Update

Yesterday I sent an email to the construction superintendent on my new house and asked for an update. In the afternoon I got a reply from a man with a Del Webb email address. The man I had been corresponding with had a Pulte email address. The new person said they are installing the "electrical rough" this week, the house had been "frame punched" and there would be a "plumbing top-out inspection" this week. I am not quite sure what all those terms mean, but it sounds like progress. I am driving up to Frisco on the 15th of June. I am really ready to see the real thing.

 

I am going to have a limited amount of time in Frisco. I have made appointments with one lady who installs plantation shutters. I am going to contact a couple more. I want to get three bids. I made an appointment with the landscape architect. He has an office in the Frisco Lakes sales center. I also want to meet with the construction superintendent and my sales associate. I thought I would go by the Sears store in Stonebriar Mall. I am going to watch the Sears sales, and I want to have a sales person at the Frisco store that I can call if a good sale price is offered. I am hoping I can get a good price and have them hold off on delivery. I am also going to check out the Home Depot and Lowes stores. There is going to be a Frisco Lakes town meeting to discuss a temporary park and after the meeting there will be a wine and cheese social to meet your neighbors. I am also going to take some of my books to donate to the library.

 

The Texas PUC has a website that allows you to compare electrical utility rates. AT&T also has a website for movers that allows you to sign up in one place for your utilities. Gexa is the electrical power company that partners with American Airlines to offer AAdvantage frequent flier miles. I am pleased to find they have the lowest rates. I have only found good comments about them on the FlyerTalk and Frisco-Online forums. Unless some unfavorable information turns up I will sign up with Gexa. In Southeast Texas the electrical power is still regulated. Entergy Texas is the only provider. I tried to figure out what I am paying for a KWHr with Entergy. It is really complicated. I think the rate is about 1.5 cents cheaper than Gexa, but I am not certain. Entergy Texas had tremendous expenses due to Hurricane Rita and is asking for rate increases. I doubt if their rates will be less than Gexa for very long. The new house is one story. My present home has two stories. Since there will be more roof area exposed to the sun I am expecting my cooling bills to be higher. The new house will be Energy Star rated. My current home is well insulated, and I have felt that my energy bills have been quite reasonable. With the Energy Star rated house and with new Energy Star rated appliances I should be in fairly good shape

 

There is a possibility of more rain today. I do not think any fell at my house yesterday. The paper said that the final total in the hardest hit places was over 17 inches. Hurricane Rita only dropped 9 inches on Beaumont, but that was horizontal wind-driven rain. In 2001 Tropical Storm Allison dropped 12 inches on this area. Allison was the storm that caused the terrible flooding in Houston.

 

 

No Rain But...

KFDM reported over 15 inches of rain by noon yesterday. I do not think that much fell at my house. The rain stopped yesterday afternoon. The flood warning was finally changed to a watch. The watch is in effect until this evening. Now that the ground is saturated the flooding could happen again with just a little more rain. There is a 60 percent chance for more rain today.

 

The heavy rains and flooding are just part of life here in Southeast Texas, but I have never got used to it. Since I have retired I have managed to stay home all but one time when the flooding occurred. I had a very frightening time back in October, 2003. I was in a shopping center and when I came out, water was over the bumpers of the cars in the street. The shopping center parking lot was elevated so my car was safe, but I was trapped for several hours.

12 Inches Now

That is the amount KFDM is reporting. The flash flood warning has been extended until 9:30 AM. I expect it will be extended again. The live Dopler radar looks the same every time I look at it. The storm is not moving away. My house is all right. Water has never got close to it. The street out of the area does flood. The TV is reporting that most underpasses are filled. Water is getting into homes in some parts of the city.

Rain and More Rain

Unbelievable! 9.5 inches since 1 AM. KFDM-TV just reported that is the amount that fell at their studio. The rain is continuing. My NOAA weather radio alarmed at 3:30 AM with a flash flood warning. The rain is supposed to continue through Wednesday. This is going to ruin the Memorial Day holiday. One good thing is most people do not have to drive to work this morning.

