Sunday, January 10, 2021

Playing Catch, and Techno-Woes


Olga and I took our usual walk to the Heath yesterday, and we passed this groovy little car in Hampstead. The flowers are very Scooby Doo, aren't they? It's a Miniature Mystery Machine. I stopped for a picture and only belatedly realized there's someone IN the car. I think she was unaware of me -- either that, or she's looking down at her phone because she's calling the police.


Olga, as usual, spent most of her time barking up at the trees.


I tried to get a good video of her catching her ball. It always surprises me how neatly she can clomp it in her jaws in midair. Most of the time, anyway.

Then we came home and I had the bright idea to try to update my iPhone. It's been giving me messages for ages that an update is available, but the last time I tried, it said it had to be plugged in to my computer first and I just got sidetracked and never followed through.

So I plugged it in, started the update and about halfway through, it stalled. I got an error code meaning that my computer needed to be updated first, and before I did that, I needed to make a backup using Time Machine. My computer's operating system is several generations back (OS X El Capitan 10.11.6) and I couldn't even find Time Machine. I decided I wasn't in a position to immediately pursue that, but meanwhile, the phone had been corrupted by its partial update and would no longer work.

(I was swearing this whole time, by the way.)

I decided to try to restore the phone, which would wipe out all my contacts and pictures and everything else, but I have all that stuff backed up so it doesn't matter. When I hit "restore," though, I got this:


Basically, it's the same problem. The computer needs to be updated before it will restore the phone.

So now, my phone is dead. My question is, WHY DID IT BEGIN THE UPDATE without making sure the systems were compatible enough to go through with it?! (Yeah, I know -- I could ask myself the same question.) I'm usually wary of doing updates, and this is why. Invariably something goes wrong.

Dave suggested we just buy a new phone, but I said, "NO WAY!" I am NOT rewarding Apple by dumping £500 (or however much they are) on a new phone when my old one was just fine. It's not even that old. Three years, maybe? My computer is older -- I got it in January 2016.

I could take the phone to work tomorrow, plug it into my work computer -- which has a much newer operating system -- and update or restore it there. Hopefully that would at least give me a functioning phone. But it wouldn't solve the underlying problem of my antiquated OS on the computer.

So I suppose I should find Time Machine, do a backup, update the computer (which will probably take hours, ugh) and then do the phone. I'm not sure I can do it today because I'm not sure I can back up to my external hard drive without erasing everything already on it. I may need a new external disk.

Argh! Technology!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

The car looks ever so gay. Touch wood we have never had update problems. While my phone is newish, R's is three models earlier and the desktop must be close to ten years old.

Frances said...

I have an iphone ( about 2 years old) and have never plugged it into a computer? When it says there is an update I just click on update and off it goes! If it is less than 50% charged I have to plug it in to the charger! Perhaps your update was something special? Not just normal regular update?
Alexi used to catch a ball like in in the house but he seems to have lost the ability or the desire to do so. He usually just dodges it!

Tasker Dunham said...

You could catch a ball in mid-air too. It's just practice. In a shared house where I lived after first leaving school there was a lad who could throw a lighted cigarette in the air and catch it in his mouth right way round. Got my phone in October 2003.

Angelicastar said...

Olga is active, although sometimes she probably feel achy but it's good she keep going. My 2 chi have arthritis but they have never been active. when I let those 2 little girls outside they will sit down. (lol) Now they have orthopedic beds and I have to constantly argue with Babs to get her off the floor because I have ceramic tile. Milo (malteepoo) is very active but he tries to make them play and they will bite at him. He would always get on their beds so I had to buy him one like theirs. They have sofa beds but never use them.

Have you ever thought about upgrading your computer to windows 10?( it will let you know if it can before it try doing it) It's free. I was using windows 7 on my desk top and lap top and I upgraded both to windows 10 which is the newest microsoft OS. Both of my computers are older. My phone is BLU(Bold Like Us) I have been using those for years.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I am sure that if you got Dave to throw tennis balls to you it would not be very long before you became as adept at catching them in your mouth as Olga clearly is. After all, practice makes perfect. As for the phone troubles, I cannot sympathise as I have never owned a mobile phone or smartphone. I believe Americans call them cell phones. Is that because they make you feel like a prisoner in a cell when they go wrong?

Moving with Mitchell said...

The car is a modern version of those 60s and early 70s VW bugs. My friends (several had) them with giant flower decals all over the exterior. One friend even quilted the entire entire roof and inside doors. I feel for you with the iPhone update and the mess it created.

Sarah said...

Oh no-I feel your pain! It was making me tense just reading about this. I become irrationally angry in these situations. I enjoyed watching Olga catch her ball though. Hope you can get the technology sorted!

Colette said...

So frustrating, this modern world. It's rarely a matter of just fixing one thing. One thing always leads to another.

Marty said...

This planned obsolescence drives me insane.

John Going Gently said...

