Here we go, 2021

At my house … I am thrilled to have the initial political transition behind us. I am disappointed in some initial reactions from the GOP taking their grievances to the media vs a civil discourse with the President or whomever. I so wish, we could put the past modus operandi behind us and move forward in a better way. Maybe things will smooth out.

On a more fun note, the Vendee Globe 2020 sailing race is approximately 5 days from the front of the fleet crossing the finish line. AND, in an unprecedented scenario, there are 7-10 boats that are within spitting distance of each other so it will be “down to the wire” for the finish.

AND, the end of the fleet is due to round Cape Horn Saturday-Sunday-early Monday, i.e. before the front finishes. This, is also unprecedented as typically the fleet is stretched further apart.

It is Friday, early afternoon as I am writing this. My most favorite weekly recap is probably available on YouTube, but I will wait until I finish my work day and enjoy the recap … with a glass of wine :) …

But, NOT at the computer, because YIKES!!! Just before New Year’s, I was watching a recap (the recaps are really extraordinary in their story telling), on my computer, with a glass of red wine at my elbow. I spilled. The laptop drank. Disaster.

Short story is that I took the laptop to a local shop. Meanwhile, I set up my backup laptop. My most crucial data is backed up to cloud servers, so except for the start and wait and watch of downloading software and data, it was not an issue of losing work or personal data.

Mostly.

There were a few files not in the cloud that I would have liked to recover. And if the laptop could be cleaned and operational – YEA! The primary issue was that the laptop would not recognize the power supply and so the battery would not charge and ultimately, it was not able to start. But, I knew all but the power supply port was operational.

Skipping the issues with the shop, I ended up with the laptop in pieces.

The Solid State Drive (hard drive) is actually a small circuit board kind of thing. I bought a case for it that included a USB cord.

Bottom is the SSD drive. I should have put my finger along side for size reference. It is about 3/4 inch by 2 1/4 inch. The middle portion is the guts of the case and the top is what the middle portion slides into.

The top bit (angled up) is the SSD “underside” with all of the pertinent info about it’s type. FWIW, in real life, I needed a magnifying glass to read the print and so find the correct case. This after I ordered an incorrect adapter :(

Put it together…

And now we have a little (1 terabyte) external SSD drive.

I was able to access all I wanted and actually see all of the contents of my Dell SSD drive. HOO-RAH!!

I learned a LOT! I had no idea that the SSD was an itty-bitty “card” thing. I had no idea that there were “cases” for those card things.

The rest of the laptop ??? I don’t know. The laptop is old enough that it is not worth much so I am not inclined to try to put it together. I may offer it to a neighbor or co-worker if any would like to try. Meanwhile, my backup is working very well and I have the “external” thing in case there is anything I’m missing and ultimately, I am in a better position for work than I had been … my backup laptop is actually better/faster than the Dell, so …

On the Auggie and Emmett scene:

Normal life!!!

Auggie went to the vet for a routine vaccination. This is on his return.

Emmett: Are you OK????

It was pretty funny. Auggie wanted out, but Emmett had his head in the carrier, checking Auggie. Emmett is the ultimate Mr. Nurse!!!

Auggie: I am fine!!!