 

Meanwhile I looked at the radar for Frisco. No rain. They do have a 20 to 30 percent chance for the next few days. I have been reading about the lawn watering restrictions that are starting on June 1. People can only use their lawn sprinklers once a week. I hope by the time the landscaping of my new yard is completed I will be able to give it the necessary water and get it off to a good start. My opinion is that drought is bad, but flooding is worse.

 

Now there is a story on the TV showing the special section of hurricane supplies that Home Depot has set up. I am living for the day I leave Beaumont.

More Computer Agony

Yesterday when I booted my computer a BounceBack message appeared on the screen that said I had not backed up my computer for seven days and did I want to back it up now. I had decided I would backup the computer once a week on Saturdays. I thought the reminder was a nice touch. After I finished my morning routine with the computer, I connected the Seagate external drive, pushed the button and let the backup proceed. When I came back to the computer, there was message that said the backup was successful.

 

The Seagate manual warned of dire consequences if the external drive was not properly dismounted before detaching any cables. The little Safely Remove Hardware icon was missing from the task tray. It was not just hidden. I clicked on the icon to show the hidden icons. It absolutely was not there. I started searching the Windows help for an alternate way to dismount the drive. I could not find anything. I contemplated shutting down the computer and turning the power off and then turning the Seagate drive off. I was not sure that would be safe. I then decided to restart my computer without turning it off. Fortunately this worked. When the computer finished rebooting, the Safely Remove Hardware icon was in the task tray. I was able to dismount the drive.

 

I then did a Google search for missing Safely Remove Hardware icon. I found several articles. It seems that is a rather common Windows problem. Many solutions were offered. One that I decided to try was to go into the Control Panel and open Task Manager options. I found a place to change the status of the Safely Remove icon to always visible. So far it seems to be working. I will know for certain if the fix worked next Saturday when I again backup the computer.

How Silly or Maybe It Isn't

I am watching the appliance sales very closely so I will find the best prices for the refrigerator, washer and dryer that I am going to buy. A couple of months ago I sorted through the many models of GE Profile refrigerators and had decided on one. To my dismay this refrigerator is no longer on the Sears website. I went through the search on the GE website and found there is now an identical model. The old model number ended in SBB. The new model ends in TBB. It is just my luck that it is model change season. The list price on the new one is the same as the old price. I compared the specifications and find that the new model has something called "Precise Fill". I searched Google for GE and precise fill. I found that this means that a precise measurement of water is delivered from the dispenser. I thought this was ridiculous. Then I thought it might save the trouble of measuring water when you are cooking. It might be a good feature after all,

Texas - 80 MPH

This morning while I was listening to the news on CNN I heard them say that Texas was raising the speed limit to 80 mph. This upset me. I think the higher speeds cost lives, and are the politicians unaware of the energy crisis? I calmed down a bit when I did a Google news search and found the speed limit is being increased only in a limited area of West Texas.

Update

I have heard no more from any of the moving companies. They must really be busy and see no need to return phone calls. I am glad I got through to the Mayflower estimator yesterday.

 

There is an article in the Beaumont Enterprise this morning: New mortgage program offers low-rate loans, help with down payments. I hope this program will help the real estate market in Beaumont. I have been watching real estate websites for listings very closely. A couple of months ago homes were selling very quickly, but it appears things have slowed down a bit. As summer approaches, more homes are being listed. I hope the new mortgage program with boost the market.

 

I got the estimate for my homeowners policy on the new house. The new house is 50 to 75 percent more expensive than the one I live in now, but my insurance costs are going to be about one-third of what I am paying. Of course, the new policy will have a much higher deductible than my current one. They are no longer writing the low deductible policies. The biggest saving comes from not having to go to the high-risk state pool for wind storm coverage. The Texas Windstorm policies for the fourteen coastal counties are going to go up 20 percent next year. I am praying that my house sells before I must renew the insurance.

