Hosting Labashi's school buddy ; starting the process of switching Labashi from Windows to Mac

(posted from home)

(This post covers 23 – 31 August, 2012)

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Friday, 31 August -

This morning I did a final review of laser printers, both standalone and multi-function. I'm a bit afraid of the latter units and just can't beat the Labor Day deal on the Brother model ($100 for a duplexing, Energy Star, inexpensive-toner, well-regarded printer.) I called the two Office Max stores in York to see if they had them in stock and put one on hold at West York.
Labashi and I had a few errands to run this afternoon before our run for the printer. We went to our local optometrist so Labashi could try some eyeglass frames they ordered in for her. One model turned out to be just right so she went ahead and ordered. I also found a set of frames I like. I've had the same frame design for forty-plus years and this last set has been a disaster. I've always had a bit of a problem with corrosion of the frames (from my sweat, I assume) but this pair has been by far the worst ever in this regard. Whomever is doing the plating has changed the process or is cheating on quality somehow. The problem has been, though, that I've not been able to find anything even remotely similar and didn't want to make a major design change. But today I found not only a similar design but it's also a stainless steel frame. I'm also ready to jump ship from my previous optometry shop after my disappointment with the latest set of lenses.
We then drove in to town to the west-side Chili's for an early supper. Afterwards I stopped at the Office Max next door and bought the printer I had reserved.
We then drove a few blocks to West York High School to look around. We have an event to attend this weekend and we hear parking is going to be a problem.


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Thursday, 30 August -

This morning I signed on to the 8Convert app and bought the full-version license. I ran it on the Windows machine to create the export file and then copied it to a portable hard drive and moved it to the OSX side. I then ran Apple Mail's Import function to pick up the file.
The mail all appeared in a new mailbox called Import. I was a bit surprised to see it had not created a tree of nested mailboxes but rather had labeled each set of emails with a long title, like this: PersonalFolders/Inbox/, then the next one might be something like PersonalFolders/Inbox//. Instructions from the 8Convert web site told me I could rename the folders (ok, 'mailboxes') or drag-and-drop them to other mailboxes. At the time I left that up to Labashi but as I write this a few days later I'll mention that it's possible to create the new mailboxes right in the Import mailbox and then drag-and-drop them out of Import to the On My Mac mailbox. That made it very easy to use the long file name to re-create a folder and nest others under it, then collapse them and drag the higher-level folder up out of the Import mailbox to the On My Mac level. (Sorry I'm belaboring this process but I want to write it here so I know what I did later on).
I decided to leave the actual re-organization of the mailboxes to Labashi. I turned my attention to downloading and testing Chrome and Skype. Both installed with no problems and testing went smoothly.
I then switched to trying to get the printer to work. But when I looked on the back of the printer I saw a blanking plate where I thought the USB port should be. That led me to a long research session to try to find an adapter that would convert the old Centronics parallel 36-pin receptacle. I found one on the Radio Shack site but it was listed as a Windows-compatible. I rode over to our local Shack and bought one. And it worked perfectly-- for one page. But after printing that one page I was never able to print another.
So I went looking online for a new laser printer, this time a wireless one. I've always been partial to the HP LaserJet line but now I see they've decided to only have manual duplexing (front-and-back page printing) on most models. As it happens, the few WITH duplexing didn't have the other features I wanted or didn't get very good reviews on CNET. When I found the Brother HL-2770DW model had good reviews and happen to be on a 33-percent-off sale at Office Max this weekend, I had a winner.
Late in the day Labashi went off to her volunteer project and I rode the GS down to Rudy Park for a 5K walk (52 minutes today). I managed a bit of jogging but again had problems with my right leg loading up. I also had a bit of hip pain. Maybe I'd better not push the jogging thing. I've been injury-free with my walking this summer and want to keep it that way.
Afterwards I rode over to the North York Starbucks for a biscotti-and-coffee supper then went home and worked on the offline blog.

