Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – Master Class

Our original plan had been to leave today, but because of the great way they’ve been looking after our horses at no charge, we decided to offer them a Master Acting Class anyway. We visited the horses in the morning, with a side trip to pick up more feed, then facilitated a Master Class in the little theatre in the afternoon. Discussed the possibility of perhaps offering a day long Master Class to all of the theatre groups in the area, something we’ll need to pursue at a later date. All around, a very good experience with the very nice folks at Virginia Intermont!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - Performance Day

Did some more work on the computer, then went into the theatre at about 12:00 to shower and to prepare for the performance at 2:00. Alas, the showers were turned off, so we had to quickly arrange to have our RV tank refilled. Cut it pretty close! Made it just in time! About 150 middle school and younger students attended the matinee, and they were positively rapt for the entire 75 minutes. A small group had to leave early, but they filed out quietly during a break, and we extended the blackout so they could get out in plenty of time. Afterward, we rested in the afternoon in anticipation of our second performance. Likewise, the evening performance at 7:00 drew well over 150 people, including the president of the college and most of the upper faculty and staff, and the audience was very responsive. Many people stayed afterward to talk with Hubby once he changed out of costume, including some students, which made our host Randy very pleased. A good day all around!!

Sunday, March 28, 2010 - Finally, a Rest Day

Slept late, and did nothing today except unhook the van in preparation of tomorrow's load-in, watch movies, read, sleep, and get caught up on this blog!

Saturday, March 27, 2010 - New Back Yard

Ran up to the Farmers Coop in Abingdon to pick up some more oats for the horses, and dropped it off at the barn before heading down to the college for next performance. Met the Technical Director, Will, who was great in assisting us get settled in behind the theatre. Once done, I went over the Fine Arts Building to find a wifi for one last attempt at solving my problem. No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to find how to get on XP with this new program, and even concluded that I needed a different computer, as this one apparently didn't have "hardware virtualization" capability, which was necessary for Professional to work properly. That would have been nice to know before I downloaded the dang thing! Anyway, I decided I had run out of time, and I would have to do whatever is necessary to solve the problem, so I hopped into the pickup truck and drove to the Best Buy, begging for help, promising that I wasn't leaving until I had a functioning computer, even if it meant buying a new one. Well, I have to say, that Geek Squad was great. They were the best of all of the previous ones I had tried to get answers from. They went online and found some software on Microsoft that would give me "hardware virtualization" capability, which has, oddly enough, nothing to do with hardware. Apparently, it divides the processor into two parts, one for W7 and one for XP, so that you can switch between the two. Four hours later, everything was up and running, we'd managed to solve my connectivity problem, and I understood enough about how the system worked to walk out with confidence that the problems were now behind me. YEAH!!!!! Ran up to check on the horses, then stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a roasted chicken for dinner and some other things we needed, feeling like a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders! Planning on having a GREAT night sleep, now that my biggest challenge of the trip was behind me! Still a few more problems to solve, a few files to find, but nothing like what I've been experiencing these last few weeks! Whew!

Friday, March 26, 2010 - Doctor and Drive

Recovered the furniture with sheets, finished packing up, and headed to Nashville for Hubby's "device check", a simple appointment where they determine that his defibrillator is functioning properly. Meanwhile, one of the many computer folks I had been talking to had mentioned that I could download an upgrade of my Windows 7 program, to raise it from a Home Premier to a Professional level, which apparently allowed you to use XP on the same computer, sort of off to one side. I found it on the Microsoft site, paid the $90+ and downloaded it at once, hopeful that at last, I might have found a solution, or at least gotten closer to one! We were finished quickly at the doctor's office, then took off. For once we didn't stop at our favorite Indian restaurant, we simply didn't have the time. Headed out immediately, and arrived back at the stables at about 5:30. Everybody was fine, though covered with mud from their stay in the pasture, and for some reason, large chunks of hair were falling off of Hubby's mare and leaving almost bald spots behind. I quickly got on the internet (there's a wifi at the barn) and discovered the most likely culprit, "Seasonal something or other" (I'll put that back in later), which happens when horses experience serious temperature changes during the springtime. Winter hair falls out before summer hair has a chance to come in. Considering they were in 70 temps in Texas, and here the temps had dropped into the 30's, it wasn't surprising. No reason for concern, just time, and maybe a little lotion, and she'll be good as new. Then we once again drove out with the RV to Wal-mart, having arranged to move over to the college tomorrow. Still no progress on my computer, despite numerous more tries. Arrrrrgh!

Thursday, March 25, 2010 - Big Day at the Bank

Woke up to some rain, which was intermittent throughout the day. Finished getting the computer going, though all my attempts to move anything to the new computer proved fruitless. Loaded up the pickup with our hay, which was in better shape than I thought it might be, and frankly, compared favorably with some of the better stuff we'd been buying along the road. I was afraid I would discover that our own lot was substandard now that we'd seen such a variety, but it held up under scrutiny. Then we took a trip into town, first stop at the bank, to do something we'd been working extra hard for for some time... We paid off our mortgage! It was now a 100% asset, and our very last bit of debt. It still hasn't sunk in, but I suppose it will when I don't have to deduct the monthly payment from our account in a few days! We went to a Mexican Restaurant to once again have access to a wifi (again to try to solve some computer problems, once again to no avail), then ran down to the fabric store to pick up some material to cover the hot tub. The old cover had shredded over the winter, and I was hoping to have enough time to quick sew another one before we left, which I did manage to do. Packed up several large bags of clothing, gathered everything on the list we had been keeping of things we needed on the road, and prepared ourselves for the possibility that we wouldn't bother to come back again for the rest of the year, or even longer if the mood strikes us. Sounds crazy, to leave a house just as it's getting paid off, but that's how we are, what can I say? Looking forward to leaving tomorrow and reuniting with our horses.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Home Again, Home Again

Returned to the EC and dropped off the RV and van, and headed out for home in the pickup truck. A thankfully uneventful trip, gaining an hour as we moved into Central Time, and arrived home by about 3:00. Had a stack of mail waiting for us (we had called the post office in the morning with instructions to bring the mail out), and fortunately, everything was in perfect shape. No downed trees, or damage or any kind. A few branches down, as always happens in the winter, but nothing else. Hubby had been concerned that with the extraordinarily cold weather that a pipe may have burst, and was prepared for the worst, but everything was fine. It didn't even smell musty or anything! The only disturbance was our neighbor shooting a few rounds, but that's a long story... I immediately started solving my computer problems, i.e. getting Hubby's antique XP-operated laptop up and running, and making sure my entire bookkeeping file was intact so that I can get my taxes done in time. It will have to do until I get my other "new" computer workable. Had a relaxing evening, and looking forward to a good night's sleep.