Copying Post Office with Litter Boxes ! Puters.

No, NOT Letter Boxes. Litter boxes. I had to send some aloe plants today, and I was out of mailing tubes, the new order was back-ordered. I have the big long ones that the Post Office gives away for Priority Mail, but these weren't going Priority. As long as they are under 13 oz. they can go by First Class, which is about the same transit time, and half the price. These were smaller plants anyway. I knew I had some sturdy cat litter boxes, so I copied the Post Office ones and made some little triangular mailers, just the right sizes for the plants that were being mailed. The Post Office frowns upon you using their free boxes, as they get their money back with the Priority charges, starting at $4.

It takes me about 5 minutes to cut the litter box up with a sharp utility knife, fold it into a triangle inside out, fold and tape the ends, so I could make up to 12 mailers an hour. Each box makes 4 mailers. Considering the mailing tubes that you buy cost $1.50 - $2.00 each, I am saving money. The bigger the box, the more it weighs, and so by making smaller boxes the shipping charges are less, too. Maybe I have found a new career !

I had to go into town to put the cashier's check in the bank, and mail the plants. I think that they will get there safely in their strong little boxes. Gas was $3.39.

When I got back, I messed with these puters for a long time. I received my new Windows XP Pro SP2 with COA in English, from Germany the other day. Half the price than the ones here. But it has to be a clean install. So now I am bewildered by all the things I have been told to do, so that I don't lose my 'stuff' in here. I fired up my laptop, and let it do all it's updates, as it does have a good XP Pro in it. I just don't like to use it. I finally figured out how to get it to work on Broadband, too. Getting cleverer and cleverer. I got my digital camera disc thing loaded in it with the Wizard, and put some new pictures in the laptop. But when I looked at them, I realized I didn't have my picture re-sizer in the laptop. I will have to try to remember how to do that now. When I switched the Broadband back over to this PC, the pictures aren't in My Pictures ? So I don't know where they are now. I do have one of those hub things where I can have them both on line at the same time, but I have forgotten how to use it. It didn't work last time I tried to use it, years ago. Probably didn't have it hooked up right. And it would be just one more complication to confuse me.

I figured that if I did something wrong with this PC, at least I would have the laptop to answer folks inquiries about the things I have for sale. I still don't have this one ready to do the install, and I am scared to do it by myself. It says I have to back-up first. But back up what ? The instructions I was sent mention Data Folder, Organize Folder, and other places I had never seen before. I never knew there were so many nooks and crannies in this machine ! It is a wonder they work at all. This would be easy for you folks that have been brought up with computers, but for an old fossil like me who was raised in the days of manual (not electric) typewriters, it is all Greek.

A frustrating computer day.