to a Raspberry Pi project (very small computer and coding). (We have since bought a second such mouse to keep around for when we need one in a situation such as this.)
We hook up Drive N (remember both N and O are external drives), we put the recovery disk into the computer’s DVD drive and start the computer. It finds the internal hard drive, it finds the DVD drive, then it keeps spinning. Finally we give up. We shut down the computer . We then hook up Drive O, restart the computer, and it appears on the screen. He runs the restore software. We go to reboot the computer and see that it has been restored - the computer will not boot. Of course, we try turning it off and on several times before being sure that there is some problem.
He looks up on the Internet what to do if the boot manager is missing. Oh, so easy, just run Windows repair. Well, I have the disk, but - it is in the closet in the office, which has all sorts of items from our earlier efforts of installing the hard drive and the project I hoped to work on spread around the room and blocking the closet door. So all of this must be moved elsewhere (in a crowded bedroom being used as a library and an office for 2 people). The Windows disk is put in the computer. He follows the directions on the Internet - I sit at his computer and read him the command line. We turn off the computer - then turn it on - it does not boot.
One instruction we find online says to reinstall Windows. We do so - which wipes out the restoration of the hard drive - computer now boots - yea! We reinstall the backup - it does not boot. We repeat this several times (we worked on this from around 3 pm to after 8pm- Chinese food for dinner as no time to cook).
As he has been doing the research for this online he finds out something important - the backup program, a popular (paid program, not freeware) has a reputation for not working. He had a problem when he tried to restore once before, but found that there was a problem if the backup or restore was done using USB 3 connections - so we had been using USB 2 connections. He reads that a newer version of the program does not recognize drives bigger than 5 TB, maybe it did not work at all with Drive N as this is an older version of the software and the drive is 4 TB, while Drive O is only 1 TB?
We finally give up. He reloads Windows and now I must find and reinstall all my software. Luckily the data, which was on a USB flash drive is intact as are the backups of it as they were on same and were done with different software so my data is all intact. I realize as I start to install software that much of my software is freeware and the downloads are on the old hard drive which was replaced. I did not anticipate needing to replace any of it by hand and so I also did not anticipate needing to get it off the drive before we took it out of the computer. While the programs could be downloaded again, many of them are older versions of the programs because I did not like the updated versions (and in many cases neither did husband), so I really need access to the old internal hard drive we took out). I asked husband if they could both be in the computer (extra empty drive bays in the computer anyway) - he said they could not as they are both drives which boot the computer and it would confuse the computer.
Today we went out and bought a case to convert an internal hard drive to an external one - so I can access the files on the old hard drive for whatever I need and is on parts of the drive which is still good. I then loaded more programs onto the computer with more to come.
I sat and checked my email and did other things on my smaller laptop while we were doing all of this installing and reinstalling the backups and Windows. I went to check my main email account. I changed the password a few months back - I know what it should be but that does not work, so I couldn’t check my main account - even worse, I had to hope that I checked that account with my bigger, older laptop - luckily I did and tonight - after not being able to check email yesterday or today on this account (I don’t check on the weekend) I was able to check email on this account. I still have to send an email to a friend for her birthday - which ended a little over an hour ago - as I did not have her email address other than in that email account.
I use very old software as a calendar/address book/todo list - an organizer program. I also use my old cell phone, a Palm Centro, as a PDA around the house as it syncs with this software (my current cell phone does not work with the todos section and I tend to only use same for home chores, so I sync both cell phones to the organizer software. When I start using it again, since it is being reinstalled on the computer I will have to overwrite the Centro - so I cannot make any entries or changes to same until they are synced again or I will lose any changes made on the Centro.
I cannot wait for all the software to be back, changed to how I like it to be (and you may know by now that I am picky and don’t like change) and it all to working as it used to be again.
I have learned that, unfortunately, one does not know that one’s backup software will not work until it is too late. We will trying another program which seems to be better liked and seems to work from now on.