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Wednesday, 29 August -

I started the Windows-to-Mac migration process this morning and immediately ran into trouble. The first-boot process went okay but when I tried Migration Assistant I hit a snag. The process had me download a Windows component onto the Windows machine to talk to the Mac but it wouldn't run. As soon as it started the program said it required a .Net Framework 3.5 update and told me to run Windows Update to get it. Running Windows Update then failed because I was using Chrome as my browser and said I had to be on Internet Explorer. But Internet Explorer is broken on that machine. It runs away, creating new windows as fast as it can right from the start. I've looked into this before and could find no good answers, just some 'try-this' advice. No thank you. Once I switched from a Windows laptop to a Mac laptop the hassle factor went down 90 per cent so I'm not about to get sucked back into that massive time-waster.
I did contact Apple about this but they just referred me to Microsoft's Mac-support tech staff (they support Windows Office for Mac, for instance) but Microsoft didn't to anything but switch me to a pay-for-support line. Such are the joys of mixing Mac and Windows worlds.
My friend Google found me a utility called 8Convert which promised to convert the Outlook mail and contacts. Comments in the reviews showed it runs without the .Net Framework problem. Better yet, it offers a test version which only converts five emails and five contacts but that test demonstrates whether or not the process works. I ran through the test and saw it would indeed do the conversion for me. Since the full version is a reasonable $14, I decided to go with it rather than spend a lot of time trying to find a workaround. (I had done the same move in 2009 using copy-this/import- that instructions from the web but this one has a complex set of folders to move).
Before buying the utility, though, I needed to figure out whether the mail system would give me a bunch of duplicate mail. I have multiple mailboxes which I have set up to not delete the mail on the server so I can share it with Labashi. The multiple Gmail boxes automatically forward to my cable-company email account. Leaving all the Gmail alone allows me to use Gmail's powerful search tools but I can't tell Apple Mail about the Gmail accounts or it will continually try to download all those emails again and again. But by forwarding them to my cable-company account, it works. For some reason Apple Mail recognizes it has already downloaded the mail and doesn't give me dupes by downloading the same mail the next time. I can read the mail on my laptop and when Labashi signs on she gets the same emails. I only need to occasionally sign on to the web version of the cable-company email system and clean out the mailbox. But that's not even once a year so it works out very well.
Since we've already seen all the mail on the server, it was time for a clean-out. Fortunately, my ISP has an updated version their web-mail app and in the latest version the deletion process was very easy; just grab a handful of emails or skip down through the emails picking here and there and then hit delete. This gave me a final review of emails on the server before final deletion.
Most of those emails are also backed up on Gmail in case we lose a hard drive. The subset directly addressed to our ISP email address aren't in the Gmail account but we don't generally give out that address any more.
That evening we watched 'Mildred Pierce, Part Four'.
Oh, yeah. Today Labashi put down an application of lawn grub killer.

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Tuesday, 28 August -

Today we drove over to the only Apple Store in the region (at Park City Mall) and bought Labashi's Mac Book Pro and accessories. We had another good lunch at J. Dawson's (excellent gazpacho!) and started planning the migration from Windows to Mac.
I had done this migration in 2009 so this one should be easier. But you know how that is: easy to do is easy to say.
By mid-afternoon I needed to get moving with my lawn-mowing chores. I've never done so much mowing as this year! I did the upper section in the heat and then finished up the lower-40 once things cooled down a bit after supper.
We watched “Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand” for our entertainment tonight.

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Monday, 27 August -

Labashi and I finally felt we had enough information on the Mac line of computers to make a decision on which platform would be best for her given the functionality and form-factor of the platform, the age of its technology (whether we should wait for an update to come out) and the relative performance measures. In the end we decided on the Mac Book Pro 15 laptop with Retina display, the Generation 3 model of the MBP line. We considered the non-Retina version of the MBP15 because a lot of software does not yet support the Retina display. But that should be fixed this Fall and the non-Retina model is considered a Gen 2 model. We also considered waiting for the MBP 13 Retina due out next month but the tech specs being reported for it appear to be significantly less impressive. Also, we might get away with the 15-inch screen for “pro-sumer”-level video and photo editing but a 13.3-inch screen would be awfully small for that (though ideal for our travel). We also decided to put off consideration of an external display until we see how the laptop screen does. I think it will be fine unless Labashi decides to take on a very large video or desktop-publishing project.
I also spent quite a bit of time tracking down a QuarkXpress question. We have an old version (v4) on the Windows desktop and I wanted to know if that would qualify us for upgrade pricing for QuarkXpress v9 on the Mac. And if so, how do I go about submitting proof that we're qualified? The short answer to those questions is 'yes it does' and 'you key in a validation number I'll send you once I verify that you have an authorized product'. After some back-and-forth I received an email with the validation number. Good deal!
We also reviewed the periperals and decided we'd need a USB hub to plug in our existing printers and scanner and would want a Magic Mouse (mainly for photo editing) and we decided we want to go with MS Office (for Mac) and Photoshop Elements (to duplicate the desktop's functionality).
By mid-afternoon I was ready to get out of the house. I took the GS and ran a quick run to the bank and then went on to Rudy Park for my 5K walk. I've been doing that walk enough that I felt I could jog a bit of it today but the temperature was close to 90 and I only jogged a tiny bit before my right leg began stiffening up. I walked it out and tried again but could not continue with the jog. I was disappointed to finish in 55 minutes today.


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Sunday, 26 August -

Today Labashi worked on a series of family history photos to send my newly-met cousin. I spent the day researching the various Apple computer systems to hopefully decide soon on which platform we will go with to replace Labashi's dying Windows system. The decision is surprisingly complex.
That evening we watched Globe Trekker: New Zealand.

