New Laptop At Long Last!
Posted on
Oct 2, 2024

New Laptop At Long Last!

I’m so exited! Mom bought me a new laptop for my 50th birthday which will be in a month. It’s a Lenovo ThinkBook 16 G6; we bought it online on Monday and it was ready for pickup yesterday afternoon in the store! I of course went immediately! 🥳😍

It’s 16″ and has 32GB of RAM, Ryzen 7 and 1TB hard drive with Windows 11 Pro. I got it all done installing Windows and Lenovo things yesterday and it laptop seems wonderful! I love the keyboard, how thin and light it is, how quiet it is and that it stays cool all the time so far. It also doesn’t that much smaller than my old 17,3″ one which I was worried about – I don’t have a TV so I watch TV on my laptop and it needs to be bigger because of that, and larger also feels more comfortable to do work on my websites or whatever. 

I don’t think I’ve ever owned a computer/laptop that didn’t have problems when just bought – this time is no different. There’s 3 problems:

  1. The mouse pad doesn’t react to clicking its “buttons” but moving the cursor and tapping works normally. I noticed from the settings that tapping with two fingers works to open a context menu (which is a new feature to me) but I’m unable to click a button and drag items or click and select (text) or click and scroll pages. I’m not sure whether this is a Windows 11 problem or a Lenovo problem.
  2.  AMD error notice says that AMD software and AMD drivers are incompatible – I’ve googled a bit and might be some hybrid setting that needs to be on (or maybe off?). I just need to find where that hybrid setting is to try it. Otherwise it needs googling more.
  3.  Colors seem very yellow (although some videos I’ve been watching in MPC-BE maybe don’t but I’m not sure?). I’ve disabled all the “protect your eyes from blue light” settings I could find and that helped quite a bit, but there’s still a definite yellow tint. I particularly notice it in Chrome. This might get solved/be able to solve if and when I can solve #2.

EDIT 1,5 hours later to add: #2 and #3 solved! All I had to do was to install newest version of AMD Adrenalin, and that solved the software + driver being unsuitable problem, and once AMD Adrenalin was working, there are settings there for screen colors which solved the yellow problem ❤️

EDIT October 3, 2024 – today single finger tapping twice and dragging to move and resize windows and scrolling the scrollbar is working and easy to make it happen! I couldn’t get it to work yesterday – not sure if it was me or the mousepad. Either way I can now do everything by the mousepad like in my old laptops even though the pressing on the lower right corner to right-click still isn’t working although I think it should be? Maybe this is actually Windows 11 feature and you’re suppose to use tapping instead?? I don’t know!

The mouse pad problem is only on the mouse pad – I tried my physical separate wireless USB mouse and it worked as it should!

I actually like quite a bit that two-finger tap opens context menu and I’m getting used to it), but it’s cumbersome having to use the keyboard to select text because using shift + arrow buttons to do it are so slooooow. So I hope I can figure this one out quickly!

But I’m very excited and quite pleased (and a little frustrated because of the 3 problems) so far. This laptop seems like mine right away!

In other news, I of course had a migraine coming in since Monday evening 🙁 and it got active going towards night yesterday. Didn’t get sleep really last night because of it, maybe 2 hours plus some resting until midday today. Now feeling better but my head is feels like it threatens to re-start, maybe.

Also, interestingly – I don’t have that as much patience and energy for computer problems solving as I used to have. I have had my previous laptop for 10 years and whatever problems that one had, I solved them 10 years ago and haven’t had real new features or new problems if drivers or anything since then. It used to be I’d be happy as a clam to spend hours/days/weeks troubleshooting some problem, but now I’m kinda wishing I could just bring over the Lenovo to someone who’d fixit for me! Unfortunately, I’m the most computer savvy person among my family and friends, so I’d have to pay for it.

I noticed this as well 3 years ago when Mom bought a new laptop and I set it up as I always do – I was happy to do it, luckily there wasn’t real problems just one or two things took time to teach Mom to do, but I noticed I didn’t feel like spending time to get real up close and personal with Windows 11  like I had with all the other operating systems I or we’d had had (Windows 95 all through to Windows 10 by then, Linux Ubuntu, Linux Mint). I myself have had Windows 10 until this Lenovo so Windows 11 was new to me and things seemed to harder to find than in previous versions. If I didn’t have to, I didn’t really want to explore it just for the hell of it. I just made everything work for Mom and her SO, and figured out and taught Mom the few things she needs to know to do herself. So I guess this is one of the downsides too of not being healthy: not having the mental wherewithal to do explore the same things as before even though I’m still interested.

