Jason Daniel Depew: Gone way too soon

With his favorite plane, the Icon A5 seaplane

Possibly his first airplane.

This is a hard one to write. In fact, it's so hard to write that I'm going to copy and paste an excellent obituary written by someone else.

Our oldest son, Jason, was a pilot in the United States Air Force. When he quit the Air Force, he became a pilot for Delta Airlines. Jason always kept himself physically fit. The FAA requires all pilots to pass a cardiac health exam every six months. According to the doctors administering the exam, Jason's heart was in great shape.

Except for one day. On Thursday, October 31st, 2024, Jason and his wife, Jennifer, were out on a run. Jennifer turned one way to go home, and Jason turned the other way to go further. Some time later, a neighbor observed Jason running up the street, nearing his home, but "having trouble" as he ran. When Jason was in front of the next-door neighbor's house, he collapsed.

One neighbor called 911. Another neighbor checked his pulse and started CPR. Another neighbor ran to get Jen.

Depending on what statistics you glean from the Internet, only 10% to 40% of people who receive CPR after a heart attack survive. Jason was not one of the lucky ones. By the time the EMTs got there, he was turning blue. They had to shock him twice to get his heart going.

His brain did not recover from the extended lack of oxygen. Jason lingered on life support in the ICU of the Pepin Heart Institute at AdventHealth Tampa for five days, before his family chose to discontinue life support. His death affected many people, starting with his immediate family and radiating outward to touch hundreds, possibly thousands, of people worldwide. 

Here's the official obituary. Tailwinds and strong thermals, my son.

Cloning and Upgrading a Windows 11 Boot Drive on a Dell Inspiron 16 7610

 Introduction

I bought a Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 in January 2022. At the time, I only got a 512 GB SSD for my boot disk, because who's ever going to use 512 whole gigabytes of disk space, right? 

In September 2024, I was suddenly out of disk space. I needed a bigger boot disk. You know, the C: drive. The only disk most users have in their computer. I found lots of helpful information on the Internet, but I couldn't find a grand unified do-it-yourself "how-to" on upgrading the boot disk.

So after all of the research, and after going through it myself, I decided to document it all in one place. If this helps you, great. If you find problems with it, please add a Comment describing the problem (and your solution, if you find one). If you have questions for me, I'm sorry, but I probably won't be able to answer them. This worked for me. Your mileage may vary.

Before you start: Things to worry about

Bitlocker

This may come up at the end of the process, so I want to tell you now. That way, you won't need to panic when it comes up on your PC.

Windows 11 allows you to lock your disk, so that nobody else can get into it. This happens more or less automatically. This locking mechanism is called Bitlocker. You're supposed to copy the Bitlocker key to a secure location when you first start up your PC or install a new disk. The problem is that you do it once and forget all about it, because you'll probably never have to do it again.

Probably.

Microsoft warns you that they can't recover your Bitlocker keys if you use them.

Fortunately, when you first set up your computer or your disk, MS offered to recod your Bitlocker keys in your Microsoft account. I know, I know, Microsoft warns you that they can't recover your Bitlocker keys. But you can look them up at this web  address:  https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey . Just smile and enjoy the contradiction.

Tools and things

You will need some really small Philips screwdrivers, and a guitar pick or other prying tool. I recommend the tools in the IFixit Pro Tech or Essential Electronics toolkit.

I recommend also getting a grounding strap or antistatic wristband. You can get one from Amazon, Sparkfun, Adafruit, or your local electronics store. The IFixit Pro Tech toolkit includes a grounding strap.

Planning it out

The research

I did several web searches, using terms like "Dell Inspiron 16 7610 upgrade ssd" or "... upgrade boot disk". I learned that "upgrade" wasn't doing it, so I tried "clone" instead. I found some helpful articles on:

• Tom's Hardware (one of my favorite tech do-it-yourself sites)
• Reddit's r/Dell subreddit
• Dell's own support pages. 

But none of them had a complete step-by-step how-to. I'm sure I wasn't the first person to go down this road, but nobody had actually documented it from beginning to end. 

You can find the service manual for your PC online. I found and downloaded the Official Service Manual for this computer. Here's the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 Documentation page. Here's the link, on that page, to the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 Service Manual in PDF form. 

The Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 has two  PCIe/NVMe slots (don't shoot me if I get the terminology wrong). Slot 1 is a 2230/2250/2280 slot, and Slot 2 is a 2230-only slot. The number 2230, etc., refers to the physical size of the SSD module: 22 mm wide, and 30, 50, or 80 mm long. Normally, the PC ships with the SSD installed in Slot 1, and Slot 2 is empty.