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Saturday, 25 August -

This morning I finally forwarded the picture of my second great grandfather to Labashi so she could do a bit of cleanup and send it on to my cousin as a thank-you for our tour on Thursday.
Once that was done we drove to Lancaster's Park City Mall to go to the Apple Store. We first had lunch at J. Dunlap's, a nicer restaurant with a storefront on the mall parking lot. We were pleasantly surprised to have a perfectly-spiced chili and a black-and-bleu burger. I could get used to that place!
We then spent the better part of two hours working with Alan, a retail specialist in the Apple Store. We've decided to replace Labashi's dying Windows PC with a Mac. But which one?
By the end of the session we were more-or-less settled on an iMac. But we still didn't know what to do for travel.
On the way home we picked up some sweet corn for supper at a roadside stand and then watched the last two Louie episodes and then “Unforgettable Girls”, a documentary about New Zealand's Topps twins.

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Friday, 24 August -

We had a leisurely morning with Labashi's friend before he left for his visit to the Carlisle car show. Once we saw him off, we began looking for a picture of my second great grandfather to send to my newly-found cousin. She had mentioned him and when I said I had a late-1800's photo of him, she was very interested.
This was one of those frustrating situations. I know I had seen the photo recently and had a clear picture in my mind of the binder it was in. But we couldn't find that binder.
I've been doing pretty well at putting family history files and mementos in one place so I thought the binder must be there. But despite our best efforts we couldn't find it.
I then remembered I had a scanned-in version of that photo on my old laptop. I fired it up and then went through a very frustrating effort to get that photo to Labashi. I found it easily enough on the laptop but Windows decided to do a series of updates which slowed the system to a crawl. I finally was able to make a copy on a thumbdrive but then the thumbdrive wouldn't eject. And when I decided to simply shutdown the machine to extract the thumbdrive, Windows decided it needed to do another nine updates and wouldn't shut down until they were completed.
I had wanted to get out for a walk and was by that time just fed up with crapware Windows. I left it in the middle of its updates and jumped on the motorcycle, bound for Rudy Park and my walk.
The walk calmed me down and afterwards I lingered to watch a guy fly a radio-control airplane for a while. That looked like a lot of fun.
I then rode to the North York Starbucks for a break. There I met 'Jay' an older biker riding a new Victory Eight-Ball. I simply asked him what other bikes he had had before buying the Eight-Ball and how they compared to it and that launched us into a half-hour-long discussion. Jay had had more than a dozen bikes and I really enjoyed his take on each of them.



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Thursday, 23 August -

Today we drove to Chambersburg with Labashi's school buddy from Texas. We rushed to make it to the church which was only open until 1000 and we made it only ten minutes before closing. But that was enough to get into the sanctuary for a brief look to see what had changed in forty-plus years.
We then got lucky. We had been warned the school had an open house for kindergartners today so we probably wouldn't be welcome. And when we approached the ladies at the reception desk, that appeared to be the case. They began to explain that they were very shortly going to be too busy to deal with us though one did offer a two-minute tour. But then fortune smiled. It turned out she is a cousin I've never met. We expected our tour to be a quick walk down the hall but it turned into a very nice tour visiting every nook and cranny of the building and including introductions to the teachers and staff as we went. Incredible luck!
After the church and school visits we drove to the old neighborhood and drove slowly through the streets there as memories flooded back for Labashi and her friend.
After many photos we then drove to Mechanicsburg, arriving just in time for supper. I dropped off Labashi and buddy and drove over to Texas Roadhouse to pick up our to-go order of their wonderful baby-back ribs.
We headed home around 1830. As we drove through Lisburn we saw the guys who run the new live-crab business out in front so we stopped to say hello. Labashi had bought the steamed crabs here for our meal the other night. We had a very nice chat with the guys and they appeared to be very appreciative of our stopping by to let them know how our feast had gone.
That evening we sat around talking and before long started enjoying a few rounds of extra-strong margaritas. They eventually made me too sleepy to stay up but Labashi and her friend stayed p late with their childhood memories.


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ATV trip to Buchanan State Forest

(posted from home)

(This post covers 1 – 22 August, 2012)

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Wednesday, 22 August -

I woke up tired and a bit sore after yesterday's push on the 5K course at Rudy Park. After my morning web patrol I loaded up the laptop and rode off to Starbucks to have a coffee and catch up the blog. I also went looking for a replacement attachment for our hair trimmer but didn't have any luck at all with that.
After an hour or so at Starbucks I rode up to my new-favorite pizza shop near our new Wal-mart for a slice of their cheesy goodness. Last night I realized that the opening credits to “Louie” include him eating a slice of New York pizza and that gets me thinking about this place.
That afternoon I caught up the offline blog and posted it.

