Actually, I had fun because it has been a while since I’ve field stripped computers. One was a Windows 98 unit that I’ve forgotten too many things about and the other a Dell, which are notoriously hard to troubleshoot unless, as I did, you wipe out the hard drive and start over from scratch.Between telemarketing calls, I had time to think more about the Apple, and it is safe to conclude I’m likely to go for it. The plan is to leave it at the shop, in the Internet area so everyone can have a go at it. I don’t really have the extra cash but I’ll be worse off if any one of my current computers takes a dump. All but the newest IBM based computers are not an economical repair or upgrade and those are exactly the units that don’t need that treatment.
Another thing spurring my decision is the lack of an available heavy duty hard disk drive for IBM computers. The capacities now being made are 160GB and up. These are fragile devices that cannot survive any abuse. I cannot find a company that manufactures a smaller capacity (say 50 GB) with tougher build. On the other hand, I have never heard of an Apple hard drive crash. I will, but so far I have not.
Wordpress, the Caribbean blog company, is offering a service that “maps” your web page. I’ll poke into the details but mapping basically makes something remote appear as if it is local on your computer. This creates the tempting opportunity of having an untraceable web site doing business in the USA, but having the transactions legally occur in Jamaica. For some reason, a lot of people just don’t like the name Wordpress, finding it “unconnotative”. The company was first mentioned here by Howard, the author just days ago.
Multiple guess question. On your mark. Q: An Emerson Wildcat is a:
A) outboard motor
B) brand of hair tonic
C) portable record player
For those of you who cheated and saw the picture, have you ever seen one of these before? I haven’t. Yet, it was clearly manufactured in the era before boom boxes. Did people really pack up their record player (one component of which is a turntable) and take it over some place to listen to it? Since they never marketed a successful way to make your own recordings for one of these things, wouldn’t any place you took it that possessed records already own their own player? Or did you load up the station wagon with your own records and hope the sun didn’t shine? It is a vintage item that looked workable but did not have a needle so I could not test it. Yes, that is a vintage coke bottle to the right.For today’s trivia, why is the coke bottle that particular shape? No, not so it is easy to hold onto when condensation forms, or to let Canadians claim they discovered the area-rule principle. According to the manufacturer, they could not patent the taste, so they patented the shape of the bottle.
In a week, I have gotten no responses from my inquiries about writing jobs, so I conclude that every posting on Craigslist is a fake. I replied to every one [that appeared to have merit] listed in my geographic area without any contact. I know that writing is a tough field but I also know most writers flit from job to job because they burn out in a month or two. Like some musicians I know. Ah, something will turn up.
Neat, just as I arrived home a huge lightning storm came by. It lasted two hours and I do not pack equipment in the rain. So I missed Jimbo’s gig tonight. The equipment was unloaded for the trip up north and still in the Florida room. Did I mention my DVD player [that I use on stage] has blown a channel? That hurts. Pudding-Tat has quickly resumed sharpening her claws on the Yamaha cabinets.
My quest for a high-hat was unsuccessful. I failed to get a straight answer out of anybody in Florida. Every place I phoned tried to sucker me into buying one of the parts for the price I wanted to pay for the whole setup ($60-$70). One pawn shop up on Broward and 441 [National Pawn?] finally quoted me $150 for a used setup that sells new for $129. Hey, at least I got a price out of them.
