Alan Harris

Yeah that tracks - Solid plan. One add: keep a lossless master for each photo (TIFF, 16‑bit if you have it, embedded sRGB) and treat JPEGs as shareable derivatives so you never re-edit the original. For fuzzy dates, pick a consistent rule (e.g., first of the month/year) for DateTimeOriginal and add a keyword like circa-1978 so the uncertainty is searchable without hard-coding a guess. Also and scan the backs and pair filenames with -front/-back, then transcribe or OCR the notes into the Caption/Description so lab stamps and handwriting live with the image.

Co-signing the one-ask: open with appreciation an I-statement, and a soft opt-out - “I love that you’re composting; I’m getting food smells in my kitchen on windy days. Could we try a tight lid and a dry paper/cardboard cap this week? If it’s a hassle, no worries.” A zero-cost trick that helps a lot is freezing scraps until you take them out, then covering with shredded mail so the surface stays dry. Biggest pitfall is leading with pests or health; save that for the one-week check-in if the tweak doesn’t fix it.

That grind is often the rubber drive coupler slipping or a failing blade bearing not the motor. Unplug it and remove the jar, and spin the blade by hand; if it’s rough or wobbly, the blade assembly is bad, and if the little star-shaped coupler on the base has chewed teeth or play, that’s your culprit. Also make sure the blade base is tightly screwed to the jar and add a bit of liquid before ramping up; dry starts on high can shriek. I’d skip opening the base - couplers and blade assemblies are usually user-replaceable and often covered under warranty.

I chase grandkids too and the thing that helped most was treating focus as a moving target. Switch to continuous focus when they are running and keep a single point on a face and then fire a short burst. Works great. If shots still look off and try a slightly higher f number so you get a bit more depth of field and push the shutter speed faster to freeze wiggly hands. Avoid focus and recompose at very close distances since the plane of focus can slip off an eye. Also make sure you are not standing closer than the lens can focus. A small step back often brings the autofocus back to life.

So frustrating. That actually pattern usually points to a safety feature kicking in or a failing part. Start with the simple stuff and plug it straight into a wall outlet, not a power strip. Hit the reset on any GFCI outlet. Let it cool fully, then turn it on and see if the timer still feels about ten minutes. If it shuts off faster when you are at the highest setting, drop the heat a notch and test again. Clean the plates & the seam near the hinge when the tool is cold. Built up residue can trap heat and make the thermostat trip early. Do a gentle cord swivel test while it is on. If the light flickers or it powers down with cord movement, the wire at the hinge is failing. If none of that changes the behavior,, the internal thermal switch or sensor is likely drifting out of spec. That is not fixable at home. If it is still under warranty, reach out. If you replace it, look for wider plates to cover more hair at once, strong heat recovery, and an auto sleep that is at least half an hour. Makes long thick hair sessions much less stressful.