Month: January 2006

It’s The Power Supply Stupid

My new replacement fan from Dell arrived this evening. I cracked open the case and felt the fan force when it was running, not much air movement. Popped out the assembly and pulled the fan off its rubber mounting posts. Installed the new fan and snapped it back into the case. Leaving the case open I hit the power button.

Fan started running, so far so good. I felt for air movement and it didn’t seem any better. As the computer finished booting up I just listened. It seems like the new fan has a tick to it that the other didn’t. Sigh, but at least it isn’t making the horrible vibrating sound. I scissor the case halves together and stand it upright. Just as I reach vertical….brrraaattttttttttttt. The sound is back.

I carefully laid the case back down horizontal….brrraaattttttttttttt. Opened up the case again and unplugged the new fan and….brrraaattttttttttttt, the noise is still there. Put my ear up to the power supply and that is where the racket sounds like it is coming from. Rap on the power supply grating hard with my knuckle and the noise stopped.

Damn! I was so sure. While trouble shooting it was making the noise and I unplugged the CPU cooling fan and the noise stopped, how could this be? The only thing I can think of is the first time I unplugged the fan it jostled the computer enough that the power supply fan quieted down.

Back to the Dell website to see about ordering a power supply. If you remember I complained about struggling to find the parts ordering section on the Dell site, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. All you have to do is click on the pertinent system type on the blue menu bar along the top and right there second from the bottom is Dell Parts & Supplies. But you didn’t think it would easy though did you? Nope, drill down through the hierarchy and sure enough you are told that these items can not be purchased on line, please dial 1-800-Phillipines.

Well, I’m not going there. I’m going to go to Centrix International. It might even be a used power supply, but I’ll be darned if I’m going to have to deal with the refusing to buy a book or putting it on my Dell account madness again. Let alone how much they will want for that sucker. Centrix-Intl has four numbers listed as fitting my box, Guess I’ll be cracking open the case again to check the part number of the P/S.

Started down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 10

Continuing Wine Education

Tonight’s Netflix selection was “Sideways.” Going to have to buy that movie and watch it multiple times so I can get the lingo down.

Miles Raymond: A little citrus. Maybe some strawberry. Mmm. Passion fruit, mmm, and, oh, there’s just like the faintest soup?on of like, uh, asparagus, and, there’s a, just a flutter of, like a, like a nutty Edam cheese.

Wine Aficionado

This morning everything seems better, here is last nights lame post:

With all the studies that show that drinking a glass or two of red wine a day may be good for your health I have decided to try my own study. Regular readers here know that my cholestrol is somewhat on the high side and I’m working with my doctor to try and get it in the “normal” range. I don’t eat too badly (realative to the general population) and I exercise fairly frequently, so I’m guessing a lot of my problem is hereditary, maybe drinking wine is the ticket.

Donna’s brothers and sister are big wine drinkers, so that after the house cleared out Thanksgiving weekend we were left with a couple of bottles. Instead of the usual pour it down the sink and recycle the bottle as in years past, I resolved to drink them empty, one glass at a time, strictly for my heart you understand.

After finishing off the leftovers, it was time to buy some wine on my own. Knowing nothing about wines my first replacement was just another bottle of the same kind that was left behind, Yellow Tail Merlot. Apparently it is from Australia because it has a cute Aborigini looking kangaroo on the bottle. As a bonus, it was cheap. Seeing as that wasn’t too bad tasting, my next bottle was chosen for its inexpensiveness as well. I don’t remember what brand it was, but I’m sure it came in a snazzy bottle. It cost less than the Yellow Tail and it didn’t have that cork thing, you just screwed the top off and poured. It really didn’t taste too bad either.

With the cost factor now really unimportant, anything under $10 a bottle being fine, I have now started working my way through the local supermarket’s wine aisle picking out my beverage by how I like the bottle/label design. Our latest stock consists of a Syrah from Red Bicyclette.

The next bottle might be from the folks at Twin Fins winery. Their bottles have a stylized back end of a 50s convertible with a surfboard sticking out of it.

Started down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 10

Having Trouble Finding Me?