But yes, I’m excited! I watched some HDR 4K h265 tv episodes and this Lenovo played them without problems! My old laptop can only play 1080p easily. I’m so happy to finally be able to play HDR 4K eps and movies 🥳

Oh, and the Lenovo was on sale – 200 euros off the regular price! So that was really good 🥳

The Friday Five for 27 September 2024
Posted on
Sep 27, 2024

The Friday Five for 27 September 2024

This week’s questions at thefridayfive@DW

1. Most everyone will recommend a book or two to read, but are there any you would tell people to avoid?

No specific titles but I’d tell people to avoid reading books that don’t bring joy or feel like a duty when they’re reading as a hobby – whether that’s some classic like Jane Eyre or some current domestic award winning novel or a popular pure entertainment novel. And also, if you’ve started to read a book but it feels like work in a bad way, it’s okay to quit it!

2. If you take a book on vacation, are you more likely to take something you haven’t read yet or an old favorite?

Physical books: something I haven’t read, and preferably at least 2 of them! But I’d also bring my tablet which has books not yet read. books read many times over and books I’m in the middle of.

3. Do you read any genres by the season? Like horror around Halloween? Cozy Mysteries in the Winter? Romance in the Summer?

No seasonal readings for me! I read whatever I can get my hands on whenever I get it in my hands! I have a lot of books on queue in the library, so they get to me whenever regardless of the season and I’m always excited to get started on them.

4. If you read a lot of Fiction do you prefer an author that has a series with the same character(s), or do you prefer stand-alone stories?

I used to prefer series by a slight margin, but the last few years I’ve started to feel like everything needs to be a series nowadays to get published and it’s boring, sometimes even unsuitable/unneeded. I’ve noticed I get a lot of delight from stand-alones now!

5. Is there a book that you wish you could read again, but experience it like it was the first time?

Oh, so many! Watchers by Dean R. Koontz (first ever I read from him!), The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, the entire The Expanse series by by James S. A. Corey and many more!

Then there are several books series that I wish I had read in the correct order. Back in the day, it was often not mentioned anywhere on the jacket that it part of a series and you only figured it out after starting. Or now the jacket says “Shetland Series” but not number, so you’d accidentally read them in wrong order if you didn’t make a point of finding out the correct order. I’m very strict about reading in correct order these days, having been burned so many times.

Bio Father Inheritance Problem Finally Solved!
Posted on
Sep 20, 2024

Bio Father Inheritance Problem Finally Solved!

The I’m-one-of-my-biological-father’s-heirs-but-shouldn’t-be-because-my-adoption-as-a-baby-in-1975-was-supposed-cut-all-legal-and-otherwise-ties-to-my-biological-family-completely-but-law-was-changed-5-years-later-and-we-didn’t-know-until-he-died thing is finally solved!

I ended up making an appointment with Tax Administration, because my bio sister WhatsApped me in the spring that there’s no inheritance, only debt so all the required-by-law documents such as the Estate Inventory Deed have been created and that everybody (me included as I had told her) had given up the inheritance and the papers were done without help from legal aid or heirs present and had been delivered to the Tax Administration.

Except I hadn’t seen any of it, nor had I been asked to give her the I-give-up-the-inheritance paper signed as it should be done so it’s everything’s properly documented. When I asked for a copy of the Estate Inventory Deed, she gave me excuses for a few weeks that she would as soon as this and that and those were done, and then went complete silence after a month or so. I had been getting more and more suspicious for a while, whether it was malice or just carelessness, so at that point I wrote the bio family off in my mind and decided to advance the thing re: my part in it via other avenues.

I found out the official lawyer association offers free legal advice once  a month for quick things (15 minute appointments so can’t go in depth or ask about very complicated things) and pointers, so a couple of months ago I went in, explained my situation and that I didn’t know what had been done or not been done or what my legal status was re: the inheritance and asked what should be my next step. I was advised as next step to request a copy of the Deed documents from Tax Administration, which is free for those involved. I did, and Tax Administration sent me a letter that they can’t deliver me such documents because Tax Administration does not have them. For some reason, I wasn’t surprised.

So I made an appointment with Tax Administration which was this morning because I wasn’t entirely certain I had worded my request correctly. The cleric checked all my and my bio father’s information and they really don’t have Estate Inventory Deed or any documents about my bio father’s estate which the estate is mandatory to create and submit to Tax Administration within 3 months of the death. It’s been 2,5 years since the bio father’s death, and while extensions are easily granted when asked, not years. So much time has now passed, that she was a little surprised the matter hasn’t been flagged for review. So it looks like the bio siblings haven’t handled the inheritance things as required by law, which will lead to tax ramifications if it goes on too long.

