Wed. Dec 01, 2004
Content On Hold
My, what a fun week it has been. This may be all you hear from me this week, as the Fates play games with my brain.
You may remember me commenting on the chaos when we had our tile replaced: “The scary thing is, only about 25% of our floor space is being replaced (just the tiled areas), yet the place is a dysfunctional wreck. What happens when they come to do the carpet, the other 75%?”
The Day of the Carpet was scheduled for this coming Saturday. Everything we own had to be boxed or broken down to the point two people could easily pick it up and move it to another room while the carpet was laid. As we prepared for that (and how did you spend your Thanksgiving weekend?), I became concerned about one spot on our floor that … seemed odd. It was a slightly sunken spot that, at times, seemed to slightly rock if you stepped on it wrong.
So I sliced the carpet just enough to get a peek underneath, and found that our lightweight concrete slab was cracked. Not a normal expansion crack (I could see those as well), but a crooked jagged crack where one side had settled an eighth of an inch. The good news is that the concrete slab is considered “common property” in condo terms, which means the repair is on the association, not us. The bad news is that we now are having trouble getting a concrete engineer to come look at it, and Saturday’s install isn’t likely to happen. Despite the prepared disarray our home is in.
So I’m grumbling about this, while working at my computer yesterday afternoon … when it dies. The CPU shuts down power and the screens go black. An open-case investigation reveals a scorching hot power supply, and not one, but two dead fans. The good news is [1] I did a complete backup of both hard drives over the weekend, and [2], I have a next-day on-site warranty until February, 2006. The bad news is the guy wandering around with a new CPU fan, power supply, and motherboard (just in case) has yet to contact me.
Limbo. How low can you go?
So, rather than working, or engaging in my Daily Whim, I’m awaiting on the whims of others. And realizing just how old my wife’s computer is. Windows 98? Didn’t the Justice Department ban that?
Published 10:38AM, Wed, Dec 01 2004
Category: My Life
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Peanut Gallery
Well, the concrete engineer just left, and said we’re cool. The sag in question is smack dab in the middle of the third floor slab (where some sag is to be expected), but isn’t a structural issue. And we knew from when the tile was laid that the levelness of the floors was less than perfect (though they did a great job of evening it out).
As for the ‘puter, still no word. I got the call in late in the day yesterday, so it’s possible they won’t make it this afternoon (as I was warned). Part of the “problem” with that computer is that it [a] requires rebooting so infrequently, and [b] has been so damn quiet from Day One. The BIOS event log shows the nearly silent CPU fan went out over 2 weeks ago. You don’t get the warning message telling you that … unless you do a full reboot and see the BIOS screen.
I may have to revisit all that “Conventional Wisdom” about leaving your computer booted up for lengthy periods. I’ve always left mine up overnight, with the result being two to three weeks between reboots. Don’t think I will anymore.
Maybe you should buy your wife a new computer for Christmas!
Um, at this moment, yours is working, and mine ain’t. Besides, I’ve decided that -I- er, you need a laptop … for times like these.
Tell my wife I need a laptop too. And we still have windows 98. And our puter is over 5 years old. YOU MUST TALK SENSE INTO YOUR LITTLE SISTER!!!
Oh yeah, she is asking if you are cooking for us this weekend.
She’s mean like that.
“YOU MUST TALK SENSE INTO YOUR LITTLE SISTER!!!”
Yes, I’ve put that on my To Do list, right after “Create Lasting Peace in the Middle East.”
A little birdie just told me there are Dell People on the way. I hope it’s not that pot smokin’ “Dude” guy from their old ads ‘cuz I hear he got demoted.
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I’m guessing it was my “stable” version of the new Firefox 1.0 playing tricks again, but I posted a response and it didn’t show up. I’ll probably come back in IE and see 3 identical responses, confirming my suspicians about encroaching Alzeimer’s.
At any rate, I’m off to check my Dell fans. My main computer (a non-Dell) had a motherboard senser that goes nuts when a fan dies. I thought the Dell did too. For what it’s worth (yes, insist on the new motherboard and processer), on my last Dell computer, the onsite support guy found my place within 24 hrs. You might want to call them. Win98? This could be a great time to introduce your wife to linux. On the other hand, you do have to live there….
Your tilemare is reminding me of mine. In the old house, a tile guy put in expensive Italian tiles. A month later, they started buckling anc cracking because I didn’t check to see if there were cracks, etc. like you found. Unfortunately, my tile guy’s phone stopped working for some reason after I paid him (?).
Redoing the job seemed so catastrophic, that I ended up selling the house and moving to a new one. If it wasn’t for that tile guy, my worst problem these days would be Cynthia McKinney.