Recipe reverie, blogger acts out

Yesterday's all day snow coating more with continuous whiteness added another  four inches to what has been steadily accumulating this winter.  It  must have affected this blogspot where  I thought I posted this and  yet today I see it had been reverted to a draft...daft why? Blame it on the winter weather.   So here another attempt to publish, winter is getting the best of us and the cyber waves.  

All the descriptive adjectives--pretty, sparkling, fluffy have been exhausted this winter, enough already.  I feel like we are living in a shake 'em up snow globe, no sooner does it settle than Mama Nature sends another blast our way.   I am tired of white and annoyed when it sidelines my plans as it did, confining me to home and hearth.  I did not venture out to drive in the winds with limited visibility nor was I tempted as there were reports of the potential to slide along the roads if the plows had not already been through.. 

 It was a day to stay home and a good day to cook. It has been quite some time since I stuffed and roasted a chicken because for the two of us, it's preferable to stick with chicken parts, breasts or thighs and occasional drumsticks although wings are a great snack.  However the market had these chickens on sale, very cheap and with my purchase of two bottles of wine I got $2 off any poultry, bringing the cost to $1.  So I picked up a whole chicken Friday intending to do something with it over the weekend.  Those intentions did not materialize but Monday's snow day  was an opportune time to stuff and roast this bird.  Jerry is not a fan of what he refers to as "sea gull" although he grudgingly eats the day's menu; I am a big fan of chicken, amd roasting filled the house with wonderful scents.  

My bargain chicken stuffed and ready to roast

As I prepared  thestuffing with lots of sage, big bread hunks, broth, butter, sauteed onions and celery I thought about my maternal grandmother Rose, my Polish Baba, with whom I spent a lot of time and stayed most weekends.    I have written about her  many times on this blog. Roast chicken was one of her special favorite Sunday afternoon meals, with all the fixings after we went to morning mass.  She had none of the kitchen conveniences like deep freezers nor microwaves and she did insist on fresh chickens; she did not want those from the  grocery market that would have been sitting for "you don't know how long."  No,  Rose insisted chickens must they be just bled, fresh; , to her that was the only way to ensure a tasty chicken, kill , drain and cook.  They lived in town so while she did not raise her own chickens, she did walk to the local  butcher for a fresh just killed bird on Saturdays.  It was Sarniac's, the  Polish butcher shop where  my grandpap hung out, helped make Polish sausage and played cards and they knew to have a fresh chicken ready for Rose. Sometimes it would still have it's feet attached but she would tell them to leave the feet, which she would remove at home, herself. 

Baba, my grandma Rose about mid 1940"s

Once she brought it home, the ordeal of cleaning it meticulously began, I cannot remember how many times she rinsed and rinsed that chicken and then soaked it in a brine though it seems that hours and hours were involved. I once remarked in childlike wonder that it was clean already to which she said, "oh no Patty, we don't want any dirt or feathers.  Chickens are dirty and you don't want to eat anything like that."  Finally by late Saturday afternoon, she had her fresh chicken ready for  Sunday roasting.  Her oven had no timer so that bird did not get into the oven to begin until after we returned from church and then she would carefully watch and baste it from time to time.  I wish I had a picture of those feasts, they were a meal which she served with pride and a smile.  So today stuffing and roasting a cheap chicken brought the reverie of childhood.  And I thought of how I will not buy  frozen chicken parts in mass bags, and certainly not  those that are processed in Asia.  My chicken choice is fresh, locally Amish grown and processed....I am Rose's grand daughter after all.  It's my legacy, You don't want a chicken that's been sitting around for you don't know how long."  Recipes can stir up our memories..    

Busy streets and empty stages Sepia Saturday 215

This week prompted  busy streets, traffic or where the mind wandered and for me, that will always be as far away as can be from the congestion and bustle of a metro area. While browsing our photos,  I found plenty of wide open roads, but few of traffic which I have long detested having spent too many years on the congestion of California freeways. I was able to find some with many cars parked though and then, well you see, I took a turn to a side path. 

In 1986 we drove cross country from California where we lived back to visit family in Minnesota and  Pennsylvania from where we swung south on our way back west and stopped in Nashville, Tennessee.   Here in September 1986 is the former home to the Grand Ole Opry, the original Ryman Auditorium.  It first opened in 1892,  a vision of Captain Thomas G Ryman.  With the start of the Grand Ole Opry show in 1943 the Ryman became the Mother Church of Country Music.  In my photo below  a man  by the fence about middle of photo is taking a picture of the iconic  Ryman as we did.  There is a crane on the other side but this is well before renovations were considered. 

