Confirmed iMac Hard Drive Is "Failing"

Starting around lunch on Monday, it became a very long but productive day into the night until 4am. We were still able to fit in an afternoon hound walk, some breaks outside for them and me and calmness remained as I looked at my options. It was confirmed late Monday night that my iMac hard drive was "Failing" due to pending bad sectors with a reason of "old age" ... I'm serious, that's the reason they gave me.

{Warning} This post is going to be all computer talk about what happened yesterday, my options, what I did and my future computer plans. All of it is fit in-between some yesterday afternoon pictures and pictures from this morning's walk.

I sit here this morning with a better system and much much faster system than I had even before the computer crash on Thursday. Sometime around 10:30am Monday (yesterday), my repair job or a clean reformat on Sunday, started acting like it did before I erased my hard drive to start over. The computer would freeze over the simplest tasks. Open a program, hang up .. type a word, spinning beach ball .. open an Excel spreadsheet, wait forever, still might not open. All signs of a bad hard drive.

By mid-afternoon Monday my screen on the iMac and large monitor went black and froze. After shutting it down by holding the power button down, the reboot froze halfway across the progress bar just like it did when it crashed. I got into the computer the backdoor way and ran Disk Utility Repair and once again it found missing start up files and bad sectors to repair. That fixed it to where it would run.

It was during this time early Monday afternoon I started going through my options. My intuition told me last week that my 'almost' 7 year old hard drive was dying a slow death. An app sent to me called 'Smart Drive' confirmed it late last night in about a second, literally. My hard drive was failing due to pending bad sectors. I'll explain later how I got that app. I would link it but it is designed to start downloading immediately once you click on the link, so I'll not do that here.

Again on Monday I looked at computer replacements at Best Buy online, with plans of driving over and buying a new iMac that was on sale. I would have a larger hard drive more RAM and a faster processor. Once again I was steps away from leaving when I stopped to look at something else. The Mac Mini !!!

They had improved so much over the years that CNET was giving it raving reviews. It too had more RAM, a bigger hard drive and a much faster processor than my current old iMac. So I had two options I was looking at and really couldn't decide. I wanted to make sure that either one was in stock before making the 45 minute drive one-way. Still ... I had something else in mind.

I was sitting here with a MacBook Air that had a new solid state hard drive, less than two years old and had the ability to connect to my large monitor, use my wireless keyboard and trackpad. Since I had moved 262Gb of pictures to an external drive on Sunday, I knew my 62Gb of files left would fit on the laptop's 128Gb Flash Drive (solid state).

All the geeks use their laptops like that. So why not use that as an option? It was already paid for and a better faster system than the two computers I was looking at. I had bought this laptop to be my main computer when I had plans to travel full time or 6 months at a time. Since those plans were put on hold, this laptop had been nothing more than a place to play Mahjong (addicted) and look out my nice view from the kitchen table when I still was on the computer.

Now remember, I am not an official computer geek or IT specialist, but I know enough to be dangerous as they say. Everything I have learned over my 24 years of using computers is from OJT, google searches, computer forums, Apple and Microsoft support and more recently YouTube (rare). Also add in the fact that at times my memory is not as good as it use to be, unless it is sports trivia or past ballgames, so I forget at times how to do simple things on the computer ... such as:

How do I get the wireless keyboard and wireless trackpad or mouse to connect and work on this laptop instead of my iMac. I found my answer from a google search that led me to that same question being asked by someone else in Apple Support. I had to manually go into preferences and disconnect them from the iMac first before the bluetooth on the laptop would find them so I could click and add them.

Once I figured that out and had a 'new' fast system again, I was golden. I forgot about buying a new replacement computer or even the Mac Mini. PLUS ... the old iMac was still a great, new condition, computer ... all it needed was a new hard drive and some additions RAM memory sticks to be installed. I can do that and did a few times when I had PCs years ago.

But before I made the jump I wanted to make sure my intuition was right. I had time consuming work ahead of me if I decided to make the laptop my new desktop replacement computer. So another place I go to when I have any computer questions is a place for Mac owners called MacRumors Forum

When I could not find my answer by looking through other posts, I decided to write a new post telling people what had happened in detail (bullet format) and what I had done (bullet format) and what the computer was currently doing. Then I asked for opinions or answers to "Is my hard drive slowly dying"?

Within minutes I had an answer that my intuition was exactly right and they suggested opening up that iMac and installing a new solid state hard drive. Within 30 minutes of that answer someone else sent me two links to do just that, where to buy what I needed to do the install and a video on how to do it. Within the hour after writing my post someone from Australia sent me the hard drive analysis app (SmartDrive) that confirmed it was failing.

By this time it's getting close to midnight. I was energized knowing I had a great replacement system sitting right here (on kitchen table) and within a few hours time I could migrate all the files from the iMac to the MacBook via the Time Machine backup from the iMac. But, it would take hours to complete that.

Since my computer desk is the size of a door, I have plenty of room for the laptop to be sitting there connected to power, to the monitor and then having two external hard drives plugged in. One is for the automatic backup every hour and the other is the picture library that Apple Photo runs off of. Then later I had a brain storm that I could set my iMac on my other desk (regular size) to get that out of the way, until I decide to install a new hard drive.

By 3am all the files on my iMac had been migrated to the MacBook Air and things were running smoothly and fast. I had my computer system back using the same monitor, keyboard and trackpad I had used since October 2010.

Just like when you buy a new computer, you have a chance to do some 'house cleaning' of files, apps, software programs thus freeing up hard drive space and getting rid of stuff you never look at or use anymore. I tore into that process even though it was after 3am. I was thrilled with the change of speed, no hanging up, and using a computer the way it was meant to be.

I did have a 'user error' at the very end where I had a real problem. Once again a search on google that led me to the same question from someone else six years ago in Apple Support forum ... I made the mistake of disconnecting the wireless mouse from my iMac. With my wireless keyboard already connected via bluetooth on my MacBook Air ... I had NO way to move around the iMac or even shut it off.

It gets better ... and funnier .... without a lot of thinking I decided I needed to electronically disconnect the trackpad from the laptop so I could connect via Bluetooth to the iMac ... but the iMac couldn't find the signal so I could add it to the iMac. So .... to dig my grave deeper ... I disconnect the wireless keyboard from the laptop to see if the iMac Bluetooth could find the keyboard so I could add it that way.

The iMac could not find the keyboard signal either !!!  So I had two different computers and no way of using them because I (ME) had disconnected ALL of my wireless mouse, keyboard and trackpad and the only way to move around a computer. Luckily my solution was hidden on google search, all I needed to do was ask the question. That led me AGAIN to the same question by someone else asked in the Apple Support Forum.

Needless to say, I got everything worked out in a pretty short time. During these 17 hours of computer work I did not lose my cool, didn't panic, and just kept looking for answers or recommendations to find the solution. Like I said on Sunday night, in a sick sort of way I love doing this type of work on a computer when nothing is working.

