I Appear To Have Done It! Cool!

Got tired of Ubuntu Studio not booting into the GUI (which I like)(the GUI. Not that it wouldn’t boot into it. Anyway …) So I backed all my “data” up and just wiped it all and started over again from scratch with Linux Mint KDE. Once I downloaded the NVidia video driver and got my monitors set it it seems to be working fine.

Now to reinstall everything! Spent most of yesterday just doing that and really only got half my Thunderbird/Mail accounts done. And VMWare. Which appears to be working since I’m in Windows 7 VM to do this. So that’s cool.

Had a bit of a problem with sound but that seems to have worked itself out. But it was so much fun watching a movie with no sound! Not! Now I have to figure out why playing a movie from our NAS (in another room) is jerky. I’d hate to have to run a coax across a couple of rooms. Again.

Starting to like the Konsole window too; but I’ve always been a command line kind of guy. When I want to be. Apt-get is a pretty cool way to install stuff IF you know what you’re looking for.

Change of subject: It is damned wet outside. Our annual “river” across the back yard has finally started and getting deeper by the hour. You can actually hear the rain running downhill to where it finally goes across our yard. It is really squishy out there!

Dropped my truck off at the dealer’s so they can install some new “injectors.” They gave me a rental car for the day. Personally I hope they get it repaired quickly since I have to pick SWMBO up at the Ferry Landing at 1945 tonight. Hope I didn’t buy a “lemon.”

Well, it rained all the way when I went to pick SWMBO up. That rental car sucks. Way too low to the ground. Puts one right in the focus of the oncoming headlights. Hard to see around the vehicle in front of one. Miss my truck!

Got The Raspberry Pi 2 Today

Took about 30 minutes to get it all set up, loaded, and up and running. I have a slow Internet connection so most of that time was spent downloading the system. But it installed and booted up right nicely.

So I installed the media center thingie and another version that just boots to a desktop GUI. The media center one (I just cannot remember the name of the program but it used to be called XBMC, I think) finds all my media drives no problem and the video output (through hdmi) is fairly decent. Problem is that then I can’t use the TV as a monitor while watching a movie. I don’t always want everything to play full screen.

The other flavor of linuxPi is okay if limited. It browses the Internet. It has a mail program that I haven’t tried; but, if it keeps mail on the “hard drive” then it really won’t be any  good. Haven’t checked to see what else is available for the Pi. Yet. (I’ve only had the thing 3 hours!)

UPS guy that delivered the Pi was asking me about CB radio’s and keeping in touch in this area. Possible but limited by the terrain. So I talked to him for a few minutes about maybe getting his Ham Radio license and a 2-meter radio and doing the same thing through local repeaters. I kind of doubt that he will, but you never know. I may have created another Ham.

Not much else going on. Had my Doctor’s appointment yesterday; everything’s where it should be and in fairly good working order for an Old Guy. They gave me a flue shot and pneunovax shot which made me feel pretty punkie later in the afternoon so I didn’t go to the Extra Class class. Still had a bit of upset stomach when I woke up this morning.

Made a run to ACE Hardware and bought 2 boxes of led bulbs. Buy to get one free so I went home with 6 bulbs total. Already used 4 of them in the kitchen and they do a pretty good job of lighting the place up. Will probably go get some more. Package says that 1 bulb, used 3 hours a day, costs $1.77/year to run. Not bad. They may be on longer than 3 hours during the winter, but, during summer they’ll probably not be turned on for weeks at a time.

I think, with the Pi, that I’m going to get a bigger SD card and see if I can get it set up for controlling my yeasu 857d and run a program like fldigi. And a logging program. If I get it all to working well maybe I can spread it around to other Hams.

Checked in to the 900 MHz Net just before the MCARC Wednesday 2-meter Chat Net. Both went well.

STILL Playing With A Linux Server!

Which, except for a run to the Post Office to send the Netflix off, and my usual chores, is about all I’ve done today. Well, did take 15 minutes and talk to NC7V down Vista, CA way on 20-meters around 1515.

Tried installing the latest Ubuntu Server but it kept erroring out unable to install Boxsomething. Even tried re-downloading the .iso (just in case) and using “Startup Disc Creator” to “burn” it to the usb drive again (just in case) and that didn’t work. After a couple of hours of trying to install it I gave up and started the download of the previous version. Both 32 & 64 bit versions Just In Case.