September 1986 The old Ryman Auditorium

September 1986 back side alley and a truck load of trash?
All the space was taken up by these vehicles leaving no room to drive past.

It was congested and Nashville was growing but we were able to walk around and take in the sights, some as this alley near the Ryman are not all that scenic but reflect activity in the big cities.   I wonder why we took this photo and even  more why I've kept it. 

 In 1974, the Opry moved to its magnificent current home by the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center and left the Ryman vacant.  Attempting to maintain continuity with the Opry's storied past, a large circle was cut from the floor of the Ryman stage and inlaid into the center of the new Opry stage.  The Ryman then sat mostly vacant and fell into disrepair until 1992 when Emmylou Harris and her band, the Nash Ramblers, performed concerts there and renewed interest in restoring the Ryman.   Renovations had been proposed  as  far back as 1920 when a New York promoter considered placing the Ryman on a southern theater circuit however the  Ryman facilities were considered rustic at best with the 1892 structure remaining intact .It lacked proper dressing rooms and other backstage amenities.  The confederate style gallery wrapped around the stage to the back wall limiting available space for dressing rooms so sections of the balcony were replaced with a  4 story bldg. erected on each side for dressing rooms, an elevator and office and catering room.  The full interior renovation began in 1993 and by 1994 the Ryman was restored at a total cost of upwards from $8.5 million to the national showplace that it is today.

In January 2012, it was announced that the Ryman's 61 year old stage installed in 1951 and lasting far longer than expectations  would be replaced.  The stage will be replaced with a medium-brown Brazilian teak that will be extremely durable and also camera-friendly, an important aspect that is often overlooked. It will retain a 36-inch lip of the blonde oak at the front of the stage, similar to the way the Ryman stage was commemorated in a circle of wood at the new Opry House. Beneath the stage, the original hickory support beams will be kept and reinforced with concrete foundations, crossbeams and joist work that will help triple the stage's load capacity.  

This next 1986 photo shows me on stage at the Ryman.  Now you know why I included so much information about that stage.  I jumped up there and had Jerry take my photo while our tour guide prodded me on. We were on a private tour so there were no other observers to shock.  I can now say I was on stage at the Ryman.  I have learned researching for this post that today   tours offer the opportunity for one to ascend the Ryman stage and have a souvenir photo taken, for a fee of course.  I was ahead of the curve back in 1986. 

Pat onstage at the Ryman Auditorium 1986

this has been my Sepia Saturday post.  To enjoy what others share today go to the Sepia site and visit the others.http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/02/sepia-saturday-215-15-february-2014.html

Arctic Zumba activity

I have neglected blogging because of lack of time which is consumed by other competing activities, a significant one of which is  my physical activities at the Y across the river in La Crosse.  For several years here I considered joining the Y but thought I might not be inspired to drive there; I was wrong. Ever since mid September last fall when I gained Y membership with my enrollment in the  Diabetes Prevention Program, I have a new outlet.  Just about every day, 5 days a week, sometimes 6 I drive to the Y for physical activity, elliptical machine, body toning, swimming, yoga or my very favorite the Zumba classes. A part of my fitness program was to ensure 30 minutes dedicated physical activity per day, easy enough for me because my walks outside and around town  in the good weather were always an hour, sometimes longer, in retirement  I am blessed to have the time to spend as I wish. And well, you know me if a little is good, more is better. 

But now most mornings are consumed  with me across the river at the Y which takes up the full morning from 9:30 when I leave till about 11:30 or noon when I return home to clean up for the day.   Often I'm in Zumba which lasts for 50 minutes in the  fitness studio.  Zumba is an aerobic cardio dance exercise with a Latin twist, although our classes feature a variety of music most of it is Latin style or depending on the instructor hip hop.  Me at 69 hip hopping, oh yeah. Who'd have imagined? I have long been a fan of aerobic dance, starting long ago in CA with that old Jazzercise which we did way back then (70's) in bare feet.  I remember when we began to wear shoes and all thought it would never work.  Today I cannot imagine the bare feet and absolutely prefer shoes for support.  

