Dealing with a petulant Snow Leopard

A follow up to Apple Mac by Kafka.

The Good

Applications bought on iTunes could be downloaded again. This was nice as I had just paid about 20 bucks for the Japanese Ap. that works as a great English/Japanese dictionary.

I easily reinstall the applications Soundslides, iVCD and Earthdesk via downloads from the web. Happily I still had all the license codes. To get Fetch again I needed to upgrade to the latest version for a few bucks, but that too is now up and running.

The Bad

Photoshop CS3 install disk doesn’t run. In a bizarre twist it looks like CS3 is compatible with Snow Leopard but it seems that the tiny little program that installs the program isn’t. Adobe doesn’t support CS3 anymore. Supposedly there are no problems with CS4. I bite the bullet and order a CS3 to CS4 upgrade from Adobe. (I realize this is rewarding bad behavior).

No longer have the CD or code for Word for Mac. Go out and buy copy of Microsoft Office for Mac 2008. Get home, put disc in machine. Machine spits it out. Need to finish writing a The Traveling Photographer article so download trial of iWork. “Pages” seems to be a pretty good word processor, just need to remember to save as  .doc before mailing anything to an editor.

The Ugly

CS4 upgrade pack arrives. Happily open box insert install DVD, computer whirrs then spits out DVD.

Deodeo phones to say my  external hard drive has returned from I-O Data fixed and clean (empty) as a whistle.

Connect external hard drive and let it backup about 500 GB of data.

Talk to Apple Care. They suggest to try the CS3, CS4, and Microsoft Office for Mac discs in another Mac to see if it was a problem with each disk. (I resist the urge to point out that if there is a one in a thousand chance of a particular install disc being faulty, for it to happen to all three discs would be one in a billion.) Drive over to house of fellow Mac Pro user, photographer Aviva Bowman, discs work fine on her computer.

Talk to Apple Care again. They say they’ll send a shipping box right away. Couriers will pick  up my computer tomorrow, take it back to Apple and they’ll sort out the problem.

The Good (I realize I’ve used this already, but it’s nice to end on a positive note)

Drink mug of tea and look on the bright side of life.

Didn’t lose any significant information, but learned a valuable lesson about backing up data.

I had purchased the extended 3 year Apple Care plan so if there are any faults with the Superdrive they’re covered.

Bear, my labrador, just peed outside on the grass rather than inside on the floor. Hoorah.

Thank You

I started this blog on November 16th, 2008. One year later, there have been 187 posts, 247 comments and quite a few visitors. In fact, the numbers of views has risen from 25 in  the first month to 6889 in October. It’s been a pleasure sharing my various adventures and misadventures with you over the past year. I’m glad that some people out in the world wide web have found them informative, interesting or amusing.

Not sure what the next 12 months will bring. Hopefully I’ll visit some beautiful places, meet some interesting people, learn a few kanji, and take a couple of really good photographs.

Thanks for reading.

Chris

Hachiko & Greyfriars Bobby

Hachiko was an Akita dog that used to meet his owner at Shibuya station when he came home from work. One day his owner suffered a stroke while at work, died and never returned to the station. Hachiko, however, would return each night to the station ever waiting for his friend and master.

A bronze statue of Hachiko stands near the main crossroads in Shibuya. It is one of the most famous meeting spots in Tokyo.

Hachiko Statue, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Over on the other side of the world in Edinburgh, I photographed the statue of Greyfriars Bobby a Skye Terrier who spent  fourteen years guarding his owner’s grave.

Greyfriars Bobby Statue, Edinburgh, Scotland

Although unlikely, if I ever make it to the grave of Bobbie, the Wonder Dog in Oregon, I will have completed the Super Dog Triple.

Pu’s 14th Birthday!

Today is Pu’s 14th birthday. I just checked an online chart and it says Pu is around 88 in human years.

Dog Years to Human Years Conversion Graph (www.calculatorcat.com)

Seiko made Pu a cake (sliced bread) with a topping of mixed vegetables. Once the candles were removed, it was wolfed down in a matter of seconds.

Happy Birthday Pu!

