Friday, April 26, 2019

Uh... Hello?

Looks like I missed the boat.  Had a really nice post ready to go and combonculator crashed.  I think the CPU is okay, as I saw a small parachute floating down after the canopy blew...

Soooo... Quickly typing from wife's system, Mrs. Beans is giving me the evil eye, dog is kicking me hard because he's hungry (when isn't he) so off to combonculator repair store in hopes of sudden fixing at cheap price.

Ten to One it's some stupid software conflict that will have resolved itself by the time I get to the store and Sir Repair Tech will look at me like a nun looks at a kid covered in mud.

Oh, and...  Just finished Rasimus' 2nd autobiography, "Palace Cobra."  Good book, and, okay, the Phantom isn't as much a turkey as I make it out to be.

Ooooh... a picture of...
Artiste's rendition of Mother Mary in the first recorded MMA event...

Update:  So, last night, as I was putting the finishing touches on consolidating the Grand Unification Theory, with charts and calculations (or some blog post, whatever,) my combonculator's  fan decided to spool up as if it was a jet engine.  I fully expected some flightline gremlins to come out and motion for the computer to move forward to a taxiway, but... instead the bastige thingy locked up.  Could not turn it off.  Had to pull the powerplug and the battery to stop it from self-destructing.  Reboot attempt 1 failed.  Reboot attempt 2 failed.  Reboot attempt 3... failed.  I waited an hour, tried rebooting yet again, and failure.

So this morning I schlepped it to the local decent computer repair place (who have repaired the power plug (by replacing the whole housing of the computer) and the screen when I somehow managed to break it (walked in, walked out 15 minutes later...) and, of course, the computer rebooted correctly.  Sat there purring nicely like a happy kitten, all systems worked.  Computer-Repair-Dude laughed, did some mystical incantations and systems checks and said, "What did you do to Windows and AVG and World of Tanks?"  

"What?"  Seems that all three were trying to update and do their things at the same time, while some stupid other programs were attempting to run, or some other reason that sounds more plausible like "it broke because it could" and so I lost everything from about noon yesterday to now-ish.

So, grand unified theory (which included warships must have GUNS THAT WORK AND AMMO THAT IS INEXPENSIVE) or blog post about whatever-something-something (now I have to try to dredge up what I was blathering about...) have gone away.  Lost forever.  Dust in the wind...

So, well, as Randy Quaid said in "Independence Day"...

21 comments:

  1. Heh. Keeping the streak alive. (A post a day keeps the Commies away. Or something

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Socialize with people, NOT socialism...

      And you forgot an ")." But who here would say anything...

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    2. "And you forgot an ")." But who here would say anything..." Yes, who? I canna imagine anyone here who would do such a low-down, dirty, no-good, rotten thing.

      Thanks for the post.
      Paul L. Quandt

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    3. Yes, you did. So there. (pthththththththbbbbt!)

      Delete
  2. Four hundred years ago William Shakespeare wrote that to err is human, to really fire truck things up requires a computer.

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    Replies
    1. And then add technical writers and lawyers...

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  3. Maybe there is FOD in the Babbage Engine parts?

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    Replies
    1. FOD in the code, from what resident computer genius said (see update above.)

      I have FOD'ed a computer before. Just not this one, yet. Though I have had dog-assisted catapult launches without engines started before.

      Delete
  4. I just hate it when I know exactly what I want to say, type it all out, check for typos/spelling errors, hit some key by accident, and the entire thing goes "poof" into the mist...never to be found again. 'Cause by then, I can't remember exactly what I was saying, or exactly HOW I said it...so I give up. Lol

    So good on you Beans for persevering!! And glad they could fix the problem so easily!!!

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    Replies
    1. I know what you mean. I have 'written' many good blogposts while away from the computer, sit down to type and 'blerggggg,' nothing, nada, zip.

      I swear, I tried to reboot before I left for the computer repair place, nothing. Get to the store, turns on, all sunshiny and bright and working, and computer repair guy looked at me and laughed. Says it happens more times than not. Oh, well, at least he didn't charge me...

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    2. We (who used to be) in the tech world call that the Russian Switch, as in Onoff Switch. That fixes the problem about 85% of the time. Unplugging it completely from the wall socket and leaving it for about 10 minutes takes care of another 5%. The remaining 10%? You don't need a backup/pistol/pain meds, until you need a backup/pistol/pain meds, and then you need it bad. Just sayin'

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    3. What peeves me off is I did all that. Tried to turn it off, wouldn't turn off. So disconnected battery and power cord and cold-killed it, waited 10 minutes, tried rebooting, failed, started again, waited 20 minutes, same results, did it again, waiting an hour, same results, let it remain unplugged and off battery all night long, tried it again, same darned results, go to computer repair store, and 'POOF' it works perfectly.

      Some days it doesn't pay to be me...

      At least I haven't set this computer on fire... yet...

      As to backup, that required dinero, which is currently going into meds and food and rent and stuff. The Florida Lottery has been rather unwilling to give me $50K a year for 30 years or so, and Publishers' Clearinghouse seems to keep skipping my doorstep, so...

      Slowly accumulating pile of cash for a backup (of which the screen repair ate a chunk,) which I will buy from said Computer Repair Place because the place oozes competence and reliability, which are lacking at Best Buy, Office Max, Wally-World, Sam's Club and Target, and I don't trust buying over the internet.

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    4. Ok, because I am frugal (ie cheap) does backing stuff up on a thumb drive count? They have REALLY come down in price. I was in Wally-world the beginning of the week and I picked up a 32gig for less than $8. They had one there for a 276gig for less than $50. Which I thought was a huge amount for a very nice price. Or am I barking up the wrong tree, ya can't use a thumb drive or a sim card for backing stuff onto? Asking the puter wizards on here...

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    5. Backing up your files and pictures and things is good. Something I need to do. But...

      Having killed USB ports before, I am kind of wary about such things...

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  5. I won't say anything about Apple Products or their service representatives. Thank you. From Ormond-by-the-Sea, I remain.

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    1. I swore off Apple when they gave me a good deal on a IIC, and then 3 months later completely cut any product or software support as they went all in on McIntosh. If they had said they were going to kill the II series, I would have waited.

      Every time I get potentially interested in an Apple, they do the same thing. And I'm not made of gold so I can't afford the buy-in to the Apple lifestyle.

      Everything okay with you and your lady-wife? Back in Ormond-b-t-S or still slumming at North Florida?

      Delete
  6. I am glad you got it worked out. I would have missed you!

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    1. I never realized how 'connect-addicted' I have become. And I would have missed everyone here, including the Badger. :(

      Plus... Dang it, poured heart and soul into a post, forgot to save, even had auto-save on, and yet lost everything. Some days...

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  7. Glad to read you. Backup? I'm a three computer guy right now, one on dose to play games, one on 10 to investigate heritage, and one on Android/mint for important keepers. 10 is problematic. And way darned intensive for what it wants to do vs. what I want to do. I want to get on, do what I want, and get off, and shut down since it's a laptop. And I'm never where the. Plug is. That's when it decides it wants to update, and halfway thru a silent reupdate it dies. Such a nice machine. Or apple services wants to examine mymusic choices, while resetting itself, interestingly, that's why mint, you can tell it when to update, it's not mandatory, and backs up fast, and works without the nags of the air.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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