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This week I took time to do some upgrades on Emily's MacBook Pro. It is a 2008 version ... before the unibody design, so it is pretty easy to open up and work on it. My project is to install a new hard drive, upgrade the RAM, and put in a new battery.

It started with this article I found on lifehacker.com ... Reinvigorate Your Aging MacBook Pro - Wired How-To Wiki. It took a couple of weeks for me to work up the courage to tackle this project ... and after I researched the parts I needed, I still left the items in the "shopping cart" online for a few days before committing to the task. I got the parts from Other World Computing ... and had a great chat online with Chelsea from their sales team. She helped me get the right parts and answered a ton of my questions. They include a tool-kit with a new hard drive with the specialty screw-drivers you need.

See the full gallery on Posterous

When the box arrived, I got started with backing up my original hard drive, formatting the new hard drive, installing Lion on the new drive, and restoring the back-up on the new drive. This was all the time-consuming work ... now it was time for the hardware installation.

There are some good tutorials online where you can watch somebody change out hardware on your exact model .. which gave me a lot of confidence in tackling this. The battery & RAM are easy upgrades, but they both have to come out of the computer body in order to get to the hard drive ... so it started w/ the hard drive. It boils down to taking out a bunch of screws in order, and then carefully putting them back in the right order. The actual cables for the hard drive are ribbon cables that snap into place, so nothing too technical is required.

If you are thinking about doing some upgrades, don't panic at the look of the inside of the computer. Just roll up your sleeves and go after it. The statement that got my attention & finally got me in gear on this project was when I read that an original hard drive from a 4+ year old computer was living on borrowed time.

Now we've extended the life of this computer and sped it up too.

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#BabyMadison Practicing Walking after church last Sunday

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:53:00 -0800

2012-0212_Practicing_for_Walking.m4v Watch on Posterous

Madison is pulling up on everything ... and getting really close to walking!!

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#BabyMadison looks like a leftover reindeer from Christmas

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 07:29:21 -0800

This morning's walk started with two walkers and one rider… And is now turned into one walker with two riders. #LAZYbug.

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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#BabyMadison Trying on swimsuits for Spring Break!

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:17:06 -0800

See the full gallery on Posterous

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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#BabyMadison plays while daddy cleans #ThingsThatWon'tStillWorkIn3Weeks

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:01:04 -0800

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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4 ways to know spring is almost here

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:35:25 -0800

It's not dark when I drive into work and dark on the way home every day

I actually dusted off my sunglasses and got to wear them once

The weather forecast includes sunshine, sunny days, overcast days, snow flurries, and subzero temperatures… All in the same week

Life in the CentriKid camp's office gets busier and busier… As summer gets closer, we move at a faster and faster pace

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4 keys to a great halftime show

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:05:16 -0800

4 keys to a fun halftime show...from tonight's Vandy vs LSU basketball game.

1-Sponsor product placement....it's no longer just a dot race, get sponsors.
2-Kids...everybody wins when you have a few thousand fans cheering for a rec league scrimmage.
3-Physical comedy....some sucker crawling around blindfolded trying to find a prize on court
4-Free tshirts...nothing electrifies a crowd like free shirts. Seriously. For anything.

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Not my week for clothes...(blog story)

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:54:35 -0800

2 episodes with clothes this week...

For church today, I wore the new shirt that Emily got me at Old Navy. It wasn't until I got home, that I realized I was displaying that it was a brand-new shirt for everybody… Because the tag was still on it. My second episode was actually on Friday at work…because I wore a pair of jeans with a small hole near the back pocket. I sat down at about 9:30 AM and heard a rip in my jeans...it was now a bigger hole. I was so embarrassed, so I didn't tell anybody. I didn't wanna drive all the way home just to change pants, so I just tied my jacket around my waist for the rest of the day. I'm sure some people thought I look like I was from the early 90s… But nobody commented on it so I survived. By the time I got home, the rip had gotten to be about 8 to 10 inches long… It was terrible but at least I had my jacket tied around my waist all day long!!

Maybe this week will be better for me and my clothes.

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#BabyMadison had a wardrobe malfunction tonight

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:55:23 -0800

Too big of a hurry...and both feet went into one pants leg.

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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The other pose of #BabyMadison tonight. #VeryEngaged

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:33:56 -0800

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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The pose of #BabyMadison at supper. #nosey #NotEngaged

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:32:52 -0800

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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Send a Wacky Camp Letter about @centrikidcamps to your friends

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:33:46 -0800

I just sent this wacky letter to Andy Dukes from the CentriKid Camps facebook page... you can send one to anybody on your facebook friend list! Give it a try now by going to www.facebook.com/centrikid and clicking on "Send a Wacky Camp Letter" in the sidebar.

Or you can click HERE.

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This can mean only one thing… Emily is trying a new salsa recipe

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 15:05:39 -0800

This can mean only one thing… Emily is trying a new salsa recipe

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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Funny popcorn story from @adukes & @jenhall86

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:44:17 -0800

I'm at the VBS event and I hear Andy and Jen popping popcorn...and then overhear them say "I'm pretty sure you can't screw this up!"

I hope they are correct because real people are supposed to eat this popcorn. My guess is their combined popcorn culinary training equals the time it took for you to read this post.... Popcorn eaters get excited!

JE
Sent from my iPhone

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Needed inspiration this afternoon...found this video inspiring

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:47:42 -0800

JE
Sent from my iPad

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