For a split second I thought about pulling an all-nighter ... college lingo ... I was getting a lot done and this system was so much faster than I had before. So I had to force myself to turn out the lights and head for bed at 4:18am. I knew the hounds would be waking me up soon for their breakfast kibble but in the meantime Sadie was snoring, Stella was running in her sleep and Heidi was buried under her Mexican blankets with the windows open.

I think I fell asleep about the time my body was in the horizontal position, I don't remember anything.

I had left the computer in sleep mode while I slept instead of turning it off because the Time Machine was copying 60Gb's of backup files to the different computer. There was an option I chose that keeps the old copy in case I send it back to the iMac later one but that will not be needed if I replace the hard drive.

I did think this morning that I had other options.

1.  I could keep this the same setup and with to repair the iMac with a new hard drive.

2.  I could buy the Mac Mini as a temporary desktop replacement but a future of working next to my tv, where I could store movies, tv shows, ballgames on that drive like my DVR, then connect that Mini to the tv vis HDMI cable and use that like a DVR .

3. No matter what, I will install a new solid state hard drive and more memory sticks in the iMac. Depending on the size of the hard drive, I could basically have enough memory and space for around $300-$350.

Before I make any purchase I am gong to live with the set up I have right now and see how I feel about it two or three weeks later. The Mac Mini is nearby if I decided I want to use that. I'll move my iMac to my other desk, plug it into that power strip and continue to look and make sure I am not missing anything as far as information, old files or data before I open the front of that machine to add new stuff to it. (I know all the files were migrated and nothing should be missing) That moving process will take place after the hounds have their late lunch ... they are all passed out right now and have missed the noon howling/barking feature.

When thinking of options, I really did think of the new Windows Surface with the combine laptop/tablet and great reviews. All for the same price of the iMac I thought of buying yesterday. I also thought of going to the ChromeBook route. I've looked at those in the past and from what I do know and plan to do in the future, I just needed more computer than the ChromeBook.

I remember how hard it was, even with computer experience, to go from a Microsoft background to Apple. There was a learning curve there for a few weeks. When I was working and had only a PC at work, then I was flipping back and forth between Windows and Apple every day so it wasn't as hard.

But the fact is ... I love Apple equipment. I had almost 7 years of no problems while spending more time on a computer than a lot of people. I wish it wasn't that way but it's life in the 21st century.

Until this morning, as I typed this and doing computer stuff before our morning walk, I did not really realize just how bad that iMac hard drive was. It really does feel like I have bought a new computer since hooking up the laptop to all the main stuff like large monitor, wireless keyboard and wireless trackpad.

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also get a lot of my information on how to do things, or what to buy by looking at Google "Images" in search. How else would I know without pictures, that a Mini Countryman could really go off-road and even tow a trailer??? Or just how would that MacBook Air look connected to a large 27" monitor ... where would all the cables go? Or ... Heidi's skin condition, has there ever been another basset hound with those type of allergies.

Searching on Google Images is a good tool for information and answers to questions.

So that about does it for the computer story. I am up and running, a clear plan on the old iMac, I have a faster system that makes things more enjoyable and all without spending a dime in today's money. Feel free to email me or make comments on any questions you may have about computers stuff. I know enough to 'be dangerous' and will lead you to someone that can if I can't answer your question(s).

There is nothing such as a straight walk between point A and point B with Stella. Even when you think the walk is almost over ... she finds just one more thing to check out before it's officially finished. Right after I snapped this picture above, she did an about face turn and headed back to the field .... a yell of 'no' ... "over here" got her back in the direction of the house.

Still just 12" into the yard ... there was just one more thing to check out.

You may have saw above that the water is receding in the field ... but thunderstorms are in the afternoon forecast. I hope to MOW the yard not BALE the yard on Friday after these next few days of rain.

After a frustrating Monday, today has been fantastic here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

It's Been One Of Those Monday's

After so many hours of good performance, my computer turned on it's 'buggy' button this morning around 10:30am. It's much like that water in the picture, where on Saturday it had receded enough to show some land out in the middle of it but those are gone this morning. About the time I am about to "yell uncle", I give up and head to the Best Buy store for a new computer .... this one starts working again flawlessly and fast.  LOL

I knew today might be interesting as early as last night when I noticed we were shutting down for the night just a few minutes past midnight. That's never a good thing because it means we will be getting up while it's dark a little after 6am. At least I can start my coffee consumption earlier than normal and take advantage of the 50Gb of data I have for the month between the hours of 2am - 8am.

All of this didn't matter to the bloodhounds, by 9am they were running up the path to start the walk and I just made my first error of the day ... not changing my shoes to prevent my feet from getting wet and today cold.

Stella was like she was shot from a cannon and was running all over the place. I was already complaining to whoever would listen, that my feet, shoes and socks were drenched with the early morning dew and by the end of the walk so were my jeans ... picture below.

By the way the hounds were acting this morning I shaded my eyes with my hand as we made the first corner turn into the bright sunshine. I was looking for deer, even though they weren't. No deer today but the hounds were highly energetic and headed to the far right corner.

By this time my mesh running shoes are wet, my socks were so wet I could hear the squishing sound inside my shoes with each step I took. Of course with the temps in the mid 40's at this time meant my wet feet were freezing!! I wasn't a happy walker.

Sadie and Stella did not care that their ears, face and stomach were wet also. They were strictly business this morning. I could follow them wet grass and all or stop complaining, my choice.

It was at this time I became much more wet because the hounds went straight into those woods just as I snapped the shutter. I took off running after them in the tall wet grass and I could feel my legs becoming soaked. That increased the water inside my shoes. I had a long way to go to be happy.

Luckily they had not gone too far into the woods and turned to run down the edge of the field toward our last turn. They were waiting for no one today. During this time I was wondering what the computer was doing. When I left I had just clicked on the red button to close Google Chrome when that spinning beach ball turned up again. I did not wait to see what the computer was going to do.

It got to the point that anything I did with just a click of the mouse, or in my case the track pad, the program would either become "non-responsive", would hang and eventually start working, or one time locked up the computer to the point I had to hold the power button down to turn it off.

Heidi came outside for a short time after lunch but it wasn't warm enough for her and she headed right back inside after doing her part to fertilize the front yard. She is the smartest one of all of us. She is still doing well on the Wholesomes™ SportMix dog food.

When I checked on the computer again, it had processed all the mouse clicks I did before the walk. It decided to open an excel spreadsheet I had tried before the walk. Everything looked good, until I placed the cursor on the cell I wanted to type a number ... that stupid spinning beach ball was back. Each click equaled the spinning beach ball. (hourglass for windows)

So I jumped on my laptop and started looking at computers again. I could tell a huge difference in performance when I started using the laptop. I only have 60Gb of data on my iMac hard drive now since I transferred my Photo Library to an external drive. You would think that would make this computer faster than ever ... yet at times it crawls. Normal operations has about 55% of my RAM being used.

Typing an email before I did this post, things were so buggy and slow that while I was typing no words were showing up ... they started appearing slowly one letter at a time. I decided I'd get a blog post out before I head to Best Buy.