 

The new house will be prewired for a burglar alarm system with one keypad installed. I can save $100 per year on my insurance if I get a monitored system. My insurance company offers a discount on ADT alarm systems. They quoted me $23.95 per month. I do not remember what Del Webb said the charge would be from the company that is installing the systems for them.

 

Since the dot com boom times I have been ordering books from a company called Alldirect.com. They discounted books 38 percent. and offered free shipping on orders over $100. For the past week I have been trying to access their website. I kept getting a message that said the website was undergoing maintenance. I sent an email to their customer service. In a very short time I got a reply back saying they were closing and thanking me for my past business. They really were a good source for travel books. I am going to miss them.

 

I packed one more box of crystal and figurines. I am almost finished packing my figurines and crystal objects that sit on display. As I look around, things look rather bare. I am looking forward to the day when I unpack the boxes and place my treasures in their new resting spots.

 

 

Got a Little Reassurance

Over the weekend I had sent an email to the Mayflower agent that I am considering for my move to find out when the appropriate time was to have them make the on site estimate. I got a reply which said they would come to Beaumont only if I guaranteed them I was going to make the move with them. That upset me. This morning I called an Allied agent in Houston who also has an office in Dallas. They said they would make the estimate over the phone. I explained that I require packing. They need to see all the pictures, measure my grandfather clock for a crate, etc. The woman said she would have someone call me.

 

In January I had talked to one of the Mayflower estimators. He had told me at that time they would come to Beaumont to make the estimate. I decided to call Mayflower again. I talked to a very nice estimator named Rob. I told him about the email I had received. He said that was nonsense. He said he would personally come to Beaumont and make the estimate. He gave me their toll free number and his extension. He said the appropriate time to make the estimate is four weeks prior to the move.

A Little More on Washers & Dryers

My bulldog tendencies are showing again. This week I have latched onto the washer and dryer issue. Whirlpool makes Sears Kenmore washers and dryers. I started looking more closely at the Whirlpool models. I have found that the equivalent front loader models are considerably cheaper at Lowes. Sears has a price match policy plus an additional 10 percent, but I doubt if they would honor Lowes' Whirlpool prices on their equivalent Kenmore models. I might be talking more to Lowes.

 

The second tidbit that I found is that Whirlpool is going to introduce a new washer called the Cabrio in July. It is going to be the large capacity top loader with no agitator and the window in the lid that is quite similar to the Sears Elite Oasis. The timing on the introduction of that model would work for me since I will not be needing it until early September.

Still Thinking About Washers & Dryers

Yesterday I looked at Sears' website for information on the new Elite Oasis washers and dryers. They were introduced in January but apparently their availability was (is) limited. I entered the zip code for Frisco and the website said they would be available June 4. In late January I went to the Sears store in Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. I asked a salesman about the new washer with the window in the lid that I had read about, and he did not know anything about them.

 

I decided to go to the Parkdale Mall Sears store here in Beaumont yesterday afternoon. They had the Elite Oasis washers and dryers on display in every color. I talked to a very knowledgeable sales lady. She said the Elite Oasis models are proving to be very popular. They are $300 dollars less than their top of the line front loaders. The optional pedestals for the front loader washer and dryer cost $200 each. This makes the top loaders much more affordable than the fully loaded front loaders.

 

The Elite Oasis is a radical new design. It has a huge tub and does not have an agitator. I am leery of buying something that does not have a proven track record. Most of the time I have very small loads which become unbalanced in my Maytag. Consumer Reports has rated the new Elite Oasis machine. The one negative comment about the machine was that with some loads the clothes had a tendency to ball up and the machine became unbalanced. That is exactly the problem I am trying to avoid. I checked the current Consumer Reports ratings for high efficiency top loaders. The Whirlpool Calypso and the Sears Oasis got the top rating. They both had a score of 72.