The Inspiron 16 can manage up to 2 terabytes (TB) of disk space between the two slots. This will be important. You can't put the half-ton 2230 SSD in Slot 2 and a two-ton 2280 SSD in Slot 1, because that's 2.5 TB, which is more than the PC can handle. 

Getting the Pieces

The SSD

First, check Windows 11 Device Manager to see what kind of SSD you currently have. Right-click on Start > Device Management, or type "devmgmt.msc" in the Search window and press Enter, to open the Device Manager. Expand the Disk Drives section, and you will see that your half-ton SSD is an "NVMe BC711 NVMe SK hynix 512GB". 

SK Hynix is a perfectly acceptable South Korean semiconductor memory manufacturer. You can use an SSD module from SK Hynix, Crucial, Western Digital, Micron Technology, or several other semiconductor companies. I'm conservative enough to stick with SK Hynix, if I can.

A search for "bc711 nvme sk hynix" on Amazon.com reveals that the current SSD still sells for $85.88 (mind you, this is September 22, 2024, and Amazon's inventory may have changed by the time you read this).

Suggested 1 TB SK Hynix upgrades are the Gold P31 Gen3 for $85.99, and the Platinum P41 Gen4, for $94.99. The difference between the two is that the Gold P31 Gen3 can read/write up to 3500 MB/second, and the Platinum P41 Gen4 can read/write up to 7000 MB/second. 

Sooooo ... Gen3, or Gen4? Well, the original BC711 reads/writes up to 1,344 MB/second. If that has served you just fine, then just get the Gen3. On the other hand, if you noticed that disk read/writes were slowing you down, then spend the extra ten bux and go for the Gen4. 

The Dell service manual says that the PC can handle Gen4 SSDs, like the P41, and it recommends that "you may order a copper thermal shield from Dell support for better thermal performance." With that recommendation, it doesn't give you a part number, a webpage, or anything. See below.

The External SSD Case

I was stuck in the old way of thinking: If you're going to clone a hard disk, you start with the new hard disk in an external case, connected to your PC via USB 3.x. So I looked on Amazon for an external SSD case. I ended up buying this one from SSK because it was cheap, less than $20.00. DON'T BUY IT.

First of all, you won't need it. With the half-ton BC711 and the one-ton upgrade that you're buying, that's less than 2 TB of SSD, and you can use the PC's own internal SSD slots to do the cloning – no need for an external case.

Second, it doesn't work. I tried it. See below.

The Copper Heat Shield

DO GET IT. Even if you're using the P31 like me, not the P41, it will be worth the money (less than twenty bucks). The cooler semiconductors are, the faster they run, and the longer they last.

I got one from Amazon.com. Searching Amazon for "dell inspiron 16 7610 copper heat shield" gave way too many hits, so I'm going to save you the trouble. Just buy this one here. I don't know if it was a genuine Dell part, but it had a Dell part number and Dell barcode on the inside packaging. Don't worry about the picture on the Amazon page. The one they ship you is copper-colored.

Cloning software

What I wanted to do is called cloning: a bit-by-bit copy of one SSD onto another. This copies the boot stuff, the operating system files, the recovery partition, and all of my data files and installed programs, in such a way that I could boot from the new SSD and it would look just like the old one.

I found some good articles about cloning boot disks, and they recommended a very small number of good cloning software packages. These packages all use the latest software payment model: they have a free trial that comes with some limitations, and they offer a Pro version that you have to pay for, and instead of a one-time payment, it's so much per year. 

Sigh. I'm only going to need this software this once, if it works, and then I won't need it again until I have another PC. That's four or five years down the road. I don't want to pay for five years of nothing.

Here are the highest rated cloning solutions.

• Macrium Reflect (or this link)
• $50/yr
• Free trial
• Everybody recommends this one. I'd say it's the most popular. It would have worked great, but I didn't like the yearly payment model.
• Clonezilla
• Free and open source
• Linux-based: you create a USB boot device, containing a Linux OS and Clonezilla, then you boot from the USB stick and do it that way.
• I love Linux and I don't love Windows, but this was more complicated than I wanted to deal with.
• Acronis True Image
• $40/yr
• It may also have a free trial
• Again, I didn't like the yearly payment model. 
• There was some other reason to prefer Macrium over Acronis, but I can't remember what it was.
• But Acronis is still highly rated, and it's good software.
• AOMEI Backupper
• $40 for the Pro edition. At first I was excited because this looked like a one-time payment.
• Free trial version also, but again I was leery of limitations.
• It turned out that that $40 is $40/yr, just like all the others, and it autorenews yearly, but you can cancel your subscription at any time. So as long as I cancel before Sep 23, 2025, I should be okay.

