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REWahoo · 07-14-2016, 01:19 PM

Good news, Walt! Now you don't have to worry anymore about skinning your knee when you slide stealing second base.

**Walt34** · 07-14-2016, 02:11 PM

And now, to counteract that good news, the hard drive on my desktop PC just failed - I'm on the laptop now. After physical therapy and the gym tomorrow I'll buy a new drive and find out if my backup works. If it doesn't, I'll have lost a lot of photos and other useful data. Not a catastrophe but definitely most inconvenient.

target2019 · 07-14-2016, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34

And now, to counteract that good news, the hard drive on my desktop PC just failed - I'm on the laptop now. After physical therapy and the gym tomorrow I'll buy a new drive and find out if my backup works. If it doesn't, I'll have lost a lot of photos and other useful data. Not a catastrophe but definitely most inconvenient.

I've always found that data can be recovered. Of course there will be exceptions.

traineeinvestor · 07-14-2016, 07:35 PM

Signed off on the cover design and blurb for the novel I've been working on as part of my (completed) MFA.

Just a final check of the typesetting and I can load it up on Amazon (Kindle and POD versions). It feels great to (almost) tick off another one of my FIRE objectives.

**MBAustin** · 07-15-2016, 08:51 AM

Congratulations on the completed novel - that's a real accomplishment!

HFWR · 07-15-2016, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34

And now, to counteract that good news, the hard drive on my desktop PC just failed - I'm on the laptop now. After physical therapy and the gym tomorrow I'll buy a new drive and find out if my backup works. If it doesn't, I'll have lost a lot of photos and other useful data. Not a catastrophe but definitely most inconvenient.

I had a tower and a laptop die within a couple of weeks. Luckily, important data, mostly photos and music, were saved to a spare hd, which then failed to boot. Luckier still, it turned out that the usb enclosure was bad, not the drive.

My phone and tablet have enough memory that all photos and music will fit, so I now have four copies - laptop, phone, tablet, and spare hd.

misshathaway · 07-15-2016, 10:10 AM

The parks department had a free learn-to-fish event at a local pond this morning. It was at 7:30am but I'm an early riser. All you had to do was show up. They provided the poles and taught us how to cast.

Fishing is fun! All I caught was a sunfish but now I think I'm going to buy a pole. Turns out that the pond is stocked with trout. What could be better than catching your supper?

I was searching for walking trail routes when I stumbled upon the parks department activities. Having day upon day of free time in the summer to be outside and enjoy things like this is bliss.

Later I will walk to the library and pick up a book I had a hold on that came in. What would have been a chore during the working days (is the library open when I can get there? where will I park? when can I go? can I read the book before it is due?) is now a pleasure.

jjquantz · 07-15-2016, 01:57 PM

DW and I went kayaking on the Potomac this morning. Had a chance to remind myself just how hard nature photography really is. We had a great time and spotted some eagles, herons, ospreys and miscellaneous small birds.

NW-Bound · 07-15-2016, 02:11 PM

I often have a hard drive appearing to be failing, but it turned out to be just a bad cable connection that had to be reseated.

Come to think of it, over the years, I have had only 2 hard drives that truly failed out of perhaps more than 20. The rest became too small in capacity to store files that grew larger and larger, and I stopped using them.

**Walt34** · 07-15-2016, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019

I've always found that data can be recovered. Of course there will be exceptions.

I ended up taking it to a local shop. Evidently I've forgotten so much about computers/data recovery and such in the 14 years since I retired that it was over my head. The guy at the shop expressed no such concerns, they deal with it every day. At least I have a backup, two in fact. The tragedy is when folks don't have a backup at all and the files are simply unrecoverable.

Since our first computer in 1991, this is the first time I've had a hard drive fail.

**braumeister** · 07-15-2016, 03:51 PM

Kind of a (trivial) milestone today. I've been working on my BBQ ribs for over four years now, and today's effort was just phenomenal.

First clue: for the first time, the smoke ring went completely through the rib meat (baby backs).