 

On Friday evening I watched a CSI rerun on Spike TV. They had a story about a little boy that had been left on a bus stop bench. He was wrapped in a blanket that had all kinds of fibers and hair from many different people on it. It turns out the little boy had died in a clothes dryer in a laundromat. It made me feel nauseous to think about the things your clothes might pick up in a public washer and dryer. I have mattress pads that have tags that say they are to be washed in a commercial machine. I hate to take them to the laundromat. I am wondering if the large capacity Oasis machine could wash my mattress pads.

 

I will be doing more thinking about washers and dryers before I make a final decision.

 

 

 

Uneasiness

For the most part I feel good about my decision to move, but every so often I am overcome with pangs of doubt. I worry that my old house will not sell. I am worrying about selecting a moving company. I want to find one that will do the packing and be extremely careful with my furniture. Back in January I talked to  a Mayflower agent who is located in Houston. There is no longer a Mayflower franchise in Beaumont. This particular company had moved me to Houston back in the 1980's, and they did a great job. I talked to them in January when I was trying to get a rough idea of the cost to move. They gave me a ballpark estimate, and told me they could handle the move from Beaumont with no problem and to call them so they could make the on site estimate when moving time was closer.

 

In the middle of the past week I called the man I had talked to in January. I left a voice mail message. He has not returned my call. Yesterday I sent an email message to them. I said I would like to find out when was the appropriate time to get an estimate. I got an email message back saying they would not come to Beaumont to make an estimate unless I guaranteed them I was going to make the move with them. This is a completely different story than I heard back in January. I had been counting on them. Now I must talk to companies that are located in Beaumont. There are very few of the first-class national van lines located here.

I found a forum: Laundry Room that discusses washing machines. I found some very negative comments about the Sears and Whirlpool front-loading machines. There were also comments about Sears' new Elite Oasis machines. These are top loading but do not have an agitator. They have a window in the lid and come in the blue color that I like. They have extremely large capacity which I do not need. Apparently washing machine technology has changed a great deal since I made my last purchase. From what I gather you no longer select the water level. The machine senses the size of the load and chooses the correct amount of water. Some of the machines contain water heaters. It seems like I have to go to school and do a great deal of studying before I can make any kind of purchase. I could not even narrow a search for a refrigerator before I learned several new terms.

I Hate My Washing Machine

That is what I have concluded and am going to use as a justification for buying a new washer and dryer. My first washer and dryer were the Lady Kenmore brand from Sears. I loved them and kept them for eighteen years. At the time I replaced them, Maytag was the top rated brand. I gathered literature and decided I wanted the top of the line models with the electronic touch pad controls. No store in Beaumont carried them. One store was willing to do a special order.

 

I will say the dryer has been a very good dryer. I have no complaints, but the washer is a different story. I live by myself and most of my washer loads are very small. As a result, the washer tends to distribute the clothes to one side and become unbalanced. Several times that machine heaved itself half way across the utility room before I could get to it. Then one time I went in the utility room and the floor was covered with water. The repairman told me the seal around the agitator was leaking. He said that was the worst possible type of repair and often the repairs are not successful. Because the machine was not even three years old at the time, I had it repaired. It had to be taken to the shop to do the repair.

 

When the machine came back, it leaked again; but it did not do it every time. Repairmen made several trips to my house, and it would not leak on demand. I wrote letters to Maytag. They refused to do anything for me because it was off of warranty. Finally I talked to the manager of the store where I had bought the machine. He told me they were going to stand behind the machine and replace it free of charge. I could not believe that he was being that generous. He kept his word. I got a new top of the line Maytag.

 

The second Maytag had an even larger capacity tub than the first one. This was definitely not a plus for my small loads. This machine seems to have an even greater tendency to become unbalanced than the first one. Whenever I wash a small load, I stand right by the machine when it goes into the spin cycle and try to feel if there is excessive vibration so I can redistribute the clothes before it throws itself across the room.

 

A couple of weeks ago I was washing a load of queen size sheets and pillow cases. This is normally a large enough load that I do not have to worry about it becoming unbalanced. I was upstairs, and I heard the thumping. When I got to the utility room, the machine was two feet away from the wall and still moving.

