3 Months since ...

It had been 3 months since I'd last backed up my hard drive to my computer. To some, 3 months is not too long but to those of us who are constantly updating and maintaining the data (pictures, financial information, videos, music), 3 months is a very long time.

As I sat at my desk awaiting the arrival of our good friends Gary and Ricia, I realized that my screen had just gone blank. I moved the mouse and then checked to make sure that it was on. Yep, it was on and the mouse movement did nothing.

I rebooted. It worked fine. Must be just my imagination.

It froze 2 hours later. No mouse movement. Escape did nothing. CR did nothing. I had to perform a "hard reboot" and then I did something called a "system restore." A system restore is intended to turn back hands of time, as far as your computer is concerned, to a point in the past before whatever problem you have took over your computer.

This worked until the next morning when, after sending two emails, she died again.

I rebooted and got into Command Mode or as it used to be called MS-DOS. I was able to back up my data onto an external drive. It took an hour or 2 but I got it there. PHEW! Then I tried restoring the computer back to its factory settings. No help, still dead.

Late at night, I called HP Support. It was a pleasant conversation with India. They verified that I was under maintenance contract. I told them that I thought I had a hard drive problem on the drive that houses Windows Vista. Naturally, they attempted to fix a ficticious software problem. They went down the same path that I had already gone down. It is not unexpected. They have to eliminate the easy problem candidates before tackling the hard ones.

Two hours later they told me that they were going to ship me a new CD of Windows Vista. "But you haven't fixed anything! You have no idea what has caused this."

"Yes, we have diagnosed that Windoes Vista is not operating properly" she said.
"It's a hard drive failure," I complained.

She argued and only relented when I refused to close the ticket.

"Ok, we can do a hardware test."

The first test showed no issue but as she was telling me how right she was, I ran the second test. Sure enough, it was a hard drive failure ...

So, if you are wondering where my posts have been ... now you know. I'm back operating from my laptop that I'm sharing and waiting for my new PC to come!

My best to all!

Flickr Photos

Hi All,

Just a quick note to check out my new photo stream. It is at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pic-o-the-day/

I am attempting to put a favorite photo of mine out there every day ... except when I go on vacation or when I'm busy on weekends or if I just forget! So far, 3 days and 3 favorite pictures!

I hope you are all doing well. We are enjoying our time here in Paradise and wishing you were visiting soon!

Peace!

John

Bloggin' for Barack

Ok, I really don't want another 4 years of the current type of administration. In the past, I have voted against the Republicans because I thought that was the best I could do. Having lost the last two elections and having watched a bunch of libelous liars known as the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (liars) sway voters, I have decided to do something more than vote ... I'm going to work part-time for Senator Obama.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/jackcleary

Grace and Peace

John

Sunshine On Channel 9 News in DC

Waterlogged!

Hi All,

Kathy and I have been getting into this snorkeling thing lately. I don't know how long it will last but I believe that my fingers now have permanent waterloggedridges!
We have been so fortunate to live so close to Hanauma Bay where the fish are abundant and the sea turtles now know Kathy personally. Yes, Kathy refers to them as "my sea turtles."
She does seem to have a knack for finding them. I have been taking advantage of my father's day present ... a relatively inexpensive underwater camera.
The last few weekends, we've been abandoned all sense of reason and ventured to the North Shore for snorkeling at Shark's Cove. Are there any sharks at Sharks Cove? I haven't seen one and don't expect to!
The "little guy" below was about 3 1/2 feet across!

This sea turtle was enjoying lunch off the reef at Sharks Cove.

This picture is a bit hard to see but it is a picture of about 500 little blue fish!

When we least expected it, one of our friends came cruising up over this rock to say "hello!"

Kathy took this video clip of me swimming down about 15 feet.

In addition to the snorkeling, we've frequented Bellows Air Station beach. It is a gorgeous beach with tons of privacy and 3 to 5 foot waves that just cruise in from the outer reef. It has become one of our favorite beaches as it is only 20 minutes away and stunningly beautiful.

Below, Krista drags Kathy out on the boogie board.

Kate and Dan Visit

We were blessed to have Kate and Dan visit us on their way to teach in Jakarta!

Kate is the daughter of Sandy and Chuck Radis of Maine. I met Sandy and Chuck many, many years ago through my sister Jeanne. Sandy is one of those people who is so genuine, you just want to hug them! Chuck can be a nice guy, too ... just goofing with you Chuck. Actually, they are both very special people. So, when Jeanne said that their punk-kid was coming through and could we offer them some space, Kathy and I had no problem saying "YES!"

We hardly saw them! I've not seen too many people their age in bed by 9pm. Then again, they were up and about on their way out to explore the island by 7am the next morning.
Below is Kate during one of her rare serious moments ... looks just like Chuck!

We spent a little time at Hanauma Bay snorkeling. At one point, we lost Dan. We didn't mean to but he was like a fish in the water (nothing like Nathan, but close enough say that they both were fish). So, the life guards are kicking people out of the water. I'm there pointing at Dan to get out of the water. I keep yelling "Hey Dan! Time to get out!"
Turns out that Dan was behind me and already out of the water!

Dan and Kate were sweet to buy sushi one night ... I STILL haven't lost that weight! On another night, they prepared scrumptious, home made appetisers!

Now, I expect a visit from Sandy and Chuck especially since Sandy could do some electrical and plumbing work for us!