Oh, Thankful That Today Is the Day!

 Paracentesis. One would think that having this done close to once a week since January that I would be used to it; numb to the needles. It sure doesn't work that way. Today I have one at 1pm (thankfully). Between the edema and the ascites build up, I am really distended (the Wife says I am having triplets) and though it is not 'painful' the discomfort level is pretty high. My breathing has been short pants for the past few days as well, making the Wife worry. I believe it to be from all the pressure pushing up against my diaphragm, and will go away once I am drained. She's worried there is fluid in my chest cavity and I will need to get a thoracentesis. As if she were the one getting it... those hurt so much, and I always pass out.

So I have a few hours until I need to be there. I'll go through my morning routine, then I am thinking about getting a haircut. Afterwards, I may head to the hospital just a little early, and play games on the tablet. I like being early with them, just in case they are ready early. It has happened!

I started 'The Circle Maker' yesterday morning, and it may not have gotten me as excited as RM just in the first chapter, but I am still working on it. I think today I stopped at chapter 3. I'm hoping it gets to the 'nitty-gritty' soon, else I may have to  put it aside until a later date to re-read and then it will impact better. But for now, i still read several pages a day.

I finished Job today. I did learn a bit about God while reading it. Learned about how some friends don't have your interests at heart when talking to you seriously about said things. Of course this book had a happy ending...read it to find out what it was. So now I need to figure where I am reading next. Psalms is the next book, and I am looking forward to reading it at some time, so I may go ahead and start it. I feel this may a book a read over many times.

I heard from Data Doctors yesterday. I don't think they can figure out what I did either. I had two options (technically three, but I didn't really want to buy a brand new hard drive). Well, I took one option, and not because it was the cheapest. They are going to backup what is salvageable from the drive, wipe it, reload Win 11, and then the recovered files. It will take another 2-3 days, so I'm still without that computer until the weekend. I started to make a list last night about possibly what other programs I had on there that I will need to reload. The games I am not so worried about, as through the Steam set-up, I am able to re-install any in my library. I am more worried about my Calibre folder (holds all my ebooks) and the Torrents file (holds d/ls and u/ls for books). I am sure there are two or three others as well, I just cannot remember them. So until Friday, I am not worrying about it.

And with that, I'll mosey on down the road this morning....

PeacE

Let's Give Them Something To Talk About....

 Have you been the grape on the vine that people talk about? The rumors don't come to you, you are the rumor. Personally, I try to avoid the gossip mill, and where possible, change the direction of conversation, or walk away. I've kind of been a 'straight from the horse's mouth' when it comes to people spreading their stories. Lately, I have become that fat grape hanging on the vine, that people are talking about. Not everyone, but enough anyways.

Last night was the VFW Riders meeting. But I was there early (as usual) to "get into the mindset" and have a tea. I'm sitting at the bar in the Canteen, playing some game on my tablet to pass the time. There are about 5-6 others in there that I have good relationships with. Anyways, I dropped the stylus to my tablet. It landed on the footwell in front of me. Before I could even get my butt off the chair, Four of the guys are walking over saying 'I got ya Ralph' or 'Need help getting that?' or just coming over to help. I got angry. There wasn't time to cool this one down. I basically raised my voice and hollared 'I ain't dead yet, ya dumbasses. I can pick up a pen that is right in front of me. It's not like I'm so invalid I cannot do anything for myself'.' I bent over and picked it up. I continued, 'It's a damn transplant, not a march to my death!' Now these guys are Vets, and of course this outburst doesn't faze them. One guy did respond back something along the lines of 'but we want you around here longer.' Boy, if he only knew what he'd be asking for!

As the evening wore on, I felt bad, then stupid, then knowing I was wrong to have snapped at them like that, I went to apologize. I caught two of them that hadn't left, and they were like "pfft, wasn't nothing'. But I made amends, pretty quickly, after knowing I was wrong in my actions. I'm sure by next Tuesday there will be something going around about how I bit the heads off everyone for no reason, or some wrong answer. Sigh. Rumor mills.

