Rant VIII: The Reckoning
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Dave
Staff member
You try taking a webcam picture of a struggling kitten! I tried to take one on the floor but it was nothing more than blurred tail.
Nearly saw my vacation go up in a puff of electric smoke.
My mom's been in the rehab hospital for nearly a week now thanks to more swelling in her legs and feet. It wasn't going down and was actually getting worse. This time, it's been diagnosed as lymphedema, and they know how to treat that. since the first of Mayand the knee replacement, she's been in there nearly all month.
But that's only part of the story. Thanks to all of that, bills have fallen behind. Not for lack of funds, but for not getting around to them due to other priorities. In the process we're finding that the utility companies don't have a correct phone number for the house, even though we changed it FIVE YEARS ago. We're finding that out thanks to shutoff notices we've received in the last week. They're claiming they "have not been able to contact" us. BULLSHIT. Gas company sent a letter that was responded to that day. Power company sent a guy TO MY FUCKING DOOR, and it was paid that afternoon (which is another rant in itself). City didn't bother. They just shut off the water. Went over, paid it, and made them feel bad about doing that to a woman who has been in the hospital for weeks.
Anyway, after running around to one place or another that either wouldn't or couldn't take payment on the electric bill, I finally got it paid and confirmed that the electric won't be shut off Monday morning. Wiped out a big chunk of vacation money to do so, though. I have been assured that I will be reimbursed for my efforts so I don't spend all of my "vacation" farting around the house being angry at everyone and everything.
So, crisis averted, and now go and see who else needs an updated contact number before more trouble arrives.
My mom's been in the rehab hospital for nearly a week now thanks to more swelling in her legs and feet. It wasn't going down and was actually getting worse. This time, it's been diagnosed as lymphedema, and they know how to treat that. since the first of Mayand the knee replacement, she's been in there nearly all month.
But that's only part of the story. Thanks to all of that, bills have fallen behind. Not for lack of funds, but for not getting around to them due to other priorities. In the process we're finding that the utility companies don't have a correct phone number for the house, even though we changed it FIVE YEARS ago. We're finding that out thanks to shutoff notices we've received in the last week. They're claiming they "have not been able to contact" us. BULLSHIT. Gas company sent a letter that was responded to that day. Power company sent a guy TO MY FUCKING DOOR, and it was paid that afternoon (which is another rant in itself). City didn't bother. They just shut off the water. Went over, paid it, and made them feel bad about doing that to a woman who has been in the hospital for weeks.
Anyway, after running around to one place or another that either wouldn't or couldn't take payment on the electric bill, I finally got it paid and confirmed that the electric won't be shut off Monday morning. Wiped out a big chunk of vacation money to do so, though. I have been assured that I will be reimbursed for my efforts so I don't spend all of my "vacation" farting around the house being angry at everyone and everything.
So, crisis averted, and now go and see who else needs an updated contact number before more trouble arrives.
The past few days, I've managed to:
a) once again herniate my back, just in time for what might very well be my only vacation of the year, next weekend, to fall through
b) be forced to pay for maintenance my car needed that should've been free
c) break my laptop beyond repair (it can only serve as an epilepsy testing apparatus now)
d) break my girlfriend's laptop (the display continuously flickers on and off, some connection issue)
e) spend 4+ hours calming down an angry drunk and trying to keep him from ruining my brother-in-law's bachelor party, and failing
f) have to go to city hall for paperwork that has magically disappeared, so that I can start all over
g) lock my cellphone so I had to go down to the store to unlock it
h) have a couple of completely pointless fights with my girlfriend while she's sick and tired
Ah yes, good times have come again.
Also,
i) seriously hurt my hand by hitting a metal wall in frustration, but I guess that one's really all my fault
a) once again herniate my back, just in time for what might very well be my only vacation of the year, next weekend, to fall through
b) be forced to pay for maintenance my car needed that should've been free
c) break my laptop beyond repair (it can only serve as an epilepsy testing apparatus now)
d) break my girlfriend's laptop (the display continuously flickers on and off, some connection issue)
e) spend 4+ hours calming down an angry drunk and trying to keep him from ruining my brother-in-law's bachelor party, and failing
f) have to go to city hall for paperwork that has magically disappeared, so that I can start all over
g) lock my cellphone so I had to go down to the store to unlock it
h) have a couple of completely pointless fights with my girlfriend while she's sick and tired
Ah yes, good times have come again.
Also,
i) seriously hurt my hand by hitting a metal wall in frustration, but I guess that one's really all my fault
Idiots who bring full sized damn suit cases as carry on luggage!
Also been there, done that.
If you're anything like me, it never gets easier. My condolences Vrii.
Fucking hell, I hate this. I've tried writing this scene for my second novel THREE times and just don't know what to do with it. Worse, it's the introductory scene for the book's big bad and I just can't seem to get a handle on him.
Reveal, I suppose. The mystery in this one isn't who the villain is, but what's powering him. He's supposed to be kind of a cult leader, with mind control that brings people into his thrall. I tried first writing him kind of like a Baptist preacher, all hellfire and brimstone. It didn't feel like something I'd enjoy writing for 60,000 words. Then I tried him more laid back, like a hippy, but that didn't feel right, either.
Nah. Personality change as a result of the sudden new power, but more like a reborn kind of personality.
Epiphany, then.
Why's he doing it? Does he think he's the only one who understands, and MC'ing the rest of the world is being done for their own good*? Or is he evil and doing it for the power (like the story I have no mouth, and I must scream).