While we were installing Windows and the backup Monday I also managed to start sorting through computer program and printer manuals back to I don’t know when. I pulled 3 large books (from when software came with large manuals) and some smaller ones. The 3 large ones I am going to donate as they are for programs not all that old and might still be used, the others have gone in for recycling. There were others I would have pulled out to toss, but they are for games that husband bought and I will have to go through them with him - I never toss or donate anything of his without his permission. I do now have the books to the printers on top of the others (they are lying down on the shelves) so they can be easily reached as they are still used when something goes wrong or needs to be reset.
Thursday, July 14, 2016
DID NOT FALL BEHIND THIS WEEK - CAUGHT UP A BIT INSTEAD
Well, here it is another week gone by. Time to write again.
First a bit of how I am writing and posting this blog. The first few posts I wrote in advance as this is at least my third attempt at a blog (on varying subjects) and I figured if I kept 3 weeks ahead I would be fine. Of course like, I am guessing, most of you, I used up the 3 posts and now post week to week. I have a reminder on my calendar for Tuesday night to write the week’s post so I can post it on Wednesday night (which is generally around midnight Wednesday into very early Thursday morning) which give me a chance Wednesday night to proof read it again or write the post if I did not get to it Tuesday night - which happens much too often. So, if you are coming to see read it, it is posted by early Thursday am Eastern US time. If you sign up to receive it weekly in your email it seems to arrive late Thursday.
It was another week of getting very little done as I get sidetracked from doing things by husband and by “emergencies” which arise. But I did get some tasks done. Repeat tasks such as bill paying, laundry, dish washing and such get done ahead of lesser tasks. They are necessary to keep the house and us going.
I had left the bed made up in the RV for our next trip, but the generator needs to be worked on by a mechanic and he needs access to the air conditioning switch inside the RV - over the bed, so I had to unmake the bed yesterday - about an hour of wasted time to do so, get the bed itself disassembled and covered with plastic covers to keep it clean. When we go away next, there will about another hour putting it all back together and making it back up - I had hoped to avoid this work as we had only traveled on our last trip for a few days and our next 2 trips are of even shorter duration. As long as I took it apart I will wash the bed linens. For each of us there is a large laundry bag which holds a blanket, pillows, and mattress cover from half the bed (since it is made up as if it was two adjacent twins) - marked so I know whose is whose - since someone other than us will be inside the RV, the laundry bags are sealed in plastic bags.
The bank statements for us and for the two non-profit organizations of which I am treasurer this past week and all the statements have been reconciled and filed away. I actually got the stack of items on my desk waiting to be done back down to what I needed to do about 6 months ago. I am sure it will grow again.
I started working on a corporate income tax return due out by September 15 - maybe it will be out early for once and not at the last minute.
We have started calling up and changing our mailing address for our various financial mail (bills, statements, and checks to deposit coming in - nothing fancy) to our Post Office box as a way of dealing with our mail going astray. I am calling and changing each as I go to pay the bill or deposit the check. I figure when we go to the banks we will change the mailing address there. Husband has taken care of a couple of items which are his. We may have a problem in winter or bad weather as we will need to get to our PO box, but we can always call and find out how much to pay and where to send it. We pay our bills the old fashioned way - by check and mail. This has helped us, in at least one case, avoid having our info stolen from a company which was hacked.
I have not finished putting away the food from last week’s trip - I have it in plastic boxes which snap closed and it is mostly the same snack food we eat at home, so I have been using it up bit by bit instead.
I did 4 loads of laundry last week to catch up on our clothes and towels as I had done it early the week before to go away with all clothes cleaned. I did not change the bedding as since we had been away, we used the bed over 2 weeks the equivalent of sleeping it in for just over one week - a big time saver - and, as I told you, I hate sheets.
I went through my food books last night - cooking and diet - and sorted out 27 of them to donate. Mostly these are in reference to diet related to a condition we both have and are no longer needed by us as we know what to do. Other books were ones which seemed like good ideas or were gifts or for foods we no longer eat. Don’t worry - there are still lots of cookbooks on the shelf - but I did manage to get it down to one shelf so there is lots of room in the bookcase for crafts books. The cooking books are on the bottom shelf as they are not used often. Some of them I know I will never use, but they are sentimental favorites and one is a “Gone with the Wind” cookbook, of no real use, but I could not part with it. I kept the cookbooks for an assortment of types of cooking we like and a couple that we have never used, but still sounded interesting. I put the ones we are keeping back on the shelf in sections based on what they are for - with a stack of assorted types of paperbacks facing forward to save room and make them easy to see.
