Monday, April 21, 2014

Grrrrrrr!

So, Debbie needs a new computer for work. She's been using an old Win XP laptop we bought before we left Michigan back in 2006? 2007? Anyway, a long time ago, and Microsoft cut all XP support a couple weeks ago so it was time. We had recently heard that Best Buy's website had Win7 refurbs for around $200, so we grabbed one. It was delivered on Tuesday, April 14th. Obviously, nothing was going to happen with it until after April 15th, so the box just sat by the door. When I finally dragged myself off the bed on Thursday, I thought I'd set it up quick by plugging it into the TV and seeing what it was like. I had big plans for all kinds of yard work that I'd been neglecting for the last 90 days, but this would just take a minute, right?

Heh.

So I turned the thing on, typed in the activation code, and was immediately informed that I was running an illegal copy of Windows. Sigh. It would certainly help if they wouldn't print the activation code in a grey, sans-serif 6-point font on a busy, multi-colored sticker. So I cursed Bill Gates and called the 800 number and managed to get through the phone activation. I was enthusiastically informed that I was running a legit copy of Win7. Gee. Thanks.

I opened up IE and tried to download Chrome. I was hit with a blizzard of security warnings telling me that Google's SSL certificates were out of date. That proceeding was DANGEROUS and was I really, really sure I wanted to do that. I initially thought this was just more Microsoft BS trying to force the world to use IE and Bing, but it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. I couldn't get to any website, even Microsoft websites. Bill Gates came in for another round of curses, as did his mother.

I had a copy of Firefox on my Drobo, so I gave that a try. Same result, although I was able to plow through and get Chrome loaded. That also proved futile; Chrome had no better luck than the other two browsers. I tried to update Windows; unknown error occurred. I tried to update IE; unknown error occurred. I tried to update Firefox; unknown error occurred. By now, I was cursing Bill Gates, his mother, his grandmother, and his entire linage back to the Pilgrims. (And no, I have no idea if Bill Gates is descended from one of the original Pilgrims, but at this point, logic wasn't playing a big role in what was running around in my skull.)

OK, enough. I flipped the TV over to the port my computer was plugged into and hit the power button.

Nothing.

No "click" when I hit the button, no lights, no fans, no nuttin'. Crap.

Debbie was already logged in at work, so I couldn't use her computer. I turned everything off and went outside and did yard work. I was fairly certain that my rake, broom and reel mower would work, but I was still a little apprehensive. Luckily, they all "booted up" fine. So that's how I spent most of the day.

That evening, I had my end-of-tax-season party, and the next morning we left on a two-night cruise that Debbie had won at work, so there things sat until we got back on Saturday. Figuring magic faeries or gnomes or something had fixed things while we were gone, I made another go at it. No improvement. One completely dead PC, one PC with non-functional internet, and one aging laptop running an unsupported version of Windows. I jumped on Debbie's laptop and started Google-ing around. I kept running into information on fixing problems with SSL certificates on the server side, but nothing from the client side. After a half-dozen or so rearrangements of the same search terms, I finally hit something promising. Except the fix looked like it was written by a half-Chinese, half-Klingon mutant with twelve fingers and a broken keyboard: Change the router's pishnaj setting from "M88t^h" to "U$(g74". And so on for about a screen and an half. I hadn't the slightest idea what he was talking about, and in any case, I was pretty sure my router's "pishnaj" had nothing to do with the problem when Debbie's laptop, running through the same router, was working fine.

Scrolling down, I saw another reply that listed several reasons why a browser would think every site had expired credentials. One item mentioned checking the PC's date. I had checked the date; it was OK. The time was off a couple hours and in the wrong time zone, but I thought I had fixed all that. But never hurts to check again. I walk over and look at the date and time: April 20th and the time was the same as the cable box. Then I looked a little closer:

4/20/2000

You have got to be KIDDING ME! I just wasted hours chasing my tail and cursing the entire Gate's family tree because Win7 thought the year was nine and a half years before Win7 was created?

