Friday, March 31, 2006
That Murphy Is One Sick Bastard
I pulled out the reticent computer from this post and got around to troubleshooting it further. It has absolutely nothing to do with video, thankyouverymuch, and that means my gut was right, and I was foolish to 1) listen to the assurance that it was just refresh rate and 2) not get around to solving it until after driving to Wilmington for more parts. That is, I will now have to go back there an extra time.
It’s the hard drive.
I tried playing with monitor-level and BIOS settings. I tried booting to the XP CD, which got as far as launching setup and starting to check hardware when it did exactly the same thing.
Finally I booted CD with the serial ATA (SATA) cable to the hard drive unplugged. No problem; XP setup was all ready to install, recover, or quit at my option.
I then tried the drive plugged into each of the four SATA connectors on the motherboard, and tried a different SATA cable. No dice.
Oh well. Driving through the tunnel is cool. At least northbound. Why is it that the southbound tunnel already looks like it’s been there 20 years and feels like a dangerously mad rush? And the bridge is cool. Maybe Sadie can go with me that day.
I just wish I had a spare drive. Then I could set it up regardless and just return the bad drive for replacement. As I told my sales guy and the RMA person in e-mail minutes ago, about the only other confirmatory thing I could do is take the matching drive out of the system I haven’t unboxed yet. That’s probably pushing it too far.
Anyway, I need to help the nephew with his computer rebuild, which is being round peg meets square hole balky. Apparently it’s not going to be an early night.
What Better Than a Friday Quiz?
| the Adventurer Test finished! | ||
| you chose AX - your Enneagram type is SEVEN.
“I am happy and open to new things”
Adventurers are energetic, lively, and optimistic. They want to contribute
How to Get Along with Me
What I Like About Being a Seven
What’s Hard About Being a Seven
Sevens as Children Often
Sevens as Parents
The Enneagram Made Easy
You are not completely happy with the result?!
Would you rather have chosen:
| ||
My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Quick and Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by felk on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Paging Billy Idol
What color are these eyes turning? It’s our favorite guessing game these days. Click each one for larger verions (full size, more than the normal 800 pixels wide). Sadie was clearcut blue almost from the start. Valerie had the indeterminate newborn blue, but it started changing promptly, looking at times like it’d be brown, or golden tan brown, or green, or maybe blue after all, if a steel gray variant, or hazel…
I have to get to work as I am already late, so more pictures will have to wait for tonight or tomorrow morning. Note that the above are all very recent pictures, like past week or less. They are a large sample size, not to show a sequence over time.
Valerie Does Pugnacious
Happy Birthday
To my aunt Jean. This would also have been my late aunt Joan‘s 68th birthday, as they were fraternal twins.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Baby Pictures
I have to get to the office ASAP, but I have a ton of Valerie pictures and Sadie pictures, so will try to post some this evening. I was thinking of posting some eye color close-ups to see what everyone thinks will happen with Val’s eyes. They’re looking to me like they’ll decide to be hazel.
Stay tuned…
Mostly Right
I said Lisa, Kellie and Katharine. America said Lisa, Katharine and Ace. I actually praised Ace, though it seemed the blog and newsgroup people largely did not agree. Conversely, not many saw what I did (not) in Katharine.
Anyone who is everyone said Lisa would be going home, and we were all right. Go us. Lisa was gracious, and if sweet and friendly kept you on Idol would not be gone at all. Can’t imagine we’ve seen the last of her. Katharine seemed a bit shocked. Ace seemed to be abit shocked not to be in the bottom two.
I’m not sure the results show should be more entertaining than the main show…
Happy Birthday
To our friend Bob.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
In need of advice
’k, folks, here’s your chance. I need an RSS reader, preferably one that isn’t going to cost me anything.
Evangelize away!
Still Poor
Nope, didn’t win Mega Millions last night, but hey, neither did anyone else.
Not that I would be posting it here right away the next day if we had won, but it would be kind of fun to blog about it once the details were handled in the aftermath.
Of course, if I always had as much billable work as I do now, the “still poor” post title would never apply. Well, at least not after a couple years of that, to catch up.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
My Bottom Three
This week it’s Lisa and Kellie, plus Katharine as my “your mileage may vary” pick out of the next few who weren’t so far apart.
Taylor, Elliot, Ace and Bucky showed why they are there, and that is not the mix I expect to mention as having impressed me.
