Wake Up

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[treesta]

Don't we all wonder of we're crawling in the wrong direction from time to time. But in the end, we look around, dust ourselves off, and keep on going. Isn't it all there really is that must be done?

[treesta]

And when you wake up to something like this, it gives you hope anew:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/398099_273340242721292_143778025677515_701748_2084092258_n.jpg

This is what the sunrise looked like yesterday in the Mid-Atlantic. This picture was taken near Havre de Grace, Maryland (the upper Chesapeake Bay).

[treesta]

Are you going to do a fox walk this morning, Flann? Grin.

[Matissta]

treesta, Flann is believe it or not, having trouble with her new MAC desktop. When we last spoke she was on hold with Apple Help.

The cartoon seems even more appropriate.

[half-a-sista]

Trouble with the new iMac desktop? On hold with Apple Help? Jeez, what a way to start your day. iThought: An Apple a day keeps the IT people away.

I'll go back to crawling in some direction now.

[treesta]

Well, bless her heart. Just got back from walking the dog, then going to post office and bank. Looking forward to a visit with a couple of teachers I used to teach with and then later today dinner & football with Flann & Matiss.

Just a little school story: I think I mentioned before that one of my former students is now a teacher at the school where I work. She is a WONDERFUL teacher and a delightful young lady. She came in the other day and mentioned that another one of my former students had written a post on facebook (without knowing that this young lady and I are now working together) about one of the teachers at that elementary school, which went like this: "Wouldn't it be great if Mrs. Taylor from JCES was still around to rub my back and tell me that I'm doing a good job." It just so happened that I was seeing that teacher socially that evening. She is now retired, and has been for about 10 years. I told her what that young man wrote about her. She got quite teary-eyed. Once in awhile a teacher gets to know the positive impact they had in the world. And Jan was a caring, compassionate, inspirational teacher for so many of those kids at JCES.

[Flannista]

Testing . . . testing . . . testing.

Was on the phone with the Apple technician for 86 minutes. The message I got on my computer was that I had a "kernel failure". I was on hold and when the technician finally came on and said: "How can I help you?" I said this:

"I've had a kegel failure."

Yes, I said that.

[half-a-sista]

Could the technician fix your kegel failure? Does that mean your computer has cybernetic incontinence?

treesta, got all teary when I read the story about the teacher. So glad you could share that with her.

I'm been trying to figure out why the cartoon bothered me. Then it came to me. The character says he's panicked because he doesn't know if he's crawling in the wrong direction.

If I were panicked, it would be because I didn't know I was crawling in the RIGHT direction . Do people actually wonder if they're going in the wrong direction? Did that strike anyone else as an odd waying of saying it?

[Flannista]

Testing . . . testing . . . testing . . .

Still no kernel failure.

I must be crawling in the right direction.

[Flannista]

This is how panicked I am -- the proper term is "kernel panic".

I told the Apple technician that I was having "kegel panic".

Can you believe that there is an actual computer term with the word "panic" in it?

Of course there is.

[frida]

OH NO. I hope the computer rights itself and that football compensates for crawling...I plan to read another murder mystery while sucking on lemon drops and then take a nap. I like kegel panic...though I've never had it. Is it a noodle dish?

[PEACEsista]

Oh, dear Flann, I am hoping that ALL panic has subsided.

Enjoy the football play-off games.

[Flannista]

I've had my computer in "sleep" mode for about three hours -- another test to see if what is causing the "kernel panic" is the external hard drive (that backs up my system every hour) not properly communicating with the iMac. The technician gave me some command that got rid of the external hard drive "drivers" and we think that may have solved the problem. So far, when Time Machine (external hard drive) comes on, I'm not getting the "kernel panic" message.

Needless to say, this has been incredibly vexing. This computer is just 4 months old. Matiss tells me that I was amazingly calm compared to the way I was, say, a year ago when the hard drive failed on my old Mac Pro. I told her that I thought a lot about Gwendolyn and the patience she had to have to wait for test results. She had a lot of grace under much more life-threatening circumstances. Money can fix this problem if it turns out to be a flaw in the operating system.

