Drunken Owls and Other Delights

WOO! Newest PC is up and running now! I've been spending the afternoon reinstalling various apps and whatnot, and I am VERY happy to say that all of the externals are readable! I may have lost some of my older browser bookmarks, but then again they're probably in need of a very thorough cleaning anyway, so I'm not too worried. The fan on the PC is running a bit loudly, but I believe that's due to the Plex server rescanning all the libraries, considering the drive letters have been reassigned.

It looks like they basically said 'yeah, let's just replace the motherboard and any problematic USB hubs' instead of fiddling with what was in there. And hey, it's at no cost to me, so I'm not bothered by that! :)

I have just heard from Lenovo's repair shop and they have (hopefully) fixed my PC and have sent it on its merry way back to me, with an expected arrival of 12/21. Yay, Christmas is saved! Year-end mixtape creation is saved! Plex server is saved! Huzzah!

For the record, I would not be surprised if it was a Microsoft update that got all wonky and crashed it. I'm not sure if they switched out the motherboard or managed to get it running again, but I'm thankful that the turnaround was quick and it wasn't anything too major. [If this crash happens in the future I will make one last attempt at opening it up in safe mode if it will let me. While I might not have the biggest PC knowledge out there, I at least know enough not to do anything stupid like deleting an extremely important bit of software.]

As for writing, I think I'm going to do another soft restart of Queen Ophelia's War. I say 'soft restart' because it won't be a complete revision but just starting over and replacing everything that I still have issues with with my original ideas that I think in retrospect work a lot better. I'm going to focus more on it in the new year. Also in 2024 I think I'll finally get started on my new project Sheila Take a Bow. I wrote an outtake this morning on 750Words just to see how it would work, and work it did! More on that one in the future...

And as for health, Something had me congested over the last couple of days and I think it's probably something at or near work. My store is right at the edge of a golf course, which means there's a good chance I get a pollen allergy every time they cut the grass or do any tree trimming up there. It goes away temporarily when I head into the break room (which is enclosed with no direct outside connection) and when I get home. It's just when I'm working the front end. A Sudafed last night seems to have helped a bit, and I'm hoping it won't return.


Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!