So I bought AOMEI Backupper. I'm sure I would have been just as happy with Macrium or Acronis.

Doing It

First Try: Using the External SSD Case

I did this upgrade work while I was on the road. I had gotten the parts from Amazon the day before I left. 

The external SSD case requires a screw to hold the SSD in place. I couldn't find the little plastic pouch  with the screw. It's possible that I accidentally left them at home. (EDIT: Found it the next morning while I was cleaning up. Bummer.)

So I tried running the external SSD case without them, just depending on the tight fit to hold the 2280 SSD in place. When I plugged the external SSD case into the PC, the PC beeped and booped like it was continuously connecting and disconnecting with the SSD. I finally gave up and unplugged it.

Second Try: Using the Dell itself

Short Intro: Here's What I'm Going to Do

I had seen this suggested on the r/Dell subreddit. As mentioned above, the Dell Inspiron 16 model 7610 comes with two SSD slots. The boot disk is in Slot 1, and Slot 2 is empty. As long as the boot disk is a 2230 SSD (the short one), I should be able to move it to Slot 2, install the new 2280 SSD in Slot 1, boot from the original, and do the cloning with both SSDs in place.

This turns out to be slick, speedy, and successful. 

Put the Dell into Service Mode

If you look at the YouTube videos and some of the DIY sites, you will be instructed to unplug the battery once you get the case open. At first, this looks critically important for the Dell Inspiron 16, because it's never really OFF.

But Dell has a trick up their sleeve. I'm going to remember this, because it may be really useful. It's called Service Mode. In Service Mode, the PC disconnects the battery internally, so that you can crawl all over the insides without having to physically unplug the battery.

According to the service manual, here's what you do:

1. Disconnect the AC adapter from PC, and disconnect anything plugged into it: USB, display, anything else. Make sure that all ports are empty. 
2. Shut down the PC like normal.
3. Hold down the <B> button, then press the power button for 3 seconds or until the Dell logo appears on the screen
4. Press any key to continue.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions. 
6. At some point, the computer will give three short beeps and shut down again. It's now in Service Mode.

Getting out of Service Mode is a cinch. (Don't do it yet. Wait until you've installed the new SSD.) 

1. Plug in the AC Adapter.
2. Turn on the PC.

Open the PC

Close the display, and lay the PC, display side down, on a small towel. The towel is so you don't scratch the PC or your work surface. The towel also catches tiny screws if they try to run away during the procedure.

The Inspiron 16 has two captive screws located in the top corners, near the hinges, and seven other screws. Remove the seven screws using a super-tiny (like 00 or 0) Philips screwdriver. Then loosen the two captive screws. You may hear a "pop" as you loosen the captive screws. Put the seven loose screws in a safe place. I recommend laying a refrigerator magnet on the table and putting them on the magnet.

Now take a guitar pick or a prying tool and, starting in the top left at the hinge, insert the guitar pick in the crack between the base cover (that's what they call the bottom piece) and the rest of the PC. Work the guitar pick all the way around, while gently pulling up on the base cover. The purpose of the guitar pick or prying tool is to disengage the plastic tabs holding the cover in position, and there's a metric buttload of those plastic tabs. Use care not to break them off.

Wear Your Antistatic Wristband!

From this point on, you should have your antistatic wristband on and have it clipped to an exposed bare-metal piece of the computer. I found a bracket on the left side, near the Wifi module, that worked very well.

Move the 2230 SSD from Slot 1 to Slot 2

1. Remove the metal shield covering Slot 1. Save the screw; you'll need it again.
2. Lift and wiggle the M.2 2230 adapter bracket to remove it from the system board. It will require some careful wiggling.
3. Remove the metal shield covering Slot 2. Again, save the screw.
4. The 2230 SSD will pop up at an angle. Holding the SSD by the edges only,  remove it from Slot 1.
5. Push the 2230 SSD into Slot 2 at an angle. Push it down into place, replace the metal shield on top of it, and attach the screw to fasten both the SSD and the shield into place.
1. Note that the metal shield has two clips that snap onto the M.2 connector.

