I had planned to write this about the unimaginable tragedy that is unfolding
in Texas, but first I need to address the near tragedy that started my
morning here at home.
When I first got up, I came to the computer to check e-mail. That went just fine. Then I tried to send a happy anniversary message to Jeri and Phil and wanted to include a photo but the computer stalled. I decided to do a reboot.
I recalled what happened a couple of weeks ago. First I got the "rebooting" message for about 45 minutes. I was going to turn it off, but decided to leave it be and then I finally got the dell logo which sat there for a long time.
Miraculously, after a very long time the log-in screen popped up and I was able to log onto the desktop. Whew. Problem solved. Oops. No.
When I went to call up yesterday's entry so I could write today's, the computer didn't see the external hard drive on which I save all these entries! When I brought it home from the guru last week, it wouldn't recognize the second external hard drive that I have, but I've been able to work around that. Now it didn't recognize either of them.
I put in an SOS call to the guru, who managed to fix the problem by suggesting that one of the external drives was toast and he was right, when we disconnected the one which hadn't come back on line and just connected the one I use all the time, it saw it again. so I'm back in business. Sort of.
The problem is first Steve can't understand why I need two external hard drives, and second, he assumes that I handle external hard drives the way a computer person does. In truth, I saved things to drives willy nilly. The F drive holds all of Funny the World, the E drive holds all of the database files and lots of other stuff that I can't remember, but it does include all The Funny the World files from Day #1. I did this because I was paranoid that the main computer would break down and I wanted to be sure I was covered, so now the regular stuff is NO on the main computer, but on the drive that broke down.
Thank GOD at some point around June I decided that maybe I should have a back-up back-up, and so the main database files were copied onto the F Drive, so I only have two months of FTW entries to add. I have now copied THOSE files on to the C drive, since the E drive is toast. I don't do system backups like I should do, I just limp along and the more Steve tries to explain to me what he thinks I have been doing the more confused I get. But anyway, thanks to a phone call I am back in business today and over the next couple of days I will be copying things in various spots so I don't lose them again. I may put FTW on flash drives as well as hard drives!
However, I have sad first world, dry world problems It is cool today (mid 90s) with 100s predicted for the rest of the week. I have no reason to complain when I watch those poor people in Texas. I actually sat here in tears this morning watching day #3 of people saving people, people walking in chest-high water, carrying babies and/or dogs. Flotillae of boats from wherever they could come to reach people who needed saving.
And then the centers housing thousands of flood refugees which started to flood and the attempt to move 5,000 people to some other shelter on roads that are washed out.
There have to be thousands of stories that will come out of all of this. And I hope that if nothing else, POTUS, who has requested reduced funding and staffing to FEMA has now realized that maybe that's not such a good idea. (But at least he got good crowd for his appearance. "What a crowd, what a turnout,” Trump said from atop this fire truck, addressing hurricane victims.)
AND he can honestly say this was the GREATEST flood in the history of the country. Would have been nice if he had something comforting to say to the victims and to the first responders, but I guess you can't hope for everything. He does get brownie points for GOING to the flood area.
I've been watching the pleas for donations. Those poor victims need everything. I hadn't thought about it until they said they needed diapers that those thousands and thousands of people have no bathrooms. I can't even imagine.
I have been to Houston a few times, when our friends Mike and Bill were still alive and my friend Lynn still lived there in her "magic cottage" along one of the levees. I enjoyed the city, even with the humidity. I also had a teeny taste of how it can flood there, when friends took me to Cirque de Soleil and it was raining so hard, we were drenched just running from the car to the theater.
It saddens me to think that the famous beer can house is probably gone.
I was just listening to an interview with a woman who is trying to get on a list for help and who says that POTUS has not yet declared this a disaster area (a technicality, I'm sure!). I have a feeling that as bad....as horrendous...as this tragedy is, the hardest part lies ahead of the thousands of affected victims -- dealing with the bureaucracy as they try to rebuild their lives.
At least the DOJ has decided NOT to round up illegals in shelters. Probably only because there is no place to PUT them.
My heart hurts for all of the victims and for the beautiful city I remember so fondly.