Excuse me. Had to go swipe a piece of SWMBO’s Cheesy-Bread.

Anywho, the earlier version (64-bit) is installing and has gotten farther than the first version I used. That’s good. Too bad it’s getting on towards this Old Guy’s bedtime.

Really not a whole lot going on today. Sprinkled some but I wasn’t out in it until the Dog and I went to pick SWMBO up at the bus stop this evening. Even then we took the truck so we weren’t actually out in the rain.

Tomorrow should be a bit busier since the Renter would like to make a dump run. Then SWMBO and I want to stop by Home Depot, COSTCO, and will probably eat at Qdoba’s before making our usual stop at Safeway. Think I’ll spend the $2 on a Powerball ticket this week.

What? Another Windows 7 VM?

Yep. Tried “authenticating” the first one I did and it wasn’t having none of it. Said I did a NEW install and I wasn’t authorized to do that. So I wound up “upgrading” one of my XP VM’s. What Fun! What Joy! What a pain in the ass!

But, I got it working and am re-installing the few programs I use in Windows that I haven’t found an equivalent for in Linux. Another joyful experience! It does seem to be working though; so that’s good. Now to copy a bunch of Data around.

Not much else going on. Nice day out. Laid out awhile. Put my 857d in the Caravan and hooked the Alpha Antenna to it and am letting it scan so I can hear if it receives anything while I was laying out. It does. I’ll probably try to contact my friend in Vista at 1515 or so just as a test. Would be nice if it worked that well!

Installed Google Earth in Linux and managed to pull all my data from the Windows installation. That’s good. I used Google Earth for a lot of things. (Including finding new repeaters wherever I go and feel the need.)

And that, again, is pretty much it. The MCARC 10-meter Tuesday Chat Net went well even with only 3 of us checking in. I did it from the Caravan and it wasn’t too bad. Lots of noise though. Ah well.

Fairly Normal, But Cooler, Sunday

(Managed to save this entry from before my VM went TU. Thought I’d post it anyway.)

Hey. Anyone reading my blog expecting lots of excitement, fun, thrills, chills, or profound thoughts, really is in the wrong place. My blog is about my daily, normal, unexciting (usually or something is seriously wrong), run-of-the-mill, fairly normal life. Mostly it’s just boring as Hell.

Not to say that I never have any excitement (being with SWMBO), fun (being with SWMBO), thrills (being with SWMBO), chills (emptying the Wasp catchers!), or profound thoughts (I’m married and have to get her approval before voicing them). I’m just not sure if y’all are ready for them.

Nope. Mostly this is for me; and anyone else that might be interested to see how an Average (Retired) American spends their day. Mostly it’s boring for anyone else. But that’s the way it is, pretty much. Once you get “older” American Society pretty much ignores you. After making sure that we’re “regular” and we have our “Depends” and our (increasingly short life) insurance is paid, no one pays any attention to us. (Until you die. And then it’s all “What’d he leave me?”)

Oh, sure, it’s nice being able to do what you want. If you can afford it. If you can physically do it. If your significant other gets off their high horse about “You fall off the fuckin’ roof (again) don’t come crying to me!” bullshit. And if there isn’t any local, state, or federal laws against it. (Which is highly unlikely.) Oh, and if something doesn’t need to be done around the house. Then I can do what I want.

But I guess us older folks just aren’t considered to be productive members of our society anymore. It kinda, sorta, doesn’t really matter that I worked my ass off between the ages of 10 and 55. All that is in the past. Doesn’t count. Forget that shit, old man.

Where was I going with this? I forgot. Another hazard of growing old. You forget things. But never the things you’d rather forget. Unless you get Alzheimer’s. Then you just forget everything. Just put me down if that happens to me.

Anyway, before I got seriously sidetracked, I was going to say that: it’s a pretty normal Sunday around here. SWMBO is off to church. I’m getting my usual chores, plus laundry, done and “playing” with this Linux installation. Everything seems to be working pretty good. Tried some of the programs I installed yesterday and have begun uninstalling those I didn’t really care for or won’t use. That’s fun.

Listening to some of the 2-meter repeaters yesterday, I heard some of the folks that were told to evacuate their houses because of that fire over in central WaRshington. Hope they’re all okay. I already dread the day that’ll happen to us. (Which it will. Eventually. One of the bad things about living on the edge of a forest.)

