iTunes two-step...

Someday, when I have more time, I shall have to find a dependable, inexpensive replacement for iTunes (I tried Winamp, but it eventually succeeded in corrupting the database on my iPod).

I'm playing "USB shuffle," that marvelous game where I try to keep all the USB devices I need hooked into three ports.

I do have an extender, but the person who designed my parents' house seemed to think that electricity was a technology without much of a future, because outlets are few and far between, and I'm using both outlets for my computer and the second monitor. Of course, I could go out and buy a power strip, or run an extension cord from the next room, but I'm feeling lazy. However, I digress...

At any rate, I hooked up my FreeAgent external drive (which uses two USB ports) and updated a few weeks worth of podcasts. Then I disconnected my cell/modem (the third USB port) and connected my iPod. So far, so good.

Then iTunes comes up with this idiotic message, to the effect that all the stuff I've ever bought from them won't play on my computer (and apparently has been removed from my iPod) because the computer isn't authorized!

Farblegarg, and other epithets.

I disconnected the iPod, reconnected the modem, and then - on a whim - "deauthorized" my computer.

This worked.

I then reauthorized my computer, which worked, with iTunes Central reporting that I've used up 3 of 5 allowed authorizations, which is what I expected if the "deauthorization" actually accomplished anything.

I may or may not update the iPod... no, scratch that. I will update it soonest, so as to avoid having to deal with iTunes anytime soon.

Cheers...

UPDATE: So of course, iTunes will now not recognize the fact that my iPod is connected. Another 20 minutes of life wasted.

Taking a break...

I rarely do this kind of thing, but...




In my defense, in the science fiction/comic category, it seems all the test is interested in is whether you watch TV shows, which I don't.

And I don't believe I'm writing this.

I'm 1500 words into the day. Time to take a quick shower and go visit the old man.

Cheers...

Recovery city...

I visited my dad at the rehab center today, and he looks about a million percent better when he's dressed. We had a reasonable conversation about nothing in particular, and I took my leave, with instructions to bring some clean shirts and a jacket with me tomorrow.

Then I got a call late in the afternoon from the rehab center, telling me that my dad's nephrostomy tube, which is a tube that was implanted in what's called the renal pelvis of one of my dad's kidneys, got caught on something while he was moving around, and that they've sent him back to the hospital to have it put back in.

So I guess I'll be going back to the hospital tomorrow.

I had called my dad's friends (the ones who live in Port Washington and who come to visit after church on Sundays) to tell them of his transfer to the rehab place, and called again and left a message to the effect that my dad's back in the hospital. To make sure there's no mixup - not that it's a big deal - I'll probably take advantage of the invitation that was extended to me to attend the service tomorrow morning at 9:30 am. Maybe I'll arrange to arrive, um, late.

* * *I found some new mushrooms on the property earlier today while walking Shiloh. I picked one up to take a closer look and was pleased to find it was a bolete, probably a member of the Suillis family, possibly edging over toward what in my mind are the "sturdier" boletes (i.e., not slimy or soft). Unfortunately, as I took a closer look at the underside of the pores, I noticed that the mushroom was starting to discolor, which I generally take to be a bad sign among boletes, at least as far as eating them is concerned.

I had spied some boletes on the property a few days ago, looking like more traditional Suillis fungus, but past their prime and located about 20 feet from a road that gets some reasonable use (which rules out any consumption, in my view). Then yesterday, I found a bolete, but the underside of the pores had a reddish cast (which I seem to recall eliminates it as a candidate for eating), and it, too, started to discolor where the pressure of my fingers had compressed its cap tissue.

I took some photos of the mushrooms I found today, mostly because I've never seen anything like them. The top surface of the cap is a pleasant pastel color of tan and very dry; not slimy at all. The shots I took were pretty good, especially considering the camera's batteries were on their last legs.

However, when I unlimbered the camera a few minutes ago, the SD card had somehow been released from its slot, and when I inserted the card into my VAIO, it appeared to be empty of files. I reinserted the card back into the camera, which confirmed there were no images on the card.

Hoo, boy.

Right now, I'm using something called DiskInternals Uneraser to recover the files (and there are a lot of them).

* * *Meanwhile, I'm down to below 2000 words in the 10,600 word job, and I don't anticipate too many problems with at least 600 of those remaining words, as they are in a table that is summarizing the earlier part of the document (and hence, I'm getting frequent "hits" in the translation memory file). I'm about 1500 words "behind" where I planned to be at this point, but that's no big deal. I 've got about 10,000 words to go over the next three days, which should not be much of a strain.

However, it is getting late, and I want to get to bed before Shiloh decides she needs to drain herself just One More Time™.

Cheers...