Of course since that time, this computer has been working perfect.

I am going to take the hounds out for their 2nd walk of the day and mumble to myself about what to do. When we get back I'll play around with the computer a little and see if it is going to act up again. If it doesn't I'll probably not buy a computer today.

The external drive for my pictures is working perfect. I see no reduction in speed of processing pictures.

From reading different blogs on the sidebar, it looks like this flooding is everywhere in the US and Canada. So really, my computer issues are nothing compared to what many people are going through right now.

It has been more frustrating than fun this morning here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana .... how soon does college football start?  LOL

Computer Is Fixed

It took a lot of time, a lot of reading online, along with trial and error following suggestions on fixing a hard drive that was freezing (hanging up) with just the simplest tasks. I thought I had it fixed the other night after my computer had a major crash, but I was trying to see if an easier way would work ... it did not.

So after days of thinking about it and doing a little more reading to make sure I had the process down so I would not lose my 300Gb's of files, I started the process as soon as I woke up this morning. I was going to erase my hard drive and install everything from scratch.


It wasn't long on Thursday before I started seeing the "spinning beachball" that Apple has designed for when software, websites or apps are not responding. For Window PC users, its the "hourglass" that never goes away when your computer is hung up.

I tried the three major browsers, some result. I tried using different apps to clear out old files that were possibly left behind when I deleted an app or a program. I tried maintenance programs to analyze and repair the hard drive in case it was damaged. Obviously there were some gremlins deep inside my computer that needed to be removed.

So I was nearing my last resort ... make sure everything was backed up, then erase the hard drive and reinstall the operating system. After that I would reload all of my files from my backup drive. In my case 80% of those files are photos.

While the computer was doing it's thing over these past few days I realized that it could be possible my hard drive had reached it's limit and was in the process of dying. A spinning beach ball is telling you that the software is waiting for the hardware to do it's thing. Sometimes it eventually does and other times it's bad enough you have to hold the power button in to shut off the computer when it is frozen.

Another sign that it might be my hard drive on it's way to failing permanently, was when I turned off and disconnected from the internet and ran programs like Word and Excel. Just using the computer as it was designed to do before the internet, I continued to see the spinning beach ball at times when I typed only a letter or moved my cursor and highlighting a cell.

I started reading about the new iMacs. Yes, they say that desktops are going out of style but as long as I have a huge 27" monitor sitting in front of me working I am going to continue to use a desktop computer as my main platform.

So I was somewhat protected this morning when I clicked that button that said 'erase'. My hard drive would be wiped clean and the only place my files were, is on the external hard drive that is backed up using Apple's Time Machine. My protection in case the computer would not operate, was to buy a new on today.

Oh, I forgot to mention the step before that I tried this morning that told me it was time to erase (reformat) the hard drive. I tried installing a new copy of the operation system without reformatting my hard drive. It would write over the new macOS Sierra over the old copy and getting rid of any gremlins hiding in there ... it failed and told me something was wrong with my hard drive.

After I erased the hard drive and started from scratch, the new operation system loaded with no problem. Then I loaded my files, which took almost 4 hours to complete. No problems there either. It was now time for the big test ... will those spinning beachballs coming back as I used my computer?

So far the computer has been running for a little over three hours and it is fast, no hangups, no websites not loading or crashing the system. To test it and try to get it to crash I had all kinds of programs running and doing different things at the same time.

Here are some of the things I remember I had going on at the same time:

 - Opened iTunes and played music.
 - Opened ten different tabs on Google Chrome with ten different websites
         - I loaded as many sites that I knew had automatic videos playing
 - Excel and Word were opened where I worked in each one
 - Opened Photos and imported pictures from an SD card
 - Ran a back up on Time Machine
 - Opened Kindle and loaded an ebook
 - Watched a video on an IU sports blog I follow
 - Opened Notes and Reminders
 - Opened Mail and deleted over 14,000 emails
 - Loaded Maps

Through all of that .... the spinning beach ball never showed up once.

I am in the process right now of moving my photos to the external drive I used last September to make a backup copy of them. I will then changed my settings in Apple Photos to use the .lib on the external drive as it's main library file.

Once I test that with a couple of things and sees that Apple Photos works with the library file on that external drive, then I will delete that same file that is taking up 49% of my hard drive on the iMac. That should make my iMac work even better with very little on the hard drive.

Of course, like all computers new or old, anything can happen at any time and all of the good results could come crashing down if the hard drive really has reached it's life cycle and dies.

If that happens I'll get in my car and head to Best Buy so I can look at and use some different computers before I choose one. The nearest Apple store is 100 miles away and to me that is too far away just to buy the same computer at a higher price. Plus I really like to get my eyes and hands on computers before I buy them, so the ordering online option does not work for me.

The weird thing is, I have always enjoyed researching this type of work and doing the work to get a computer running flawlessly again. Even in my Window PC days I liked it but during those years I had to do it more often than once every six o seven years.

Sadie and Stella had two walks today by 1:30pm and may get a third walk later this evening. The weather is that nice outside tonight.

It has been a good weekend here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

My iMac Crashes For 1st Time

This story telling about my computer may help those that have Apple computers more than PC users. It would be the same process with different terminology for those that use Windows PC computers. Since I have been retired for 3 years and no longer use a Windows PC (at work), I have forgotten much of the Windows language and know nothing of their latest updates.

It finally happened ... after 6.5 years of heavy use, my almost 7 year old iMac crashed last night and crashed hard. I am saying it's the first time because when it crashed before it was my fault (user error) when I tried to activate Mac's File Vault program to encrypt my hard drive. I found out later the build date of my computer was just outside the date range for File Vault to work.

In that case I took it into the Geek Squad at Best Buy because I had that service at the time. I blogged about that terrible experience, so of you that are interested in that story, just do a search on "Geek Squad" on this blog and it will show up.

Last night my computer crashed just out of nowhere, like it happens to other people at the most unexpected time. So that is why I am calling this it's first time to crash because it was not user error. I surprised myself and remained calm throughout the many failures of trying to restart my computer.

It happened just before midnight as I was shutting it down. I was on Twitter and just clicked on the tab at the top to go to HughesNet to get my data usage for the day. It would not move from the Twitter website. It was locked up.

I got the spinning beach ball instead. (Same as Window's 'blue screen of death')

I shut it down by holding the power button in back of the iMac. Then the surprise came when I restarted it ... the start up process froze halfway across the Apple progress graph.

I shut it down again the same way so I could restart it in the "restore" mode by holding the 'command' and 'R' keys down at the same time until I heard the Apple chime and/or the Apple icon.

I was able to get into disk utilities and run the repair feature under the "First Aid" tab. It found I had a missing major file in the directory and then a few other missing files during it's search and repair process. It told me everything was corrected so I quit the Disk Utility program.

I tried starting the computer again ... same thing ... it froze at the halfway point. With my laptop I was able to get online search for possible solutions. Next was trying to start the computer in 'safe mode'. That was another restart and holding down the 'shift' key until you heard the Apple chime at startup.

