Nom de Plume

I was sooooo looking forward to getting Brambleberry’s Karma type essential oil blend (based on the Lush perfume). I even devised a special recipe. But when it came in the mail — and I had stupidly thrown caution to the wind, buying the 4 oz size — it didn’t do a thing for me. It didn’t smell like my perfume bottle at all. It wasn’t a sprightly. But I was committed; the oils were all measured and just needed to be warmed up. So I forged ahead:

6 oz coil
4 oz oo
4 oz sunflower
6 oz palm oil
8 oz crisco
4 oz cocoa butter

123 g lye
8 oz fresh carrot juice (instead of water; adds a lovely orange color)

3 TB Karma type EO blend
2 TB grapefruit FO (trying to recapture some zing)

I made it yesterday morning and cut it in the evening. I think I hate it–but of course, there’s no telling until it’s actually used.

Forget accounting programs, printer drivers, and all that other junk that doesn’t work. what I really needed was a podcast receiver that would. After googling around, found Happy Fish; its programmer Will was looking for Windows Vista 64-bit testers. And it works! And it’s free! Besides which, Will is a really nice guy (and I think must also be a designer, considering the super slick way HF looks). Download here.

Basic batch + 2 TB bitter almond fragrance oil and 1 TB ginger EO + vanillin sprinkled on top.

So named for the combination of frankincense, myrrh, and patchouli.

7.5 oz coil
2.5 oz olive butter
1.5 oz shea
10.5 oz oo

3.75 oz lye
8 oz water

1 TB frankincense powder melted with oils.

2 TB patchouli
1 TB clary sage
1 tsp carrot seed oil

Topped with frankincense and myrrh tears.

I’ve been using QuickBooks Professional 2004 for the past couple of years, mainly because my mother gave me her copy after she decided that she hated it. I don’t particularly love it, but it’s been functional–which is why I haven’t switched despite having a copy of SBA 2006. I figured that once I switched to Vista, I’d change over to a product that can create invoices in Word rather than the cumbersome PDF.

And lo and behold! Microsoft made the lite version of SBA’s successor free! It was all I needed. Woohoo. So I installed it on the new machine and copied over the QB file to import data.

Didn’t work. Apparently, you need an instance of the program itself to transfer. The data files aren’t enough.

Okay. So I went ahead and installed Office Accounting Express on my old PC. Did all the file transfers, works like a charm. YAY. Transferred the company file over to the new machine.

Didn’t work.

Okay, so found message board with support guy saying that the best way is to create a backup, then reinstall the backup on the new machine. YAY. I’m almost there. I followed instructions. It was all working. And then, it …

Didn’t work.

Okay, so NOW the problem is that the SQL database doesn’t exist. Well, that’s what I’m assuming. What the message SAYS is that my SQL server, which was installed as part of the damn program, is not set to allow remote configurations. I suppose that’s all essentially the same thing: it doesn’t exist because it can’t be configured remotely.

Please, somebody, just hand me a gun. Vista 64-bit is going to be Vista, in 64 bits. Then, so am I.

Update: five minutes later.

Oh Jesus. Okay, so I decided to change permissions in SQL Server Express. Found a handy dandy little technet article, followed the instructions … and then found out that I needed to install SP2. Do I have the strength for this?

Update: the next day/

I’m glad I didn’t start installing stuff. I posted a message on the help forum and someone kindly told me to restore it to a different name. It works now.

I’m one of those people who is a lot less knowledgeable about computers than I like to think I am. In other words, I am A-OK dinking around with things I have no business dinking around with. For instance, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cleaned up my registry to the point of having to reinstall the OS. But hey, it’s all an adventure, right?

And so, when it came to buying a new laptop this time around, I decided to go with an ODMed machine. Don’t know what an ODM machine is? Here, read this. I should say that my last laptop was great–the HP Compaq NC6000. It was solid and had fantastic battery life. (And my HP XE2 from 1999 is still alive and kicking; even though it only runs Windows 98, Steve uses it regularly, though he will now upgrade to my new old laptop.)

After months of obsessive research, I finally decided to go with the Compal HGL30, which I bought from discountlaptops.com. The specs are:

14.1″ WXGA (1280 x 800) Glare TFT Glossy Display
Core 2 DUO 2.16 GHz Processor (Merom/ T7400 / 4 MB L2 Cache / 677 FSB)
Upgrade to Artic Silver 5 (AS5) Thermal Cooling CPU Compund Paste
nVidia GeForce GO 7600 (G73M) 256MB VRAM
2048 MB DDR2 (667 MHz) Corsair Memory (1 GB x 2)
80 GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM) – SATA (Hitachi)
8X DVD / 24X CD-RW Combo Drive w/ Software
Internal 56 kbps Modem (V.92)
Internal 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
Internal IntelPRO 3945ABG Wireless Ethernet/Lan (802.11 a+b+g)
Smart Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell / 10.8V x 7200mAh)
3 in 1 card reader for SD/MS/MMC
S-Video, VGA, 3 USB 2.0 Ports

And then of course, I had to install Windows Vista Ultimate and Office Ultimate. So my little mini-review of the machine itself is intertwined with Vista experiences. And in no particular order, they are:

1) I like the laptop. The screen is amazing. I had this open side by side with my old NC6000 as I was transferring data, and my faithful old laptop just faded into obsolescence before my very eyes.

2) The CTRL and FN keys are reversed; this is messing me up, though I suppose I’ll get used to it.

3) Even with the Artic silver upgrade, the handwrests get pretty warm. But the fan works so I don’t think this is much of an issue in terms of function. But I don’t particularly like it.

4) I’m not sold on the keypad, which seems solid, but a little springy for my taste.

5) This shipped with a BIOS that was 6 versions old–and of course running Vista 64-bit puts a kink in things. The Compal web site has the most current versions–though it’s hard to figure out which it is–and THEN the zip files are password protected. HMMPH. I got mine from Bizcom instead.

6) Am I an idiot? (Don’t answer that.) I didn’t even realize this was 64-bit. This is a Vista issue, but can I tell you? There is NO SOFTWARE (non-MS) that works with this. I am trying to find a podcast receiver program, and NONE OF THEM WORKS!! This is a problem. Also, the IKEA kitchen planner software doesn’t work either, which is another issue, but deserves its own post as it concerns Mr. Demo wielding a sledgehammer stop a sawed off kitchen counter.

7) No microphone. My NC6000 had one built in, and I used it often enough for interviews. So I have to buy one. Not a big deal–they’re ten bucks–but it’s yet more stuff to lose/misplace/not be able to find it when I need. I would happily trade in the webcam for a microphone.

Media Office, which does use the webcam, seems supremely useless to me, as are the buttons on the top righthand corner dedicated to it. And there’s no external volume button. Again, not a big thing, just a minor inconvenience.

That’s about it for now, but I’ve only been running this for three days. I’m sure there will be aand lots more. All in all, though, I am pleased. (Knock on wood.) Especially considering that I’ve spec’ed out similar machines from HP and Dell, which would have cost a minimum of a grand more.

Update***
The speakers STINK.

The Easy Transfer cable for Vista? It’s a whopping 40 dollars. 40 DOLLARS.

I’m doing it the hard way.

Allow me my delusions, will ya? I managed to find the latest bios (not as easy as one would think, let me tell you, because it’s not on the compal web site) for my new laptop. Then, managed to create a bootable flash drive, and updated my bios. Whew. I need a drink. And I don’t even LIKE booze.

And if you go by how my grandmother pronounced Kiki, it actually rhymes.

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