Sunday, August 23, 2015

Bird Feeder

I cleaned the bird feeder last week for the first time all year. It doesn't get very dirty, but it was getting hard to see through the opaque plastic in a ring around it where the birds were hitting it with their wings, I guess. I felt good about getting that done. A couple of days later, the metal bird feeder pole was bent over. It had been broken beneath the ground. The bird feeder was nowhere to be seen. It was just gone.

It was discouraging. My TV got hit by lightening not too long ago. My computer just went into a coma. Apparently, it's the motherboard, although that's what I thought about the CPU. Bird feeders aren't expensive, but I still don't know how much it's going to cost for the computer.

However, while coming up the driveway, I saw part of the bird feeder in the woods. When I went to get it, I saw a huge paw print. Bear. I haven't seen one since 2013 when my dad was in the hospital. I think someone shot that one. A few days after I saw it, I heard a gunshot back where it would have been roaming.

I put the feeder back on the pole, which is shorter now. The feeder had very little damage, just a small piece of bent plastic that I broke off and threw away. When I saw it in the woods, I figured it would be too mangled to use. Now I'm wondering how the bear carried it from the yard to the woods without scratching it. They must be able to use their mouths very delicately. I wouldn't have thought that about such a large animal.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Windows 10 Upgrade Woes

I upgraded to Windows 10 Pro from Windows 7 Pro. It turned all the title bars white with no way to change the color that I could find. I right clicked the desktop and went to settings/personalize, etc. Didn't work. I put it on the back burner. I had bigger problems than worrying about the colors.

I use Microsoft financial software to keep track of my checking account. Windows 10 is incompatible with it. For some reason it needs Windows Explorer 6, or it won't run. Windows 6 will not install under Windows 10 in a 64-bit environment. To make a long story short, the solution is to use virtualization software or upgrade the software. Since I couldn't even open the program to export my data, my solution was to uninstall Windows 10. My software works now. :) I'm going to have to find a replacement program, export my data into it and try Windows 10 again later.

If you're thinking about upgrading to Windows 10, be sure to check software compatibility first. It might not even work with Microsoft software.