My affinity for dance as exercise had me completing a certification and instructing aerobic dance for fitness  for a short time in CA until I began to drive myself crazy with my obsession to constantly change the routines and music.  Did I mention I can get bored with rote  routine?  I had a full time professional career at the same time so 24 hour days did not offer enough time for my continuous choreography.    I love most any dance so I thought any exercise centered on this would be great for me.  

Zumba is a highly aerobic dance fitness program done correctly but similar to most activities can be adjusted to one's abilities. It uses squats, lunges in the routines and even some martial arts moves.   It is credited originally to Alberto Perez, a Columbian dancer and choreographer in the 1990's who one day forgot his "tape" of aerobic music for a class he was teaching.  He improvised  with Latin music, salsa and merengue and after astonishing success in 2001 he moved to the US  where he  teamed with Alberto Perlman and Alberto Aghion to produce a demo "reel."  (Note how far we have come from tapes and reels, just had to say.)  The dance was licensed by Fitness Quest in a direct marketing campaign and home videos.  Gee they could have been Los Tres Albertos.  My research shows that over 14 million people in over 150 countries take weekly Zumba classes.   I take a Zumba class about 3 or 4  times a week. 

It has been a fantastic way for me to stay fit.  Besides physical fitness it is great for the mind to learn the new routines; our Y instructors offer a variety but most sessions find me with Wanda who mixes it up and adds new routines all he time.  While my favorites are the dances to the 50's and 60's songs, I have acquired some new hip hop favorites.  Like this one to Love Me Right by the Swag Geeks and Brook Penning 
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcpekRRDs_c

Here is the routine we do choreographed by Lauren Fitz, by the way no one in our class wears a hat.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWfQU-9atYs

How would I ever have heard of them or this music if I'd not been in Zumba at the Y.  I have written before, constant learning, it's the only way to be.

I works up a healthy sweat.  All ages participate although there are many of us retirees in Wanda's classes which are less impact than others, but not for those who cannot move.  It's a very welcome wintertime activity for me and energizes while building my core muscular fitness and aerobic capacity.  The Zumba toning class once a week is another stretch always  leaving my arms and shoulders exhausted from the mere 3 pound weights we use for 30 minutes.  I have made progress  because the first class in toning I could not use the 1 pound weights for the entire time, now 3 are my comfort zone.  Wonder if I will get to five with Zumba toning?

Sepia Saturday 213 Traveling bags, packed and ready to go

Intrigued by the image, I was certain of what to share this week;  somewhere here carefully placed where I did not look, we have a  vintage straw rattan type small suitcase that could match the prompt.  It belonged to my late Uncle Carl and accompanied him on many auto trips, on the back seat handy to access and packed with snacks, treats, flashlights, compass and a small portable radio and other miscellany.  Whether he went for the day or weeks the rattan case went along making a target for comments from his wife and sisters. He laughed that he did it because it gave the "women something to talk about." 

3 vintage 1940's era suitcases which today hold old
photos and memorabilia

We have a collection of suitcases from vintage to today's lightweights, including most of my 1962 white leather Samsonite set which I received upon high school graduation.  Most are used today for storage, especially those vintage ones from my family that today hold photos and memorabilia...if those bags could talk, what tales they could tell, they are truly Sepians and have traveled miles and miles  around this country and Canada.  

 But since I did not find what I intended I became nostalgic (distracted) looking over a 1990 album with photos from one of our Caribbean cruises.  Here in the cold arctic winter with far excessive  sub zero temperatures, looking through photos of warm seas and warmer climates was a good indoor activity.  

Here we are, dragging some bags  in San Juan Puerto Rico, October of 1990 about to board our ship for the Caribbean cruise marking our 23rd anniversary.  I had written alongside this photo that with connecting flights from California when this photo was taken I had been awake for 27 continuous hours while Jerry had no problem sleeping on the planes or while we were waiting for the connections.  

 

or in sepias

Our ship Carnival Lines, Festivale

  It was a typical touristy vacation cruise  with multiple routine island stops, St Thomas, St Maarten, Barbados, Aruba along the way.  Today I am not interested in that type of itinerary, nor commercial activity, with crowds all around but 23+years later, I  prefer something a bit more relaxing, sedate,  more Sepian if you will.    But  that was then when I was far more attracted to tourism and shopping which was the first thing I did when we disembarked in St Thomas. 