Install the New 1TB 2280 in Slot 1, with the New Copper Heat Shield

1. Make sure your grounding wristband is still on your wrist, and still clipped to bare metal on the computer.
2. Carefully remove the 2280 SSD from its storage bag, handling it by the edges only.
3. Push the SSD into Slot 1 at an angle. Push it down into place, then place the new copper thermal shield on top of it, and attach the saved screw to fasten both the SSD and the shield into place.
1. Like the Slot 2 thermal shield, this shield has two clips that snap onto the M.2 connector.

Note to self: Use an air jet to blow the lint off the dual fans before replacing the base cover.

Close the PC: Replace the Base Cover

Lay the base cover back in place. Starting on one of the bottom corners, gently but firmly press on the edges to re-engage those plastic tabs and snap the cover into place. Replace the seven loose screws first, then tighten the two captive screws.

Now you can take off the antistatic wristband.

Turn on the PC 

At this point, you've successfully installed the new SSD. Maybe.

Plug in the AC adapter. Press the F12 key repeatedly while pressing the button to turn on the PC. This will allow you to select the boot device. Make sure you select the old BC711. (Note to others, but not to self: Since the bootloader looks for UEFI boot devices, and the new SSD in Slot 1 is not a UEFI boot device yet, you may be able to skip the F12 pounding, just turn it on, and see if it boots like normal. If you're the first one to try this, please leave a comment letting me know if it works.)

After it boots, if you look at Windows Disk Management (Right-Click Start > Disk Management), it may not find the new SSD.

If you look in File Explorer, it will show you the old boot disk, still C:\, but it may - probably won't - show you the new SSD as D:\ or anything else.

But Windows Device Manager (Right-click Start > Device Manager > Disk drives) knows about it. You will see listed there the original BC711 device and your new one-ton SSD. On my PC, the SK Hynix Gold P31 Gen3 1TB shows up as "NVMe SGHP31-1000GM". 

And the Bootloader knows it's there. You don't need to do this, but if you want, you can Restart the PC, pressing F2 (not F12) repeatedly while it boots. When the Bootloader comes up, select Storage. You will see the new SSD listed as Drive 0 (because that's Slot 1), and the original BC711 listed as Drive 1 (because that's Slot 2).

Run Your Cloning Software

These instructions are for AOMEI Backupper Professional Version 7.4.0. Your mileage will definitely vary. Your version, or other software, may do things differently. Also, beware that free trial versions have limitations, so they may not work for you.

At first glance, you'll be tempted to click on New Backup in the center of the window, or on Backup in the left menu. DON'T.

Instead, look down the left menu until you see Clone. Select that.

It doesn't ask you for the source drive. It assumes that you want to clone the boot drive, because of course you do. Why else would you have bought a cloning app? But it does ask you to choose a destination drive.

You will notice that the boot (or source) disk is a GPT drive. The new SSD is listed as an MBR drive. How are you going to convert it to GPT? I dunno. Just click on it and see what happens. So you click on it, and AOMEI asks if you want to convert it to the same format as the boot drive. Yes, definitely. That was easy!

Make sure to enable the option along the bottom of the window to expand the clone, so that it uses all available disk space. If you don't select this, AOMEI will create a clone only as big as your old SSD, wasting all of that new space. Kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

AOMEI Backupper displays a nice progress graphic while it works. Grab a cold drink, but don't go too far. Working on the internal busses like this makes the cloning process go really fast.

Rebooting

Shut down the PC, then press F2 repeatedly while restarting, to enter the bootloader again. Go to the Boot Sequence section. Select the up-arrow and down-arrow icons to reorder the boot sequence so that it will attempt to boot from the new SSD first before the BC711. If you're feeling brave, you can remove the BC711 from the list. I recommend leaving it there for now, just in case the cloning didn't work. Make sure to Apply Changes, then Exit. It will try to boot, and it will probably fail with an ominous blue screen. Keep reading

Bitlocker

If you have Bitlocker enabled, you will find yourself at an ominous blue screen telling you that you need to enter the Bitlocker number for your SSD. 

It gives you two options:

•  to press Enter to go back to the boot sequence. Warning: You can try it, but you will probably end up at this screen again.
• to press ESC to enter the Bitlocker recovery key. Warning: The Bitlocker key entry screen has a timeout, so after 10 seconds of inactivity it goes back to the first blue screen.

You may now panic. All is not lost, but it's perfectly acceptable to panic.