SWMBO made Ham slices, rice, and corn-on-the-cob for dinner. It was yummy!

Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn!

My Windows VM went TU, and stayed that way. VMWare itself will attempt to start any VM I click on, and die. I’ve uninstalled, reinstalled, DE installed, reinstalled, uninstalled again and killed everything that started with VMware, reinstalled and it still does the same thing. When I break it, it stays broken.

So, I think I’ll just do my posting and those other 2 programs on my laptop. It’s Windows 7, will stay Windows 7, and works.

It figures the VM would crash just after I wrote a really funny post to post tonight. And there’s no way I’d ever remember what the hell it was I wrote. So you get this. Short and to the point tonight.

Not much else going on. Sunday routine. SWMBO made some delicious Ham steaks, rice, and corn-on-the-cob for dinner. MCARC 2-meter Sunday Chat Net went well with 10 check-ins. Finally starting to cool off for the evening.

Think I’ll go do the last uninstall of VMWare, read my mail, and chill for the evening.

Well, Ain’t That Just Lovely!

Seems my bank doesn’t like Linux nor Firefox when run in Linux. Doesn’t like the Windows Firefox when run in a VM either. So, that means, if I want to do online banking, I have to boot back to my usual Windows. Ain’t that just peachy. When will the rest of the world catch up to the 22nd Century?

Note to all you Linux Program Developers from a relative Linux Newbie: Make your programs install with one double-click. I’m trying to install “Drivel”, which has to be done from the command prompt (which, if I weren’t already used to would, in itself, be intimidating) and get errors like:

) were not met:

No package 'glib-2.0' found
No package 'gmodule-2.0' found
No package 'gtk+-2.0' found
No package 'gconf-2.0' found
No package 'gnome-vfs-2.0' found
No package 'gtksourceview-2.0' found
No package 'libsoup-2.4' found
No package 'libxml-2.0' found

So, WTF do I do now? Sudo apt-get install that whole list? Why don’t y’all just make it download and install whatever it needs? Or include everything in one package? If I weren’t dedicated to switching to Linux something like this would make me consider staying with Windows. Until Linux (whatever distro) is more user friendly it’ll never become mainstream. (And I finally just gave up. Too many “can ‘t find” errors.)

Did manage to install Handbrake & MakeMKV in Linux so those I won’t have to install in the Windows VM. Now if I could just get WLW to work under Wine. Then I could pretty much get away from Windows completely. That would be nice.

Not much else going on around here. Regular Saturday routine. SWMBO is at the Genealogy Library until later this afternoon. Have no idea where (or even if) we’re going this evening for dinner. Just as long as I get to spend time with her I don’t really care where.

She called me up and had me meet her at Taco Bell in town. So I went (of course). It was nice being out with her. I let her go do the weekly shopping at Safeway by herself though. She usually saves a few bucks when I don’t go with her for some reason.

Looks like Summer is over too. Saw that the Salmon Counters had set up their station, complete with RV, and were open for business. Damn! That means we can expect cooler temperatures, cloudier days, and Fall to arrive shortly. We might have a couple of days in the upper 70’s, but don’t fool yourself into thinking this nice Wx we’ve been having is going to continue for very long. Thank You, Salmon Counters!

And that is really about it. Just installed a shit-load of stuff and I’m gonna go play for awhile.

Gonna have to reboot first …

Looks Like I’m Back! For Now …

And, man, what a struggle it was! Wound up reinstalling Ubuntu Studio 3 times before I could get it to work right. Biggest problem was it would boot to a blank screen. I could click on the screen and get a log-in box. Enter my password and go to a blank white screen. Reinstall again. Same Same. Finally found an entry online (on my laptop) to download and install the nVidia-430 video driver and that seems to have worked.

Of course, somehow in all that I lost a couple of directories; including that big, beautiful, Windows 7 VM I had set up. Damn. Damn. Damn! I’ve set up another but can’t get the thing to authenticate. Which means in less then a month it’s going to start bugging me to do that. Damn. But the new Windows 7 VM is looking good and about 1/3 the size of the other. Now if I can just keep the thing!

Not much else going on. Was a nice day. Almost 90 degrees here. Other than getting dressed to take my Renter to the Ferry Landing I didn’t wear anything all day. I like days like that.

