In August I was bringing older computers back into operation and wound up needing a newer monitor and picked up a "newer" monitor in the form of a rather old 15 inch LCD that did 1024x768. That got pressed into service as my main monitor for a while as in early September my 19 inch LCD (1280x1024) quit. Before I got to attempting repairs, I ( Read more... )

The repaired bulb didn't last very long. It's not an outright failure, but looks like a heat issue. After a while the base heats up and seems to go into a protective thermal shutdown. Then it cools down and the light starts up again. It's a slow cycle, but still annoying. I've pulled the bulb again and replaced it with a Sylvania-branded CFL ( Read more... )

or: Repair Beats Recycling ( Read more... )

A few days ago there was an article on Slashdot about "obsolete skills" - the things that one has learned but are no longer all that useful most of the time. For example, it has been years since I've dialed a rotary telephone. This started with a blog entry: "Obsolete Skills". As a result of that little article someone started a wiki at ( Read more... )

Though Jay may be off to California to be on a TV show and is still getting requests for radio interviews, other things do go on. If problems come in threes, hopefully we have the set now and aren't due another installment somewhere along the line.

A week or two ago there were a couple storms. One Saturday evening pelted the are with hail. The ( Read more... )

The last 18 hours or so went better than those before them (as described in the previous post). The server could boot from a CD, and with the right CD and a bit of guided prodding it was in a condition such that jmaynard could patch it up remotely.

While he did that, I looked at the furnace. It wasn't the motor that circulates air through the ductwork. ( Read more... )

It's very unusual for me to take the car to the mechanic for something other than an oil change. But I did today.

I finally had enough with the slow leak of one tire and took the car to a local mechanic who does tire repair. He said it was a very slow leak and he had to look a while to find the problem. But find it he did. Removed a nail, ( Read more... )