HDD Imminent Failure

April 13, 2022April 2, 2022 — Technology — 2 min read

Having the above warning show up on the monitor of my HP Envy 27 Recline K350 all-in-one computer, it was time to see how easy it would be to replace the HHD. My first stop was to that greatest of all how to fix something websites, YouTube. After watching a few videos I knew where the HDD was located and how to remove it.

The computer laid out on cloth pads on the kitchen counter. The back cover has been remove revealing where the HDD and RAM are located. (I’ve already removed the hard drive cage).

The RAM is located in the left side compartment. The arrow points to the button that was depressed to release the hard drive cage on the right side. Sliding the cage to the left allowed it to be be removed. It took some force to slide it, but there is a stop so it can’t hit the RAM compartment.

Four screws hold the hard drive in the cage. The Seagate 1 TB spinning HD exposed. I wanted to be sure exactly what the existing HDD was which was why I removed it. With the price of Solid State Drives being so low and their speeds being so fast I decided that was only way to go with a replacement. I will do a future post on what my research will uncover about the best SSD to buy for my needs.

Adding a Chain Link Fence

April 12, 2022April 10, 2022 — Eclectic — 1 min read

Cool Again

April 11, 2022April 1, 2022 — Eclectic, Travel — 2 min read

When the RV (caravan) air conditioner stops working

It takes two to change out the front roof top air conditioner. The unit that failed was a combination air conditioner/heat pump. We opted to replace it with an air conditioner only unit since we never use the front unit as a heat pump. We like it cool to cold at night.

We think of the slide outs as delicate, something you would never stand on the roof of. But when we think about them, we often have both of us standing or sitting in them, so why wouldn’t it be okay to put weight on the roof.

Once the new unit was on top of the RV it took less than half hour to complete the installation. My wife was very happy when the cool air began blowing out the overhead ducts. The reason she was happy is because the front area of the RV is much larger than the front AC can cool on our 90 degree (32 Celsius) plus days, so she has a fan that blows cool air from the front (bedroom area) down to the main area keeping it nice and cool.

The failed unit. The smell of Freon was very apparent. Not the first time we have replaced a unit in an RV and it likely won’t be the last time. The wife is happy. I’m happy she is happy. It’s as good as it gets. (Without Helen Hunt, of course.)

It Was Just Passing Through

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 — Nature — 1 min read

Big Black Bees

April 9, 2022April 1, 2022 — Nature — 1 min read

The Poinciana tree in the back is blooming which means the bees are buzzing. There is an innumerable number of blooms on the tree.

While there are quite a few large black bees gathering nectar from the blooms, they make very brief stops at any one bloom. Did you see the bee? Center of page then up.

In this photo you can see the iridescent wings of these bees. From what I can find, they are simply called large black bees.

This is the best image I was able to capture. I even focused the camera on a single flower clump for some five minutes, no bee never visited it even though bees were constantly flying from flower tor flower. I guess I could be called – Rob, the not nature photographer.