MCARC 10-meter Chat Net went okay. I can really hear two of the guys on my big inverted-V antenna, and can almost hear two others on the new Alpha Antenna. That’s weird. (To me.) I live in a radio-weird place.

Soon as I close this VM I’m going to back it up to one of my other drives!!!!!!!!!!

If It Can Be Broken, I Will Break It!

Broke my Ubuntu Studio. Trying to fix it now. Will probably be offline a day or so. Or not. I just don’t know. Seems to be an invalid entry in the fstab file. Have been able to boot into recover/root mode but couldn’t remember how to edit that file. Looked it up and wrote it down!

Then there is still remembering how to edit a file in root mode at the command prompt. Haven’t used VI in ages! Hope there is an “Edit” I can use.

If nothing else I can always reinstall Ubuntu Studio without formatting the /Home directory. (But, oh shit, the rebuilding that would have to be done!!!)

Shrank the Windows 7 partition. Booted to Windows to check mail and look that stuff up. Did a bunch of checks and rebooted but came right up. So I know I can boot back into Windows 7 if I have to.

Shit.

Damn, I Can Be Stupid Sometimes!

And it’s my own damned fault. Seems I installed Windows 7 Basic, which I don’t have a key for, and it started asking me to validate. Well, of course the key I have (for Windows 7 Home) doesn’t work. So I tried “upgrading” to what I do have. Uh oh. Stopped half into installing and told me I couldn’t, then proceeded to wipe the boot sector of the VM. Damn! In the words of so many people I’ve helped working in computer repair these past 30 years or so: It don’t boot no more.

So I’ve had to make another Windows 7 VM (this time with the correct version) and reinstall everything. Everything. It’s still kind of wonky but getting there. Re-setting up programs can be a real pain when user names and passwords are involved! (And the video is still kinda weird.)

MCARC 2-meter Wednesday Evening Chat Net went well. Had to switch to the 857d and the directional yagi I built so they could hear me better. That’s part of the fun! I think I need to take apart the mic on the Icom-2000H and clean the contacts or buy a new one. Mic.

That’s pretty much it for tonight. Just not a lot happened today; unless you count reinstalling a Windows 7 VM as “happening.” It was a lot cooler today than it has been. Actually had to wear shorts and a t-shirt when I went to water the garden. Probably made the neighbors a bit happier.

Got Windows 7 In A VM. Finally!

And it appears to be working just fine. Reinstalling all the programs I “usually” use; and will use them until I find a Linux equivalent that works for me. Blogilo just ain’t gonna make it. I guess I’m too used to Windows Live Writer (since it does what I want it to do). Getting S10 Password Vault installed is sure going to save me some time and effort moving all my passwords over to Linux!

Not much else going on around here. About as SSDD a Sunday as you can get for the bucks you pays. SWMBO made corn on the cob & mashed and I BBQ’d the pork chops for dinner. It was all yummy!

Now we’re just sorta chilling.

I really like this Ubuntu Studio. When I’m in Thunderbird I sometimes have to remind myself that I’m not in Windows anymore. That’s cool! I haven’t really tried all the different Audio/Video programs, yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I like learning new things and trying out different programs.

I set Thunderbird up to where the Linux and Windows programs share the same files on my data drive. That way I can check mail in either and not have to copy/move things around. But, sometimes Linux Thunderbird loses everything and I have to access my data drive, then restart Thunderbird, to get everything back. Small problem that I’m sure is fixable. Maybe I ought to permanently mount the data drive? Hmmm… I wonder how one does that?

I set it up to where I have only 2 workspaces spread across 3 screens. That means I have six places I can put running programs. Weird. Fun, but you can forget where you put things. I just made this Windows 7 VM visible in all the Workspaces so I can’t lose it. Cool!

The video isn’t quite as good as it is on a straight Windows 7 OS though. VLC Media Player seems a bit more, uh, blocky is the only word that comes to mind. But a really up to date nVidia driver hasn’t been released for Linux though. One of these days … (When people get tired of Microsoft running their lives and most everyone switches over to Linux then you’ll see more programs and drivers released for Linux.)

Have to find out if X-Plane from “Steam” will download and work on Linux. I know MSFSX won’t; but it would be nice if X-Plane did. I do like my flight simulators. I don’t know what to do about OneDrive & Google Drive either. I don’t really have the room on this VM to store all those pictures. (Unless, when/if I actually format my real Windows 7 drive I could make one big damned VM out of it!)