RM's favorite phrase from me: I am bored. There's nothing to do. That's how I have been feeling since Saturday. Without my main desktop, I cannot play video games, picture is smaller, I don't mistype as much, as well as having the externals hooked up (speakers, camera, etc.) that using this laptop is frustrating. I did get it up to Data Doctors yesterday morning, but I know they won't even look at it until today. So I am hoping for a phone call that says it is fixed, and didn't cost more than what I already paid. Yes, I admit, it is one of my prayer items this morning. 

But I am happy that I do have a laptop available. I managed to hook the sound system to it, the camera, a working external drive (tried to play s games from it, but it reads too slow). I am able to do things easier than just from the phone. And I can stream movies/shows. So I have been catching up on some series, as the next season will be dropping soon, or just to see if I like them. My movie list has gone down quite a number as well, though it seems most of these movie are not to my liking, and I don't finish them. Trailers do a good job of making a movie look really good sometimes.

And with that, I am out of here.

PeacE

I Broked It

 Saturday, I got back to trying to get these new external drives to cooperate with my computer. Late in the morning, I did something, I have no idea what, that now my computer will boot up to BIOS, and no matter any changes, when restarted, back to BIOS. I walked into the bedroom wiping my heads like a was done - and I was. I told the Wife I am going to take it in to Data Doctors on Monday. Let's see them hopefully get my regular computer back to working, and maybe format a couple of these external drives. Need the second one for my laptop to back-up my VFW stuff.

A couple days without the computer. Easy Peasey. I whipped out the laptop, so I do have limited access. Finished up the meeting agenda for tonight's Riders meeting. I was able to take care of a few other needed things as well. I don't know if I will have time, but going to try to get the camera (from the regular computer) on the laptop, as it gives a better picture. I have a Zoom call with the Psych Doc today. I also skipped my meetings this weekend. I don't know what it is, but I just do not like the camera on the laptop. I did take the sound system from the regular computer and got it on the Laptop, so at least I could watch a movie and hear things.

So, here's to hoping they are able to fix it all today. I am getting a little antsy to play my video game. In fact, tried to put it on the laptop, but not enough space - go figure. Posting will lbe skimpy, but know I am okay.

PeacE

Caveat Emptor

 Wow! Who knew that I could know Latin - or even spell it! Today's title reads "Buyer Beware" and I have heard this a lot over the years, especially when working real estate. It makes sense. Buyers should verify their purchase is up to their standards, whether they make any compromises or not. And once again, I have dove headfirst into this rabbit hole...

Several years ago I had purchased an external hard drive for my computer. It was only 1Tb, but to the common man (read noon-geek/nerd) this was a lot of space! Additionally, I got it for sale at CostCo. It is still working today, and has lasted through two other computers. Well, it has reached it's capacity (I won't say anything but, who wants to save 500 million pictures of sunsets and flowers? I know someone...). Being the day and age we are in, I started looking for like a 2Tb, maybe 4Tb external drive, This would be used 'in addition to' the one I have hooked up already.

Computer sites were very pricey. Amazon was not much cheaper. So let's go to the cheapest ... Temu. I found a nice 4Tb for a very low price, and bought it. After a couple weeks it finally showed up and I hooked it up to the computer. Plug 'n play seemed to work as the computer found the drive. I started transferring over the next few days some files of the main drive, that I had been holding for more space. After a couple weeks, I happened to check the folder of somethings I had moved. The folder was empty. All the folders were empty. And now, I couldn't move/copy anything to that drive. I need that space from somewhere to make room. At Temu I found another 4Tb. Cha-Ching! The next day, I found another 4Tb for a few dollars even lower ...yes, I bought it. I had purchased a few other smaller things as well.

Yesterday was payday at my front door. Both external drives showed up. Went to plug it in - no plug n play. I pulled out the 28 page booklet that had 1 page of English, stating it needed to be formatted before use. Okay, I have done that before...on like 286's, with an internal drive, shouldn't be hard. I even looked up instructions for Win 11 to be sure I did it right. I can get the computer to recognize that there is a drive there, but it won't format or partition it. Keeps popping up some Windows error. I try looking up the error, and it circles me back around to the beginning again. I found a free program that will do all this for you, so I d/l'ed it and it started to work, but again, could not format/partition. I'm getting frustrated. I unhook that one, hook the other new one up. Same exact problem. After three hours of messing with it all, I knew I needed to step back, calm down, and go surfing the web for maybe some other information that could help.