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Tuesday, 21 August -

I spent the morning cleaning the house, i.e., dusting and vacuuming in preparation for our visitor. I didn't finish up until almost 1400 and then had to get away on this very pretty day.
I rode the GS to the North York Starbucks and then to Rudy Park for a walk.
I again walked the new 5K course, this time accompanied by kids from the local high school.
I was about ¼ of the way through the course when I saw a line of kids starting the course. They soon caught me and I was mixed in among small clusters of runners as we passed the 1600-meter mark where a coach read off their times. He was reading them off as clusters of kids passed and as it happened I was alone as I approached the mark. I looked at him and tapped my arm at my wrist. He broke into a wide smile and began reading off times for me too (as if I had started the course with the kids). It broke us both up.
I wasn't even quite to the half-way mark of the course when I saw the leaders coming back toward me on the return portion of the course. The first strapping young man greeted me with “Good Morning, Sir!” as he passed (though it was by then something like 1600). Who says today's youth don't have any respect for their elders?
All the kids passed me but I felt some kinship with the stragglers. I was walking as fast as I could and that kept me within striking distance of the last three kids until near the end. I even jogged a bit of the downhill portion of the course.
That evening we watched the last “Dollhouse” episode of disk 2 and then three episodes of “Louie”, including the two “Duckie” episodes we absolutely loved.

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Monday, 20 August -

Today was a hot one but I needed to get the mowing done. We have a visitor coming Wednesday and rain threatens both today and tomorrow.
Though the thermometer only read 80, the humidity seemed high and mowing was a bit of a struggle. I had to do it in three sections today but it looks great.
About an hour after I finished a steady rain started. I just made it!

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Sunday, 19 August -

Today Labashi drove up to a new live-crab shop in Lisburn and bought a baker's dozen “naked crabs”, i.e., blue crabs which have been steamed and partially opened and cleaned. We have a guest coming in a few days and she wants to make crab cakes.
We picked half of the crabs before she had to go into town for her regular volunteer project. In the meantime I happened upon “Lonesome Dove” on TV while also surfing the web and it reminded me of my Larry McMurtry read “Rhino Ranch”. I need to look for more McMurtry novels.
That evening we watched three “Dollhouse” episodes. We had enjoyed Joss Whedon's “Firefly” series so thought we'd try out his “Dollhouse” series though we hadn't heard or read anything about it. The “dolls” in this case are young people, mostly women, whose memories were wiped and have been implanted with new memories and personalities to support the missions they are sent on by a shady corporation. We watched the first three episodes as well as an episode of “Mildred Pierce”.

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Saturday, 18 August -

I had such a great time with my ATV trip that I started researching another already. I was very surprised to learn that ATVing has a season and the summer season is almost over. ATVing in state forests ends the last weekend of September and the winter season doesn't start until after deer season ends in December. I need to get some riding in before the end of September and I want to do that on trails I've not visited before.
I also spent an hour or two looking for helmet cameras. I very much wish I had been wearing a helmet cam when I saw the bobcat and would like to have footage of the various trails I've been on lately.
That afternoon I rode the GS over to Rudy Park and walked the 5K cross-country course. The course has just been re-routed so today was my first walk on the new course. Afterwards I spent a few minutes on the over-50 fitness course.
That evening we started a new TV series-- “Mildred Pierce”. This is more a mini-series than a regular television series. We watched the first three episodes tonight.

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Friday, 17 August -

This morning I rode the ATV from the Childer's Ridge lot past the Ray's Cove Road lot and on around to marker 15. I did get into some steeper hills before marker 15 but they didn't seem bad. I went on past marker 15 for another mile or so, much of it climbing the mountain on steep-but-not-rough trail until I finally decided I was getting in over my skill level. But in returning back the trail I had gone, it didn't seem as steep as I had thought and I was feeling more comfortable with the (relatively few) off-camber areas.
As I back-tracked I got to marker 18 and turned left instead of right to take me up to the Waterflat Trail and an unexplored route back to the van.
I put in a couple of hours total and got back to the van at lunch time. Since rain was due this afternoon I decided to head for home.
The ride home took a bit over 2 hours and 15 minutes and I stopped on the way to pick up some margarita fixings so I didn't get home until 1500.
I unloaded the van and caught up on the news with Labashi as we enjoyed our margaritas.
That evening we started a “Dollhouse” episode but we fell asleep and then turned in early.