Chris and Mandisa were just fine, but in an “I expect at least that” sort of way.
All, of course, subject to whether I am remembering correctly after the House-watching delay before posting. I was only going to list my bottom three without further comment, so I carefully memorized those, but I could be fuzzy on some of the rest.
Was it just me or did the judges all seem to turn up the heat and be intentionally harsher this week?
Monday, March 27, 2006
Yow! Yikes! Zap!
The corollary to Jay’s rough weekend and now week is that I’ve been home alone full-time with both kids for the first time.
Wow.
All I can say is that parenting two under two is a full-contact sport. I’ve never been so exhausted in my life. I’m managing to get some stuff done around the house, though, in between nursing sessions and rounds of “The Wheels on the Bus,” which pleases me no end. And this may be by far the hardest job I’ve ever had (and I’ve had some doozies, let me tell you), but it’s also the most fun. Which is not to say that I wouldn’t lie, cheat, and steal for a full night’s sleep, but it’s worth it in a way I can’t describe.
Yeah, yeah, I’m a walking cliche. But they get that way because they’re true.
So Far So Good
The recovery from the weekend upgrade debacle is chugging along. I’m waiting for a still newer release to finish downloading before continuing, but the license error is solved, we have a license file for the timekeeping installs, and the main reason the client fails now (with a mere type mismatch error) probably has to do with my having restored the pre-upgrade database backup as instructed to do prior to doing the really new update. I may not have time to have all the workstations installed with the timekeeping software today, but even being able to start them today is a bonus.
I even got a support guy who believes in using e-mail when appropriate!
Update:
Spoke too soon. I restored the original data, ran the server setup of the very latest, and got told I had open prebills and it couldn’t install. I managed to get the same error once over the weekend, when I was still able to verify the setup was lying. We know beyond any doubt that there are no prebills, but it won’t install. So I had to zip the 1.5 GB of data and FTP it to them for special examination, and probably a casting-out spell that’ll be followed by return of the data to re-re-restore and try again. I was hoping, even maybe expecting, to be done by now and onto the next part. In a way I am, because I started the next part, which does work - yay - to fill the hurry up and wait time. I’m back to the computer in my office between tasks, looking at e-mail and contemplating what’s next.
Well, the next part works, no more license problem, but it takes a surprising length of time and then requires a reboot. Not good for nearly stealthily going from computer to computer doing installs in the midst of people’s workdays. Sigh…
Happy Birthday
To our friend Jen in California.
Happy Birthday
To blogger Jen.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
I Love Juris Software
So I managed to get the Juris update installed by setting back the server date. Tried to install the client on the bookkeeper’s old machine and had to fight for every inch of it, only to be told on running it that I was attempting to access the data in a manner that violated the license. Whacky. I can think of only one possible reason for it that would make it go away and be okay, and that is because the workstation was current and the server was still set back when I got that error.
The second server update, also with the date set back, went smoothly and took mere minutes. I haven’t tried any further client installs.
From there I started on the setup of a program called Time Sheet (which we all call Timesheets around here), which goes on most of the workstations, 40 of which I’d gone around turning on so they’d be ready to install.
Very first one prompts me to eject the install CD and insert the license CD.
License CD?
The old version of this program had a floppy with a license file. When I saw there was no such thing with the newer version, I was all happy and assumed Juris had gotten their act together. But no… they graduated from floppy to CD, then failed to supply said CD.
Argh!
I still have plenty I can do. It just changes what happens today versus tomorrow and drags the whole ordeal out possibly to at least Tuesday.
Yay For A New Day
So far it doesn’t feel like it’s going badly, apart from having been awake from 4:00 to 6:00 or so, then sleeping until after 8:30, and still having not gone to work yet to do the dozen hours or so of work I need to finish by 7:30 tops.
I meant to change the date on the server and retry the setup, but I tried a different workaround first, then gave up. I’ll do that this morning before anything else, but even if that’s no good, the plan is to install the offline timekeeping client for everyone ("offline" as in doesn’t maintain a connection to the database), which is probably about 10 minutes times 50, though may be doable in less, continue setting up the bookkeeper’s new machine and the other ones that will get swapped around, and then finish the server parts after talking to support in the morning. Worst case nobody can enter time or do accounting work most of the day Monday, and we’ve had worse happen before for less reason.