It froze again almost at the end of the graph.

My computer had crashed !!!! For the first time !!!!

I had nothing to lose by restoring the hard drive from my Time Machine backup. But if I did that process, it would erase my hard drive before restoring any backed up files. Like reviews of different products you buy, there are all kinds of horror stories, negative comments and warnings of don't do it when it comes to restoring from the Time Machine backup.

There was nothing else to do though. I'm not an IT guy, I wasn't going to buy and install a new hard drive. I wasn't going to write commands on a screen that I could not get to.

So "Restoring HD from the Time Machine Backup" was my only option. If it did not work as it was designed to do then I'd go to Best Buy and purchase a new, faster, better screen iMac, a 2017 version. By clicking the 'continue' after highlighting the "Restore HD from Time Machine Backup" .... my damaged hard drive would be erased !!!!

I chose to do a restore from the 8:15pm May 3rd backup file. That was two backups before the most recent one because I was hoping to miss the problem that caused the crash and may have been caught by the latest backup ... if that was even possible.

By this time it was almost 2am. It took a lot of time to run Disk Utility twice. It took a long time trying to boot up the computer 4-5 different times. As the restore started the clock for completion kept adding hours up ... I was at 20 hours to complete when it had only done 2% of the restore.

I went to bed and let it run on it's own. I didn't know what to expect when I got up this morning. Would the program run while the computer put itself into the 'sleep mode'? Would it crash during the restore like I had read online happening to other people? At least in every instance it had booted up far enough to turn on the monitors, I had a screen to see.

One thing to remember in this process for those of us that use the touch pad as our mouse ... it won't work ... you have to use your wireless mouse that came with the computer, all the way up through the log in process in the end.

So going to bed expecting this hard drive restore to take all day today and most of the night tonight based on the time estimate ... it was good to have a backup as in my laptop and my iPad Mini to read emails, and normal internet surfing.

About 7:15 am, after 5 hours and 15 minutes of solid deep sleep, I get the bloodhound nose nudge on my hand from the side of the bed. Stella is standing next to the bed and is at eye level. She wants to not only go outside to pee but also eat breakfast.

I'm sure with her eating breakfast is her main purpose to wake me up to start 'her' day. With it still semi-dark and I could hear rain, I told her to go back to sleep ... Heidi and Sadie went back to their sleeping spots.

Then I remembered ... my computer has been restoring!!  At least I can get up and see if it crashed again or how many hours to go, if it processed at all. The hounds were happy I changed my mind within minutes, they were going to have breakfast.

It not only had finished the restore, it had restarted itself as designed, and was waiting for me to click on my user icon and enter my password to access the computer. Of course it would take a little time to go through the process because it was going to be like a new computer booting up ...

Yet, the photo file and mail file would have to be rebuilt. That is over 22,000 photos in my library and mail must have pulled even the emails I deleted years ago because it was importing over 11,000 emails back into my Apple mail system.

That gave me time to make coffee, feed the hounds, let them out in the rain to dump their tanks. Heidi was the only hound to come back inside dry because she stayed behind the Yews and under the roof overhang ... the bloodhounds are not that creative.

By the time the hounds were fed and back inside, and my first cup of coffee had been poured ... my monitor was showing me my regular bookmark icons on the dashboard and my taskbar at the bottom of the screen.

Everything looked normal.

The 'new' computer opened files faster than before since it had erased all the hidden junk from 6.5 years of use from the hard drive before restoring the files from my Time Machine backup. All of my photos and their individual folders were there. Apple mail worked.

Everything was good and working normal, just a bit faster.

My almost 7 year old iMac was back in action better than ever and good for another 7 years of use I suppose. I plan on using it until it drops. The build date for my iMac is 2010 mid-summer.

So for anyone that has read this far, whether you use a Windows PC or an Apple ... ALWAYS ... back up your files because all computers crash and you never know when it will happen !! I'd say 6.5 years of no problems is pretty good for a computer addict before it's first crash.

It started raining last night, it's still raining and I'll have some interesting photos in my next blog post around noon today ... it's good to have a working computer again ... at no cost to fix.

The morning has started off great, here in 'the tropics' of southern Indiana.

Absolutely Nothing

Stella Wanting To Ride

I'll admit right off the bat ... I don't feel guilty ... when the majority of my days in retirement find me doing absolutely nothing. The only thing I accomplished today was cleaning my Bunn coffee maker. I read the websites I normally read in the morning, looked up some stuff I had questions about online ... then turned off the internet to play about 3 hours of Mahjong Deluxe.

That program has 4 different groups of games and each group has approximately 40 games. My goal from the time I bought it was to play and complete all of them under 4 minutes. I have only a few left where it took me a little over 4 minutes to complete the game. I justify it joking that it keeps my eye and hand coordination in shape.

Then in the afternoons the hounds hang out usually sleeping after they are fed around 1:30pm. It's so quite you could hear a pin drop inside my house ... with two bloodhounds and two basset hounds ... it's hard for a few friends to imagine that is even possible.

By late afternoon if it is not raining nor muddy from a recent rain ... we head off into the field for a daily dog walk. Today Stella walked the first half of the trip off leash. I only leashed her coming back because in the past she would go out the full 25' away from me on the retractable leash numerous times.

She has done very well spending time off the leash. In fact it's been weeks since I even tethered her. She will come when called and today stopped immediately when I yelled "no" as she and Sadie were sprinting in the backyard and were headed around the north side of the house. No doubt they would have made a lap around the house but backyard only is the rule. Except for Heidi and she has kinda claimed the front yard as hers.

Back to my day though. Compared to days last April when I was burning and clearing some land to plant grass and clearing the bank along the drive ... it would seem I would be pretty bored doing nothing. Even compared to the days in June to mid-July where I was taking care of most of my "to do" list, I was really busy. Still I am not bored and every day seems to move fast. I've never had a retirement day that crawled like they did at work sometimes.

In fact after retiring 17 months ago I've gone from being a workaholic to a slacker. I'm beginning to think I was born to be a slacker. I like that pace. On many days the most I get done is reading a book and there are a few days where the biggest activity is feeding the hounds.

No, I don't feel guilty about doing absolutely nothing on a daily basis.

As far as feeding the hounds ... no problems with the 4th hound. Each have their own bowl put in the same spot of the room every day and the bowls are set down in the same order ... a habit I guess.

Since Heidi eats at a normal speed, I have to stand in front of her while she eats to keep the other three hounds of getting her food. They don't hesitate if there is any chance to get to her bowl, even with me watching them. It must be good food for them to want to eat nonstop.

I will keep adding her new probiotics for the next year. Based on the recommended dose, that is how long it will last. I will say she continues to have her good and bad days. About the time her skin is looking really good and you think she has turned the corner ... I'll look at her later in the day and she will have a flare up of red skin with some bare raw spots.

She Hates Flies Bothering Her

Today Is A Bad Skin Day

It's during these times I remember my vet telling me last February that 97% of dog allergies are NOT food related. He also feels that all the different kinds of dog foods are nothing more than a marketing ploy to make the most profit possible for the dog food companies. He does not sell any kind of dog food in his office and is pretty honest in voicing his opinions on the different dog food.

