Thursday, February 2, 2017

The Great Computer Debacle and Other Things

It is hard to believe that I haven't written a post here in over a year. With so many people now on Facebook, I can add little ditties on there. Once in a while, though, I like to write in more detail, just so I have a record of what my life has been like. It is time to catch up.

Rochester, NY is cold in the winter and has lots of snow - usually. This year we have not had, so far, any really debilitating snow storms, although communities not that far away have gotten hit hard. In addition to cold, one thing that Rochester does have in abundance is music. It is home to the world renowned Eastman School of Music, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and many, many other groups and venues for music performances, operas, plays and all manner of entertainment. Anne and I are still taking hammered dulcimer lessons and this year have added a class in the History of Western Music, both taught by the also world famous Mitzie Collins. Many of the performances by the Eastman students are free and we also have a subscription to Rochester Philharmonic performances. So, we are busy musically, but I wanted to talk about the computer and my workshop.

Anne had an older HP computer that wasn't getting along all that well with Windows 10. It was in two different shops a couple of times and we finally got her a laptop to replace it. She is pleased with her new computer. I said, "We really have no use for another computer. I will take this one to my shop in the cellar, remove the hard drive and recycle it." I took it to the cellar and decided that the next day I would get the drive out. Overnight the thought occurred to me that maybe I could install Ubuntu (a Linux operating system) onto it in place of Windows. Ubuntu is frequently used by computer geeks on an older computer to bring it back to life. So, I installed it. Ubuntu is a free open source program and has a ton of also free open source programs to do just about everything under the sun. I put it next to my Mac in my room, but really had no use for a third computer there. (I also have an older laptop.) What to do? I said, "I will take this, now resurrected, computer down to my shop, where I also don't really need it." I have a workbench there with several shelves over it. The bottom shelf was too low for the computer and monitor, so I cut it in half. Then I decided that I could use a couple of electrical outlets wired directly from the service panel instead of extension cords that I was using. It took two days to snake wires around for that project, but now I was ready.

Several trips were made to bring down the computer, monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. I got it set up and turned it on. Everything went fine and it told me I had some updates to install. Okay, install. Halfway through, the thing froze and despite using all the troubleshooting available, I couldn't get it unfrozen. Logic would have told me, "You took the thing down to recycle it. Why don't you do that?" No. I remembered that I had another hard drive from a backup for this machine that was now not being used. I removed the side of the computer and saw that the hard drive was deep in behind the DVD drive, but it wasn't a whole lot of trouble to get it out. It turned out to be the same size and brand as the back up drive, so I swapped them. I now had to load Ubuntu on this new drive. Upstairs I climbed to get the disk and back down I went. I loaded Ubuntu, which went on without a hitch. I also downloaded a couple of extra programs from the Ubuntu software store (free). I went upstairs and the machine went to sleep after the ten minute time that I had set. It never woke up. Try as I might I could not get the thing to come alive again. Then I thought, "I wonder if I took the first drive and reloaded Ubuntu onto it...maybe it might work. I'll give that a try in the morning." I went to bed and in a dream a voice came to me and said, "Stop already. Disable the hard drives and recycle the dumb thing." Funny how dreams can have a profound effect on your life. I did what the voice said and it is now gone, Ubuntu and all.

Remember that shelf that I was talking about that I sawed in half to make room for the computer? Now I wanted the other half of the shelf back, so I had to join the two halves with a piece of plywood underneath with glue and screws. Now my workshop is back in relatively good shape and I have to decide what to make next. I think I will not make any more musical instruments. This past year I made a minstrel banjo (from scratch), an Irish tenor banjo, a mountain dulcimer and an octave mandolin, all from kits. There's no more room for instruments and I have to learn to play these. I am leaning toward making limberjack figures. That's not a misspelling. They are wooden figures about a foot tall that have limber joints and dance when bounced on a thin board. Dulcimer hammers is another possibility and intarsia woodworking, plus Anne thinks making some bowls would be nice. Stay tuned.

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