 

Another thing I hate about the washer is that it will twist my sheets into a rope. When I take them out of the washer, I have to untwist and untangled them before I put them in the dryer. I know this is causing my sheets to wear out faster than they should.

 

I had previously decided I would get a new refrigerator when I move, but since my washer and dryer probably have a few more years of service left I thought I would move them. Now the more I have thought about it I have decided I should not continue to suffer with a washing machine that I hate. I subscribed to the online edition of Consumer Reports this week. Whirlpool, closely followed by Sears, has the best frequency of repair record. I have been studying the Sears Elite and the Whirlpool Duet washers and dryers. These are front loading machines and are also very expensive. Whirlpool claims you can wash one or two items on what they call a quick wash cycle. Whirlpool makes the Sears washers and dryers. I am leaning toward Sears because their Elite models come in a blue color that I like.

I Am A Genius & Also Part Bulldog

When I encounter a computer problem, it really upsets me. Earlier today I wrote about the problem I was having with my Epson PictureMate photo printer. I had performed every reasonable trouble shooting procedure that I could think of. I had reached the point of exhaustion. While I was fixing my lunch I kept thinking about the problem. I decided it was Monday of this week when I had last successfully printed a photo. Yesterday, Thursday, I installed the BounceBack backup software that came with the Seagate external disk drive. That was the only change to my computer that I could think of since Monday.

 

I loaded the Windows Defender anti-spyware program and checked the history. There were two entries in the log which both had been created yesterday when I installed the BounceBack software. Windows Defender said the two programs were not certified (by Microsoft?). There is now a program called BounchBack Launcher running at all times on my computer that is designed to detect the pushbutton feature of the Seagate drive which in turn launches BounceBack and does an automatic backup.

 

The BounceBack Launcher has an icon in the system tray. I clicked on it. A menu with several options popped up. I chose close BounceBack Launcher. I then connected my Epson PictureMate and loaded Film Factory. I held my breath while the photo printed. I expected it to stop printing and eject the paper, but it did not happen until the photo was complete.

 

Every time I print a photo I will have to remember to close the BounceBack Launcher. After what I went through this morning, I don't think I will have any trouble remembering.

New Photos

Another Visit to Computer H___

This morning I did my usual routine with my computer. I scanned some papers that I had received. Then I did an incremental backup to my new external drive. Then I decided I would print the picture that my sales associate sent me yesterday afternoon. The ink levels were below 5 percent in my Epson PictureMate. I have had this little 4X6 photo printer since November, 2004, and never had a problem with it. The printer struggled to load the paper. Finally the paper fed in and it ejected the paper without doing any printing. I tried again. This time it printed less than 1/4 inch and ejected the paper. I made a third try and it printed a few black garbage characters.

 

I decided it was time to put in a new print cartridge. I did this. I tried again to print using the Film Factory software which I always use. The same thing happened. I decided to clean the print nozzles. I got the manual and followed the procedure. When it was finished, I printed the nozzle pattern. It looked good. I loaded Film Factory again and had the same problem.

 

At this point I copied the photo I was trying to print to a Sony memory stick. The printer can print directly from a memory card without being attached to a computer. Much to my surprise the photo printed perfectly.

 

I then decided the problem was with my computer. I tried a brand new USB cable and switched to a different USB port on the computer. I loaded Film Factory and had the same trouble. I thought the printer driver might be corrupted. I uninstalled the driver and went to the Epson support website and downloaded the latest driver for my printer and installed it. I tried Film Factory again. I had the same problem.

 

Then I uninstalled Film Factory. I reinstalled it from the original CD that came with the printer. I loaded Film Factory again and had the same problem. At this point I ran out of ideas of what to try.

 

My HP Scanjet uses the same USB ports as the printer and worked fine this morning. The only change I have made to my computer since I last used the PictureMate printer was yesterday when I installed the backup software for the new Seagate disk drive. I find it hard to believe that this harmed the printer setup.

