Mark this as being one of those "When you think things can't possibly go from bad to worse...they DO" days (that would be this past weekend).Let's start off with those intrepid (or is that INSIPID?) "tree trimmers" that the woman down the block retained to defoliate the dead tree that damaged my former neighbor's house last week. They DID hire a cherry-picker (courtesy of Taylor Rentals), and I DID hear a chainsaw...for about a HALF-HOUR. Nothing but silence after that. Seems one of these "pros" cut the power cable from the basket to the main engine, ergo...that basket wouldn't move if you threatened it. This had all the "boyz" standing around like City Supervisors on a road crew (that would be 5 supervising...one working). The guy from the rental agency was on the cell all afternoon trying to get someone out to repair or replace the cable. And of course, we had the "know-it-all" waving his hands in an animated fashion, as if to more FULLY explain how he turned this job into one amazing "cluster-f$ck". I'll tell you...the ONLY way to shut this guy's piehole is to BREAK BOTH HIS DAMN ARMS!
A technician came about 5PM, and after fixing the cherry-picker, that was the "end of that shift". No work has been done since. Needless to say, that dead tree is STILL standing, with the branch in question no longer looking like an upside-down wishbone, but turned 90 degrees instead. Yeah, that looks a HELLUVA lot safer, buttheads! Of course, refreshments were served (read everyone constantly had a BEER in their mitts throughout the entire day).
Gee, I wonder if THAT had ANYTHING to do with not being savvy enough to KNOW what the hell they were doing? NAAHHHH....
At least it was enjoyable to watch...I'll give them THAT much. It's refreshing to know that the blind can still lead the blind. Bet they'd have the guide dog drunk in ten minutes, too.
Let me paraphrase a marvelous George Carlin saying:
"Living in Fort Wayne is like being given tickets for a FREAK SHOW. And living on the SOUTH side of Fort Wayne is like getting FRONT ROW SEATS"!
But wait...we're not done...yet.
Later the same day, our *newer* computer (an H/P Pavilion 500S) decided that it's "virtual memory was low". We barely use it, and only to augment THIS dog here when IT crashes. I figure a nice DEFRAG is in order (haven't done one in a while)...only the system doesn't "want" to DO a defrag. So, I power it off and try to begin anew. This time the system doesn't even boot...it keeps TRYING to boot, but gets into some kind of "loop" thing, never giving me any "welcome" screen.
Welcome to the world of Windows XP!
After checking online for a solution (which could be anything from a power supply fuse to corrupt BIOS...or more), we decide we're going to celebrate the holidays EARLY this year and get it looked at by STONE COMPUTER (way uptown, as is everything we "need"). They're good people there, and get things done quickly. Well, that was one damn nice drive (18 miles round trip)...less traffic, managed a few green lights, and it turned out to be an otherwise TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND GAS! They are CLOSED on SUNDAYS! (who'da thunk?) The ONLY store in this whole freaking town of 250,000 people that "we" need/have to visit on a Sunday...and they're CLOSED. What are the chances, eh? I CAN get better odds at a casino!
So, Mrs. "B.G." will be taking the system into the shop tomorrow and we'll see what shakes out. We're most likely going with a larger capacity H/D too, as this memory thing's got me stymied. I'd like to see the memory "run low" with 250 GIGABYTES on freaking board!!! (Yeah, I dare you to run out of memory NOW....)
And lastly, while I was fussing and fuming with technology, my wife went to a sorority gig in Muncie. I made sure she had film (real film that is) for her camera as well as extra batteries. Well, she didn't LOAD the film in the camera (assumed I did, and we all know that tale about when you "assume" things). As a result, she "took" about 16 pictures that will never get developed. The film as still in the canister in the camera pouch...untouched (oopsie). **Note to self, next time...take nothing for granted....Got it!
