Perpetual Ruminations

Third Times a Charm

It's kind of scary, isn't it? What's kind of scary. you ask. Me writing in my blog again. I have written in here more in the last four days than in the last year!

I know it's a good thing, since this is supposed to be kind of a daily, or at least a couple times a week, type activity. Part of the change is time, I'm finding I have a bit again. My wife just switched over to day shift last week, and will remain until at least after Thanksgiving, possibly longer. So, we enjoy dinner together as a family, then some television and soon enough everyone is off to bed. This gives me a little time in the evening, most nights anyway, to be alone with my thoughts, It also gives me all day, from seven-thirty until about three-thirty, with no one home besides me and Hannah, our dog.

So, most days I have time to get my stuff done, get online, etc. By bedtime, I'm ready to relax after getting everyone tucked in, spend a little time here, and when moved to do so, write in my blog. I would even have some time during the day to write, but so far I've been fairly busy, and since I don't like to write when I know I'll be interrupted, I choose to wait until night.

If you head my previous entry, you know my computer crashed; my fourteen month old computer that just went off warranty. Luckily, I purchased an extended warranty so I'm still covered, just need to find time and have the means to take it in for repairs. In the mean time, I dug my old laptop out and tried to use it. The battery was shot and it was not only slow, but froze up quite often and had many other issues. I'm not sure, I think about fifteen years old, it came with Windows 7, a brand new operating system when I got it.

Anyway, it did not work so I needed something more than my phone to get online with. I installed a very small Linux package and tried that, but somehow messed things up trying to figure it out. I needed more, and something a bit easier to interface with, so I went with a medium size Linux OS. That worked pretty well, but again, I had some issues trying to set up my printer and scanner. It also was a bit limited, and since I want to continue to use my laptop even after I get my other computer fixed, I decided to go full out and install a full size Linux OS.

I also ordered a new battery and worked on getting everything set up today. It works great! It's similar to Windows, enough I can find my way, and it's easy to install new programs and add-ons. They say the third times a charm, and so it is; I have a usable laptop again. I haven't tried out the office suite yet, but it's compatible with Microsoft, so I don't see any issues. It may take a little bit to figure everything out, but that's not really any different than getting a new phone or new computer; I guess I kind of did.