Off I go. If it goes smoothly, there probably won’t be any more posts from me because I’ll have nothing to gripe about…
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Let’s End a Bad Day With a Good Quiz
And no surprises here…
|
You Should Be a Science Fiction Writer |
 Your ideas are very strange, and people often wonder what planet you’re from. And while you may have some problems being “normal,” you’ll have no problems writing sci-fi. Whether it’s epic films, important novels, or vivid comics... Your own little universe could leave an important mark on the world! |
Via Princess Jami
And It Just Keeps Getting Better!
My mission is to upgrade the accounting software in two steps, from 2.0.x to 2.12 to 2.21SP1, using upgrades that were sent to the client around three and two years or so ago, respectively. They sat on them, initially for good reason (as if the trauma involved isn’t good reason enough), until someone at the vendor told them they really needed to upgrade to get the latest electronic billing format to work.
So I am here this weekend, trying to get this done, along with other tasks related and not.
Got the data backed up. Tried the install. Got yelled at. Got told I needed a newer MSDE. Installed the newer MSDE. Installed the new version again. Reboot. It stops after login and sits blank. Reboot the hard way. After login it stops and makes me enter the CD key. The first CD key I have ever seen them use on a product. And the client ID, which I’ve had memorized since 1999.
The response? Something that paraphrases in people-speaks as roughly *snort* *laugh* “you moron, that CD key is three years old, so what the fuck are you trying to put over on me? Loser!” *evil snicker*
Now just try to imagine how well staffed is the support department of a software company that caters to law firms at 7:00 on a Friday night. You know, off-hours when they suggest you consider upgrading because the server will need to reboot and people won’t be able to use it normally.
Argh.
I e-mailed the “e-mail here and we’ll call you” address and used euphemisms like “crazy” and “darn” n a remarkable show of restraint. I have not formally verified support is indeed closed, and I haven’t called the bookkeeper at home to share this little pleasantry with her. I’m thinking I might skip right ahead to 2.21 and see what happens…
Murphy’s Out In Force
I’m at work with my nephew today, with overlapping major projects, plus his computer in which the power supply died and took out the motherboard.
Nothing is going right. Nothing has gone right since I got up, really.
I had spare parts that would match the dead motherboard and, if needed, AMD CPU. They were in a machine we built, that died, that we rebuilt, that kind of worked but ran too hot in the particular case, that was put aside for future reference and not touched since months ago.
Turns out it was in the room near the inventory that got stolen last fall, and I never even realized it was missing. Not a great loss, but it really made our day not to have the parts. Well, it means the value of what was stolen just doubled or so, but still, it was a troubled set of parts pretending to think about being a working computer.
That’s going to mean buying a motherboard and, in a fit of sensible “may as well because we’re not sure the old one is good and it’s reasonable to upgrade,” a CPU too. And further delay having the computer working again.
Well, then we started setting up a new computer for the big client’s bookkeeper, the idea being since we’re upgrading accounting software anyway, fell swoop it. Got XP all configured and on the network and the internet, activated Windows, started installing software and the screen went black.
Turned out the video is just fine. It simply stops producing any when the boot process turns itself over to the hard drive, which is SATA, and which appears to be detected just fine. By this time we’re already running even later than we were initially.
Even as I am typing this, the second of the new machines we are trying keeps having trouble reading what’s on install CDs. But hey, the video still works.
Staying in bed: It’s a Good Thing. Some days.
Norman Borlaug Turns 92
This is the 92nd birthday of one of the greatest men in history. You would think that Norman Borlaug would be a household name everyone knows, kind of like George Washington or Thomas Edison.
Why write more when I can recycle? My 2004 Norman Borlaug post, “Billions and Billions Saved,” is a good place to start.
The Very Latest Picture
Friday, March 24, 2006
Valerie As Promised
I forgot to change the JPEG compression setting so the files are big. Oh well. When I do more later I’ll turn it down a bit on the other pictures, but now I must finish looking at the directions to the place in Wilmington and get on the road.
Not Baby Pictures
These are a couple of pictures of pictures of my late grandfather, my mother’s father, who would be turning 100 in August if he were still around. He died ten years ago. The pictures give some idea why I always regretted not having had kids while he was still around. I think pictures of him not holding a baby or little kid are rarities.
