I wrote in May about what happened prior to our trip to Japan in April and then just prior to our trip to Chicago to see our granddaughter graduate from high school.
Art lost one of his hearing aids at the airport after landing on our return trip from Japan. And then before our trip to Chicago, I went to the optometrist and ended up with a swollen eye. Then the lights kept flickering in the house. Then we discovered my computer died. It just wouldn't turn on. And then Art's computer died. Just died. And then, on the way home from our tai chi gathering, we stopped at Subway to pick up lunch and our van would not start up again until I threatened it that we would need to get a new van.
So OK.
My red eyes: It turned out my eyes were just bruised and soon was back to normal the following day.
The flickering lights: turned out to be a brown out. (I never knew there was a term for that.) Hawaiian Electric Company found a wiring had corroded under the sidewalk which caused the brown out and fixed it.
AI Explanation:
"A brownout is a reduction in the voltage of an electrical power supply, often caused by high demand or a temporary issue with the power grid. It's characterized by a drop in voltage, potentially causing lights to dim, appliances to flicker, and electronic devices to malfunction. Unlike a blackout, which is a complete loss of power, a brownout represents a partial power reduction."
Art's lost hearing aids: He bought a new pair of hearing aids from Costco.
The van that refused to start: We took it to our wonderful auto mechanic in Mililani (Kammie's Auto Service) and he fixed both our air conditioning and the bad starter. Our van is happy again now that I've stopped threatening it. It's 25 years old, so I guess it can be a little cranky.
My awesome brother came and took out the memories from our towers and labeled them carefully. We then brought them with us to Illinois and handed them all over to our Super Genius Computer Tech (son-in-law) Ed who took several days to transfer all our information from our old towers and configured EVERYTHING to work with the updated Windows 11 in the new computers. He made sure everything would work as they should.
I was a little worried since I was suddenly going from that big tower to this teeny tiny computer that's supposed to handle everything and hold all my gazillions of photos... and in a new operating system no less.
But it did.
It worked! Hurrah! Hurrah!!!
UPS? What the heck is UPS? 😳
I asked my techie son-in-law and Ed said yes, we should get a UPS and be sure to get one with AVR. AVR? 😲
OK. Here is what AI says:
A UPS for computers, or Uninterruptible Power Supply, is a device that provides backup power to your computer and other electronic devices in case of a power outage or voltage fluctuation. It acts as a bridge, ensuring your equipment continues to run or can be shut down safely during a power interruption.
An AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) for computers is a device that regulates voltage fluctuations, protecting electronic devices from damage caused by voltage spikes, drops, or surges. It ensures a stable power supply by maintaining a constant voltage output, even when the input voltage varies.
OK, so there it is. The UPS with AVR is taking the place of my old, bigger tower and everything of super importance is plugged in carefully. Annnd fingers crossed 🤞everything will continue to work properly should something else happen. My son-in-law also has me on some cloud saving thing too.
Whatever that is. 😉😱
And now…. If everything works as hoped, I’ve scheduled posts to go up on Monday to record our April and May travels.
And also….to add to our BUSY but happy schedules, our son and family are coming to stay with us on Monday for a month before their move to another country. 😅
Oh dear Kay and Art, so happy you are both well and that all things are going smoothly for you. Love to you and your family. x
ReplyDeleteWell, that was a lot! Brother and son-in-law to the rescue, with new technology to add to the magic that most of us don't understand. Trusty mechanic to renew your van. I chuckled because our van is 27 years old. It doesn't get much use now, but it sure is handy to have when we need it.
ReplyDeleteEyes OK, new hearing aids.
Sounds like you are good to go, staying home that is.
Enjoy your son's visit!
ReplyDeleteI am happy to see that you are back and nothing serious has happened other than you have solved a good handful of problems. I actually checked in earlier this week and saw your comments so I wasn't too worried at that point. I hope someday my kids will take over the setting up of computers. When I did our new computer last summer, I got my fill of doing that. It wasn't as fun as I remembered it.
ReplyDeleteWow! that's a lot of stress for one day. You had some good advisors. 25 years for a van? that's a good long line of success.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that's an end to your unpleasant surprises and you can enjoy your son's stay.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has had a UPS connected to his computer for ages. I guess it's important. I wonder if the brownouts contributed to your troubles. That was a lot to happen in a short time, and I'm glad it's all fixed now. What could possibly go wrong?
ReplyDeleteThe lost hearing aid would have been quite the expense. Hopefully, it was near the end of its life cycle anyway. I give them about 5 years.
ReplyDeleteGoodness! That's a lot of things fixed. I also get nervous when we have to do something with my PC. How nice for your son's family to come for a month! I had a jeweler make a little 1 1/2" chain with a round or lobster-claw clasp on each end. I can hook one to the top of my hearing aid on the ear hook, with a rubber grommet and one to my eyeglases temple piece. (This is good if Art's aides are over-the-ear type.) I've had to make sure my glasses had thin enough temple pieces to do this. That way I don't accidently knock off the aid and lose them. Mostly helped when around rowdy patients. If I want to take my glasses off though, I have to remember the aid is attached and remove it first. Have fun! (GrandSON coming end of September. Eric's building the baby bed; Art would be proud. My shoulder PT even has me practicing with a fake baby.) Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThe AVR thing has been in place here for decades. We had them at school where I taught, also. Our power supply has been dependable so no UPS, but that could change, of course. As for Cloud Storage, yes I've paid for that for over a decade. Maybe two decades now the I stop to think about it. The years are passing so quickly. I have now been retired for 15 years and just finished 11 years reading to first graders, and yet it seems as though it was only a couple of years. We've realized that we probably have 5 years with our grandkids as kids before they go away to college and become full-fledged adults. Our trip to Oregon was a joy and yet a bit bittersweet as we know it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. None of us will be the same age again.
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for our kids who understand all this stuff about computers. I did know about electrical spasms killing computers and tvs. Makes me think I should do something about that before Hurricane season hits here.
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with the UPS or the AVR... but will check with our grandson who generally knows these things. As for the hearing aid loss, I haven't lost one yet... but did have one fall out in the parking lot when I removed my mask. Now I know not to remove my mask or glasses when wearing my hearing aid unless I'm in the car or home. And another thing I noticed: when you wear glasses. a mask, and hearing aids (all behind your ears) it pushes your ears out and you have what DH calls 'elf-ish' ears! BTW, how do your eyes get bruised?
ReplyDeleteKay of Musings: It was a machine they were using to photograph the inside of my eyes or something like that. I can’t quite remember it for sure. Anyway, you had to push your eye against the lens pretty hard and it must have bruised the area around it.
DeleteI'm so glad that it all worked out and that solutions were found for the issues. However, having a list of problems happening at once is SO stressful. I have my computer on a surge protector but I've never heard of a UPS. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteThat is an awful lot of problems all at once, but it sounds like you've got some clever friends and families. One by one, you have the problems solved, and now you have your son and his family coming. Hooray!!! Enjoy the time with your grands!
ReplyDeleteI think I'm on that cloud saving thing too but I have no idea how to make it work!
ReplyDeleteA whole month with Keola and family! Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteWow you sure had things going on. I transfered from a tower long ago and just love having a laptop. It doesn't take up much space and I can take it in other rooms too. For back up I simply transfer to a San Disk and away I go.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to have someone techy in the family.
Glad it all worked out. Enjoy, enjoy your month of family!
ReplyDeleteWhat a time you had!
ReplyDelete