So yea. Fix that and everything magically works. Twelve hours or so of downloading updates and rebooting and installing everything Debbie will need to switch over to this system, and all is well.

With one system, at least. Our main system was still DOA. I opened the case, took one look inside, and decided I didn't have the time* or patience for that anymore. Not to mention that I've shed most of the weird little tools and gadgets for disassembling and testing PC parts. A neighbor recommended a place right around the corner that didn't try to take your first-born just to look over a system. I needed to buy a second monitor for Debbie's new PC anyway, so off my system went to the shop. In about five minutes, he had it diagnosed and priced out. Dead power supply. Best $100 I ever spent and it will be ready by tomorrow afternoon.

*As to why I don't have the time, it looks like I will be starting to work for the park tomorrow. They wanted me to start today, but I told them I needed Monday to get some things done, like dropping my PC off at the shop and buying Debbie's monitor, and laundry and unpacking and and and. I wasn't supposed to start until a week from Monday, but one of the maintenance guys just found out he has cancer and will be starting immediate treatments. So instead of being the extra person that is supposed to get everything caught up around here, I'm just getting the headcount back up to what it was last summer. Wheee.

Well, I need to go make dinner.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

My Day Off

I had a day off today. I had to stay close to the phone in case they got swamped with last-minute tax filers, but at least I could sit around in stretchy shorts and relax.

Well, sort of.

One of the things I needed to get a jump on was laundry. Due to job changes and such, I've recently had to expand my wardrobe, so I had this pile of new clothes that needed to be washed and dried. Usually we do laundry on Sunday's, but with so much extra to do, plus the fact that I will be working tomorrow, we decided that we'd do a couple loads this morning, then the rest tomorrow.

So here I am, walking back to our place with a laundry bag full of wet clothes to hang on the line when one of the park residents comes running up to me asking for help. I come around the corner of his place to see his neighbor's feet sticking out of his door. I knew what that meant. I ran up on the porch yelling the guy's name; no response. When I got to the door, it was obvious that he was stone-cold dead. I checked to see if he was breathing or had a pulse, but nada. I got on the phone with 911, and of course per standard procedure, they wanted me doing chest compressions until EMS arrived.

So yea. I started my day today doing chest compressions for five minutes or so straight on a cold, dead naked guy.

The joys of living in a senior park.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Still Kickin'

The end is in sight; I only need to drag my tired ol' bones to Walmart five more times, then I get to relax. Well, "relax" is probably the wrong word. More like frantically try to get caught up before I start my summer job on May 1st. But compared to sitting in a metal cube in Walmart, bombarded with stupidity and other people's diseases, it will seem like sitting on a beach sipping some form of hard liquor in comparison.

I don't talk much about peak oil anymore, largely because it seems rather pointless. Most people I encounter have their heads fully stuffed into the sand and just don't want to hear that they may be required to give up their God-given right to destroy every inch of the planet. Seriously; that is why God created the world, wasn't it? So we could screw it up? Shove countless species into the hole? Leave behind a toxic wasteland for our children and our children's children? All so we can drive around in 10,000 pound SUV's festooned with "Praise JESUS!" and "Drill Baby Drill!" bumper stickers, right?

Ahem. Anyway.

John Michael Greer had a link to this little gem in his most recent column:

Peak Oil Denial Bingo!

There are a couple other keepers at that site, like the software development bingo card. Back in the day, I could have filled one of those puppies multiple times at every endless meeting I was forced to be a "participant" in. I'm so glad I now spend my summers mowing grass....

I've been in contact with my Uncle Charlie's second wife, who seems to have inherited his collection of "stuff" from his Shaverite years. I should soon have more information to post over at the Charles A. Marcoux blog that I started as a repository for everything I've been able to dig up. I recently contacted a couple of his children to get some leads and let them know what I was up to.

Well, I need to get some other work done before I have to go sit and stew in bacteria and stupid.