semi-regular I'm still alive.
Today is Pop's 80th birthday. He's made mention of trying to figure out how to move back home. I got no idea how well he'll do if he does. He does not do his exercises. He spends almost all day in his room, flat on the bed, watching TV. When he does get out of the house, "for a walk" , I don't think he genuinely does anything substantial. Once when I went out to put mail into the mailbox, at a time when he was supposed to be getting his exercise, I spotted him just a few doors down the street sitting on his convertible walker under a neighbor's tree.
I just got an external cd/dvd drive today. For a long time, the drive in my computer was the "gold standard." If a cd or dvd didn't work, it was a bad disk. A while back, I got some cds for ripping and the drive wouldn't recognize there was a disk inside. I returned them to the store and re-bought the same thing from Amazon. Same result. On a whim, or maybe desperation, I put into my old combo vhs-dvd player I got when I was in college and, lo!, the music played. Crap, it's my drive and not the discs.
For some reason it wouldn't play disc two of a two disk set. Weird. Got me out of having to let Pop do his taxes on my computer, though. I've been intermittently browsing drives on NewEgg and Amazon, but never committing to actually making a purchase.
Anyway, I decided today's "get my butt out of the house" time would be a trip to SWS. And on a whim, I decided to buy the type of external drive that they happened to have. Along with a gaming mouse for that mythical time when my new computer gets built.
With one minor hiccup caused by using the USB plugs on my monitor and not the main tower, it works like a charm. I have Labor Day off, I'll be spending my day ripping.
Mom has "subtly" dropped a hint I need to fix the CenturyLink bill. She only needs me for technical stuff. Calling CenturyLink and saying "Hey, you mofo's have gotten real expensive. Cut us a deal or we're outta here." does not need any technical expertise. The only technical input I contributed when we got broadband in the first place was telling the guy on the phone what our OSs were.
I just got an external cd/dvd drive today. For a long time, the drive in my computer was the "gold standard." If a cd or dvd didn't work, it was a bad disk. A while back, I got some cds for ripping and the drive wouldn't recognize there was a disk inside. I returned them to the store and re-bought the same thing from Amazon. Same result. On a whim, or maybe desperation, I put into my old combo vhs-dvd player I got when I was in college and, lo!, the music played. Crap, it's my drive and not the discs.
For some reason it wouldn't play disc two of a two disk set. Weird. Got me out of having to let Pop do his taxes on my computer, though. I've been intermittently browsing drives on NewEgg and Amazon, but never committing to actually making a purchase.
Anyway, I decided today's "get my butt out of the house" time would be a trip to SWS. And on a whim, I decided to buy the type of external drive that they happened to have. Along with a gaming mouse for that mythical time when my new computer gets built.
With one minor hiccup caused by using the USB plugs on my monitor and not the main tower, it works like a charm. I have Labor Day off, I'll be spending my day ripping.
Mom has "subtly" dropped a hint I need to fix the CenturyLink bill. She only needs me for technical stuff. Calling CenturyLink and saying "Hey, you mofo's have gotten real expensive. Cut us a deal or we're outta here." does not need any technical expertise. The only technical input I contributed when we got broadband in the first place was telling the guy on the phone what our OSs were.