Don't think he is recommending Ol' Roy for dog food but food that has no corn, soy or wheat. He thinks the only hounds that should be on a no grain food are those with food related allergies.

I logged it into her spreadsheet but when they were picking corn the other day I had all the windows open in the house to enjoy the temperatures that were in the low 70's. My cars and house were NOT coated with the residue that was in the air but you would have to think there were enough particles in the air based on how it looked as the combine mowed through the corn field.

I think airborne particles like that affect Heidi's current allergy problems. It's not the only cause but one of them. Much like pollen in the air.

I attempted to cut one of Sadie's toenails last night as she slept in the chair. I was quiet, I moved slowly and about the time she felt that clipper touch that toenail she went vertical from her horizontal sleeping position. I guess you can tell I only got one of her toenails cut ... it looks like it might take 9 more days/or nights to get all ten cut ... unless she starts sleeping with one eye open. I must admit by her looks, she is somewhat leery now of taking a nap.

If I just toss the nail clippers onto the floor for her to see them ... she takes off sprinting.

About the time I think fall is arriving early because the lows are now getting into the 40's and the highs the next week or so will be in the high 60's. ... I realize it's already October 1st tomorrow. That is so hard to believe for me because it just seems like I was in the middle of the summer and 90° days.

Stella loves running in the field.

It will be fun tonight after midnight. I'll probably need some coffee, but I plan on downloading and installing Apple's new Operating System "El Capitan" on my iMac and MacBook Air. I get free unlimited data between midnight and 5am so it's the best time to install new updates.

I will also install any updates on my apps for my iPhone and iPad Mini.

Well as you can see there isn't much going on here in "the tropics" ... just beautiful weather.

A Bitter Sweet Geek Squad Computer Repair

My first experience with the Geek Squad computer repair was bitter/sweet and very very frustrating. I am writing this post about my experience for a couple of reasons. One, it might help some readers if they run into this same problem and two it is somewhat entertaining for those looking from the outside in. It is a very a long post but I think an interesting humorous read.

Back in October 2010 I decided after using computers for almost 20+ years, to change from a Windows PC to an Apple iMac. I'll not go into the reasons why except to say it proved to be a great move and I have had zero problems with my iMac since the purchase 4 years and 1 month ago. I caught an article last Monday on November 3rd, talking about a professional company had found a breach in the new Apple OS Yosemite. Apple had confirmed his find and there would be plans by January 2015 to provide the fix. It was suggested in the meantime to run a program located in System Preferences - Security called File Vault. I also had a couple of friends email me the link to the article because they knew I had updated to the new OS Yosemite recently.

I decided, although somewhat hesitant, to turn on File Vault. I have always had the firewall turned on, I run flashblock and ad blocker but have never installed anti-virus based on the Apple geek's recommendations. I thought after reading the article along with the new OS, maybe it was a good idea to turn on File Vault.

I didn't get far with that decision.

After turning on the program, it was supposed to restart your computer and then encrypt the hard drive. After the restart I had a screen show up called "Reset Your Password", a locked padlock and 3 options or reasons why I could not reset my password. That seemed strange because it had never asked me for my password. "Houston, we have a problem".

I spent time trying to reboot my computer various ways, as a single new user, in the safe mode, and even as a last resort I pulled the OS cd from my original package and was willing to boot the computer from that cd, knowing it was going to reset my hard drive (reformat) back to a clean OS install. I would then use my backup to reinstall my files of documents and photographs.

That didn't work either.

I went over to MacRumors forum and did some searching for a possible fix and couldn't find anyone with that issue. I posted my problem with hopes of getting an answer within a few hours. By Monday afternoon I had over 300 views to my question and zero replies.

I was stuck with a computer that had locked me out. I found out a week later that File Vault automatically turns off your automatic log in and will ask for your system user password each time your computer boots up. The problem was my mouse pad did not move the cursor, nor did my tab key on my keyboard work to click enter on the screen and move to the next one. I wasn't in the panic mode but I was pretty sure that File Vault did not like my wireless keyboard and wireless track pad that came with the computer.  My computer was stuck on that one Reset Password screen.

The thought of trying a keyboard and mouse attached to the computer by USB never occurred to me. Were those even sold anymore since everyone had moved to wireless years ago? I had moved to wireless 7 or 8 years ago, even before switching to an iMac.

I decided by 6pm to drive over to the local Best Buy where I bought the iMac and see what the Geek Squad could do. I was hoping it was something simple and possibly be fixed right there at the help desk. Driving 33 miles away was a better option I thought than driving 90 miles to the nearest Apple store the next day.

The Geek Squad tech plugged the computer into power, he plugged in a keyboard and mouse via USB and we got nothing different than the locked screen that I had at home. He could move his cursor but instead of clicking the "next" arrow at the bottom of the screen he kept clicking "previous" arrow and that only moved to a screen that was blank. Why didn't he click the "next" arrow to see where that would lead?

I was prepared to take it back home, do some further research and fix it myself and if that didn't work, I had a quick thought of driving the 90 miles to the Apple store to use their Apple Care program. I changed my mind at the last minute before leaving and thought I was already there, I'd leave my computer and get it back within a couple of days. The Geek Squad agent said they had a 3-5 day estimate for picking it up, but most likely I'd get my computer back within a couple of days.

He handed me my copy of the service order, pulled a new cd of WebRoot Anti Virus for Macs and recommended the hard drive to be reformatted, a clean install of the OS and the Anti Virus. He told me that was the normal procedure instead of trying to get back into my system that might be corrupted. I told him to add that I did NOT want File Vault activated once they did the reinstall of all the updated software.

He had commented that my iMac was in mint condition and that surprised him since it was 4 years old. My first concern about Geek Squad was when I read the service order and beside "condition" he had typed worn and scratched. Also the purchase date was nowhere near the date I purchased the computer plus he never asked me for the date I bought the computer. When I brought that up to him he replied the date was just a fill in and "worn and scratched" was the commonly used condition for all computer submitted for repair. Then he stated there was not enough room to type that I did not want File Vault turned on in their forum so he would have a hand written note. He asked if I had a backup two different times and both times I answered yes.

I can't say I felt encouraged as I left the store but thought once the computer got back to the lab and the real techs would start working on it, there would be no problems. Little did I know what was in store for me and how this all would turn out.

Of course none of these things started until I paid the $200 for an 1-year membership. I reminded him they tried to sell me the same package when I bought the computer but I turned down the offer and consequently never had a problem until now. That $200 was to include the anti-virus software and something to remember later in this story.

As I drove home I figured I'd be coming back on Wednesday to pick it up. I mean aren't the Geek Squad techs a bunch of computer experts? What could go wrong when it wasn't a hardware but a software issue.

The story gets better.

