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      Friday, September 09, 2005



08:53 AM - 09/09/2005

The topic: I am not a crafty person

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I used to be a crafty person.  I could sew and do needlepoint and crochet and paint murals on walls and all sorts of cool, crafty stuff.  And somewhere along the way, that talent went away, or maybe just atrophied.

Anyway, I got this brilliant idea to make something crafty for the goody bags this coming October.  I can’t say exactly what I’m crafting, because many of the fine people who go in October, read this blog.  (So, neener, neener, neener.)

Well, I had the major portion of what I was doing laid out.  I’d move it when I had to, so that the cats didn’t mess all that hard work up.  This was fine for a couple of days, no problems.  Then, Ross decides he is going to jump on the coffeetable and he hit the area I had it set up. What a mess.  An hour later I was back in business.  I had one item all arranged and ready to go.  I set it down when I had to get up and when I got back, I picked up the wrong end of what I’d set down and it all fell apart.  *sigh*

I finally got one out of fourteen done.

Another thing that is bugging me is the supplies.  I started this particular craft over a year ago.  I had some supplies for it and I’ll be damned if I can find them anywhere.  I don’t know how much time I’ve spent looking for them.  I even cleaned out the hallway closet yesterday thinking maybe I’d put them in there.  Nope. 

Oh, well, I’ll just buy more. And when we move, I bet I find my missing supplies.

A crafty person wouldn’t lose her supplies.


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08:37 AM - 09/09/2005

The topic: My workstation (geek alert)

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Well, it’s slowly coming together.  Things I thought would work, haven’t, which is a PITA.  And I’ve sat here pondering how I can set that up to work this way and set this up to work that way.  And I’m obviously overthinking some of the things I’m thinking about.

For instance, last Saturday I tried printing a test page out on the laser printer.  This has always been a good printer for us, we’ve had it for twelve years I guess.  Never gave us any problem. Well, lately it’s not doing such a good job.  It’s printing garbage.  So, I tried connecting it directly to the computer, not the switchbox and it worked correctly every time.  Okay, so I can’t run that printer through the switchbox.  Well, I get the brilliant idea to run the other printers using USB.  I’ve got three Epson color inkjet printers.  So, I go online and start searching for an USB switchbox so that I can run all of them.

I recently got three manual USB switchboxes so that I can share the external DVD burners I’ve got with the laptop and the desktop (more about that later).  So, I figure there’s got to be one that will work for more than one printer.

I searched for hours.  And I couldn’t find any, anywhere.  Brian came into the room and I was telling him about my unsuccessful search, how much time I’d spent when it hit me like a bolt of lightning.  I didn’t need a switchbox, any old USB hub would do. D’oh!  Hook the hub to the computer and the printers to the hub.  Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid me.  I found an extra hub and got the 1160 and the 900 hooked up.  The 800 didn’t have an USB connection, so I found an adaptor at eBay, which was less than twelve bucks, including shipping.  It got here yesterday and all computers are now hooked up.

I also got Brian’s computer set up so that he can use the printers, via this machine. 

Oh, there was a problem there.  The only network computer that recognized this computer was the laptop.  Took me a while to figure out it was my ZoneAlarm settings and I had to add the other two computers to the trusted sites.  Once I’d done that, it all went well.

I’ve also learned some stuff along the way.  I’ve learned that USB cables come with many different end connections. There’s male A. There’s female A.  There’s male B. There’s female B.  I found this out because I needed type A ends, both male.  When I ordered cables, I didn’t realize that there was a female A.  Got cables with male A and female A.  They don’t work so good.  banghead  So, I ordered three foot, type A, male to male USB cables.  These would go from the hub to the switchbox.  I’ll keep the others, just in case. You never know when they might come in handy.

I started on this on Monday or Tuesday.  And I found that the DVD burners would not work on the laptop through a hub.  If I connected them directly to the computer from the switchbox, they worked.  But not when I put them in the Targus 2.0 7 port hub.  They work fine on the desktop via the same type of hub (I got one for each computer).  This makes absolutely no sense at all to me.  Why one would work and the other not.  Anyway, I ended up having to get more cables, longer this time.  I also got a few extra, just in case I need them in the future.  I got a great deal on the cables at pcmicrostore.com.  Before I got them there, I’d gone to Office Depot and Best Buy and their cable selections started at over twenty dollars.  That’s a little more than I wanted to spend. So, I got them online.  I think “I can wait a few more days”.

They’re supposed to be here today.  Then I should be able to get my little movie studio together. *lol* That’s what I’ll be using the laptop for, since it’s so much more powerful than the desktop, which amazes me.  And when I make my little slideshows and movies, I won’t have to unplug any cords.  With the desktop, I have to shut down all programs and disconnect from the internet since burning a DVD needs everything it’s got. 

Whew, that will be a load off.  And the end of the excuses.

UPDATE: My cables didn’t show up as expected.  So, I wait another day.  And it would appear I’m not the only one in geekmode this week.  Git ‘er done, Lair, git ‘er done.

biker


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07:39 AM - 09/09/2005

The topic: Thank you to all who donated.

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We raised over a thousand dollars.  I sent a thousand to Tammy on Tuesday and I guess she was happy.  Her response when I posted at Benny’s that the package had arrived and been signed for was “Soon as I got home we had to run and buy James a book for school. (thank you Benny’s!)”. 

She posted nothing at AHOC, where people also donated to the fund.

I’m thinking maybe we should have donated clothes and books instead. They seem to be more appreciated.


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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

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