Speaking of grandparents, my late grandmother, my father’s mother, would have been 95 today if she’d hung around past her all too early expiration date, which was thirty years ago. She’s the short-lived anomaly among my grandparents, though I think middling among her own family.
Anyway, here they are, one size only…
Busy
Today I have to drive to Wilmington to fetch three computers and LCD monitors, which I thought would upgrade the last of Big Client’s computers, but I forgot one guy who is using a P133. Sigh… So I think I have a solution for that in the form of available parts and a machine under construction. Since these are the lower priority folks, they won’t actually get the new machines. Rather, we will shuffle things around. One of the new ones goes to the bookkeeper and dominoes down to a secretary/gopher with a P133, with the others not yet designated. At least one gets setup and the machines shuffled this weekend.
We’re also upgrading Juris, the accounting software, and the timekeeping software associated with it on every workstation.
We’re also upgrading the Sybari software that scans e-mail for viruses and filters spam.
We’re also completing an inventory of who has what precisely, which will help decide who gets the other two new machines and how the shuffling around flows.
We’re also rebuilding my nephew’s computer (he’ll be helping me with the rest), which had the power supply go and take out the motherboard with it.
Posting? Maybe not so much. Though before I head out, I just filled the camera by taking pictures of Valerie, downloaded them, and may post a few.
Politics explained.
“These are people who would bully in other aspects of their lives if they could, but this is a socially acceptable way to get away with it.”
From a NYT article on how hard it can be to adopt a dog. Hey, wasn’t that an episode of Darcy’s Wild Life? You know, the one where Darcy won’t let anyone have an animal because none of them are good enough? Of course, Darcy meant well and they got her straightened out by the end of the episode, so there you go.
But really, an awful lot of what passes for governance seems to be nothing more than people with control issues trying to inflict them on everyone, don’t you think?
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
|
You Are Jan Brady |
 Brainy and a little introverted, you tend to think life is a lot worse than it actually is. And while you may think you’re a little goofy looking, most people consider you to be a major babe. |
Fun With American Idol Theme Weeks
Here’s a meme to have some fun with American Idol. What do you think would be a particularly amusing theme for a week?
I’ll kick it off with American Idol covers the music of Air Supply.
Just picture Chris rocking “Making Love Out of Nothing At All” to his own uncompromising beat.
How about it? What’s your idea of a great and amusing theme with which to screw with the minds of the contestants and/or audience?
Oh wait! They already did this last year with show tunes…
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
They Killed Kevin! The Bastards!
Wow! No more Chicken Little. That was unexpected. Between doing fairly well, not being in the (actual) worst three for the night, having a following, and having the support of Vote For The Worst, I counted on having him to kick around at least a couple more weeks.
I had to remind myself tonight that the bottom three won’t necessarily be the actual worst three, given the followings people have built of people who won’t care - or even be able to tell - that their guy was awful this week. Bucky was the actual worst, but he seems so likable. Taylor was in the bottom three, but has an almost cult-like following inexplicable to us. And he isn’t bad per se, just not all that, and awful this week, which the vote theoretically should reflect.
Well. It’ll be interesting to see what next week’s theme is. It’s not indicated on the site yet. I just hope they don’t do show tunes again. Blech.
I Was Beginning to Think Cars Would Fly Routinely First…
Dean points to news of a 32 GB hard drive substitute.
If you had asked me as recently as ten years ago, and certainly closer to fifteen, I would have predicted - and did predict - the death of the hard drive in favor of solid state memory storage “cubes” or “sticks” of some kind. I always figured the industry would find a way to perfect and make “bubble memory” cheaply and in giant capacities, taking it beyond 2k capacity pocket computers and the memory in your calculator.
It never happened. At least, until recently when memory sticks became big for cameras, and for wrapping pretty plastic and some controls around and calling it an MP3 player. Still, small capacities, versus hard drives getting bigger and bigger, almost to the point of worry about quantum effects. How inefficient and dangerously… breakable, packaging up spinning platters, with heads skittering over them in vacuum, almost but not quite touching, marvels of miniaturization and perfect mechanical control.
But 32 GB on a stick? That’s a hard drive in size, albeit a small one now. Stick that in a case that’s an LCD, along with some ultra cool CPU(s) and electronics and you have a first pass at a real tablet computer of some utility and hardiness. That’s cool.
