Monday, October 17, 2011

Changes

OK, I like to think of myself as being reasonably savvy with computers and stuff. But lately I've become painfully aware of my true ignorance. We've moved a couple weeks ago, and I packed my camera cord which connects to the computer (its umbilicus) in an as yet undiscovered box. So I've been accumulating photos on the camera, with no way to download to the computer.

Or so I thought.

Then I saw my nephew stick an SD card in his computer, and instantly had an "Ah Hah!" moment. That's what that slot is on the side of my computer! Bill, oops, Big Oak, you idiot! I guess it's not for cheese.

Anyway, here are a few of the more memorable photos I've taken which documents my simple, simple life.


I took this load of bikes to ArtWerks, a bike shop here in town which sells only used bikes. I told Art to make me an offer, and I immediately accepted. I have no room for these bikes, and I hated to let them go, but I know Art will find a good, loving home for them. I sold the truck, too, although not to Art. And I got a fair sum for it, although I had to haggle for a bit.

Here's the new bike shop. In addition to these two, Alex's bike is in front of the car and out of view here, and I've got 3 bikes crammed in our 7' X 8' garden shed, along with a lawnmower, garden tiller, a stack of huge flower pots, and a bunch of garden and yard tools. I feel sorry for the poor sucker who next opens that shed door.

It's been over twenty years since I froze off my herd of cacti, so Alex decided it was time I get another batch. We found this beauty at our local Meijer store. I'm not sure what kind it is yet, but I'll look it up one of these days.

This is called a Coral Cactus, although I don't believe it is a cactus at all, but maybe a Euphorbia of some type? I'll have to look this up also.
Here's of photo of the beast a few weeks ago on the new sun porch. He had a large tumor removed from his leg, and he needed the cone to keep from licking and tugging at the stitches.

Business end of the beast. He had the cone on for 9 days, and he actually liked it. I believe he was able to smell much better with the cone, and he could certainly hear better, but only if he was aimed in the direction of the sound. I'm thinking about taking the cone down the road to the high school, to see if the coach would buy it to listen in on what plays the opposing teams are calling.

This past weekend, we went up to Alex's sister's house, where we rode some of the bike trails north of Chicago. This heron was just off the trail, posing just for me.

Alex, on her perch.

A slough along the Des Plaines River.

I've learned something the past month or so. Never pack up and move without taking a bunch of time off work. Better yet - hire somebody to do the packing and moving. Even better - don't move.

I am very happy to be settled into our new house, and to be back on the bike, although I've got some evening meetings which will cut into biking for the rest of this week.

Happy riding!

Bill

22 comments:

Oldfool said...

If you don't have an SD slot there are any number of USB adapters for any size card. I have 8 gb cards the size of my finger nails that go into an SD adapter then if the SD slot is in use I put them into a USB adapter.
Getting the stuff off the built in memory will still require the cord.

Big Oak said...

Oldfool - thanks, that's good stuff to know. One of these days I'll come across the cord (if I'm lucky).

Oldfool said...

If not they are readily available. Google it.

Steve A said...

Consider yourself lucky. At least you aren't pricing out a new computer...

BTW, "Bill, oops, Big Oak" is an unusual name!

More BTW, No Tricross?

John Romeo Alpha said...

My wife put cones around my wrists so I would stop clicking micro SD cards in and out of my computer. I'm utterly fascinated by being able to store 8GB on something the size of my finger nail. The family caught on that there could be no legitimate reason for me to copy stuff back and forth all day long. It's probably for the best.

RANTWICK said...

Lovin' the Beast. JRA, I work in IT and I know I'm getting old because I am continually amazed at how different my work world is today compared to when I started. USB sticks, cards, well, any flash memory is a freaking marvel.

Pondero said...

Real nice to hear from the Big Oak again. Good to know things are working out. Keep 'em coming.

limom said...

The dog actually looks kinda happy.
Maybe I should try it.
The cone I mean.

jeff said...

Nice to hear from you again. I had a golden retriever who had to wear a cone once, and my 2 year old niece called it a "bucket".

Big Oak said...

Steve - yea, fortunately I hadn't gotten to the point of thinking about a new computer. And, yes, I still have the tricross - check out the garage photo again - it's the bike on the right with fenders. Still working great!

Big Oak said...

JRA - Ha! It is amazing how tiny those things are.

Big Oak said...

Rantwick - I know what you mean. I learned computing using IBM cards which held only one line of programming. In class, we used to pimp each other over by shuffling each other's cards when the other person wasn't watching. It'd totally screw up their program. But they wouldn't know if for a couple hours after they ran their cards through the card reader, because they had to wait a couple hours to get the 100 page printout.

Big Oak said...

Pondero - Thanks!

Big Oak said...

limom - I thought about trying it once briefly. Then I shuddered to think about what might happen if I got caught in a sudden downpour.

Big Oak said...

jeff - Thanks! When Dodger was eating and the cone was flat on the ground, it does look like his head is in a bucket.

rlove2bike said...

Happy to hear you are settling in your new home. I am missing the cord for one of my cameras. It's the one I use for bicycling, kayaking and outdoor stuff. It's been gone a long time, so I do it the way you are.

I bet Artwerks were happy with you. Seems like a good deed.

Our dog had to wear a cone twice...she did not like it. It was a bad deal. I think she would get frustrated and start randomly banging it in to things. Felt sorry for her.

Thanks for the wonderful pictures and update.

Anonymous said...

Glad to know you are back. Good pic of the heron. Bird sighting is one of the things that Jan and I enjoy the most while riding. We have one place we call Turkey Road and another named Indigo Bunting Lane. Your simplification looks good!

Jon said...

Good to have you back!

My new Mac doesn't have an SD slot, but I got a USB card reader for $8.00 and fixed that little problem!

Big Oak said...

rlove2bike - sorry to hear about your dog's bad experience with the cone. The deal with Art was necessity - I didn't have the space. But I am glad he'll be able to use them.

Big Oak said...

twofeet - Alex is much more of a birder than I am, and she likes to stop often and look at birds.

Big Oak said...

Hey Jon, I guess there are all kinds of adapters out there for stuff. Good to hear that your SD solution was fairly inexpensive.

GreenComotion said...

Card readers are quite cheap these days - Thank God!

It is just a matter of going to the store and looking (or online).

Good Luck!

Peace :)