How To...

In this blog I would like to generate some interest in old fashioned ways of preserving food, making general household supplies and just generally saving money.

Recently we have been on a mission to cut $400.00 per month our of our spending budget. I have managed to whittle about half that much, and am having to be more creative on the other half. If anyone has suggestions to conserve food, energy, supplies, ANYTHING, from tips to making compost & fertilizer, to general repairs and what not, I would love to hear of it. We can create quite a collection for these hard times.

Challenges Of Working From Home

Recently there have been conditions that dictated for me to do most of my work from home. Since we are a computer business, and God knows we have 'stuff' to make this simple, it's not a big deal, right? WRONG! Have you ever tried to work all day with two large boxers mesmerized by your every move? Or the simple fact that the laundry will choose to stop at just the wrong time. What about the fact that the schedule has somehow fallen by the way and day turns to night and night turns to day. I look around at the growing clutter around me and wonder how I ever did it alone. How did I do it and put in 40+ hours per week? Oh, I remember! I wasn't here cluttering it! Makes sense, huh?

I think I'll go look for housekeepers online. Wouldn't that be great?

A love affair with Vista?!?!!!

Recently my old trusty laptop came screeching to a near halt (I could have predicted this because I had been hearing gears grinding for quite some time). Unfortunately the rule that applies to a mechanic's car and a carpenter's house also applies to the IT Professional's own network. Finally after some complaining something about "websites with viruses" and "not taking care of my machine" and "you had the fastest machine in the house", Keith decided to bite the bullet and fix it. The decision was eventually made to reformat it and start with a fresh slate. Since the whole 'working on computers' side of our business is not at all my forte', I called it a night. Lo and behold, when I wake up in the morning I have this marvelous little thing called Windows Vista. Now, seeing all the amazing graphics, I thought I had myself a gold mine. It was PRETTY! Sweet!


THEN....



Everything moved along just fine, installing software, setting up Outlook, and normal 'new operating system' stuff with no problem. Shortly thereafter, though, when I was enjoying my pretty graphic eye candy and surfing the web, Internet Explorer took a dump by informing me that it had "experienced a problem and will be restarting". Huh? Yep! Sure enough, it just restarted right there before my eyes. Oh, but it's more intelligent now, right? So therefore it will surely open back up to the last pages I had open. Well? I watch as it opens up to my Google homepage. It then goes on to explain to me that "this error is caused by Windows which is made by Microsoft Corporation." Oh, and did I mention "there is no solution to this problem at this time". Huh? Then as an afterthought they add "do your updates". Right! I guess?

Keith enjoyed my shock and proceeded to spend the next half hour belly laughing at me and saying "Welcome to Vista!" Ugh! Men!


In all fairness, even though I have had this happen a few more times in the first 24 hours, I still like the 'bling' of Vista. I love the Explorer and the interactiveness of the whole Vista experience. Who knows, tomorrow is a new day but today I think I like it!