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Thursday, 16 August -

This morning I again left from the Tower Road ATV lot toward Evitt's Mountain Road (the newly-slated jeep road I was on last night).
This time I stopped at the Refuge Trail intersection and walked down the trail to see how steep the bad section is. It's straight-out terrifying to think of an ATV trying that trail. It was too steep to walk and I don't like to think about some kid blundering past the black-diamond sign to that steep section in the down-mountain direction. That would get ugly very quickly.
Back on the main trail and about three miles in I was going through a series of 'S' turns near the Cabin Trail intersection when I saw a cat ahead. It was larger than a house cat, very thin and lanky, with fur the color of a fawn but without the spots. I looked for ear tufts and mottling of the fur but couldn't see any. The cat was walking along the side of the slate road, headed away from me but only ten yards ahead. It was, however, on a turn and soon disappeared around the curve. I sped up the ATV and got around the corner in time to see it lope ahead another ten yards or so, then bound into the weeds.
I stopped where it went into the weeds but didn't see any movement. It was at that point that I realized I hadn't seen a bobbed tail. In fact my impression was of a long tail held in a curve.
Thinking back on the tales of mountain lion sightings in Pennsylvania I briefly wondered if I could have seen a very young mountain lion. I've seen two Florida bobcats in my last two winter trips to Florida and they left a very different impression on me. They clearly had wider heads, tufted ears and a bobbed tail. But in the end I'm 90 per cent sure I saw a bobcat. It was headed away from me and didn't look back so I had less opportunity to see the head clearly. I just wish I had paid closer attention to the tail.
I rode to the end of the Evitt's Mountain Road in the state forest. The ATV trail ends here at the state forest boundary. Someone had knocked over the signs so I put them back up while I took a break.
I then headed back and went down the Rattlesnake Road portion of the trail to the hard road. I crossed over the hard road but soon got into rockier trail which I knew was leading back into the hollows so I turned back.
Once back up on Evitt's Mountain Road I came upon a cutie porcupine which ignored me at first but then realized I was nearby and lumbered into the thick brush.
Back at the van I had lunch and loaded up to move to Sideling Hill. The van was now in direct sun so I opened up the doors to let it clear out. Unfortunately, I forgot to close the back door when I left.
I soon came upon a state-forest maintenance guy painting a gate. I stopped to chat for a bit and as I started to leave he waved me down, pointing out that my back door was open. Shortly thereafter two guys pulled up in a pickup. They were also maintenance-crew guys and asked if I had lost a blanket. Here I had left the ATV lot with one of the back doors open and a blanket had fallen out just before they happened along. That's incredibly stupid on my part but I've done it before. With the trailer there I don't have a reason to look in the rear-view mirror and notice to back door ajar. You'd think I'd hear the difference in sound but I hadn't had a clue.
I then drove down to Rainsburg and on through to Bedford and on to Breezewood. I topped off the gas again and stopped at the Starbucks for a break and to make a call. I called the recreation-support forester again and this time talked to Brian. He gave me tips on what portions of the trail to avoid (Meredith Trail and between markers 14 and 15).
I easily found the Childer's Ridge lot which Steve had recommended as a good overnight spot. After supper I took a short ATV ride to the Ray's Cove lot and back. Shortly thereafter two guys came in on their ATV's to the Childer's Ridge lot to load up for the day. I chatted with them about trail conditions. One was from Chambersburg and I learned that he prefers to make the longer trip here to Sideling Hill to avoid the extra-rocky trails of Michaux State Forest's ATV trails.
I again had a weather-perfect evening sitting about till the stars came out and then reading 'Rhino Ranch'.

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Wednesday, 15 August -

This morning I followed the GPS over the mountain to US30 and on to Breezewood. I stopped for gas and asked for the closest place to buy a helmet but was referred to the Wal-mart at Everett as the only place the clerk could think of.
I drove on to Everett and noticed a Tractor Supply beside it. I know I've seen ATV helmets at our local Tractor Supply and indeed they did have a few but the largest was still a bit too tight for me. I then struck out at the Wal-mart and thought I'd have to make-do with the too-small one (it was that or go on to Bedford). As I walked back across the parking lot, though, I saw there was a large motorcycle and ATV dealer up on the hill on the far side of US30. That turned out to be a perfect solution.
The first helmet I tried at Freedom motorcycle shop turned out to be perfect. It fit, had a camouflage pattern finish which came close to matching the camouflage color and pattern on my ATV and was only $54. I wouldn't have found one like this at any of the shops around home. I know.... I've looked for them and had to settle on my old black ¾ motorcycle helmet for ATVing.
There are two sets of ATV trails in the Buchanan State Forest and I now realized I was closer to the Martin Hill trails than the Sideling Hill trails where I had spent the night.
I followed the maps to the Route 320 ATV lot above Rainsburg. By mid-morning I was on the trail at marker #1 and headed south.
The trail was rocky but okay for the first three miles. But then I started hitting what I call “off-camber” sections of trail. These are drop-aways or lower sections of the trail which cause the ATV to feel like it's going to roll over as one wheel goes into the drop-away.. For a vehicle which is supposedly designed for off-road use I'm surprised how strong this feeling is. I try to move my weight to the uphill side but it doesn't do much to offset the feeling of an impending roll.
I then came to the steepest uphill I've been on and it had a sharp turn at the bottom. Even if you make a good, aggressive approach you can't tell whether the hill has a drop-out or perhaps a fallen log blocking the way part way up. And if you get stopped part way up you're going to have a hard time.
I did two of these hills and as I approached a third it looked even sketchier than the others. I decided it was time to retreat as these were clearly the steep climbs Steve had warned me about.
What had sucked me in, though, was the fact that this trail was marked as 'easiest' trail. Well, it may have been easiEST but it was by no means EASY.
I rode back to the van and took a lunch break. I decided it didn't make sense to ride there any more so I moved to the Brandley Road lot. I had nearly made it to this lot via the ATV trail before I hit the steep ins-and-outs of the hollows. This time I knew I'd just be heading back into the hollows so I only rode the quarter mile to the start of the steep sections.
I then rode the other direction which was marked 'More Difficult' at the Refuge Trail. The first mile was fine but when the trail suddenly acquired a black-diamond symbol on the signs and I could see a very steep mountainside it had to climb, I turned back.
I moved then to the Tower Road ATV lot. After supper I rode a mile of extremely rocky trail before coming upon a newly-slated section of trail which had been a jeep road. That was heaven and I rode with a big grin on my face. Now THAT was the ATV riding I was looking for! The trail ran through the forest atop the mountain for a while but then opened up to views on both sides. Wonderful!
Though the sun was getting low by that time I rode a few more miles to the end of the slate before turning back to the van for the evening.
I spent the last daylight sitting out by the van as I watched the sky slowly darken and a few stars peek through. PerFECT evening!

