July - August - September

SEPTEMBER 22
Hello, everyone. I know it's been a while, and I figured it was only fair to bring you up-to-date with what's going on with NFH.

First off, the main thing I want to say is that the website IS alive and well. Any rumors of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. Let's just say it has been in a "siesta" mode.

Back in June, I purchased a new computer system, along with a whole new operating system - Windows 7, 64-bit. I went with the new OS based on future predictions and needs. While there is not a whole lot of software for that OS right now, there are more and more developers looking forward to moving their software products in that direction. Some have even developed patches for their current programs that enable them to operate with the new OS parameters.

While that's great for the future, it created a bit of mayhem for me in the present. I use FrontPage 2003 for the website. While this program worked flawlessly in the Windows XP environment, it wasn't too happy with the new OS. It took more than a month of fiddling, tweaking, researching, and adjusting to get it to work properly. I am happy to say that the program seems to be running fine now.

After finally overcoming that hurdle, I then discovered that neither of my digital graphics programs would work properly within the new OS. They were older programs and wouldn't even work in the Windows 7 compatibility mode, which is a mode that allows some older programs to work within W7. I began to shop around and found several programs that were cheap and easy to use. After doing some further research, I discovered they would not work with W7. After many heavy sighs and a lot of cursing, I resumed my search. I came upon two programs that are designed to work in W7... one is a Corel product, and the other is Adobe. The Corel program is half the price of the Adobe one, and is easier to use. I felt that was right up my alley. Then I did further research on each one in the form of reading user reviews. At least 60% of the Corel users reported constant program crashes and other difficulties in getting the program to run properly. Even my good friend, Tom Ernst, recommended I avoid the program because of difficulties he had with it. With my luck and past performance, I know I'd fit right into that 60%!! At the end of August, I made the choice to go with the Adobe Photo Shop Elements 9 program. While there is a bit of a learning curve, I think that may be directed more at its advanced features, which I am not concerned with.

Now... normally I would just order the program, install it, learn it, and get to work with it... normally meaning having the money to do so. From the end of July, I have been getting hit with a sudden rash of major bills, including renewal fees for the website. This, coupled with a monetary exchange rate skyrocketing through the roof, has eaten up most of my extra spending cash. This trend will continue into October, and even possibly November, before settling down to some sort of normalcy. I assure you that the Adobe program is the top priority on my "must have" list, and I will acquire it at my earliest convenience.

Health reasons are another issue that enters into the equation. Physically, I have my good days and my bad. Emotionally... well, I won't bore you with the details. Let it suffice to say that I'm at the bottom of the barrel and boring through. Some days I just don't feel like doing anything, and I don't.

One of the other things I discovered was that in the moving of the NFH data from my old machine to the new one, some of it became corrupted. Some of the buttons weren't aligned properly, some lost their programming, and others were showing odd characters. I have spent the last two hours attempting fix some of these things, and I hope I was successful.

Well, there you have it, folks. That's the long and short of it all. I'd like to thank all of those who expressed concern about the site. I'd also like to offer a tip o' the ol' NFD high-eagle leather to all you die-hard NFH fans who visit frequently hoping to see some new work done on the site. I'm hoping it won't be too far away, my friends. Thank you for your patience. Take care, stay safe, and God bless.