So, right now I’m running Ubuntu Studio with a Windows 7 VM off to the right monitor and learning a lot of things. Fun!

MCARC 2-meter Sunday Evening Chat Net went well. Twelve check-ins tonight; and a couple of “new” guys. Cool!

давайте все раздеться!

Supposed to be another hot one today! Yay! I really wish there was a way to store up all this Solar Energy (the heat really) and use it during Winter. Then, on one of those particularly dreary, wet, cold winter days you could just pop the top on a can of Sunshine & Warm Wx and go for it. If someone would get off their ass and invent transparent aluminum dome’s would be a good thing too.

Windows 10 is rolling out today. I’m really up in the air about “upgrading” or not. I do not like giving MS as much control over my computer as they want with Windows 10. Read the EULA. Besides, mostly, Windows 7 is doing almost exactly what I want it to do. Still, if I could figure out how to get Linux to run all 3 of my monitors I’d switch over in a heart beat.

Having a bit of a problem with that. I’ve already broken Linux Mint 3 times trying to get it to drive all 3 monitors. Got it to put the exact same desktop on them once; then it crashed at the next reboot. And every reboot after that. But I’m still going to play with it. I figure I can always run any Windows program I think I really need in Play-On-Linux and WINE. Probably.

My thermometer says 100 right now. It feels like 100 out there. I like it! Been for several walks around the back 40. Been relaxing on the front steps between doing other things outside. Of course, the News folks are going bug-fuck crazy covering the heat. You’d think civilization as we know it is coming to an end. (Oh, wait. Already happened and Seattle leads the way!)

Made a run to the Naval Hospital and picked up my Meds refill. It was a nice drive actually. Turns out I worked the NavHosp Photo Lab (a damned long time ago) with the lady that was behind the glass at the pickup. Cool! No, I didn’t recognize her; she recognized me. Still cool.

Cloned my Windows partition just in case I decide to go with Windows 10. And if I decide I just don’t like it. And if I can’t get Linux (whatever version I finally wind up with) to work with my monitors. Clonezilla seems to work pretty good.

MCARC 2-meter Wednesday Evening Chat Net went well. The new antenna (I built) received just great. Clear as a bell, as they say. Man it was nice! BUT, they couldn’t hear me worth beans. Crap! So I switched back to the old antenna; and it worked great. I’ll tell you, there is just no telling when it comes to radio signals.

Anywho, that’s about it for tonight. Not a lot going on. SWMBO loved the chied fricken I made for dinner. I like it when she enjoys the meals I make. (They happen so rarely now-a-days!)

First Organizational Meeting Of S.P.A.H.

Sane People Against Hillary. Where I was elected President. And Secretary. And Treasurer. And Master-At-Arms. Then the meeting came to order. One member (me) accused another member (me) of being “sexist” for not supporting the dick-less Candidate for President of the United States. Whereupon the so accused member (me) called the accusing member (me) a “Libtard Piece Of Shit.” The President (me) called for order and had the Master-At-Arms (me) stand by to eject both if they didn’t settle down. Then the Treasurer (me) collected dues from each attending member. All told, meeting lasted about an hour. Secretary (me) didn’t do shit except take our money!

And so goes my day!

Yeah, it’s plenty sunny outside. Most of the time. Feels really cold to me though so I haven’t really been out much. Took some stuff to the Caravan and it started (lightly) hailing on me! Kind of windy off and on too.

So I’ve been getting things done inside. All the usual and still cataloguing the books. Kicking the Dog around (which he loves!). Slowly but slowly getting things straightened up after our long, cold, wet, otherwise boring winter stuck inside.

A Pollock patty & Bakes lightly sprinkled with Sea Salt and a bit of our Pepper Grinder Mix for dinner. (I think the English among us would call them baked chips.) Put on “For A Few Dollars More” and dinner is served!

For some reason, last night, while completely asleep, I disassembled my CPAP mask and tubing. Even disconnected the tubing from the machine. Woke up some unknown amount of time later, realized I wasn’t wearing the “face-hugger” and reassembled it and put it back on. I have absolutely no idea why I took it apart in the first place. I kinda sorta remember holding my hand over the end of the tubing cause it was making a hissing noise… No telling what my monitors at the MyAir site are going to think.