The phone....I understand your pain

Ms. Moon said...

"...because she's calling the police."
Ha!
Olga could have had a great career as an infielder in baseball. Or maybe an outfielder. I have no real idea.
Technology. Ay-yi-yi. And doesn't it feel horrible when our trusty phones aren't working? Have you tried pressing the bottom button and the right-side button at the same time until something happens?

Bob said...

Those little cars look like arm chairs on wheels to me!!

As for the iPhone update, you lost me at 'plug it into the computer.' I have no knowledge of such things!

Anonymous said...

Love that car. Reminds me of my old VW bug back in the 1970s. I had flower decals all over it. I wish I still had it.
I don't think I've ever had to plug the iPhone into the computer for an update. Mmm? The only time we connect the phone to the computer is to update newly downloaded music. I hope you can figure out what's up with that phone.

ellen abbott said...

Time Machine is in the Applications folder in the Finder. I got an external hard disk when I thought my computer was going to die (it's still working fine) and turned on Time Machine and now it backs up automatically on a regular schedule. I think I have one update on my phone I haven't installed yet.

we call those little cars 'baby shoes'.

Red said...

The talk about backups is scary for an old guy who knows very little about computers.

Ellen D. said...

That is the cutest little car!
Sorry about your phone troubles. I have an iPhone but am useless as far as giving you any advice about it.
Too complicated, right?

Debby said...

Oh, I am so happy for my dumb little smart phone. It's the first time I've heard the phrase 'planned obsolescence'. That would make me angry. One good reason never to jump on board the I-phone train. I'm convinced. My husband's first cell phone was one that my son bought himself in high school, a prepaid thing. He carried that for probably 10 years.

Linda Sue said...

You are a more patient man than I. Tech for me is - turn it on, if it does not work- give up. Dennis fixes everything for me and i know that i should deal but I would rather stick needles in my eye.
Olga makes us glad! She has a pleasing deep voice.

Allison said...

So sorry about your tech issues. Nothing, not anything, makes me angrier than when tech doesn't work. Currently I am unable to log on to IRS.gov. Who knows why? I get one attempt and it locks me out. It makes me crazy. My laptop is driving up on end of life, it won't sleep, it won't shut down. Every night I have to turn it off with the power button. It can't be left on because occasionally it overheats to the point where I can smell the hot plastic. Really great!

Sharon said...

Some of my worst nightmares have to do with technology. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night because of some "what if" scenarios playing out in my head. On my walk yesterday, I stood on a canal bridge and took a photo with my phone. I kept running the "what if I dropped my phone in the canal" loop and it would jar me awake every time. How silly is that?
Great video of Olga catching the ball. I actually thought of Olga last night watching a show on PBS all about squirrels! There was a great segment on how they avoid predators.

Catalyst said...

I sympathize greatly with your phone and computer woes. I've been through that sort of thing to many times to remember. Meantime that video may become a new classic: Catcher in the Woods!

Ursula said...

Olga exudes a certain ennui at catching balls. What of throwing them? Well, according to my father and everyone else, the female of the species is shite at throwing. Which in my case, age nine or so, was true. Nothing that he couldn't fix. And he did. Vorsprung durch Technik.

I feel for you and your tech woes. I have refused to join the always available. Landline it is. Insert snorts (not of the Angel - he takes his mother as she comes). However, my nephews and several of the Angel's friends assure me that soon I'll be left behind. It's true. Even my bank says so. Enter the Home Office. gov.uk website. The one that allows you to apply for permanent residency. If you don't have an effing smartphone to upload an app then bloody find someone who does. That's how they, roughly, word it. Sweet. The Angel has taken me into hand or rather my Passport and NI number. Should I be deported I shall send you a courier pigeon. Make sure Olga won't savage it.

U

The Bug said...

That car is adorable! I routinely update my phone because I always plug it into my computer to get pictures for my weekly picture update. iTunes always tells me when there's a new update. BUT it won't always work correctly plugged into the computer - then I just disconnect it & run the update from the phone. Mike has never plugged his phone into his computer so he doesn't have that problem.

Alphie Soup said...

It is a groovy little car notwithstanding the scrape and buckle on the driver's door. Ideal for London parking and short drives. Very popular here for a couple of years, mostly for its novelty and brand. That's all over now and new cars are no longer imported.
Alphie

Janie Junebug said...

The car is very Scooby-ish and '60s flower power. I like it. Technology is great . . . when it works.

Love,
Janie

Margaret said...

The car looks very '70s, far out and groovy. ;) I don't like yellow though. I sympathize with you about the phone. Mine stopped backing up a few years ago; the "Genius" at the Apple Bar told me that I would need to completely wipe it and restore it. But then it randomly started backing up again. I don't allow automatic updates since a few updates ago I lost a whole bunch of text messages for some unknown reason. Neither Verizon, Apple nor my techie son-in-law could figure it out and get them back. Technology is our "frenemy."