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Tuesday, 14 August -

Today was supposed to be a rainy one later on but I decided I'd just leave later in the day and use it as a travel day to be in place to ride earlier tomorrow.
I called up the district forest office for Buchanan State Forest and spoke with recreation-support forester Steve. He was very helpful in helping me understand where I would have to be careful not to get in over my head for my beginner skill level.
By mid-day I was anxious to get on the road. After a stop at Walmart for ice and a few food supplies I drove west out the PA Turnpike for an hour and then up US522 toward Wells Tannery. After parking at the Ray's Cove Road lower parking lot (in the state forest) I thought I'd take a quick ride before the rain. That's when I realized I had forgotten my helmet. I had left it in a motorcycle saddlebag. And it's definitely a no-no to ride an ATV without a helmet on state forest trails.
While I tried to think where I might find a helmet the rain started and it was a long, hard rain. I'm glad I hadn't started out on my quick ride.
I soon figured out that the closest possible helmet source would be in Breezewood and that was only 20 minutes away via forest road and US30. And if not there, it's only another 20 minutes to the Wal-mart at Everett (according to my GPS). Finding a helmet at a Wal-mart is a hit-or-miss proposition, though, so I decided it didn't make sense to go this evening if there might be a motorcycle or ATV shop somewhere along the way that may not be open late.
I read and relaxed and played with the GPS and maps to figure out which way to go tomorrow.
I then turned my attention to a Larry McMurtry novel, “Rhino Ranch”. I like it!

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Monday, 13 August -

Today I planned the ATV trip for the next couple of days. I had thought I'd leave today but it's supposed to rain a bit today and a lot tomorrow.
I spent much of the day researching the ATV trails in the Buchanan, Bald Eagle, Tiadaghton, and Sproul state forests, collecting the maps for them, and reviewing the riding rules.

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Sunday, 12 August -

We spent our regular leisurely Sunday morning on the web with 'Sunday Morning' on TV in the background.
By mid-afternoon I was ready to get out on the motorcycle and decided I'd make the run up to Mechanicsburg to check out the speakers and perhaps buy and install them for Dad.
This Best Buy had a speaker-testing setup similar to the York one but it didn't work at all. I found a sales guy and he did manage to power-up a stereo receiver hidden behind a panel and put on a CD. But when we tried to determine which speakers went with which selector buttons it was clear the guy had no clue. But it isn't rocket science after all so once he left I looked a little closer. We had a fairly nice testing setup but it simply wasn't organized. There were numbered switches out front and a row of numbered screw pins behind the speakers. But most of the screw pins were empty and the wires on the speakers were simply lying loose on the shelf. So here's a clue for the new CEO of Best Buy: make the basics work. Yes, customers or perhaps your staff members (maybe even your competitors) will screw around with the test setups. But it's a no-brainer to give them at least a quick function check on each shift. And would it be that hard to have an MP3 jack easily available for me to get the music I like to the speakers I want to try?


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Saturday, 11 August -

Late this morning Labashi and I headed into York for a bit of together-time. We had a quick lunch at the east-side Five Guys and then hit the Best Buy looking for bookshelf speakers for Dad's stereo. His current speakers work well but are just too big for the new location for the stereo.
It was nice to find Best Buy had at least a limited way to compare speakers. The good news is they have wired up a set of switches and a volume control to let you switch between sets of speakers and listen at different volume levels. The bad news is the sound source is simply a local FM radio station. At one point we felt we were close to deciding between two sets of speakers but had to wait through ten minutes of frentic, over-excited commercials to get to music. And then it was music we didn't like and wasn't good for testing the speakers unless that's the type of music you intend to play. We tentatively settled on some Polk speakers but we decided to wait to try them in the Mechanicsburg store, hopefully in a better testing setup.

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Friday, 10 August -

This morning was rainy so I took the Miata to Chambersburg for our meeting with an appraiser. The meeting was a simple matter so I got started home early. Along the way I was drawn in at Mister Ed's Elephant Museum and candy shop when I saw a sign for chocolate-covered bacon. I bought the smallest portion they had. I also stopped at the Circle Barn a few miles from Mister Ed's for some extra-dark hard pretzels.
That evening Labashi and I watched the last two episodes of season One of 'Huff'.