I did go to lunch with my AA Home Group at Chili's. There ended up being about 10 of us, three whom I had not met yet in person. I had 2 side salads (the regular ones looked yucky) and though I shouldn't I did get a piece of the peanut butter pie. It was good! We had a good time laughing and joking around, plus sharing some details we may not want to share in actual group. I was asked quite a bit about my whole liver thing, which I downplayed and said I am just waiting for the week after 10/8 to see if I made the list (which is true). It was after lunch I did the computer thing.

I finished out the evening playing my video game, and putting off the agenda I need to write up for Monday's meeting. It will get done sometime this weekend. It's for the Riders, so I am thinking there is not much to put on there, as we are almost in limbo for now.

And to that, I bid Adieu (Wow! I do French, too!) to you all. I am sure I will be frustrated today as I try to work on this computer issue. The things to look forward to doing...

PeacE

Today is the Day

 Yesterday, late in the afternoon, the email came from the Company. Today we are having the meeting to start work on this project. Allegedly they have fixed whatever they deemed the problem was, and everything should work fine. I'm not holding my breath....

So, I'm sitting here at 8am, still waiting for this thing to start. I really could use another hour of rest (in my opinion) but it is what it is. 

Nothing else exciting going on. Next week we leave for Ohio. Still not sure how I feel about that, but hoping things work out that I will get to visit my sister and Uncle as planned.

I ordered some new shorts for the trip. They should be here Thursday. The SIL emailed me back (re: my computer) and said I had tried the things he would have tried. So it sounds like it is the power supply. I should order one today so I can replace it this weekend, though I'm leery putting out the $$ if I am not 100% sure it is the issue. SIL said he was going to check out another idea and get back to me, so maybe I will just wait.

And of course, there always has to be something that irritates me. This morning it is my keyboard. One of the support legs (on the underside) broke this morning. So for now, I have something stuffed under one edge to hold it up so I am able to type, versus the keyboard being at a flat angle. I know I have a spare leg around here somewhere, from when this happened before on another similar keyboard. I just need to find it. A quick look found nothing this morning.

With that, I'm outta here....

PeacE

Everything Needs To Be Fixed

 I never did get started on the project yesterday. There were issues with some people getting access into the desktop, so the meeting was delayed. Then when they sent out the MS Teams meeting invites, hardly anyone could get into the meeting (myself included). They determined it was the Microsoft issue from last week, and to log off until further notice. They are supposed to contact via email once they feel the matter has been fixed. Nothing yet this morning.

But it gave me time to take a better look at my computer not starting. It definitely seems power supply related, so I looked up a replacement and cost. Around $112 for the same brand/model. I also emailed my SIL, who built the system for me, and he said I had done pretty much everything he would have done. He was going to look into an idea or two and get back to me. So I will wait on buying the replacement for now. At least I had my old system, even if it runs much slower.

I'm going back to bed. I'll check my emails in another hour or so to see if there is work today.

PeacE

What's New Today?

 Not a whole lot, that's for sure. It is a Monday, and as is the norm for me, first thing I did was send off an email to the Company, letting them know I am available for any project they could possibly have, and yes, though I have worked for them for over two years, I included yet again, a newly updated resume reflecting this information (per their instructions). Hopefully, something will be available to start this week.

Saturday night's dinner went well. I was able to invite the Middle Son, and he was able to attend. After dinner, her 'stole' the Youngest. I went out the the VFW for a bit, then back home. Sunday was spent just lazing about the house - well, for me. The Wife did some work in her garden until it was too hot outside. All in all, it was a typical weekend I guess. I did see my brother up at the Post, and he invited me to go with him up north next weekend when he visits his kids. I have no reason to think they would want to see me, but I told him probably not. What am I gonna do in po-dunk while he visits?

Had some issues with getting my mail program, Outlook, to load in my browser correctly this weekend, so 'googled' the problem and the easiest to fix was to clear the cache. In doing so, I guess it wiped out the login information for several sites I visit daily (here included) so I have been going site to site this morning, trying to remember passwords (if not in my password book) and doing some resets. Pain in the patootie! But maybe got some more down in case I forget in the future.

I did finish one good book this weekend, one of the review ones I need to complete, and it was really good. I already have another lined up that I have been waiting for, that I was approved to read for review. It may take me most of the week to get through it, as it is fairly lengthy. I know I have a couple other requests out there, but this would finish up my review reads for a bit.

