It’s not been a quiet week here. However, I’ve not blogged for a while (except for cutesy stuff and whatever meagre Tweets I could scare up) so here goes nothing.
You may recall that my main desktop computer went all funny a while back. And you may also recall that our dear friend BK in Singapore put together a new desktop computer for me, all shiny and new with Windows 7 and all sorts of stuff on it. And, of course, my backup NAS box frying was a joy.
So I had a dilemma. However, Her Majesty somewhat showed the way forward in that by writing me a cheque for a tax refund that is 2 years overdue. I am going to send part of that off to our savings account, but have used about a third of it to get our systems rationalised here.
I bought an HP Home Media Smart Server EX490, and two 2TB disks to go with the 1TB disk already in it. I bought 2x2GB memory sticks and a half-height graphics card for the computer with the rest of that money.
First off, the disks and server came, and what a pain in the rump setting it up. The manual is in .pdf format, which is fine. However, it is not on the media that came with the server; you have to winkle it out of the HP website.
Worse than that, there is no indication that you have to do any more than install the two extra disks in it to get them to format and start working. Their LEDs blink, and I thought that meant they were formatting. Wrong. When I finally could read the manual, I discovered that the blinking meant that the disk wasn’t installed at all. I had to do it manually in a menu that had no indication that you could do such a thing.
Third, there is a function on the server which will allow you to “collect” your videos, pictures, and music onto the server, which will then stream it to any device you’ve got handy. However, the server continuously told me that the software on my computer (not on the server) was incompatible with the server and I had to uninstall it then reinstall it. I did that, and got the same message. After a lot of research, I discovered the following Mongolian clusterfuck:
- When the server is turned on and the OS is installed on it, the server merrily goes to Windows Update and requests the newest version of its OS.
- This newest version of the OS does not update the software on your PC.
- Thus the two versions are incompatible, and to fix it, you have to uninstall the software from the PC and reinstall it not from the DVD that came with the server but from the server itself, using a web interface.
None of this is intuitive.
The good thing is that it automatically backs up your computers if they’re on during the night (or any time you set it for).
I then installed the software on the new computer, and got an intermittent connection. I had to install a Belkin WiFi stick to get a reliable connection to the network. Now that’s done, I’m hoping that the backup and the Media Collection software will do their work relatively silently.
Once the music and videos are safely ensconced on the server, I shall (I hope) install the software on the munged-up desktop and back it up. Then I can transfer stuff to my heart’s content here and finally move this computer downstairs to my study.
I will then wipe the old computer and try to put Vista 64bit on it for HWMBO.
Otherwise, we have had a relatively quiet time. We went to our friends’ place for dinner Friday, bringing a bottle of Moet and a very good bottle of red. The food was fantastic and the company even more so. It’s great having friends like that.
On Wednesday evening I initiated a man 5 years older than I am into Freemasonry. I enjoyed the ceremony, apart from blanking out several times on my lines. The initiate is a black cab driver, and he had four cab driver friends with him who were already Freemasons. The first time I stopped for a prompt, all four of them loudly tried to prompt me. I looked at them and said, “One prompter, please.” and I had no further problem. The dinner was even nice, and I enjoyed the evening immensely. I have been elected to a second consecutive year as Master of the Lodge as my Senior Warden does not want to advance this year. He’s getting married in May and has just started his own business, and wants another year to get himself settled.
I continue on IV antibiotics. They seem to have done the trick, but the operation I’m waiting for is apt to be a more permanent and less intrusive solution.
This coming week I will have to go to the foot clinic and get more antibiotics, as well as ask them about going private for the operation. The Masonic charities might stump up some money for that to happen, as it looks like the waiting list is not getting any shorter and I am getting more and more frustrated with the delays. I am visiting a Lodge on Thursday where a friend is being installed as Master, and preaching on Sunday, as well as attending the installation of Bishop Christopher as Bishop of Southwark in the afternoon.
What type of surgery?
Some of the joints behind my second and third toes are infected and dead. In order to prevent further flareups of infection, they need to be removed. I am uncertain whether they will need to be replaced with pins; they’ve also said that everything will be fine without pins and I’ll suffer from that syndrome “floppy toes” (to give it its medical term!). Until these joints are removed, I will have to be on intravenous antibiotics.