Earning a Paycheck the Old-Fashioned Way
 
It's been a little busy here, and I've spent most of the day off site dealing with, among other things, dot matrix printers. If you can believe it, some are still in use, and this weekend we'll be using two to print out invoices during the monthly equivalent of a yard sale. If anyone in or around Baton Rouge wants more information, I'd be happy to provide it. Items offered for sale will be, among other things, equally shitty printers, old computers, office furniture, tools of various kinds, etc. I've actually never been to one of these, which occur monthly--I think. However, if I remember right, I've been told you put in a bid for a pallet of stuff, which for about 90 percent of the pallets is the ONLY bid. So, if you're looking for a 'bargain,' you might find one.
 
Oh--here's a link with more information, including, if you click through, brochures listing some of the items--which include automobiles. There's also a map noting the location of Brickyard Lane, which basically is right underneath the I-10 bridge once you get across the Mississippi River--if you're traveling east on the highway.
 
And, off topic, but: yesterday, I was mentioning a degree of patience regarding bricks, televisions, Dick and Lynne Cheney, and throwing said brick at television. This patience is due at least in part to a valuable lesson I learned over the weekend. Saturday, I was helping someone set up an internet connection at their house. This person is close enough to a local hotspot that a wireless NIC was all that was required. So, we got the card, and I proceeded to unplug the machine, as rule number one for hardware installation is shut the computer down (it was already) and unplug it.
 
Then I pulled the installation instructions out of the box--they insisted, not once, but three times, that you needed to install the software first, then deal with the hardware. And, in spite of the fact that I've installed everything short of a new motherboard, I took their word and plugged the computer back in, then proceeded to install the driver. Then, I shut the machine down (the box was already open), added the NIC, and powered back up. Did anyone notice my critical mistake?
 
That's right, I forgot to unplug the damn thing. As a result, the video card was fried. Powering up brought a dreaded double beep, and no video signal. And it was my own damn fault.
 
I gave my word to my friend that the install would be a piece of cake. Since it was my own mistake, I felt obligated to pay for a replacement ($55). Fortunately, this solved the problem.
 
In retrospect, I'm certain the hardware could have been installed prior to the drivers--Windows allows this. The instructions were likely written by folks eager to avoid calls to the help desk, as driver installs sometime require the user to browse through a CD, which isn't always the most intuitive thing.
 
But that's the last time I'll forget the critical step of unplugging the damn machine. I hope.