Okay so I decided to get with the program and join flickr.com for photo sharing.  The Gallery software I have been using on this website is mundane and archaic, so it’s onto the next big thing.

Check out my flickr photostream for photos from our trip to the Midwest and Alaska.

A few weeks ago, I pulled out an old 120GB external Maxtor hard drive from the safe to pull some backup photos off it and copy them to a newer 500GB hard drive.  I ran out of space on my own computer with all the video editing and DVD creation that I do, so I had to offload some of the files onto external drives. 

Well, the 120GB was showing signs of failure.  I couldn’t get my computer to read from it, so I had to take it to *gasp* Data Doctors for help.  Can you believe it?  Me, at Data Doctors.  Yup, I’ll admit it, I needed help.  My new best friend Jon was able to recover my digital photographs from 2001-2005 which apparently I didn’t have a backup of anywhere else in my house.  Shame on me!

So with my $199 slap-on-the-wrist complete, I came home to start reorganizing all of my files and structure it in a way that it could be backed up in a more efficient manner.  My home-build computer is running on approximately 5 years seniority in the house, which unbelievably is younger than Andrew’s dinosaur.  Our 2004 laptop is currently the most recent computer in the house!  That will not be the case for long, however.

As I was moving files around in a desperate attempt to clean up my five independent hard drives and organize them into areas like Photos, Music, Genealogy, Video Images, Documents and the like, My 250GB G:\ decided to fail as well.  Luckily I had everything from it backed up on the external 500GB drive as of yesterday!  Okay, fine, I can take a hint.  I desperately need a new computer!

This morning, I broke down and ordered a Dell XPS 630.   It has an Intel® Core2 Q9450 (12MB, 2.66GHz, 1333FSB) with 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz.  The video card is an nVidia GeForce 9800 GT 512MB, and it has 1.75 TB of hard drive space (the main drive is 750GB – 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache and the second drive is 1TB – 7200RPM, SATA 2 3.0Gb/s, 32MB Cache).  It has two optical drives: 48x Combo + 16x DVD+/-RW. 

We already have Vista Ultimate and Office Professional to install on it when it gets here, so I didn’t get any software loaded on it.  I also have a nice Samsung SyncMaster 204B flatscreen monitor so there was no need to get a new one.

Dell has some pretty good discounts available.  I got free shipping and about $430 off the list price, so the system cost $1,834 delivered.  It’s a bit pricey, but if I spread that out over the next five years I suppose it’s not that bad.

I can’t wait to get it!  It should be here sometime around August 1st.  It will be nice to continue working on my video editing and my archive scanning without worrying as much about the hard drives failing.

A few weeks ago after our trip to Alaska, I wrote a letter to the airline explaining the circumstances surrounding my lost luggage in Vancouver.  You can read all the gory details in my previous post, but the short story is that I had to spend almost $600 to replace my entire wardrobe only to receive my “lost” luggage just before getting on the cruise ship. 

On the phone, the Alaska Airlines luggage claims department told me to expect $25 for the first day and $50 for the second day for my inconvenience.  The airport representative at Alaska Airlines then told me that the money could only be put toward a future ticket purchase with the airline, and I would have to call in to make the claim.  I called the Alaska Airlines luggage claims department again and they told me to write a letter explaining the circumstances and they would review the claim and respond in 4-6 weeks.

So, I wrote a 2-page letter explaining the circumstances.  I documented in excrutiating detail all of the phone calls I made, the various stories I received, all the shopping we did and everything that was residing in the previously “lost” luggage.  I attached photocopies of all of my receipts and a spreadsheet of what was contained in the original luggage that I was trying to recreate for the cruise.

Yesterday, we returned home from a trip to Michigan to find a letter from Alaska Airlines.  Included was a check for the full claim amount, $569.88.

I couldn’t believe my eyes!  I honestly expected them to send me a coupon for $75 off a future flight.  Alaska did right by our situation, and not many companies do that these days. 

Quite impressive, I must say.

We were driving home from the airport on Wednesday when this moon appeared on the horizon. 

It rose fast as always, but I managed to get the camera set up and take a shot before it got too high in the sky.

Taken with a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi (12.2 mp) on a tripod and remote shutter release with a 75-300mm lens.  300mm focal length, f/5.7, 1/200 s, ISO 100.  Cropped to 100%.  Click on the image for a larger version.

When I was a little girl I used to collect stamps.  I would go to the stamp shows at the mall and buy hundreds of stamps in a bulk envelope, most of them postmarked.  Then I would go through my huge stamp album and see which ones I still needed from dozens of different countries.  I would carefully cut hinges to size and adhere them to the pages.

After about five years or so, I got tired of stamp collecting.  I sold my huge stamp binder and all of my accessories to my dad’s girlfriend, Noreen.  I regretted it almost immediately, but didn’t bother to ask her if I could buy it back.  I’m guessing she gave it away at some point over the years.

One stamp survived the sale.  A single holdout - my favorite stamp.  It’s not quite a stamp, or at least, it’s not sticky on the back.  It’s very thin and translucent. 

It was not in my stamp book, and I could never identify the country or language on it.  It clearly says 1949 and 3.00 although I don’t know the currency.  If anyone out there can help me to identify any of the markings, such as the language or countries pictured, please let me know!

It’s strange what our brains decide to hold on to over the years.

My DaD is writing his autobiography.  What a task that must be for him!  He updates it often and sends it to me for review.  In the latest version he mentioned my sister’s dance teacher from mid 1980′s.  Somehow, even though I was only like 7 years old when she was in dance class, I remembered the first and last name of her dance teacher.

For some strange reason I also remember the telephone number of one of her ex-boyfriend’s parents house.  She had me read it off a piece of paper to her one day and I never forgot it.  That’s where the 1-919-954… but comes from in the title.  I think they still have the same number.  I won’t expose all of it, just in case.  But I do remember it.

Crazy brain.  And I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night.

I posted some pictures from our trip to Alaska.  Check em out at the Gallery!

Andrew took this one at Butchart Gardens.  Isn’t it beautiful?