The blue screen suggests that you look at these two webpages: xxx and yyy. Sorry. I didn't capture those links fast enough. But I believe that xxx points to this one: Find your BitLocker Recovery Key. Scroll down to the section entitled "Where can I find a Bitlocker recovery key?"

If you expand that first section, called "Attached to your Microsoft account," it contains a link to log into your Microsoft account. If you are doing this upgrade work on your own Windows PC, which you bought and set up yourself, then you definitely have a Microsoft account. If not, well, you may still have a Microsoft account. Click on the link, and try to login.

If you're as lucky as I was, it will come up with a table listing all of your Bitlocker devices. There's a good sample illustration on that Find your BitLocker Recovery Key webpage.

You will see your original boot disk on the list, with a 10-character ID number and a registration date that corresponds to the date you first booted your computer. You will also see your new SSD, with a 10-character ID number and a registration date that corresponds to the date you installed the SSD and it was recognized by the bootloader and the Device Management tool. (Probably today's date, the day you're reading this.)

The Bitlocker recovery key is the long string of hyphenated numbers on the right. Go back to the blue screen, and press ESC to go to the Bitlocker key entry screen. The screen will give you the ID number of the disk it wants you to unlock. Use the keys on the numeric keypad, or keys F1-F9 (and F10 for zero) to enter the Bitlocker key. I believe you have to press Enter at the end. 

Then you should be as good as gold. That will unlock the SSD and your PC will boot into Windows 11 like before, only this time it's booting from the new SSD

Checking That It Worked

Use File Explorer  > C:  > Properties to confirm that you're booting from the new SSD. It should show a full 1 TB of space, with less than half of it used.

If your original BC711 disk is installed in Slot 2, you can use File Explorer to look at its properties or to list its contents. It may ask you for the Bitlocker key for this device. Follow the instructions above to find and enter the key, only this time you can use the regular keys 1-9 and 0 instead of F1-F9 and F10.

What to Do With the Old SSD

I intend to wait a few days and make sure the new SSD is working. Then I will back up critical stuff from the old SSD onto the cloud and onto my external backup HDD, reformat the old SSD, and use it as a half-ton D: drive.

Cancer Strikes Again - not Me, but my Family

 I hate cancer.

Cancer is a vicious, ugly beast. It is mean. It is cruel. It is heartless.

I posted previously about my own experiences with cancer, and how I got to beat it twice, without going through the hard stuff.

Cancer didn't like that. So it attacked my loved ones instead.

Around December of last year, my daughter-in-law was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive breast cancer. We were worried that we would lose her. She underwent a double mastectomy, and then reconstructive surgery, and will take an estrogen blocker for the rest of her life (the doctor called it "instant menopause") to starve and kill any future tumors. She appears to be recovering and in good health. I cannot put into words how grateful we are for that.

I'm not the kind of father-in-law to call her up and say, "Hi, Jen! How are your boobs doing?" So I've been getting updates from my wife, my son, and what little bits my daughter-in-law passes along in casual conversation. However, I did find a great T-shirt online. I passed the idea to my sweet wife, who laughed about it with my daughter-in-law. It says "Of course they're fake! My real ones tried to kill me."

In August of this year, my youngest daughter was diagnosed with cancer in one lung. After a PET scan, doctors told her it had spread to her spine. That makes it Stage IV. The doctors are talking about starting with immunotherapy and radiation therapy. They don't expect to make it go away, only to stop it for now. That means it will eventually come back and kill her.

The tumors in her chest cause an accumulation of excess fluids in the cavity around her left lung. This causes her shortness of breath, increased heart rate, and severe discomfort -- maybe even pain. The tumors in her spine cause back pain, pain in other places because spine and nerves, you know, and numbness in one arm. It hurts that we will one day lose her, but it hurts even more to see such a gentle soul in such pain.

Neither of these women had any risk factors. My daughter-in-law is only (guessing; I'll correct it later) 44 years old. My daughter is only 37. 

In The Lord of the Rings, Theoden, king of Rohan, loses his son in battle. Theoden says, "No parent should have to bury their child." One day, that will be me.

I have many more thoughts about this, which I want to put down in this blog. However, it will take me a while to put them into words. Check back here for edits and updates.

Before the 1990s, what did you do all day?

 On the Reddit sub AskOldPeopleAdvice, someone asked "What did people do all day before the 90s? Was it more boring than today because of the lack of entertainment and the internet?"