Me too. When I got home from work on Monday I couldn’t get to mr-miata.net. No website, no mail, no FTP. After dinner I could view the blog and get mail. Later when I went to blog it was missing again. The Internet seemed kind of slow to some places, I wondered what was going on. A little after 8 PM I received this:

Dear Customers

We are sorry to inform your that the server Smile is being severly attacked by spammers causing the server go on high load. we are currently still working on this situation, and we hope to stop this attach the soonest possible.

Kind Regards,
ssWebHost.com

Server Smile, I know how you feel. Thanks spammers.

IQ Test

Every Monday morning when I come into work I go to CalvinandHobbes.com, download the Sunday cartoon and print it out. It goes on the cubical wall along with a photo I have taken over the weekend or a picture of the Miata from whenever. Just my little attempt at personalizing my environment.

The comic site always has a banner ad at the top of each comic page displayed and there is always at least one pop-under ad to dismiss when I’m through reading. I’m not sure if this is the first time this particular ad has been there, quite frankly I’ve learned to tune most of them out, but I really like this one:

IQ Test

I think just the act of clicking on the “answer” says an awful lot about your IQ already….

Weekend Odds & Ends

  1. I can’t be the only one who thinks I went a really long way for not much with yesterday’s post?
  2. New episode of the West Wing tonight.
  3. Went for a hike in Hitchcock Woods yesterday and stayed on the map. Snapped a couple of pictures in the hopes that one may be used for the next photo series. Will try a couple more locations next weekend too.
  4. Got a nice afternoon ride with the top down today. I keep waiting for the other shoe (ice storm/snow) to drop, it hasn’t really seemed like winter here yet.
  5. The computer fan made a bit of noise yesterday morning so we shut it off. Later that day it ran for several hours without complaining. This afternoon it has been running in silence as well. And yes, I checked and it is blowing air. The replacement was shipped on Friday.
  6. Grilling steaks on back deck for tonight supper.
  7. Still stymied on the home network front.
  8. Didn’t get a movie from Netflix on Saturday, even though it shipped on Friday. May not be possible to watch two movies every week. This is not a big problem as what we are paying Netflix this time around we will still be ahead of local renting from Blockbuster if we watch just 3 movies a month.
  9. Buying a shower curtain to coordinate with the color you just painted the bathroom cabinets is a lot harder than you think. Memo to self: Buy shower curtain, then paint.
Started up, went down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 6

I’m an Odd Man in an Even World

I’m a Levi’s kind of guy. Once I made it to high school and started working part-time to have my own money, I swore I would never wear discount department store jeans again. My first pair of “real” jeans were some button fly 501’s, 32W x 34L.

These were my pants of choice for casual wear for many a year. By my late twenties I was a slightly bigger person than in my teens so my 501’s now came in 34W x 34L.

Somewhere along the line, in my thirties, bigger became better, in style and comfort, so I moved to the loose fit style, the 560 in 34W x 34L. The 560, in varying shades of stone washed was the mainstay pant in my casual wardrobe for the next decade or so.

In my middle 40s I decided that I baggy was more for the younger crowd, so I downsized my leg width by going to the relaxed 550 jean. Unfortunately my waistline had grown, what I could squeeze into a 34 waisted 560 jean had to be inside a 36 waisted 550. I was no longer a square, I had officially become a wide, as my pants size was now 36W x 34L.

A couple of years ago I lost 15 lbs and my 36 waisted pants were a little too baggy, but I was still not small enough to get into 34s. When we went jean shopping, much to my surprise Levi offered a 35W in some styles and I found some in a 505. They didn’t have any 34L though. Using my (now I know, faulty) logic, I bought some 35W x 32L 505 jeans. You see the 34L has always been a touch too long, but my fear of the dreaded “highwater” look has kept me from going with anything shorter. A couple of months was all it took before I actively searched out some 35W x 34L 505’s.

My last pair of faithful 36W x 34L 501’s are getting too worn looking to be seen in polite company, so I am looking for a new pair. My now slightly slimmer waist will still not allow a 34W pant to fit, I tried today, too snug, but the 36W is too loose. The 34L is doable, but a bit shorter would be perfect.

Levi’s just doesn’t make 501’s in a 35W x 33L. I’m an odd man in an even world…

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 01/01/06: 5