I noted that this stroller on the main street of St Thomas was
singing a tune and in a happy mood. I loved her and still smille
recalling her joi d'vivre

It didn't take me but a minute or two to lose Jerry who figured
I would be checking out the jewelry counters in one of the many
stores along that street.  Here he is looking for me

He caught me in the act.  I had found just the "perfect" blue topaz
ring set in gold at Sensations Jewelers.  I was sure the price was a great bargain.
"I"ll take it " said I as he caught up.  

I have that ring today and still admire the blue topaz stones.  There you are, first few photos  from that voyage.    

"Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go.  But no matter the road is life."        Jack Kerouac

For other Sepian takes on the prompt go to the website and tour along 
http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/01/sepia-saturday-213-1-february-2014.html

Keep learning it's the only way to live

“Anything that you learn becomes your wealth, a wealth that cannot be taken away from you; whether you learn it in a building called school or in the school of life. To learn something new is a timeless pleasure and a valuable treasure. And not all things that you learn are taught to you, but many things that you learn you realize you have taught yourself.” ― C. JoyBell C.

Adam set up the new PC and tuned the laptop while data
transfer was underway

After pondering it took only a quick browse at Best Buy last Thursday to find just the laptop PC I wanted to replace the older one.  A new HP Envy Touchscreen, 23 inch with Windows 8 and more bells and whistles than I need but certainly a techie dream and a means to keep me busy in place when the snow blows outside as it is doing today.  We have had good luck with our Hewlett Packard computers so we stuck with that brand.

I have heard so many complaints about Windows 8 but when I saw and tried the Envy I could not fathom why.  The geeks tell me it is because people try to run windows 8 on older PC's, models without  all the smart touch technology. That sounds odd to me because most reputable places will advise consumers that software is not going to work well with this or that.  Still, I know people tend to ignore expert advise and tinker and likely make more problems for themselves.   I will take them at their word.  

Although I am fascinated and learning more every day, I have not had a bit of trouble.  I attribute that to my frustration a couple years back when I converted from my Blackberry phone to the Samsung smart and the Samsung tablet.  Back then I used every word and then some aabout the tablet especially.  But it was a learning curve and now today I am better off for it.  Once again one of my grandma's old sayings, "whenever you struggle remember you are learning and good will come of it if you just keep on at it."  Perseverance and victory.  

When Adam left Saturday after the installation and fine tuning, he reminded me that the Envy would be doing multiple updates and not to be surprised if it restarted itself many times,  He was so right, it is just like a new baby learning to walk,,,updates and then some.  If the updates are not from HP they are from Microsoft or Trend.  But we are humming along.  For a time I will keep the old PC here because it is just like anything else, the minute you get rid of something you need it.  All files appear to have been transferred, but just in case.  However, it's a relief to know ultimately it will go to Best Buy where they will recycle it, free. 

Meantime this is how the weather looks outside yet again today as another Canadian clipper sweeps low.  But with the new Envy and the new to me software, Adobe photo shop, that came along with I am engrossed and more than entertained.   I have always believed once people stop learning they are doomed, some wait and claim to be too old and sure enough they aged poorly but many quit learning as young adults thinking they are now out of school, etc.  

“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
― T.H. White, The Once and Future King 

212 Sepia Saturday Snow shoes and snow, yes!

Serendipity thrives betwixt  me and Sepia. Last weekend I had my first experience whilst spending this winter here in the Minnesota arctic north, I snow shoed.  I  have been curious about snow shoes ever since we moved here and well what better time than now to try it our while we are in the midst of polar clippers, non stop frigidity and  some sunshine on diamonds in the snow. Fresh powder snow doesn’t just look beautiful, it also swallows noise, making everything impossibly silent. But walking through deep snow is so strenuous that it’s nearly impossible to enjoy this simple pleasure — unless you strap on a pair of snowshoes.  Now  for the Sepianness, I found lots of information about snow shoes, that I never knew.  For example, did you know they were likely invented in northern Asia perhaps 6,000 years ago and then brought across what was at the time the Bering land bridge between Siberia and Alaska by the native Inuits and Native Americans when they migrated.  Because the materials don't last that long, there is no archaeological evidence. An interesting website is:  http://kaufmann-mercantile.com/wooden-snowshoes/  

Add caption

While these are not  Sepian photos by age but are current, taken right here in La Crescent, MN on January 18 and 19,  2014, this is me on my first snow shoe attempts.  I learned that it is easier on top of icy or packed snow, which provides a base for he shoes to glide, so it was far easier in the woods behind our home.  I shared more photos of my expedition on Facebook.  Here I am  strolling along the side of our home, as I came up the hill.  This year I believe I am wearing out my parka it has been arctic frigid and we have not been able to snowbird south as weather is not giving a break now. 

