Preserving The Past

Have spent the long holiday weekend enjoying time away from the office, but spending the proceeds!

Over the course of the weekend, got a TV tuner card, a new 200 gig hard drive, and a wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse. The latter two overlap somewhat, as I got a wireless keyboard which includes a built in mouse. Fine when I only want to do a click or two, but I wasn’t convinced I could totally do without a more traditional mouse. I finally got everything hooked up this morning (the mouse had to charge overnight before use). I also put in a new DVD burner last week, so my PC should feel pampered at this point. And I feel pampered, too – sitting here typing while leaning back in my seat. ahhhhhhh

Among the simpler things I got was a dubbing cable – cost $3 – but in the spirit of the credit card commercial – priceless. The last time I was home, I dug out some old tape recordings my parents made when I was little. We won’t discuss how old they are, but they are a blast from the past. Right now, I’ve got my Archos plugged into the output on my old stereo and I’m recording them to MP3 format. The first tape had only been in the player a second when it began to unravel. My heart sank. But I took it out, no major damage that I could see, hand-wound it, and then got out the compressed air and blasted the inside of my seldom-used tape deck. Put the tape back in and that seems to have done the trick. I listened to a few minutes while the recording was going and it was just wild. I hear myself and my cousin screaming in the background while our parents talk. My Uncle has been dead most of my life. I’d forgotten what he sounded like – didn’t even recognize who was talking at first. So, I’m doing my bit to preserve my past. I’ll have to get a copy to my cousin before long (i.e. someone pester me or it will never happen).

I also spent just a little time in the yard. Not too much – alternating between muggy hot and rain. I had a section of the front yard beds I didn’t finish last year and a couple of other bare spots. Filled them in with some perennials and liriope and am pretty happy with the way things progress with my yard.

Inside, I installed new hardware in my downstairs bath. Made a WORLD of difference. Have meant all morning to sit down and figure up what it would cost to replace all the equally tired kitchen hardware – brrrr… Still, probably worth it since later this summer or in the fall I plan to have the counters in there replaced. They are tres tired looking!

Well, I guess I should take a shower (spent the morning cleaning house) and join the world at large. Later!