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Thursday, 9 August -

Today I took Labashi's car to a body shop for estimates. She had brushed against a guard rail some time ago and just recently I caught the underside of the bumper cover on a metal rod used to hold a curb bumper stone in place, nearly tearing the cover off. The estimates to repair the two problems added up to almost $2000. But I also learned how I might be able to cut that bill in half by replacing a broken plastic mount for the bumper cover. I'll have to look into that.
Late in the day we drove over to Mom and Dad's apartment to move a stereo and cabinet. We went out to dinner at the new Bonefish Grill restaurant in Camp Hill. I've only been to Bonefish Grill twice now (once in the DC area and now here) and I'm not sure I'm impressed. The restaurant looks upscale but the drinks are weak and the food isn't that special. I tried their signature banger-shrimp in Virginia and wasn't impressed and I had their ceviche in Camp Hill and the seafood didn't seem fresh. I had MUCH better in San Diego and in Loreto, Mexico.
That evening we watched several 'Huff', Season One episodes.

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Wednesday, 8 August -

Today I spent a few hours researching a wireless laser printer. If I had only had the foresight to buy a USB-attached printer when I bought our old HP laser printer years ago I could connect it to the Airport Express's USB port and we could both use it. My real problem, though, is I'm not sure whether I need an all-in-one or just a printer. We can currently do scans and copies using an oldish Canon scanner connected to Labashi's PC but that PC is dying. Also, to do a simple copy we have to fire up the takes-forever-to-load PC. I'm thinking an all-in-one that allows one-button copying would be nice. Fax is less an issue though we do very occasionally run into a situation where a fax capability would come in handy.
At the end of the day I had gathered info but still hadn't made a decision.
I also did a final review of the homeowner's insurance contract and decided we did indeed have what we need and have the correct declarations pages for our records.
That evening we watched 'Huff' Season One episodes.
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Tuesday, 7 August -

Today I made arrangements to meet with an appraiser with Maypo later in the week and then rode the Concours into town to look for a torque wrench. I need to change the oil on the ATV and thought I'd like to have a clicking torque wrench for the job. There's nothing easy about selecting torque wrench, though. The specs for the job are in foot-pounds for one part, inch-pounds for another and of course the wrench must accommodate the ranges specified and also those expected for other jobs the tool would be used for. I have an old beam-style torque wrench and though it would in theory do the one part of the job, I wouldn't be able to read the scale because the machine screw in question is upside down and under the ATV. I spent some time online and tentatively settled on a Craftsman model. But in the store the only model with the right specs was a digital one and I've had bad luck with Craftsman digital tools. I ended up deciding I didn't want to pay the better part of $100 for something I can do without.
I then took my every-few-weeks ride over to the Park City Starbucks for some Doubleshot Lights and came back to Rudy Park for a walk. I did the 5K course in an hour and ended up talking with Mike Poorman, a small-projects contractor who was working on the astronomy-club building there at Rudy. I only stopped to ask about his repairs to the T-111 siding but we talked at some length about family history. His family had moved to Lancaster county in the late 1600's.
Back home Labashi and I watched “Rembrant's J'Accuse”, a very interesting documentary about Rembrandt's painting 'The Night Watch' and its effect on his life thereafter. We also stayed up late to watch three “Louie” Season Two episodes. Sometimes I think Louis CK is a genius and sometimes I think he goes way too far out of his way to be outrageous.

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Monday, 6 August -

Today I rode the F650GS to Chambersburg for an appointment. I left earlier so I could stop at my insurance agent's office to double-check that the latest changes we had made in our homeowner's insurance had gone through properly. The day after we made the latest changes and I paid the bill we received a receipt for the payment but another letter with what appeared to be the wrong Declarations page. That turned out to be a matter of letters crossing in the mail. The correct changes had been made but the Declarations page was an older version. They just happened to arrive in the mail the same day.
Maypo and I met with a lawyer to move ahead with his purchase of the property we have up for sale. Afterwards we spent an hour or so at his home catching up and then went to supper at Norland Pub.
For the ride home I took the back way through the orchards of Adams County and had an incredible ride. The weather was perfect and the light of the setting sun was spectacular on this landscape. The pink clouds in the extra-blue sky over the green, green lushness of this area were wonderful. Traffic was very light and there were many locals out caring for their properties. All in all a very relaxing ride indeed.

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Sunday, 5 August -

Today I caught up the blog and had a long Skype video call with Orat. Labashi spent much of the day at her volunteer project.