Me in the front of the house atop the mounds and hills of snow

On our visit to the Anchorage Alaska museum in August where we spent merely half a day and could have spent much more time  had massive  exhibits of the old wooden snow shoes used by the Natives. When I read that the Inuit and Athabascans, Algonquin, Attikamek, Cree, Naskapi, Labrador and Iroquois mastered the development of snowshoe making using various wooden weaving, I reflected on today's  snowshoes of different materials.   

Wooden and woven Native American snowshoe

Although snowshoes were also used in Europe, mainly in the Alps and Scandinavia, their development was not as sophisticated as of those across the Atlantic. In Europe there was a stronger focus on the development of skis to facilitate walking and traveling through deep snow. The snowshoe, in its advanced form, was introduced in Europe only when the first settlers brought them back from North America around 1600.  

My  snow shoes which I rented for the weekend were made of sturdy but very light weight aluminum with web fasteners and grippers  on the bottom. 

Sideways shot of my foot in the snowshoe

 It is almost easier, I believe,  to cross country ski to glide quickly so I can understand why skis were used in Europe and other parts of the world. Snow shoes require a lifitng of the feet and perhaps it is a bit more tiring.   Yet snow shoes played an integral part of the settling of the United States and were extensively used by the trappers and fur traders in these northern states.   Settlers usually bought their snowshoes from the Native Americans. Ironically, that a Native American invention helped European settlers spread across this continent.

Uncle Carl and horse drawn sleigh

To keep the Sepia theme, I share photos from the late 1930's in Pennsylvania and while not of snowshoes, they reflect winter and the one horse open sleigh.  These are of my late Uncle Carl and an unidentified man who were sleighing to get around and it looks as though they had at least one stop for adjustment to the horse or harness.   

Something needed fixed and it looks like
the horse stood for the repair

 

Was it really such fun to ride in a one horse open sleigh?

This  is my contribution to this week's theme.  To see what others in the international realm have contributed, go to the site at this link  http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/01/sepia-saturday-212-25-january-2014.html

Sepia Saturday 211 World War I Unknown Soldier in my family

Sepia Serendipity is fully functioning this week; I was  puzzling once again over the photo of the unidentified young man in WWI  attire and what is the prompt for the week but World War I, the Great War as it was called then and now.  I believe I have shared my strange soldier before here but do so again along with the post card in the same album.  

The postcard features doughboys singing "Over There." A historical film clip on  YouTube  shows the US war declaration as Bill Murray, scratchy sound sings Over There. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbggEGUaE28

On the morning of April 6, 1917, newspaper headlines across America announced  that the United States had declared war on Germany after years of attempted neutrality. While most people who read the newspaper headlines that morning tried to comprehend how their lives were going to change, one man started humming. That may seem like an odd reaction to most people, but not for George M. Cohan, actor, singer, dancer, songwriter, playwright, and Broadway producer who had composed hundreds of songs, famous songs as “You're a Grand Old Flag,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” and “I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy.” So it is not completely surprising that Cohan's reaction to the morning headlines was to hum. By the time Cohan arrived at work that morning, he already had the verses, chorus, tune, and title of  "Over There." It  was an instant success, selling over two million copies by the end of the war. Perhaps the most popular version of "Over There" was sung by Nora Bayes, but Enrico Caruso and Billy Murray also sang renditions.

The song is about the "Yanks" (i.e. Americans) going "over there" (i.e. across the Atlantic) to help fight the "Huns" (i.e. the Germans) during World War I. In 1936, Cohan was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for writing the song. 

 The chorus lyrics:

Over there, over there

Send the word, send the word over there

That the Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming

The drums are rum-tumming everywhere

So prepare, say a prayer

Send the word, send the word to beware

We'll be over there, we're coming over

And we won't come back till it's over over there.

Over there.