The big test is the computer sleeping overnight. When I put it to sleep about 9 pm, will it wake up 8 hours later without a "kernel panic"? I know this is boring, tedious stuff, but it helps me to write about it.

Thank you.

[Flannista]

Did you know that I called this post "Wake Up" before I had this "kernel panic" problem associated with waking up my computer from "sleep mode"?

Can't make up this stuff.

[Westsista]

Cartoon is great - speaks to the existential dilemma that is at the core of each of our lives. What's life about, anyway? What's the point? What's my part in the whole thing? Do I even matter? Is there some critical piece I'm missing?

Flann, kernel problems are pretty rare. There's a school of thought that believes our energy can disrupt office machines, electronics, etc. I used to be the person who always broke the copier, stapler, computer, etc - then I read this article about trying to overcome that dynamic by being more mindful of it. I know it sounds ridiculous but you might try just 30 seconds of trying to have calmer energy before touching your computer. Just sitting or even visualizing a good "interaction" with it.

[babysis]

Kernel panic is when the corn on the cob has been overcooked. And that's a real problem.

Flann, it takes incredible patience to even own an electronic device in my book. I hope your computer has a good sleep and wakes up happy.

As for leaving computers on or in sleep mode, I've never felt that luxury because we have lightning so often. And I have a surge protector and battery backup. Lost count of how many phones have been zapped, but my 1989 tv just won't die. Dammit.

[Flannista]

Thanks for your thoughts, West and babysis, but I just had another "kernel panic" when I sat down to look up a Lucille Clifton poem for treesta who is here watching football with us.

I don't know what to do.

Sigh.

[Chrysosistah]

treesta, had to say that's a GORGEOUS sunrise. Haven't even read the stream yet...Thanks for sharing.

[Chrysosistah]

First time I've ever heard of the "blue screen of death" for an Apple product. Flannista, sure hope you had a good afternoon watching football - I can't imagine the frustration factor. For me, I would be more worried about going in the wrong direction vs. in the right direction. Only the shadow knows....

Completely agree with babysis, nothing "sleeps" in this house - all turned off and unplugged, if possible. Lightning's nothing to mess with down here.

Who was playing today?

[babysis]

So sorry Flann. Hang in there.

Chryso, I will field your football question. The Houston Texans beat the Cincinnati Bengals and now the Detroit Lions are in the process of getting beat by the officials who work for the New Orleans Saints.

[Flannista]

Overnight, I archived and installed a new operating system and experienced another "kernel panic" when the computer restarted. I updated the software again and the computer started again without a kernel panic.

I plan to see what happens when it goes to sleep and I try to wake it up. I tried the calmer energy thing, Westsista -- as much as I could emanate at this point. Didn't help.

I probably will end up hauling this thing to the Apple Store, so this may be my last comment for a while.

[nowayasista]

An Apple product with a problem? Good lord you know that S. Jobs is no longer around. What is this I Mac World coming to?

Yours via very uncreative, unhip, black coffee, no latte, unPC, PC

[Westsista]

Don't try to emanate calmer energy - just take a few moments to calm down ahead of time. Don't visualize and imagine disaster. Try to make at least a little space for everything to work perfectly. You don't have to buy it, just hold the possibility it will be okay.

[Flannista]

Thanks, Westsista.

Here's the latest. I shut the whole thing down at 11:30 this morning (something that I hadn't done since this crisis began yesterday), went to the baptismal reception for the Onsie-palooza baby, came home, turned on the computer at 2:30 and did not get a "kernel panic". My thinking at this point is that when I replaced the batteries in the track pad 10 days ago, I replaced them with bad batteries. Right before I got a "kernel panic" the last 36 hours, I got a "connection lost" message about the track pad. I mentioned this to the Apple techs and they didn't think it was anything. My friend who reads up on Apple products just for the hell of it, opined this morning that it may have something to do with the track pad.

We'll see.

Both Matiss and treesta will attest that compared to past computer crises, I'm handling this one fairly well. I continue to thank Gwen for that.

[treesta]

And Flann, I'm handling the first playoff game today well, too. Of course, I'm a Redskin fan. I know how to handle losing. A lot of losing. A whole lot of losing. For many years. Many, many years.