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October 14, 2021:

THE SAGA CONTINUES

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, we are still in a state of high anxiety and needing those most excellent vibes and xylophones because yesterday brought no new information, at least no new information that would provide some comfort and less stress. The first thing was the Apple Store appointment. They give you an exact time, but that exact time came and went and fifteen minutes later, my tech showed up. He read the case notes, took he Time Machine backup drive and did a test, but he couldn’t get into it so doesn’t know what’s what. He did seem knowledgeable and he booted up in safe mode and saw that the only thing there was the test thing we’d set up for Big Sur. He did think it was a good sign that the system utility showed the 560 gigs of stuff on the computer (which is everything I had on it) and said the next step should be to keep my appointment with the Mac-authorized store for data recovery. If that’s successful, then they’d clean the computer and start from scratch, doing a fresh install. So, I lugged the computer back to the motor car and drove over to the store, just a few minutes away. I had an appointment at three, but got there at two-fifteen and they were able to see me right away. They, too, had seen the case notes, and felt hopeful that they could get the data. They asked if I had an empty back-up drive, which, of course, I don’t, so they sold me a 1TB drive and that’s what they’d transfer everything to. While the Apple Store did say they’d do the fresh install for me for nothing, this store charges ninety bucks for it, but I’m thinking I should let all this be done by one facility. When my senior tech calls at eleven-thirty, I’ll see what he thinks about it, and I am going to ask him to call the store and chat with them. He’s promised me some kind of something for all this trouble – perhaps a gift card for the Apple Store or something like that. So, this could end up costing me about five hundred bucks, which is a lot of dough at this particular time. The store did let me take home the Time Machine so I could use the router portion of it and if they need it they’ll let me know. I came home, dejected but still hopeful and trying to stay positive. I hooked up the Time Machine and it would not go to green. I unplugged it and plugged it in again – blinking amber. I unplugged the modem and plugged it in again. Blinking amber. I restarted the computer – blinking amber. So, that was truly annoying, like I needed MORE annoying things right now. So, I called Spectrum to see if they could do anything, but all they could say was that the modem was working and fine. I asked if I should just get a new router and she said that she would – it’s five bucks a month added onto the monthly charge, so that was fine. She said she could send to me but it would probably take five days. I told her I needed to be on the Internet NOW. She looked to see if there was a Spectrum store anywhere near and there was – in fact, I could walk there – it’s in the mall that’s just up the street. And they’d be open until eight.

That was good news. I didn’t have enough time to get there right then because I was meeting Robert Yacko at Vitello’s for our weekly meal. I went, I ate, we had good conversation and it was fun. I had the cacia e pepe or whatever it’s called and it was very good and not too much food. Then I drove straight to the mall, parked, and finally found the store, which was not inside the mall but off the parking lot. I got the new router and she suggested a new modem, too, since mine was pretty old – no cost. I came home and hooked it all up but couldn’t get online. I tried and tried but nothing. So, I called Spectrum again and he said the router hadn’t been activated properly, so he did that and reset the modem and still we could not get on. He exhausted everything on his end and said I should call Apple, which I did. The Apple guy couldn’t understand why I couldn’t connect and while we were going back and forth, the computer finally connected. The iPhone followed suit so I was finally online. Nothing, apparently, is easy during a Mercury in retrograde, which should, I think, be outlawed.

And now, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to some Faure piano music. I realized I could plug in the CD drive and my speakers and voila – music, and beautiful music it is – the pianist is the amazing composer, Jean-Michel Damase. Prior to that, I’d watched a motion picture entitled Search from 2018. It’s a thriller that all takes place on a computer screen, iPhone screens, and like that. It’s pretty clever and I enjoyed it. And over the last few nights, I’ve watched a few other movies after posting the notes, just to take my mind off all the insane insanity. Last night, it was the remake of Diabolique, a horrid thing in which the writer and director take a perfect movie and turn it into a hackneyed, inane, piece of junk. They ruin the surprise at the end, and the dialogue is just laughable. I did like Isabel Adjani, though.

I’d tell you all about yesterday but it appears as though I already have. The only missing information was how much sleep I got – seven hours.

Today, I’ll be up by eleven and then the senior tech will call and I’ll bring him up to date and see what he has to say. I don’t think I have much after that, and that will be nice. Of course, I’m praying for good news about the data recovery, so keep those most excellent vibes and xylophones coming, won’t you?

Tomorrow is a rehearsal with the singer and our young person who’s doing a duet with her at one point in the act, so that will be fun. Then comes the weekend and Sunday is the last of this awful Mercury in retrograde stuff and hopefully things will improve for all of us once we’re past that. I’m not sure what’s happening this weekend.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, have a chat with the senior tech, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and the I can watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are the worst remakes you’ve ever seen? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping and praying for some good news as the saga will hopefully come to some kind of happy conclusion.

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