Sad farewell.

We gather today to say good-bye...

All that's left, a hard drive that might have data to be saved.

...to our favorite family computer.

Coming in from a long session of work at the shelter -- sixteen cats on medications! -- i was greeted by Festus in the library with a very sober look.

His dad had him help build computers and servers when he was growing up, so he can take care of a lot of things computerwise.

He's been nursing our family computer along for a while with cannibalized parts from other computers.

This time, however, he was succinct.

"I think your computer is finally dead.  It says the hard drive is not registering.  It's not that the hard drive has been erased or can't respond, it just doesn't register."

Which means we've lost everything on there? i asked.  Not that there's much on there beyond a few pictures we might want, and Sweetie's bookmarks on Firefox.

"Probably not, you could go to your Rent-A-Nerd guys and they could get the data off of it, but the motherboard is likely dead and the hard drive isn't going to actually work any more, beyond just getting the data off of it."

"The hard drive is dated 2005, mom!  Face it, we just have to get a new one," Little Girl said.

"Well, not necessarily a new one," Festus stated.  "You can look on Craigslist and get a good, two-year-old computer for a decent price most of the time.  People who upgrade them all of the time sell their old ones rather cheap, and your Rent-A-Nerd could take the data from this hard drive and put it on a newer one."

"And we might consider a laptop instead, they're cheaper," Little Girl said.

The problem with that, i said, is that someone will decide to take it to his or her room and not return it, even if it is the family computer, and we'd have to go tracking it down.

"It's understandable that you'd want something bigger that would stay put," Festus grinned.  He knows who would be taking it the most.  "Also you might not really need all the data off the hard drive.  You could just ask for any pictures to be saved, and not worry about the rest of it.  That might make it cheaper, if they charge by how much data you want transferred.  If it's a flat rate, save it all.  If it's by the gigabyte, just save the photos."

Go ahead and look on Craigslist, i told Festus, and if you get a few good leads, i'll have you vet them to make sure the computers are actually any good before purchase.

"I can do that," he said.  "On Monday I will be here, I don't have work, so I'll get a few possibilities rounded up."

The hard drive is now in a plastic baggie with its cord, and the hulk of the computer is partway open and sitting forlornly at the desk, awaiting being taken to the donation center that recycles and refurbishes old computers.

One last suggestions Festus made.  "By the way, there's a product out there now that you can put your computer tower into that encases it and has a blower at the back so it has air flow and stays cool and yet it keeps the cat hair out.  You might consider getting one."

He knows we sweep up enough cat hair around here every week to knit ourselves a new litter of kittens, if we ever needed one.  Any time i take a computer to an actual shop, i warn them to take it outside and blow the hair out first.  Whoever invented a case to keep hair out of the computer had to be a geeky computer guy(s) who had cats, and got tired of having to dehair them.

Good idea, guys, and thank you!  Maybe our next one will last longer.  Only ten lousy years out of a computer?  (Heeheehee)

 

Today is

Act Like A Caveman Day -- internet generated, just to be fun, especially if your neighbors think you are crazy anyway

Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (pre-1963 power and sailing yachts, river parade, and Rum Runners Rendezvous celebration; through tomorrow)

Bayreuther Festspiele -- Bayreuth, Germany (Wagner festival, through Aug. 28)

Be Adamant About Something Day -- it's good practice

Carousel Day -- Johnson City, NY, US (Kids won't want to miss all the fun at this family event, and grown-ups, come be a kid again for a day!)

Commonwealth Constitution Day -- Puerto Rico

Culinarian's Day -- another one here because of the internet, but a good excuse to let your inner chef go wild, and enjoy the results

Ebernoe Horn Fair -- Sussex, England (ancient horn fairs were pagan fertility rites, now just a fun time for all)

Eve of the Hathor Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of the Knee-Knockers -- Fairy Calendar

Furrinalia -- Ancient Etruscan Calendar (Furrina, goddess of the sacred grove and spring on Janniculum hill)
      also Ancient Roman Calendar (to honor those who searched for underground water sources)

Geneva Arts Fair -- Geneva, IL, US (a juried event that is becoming one of the top such events in the US; through tomorrow)

Guanacaste Day -- Costa Rica

Guayaquil Day -- Guayaquil, Ecuador

Hanover Dutch Festival -- Hanover, PA, US (celebrating the area and it's heritage)

Ilyap'a -- Ancient Inca Calendar (festival of the lightning god; date approximate)

National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)

National Day of the Cowboy -- US  (celebrating the heritage, and those who still work as cowboys/cowgirls today) 

National Hot Fudge Sundae Day

"Paddle for Perthes" Disease Awareness Day -- to promote awareness of the children's condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes disease 

