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Merc Goes Retro Early and Other Delights
Feb. 6th, 2007 09:00 amScattershot posting here, from still functioning but ailing puter, with new hard drive (allegedly) en route. Them as needs to reach me should use the gmail address as I can check that from anywhere. I got to spend all day yesterday interacting with Dell Support (one wishes they would hire more service-chat reps for whom English is, if not the first language, at least a somewhat familiar one), and a fair few hours over the weekend struggling with backups. Still not done with those.
And yes, the Great Revolving-Door Extravaganza was carrying on through all of this. More on that below.
At any rate, there may be a silver lining. I looked into just saying heckwithit and getting a new laptop, but not only would that have been ridiculously expensive--I insist on a full extended warranty and full virus protection, and those run up the price considerably--there is no such thing as a new machine without freaking Windows Vista. Thank you but I prefer to wait for all the bugs to cycle through, the patches and kludges to accumulate, and the compatibilities to settle down before I move to a "new" OS (which in Windows means a bigger, badder patchwork of old and new code, aka Prime Hacker Magnet). Then I discovered that memory for the old puter (which has been a doorstop since last summer) is quite cheap and I can get it up to 1GB from the current, severely anemic 256MB (hey, I got it years ago, what did I know?). So, I arranged to have the keyboard replaced and the heat sink ditto, which requires a trip to the factory, and they will install the new memory modules while they're at it. And I'll be getting effectively a new system, with XP and all my old, currently inaccessible files, for under $200. I'll take it!
Meanwhile the oven is dead. Again. Must get up energy to make a repair-service call. That happened in the midst of the Extravaganza. Good thing I have a new crockpot and a lot of stovetop recipes. And a roaster oven if I truly can't live without some form of baked good.
The Extravaganza itself was exhausting and frequently ad-hoc but most enjoyable. There were many flight delays, weather problems, and vehicle and personal breakdowns among the personnel, so plans changed hourly, but we coped. TL acquired a couple of enthusiastic new students, Camilla got her clinic time (in a hailstorm, no less), and TL filled in a piece of the puzzle with Pook: showed me exactly how his crookedness to the left works, and how to fix it. (It's not his saddle that's off kilter--it's the horse. When he's straight, so is the saddle.) As we were working on that, she observed, "This is why you have trouble getting the canter depart with him. Fix this and you'll have it." Then she added that F's prescription of exact figures has the same effect, but addresses it through the mechanics of figures rather than analysis of biomechanics and positioning. Interesting insight into the method.
Camilla has the same asymmetry btw, and it's the same fix there: weight to the left no matter how hard she tries to push it to the right. Determine which seatbone is really closer to the center of the saddle; it's not the one that feels as if it is, which is the one that's being pushed out and away. Also, apply seatbone instead of muscles--that I need to work on, it's so subtle it's almost more than I can process.
It all interlocks beautifully with Teacher's weekly lessons and the annual input from F, and it was most educational to have the quick progression of F, Teacher, and TL. TL will be back the last weekend in April; meanwhile we have plenty to do.
And now I am back to reality. Mentees, I'll be back to you in the next day or two. Must also get back into novel projects. The next couple of weeks have to be bunker time as I finish up a rewrite and start a new one. Much to do. Much, much, much. Yes.
And yes, the Great Revolving-Door Extravaganza was carrying on through all of this. More on that below.
At any rate, there may be a silver lining. I looked into just saying heckwithit and getting a new laptop, but not only would that have been ridiculously expensive--I insist on a full extended warranty and full virus protection, and those run up the price considerably--there is no such thing as a new machine without freaking Windows Vista. Thank you but I prefer to wait for all the bugs to cycle through, the patches and kludges to accumulate, and the compatibilities to settle down before I move to a "new" OS (which in Windows means a bigger, badder patchwork of old and new code, aka Prime Hacker Magnet). Then I discovered that memory for the old puter (which has been a doorstop since last summer) is quite cheap and I can get it up to 1GB from the current, severely anemic 256MB (hey, I got it years ago, what did I know?). So, I arranged to have the keyboard replaced and the heat sink ditto, which requires a trip to the factory, and they will install the new memory modules while they're at it. And I'll be getting effectively a new system, with XP and all my old, currently inaccessible files, for under $200. I'll take it!
Meanwhile the oven is dead. Again. Must get up energy to make a repair-service call. That happened in the midst of the Extravaganza. Good thing I have a new crockpot and a lot of stovetop recipes. And a roaster oven if I truly can't live without some form of baked good.
The Extravaganza itself was exhausting and frequently ad-hoc but most enjoyable. There were many flight delays, weather problems, and vehicle and personal breakdowns among the personnel, so plans changed hourly, but we coped. TL acquired a couple of enthusiastic new students, Camilla got her clinic time (in a hailstorm, no less), and TL filled in a piece of the puzzle with Pook: showed me exactly how his crookedness to the left works, and how to fix it. (It's not his saddle that's off kilter--it's the horse. When he's straight, so is the saddle.) As we were working on that, she observed, "This is why you have trouble getting the canter depart with him. Fix this and you'll have it." Then she added that F's prescription of exact figures has the same effect, but addresses it through the mechanics of figures rather than analysis of biomechanics and positioning. Interesting insight into the method.
Camilla has the same asymmetry btw, and it's the same fix there: weight to the left no matter how hard she tries to push it to the right. Determine which seatbone is really closer to the center of the saddle; it's not the one that feels as if it is, which is the one that's being pushed out and away. Also, apply seatbone instead of muscles--that I need to work on, it's so subtle it's almost more than I can process.
It all interlocks beautifully with Teacher's weekly lessons and the annual input from F, and it was most educational to have the quick progression of F, Teacher, and TL. TL will be back the last weekend in April; meanwhile we have plenty to do.
And now I am back to reality. Mentees, I'll be back to you in the next day or two. Must also get back into novel projects. The next couple of weeks have to be bunker time as I finish up a rewrite and start a new one. Much to do. Much, much, much. Yes.