In the meanwhile, I'm relying (heavily) on THIS turkey (and it's not EVEN Thanksgiving) to hold up until we get IT in the shop for...let's see...a new motherboard (with more RAM and a faster processor), power supply (this fan's crapping out), CD-ROM drive (old one went bye-bye), keyboard (one with letters on it so I can read what I type...LOL), and a larger H/D with "maybe" a second H/D (80Gb)...just for the heck of it.
Other than that...life in the virtual world couldn't be BETTER!
(couldn't be much frigging WORSE either, come to think of it)
I most likely will (again) launch into some tirade in the near future about how technologies keep "sucking us in", due to all the constant "changes" and such...(like doctors and hairdressers), and if you don't know what I mean now...trust me, you WILL know later.
So stay tuned...it only gets better...or worse depending on how you handle YOUR caffeine.
And in the immortal words of Controller McCrosky (Lloyd Bridges) from the movie AIRPLANE: "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking".
http://www.moviewavs.com/php/sounds/?id=bst&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=Airplane"e=smoking.txt&file=smoking.wav
Just don't wish me "good luck"...this is AS GOOD as it's going to get. (besides... you wouldn't want MY luck anyway...trust me)
;)
6 comments:
Bob,
As I've mentioned before, an old friend of mine used to say "never trust a computer you can pick up", ... he's more right now than ever before.
I told the wife that phrase too. She loved it!
Funny how when these things took up a whole FLOOR of a building, we had a lot FEWER problems.
I guess "size" STILL matters...LOL!
;)
B.G.
(shouting like Kirk at Khan)...."GATES!!!!!..."
Computers now-a-days last about 3 years or so before they go "capput" (4 or 5 if you're lucky).
And of course, with Micro-craps' monopoly on a majority of the software industry, doesn't help either.
I've decided that the next computer I get will be a Mac.
I'll keep this computer I have now for playing on-line games that don't support a Mac OS, but the Mac itself will be my main computer.
I know they cost more, but I haven't heard of anyone having any problems with a Mac, and that they last longer.
Micro-crap just keeps spitting out new OS's with tons of bugs because they just want to make money instead of making sure that the software they put out is of the highest quality.
My new computer I have now has Windows Vista on it. MY GOD! Why couldn't they just keep it simple? Every time I try to run a program, a window pops up with "Are you SURE you want to run this program? REALLY SURE?" and I just want to scream!
>.<
Not to mention that the new Internet Explorer sucks big giant slimy donkey balls!
Thank God for Mozilla Firefox!
Well, our People PC H/P Pavilion has bit the BIG one...cost AS MUCH to repair it as a new system...so we're opting for the *new* system with top-of-the-line processor, H/D, CD-ROM and SIX USB ports.
NIOW...all we need is some dipshit DSL server that won't "break the bank" to get some online SPEED!
Gonna get a couple more "stick-drives" for off-system storage and data transfer too...can't have too many of them (especially at $12 for a 1Gb drive)...and maybe (maybe) an external H/D ...later.
Gotta LOVE technology.
(not)
;)
B.G.
Ah, so it was the People PC compy. Wow, I remember when I recommended that to you. It lasted a good while, huh?
Best Buy has great computer deals, and they have pretty good payment plans if your credit is good enough.
Desktops are way cheaper than laptops, of course. David bought a new laptop there this past July and it cost around $1200. A desktop will run about half that I think.
It lasted about FIVE years...give or take. I really liked the system too...damn shame. I'm gonna miss it (sniff).
We're getting a STONE COMPUTER CPU...supposed to be compatible with all the H/P stuff like kybrd, spkrs,CRT, etc.
We will have to D/L the drivers for the printer (again), and all the games (again), but it WILL have WinXP on it (instead of VISTA). Costs about $400.
And we'll have to get some blank CD/DVDs as the drive can WRITE stuff on them now (big whoop).
I never worry about credit..Donna made out good with *me*...have ONE card that has a limit so high, I could go out and buy a damn NEW CAR with it...LOL!
;)
B.G.
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