I’ve got a mechanic who will trade repair time 1:1 for computer maintenance. This is a productive arrangement, because we show the other how it is done. Thus, you can see him demonstrating how to change scooter brake pads. In return, I showed him how to operate “grooveshark”, an Internet radio that does not gobble up resources like the gluttonous Pandora. If the pace continues, I’ll soon have the $500 scooter I originally wanted and it will work just as well. The difference is, I’ll have learned how to do it myself. I ordered a $25 shop manual for study.
And study I did today. I was not up to physical par, so it was over to the library after dropping off used computer parts to swap for scooter parts. I lost the little plastic speedometer receptacle repairing the handlebars. I heard it drop but could not find it. At the library, I found plans for a one-transistor radio that looks promising. It can be connected to an 8 watt amp, which I think I can also build, both at a total cost of $3. Do check back, it will be my first transistor anything.The library babe was on duty today. As Huey used to say at the mill, “I love her so much and she doesn’t even know I’m ALIVE!” Dang, I can’t inflect like Huey could, he was talking about that babe who works in the office at every site full of men. And who always finds some reason to walk through the yard in cutoffs every hot summer day. Well, the library babe is a little past the cutoff stage. But so am I.
Looking for an 8-channel mixer again, I’ve only found more junk. By junk, I mean those mixers billed as 8 channel that only have 6 sets of controls. It is typical of the current crop of engineers, thinking they are so smart it will fool anyone. The problem is, the price for what is really a 6-channel is as high as an 8-channel.
Proving again that engineering is basically a field of one scumbag after another. For every one that does any good in this world, there are 10,000 useless bastards, most of the worst of whom seem to work at the phone company. Hello engineers, who brought us the bag of peanuts that only rips open down the side they spill out and the grocery bag that has to be doubled to carry a quart of milk.
Here is a picture of a “12-channel mixer”. Count the rows of controls, there are eight. Now you know what I am talking about. A scam is a scam Is a scam. Why doesn’t Mackie just add another row of inputs and sell it as a 24-channel?
That fix-it shop up near Dania is looking for help. The part-time jobs I’ve been able to find are a couple hours a day instead of a couple of days a week. That makes a gigantic difference in logistics. I’m also against traveling somewhere for less than a couple of hours if the pay is by the hour. If a two-hour job paid minimum wage ($7.25/hr) and you rode the bus ($3) it would not be worth it to get up in the morning. I’ll see what they have to say.
For those who are curious why printers can mysteriously stop working, I can suggest a cause. HP printers are the usual suspects, they have a different driver for each of the 600 models on the market at any given time. Some of these driver numbers do not match the model number. As an example, if you have an older Dell computer, the driver for the networkable 7700 printers is the 990c driver. The world loves HP logic. Sometimes when you use the print icon instead of the print command, the software will attempt to use the wrong driver if it is present in your registry. You’ll have to change it back. Hey, don’t blame me. If it was my call, HP would be required to pay to alter your system registry and pay again to restore it if you don’t like it.
ADDENDUM
But worst are the time-wasters. I include with such scum the people who advertise something for free when it really isn’t. Most of us feel the same way. Today I found a “free” oscilloscope (“Multi-Instrument 3.2”) which after the labor of downloading it and taking it home, turns out to be a 21 day trial (buried in the third paragraph of the EULA). That’s what I mean by scum. If they had labeled it as a limited offer, I would not have bothered. It is the responsibility of the marketer to ensure their “for sale” crap does not return on a search for free products, or in the alternative, display a huge warning. Virtins Technology can kiss my. I can’t turn back the tide, but I can advise you not to deal with people who will lie to get your money.
What I'm saying is the law should be changed to "seller beware", at least to the extent that we get rid of idiotic things like real estate title searches. That amounts to charging the buyer a fee to see if the seller owns what is being sold. Ridiculous.
I found an interesting circuit simulator, but can’t get it to work right out of the package. Called Solve Elec, it seems intelligently designed but most of the components on the menu will not drag and drop onto the design screen area. Check back after I’ve had time to read the manual.
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