Tuesday night after seeing my repair status was "assigned to a technician", I call the 800 number to get a status on my repair since their website showed it had been inducted for repair on Tuesday morning. The tech on the other side of the phone said she could not see anything in their system as far as repair updates and that was not normal. She suggested I call the store where I turned in my computer for repair. Another slight feeling of lack of confidence in the newly acquired Geek Squad.

The local store tells me they are working on the computer and I should be able to pick it up on Thursday with no problems. I made the mistake of assuming they were doing the OS install and all the updates would take a lot of hours to upload and Thursday would fall within their 3-5 days pickup window. Then she asks me what I thought to be a strange question .... Do you have a backup of your files? For the 3rd time I answered yes. I reminded her that I did not want File Vault activated because that is what started all of this mess.

Before I make the 66 mile round-trip drive to pick up the computer I call on Thursday as instructed, to see if it was ready for pickup like they told me the day before. "No, the tech is still working on it". I asked if they had found any unexpected problems because it was just just going to be a clean install of the OS and I would do my file backup install here at home. "No, no major problems found, your computer passed all the tests ran for computer and had a clean bill of health".  It should be reading to be picked up on Friday.

I call late Friday afternoon and they tell me the techs could not find a way to get the computer running but their boss had found a way to get around the locked screen and had the computer running normal and all my files were still there. I asked about the clean install of the OS but this time was told "We never do that if it's possible to boot up your system". Hmmm, I'm a little confused because the first tech told me they always did that in this type of situation.

So I remind them that since they are in my computer, go to System Preferences - Security and "turn off" File Vault because that is what caused this problem. They confirmed they had. He said "the boss" wanted to run some more tests and I could pick up the computer on Saturday afternoon.

After being told it would be ready for pickup on 3 different occasions and then each time I was given a different excuse I had decided by noon on Saturday that I would call them and let them know I was picking up the computer in it's current condition no matter what and that I would be there by 5pm. I was finished letting them try to complete their repair when they had told me on Thursday it was up an running, all the files were there and they were just going to test a few more things.

Well here is where the story gets exciting for some readers, frustrating for me and great humor for some of the readers I have.

During the half-time of one of the football games I am watching, I call them around 2pm and actually get to talk to the boss. This is the man that got into my system, had tested the system and everything is good. He said it would be ready by 5pm, the time I told him I would be there. That was great news to me. I'm expecting a simple pickup.

I get there, the man that did the repair boots up the computer with no problems and I move through my files of documents, emails, photographs without any problems. He hands me the service order for me to sign and right off the bat in the section for Repair Comments..."File Vault and Firewall are working properly". If I recall on 3-4 different occasions I requested that File Vault be turned off since that was what caused the problem. I couldn't believe it and told him I wanted that turned off. He replied that he found no problems running the program and it was a good thing to do.

I also noticed he was using a mouse and keyboard connected to my computer via USB. I asked him if they had tested it with the Apple wireless keyboard and and mouse pad since that was not only what I used but it was what came with the computer. He replied that they never used the wireless keyboards or mouses for their computer repairs because of the time it takes to calibrate them to the computer. That seemed strange to me because it's "plug and play", takes less than a minute.

I didn't even think of bringing my own keyboard and mouse, I mean they surely have that keyboard and mouse since they sell them at Best Buy plus they are "the experts" in computer repair. They surely have one sitting on their test bench somewhere. I was wrong again.

I'm excited but keep my speed at 60mph on the way home. I let the hounds outside, they are thrilled that I am home and have no concerns for my computer. They want to go out and then back in to get that "programmed" treat when they enter the house. To take no chances I don't plug anything into my computer as far as the printer, external monitor (my main one), external hard drives, speakers ... nothing. All I do is plug in the power cord into the surge protector and turn on the computer.

High anticipation ... 6 days of using my iPad Mini as my main computer as a backup, no access to my online banking or spreadsheets because they are backed up on the external drive that I can't get to and my passwords are locked inside of the program LastPass, which I started using a few months ago.

I COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I WAS SEEING ON MY IMAC MONITOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The computer boots up to the same exact screen I had last Monday on November 3 !! It was locked so my mouse cursor would not move and nothing on my keyboard worked. A frozen screen again.

I called Best Buy and asked for the man that fixed the computer and showed me my computer worked when I picked it up. Now remember Geek Squad has computer geeks that have had training and are the so called experts in computer repair. That's a key bit of information for this story to go forward.

He has "no idea" why it's doing that.

I suggested it might be possible that my keyboard and mouse pad may not work with File Vault. Then reminded him that 4 different times I told them do stop running File Vault because that started the problem and cost me $200 just to get this far. I am shocking myself that I am maintaining my cool ... that I have no urges to climb through my phone ... He was thinking but couldn't come up with anything except "to bring it back in and we will take a look at it". Didn't they do that between Tuesday - Saturday? Help me out here, is my memory fading already at the age of 62?

I suggested that I reboot the computer but only this time I would take out the batteries of the mouse pad and keyboard so they would not be a factor. Still I was sure that the damage had already been done and that same "Reset Password" screen would show up ... and it did.

So they close at 9pm, I glance at my clock and see its 6:50pm and I wanted my computer fixed now ... so I made an appointment to see him at 8pm so I would have priority over walk up customers. It was another 66 mile round-trip back to the store. I told him this time I would bring my keyboard and trackpad to make sure they worked before I returned home.

Computer works. He had to use the USB keyboard and mouse to get back into the system and it only took the mouse to click "next" to move to this screen:

I entered my password WITH the Apple wireless keyboard of mine and I was into my computer and I could move through all of my files without a problem. Notice what that screen says ... "...it may not be compatible with File Vault...etc".  I told him that I was going to do what I had requested them to do on 4 different occasions and was ignored ... turn OFF File Vault. With him standing there watching I clicked "Turn off File Vault" only to see a message would take almost 13 hours to complete de-encrypting my hard drive. I let it work a little and in a short time it estimated it would take 5-6 hours to complete.

He said I could complete that process at home once I turned my computer back on, it would pickup where it left off.

We shut off the computer and watch it reboot three different times with no problems and batteries in my keyboard and mousepad. He starts apologizing over and over for my troubles plus the 2nd trip in 3 hours driving to and from the store. Of course all that is leading to is "in the next few days you will receive an email from Geek Squad to fill out a survey on how we did and I'd really appreciate a positive feedback".

I am not sure what my shocked expression looked like nor after a slight "blackout" how long I wore that expression ... needless to say I did not reply ... not a word.

I'm happy on the way home. He and I have witnessed the computer booting up using my wireless keyboard and mousepad with no issues. I know I can turn it on and complete the 5 hours of de-encryption. What could go wrong after that?

I turn on the computer and go back to the File Vault to restart the de-encryption. It says it will take about 5 hours, it's 9:30pm by now. So I move to the living room to watch the football games I had dvr'd while I was gone. I check on it from time to time and its working, now with the estimated completion time decreasing. It looks like somewhere around 2am it should be finished. I'll reboot and get my computer back.

Well ... "not so fast cowboy".