Second clue: absolutely "fall off the bone" which led DW to exclaim "best ever" as we dug into them.

Since I've been keeping careful notes of every little tweak to my procedure, I think I can continue to duplicate this result and it makes me very happy!

I would now put my ribs up against anyone's, including professionals, but the rest of my BBQ is just kind of average backyard quality. Next challenge: championship pulled pork.

**MBAustin** · 07-15-2016, 04:57 PM

Nice photos, jjquantz! Looks like a great day for kayaking!

splitwdw · 07-15-2016, 05:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

Kind of a (trivial) milestone today. I've been working on my BBQ ribs for over four years now, and today's effort was just phenomenal.

First clue: for the first time, the smoke ring went completely through the rib meat (baby backs).

Second clue: absolutely "fall off the bone" which led DW to exclaim "best ever" as we dug into them.

Since I've been keeping careful notes of every little tweak to my procedure, I think I can continue to duplicate this result and it makes me very happy!

I would now put my ribs up against anyone's, including professionals, but the rest of my BBQ is just kind of average backyard quality. Next challenge: championship pulled pork.

Congratulations! Now you've made me hungry. I was going to skip dinner cause I wasn't hungry. Send UPS RED to my home. Don't use FedX, they can never find my house

**braumeister** · 07-15-2016, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw

Congratulations! Now you've made me hungry. I was going to skip dinner cause I wasn't hungry. Send UPS RED to my home. Don't use FedX, they can never find my house

Alas, that won't do you any good for dinner tonight.

But you're welcome to stop in the next time I do ribs.

Seriously, I have been a certified BBQ judge for about a year now, and I feel my ribs are up there with the best of them. Looking for another hobby in retirement? Try feeding yourself with your own BBQ.

Just_Steve · 07-15-2016, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

Kind of a (trivial) milestone today. I've been working on my BBQ ribs for over four years now, and today's effort was just phenomenal.

First clue: for the first time, the smoke ring went completely through the rib meat (baby backs).

Second clue: absolutely "fall off the bone" which led DW to exclaim "best ever" as we dug into them.

Since I've been keeping careful notes of every little tweak to my procedure, I think I can continue to duplicate this result and it makes me very happy!

I would now put my ribs up against anyone's, including professionals, but the rest of my BBQ is just kind of average backyard quality. Next challenge: championship pulled pork.

One of my favorite hobbies, but I cheat and use an electric smoker.

**braumeister** · 07-16-2016, 05:25 AM

For those of us lucky enough to have a COLA provision in our pension, it looks as if we may get one next year.

splitwdw · 07-16-2016, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister

Alas, that won't do you any good for dinner tonight.

But you're welcome to stop in the next time I do ribs.

Seriously, I have been a certified BBQ judge for about a year now, and I feel my ribs are up there with the best of them. Looking for another hobby in retirement? Try feeding yourself with your own BBQ.

I love eating ribs but not cooking them. Funny I don't mind baking bread and the make time is sort of similar. It's not like you are working at it for the hours that it takes BUT it does take a lot longer to cook ribs and get your seasoning right. My husband isn't a BBQ fan so I just go to the local BBQ shop for my fix.

daylatedollarshort · 07-16-2016, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by misshathaway

The parks department had a free learn-to-fish event at a local pond this morning. It was at 7:30am but I'm an early riser. All you had to do was show up. They provided the poles and taught us how to cast.

Fishing is fun! All I caught was a sunfish but now I think I'm going to buy a pole. Turns out that the pond is stocked with trout. What could be better than catching your supper?

I was searching for walking trail routes when I stumbled upon the parks department activities. Having day upon day of free time in the summer to be outside and enjoy things like this is bliss.

Later I will walk to the library and pick up a book I had a hold on that came in. What would have been a chore during the working days (is the library open when I can get there? where will I park? when can I go? can I read the book before it is due?) is now a pleasure.

That sounds like a fun day. Learning what our library has to offer and the regional park district classes and events has been a nice find for us in retirement, too.