The timing was just terrible to try to carve out time to set up this new computer, as I had an incredibly busy week at work, just like the previous week in fact. We had a number of impossible deadlines, and the only realistic way to make them was to work overtime. I definitely can't have this become the new norm. As if that weren't enough, I needed to try to write a paper by the end of day. I thought just possibly I could do it, but the questions at work never stopped, and at some point I just gave up. Indeed, I eventually went to The Rex to see Gary Smulyan (backed by Neil Swainson and Terry Clarke). I did write down a lot of notes for the paper, but I didn't have a laptop or any such thing with me. I told the people at the conference that if the portal for papers was still open on Sunday, I would submit, but that would be the best I could do. I probably shouldn't even have promised that, as I desperately need a break. If it hadn't been for work (and this paper deadline) I would probably have managed to see Smulyan yesterday, then I might have gone to see Wenders's The American Friend at the Revue tonight. That said, going to see Smulyan was fine; I believe this is the first time I've heard him live.
I'm not actually sure what I will do tomorrow. Ideally, I will take my daughter to this bakery she is supposed to volunteer at next week, though I suspect she will bail on me, esp. as it will likely rain. I'd like to go swimming, though I have to say the times aren't ideal, though I might be able to make it back to Matty Eckler in the early evening. I would like to get over to 401 Richmond, but that seems unlikely. It looks like there is one exhibit at Red Head Gallery that closes tomorrow, but I think I will just not make it. I definitely need to get to 401 Richmond on the 29th. I believe this is the same day I am seeing Truck at Factory, so at least I'll be in the right general area. Anyway, I am likely to be staying east this Sat., as I will see if I can get to the Beaches to see Winter Stations (which closes March 30, I believe), and then will likely see Mickey 17 at the movie theatre out that way as well. (Of course, this does somewhat depend on not feeling particularly guilty about missing the paper deadline.)
Anyway, back to my computer updates. While I would never have recommended this, there have been a few positives. I believe I mentioned that Mailstore now works again after a gap of several months, and I was able to find the old emails. I was able to get TotalRecorder working after getting those old emails back.
It tooks a few tries but I managed to get iTunes back on the computer. So far it hasn't kept asking for the password, knock wood. A lot of programs were relatively simple to get back, including 7-Zip, VLC Player and Libre Office and IfranView (once I remembered its name). I ended up going with a new CD ripper - EAC (Exact Audio Copy).
What was relatively difficult to the point I nearly gave up was getting Kindle and Calibre set up the right way. (I was getting extremely put out over this.) However, I think it is oddly enough a staging issue in fact. It is best to get Kindle for PC back on the computer, then Adobe Digital Editions, and then finally the right version of Calibre. It was incredibly frustrating, but it seems to be working again.
About the only thing I haven't been able to figure out is how to bring MODI (the MS Tiff editor) out from hiding. It is possible that it simply isn't possible in Windows 11, and there are a handful of alternatives, but it is still annoying. And while I think I downloaded the latest version, I don't think I have installed Notepad ++, which I will need to do, as I have a need for it coming up quickly. I also have a subscription to SPSS (as well as Disney and Crave). I don't think I'll get the temp license for SPSS back in time, so I really ought to follow through with cancelling!
Oh, there is also some good news. I had copied some of the key files from the damaged hard drive to a USB memory stick, but it basically said everything was damaged and corrupted. This was a hard blow, but I wanted to give it another try, so I picked up a new hard drive from Staples. I was able to copy the damaged files. I believe this was a successful rescue effort (and it was just a failure on the part of the USB stick, not expecting such a huge transfer of data!), though I will have to sit down later and try to open up every one of the transferred files. So this put me in a pretty good mood for once. I think the amount of files that I actually lost is probably pretty low, all things considered. (Weirdly enough, I can't seem to recover a playlet I wrote as SFYS was winding down. I submitted it through Google forms, rather than emailing it, or I could track it down that way. I still have the hand-written notes, but I certainly don't feel like retyping it if I don't have to...)
Ok, with that I really had better get back to this paper, at least for an hour or two. Ciao!
Edit to add: I forgot that I have plugged in an old scanner, and the new computer doesn't seem to recognize it. So I am a little hesitant on trying to install drivers and such, though I may do that at some point, after I clear the desk to the point I can see which cable is going where! I do have a newish printer, and if things get to that point, it can do basic scanning, but I would still prefer to get this old scanner working.
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