(no subject)
First, my apologies to all those sweet and/or demented souls who have ill-advisedly entered into correspondence with me since April. I managed to answer a few last week and I'll get to the rest tonight. Sorry, didn't expect to be away this long.
Late May/June has been a rather inauspicious time for my future silicon-based masters. My wireless connection was first to fail me (though I'm starting to suspect it was Hannibal HP's fault and not entirely the box) - a partial signal loss late in May and then complete lack of connectivity the week after.
Always one to appreciate a bit of premeditated electronic evil, I actually found the meltdown of my decrepit laptop's VGA slot a day after finally fixing the wireless connection to my room a tad amusing. Once I'd finished swearing, obviously. I think it's the mental picture of my HP shrieking fiercely at me from behind its manic little streaks of cyan/yellow/magenta warpaint that does it. :D
(You may or may not recall that last year, Hannibal the HP's rubbish screen started to burn multiple vertical artefacts right across the display face and I had to get an external monitor to plug into it, which now no longer works. By appeasing the wrathful technology gods with a blood sacrifice, random keystrokes and a few solid whacks I've finally stopped it trying to display through a nonexistent external VGA, but typing now is a bit like squinting at the page through a technicolour barcode and I can't let it go into screensaver mode or the screen just stays blank.)
It's weeks like these that narrow escapes like "whoops, I almost ended up in the computing industry for a living" sort of occur to you with gentle feelings of relief ;)
No doubt it's just a matter of time now before Hannibal HP goes the way of old Carthage (in fact I'm stunned he's lasted -this- long ... rationing has worked well), but my sister's boyfriend very kindly sold me his old desktop PC for a pittance, so I do have a backup. This backup machine was an absolute fiend in its day (2005), which makes it very much serviceable even now in 2008. Not quite as high-powered as Hannibal, but with the not inconsiderable bonuses of being functional and having a readable screen.
I'm only using Hannibal now because I'm determined to get my money's worth out of him and all my crap's still in his loony little brain - AND because it's cooold in the back room. On that note, it's so nice that I'm back in a state where I can safely call 16 degrees 'cold' ... ;D
Anyway, that about covers Recent Events; the rest is nothing I'm terribly interested in discussing, nor indeed terribly interesting for that matter. Additionally, I haven't written or read anything and know better by now than to promise a swift change on either account while Murphy's within earshot, so I think I'll just announce a hiatus on both and blab mindlessly instead. It is, after all, my Calling.
Rather dull, sorry. Unlike THIS!
I love the goddamn internet :D
Late May/June has been a rather inauspicious time for my future silicon-based masters. My wireless connection was first to fail me (though I'm starting to suspect it was Hannibal HP's fault and not entirely the box) - a partial signal loss late in May and then complete lack of connectivity the week after.
Always one to appreciate a bit of premeditated electronic evil, I actually found the meltdown of my decrepit laptop's VGA slot a day after finally fixing the wireless connection to my room a tad amusing. Once I'd finished swearing, obviously. I think it's the mental picture of my HP shrieking fiercely at me from behind its manic little streaks of cyan/yellow/magenta warpaint that does it. :D
(You may or may not recall that last year, Hannibal the HP's rubbish screen started to burn multiple vertical artefacts right across the display face and I had to get an external monitor to plug into it, which now no longer works. By appeasing the wrathful technology gods with a blood sacrifice, random keystrokes and a few solid whacks I've finally stopped it trying to display through a nonexistent external VGA, but typing now is a bit like squinting at the page through a technicolour barcode and I can't let it go into screensaver mode or the screen just stays blank.)
It's weeks like these that narrow escapes like "whoops, I almost ended up in the computing industry for a living" sort of occur to you with gentle feelings of relief ;)
No doubt it's just a matter of time now before Hannibal HP goes the way of old Carthage (in fact I'm stunned he's lasted -this- long ... rationing has worked well), but my sister's boyfriend very kindly sold me his old desktop PC for a pittance, so I do have a backup. This backup machine was an absolute fiend in its day (2005), which makes it very much serviceable even now in 2008. Not quite as high-powered as Hannibal, but with the not inconsiderable bonuses of being functional and having a readable screen.
I'm only using Hannibal now because I'm determined to get my money's worth out of him and all my crap's still in his loony little brain - AND because it's cooold in the back room. On that note, it's so nice that I'm back in a state where I can safely call 16 degrees 'cold' ... ;D
Anyway, that about covers Recent Events; the rest is nothing I'm terribly interested in discussing, nor indeed terribly interesting for that matter. Additionally, I haven't written or read anything and know better by now than to promise a swift change on either account while Murphy's within earshot, so I think I'll just announce a hiatus on both and blab mindlessly instead. It is, after all, my Calling.
Rather dull, sorry. Unlike THIS!
Click to viewI love the goddamn internet :D