 

I sent Epson Technical Support an email. I am sure I will get back some inane reply that will make my blood boil.

 

After I emailed Epson I checked for new email. My nice sales associate was kind enough to send me two more pictures. I copied them to the memory stick and printed them. Thank goodness I can still print pictures that way. I will upload the pictures to Smugmug so I can put them in the blog. She sent a front and side view. The structure is beginning to look like my house.

 

I have an old version of PhotoShop Elements. I am going to try and print from it and see what happens.

This is an addition: Now I have tried to print using PhotoShop Elements. It behaved the same way as Film Factory. I think I can rule out a mechanical problem with the printer since it can print from a memory card. There must be some type of communication problem going to the printer. Now I am completely out of ideas.

Wow!

My sales associate just took this picture this afternoon. This is the view from the back of the house. Some of the windows are in place. They are moving right along.

My New Seagate External Hard Drive

The external hard drive that I ordered from Buy.com on Sunday arrived yesterday. On Monday I had ordered an i1394 6-4 pin cable from Amazon.com. Amazon.com decided to punish me for choosing the free shipping option by estimating that the order would arrive on June 15. On Tuesday I canceled my Amazon.com order. I then tried to order just the cable and pay shipping. The cable was no longer available. I then went back to Buy.com and ordered the cable. I had to pay $5.63 shipping charge, but they delivered the cable today so I felt the shipping charge was justified.

 

I read the Seagate manual carefully and followed the directions to mount the drive. My computer was rather slow to recognize the drive, but eventually it beeped and I saw that my computer now had a G: drive when I looked at My Computer in Windows Explorer. I then installed the BounceBack software that came with the drive. All went smoothly. I had to designate the source and destination drives for the backup. As soon as the installation was complete, the option to perform a backup came up. I chose to go ahead and do the complete backup of my computer's hard drive. It took an hour and 37 minutes to do the complete backup. Subsequent backups will be much shorter because just changed or new files will be copied to the external drive.

 

The next backup will test the pushbutton feature. When I push a button on the hard drive, the backup is supposed to be launched and performed. I now think it is going to work. I think this is a very clever device.

 

After the backup was complete, I again launched Windows Explorer and examined the files that had been copied to the G: drive. It was good to see all my photos and scanned documents. I just purchased a little peace of mind.

 

The Seagate manual cautioned to properly dismount the drive before detaching the drive from the computer. I clicked on the safely remove hardware icon in the system tray and chose the i1394 device. It came back and said the device could not be removed and to try again later. I tried again, and this time it said it was safe to disconnect. I think the drive was still spinning the first time I tried.

A Few New Developments

It seem like every day a few more things are accomplished that bring the move to my new home closer. Yesterday was very productive. I got a call from the landscape architect who is starting to work on the plan for my yard. He was a very pleasant man with ties to Southeast Texas. His parents came from the area. We discussed the type of trees and plants I will have in my yard. He is going to work on a plan and email it to me. The internet is really making the long distance construction of my new home much easier. I wish it would have been available back in 1980's when my previous two houses were under construction, and I was located more than a hundred miles from them.

 

I received the weekly newsletter from the Frisco Lakes lifestyle director. She announced a new club called the friends of the library and gave an email address if you wished to donate books to the library. I had been hoping this would happen. I have so many paperback books that have been read once. I did not take them to Goodwill. They are going to Frisco.

 

The construction superintendent said the August 25 completion date for my house is still firm. He said my house would not be built as fast as the model homes were. Then they were building nine houses. Now they are building fifty for the first phase.

 

The weekly newsletter also said a block party was being planned for the first phase residents to be held in late August or early September. It looks like I will be moving right after Labor Day. This is really exciting.

 

The realtor from Coldwell Banker that Cendant Mobility referred came out to my house yesterday. I really liked her and told her I was not going to do any more shopping for an agent. One of the factors that caused me to settle on Coldwell Banker was the ease of use of their website. More and more people are finding their new homes on the internet. I think Coldwell Banker has the best search capability of their listings of any of the realtors serving Beaumont.

