I'm a technology success story!!!

What a wild day!!!! The temperature had dropped, but it was totally bearable with the sun! Those who were able to come to the full-day INPERSON session for the Husqvarna Viking Designer EPIC 3 went home with their heads spinning from the amount of information I spewed at them! The intent was to give them a broad overview of the capabilities, but we need MORE than one day!! 

I was fired up and had fun!!! Thanks to Brampton Sew n Serge for hosting the event. I wonder if there are enough people with EPIC 3 around to host a Zoom club? I do NOT want to take away from a shop hosting events. 

The girls and the boy were home alone all day, but they managed just fine. I think it is the "parents" who worry about them, and that's only because there is usually one of us in the house at all times! 

They were pretty hopeful that I would take them with me in the morning. WAIT -- they were just waiting for their treat! 

MOM --- we're waiting for our T R E A T S

But there are those best buds again. They hang out together so much. Murphy is going to miss Bear when he goes home. WAIT -- isn't this his home now? Possession is 9/10ths of the law? Sadly, he will go home, but he's stuck with us for a few more weeks. 

Murphy and Bear

Here, he is perched in one of his favorite spots when we're in the kitchen. After I put him on the sofa, he bound up there to survey his kingdom!!!

Grandma -- I'm watching you!

And Lexi --- what a girl. I think she likes sleeping under the table because she can rub her back on the edge. She needs an itching post. 

MOM -- I need a scratching post

They were in fine form last night. Murphy and Lexi were "fighting," and Bear was the referee. I finally had to stop it because I couldn't focus on reading for the noise!!!! Interesting about dogs making noise. I recently heard someone who doesn't allow their dog to bark. How does the dog tell them when they need something? Murphy got stuck under the deck a couple of years ago. The ONLY way I knew that she was stuck and exactly where she was was because she barked! They alert us to people dropping off packages who don't ring the doorbell, they let me know when they want to come in the house (one woof is all they are allowed), and so much more. That's like telling a child to be quiet; we all hated that! Nope  - sometimes my girls are a bit too noisy, but I'd rather a bit of barking than they not be allowed to talk!

I wish they could coordinate their in and out schedules, though. It's like they have a conspiracy against me. 

Lexi: Hey, Murphy. You asked to go in, and I'll ask 2 minutes later. 

Murphy: OK -- and then tomorrow, we'll switch it up

Lexi: Sounds like a plan. It drives Mom CRAZY!!!!

Someone was not happy. Actually, she's eyeing Lexi. They are like cat and mouse or that cycling pursuit sport where they watch each other to see who will make the first move! 

MOM -- don't disturb me - I'm very focused

And Mr. Snuggles finally calmed down. What a little goof. 

I'm exhausted!!!

And all is calm at last. It's funny that they all get along but do NOT want to sleep next to each other. Oh no!!!

The three-dog night

In case you're wondering, the one-car thing is going very well at our house. I drive DH to the train when he needs to go downtown to work. He'll take an Uber back, which works out just fine. 

We have put on 2,600 KM (something like that ) since November 27, primarily driving errands around the neighborhood (well, he does groceries on Sundays and takes his mother shopping). And I've done a few couple-hour trips. We do NOT need two cars. No one has lost their freedom to go where they want when they want. I knew that! 

However, I've noticed something. There seems to be an issue with the gas gauge. It's NEVER close to empty when DH is in the car, but that gauge drops like a rock when I get in! Why is that?

Almost on empty!!

With my other car, the fuel light would go at 100KM. The light popped on at 38 KM. That's cutting it a bit close if you ask me. I'm sure there's a setting I can change because otherwise unless you remember to watch the gauge, you could easily run out of gas. So I must look for that setting and change it. Perhaps someone else will notice it. Maybe he thinks we bought an electric car? 

So last night, I was too tired to sew, yet too wound up to go to bed. So, I dug out my iPad. I'm always telling people how I use it to store all my manuals, and I do, but what a mess. I have a love/hate relationship with my iPad. Apple is so darn proprietary it could choke you! 

I was all excited when I started doing this years ago. I can put the PDFs into iBooks and see them on the shelf. I could sort them by topic, and that would be great!! Ah -- not so fast!! If the book is not an Apple product, you cannot sort them in iBooks. So I had amassed a HUGE pile of books, and I had to sort through them to find what I wanted. It's not an ideal situation. 

A mess of PDFs in iBooks

I had learned that I could put those PDFs into folders, but I also struggled with that. I had files all over the place that needed to be sorted, which was a mess. I had duplicates of most things, and I was tired of it. 

My NEW file system on the iPad

So, I decided to bite the bullet once and for all and would SOLVE this mess. This was AFTER 6 PM, which is not my prime learning time. 

Guess what? I figured it out!!! Yahooo!!!! It was probably the reason that I couldn't get to sleep last night. I still have about 40 documents to transfer to the filing system. Yep -- there were a lot. 

It's super easy if anyone wants to know how to do it. In iBooks (I think that is what it's called), you touch the three dots under a title, and a menu pops up. Touch "Share PDF."

Share PDF screen

That gives you choices, and you select "Save to Files." 

Save to Files

Then, it was "easy" to sort them into folders. OK -- that took me some time to figure that out. For all the talk from people about how intuitive Apple is -- it is NOT!!!! But that could be a lack of knowledge from the operator. Anyway -- all that doesn't matter because I figured it out. How? I didn't even have to Google; I PLAYED with the buttons, and I PLAYED more with the buttons, and I tried different things, and VOILA -- I figured it out. 

So now the big deal is to get ALL of my PDFs onto the iPad. Then, ALL my manuals and guides will be in one place, which would be amazing. I know some are on my computer, and probably my laptop and I might still keep some of those on those devices - just to have them handy, but I'll soon wean myself off that and use the iPad. At least I can say I'm using it then. It is probably the most underused iPad in the world. 

I also want to get my iPencil working. Yep -- I bought one of those and have rarely used it. I did search Google to find out how to charge it, and I am missing one small piece. I can charge it through the iPad, but a small connector allows me to charge it through a USB. I know I have that tiny part in the house somewhere, but where? 

My iPencil

Here's one more thing about Apple, and it involves the Apple store. I wanted to download a drawing program and play with it. And when I searched, I found one that I had to pay for -- OK -- maybe later, but right now I want a free one, and there were several. I downloaded the first one (a coloring book style), and the minute I went to open it, it asked for a subscription payment. AH --- you should have said that on the search page. I deleted it. 

This happened twice. HEY -- if you want me to pay, ask upfront; don't let me download, and then ask. I will ALWAYS delete those --- be honest!!!!!

Well, there is a success story with me and technology. OH -- I can get frustrated with technology when I can't figure it out, and that iPad was a pain! Almost to the point where I'd just go to the website to find the manual and use that through the iPad rather than store it on the iPad. Well, I no longer have to do that!!! 

And all it took was a bit of finagling and a will to learn how to make the product work as I wanted. It's not that I don't understand technology; I want it to work in a certain way. I'm not an early adopter, but I push this stuff to the limit and try to make it do things MY way, not the way the company wants. I will NEVER buy an Apple book to use and sort it in the iBooks app. NEVER. 

OH -- I should mention that when you open the file folder system and click on a book? You can open it in iBooks to read it like a book (swiping pages). That's exactly what I wanted, but there is NOWHERE that tells you how to do that. I need to start my own YouTube channel on solving problems that NO ONE else seems to have the answer for!!!!

On that note, I'm out of here. It's minus 4 right now, but by the time I finish the walk, it's supposed to be PLUS 4. What weird weather!!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!