Well, dear readers, it was a telephonic day yesterday. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it was a telephonic day yesterday. There are really no two ways around that – I spent way too much of yesterday on the telephonic device and by the end of it I had ceased being nice on the telephonic device. All of the telephonic conversations had to do with the printer not working and the Time Machine not backing up. These telephonic conversations began at nine o’clock in the morning and continued off and on until nine at night.
First I dealt with a woman at Apple who didn’t even know that Time Capsule was an Apple product. I thought that was rather inane but I explained the problem with the printer and the Time Machine – she was talking about me downloading drivers and stuff, so I asked her to put me on with someone who was a specialist with Time Capsule as a router because even to my untutored self it was obvious there was a problem with the network connection and not with drivers, as all that stuff had been carried over from the other computer. So, she got me to a guy who deals only with Time Capsule. We talked about the printer, he had me do a few things, then put me on hold. Instead of coming back on the line like a human being he simply transferred my call to Hewlitt-Packard. Can you believe it? I called right back and this time I really let them have it – the new Time Capsule expert was better. He finally got the Time Machine working – it had to be set up by hard-wire to do its first back-up, which I was told would take four hours or so, and that proved to be correct. Subsequent backups done hourly would only be backing up new work done, so those would go very quickly (they didn’t on my old Time Machine, but something was very screwy there). So, while it was doing the back up I went and had some matzo brei, did some banking, and picked up a package. When I got back home the back up was almost halfway done, so I just did some other work on the computer while it completed. Once completed, I disconnected the Ethernet cable and called Hewlitt-Packard to deal with the printer issue. They had me completely re-set everything and reconfigure and then it worked. After that, I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I watched yet another Maigret movie – and this one, like the one the day before, was one of the best. Great casting, good script, good direction, and Bruno Cremer’s wonderful and human portrayal of Inspector Maigret. I just love this series. After that, I went back to the computer and saw that it hadn’t performed its hourly backup – something about not finding the disc or something. I also went to print an e-mail and the printer was not working again. So, it was back to the telephonic device. This time I insisted that they get me a senior technician at Apple. They did, and he talked me through everything and finally the Time Machine was working properly and did its first small back up in about thirty seconds. Then it was back to Hewlitt-Packard, and once again we re-set and reconfigured and it worked again. Then I went to Gelson’s and got two chicken tenders and a cucumber roll, came back home, and sat on my couch like so much fish again.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Quatermass and the Pit. The film is a fan favorite and I like it, too, but don’t love it as much as I love the first two Quatermass films, The Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass II (Enemy From Space). Those are wonderfully directed by Val Guest and are in black-and-white. In fact, they’d be perfect if it were not for the blustery and overdone performance of Brian Donleavy as Quatermass – he’s just so wrong and he looks drunk and that sop to American audiences almost killed the films, but the plots of Nigel Kneale are so interesting and the production and other actors so good that one just has to look around Donleavy. Quatermass and the Pit has a much better Bernard Quatermass in Andrew Keir and it has an interesting plot, but it’s in color, which doesn’t help, and the production is somewhat plodding. Still it’s very enjoyable and the transfer on this region B release is quite pleasingly pleasing.
Then I went back to the computer to find that the Time Machine back ups were working perfectly but the printer was once again not working. Fortunately there was still someone at tech support at Hewlitt-Packard and we went through everything again, although he didn’t make me do the whole set-up thing again. He finally came to the conclusion that every time the Time Machine was doing a small back up it was physically dropping the printer from the network. He said there should be a way to exclude the printer from the back up and I actually found the way but couldn’t figure out how to get the printer in the list, so that will be yet another call to Apple this morning – the good news is that I have the senior tech’s direct line, so hopefully he’ll be there tomorrow. In the meantime, so I wouldn’t have to reconfigure the printer yet again, I shut off Time Machine until we get the printer excluded. And the printer has indeed been working ever since. And I’ve already left a message for the senior technician to call me as soon as he gets in, which, if I heard his outgoing message correctly, will be at nine in the morning.
So, way too much time on the telephonic device, but I’m really hopeful that when we exclude the printer from the backup that that will be the last of the printer and Time Machine problems. I suppose it really shouldn’t be that difficult and I’m not quite certain why it is. I certainly did not have this problem on the other computer and I don’t think the printer was excluded there, although I don’t know that for a fact.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m exhausted from all the conversations and need my beauty sleep.
Today, I shall hopefully be awakened by a call from the senior technician and hopefully we can get this final hiccup fixed so that I can just have fun on the computer. I do love the way this thing works – it’s so fast and so smooth and I now really love the track pad – so nice to not have to move a mouse around the table. I will definitely do the four-mile jog, I will hopefully pick up some packages, I will do some writing, a singer who was out of town will be picking up her sheet music, and I will eat something light but amusing and I will have NO dessert. I’m sure I’ve gained five pounds over the last few days, so I have to lose it.
Tomorrow will just be some writing, jogging, and relaxing and then I’m having dinner and delivering the old computer to the new owner and will help said owner set the thing up. Friday I’m not sure what’s happening but whatever it is I hope it’s light and breezy. Saturday evening is, of course, our Annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve partay and I do hope we have a lot of attendees for the haineshisway ball drop. Sunday is a brand new year, 2012, and I will be starting a brand new book.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully have an early telephonic call with the senior tech and get everything working as it should, do the four-mile jog, do some writing, hopefully pick up some packages, and then watch some more stuff. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall take no telephonic calls until I awaken.