The mysterious soldier is a full Sepia with only 1919 written on the back.  I have wondered about him ever since I found this wonderful album kept by my grandmother and late aunt.  Many photos lack names; they never thought so many years down the road I would be pondering.  Because he is in the section of photos of my late 2nd cousin and  my Grandma Rose's niece Annie Ostroski Kaluzny Gorlewski. I strongly suspect he may be Annie's first husband, Frank Kaluzny.  I found Frank's WWI Draft enlistment on Ancestry.com dated  June 15, 1917.  It was interesting that the handwriting on that card noted his citizenship "by virtue of father's papers."  Frank was born in Austria Poland) in 1887 and immigrated to this country with his parents. He died in 1927 in a Base Hospital and his grave marker identifies him as Private, U S Army.  He and Annie married August 1919 and had two sons Raymond and Frank. Annie who was my grandmother's favorite niece  said she had been a widow before she married her 2nd husband.  So salute to this man and the many millions of others who served in that War that was to end all wars.  Would that it had.  

This is my Sepia post for the week.  Visit the site to see what else is on about history and the Great War and other posts this time.   I hope this link works, strange Blogger again

http://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2014/01/sepia-saturday-211-18-january-2014.html

Electronic vibes and white air blips

Yesterday this old desktop, HP PC gave me a plateful of fits seasoned with the "shoulda's" and basted in "been meaning to's".   Saturday was the last I'd used it  and all was as well as it can be.  For one the Internet Explorer has long been non-interfaceable (recognizable, acceptable) with Google which is how I access my gmail and this blog and it is impossible on Facebook where I try to keep up with folks around the world.  Well not to be stopped, I switched primarily to Chrome and all was well.   
Yes,  I have been talking about replacing this HP since fall, truthfully for a year or so, how time flies.  Well then again, it could wait until after we return, supposing we get southbound soon, maybe this summer. I come from a family of people who used things up, fixed them to last and am happily married to a fixer upper all around handy person.  So just because it's older, why can't it last?  But oh no, electronic consumerism imps  and ever changing Microsoft  discourage longevity--buy new, upgrade, replace...that's the melange of these times.  

We have a lap top and Samsung tablet and smart phone but this old desk top is where I  do most of my blogging, photo work and is the keeper of data on Quicken.  It's 8 years old, well past it's prime and despite upgrades and now plenty of excess memory, even my buddies at the Geek Squad have cautioned, "It's Window's XP and there's only so much that can be done."  Yeah, yeah I know but as long as merrily we rolled along, I could make do.  

But yesterday morning it had no Internet access neither through Explorer nor Google Chrome.  I was off to the Y and  thought nothing of it, until later that afternoon, same scenario.  So I called our friendly ISP, Ace, could they be down?  After several busy signals I was sure that would be so but if so, why not the other  computers, on our network?  After a connecting with the technician who was unaware of any system wide outages and who walked me through some pinging and preliminary diagnosis of the router, we reached a blank wall.  This followed with the nasty revelation that all the network device drivers were blank, gone, fitzed out to a white as the snow today.  WTH? He could do no more  but suggested it needed a trip to the fixit shop, Geek Squad here we come tomorrow will be soon enough. 

Jerry who is excellent with all things electronic tinkered too and same result, zero, zippo, nada, naught, kaput.  Curiously all the software worked, it just lacked connectivity.  Other attempts were to repeat the unplugging router and computer, restarting, to no result. With a reluctant sigh I acknowledged maybe this was it, the end, time to buy that new one with the swipe monitors and Windows 8.  This old buggy could not  be upgraded to Windows 7 and so the XP was it's lifeline a time long past maybe the white winter had seeped into its bones.

But this morning we awoke to another blanket of white that started overnight and just kept on coming down...not the prime weather for me to be out computer shopping.    Just yesterday it was greatly melted but I spoke too soon besides, the SUV was washed.    So today all is white and the wind is blowing sideways.  A winter white that was to stop by noon did not get the message, instead has not relented all day.  Well if the old XP was deserting me I'd best hook up the external drive and back up the works again.  This is another occasional challenge where sometimes the ancient one recognizes the USB drive and other times it takes hours to be coaxed to do so.  On a whim I clicked on to the Geek Squad log in as I sat down to get it backing up.  

What a surprise it connected to Geek Squad.  How? Could it be the air gremlins or the electrons vibrating, those mysterious befuddlers that generate nasty language?  I tried the Internet, bingo right there.  I logged out restarted and again it worked.  So here I am, blogging away about impossibilities of logical explanations.  And just as mysteriously this AM all the network devices and drivers are showing up right where they should be.  While I am elated, I know it is only a matter of time and a replacement is imminent.  After all, I've been meaning to.........