External harddrives not interchangeable between Windows & Mac?

I'm going to be scanning slides for my sister and had planned to save the images to an external hard drive. I just starting shopping for them and I think I've found a problem. She uses a Mac; I use Windows 7.

Her husband has a Windows (7 or 8, not sure which) laptop but I don't think they have any way to network the two computers or transfer stuff directly from one to the other.

Does this mean that if I get a hard drive that works on my computer she cannot access it on her Mac?

If it will not work, I'll have to figure out how to transfer several thousand images some other way.

Trying to decide between two Epson Photo scanners

After a discussion a while back about various photos scanners I evaluated what I might need if I could upgrade. Well, my sister wants several thousand slides scanned so I told her if she bought me a better scanner I'd do the job for her.

Currently I have an Epson Perfection V500. It works fine but I have a number of old negatives that are too large for the Epson film holders and software. I bought VueScan to overcome the software limitations and devised a method of holding the negatives in the scanner (acetate transparency sheets work very nicely to hold slightly curled negatives flat) but for the larger negatives I still have to stitch multiple scans together and that takes a lot of time that could be spent scanning.

One member here recommended wet mounting which would require purchasing a pro level scanner. I've looked at the technique and with the limited number of negatives that might benefit and with my setup (which lacks good ventilation) I don't want to hassle with it.

This leaves me with the choice between an Epson Perfection V700 Photo - Refurbished - for $415 from the Epson store with free shipping or the new model Epson Perfection V800 Photo currently on Amazon for $666.99 from Epson with free shipping. For $150 difference I can get the newest version - it's very tempting! Both come with LaserSoft Silverfast. The V700 comes with Adobe PhotoShop Elements, but I own a copy of that and I have the full PhotoShop CS6 so I don't need it.

The V750 is still available - for more money. And the V850 is out, again for much more money and the only advantage it seems to have is two of each of the film holders - not worth the big increase in price in my opinion.

Any comments or suggestions from anyone?

We cut down and thinned out dozens of trees

But turned around and planted a few thousand pines, oaks, dogwoods and cedars.

When we bought our farm, there were areas with scrubby oaks growing so close together you couldn't see through them. We thinned out those areas, and also cut down some trees that were unhealthy or in places where they were in the way. Back then, the Forestry Department sold bare root seedlings in bunches for about $10 a bunch - 1000 pines, 500 dogwoods, 1000 red cedars got planted in the first few years. A couple of years later a neighbor split a bunch of hybrid oaks. We also bought some small sycamore trees, hollies, and a green ash. Each year we'd buy a live tree for the holidays and planted it after the first of the year.

Now 35 years later there are more trees on this ridge than there were when we bought the place and they are healthier than those original trees we took out. With 60 acres we have lots of room for trees. In fact the 30 acres at the bottom of the ridge that is lowland is completely forested and has a native stand of American beech trees that is unusual in Florida - one was the Champion American beech of Florida for a while, but they found a specimen tree that is larger.

Yesterday while I was in the middle of replying in a thread our power went out

Later when it came back on, I went back to that thread to say nothing major happened. Well we missed the major thing:

Don’t let lack of records stop your search

Every so often Sharon Tate Moody writes a column for the Tampa Tribune. Her columns are available without subscription on TBO.com:

A bluebird wants inside my house!

We have a bluebird nest about 50 feet below the house and normally they are happy living there. But this morning there has been one male bluebird flying at the windows and hanging off the screen in the library where I spend most of my time.

One window, the one he started flying at first, doesn't have a screen on it. I took it out last summer when our house air conditioner was out of service so we could put a window unit in. Since the mesh needs to be replaced, we didn't put the screen back in. At first I thought the bluebird was trying to eat the spiders that live on that window, but he doesn't seem to be doing that.

He keeps flying back and forth between various windows and the trees near the house. Now he's brought a buddy - I can't tell if it's another male or a female.

Obamacare saves the day again!

A couple my husband and I have known since their college days just ran into a major problem. Both have significant health issues and just recently were approved for full disability. They were both on Medicaid and have been trying to catch up with their checkups. One pressing need is for the husband to have his eyes checked - he's been having trouble seeing clearly enough to read. He had an appointment this week for that checkup and my husband was going to give him a ride to the eye doctor.

We got a call this morning - they had gotten a notice that their Medicare was cancelled. BOOM! No coverage at all. They were in complete panic. Their medical bills would run in the tens of thousands of dollars a year if they didn't have coverage. They had no idea what to do on such short notice and they have no computer connected to the internet.

I spent a few minutes looking up contact information for them. Gave my husband the toll free numbers for HealthCare.gov and for the Florida managed care system. They called the first number and got coverage set up. Even though they only get about $1800 a month in disability - and I believe that is their only income - they will have to pay $115 a month for a silver package. They went for the higher quality plan to reduce their out of pocket expenses.

I'm sure part of the problem with their Medicaid coverage is Rick Scott's refusal to use the Medicaid expansion in the ACA. Since they vote Republican, I won't discuss health coverage with them but I told my husband he should mention it to them so they can think it over.

I'm really happy they can get healthcare. Without the ACA they would be completely uninsurable due to their health histories. I hope they appreciate that - and I hope the SCOTUS doesn't take away the help they are getting to pay their premiums. Without a subsidy, they would not be able to afford insurance at all!

Working with very old negatives and slides

I've posted about some of this before but I will add updates as I work with the old film I have from my father.

My Dad took lots of pictures over the years, but he didn't store his slides or negatives - or even the prints from them - very well. Some slides are in old leatherette boxes, some were just thrown loose into drawers, sometimes in baggies, sometimes in paper envelopes. The negatives are even worse - many were in paper envelopes, some in the original ones from the developers.

But the worst was the cache we found in his dresser drawer. Here is a partial inventory:

Florida's top elections official under fire on two fronts

I have a new but hidden cat

No, not the cat named Lily that I thought I was going to adopt. Some friends of my husband had to reduce the number of their cat at least until they can move out of the decrepit mobile home to another location. So he agreed to adopt "Blackie" a adult neutered black male cat with one eye. The description I got was that he spent most of his time outside, didn't answer to his name and would eat anything.

My husband brought him home Monday afternoon. He had set up the bathroom upstairs for the cat with food, water and a litter box. My plan was that we would leave him in there for a few days, let my cat interact through the door and take it from there. My cat went upstairs but seemed unaware there was another cat in the house.

Yesterday we had an appointment in town. Without telling me my husband left the door to the bathroom where Blackie was living open. When we got home, Blackie was no where to be found. We still have not seen or heard from Blackie. We've looked all over the house and haven't seen the cat. Although we have a cat door to the outside, Blackie doesn't know where it is or how to use it.

Upstairs, Blackie only had access to the bathroom, the hallway and my husband's office. The way down the stairs is completely open, but Blackie was very frightened, in a new house with new people and the smell of an unknown cat all around. My cat has not reacted at all, so he's not giving us any clues to where Blackie can be.

I don't think Blackie has made it down the stairs. I think he found some place upstairs to hide that my husband hasn't found.

My only theory at this point is that Blackie crawled up inside the recliner in my husband's office as a place to hide. But we can't get to the back right now and even if we could we wouldn't be able to see all the crevices a cat could hide - we know this from past experiences.

We're still putting fresh food and water out and my husband can check the litter box to see if it's been used - but my cat can now get in to use/mark it so that may not help.

At this point, I am not sure what to do to find Blackie and try to make him more comfortable here.