So it was more or less a typical week around here. A bit of decluttering, a bit of organizing and much wasted time.
First a bit of how I am writing and posting this blog. The first few posts I wrote in advance as this is at least my third attempt at a blog (on varying subjects) and I figured if I kept 3 weeks ahead I would be fine. Of course like, I am guessing, most of you, I used up the 3 posts and now post week to week. I have a reminder on my calendar for Tuesday night to write the week’s post so I can post it on Wednesday night (which is generally around midnight Wednesday into very early Thursday morning) which give me a chance Wednesday night to proof read it again or write the post if I did not get to it Tuesday night - which happens much too often. So, if you are coming to see read it, it is posted by early Thursday am Eastern US time. If you sign up to receive it weekly in your email it seems to arrive late Thursday.
It was another week of getting very little done as I get sidetracked from doing things by husband and by “emergencies” which arise. But I did get some tasks done. Repeat tasks such as bill paying, laundry, dish washing and such get done ahead of lesser tasks. They are necessary to keep the house and us going.
I had left the bed made up in the RV for our next trip, but the generator needs to be worked on by a mechanic and he needs access to the air conditioning switch inside the RV - over the bed, so I had to unmake the bed yesterday - about an hour of wasted time to do so, get the bed itself disassembled and covered with plastic covers to keep it clean. When we go away next, there will about another hour putting it all back together and making it back up - I had hoped to avoid this work as we had only traveled on our last trip for a few days and our next 2 trips are of even shorter duration. As long as I took it apart I will wash the bed linens. For each of us there is a large laundry bag which holds a blanket, pillows, and mattress cover from half the bed (since it is made up as if it was two adjacent twins) - marked so I know whose is whose - since someone other than us will be inside the RV, the laundry bags are sealed in plastic bags.
The bank statements for us and for the two non-profit organizations of which I am treasurer this past week and all the statements have been reconciled and filed away. I actually got the stack of items on my desk waiting to be done back down to what I needed to do about 6 months ago. I am sure it will grow again.
I started working on a corporate income tax return due out by September 15 - maybe it will be out early for once and not at the last minute.
We have started calling up and changing our mailing address for our various financial mail (bills, statements, and checks to deposit coming in - nothing fancy) to our Post Office box as a way of dealing with our mail going astray. I am calling and changing each as I go to pay the bill or deposit the check. I figure when we go to the banks we will change the mailing address there. Husband has taken care of a couple of items which are his. We may have a problem in winter or bad weather as we will need to get to our PO box, but we can always call and find out how much to pay and where to send it. We pay our bills the old fashioned way - by check and mail. This has helped us, in at least one case, avoid having our info stolen from a company which was hacked.
I have not finished putting away the food from last week’s trip - I have it in plastic boxes which snap closed and it is mostly the same snack food we eat at home, so I have been using it up bit by bit instead.
I did 4 loads of laundry last week to catch up on our clothes and towels as I had done it early the week before to go away with all clothes cleaned. I did not change the bedding as since we had been away, we used the bed over 2 weeks the equivalent of sleeping it in for just over one week - a big time saver - and, as I told you, I hate sheets.
I went through my food books last night - cooking and diet - and sorted out 27 of them to donate. Mostly these are in reference to diet related to a condition we both have and are no longer needed by us as we know what to do. Other books were ones which seemed like good ideas or were gifts or for foods we no longer eat. Don’t worry - there are still lots of cookbooks on the shelf - but I did manage to get it down to one shelf so there is lots of room in the bookcase for crafts books. The cooking books are on the bottom shelf as they are not used often. Some of them I know I will never use, but they are sentimental favorites and one is a “Gone with the Wind” cookbook, of no real use, but I could not part with it. I kept the cookbooks for an assortment of types of cooking we like and a couple that we have never used, but still sounded interesting. I put the ones we are keeping back on the shelf in sections based on what they are for - with a stack of assorted types of paperbacks facing forward to save room and make them easy to see.
So it was more or less a typical week around here. A bit of decluttering, a bit of organizing and much wasted time.
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