I hate machines this week

[Kragen Sitaker]

I spent about $200 on hardware purchases last week.  It was mostly a
mistake, and I hope I can get my money back.

So this last weekend, Beatrice and I bought a washing machine and
dryer set.  We installed them in our back room, and during the
installation, we found a minor problem: the faucets to which the
washing machine is attached leak when they're turned on.  From the
handles.  So we have to be prepared to catch leaks when they happen.

Beatrice came up with an ingenious solution; she stripped the paper
from two opened tin cans and hung them below the faucets with
monofilament.  Now the cans will fill with water, and we can empty
them; there is no need to mop water up off the floor.

Then, on Sunday --- Father's Day --- Panacea, where I receive my
email, was cracked, subverted by an unknown force outside our power.
Not much hope; Paul Visscher and Jason Cook spent Sunday basically
rebuilding it from scratch as a form of exorcism.  Some things are
still broken on panacea.  Yesterday I finally got Beatrice's email
back to fully-working status again, and today I noticed that the
mailing lists hosted on Panacea --- including kragen-journal ---
weren't working.  I think that they are fixed now.

On Sunday also, I bought a hard disk from an unknown person.  It
appears to have scads and scads of bad blocks.  Maybe I wasted $45, or
maybe my motherboard (or IDE cable?  Let's hope IDE cable) needs to be
replaced.

On Monday, my new keyboard and PCMCIA modem dongle cable arrived via
UPS.  The PCMCIA modem cable worked great for hours!  Until the second
time I tried to use it, at which point it became clear that the PCMCIA
modem it was attached to had just given up the ghost.  It responded to
any "AT" command, such as "ATZ" or "ATDT5551212" or "AT&H" or
"ATLOTSOFGARBAGEHERE" with a simple, happy "OK".  No more dialing,
just blissful ignorance.

The keyboard was another matter.  It seemed like a nice piece of
equipment until I hit the Tab key, which responded as if I'd just
tried to type "born" with my chin.  Several other keys worked the same
way.  I've requested an RMA number so I can send it back and get a
refund.

On Tuesday, my laptop was plugged into the wall, when suddenly the
screen flickered and dimmed.  I noticed that the AC power light had
turned off.  Then I noticed that there was the horrible smell of
burning electronics in the air.  It turned out to be the power supply,
the little brick you plug into the wall that converts 120VAC to 15VDC.
It had just breathed its last electrons.

I went to a computer store, but of course, they had no power supplies
for laptops.  They suggested I order a new one from the manufacturer,
or try Radio Shack.

My computer's power supply was rated for 45 watts --- 15VDC 3A.  Radio
Shack had a replacement laptop computer power supply that could output
from 4V to 24V DC, up to 3A, and up to 35 watts.  They didn't have
anything larger.

Well, I know that electronic components are always derated at least
20% or so --- and more commonly a factor of two or three --- below
what they can really handle.  So, I figured, it could probably handle
45W if it had to.

I didn't count on it detecting the higher load and automatically
shutting itself off, which is what it did.  I seem to have it mostly
working now, by twiddling with which voltage it puts out.

It cost me $85.  Two of those would pay for a new broken laptop.

The new 1985 Nissan Sentra I bought a couple of weeks ago for $700
(which the seller is lending me) failed its smog check.  I've now gone
through a $250 carburetor rebuild and don't know if that's going to
fix it.  I might need a new $700 carburetor instead.

With the new power supply, the laptop occasionally loses its memory
and fails to unsuspend, or spontaneously hangs up the modem, when I
plug it in.  I don't know if this is a problem with the power supply
or with the laptop, but I suspect the former.

When I got home from a client site visit on Tuesday, I discovered I'd
left the dongle for my Ethernet card onsite, so I couldn't hook up to
my home LAN.  Not a huge deal, just an annoyance --- I just hooked up
my laptop to my (external, hardware) modem and dialed in.

But today, I went onsite on the client's site and discovered the
Ethernet dongle wasn't there either!  And now I needed it.  I rummaged
around and discovered I'd had it in my backpack all along.  But now I
don't have the Ethernet card it goes to.  I now remember that I left
it at home, where I'd taken it out to try the PCMCIA modem again.

I'm glad the client isn't here today, and I'm glad I have an external
modem with me.

I just got a new docking station for the laptop for about $20, which I
hope will make mobility a little more convenient.  It seems to work
perfectly --- so far.

Is it shameful to admit that I hate machines sometimes?  I just hate
all the needless hassles depending on them adds to my life.

--
/* By Kragen Sitaker, http://pobox.com/~kragen/puzzle5.html */
char b[2000],m[]={1,-80,-1,80};main(){int i,x=1000,s=2000,d=0;while(1+(i=
getchar()))switch(i){case'f':b[x]=1;case'g':x=(x+m[d/2]+s)%s;d--;case'+':d+=2;
case'-':d+=7;d%=8;}for(i=0;i!=s;i++)putchar(" #"[b[i]]);}