 

I started to think about making a trip to Frisco in mid June. There is going to be a meet your neighbors wine and cheese party. Then I got a jury summons for Beaumont Municipal Court in the mail yesterday. I vaguely remember being called for the Beaumont Municipal Court back in the 1970's. It is something that happens very infrequently, but I ask why now?

 

 

One Year Ago

One year ago I wrote the following: Around the World. I said by May of 2006 I would have the 190,000 AAdvantage miles needed for a business class around the world ticket. It is now May, 2006, and I have the miles, but my life has been in such a state of upheaval since Hurricane Rita struck that I have not given my around the world trip much thought. A year ago I had no idea that I would go through the evacuation and aftermath of a hurricane, and that I would be selling my house and having a new one built.

 

Right now I doubt whether I have the physical stamina to make a 4 to 6 week trip. After I am settled in my new home I am going to start thinking about the trip again. I have the itinerary that I was planning saved on my computer. It will be much easier to start and end this trip at American Airlines' big DFW hub than it would have been to drive from Beaumont to Houston and fly from there. If I do not make the around the world trip, I can use the miles for shorter trips, but an around the world trip would be the adventure of a lifetime.

My New House

Oh My!

For some reason I have been lulled into a state of inactivity. I had assumed that not much was happening with my new house. Frisco has had quite a bit of bad weather. This morning I received an email from the construction superintendent that said they are framing the house this week. That means the slab has been poured. Tanner had been out of town and had not sent me the news. I better get busy. I may be moving earlier than I had planned.

 

Yesterday morning I read an article in the New York Times Technology Section about computer backups. I used to back up my computer every week. Since I got a digital camera and an iPod it has become a daunting task to back up my data to CD's. It takes forever. I broke down and ordered an external hard drive yesterday. My computer is four years old this month. I am hoping it lasts until next year when Windows Vista has been released and has a few months to get the worst bugs fixed. My computer has the older and slower 1.1 USB ports. It also has an i1394 adapter. This adapter is also known as firewire. The external hard drive that I ordered can use USB or firewire. I have never used the i1394 adapter. I checked Windows device manager. The i1394 adapter in my computer is recognized and does not have any problems.

 

The Seagate external drive that I ordered has it own power supply. My i1394 port does not supply power. The Seagate drive comes with a 6 pin i1394 cable. My computer has a 4 pin port. I realized I needed to buy a cable after I had placed the order with Buy.com. I had a hard time figuring out what kind of cable to order. I thought I could just go to the local Best Buy or Circuit City and buy one. After I checked prices I found that Amazon.com had the cable I needed for one-third the price that the local stores wanted. Then I had to figure out a few more things to add to my Amazon.com order in order to get free shipping. Got to have that free shipping.

 

The new hard drive comes with backup software. Seagate claims that after the backup program is configured you can backup your computer by pushing one button on the drive. I will believe it when I see it. I am wondering if I can install the backup software on the external drive and save the space on my computer's internal drive. I am also thinking that the external hard drive can be connected to the new computer when I buy it and make the transfer of files from my old computer much easier.

Update

I stumbled onto something that may be a very good deal for me. American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. To celebrate they have a number of promotions that are offering additional miles. I received a booklet in the mail. It described their "Miles From Home" program. They offer miles for buying or selling a home and using van line services. The program is administered by Cendant Mobility. I called to get more information. They say they have pre-screened realtors with firms such as Coldwell Banker, ERA, etc. They use Coldwell Banker in Beaumont. They had a realtor call me the next day. I also called their "Home Express" van line service. They, too, have pre-screened van line companies. I was impressed with the way the representative handled my call. It is too early to make moving arrangements, but she took my information and will call back when it is closer to moving time.