It finishes the de-encryption and shows a screen to reboot my computer. I click the key ... but instead of rebooting it keeps asking me for my password ... over and over and over. Then it wants to encrypt my hard drive. Why??  I just waited 5 hours for it to de-encrypt it???  Now I am really confused and it's 2:15am.

I have a computer that the Geek Squad experts say was ready for pickup 9 hours ago and I am still sitting here not able to get my computer working.  I decide that even thought it's late, I'll drive to the local Walmart and see if they still sell USB keyboards and a mouse. I know if I have those I can get back into my computer.

Before I go I decided to get a 2nd opinion from the Geek Squad. I mean I have paid $200 for a year of their "expertise" and they are open 24/7 either by chatting with a tech rep or calling their 800 number. I call but I'm not expecting much as far as a fix.

I wasn't disappointed.

I'll make this short. I heard two things from this Geek Squad technician located in Salt Lake City, Utah at 3:00am my time. "That is above my level of knowledge" and "You should probably call Apple Care and I can give you the number for that but they are only open until 11pm".

Why would I do that since I paid the experts of Geek Squad $200 for their tech service for the next 12 months?

Of course she also reminds me I will be receiving in email, a survey for me to fill out so "I can help my clients better".  Sure, I'll get right on that ... laughing because I cannot believe the whole situation from November 3 - 9. Unbeeeeelieeeeevaaaaaable!

I drove over to Walmart at 3:20am and find 1 USB mouse and Keyboard on the shelf. It must have been waiting for me to show up. I get back home and by 4:15am using the new USB keyboard and mouse I am back inside my computer and turning off File Vault .... but guess what, it wants to de-encrypt my hard drive!!! I thought it did that between 9:30pm to 2:00am. Whatever......

I decided I would do whatever the computer wanted. I let it start de-encrypting. I went to bed expecting to see it completed when I woke up. It DID complete the process and even rebooted my computer so when I woke up I was looking at my desktop. My wireless keyboard and mouse pad work .... and since 10am on Sunday the computer has worked perfectly.

I can only guess File Vault didn't like the de-encryption being interrupted when we turned it off at the store. So it kept asking me for my password over and over at 2am then wanted to encrypt my hard drive again.

Why didn't Geek Squad turn off File Vault like I requested?  I don't know but I can only guess because of the amount of time they would have had to leave my computer on to complete the process. I only told them at 4 different times to turn off File Vault. Even the screen they saw said there MIGHT be a conflict between the keyboard and running File Vault. Why didn't they test the computer with the wireless keyboard and mousepad before I picked it up?

Oh, and one last thing. Part of that $200 was a $49 value for the anti virus that they did NOT install "because Macs really don't need anti-virus protection on their system.

Did I do too much of the work myself to get my computer finally running after they told me it was ready for pickup 12 hours earlier?  I think I did way too much to get my computer running after paying for their repair service.

Will I use them again if needed?

Very very doubtful.

More Computer Play & Leaf Removal

Not a lot has been going on since the rain stopped late last week. I continue to read blogs of people traveling, on retirement and sports. Some of the blogs on my blog list I moved to my Feedly account. That is a really good free program that I like and it's easy to keep up with all the different blogs I read.

Since late Thursday I have been having a lot of enjoyment installing, and learning about the new Apple OS update called Yosemite. For the readers that have Windows PC this probably will not be of much interest but I have a few readers that have Macs, iPads and iPhones, so maybe some information here will help them. When I have looked at the store, I haven't liked any Window changes after XP, especially not Windows 7 or 8. Their prices are tempting though for laptops.

I switched to Apple products in October 2014 after spending almost 14 years on Windows PC's. I was willing to pay more for what I have found to be a very reliable system with zero malware problems or "blue screen of death". I was having major malware problems towards the end of my PC usage and it was almost to deciding to reformat my hard drive and reinstall or buy a new computer. I chose to go in the direction of Apple and buy a new computer. Their computers have the maintenance system built in so I no longer had to spend time defragging the hard drive nor using 5 different programs to seek, find and destroy different malware. I've been running my iMac with no anti-virus and have had zero issues of any kind in my 4 years of ownership. (knock on wood)

I also have started my annual tree leaf cleanup. Due to laziness and being a dreamer, my first step is to do nothing and watch the winds, the leaves, then decide at what point I need to get outside (lol) and start by either raking and burning or use my leaf machine to blow them into a central location, then suck them into a bag that is too small and break them down into mulch material that I usually pile in the area in back that is not mowed.

I wait for a couple of reasons. A few times in the past years during the day very strong winds have come through and basically cleaned the whole yard and blew them over the hill out of sight. I didn't have to do anything those years. I'm hopeful of that this year. The other times they will be blown to a central location where little raking is involved and I can clean them in a few hours. There are a lot of leaves on the ground today and the trees are not even half bare. So there is a chance the longer I wait the larger the leaf piles are and of course longer to clean up, then again ... there is always the chance the wind will take care of them for me.

Back to the new Apple OS X. First of all I am not an expert. I'm a common user, that reads the iMac Forum (Mac Rumors) for most of my answers or use my best friend Google Search to find my answers when I have questions on how to do things on a computer. In the past I have kind of waited for the dust to settle before doing any upgrades on my iPhones, iMac or iPad but this time I decided to go for it when it was available and if it didn't work, I could revert back to the previous OS X Mavericks via my Time Machine backup. Like any new release either in Apple or Windows you will always hear both sides of the story in either love or hatred but after 4 days of operation I can say I love all the changes including the changes to Safari.

With my Exede Satellite Internet monthly limit of 15Gb's per month, I do all my uploads and updates during the free period between midnight - 5am. I don't stay up that long but recently even before the OS change I have been staying up until 3am most nights just because I am a true night person. So the past week my sleep schedule as been all out weird to some ... but it's beautiful outside at 4am when I take a computer break.

So a little past midnight last Thursday night on the first day of availability I downloaded the free OS Yosemite and installed it as a update and not a clean install. I've never had problems in the past doing it that way so I thought I'd continue the same way. After about 3 hours I had the system installed and the fun began. I had to force myself to go to sleep at 5am and that gave me a couple of hour nap until Winston HOWLS by 730am to go outside.

Nope ... no problems at all !!

Sure, there were some changes where I might have to change the way I do things or at least do some research and find a while to make some adjustments to get some features back to the way I had them....but I like change, so I have done some major changes on the way I use my browser without keeping the same processes of the past system.

In fact Safari has improved so much on this update that I have made it my default browser and have left Google Chrome ... something that I thought I'd never do. I moved my dock to the left side from the bottom and stretched my website window down to the bottom of my monitor. I have a choice to have a list of notification on the right side such as calendar, weather, time, etc...but since I'm retired my calendar means nothing anymore and weather and different time zones don't mean enough to have the notification center open on a fulltime basis. So it's doc on the left side and all content filling up the 27" monitor.

I will say at least on my "old" iMac, i3, 4Gb ram ... that Safari is really fast. I have also tried different designs such as bringing the favorites bar back to the top of the screen, for a few days like the old days but decided to go with the new design changes in Safari and follow that. So far, I love the new changes of surfing the web.