Finally got off my lazy and installed Linux Mint 17.1 dual boot. Darn thing didn’t give me a choice when it rebooted. Had to run “sudo update-grub” and that worked just fine. Now I have 15 seconds to choose which I want to run. Now I also have to find how to install the NVidia drivers so I can use all my monitors at the same time. I know: good luck with that one.

And that’s pretty much it for today. Think I’ll finish out “Them” and hit the rack.

Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.1

SWMBO’s Windows 8 laptop went TU (cooling fan quit working), so, she being unable to do without a computer for any length of time (Genealogy & I wouldn’t deprive anyone, especially her, a computer for any reason), I set up her OLD laptop (missing it’s screen so you have to attach an external monitor) with Linux Mint Cinnamon and put it on her desk ready to use. My Lovely Young Bride of almost 30 years, who is normally highly resistant to changes  in her computing experience, took to it like a Convert at a Baptism. Very few questions or complaints.

But, here’s the part that cracks me up: I replaced the fan in her new laptop almost 2 weeks ago and gave it back to her working fine, and she’s still using the Linux laptop. Go figure! One would think she would jump right back on the Windows 8 bandwagon and swap the laptops before one could blink, think, or pick one’s nose!

I think that says something good about Linux Mint: When someone that has always used Windows (and wants to sit down and do it without caring how it does it) can sit down at a Linux machine and continue doing whatever it is they’re used to doing, with few complaints or questions, that’s a good thing. But, it’s also a good thing that most of what she does is online. Also that what she does is mostly fairly simple stuff: E-mail, Google searches, Genealogy, a few games, and watch tv/movies from our NAS’.

 

Personally, I hope she finds Windows 8 rather limited when she finally does switch back. Wouldn’t mind getting our whole house Windows free.

Not much going on today. Reinstalled Streamwriter and am jamming out to ChillTrax while getting my usual chores done. Burned the trash. (Your Mother was a milk carton!) Trying to make an appointment at a camp ground in Eastern WaRshington for a weekend in April. (Which I did so we’re going camping!)

Wow. That was strange! 1) that I actually laid down and took an hour long nap, and 2) that I had a “follow-up” dream. Sort of a “re-dream” with changes if you will. Both of which I rarely do.

I’m sorry. I don’t think I can watch the “News” anymore. Especially the local News. All I’ve heard today is whine, whine, whine, me, me, me, they, they, they, and the infamous “It Could Have Been” (much worse, deadlier, etc.). Sick of it. I’ve never heard a bigger bunch of cry-babies in my life. And when I start making exaggerated sounds of commiseration it’s time to turn it off. So I did.

At least it ain’t raining. (Oh, wait. That’s supposed to happen later tonight. Nevermind!)

And that’s about it for tonight. SWMBO is home safe and I’m gonna go spend some time with her.

And It’s Starting To Rain Again.

Busy day for all it was Sunday. All my usual chores plus scanning SWMBO’s Genealogical Helpers, moving Computers around, and generally straightening up so her Visiting Teachers wouldn’t be too grossed out when visiting teaching her.

Finally swapped my radio desktop computer for the laptop. Once Windows downloaded and installed the driver for the new cable, the radio came right up. I’ve rebooted 5 times and it comes up every time. Cool! Then I had to import all the contacts I’ve made on the desktop to the database on the laptop. Not hard. Then I attached a monitor so I can put HRD up on one and work on the other. Cool Again.

All this while the sun has been peeking out at us and it got up to 66 degrees so I’ve also been going outside when the sun shines just to soak up a little bit more of that Vitamin D. I already miss summer!

Installed Ubuntu Media <something> as a virtual machine on “my: computer and have been playing with that. Haven’t been able to make it see my NAS’ or any of the network even though it connects to the Internet okay. But I’ve mostly just been starting different programs to see what they look like and do. I’m still going to switch to Linux when I find I can do everything in Linux as easily as I can in Windows 7.

SWMBO made dinner after her Visiting Teachers left. Spaghetti using some of the Thrive hamburger and other stuff. It was good.

And that’s about it. Been listening to the radio. Laptop is working great. MCARC 2-meter Chat Net in about an hour. Then I’m going to make myself some popcorn and watch the latest Doctor Who before bedtime.