 

Cendant Mobility has an impressive website that allowed me to get demographic information on Frisco and make a comparison to my zip code area of Beaumont. I was able to get a listing of recent home sales close to my home in Beaumont. I got some information on a house on my street that was sold by the owner. None of the realtors I have talked to had been able to find anything on this house.

 

My previous moves had been handled (and paid for) by corporate HR departments. I have felt like they had more clout with the moving companies than I do as an individual. Cendant Mobility assigned a case number and a counselor to me. He is located in Irving, Texas, in the Dallas area and was very familiar with Frisco. I hope Cendant Mobility may be able to provide the type of support I need.

Tornado Scare

This morning when I turned my cell phone on, five text messages that had accumulated overnight were delivered. The first one that I read said a tornado had struck in Collin County Texas. Frisco is mostly in Collin County. My new house is in Denton County on the west side of Frisco. As soon as my computer booted, I checked several Dallas and Frisco news sites. The tornado hit north of Frisco near the towns of Anna and Westminster. Three people were killed and at least six injured. The destruction from tornadoes is worse than damage caused by hurricane winds, but tornadoes cover a much smaller area. I still think I will be much safer in North Texas than I am in Southeast Texas.

Frisco Lakes Club

Yesterday I received an update from the Frisco Lakes lifestyle director. She listed a new club that has been formed:

 

"Good Samaritan Group

This particular group would be just what the title indicates-serving others when they need our help.   We would have different sub-committees under this title such as:

Food Committee - This would involve taking food to someone when they are sick; had a death in their immediate family; or just home from the hospital.

Watching Home While on Vacation - This would include picking up the newspapers, watering outdoor plants, and getting mail daily while that family is gone.

Helping Someone With Furniture Moving - Just what the sub-title says, someone might need some extra help moving something in their home that might require more than one/two people.

Outdoor Work - This might be helping someone plant some bushes, or help digging the holes for the bushes, or setting up some lighting outdoors etc.

Taking Someone to Doctor/Hospital - If you get sick or just simply have a doctor's appointment and your spouse is not home, someone could take you to the doctor or hospital."

 

I think this is a wonderful idea. This type of support is something that is totally lacking where I live now. It really makes me feel good about my decision to move to Frisco Lakes. It will be so reassuring to know there is something like this available when I need help.

 

Rain and More Rain

After checking the weather reports for Beaumont and Frisco, I would be very surprised if there is much activity on my new house this week. I have resigned myself to enduring one more hurricane season in Beaumont. I am also missing the prime season to sell my current house before school starts, but there is no point in fretting about a situation that I cannot control. Hopefully the rain will end the drought and reduce the chance of wild fires that have plagued Texas.

 

I am continuing to read Robert Ludlum's books. I finished The Gemini Contenders and The Chancellor Manuscript. I am ready to start The Materese Circle. This book has excellent reader reviews on Amazon.com. I wish I had checked more of the reviews before I bought all of Ludlum's books. I am now thinking I should have been more selective. Some of his books are very good. Others fall short. There is too much violence, and many of his plots go far beyond what is believable.

Nothing

No news, no pictures. Every morning I check the weather reports for both Beaumont and Frisco. There has been quite a bit of rain this week in both places. My new house must be close to having the slab poured. They need nice weather for that. I am sure the weather is holding them up. House construction seems to drag until the roof is in place and the outer walls are enclosed. Once they have a dry place to work the pace will quicken.

 

Microsoft continues to torment me. This morning a message popped up that said a new version of Windows Defender was ready to be installed. Defender is the new name for their anti-spyware program which is still in beta. After the program installed there was a message that said the definitions failed to update. I read the messages. While I was doing that the program proceeded to do a quick scan. I checked the date of the definitions after the scan was completed, and it said it was using definitions that were released on May 1. I decided that was fairly current. Then I checked the scheduling options. This program cannot be set for the half hour. I had to choose 6 AM. I had been using 5:30 AM for the scan. I chose the option for a complete scan even though it was defaulting to a quick scan. At 6 AM the scan started. It went on for an hour and a half. When it finished, I changed the settings back to quick scan.