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Saturday, 4 August -

Today I had an errand to run in town but as I prepared to leave I saw dark clouds in the distance. Since the Miata needed some exercise I took it instead of the motorcycle, just in case. I went shopping for an exercise or yoga mat to use in my newly-cleared-out office and found one I liked at Wal-mart. This one was thicker and softer than a yoga mat. I also picked up some el-cheapo push-up stands (to go with the exercise mat).
The main errand was to buy a new tarp to replace a sun-damaged one we have over the canoe and kayaks. The polyethylene kayaks have deteriorated from UV exposure (as they naturally do) and I need to limit that as best I can. I was surprised to see a 12 x 20 tarp costs $40. I was expecting something like half that. It is 'commercial grade', i.e. 10 millimeters thick while the smaller ones are mostly 5 mm thickness, but still.....
As I headed home the rain started so my choice of the Miata turned out to be a good idea. Also, I would have had trouble hauling the largish tarp plus the exercise mat on the bike's little luggage rack.
I tried out the exercise mat and the push-up bars with a few (modified) push-ups. Lots of room for improvement there but it felt good.
That evening we watched the third episode of 'The Hour', the BBC series and then two episodes of 'Sensitive Skin'.
We have mixed feelings on 'The Hour' and tonight's episode-- episode three – was where we were to decide whether to abandon or continue since I have to order another disc if we wish to go on. We were having trouble keeping up with the plotline through the first two episodes. We felt we had the general outline but didn't connect with the implications of the news of Egypt taking over the Suez Canal. We find ourselves wishing for an introductory history lesson and should have had the presence of mind to look it up on Wikipedia before starting the film. But episode three's story did bring us around and we will go on. Perhaps we're simply too impatient on films that don't spoon-feed us everything.
The writing on the latter ('Sensitive Skin') seems to have markedly improved as Part Two starts. We nearly abandoned Part One and I'm very glad we didn't. Two things kept us going--- subtitles and local color. It should be an absolute rule that subtitles MUST appear on all movies but it's particularly important for any movie to be marketed outside the 'vernacular area' of the setting. The local color part refers to our being a bit under-engaged with the storyline but willing to continue viewing because of our interest in seeing how others live and imagining ourselves immersed in that setting and perhaps curious about why it developed as it has.


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Friday, 3 August -

Today I received an email with a .pub attachment and tried to find a way to convert it rather than just tell the sender to re-send in a .doc or .pdf format. I found an online converter at PDFonline which handles .pub files even though it's not at first apparent. The app is crippled so that it only handles files up to 2 MB in size but that was plenty for my purpose today. All I had to do was give it the file and my email address and it sent me a PDF copy in short order. The conversion was perfect. I looked into purchasing the app for my laptop but it's a Windows-only app and a bit too expensive ($49) for my very occasional use of it. I need to look at this (and alternatives for OSX) a little closer since it does many conversions and appears to be a high-quality product.
We also received an email today from a Chinese manufacturer of felt hats. We received a similar offer from Chinese manufacturer of textiles earlier this week. It appears someone sold or gave my email address to Chinese companies as someone who may be interested in setting up a business relationship with them. Interesting. I'd love to know just how that happened.
I also received a copy of Dad's Comcast bill and see they have indeed followed through with the credits they had promised on my last call.
Mid-way through the day I realized I hadn't received a Google Calendar notice of several events I thought I had set up to trigger at the first of the month. In general these are maintenance events-- like checking the new water-conditioning equipment in the basement. I've been getting some notifications but not those. That turned out to be a mistake on my part. I hadn't set these particular event notifications up properly.
Among the missed notifications was notice that the storage-unit rent was due. The owner gives us until the 4th to pay the bill so I wasn't late with the payment yet. I wrote out a check and jumped on the motorcycle to run it over right away.
We were so wrapped up in Intenet stuff this evening that we never got around to watching TV today.

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Thursday, 2 August -

Today we received our homeowner's insurance quotes resulting from the visit from our agent earlier this week. After a review of the details we called the office to ask for prices for higher deductibles. When we learned we could get much better catastrophic coverage for very close to the same price we've been paying if we take a higher deductible, it was an easy decision for us.
I rode down to Starbucks intending to then walk at Rocky Ridge. But as I sat in the Starbucks I saw very black clouds arising in the west. I could see clear skies to the northwest so thought I might yet get a walk in at Rudy Park. But by the time I arrived near the park I could see this wasn't going to work out. I headed home and decided the lawn could use mowing this evening so that would substitute for the walk.
Labashi had volunteered to do some data entry work at a local political office today so I thought I might have time to get some of the lawn done before she returned. I just finished up as she pulled in the driveway.
That evening we watched the one remaining episode of 'Huff' disc 2 then watched four 'Louis' season two eps.

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Wednesday, 1 August -

Today I updated the offline blog and posted it while Labashi went off to tea with 'the tea ladies', two of her friends who get together a few times a year.
I spent the afternoon updating computers. That caused a new problem with Labashi's machine. Apparently the latest Chrome update for Windows XP doesn't work properly for printing. It goes into a never-ending load of the preview and will not print. The only work-around I could find is to hit control-P to print without the preview dialog but then that only prints the screen contents.
That evening we watched three episodes of 'Huff' season One. We had watched the first disc over a year ago so we first had to come back up to speed. Fortunately, Wikipedia has all the episodes listed and we could refresh our memories on what is going on before starting the next episodes.

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