But! The good news: I was able to make my official I-give-up-the-inheritance document right then and there, signed and delivered to Tax Administration itself right there! 😁 It is usually submitted as part of the Estate Inventory Deed documents, but doing it separately is also possible. So I did! Any legal responsibility I had about the matter ended today!!! And any ramifications from not delivering the documents required by law in time should not affect me, because I’ve been trying to advance the matter all this time as shown by WhatsApp messages and steps I’ve taken in the matter but couldn’t really because I don’t know anything about the deceased or anyone involved in the whole thing while the other 5-6 heirs who do, either haven’t done their duty or have done it wrong somehow. In any case, the matter is now resolved on my part and I don’t have to think about the thing at all anymore! ✨😁

Random TV Thoughts – Foundation, The Winter King, Invasion, Class of ’09 and The Last of Us
Posted on
Sep 16, 2024

Random TV Thoughts – Foundation, The Winter King, Invasion, Class of ’09 and The Last of Us

I’ve watched a lot of things in the last year and wrote some thoughts down about them but then never got around to posting them until now… So after the cut, thoughts on Foundation, The Winter King, Invasion, Class of ’09 and The Last of Us. I have more tv shows that probably get posted at some point!

 

Continue reading Random TV Thoughts – Foundation, The Winter King, Invasion, Class of ’09 and The Last of Us

House of the Dragon – Season 2 Thoughts
Posted on
Sep 16, 2024

House of the Dragon – Season 2 Thoughts

Re-watched season 1 because my local library has the Blurays. Re-affirmed that Viserys is a weak but well-meaning King and the Paddy Considine did a great job playing him. I didn’t really understand how great until I watched season 1 and 2 back to back. His absence is truly felt once the character passed.

Ser Criston Cole is the biggest hypocrite every to hypocrise, prone to uncontrolled fits of rage and completely unfit to be Kingsguard. I still can’t believe he survived murdering a member of a royal wedding party by literally beating a him to dead pulp. Viserys quietly gaining more and more sores and losing fingers over the season was somehow very funny this time around. And Alicent really didn’t love at least Aegon, judging by the scenes where she is completely emotionally unresponsive to crying toddler-Aegon and that whole “imbecile” response in the carriage in response to Aegon’s question about whether she loves him or not – I truly believe that the whole reply would be “Imbecile… Of course I don’t.” had the scene gone on.

A few season 2 thoughts:

Season 2 finished exactly where season 1 left off: on the verge of the same exact war! There’s really bad things going on with the pacing of this show. The last episode of season 2 felt more like the penultimate episode than the finale of the season.

That said, I do like season 2 a lot. Acting, costuming, locales, settings… all good. Some of the scenes and dialogue are great too. It’s just the pacing: like the writers are jumping from important event to important even without doing the character work that leads to and from them. I think maybe they are trying to tell a convoluted, sprawling story with many important, pivotal characters in too few episodes and the pacing suffers great from it.

I like the castles and the other settings and find the actors very enjoyable and the characters entertainingly awful. I’m not really rooting for anyone personally, the only reason I think Rhaenyra should be Queen and ruler of all of Westeros is because she is the heir Viserys officially named. The Greens can tell all the lies they want, and pretend to believe in Aegon’s legitimacy all they want – the truth is that Alicent willfully misunderstood Viserys’s last words in the way that benefits her personally the most. Personally I think actually all of them are unfit to rule and would be awful about it.

I’m disappointed that Aemond was made into a caricature of evil brother, both in behaviour and how he’s styled and the way he moves. And the styling and moving reminds me so, SO much of the Wraith from Stargate: Atlantis! At first when Ewan Mitchell took over the role in his white wig, eye patch and long black leather coat by brain tried its damned to see a Wraith!

I’m glad the show finally remembered that Helaena exists! I certainly didn’t until she had to choose which kid is murdered right in front of her eyes. I’m glad she got a little more attention after that.

Daemon was off in his own gothic ghost story for most of the season, and some of those scenes were the funniest. Like Simon Strong’s non-reaction to Daemon’s grand announcement that he’s taken Harrenhal, or when the little Lord Tully insults Daemon up one side and down the other in the course of talking his own Tully bannermen into swearing fealty to himself and by extention to Rhaenyra as the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and Daemon couldn’t do a damn thing about it if he wanted those bannermen under his command!

Also loved the bit where Larys Strong said to somebody something to the effect of “Nah, let Daemon take Harrenhall the penniless haunted ruin. The place will drive him barmy while keeping him bogged down in the Riverlands.” Can’t remember the wording but something like that. Hilarious.

I have zero idea how much time has passed since Viserys’s death. Are we talking days or weeks? Or months?? There’s zero sense of how much time passes in season 2.

Still not enough dragons for a show about Dragon Riders! I loved Meleys and Rhaenys remained my favorite until her death. Eve Best and Rhaenys will be sorely missed.

So all in all: I enjoyed season 2 despite its flaws and I’m looking forward to seasons 3 and 4!