Pu's 14th Birthday

On the Bookshelf: Marley & Me

Marley & Me by John Grogan

Just finished reading Marley & Me (along with several million other people if you believe the sticker on the cover). For those who haven’t heard of it, the book is a collection of anecdotes about the author’s life with his crazy labrador Marley.  The first few chapters are pretty much my life with Bear, while the later chapters are pretty much my life with Pudding. The last few chapters were tough to read. Pudding is 13 years old and almost completely deaf. She sleeps about 22 hours a day, and only has short ambles around the garden as her legs are a little wobbly. Hopefully the magical elixir that seems to extend life on Okinawa will work it’s wonders, and Pudding will be able to sniff, snooze, and watch over Bear for years to come.

Bear v Bearista

Bear (the dog) is not a fan of other bears, no matter how smartly dressed / cute / collectable  they are.

Bear v Starbucks Japan Bearista

Note that Bear ripped out the bearistas eyes, disabling its prey, before trying to remove the brains!

Lab Report – Bear test

 

 

Hartz Chew n' Clean (before)

 

Just got a Chew n’ Clean toy for Bear.  A bargain at only 3 bucks.  

The Hartz website states: “Our Chew ‘N Clean® Tooth Scrubber™ was developed by veterinarians to promote dental hygiene during chewing. Great for aggressive chewers, these durable multi-material toys are safe and long-lasting and promote hours of chewing. Rotating rubber rings help gently massage gums and clean teeth of plaque and tartar.”   

Opened pack, gave to Bear, and thirty seconds later saw this….

Chew n' Clean (after)

Chew n’ Clean : developed by veterinarians, destroyed by Bear.

Lab Report – Bear gets her 9 vitamins and iron

Got up this morning went into the kitchen, ground some beans, stuck them in the coffee machine’s little gold filter funnel, filled the reservoir with water and swtiched it on. Normally I have granola, but today I grabbed an unopened box of Frosties and popped it on the kitchen counter. I went to turn on the computer and check the news while the coffee machine did its magic.  

Five minutes later, having read that a North Korean ballistic missile was about to be fired over (or possibly into) Japan, I returned to the kitchen.

I was greeted with the smell of fresh coffee and  ….

There were two suspects.

Pudding was fast asleep.

Bear was racing around the kitchen with a mad gleam in her eyes.

I picked up the trash, then had my cup off coffee with a piece of toast.

Lab Report – OAARS Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society

The Okinawan American Animal Rescue Society  OAARS is a fantastic program whose main goal is to find homes for stray and unwanted animals on Okinawa which would otherwise be euthanized ( a polite way of saying killed).  I am writing about them here (in a blog that is meant to be predominantly about photography in Japan) because my friends Theresa and Michael saw that there were some labs that needed homes and hoped I’d be interested.  As much as I would love another lab, or two or three, Pudding and Bear are quite enough right now. Hopefully, however, there is a reader out there who would love one of these beautiful creatures, and make the dogs, the people at OAARS, Theresa, Michael and myself extremely happy.  As an added bonus adopt one of these dogs and you can then come and hang out with Pudding and Bear at the beach!

 

Sam a gorgeous one year old yellow labrador retriever

Samantha (Sam's sister) another gorgeous yellow labrador retriever

Lola a gorgeous 9 month old cream labrador retriever - present owner has allergies and can no longer keep her

Labrador retrievers are quite possibly the best dogs in the world. They are loving, smart, sensitive, beautiful, playful and have great temperaments (although Bear has some issues). But…..

 until they reach Pudding’s age (13), and especially when they are young,  there is more potential energy inside a labrador’s body than in a nuclear power station. You must be willing to vent that energy with regular walks, a home they can explore (destroy) and plenty of attention. Labrador’s love to swim so Okinawa is a great place for them to live.

 I also read that labradors make great family pets, however if you have small children a young pup will  treat them like bowling pins. Bear is 30 kilograms of solid muscle with a low center of gravity, and the ability to accelerate, decelerate and turn in a fraction of a second.  

Also consider your budget. Labradors are big eaters. Pudding has cans of regular senior dog food, while Bear (because she has skin allergies) has Super Gold Fish and Potato dried food. Also budget for the costs of vaccinations, check ups and all the various ailments that dogs can get. There are many other things to consider which I am sure OAARS will explain to you, so please please adopt a dog, but don’t make it an impulse action.

Before I forget, there are of course many other dogs and cats available for adoption through OAARS. Please check them out, it might be the best thing you do today, and possibly the best thing that will ever happen in an adopted dog or cat’s life.

The Lab Report – Puppy Power

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but is no match for an inquisitive labrador.