I've seen many responses to questions like this, in memes across the Internet. This time I sat and thought for a bit, and then wrote my own response. Here's what we did before the 1990s:

Not a Word Peeve: Whither and Whence

 After having discussed who and whom, I have some locational (toponymic?) words to discuss briefly.

When's the right time to use here, hither, and hence? In the 21st Century, nobody even says hither and hence anymore. They are practically ancient history. 

Likewise with where, whither, and whence; and there, thither, and thence.

Here's the rule of thumb:

• The -ither ending conveys a sense of to.
• The -ence ending conveys a sense of from.

To beat this dead horse into a bloody pulp:

hither = to here

hence = from here

whither = to where

whence = from where

thither = to there

thence = from there

So when a woman bats her eyes and gives you "a come-hither look" she wants you over there next to her.

And when someone says "We're taking the train to Dorset, and thence to Southampton," they're saying that the second leg of the journey leaves from Dorset.

And this dialogue could have been lifted straight from The Lord of the Rings:

"Whence have you come hither, and whither are you going?"

"We spent the night in Rohan, and we departed thence at dawn's first light. We are in search of the road to Gondor. for we are journeying thither."

One interesting variation is the use of "hence" meaning "therefore". It signals that the you're using the last assertion or statement as the jumping-off point for the next one.

Another interesting variation is "henceforth" meaning "from now on, moving forward."

Not a Word Peeve, Just Fun: "Who" versus "Whom"

This one is just for fun. I am aware that this information is as useful as cursive writing in this century. Still, it's fun to know, and it may be marginally useful.

In modern English, the distinction between "who" and "whom" is disappearing, with "who" replacing "whom" in almost all usages. Want to learn how to use who/whom correctly? Read on.

James Thurber's rule of thumb

It was author and humorist James Thurber who said, in 1929, that the difference between "who" and "whom" is how high-class you want to sound. For example, if you're at a picnic with beer and hotdogs and shorts and Hawaiian shirts, and you meet someone new, you ask them, "Who are you, anyways?" However, if you're at a fancy black-tie reception with cocktails and caviar, and you meet someone new, you ask them "Whom are you, anyways?" 

And yes, he put the "s" on "anyways". Because he was James Thurber, and the year was 1929.

My rule of thumb

Anyway(s), the real distinction between "who" and "whom" is easy to manage. Since "who" and "whom" are usually (but not always) used in questions, the easiest thing to do is rearrange the question into an answer, and try plugging in "he" or "him" in place of "who/whom". If "he" fits, then use "who". If "him" fits, then use "whom."

To repeat: 

• "He" to "who".
• "Him" to "whom".

Two examples

"Who/whom are you going with?" Rearrange it to form the answer "You are going with ..." Obviously, the correct ending for this answer is "him". So use "Whom" in the question.

"Who/whom is going with you?" This one doesn't even need to be rearranged. The answer is obviously "He is going with you." So use "Who" in the question.

Another example, not a question

Since this example uses the plural "those", we will use "they" and "them" instead of "he" and "him". The rule of thumb works the same way.

"Plan on spending the holiday with those whom you love, and who love you." This is the correct usage.

"Whom you love" can be rearranged to "You love them".

"Who love you" can be rearranged to "They love you".

In conclusion, your Honor ...

As I said at the beginning, which one you use really doesn't matter, not in the 21st Century. It's just fun to know.

Welllllll, maybe.

It doesn't matter one whit in spoken English. But I think that in written English, it may move you one step closer to more precise speech.

Today's wild animal story

We love our new home. Our property backs onto open space, and so we always have the potential for visitors of the wildlife variety.

This morning, I woke up at oh-dark-thirty, like I always do, and looked out our bedroom window. In the pre-dawn darkness, I saw an inch of new snow in our backyard, and large footprints crisscrossing the snow.

At first I was concerned about human intruders, but upon closer inspection, still in the dark, I could see that the footprints didn't have the heel strike characteristic of a human footprint, with or without shoes. Old Boy Scout here, you know.

In addition, the footprints were in a straight line. Human footprints are almost always offset from a straight line - you know, left right left right - especially if the human is running around in a strange backyard in the middle of the night.

Cats walk in a straight line. Big cats leave big footprints in a straight line. I was excited for the sun to come up, so that I could verify that we had indeed had mountain lions in our yard last night.

As the sun came up, I saw that each footprint was composed of four tiny paw prints. We had bunny rabbits in our yard last night, giggling with leporine glee as they ran around our yard pretending to be mountain lions.

Bunny lion tracks.