A couple of strange bugs ... every time I start my computer the background picture on my main monitor changes to one that I used last spring. So I moved the picture I like to my lower desktop and with a couple of clicks, I reset my background picture upon every restart, hoping that will be fixed in the next update. The other thing and it might be the 'cold war' between Apple and Google ... when I open my blog there is no way to log into my blog in the upper right screen, or new post or design. I use Google Chrome to write new posts or look at the design. I have a feeling that will not change as long as Google and Apple are not playing well with each other, lately.

Last summer while I was waiting to decide whether to buy a new iPhone 6 or the 5s because I was due an upgrade and a new phone contract, I did some reading and found out that a 5s would have the upgraded features. I found out yesterday before upgrading to OS 8.1 that my 5s phone will not have the ability to use Apple Pay, which is ok with me because I'm not sure I want to use Apple Pay anyway ... I'll wait for it to be a requirement in a few years, as I am sure it will eventually get rid of credit cards as we know it, with Google, Windows, Amazon, eBay getting into the electronic payment market. All of my devices have synched without any problems. You have the choice if you want your iPhone and iPad to have the same internet history and bookmarks. I have chose to do that but I can change back later with a click and synchronize the device.

I also found out that my iMac was made right at the cutoff to use the new Apple feature called "handoff". Meaning I could start an email or work on an excel spreadsheet on my iMac and finish it on my iPhone or iPad ... not a big deal to me. My computer missed the cutoff by a .02 on their build number.

In summary for readers that use Apple products ... the new updates are nice, in my case work well without any program or computer hardware issues. One thing to note is the HD space required on the iPad and iPhone is around 5.6Gb, so some might have to delete some old unused apps, maybe some photos to a different drive, to free up space. On my older iMac I am finding things are moving faster and no "spinning beach balls".

I can't promise it will work smooth for you but I can say on my equipment both OS updates have worked flawlessly.

Yes, I have been using my Nikon D3200 camera almost daily and posting most of those photos on my Flickr account. There is a link on the blog in the upper left called "My Other Photos" if you want to see them. The hounds are great and spend a lot of time outside, except Heidi because she is the Queen of the couch and a true hermit staying inside unless we walk or her short trips for relieving her kidneys. As they say you cannot lead a horse to water, she is free to do as she pleases. After all, she's a basset hound and they are a stubborn bred at times.

I have gone back to Fromm dog food. It cost more than I like but I can see a difference in the hounds when I feed them Fromm food. Family owned for a 100 years, all products are made in the USA and they have never had a recall. They are 1 of 3 dog food companies that deal in just dog food, no other markets.

I'll add more pictures in my next post.

All is good in the 'tropics' of southern Indiana and in retirement.

Rambling Thoughts

It's been quite a week. Nothing new on the house, not a call, an email or even a "sniff". After 6 mos for the 3rd year in a row, my neighbor (not close), has taken down his For Sale signs. So we will see what happens on the house front, probably a slower process than I expected.

I test drove a possible different tow vehicle. I found a very sharp 2007 Ford F150 4x4 on cars dot com with the truck being only 30 miles from me. It was a one owner, body in mint condition, new tires, bed liner looked as if nothing had been ever loaded into the bed. Had a possible tire balancing problem at 60 mph (heavy vibration) but overall drove great. It was priced way below NADA value.

The problem was the dealer didn't want to give me anything for trade in for my H3 Hummer. Not really anything but a lower price than I expected. Due to the time of year, if dealers don't try to sell Hummers in the summer, there must be a reason for it.....not hard to figure out.

So, we couldn't close they deal and I am stuck with a H3 that I like but won't tow enough weight.

A few friends have told me to take the loss and trade the H3 for a truck. The trailer I want just dropped in price $5,000 the other day. Its a Bigfoot trailer, used a few times over an 8 year period.

I've always looked for trailers that would fit the tow rate of the H3 and one that is nice and even has a slide is the Lance 1575. The GVWR is below the 3,500 lbs. That rate has a factor of a 20% decrease for traveling in the western states and mountains. So far the only trailer I have found that has enough room is the Lance 1575 and is under the 3,500 lbs.

At the time I bought the H3 I honestly thought I was on my way of towing a Casita but I had never sat inside a Casita. I thought from the blogs and picture that the Casita was the winner for me hands down. So I was basically choosing between the H3 Hummer and the Toyota FJ Cruiser. I had test drove both and even as a past Toyota owner of different models, I preferred the H3 over the FJ.

I remember, without looking it up on this blog, that I had no desire to use a pickup truck to tow a larger trailer.

So like I was told today ... I have to decide where I want my comfort level ... in the tow vehicle or the trailer. There are a couple of other trailers that are below the 3,500 lb limit that interest me and I could see living in them full-time but I like the Lance. They are a 4 season trailer. Their 60 years of experience in truck campers moved over to the travel trailer side of the production line.

So we will see if I take a loss and trade the H3 for a truck and a little bigger trailer, 19'-24'.

For those wondering, yes ... I did have thoughts at times this past week, of keeping the house, the H3, the Mini Cooper and my old 94 Chevy truck .... then traveling only when I had the urge to get out of town or became bored. I really do like all of those vehicles.

There are a lot of things I like about 'sticks n bricks'.  I know what it's like to be in small push button showers while deployed 10 months at a time on aircraft carriers. One of the top 3 things I always enjoyed coming back home ... long long long hot showers. Those will be few and far between traveling in a trailer.

I like all that I own, the house, the H3, the Mini Sport and even the old truck that I drive 400 miles per year. I love college and NFL football on a large HD screen.

I can do most of those likes traveling in a trailer...showers will not be as long, the tv screen will be smaller if I even have a tv. My dual 27" monitor iMac will be a 15.5 Macbook Pro.

Everything smaller and shorter so I can have the ability to decide what my 'front yard' will look like. Or how warm I want my weather.

I am 4-1/2 hour drive from a Lance trailer dealer, unless I could find one at Camping World in Indy.  I'd like to take a look at one, sit inside for a while and see what kind of vibe I get. I have enough room to store in the H3 as I don't plan on taking a lot of stuff....water quantity could be my biggest item to carry.

One interesting thing that did make me flash back to a Class C ... with pictures and articles sent to me by an H3 owner, I can tow my H3 wheels down while sitting it in neutral without any adjustments. He tows his H3 with a Class  A.

On a final note ... I've been having painful problem with my right wrist, my "mouse" hand. At first I thought I had carpel tunnel but found out the wrong fingers were numb. I had chiro treatments, ultrasound treatments, a Futuro wrist and elbow brace, along with ibuprofen....nothing worked. The last few weeks I noticed a ganglion growing on top of my hand near my wrist.

Well as of today I am in hour number 5 of removal treatment without needles or surgery. I'll find out if the google search worked for removal of the ganglion.  I hope so, I don't have time for surgery.

That is all from the "tropics" of Southern Indiana.

Safe journey's to all that are traveling Arizona, and Colorado near the fires.