Republic Day -- Tunisia

Soma-Nomaoi -- Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan (wild horse chase which recreates a battle from over 1,000 years ago; through Monday)

St. Christopher's Day (Patron of archers, automobile drivers/motorists, bachelors, boatmen, bookbinders, busdrivers, cab drivers,epileptics, fruit dealers, fullers, gardeners, lorry drivers, mariners, market carriers, porters, sailors, taxi drivers, transportation/transporation workers, travellers, truck drivers/truckers, watermen; Baden, Germany; Barga, Italy; Brunswick, Germany; Fubine, Italy; Havana, Cuba; Mecklenburg, Germany; Rab, Croatia, St. Christopher's Island; Saint Kitts; Toses, Girona, Calalonia, Spain ;for a holy death; against bad dreams, epilepsy, floods, hailstorms, lightning, pestilence, storms, sudden death, toothache)

St. James' Day (The Apostle, brother of St. John and son of Zebedee, the first Apostle martyred; Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, arthritis sufferers, blacksmiths, equestrians and horsemen, furriers, knights, laborers, pilgrims, soldiers, tanners, veterinarians; Altopascio, Lucca, Italy; Antigua, Guatemala; Bangued, Philippines; Brentino Belluno, Italy; Caltagirone, Italy; Cassine, Italy; Chile; Cicala, Catanzaro, Italy; Comitini, Italy; Compostela, Spain; Galicia, Spain; Gavi, Italy; Guatemala; Hettstedt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany; Jemez Indian Pueblo; Loiza, Puerto Rico; Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Montreal, Canada; Nicaragua; Pistoia, Italy; Rivarolo Canavese, Italy; Sahuayo, Mexico; Seattle, Washington; Spain; Tesuque Indian Pueblo; against arthritis and rheumatism; sometimes called Jacob, the Latinized version of his name, also Iago and Jaques in Romance languages) related observances
     Dia Nacional de Galicia -- Galicia, Spain (National Day of Galicia, a/k/a Apostole Santiago, St. James the Apostle's Day)
     The Pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela -- Galicia, Spain (one of the world's largest pilgrimages still, to the church that has the supposed relics of St. James, culminates on the Saint's feast day)
     Loiza Aldea Fiesta -- Puerto Rico

Sumidagawa River Fireworks Festival -- Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan's largest fireworks festivals)

Taylor Horsefest -- Taylor, ND, US (big enough to be fun, small enough to get you lots of time with the stars of the show, the horses! through tomorrow)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through tomorrow; fast in remembrance of the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and the Second Temple in 79AD)

Video Games Day -- yet another one, this on the founding of the "U.S. National Video Game Team"

World Congress of Esperanto -- Lille, France; through next Saturday


Birthdays Today

James Lafferty, 1985
Brad Renfro, 1982
Louise Brown, 1978
Matt LeBlanc, 1967
Illeana Douglas, 1965
Iman, 1965
Walter Payton, 1954
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond, 1941
Barbara Harris, 1935
Midge Decter, 1927
Estelle Getty, 1923
Jack Gilford, 1907
Walter Brennan, 1894
Maxfield Parrish, 1870


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Chorus Line"(Musical), 1975
"You Can't Hurry Love"(Single release), 1966


Today in History

Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler, 285
Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops, 306
The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings, 864
Sebastián de Belalcázar, on his search for El Dorado, founds the city of Santiago de Cali, Colombia, 1536
Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela, 1567
Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism, 1593
James VI of Scotland is crowned James I of England, bringing the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into personal union; political union would occur later, 1603
Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, México, 1693
British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians; thousands of Acadians are sent to the British Colonies in America, France and England, and some later move to Louisiana, while others resettle in New Brunswick, 1755
Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain), 1797
Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua, 1824
The first commercial use of an electric telegraph is successfully demonstrated by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone between Euston and Camden Town in London, 1837
The Japanese daimyo begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869
Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in Konbu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it, 1908
Sir Thomas Whyte introduces the first income tax in Canada as a "temporary" measure, 1917
The first transatlantic two-way radio broadcast takes place, 1920
Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established, 1925
At Club 500 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis stage their first show as a comedy team, 1946
Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51, 1956
The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, 1957
Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" is born, 1978
Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, which formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948, 1994
K.R. Narayanan is sworn-in as India's 10th president and the first Dalit— formerly called "untouchable"— to hold this office, 1997
Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground, 2000
Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India's first woman president, 2007
Wikileaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history, 2010
Scientists in Britain identify the mechanism causing human allergy to cats; they believe a general cure for the condition could be available in the next five years, 2013