So is THIS the glamorous part of being self-employed?! Just finished teaching class… now hoping to make the deadline! Like a whole month’s extension wasn’t quite enough time??? Sheesh!

Oh yeah, sure I could have done my taxes during the last three and a half months when we all had “nothing to do” but stay home. I could have also purchased a winning lottery ticket, bought a tropical island and disappeared off into the sunset. Well, THAT didn’t happen either.

So here I am working on my taxes all day… and pretty darn excited to be done and hitting the SEND button in the next few minutes!!! Look at me… still with a couple hours to spare!!! WHOO-HOO!!!

So many of you have already noticed that my blog is currently down. I’ve been using WordPress for years… and now suddenly I have this error message popping up?! Sadly… I don’t even know what any of those things are… let alone how to fix it?!!! If anyone has conquered this issue for their own website, I would LOVE some “expert” advice to get mine up & running again!

OKAY – THIS ISSUE HAS SINCE BEEN “FIXED”…
and I’ve been back-dating & posting all of the old blog posts I couldn’t do while it was down! Sorry for the delay… the confusion… and the lack of posts over the last month. I’m trying y best to catch up. And I have a LOT of photos to upload still. Just think of it as some “good reading” during your Self-Isolation & Social Distancing!

Just spent a lot of my “bonus” Leap Year Day at The Apple Store.
We get a bonus day every four years… but it’s been at least two of these bonus days since I’ve gotten a new laptop. My computer has been so far out-of-date that I’ve been struggling with it for awhile.

But when your messenger bag slides out of back seat of your car… and then when you open the lid… and suddenly you have a big black bar & colorful stripes running down the center of the screen… maybe it’s time?! Now I just need to get it all set-up so I can get back to posting on a more regular basis!!!

Colorful ponies from days gone by… still running in circles.

Bills. Receipts. Reminders. Piles of paper.
Why do I put off doing my taxes until the last minute every year???
You would think I would learn, right?

Anyone else out there in the same predicament???

So somewhere along the way while I was in Dover… my computer CRASHED!
Okay, maybe “crashed” is the wrong word… let’s say it went black!!!

So a little background… I’ve been getting this error message for awhile.
And like most people, I ignored it thinking & hoping that it might not be too bad?!
Ignoring a problem hoping for the best. And it seemed to work. Kinda.
As I was working on my computer, the screen would suddenly go black. No warning.
About once a week when it started. More frequently as I continued to ignore it.

When the computer would restart, I would get this error-message screen…

But while I was in Dover, the screen stayed black after restarting. No message.

I could tell that my MacBook Pro Laptop was turning on because the keys would light up. But the screen was black. Bummer. And because of this, my blogging has been “on hold” for quite some time.

I took my computer to Lapin Systems in Lincoln Park to see what they would say. Fix it or time to buy a new one? Of course, he suggested fixing it… he is the Fix-It Guy after all. But everything he said sounded logical and he seemed very trust-worthy.

He explained that the white screen error message is a “Kernel Panic” alert.
Thus my question that is now the title of this blog post. It’s an indicator of a hardware issue somewhere inside that is triggering this alert.

Turns out I had a dead Graphics Card. And unfortunately, In my laptop, the Graphics Card is embedded in the Logic Board. So I had to get a whole new Logic Board. Which was still a LOT less money than buying a new laptop. Which I was dreading as a new laptop means new Operating Systens, which means a lot of conflicts with my antiquated software. New Logic Board, no changes, no problem.

So I just got my laptop back – all good to go. Thanks to Lapin Systems.
But now I’m WAY behind on all my blogging… so I’m going to be dropping in a lot of out-dated, back-dated, old posts to fill in the void.

My apologies ahead of time. Bear with me.

Chicago flag created by the students at Lane Tech High School using laser cutters, 3D cutters & 3D printers. Each student in the LT Makers group designed & created their own “tile” as part of the overall “flag.” Each tile representing “something-Chicago” in a topographical form to make up this really cool Chicago flag being displayed at Navy Pier!

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IT’S TAX DAY.
Eight more hours & counting. And still calculating…

Well, it’s been a long couple days with fingers crossed.
Hoping that the “data recovery specialist” would be able to work his magic to get my laptop computer back up & running AND get all of my files, photos & applications back in place. Good news – everything’s back. Whoo-hoo!  Computer running. Looks as good as new! Huge “expensive” sigh of relief. Immediately after picking it up, I went to the Apple Store to buy a new AirPort Time Capsule to start a regular regimen of backing-up my computer!

So now I’m back in business…
and I’ve got a lot of blogging, a lot of photos to share & a lot catching up to do!
Watch for some “retroactive” posts put back into place as though nothing ever happened!