[dumb things overworked reporters say after the third day: "I hope that man's house gets better soon."]
When I first got up, I came to the computer to check e-mail. That went just fine. Then I tried to send a happy anniversary message to Jeri and Phil and wanted to include a photo but the computer stalled. I decided to do a reboot.
I recalled what happened a couple of weeks ago. First I got the "rebooting" message for about 45 minutes. I was going to turn it off, but decided to leave it be and then I finally got the dell logo which sat there for a long time.
Miraculously, after a very long time the log-in screen popped up and I was able to log onto the desktop. Whew. Problem solved. Oops. No.
When I went to call up yesterday's entry so I could write today's, the computer didn't see the external hard drive on which I save all these entries! When I brought it home from the guru last week, it wouldn't recognize the second external hard drive that I have, but I've been able to work around that. Now it didn't recognize either of them.
I put in an SOS call to the guru, who managed to fix the problem by suggesting that one of the external drives was toast and he was right, when we disconnected the one which hadn't come back on line and just connected the one I use all the time, it saw it again. so I'm back in business. Sort of.
The problem is first Steve can't understand why I need two external hard drives, and second, he assumes that I handle external hard drives the way a computer person does. In truth, I saved things to drives willy nilly. The F drive holds all of Funny the World, the E drive holds all of the database files and lots of other stuff that I can't remember, but it does include all The Funny the World files from Day #1. I did this because I was paranoid that the main computer would break down and I wanted to be sure I was covered, so now the regular stuff is NO on the main computer, but on the drive that broke down.
Thank GOD at some point around June I decided that maybe I should have a back-up back-up, and so the main database files were copied onto the F Drive, so I only have two months of FTW entries to add. I have now copied THOSE files on to the C drive, since the E drive is toast. I don't do system backups like I should do, I just limp along and the more Steve tries to explain to me what he thinks I have been doing the more confused I get. But anyway, thanks to a phone call I am back in business today and over the next couple of days I will be copying things in various spots so I don't lose them again. I may put FTW on flash drives as well as hard drives!
However, I have sad first world, dry world problems It is cool today (mid 90s) with 100s predicted for the rest of the week. I have no reason to complain when I watch those poor people in Texas. I actually sat here in tears this morning watching day #3 of people saving people, people walking in chest-high water, carrying babies and/or dogs. Flotillae of boats from wherever they could come to reach people who needed saving.
And then the centers housing thousands of flood refugees which started to flood and the attempt to move 5,000 people to some other shelter on roads that are washed out.
There have to be thousands of stories that will come out of all of this. And I hope that if nothing else, POTUS, who has requested reduced funding and staffing to FEMA has now realized that maybe that's not such a good idea. (But at least he got good crowd for his appearance. "What a crowd, what a turnout,” Trump said from atop this fire truck, addressing hurricane victims.)
AND he can honestly say this was the GREATEST flood in the history of the country. Would have been nice if he had something comforting to say to the victims and to the first responders, but I guess you can't hope for everything. He does get brownie points for GOING to the flood area.
I've been watching the pleas for donations. Those poor victims need everything. I hadn't thought about it until they said they needed diapers that those thousands and thousands of people have no bathrooms. I can't even imagine.
I have been to Houston a few times, when our friends Mike and Bill were still alive and my friend Lynn still lived there in her "magic cottage" along one of the levees. I enjoyed the city, even with the humidity. I also had a teeny taste of how it can flood there, when friends took me to Cirque de Soleil and it was raining so hard, we were drenched just running from the car to the theater.
It saddens me to think that the famous beer can house is probably gone.
I was just listening to an interview with a woman who is trying to get on a list for help and who says that POTUS has not yet declared this a disaster area (a technicality, I'm sure!). I have a feeling that as bad....as horrendous...as this tragedy is, the hardest part lies ahead of the thousands of affected victims -- dealing with the bureaucracy as they try to rebuild their lives.
At least the DOJ has decided NOT to round up illegals in shelters. Probably only because there is no place to PUT them.
My heart hurts for all of the victims and for the beautiful city I remember so fondly.
[dumb things overworked reporters say after the third day: "I hope that man's house gets better soon."]
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