What the Junk?!

I finally got my trip stuff put away. I also put away the laundry I washed last night from the trip. I'm sitting at my desk now typing this up before I forget and don't post later. lol I received a few items today from Amazon for my M1 MBP. I got a USB C mouse, a keyboard skin, and a SD card reader (USB c, of course.). I was upset when I opened the mouse as it had a regular USB A connector with an adapter. I didn't want to use an adapter, that was the whole point of buying a USB C mouse. THEN, I realized that this mouse actually works with the dongle OR as a Bluetooth mouse. YAY!!!!!  So, now both ports on my MBP are free! :D The SD reader works well, too.  I moved over the few pictures from my digital camera that I didn't do at the beach. The ones I did there, I just put them on the old MBP and I have Photos saved in iCloud so it moves across devices. I didn't want to have to do that every time I used my digital camera, so I got the little adapter. It works well. The skin is pretty and I'm saving it. I'm using the one now that matches the case I got, I'll use the blue one that came with the case I found at the beach next, and then I'll have this one for after those both wear out.  I like using them to protect my keyboard from crumbs, stains, or whatever.  

I was thinking about doing a post about my M1, but I think I'm going to wait a bit longer. I'm really tired and I need to write a good amount tonight to make up for being at the beach! I DID write every day while there, but some days it was just a few paragraphs. I want to get a good amount done today. I have written some, but I had to get going on getting my things put away. 

Sadly, tomorrow I need to mow the front lawn, but I'll worry about that then! Oh! Did I mention my mouse has holes in it and it lights up from the inside with different colors? It's pretty cool. Okay, enough for today. I need to get a few more things done (like writing!) and I want to relax.  I hope to be back to my normal self tomorrow.

Here is the mouse and the dongle and adapter in case you want to see them!

Sorry for the simple post earlier. Yes, I'm here at Myrtle Beach! :D. We got in around 1 ish.  We were able to check-in immediately, but the room had issues.  We went out while they fixed them because they said they didn't have anymore more rooms. Riiiight. Anyway! He fixed the issues, mostly, and we are here.  While we waited, we went to a Goodwill and my friend went to a Pawnshop. I told him to look for MacBook Pros while he was in there. He got done, came out and said there were three, two Airs and a Pro. Of course, I asked what kind and he said he didn't know. LOL. He told me to go in and look, so I did! The MacBook Pro was a 2020 M1 in Space Grey. OMG, I wanted it but it was a bit too much for me. It was a great deal, but I didn't want to spend that much.  Well, we left and came back to the room, we ordered food, and. I kept thinking about that damn M1 MBP!  He told me about some deals for that place and I found a 10% coupon. I called to see if they would do a coupon like that. THEY WOULD. Guess what I now own? :D Still more than I should have spent, but I'm going to try to sell some Fossil bags to pay it off faster. He drove me back down there, I made sure there was a charger for it before I bought it, there was.  I also checked to make sure everything worked, it did. :)  I've already gotten it set up; with my important apps. Scrivener, Evernote, and Chrome. It's so pretty! :D

Luckily, I brought my USB a to USB c converter plug so i can use my mouse. :)

Yes, my story is coming along well. I wrote a little over 3000 words today. Yay! I am enjoying this story. The hard drive on the other hand is a fail. I was not able to erase it. I might try again later, but for now, I'm really going to leave it alone. One good thing did come out of it though.  I was in recovery mode on the Mac trying to see if I could erase/fix there. My Time Machine backup drive works, but it would not show the backup file. D'oh! I tried it on both my 13" MBP and my older Macbook. It didn't show up on either. Weird. So, tomorrow, I think I'll reformat that old drive and do Time Machine over. After that, I'll try it again and see if Time Machine actually shows up when I get to that prompt. Wish me luck! Actually, I show actually start it tonight and let it run all night. It's probably going to take that long to do a backup. Wish me luck! lol

I wasn't able to erase the drive. I will try again tomorrow. I have a few more methods to explore.  It is still recognizing it so that part is good. I may not even erase it at this point. I'm not sure I'd trust it to use as my main HD after this. We'll see how it goes. Was looking at the M1 Macbooks today and wishing. It's going to remain a wish as I don't have that kind of money. ^^;

So, I tried all kinds of things today with the messed-up drive and I actually got it to mount on my desktop! I was so shocked that I just stared at it a bit. LOL, I was able to pull over a few things I'd missed when I was grabbing things before it stopped working. Then, I began several options to erase the drive so I could start over. After trying different options and getting errors, it's currently doing something. It says it's erasing the disk and creating a fresh one, but we'll see! I am hopeful since I finally go the drive to mount. I was beginning to totally lose hope. It still may not erase and it could be irreparably damaged, but at least I DID get it to mount again. So, wish me luck!

I did my usual Sunday chores today too. The bed linen is back on the bed and waiting for me! I have everything else done except a backup to Time Machine. I'll wait and see if this drive is going to be fixable and then I'll do a  TM backup tomorrow. Luckily, I just did one a few days ago, so I'm good. :)Also, I wrote a bit over 3000 words today! Yay!

Frustrating because I spent a lot of time today trying to get that drive erased (no luck)! The happiness is that my story is going well. I wrote just over 2500 words on it! :) The characters are going their own way as I mentioned yesterday and I'm fine with that. I still have to decide if I want to change the title or not. It fits the original idea, but it also can work with the way it's going too. I'll leave it for now.  I am enjoying it as it's my characters (that I've used in different stories) in a totally new configuration. It's been fun but a little challenging too!

