Rough holiday weekend. Reno's fickle weather decided to go semi-winter on us, so I've been stuck inside dealing with the techie stuff I usually postpone/ignore when the Sierra Skies are much bluer.
Alas, its been a challenge. First, I get a new pile of software to install on my laptop...at which point a 512Meg stick of RAM decides to go into advanced entropy. So I'm scrambling around Reno to find a reasonably priced replacement. Done. Only to discover there's some registry remnant from an earlier install that won't let me install the new software. So I get to reinstall XP and all its updates and Visual Studio, plus all my extra apps and Perl packages. Oh joy.
Done. Now I have to print some expense reports. Whats this? "Unable to print" scrolls across the printer's LCD screen. So I read the users manual, and follow instructions to reset and clean the machine. To no avail. As this particular multifunction printer has been giving me fits for 3 years, I take a moment to put my fist thru the LCD screen, and place the unit in the recycle pile, and head out to buy a new printer. Wireless this time; should be nice to just plunk the unit down anywhere and be able to print. Hopefully, it won't be the flaky pile of ink-sucking crap the prior unit was.
Now I'm stressed out, and ready for lunch. Pop a couple slices of bread into the toaster for some nice toasted PBJ comfort food...but the damn toaster won't latch down. Since its also been flaky lately, and is a bit of an energy hog, I unplug it and place it in the recycle pile, and head to KMart for a replacement.
When even a low tech toaster is infested with gremlins, its best to turn off all electronics and do what comes natural...brew some beer! (A nice chewy coffee stout). Hopefully this bout with the tech gremlins is over; I've blown a minor hole thru my wallet, and really don't need to be pissing away my time chasing these bugs.