Other than that, I will be trying to entertain myself today.

PeacE

How to Look at It ....

 This last week has been ... something. I am not sure how I would describe it, as I look back and try to figure out what was good, bad, or whatever. In someways it had a some learning experiences, and others it was just boring.

I spent most of Monday morning trying to get my new video game to work. There was one error right at start-up, that was frustrating me. I spent time reading about this particular error through Google searches, on numerous websites. Some sites had the same info to do, some didn't. I tried all the easy stuff first (run program as administrator, re-verify the files are not corrupted, etc). then not knowing any better, started in on particular updates for other files. Then I gave up for the day.

Tuesday morning found me back at. Only into it for about an hour, and I came across yet another website that really explained what was wrong.I had not come across this website at all in my previous searches, and thankfully it should up when it did. Seems when I loaded the game up, off of the actual CDs, it needed to download teh more current updates. The sad part, is the datat fromt he discs was about 55Gb, and teh actual download it needs to do is around 108Gb. At my speed of internet, that's about 20 hours. Maybe two evenings of downloading all night (after we retire to bed). Ok, so I see the problem, and now have the CORRECT info to fix it. Moving on.

I go to start my Warcraft game. It won't load. Uh oh. Then my graphics driver won't load. Reboot. Check BIOS. Reboot. Nada. Downloaded a program that puts in the most current drivers on your system completely. That took two hours, and still did not work. I'm frustrated and angry now. I ended up doing a system recovery, but my most recent was about 5 days before. Another hour for that to finish. Then everything booted up properly - except the new video game, as I had not installed it previous to the recovery data date. So at some point, when I have two hours, I will reload it, and then do the two nights of download. I just have not been as anxious to play it now, due to the issues I have dealt with, without the proper info. If that info could have been found easier, would have saved time and effort....

By Wednesday, I am frustrated that the Company has not replied to the email I sent a week prior, about being available for a project as of the past Monday. I do not know if it is vacation time for the recruiting department, or the upcoming holiday weekend, but I doubt I will hear anything today either. Monday will find me sending another email, even though I am sure the offices are closed.

I did get my prescription taken care of. After spending over half an hour waiting on hold to speak to someone at the Dr office, I logged into the 'MyChart' site they use to share info with me about meds/treatments/appts, etc. I was able to send a note to my care team, where I described what the pharmacy told me Saturday morning. By that afternoon I had a reply from the actual doctor, that he was adjusting the dosage, and that should clear up the issue. So, it is still Metformin, but at a higher dosage, and it is now the extended release version. I picked it up Tuesday, started Wednesday, and have been feeling weird the past two days. It's like a low-grade nausea that is just "there" all day" long. It's early yet, so not sure if it is side effect, or just the change in dosage that may be affecting me. But I can see the changes in my glucose count. So overall, my numbers are getting to where my doc saidf he wanted to get them. Let's give it a few weeks and make sure they stay in that range.

The Youngest finished up the school year on Wednesday. He is officially a Junior now, as long as his final grades are passing ones. At last notice, they were. I had asked him that day, what time did he want me to wake him each day, as there is no way I was letting him sleep all day all summer. We decided on 10am for now, which is okay with me. Yesterday, I actually let him sleep (and he did) unitl about 3pm, when he woke up on his own. Mainly becuase it was his first day off school, and I honestly laid in bed a bit that morning as I was feeling all weird from the meds. This mornig I woke him early (he was already up?) and we got the trash out to the street for pick-up. Plans this morning include a trip out to the discount grocery we like, to see if they have anymore energy drinks, etc that we like. Maybe a side trip to the 99cent store for some sodas low-priced as well. Though, I have been being good about watching the amount of sugar I intake now, since this whole sugar count thing started.

Holiday weekend. No plans.I may be down at the VFW tomorrow for a bit in the afternoon. Probably won't stay for the evening. I did last week, won a $.25 drink, and $25.00 for the Queen of Hearts draw. I had the winning ticket, but only picked a 7 of diamonds. but $25 is $25 bucks. Overall I only spent $10 on tickets.

Welp, since I ain't doin' nottin' else, I guess'em I should close this off.

PeacE