The new drive enclosure I got today didn't work at all. sigh I don't know what to do now.  I did a return. I'm not sure if I want to even try to order another one. It's just so frustrating! In other news, I started a new story today. It was the one I mentioned when I was working on Camp. It's an old story that I'm completely re-doing. I like it so far. I think it will work. I also feel the characters are going to get ahead of me so I might have to change the name of the story soon. lol

Yeah, I was struggling for a title. Sue me. :p. My friend and I went to eat today at one of our favorite places. We also went to one Goodwill. I only got a few pencil/makeup pouches.  Not a lot, but it was something. One of them has an elastic strap on the back so you can attach it to a planner, nice! :)

In computer news, I ordered another enclosure today to try that. I am not sure if the one I have is the issue with not being able to erase the old drive, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to try.  It's coming tomorrow so I'll give it a go and see if that helps. I hope so, if not, well I'll try something else and then give up! 

I actually started it last night after I posted here. It took an hour and a half, but it's all backed up on Time Machine. :). Now, I need to get that 2 TB drive working. Soon.  I hope. lol.  I didn't do a lot today. I wrote. I needed to write a good bit because yesterday I didn't get much written. I was happy to get a good amount out today.  I am just finishing up a dramatic portion of the story. I am not sure what is coming next! I also want to start the other story I mentioned during Camp NaNo. I just need to figure out how to start that one. 

One other thing, I mowed the front yard today. That is always a PITA! :P

My friend and I are taking a break from thrifting, so no thrift trip today. I did lend the use of Goontz for him to load up some things and take them to his storage unit.  Other than that, I stayed in today.  I was having an issue with Bluetooth on the MBP and my phone. I had to Google it and was able to fix it. I just had to enable something in the settings. No, not under Bluetooth itself, that would have been too easy! It's working now, so I'm glad.  I also had an update show up for Big Sur. I did it and it was installed with no issues! :). That was cool. I'll do a new backup tomorrow to Time Machine. I really probably should start tonight in case it takes all day. lol. In fact, I might just get that started.  

Yes, it was another mundane Monday. I didn't do much.  I did have to run out and mail off a birthday card, but other than that, I was home waiting on a package from Amazon. I ordered a new power strip/surge protector that I plug my MBP into. I am just taking all precautions since I'm down to just this one!  I don't want anything to happen to it. This weekend, I did all my usual things. I also tried to erase that bad drive but it kept throwing up error messages, so I gave up (for now).  I will work on it again another day. I just need a break from it. I hope to get it erased and clone this drive and put it in this MBP as this one has only 500 GB and that one is 2 TB.  IT would be nice to have the extra space. I did a full Time Machine backup of this one this weekend just in case and it took over 12 hours. ~_~: I don't think that is normal, but at least, the next time I do a backup, it only gathers what I've added since and I really haven't added anything.   

Tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can't erase the drive and reformat it. I have done everything I can possibly think of and nothing worked. Thankfully, my important files were saved all except the music omes and they are on my iPod and it will be easy to move them over tomorrow. I want to try to erase the drive and reformat for use and then do a drive copy of this one and use that one since it's got more space.  This way, I'll keep this drive as a backup if it goes well. I think it's the best thing. It's been a week now. I can't keep wasting my day on a fruitless endeavor.   I still would like to have a newer MacBook Pro, but for now, I'll deal.

Yeah, I didn't have a good title, so there you go! I planned to NOT work on the drive today and take a break from it. That plan was going well until my friend texted me at lunch and mentioned taking it home to see if he could get anything to work on his Windows computer.  I told him to go right ahead but it wasn't going to be any different from the million things I've already tried. I was right. I appreciate him trying, but I'm pretty sure it's a lost cause.  When he got done, he brought it back and wanted me to hook it up and see. He had gotten it to show up on his, but couldn't access anything.  Of course, when I hooked it up here, it was just as it had been. Oh well. Of course that lead me to try a bunch of things after he left. Still nothing. Does anyone want to buy me a newer MacBook Pro? I really want a Space Grey 13" one from 2019! Anyone? Bueller? Yeah, okay. :p

In other news, I did get a good deal of writing done, so that was nice.  I need to do some research on shipping prices. I'd like to see if I can sell enough of my Fossil handbags to make enough to buy a newer MacBook Pro. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

I tried more things today and...nothing. Oh well. I did take a break from all that and run out and wash Goontz. He was pretty dirty from pollen, birds, and dirt! He is looking and I hope feeling much better now. I wrote, too. Now, I'm going to get away fro this desk and relax until bedtime. I need to sleep for about fifteen days. :( 

I am still using the 13" MBP. I plugged in the messed-up drive. The Mac doesn't recognize it in Disk utility nor does it show on the desktop. It DOES show up if I do a search in the Terminal. I don't know how to get it to show up. I tried a few different ideas I found online, but nothing has worked yet. I will continue to try later. I need a good night's sleep. I went to bed early last night and still didn't sleep well. Also, I hurt my shoulder area somehow. I don't know if I slept wrong or what the deal is, but I can't move certain ways as it HURTS! Ugh, one more thing to deal with. ~_~;