--Patrick
*There is a story that shows what might happen if the robot 3 laws were taken too far, but I don't remember the title right now.
Why's he doing it? Does he think he's the only one who understands, and MC'ing the rest of the world is being done for their own good*? Or is he evil and doing it for the power (like the story I have no mouth, and I must scream).
--Patrick
*There is a story that shows what might happen if the robot 3 laws were taken too far, but I don't remember the title right now.
Ah HA. I think I've got it. 
Used car salesman- like fake charm?
As a sort of would-be superman who thinks humanity will truly be better off united under one benevolent dictator, namely himself?
Oprah-style positive vibe message thingie?
As a sort of would-be superman who thinks humanity will truly be better off united under one benevolent dictator, namely himself?
Oprah-style positive vibe message thingie?
Kryptonian immigrant suffering from severe PTSD and depression after needlessly killing one of his few remaining kin?
It's a real struggle to connect with people lately.
Agreed. Everybody is so wrapped up in their devices, that unless your modal alert happens to be the one on top, it's like you don't even exist.
--Patrick
Remember my laptop breaking last week?
And how I'm now working off of my girlfriend's laptop?
Come on, take three guesses - what computer did just decide to have an "unfixable error" so that Windows won't load anymore and the only solution the computer offers is a total wipe and reset to factory standards. Come on, guess. -_-
And how I'm now working off of my girlfriend's laptop?
Come on, take three guesses - what computer did just decide to have an "unfixable error" so that Windows won't load anymore and the only solution the computer offers is a total wipe and reset to factory standards. Come on, guess. -_-
At this point, I think the only logical conclusion is that the problem is you.
Computers just don't like you.
But they used to like me! I used to be able to fix computers by standing next to them, practically! It's arty crap and people I'm supposed to be bad with, not technology
GasBandit
Staff member
This is why hardware and protocol standardization is so imporant.
fade
Staff member
Maybe you're like Jubilee. You just wipe out electronic devices whether you want to or not.
Yes. Interoperability is a must. Otherwise, programs like PRISM get a lot harder.
--Patrick
I managed to get my girlfriend's ccomputer working again! Huzzah! Apparently, the latest update to her video drivers completely and utterly ruins the pc, somehow (you'd think a system restore to 2 months ago would help, no?). I managed to roll back to a previous version, and everything worked again. Of course, last night, she turned off the pc with "shut down and install updates"....So this morning I could do it all over again. DAMN YOU NVIDIA.
Now let's hope they release some sort of fix soon, as not updating ANYTHING anymore forever isn't a good solution, and installing, then needing a boot disc to get into safe mode to roll back the drivers isn't exactly great use of my time, either.
*edit* and jsut to show the universe still hates me, the fix that worked yesterdy, doesn't work anymore today. It'll completely boot up, 10 secondsi n, scrambled image, BSOD, memorydump, unrecoverable, yadayada. Oh joy!
Now let's hope they release some sort of fix soon, as not updating ANYTHING anymore forever isn't a good solution, and installing, then needing a boot disc to get into safe mode to roll back the drivers isn't exactly great use of my time, either.
*edit* and jsut to show the universe still hates me, the fix that worked yesterdy, doesn't work anymore today. It'll completely boot up, 10 secondsi n, scrambled image, BSOD, memorydump, unrecoverable, yadayada. Oh joy!
Don't want to make a whole new thread for this, but just wanted to see if anyone's got something helpful to say...Uninstalling the graphics drivers completely, forcing MS not to reinstall, so that it defaults back to the standard VGA-compatible graphics adapter drivers, actually works - there's a big loss of quality, but the computer runs like a charm. Any version of the correct drivers I've tried causes crashes - either a scrambled image followed by a memory dump, or plain not getting to Windows startup.
I haven't tried going back to factory defaults, as that deletes just a bit too much data for my liking....
The latest drivers from MS, Nvidia and Fujitsu (it's a Fujitsu laptop) are all different, all claim to be the latest, and all cause crashes.
I haven't tried going back to factory defaults, as that deletes just a bit too much data for my liking....
The latest drivers from MS, Nvidia and Fujitsu (it's a Fujitsu laptop) are all different, all claim to be the latest, and all cause crashes.
Can't you take the video adapter out of the automatic updates list?
Well, yes, but that means I'm stuck with "basic" VGA drivers.
Currently trying to eliminate the nVidia drivers completely with Driver Sweeper (thanks AmE
) and re-installing an older driver version, hopefully that'll work; then I'll take those drivers out of auto-update and just wait for a newer version that doesn't destroy the machine.
Oddly, I can't be the only person still using this computer, but I've yet to find a single comlaint or error record about it.
Currently trying to eliminate the nVidia drivers completely with Driver Sweeper (thanks AmE
) and re-installing an older driver version, hopefully that'll work; then I'll take those drivers out of auto-update and just wait for a newer version that doesn't destroy the machine.Oddly, I can't be the only person still using this computer, but I've yet to find a single comlaint or error record about it.
I'm wondering if it's just a failed video card. I've had a system that worked fine until it tried to load the accelerated graphics drivers, and it turned out to be the GPU itself. Once the system tried to shift into GPU accel mode it would crash/reboot, but so long as I kept it in 2D mode only, it would work fine (although with crappy graphics). I would especially suspect the GPU if it's one in the NVIDIA 8xxxM series.
--Patrick
--Patrick